That's... yes. That's actually very recent in my time. The Catholics were very concerned. [Rubs the back of his neck, in thought. Okay so for commonalities... straight into cultural opposites.]
From my perspective as central power of Japan, it seemed like the concern was that the Pope had lost all influence over England. Oh, but the island England's on is shared with two other countries, is it not? At least it was in -- [Closes his eyes, what was the Georgian version of dates?] 1582.
[Both hands go to acting as chin supports on the table now.] That was another big concern. That the English King might go to war with the Scottish or -- [Thinks. Nope, he can't remember the third.] The other. [Tea sip.] Civil war, fracturing England as badly as Japan. [So it's obvious why Nobunaga soaked up this information like a sponge. It was extremely relevant to him personally.]
[He actually circles a finger in small doodles on the cafe table, thinking hard.] It... It influenced some of my decisions regarding women, just between you and me.
[His hand goes to the back of his neck, then his face in rapid succession, and Haguro headbutts him for being so restless, so he goes to petting the hawk instead.]
Things like heirs, religion, Popes...
[Closes eyes again and huffs.] In Japan, we have the Emperor. Supposedly he's descended from Amaterasu herself. When the Mongol horde invaded, we were partially saved by two off-season completely abnormal tycoons in a part of the seas where that doesn't happen. The opposite side of the island. Everyone said at the time it was the Emperor's doing. [Tilts his head and stretches his neck.] I disagree. I think it was Japan's fierce using skills over riches, quality over quantity...
[Shrugs.] But it's been an ongoing problem. The Emperor divided up the country into fiefs, warlord provinces to whoever was strong enough to take them. And we've been slaughtering each other nonstop.
Religious cohesion isn't enough to prevent that. I told Luis Frois that. We don't... truly have religious cohesion either. There's hundreds of Buddhist factions, Confucians, Taoists, every time I turn around there's another five eager to crop up and put their heads on the line. [Because he likes to behead them. He doesn't like cultists.]
[He waves a hand.] When it comes to the Emperor, he is like the European Pope. All it takes is for those with the real strength, military, economic, or populism among the peasants, [Hideyoshi has 2/3, Ieyasu has the other third... Is that why they can't do it alone? They must do it together. Right, with defeating the other Demon King(s) he needs help. Not from his armies, but at minimum Mitsuhide, and maybe Masamune or anyone else... but if they're not here, then he'll have to learn to trust and use others even if they're untested. Well, that's nothing new. He's always being the first to use new things, isn't he?] -- If they stop believing in the Pope, if they get their monks, err... priests I guess it is in Europe, to tell their people to ignore the Pope, then it's no different from Japan. The Emperor's only power is if people trust him and want to do as he says. If they don't believe in him, if they know he can't do anything, then he is truly powerless.
This is why I say Amaterasu isn't that strong. Many would say she just chooses not to act, but in that case, why let your chosen descendant falter? If she loved the country as much as any human, then why not protect it? Heal it? Tsk.
no subject
From my perspective as central power of Japan, it seemed like the concern was that the Pope had lost all influence over England. Oh, but the island England's on is shared with two other countries, is it not? At least it was in -- [Closes his eyes, what was the Georgian version of dates?] 1582.
[Both hands go to acting as chin supports on the table now.] That was another big concern. That the English King might go to war with the Scottish or -- [Thinks. Nope, he can't remember the third.] The other. [Tea sip.] Civil war, fracturing England as badly as Japan. [So it's obvious why Nobunaga soaked up this information like a sponge. It was extremely relevant to him personally.]
[He actually circles a finger in small doodles on the cafe table, thinking hard.] It... It influenced some of my decisions regarding women, just between you and me.
[His hand goes to the back of his neck, then his face in rapid succession, and Haguro headbutts him for being so restless, so he goes to petting the hawk instead.]
Things like heirs, religion, Popes...
[Closes eyes again and huffs.] In Japan, we have the Emperor. Supposedly he's descended from Amaterasu herself. When the Mongol horde invaded, we were partially saved by two off-season completely abnormal tycoons in a part of the seas where that doesn't happen. The opposite side of the island. Everyone said at the time it was the Emperor's doing. [Tilts his head and stretches his neck.] I disagree. I think it was Japan's fierce using skills over riches, quality over quantity...
[Shrugs.] But it's been an ongoing problem. The Emperor divided up the country into fiefs, warlord provinces to whoever was strong enough to take them. And we've been slaughtering each other nonstop.
Religious cohesion isn't enough to prevent that. I told Luis Frois that. We don't... truly have religious cohesion either. There's hundreds of Buddhist factions, Confucians, Taoists, every time I turn around there's another five eager to crop up and put their heads on the line. [Because he likes to behead them. He doesn't like cultists.]
[He waves a hand.] When it comes to the Emperor, he is like the European Pope. All it takes is for those with the real strength, military, economic, or populism among the peasants, [Hideyoshi has 2/3, Ieyasu has the other third... Is that why they can't do it alone? They must do it together. Right, with defeating the other Demon King(s) he needs help. Not from his armies, but at minimum Mitsuhide, and maybe Masamune or anyone else... but if they're not here, then he'll have to learn to trust and use others even if they're untested. Well, that's nothing new. He's always being the first to use new things, isn't he?] -- If they stop believing in the Pope, if they get their monks, err... priests I guess it is in Europe, to tell their people to ignore the Pope, then it's no different from Japan. The Emperor's only power is if people trust him and want to do as he says. If they don't believe in him, if they know he can't do anything, then he is truly powerless.
This is why I say Amaterasu isn't that strong. Many would say she just chooses not to act, but in that case, why let your chosen descendant falter? If she loved the country as much as any human, then why not protect it? Heal it? Tsk.