"The Oyizaki Taipei" is a masterpiece of the Japanese Warring States Period that combines historical facts and majestic imagination. It tells the story of how the Oyizaki clan, a small tribe on the border of Ezo Kingdom (Hokkaido), went through four generations of family governors and hundreds of years of blood and fire. From a barbarian people who were scornfully called "Ezo slaves" by Honshu daimyo, they counterattacked and became the overlords of the Japanese archipelago.
The story begins during the Eisho period, when Uyizaki Yoshihiro used iron-blooded tactics to integrate the various clans in southern Hokkaido, and established his reputation as the "King of Ezo" amidst blizzards and the shadow of swords. His son Keihiro dealt with Oda, Uesugi, Hojo and other powerful men, supported his war with business methods, and used forbearance in exchange for opportunities. He was finally recognized by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's seal seal and rectified the name of the family.
The real storm began with Gao Guang, the third-generation family governor. Before the smoke of the Battle of Sekigahara had cleared, this "little daimyo from the north" who was despised by Tokugawa Ieyasu suddenly sent his troops south, broke through Tsugaru with the elite "Bear Raid Army" from Ezo, and made a surprise attack on Yu'ao. The overlord of Oshu, Date Masamune, the Dragon of Echigo Uesugi Kagekatsu, the overlord of Kanto, Tokugawa Ieyasu... One by one, the superstars of the Warring States period fell or surrendered under his blade. Gao Guang used the "snow country's art of war" - the tenacity to adapt to the severe cold, the cunningness of surprise cross-sea attacks, generosity to the surrenderers and thunder to the recalcitrants - to weave a huge strategic network that swept the state.
By the time of the fourth generation of Shenghiro, the Uyizaki clan had controlled Utsu, Kanto, Echigo, and Owari. He first defeated the remnants of Ishida Mitsunari's troops in Mino, then joined forces with Kato Shigeru to conquer Shikoku. Finally, during the Kyushu expedition, he used the "Ezo Kamikaze" tactic to defeat Shimazu Iehisa and force Kato Kiyomasa to surrender. In the first year of Yuanwa (1615), Morihiro entered Osaka and destroyed the remaining Toyotomi lineage; in the eighteenth year of Kanei (1641), he finally destroyed Ryukyu and completed the unification of Japan.
