Chapter 647: Adding fuel to the fire, the Japanese Civil War (3rd update, please subscribe)
Was what happened in Saga an uprising? Of course not!
It must be a rebellion.
In the eyes of the reformist government, it must be a rebellion.
In the seventh year of the Meiji era, that is, on February 1, 1874, nearly 3,000 former Saga samurai, led by former councilor Eto Shinpei, raised the banner of opposition to the new government in Saga. The main reason for their uprising was to denounce the weak diplomacy toward Korea, overthrow the current government, restore the old court system, and greatly enhance the imperial power.
In another world, on the same day, the resentment accumulated by the unemployed samurai for many years broke out. However, compared to the other world, they had one more reason - demanding that Kazunomiya inherit the throne of the emperor.
However, unlike in history, in another world, Eto Shinpei and others mistakenly believed that if Saigo Moritaka raised an army in Kagoshima and Itagaki Taisuke raised an army in Kochi, and the samurai in Kyushu and Shikoku responded together, it would be easy to succeed.
But... they did not start a rebellion. Even though Saigo started a rebellion a few years later, he did not start a rebellion in 1874, so Eto Shinpei's "rebellion" was quickly suppressed.
But this time, Saigo... faced a completely different choice from last time.
"Go ahead, sir!"
In the auditorium of the private school, Kirino Toshiaki, Shinohara Kuniyoshi, Murata Shinpachi, Beppu Shinsuke and others stood in front of Saigo Takamori, and they all spoke loudly.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor died inexplicably. How did he die? We need them to give us an explanation!"
"Yes, sir. Not only that, but now that His Majesty the Emperor has died suddenly, if the government has nothing to hide, they will definitely make Prince Miyachiko the successor to the throne. Why is there no news yet?"
"Sir, the Emperor suddenly fell ill after you angrily resigned. He died suddenly just a few months later. One cannot help but wonder if Iwakura and others murdered the Emperor."
"Yes, sir, maybe it's because the emperor has come to his senses and wants to protect the rights of our military family, so he was assassinated by them!"
It's absolutely ridiculous!
This thought popped up in Saigo Takamori's mind. He didn't believe in these conspiracies, but His Majesty's death was indeed very strange!
The main reason was that his majesty's illness was too strange. Although his majesty had fallen ill before he left Tokyo, what was the illness? No one could tell what it was, and no one knew what the illness was that would cause those symptoms.
At one point he even suspected that His Majesty had been infected with syphilis, but the doctors said that even if it was syphilis, it would not show those symptoms.
It was precisely because of the strangeness that he had some doubts. But he would never doubt that Iwakura Tomomi and his men would assassinate the Emperor.
After all, the emperor is the source of their power. How could they assassinate the emperor when the emperor still trusts them?
"Now is not the right time to start a rebellion..."
Saigo Takamori said as he looked at his close associates who had resigned with him in the auditorium.
"If we rashly launch an uprising now, we will most likely fail."
In Saigo Takamori's heart, he was absolutely unwilling to start a rebellion. He founded a private school not to oppose the imperial court, but to guard against Russia's southward advance.
"Sir, now that the Emperor has passed away mysteriously, there are tens of thousands of nobles inside and outside the city who are willing to obey your orders at any time. As long as you give the order, they will definitely be willing to follow you, even if it means death."
Kirino Toshiaki said loudly. He was not exaggerating. Many samurai admired Saigo very much, especially those lower-class samurai. In fact, among the heroes of the Meiji Restoration, only a few people like Saigo cared about the interests of the lower-class samurai. The reason why he advocated "conquering Korea" was not so much for expansion, but rather to find a way out for the lower-class samurai.
A few months ago, Saigo Takamori left the central government and returned to the local government. In addition to his disagreement with the acting Prime Minister Iwakura Tomomi on the "conquest of Korea", the most important reason was that he was dissatisfied with the Meiji government's policy that was detrimental to the interests of lower-level samurai. He sympathized with the miserable experience of lower-level samurai after the Meiji Restoration. In a letter to the Satsuma Domain requesting relief for a soldier who participated in the civil war, he wrote: "When facing life and death, they treat them as private property, and after the matter is settled, they abandon them, which affects morality."
In Japan, one of his widely circulated poems expressing his aspirations also reads: "After many hardships, his will became firm. A real man would rather die with honor than live in disgrace. Does anyone know about my family's legacy? I did not buy good land for my children and grandchildren." He was even more disgusted with many senior government officials who pursued fame and fortune and lived in extravagance, and accused them of forgetting "righteousness" for "profit."
"Sir, Saga and the samurai of the world are watching you! If we don't rise up, they will die in vain!"
Shinohara Kuniyoshi also spoke loudly, and he seemed a little excited at this time.
"As a samurai, I should die for my lord, but now the emperor has died suddenly. As his subjects, how can we not seek justice for the emperor!"
It has to be said that Shinohara Kuniyoshi knew Saigo. After he brought up this carelessness, Saigo Takamori frowned, stared into the distance, and was silent for a long time before speaking.
"If we raise an army, we will not only die on the battlefield, but also be disgraced and disgraced for future generations!"
"Sir, we are willing to follow you!"
Faced with the unswerving following of his confidants, Saigo Takamori was speechless for a moment.
After hesitating for a moment, he said.
"In that case, then... let's do it!"
On February 4, a general meeting was held in the private school auditorium. Shinohara Kuniyoshi, Kirino Akitoshi, Murata Shinpachi, Beppu Shinsuke and others unanimously nominated Saigo Takamori as the leader and started an uprising against the government. The next day, Saigo Takamori began recruiting soldiers, turning the private school into the Satsuma Army headquarters and the branch school into a branch camp. On the same day, he recruited 3,000 people.
On February 4, 1874, just as the interim Prime Minister Iwakura Tomomi had just ordered the Army Ministry to send troops to quell the "Saga Rebellion", before the troops were dispatched, news of Saigo Takamori's rebellion came again.
Compared to others, Saigo Takamori, who had long been popular as a hero of the Meiji Restoration and had been speaking out for ordinary samurai in the past few years, immediately received a response from many people.
Japan was shaken for a while, and at the same time, unemployed samurai from all over the country rose up in arms to respond to Saigo Takakatsu's army.
An unprecedented crisis broke out in Japan before the Spring Festival in 1874. This civil war had a far greater impact than the Southwest War a few years later in another world. The emperor's sudden death from illness and the chaos in the succession to the throne directly led to the outbreak of civil war not only in Kyushu, but also in Honshu and other places.
Although the Ming Dynasty did not pay much attention to Japan, after all, it was just a small country not worth mentioning.
However, because Ryukyu was controlled by the Ming Dynasty, when the news of Saigo Takamori's rebellion in Kyushu came, Ding Yunsong, the Ming army colonel and governor-general of Ryukyu, immediately thought of the "weak Japan policy" that His Majesty had mentioned. What is weak Japan? Of course, it means to weaken Japan as much as possible.
After discussing with the staff officers of the Governor-General's Office for half a day, a decision was immediately made - to privately provide Saigo Takamori with 5,000 old Spencer rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition, as well as more than 20 cannons and a large number of mortars and artillery shells.
As experts in fanning the flames, officials of the Ming Dynasty actually all have some talent for this. Of course, a more important reason is that the region is remote, so the emperor gave a lot of autonomy to the governors-general. He couldn't let them wait for a reply from their homeland one or two months later when a problem occurred.
This is exactly what makes the governors different from ordinary officials. They can make their decisions at any time according to the changes in the situation and their personal judgment, without having to consider the final decision of the mainland.
This is also the reason why the colonies of European countries have been able to last for hundreds of years - the governors of the colonies have absolute supreme power in the colonies!
And this is precisely the most taboo in the traditional Chinese bureaucratic culture - the traditional Chinese bureaucratic system not only guards against military generals, but also guards against civil officials, and guards against those provincial governors from suddenly becoming local separatist forces.
What is the core of traditional Chinese rule?
It’s never about expansion, but maintenance!
Maintain the emperor's rule! So no matter how the dynasty changes, the country will eventually be governed by Shang Yang's method. The people should be weakened, and the officials should also be weakened.
Whether it is to weaken the people or weaken the officials, it is to make them lose the ability to judge and decide for themselves. Ultimately, through this domestication, the ruler's rule is maintained.
But the foundation of the Ming Dynasty was expansion, so officials were given more autonomy.
This is also the fundamental reason why he can make decisions after making judgments based on the current situation without worrying about being held accountable.
"Saigo is a nice guy!"
In fact, even if there had not been His Majesty's decree a few years ago, Ding Yunsong would have given him certain assistance within his ability, because the two of them had some personal relationship, and he also admired the upright Japanese Army general very much.
Now he wanted justice for the betrayed warriors, which... made sense!
While sending ships to deliver a large amount of arms to Saigo Takamori, Ding Yunsong muttered to himself again.
"Doing so should be in line with your majesty's decision..."
(End of this chapter)
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