Chapter 3620
Chapter 3620
Chapter 3620
The plan proposed by Amakusa Hayabusa was extremely ruthless, and the use of refugees was taken to the extreme. In this way, without the royal family and the resistance forces coming forward, it would be possible to put tremendous pressure on Tokugawa Ietsugu. No matter how he responded, it was a dead end for the shogunate.
If Tokugawa Iematsu was forced to temporarily raise supplies to appease the refugees in Kyoto under pressure, he would have to use the logistical supplies of the shogunate army, which would be a fatal blow to the Kyushu front where the war situation was tense.
If Tokugawa Ietsugu ignored the refugees' demands, the reputation of the shogunate would certainly be greatly affected, and more people would stand in support of the royal family when they had to make a choice. And once the refugees' disappointment was ignited, Tokugawa Ietsugu might have to send out troops to suppress the chaos.
If Tokugawa Iematsu was forced to use force to suppress the refugees in the Kyoto area, it would mean that the situation was out of control, and more areas would fall into panic as long as he continued to fan the flames.
If Hai Han then provides some military assistance to those ambitious people who are scheming in the dark, there is a high possibility that they will instigate a new round of civil war.
The various feudal lords in Kyushu were of course happy to see this possible chaos, and they all expressed their willingness to continue cooperating with Hai Han. They had their men spread new rumors in the Kyoto area and instigated refugees to surround the palace where Tokugawa Ietsugu was staying.
Although doing so might expose their ronin samurai to the shogunate's capture range, several representatives said that these ronin samurai were loyal to their respective families and would never back down because of the danger of the mission. If necessary, they would even sacrifice their lives to ensure the completion of their mission.
After a brief discussion, Amakusa Hayabusa and Yang Tianlei roughly finalized an action plan and handed it over to the Kyushu feudal lords for implementation.
Since they wanted to make a big deal out of this, they had to inform the royal family first, to avoid a panic over there. And Lin Qiu took on this task without hesitation.
The next day, Lin Qiu sent someone to the Imperial Garden in Kyoto under the pretext of delivering goods, and conveyed his request for a meeting to the royal family. There were many eyes watching him in the Imperial Garden, and if he went directly to visit the Imperial Garden, it would inevitably draw the attention of the shogunate to Hai Han. So even if he wanted to meet with a member of the royal family, he had to arrange it outside the Imperial Garden.
The person in the royal family who was specifically responsible for contacting Lin Qiu immediately disguised himself as a laborer and followed the delivery convoy back to the Donghai Trading Company's warehouse.
The action led by Hai Han and Jiuzhou does not actually require the direct participation of the royal family. However, if the royal family can make good use of the chaotic situation that will follow and make timely statements that can mobilize public opinion, it will definitely help win more popular support for the royal family.
For the royal family, this was a benefit that came right to their doorstep, and Hai Han did not put forward any additional conditions. It seemed that there was no need to pay any price, so there was really no reason to refuse.
In return, the royal family also provided Lin Qiu with a very important piece of information - Tokugawa Ietsugu had arrived in Kyoto yesterday and was currently in Nijo Castle. The royal family knew this because Tokugawa Ietsugu had already informed the Imperial Garden that he would meet with the emperor today.
Now Hai Han does not have much buffer time. Once Tokugawa Ietsugu finishes his business and leaves Kyoto, all plans will be in vain and they must take action immediately.
Amakusa Hayabusa then summoned several officials from Kyushu and informed them of Tokugawa Ietsuga's whereabouts. In addition, Amakusa Hayabusa had another piece of good news to tell them: "We just received a call from Kyushu that the coalition fleet carried out a surprise attack in the Kanmon Strait and won a great victory, destroying many enemy ships and now has regained control of the strait from the shogunate army!"
This news naturally excited everyone in Kyushu. Once Kyoto was in chaos, the news of the defeat on the front line would be enough to throw the shogunate into disarray. By then, the anti-shogunate propaganda they created in Kyoto would have a much stronger effect.
The ronin warriors under Kyushu's command quickly set out to spread the latest news in the major refugee camps south of Kyoto - the shogunate army was defeated on the Kyushu front, and tens of thousands of troops were trapped in northern Kyushu, with their fate in jeopardy.
However, regarding Tokugawa Ietsugu, Amakusa Hayabusa has made some minor adjustments compared to the original plan. He no longer claims that Tokugawa Ietsugu came to Kyoto to distribute relief supplies to refugees, but because the defeat at the front line resulted in a large loss of supplies, he returned to Kyoto to raise money and food to support the front line to continue fighting.
Of course, there was only one source of the large amount of money and food that Tokugawa Iematsu could immediately raise in Kyoto at this time, and that was to directly withdraw the supplies that were originally intended to be used to relieve refugees.
It is said that in Nijo Castle where he stayed, there were hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain that were about to be transported away as military rations.
Such adjustments will obviously further arouse the anger of refugees.
It would be fine if Tokugawa Ietsugu did not distribute relief supplies to the refugees, at least the royal family in Kyoto was trying to provide assistance, so the refugees would not starve to death immediately. But if Tokugawa Ietsugu also took away the supplies used to provide relief to the refugees, it would really be the end of the lives of thousands of people.
Even though the vast majority of refugees were ordinary people who accepted their fate, many of them would have a strong desire to fight back when their chances of survival were ruthlessly taken away. Even if the enemy was the high-ranking shogun, it would probably be difficult for him to intimidate those refugees who were only trying to survive with his status.
Although there are still many logical loopholes in these improvised rumors, ordinary people do not have the ability to distinguish the authenticity of these news. They only know that even if they leave their homes and flee the war zone, it is still difficult for them to survive now, because the shogunate is ruthlessly taking away their chance of survival.
At this time, the royal family issued a statement in a timely manner, saying that due to the recent shortage of supplies, the porridge distribution activities originally held daily in various refugee camps would be changed to once every three days. The emperor himself felt deeply guilty about this, so he would also reduce the daily meals of all royal family members to one meal a day to sympathize with the refugees' difficult survival. The rations saved by the royal family would also be used for relief.
Although there was no mention of the shogunate in the royal statement, in the eyes of the outside world, there was of course only one culprit for the material shortage, and that was Tokugawa Ietsugu, who withdrew a large amount of money and grain from the local areas.
Some people who had been skeptical about the rumors now had to believe that the reason Tokugawa Ietsugu sneaked back to Kyoto was to seize those life-saving supplies from the royal family.
More rumors unfavorable to the shogunate continued to be reported. For example, after the great defeat on the Kyushu front, the shogunate urgently needed to replenish troops and laborers, so the refugees in the Kyoto area would be cleared out next, and all young and strong men would be recruited by the government to serve in the army.