I will investigate the life of Ieyasu's father, Matsudaira Hirotada.
If Ieyasu's father doesn't understand what he's doing,
"Why was Ieyasu under the influence of Mr. Imagawa when he was young?"
"How did Ieyasu connect with Mr. Oda?"
It's hard to understand, so it's a good idea Matsudaira Hirotada I will take a closer look at my life.
About Mr. Matsudaira
There are various theories such as from Seiwa Genji, Nitta, Fujiwara, Aihara, and Kamo, but it is not clear.
It is said that it became a powerful national landlord in Matsudaira-go, Kamo-gun, Mikawa (currently Matsudaira-cho, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture) during the Muromachi period. Hirotada Mikawa was almost unified in the era of his father, Kiyoyasu (1529).
However, in the middle of Mikawa Heisei, the rescue of Kiyoyasu's uncle, Nobuyoshi was delayed, and Kiyoyasu cursed the death of his ally's military commander, and the relationship between Kiyoyasu and Nobuyoshi became terrible. This will be the key to making Hirotada's life go crazy later.
It is an approximate power map after 1535.
Let's sort out the situation at that time.
You can see that Mr. Hojo is on the east side of Imagawa. Mr. Imagawa and Mr. Hojo have a relative relationship, and a friendly relationship was built until the time of the second head of the Hojo clan.
However, Yoshimoto Imagawa, who won the battle for the family reign within Mr. Imagawa in 1536, welcomes the daughter of Mr. Takeda, who was hostile to Mr. Hojo, to the Seishitsu. Taking this opportunity, a crack runs between Mr. Imagawa and Mr. Hojo.
Keep this in the corner of your head as this event will affect Hirotada's life later.
Death and escape life of his father Kiyoyasu
At that time, the head of the Oda family, Nobuhide Oda, and the head of the Matsudaira family, Kiyoyasu, were the heads of the "doers" who expanded their territory to each other. Naturally, there will be conflicts.
In 1535, when such a battle continued, Hirotada's father, Kiyoyasu Matsudaira, was murdered by his vassal, Masatoyo Abe, while trying to attack Moriyama Castle in Owari in collaboration with Dosan Saito (= Moriyama Collapse). .. Killed due to misunderstanding that Masatoyo's father was killed by Kiyoyasu). It seems that Hirotada forgave Sadayoshi Abe, who was trying to take responsibility for his son and commit suicide after the collapse of Moriyama. This decision will save Hirotada's life later.
It is also said that Matsudaira Nobusada was pulling the thread for the Moriyama collapse.
It happened when Hirotada was 10 years old.
With Kiyoyasu's death, his uncle, Nobuyoshi, decided to take over the Matsudaira clan. When the vassals who robbed Okazaki Castle and served the Matsudaira clan came to take control, they finally began planning to kill Hirotada.
It was Sadayoshi Abe, an old vassal, who saved this predicament. He is Masatoyo's father who killed Kiyoyasu who was mentioned earlier.
Hirotada succeeded in gaining the patronage of Kira Mochihiro of Ise by the work of Sadakichi. He escapes to Ise, and Hirotada retires in the land of Ise.
However, Hirotada Kira, who protected Hirotada, died. Hirotada lost his asylum when Mochihiro's adopted child, Kira Yoshiyasu, took part in Mr. Oda, who was hostile to the Matsudaira family. He couldn't stay in Ise, and even though he went to Mikawa, he couldn't return to Okazaki Castle ...
Therefore, the Hirotada camp will take the next step.
That was to have Yoshimoto Imagawa of Suruga intervene. As you can see from the map, Imakawa is based in Suruga and Totomi next to Mikawa, so it is a great advantage to keep Matsudaira in check. For Hirotada, the situation in which Mr. Imagawa and Mr. Hojo were hostile was a tailwind.
1540. With Yoshimoto's plan and the work of the vassals who wish to return to the castle, he will enter Okazaki Castle. For this reason, the Matsudaira family came under the patronage of the Imagawa family.
In addition, while the vassals who worked hard to return to the castle came to have power inside the Matsudaira family, the granduncle's belief camp (who himself has already died) also surrendered and re-served after Hirotada's return. .. However, it seems that the inside of the Matsudaira family was confused for a while, as there were naturally some people who opposed re-serving because of such a turmoil.
Birth of Firstborn Takechiyo and feud with the Oda clan
Hirotada finally returned to Nejo, even though he was confused. Since I was just around the age, the next thing I expect from the people around me is the birth of a tracer.
About a year after returning to the castle, he became the daughter of Owari's Ogawa castle owner, Tadamasa Mizuno (who controls the area located west of Mikawa at the eastern end of Owari), Odai, and the following year, Takechiyo (later). Ieyasu Tokugawa) was born.
At that time, while Hirotada's uncle (father, Kiyoyasu's younger brother) Nobutaka is going to Yoshimoto Imagawa to greet New Year's greetings on behalf of Hirotada, his vassals take over Nobutaka's castle.
Hirotada thought that Nobutaka's relationship was good and there was no reason to betray, but the past when Okazaki Castle was expelled due to betrayal within the same family cannot be erased. As a result of discussions with the vassals who were afraid that it would be the same as the conflict with Nobutaka, Nobutaka was expelled and went to the Oda clan.
Looking at the history so far, it seems that the Matsudaira family had people who were closely related to the Oda family. It can be inferred that the Oda clan also entered the vassals of Nobutaka. If Nobuhide and Nobuhide were connected, it seems that the repeated betrayals inside the Matsudaira family can be convinced.
In the same year that Nobutaka came under the control of the Oda clan, Hirotada's father-in-law, Mizuno Tadamasa, died. Tadamasa is a person who protected his territory while balancing by cooperating with Nobuhide Oda when he invaded Mikawa and by marrying his daughter to Hirotada, who was strongly influenced by the Imagawa clan.
However, when Tadamasa died in the Mizuno family and Nobumoto took over, the policy changed at once. Nobumoto leaned toward the Oda clan.
The Imagawa and Oda families were in a hostile relationship, and the Matsudaira family, the head of Hirotada, was assisted by the Imagawa family, so it was necessary to review the relationship with each other. In the end, Hirotada will give priority to the relationship with Mr. Imagawa and make a tough decision to divorce the Odai no kata. The alliance with the Mizuno family was returned to a blank slate. Taking this opportunity, the Matsudaira family, led by Hirotada, will be at the forefront of the battle with the Oda family, and the battle with the Oda family will continue frequently.
The battle with the Oda clan was very tough. Hirotada could not withstand the onslaught from the Oda clan, and in 1547 asked Yoshimoto Imagawa for reinforcements. However, it is not easy.
The Matsudaira clan seems to have been caught up in the Oda clan's strategy several times, so with care, Yoshimoto Imagawa stipulated that "if Chiyo Takechi (6 years old at the time) was offered as a hostage". Hirotada accepted it.
However, during the escort of Takechiyo, the Oda clan robs Takechiyo again due to the betrayal of his vassals. The Oda clan demanded that the Imagawa clan be separated from the Imagawa clan with Takechiyo as a shield, but Hirotada refused. He remained subordinate to the Imagawa family.
It is reported that Hirotada cried because he lost his uncle Nobutaka, who is one of the few relatives who went to the Oda clan, with his own army arrow during repeated battles.
Sudden death of Matsudaira Hirotada
The year after Nobutaka died in the war, another tragedy broke out. Hirotada died suddenly.
He is said to have died at the age of 24 or 25.
The cause of death is not well understood, but
- Assassination by thugs from neighboring countries
- The theory of illness
- Ikki's murder theory
There seem to be various theories.
Chiyo Takechiyo was still taken hostage by the Oda clan, so the Imagawa clan sent his vassals to Okazaki Castle, considering the possibility that the vassals of the Matsudaira clan would turn over to the Oda clan.
After that, the Imagawa clan exchanged hostages with Nobuhide Oda's son, Nobuhiro, in the battle with the Oda clan (1549, Battle of Anjo). Chiyo Takechi will be returned to Yoshimoto Imagawa.
In this way, the influence of the Oda clan on Mikawa diminished, and the Matsudaira clan was completely placed under the control of Imakawa.