Hideyoshi, in spite of being a warlord, transitioned Japan from a state of war to a state of peace.  Though Japan wasn’t finished with the sengoku jidai by the time he died in 1598, he did put in place a series of laws that made peace more profitable than war.  When it came to creating a sustainable peace for the Japanese nation, he made the bird ‘want to sing’

The rise of Hideyoshi from sandal bearer to dictator of Japan was phenomenal. After hundreds of year of civil war, he, without any sense of irony, brought the country to unified peace with remarkably little bloodshed.  Well, at least a lot less than what one might expect if Nobunaga had lived long enough to make it happen.  Not only did he unify the Daimyo, he set about reorganising the process of taxation and commerce for the whole realm.

If murdering Nobunaga was Phase One of a long thought-out and well-considered plan for the take-over of Japan it certainly wasn’t obvious in 1582.  In fact, it hardly seems obvious today!  One thing we do know, Hideyoshi, though flat-out besieging the Mori clan, was not going to let this opportunity pass.  If things went right, he could achieve victory over the Mori, avenge his lord and overcome rivals for control of post-Nobunaga Japan.