The Hojo family did not have a garrison on Misaki Castle Island, but on the other side of the castle island was Misaki Castle, and Misaki Castle had a garrison. It was just because the Hojo family believed that Misaki Castle would not be destroyed before the defeat of its own Izu Navy and Sagami Navy.
There is no danger, so the number of troops stationed is very limited, only about 600 people in total.
The envoy sent by Luo Yuan stated that the Maritime Trade Alliance had established the "Japanese Kanto Squadron" and assigned him to lead the Kanto Squadron to set up a base in the Kanto region, with an accompanying force of "more than 30 giant ships and more than 10,000 troops." He requested
Negotiated with Hojo Ushimasa, Hojo Ujimasa and his son, and made it clear that the Maritime Trade Alliance was willing to finance and lease Misaki Castle as a trade base.
Misaki Castle and Castle Island are only seven or eight miles away from each other. The defenders sent people to look out, and sure enough they saw more than 30 giant ships. However, the defenders felt that there was something wrong with the "strong army of more than 10,000". They thought that the Sea Trade Alliance
The number of troops brought by Japan's Kanto Squadron is about 8,000.
In fact, this estimate is relatively accurate in terms of the total number of people, because although the regular force accompanying the Marine Corps is only about 1,800 people, there are many naval personnel, the most important of which are the accompanying ships of thirty armed transport ships.
personnel.
According to the establishment of Jinghua armed transport ships, each armed transport ship has a capacity of 180 people. Thirty ships have a capacity of 5,400 people. Add in the Kanto Squadron flagship "Left-wing Hussars" with a capacity of about 300 people, which is close to 6,000 people.
In addition, as he had already predicted, Luo Yuan believed that he would either need to rebuild Misaki Castle or directly deploy defenses on Castle Island, so with Gao Pangshi's approval, he mobilized more than a thousand design craftsmen and strong laborers from Jinghua Infrastructure
, in fact, the entire fleet brought about 9,000 people. However, the Misaki Castle defenders did not know the actual number of crew members on each ship, so the estimate was a little low, but it is not harmful.
Nine thousand versus six hundred, and the other side has strong ships and cannons. If there is a fight, Misaki Castle built on the seaside will definitely not be able to stop it. Therefore, the defenders of Misaki Castle immediately expressed their willingness to negotiate - of course not them, they can only
Immediately send a letter to Odawara Castle and let Hojo Ushimasa, Ujinao and his son make a decision.
Luo Yuan agreed to this, because he also planned to take this opportunity to build temporary fortifications to prevent the Hojo family from having a seizure and retaking the castle island by force. This possibility is actually very low, but it is still necessary to be on guard. In addition, wait until Fengfeng
With Omi Hideyoshi's army in place, it is difficult to say whether Lord Guan Bai will seize the island. After all, the strength of his navy is only weak compared to the Sea Trade Alliance, but it is not weak compared to the Kanto Squadron alone.
of.
Of course, the construction of Castle Island could not be hidden from Misaki Castle, but the defenders of Misaki Castle simply pretended to be deaf and dumb, pretending not to know. They only had 600 people in their hands, including only about 200 samurai, and only a few ships.
The small boat is completely helpless against the castle island on the other side.
The Hojo family was not slow to receive the news, and received the report the next morning. At this time, the Hojo family was in the midst of the "Odawara Assessment." The so-called "Odawara Assessment" was mentioned before, in the later "Japanese Mandarin Dictionary"
The explanation is as follows: In the 18th year of Tensho, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked the Hojo clan of Odawara Castle, the opinions in the city on the war were different, and time was wasted. It refers to meetings and discussions that never come to fruition. Also known as "
Specifically speaking, the current Hojo family is facing the attack of Hideyoshi's army. The family's opinions cannot be reached and the decision is delayed. Such fruitless discussions are called Odawara assessment.
This evaluation has lasted for more than a month. From January to early February, the Hojo family almost reached no decision. At this time, the central member who advocated perseverance was Matsuda Kenhide, and the one who advocated attack was Ise Sadamune. However, the first advocate of the attack theory
The leader was actually the Hojo Clan, the lord of Habitat Castle, but he was far away, so in Odawara Castle, the Ise clan was the core.
However, neither the Ise clan nor the Hojo clan can clearly judge whether this is right or wrong. At this time, the father and son of the Hojo clan Masaru and the Hojo clan held such a meeting to decide whether to adopt a policy of holding firm or attacking the enemy.
There is nothing wrong with the big discussion itself.
What they don't know is that while they are still struggling to decide whether to defend or attack, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's strategic plan has long been completed. The Japanese Kanbai's idea is very clear: attack each enemy on the attacking side.
Hideyoshi, eighteen years after entering Tensho, had begun intense preparations. Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had long been appointed as the vanguard of the Odawara attack, convened the generals for a military meeting on the 21st of the first lunar month; he was ordered to dispatch water
Terumoto Mori of the army also ordered his retainers to start preparations on the 28th.
If we look at the original historical situation, on March 1st, Hideyoshi would personally lead 32,000 directly affiliated troops and set off from Juleti in Kyoto. However, before that, the pioneer Tokugawa Ieyasu had already set off for the expedition.
On March 25th or 24th, Tokugawa Ieyasu's army, as the vanguard, began to engage in close combat with the Hojo clan's vanguard, the army guarding the Izu castles. Hideyoshi had already made detailed plans for the various branch cities of the Hojo clan.
Through his investigation, he knew exactly how many troops there were in each city.
The Hojo family also knew that their own strength was controlled by the other party. The opponent's army could be dispatched at least several times that of their own. They also knew it. Therefore, the Hojo family began to quarrel again about the Sea Trade Alliance forces that suddenly appeared in their own hinterland.
.
First of all, regarding the purpose of this force, the Hojo family has two views:
One theory is that the Sea Trade Alliance is actually Hideyoshi's conspiracy. This view is mainly supported by the estimation of Hideyoshi's economic strength, because during the more than ten years that the Sea Trade Alliance has been operating Japanese trade, the style of the Sea Trade Alliance can basically be used.
To sum it up in one sentence, "Money is more important than life."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Don’t get me wrong, this does not mean that the sea trade alliance robs by force, and even sacrifices your own life for money. This sentence is from the standpoint of the Japanese
, means that the Sea Trade Alliance only wants to make money, not kill people.
Because of this inherent impression, some people in the Hojo family believe that the Sea Trade Alliance must have received a large reward from Toyotomi Hideyoshi to help Toyotomi Hideyoshi stab the Hojo family in the hinterland first - because the Sea Trade Alliance itself is very rich, so it must be
Only Toyotomi Hideyoshi had enough financial resources to "buy" them.
But more people still disagree with this view. The reason is that as soon as the Sea Trade Alliance arrived, they proposed a "lease" to the Hojo family and made it clear that they were willing to pay the rent. Since they are willing to give money and said the rent is negotiable, then accuse them of being
It makes no sense to accept Toyotomi Hideyoshi's money to become a mercenary.
This time, Hojo Ushimasa finally made a quicker judgment and thought that we could talk first anyway. So the Hojo family made what they thought was a high price: the Maritime Trade Alliance would invest 10,000 gu (Yongle Tongbao) per year to lease Misaki Castle and its affiliated areas, or
Pay with the current price of rice.
At this time, Japan's economic level was very low, and Misaki Castle was underdeveloped. The annual tax revenue exceeded the average of more than 2,000 guan. Calculated at 10,000 guan per year, the Hojo family made a lot of money. Not only that,
The one that can be paid with rice is even more confusing, because there is a war soon, and the prices of all kinds of food are one price a day - no, they are several prices a day, and they are rising every day. And rice is the price of the samurai class.
The price of staple food is astonishing.
After the decision was made, it was delivered to Luo Yuan early the next morning. Something unexpected happened. Luo Yuan accepted it on the spot and expressed his willingness to pay five years' rent in advance, 20% of which would be paid in Yongle Tongbao, and 80% of it.
Rice payment. And "to show sincerity", he was willing to lead a ship to the seaside of Odawara Castle to make a deal with the Hojo family face to face.
The only request made by Luo Yuan was also "wonderful", because he asked for a fifty-year lease of Misaki Castle, with payments to be made every five years.
The Hojo family was in turmoil. The Sea Trade Alliance was actually going to reach such a long-term lease. The Hojo family was overjoyed when they received the news. You know, even with this transaction, the Hojo family can directly obtain 10,000 guan of Yongle Tongbao and a large amount of rice.
This is of great significance for stabilizing Odawara Castle in the "Cage War".
You should know that the rice yield per mu in Japan was very low at this time. The rice yield per mu in a single season was only about 200 kilograms.
Of course, it is very troublesome to estimate the value of ancient rice. All situations must be converted to ancient standards. As mentioned before, it was not that the common people in Japan at this time did not eat rice, they just were not willing to eat white rice because of white rice, soybeans and the like.
The crops have the highest price and are the ones that daimyo likes to collect the most.
It is most cost-effective for farmers to save valuable crops and eat red rice, black rice, black rice, even rice bran, miscellaneous grains and other crops to satisfy their hunger. Due to incomplete data, later generations of scholars can only "idealize" the data at hand.
It is difficult to estimate the proportion of rice in food during the Warring States Period. However, there is data from the 7th year of Meiji that shows that agriculture accounted for about 60% of the national output value, and rice accounted for about 40% of the total output value and 62.8% of agriculture. So,
According to this ratio, excluding cash crops such as tobacco and exotic crops such as sweet potatoes, rice production accounts for 76% of the total production of rice, wheat, beans, miscellaneous grains, fruits and other crops.
If the paddy fields at the end of the 16th century were 1 million koku, with an average yield of 1.4 koku, and the dry fields were 500,000 kō, with an average yield of 1.2 koku, the total would add up to almost 20 million koku, which is about the same as the height of a koku. If this is true, rice production would be the highest among all rice fields.
The proportion of agricultural crops is only 70%, which is slightly less than during the Meiji period.
Uh, I'm going too far. In short, in the Kanto region at the moment, which is also the territory of the Hojo family, the original price of rice was 0.86 kiwan per koku, but shortly after Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued the Odawara Expedition Order, the price of rice is now basically at one koku.
Rice sold for as high as 2 guan, more than doubled.
In other words, Luo Yuan is willing to pay the rent of Misaki Castle in rice for the next five years, which is equivalent to giving the Hojo family 20,000 shi of rice at a time.
How many people can eat this rice for how long? According to the support rice of the Edo period, men had 5 pieces of rice per day, women had 3 pieces of rice per day, and the average was 4 pieces. 1000 pieces of rice were equivalent to one stone, that is, one stone of rice could feed 250 people for one day.
Although Odawara Castle is known as the first fortified city in Japan, in fact, the stone height of Sagami Province to which Odawara Castle belongs is less than 200,000 stones, and the population is far less than that of Musashi Province, another key country controlled by the Hojo family. Therefore, there is no "cage" in Odawara Castle.
When the city was built, the population in the city was only about 40,000. Even if the city was caged, the population was not expected to exceed 70,000 at most.
In other words, 20,000 koku of rice can at least feed Odawara Castle for more than 71 days during its cage period. A windfall from heaven, do you think the Hojo family is surprised?
Therefore, Hojo Ushimasa changed his procrastinating style and immediately instructed his son, the head of the Hojo family, Hojo Ushimasa, to sign a contract with the envoy of the Kanto Squadron. The most important agreements between the two parties are as follows:
The Hojo family leased Misaki Castle to the Sea Trade Alliance on behalf of "Japanese Sagami Mamoru" for fifty years; the annual rent was Yongle Tongbao 10,000 guan, or the equivalent value of gold, silver, rice at the time, the Sea Trade Alliance could choose
Payment is made every five years; the "Japan Sagami Guard" ensures the legality of the lease. The Maritime Trade Alliance can set up its own "castle" management in Misaki Castle and station troops as needed, and the fleet protects the safety of Misaki Castle.
In addition, Hojo Uji Nao himself temporarily proposed a secret agreement, hoping that "when we need it, the Maritime Trade Alliance can provide certain support, including military support, and the Hojo family will reciprocate the corresponding support."
After Luo Yuan's envoy added, "The return you mentioned needs to be negotiated and agreed upon with us," he decisively expressed his agreement and signed it at the beginning. The two parties exchanged the contract and kept it. Afterwards, Hojo Uchihara ordered on the spot to Misaki Castle.
, withdrew the garrison to Odawara Castle.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Then Luo Yuan's envoy returned to Misaki Castle Island with the contract satisfied, and Hojo Naoya rushed back to the city excitedly, planning to discuss with his father and other family elders how to use this opportunity.
A secret agreement.
When Luo Yuan received the news, he immediately sent Marine Corps Commander Gao Yunping to lead his headquarters to take over Misaki Castle. On the same day, the relocation and defense work of Misaki Castle was completed. The Hojo family defenders of Misaki Castle evacuated and rushed back to Odawara Castle.
People from Jinghua's infrastructure immediately followed up and entered Misaki Castle to begin the bastion-like transformation of the city's defense system. Luo Yuan himself was responsible for the planning of the port facilities. At the same time, he sent a ship to Satsuma to contact the local fleet and apply for emergency food support from Gao Pragmatic - because
The previous rented food was actually part of the military food they planned to reserve.
The food problem is not big. In recent years, Southern Xinjiang has not only restored its pre-war grain output, but also under the planning and guidance of Jinghua, coupled with the development of the three major plains, Southern Xinjiang's grain output has increased year by year and already has a considerable
The export surplus. Twenty thousand kilo of rice was a windfall for a Japanese daimyo, but for southern Xinjiang it was barely a drop in the bucket.
Time flies. Hideyoshi, on his side, considered that if the Yamanaka Castle that controlled Tokaido was not captured, the next step of the strategy could not be carried out. Therefore, Hideyoshi appointed his nephew Toyotomi Hidetsu as the general on March 29th.
, attack the city in the mountain.
Toyotomi Hideji personally led an army of 19,500 people, plus Nakamura Kazushi, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, Tanaka Yoshimasa, Horio Yoshiharu, Ichiyanagi Naosue and other members, the total number was known as 67,800 people.
Although this number is somewhat exaggerated, compared with the 4,000 or at most 5,000 defenders of the mountain city, the attackers outnumbered the defenders by at least ten times.
After the Odawara expedition order was issued, the first battle between the Toyotomi Army and the Hojo Army was about to begin.
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