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“Shut up!!! I’ve been poor since the day I was born! Poor during the Meiji era, too! Even if the times change, if poverty doesn’t change, what else can I do but earn money!!”
“Have you ever eaten porridge made from dirt? Have you ever eaten a pot of just weeds? Do you know that you couldn’t eat either without the saltiness dripping from your eyes!?”
“Do the heroes of the Restoration understand? Do the beloved daughters of court physicians understand? Do the genius successors of the secret police understand? And, aren’t you all beautiful people? How could you understand!!”
“For those who have received nothing from heaven—no brains, no body, no beauty, no virtue, no lineage, no talent, nothing that can be called strength—there’s only money to become more than ordinary!!!”
“If I have to be saved by you, the man-slaying Battousai, I’d rather be a real corpse with no money to earn…!! Even if I have to engage in evil deeds, be thrown into a prison, or wade through filth, as long as I live, I will earn money! Earning money is Takeda Kanryuu!!”
Imagining “what if” scenarios in history is one of the ways to enjoy history.
If Hideyoshi had had a child when he was young, perhaps the Tokugawa shogunate would not have come to be, and the Toyotomi rule might have continued into later years.
Even Hideyoshi, who unified the country, had his own worries.
His worry was his successor.
Hideyoshi had over 100 wives, concubines, and mistresses, but he did not have a child who could succeed him.
Hideyoshi’s relationship with Nene, who supported him since his nameless days, was good. Nene was one of the few people who could tell Hideyoshi when he was wrong.
The reason why famous generals like Kato Kiyomasa, Fukushima Masanori, Kuroda Nagamasa, and Kobayakawa Hideaki gathered together like a family and united was that Nene had loved them like her own children.
However, as time passed and Hideyoshi became the ruler of the country, he began to ignore Nene’s opinions and became obsessed with young women who could bear children.
Amidst this, when Hideyoshi was 53 years old, Chacha (later known as Yodo-dono) became pregnant.
Given that the average lifespan at that time was 37-38 years, 53 would be comparable to being in one’s 80s or 90s in modern terms.
It’s not hard to imagine the immense joy Hideyoshi felt at the prospect of a child he had given up on.
However, people of the time, like people today, loved gossip and slander.
It seemed strange that Chacha, who had just married, was able to conceive Hideyoshi’s child after years of Hideyoshi being childless. Wasn’t this child someone else’s?
Nevertheless, in 1589, Chacha gave birth safely.
The child was named “Sute,” which was later changed to “Tsurumatsu.”
Hideyoshi, overjoyed, declared that “Tsurumatsu” would be his successor, even though he had already designated Toyotomi Hideyori as his heir.
However, even the ruler of the country cannot control everything in life.
Unexpected happiness may come, but so can despair that throws one into the depths.
Tsurumatsu died of illness at the age of 2.
Hideyoshi was devastated to the point where he could hardly bear it.
Fortuitously or unfortunately, towards the end of 1592, Chacha became pregnant again.
At this time, Hideyoshi was 57.
Hideyoshi, who had been seen engaging in politics more for personal desires rather than the good of the nation, was no longer capable of governing effectively and showed symptoms similar to dementia.
Possibly still affected by Tsurumatsu’s death, Hideyoshi wrote the following letter to Nene upon learning of Chacha’s pregnancy:
…My child was Tsurumatsu, but he has left this world. Perhaps this next child should belong solely to Chacha…
However, when the second child, Hideyori, was born, Hideyoshi doted on him excessively.
In order to make Hideyori his successor, Hideyoshi had Hideyori’s predecessor, Hideyoshi, killed.
When Hideyori was 4 years old, Hideyoshi wrote the following letter:
…I will come to you immediately and would like to kiss your mouth…
The year after this letter, Hideyoshi fell gravely ill.
Hideyoshi is said to have summoned Tokugawa Ieyasu to his deathbed and strongly held his hand, saying, “Look after Hideyori.”
Did Hideyoshi foresee the future where his beloved Hideyori would be in peril because of Ieyasu?
Sadly, this forewarning turned into reality as Ieyasu defeated Hideyori, completely annihilating the Toyotomi clan, and the Toyotomi rule ended in just over a decade.
Children cannot be bought with money; they are something bestowed from heaven.
If Hideyoshi had been blessed with a child in his youth, he might have unified the country together with that child and built a foundation for them to rule.
However, when Hideyoshi died, Hideyori was still only 5 years old.
The late child’s arrival led to Hideyoshi’s excessive love for Hideyori, which ultimately caused the collapse of the Toyotomi regime that had been built on the premise of having no children, giving Ieyasu the opportunity to seize control.
Adding to the “what if” of Hideyoshi having had a child in his youth, another “what if” of Hideyori not being born might have also contributed to the continuation of the Toyotomi regime.
For any successful person, life is never fully as one wishes.