The Sengoku daimyo wasn't just thinking about winning the battle and expanding his territory.
In order to protect and prosper the territories and peoples they govern, the daimyo also focused on territorial management and foreign policy. This time, I would like to introduce strategies that consider the future while introducing the sources of such Sengoku daimyo.
Birth of Sengoku daimyo
Local governance in the Muromachi Shogunate is called the guardian daimyo [ appointed by the Shogunate . ] Was governing. Since he ruled the region under the backing of the shogunate, the authority of the guardian daimyo also fell after the Onin War, when the authority of the shogun fell.
Instead of these guardian daimyos, the Sengoku daimyo was the one who strengthened the power in the region, and ruled the territory with his own power, which was different from the central power such as the shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, and his military actions and diplomacy were also his own. I did it at my discretion.
The military commander who made a name for himself as a Sengoku daimyo has three main patterns.
- Guardian daimyo → Sengoku daimyo
- Shugodai → (Gekokujo) → Sengoku daimyo
- Kokujin → (Gekokujo) → Sengoku daimyo
Famous as a pioneer of this Sengoku daimyo is [ Hojo Soun ] In 1493 It started with defeating Chachamaru, the child of Horikoshi Kubo of Izu, and taking over Izu and controlling it without being appointed as a guardian.
Hojo Soun
(1456-1519)
Mr. Hojo, whose ancestor is Sayaun, will continue until Hideyoshi subdues Hojo as a rising war-torn country daimyo other than the guardian daimyo.
Some are upstart Sengoku daimyo like Mr. Hojo, while others are originally guardian daimyo, guardian lords, national lords, and others like Hideyoshi.
From Shugo daimyo to Sengoku daimyo
It was the guardian daimyo who was appointed by the Muromachi Shogunate and ruled both countries. So, it is a pattern that strengthened this power base independently and became a Sengoku daimyo. Mr. Imagawa, Mr. Takeda, Mr. Otomo, Mr. Shimazu as a representative daimyo And so on.
Yoshimoto Imagawa Was a guardian daimyo of Suruga, established a parent and a child, and carried out military reforms, expanding the territory from Totomi to Mikawa and becoming a warring lord.
From Shugodai to Sengoku daimyo
Many of the guardian daimyo set up a mansion in Kyoto and were involved in central affairs, so it was Shugodai that a representative was appointed from among the vassals and dispatched to the site to manage the territory. is. In some cases, this guardian era became hereditary and became a de facto local ruler, becoming a warring lord.
Echigo's Nagao (Uesugi) ・ Echizen Asakura ・ Owari's Oda ・ There is Mr. Miyoshi of Awa.
From Kokujin lord to Sengoku daimyo
Kokujin lords are people and people in Japan Also known as the samurai of the Kamakura period. was. The nations will become independent from the rule of the guardian and will take over the territory in place of the declining guardian daimyo.
Due to this kind of Gekokujo, Mori, Nagasogabe, Ryuzoji, Asai Sengoku daimyo was born.
Future strategy of Sengoku daimyo
I am Sengoku daimyo =unification of the world However, it seems that the unification of the world was not always the ultimate goal of the Sengoku daimyo. The daimyo drew future blueprints according to their own strengths and circumstances.
Sengoku daimyo's national strategy
- [Trade-in strategy]
- [Strategy for territorial expansion]
- [Territorial integrity policy]
- [Home survival strategy]
It can be roughly divided into four strategies. I will introduce the representative military commanders who adopted that strategy, along with an explanation of what kind of strategy it was.
Trade-in strategy
Speaking of the representative of the military commander who adopted the strategy of trade-in, after all Oda Nobunaga .. 1568 , Yoshiaki Ashikaga I will play a role in Joraku.
Nobunaga Oda entered Gifu Castle and raised Tenkafubu, and since then he has been fighting for the final goal of trade-in. The unification of the world at that time was not to put the whole of Japan under their control, but to use the authority of the emperor to give orders to the world centering on Kyoto, where the imperial court is located.
However, Nobunaga was not the first to succeed in advocating a trade-in strategy. Nagayoshi Miyoshi who advocated the victory of Kinai during the time of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and took control of the imperial court at will. Also took the same method, and before Nobunaga went up, he overwhelmed Kinai and issued a command to the world.
Territorial expansion strategy
Like the daimyo family, who had the ambition to take over the world, they were expanding their territory in a warlike manner, but there were also houses whose reason was to give their vassals wisdom. The monarch, who could not protect his own country, was in danger of being deprived of his position by his vassal's vassal, so it seems that there was also a meaning to show off his power.
This territorial expansion strategy was set up by Chosokabe Motochika of Tosa Province. [ I will be the lid of Shikoku ], 1585 We have achieved the unification of Shikoku. Shingen Takeda of Kai Province [ Only by expanding the country can he reward and please his vassals ], And the goal of the Takeda family was to maximize the territory.
In fact, do you all know that the Takeda clan was proud of its largest territory during the Katsuyori era after the death of Shingen? There is a section that is treated as a foolish person by making a kick that caused the Takeda clan to be destroyed after being defeated in the Battle of Nagashino, but he is actually a very talented person.
Territorial integrity policy
There is also a strategy to follow the people of the time and climb up under that administration to keep the house alive. Toshiie Maeda and Gamo Ujisato So, Toshiie, who served as Oda Nobunaga's kosho, eventually became one of the five elders under the Toyotomi administration and laid the foundation for Kaga Hyakumangoku.
Gamo Ujisato served Hideyoshi from Nobunaga, and after attacking Odawara, he was promoted to the daimyo of Aizu 420,000 stones.
Home survival strategy
Mr. Takeda and Mr. Mori If you are a big country like this, you can protect your house by expanding the territory, but if you become a small daimyo, it is difficult to invade on your own and the risk is great, so you should obey the daimyo who has stronger power. I was doing territorial integrity in.
In the case of such a small daimyo family, it was the first priority to protect their own country rather than aggression, and it was commonplace in this era to change the lord for the survival of the family.
Todo Takatora Is Nagamasa Asai After the battle of Sekigahara after seven career changes, he was promoted to a daimyo of 200,000 stones.
The Sanada family , famous for the Sanada Maru Was a vassal of the Takeda clan, but he served Nobunaga and won the territorial relief under the Toyotomi administration while weighing Hojo, Tokugawa, and Uesugi. In the Battle of Sekigahara, in order to keep the Sanada clan alive, the father and son were divided into the eastern army and the western army, respectively, so that the Sanada clan would remain regardless of which one wins.
As mentioned above, the Sengoku daimyo were trying to survive by their own means while assessing their situation in order to keep the house alive. However, when the peaceful world after the Battle of Sekigahara began, only Mr. Shimazu remained as the guardian daimyo-sengoku daimyo who seemed to have the most power, and the awesomeness of Gekokujo in this era can be seen. increase.