Regardless of whether the shogunate is willing to accept it or not, the situation in Kyushu has undergone irreversible changes.
In the past month or so, the four powerful clans of Tsushima, Saga, Fukuoka, and Satsuma have each begun to annex a number of small clans entrusted by the shogunate, and they have all participated in the robbery of arms outside Sasebo Bay.
The arms purchased by Yuta Kosaki from the Sasebo base have now been divided among these four companies, and those who acted quickly have distributed the trophies to the troops and started using them.
These families have already tasted the sweetness from it, and it is impossible for the shogunate to want them to turn back, not to mention that there is Haihan behind them to support them.
Although the Kumamoto clan missed the first two waves of "welfare" due to civil strife, it was the farthest among the powerful Kyushu clans and directly sent troops to take over the Nagasaki Port, the treasure trove of the shogunate. Unless the shogunate sends troops to attack, it will be difficult for the Kumamoto clan to spit out this piece of fat.
Masato Masuyama wanted to single-handedly convince all parties to return the situation in Kyushu to before Shi Diwen's visit to Japan. This was simply an impossible task. But being able to persuade Amakusa Shiro to relent and continue selling arms to the shogunate seemed to be a worthwhile trip.
After Masuyama Masato left the Sasebo base, he immediately rushed to Nagasaki Port. Although he knew that the place had changed hands, as a special envoy of the shogunate, he could only go there knowing that it was going to be a mountain of swords and fire.
To his slight relief, Nagasaki Port did not turn into scorched earth, but as usual, many merchant ships could be seen entering and exiting the port.
This at least shows that the Kumamoto clan did not carry out large-scale burning, killing and looting during the capture of Nagasaki, so that normal order could be restored in such a short time after the change of ownership.
However, this was expected by Masato Masuyama. He believed that the Kumamoto clan's purpose in seizing Nagasaki was not to rob the wealth here, but to keep this trading port as its own for a long time, so he did not take sabotage measures.
This gave Masuyama Masato still a glimmer of hope for negotiations. If the Kumamoto clan really reduced Nagasaki Port to ruins, there would be no room for negotiation at all.
Hosokawa Tsunato, who was still in Nagasaki, heard that someone came from Edo to ask for an audience, but he did not shy away from it, so he met Masuyama Masatoshi at the official residence that originally belonged to Yuta Ozaki.
Before Masuyama Masatoshi could explain his intention, Hosokawa Tsunari took the lead in attacking.
He threw a pile of paper on the tatami in front of Masuyama Masato and asked him to explain what happened to the rebellion in Kumamoto Domain.
Masato Masuyama picked up the pile of papers and looked through it. It turned out to be the confessions of relevant personnel.
Although the Kumamoto clan incident was not planned by Masato Masuyama, he was indeed an insider. He actually did not agree with Tokugawa Ietsuna's approach. He believed that instead of using this method to replace Hosokawa Tsunato, who was close to Kaihan, it would be better to summon Hosokawa Tsunato to Edo and depose him in a public way. Official positions, and then punish people.
This will neither make people gossip nor leave any chance for Hosokawa Tsunato to make a comeback. It can be said to be the lowest-risk plan.
However, Tokugawa Ietsuna was worried that Hosokawa Tsunato would not be ordered to go to Edo, and ultimately did not adopt his opinion, but planned to eliminate Hosokawa Tsunato in Kumamoto Castle. However, something went wrong during the implementation phase of this plan, which gave Tsunato Hosokawa a chance to make a comeback, causing Nagasaki to become a victim.
After something like this happened, Hosokawa Tsunato would of course hold a grudge, and it seemed logical to attack the shogunate territory located at his doorstep. The confession obtained by Hosokawa Tsuna clearly stated that the order to place him under house arrest was personally issued by Tokugawa Ietsuna. Naturally, Masuyama Masatoshi could not agree with this statement. He could only argue that the person involved deliberately bit the Tokugawa general in order to survive, so that Hosokawa Tsunato would not accept the confession.
Hosokawa Tsunato sneered: "I have my own opinion on whether I should believe what this person says. If General Tokugawa just wants to replace me, that's fine, but even the Hosokawa family's property in Nagasaki is How can I bear to confiscate them all?”
"Since General Tokugawa wants the property of my Hosokawa family, it shouldn't be a problem for me to defend myself, right?"
"And when I sent troops to Nagasaki, Yuta Kozaki was nowhere to be found and did not encounter any resistance at all. The local people welcomed the arrival of the Kumamoto Army. If you don't believe it, you can go to the business stores in various countries and ask them. Who would you rather support to run Nagasaki?”
Hosokawa Tsunato was very confident and was not afraid of Masuyama Masato's questioning. Most of the local foreign business houses were just outsiders. After Haihan expressed his support for the Kumamoto clan, these business houses immediately chose to take sides.
Everyone understood that since the Kumamoto clan had Kaihan's support, the possibility of Nagasaki returning to the hands of the shogunate was extremely slim. If you want to continue doing business in Nagasaki in the future, of course you must first deal with the relationship with the Kumamoto clan.
If Masuyama Masato chooses this time to seek help from various business offices, he will probably not get a good look.
Masato Masuyama had no choice but to resort to his last resort: "Hosokawa-sama, no matter what, this Port of Nagasaki belongs to the shogunate. If the Kumamoto clan refuses to withdraw from here, it will be tantamount to rebellion! You You probably don’t want to see the Kumamoto clan being attacked by the shogunate’s army, right?”
Hosokawa Tsunato had already considered the possible consequences before taking action. If the shogunate raises troops to attack the Kumamoto clan, that is exactly what the feudal clans in Kyushu are looking forward to, and the Kumamoto clan will not be the only ones to fight against the shogunate.
But of course Hosokawa Tsunato would not take the initiative to break this layer. He just responded with a sneer: "When I didn't take Nagasaki, the shogunate wanted to kill me. Now you tell me that as long as Nagasaki is returned, the shogunate will You will let me go, do you think I can believe it?”
"Since the shogunate will kill me whether I take Nagasaki or not, what else do I have to fear?"
It was meaningless for Masuyama Masato to say soft words at this time, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "Even if this will lead to the destruction of the Kumamoto clan, are you still unwilling to change your mind?"
Hosokawa Tsunatori, a young man with a young heart, became even more passionate when he heard this. He stood up and said angrily: "You don't have to say anything anymore! If the shogunate wants to take back Nagasaki, then first take away the human head on my neck! I really want to see it, Does the shogunate today still have the strength to conquer the world decades ago? ”
At this point in the negotiation, both parties have already said their words to death, so naturally there is no need to continue.
However, the unwilling Masato Masuyama did not leave Nagasaki immediately. Instead, he visited business offices in various countries in an attempt to get some help for the shogunate. However, the business houses of various countries had obviously ignored him, a popular person around General Tokugawa, and turned him away for various reasons. No one was willing to meet him at this juncture.
Masato Masuyama knew from this that what Hosokawa Tsunato said was true. None of the countries that were doing business with Japan were now willing to side with the shogunate.