1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3627

Tokugawa Ietsugu realized that he could not take care of both ends. After careful consideration, he still thought that the situation in Kyushu was more important. If the shogunate army was defeated in Kyushu, the consequences might not only be the loss of control of Kyushu, but also make the end of the civil war far away.

Although the search and arrest operation in Kyoto has not yet ended, the chaos has been basically suppressed. The several thousand soldiers mobilized to Kyoto are enough to deal with small-scale riots here.

Therefore, Tokugawa Ietsugu decided to return to the Kyushu front to take charge of the situation, but he also had to leave a clone to handle the affairs of Kyoto to ensure that the situation here would not continue to deteriorate.

Tokugawa Iematsu decided to give this task to Sakai Tadamatsu and not to disclose the news of his departure from Kyoto to the outside world. Sakai Tadamatsu issued orders in the name of the shogunate, making the outside world believe that Tokugawa Iematsu was still in Nijo Castle.

The advantage of being young is that you are full of energy. After Tokugawa Ietsugu considered the priorities, he immediately ordered people to prepare, and summoned Sakai Tadamasa to inform him of his decision.

Sakai Tadamasa also knew the importance of the Kyushu war and did not question Tokugawa Ietsuga's decision. He only suggested that he immediately rectify military discipline after returning to the front line and punish the commander who caused the defeat to serve as a warning to others.

Tokugawa Ietsugu agreed without hesitation. He really wanted to know what those good-for-nothings on the front line were doing. As soon as he left, the Kyushu rebels captured the Kanmon Strait.

After nightfall, the side gate on the west side of Nijo Castle opened, and a group of people quietly crossed the moat in a small boat. After getting ashore, they rode on horses prepared in advance and headed south.

Tokugawa Ietsugu anticipated that someone would be secretly watching the movements of Nijo Castle, so he did not go through the east gate where people usually entered and exited. Instead, he chose to leave the castle through the west gate which did not even have a temporary bridge and was usually not used.

In order to avoid attracting attention, Tokugawa Ietsugu did not even arrange too many guards for himself. He traveled 20 miles south to the bank of the Yodo River, then transferred to a small boat that had been waiting there, and sailed southwest along the Yodo River.

After a night of tossing and turning, the ship entered Osaka Bay after dawn, and then changed to a larger ship to head to the Kyushu front.

It was not until they changed ships and went to sea that Tokugawa Ietsugu finally felt at ease. He was exhausted during these days back in Kyoto, even more exhausted than when he was commanding the battle at the front.

Now that they have finally left Kyoto, it is more like a relief for Tokugawa Ietsugu. The fatigue that has accumulated over the past few days swept over him, and he fell into a deep sleep on the boat.

Although the news of Tokugawa Iematsu leaked when he returned to Kyoto from the Kyushu front, this time he left Kyoto without anyone noticing.

Nijo Castle was filled with his trusted subordinates, and transportation along the way was handled by the Shogunate's Imperial Guards. Although there were many spies from the Kyushu domains and Hai Han who were secretly watching the movements in Nijo Castle, they still did not notice Tokugawa Ietsugu's quiet departure.

Sakai Tadamasa, who stayed in Kyoto, also faithfully performed his duties. The next day, he specially ordered the preparation of the Shogun's ceremonial guard, and made a high-profile inspection of various parts of the city. He also announced a series of new measures aimed at restoring normal social order.

Amakusa Hayabusa and Yang Tianlei were completely unaware of Tokugawa Ietsugu's secret actions, and their energy was still focused on the local anti-shogunate activities.

Almost every day, new notices were posted on the palace walls outside the Imperial Garden, announcing the royal family's views and measures on the situation in Kyoto.

Although the imperial family itself had no real power, as long as they put pressure on the shogunate, it would be enough to make the people grateful. Moreover, the imperial family actually took out money and food to provide relief to tens of thousands of refugees who took refuge near the Imperial Garden.

Some people who received relief had already begun to shout slogans, calling for the emperor to replace the shogunate and regain the power to govern the country. Although the shogunate imposed a military blockade on the Kyoto area, rumors about Kyoto's recent situation quickly spread to the outside world through various channels.

Among these different versions of the rumors, the number of people who died for resisting the shogunate's injustices continued to rise, from hundreds to thousands, and then to tens of thousands. There were even exaggerated versions claiming that the shogunate army massacred half of Kyoto.

Although these exaggerated rumors may not be fully believed, they undoubtedly confirmed the brutality of the shogunate in dealing with the Kyoto turmoil.

As for the unfavorable public opinions that have begun to spread across the country, the shogunate now has no effective means to clarify itself, and is even unable to respond.

It is of course very easy for daimyos from all over the country to verify the authenticity of the news. They just need to go to Kyoto in person to take a look. This is also one of the reasons why more and more daimyos from all over the country have quietly come to Kyoto to meet the Japanese emperor in recent days.

As for what they talked about with the Japanese Emperor after entering the Imperial Garden, and whether they reached any agreement, probably only the parties involved know.

Sakai Tadamasa, who was very curious about this, quickly figured out a countermeasure, which was to summon the pro-shogunate daimyo to Kyoto and take the initiative to ask for an audience in the Imperial Garden.

If the puppet emperor in the imperial garden is up to something, maybe he can be exposed in this way.

Unexpectedly, this trick actually played a certain role. After meeting the Japanese emperor, several daimyos then entered Nijo Castle and reported the situation to Sakai Tadamasa.

Although the emperor did not directly recruit them, he asked them in a roundabout way about their views on the situation in Kyoto and whether they supported the shogunate's repressive measures against civilians.

If the daimyo in question expressed support for the shogunate, the topic would stop there. However, if the words showed dissatisfaction with the shogunate, the emperor would express similarly and ask the daimyo if he was willing to support the imperial family and check the shogunate's autocratic dictatorship.

"After all, you are still too young and impatient!"

After listening to the reports from these daimyo, Sakai Tadamasa also had a deeper understanding of the attitude of the royal family and confirmed that the man in the imperial garden did have some uneasy thoughts.

The current Emperor Go-nishi is a cautious person who will not easily reveal his political views, but after all, he is just a young man with limited experience and cannot see through this testing trick.

Emperor Go-nishi had been on the throne for only four years, and his political experience was even less than that of Tokugawa Ietsugu, who had been in charge of the shogunate for seven years. He was only three years older than Tokugawa Ietsugu, having just turned twenty at the beginning of the year.

No matter how cautious he was, he lacked experience after all. When it came to scheming and maneuvering, he was no match for a professional politician like Sakai Tadayoshi.

However, Sakai Tadamasa was not satisfied with this, because he still did not understand why Emperor Go-sai suddenly dared to interfere in government affairs.

Could it be that he was just starting to get ready to act because he saw that the shogunate was in a bad situation recently and that civil unrest had broken out in the rear? This seemed inconsistent with his usual cautious style.