There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 491: He who knows the current affairs is a hero
While Xu Mingyu was still grappling with the shogunate in Edo Castle, the Han army left behind on Amami Oshima gave him a major setback.

This was not Guo Qianzong's own decision. The Han troops stationed on Oshima did indeed obey orders and did not engage in large-scale fighting. Instead, they used force to compel the Satsuma Domain to agree to the negotiation terms.

However, the lord of the Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Nariaki, was captured by the Han army, and Shimazu Shigehiro had nominally abdicated and gone into seclusion.

The Satsuma Domain was effectively without a head of the clan, and coupled with the previous defeat in the Battle of Kasari Bay, the Satsuma Domain suffered a significant loss of forces loyal to the Shimazu clan.

And so, the familiar plot unfolded: the Shimazu branch family rebelled.

They weren't really rebelling; rather, taking advantage of the head of the clan being captured, they gathered a group of retainers and samurai to confront Shimazu Shigehiro and force him to abdicate.

Even close retainers of Shimazu Shigetaka, including Matsui, Akamatsu, and Ichida, chose to remain neutral and did not interfere in this internal conflict within the Shimazu clan.

The outcome of the civil war is unclear, but Shimazu Shigehiro remained firmly in the position of chief commander, while Shimazu Nariaki was removed from the position of head of the family and replaced by his youngest son, Shimazu Nariaki.

Then, the Satsuma Domain rejected all the conditions proposed by the Han army and actively recruited samurai from its own territory to form a large army, intending to restart the "Oshima Conquest".

Guo Qianzong had always disliked these Japanese pirates, and now that they were being so ungrateful, he naturally wouldn't be polite anymore.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war, and the Han army did not give the Satsuma Domain time to fully assemble its forces before forcibly landing on Kagoshima with its fleet.

The war lasted only one day. Kagoshima Castle fell, and Shimazu Shigehiro committed seppuku. The young head of the Shimazu clan, Shimazu Nariaki, surrendered. The remaining members of the Shimazu branch family who had instigated the war were all executed.

The news spread quickly and reached Edo within two days.

After reading it, Tokugawa Ienari said nothing. The next day, he received an imperial edict from the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty and proposed to send an envoy to pay tribute and meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty.

Showing off one's strength appropriately can indeed help advance negotiations, especially since the Satsuma Domain has shown off too much of its strength.

They captured the main castle of Kyushu's strongest domain in a single day, using only about a thousand men.

This surprised Tokugawa Ienari, and his attitude towards the Han army completely changed to one of awe and fear.

While the Chinese envoy was still unaware, Tokugawa Ienari summoned his close retainers and senior officials to discuss this troublesome matter.

Matsudaira Nobuaki said first, "Judging from the battle reports alone, it is clear that the Satsuma Domain brought this upon itself. The Shogun has already negotiated peace with them, but the Shimazu clan took the opportunity to gather samurai, intending to launch a surprise attack and fight again. It is only right that they have incurred the Shogun's punishment and retaliation!"

In short, this set the tone for the war between the Satsuma Domain and the Han army.

Aoyama Tadahiro offered a different perspective: "However, the cause of this battle was the Chinese army's proactive attack on the Amami Islands, forcing the Shimazu clan to launch a counterattack."

Matsudaira Nobuaki countered, "Aoyama-kun, don't forget that the Amami Islands are not part of the Satsuma Domain; nominally, they are still Ryukyu territory. Ryukyu is also a vassal state of the Celestial Empire. Isn't it right for the Celestial Empire's army to avenge its vassal state?"

"Matsudaira-kun, do you mean... to just give up?" Aoyama Tadahiro asked, frowning.

This is the core issue today: the Satsuma Domain has been defeated and is now requesting support from the shogunate. So, will the shogunate intervene, and if so, how?
Matsudaira Nobuaki did not answer directly, but leaned down to Tokugawa Ienari and said, "Shogun, the fact that the Satsuma Domain has started a war with the Imperial Army has taken the Shogunate by surprise. Moreover, the Satsuma Domain has never sent any documents to the Shogunate requesting war or aid before."

"What do you mean?" Tokugawa Ienari asked tentatively.

Matsudaira Nobuaki said, "The shogunate is currently in financial distress. If it forcibly intervenes in the war, not only will it be difficult to win, but even if it wins, it will surely anger the emperor of the Celestial Empire. If it does not intervene in the war, the shogunate's prestige will also be damaged, and the lords and daimyo of various regions will only become more disappointed with the shogunate and will ignore its decrees."

In short, whether or not a war breaks out, the shogunate will suffer losses, which makes Tokugawa Ienari want to curse.

Who are they cursing? Of course, they're cursing the Shimazu clan. Why did they have to provoke the Han army? Tokugawa Ienari thought to himself, completely ignoring the fact that the Satsuma Domain's invasion of Ryukyu was permitted by the shogunate, and even the Ryukyu king would visit the shogun and emperor in Japan during festivals.

Now that things have gone wrong, Tokugawa Ienari is shifting all the blame to the Satsuma Domain, claiming it has nothing to do with him.

Tadahiro Aoyama took the initiative to ask, "Since neither fighting nor not fighting is a safe option, Matsudaira-kun, do you have any good ideas?"

Matsudaira Nobuaki said, "Of course there is a way. As long as the general gathers all the samurai members and informs them of the war between the Satsuma Domain and the imperial army, then all the samurai can vote on whether or not to send troops to support the Satsuma Domain."

Upon hearing this idea, Tokugawa Ienari's eyes lit up.

That's a great idea!

By letting all the samurai families decide whether or not to help, not only can all the samurai families contribute money and effort when the shogunate sends troops, thus sharing the financial burden of the military campaign, but the responsibility can also be evenly distributed among all the samurai families.

They won because the shogunate orchestrated the victory effectively.

If we lose, it's the decision of the entire martial arts family; if something goes wrong, the entire martial arts family will share the blame.

If the vote results in no military action, that would also be understandable. The shogunate would very much like to help make the decision, but it also has to respect the opinions of other samurai families, so it can only do nothing to help the Shimazu family.

The voting took place almost that afternoon.

Because of the Sankin-kotai system during the Tokugawa Shogunate, the daimyo and feudal lords of various regions, or their sons and brothers, were required to stay in Edo Castle for a period of time each year, and many even stayed permanently.

The main significance of this system was to weaken the power of local daimyo (feudal lords).

Because Edo Castle (Tokyo) was the de facto capital of Japan, the cost of living there was extremely high. Therefore, the annual sankin (attendant to the emperor) visits Edo would place a long-term and heavy financial burden on the local daimyo.

As a result, local lords had no money to develop their military and expand their armed forces, and could only live a life of mediocrity.

This is why the main force in the anti-shogunate movement at the end of the shogunate period consisted of coastal daimyo, including those from the Satsuma Domain.

Only coastal daimyo could barely balance their finances through smuggling, leaving them with surplus resources to develop their military.

Representatives of the daimyo who remained in Edo Castle were summoned to the Honmaru Goyoden (a place equivalent to a courtroom) by Tokugawa Ienari.

After briefly discussing the war between the Satsuma Domain and the Han army, a fair vote was immediately held.

After one round of voting, only the Satsuma Domain supported sending troops; no other samurai families were willing to support the Satsuma Domain.

This makes perfect sense. The Satsuma Domain had long occupied the Ryukyu Islands and monopolized a large portion of the profits from maritime trade and smuggling. To the daimyo of various regions, it was a selfish scoundrel who ate all the spoils.

Now that the Satsuma Domain has been attacked, it would be a miracle if the daimyo of various regions didn't applaud, let alone expect them to contribute their own funds and troops to help fight the war.

Tokugawa Ienari had anticipated this outcome and immediately declared that the war between the Satsuma Domain and the Imperial Army was a problem that the Satsuma Domain itself had caused.

After a vote by all the samurai families, the shogunate decided not to intervene in the war, but it would still send envoys to Kagoshima to mediate.

At the same time, they must formally accept the imperial edict of investiture from the Celestial Emperor and send a formal diplomatic mission to Nanjing to pay homage to the Celestial Emperor.

(End of this chapter)