Ryuzoji Masaie


Masaie was the eldest son of Ryûzôji Takanobu. Following his father's defeat and death in 1584 at the hands of the Shimazu, Masaie agreed to a truce with the latter. He was physically weak and a poor leader and so suffered the defection of a number of his retainers in short order. He relied on Nabeshima Naoshige but in fact Naoshige was himself maneuvering towards independence. He quickly transferred his allegiance to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587 and was confirmed in six districts of Hizen (worth some 350,000-koku). He was present at Hideyoshi's headquarters during the Korean invasion. His lands were later transferred to his former vassal, Nabeshima Naoshige.

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