Chapter 3511
During the turmoil in the Kyushu region last year, although Haihan did not directly send troops, several daimyo Shi Diwen "happened" to visit before that time were the main force in the local rebellion. Therefore, the Tokugawa shogunate actually had some idea of Haihan's role in this.
Haihan instigated the Kyushu daimyo to revolt. This certainly made the top shogunate officials itchy, but at the same time they could not react too violently to Haihan. After all, the high-end weapons and equipment needed to conquer the Kyushu vassals still depended on Haihan's provision. .
Masato Masuyama had just ordered a batch of seagoing ships from the Fujian Shipyard. Before he had time to celebrate, he received news that Haihan had organized an inspection trip to Japan.
This is by no means good news for the shogunate. Masato Masuyama knows very well that the object of Haihan's support has never been the shogunate. Now that many governments are being organized to visit Japan, this of course cannot be to cheer for the shogunate.
Although Haihan claimed that the purpose of his trip was to "mediate conflicts" and "prevent war," at the same time, Haihan continued to sell weapons and equipment to both parties in the conflict. This is obviously a contradictory approach. News from the forum indicates that the real purpose of this inspection is more likely to allow politicians from various countries to see with their own eyes the performance of Haihan weapons and equipment in actual combat.
Masato Masuyama is more willing to believe that this is Haihan's true purpose. After all, both warring parties are equipped with a large number of weapons provided by Haihan. Such a battlefield is likely to be unique in the world.
Of course, the dignitaries from various countries who were invited to participate in the inspection activities did not regard Japan as a tourist and vacation destination, but as a stand to observe the war.
Masato Masuyama couldn't help but think of the previous times when he came to Haihan to buy arms, he went to the Haihan Army's shooting range and watched the performance of these guns in live fire. But now Haihan seems to be no longer satisfied with using his own shooting range, and actually plans to turn Japan into a bigger shooting range.
There is no doubt that the armies of both warring parties, and even all civilians in Japan, will become living targets on this shooting range to demonstrate the performance of weapons. And those who are involved in it have no way of judging how long this display will last.
But the current situation is not completely irreversible. Masato Masuyama has other methods that can be tried at this time. For example, meet with the executive committee as soon as possible to persuade Haihan senior management to abandon this terrible practice.
However, his application for a meeting was ruthlessly rejected once again. Obviously, the Haihan Executive Committee did not want to cause trouble at this time and meet anyone from the shogunate.
In desperation, Masuyama Masato could only play a dead horse and become a living doctor. While continuing to request meetings with Haihan officials he knew, he also inquired about the activities of the Kyushu vassals in Zhoushan.
Since he, who represents the shogunate, can come here, there must be people from the Kyushu vassals in Zhoushan to coordinate the inspection activities organized by Haihan. He believes that if these people can be found, it may be possible to prevent the expedition from taking place.
But Masato Masato still thought things were too simple. In order to ensure that the people sent by the Kyushu vassals would not cause problems in Zhoushan, Shi Diwen placed them directly in the naval base at Dinghai Port. No matter how powerful Masuri Masuyama's spies are, they can't even get through the gate of the base, let alone cause trouble inside.
As for the officials he tried to meet with, they had all been notified by the Executive Committee before that they were not allowed to meet with people from Japan in private without permission. The greetings were sent out like snowflakes, but no affirmative reply was received.
At this point, Masuyama Masatoshi has actually understood that Haihan is determined to promote the outbreak of civil war in Japan. Any attempt to delay or prevent the civil war was eliminated by Haihan.
If the shogunate wants to save itself, there is only one way left, which is to defeat the Kyushu vassals on the battlefield. But now that the Kyushu vassals are backed by Haihan, it is not easy to defeat them.
Some people in Edo may still be optimistic about the prospect of war, but Masuyama Masatoshi, who has visited Kaihan several times, does not think so.
Nowadays, the army under the shogunate has no significant advantages except its strength. In terms of the installation progress of muskets and artillery, it may even be inferior to those of the vassal armies in Kyushu.
The shogunate's crusade against Kyushu required the deployment of troops from many places, marching long distances to the local area and then regrouping. The coordination, communication and material supply required during the period would be a very tedious task, and nothing could go wrong.
However, the local armed forces in Kyushu can take advantage of their home field to make defensive arrangements while waiting for work, waiting for the shogunate army to attack at their doorstep.
Haihan only needs to provide Kyushu with the required arms in sufficient quantities, which can almost guarantee that Kyushu will be invincible.
The more Masuyama Masato thought about it, the more frightened he became, and the more he thought about it, the more pessimistic he felt. He quickly laid out paper and ink, wrote a secret letter, and sent someone back to the country immediately.
Since there was no way to stop Kaihan's conspiracy, he could only persuade Tokugawa Ietsuna and a group of ministers to abandon the original crusade plan as soon as possible to avoid the negative impact of the expedition's failure.
Masato Masuyama racked his brains and wrote down all the factors that were unfavorable to his side in the letter, hoping to make the shogunate aware of the extremely dangerous situation at hand.
At the same time, he also suggested in the letter that he should change his strategy as soon as possible, change from offense to defense, and deploy defensive means in Honshu and Shikoku to prevent the offensive launched by the Kyushu feudal army.
Finally, Masuyama Masatoshi pointed out that if the shogunate wants to calm down the chaos in Kyushu, it may be difficult to achieve its goal in a short time, and the Kyushu vassals will never stop here. The shogunate must be prepared for a long-term war.
If the Executive Committee could see this letter from Masuyama Masatoshi, it would definitely appreciate his vision and strategy. Although the shogunate is closed, there are still smart people like Masuyama Masato who know how to assess the situation.
But what Masuyama Masato failed to realize was that even if the shogunate fully followed the suggestions in his letter, it would still be impossible to solve the current crisis.
Because even he was unwilling to admit that the enemy the shogunate faced now was not actually the rebellious Kyushu vassals, but the extremely powerful Haihan Kingdom. Under this situation, all the countermeasures the shogunate could take were nothing more than a futile struggle.
Other countries, except those involved, quickly put the matter behind them. There were too many people and things worthy of their attention during the Zhoushan Forum, and Japan, which was not able to participate in the forum, was just a dessert that was served after the main meal. No one would be so impatient that they would give up the delicious food for this. Dinner.
In addition to the ship show held at Dinghai Port Terminal, there will be many other informative exhibitions during the forum. There are not only traditional specialties such as silk, porcelain, and tea, but also various industrial products such as lighters and telescopes that have only begun to appear on the market in recent years. There is even a not-for-sale expo specially used by Haihan to showcase advanced technology.