After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the core decision-making circle of the Toyotomi regime was the so-called "Five Great Elders and Five Directors". In many people's impressions, the "five elders" seem to go hand in hand. However, in real history, the "Five Elders" were the "two giants" of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Maeda Toshiie, and the so-called "Five Elders" collegiate never appeared. What's going on here? This ghost will talk about the family.
Before Toyotomi Hideji was killed, the power structure of the central Toyotomi regime was as follows: Toyotomi Hideyoshi held the supreme power as a monarch; A powerful sect (first Toyotomi Hidecho, later Toyotomi Hideji) served as the "executive deputy monarch" and was in charge of leading military and political affairs; The cronies and ministers represented by the "Gojo" assisted Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Toyotomi's "executive deputy monarch" in handling the day-to-day government affairs of the Toyotomi regime.
However, after Toyotomi Shuji was killed, no one could fill the vacancy of the "executive monarch" of the Toyotomi regime. In desperation, Toyotomi Hideyoshi could only choose five high-prestige daimyo to replace the "executive deputy monarch", that is, the "five elders". However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not clearly stipulate the authority, replacement criteria, and qualifications of the "five elders" to participate in politics, so that it was a question whether the "five elders" should be permanently stationed in the central government.
Before his death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi asked Tokugawa Ieyasu, the chief minister of the Toyotomi regime, to take charge of state affairs in Fushimi Castle, and the second minister, Maeda Toshiie, to assist the young lord Toyotomi Hideyori in Osaka Castle, without arranging the power of Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Keikatsu. In other words, the power of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Maeda Toshiie comes from the will of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and has nothing to do with the identity of the "Five Elders".
Because of this, the Toyotomi regime after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi was not the "Five Elders" who went hand in hand, but the "Big Two" of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Maeda Toshiya matched the "Three Elders", and the real power of Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Keikatsu was even smaller than that of the "Five Elders". After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Keikatsu all returned to their powers, while Tokugawa Ieyasu and Maeda Toshiie remained in the "two capitals".
To sum up, some people believe that the Toyotomi regime after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi was not a joint power of the "five elders", but actually a joint power of the "twin giants" of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Maeda Toshiie. This is one of the main reasons why Tokugawa Ieyasu was no longer able to restrain him after the death of Maeda Toshiie.