Chapter 3621
Chapter 3621
Chapter 3621
When the latest rumors were rapidly fermenting in Kyoto, Tokugawa Ietsugu had just finished his visit to the Imperial Garden and returned to his residence, Nijo Castle.
The meeting with the emperor was not very smooth. Tokugawa Ietsugu asked the emperor to come forward immediately to clarify various false rumors on behalf of the shogunate, but he did not get a positive response.
The emperor proposed that the shogunate should provide more money and food to ensure the survival of the tens of thousands of refugees who fled to Kyoto. At the same time, the shogunate should end the war of conquering Kyushu as soon as possible and restore peace to the country so that the refugees can return home.
The attitude shown by the other party during the talks made Tokugawa Ietsugu feel something was amiss.
In the past, the puppet emperor would only listen to him and would not dare to make any demands. But now, he pretended to be on an equal footing with the shogunate and even started bargaining with him.
If the other party is not drunk and not sober, then there is only one possibility, that is, someone is providing him with strong support behind the scenes, making him fearless, so his attitude towards himself becomes obviously tougher.
Tokugawa Iematsu did not think that the Kyushu feudal lords had such ability, and the reason was simple. Kyushu was currently in a passive situation where it was unable to take care of itself, and the lairs of the rebellious feudal lords could be invaded by the shogunate army at any time. Even if they were willing to express their support to the royal family, the royal family would not dare to bet on them.
After the meeting, Tokugawa Ietsugu did not achieve his goal. He wanted to say something more meaningful to shock the other party, but the emperor just told him lightly to go back and deal with public opinion first, and then discuss cooperation with the royal family.
Tokugawa Ietsugu did not understand the meaning, but he still sensed the danger, so he immediately said goodbye and returned to Nijo Castle. As expected, as soon as he returned, he received a series of bad news.
After listening to the information reported by his subordinates, Tokugawa Ietsuga couldn't help but feel his head buzzing with these shocking rumors.
He had not received any battle reports from the front at this time. He was just thinking that just a few days after he left the front line, rumors of the defeat of the shogunate army began to spread in Kyoto. The details were so convincing and cleverly combined with his itinerary, which was indeed quite confusing.
However, at the moment, Tokugawa Ietsugu had no time to investigate how his itinerary was leaked. Once the rumor that he came to Kyoto to withdraw relief money and food came out, the public's emotions would be immediately incited, and a major chaos would be inevitable.
Tokugawa Ietsugu acted decisively and made arrangements immediately.
"Immediately set up checkpoints around Nijo Castle and block the roads. Forbid anyone to pass through! Send the musketeers to the top of the castle to set up defenses. If any thieves attack the castle defenses, open fire!"
"Order the cavalry to take my order and immediately set out to the Inaba family of Yodo Domain, the Sakai family of Himeji Domain, the Nagai family of Takatsuki Domain, the Matsudaira family of Amagasaki Domain, and the Aoyama family of Shinoyama Domain. Have each family gather their troops and rush to Kyoto to quell the rebellion!"
"Capture the ronin who spread the rumors as soon as possible. If there is strong resistance, there is no need to leave him alive!"
Regardless of whether the refugees in Kyoto would cause unrest or not, Tokugawa Ietsugu had to be prepared to deal with it. He brought a small number of troops back to Kyoto this time, and it was probably difficult to cope with a large-scale chaos, so he had to mobilize reinforcements from the feudal states that had close relations with the shogunate in the surrounding areas of Kyoto and prepare for armed suppression. However, these feudal states were generally mediocre in strength, and they had already drawn troops to join the shogunate army to attack Kyushu, so it was hard to say how many troops they could gather now.
Fortunately, when his great-grandfather Tokugawa Ieyasu built Nijo Castle, he did not use it as a simple palace, but designed it according to the standard Japanese castle design, taking into full consideration the wartime situation, and all kinds of defensive fortifications were available. Even if there are only a few hundred people guarding Nijo Castle, it is enough to withstand a moderate attack.
Not long after he made these arrangements, a riot broke out in Kyoto, with refugees from other places as the main participants.
The three refugee camps in southern Kyoto, which housed the largest number of people, started riots almost at the same time. Large numbers of men armed with farm tools and sticks took to the streets, clamoring to go to Nijo Castle to reclaim the supplies that should have belonged to the refugees.
There were not many soldiers guarding the refugee camp to begin with, and when they saw this situation they only symbolically stopped the crowd and then tactfully hid aside, allowing the angry crowd to rush to the core area of Kyoto.
As for the samurai who were ordered by Tokugawa Ietsugu to carry out the capture mission, they were also unable to stop the huge flow of people and could only quickly return to Nijo Castle to report the news.
However, when the refugees walked more than ten miles and arrived outside Nijo Castle, the place was already heavily guarded.
The area of Nijo Castle is only about one mile square, not a big place, but it has three layers of defense inside and outside. The streets on all four sides of the outer perimeter have been cut off by the shogunate army, and no outsiders are allowed to pass. At the street entrances, chevaux de frise and breastworks have even been built, and there are musketeers armed with live ammunition guarding them.
Within this line of defense is a moat about four meters wide that surrounds the city, as well as a thick city wall built with stone slabs. Only in the east and north directions are there stone bridges and gates that lead directly into the city.
According to the structure of Japanese castles, the area within the moat is called Ninomaru, and inside Ninomaru there is another square moat, the width of which is even wider than the outer moat, reaching six zhang.
The fifty-foot square area within this moat is the core area of Nijo Castle, the Honmaru, which can only be entered through bridges from the east and west. Important buildings such as the castle tower and Honmaru Palace of Nijo Castle are also located in this area.
Each key passage across the moat leading in and out of Nijo Castle was equipped with at least two cannons purchased by the shogunate from Hai Han, making it very easy to put these passages under fire blockade. If necessary, the stone bridge could even be blown up to temporarily cut off the passage.
There are two-story fortress-style watchtowers at the four corners of the two city walls, from which various long-range weapons can be launched.
The outer streets were blocked, and the two trenches and walls surrounded Nijo Castle like an iron barrel array. Compared to the Kyoto Imperial Garden two miles away, which did not even have a moat, this place could be considered a strong city.
Although the number of refugees coming in full force was dozens of times that of the defenders, the gap in equipment and organization between the two sides was too great. Let alone attacking Nijo Castle, even breaking through the outermost circle of barricades was not an easy task for these refugees.
Many people became more clear-headed after seeing the shogunate troops gathering at the street corner and entering combat mode. They did not come here to rebel, but just to get back the supplies that belonged to the refugees. If they continued to move forward, they might be treated as rebels.