Chapter 3520
Chapter 3520
Chapter 3520
Since Hai Han was determined to let the Japanese civil war continue for a long time, it would not only help one side. At least on the surface, it had to pretend to be a moderate figure to prove Hai Han's position of "upholding justice."
The arrangement for the shogunate representative to visit the Sasebo base was indeed not notified to the local forces in Kyushu in advance, so Mitsushige Nabeshima was very surprised by the appearance of Sakai Tadamichi.
He immediately thought that the presence of the shogunate's men in the Sasebo base was obviously not a temporary decision made by Hai Han. It seemed that Hai Han had been maintaining secret contact with the shogunate during the past winter.
Although it is unclear what kind of agreement was reached between Hai Han and the shogunate, one thing is certain: Hai Han is not 100% on the side of Kyushu, otherwise there would be no need to arrange for people from the shogunate to attend this occasion.
However, Mitsushige Nabeshima definitely did not dare to publicly question Hai Han’s actions at this time. He could only wait and see how the situation would develop.
As soon as Sakai Tadamasa opened his mouth, he first emphasized that the Tokugawa shogunate was the actual ruler of Japan, and the daimyo of Kyushu were just local governors appointed by the shogunate. No matter what excuse they used to resist the shogunate, it would all be regarded as rebellion, and the shogunate would ruthlessly suppress it depending on the severity of the situation.
Sakai Tadamasa's statement was decisive and did not give any face to Nabeshima Mitsushige at all.
Some people noticed that Sakai Tadamasa did not clarify the charges that Nabeshima Mitsushige accused the shogunate of, and it seemed that he did not take these accusations seriously at all.
This tough attitude actually won the approval of many people. After all, if they were in the other's shoes, most of the guests would put themselves in the position of the shogunate, rather than an ambitious local official in a remote area far away from the capital.
As for the emperor who lived in seclusion in Kyoto Imperial Garden, in fact, most foreigners do not understand the situation in Japan and do not know of his existence. Sakai Tadamasa and Nabeshima Mitsushige also tacitly skipped this section.
At this time, the imperial lineage had long become a powerless mascot. Not only had they lost their political power and status, but their daily lives were also strictly restricted by the "Laws for Imperial Court and Court Officials" formulated by the shogunate. All their food, clothing, and daily expenses came from the shogunate's financial allocation. To put it bluntly, even if they wanted to rebel, they had no money.
Sakai Tadamasa then said that if the daimyo who were causing the rebellion in Kyushu could come to their senses and go to Edo to apologize, they would have a chance to be forgiven by the shogunate. But if they continued to cause trouble, they would not be blamed for sending troops to quell the rebellion.
Although he knew that Hai Han was the instigator, Sakai Tadamasa still expressed his gratitude to Hai Han calmly, believing that Hai Han provided the shogunate with such an occasion, which would give many countries a chance to figure out who was right and who was wrong in the dispute, and not have to believe the one-sided words of the Kyushu rebels.
Sakai Tadakiyo's speech was not long, but what he said had to be translated into Chinese by the translator beside him first, and then retranslated by the accompanying translators from various countries. Therefore, it took quite a bit of effort for the guests present to understand what he wanted to express.
Sakai Tadakiro's speech shook the opinions of many people present.
They originally thought that since Hai Han had arranged for local forces to participate in the reception and gave a speech on such an occasion, it should be clear that it was on the side of the local forces in Kyushu. However, the speech of the shogunate representative immediately overturned this view. Judging from his fearless appearance, he was obviously more confident than the previous appearance of Nabeshima Mitsushige. Even the senior officials of the Executive Committee who were watching from the audience gave Sakai Tadakiyo a "something" evaluation, believing that his performance had already helped the shogunate to win back a victory.
Of course, Nabeshima Mitsushige would not accept Sakai Tadamasa's request to surrender. The daimyo of Kyushu had no way back now. Even if they went to Edo to apologize as the other party said, the end result would at least be dismissal, loss of property, and reduction to civilian status. If that were the case, it would be better to die.
Of course, the most important thing is, how could he surrender directly to the shogunate with the support of Hai Han behind him?
Although it seems that it remains to be seen whether the strength of Hai Han's support is as great as it promised, both parties have spent so much time and effort in cooperation and preparation. Mitsushige Nabeshima believes that Hai Han will not easily give up its support for Kyushu forces.
Now that things have come to this, Mitsushige Nabeshima can only think positively. Perhaps Hai Han deliberately arranged for the shogunate representative to appear here in order to test his determination.
Of course, he was eager to kill Sakai Tadamasa immediately to demonstrate his determination, but since it was Hai Han that arranged for the other party to come to Sasebo, he probably would not want to see such a situation happen. All he could do now was to refute the other party through debate.
However, Mitsushige Nabeshima was unaware of this arrangement beforehand, while Tadamasa Sakai was obviously more prepared for it. After several rounds of debate between the two, the advantage of the shogunate became increasingly obvious. They pinned the label of "rebellion" on the Kyushu forces, making it impossible for Mitsushige Nabeshima to prove the justice of his own camp.
Moreover, Sakai Tadamyoshi also attacked the Kyushu coalition as a mob. The determination of the Saga clan could not represent the other clans, and they would surely fall apart and be vulnerable when facing attacks from the shogunate army in the future.
Just when Mitsushige Nabeshima was feeling uneasy, Shi Diwen stepped in to end the debate, announcing that it was getting late today and that the two sides would arrange another debate at a later time.
Mitsushige Nabeshima breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that this was originally a good opportunity to show off, but now it has turned into a situation where he is about to take the blame. If he had known this would happen, he should have invited daimyos from other families to come here as well, so that at least the momentum could be stronger and the other side would not be able to take advantage of the coalition forces' fierce attack.
Earlier, Shiro Tenso had proposed that all five daimyos of Kyushu come to Sasebo to deal with the Hai Han delegation. However, Mitsushige Nabeshima was selfish and strongly opposed this arrangement, saying that it would greatly affect the preparations of the various families, and that he, who was closest to Sasebo, could go there.
Later, Amakusa Shiro really adopted his opinion and asked him to represent the local forces of Kyushu to attend the event. Who would have expected that the situation would turn out like this.
After the event ended, Mitsushige Nabeshima did not return to his residence, but went directly to find Shiro Amakusa, hoping that he could immediately arrange a meeting for him with Shi Diwen or other high-ranking officials of Hai Han.
Even if Hai Han did not explain why Sakai Tadaki appeared here, he still had to confirm what the Executive Committee was planning now. If he didn't take this reassurance, he would not be able to sleep tonight.