some say he cut his belly While others believe that he set fire to the palace and perished in the flames what we do know however is that of this man who made everyone tremble not only at the sound of his voice but At The Mention Of His name there did not remain even a small hair which was not reduced to dust and Ashes as the Flames burned nobunaga's loyal General toyotomi hideyoshi seized the moment immediately Springs into action murdering the murderer of his own Lord which then gives him the the right in essence to claim leadership of nobunaga's vast Coalition of armies EA also watched from a distance Woody subordinate himself to hideyoshi's command or was it time to fight for control Nobunaga hideyoshi and Tokugawa ieyasu these were the men who would bring an end to the brutal Civil Wars they would go down in history as the unifiers there's a story in Japanese that explains the character of the three unifiers and Nobunaga hideyoshi and iyasu are watching a cuckoo bird waiting for it to sing but the bird doesn't sing and Nobunaga says little bird if you don't sing I will kill you and hideyoshi says little bird if you don't sing I'll make you sing and he also says little bird if you don't sing I'll wait for you to sing is a patient strategist who will wait for things to go his way and then he'll Act after nobunaga's death ieyasu and hideyoshi faced off in a measured game of strategy each in his own way trying to outsmart the other foreign as a military leader yayasu was a courageous man who never hesitated in battle however though he was Brave he was also cautious one famous story siasu was known as an excellent Horseman one day he and his troops had to cross a very narrow bridge over a raging River everyone was watching to see how the great yayasa would ride his horse over this dangerous bridge to his men's surprise he also dismounted took the horse's reins in his hands and carefully led the horse over the bridge to the other side of the river that's how Vigilant he was I believe this kind of caution helped him to be victorious in battle while eaasu practiced restraint and careful strategizing hideyoshi acted quickly and decisively Yoshi was from pezzenstock the son of a lowly foot soldier he worked his way up through the ranks hideyoshi became known as a brilliant General and he held the same Grand Vision of himself when my mother conceived me she was given a miraculous omen on the very night that I was born the room was suddenly a glow with sunlight thus changing night today finally they divined the child whose birth was attended by these Miracles was destined to become a man of unusual attainments this prediction is fulfilled in me shortly after hideyoshi took control eaasu challenged him but eaasu soon realized there was more to be gained as hideyoshi's Ally than as his enemy thank you hideyoshi rewarded ieyasu for his loyalty with a vast domain of land and ordered him to make his headquarters in the remote fishing Village of Edo 300 miles east of hideyoshi's Castle in Osaka some might have thought the gift an insult but in Edo the village that would later become Tokyo ieyasu busied his troops building a massive five-story Castle fortification foreign within the walls of the city of Osaka hideyoshi was consumed with fortifying his own castle reputed to be the most impregnable Fortress of its time it was also one of the most ostentatious Osaka Castle had a strategic location close to the Emperor's Palace in nearby Kyoto for centuries the emperor had remained a ruler in name only ignored by those who truly held power he wild away his days with court gossip calligraphy and poetry by eaasu's time the court is still powerless but it is only the court which can appoint the Shogun so in the ultimate symbolic sense the court is still the Arbiter of final Resort that's why all the Warlords are aiming for Kyoto you have to get the emperor to recognize that you're the most powerful of all of the combatants on the field of battle hideyoshi curried the emperor's favor inviting him to no plays and musical performances but the emperor would not Grant this Warrior of peasant stock the title of Shogun eaasu never relinquished his desire for power he offered the emperor more than invitations he arranged the marriage of one of his granddaughters to the emperor's son all of the Lords in Japan used family to cement political alliances you would marry off daughters or marry off sons what eaasu did in particular was have an abundance of sons that he could use he could set them up to support his nascent government he could set them up as independent military Lords that he could then call upon for help in contrast eaasu's rival hideyoshi failed to produce a male heir finally he adopted a nephew and groomed him as his successor then at 60 years of age hideyoshi finally fathered a son of his own he called him hideyori and he was the jewel of his life hideyoshi's thoughts now turn to the safety and survival of his young son I cannot describe the endless tidium as if I were guarding an empty house when hideyori is not here with me I say again strictly ordered that all be vigilant against fire night have someone make the rounds of the rooms two or three times as hideyoshi obsessed over his own son his adopted son now an adult was in peril is clear that by the end of his life hideyoshi was acting more and more erratically he became increasingly cruel if not sadistic then when he finally in his final years produced an heir of his own he ordered this adult male who had been his heir to commit suicide Oshi then ordered his adopted son's entire family put to death a missionary recounted they were drawn along the streets in the carts to the open view of the world 31 ladies and gentlemen with the two sons and one daughter of his adopted son the oldest of whom was not more than five years old all their bodies were thrown into a pit over which was built a little chapel with a tomb in it with this inscription the Tomb of the traitors