Axslashel
I am a pessimist not a realist.
- Location
- Land of the Midnight Sun
Is there a version that is not stuck behind a log in?
Alt History ideas, rec and general discussion thread
- Thread starter Teen Spirit
- Start date
- Discussion
- Location
- The great frozen north
Ah, my bad! I'm too used to the AH.com thread, but it actually is cross-posted to SV. It feels weird, seeing many of the chapters without the usual introductory author's notes he adds on the AH thread.
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King Washington
Semi-Depressed Lurker
- Location
- Indiana
That's the TL where members of the Green Party get brutally murdered by beastmen and the narrative treats it as completely deserved, right?
- Pronouns
- he/him
I started reading it, got kinda thrown by them including feudal Japan for whatever reason, and then got really thrown by the whole "idiot environmentalists get horrifically mutated" bit. If the political stuff in this story continues in that vein, I don't think it'd be my cup of tea.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Nothing For Which to Apologize: Ambition and Loathing in the New South
Is shaping up to be the most interesting CSA victory TL I've read.
Is shaping up to be the most interesting CSA victory TL I've read.
Eh, the German Greens are absolutely just idiots. Thats an establish fact. You dont get to be considered not idiots when you spend decades actively lying about nuclear power then shut down all the nuclear power plants in Germany using your own lies combijed with Fukushima as justification for such. The problem being that you can not power a grid off solely solar and wind alone and need at least one stable production method for base load. Since they didnt have german NPP anymore, that meant either fossil fuels...or French Nuclear Power. So Germany proceeded to open up a bunch of Coal Power Plants while importing French Nuclear Power. You could not have own goaled your own agenda worse than that.
This does not make murdering them justified. It makes not voting for them in favor of someone who understands what is needed to actually advance the goals of environmentalism justified.
Anyone else ever thought it would be fun to see the characters of King of the Hill if they got caught in an ISOT or the events of Emberverse?
There's also a twist on the usual ISOT map games that I always thought would be fun. Have it take place on Mars with the participants coming from every fictional version of Mars. With us puny Earthlings watching from a distance as the chaos unfolds.
There's also a twist on the usual ISOT map games that I always thought would be fun. Have it take place on Mars with the participants coming from every fictional version of Mars. With us puny Earthlings watching from a distance as the chaos unfolds.
Mazeka
You must be joking
- Location
- United States
ASB Fiction - Turtledove's Worldwar: Striking the Balance AU:
During the Peace of Cairo, Nazi Germany planned to restart the war by having Otto Skorzeny explode an atom bomb in Lodz if the Race denied the Reich from reacquiring Poland. This plot was foiled however by rogue Wehrmacht troops and Jewish partisans, so Germany was forced to accept the continued alien occupation of Poland.
What if Skorzeny's plot went accordingly however, and Atvar atom-bombed the Reich (and as specified, only to Reich) to ash? How would the Cold War develop with most of Europe - from the Pyrenees to Norway to Yugoslavia and the German-Polish border - turned to dust?
During the Peace of Cairo, Nazi Germany planned to restart the war by having Otto Skorzeny explode an atom bomb in Lodz if the Race denied the Reich from reacquiring Poland. This plot was foiled however by rogue Wehrmacht troops and Jewish partisans, so Germany was forced to accept the continued alien occupation of Poland.
What if Skorzeny's plot went accordingly however, and Atvar atom-bombed the Reich (and as specified, only to Reich) to ash? How would the Cold War develop with most of Europe - from the Pyrenees to Norway to Yugoslavia and the German-Polish border - turned to dust?
Mazeka
You must be joking
- Location
- United States
I found another space race timeline. Wernher von Braun emigrates to the USA after a successful German revolution:
Rise and Shine - An Alternate Space Race
“Today is a great day for the Soviet people. The Reaction-Engine Research Center will be instrumental in our great effort to find ever more efficient and faster methods of transportation. To find methods so that we may one day, be among the stars as well. It will be a long time before that is...
www.alternatehistory.com
- Location
- The Old Dominion
Sounds interesting though it might be interesting to also have the Kingdom of Soissons being victorious over the franks just for the knock on effects of having a west roman rump state survive on the mainland as well.
Both in how they might interact with said post roman Britain and how Post Roman Britain and the Kingdom of Soissons might interact both with the Vistgothic and Ostogothic kingdoms to the south as well the East Roman empire.
I am reminded that the Kingdom of Dumnonia/Cornwall in the post-roman period was actively trading both across the channel, in Spain and as far away as the eastern Roman empire as they've found various goods from the eastern med continuing to show up there even as the rest of Britain was seeing a transition to mostly local goods as the collapse happened in the decades after the fall of the empire.
One of the interesting things about Britain is well when the Roman occupation ended is actually unclear, while the field armies, the comitatenses were removed some decades before the fall of the western empire the limitanei and the various official roman institutions seemed to have been active up to the end at least going by archeological evidence.
It's the late fifth century after the fall that things seem to really start falling apart in what was roman Britain outside of southwestern Britain where the Kingdom of Dumnonia seems to have reasserted itself and continued business as usual.
I had an idea I wanted feedback on.
Long story short, during the First Frontier War against the British, the First Nations manage to drive them off through a combo of excellent guerilla raids, luck and harsh weather. The British were always extremely critical of the plan and its possible expenses and had no idea of any mineral wealth as of yet an the land was proving harder to deal with than expected so they basically said "Screw this" and pulled out.
This leaves the First Nations mostly in peace, though there's some few hundred colonists left behind as well as their own rebel allies. The latter will be fine, the former get a more mixed response, but those who don't/didn't cause the first nations trouble or try to meet them peaceably are left, any others get killed as revenge or for picking fights.
What follows?
I figure that the colonists probably form little hamlets and some fishing villages, with some first nations moving in due to marriage, proximity, convenience ETC. Horses, IE Brumbies, likely become a well known, spread out and widely used thing, as unlikely sheep & cattle they don't cause as much damage, aren't as hard to look after and have way too many uses.
Copper tools maybe start coming in and 'maybe' some bronze, but despite lots of iron deposits and iron in the sand, actually accessing that is likely beyond the skill of the colonists. Some of the rebels may try to keep gunpowder as a thing, but guns would likely be too hard to make, still some sort of simplistic grenade/Dynamite might be possible. Dome priests might raise funds & go but meet with death at worst and sort of bemused syncretism at best.
Other than that, I am unsure.
NOTE:
Keep in mind that Europeans have, by this point, known about the continent for nearly/over two centuries and only tried something in the last 20 or so years. So while its possible another power will try and move in, I am also not sure its a certainty, at least not yet.
Long story short, during the First Frontier War against the British, the First Nations manage to drive them off through a combo of excellent guerilla raids, luck and harsh weather. The British were always extremely critical of the plan and its possible expenses and had no idea of any mineral wealth as of yet an the land was proving harder to deal with than expected so they basically said "Screw this" and pulled out.
This leaves the First Nations mostly in peace, though there's some few hundred colonists left behind as well as their own rebel allies. The latter will be fine, the former get a more mixed response, but those who don't/didn't cause the first nations trouble or try to meet them peaceably are left, any others get killed as revenge or for picking fights.
What follows?
I figure that the colonists probably form little hamlets and some fishing villages, with some first nations moving in due to marriage, proximity, convenience ETC. Horses, IE Brumbies, likely become a well known, spread out and widely used thing, as unlikely sheep & cattle they don't cause as much damage, aren't as hard to look after and have way too many uses.
Copper tools maybe start coming in and 'maybe' some bronze, but despite lots of iron deposits and iron in the sand, actually accessing that is likely beyond the skill of the colonists. Some of the rebels may try to keep gunpowder as a thing, but guns would likely be too hard to make, still some sort of simplistic grenade/Dynamite might be possible. Dome priests might raise funds & go but meet with death at worst and sort of bemused syncretism at best.
Other than that, I am unsure.
NOTE:
Keep in mind that Europeans have, by this point, known about the continent for nearly/over two centuries and only tried something in the last 20 or so years. So while its possible another power will try and move in, I am also not sure its a certainty, at least not yet.
- Pronouns
- he/him
You might want to check out BART (British Alternative Romance Timeline) by Ray Brown. It focuses on how a hypothetical British branch of the Romance languages would be structured, but it also includes a speculative timeline for Roman influence in Britain to survive. I would love to see a more fleshed-out historical timeline based on this kind of scenario.
Comrade Future
Man from Zeerust
- Location
- USSR
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
The problem here is that post-Roman Britain is extremely fragmented. In fact, Guillaume the Bastrade was the first to centralize the British State (the Anglo-Saxons almost succeeded, but Sven Forkbeard came, and his son Knud raised the power of the earls to the limit).
the atom
Anarcho-Kemalist Thought Leader
- Location
- Comfortably numb
Here's an alt history question. Is there a point where the Ottoman Empire could have built a Suez Canal by themselves and held it against the inevitable European backlash?
Baron Steakpuncher
Hopeful Idealist
- Location
- Australia
Most likely yes.
The Empire, despite everything, did come close to unscrewing itself a few times over the 18th and 19th centuries. If someone could convince the Sultans of the worth of such a project, and if Egypt was still held, it would be entirely doable.
There's also Celtic Christianity which could develop into its own church under the patronage of a relatively unified Romance-Gaelic "Britain" (OTL England and Wales). Separate from that of the mainland Church.
Plus there's also its better claim towards being the successor to the Western Roman Empire.
Oh and it's probably going to heavily alter the coming viking age.
Comrade Future
Man from Zeerust
- Location
- USSR
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Well, there was a conflict over Easter, and the British themselves did not oppose themselves to Rome. So the role of "Cletic Christianity" is exaggerated.
Mazeka
You must be joking
- Location
- United States
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fMEeXFmGPc
So, this is one is strange to say the least. Cody speculates on a scenario where nobody crossed Beringia (and even he admits the POD isn't realistic).
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Mandemon
Gentlemen, I love brawl.
- Location
- Cookie Jar
I mean, he does that for a lot of out-there alternative histories. Watch more or less any of his video and he will openly admit that scenario is not entirely realistic, and there would have to be some sort of nonsense involved to get to initial scenario.
Yasuke - From Slave to Samurai to Sovereign
(A Oneshot in the style of an OSP Episode)
(A Oneshot in the style of an OSP Episode)
In the wild and wandering halls of history there are countless stories, be they of great generals, daring explorers, or cunning politicians.
But its rare to find a story that feels like it has it all, yet that is what I bring you today.
A story of tragic beginnings, exploration, war, friendship, loss, and a rags to riches story unlike almost any other in the history books.
This is the story of Oda Yasuke, and to find out how a Bantu slave boy from Mozambique became the third and final uniter of Nippon, lets do some history.
Born in the late 1500s, Yasuke was one of many unlucky children whole family were being persecuted by both Christians and Muslims. Not being even slightly protected by religious doctrines due to following their own religion, Yasuke's family would either lose, surrender or even sell him into slavery. He would go on to serve several masters over the next two decades of his life, before finally being freed by happenstance in India when his owner died, leaving him free, but also needing to find employment.
Fortunately, relatively speaking, the kind of slavery Yasuke was bound to wasn't the chattel slavery so beloved in the West and so he had the chance to learn to read, write, do math's, had picked up several languages and some skills as a fighter. This was how he came into the servitude to Jesuit inspector, Alessandro Valignano, serving as the man's bodyguard and porter. They would set sail for Nippon to inspect the efforts of the Jesuit missionaries working there, arriving in the year 1579, right as the bloody Sengoku jidai era was finally beginning to taper off.
Long story, but the country had been fractured, for over a century with tons of warlords and constant violence. Bad times all round.
But the bad times seemed to be coming to an end thanks to one Oda Nabunaga, a fierce and at times unpredictable man who much to the surprise of his elders had proven himself a deft politician and general. He'd trained peasants to boost the size of his army, adopted the Portugese arquebus and tended to promote heavily based on skill.
He was close to uniting all of Nippon and had the rubber seal of approval from the Emperor which means he essentially ruled the country both in fact and in name. Naturally this meant he spent a lot of time in Kyoto when not out waging war and so he heard tell of a strange foreigner causing a stir among the populace.
Well, that's one way to describe Nipponese citizens trying to beat down the doors of a church just so they could get a look at Yasuke. You see, Nippon was still pretty new to foreigners outside of like, China. At this point many still thought of the Jesuits as some kind of Indian and Christianity as a new spin on Buddhism, so a guy from as far afield as Africa was genuinely unheard of.
It likely also helped that Yasuke was extremely tall for the time, being at least six foot two, making him anywhere between six foot six to just straight up seven feet tall by todays standards. He also had extremely dark skin, so much so it was compared to black ink. This is important because many portrayal of the Budha and local spirits have been portrayed with the same skin tone.
Now, people weren't mistaking him for the Budha or anything, but still his appearance drew a lot of ruckus. So much so that Oda Nabunaga called the Jesuits and Yasuke to his residence to account for the small riot.
Not believing Yasuke was actually black he ordered him to bare his chest and had his servants try to clean the ink off of him. When he realized it was skin and not ink he decided to throw Yasuke a freaking party. Even inviting all his sons in whom all apparently really liked Yasuke, one even gifting him thirteen crates of copper coins, both as a gift and as a test to see if he was as strong as he looked.
He was!
The Jesuits were naturally very pleased, but Oda was even more pleased, he and Yasuke apparently spoke late into the night and soon enough were meeting frequently. Yasuke after all was well travelled, not tied to the church by ideology or loyal to any major political players and generally described as both respectful and urbane as well as apparently just really fun to speak with,
After at least a month of association, Yasuke would be released from his service to Alessandro and become an Oda clan retainer which is also when he got his Nipponese name. He was awarded a Katana, tutored on Bushido, tested on his combat skills and was given the rank of Nabunaga's weapon bearer. This is a prestigious position and keep in mind his former sandal bearer was eventually promoted to general, the brilliant Toyotomi Hideyoshi, also a man of common birth.
Suffice to say, Nabunaga evidently expected a lot from Yasuke.
Yasuke fought with distinction in three major battles, helping put down the Takeda Clan, and when not in battle he rode at his lords side, again, very prestigious position, one that allowed him to rub shoulders with Nobunaga's generals and clan leaders.
Things would take a turn for the worse in 1582 however.
Oda Nabunaga had some politics to deal with in the capital and decided to make a working vacation of it; sending his generals Akechi Mitsuhide and Toyotomi Hideyoshi off to continue the fight while he retired to Honnō-ji temple in the capital. His eldest and youngest sons, Oda Nobutada and Oda Katsunaga would be garrisoned nearby with two thousand cavalry. Unfortunately, Akechi apparently got a little turned around because he declared to his soldiers, "The enemy is at Honnō-ji!" and they just rolled with it?
As a result, by six am on the 21 June 1582, the siege began.
Nobunaga was surprisingly calm for a man with only a 150 retainers, boxed in by an army of thousands in an extremely small fort. It was a good fort, but still, it takes a certain type of character to hear your being besieged by your own general and to simply say, "There is nothing to be said, we must act."
The fighting drew on for three hours, however by the second hour Nobunaga was sporting a serious injury to his arm and it was clear the capital was at best, paralyzed with indecision. So Nobunaga called together the court ladies he'd had staying with him and Yasuke to share his plan.
Believing that Akechi couldn't afford to make more enemies than he was already, he would not attack the court ladies and if Yasuke presented himself as their escort and to be returning to the Jesuits he too could pass as Akechi didn't really know much about Yasuke or the Jesuits internal politics.
Amazingly, this plan worked, and they were allowed to leave, secretly carrying with them Nobunaga's seal, sword and a short missive. Akechi wasn't a total fool though he did order them escorted to the Jesuit temple before resuming the attack. Yasuke killed the escorts the moment they were out of earshot and sight and they made a beeline for the palace.
Getting word that Nobunaga was actually alive and fighting from court ladies and his very recognizable weapons bearer was the shot in the arm Kyoto needed to rally; providing troops and backing Yasuke's call to arms of all Oda clan retainers in the area to join the battle.
Unfortunately, they'd be too late to save Nobunaga.
As the temple began falling he sealed himself in the back room and committed Seppeku, ordering his body and the temple burnt to deny his enemies the chance to use his death against his clan.
This was bad news for Akechi because while he 'won' he didn't have physical proof of Nobunaga's demise so no one entirely believed it. The fact his eldest son was still holding out at Nijō Gosho palace didn't help maters but if he could just kill Nobunaga's heir, surely the court would start responding to his messages and everyone would accept him as the new top rog right
Hey, what's that sound?
Oh that's the sound of Yasuke riding in all Big Damn Heroes with tons of soldiers hitting Akechi's forces from behind in the name of Oda Nabunaga.
So at this point Akechi's plan is pretty much done, Nonunaga's heir is still alive, the man himself might be alive, and even if not no one else believes that given his very well known weapon bearer is hitting them from behind with a small army. Stuck between a fort, an army and very tired, Akechi's army just kind of disintegrates.
The man himself is hunted down by Yasuke after he made sure Nobutada was at least alive and well, stopped from committing Seppeku and is instead beheaded. Yasuke brings the head to Nobutada who has been reunited with his new born son whom he sent away before the fighting began and these factors are a balm to the fact his father and younger brother died in the fighting.
Having been the one to avenge Nobunaga and save Nobutada, Yasuke naturally gets a lot of prestige, the fact he offered to commit Seppeku as a way of apology for not saving Nobunaga in time only further cementing his reputation as an ideal samurai and retainer. Nobutada however has a more important job for him, sending Yasuke with Akechi's head to his clans territory to oversee the dispersal of Nobunaga's last words and his own proclamations as the new clan head while he stays in Kyoto to tidy things up with the public.
Once word started to spread, things got... Confused...
Oda Nobukatsu briefly tried to claim he was his father's heir before finding out his older brother was alive.
Oda Nobutaka executed Nobusumi, who was married to a daughter of Mitsuhide despite there being no evidence of treason.
Oh and Toyotomi Hideyoshi broke off his siege of the Mori Clan to go and avenge his lord before finding out that had already been done and he broke the siege for nothing, damaging his reputation.
Meanwhile Yasuke met with the Oda clan heads and Nobunaga's sister Orochi, and its perhaps time to contextualize one of the unique ways in which Yasuke was indispensable to the clan. Which, despite their power was always walking on a tight rope to maintain it.
In this specific situation he had his own political clout outside being a unique individual or good fighter, he'd avenged Nobunaga and was the last one to see him alive, meaning he bore the man's last will.
This let him serve as an effective counterbalance to the ambitious Toyotomi Hideyoshi who had a big enough army at his side that if he'd tried to put Nobunaga's fourth son, Hidekatsu into the position of puppet the Oda clan might have struggled to stop him.
But even more, just like he was an appealing conversation partner because he wasn't tied to any larger political factions, Yasuke made an ideal retainer because his entire existence in Nippon relied on the Oda Clan. He couldn't realistically have some ancestry forged and make a claim for the rank of Shogun.
So even ignoring his competence, he was above all else, safe.
Thus he was assigned to be Nobutada's personal weapon bearer a position he took to with incredibly dedication.
The pair made a dynamo team too, Nobutada was, while not his father, no slouch as a general or politician and Yasuke proved to be a quick study in the arts of command and a good meditator between the political factions in his own right. He was also noted to be very paranoid about ensuring no assassins or traitors got near Nobutada and saved his life in several instances.
One noteworthy example of Yasuke's accomplishments outside bodyguard duties was his recruitment of several warrior monks. Playing on the associations of his skin color and skill in combat he managed to basically get them to surrender and join his army rather than fight to the death or run as was often the case. These monks would come to serve as a crack team of enforcers and bodyguards.
Yasuke and Nobutada would go on to fight in several battles, often collaborating with or working around Toyotomi Hideyoshi as circumstances dictated and within twelve years Nippon was united, but not without cost.
Oda Nobutaka got into a conflict with another lord Tokugawa Leyasu, believing he'd intentionally held back his forced to weaken the Oda clan and was ultimately killed in the ensuing battle. Leyasu was later forced to commit Seppeku when both Nobutada and Hideyoshi came down on him like a ton of bricks.
Oda Hidenobu, Nobutada's own new born baby and his wife died under mysterious circumstances and Oda Nobukatsu was blamed and ultimately forced to commit Seppeku.
By wars end the male heirs of the Oda clan were thin with only two remaining.
This was made worse thanks to Hideyoshi having accrued almost as much prestige as Nobutada.
The country could well have spilled into another civil war, but this time with only two sides.
Fortunately for them, Hideyoshi was desperate to secure his legacy and the chance to swoop in and take it all as legitimately as possible. As a result, he ended up adopting Nobunaga's dream of invading China by way of Korea.
(Whether he actually had this dream or was just speculating is unclear)
But it was a convenient way for for the Oda to get rid of him for a time, and then permanently when both he and Hidekatsu's boat caught fire during the war; leaving his army, already mauled by Admiral Yi, to limp home. They would come home to a rather big surprise, because dynastic politics didn't stop while they were away.
Kunohe Masazane, of the Nanbu clan, launched a rebellion against his rival Nanbu Nobunao.
Now, Nobunao had the backing of Nobutada and so he went off to go ad squash this rebellion, assuming it would be a simple matter he left Yasuke behind to guard his sister Oda Tokuhime. She was expected to be married off soon and was far to valuable a political player to risk and with Yasuke's proven track record and recent adoption into a retainer house it was a no brainer to leave this in his hands.
Unfortunately for Nobutada he didn't realize that the son of Tokugawa Leyasu, one Matsudaira Nobuyasu was the type to hold a grudge and had been biding his time. Thus when Nobutada arrived with a fairly small army to deal with this fairly small rebellion he was hit from behind part way through the battle, leading to chaos to spread in the ranks as the rebels turned all their energy on him. Nobutada died in battle and Nobuyasu declared himself the killer and the restorer of Nippon to its true, pure state, promising to cast out foreigners and those who did not follow their nations ways.
This... Did not go over well.
Nippon had barely had one one year of peace and now this guy was threatening to tear it all apart and also likely screw up the silk trade?
Still, who was left to face him without sending the nation spiraling back into mass civil war?
Yasuke, that's who.
Overcome with rage he swore to crush the rebels and avenge his lord if it was the last thing he did and was making moves to rally the Oda clan's retainers the moment the news came.
Emperor Ōgimachi, likely also not waning more civil war and perhaps seeing an outsider like Yasuke as an ideal instrument of the military that could let him reclaim some power threw his support behind the adopted samurai. This sent Nobuyasu's cause into a death spiral, though he and his allies did try to fight it out, they were unlimitedly encircled and overwhelmed by Yasuke's army, who ground them into dust just to make a point.
With his lord avenged, Yasuke returned to the capital with his army in tow and made two offers.
The first was to protect Tokuhime with his life, offering himself as her warrior or if she should wish it, her husband.
And secondly, he offered to continue his service to the emperor and the country that had welcomed him as one of their own.
And seeing as he had a really big army, a lot of political clout, was a proven commander and all in all decently popular in court, they both agreed. It's even been suggested that Tokuhime had been dancing her way around potential marriages until Yasuke had enough standing to be a potential match, and by all accounts their relationship was quite positive.
Oda Yasuke would wed Tokuhime within the month and was awarded the ranks of Daijō-daijin and Kampaku. Essentially making the chief advisor and prime minister, with this and his command over an army Yasuke was Shogun in all but name. Not one to sit idle, Yasuke would take what he had learned from his previous lords and seen in the war and use it to ensure that no one from within or without could threaten his adopted homeland again.
He would create the standing Nippon army.
Groups of common soldiers would all be overseen by a Samurai, who would themselves report to a lesser lord who oversaw several samurai and who themselves reported to a greater lord who reported to Yasuke who nominally reported to the Emperor. He filled the ranks with loyal Oda Clan soldiers and a mix of loyal Samurai and lords who needed to be won over. He organized the building of forts to guard major roadways and other key strategic locations. Improved the messenger systems so lines of communication wouldn't breakdown and even turned the warrior monks into a more official elite, spiritual guard meant to protect important political and religious figures and sights.
There were still the occasional rebellions here and there that were put down with practiced efficiency because he'd just spent the last decade and change conquering the place. But despite those little bumps, Yasuke's reign was extremely stable as far as the Nipponese side of politics went.
He did end up having some trouble with the Jesuits thanks to several riots orchestrated by Christians. This led him to outlaw spreading the religion by foreigners and practicing Christianity it by residents of Nippon. He also turned trade relations more towards the Dutch and other nations less interested in spreading Christianity and would ultimately orchestrate Nippons expansion into the Sothern islands to secure the nation against the ever expanding influence of Spain.
This might surprise some given his ties to the Jesuits, it certainly seemed to surprise some of the Jesuits given their journal entries on Yasuke shifted very starkly, but its not that much of a shock. Yasuke couldn't want anyone to be able to question his loyalty and had completely adopted Nippon as his homeland. He even seemed to have taken to Shinto, sponsoring a great deal of art and temple work tied to the practice in private, let alone his ties to the monks.
Yasuke would continue to honor his deceased lords and protect the Oda Clan through his life. He and Tokuhime would have two children, a son and a daughter, both of whom would rise to great prominence, but who honestly, warrant their own video. But let's just say, Yasuke's political influence didn't die with him, not even close. Yasuke would officially retire when his kids came of age and took on his roles but unofficially he was still in charge and always accompanied his son to work for near on a decade before leaving the future in their hands permanently.
And speaking of legacies, Yasuke even continued to develop the land he'd first been awarded when adopted by the Oda, a nice little fishing village by the name of Edo. His sponsorship turned it into a multicultural trade hub and its ultimately where he retired and passed away, his presence still felt to this day in statues, art, his families private palace and shrines.
But even more, its felt in the communities.
Outside of some of the southern islands, Edo was and is the most diverse place in Nippon. A perpetual trade hub ruled by a former slave from across the world who now led a country?
Yeah that had a lot of appeal.
Thus, many free slaves seeking work found themselves there, as well as wide eyed dreamers, refugees and more, creating an incredibly vibrant cultural mixing pot that continues to help define Nippon to this day.
_________________________________________________________
NOTES:
I was debating having his kids wed into the royal family but wasn't sure if that was pushing it. The idea being that the emperors plan to re-centralize power on himself 'worked' with the caveat being it happened for his successors by virtue of all those positions and powers being folded together in the marriages.
Thoughts and feedback are welcome, but the long and short of this is that it was inspired by Malik Ambar.
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