GOVERNMENT OF IYEYAS
With the removal of Taikosama, the hopes of the Roman Catholic party
revived.
Once more the keystone of the arch was removed, and the ordinary
institutions of the country were found unequal to the crisis.
The deceased ruler had foreseen this, and had made such arrangements
as he could to strengthen the position of his young son. He foresaw
that Iyeyas was the man of the future; the man most fitted by talent,
military capacity, and position to take the reins. He therefore tried
to bind him by ties of marriage, as well as by oaths, to support
the youthful inheritor of power. He had, as one of his methods of
governing, induced or compelled the nobles to lavish large sums of
money in presents to himself, in keeping up large retinues, in making
expensive journeys between their country residences and the capital,
and in building palaces in the two cities of Osaka and Fusimi. By these
means the nobles were impoverished. They could not afford to keep many
armed followers. Mowori of Nagato had been lately compelled to give
up some of his territories, and to pay his respects at the court.
Satsuma had suffered during the recent wars in Kiusiu. Iyeyas alone
had kept aloof from Taikosama. He had kept his court and established
himself at Yedo, where he was allowed to remain undisturbed, an
object of jealousy as well as of fear. Still he seems to have been
occasionally about the court of Taikosama, as he is mentioned in one of
the letters as being present at the meeting of Taiko and his nephew.
He perhaps kept Taikosama’s mother still as a hostage in Yedo. Each
of these potentates, in all probability, knew and read the other’s
thoughts--each thinking that the territories and the position of both
would fall into the hands of the longest liver. The most dissembling
are often the most credulous, and Taikosama was catching at a straw
when he summoned Iyeyas to his deathbed. Iyeyas had refused to visit
him on a former occasion without a hostage in the person of his mother.
On this occasion he came, but, no doubt, with sufficient precautions.
He saw that a political crisis was impending, and he knew that the
fruit he had long waited for was falling into his hands. There was
little reason now why he should not seize it.
The only persons who seem not to have descried the change that was at
hand were the Roman Catholic fathers. By their own letters they do
not appear to have paid any court to the sun rising in the east. No
missions are mentioned to Yedo, or in the Kwanto; no interpreter is
sent to the court of Iyeyas; no conversions are spoken of there as in
Miako and the west; and no priests were located there, who might have
been acceptable if they had been able to speak in the dialect of the
eastern provinces. The Jesuit fathers, up to this time, had rarely
mentioned any of the provinces east of Mino or Owarri.
The Taiko had put to death his nephew, who was of an age fit to have
held the reins after his departure. He left, as successor, Hideyori, a
child of six years of age. The general belief was that this child was
not the son of Taiko, but he himself appears to have firmly regarded
him as such. Recollecting his own origin and rise to the pinnacle
of power, and knowing the turbulent spirits among the lords, his
countrymen, whom he had all his life long been trying to curb, it is
little wonder that he felt uneasy at the prospect opening up to this
child.
The Jesuits of this time write: “As to religion, there were all the
grounds in the world to believe it in a fair way of being established
in Japan. So many potent kings and general officers being all
Christians at the head of a victorious army, and masters of Simo
(Kiusiu), where the inhabitants had all embraced the faith, it was
only prudence in the regents (the Gotairo), who were divided among
themselves, to keep fair with them. Above all, Samburandono (Sanhoshi),
grandson and heir of Nobu nanga, having lately professed himself a
Christian, it was probable the Christians and malcontents would join in
these divisions, and put him in possession of his ancient rights, which
the late Taikosama had unjustly usurped. The faithful began to breathe
after the tyrant’s death.”
Probably the conversion of Sanhoshi (if true) to the Christian side
blinded these fathers to the weakness of his claims, and to the weight,
power, and talents of Iyeyas. The claims of Sanhoshi and Hideyori
were equally weak. Both were the heirs of men who had risen from
comparatively low rank and seized the coveted position, which had been
hereditary in the families of their predecessors, but which, having
been held by these men, their fathers, respectively one after the
other, could not be said to be in their families hereditary.
The first step taken by the Gotairo, or five governors appointed by
Taikosama before his death, who now assumed the power in the name of
Hideyori, was the recall of the army from Corea, showing how much the
whole expedition depended upon the will of the one man, and with how
little favor it was regarded by the people of Japan. This brought back
to the island of Kiusiu a strong re-enforcement of Christians with
Don Austin at their head; and his bitter foe, Toronosuqui, the strong
opponent of the Roman Catholic party.
In the letters written by the Jesuits at this period, the Taiko had
generally been spoken of as the Emperor, and very rarely is any notice
taken of the real Emperor, then living at Miako. Still less notice is
accorded to the Shiogoon, Yoshitaru, who was then living at Miako, and
holding the highest hereditary office that could be held by a subject.
He was of the Ashikanga family, and, so long as he lived, neither
Nobu nanga nor Taikosama could hold this office. In 1597 he died, and
the office, which in the family had become an empty title, was not
conferred on any of his relations. The family is still represented
by individuals at Miako, who, though receiving some privileges, live
in poverty and obscurity. The death of this man, and the cessation
of the hereditary claim to the office, opportunely opened to Iyeyas
the prospect of combining once more the chief power with the highest
hereditary office in the state.
The year 1599 is given, in the native annals, as the first year in
which the English and Dutch ships visited Japan (they are said to
have come to the town of Saccay, near Osaka). Dutch pilots had been
navigating those seas during several years past; some of the accounts
given by Linschoten being the results of observations by Dutchmen.
William Adams, the English pilot of the Dutch fleet of five sail, which
left the Texel on June 24, 1598, did not reach Boongo till April, 1600,
with only nine or ten men surviving out of the crew, and these nearly
worn out with scurvy and privations. He was taken to Osaka, where he
had an interview with Iyeyas, who was much pleased with him; but the
jealousy of the Portuguese was roused, and they tried to instill into
the ears of those to whom they had access malicious reports against
these newcomers.
Meantime, it was impossible that affairs should continue long peaceably
on the present critical footing. The Jesuits, however, were elated
with the appearance of things. “(Gieiaso) Iyeyas ko,[3] now called
Daifusama” (another name for Nai dai jin), “spoke favorably of
religion, giving them leave to exercise their religion at Nagasaki, so
that every one thought the Society re-established in the exercise of
her functions.
“However, it was not long before the governors fell at variance among
themselves--Jiboo no sho and Asano dan jo in the first place. The
grudge between them was of an early date, but the office now held by
both induced them to come to a kind of agreement. A like dissension
happened among the lieutenant-generals in Corea about the late treaty
of peace, and the differences ran so high that each took opposite sides
on their return home--Don Austin and his followers with Jiboo no sho,
and the rest with Asano dan jo. Several of the lords and Daifusama
himself labored hard to compose the difference, and at last sentence
was given in favor of Jiboo no sho and his party. Asano resolved to
right himself by the sword, and in a short time many lords came over
to his party. Don Austin, with Arima, Omura, Satsuma, Tchikugo, and
Terazawa, stuck close to the interest of Jiboo no sho. But what set
the whole kingdom in a flame was a misunderstanding between Jiboo no
sho and Daifusama, the regent of the empire. The former charged Iyeyas
with assuming an air of authority, and with secret practices, as if
he intended to make himself master of the imperial domain. Iyeyas
answered these complaints of the governors with a great deal of modesty
and calmness, and, in the main, gave a fair account of his conduct. But
finding that his opponents were levying troops, he gathered an army of
30,000 men out of his own states to prevent a surprise.
“The nobility were then all at court, part at Fusimi and part at Osaka,
about the young prince. But seeing war declared between Jiboo no sho
and the regent, every one armed himself and his followers, until they
reckoned in the two towns 200,000 combatants, besides inhabitants. The
streets swarmed with soldiers, and nothing was looked for but a grand
massacre. But it being enacted that whoever first broke the peace
should be declared an enemy to the state, it was each one’s business to
keep from hostilities. In this manner they continued for some months
in the same town, and not a stroke on either side. At last Daifusama
being much superior to his adversary (whom most deserted to serve the
regent), he sent to him to rip up his belly for the public good.
“Don Austin, who joined interest with Jiboo no sho (otherwise Ishida
mitzu nari), knew very well that would not serve Daifusama’s turn,
unless, at the same time, he could involve the rest of his party in the
same ruin. In the meantime, Daifusama seized on the castle of Osaka
with the young prince so suddenly that neither the garrison, nor Jiboo
no sho, who lived hard by, had time to put themselves in a posture of
defense. This was a thunderbolt to the latter, who fled to Fusimi, to
the governors, where he was joined by Don Austin. Daifusama pursued
them, and a temporary peace was struck up, on condition that Jiboo no
sho gave up his commission and retired to his residence in the province
of Omi. He took a son of Daifusama’s with him as hostage.”
After this, Iyeyas was supreme, the governors continuing to retain
their empty titles. The Roman Catholics applied to Iyeyas, who received
them so kindly that they were generally of a persuasion that he
intended to restore the churches and permit the fathers to preach the
Gospel, “so very easy are we to believe what we have a mind should
happen.”
However, at this moment they were annoyed by the lord of Firado showing
symptoms of intolerance, for in one night six hundred Christians left
the island and came to Nagasaki, contrary to the laws and edicts of
Taikosama. The province of Higo, in the island of Kiusiu, was now under
the rule of Don Austin, and by his orders the inhabitants were being
converted or coerced into Christianity.
At this juncture the Emperor was a mere shadow. The power had fallen
nominally into the hands of a boy. The scepter, or seat of power, was
at the disposal of the most powerful. The respect for, or fears of,
the lately deceased ruler had not died out; and the carrying out of
his wishes, and the establishment of this boy in his place, was the
alleged intention of each of the contending parties. The one party was
made up of those chiefs or lords who had been about Taikosama during
his life, and had been appointed to high offices under him, such as the
five governors or regents for his son. To these were added those who
had been engaged as commanders in the Corean wars, of whom Satsuma and
Konishi were the ablest and most powerful, the latter being looked upon
as the greatest soldier of his day.
On the other side, Iyeyas had evidently determined that the boy, now
his grandson by marriage, should not stand in the way of his own
advancement to power and position, and that he should be made the
ladder by which he might reach his object.
The empire again resounded with the preparations for war. “Daifusama
was grown so absolute since the late troubles at Osaka and Menco that
he acted and did all by himself, none daring so much as dispute his
commands. This sore perplexed the governors and mortified them to the
quick; however, as soon as Jiboo no sho was retired [to his castle of
Sawoyama, by orders of Iyeyas], they all returned back to Osaka and
Fusimi, Cangerafu only excepted, who pretended a grant from Taikosama
to live three years in his own states.” This was probably Ooyay soongi
kange katzu of Etsingo, one of the wealthiest and most powerful of
the lords, and to him Iyeyas sent orders to repair immediately to the
young prince on pain of being prosecuted as an enemy to the state. The
confederates were trying to divide the forces of their opponent, and to
gain by stratagem what he was beginning to feel himself able to obtain
by the open assertion and display of power. He had possession of the
castle of Osaka and of the town of Fusimi. In the latter he left his
son with a garrison. The confederate lords hoped to seize those places
so soon as Iyeyas left them. Letters were dispatched to Jiboo no sho
and to Konishi, who immediately joined the league, “having no other
intention but to keep their promise with Taikosama, and to preserve
the crown for the young prince.” They tried to draw over the head
officers of “Daifusama’s army; and all things being in readiness, they
wheeled round upon Osaka, and so secured most of the nobility to their
party. The governors, flushed with their success, sent a manifesto to
Daifusama, with heavy complaints of his conduct. They commanded him to
return to Quanto, and positively forbade him the court.”
The governors at the same time ordered all persons in his army to
return to their posts or homes on the penalty of punishment falling
on their relatives and property. This order brought about the death
of a Christian lady, Grace, wife of Itowo Tango no kami, one of the
commanders in the army of Iyeyas, of whom the Jesuits speak as a
miracle of beauty and piety. Her husband having joined the army of
Iyeyas, left command with his servants that, in case of any such order
being issued and put in force, they were to cut off his wife’s head.
His orders were obeyed. His chief servant informed his mistress, with
tears in his eyes, of his master’s orders. He, falling on his knees,
begged pardon for what he was about to do, promising to revenge her
by his and his fellow-servant’s suicide. With one blow he cut off her
head, and, thinking it indecent to die in the same room as their
mistress, they retired to another, where they cut open their bellies,
while one of them set fire to the powder, and blew up the part of the
palace in which they were lying.
The army of the league now numbered 100,000 men. The chiefs determined
to attack the citadel of Fusimi. They contrived to set it on fire,
and in a few hours was consumed “this splendid and last monument of
Taikosama’s greatness, the richest and noblest palace in all Japan.”
After this they felt themselves strong enough to take the field, and
hazard a battle, if necessary, which should decide the fate of parties.
“There was this difference betwixt the regent’s and the governors’
troops: The first, being under one supreme head, acted vigorously
and with unanimous consent; whereas the other, depending on several
masters, and having each separate interests, the whole time was spent
in marches and countermarches to no manner of purpose.”
Iyeyas laid siege to Gifoo, the fortress of Hide nobu or Saburo dono,
the nephew of Nobu nanga, in the province of Mino. By a stratagem and
ambuscade he routed the army, completely destroying it, and entered
and seized the castle, taking prisoner Hide nobu. He then turned back
westward to meet the army of the governors, which was lying on the west
of the plain and village of Sekingaharra. The army of his opponents had
been re-enforced by the troops of Satsuma and of Konishi. This plain
is to the east side of the hills which form the east wall of the Lake
of Owomi. One hill of this ridge, Ee buki yama, is still noted for the
foreign plants which grow upon its sides, the result or remains of the
labors of the Portuguese missionaries who had a residence upon the
hill. From this hill flows to the east the waters of the Kisso gawa.
One of the main roads of Japan, the Naka sen do, passes through this
plain from east to west, and at the village of Sekingaharra another
road crosses the former from the northwest. Here on this plain the two
armies met; but before the most decisive battle in Japanese history was
fought they lay thirty days facing one another, “and durst not strike a
stroke.”
The army of the league numbered 80,000 men, while that of Iyeyas could
only muster 50,000. Each party had been engaged in trying to gain over
some of their opponents before trusting to the fate of war. Iyeyas had
been delayed by his enemies in the eastern provinces; but hearing of
the position of affairs at Sekingaharra, he marched rapidly up, and in
October, 1600, joined his army with a considerable re-enforcement of
troops. His motions were so rapid and so secret that his opponents were
not aware of his being in the province. The following day he commenced
an attack upon the army of the governors, commanded by Jiboo no sho
and Don Austin. “No sooner had the armies begun to move than several
of the general officers, with the troops under their command, marched
straight over to the side of Iyeyas, which put the rest of the army in
such consternation that, instead of fighting, they turned tail and fled
without looking behind them. Daifusama, perceiving them in disorder,
gave word for his men to advance; and making his way through the lines,
which made very little opposition, gained a complete victory almost
without the trouble of striking a blow for it. None besides the general
officers and some of the leading men had the courage to face the enemy
at the first onset. These partly dispatched themselves, partly were
killed by the enemy, and partly were taken prisoners. Among these
latter was the celebrated Don Austin. This great hero, seeing his men
in a rout, and no possibility of rallying again, threw himself into the
midst of the enemy’s troops, slaying on every side, and bearing all
down before him, till, wounded from head to foot, and overpowered by
numbers, he was forced to yield to fate and surrender himself prisoner,
together with Jiboo no sho, who had not the heart (as he confessed
himself afterward) to open his belly after the example of the worthies
above mentioned.
“As for Don Austin, nothing but conscience could possibly have hindered
him from such an attempt; and therefore choosing, as he did, to pass
for heartless and a coward, and to expose himself to an ignominious
death rather than offend God, was an action of the first rate, worthy
to be found upon the roll in the history of his other heroical
exploits.” The native account would make out that Don Austin attempted
to escape from the field of battle, taking the road leading to the
residence of the Roman Catholic priests on the hill of Ee buki yama,
but was taken prisoner before reaching a place of safety.
The immediate result of this very decisive victory was to blow to the
winds the rope of sand which his enemies had been endeavoring to coil
round Iyeyas. His opponents were scattered and their hands paralyzed.
Iyeyas was master of the situation. He lost no time in marching
westward to gain possession of Osaka. He seized Sawoyama, a castle then
belonging to Jiboo no sho, and now known as Hikonay, the residence of
Ee kamong no kami. The brother of the proprietor was in command of the
place. He put to death all the women and children, and set fire to the
house, to take from the enemy the honor of leading him in triumph.
Mowori was in command at Osaka, and, as ruler over ten provinces,
he was now the only chief who was likely to dispute with Iyeyas the
position of regent. But he was panic-struck, and, though at the head
of 40,000 men, gave up the place and surrendered to the conqueror, who
immediately entered the town in a kind of triumph, and soon after all
Japan submitted to his government. He was, in truth, now the monarch of
Japan. The Emperor was in existence, but this was only known near Miako
by the titles which he occasionally conferred on those about his court.
Hideyori, the boy representative of Taikosama, was only seven years of
age, and had no very strong claim to be considered that potentate’s
successor, a position which he could not hold without the assistance
of Iyeyas, his wife’s grandfather. Iyeyas had felt that the peace of
the state was depending upon him, and that, from the position which the
governors had taken up, either he or they must yield; but neither would
give way without an appeal to arms. The Jesuits seem all along to have
shown a want of foresight in omitting to see that he was the coming
man, and made a mistake in placing their trust in Don Austin, whose
position was now to them a source of great anxiety.
Into the late war there does not seem to have entered any religious
element of discord, as Christians of rank were found upon both sides.
The lords of Arima and Omura and Kahi no kami (who is frequently
mentioned by the Jesuit writers) were in the army of Iyeyas, while Don
Austin and others took the opposite side.
Ishida, Jiboo no sho, being now a prisoner, was not likely to receive
much mercy at the hands of Iyeyas. Letters had passed between them
which reduced their position to a personal quarrel. He had already
been once spared by his foe, and had retired on parole to his castle
of Sawoyama. Thinking that an opportunity for revenge had arrived,
he put himself at the head of the army of the confederates. He had
again failed, and now found himself a prisoner in an ignominious and
dishonorable position. But Konishi Setsu, or Tsu no kami, also a
prisoner, ran the risk of losing his life, more probably from jealousy
of his military capacity than from any other reason. He was the son of
a drug merchant in Sakkai. The eulogiums pronounced upon him by the
Christian writers may pass for what each values them at; but he had
been trusted in a very responsible position by Taikosama in Corea. He
had subsequently been degraded at the instigation of his rivals, and
afterward reinstated for the accomplishment of schemes requiring the
utmost acuteness in diplomacy, as well as for the execution of plans
requiring military skill and prowess. He had shown himself capable of
both. As an evidence of the position to which he had raised himself
was the marriage of his son to the granddaughter of Iyeyas himself. He
had been appointed to the office then known as viceroy of the island
of Kiusiu, and was at the same time commander-in-chief both of the
naval and military forces in the Corean war. Had Iyeyas acted with
his ordinary clemency and judgment, he would after his victory have
pardoned such a rival and family connection; but there were hungry
wolves who personally hated Don Austin, who gloated over his downfall,
and cast longing eyes on his territories, about to be confiscated.
Chief of these was Toronosuqui, “Vir ter execrandus,” as the Jesuits
style him, one of the coarsest men of Japanese history, but since his
death canonized as a saint in the Japanese calendar as Say sho go sama
of the Nitchi ren sect of Buddhists. Hitherto known by this name of
Toronosuqui, he figures in the subsequent letters of the Jesuits as
Canzuge dono, or properly, as the title now is, Kazuyay no kami.
After his capture, Konishi seems to have been treated with great
rigor--not being allowed to see any of his relatives or any foreign
priest--and was beheaded, along with the Jiboo no sho, at Awata
ngootchi, the common execution-ground at Miako. His young son was
shortly afterward inveigled and murdered by Mowori, who thought to
please Iyeyas and save himself, after his mean surrender of himself
and his position, by sending the head of Don Austin’s child to his
wife’s grandfather; but Iyeyas was disgusted, and Mowori in the end was
stripped of the greater part of his possessions.
Native writers agree with the Jesuit accounts in giving Iyeyas credit
for great moderation and sagacity in the use of the power which had
fallen into his hands. Thinking himself firmly seated, he tried to
make all know that he wished the past to be forgotten--that he was
not angry with those who had been in arms against him, but that he
was grieved that it had been necessary that so much blood should have
been shed. He granted an amnesty to all who would accept of it; and
even some--such as Tatchibanna--who were not very influential, and who
would neither accept of it nor submit to him, he left quietly alone
to allow time to work. The great secret of his power seems to have
been that when he once made a promise he never broke it, and the most
perfect reliance was placed upon his word. “In effect, Daifusama,
being naturally of a meek and easy temper, took quite different
methods from Taikosama, who had rendered himself extremely odious by
his cruel and severe oppressions. He proposed to himself to govern
more by love than fear; and therefore, contrary to the maxims of his
predecessor, pardoned several of the lords that bore arms against him.
Moreover, he sent a pardon to Don Austin’s lady and daughter (who
expected, according to law, to have shared his fate), as also to his
brethren and their children; and, what is more, he did not show any
resentment to the fathers for being constant to the interests of Don
Austin, or for harboring his lady at the time of her retreat at Nanga
saki.” The only unsettled portion of the empire was the island of
Kiusiu. The territory of Don Austin in the province of Higo was handed
over to Katto Kiomassa, or Toronosuqui, who, as has been said, was a
virulent opponent of the Christian religion. While Don Austin held this
territory, by the advice of his spiritual superiors, every one had been
compelled to be baptized and turn Christian, or to leave the territory.
It was now the turn of the opposite party to use the same tactics, and
most mercilessly they followed the example set by these Spanish priests
both in Japan and in Europe.
Satsuma, who had escaped from the field of Sekingaharra, expected that
the weight of the victor’s wrath would shortly fall upon him, and he
prepared for it. The subjection of Kiusiu was intrusted to Kuroda
Kahi no kami and Terasawa Sima no kami, with the lesser lords who had
territories in the island. Satsuma was obliged to yield, and submitted
to Iyeyas, receiving back from him the greater part of the territory
then held by him.
The part of the island of Nippon east of the barrier of Hakonay, in
the province of Segami, is commonly called Kwanto; and the Hasshiu, or
eight provinces beyond the boundary toward the east part of the island,
had more or less for many years been under the entire rule of Iyeyas.
Kamakura, which had at one period been a rival to Miako as a second
capital, had fallen into decay. Odawara, the castle of the Hojio
family, at the head of the same bay, had never risen to any position
as a central city. The Nishi maro, a part of the castle of Yedo, had
formerly been built and occupied by Owota do kwang, whose memory is to
this day cherished in Japan, and his name and writings are still extant
on some parts of his castle or shiro. On a summer house in the garden
of the castle is a couplet in poetry which is looked upon as a prophecy
of coming events with reference to its accomplishment in the present
age:
“From this window I look upon Fusiyama,
With its snow of a thousand years.
To my gate ships will come from the far East
Ten thousand miles.”
Considering the associations which hung around Miako and Narra and
Osaka as the capitals, imperial, ecclesiastical and commercial, of the
empire, it might be deemed a great stretch of power and firm confidence
in himself and the stability of his system of government, that Iyeyas
should think of removing the location of the executive to Yedo. He had
doubtless pondered long and deeply over the best system of government
for the country. He had seen the anarchy which preceded the rise of
Nobu nanga to power; he had seen the want of system by which the
structure of government at that time had crumbled down with the fall
of the one man upon whoso shoulders it had been supported; he had all
the experience since that time to be gained from ruling an extensive
territory of his own, combined with what observations he might
make upon the system of Taikosama. In the settling of that system,
doubtless, he had a large share; but he went further than Taikosama,
and, disregarding the old associations connected with Miako, he removed
the seat of the executive to his own provinces and to his own court in
the city of Yedo, in what was considered a remote part of the empire,
the inhabitants of which were looked upon as rude and unpolished, and
regarded with contempt as savages of the east--“Azuma yebis.” The city,
when Iyeyas first took possession of the shiro, consisted only of one
street, known then and now as Koji matchi. It had increased very much
in size under his care, and through the residence of the court, the
Daimios, and their wives and families, and in no long time became a
city of commercial importance. Although Yoritomo, and the Shiogoons and
Kwanreis who succeeded him, held court at Kamakura and in the Kwanto,
no one had ever called upon the great feudal lords, or Daimios, as
we may now call them, to reside or keep up establishments there; but
Iyeyas seemed to think that in an empire like Japan, without external
foes, strength would be gained by a division of the empire. All his
plans seem to have had regard to the welfare and peace of the country
rather than the gratification of ambition, which he never allowed to
master his judgment.
This year (1600) and the following Iyeyas devoted to internal
improvements, especially in the highways of the empire. The road
between the two capitals, Yedo and Miako, was greatly improved.
He arranged the stations (tsoongi, or shooku), to the number of
fifty-three, at nearly equal distances along the road, for the
accommodation of Daimios and others traveling on official business. The
Do chioo, or laws of the roads, were laid down, regulating the traffic,
but more especially the movements and service of these lords when
traveling.
In the year 1603 to Iyeyas was given the hereditary title and
power of Se i dai shiogoon, or tranquilizer of barbarians and
commander-in-chief. The last who had held this office was Yoshikanga
Yoshiteru, who died in 1597. Hideyori was made Naidaijori.