Chapter 754: Tokugawa Iemitsu Can Rest Easy Now

As the Chinese "purchasing mission" and the English embassy's fleets left the European continent and set out on the long journey home, in the east of the world, a momentous event that would change the course of a nation's history was also unfolding.

Japan, Edo Castle.

The third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, was gravely ill. He had been bedridden since last winter, and by the fourth month of the fourth year of Keian, he had reached the point where his lamp was nearly spent. Yet he was still unwilling to abandon his heir, the "Foolish Lord" Tokugawa Ietsuna, and so he clung to his last breath, waiting for a great undertaking that could quell the source of chaos in the realm to be completed.

This great undertaking was the "Karafuto Expedition" — that is, the invasion of Kuyu Island, sacred territory of China since ancient times!

However, Tokugawa Iemitsu did not consider himself to have become an aggressor destroying world peace, nor did he believe that Karafuto Island belonged to the China in his eyes — that is, the Great Ming.

The Great Ming had abandoned Kuyu Island so many years ago, and the continental lands across the sea from Kuyu Island were all territory of the Great Qing. They were so far from the Great Ming that even eight hundred poles couldn't reach them, let alone eight!

Moreover, he did not actually intend to occupy the whole of Karafuto Island — to be honest, although this Karafuto Island had been drawn onto the Complete Map of Japan, how large it actually was and what conditions prevailed there were things Tokugawa Iemitsu, the ruler of Japan, knew nothing about. All he knew was that the place had a cold climate, colder even than Ezo Island, and rice simply could not be grown there.

Without rice, there was no "kokudaka"; without "kokudaka," there was no stable income, and it could not be granted to samurai as chigyo-chi.

Besides, Iemitsu also knew that apart from some low-value furs and gold of unknown location, there was nothing else of value on Karafuto Island, and no trade to be done.

The whole place was a desolate, uninhabited, worthless island. However large its area, its value was quite limited. If no one wanted it, sending a few men to stake it out and drawing it on the Complete Map of Japan for everyone's amusement would be fine enough.

But to actually start a major fight over a great barren island — that was not what a wise ruler would do.

Yet the wise ruler Iemitsu, in the final moments of his life, still resolutely decided to send troops to Karafuto Island!

And he had spent more than a year preparing for the "Karafuto Expedition," even taking large sums of gold and silver from the shogunate treasury to fund the campaign.

It was said that in order to wage a protracted war and to spare the various domains, Tokugawa Iemitsu reduced as much as possible the military service each domain was required to bear, while spending money to recruit roughly 5,000 "masterless men" idling in Edo, Kyoto, Osaka, and elsewhere, forming them into the "Karafuto Army."

So during this period, public order in the towns of Edo had improved considerably, and the destitute ronin on the streets had grown somewhat fewer.

And what most put Tokugawa Iemitsu's mind at ease was that he had invited the "Great Ronin" Yui Shosetsu — reputed to have "mastered the military arts of both Japan and China" and self-proclaimed legitimate successor of Kusunoki Masashige — to serve as the First Army Commander of the Karafuto Expedition.

Visibly emaciated and with death written on his face, Tokugawa Iemitsu sat feebly in the Shippo-no-ma, supported by two pageboys, while another pageboy was applying makeup to him so that he would not look so much like a dying man.

His younger brother Hoshina Masayuki knelt to one side, haltingly reporting the examination results of Tokugawa Ietsuna, who was soon to become shogun.

"The young lord's arithmetic score is a bit low, but it has improved compared with last time. As long as he keeps working hard, he will surely get better and better.

As for the examination on the 'Zilun Gewu Pian,' his score was far better than last time — it doubled! If he can keep up this momentum, the young lord will sooner or later become a great Confucian scholar!"

Exactly what scores he had gotten, Hoshina Masayuki dared not say. If he angered the shogun to death, his responsibility would be enormous.

The shogun suddenly asked, "And compared with Mitsukuni?"

Hoshina Masayuki braced himself and said, "My lord, the Mito young lord did not take yesterday's examination."

How could he be examined? It was too easy! Tokugawa Mitsukuni could not even bring himself to put pen to paper!

And Tokugawa Mitsukuni had already finished self-studying Elementary Mathematics and was now teaching himself the contents of New Mathematics. Hoshina Masayuki and the other teachers responsible for instructing Tokugawa Ietsuna could not even keep up with Mitsukuni — how were they supposed to examine him?

Tokugawa Iemitsu sighed. "It has been hard on Mitsukuni. He is so intelligent, yet he is made to study together with a slow-witted child."

Just as he was speaking, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the Shippo-no-ma, and then a pageboy slid open the door, knelt down, and announced loudly: "My lord, Matsudaira Izu-no-kami, Date Mutsu-no-kami, and Yui Shosetsu request an audience."

"Let them in!" Tokugawa Iemitsu raised his voice with effort.

"Hai!" The pageboy answered and turned to leave.

Before long, the pageboy was seen leading the shogunate elder Matsudaira Nobutsuna, a short, stout man of about fifty with a straight nose and square mouth, and a brawny man of forty-five or forty-six, of medium build, with a dark, grim face, as they filed in and entered the Shippo-no-ma.

The short, stout man was Date Tadamune, lord of the Sendai domain. Because Sendai was the strongest domain in the Mutsu region of northeastern Japan, Tadamune had naturally been appointed supreme commander of the Karafuto Army. He would establish his headquarters at the port of Henouchi in the Morioka domain and direct operations from there.

Of course, Date Tadamune was commander in name only and would not leave Honshu to go north to Karafuto Island. The man actually commanding at the front was that dark-faced, grim fellow — none other than the great military strategist Yui Shosetsu, reputed to have "mastered the military arts of both Japan and China."

Whether this Yui Shosetsu truly had ability was hard to say, but in the Japan of the present day he was universally acknowledged as a "fierce man of unrecognized talent," admired by a great host of ronin with no stipends to collect, and idolized by a crowd of impoverished low-ranking samurai as well.

The shogunate, for its part, had long wanted to win over and recruit this Yui Shosetsu for its own use, but Shosetsu's asking price was too high, and he had refused the 5,000-koku stipend offered by the shogunate.

And this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu had finally seized the opportunity, raising the two politically impeccable banners of "the Qing invaders are coming" and "the Karafuto Expedition."

Now Yui Shosetsu could no longer refuse the shogunate's recruitment — Japan was facing a national crisis, so how could a great military strategist who had "mastered the military arts of both Japan and China" stay hidden in the mountains?

Moreover, the shogunate's policy of recruiting ronin for the expedition to Karafuto Island suited Yui Shosetsu's taste perfectly, for he had originally been raised up by a band of ronin.

So this "Great Ronin" no longer put on airs, but gladly accepted the commission and began recruiting and organizing the Karafuto Army with the assistance of Date Tadamune and Matsudaira Nobutsuna.

The Karafuto Army was not something just anyone could join, because in these times there were too many ronin. If just anyone were recruited, the quota of 5,000 men would not be enough.

Therefore Yui Shosetsu and his favored disciples had to examine each candidate one by one, to ensure that every ronin recruited into the Karafuto Army was accomplished in both literary and martial arts and able to endure bitter cold.

After the men were recruited, of course they still had to be equipped and trained. Ronin were not samurai; they could not be expected to provide their own weapons and horses, so the Tokugawa shogunate had to take responsibility for that.

By the fourth month of the fourth year of Keian — that is, June 1651 by the Western calendar — everything was at last in readiness.

Today was the day Date Tadamune and Yui Shosetsu came to the castle to take their leave of Tokugawa Iemitsu!

"Shosetsu!" Tokugawa Iemitsu did not have the strength to waste words with Yui Shosetsu, so he came straight to the point. "By the authority of the shogun, We grant you permission to use the surname Kusunoki. From this day forth, you are Kusunoki Shosetsu! We hope you will not bring shame upon the name of Kusunoki!"

This was a tremendous favor!

Yui Shosetsu was of peasant origin, claiming descent from Yui Masanobu, a retainer of the Imagawa clan who possessed Kusunoki blood. Later he studied under Nan Fuden (Kusunoki Masatatsu), a famous Edo military strategist said to be a descendant of Kusunoki Masashige, and afterward took up with Nan Fuden's daughter (Nan Fuden had no son), becoming an adopted son-in-law, and after Nan Fuden's death proclaimed himself the legitimate successor of the Kusunoki clan.

But the Kusunoki clan had been in decline for too long, and during the Muromachi shogunate era it had always stood in opposition to the shogunate, so its genealogical records were highly irregular. Whether Nan Fuden himself was a fraud was hard to say — let alone Shosetsu.

Therefore Shosetsu had all along only dared to call himself "Yui," not daring to use the surname "Kusunoki" in public.

Now, with the backing of the Tokugawa shogunate, his Kusunoki name was legitimate, and the Kusunoki family might very well be revived in his hands!

Such a great favor, Kusunoki Shosetsu was bound to repay — otherwise he would be smashing the loyal-retainer reputation of the Kusunoki faction!

Seeing Kusunoki Shosetsu's look of tearful gratitude, Iemitsu knew he could finally die in peace — because many masterless ronin would be going down to accompany him!

(End of Chapter)