Azuchi Momoyama period

The Azuchi Momoyama period, also known as the Oita period, was the era between 1573 (or 1568) and 1603 when Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi dominated Japan. It began with Oda Nobunaga's expulsion of ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last Muromachi shogun, and ended with Tokugawa Ieyasu establishing the Edo shogunate. It is named after Oda Nobunaga's main castle, Azuchi Castle, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's main castle, Momoyama Castle (also known as "Fushimi Castle"). This era was characterized by the division of the Sengoku period to the unification of the Toyotomi and Tokugawa periods: Oda pacified most of Japan, Hideyoshi followed suit, and the Toyotomi clan was replaced by the Tokugawa clan.

In the fourth year of Tenshō (1576), Oda Nobunaga instructed Niwa Nagahide to build Azuchi Castle, located on the banks of the beautiful Lake Biwa, and the castle was built on the shores of Mount Azuchi, which was built from a commanding height and was extremely spectacular, and the castle tower of Azuchi Castle was called the "God Pavilion", and this castle tower alone was as high as seven stories. The first floor is a warehouse for grain and grass, the second floor is supported by 204 pillars, and the walls are wrapped in gorgeous gold leaf; the third and fourth floors have 146 and 93 pillars respectively, and the second, third and fourth floors are painted with flowers, birds and figures, respectively; the fifth layer is triangular; the sixth layer is designed by Nobunaga himself, with the outer pillars red painted and the inner pillars covered with gold; and the seventh layer is golden and brilliant. It is said that the painting of the entire castle was written by the famous Japanese painter Kano Nagatoku. Although only the ruins of Azuchi Castle are now left, you can still see the magnificent momentum of that year, which can be said to be an architectural masterpiece that has never been built before in Japanese history.

At this time, the Muromachi shogunate had already perished, but the world had not yet been unified, so later generations named the historical period between the Muromachi shogunate and the Tokugawa shogunate as the Azuchi Momoyama period based on the Nobunaga-built Azuchi Castle and the Momoyama Castle built by Hideyoshi. Oda Nobunaga conquered most of Japan, but died in the Honnoji Rebellion as he was about to complete the great cause of reunification. Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded Oda Nobunaga in his unfinished business – in 1587 Toyotomi Hideyoshi forced the Mori clan to submit and join forces with the Mori clan to conquer the Kyushu Shimazu clan, and Shimazu was forced to submit to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Two years later Hideyoshi gathered 45 kingdoms and 260,000 horsemen to besiege Odawara Castle, forcing the Hojo clan to surrender. There was no more war in Japan until Hideyoshi's death. In 1593, Toyotomi Hideyoshi officially incorporated Hokkaido, which had previously been the subject of conquest by successive Japanese rulers, into the Japanese territory, and Hideyoshi completely completed the great cause of Japan's unification.

Hideyoshi, like the late Nobunaga, ruled the shogunate to replace the Muromachi shogunate, but nobunaga's solipsistic rule model, which completely ignored the Japanese tradition, was not fully emulated by Hideyoshi— Hideyoshi chose to use the authority of the emperor's imperial court to establish civilian politics: he appointed himself as the emperor's imperial court's Sekibai, ruling the military and government, but not completely inheriting the original political structure of the imperial court, but under Sekibai, he chose his own cronies to form the five-line in charge of religious, judicial, administrative, financial, civil, and other affairs. Five elders were also selected from influential local daimyōs.

Both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi's policies were centered on land relations: from 1569 AD, Nobunaga began to carry out land surveys (measuring and clearing land) in order to organize military supplies and collect rent in the occupied areas. Through land inspection, it is found that the land hidden and concealed by the rich and powerful families is carried out in order to expand the financial revenue. After the reunification of Japan, Hideyoshi introduced the inspection of the prefecture to the whole country. At the same time as the inspection of the land, Hideyoshi issued the "Sword Hunting Order": confiscating all long knives, waist knives, bows and arrows, spears, rifles and other weapons of the people, this move was to prevent the peasants from rebelling against taxes after they had mastered the weapons. The raids and the Sword Hunting Order prompted the separation of soldiers and farmers, and by August of the nineteenth year of Tenshō (1591 AD), Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued the Identity Control Order: forcing peasants to work only on the fiefs of their own lords, prohibiting peasants from turning into samurai, the hierarchy of farmers, industrialists and merchants was further solidified, and no one could ever ascend to the throne as a commoner like Hideyoshi.

After a nationwide land raid, Hideyoshi established the Chu inland system: all local lords (including the imperial court and temple shrines) had to have a land license stamped with Hideyoshi's seal (i.e., the Zhuyin Letter) in order for their territorial rights to take effect, so the local lords had to assume a series of economic, political, and military obligations stipulated by Hideyoshi in order to obtain Hideyoshi's recognition of their own territorial ownership. At the same time, through land inspections, the ownership of arable land and residential land throughout the country is registered and recorded, and all people are subjected to taxes and servitude, intermediate exploitation is excluded, the right of small farmers to be permanently cultivated is recognized, and the unscrupulous exploitation and exploitation of small farmers by lords at all levels is restricted. This will undoubtedly increase the productive enthusiasm of smallholder farmers, thus promoting the rapid recovery of the social economy destroyed by the long war. Under the premise of registering the ownership of land, it is required that the father and son relatives separate their families and work separately, liberate subordinate peasants such as subordinates from patriarchal slavery, and let them cultivate their own land independently to increase grain production.

In terms of industry and commerce, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi implemented the Rakuichi Rakuza system: the market and commercial taxes of the castle town were exempted, and the privileges of the merchants of the seat were abolished, which was called "Rakuichi"; and the further abolition of the seat itself was called "Rakuza". The "Leshi Lezao" policy has made commerce prosperous, and the prosperity of commerce has led to a rapid increase in population, and the increase in population has also increased Shigao and so on. The commodity economy also contributes considerably to the productivity of agriculture and handicrafts. This series of reactions has led to a considerable improvement in the overall national strength of the territorial powers. At this point, Nobunaga, who dared to be the first in the world, also became one of the earliest and greatest beneficiaries. Taking Oda Nobunaga as an example, Nobunaga formulated many policies and measures in the economic field based on the financial, economic, and military needs of the centralized power and the war of unification, and the "Rakuichi Rakuza" policy is one of the representatives. Many of these policies and measures are extremely reasonable and efficient, and undoubtedly play a very positive role in his victory in the war and the consolidation of the central power. Strong economy and productivity have long been recognized as important conditions for Oda Nobunaga's cloth martial world. "Leshi Happy Seat" is not only economic significance. Since the Muromachi period, "Ichigoku" has sprung up all over Japan. In addition to the "always one hand" in the name of religion, the "tu yi yi" demanded more of a reduction in annual tribute, a reduction in military service, the issuance of moral decrees to cancel debts, the removal of substitute officials, the cessation of wars between lords, and so on. From this, we can understand that the 13 Decrees of Azuchi Castle issued by Nobunaga are highly targeted. It clearly catered to the demands of the ordinary people and, to a certain extent, eliminated the antagonism between the feudal lords and the people. Once the contradictions between the ruling and the ruled classes are eased, a stable situation will emerge in society. Oda Nobunaga's approach to the people was open and advanced, and it was no accident that Azuchi appeared at that time, and Nobunaga's regime had achieved both economic and social advantages.