Beji Village, Golden Pavilion.
The female elder Shiina was sitting on the floor, opposite Mrs. Momoko.
"Madam, we have almost established a good relationship with the princes of Kansai. They like our steel ingots very much. They also love the luxury goods imported by the Ming Dynasty. But we still need to continue working hard on the Kanto side. The situation there is more complicated.
Moreover, it is a tightly controlled territory of the Tokugawa family, and we can easily expose it."
Kanto and Kansai mainly refer to Kanhara as the boundary, the east is called Kanto, and the west is Kansai.
Sekigahara is a basin four kilometers from east to west and two kilometers from north to south, surrounded by Mount Yobuki to the north, Mount Sasao and Mount Tenman to the west, Mount Matsuo to the southwest, and Mount Nangong to the southeast.
Sekigahara is an important road connecting the Hokuriku Road to the northwest and Yinshi to the southeast. It is an excellent venue for field battles.
In fact, Sekigahara is a broad term. It can be said that it extends along the Yinbuki Mountains, Sekigahara, and Suzuka Mountains.
In addition to Sekigahara, Osaka is located exactly in the center of the long and narrow Honshu Island. It is located in the waist of Honshu Island. If you control Osaka, you can basically cut off Honshu Island from the middle.
Taozi's big eyes were blinking, thinking about Elder Shiina's words.
Although, now, because of Yang Fan's support, her strength is growing every day. However, she is cautious by nature and is afraid of being discovered by the man in Edo City.
"We are developing very well now. In fact, a big reason is because after the Battle of Sekigahara, the Kansai princes were defeated and were slaughtered by the Kanto princes from Kanto, headed by Edo. These old names are unwilling to give up.
, people are still there. They are willing to support anything that can cause trouble for Edo."
The female elder Shiina nodded. The reason why they were able to divide areas and open small shops in the countryside and open shops in the city was all because of the protection of these famous names.
Moreover, Taozi's late husband's status as a general of the Eastern Army also played a big role. These are the natural conditions for her to preach and expand her business.
"But if we develop aggressively towards Kanto in this sensitive period, we will be discovered by General Tokugawa sooner or later. We are far from ready for a showdown. Therefore, as Yang Jun said, we still develop as wretchedly as
good."
The female elder Shiina said: "Yes, at least the current situation is becoming increasingly dangerous. The third generation of generals have intensified their persecution of Jili Zhidan. But the sects currently floating on the surface are our best cover. Let them continue to fight with the generals.
It's best. If we expose it one day later, we can increase our strength."
Taozi said: "I don't have much ambition, I just want to protect myself. If I can support the religious daimyo behind the scenes and separate Kyushu Island, that would be my greatest hope."
During the Warring States Period, the outcome was still undecided, and all the forces were seeking ways to strengthen their own side. The arrival of Western merchant ships made them discover that overseas trade was a chicken that laid golden eggs.
At that time, all the daimyo, especially the daimyo of Shikoku and Kyushu, were very supportive of the Catholic mission. They were baptized into Christianity one after another. For example, Oda Nobunaga, Matsuura Takanobu, Arima Harunobu, and Omura Jun Omura
Zhong et al.
The great development of Western missionary missions mainly came from the support of Oda Nobunaga.
Oda Nobunaga had conflicts with Buddhist forces, so he supported Catholic missionary work and provided them with every convenience. He even allowed Catholicism to spread wherever his army defeated them.
In history, in the 12th year of Eiroku, after the "First Nobunaga Siege" was formed, the relationship between Oda Nobunaga and the Kyoto public became increasingly ambiguous. Oda Nobunaga later had a military encounter with the Ishiyama Honganji Temple of the Jodo Shinsect.
Supporting the Jesuit missionary means fighting against Buddhist forces, and at the same time, it can also deal with the relationship with the Catholic daimyo of Southwest Gili Chitan and protect trade with the Southern Barbarians.
According to Matsuda Takeshi's research, in the 14 years from 1569 to 1582, Nobunaga met with the Jesuits 15 times in Kyoto and 12 times in Azuchi Castle. Including a total of 31 other times, the alliance between the two can be said to have lasted throughout.
Unfortunately, Nobunaga's ambitions came to an abrupt end after the rebellion of his direct lineage.
In 1582, the 10th year of Tensho/the 9th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the "Honnoji Rebellion" broke out. Oda Nobunaga's important subordinate Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled in Honnoji Temple in Kyoto and killed his master Nobunaga.
Oda Nobunaga died in the Honnoji Incident, which brought Nobunaga's "world-wide military deployment" to an abrupt end.
Catholicism lost its strongest supporter. This coup changed the historical process of Japan and also changed the fate of Christianity in Japan.
If Oda Nobunaga succeeds, he will establish the Oda Shogunate. Then Catholicism will become an important religion in Japan.
Unfortunately, the Jesuits' more than one hundred years of development and painstaking planning finally came to nothing with the death of Oda Nobunaga.
During the Warring States Period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi also tried his best to win over the Jesuits. After all, everyone knows that the only way to survive in troubled times is to strengthen yourself by any means necessary.
But after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, he changed from a supporter to a persecutor almost overnight.
On June 19, 1586, the 14th year of the Tensho period/the 14th year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Hideyoshi issued the "Bantianlian Emancipation Order" and announced the expulsion of missionaries. However, he was concerned about the impact on overseas trade, and in fact the order was not fully implemented.
British scholar Bailey pointed out that after the promulgation of the order, more than 10 missionaries still stayed in Nagasaki and served as guides for Portuguese merchants to trade in Nagasaki. More than 130 Jesuits still preached in Kyushu, and the number of believers was still increasing rapidly.
Other forces represented by the Spanish Franciscan Order also began to enter Japan.
However, Hideyoshi's motives deeply influenced Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Tokugawa Ieyasu unified Japan, he deeply believed in Hideyoshi's policy of separating religion and trade.
He banned Catholicism in order to prevent the religious princes of Kansai from colluding with overseas forces to cause chaos, and also to restrict them from increasing their strength through foreign trade.
From this time on, the shogunate's persecution of believers gradually began to intensify.
In 1597, the second year of Keicho/the 25th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Hideyoshi ordered a total of 26 Japanese believers and Franciscan monks to be crucified in Nagasaki. The following year, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died of illness in Fushimi Castle.
In the 18th year of Keicho, when Ieyasu had explicitly prohibited his retainers from practicing religion, the daimyo Arima Harunobu's religious beliefs were exposed, and he was immediately stripped and exiled. He was then forced to have his retainers kill him.
In January of the 19th year of Keicho, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had retreated behind the scenes, instructed the second-generation general Tokugawa Hidetada to organize the drafting of a new "Bantian Company Posthumous Order," also known as the "Keicho Prohibition Order."
Announced the expulsion of all missionaries in Japan, including 89 Jesuits, 4 Franciscan friars, 2 Dominican friars, and 2 Augustinian friars.
After Tokugawa Ieyasu died of illness, the second-generation shogun Hidetada's ban on religion became more radical, and he began to constantly create excuses to execute believers. The "Great Martyrdom of Kyoto" and the "Great Martyrdom of Genwa" occurred one after another.
After the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu came to power in 1623, the 9th year of Yuanwa/the 3rd year of the Tomorrow Apocalypse, he once again concocted tragedies such as the "Great Martyrdom of Edo", the "Great Martyrdom of Hirado" and the "Great Martyrdom of Tohoku". There were even more
There are many measures aimed at believers such as "Unzen Hell" and "Tae".
According to statistics by scholar Kiyoshi Inoue, from 1614 to 1635, as many as 280,000 believers were persecuted to death.
Gili Chidan believers could not endure the massacre.
Finally, the Shimabara Rebellion was launched in 1637.
Due to the disparity in power, the Shimabara Rebellion was brutally suppressed. Immediately, the whole of Japan began a campaign to exterminate believers.
In 1644, the year when the Ming Dynasty fell, the last Jesuit in Japan was martyred, and the "Priestless Era" began, and Japan's "Gili Chidan Era" came to a complete end.
As early as 1627, when Yang Fan met with Mrs. Taozi, he realized that the great turmoil ten years later was the best opportunity to investigate Japan. From that time on, he began to arrange everything in Japan.
This chapter has been completed!