Chapter 3625
Chapter 3625
Chapter 3625
Many people couldn't understand why Kyoto was suddenly plunged into war when the shogunate's battlefield was on Kyushu Island, 800 miles away. Moreover, it was not the so-called Kyushu rebels who were killing the people here, but the shogunate army who were supposed to maintain the stability of Kyoto.
But the reality is so unreasonable. The shogunate army and the various feudal armies dispatched from nearby have cut off all the main land and water routes connecting Kyoto with the outside world. Now those who did not have time to escape from Kyoto can no longer leave.
Judging from the situation, the shogunate does not seem to care about the several bloody incidents that have already occurred and insists on carrying out the so-called spy-catching operation to the end.
Since the Honnoji Incident in 1582, Kyoto has not experienced such chaos in recent decades, nor has it experienced such intensive bloodshed as in recent times.
Amid the panic among the people, the prestige and credibility of various announcements issued by the shogunate were rapidly declining among the people.
The shogunate posted notices everywhere, declaring that normal social order would be restored immediately as soon as the spies causing chaos in Kyoto were eliminated. At the same time, it warned all the people not to participate in any actions against the shogunate, otherwise they would be regarded as rebels and spies and might be sentenced to death.
However, these notices did not clarify the rumors about the shogunate army's defeat on the Kyushu front, nor did they explain the truth about the bloodshed in recent days. They only asked the people to wait and cooperate. How could this convince the vast number of people who were already in panic?
After several days of unrest, the royal family, which had not expressed its attitude until now, finally spoke out and demanded that the shogunate immediately end its military operations in Kyoto, lift the blockade of the area, deal with the aftermath of the bloodshed that occurred during this period, and properly resettle the tens of thousands of refugees who are still stranded in the Kyoto area.
In the past, not many people would care about the royal family's words. After all, everyone knew that only the shogunate could make the final decision on major issues, and the royal family was just a mascot on the stage. In addition, the royal family tended to only pay attention to matters related to their own interests, which had little direct relationship with the general public.
But the significance of the royal family's voice this time is very different from the past. It is actually to fight for the rights of the people, and the object of their struggle is the Tokugawa shogunate, which no one dares to offend.
Ordinary people did not know why the royal family did this, but when it came to their own survival, it was obvious which side they should stand on. Many local celebrities and gentry in Kyoto chose to support the royal family and refused to cooperate with the shogunate's search and arrest operation.
Although the outside world was in chaos, the Donghai Trading Post was still in relatively normal order. Except for the annoying cries of infants and young children every night, everything else was relatively peaceful.
Lin Qiu had already stored a large amount of food in the storehouse before this, so he could cope with the current situation in the short term. However, considering that more and more refugees were gathering in the nearby area, Lin Qiu still informed Yang Tianlei of the possible supply problems.
Either they had to arrange for food to be transported from other places, or they had to calm the situation as soon as possible and evacuate the surrounding refugees, otherwise the storehouse's inventory would only be enough to last another ten days or half a month. Once the food ran out, they would probably have no choice but to evacuate Kyoto.
However, the plan to create civil unrest in the shogunate has reached a critical moment. The East China Sea Trading Station is an important intelligence station of Hai Han in the Kyoto area, and of course it cannot leave at this time.
It would take time to transport food from the Sasebo base in Kyushu to Kyoto, and even if it was transported, it might not be allowed by the shogunate. Yang Tianlei could only ask Lin Qiu to reduce the daily rations and urge Amakusa Hayabusa to implement the next plan as soon as possible.
Amakusa Hayabusa also thought that the time was right, so he contacted the shogunate and asked to meet with Tokugawa Ietsugu. The reason why Amakusa Hayabusa was asked to meet with Yang Tianlei was because Amakusa Hayabusa was in charge of publicity and diplomacy, and because he was of Japanese descent, he did not need an interpreter to talk to the high-level officials of the shogunate, and the communication was smoother.
Tokugawa Ietsugu was very surprised when he received the news. Of course he knew who Amakusa Hayabusa was, but he did not expect that there was a Hai Han official staying in Kyoto at this time, and his rank was not low.
So Tokugawa Ietsugu specially sent a carriage and cavalry to the East China Sea to pick up Amakusa Hayabusa and meet him at Nijo Castle.
The two had met once before. At that time, Tokugawa Ietsugu had just succeeded to the throne and was still a child. Even the diplomatic reception was handled by Sakai Tadakiyo, Masuyama Masatoshi and others to prevent him from making mistakes when he was young.
However, after just a few years, Amakusa Hayabusa noticed that Tokugawa Ietsuga seemed to have adapted to the position of Shogun with the power of life and death. The childishness on his face had faded a lot, his eyes were much firmer than before, and he even grew a light mustache, as if to hide his age.
When the outside world generally believed that the shogunate acted in a simple, rough and reckless manner without considering the consequences, people often forgot that the shogun who now held power was only a 17-year-old boy and not an experienced bureaucrat.
Many of the decisions he made were not necessarily well thought out, nor were they necessarily made in the interests of the shogunate.
Of course, if this were not the case, Hai Han’s plan to instigate a civil war in Japan might not have been implemented so smoothly. If it were a more mature and prudent ruler, perhaps other methods would have been used to resolve the domestic crisis instead of easily resorting to war.
"Lord Amakusa, you appear in Kyoto at this time. I guess you didn't come here just to visit me, did you?"
Hearing Tokugawa Ietsugu's somewhat impolite question, Amakusa Hayabusa replied frankly: "Lord Tokugawa, I came to Kyoto to deal with some minor issues between the East China Sea Bank and the royal family. I have been here for more than half a month. I didn't expect that everything was fine when I came here, but now I can't go back!"
Tokugawa Ietsuga said, "Lord Amakusa, if you just want to return to Sasebo, you can leave at any time. I will send someone to handle the relevant procedures for you and ensure that you can leave Kyoto safely."
Upon hearing this, Amakusa Hayabusa just smiled. If he just wanted to leave Kyoto, he wouldn't need to alert Tokugawa Ietsugu. As long as he revealed his identity, no one would dare to stop his carriage.
Of course, he could also tell that Tokugawa Ietsuga was not sincerely trying to provide convenience for him, but was deliberately squeezing him so that he would take the initiative to reveal his true intentions.
Thinking about how the young boy, who was so timid in speaking at the beginning, now has such a mind and means, Amakusa Hayabusa couldn't help but sigh that power really can make people mature.
He didn't want to waste time beating around the bush with the other party, so he continued, "If I wanted to leave, I could have left a long time ago. The reason I stayed in Kyoto is that I don't want to see the situation here get out of control and more people be forced into bloodshed. Lord Tokugawa, it's time to put an end to this chaos!"