Chapter 981: The Shimazu Are Not Afraid — We Have an Eight-Nation Alliance Too (Seeking Subscriptions)

The man who feared nothing was certainly not the Shimazu clan's lord, Shimazu Mitsuhisa. As the daimyo of Satsuma Domain with 725,000 koku, the greatest daimyo in Kyushu, how could he possibly not be afraid? It was precisely because he was afraid that he had to put on a fearless front, grit his teeth, and raise the banner of overthrowing the shogunate!

It sounded contradictory, but in fact it was not contradictory at all. Because failure to overthrow the shogunate did not necessarily mean death — there were still so many Spanish warships on the waters of Kagoshima Bay; at worst, he could simply flee. Even if he could not escape, and in the end had to commit seppuku, was there not still a process? Death by seppuku after a failed overthrow was a suspended death sentence — it could always be delayed by two or three years, could it not? Even if the shogunate eventually arrested him, there would still be a chance to "appeal and beg for mercy," would there not?

If Shimazu Mitsuhisa did not overthrow the shogunate but instead chose to submit, then there truly would be no way out at all! Satsuma Domain's submission was not something that could be settled with a kowtow and an apology. At worst, his domain would be confiscated; at best, it would be transferred or reduced. And confiscation, transfer, or reduction all meant large numbers of domain samurai losing their livelihoods, and large numbers of gōshi losing their status — Satsuma Domain's actual kokudaka was certainly above one million! Just look at Satsuma Domain's population: if it really had only 605,000 koku, how could four or five hundred thousand people have enough to eat? Satsuma Domain's actual kokudaka had to be above one million koku! It was only because so many gōshi existed who paid no annual tribute that Satsuma's nominal kokudaka was dragged down. If Satsuma Domain were transferred, how would the new lord and the shogunate possibly allow so many gōshi who paid no grain to continue existing? Their ancestors had not fought to win the realm for the Tokugawa house, so on what grounds should they enjoy gōshi treatment?

Moreover, from the shogunate's perspective, gōshi were more troublesome than rōnin — rōnin had no family trade, drifted without support, and found it hard to pass down descendants; they were only a short-term trouble. But gōshi had land and a trade, could marry and have children, and leave behind many descendants. And these descendants all held samurai status; among them, those who could not enter service and could not inherit the family trade (samurai families generally practiced primogeniture) would mostly become rōnin wandering in all directions.

So eliminating gōshi now was equivalent to eliminating rōnin for the future!

And Satsuma Domain's gōshi, to preserve the little privilege, glory, and dreams they had left (gōshi were still samurai, still had the chance to enter service, and their descendants could receive training in the art of killing at the domain school; if they became peasants, then it was all over), would certainly fight with everything they had! At worst, if they lost, it was at most death; if they did not die on the battlefield, at worst they would farm the land as peasants. But what if they won? If the Shimazu house became shogun, then these men would be the meritorious founders of a new shogunate — surely they could at least get themselves made hatamoto, could they not?

As for the rōnin who had nothing at all, they were even less afraid — even if defeat and death were certain, they could still live gloriously and enjoy themselves for a few years. These rōnin were mostly descendants of the generation of samurai who had lost their lords or domains after the Battle of Sekigahara; they had struggled bitterly for so many years in the Tokugawa house's age of peace, and now at last they had a chance to realize their samurai dream (rōnin could no longer even be considered true samurai). Even dying on the battlefield would be worth it!

So under pressure from these two groups, Shimazu Mitsuhisa and the Shimazu house's senior retainers were all driven to a dead end!

Whoever dared to openly propose surrender would surely be struck down by "heaven's punishment."

Just as Shimazu Mitsuhisa was working hard to put on a fearless front, Kagoshima Castle welcomed a visitor from Edo.

The visitor was Shimazu Mitsuhisa's daughter, Shimazu Yoshino, now fourteen years old, though she was small in stature, with very delicate features, large eyes, long lashes, and snow-white skin — she looked just like a porcelain doll. This girl was an illegitimate daughter Mitsuhisa had fathered in Edo with a courtesan; her looks took after her mother, extremely petite and lovely. She had already been betrothed to marry the heir of the Ōtomo house (descendants of Ōtomo Yoshimune, a kōke house with a stipend of 1,000 koku), but because the Shimazu house had been denounced as an enemy of the court, the engagement had been broken off.

Because she had been preparing to marry into the Ōtomo house, Shimazu Yoshino had been living for the past two years at the Satsuma Domain residence in Edo. After the Shimazu house was denounced as an enemy of the court, she and the other Shimazu family members and retainers had been placed under house arrest by the shogunate.

However, the shogunate had not mistreated the detained Shimazu family members; all provisions continued as usual. They had even rejected Shimazu Tsunahisa's "request for seppuku," and afterward had allowed Shimazu Yoshino and a few Shimazu family members of little value to return to Kagoshima Castle to report their safety to Shimazu Mitsuhisa.

Moreover, Shimazu Yoshino had brought with her a personal letter from Tokugawa Mitsukuni, who had been blocked at Nagasaki and had already returned to Edo.

In the letter, Mitsukuni promised on behalf of the shogun that as long as the Shimazu house was willing to surrender, they would receive a domain transfer — the shogunate could give the Shimazu house Takamatsu Castle in Bitchū Province and the territory east of the Takahashi River in Bitchū Province, amounting to roughly 130,000 koku.

One hundred thirty thousand koku!

And they could survive.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa was of course tempted. His enemies were not just the shogunate alone, but an alliance of eight nations! The chance of victory was minuscule, and the best possible outcome was exile to New Spain — how could that compare to being the lord of a 130,000-koku domain?

"My lord, the Tokugawa house has gone too far!"

"My lord, the Shimazu house must never submit to the traitorous Tokugawa!"

Shimazu Mitsuhisa's fond hopes were immediately shattered by his two good younger brothers, Ijūin Hisakuni and Kabayama Hisanao!

It turned out that listening with him in the castle today to Shimazu Yoshino's account of conditions at the Edo domain residence were also members of the Shimazu house's inner circle: Nejime Kiyoo, Kamata Masakatsu, Ijūin Hisakuni, Ise Sadaaki, Kabayama Hisanao, and others. Although none of these men bore the Shimazu surname, they were all Shimazu Mitsuhisa's full brothers — Mitsuhisa's father, Tadatsune, was extraordinarily prolific, with fourteen sons!

In order to settle these fine sons, he had blackened his conscience and placed seven of them as adopted sons into outside retainers' families — those outside retainers were not without sons of their own (if they had no sons, they still had nephews), but they were forced to become good fathers to the Shimazu house's sons! In effect, the Shimazu house used adoption and inheritance to seize its retainers' family properties.

And these good younger brothers and good nephews of Shimazu Mitsuhisa, who each possessed family properties worth several thousand koku, were of course all firmly opposed to the Shimazu house submitting. The Shimazu house now held a domain of 725,000 koku, while these men had only a few thousand koku each. If the domain were reduced to 130,000 koku, what would become of them? Would they not be left with only a few hundred or a thousand koku of stipend? A few hundred or a thousand koku was enough for their own families' expenses, but they had retainers beneath them too!

Japanese feudalism was layer upon layer of feudalism; beneath the high-ranking samurai with domains of several thousand koku, there was always a host of middle- and low-ranking samurai to support!

If their stipends were suddenly cut to a few hundred koku, who knew how many people would lose their family trades? These men had originally been forcibly installed by Shimazu Tadatsune to seize others' family properties; now, if there were massive layoffs, would they not be hacked into mincemeat? Shimazu Mitsuhisa at least had a group of hereditary domain samurai around him who would fight to the death to protect him, but these men had been parachuted in from above; everyone around them was an outsider, and they could lose their lives at any moment!

Shimazu Mitsuhisa sighed, waved a hand at his daughter, and motioned for her to withdraw.

After dismissing his daughter, he turned his gaze to his trusted chief retainer, Nejime Kiyoo.

"My lord," Nejime Kiyoo was Mitsuhisa's nephew, and of course also opposed the Shimazu house's surrender, "you need not worry, because our side also has an alliance of eight nations!"

"Is that so?" A spark of hope kindled in Shimazu Mitsuhisa's eyes. "Which eight nations?"

"There is Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, the Shun, the Great Mongol Nation, the Manchu Nation, the Nation of India, Russia, and our Satsuma Domain!" Nejime Kiyoo counted them off on his fingers. "That makes eight nations just the same!"

"Truly?" Shimazu Mitsuhisa thought it over and felt something was off. "How can there be a Manchu Nation? Could it be that the Ming's Anding Protectorate is preparing to rise in revolt? If that were so, then Joseon ought to stand on our side!"

"I have just received reliable intelligence," Nejime Kiyoo said. "The Ming's Grand Protector of Anding, Jin Dodo, is gravely ill and near death, and the office of Grand Protector of Anding will be inherited by his eldest son, Jin Duoni. And this Jin Duoni, unlike his father Jin Dodo, is unwilling to remain an internal dependency of the Ming under the title of Grand Protector of Anding; instead, he wishes to become King of Manchuria and an external vassal of the Ming. To this end, Jin Duoni has maintained close contacts with the Spanish, secretly drilling troops and preparing for war, ready to rise in armed resistance when the Ming refuses to recognize the Manchu Nation. And the likelihood of the Ming recognizing the Manchu Nation is minuscule!"

(End of Chapter)