Tokugawa Ieyasu finally used artillery to attack Osaka Castle directly, forcing Yododen (Toyotomi Hideyori's mother, Mrs. Yodo) to negotiate, and the two sides reached an agreement, Osaka demanded that Tokugawa not punish Hideyori and other generals who participated in the war, and Hideyori and Yododen did not have to go to Edo as hostages, Tokugawa Ieyasu seemed to be lenient and readily agreed, and the only condition was to demolish all the outer castles of Osaka except Honmaru and fill in the moat. At this point, Osaka Castle became a bare city, and the fighting was temporarily stopped, and it was called the Osaka Winter Battle.

In 1615, Osaka Castle, which had filled in all the trenches and demolished Nimaru and Sanmaru, was an empty shell, and Tokugawa Ieyasu saw that the time was ripe to send troops again, and although the Toyotomi army actively met it in this campaign, Osaka Castle was worse than the mountain with only Honmaru left, and the Tokugawa army won successes in many places, and finally approached Osaka Castle.

But in the battle of Okayama Tennoji, Tokugawa Ieyasu once fell into a crisis, Sanada Nobuyoshi defeated the 15,000 Echigo soldiers led by Matsudaira Tadanao to press into the Tokugawa Ieyasu main camp, resulting in the collapse of the Tokugawa Ieyasu banner, the main formation retreated several miles before stabilizing the position, this is also the most embarrassing battle in Tokugawa Ieyasu's life in addition to the battle of Mikahara, and even had the consciousness of seppuku, and barely escaped with his life; The widow Kunimatsu was recovered shortly after the war and was eventually executed, and the Toyotomi family officially perished for the Osaka Summer Battle.

Tokugawa Ieyasu implemented policies such as the One Country, One City Ordinance and the Laws of the Samurai Family to maintain the stability of the country.

January of the 2nd year of Motowa (1616). During a falcon outing, he suddenly collapsed with abdominal pain and was bedridden ever since. On March 21, he was awarded the post of Minister of Imperial Politics by the imperial court. On April 17 (May 22 in the Gregorian calendar) at about 10 a.m., Tokugawa Ieyasu died of illness at Sunpu Castle. The legal name is Dongzhao Daquanxian, and the legal name is Anguoyuan.

The main theory about the cause of his death is that he died of poisoning from eating fish tempura, but from January 21 to April 17, it took a little too long for him to get food poisoning. Other theories include stomach cancer and assassination, because he vomited blood black before his death, and he could feel a hard lump in his abdomen with his hands, so stomach cancer is also a common explanation.

Anecdote – is a notoriously stingy ghost who immediately smashes a decorated toilet when he sees it. When he was in Mikawa, he ate wheat rice in the summer, and sometimes asked his subordinates to eat rice mixed with wheat. It is said that the peasants work the hardest in summer. How can I eat enough by myself?

Once the stables broke down, he said that this would make more resilient horses, so he left them unrepaired. He also asked people to repeatedly excavate the remains of the old coinage of Suruga, and excavated a considerable amount of copper.

Related cultural works –

"The Art of War of Commercial Tokugawa Ieyasu" runs through the whole text from the perspective of "war history" and "art of war", with the main battles in which Ieyasu participated. Detailed analysis in different phases. He fights for the world. The tactics and strategies adopted by the hegemon, and the truth of its success or failure.

In the process of reading, it is advisable to describe the ways of survival adopted by Tokugawa Ieyasu at different stages of his life. By referring to our personal ups and downs, or the success or failure of a company, or even the ups and downs of a product, we can not only get more inspiration, but also understand the truth of success and failure.

If this is the case, then in addition to the history of war and the art of war, we will inevitably have unexpected comprehensions and epiphanies.

In this book, Tokugawa Ieyasu's life is roughly divided into three stages: "weak", "from weak to strong", and "strong". In these three different stages, how does Ieyasu seek survival, development, and growth, and what are the key factors? What is the significance and value of its laws when applied to the management of enterprises or business wars?

Stage 1: Being in a weak position

Tokugawa was originally a small country of three rivers, sandwiched between the two great powers of Imagawa and Oda in the east and west. Internationally, the fate of such a weak country is bound to be tragic, and even if it tries its best to rely on the protection of a strong country, it will not be able to obtain absolute equality and respect. Therefore, what is needed for this stage of survival is "cognition", that is, full awareness of one's position and conditions.

Ieyasu knew his situation well, and in order to overcome it, he adopted a strategy of "survival first", the main principle of which was an offensive strategy of putting oneself to death, even if it was to act as a shield or cannon ash.

He chose to cling to a powerful country and tried his best to perform in the melee. This is the only way to survive and open up a way to survive in the cracks, and turn a crisis into a turning point.

This strategy not only won the attention and respect of the powerful powers, but also used it to strengthen the combat strength of the Tokugawa army. In the battles of Tsukasama, Echizen, and Kawa, he acted as the first line, serving as the most dangerous forward, fighting bravely with the determination to die, but instead found an opportunity for victory at the limit of the crisis.

Tokugawa's position was gradually affirmed by his extraordinary performances in these battles.

Ieyasu, who is in the weak stage, his way of survival, simply put, is to unconditionally admit the weakness of his strength. As a result, the political posture is extremely low.

However, on the battlefield, he learned that there was no way to die when he took a step back, so he had to "advance without retreating, and stood out by gambling his life, thus laying the foundation for future development." Therefore, Ieyasu's "cognition" is the main reason why he can endure humiliation and burden, or Jitailai.

Tokugawa Ieyasu's rule of survival for the weak is a good example of how to manage a company.

In particular, the weak enterprises whose market position is in the third place in the same industry may be due to the low visibility of the enterprise or product, or the low market share rate, or the lack of marketing resources and talents.

Regardless of the reason, the marketing strategy at this time should only adopt the principle of "survival first", fully recognize its own strength and disadvantageous position, and absolutely not adopt a regular battle with the market occupancy first, second or high-profile brands, but adopt guerrilla warfare and harassment warfare, and exert combat strength with resilience and forbearance.

Rather than launching a nationwide marketing campaign, it is better to gain an absolute advantage in local markets or in towns that can be attacked and defended. Although such a tactic of attacking cities and grabbing land, fighting and running away, although it is hard, the cumulative results will be great.

If you look at the process of unifying Ieyasu's hegemony in the world, which lasted almost 60 years, and how many grievances and bitterness he endured because his military strength and national strength were inferior to others, we can see that the hegemony was not easy to achieve.

Stage 2, the stage from weak to strong

If what Ieyasu relied on to survive in the weak stage was "cognition", then the most important thing in the weak stage was "willpower", "judgment" and "organization".

Because Tokugawa had suffered defeat in the Battle of Mikatahara, he was deeply aware of the danger of "courage without strategy". He also realized that it was not enough to fight hard without observing the art of war, and that if he wanted to "go in and out of Kyoto and command the world", he did not need to change his strategy.

Therefore, at this stage, Ieyasu attaches importance to the choice of alliance. Who is the most advantageous alliance with the weak?

Before each battle, we always think deeply about what should be fought and what should not be fought, when should we fight a protracted war, and when should we use a war of attrition? These questions require wise and clear "willpower" and "judgment."

For example, in the battle for the High Heavenly God City, he was able to firmly avoid the temptation of the challenge and stand still, so as to wear down Takeda Katsuyori's combat power. And in the offensive and defensive battles of Changshino, for the sake of prestige, even if the sacrifice was great, he participated without hesitation. This kind of decisiveness and perseverance is the key to his ability to turn from weak to strong. (To be continued......)