1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3628

Looking at the entire Kyoto area, the number of supporters who are truly powerful enough to impress the imperial family can be counted on one hand, but the vast majority of them are forces affiliated with the shogunate.

As for those rebels who were secretly doing bad things, Sakai Tadaki did not think they could get the approval of the royal family. If the royal family wanted to break away from the control of the shogunate, what they needed most was money, food, and a large number of armed forces with combat effectiveness, rather than a bunch of ronin warriors hiding from place to place.

At the same time, he also believed that the royal family was unlikely to take the initiative to disrupt their own territory, so the actions of these ronin warriors in Kyoto were not authorized by the royal family. It was more likely that they were simply coming for the shogunate and had no direct relationship with the royal family.

Sakai Tadaki quickly listed a list of local daimyo who were more resistant to the shogunate and closer to the imperial family. Almost all of these people had recently entered the Imperial Garden and met with Emperor Go-sai, and they might be the behind-the-scenes supporters of the imperial family who had recently become tough.

Of course, he did not forget to include Hai Han in the list of suspects. After all, Hai Han was now supplying weapons and equipment to both warring parties. It seemed possible that one more company would be added to the list.

In other words, if Hai Han expressed its willingness to support the imperial family, it would be reasonable for Emperor Go-nishi to be tempted by this, which was reasonable in Sakai Tadamasa's opinion. After all, after receiving support from Hai Han, the Kyushu vassal states all had the courage to rebel.

Sakai Tadamyoshi's judgment was just one step away from the truth, but because the shogunate army had not been able to find much evidence during the search operation, he had no evidence to link the chaos in Kyoto to Hai Han.

Although he had such speculation, he did not dare to launch an investigation into Hai Han's office and personnel in Kyoto. Once Hai Han found out, it would be a serious matter that he would have to bear the consequences. It might even affect the fragile cooperative relationship between Hai Han and the shogunate, which would be a loss.

Sakai Tadamasa was not aware that his own caution was invisibly covering up Tokugawa Ietsugu's whereabouts.

Although continuous surveillance of Nijo Castle was arranged, no one noticed that Tokugawa Ietsuga had left. Yang Tianlei and Amakusa Hayabusa also regarded Tokugawa Ietsuga as their opponent and were arranging subsequent actions.

It was not until two or three days later that they received a telegram from Kyushu stating that Tokugawa Ietsugu had returned to the Mori residence near the Kanmon Strait and had retaken military command on the front line.

Several generals who were in charge of commanding the battle during his absence have all been punished to varying degrees, and the shogunate army is regrouping and will apparently launch a new round of offensive in the near future.

The two people in Kyoto were shocked when they received the news. They had no idea when Tokugawa Ietsugu slipped away from under their noses. If there was no reliable source in Kyushu saying that Tokugawa Ietsugu had appeared in the army, they would even think that this was a trick used by the shogunate to boost the morale of the army.

For the two men who were tasked with monitoring Tokugawa Iematsu's movements, this was considered a serious dereliction of duty.

Although they hold high official positions and are not on the front line of surveillance, if the higher-ups want to hold them accountable, they will definitely not be able to escape the blame.

This kind of thing is difficult to explain clearly through a telegram. In desperation, Yang Tianlei can only return to Kyushu to explain the situation, while Amakusa Hayabusa will continue to stay in Kyoto in order to respond to changes in the situation in a timely manner.

The official ship that Yang Tianlei was riding on was a civilian model of the "Swordfish-class" reconnaissance ship. It could reach a high speed of over 15 knots relying solely on sail power. It took only more than a day to reach Fukuoka City in Kitakyushu.

Fortunately, the Kanmon Strait was still under the control of the Kyushu coalition forces, so it was very smooth to cross the strait without any extra delay. Although Yang Tianlei came back exhausted, Shi Diwen didn't give him a good look, and didn't even let him sit down to talk. He left him alone for a cup of tea before he said indifferently, "Tell me, what's going on in Kyoto?"

Although Shi Diwen did not get angry, Yang Tianlei had clearly sensed that he was very dissatisfied with the performance of the Kyoto agency.

He had already prepared his story on the way back, and he quickly explained, "Sir, we set up two surveillance points outside Nijo Castle, watching the east gate and the north gate, but we didn't find Tokugawa Ietsugu leaving the castle. We analyzed that he might have left Nijo Castle through other secret passages and deliberately concealed his return to the Kyushu front, so that we didn't notice it at all."

"But no matter what the situation is, this is due to my negligence. Please punish me, sir!"

After saying this, Yang Tianlei bowed deeply, not daring to look up at Shi Diwen's expression. He and his father Yang Yunjun had followed Shi Diwen for many years, and they knew the temper of this old boss very well. If he admitted his mistakes and took the initiative to take responsibility, it would be fine. If he made excuses, it would really anger the other party.

As expected, Shi Diwen's expression eased when he saw his upright attitude. He nodded and said, "Your mistake this time was indeed very serious, but fortunately it has not caused any bad consequences. I will make a note of your and Amakusa Hayabusa's mistakes this time. You can find opportunities to make amends on your own!"

Yang Tianlei saw him lift it high and then put it down gently, knowing that he had passed the test, so he raised his head and said, "Thank you for your forgiveness, sir!"

Shi Diwen raised his hand and pointed to the chair opposite him and said, "Sit down. Tell me more about the situation in Kyoto."

This needs to be discussed in detail. Obviously, it is not just about Tokugawa Iematsu's personal movements, but refers to the recent changes in the situation in Kyoto.

Yang Tianlei then reported the plan he and Amakusa Hayabusa had planned, as well as the recent implementation results. In particular, regarding the contact with the royal family, he basically relayed the content of the meeting between Amakusa Hayabusa and Emperor Go-nishi verbatim.

After listening to it, Shi Diwen did not express his opinion immediately, but closed his eyes and thought for a while. Yang Tianlei did not dare to disturb his thoughts, and sat quietly waiting.

After a long while, Shi Diwen finally spoke: "Your idea is good, but in the actual implementation, you did one thing wrong!"

Yang Tianlei quickly responded: "I am stupid, please give me some advice!"

Shi Diwen said: "Amakusa Hayabusa went to talk to the Japanese emperor and promised to support him. This is putting the cart before the horse. If the Japanese emperor dares to fight against the shogunate on the premise that we support him, then his courage is extremely limited. Even if we can temporarily reach an agreement, he may go back on his word and even betray us."

"The condition you should put forward to the imperial family is that they must take action first and show their attitude of opposing the shogunate before they can obtain our support. Whether it is money, food, weapons and equipment, or other assistance, they need to win it through their performance."

"You must tell the other party clearly that if they want to use our power to restore their country and seize power, they must first show enough sincerity!"