Chapter 3619
While Tokugawa Ietsuna convened his men to discuss countermeasures, in a business inn just a few streets away from Nijo Castle, another group of people was also meeting to discuss the current situation in Kyoto.
The owner of this business inn is not a local businessman. There is a signboard of "East China Sea Travel" on the door, as well as a red and blue flag indicating the affiliation of the business inn.
Donghaixing is not well-known in Haihan, but it has a very mature business network in Japan, North Korea, Ryukyu and other countries. It has branches in various major cities and trading ports, and its business scope covers commerce, shipping, finance, etc. It is a very powerful large commercial bank in many fields.
The background of Donghai Bank is not a secret. Anyone who has dealt with it will know that the big boss behind Donghai Bank is actually the Haihan Donghai District Management Committee. It can be said to be a government-run organization with the sign of a trading company. Its business scope Mainly are several East Asian countries adjacent to the East China Sea region.
Donghaihang has the goods that other stores sell, and Donghaihang can also provide goods that other stores don’t have. It is even said that special commodities that are not currently available in the market, such as arms, can be purchased through Donghaixing's channels.
It is precisely because of such strong strength that Donghai Bank often has close contacts with dignitaries in the country where it is located, and many large customers have official backgrounds. This of course also facilitates some of Donghai Bank's special missions.
The Tokai Trading Inn opened in Kyoto, in addition to running normal projects, has also been performing the duties of the intelligence department, sorting out and collecting various local information in Kyoto, and reporting it to the military intelligence department at the Sasebo base.
The shopkeeper of the Kyoto branch of Donghai Xing is Lin Qiu, a native of Huizhou. His father Lin Zhong was a dead man raised by the Dai family of Yangzhou salt merchants. He made great contributions in the early battles between Shanxi salt merchants and Huizhou salt merchants. Therefore, Got the opportunity to send Lin Qiu to Haihan to study abroad.
After Lin Qiu graduated, he returned to Yangzhou and successfully entered the salt industry group run by Huizhou salt merchants. Later, because of his outstanding ability, he was recruited by the Haihan official to join the Donghai Bank and was sent to Japan to take charge of the branch in Kyoto.
Although Lin Qiu's family background is not prominent, and he owes his success to his old employer's support, the special nature of Donghai's semi-official camp has made him regarded by the locals as a diplomatic figure representing Haihan. Far more than an ordinary businessman.
When the local celebrities and gentry in Kyoto saw Lin Qiu, most of them would respectfully call him "Shopkeeper Lin". There were countless people who came to ask Lin Qiu for help.
However, in the meeting held at Donghai Bank today, Shopkeeper Lin, who was usually famous in Kyoto, could only sit at the bottom and could only speak when asked questions.
The meeting was presided over by Yang Tianlei, the shipping and trade director of Sasebo Port, and Amakusa Hayabusa, who was in charge of political propaganda at Sasebo Port. The participants were representatives from the five major Kyushu clans.
Yang Tianlei's father, Yang Yun, was a capable general who had followed Shi Diwen for many years and gained his trust. He now serves as the chief executive of Hangzhou, the capital of Haihan. Yang Tianlei's current position can be regarded as Lin Qiu's immediate boss.
Amakusa Hayabusa's father, Amakusa Shiro, is the current commander of the Sasebo base. Amakusa Hayabusa appeared in Kyoto, and every word he said represented his father's attitude.
The representatives sent by the five vassals of Kyushu are all civil and military officials who hold important positions in each vassal. They were able to sneak into Kyoto secretly during this period only because of the cover provided by Donghaixing.
The recent chaos in Kyoto is of course also due to this group of people present. The previous contact with the Japanese royal family was made by Lin Qiu, and the ronin samurai who spread various rumors in Kyoto were all members of the Kyushu vassals. At this time, Lin Qiu was explaining the information he had collected recently to everyone present.
"In accordance with the previous agreement with the imperial family, they provided me with the results of recent contacts with all parties. Among the twenty-nine daimyo who visited the emperor, nine people clearly expressed their willingness to support the imperial family and even sent troops if necessary. Participate in the overthrow of the royal organization.”
"Although other daimyo did not mention sending troops, they have also expressed their attitude and are willing to join the imperial family's camp when the imperial family breaks with the shogunate. However, if more external support can be obtained, such as weapons and equipment provided by our country, then Their willingness to send troops may be stronger.”
"However, the royal family believes that the support it has gained so far is far from enough. It still maintains a wait-and-see attitude towards the situation and is unwilling to stand up and guide public opinion."
The circumstances described by Lin Qiu are basically consistent with the information held by the shogunate. However, Lin Qiu obtained first-hand information from the royal family. The shogunate did not have such a precise source of information regarding the actual attitude of these famous names who visited the royal family.
Yang Tianlei said: "It is not difficult to understand the mentality of the royal family. If they stand up and express their position at this time, and the shogunate subsequently wins the war to conquer Kyushu, then they will definitely liquidate the royal family later. They must at least wait until a clear signal Only then will something be done, such as the defeat of the shogunate army, or more local daimyo expressing support for the imperial family.”
Amakusa Hayabusa said: "It seems that we have to continue to increase publicity and publicity to help the royal family make up their mind!"
Yang Tianlei said: "You have to be more careful in the near future. I received a call from Kyushu today. Tokugawa Ietsuna has rushed to Kyoto and is expected to arrive in a day or two. Since he is here in person, he will definitely take some measures to stop the situation that is not beneficial to the shogunate. Rumor has it that a large-scale arrest operation may be organized locally.”
Amakusa Shunsha shook his head and said: "At this time, we cannot stop. Brother Yang, please don't forget that our purpose of creating public opinion in Kyoto is to divert the tiger away from the mountain and force Tokugawa Ietsuna to leave the front line. We drag him in The longer it takes in Kyoto, the more buffer time Kyushu can get to have a chance to change the situation of the war.”
Yang Tianlei said: "Do you mean to add fuel to the fire and continue to expand the situation?"
Amakusa Hayabusa said: "There are currently over a hundred thousand refugees in the Kyoto area. I think these people's dissatisfaction with the shogunate can be exploited. Since Tokugawa Ietsuna is coming to Kyoto, what do you think will happen if the refugees know his itinerary?" Like? ”
Yang Tianlei said: "Even if the refugees know that others are in Kyoto, I'm afraid they won't have the courage to rebel."
Amakusa Shunsha shook his head and said: "Brother Yang, that's it. What we have to do is not to incite the refugees to rebel, but to tell them that Tokugawa Ietsuna has come to Kyoto to distribute relief. The number of places is limited, first come, first served."
Yang Tianlei understood immediately and said suddenly: "Tokugawa Ietsuna rushed to Kyoto in a hurry, and of course he would not bring much supplies. If the refugees listened to the news and really went to surround his camp, they would not be able to send out relief money and food. I'm afraid He is also unable to argue!”
Amakusa Hayabusa continued: "There will be tens of thousands of disappointed people at the scene. As long as someone provokes them a little, it may become a barrel of explosives!"