The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 237 Edo Incident
Tokugawa Ieharu himself is dead, but the Edo Shogun "Tokugawa Ieharu" is not dead yet.

The three great families to whom Tokugawa Ieharu was entrusted with the care of his son did not immediately hold a funeral for him, nor did they immediately allow Tokugawa Ieharu's adopted son Tokugawa Iesari to succeed to the throne.

This can be considered a Japanese tradition. After the death of a noble, the funeral cannot be announced immediately and must be kept secret for a period of time.

The period after the general's death was basically a peak period for factional struggles.

The date of Tokugawa Ieharu's death was no exception.

Ever since Tokugawa Ieharu became seriously ill, the Tokugawa Gosanke established in the early days of the Edo Shogunate and the Tokugawa Gosanke established by the first two generations of shoguns have been paying attention to Tokugawa Ieharu's situation in Edo Castle.

The head of the Mito Tokugawa family of the Three Great Houses, Tokugawa Haruyasu, the head of the Kii Tokugawa family, Tokugawa Haruhiko, and the head of the Owari Tokugawa family, Tokugawa Munemichi, were all present.

The head of the Ichibashi Tokugawa family, Tokugawa Harusuke, who was also the biological father of Tokugawa Ieharu's adopted son Tokugawa Ieshige, was also there.

According to convention, the period from the death of the old shogun to the succession of the new shogun is actually the period of rule by the three great families, who work together to ensure that the shogun's heir succeeds to the throne smoothly.

Although the shogun's biological father, Tokugawa Harusue, was ostracized by the Gosanke, the Gosanke had no way to really drive him out.

Otherwise, the new general might be purged after he takes power.

In the original history, the four families dismissed Tanuma Okitsugu without hesitation, appointed Matsudaira Sadanobu as the elder councilor, and began to counterattack Tanuma's reforms.

Matsudaira Sadanobu was also a member of the Tokugawa family. He was the cousin of Tokugawa Ieharu and Tokugawa Harusuke, and the uncle of Tokugawa Ienari.

Now they have more worries and concerns.

After the four leaders confirmed the news of Tokugawa Ieharu's death, they immediately had a final discussion with Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Tokugawa Harusuke, the father of the shogun's successor, asked Matsudaira Sadanobu:
"If you want to completely eliminate the Tanuma faction, will the Ming Dynasty really not intervene? Tanuma's grandson is serving in the Ming army."

Tokugawa Harusue's son became Tokugawa Ieharu's successor because it was Tanuma Okitsugu who suggested that Tokugawa Ieharu choose him.

Tanuma Okitsugu's younger brother and nephew had both served as retainers of Tokugawa Harusuke, and Tokugawa Harusuke still had a little affection for Tanuma Okitsugu.

Matsudaira Sadanobu said with great confidence:

"What the Ming Dynasty cares about is not Tanuma Okitsugu, but Japan's attitude and service to the Ming Dynasty. They want Japan to continue to provide vassal troops for the Ming Dynasty.

“It doesn’t matter to the Ming Dynasty who is in charge of Japan’s government.

"As long as we settle accounts with Tanuma without changing our relationship with the Ming Dynasty and guarantee the power and position of the Ming Dynasty's pacification envoys, there is no need for the Ming Dynasty to stand up for Tanuma.

"We can even further relax the restrictions on the Ming Dynasty's pacification envoys in exchange for their non-interference in our affairs.

“Besides, Tanuma Okitsugu is already seventy years old and could die at any time.

"Even if we don't liquidate Tanuma, Ming will always need to replace him with a new agent."

Tokugawa Harusuke immediately said:
"Since Tanuma could die at any time, why can't we just endure for a few more years..."

Tokugawa Tadamichi still said with some concern:
"But even if we change the agent, for Ming, Tanuma no Mago, who served in the Ming army, is definitely more trustworthy than us..."

Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately said:
“If Tanuma’s eldest son was still alive, he would definitely be the heir to Tanuma’s identity, but Tanuma’s eldest son is dead, and his eldest grandson is only sixteen years old this year.

"A sixteen-year-old child, even if the Ming Dynasty supports him, what can he do?

“If we are really worried, we can not punish Tanuma Okitsugu too much, just remove him from his post.

"At the same time, we can take the initiative to visit the Ming Dynasty's envoys."

The discussion lasted for more than an hour, and in the end, Matsudaira Sadanobu convinced the three great families.

Without waiting until the next day, the crowd issued an order that day to dismiss Tanuma Okitsugu and appoint Matsudaira Sadanobu as the chief councilor.

However, because they were worried about the attitude of the Ming Dynasty, they did not immediately take back the salary and house awarded to Tanuma Okitsugu by Tokugawa Ieharu as they did in history, but simply kicked him out of the decision-making center of the shogunate.

Tanuma Okitsugu had been in power for so many years and was very clear about the situation in Japan. He knew that his power came entirely from the shogun.

Once the general died, he would immediately lose his power because he had offended too many people.

The only thing I am uncertain about is how destitute I will become after I lose power.

In the original history, Tanuma Okitsugu was disheartened, but now he is quite calm and stays at home drinking and reading all winter.

He knew that Matsudaira Sadanobu and his gang would definitely not do anything to him due to the threat from the Ming Dynasty.

After receiving the news of his dismissal, Tanuma Okitsugu still did nothing and began to wait patiently for the response from the Ming Dynasty.

If the Ming Dynasty turns a blind eye, he and his family will definitely be further liquidated. If the Ming Dynasty sends people to intervene, his and his family's status will be guaranteed.

At the same time, the new chief elder councilor of the shogunate, Matsudaira Sadanobu, personally went to the Edo Pacification Office of the Ming Dynasty to pay a visit to the Edo Pacification Envoy.

First, on behalf of the Imperial Court of the Kingdom of Japan, he reported the news of the death of the Japanese King Tokugawa Ieharu.

At the same time, it explains that Tokugawa Ieharu decided to formally dismiss Tanuma Okitsugu and appoint Matsudaira Sadanobu himself as the chief elder. Then it shows that the Japanese court has no intention of violating any agreement with the Ming Dynasty.

It was only because Tanuma Okitsugu had done evil things in the past twenty years, causing complaints from officials and civilians across Japan, that the decision was made to dismiss Tanuma Okitsugu.

Next, it was specifically guaranteed that all previous agreements between the Japanese court and the Ming Dynasty would not change in the future.

At the same time, he also submitted a formal report and request for a title, reporting the death of the King of Japan to the Ming court and requesting that the Shogun's successor, Tokugawa Ienari, be the new King of Japan.

Finally, Matsudaira Sadanobu took out a stack of gold notes and wanted to secretly put them into the pocket of the envoy.

The Edo envoy remained noncommittal about the changes in the situation in Japan and did not express any opinion.

He simply followed the normal reception process and accepted the memorial and the title decree for the new king sent by Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Then he said that he would send the news to the Ming court and asked the people of Japan to wait patiently.

However, the envoy did not accept the gold note given by Matsudaira Sadanobu because he was unsure of the Crown Prince's attitude towards the Japanese coup.

Matsudaira Sadanobu returned to his residence with some regret and explained the reaction of the Ming Dynasty's Edo envoy to the Three Houses.

The group of people discussed for a long time again, but still could not determine what would happen to the Ming Dynasty.

They could only remind each other and mobilize their respective warriors to guard against possible unrest, while continuing to wait for the Ming Dynasty's response with trepidation.

This time the wait did not last long. Just five days later, twenty Ming Dynasty steamships sailed into Edo Bay and signaled to dock.

When the samurai arranged by the Three Great Houses and Matsudaira Sadanobu saw the Ming fleet approaching, they immediately ran back to report.

Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately became nervous after hearing the report:
"More than twenty Ming sailing ships?"

But after a little consideration, Matsudaira Sadanobu forced himself to calm down:

“Although a large number of ships suddenly appeared, this was probably not arranged in response to Jiazhi’s death.

"It's only been five days since the news of Jiazhi's death was sent out. Even if Daming reacted, it wouldn't be that fast. It would take at least a month for them to respond.

"It should be time to recruit warriors and peasants to replenish the servants."

Matsudaira Sadanobu felt that his judgment was correct, so he simply sent people to continue watching the dock and continued to wait for news at home.

The Ming fleet approached the Edo wharf normally, and at the same time used flag signals to ask the Japanese ships originally on the Japanese wharf to leave and occupy all the wharf piers.

Of course the ships on the dock did not want to leave, but they did not dare to disobey the Ming Dynasty's request, so they could only leave the pier and anchor in the outer sea area and wait.

After all twenty Ming Dynasty ships had docked at the pier, groups of Japanese servants came out of the cabins, carrying rifles and grenades, and walked onto the dock.

The warriors and workers patrolling the dock were all shocked.

The warriors of each family immediately went back to report. The person in charge of the dock went over cautiously to inquire about the situation, but was directly controlled by the soldiers who came ashore.

The Japanese servants brought by Tian Yiming immediately began to take over the dock.

If the on-site managers, soldiers, or workers resisted or even failed to cooperate, they would be shot on the spot.

In Tian Yiming's opinion, these Japanese people are all garbage and should all be chopped up and thrown into the sea to feed the fish. There should be no mercy for them.

When Tian Yiming suggested to Zhu Jianxuan, he said to send them overseas to open up wasteland, but he was not so kind in doing so.

Especially if these people do not cooperate, Tian Yiming will not give them any chance to regret.

After the soldiers took control of the dock, Tian Yiming himself went ashore and ordered the soldiers to split up and control the main streets of Edo Castle.

He personally brought a team of guards and first went to the Edo Pacification Office of the Ming Dynasty to meet the pacification envoy and confirm the current situation in Edo City.

Matsudaira Sadanobu was stunned when he received the report sent back by the second group of samurai:
"What came down from the ship were groups of soldiers... How is this possible? What on earth is the Ming Dynasty going to do? Why did they send troops here?"

"Oh no... Could it be that before Jiazhi died, the doctor in Daming sent the news that Jiazhi was about to die back to Daming?"

After realizing this, Matsudaira Sadanobu still did not despair.

Matsudaira Sadanobu could understand that the Ming Dynasty arranged soldiers to come to Edo to control the situation in order to prevent instability in Japan after the death of the general.

However, as long as they can guarantee the interests of the Ming Dynasty and ensure that the relationship between Japan and the Ming Dynasty remains unchanged, these Ming Dynasty soldiers should not do anything extra.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's analysis and speculation were not wrong, and Zhu Jianxuan's original plan was indeed like this.

But what Matsudaira Sadanobu did not expect was that after serving in the Ming army for several years, the mentality and consciousness of the Japanese samurai led by Tian Yiming had changed.

So much so that Tian Yiming took the initiative to ask the Ming Dynasty to completely conquer Japan.

(End of this chapter)