Chapter 991: Mine — a Good Friend of the Shogunate!

Toyotomi Kunimatsu said not a single word!

Because he feared death, he could be pushed onto the seat of "lord," could be forced to shoulder the blame, but his mouth was on his own face, and at the critical moment he could still stay silent — using silence to register his protest!

With this lord saying nothing, the atmosphere of the meeting turned a little cold.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa and the group of Toyotomi loyalists below were all somewhat embarrassed, but Mitsuhisa's reaction was very quick — he was the enlightened lord of the Shimazu clan, so of course his mind turned fast. He immediately spun around and shouted at the group of "Toyotomi loyalists" who had no idea what to do: "His Highness has given the order! From this day forward, the Toyotomi rise again, and the Tokugawa shall fall! We, the retainers of the Toyotomi house, shall escort the Toyotomi elder to Kyoto, overthrow the shogunate and honor the emperor! Banzai! Banzai! Banzai."

What? The lord already gave the order? How come no one heard it?

The Toyotomi loyalists present all doubted there was something wrong with their ears — the lord had said so much, and yet none of them had heard it. How utterly remiss of them!

Fortunately, Shimazu Mitsuhisa's ears were sharp. It seemed that from now on, the lord's words would all have to be relayed by him!

"Banzai! Banzai! Banzai."

The whole crowd quickly caught on and joined Shimazu Mitsuhisa in cheering!

Before long, the five-seven paulownia banner and the golden gourd horse standard symbolizing the Toyotomi house appeared atop the walls of Funai Castle in Bungo.

Although the Toyotomi house had been fallen for decades, the rallying power of the Toyotomi name throughout Japan still far exceeded that of the Shimazu, who had always been confined to a corner of Kyushu!

After all, great and powerful domains like the Mori of Choshu could never submit to the Shimazu, even though the Shimazu now held four provinces and their territory had reached over one million koku!

But submitting to the Toyotomi was another matter — the Toyotomi house had once been the overlord of both the Shimazu and the Mori, and had been the ruler of all Japan!

Therefore, the rebellion stirred up by the Shimazu clan, from the moment the Toyotomi banner was raised over Funai Castle, was bound to spread to Honshu and Shikoku.

But this "Toyotomi Restoration Rebellion" was unlike any previous rebellion in Japan — this was an upheaval under the intervention of a powerful foreign force!

And for the first time, the feudal lords of Japan possessed a seemingly unbeatable option — throwing in their lot with the imperialist powers!

Goto Morikatsu of the Goto family had now boarded an imperialist warship and even met his old acquaintance Zheng Jiangong — Zheng Jiangong had lived in Nagasaki in his early years and had been the hostage and chief representative of the "Yiguan Party" in Japan. And since the Goto family's domain lay in the waters off Nagasaki, and Goto Morikatsu had a residence in Nagasaki, he was of course well acquainted with Zheng Jiangong.

Zheng Jiangong recognized Goto Morikatsu at a glance, and without waiting for the other man to decide whether he should kneel, hurried over, took his hand, and said to him in Japanese with a beaming smile: "Goto-kun, yours, don't misunderstand. Mine, is a good friend of the shogunate. This time, at the shogunate's invitation, I have led a fleet to help the shogunate suppress the Shimazu rebellion!

The bombardment just now was an overreaction by the captains below after being startled by your shelling — they acted on their own. It was not an invasion of Japan by the Celestial Court's navy. It was entirely a misunderstanding. You must not be afraid."

Right — a few captains acting on their own could blast the batteries along the coast of Kamigoto Bay to pieces with 24-pounder howitzers? That was dozens of gunboats drawn up in bombardment formation, firing two or three hundred explosive shells from naval 24-pounder howitzers — the scene was truly earth-shaking! More than a dozen overly brave samurai of the Goto domain had been blown to death, and every seagoing vessel of the Goto domain anchored in the bay had been sunk. If this had been a planned invasion, would the Goto family not be extinct by now?

Was this really an accidental strike? Or... a show of force to cow the Goto samurai?

Goto Morikatsu, as if suddenly understanding something, had already put on an expression of tearful gratitude: "Wonderful! You have finally come! You must be here to rescue the shogun's Princess Takako, right? She and the Aizu domain's heir, Lord Masatsune, are trapped together in Nagasaki town and have no way to get to the Great Ming. And Nagasaki's defenses are extremely weak — they could be attacked by the Shimazu rebels at any moment!"

Zheng Jiangong listened, somewhat confused. "The shogun's Princess Takako? She is the adopted daughter of Daiyuin? Why would she be in Nagasaki with Hoshina Masatsune? Could she be Hoshina Masatsune's lawful wife, accompanying her husband to Nagasaki?"

"No, no, Princess Taka and Lord Masatsune are full siblings..." Goto Morikatsu hastily shook his head. "The shogun's house was sending Princess Taka to the Great Ming to serve the Son of Heaven, and Lord Masatsune was the escort envoy. Originally Lord Mitsukuni of the Mito house was also there. But because the Shimazu rose in revolt in Satsuma, Lord Mitsukuni was recalled by the shogunate, leaving only Lord Masatsune and Princess Taka in Nagasaki."

"Oh," Zheng Jiangong nodded, thinking: So the Tokugawa house has learned from the French and is trying a honey trap on the Son of Heaven...

He paused, then pressed on: "Tell me more — what is the current situation on Kyushu?"

Goto Morikatsu said: "Admiral, the Shimazu rebels have now occupied the four provinces of Satsuma, Osumi, Hyuga, and Bungo, as well as the Hitoyoshi domain in Higo. Moreover, they have found Toyotomi Kunimatsu, who was living in seclusion in the Hiji domain of Bungo, and raised him as the banner for overthrowing the shogunate. The Toyotomi house has been restored!"

Zheng Jiangong was startled: "What? Toyotomi Kunimatsu actually exists!"

"What do you mean, 'actually exists'?" Goto Morikatsu looked at Zheng Jiangong with some puzzlement. "This matter has been making noise for over ten years — surely you must know about it?"

"I know, I know — I just didn't expect Toyotomi Kunimatsu to actually step into the open!" Zheng Jiangong hastily corrected himself — the truth of the "Toyotomi loyalist" affair as he knew it was not the same as what Goto Morikatsu was saying!

Zheng Jiangong changed the subject and asked: "Then what is the attitude of the powerful domains of northern Kyushu — the Hosokawa, Nabeshima, Kuroda, Tachibana, Arima, and the rest? Whom do they support?"

"None of them has taken an open position; they all seem to be waiting and watching," Goto Morikatsu said. "At present, only the Karatsu and Shimabara domains have sent troops to Nagasaki — five hundred men in all. The Nagasaki magistrate and Lord Masatsune are nearly frantic with worry... But now, as long as the Celestial Court's warships sail into Nagasaki harbor, there will be nothing to fear."

"Sail into Nagasaki harbor?" Zheng Jiangong seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I have brought ninety-two warships. If they all enter Nagasaki, I fear it may cause misunderstandings. How about this — I will send five ships into Nagasaki first, and the remaining warships will anchor in North Goto Bay. In addition, some army troops who came aboard my warships have fallen ill from the tossing at sea and need to go ashore to rest. Could you accommodate them?"

"Accommodate, accommodate — of course I can! For the Celestial Court's great army to rest and regroup on the Goto Islands is an honor for the Goto family!" How could Goto Morikatsu dare say no? If he said no, their cannons might well "go off by accident" again!

Besides, these Ming naval warships had most likely been invited by the Tokugawa shogunate to lend a hand. He himself was merely the lord of an island domain worth twelve thousand koku — would he dare offend both the Great Ming Celestial Court and the Tokugawa shogunate at the same time?

He had originally been hesitating over which side to take. Now it was settled — just follow the Great Ming Celestial Court, and there could be no mistake!

Zheng Jiangong smiled and nodded. This Goto was a true friend — the Great Ming would not mistreat its friends. Once the Shimazu house was destroyed, they would carve out thirty or fifty thousand koku from Shimazu territory and reward it to the Goto family!

As for the Goto Islands and Tanegashima — under what pretext could they be occupied? How about making them the "bath-town fief" of that Princess Taka or whatever her name was?

Having thought of a pretext, Zheng Jiangong had someone entertain Goto Morikatsu with a tour of the Feixiang, then returned to the command room in the sterncastle, summoned his subordinates, and began laying out the next phase of operations.

So far, the operation to "conquer Japan" was proceeding extremely smoothly!

The Ming army had not only seized North Goto Bay — the most valuable part of the Goto Islands — "without bloodying their blades" (they had only fired two or three hundred rounds), but had also gained the chance to enter Nagasaki amid the chaos. Even if they sent in only two battalions, the gains would be enormous.

And the next step was Tanegashima and Sakurajima!

As long as they could take these two islands, then a leash would be fastened around Japan's neck. No matter how the civil war at home turned out, the Great Ming would remain in an invincible position!

(End of Chapter)