Hideyoshi Toyotomi

Hideyoshi Toyotomi () was born in 1536 and died the September 18th 1598. It is the second of the three unifiers of the Japan during the Period Sengoku. These unifiers are, in the order, Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi (also named Hashiba ) and Ieyasu Tokugawa (for more information on this subject, to see the article Shoguns of transition) .

Daimyo and man of war to the exceptional destiny, it lived during the eras of Muromachi (室町時代 1336 - 1573) and especially of Momoyama (桃山時代 1573 - 1600). The term Momoyama (the hill with fishing) comes from the place where it made build its last castle. It feared more the lapse of memory than death. It made write its own history of alive sound until in 1592 where its destiny seemed to cease of him being favorable. Started from modest condition, it will reach the absolute capacity on the whole of Japan (日本) which it will unify then to try to pacify.

Biography

Youth

Born in Owari (尾張) current area from Nagoya and more exactly in the village from Nakamura (中村) “village from the medium”. Its name of child was Hiyoshimaru. He was the son of a Ashigaru (“light foot” = basic infantryman slightly equipped) which was with the service of Nobuhide Oda, father of Nobunaga. It is at that time that it meets for the first time Ieyasu Tokugawa, on the bridge of Yanagi while going to see the castle of Tokugawa in the close province (Okazki).

Towards 1551 (at 15 years), it engages under the orders of vassal of Yoshimoto to Hamamatsu in Tôtomi (current Shizuka): Yukitsuna Matsushita . This one, content with him, joined the rows of the army of Nobunaga Oda (信長) rather quickly and this one, appreciating it, made it join the group of its lieutenants. It was characterized by its military engineering and led the battles to the place of Nobunaga (Ômi, Himeyama, Takamaysu, Tottori…). In 1573, it receives the name of Hashiba Hideyoshi . It is the same year that it gained its first great battle against Nagamasa and it accepted in gift the field of overcome in the Province of Ômi.

Come to power

The June 21st 1582, Nobunaga disappears: one of its vassal, Mitsuhide Akechi, benefits from a halt of Nobunaga in the temple Honnô-ji and of the weakness of its escort to revolt against him and obliged it to be made Seppuku in the temple in flame. Nobunaga had just invested the possessions of Takeda and was on the point of joining Toyotomi, which made countryside in the west and had required reinforcements. Returned urgently out of China (Chûgoku 中国), Hideyoshi killed Mitsuhide at the time of the Bataille of Yamasaki after him to have inflicted a heavy defeat.

The popularity of Hideyoshi increased but that is not enough to make of him the heir to the capacity, that disputed lieutenants de Nobunaga, of which Ieyasu.

In 1583, it entered in competition with Ieyasu the fight for the capacity. It overcame initially Katsuie Shibata. In 1584, it faced the united troops of the son of Nobunaga and Ieyasu with Komaki and Nagakute. Lastly, it was the turn of the warlike monks of Negoro. Ieyasu, as a fine politician, preferred to stop some there and decided to be subjected to Hideyoshi, which becomes the uncontested Master. The imperial court gave him the name Toyotomi and he becomes Minister for the supreme businesses.

Reign

In 1587, it conducted a victorious military campaign in the Kyūshū against Yoshihisa Shimazu, powerful the Daimyō of Satsuma (left the current Kagoshima). It decided, the same year, the prohibition of the Christianisme and expelled the missionaries Jésuites while confiscating the flourishing port of Nagasaki which had been allotted to them by its predecessor. On its return to the capital, it reinforced the capacity of the Bushi by prohibiting the weapons in the peasants (the Katana-kari 刀狩り) and by carrying out cadastral inspections with measurements of the ground. The foundations of the Bakufu (military government) and of the han (strongholds of the daimyō ) were posed. Only the Kantô (areas of the east) still resisted to him: this one was subjected in 1590. The unification of the country was completed. In 1592, it yielded the place to his/her adoptive son, Toyotomi Hidetsugu, and took the title of Taikō (honorary title given to a Kampaku of semi-retirement, which always exerts the supervision of its successor).

The last stage of the unification of Japan was the seat of Odawara, in 1590. 200.000 men carried out by Hideyoshi Toyotomi held the seat of it. At the end of three months, the troops infiltrated. The leaders of the Clan Hojo were made Seppuku.

The two attempts at invasion of the Korea in 1592 and 1597 (the War Imjin) failed and its project to invade the China will never be born.

In 1593 was born its second wire, Hideyori. Hideyoshi showed his/her adoptive son, Hidetsugu, of treason to give the capacity to Hideyori. Hidetsugu, dishonoured, was made seppuku.

Feeling its end close and being afraid for the life to the young child who was Hideyori, Hideyoshi entrusted the future of the child whom it had designated as exclusive heir with the five wise ones ( gotairô , 五大老), its large advisers of which Ieyasu which will seize the power shortly after the Bataille of Sekigahara in 1600.

Hideyoshi died in 1598 in its Château of Fushimi.

Zh-classical: 豐臣秀吉 Zh-yue: 豐臣秀吉

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