Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 433: The night of betrayal – The beginning of chaos. (1)

Despite going through various big and small events, Joseon and Ming were moving forward on their own tracks.

The population was increasing, and merchant ships were floating on the sea for trade.

To look at the overall situation, following Joseon, which was the most active, countries such as Daeyue (大越 Vietnam), Yugu (琉球 Okinawa), and Seomra (暹羅 Thailand) followed the Ming Dynasty and went back and forth between Joseon, Ming, and Tianchu.

However, the country that traded the most and reaped the most profits was Joseon.

Countries such as Vietnam and Seomra mostly traded their own natural resources. And it was not possible to reap great benefits from such natural resources alone.

However, Joseon and the people who followed it were able to make great profits from products made with advanced technology.

In the international trade market, which began as close as Japan and extended as far as Cheonchuk and Alexandria, Joseon Dynasty was solidifying its position as a top-class product with good value for money.

* * *

While Joseon, Ming, and neighboring countries were busy moving forward, there was a country that was falling further and further behind in this competition.

That country was Japanese.

In particular, unlike Joseon and Ming, which were located right next to each other, maintaining a stable situation in their own way, the Japanese nation was rushing toward a critical point.

The person who was driving the Japanese nation into crisis was Ashikaga Yoshinori, the shogunate’s shogun.

Born as the third son of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun, Yoshinori became a monk and lived as a priest of the Tendai sect.

The 5th shogun Ashikaga Yoshikazu, the child of his half-brother Ashikaga Yoshimochi, died suddenly and was succeeded by Yoshimochi, who became shogun.

The biggest characteristic of him who became the 6th shogun was that he had a firm conviction that becoming shogun was a destiny of heaven.

This confidence was born in the process of him becoming shogun.

When his child died suddenly and he himself fell into critical condition, Yoshimochi refused to designate a successor. Accordingly, the shogunate’s ministers agreed to select a new shogun by drawing lots.

It was Yoshinori who was selected as shogun in the lottery held at Iwashimizu Hachiman Palace. (Note 1) Because

Yoshinori became shogun in this way, he had strong confidence that he had received the mandate of heaven.

-Anything that offends or goes against one’s will is to disobey the mandate of heaven. Therefore, it is natural to punish such people.

The combination of these beliefs with the political goals of reviving the fallen shogunate authority and reviving the shogun’s pro-government system gave birth to the Reign of Terror.

The history of the shogunate began to be written in blood, starting with the political revenge shown in the struggle against Enryakuji Temple.

In addition to these large-scale incidents, Yoshinori also imposed harsh punishments on anyone who offended him in the slightest, which led to the saying ‘fear of all people’ going around among the people.

* * *

The Japanese situation worsened after Hyang’s intervention.

The combination of the Joseon naval force, which was addicted to artillery, and the virtues of Hyang, not only destroyed the Japanese pirates, but also significantly weakened the shogunate’s grip on the sea.

This was because the route to the East Sea of Joseon, which was one of the main fishing grounds, was blocked.

After receiving one blow, the subsequent blow was Joseon’s economic invasion.

While the main source of income of the Kamakura shogunate, which was the shogunate before Muromachi, was traditional agricultural products, the main source of income of the Muromachi shogunate was the combined trade of famous snacks.

The relay profits obtained through the shogunate’s monopolized Daeming trade strengthened the power of the Muromachi shogunate.

In such a situation, Joseon’s request to open a trading post was enough to be seen as another opportunity.

Therefore, Yoshinori allowed the opening of a trading office in Joseon.

However, as time passed, Yoshinori learned that this decision was a fatal mistake.

The Joseon Prefecture established in Naniwa (Osaka’s old name), which was within the shogunate’s unwavering sphere of influence, benefited the shogunate as Yoshinori thought. This was because lords from nearby regions flocked to Joseon to obtain goods, bringing in enormous amounts of wealth.

However, the second Joseon superior installed in Nagato was a trap.

The order to create a trading post in Nagato rather than Shimonoseki, a traditional trading port where Ouchi had worked hard since ancient times, was aimed at bleeding Ouchi. It was aimed at weakening Ouchi, which would occur in the process of spending additional military expenses while reorganizing the area where Shangguan would be located and deploying defense facilities and troops to guard the Sanghang area.

“Of course, there will be profits through the Joseon business established in Nagato. However, if I give a sneak peek to the lords around Ouchi, they will take care of themselves. If that happens, Ouchi will have a hard time with Nagato. “Then I can step forward and get my hands on it.”

This was Yoshinori’s calculation. And it was a misjudgment.

Ouchi had endured the expenditure. And after enduring those expenses, the profits coming in through Nagato enriched Ouchi.

“Was there wealth in Ouchi that I didn’t know about?”

Yoshinori, sensing something unusual, quietly sent spies, but none of them returned.

After examining the situation, Yoshinori came to one conclusion.

“It is clear that we have joined hands with Joseon!”

Although he was sure of that, Yoshinori could not easily touch Ouchi.

Ouchi (大內), who had grown tremendously since joining hands with Joseon, was difficult for even Yoshinori to mess with.

Yoshinori, who was well aware of the ambitions of past Ouchi lords, kept his eyes on the Ouchi family.

What made Yoshinori uneasy was that on the one hand, there were lords who secretly joined hands with Joseon or Ouchi while keeping an eye on him.

A representative example was the Shibukawa family, which received the title of Emperor of Kuju.

The Shibukawa family, known as the Won family in Joseon, inherited the official position of the former Emperor Tame by the shogunate.

However, shortly after King Sejong ascended to the throne, he became dependent on Ouchi due to the dispute with the Soi clan.

In such a situation, the hand extended by Joseon was something that could not be rejected. The Shibukawa family, who took Joseon’s hand, joined forces with Ouchi to regain the land they had lost, and conversely created a situation in which the Soi clan fled to Tsushima.

The Shibukawa family, having recovered its foundation in this way, began large-scale cotton cultivation for Joseon. And this consignment cultivation became an important source of income for the Shibukawa family.

And the surrounding lords who saw the growth of Ouchi and Shibukawa began to secretly approach Ouchi and Joseon.

“Holy shit!”

Yoshinori, who was briefed on the situation, swore.

Although it was an urgent situation to regret, it was still forbidden to touch Joseon or Ouchi.

Ouchi was a tough opponent, but Joseon was an even tougher opponent. In the past, Joseon, for example, when it sent troops to Tsushima, it could have been harassed to some extent, but the current Joseon was an opponent that would turn Kyoto into a sea of fire as soon as it did something like that.

Also, from a political perspective, touching Joseon or Ouchi was something that should never be done.

-Everything you do is in accordance with Heaven’s command, so there is nothing wrong with it!

This was Yoshinori’s political philosophy.

Reversing what he had done according to his orders meant that Yoshinori himself would be undermining his own authority.

If that happened, it was certain that not only would it damage the authority of the shogunate, which it had worked hard to revive, but it would also destroy its own political system.

“Damn Joseon! Damn Ouchi!”

Yoshinori constantly criticized Joseon and Ouchi, but this was also a limitation of the Muromachi shogunate.

* * *

No matter what country it is, the biggest energy that maintains the national system was finance.

The problem with the shogunate was that it collapsed as soon as there was a problem with its financial management.

This was because legitimacy, another axis that maintained the regime, was occupied by the emperor.

Therefore, the shogunate had to have money to survive in order to survive.

As a solution to this money problem, the Muromachi shogunate chose the monopoly trade mentioned above.

However, the Muromachi shogunate’s policy of relying solely on trade to secure finances had its limits.

As the population increased within the Japanese country, commerce and industry began to develop gradually, and with the introduction of advanced agricultural technology, surplus productive capacity in rural areas also began to increase.

Even while these changes were taking place, the Muromachi shogunate only placed emphasis on trade, and in the end, all of the economic power that had grown internally was absorbed by local lords and became the spark that started the great fire that later became known as the Warring States Period. (Note 2)

* * *

In the end, Ido Island. Even in a situation where I couldn’t do anything, Yoshinori kept a watchful eye on Ouchi.

And on the other hand, the intensity of the reign of terror has increased. If he deviated from his eyes even a little, even if it was someone close to him, he would be severely punished or his head would be taken away.

Either that, or one day he would suddenly be attacked by an assassin and die.

Eventually, Ouchi Morimi fortified the inside of his mansion in Kyoto.

However, despite this, Morimi, who felt his life was in danger, escaped Kyoto under the pretext of illness and was imprisoned in the estate.

“It would be better to start a protest! Being assassinated is an emissary!”

While Yoshinori was losing his humanity like this, birthmarks slowly began to bloom.

And the center of the birthmark was Ashikaga Mochiuji.

* * *

Kamakura Eoso (鎌倉御所) Ashikaga Mochiuji had many complaints.

The brothers of Yoshimochi, the third shogun, all became monks and entered the monkhood, but he himself did not enter the monkhood.

Therefore, if we were to properly measure it, he should have been the shogun.

“But are you going to reinstate this guy who became a middle class and make him a shogun? “This is clearly a conspiracy!”

However, due to Yoshinori’s reign of terror and surveillance, Mochiuji was unable to publicly express his dissatisfaction.

In this situation of secret groping, Mochiuji smiled as he saw Yoshinori gradually losing his humanity. In particular, Mochiuji clenched his fists when he heard about the curse of Mount Hiei that occurred during the aftermath of the Enryakuji uprising.

“Will I finally get a chance?”

Mochiuji quietly began to reorganize his troops.

And there was someone watching Mochiuji’s movements like this.

It was Uesugi Sadazane (上杉憲実), who was in charge of the duties of Kanto Kanrei (関東管領), Mochiuji’s assistant.

Sadazane, who was able to know Mochiuji’s movements well because he was an assistant, muttered with a face full of worry.

“It’s dangerous…”

I was also worried about the troop maintenance that was progressing in earnest. He wanted to warn him about this, but Mochiuji was becoming more and more distant from him, and at some point, he even showed hostility.

“How long has it been since the war ended?

”

While Sadazane was muttering with a face full of worry, a subordinate came running in with a loud noise.

“My lord! Avoid!”

“What’s going on?”

“The movement of Kamakuradono (鎌倉殿) is unusual! “It’s dangerous!”

Sadazane gritted his teeth at his subordinate’s words.

“It exploded!”

* * *

Note 1) https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashikaga_Yoshinori

Note 2) https://Big Data /2359

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