Chapter 3520
Since Haihan had made up his mind to let the Japanese civil war continue for a long time, he would not only help one side. At least on the surface, he must pretend to be holding water, in order to confirm Haihan's stance of "upholding justice."
As for the arrangements for representatives of the shogunate to visit the Sasebo base, the local forces in Kyushu were indeed not notified in advance. Therefore, Nabeshima Mitsushige was very surprised by the appearance of Sakai Tadakichi.
He immediately thought that people from the shogunate could appear in the Sasebo base. This was obviously not a temporary decision made by Haihan. It seems that in the past winter, Haihan and the shogunate have maintained secret contact.
Although it is unclear what kind of agreement was reached between Haihan and the shogunate, one thing is certain, that is, Haihan did not stand 100% on Kyushu's side, otherwise there would be no need to arrange for people from the shogunate to attend this occasion.
But Nabeshima Mitsushige absolutely did not dare to publicly question Kaihan's actions at this time. He could only wait and see how the scene would play out.
When Tadayoshi Sakai opened his mouth, he first emphasized that the Tokugawa shogunate was the actual ruler of Japan, and the great names of Kyushu were just local governors appointed by the shogunate. No matter what excuse they use to resist the shogunate, it will all be regarded as an act of rebellion, and the shogunate will ruthlessly suppress them depending on the severity.
Sakai Tadaki's statement was unequivocal and did not save any face for Nabeshima Mitsushige.
Some people noticed that Sakai Tadayoshi did not clarify the charges Nabeshima Mitsushige accused the shogunate. It seemed that he did not take these accusations seriously at all.
And such a tough attitude has won the recognition of many people. After all, most of the guests here would put themselves in the position of the shogunate, rather than being an ambitious local official in a remote area far away from the capital.
As for the emperor who lives in seclusion in the Kyoto Royal Garden, in fact, most foreigners do not understand Japan's national conditions and do not know its existence at all. Tadaki Sakai and Mitsushige Nabeshima also tacitly skipped this section without mentioning it.
At this time, the emperor's line had long become mascots without real power. Not only had they lost their political power and status, but their daily lives were also strictly restricted by the "Prohibitions and Regulations" formulated by the shogunate. All of his food, clothing and daily expenses came from the financial allocation of the shogunate. To put it bluntly, he couldn't get the money even if he wanted to fight.
Sakai Tadakiyoshi immediately said that if the daimyo who caused rebellion in Kyushu could wake up and go to Edo to plead guilty, they would still have a chance to gain forgiveness from the shogunate. But if you insist on going your own way and continue to cause trouble, don't blame the shogunate for sending troops to quell the chaos.
Although he knew that Kaihan was the instigator, Sakai Tadakiyoshi still expressed his gratitude to Kaihan quietly, believing that Kaihan provided such an occasion for the shogunate, which gave many countries the opportunity to figure out who was right and who was wrong in this dispute. , so as not to listen to the words of the Jiuzhou rebellious party.
Sakai Tadaki's speech was not long, but what he said had to be translated into Chinese by the translators around him, and then translated by accompanying translators from various countries. Therefore, it took a lot of effort to make the guests present understand what he wanted to say. the meaning expressed.
Sakai Tadayoshi's speech shook the opinions of many people present.
They originally thought that since Haihan arranged for local forces to participate in the reception and gave a speech on such an occasion, he should clearly be on the side of the local forces in Kyushu. However, the shogunate representative's speech immediately overturned this view. Judging from his confident appearance, he was obviously much more confident than the previous appearance of Nabeshima Mitsushige. Even the senior officials of the Executive Committee who were watching in the audience gave Sakai Tadakiyoshi a "something" evaluation, believing that his performance had already won a victory for the shogunate.
Of course, Nabeshima Mitsushige would not accept Sakai Tadayoshi's persuasion to surrender. There is now no way back for these Kyushu daimyo. Even if they go to Edo to plead guilty according to what the other party said, at the very least they will end up losing their official positions, depriving themselves of their property, and being reduced to civilians. If that were the case, it would be better to die happily.
Of course, the most important thing is, how is it possible to surrender directly to the shogunate with the support of Haihan behind him?
Although it now seems that Haihan's support is as strong as promised, it remains to be seen, but both parties have spent so much time on cooperation and preparations. Nabeshima Mitsushige believes that Haihan will not give up easily. To support the forces of Kyushu.
Now that it has come to this step, Nabeshima Mitsushige can only think about the good side. Perhaps Kaihan deliberately arranged for the shogunate representative to appear here in order to test his determination.
Of course, he was eager to kill Tadaki Sakai immediately to show his determination, but since it was Kaihan who arranged for the other party to come to Sasebo, he must not want to see such a situation happen. All he can do now is to refute the other party through debate.
However, Nabeshima Mitsushige did not know about this arrangement in advance, and Sakai Tadakiyoshi was obviously more prepared for this. After several rounds of debate between the two, the advantage of the shogunate became more and more obvious, and Kyushu was labeled as a "rebellion". The power was so tight that Nabeshima Mitsushige was unable to demonstrate the justice attributes of his own camp.
Moreover, Sakai Tadayoshi also attacked the Kyushu Allied Forces as a mob. The determination of the Saga Domain does not represent the other families. In the future, they will definitely fall apart and be vulnerable when faced with attacks by the shogunate army.
Just when Mitsushige Nabeshima felt uneasy, Shi Diwen came forward to terminate the debate, announcing that it was already late today, and that the two sides would choose another opportunity to debate again.
Nabeshima Mitsushige breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking that this was a good opportunity to show his face, but now it has become a situation where he is about to take the blame. If he had known this, he should have invited other daimyo to come here, at least the momentum would be stronger. Some, so that the other side will not catch the coalition forces and attack them fiercely.
Earlier, Shiro Amakusa had also mentioned that all the five big names from Kyushu should come to Sasebo to deal with the inspection group organized by Kaihan. However, Mitsushige Nabeshima strongly opposed this arrangement out of selfish motives at the time, saying that it would greatly affect the war preparations of each company, and that he who was closest to Sasebo could just make a trip.
Later, Amakusa Shiro actually accepted his opinion and asked him to attend the event on behalf of Kyushu's local forces. Who would have expected that this would be the situation.
After the event, Mitsushige Nabeshima did not return to his station. Instead, he went directly to Shiro Amakusa, hoping that he could immediately arrange a meeting with Shi Diwen or other senior officials of Haihan.
Even if Haihan didn't explain the reason why Sakai Tadaki appeared here, he still had to confirm what the executive committee's current plan was. If he didn't take this reassurance into his stomach, he might not be able to sleep well tonight.