Chapter 1562: Naivety

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After serving eighteen years as the Shoshidai, Itakura Katsushige requested retirement from the shogunate. Because his service had been well recognized, the shogunate then appointed his son Shigemune to the post of Kyoto Shoshidai. From the fifth year of Genna to the present tenth year of Kan'ei, he has now served as Shoshidai for roughly fourteen years.

Father and son have held the Shoshidai post in Kyoto for over thirty years, commanding all below and wielding power for their own ends. The prestige and authority they have accumulated are both staggering — they have practically reached the point of disregarding the Imperial Court entirely. Though on the surface he has always remained quite deferential to the Emperor and the court nobles, inwardly he surely never took them seriously at all.

It is precisely because of his power and long-accumulated authority that the court nobles in Kyoto are deeply wary of him, to the point where his very name makes them blanch. When Takatsukasa Norihira spoke his name, even Ichijo Kanetaka — the highest-ranking among the court nobles — could not help but change color slightly.

"What is there to fear? There are only the three of us here — could it possibly leak outside?" Nijo Yasumichi showed no sign of backing down whatsoever. "Has our Fujiwara clan... fallen so low that we dare not even speak our true thoughts in private?"

At this question, Takatsukasa Norihira's expression also shifted.

Indeed — he too was a descendant of the Five Regent Houses. How could his heart be free of that same indignation?

"Ah..." He hung his head and let out a long sigh. "I only feel that saying these things is useless. Tokugawa Iemitsu is still young, after all. Who can say clearly what will happen ten or twenty years from now? Besides, even if the Tokugawa house falls into internal strife, in the end the warrior houses will just put forward a new shogunate as usual — what real difference would there be?"

"If all we know is drifting with the current, then why bother complaining? We might as well just silently endure it. But you may be able to bear it — I cannot." Nijo Yasumichi still showed no sign of retreating. "What will happen ten or twenty years from now — we can begin preparing for it now. As for a new warrior house... leaving aside whether we might have the chance to borrow the chaos and seize back power, even if we cannot, things could hardly be worse than they are under the Tokugawa anyway."

"This... this..." Takatsukasa Norihira seemed to want to say something but did not know how.

Within the court nobility today, these two currents of thought exist. One faction still has vivid memories of the horrors suffered by the Imperial Court and the various noble houses during the Warring States period and lives in terror of the realm falling into chaos again, and so feels that even if the Tokugawa are harsh, it can be endured — though dissatisfied with the present state of affairs, they muddle along letting things slide. The other faction still yearns for the old days of the Imperial Court and, on the contrary, looks forward to the Tokugawa regime swiftly collapsing so that the Court's status can be rebuilt amid the chaos.

The former faction holds the majority; the latter faction is smaller but cannot be underestimated. Judging by appearances now, the Udaijin Nijo Yasumichi is one of its members.

"Stop quarreling, you two. Today's cherry blossom viewing is a grand occasion — there is nothing wrong with speaking your hearts." Ichijo Kanetaka suddenly cut off their words, then looked toward Nijo Yasumichi. "Ufu, are you saying that the Tokugawa house is very likely to fall into internal strife before long, and that we must begin preparing now?"

Hearing this question, Nijo Yasumichi was instantly filled with delight.

As an imperial prince and elder of the Fujiwara, and the chief minister of the Court, his willingness to continue this topic was in itself already a declaration of stance.

"Correct. I have heard that the people around Tokugawa Iemitsu are all urging him to have Tadanaga executed as soon as possible. These people... are truly terrified of Tadanaga succeeding to the position, aren't they... Hah, the Tokugawa house has always prided itself on proper order and ethics, yet they cannot even tolerate a younger brother. How could their rule possibly endure?!"

After inheriting the shogun's position, he frequently clashed with his younger brother and punished him with crimes several times. It was only through the protection of Hidetada, who was still alive then, that Tokugawa Tadanaga did not lose his life. But he was severely suppressed. Using the charges that Tadanaga had a violent temper and killed the innocent indiscriminately, Iemitsu banished Tadanaga to Kofu for house arrest and self-reflection.

But just last spring, Tokugawa Hidetada died. Tokugawa Tadanaga's situation became even more dire. Tokugawa Iemitsu found a pretext to confiscate his original fief and tightened the surveillance on him.

The previous shogun Hidetada doted on his lawful wife Sugen-in all his life, so his only legitimate sons were the two born to her. Although he had an illegitimate son, Hoshina Masayuki, that son had no right of succession after all. Under the present circumstances, with Iemitsu already thirty years old and still without an heir, Tadanaga became an even more obtrusive existence.

Iemitsu's close confidants had never liked Tadanaga in the first place, and over many years of service had naturally formed enmity with him. Like Iemitsu, they did not wish for the scenario of "Iemitsu dying without an heir and Tadanaga succeeding to the position" to occur, so they also urged Iemitsu with all their might that he absolutely must kill Tadanaga to eliminate future trouble. At present, Tadanaga is increasingly in imminent peril, his life seemingly hanging by a thread — no one knows when the shogun will issue the judgment to take his life.

If Tadanaga dies and Iemitsu continues to have no heir, perhaps the Tokugawa house will fall into internal strife at that point — this is perhaps more a curse than a reality that will actually come to pass, but that does not stop those who oppose the Tokugawa house from hoping for it.

Ichijo Kanetaka, like Nijo Yasumichi, hoped for this event to occur.

"Then... what does Ufu think we should do?" Ichijo Kanetaka asked further.

Though filled with lofty ambition and resentment toward the Tokugawa house, he understood the way things stood after all. The present Imperial Court was merely an empty shell — without money, without men, without land. Even if they wished to restore the glory of old, they did not know where to begin.

"Of course we cannot simply muddle along like this forever!" Nijo Yasumichi answered at once, then swept his gaze over the two men, impassioned and vehement. "Safu, you are the head of the Court and the elder of the Fujiwara clan. You bear the hopes of the Court and the realm — you must give thought to the realm!"

"Give thought to the realm..." Ichijo Kanetaka murmured. "I do wish to give thought to the realm, but what should I do?! I have nothing in my hands."

"As Safu and Regent, how can you say you have nothing?" Nijo Yasumichi furrowed his brow, even stiffening his neck. "You are the Regent. You represent His Majesty the Emperor and the great righteousness of the state. The moral authority is entirely in your hands... The Imperial Court is the legitimate sovereign of all under heaven — how can you say you have nothing?"

Being reproached like this by Nijo Yasumichi made Ichijo Kanetaka feel both shame and anger. "You... you are not unaware of the Court's present destitution. Why must you use such words to censure me? I am Safu, but you are also the Court's Ufu — why have I not seen you produce anything?!"

"Who says we can do nothing?" Nijo Yasumichi did not argue with him, but instead suddenly swayed even closer to him and lowered his voice. "Since we possess the great righteousness, we can put that great righteousness to use and lend it to those who can use it."

"Lend out the great righteousness...?" Ichijo Kanetaka grew even more alarmed. He sensed that the other man was especially strange today, as if he had come prepared.

Yet he still did not know what exactly the other man had in mind.

"How can it be lent out? Now... now where is there anyone who could still make use of this great righteousness?" Ichijo Kanetaka let out a long sigh. "The shogunate now holds such an enormous advantage. Even if some daimyo are also discontent with them, who could stand up and defeat the shogunate? Do not forget... back then Emperor Go-Daigo was able to flee Kyoto and establish a separate court because there were still loyal ministers and righteous men whose hearts were with the Court. But... but in the realm today, who is still loyal to the Court? All are cowed under the Tokugawa house's tyranny and dare not make any move. Even if the Court holds the great righteousness in its hands, it cannot summon men to defend the Court..."

Nearly three hundred years ago, it was the era of the Kamakura shogunate. But after twice resisting the Yuan dynasty's invasions, although the Kamakura shogunate had twice successfully repelled the Yuan invasions, it was affected by the economic situation of the time and the shogunate's financial difficulties and was unable to reward the officers and soldiers who had fought the Yuan with the due rewards, leading to the warriors' growing discontent with the shogunate.

At that time, Emperor Go-Daigo actively prepared plans to overthrow the shogunate and made contact with some factions discontent with the shogunate. But he was betrayed by Yoshida Sadafusa, who was close to him. The shogunate discovered his plot. Emperor Go-Daigo fled Kyoto carrying the Three Sacred Treasures, then used the temple forces of Mount Hiei as his base and issued a manifesto calling upon righteous men across Japan to rise up and raise troops to attack the shogunate. But the shogunate's army soon pursued him and eventually surrounded him at Mount Kasagi. The shogunate, with its absolute superiority in troops, captured the fortress and arrested the Emperor. This was the Genko War.

The Kamakura shogunate deposed Emperor Go-Daigo, who had plotted to overthrow it, and enthroned Imperial Prince Kazuhito of the Jimyoin line, who became Emperor Kogon. They also exiled Emperor Go-Daigo himself to the Oki Islands — a harsh place specifically used to exile nobles.

The following year, Emperor Go-Daigo arrived at the Oki Islands. But at that time, the forces seeking to overthrow the shogunate — such as Imperial Prince Morinaga, Kusunoki Masashige of Kawachi Province, Akamatsu Norimura of Harima Province, and others — were all active throughout Japan, each declaring their loyalty to Go-Daigo and calling upon anti-shogunate forces everywhere to rally and overthrow the Kamakura shogunate.

Thus, in the third year of Genko, Emperor Go-Daigo, with the help of men like Nawa Nagatoshi, escaped from the Oki Islands and fled to Mount Senjo in Hoki Province to raise troops against the shogunate. The Kamakura shogunate's Shikken (after the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Kamakura shogunate was dominated by the Hojo clan, with the shogun himself sidelined by the Hojo family; their leader was called the Shikken) Hojo Moritoki dispatched the general Ashikaga Takauji to lead a punitive expedition. But as Ashikaga Takauji advanced with his great army, because he had long harbored ambitions, he turned to Go-Daigo's side and raised the banner of honoring the Emperor and punishing the traitors.

Ashikaga Takauji's army captured the shogunate's Rokuhara Tandai, then marched all the way toward the shogunate. Thereafter, Nitta Yoshisada raised troops in the eastern provinces and captured Kamakura. The Hojo clan and the Kamakura shogunate were thus extinguished together.

Emperor Go-Daigo, returning to Kyoto, simultaneously abolished both the shogunate and the regency system and established an autocratic imperial regime, with the Emperor personally appointing and dismissing officials. This was the Kenmu Restoration in prior history. On the surface, the Kenmu Restoration was a return to antiquity; in fact, it established an absolutist imperial regime that excluded the warrior houses and generally only employed men of the court nobility.

However, Ashikaga Takauji's (by this time, the Emperor had bestowed upon him the name Ashikaga Takauji) ambitions were not extinguished by the collapse of the Kamakura shogunate. What he wanted was not to be a loyal minister under the Emperor, but to emulate Minamoto no Yoritomo and himself become the shogun who sidelined the Court. Seizing the opportunity when Go-Daigo's radical reforms lost the support of the warriors and a portion of the noble factions, he raised troops again and soon fought his way into Kyoto.

After the Ashikaga army entered the capital, Emperor Go-Daigo once fled to Mount Hiei to resist, but Ashikaga Takauji proposed a negotiated settlement. Emperor Go-Daigo handed over the Three Sacred Treasures, and Takauji placed Emperor Go-Daigo under confinement, once again declaring him deposed from the imperial throne.

Yet Emperor Go-Daigo still did not give up. He once more found an opportunity to escape from the place of his confinement, then declared that the Three Sacred Treasures handed over to Ashikaga Takauji were forgeries. He himself fled to Yoshino in Yamato Province, then established the Southern Court, denouncing Ashikaga Takauji and the others as enemies of the throne. Thus began Japan's period of the Northern and Southern Courts.

With the support of generals such as Nitta Yoshisada and Imperial Prince Kaneyoshi, Emperor Go-Daigo temporarily maintained the stability of his court and died a few years later. On his deathbed, he left a testamentary command to his successor, Emperor Go-Murakami: "Exterminate the enemies of the throne and recapture Kyoto."

However, events did not go as he wished. Compared to the Northern Court, the Southern Court was far too weak in resources and military strength. After sixty years of repeated wars, offensives, and defensive battles, the Southern Court's power gradually declined until it could no longer resist the attacks of the Muromachi shogunate. Finally, the Southern Court's Emperor Go-Kameyama handed over the Three Sacred Treasures, which he claimed were the genuine articles, to the Northern Court's Emperor, ending the period of the Northern and Southern Courts. The shogun at the time, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, also became the most powerful warrior-house elder in Japan since Minamoto no Yoritomo. The Court and the nobility's resistance against the warrior houses thus ended in a final, face-saving surrender.

The Kamakura shogunate of that time and the Muromachi shogunate that followed neither possessed the vast territory and economic power of the present Edo shogunate, and the Emperor's side still had a group of loyal ministers and fine generals to assist him. Yet even so, Emperor Go-Daigo and his descendants' sixty-year struggle still ultimately ended in surrender to the Muromachi shogunate. How could the Court today possibly see any hope of eradicating the Tokugawa shogunate? Well-versed in history, Ichijo Kanetaka could naturally only feel his heart filled with anguish, seeing no hope whatsoever.

However, he also knew that Nijo Yasumichi was surely very clear on all these historical precedents. Since he still dared to speak this way, he must have some other idea. A sliver of wishful thinking made him unable to resist feeling some anticipation toward Nijo Yasumichi.

"How can you say there is no hope? The Tokugawa shogunate now acts tyrannically and perversely, having long since provoked the wrath of heaven and the resentment of men. Given the opportunity, there will surely be a cloud-like response. When that time comes, the Edo shogunate will surely vanish like lingering smoke, just like the Kamakura shogunate, letting us vent the foul anger in our hearts." Nijo Yasumichi was indeed, just as he had hoped, unhurried and unflustered, as if he truly had some plan in mind.

"Then... then what exactly should be done? On whom should we rely? I... I, as Sadaijin, truly cannot see whom we can rely on!" Curious and anxious, Ichijo Kanetaka could not help but press the question. By now, the effects of the wine had long since vanished, and his whole body trembled with agitation and tension. "Rely on the Maeda house? Though they hold a domain of a million koku, they have no loyalty whatsoever and fear the Tokugawa house the most — where would they find the courage to rise up? Rely on the Shimazu house? Their house is indeed an enemy of the shogunate, but... but they are now suppressed by the shogunate in the tiny domain of Satsuma Domain — where would they still have the strength to rise again and oppose the Tokugawa? As for others... I have looked across the whole realm, but where can one find a man like Kusunoki Masashige..." As he spoke, he sighed again and again, his profound grief showing plainly on his face.

"Yes, Safu is right." Takatsukasa Norihira also chimed in repeatedly. "Men's hearts are not what they were in ancient times — where can loyal ministers still be found? Everyone thinks only of private gain. Who would be willing to risk death and disaster for the Court..."

"If they cannot be found within Japan, then wouldn't it be fine to look outside Japan...?" Just as they were crestfallen, Nijo Yasumichi suddenly said coldly.

This chilling tone made the two young men feel a sudden coldness down their backs, and they exchanged a glance.

"You... you mean..." Ichijo Kanetaka asked in a trembling voice.

In truth, he had already roughly guessed what Nijo Yasumichi meant; he simply dared not believe it yet and wanted to confirm it once more.

"Within Japan now, there is indeed no one with the strength to oppose the Tokugawa shogunate. But outside Japan, right now, there is — and a power far stronger than the shogunate at that." Nijo Yasumichi indeed voiced the speculation in his heart. "In China, the Great Han has now swept across all directions, its military momentum irresistibly sharp. Moreover, their weaponry is breathtaking — their muskets can shoot better than those the Westerners ship over, and their seaborne gunboats can contend with the best gunboats of the Westerners... Since they possess such a powerful army, dealing with the shogunate should be an effortless matter."

Though he spoke unhurriedly, the two young men were already drawing sharp breaths as they listened.

Borrowing troops from a foreign country to attack the shogunate — this was something unprecedented in all of Japan's history!

"This... this won't do, will it? The affairs of Japan are ultimately matters among Japanese — they should not involve foreign countries..." Takatsukasa Norihira instinctively wanted to object. "We cannot invite a wolf into the house..."

Yet Ichijo Kanetaka's thoughts were completely different from Takatsukasa Norihira's. He had long since had enough of this stifled, humiliating existence, and so as long as he could find a straw to clutch at, he wanted to grasp it to the very end. He was only somewhat hesitant, not understanding why Nijo Yasumichi was so certain.

"The Great Han... would the Great Han dispatch troops against the shogunate for the sake of Japan's affairs...?"

When he asked this, Nijo Yasumichi knew his objective was already more than half achieved.

"If it were an ordinary emperor, of course he wouldn't care, but… I have heard that the founding emperor of the Great Han today is a man of bold vision and great talent, one who delights in campaigning in all four directions — just like Kublai Khan back then. As long as we can move him, he may well follow Kublai Khan's example and launch a campaign against Japan."

"But what do we have with which to move him?" Ichijo Kaneyoshi immediately asked. "Right now we have nothing at all, do we?"

Right now the Imperial Court and the kuge houses held no resources or bargaining chips — he did not know how to move the Chinese emperor to send troops for the Japanese court.

"We have nothing, but Japan does." Nijo Yasumichi smiled again, though this time his smile carried considerably deeper meaning. "The Great Han, unlike the former Great Ming, places great emphasis on commerce and values wealth and coin, which is why they sought trade with Japan from the very start… Japan has gold and silver in abundance. When the time comes, would it not suffice to use that gold and silver in exchange for the Great Han's aid in helping the court reclaim the reins of government?"

【It's almost 515 — hope to keep charging toward the 515 red envelope leaderboard, so that on May 15 the red envelope rain can give back to readers and also promote the work. Even a single yuan is love — will definitely keep updating well!】