Chapter 370: The chaos caused by the Tianming Fire
Zhao Xin and others led the army to fight vigorously with Tsarist Russia in the north, while the isolated island country in the south was in chaos due to a fire that occurred in Kyoto at the beginning of the year.
The cause of the matter was of course the plan hatched by Zhao Xin and He Tai.
After successfully taking down the Takaji family last year, Heita became more courageous. This guy thought that instead of doing it one by one, it would be better to do something big. It would be best to solve it all at once, or to take advantage of the chaos.
It is not uncommon for fires to break out in island cities these days, and buildings with all-wood structures often make fires uncontrollable.
Not to mention the distance, there was a fire in Kyoto eighty years ago in the fifth year of Hoei's reign. At that time, the Konri Imperial Palace, the Sento Imperial Palace, the Nyonin Imperial Palace, and the Eastern Palace Imperial Palace were all burned down. From the Kujo family, Takaji family and other public residences to
Temples, machiyas, and the entire core area of Kyoto were affected by the fire; 417 towns and more than 10,000 houses, including the famous Foguang Temple, Shimogamo Shrine and other temples, were all burned down.
Unlike the ancients who set fires to add firewood and pour some oil, the arson weapons provided by Beihai Town to Pingtai were thermite and napalm developed by Fanghua Research Laboratory. The mixture of napalm is similar to the syrup used to dip candied haws.
It is a semi-solidified paste that is easy to transport and carry. In addition, Fang Hua also added some active metals, such as calcium powder, barium powder and so on.
But Heita never expected that his plan would be launched in advance due to another sudden fire, which almost burned him to death, thus bringing disaster to the entire Kyoto!
On March 7, 1788, that is, in the early morning of January 30, the eighth year of Tenmei, in the Danuri row house area of Miyagawa Town, located on the east side of the Kamogawa River in the southeast of Kyoto, a house that had been unoccupied for a long time suddenly caught fire for some reason.
. There was a strong southeast wind that night, and the fire quickly spread throughout the Tuanli townhouses.
(The Tianming Fire in real history also started here, but the cause of the fire is unknown.)
Because the houses of the islanders were all made of wood, the ignited window frames and roof thatch blew with the wind to the other side of the Kamogawa River, and the Teramachi Street on the other side was also on fire.
At the same time, Heita and two companions sent by Hokkai Town were sleeping in a house on Kawaramachi Street on the east side of Kyoto. They chose to live here because both Kawaramachi and Kiyamachi are very lively areas in Kyoto.
If you wander around the busy city and pretend to be a business traveler, you won't attract too much attention.
What a coincidence. The two large boxes of napalm they finally shipped from Kyushu via Osaka just arrived yesterday and are placed in the warehouse in the yard. Inside the boxes are bags of napalm sealed in plastic bags.
, it was also covered with silk and satin to cover it up.
When the fire reached Honnoji Temple, Heita and his companions were woken up by the screams on the street. The three of them walked to the yard and took a look. Well, Honnoji Temple to the south was already in flames.
Pingtai and his companions looked at each other in shock, wondering who did this? We haven’t even taken action yet!
The original plan of the three was to set fire to Nijo Castle, Forbidden City and Sento Imperial Palace. At present, the petrol bombs are not ready yet... What a waste! Petrol bombs!
The faces of the three people who knew the power of gasoline bombs turned green immediately. The fire at Takaji's house proved it before and it could not be extinguished. If it hadn't been for the westerly wind blowing at that time, the entire Kyoto would have been affected.
Stop talking nonsense and run! The three of them didn't have time to grab anything, so they put on a white undershirt, barefooted and peeing, ran out of the yard and followed the flow of people to the north. When they reached the intersection, they turned eastward, a hundred or ten meters away.
It was the Kamogawa River. The three of them rolled and jumped into the river, preparing to swim to the other side.
When Heita, who was running at the back, just jumped into the water, he heard a "boom" behind him, and a mushroom-shaped fireball rose from the ground, and the entire city of Kyoto suddenly lit up like daylight.
With the yard where Heita and his friends lived as the center, the ignited and unignited napalm bags erupted from the two boxes splashed in all directions. The nearly 1,000-degree high temperature suddenly covered the entire Kawaramachi and Teramachi. The town fire in charge of putting out the fire was extinguished as soon as possible.
I was dumbfounded, threw away my tools and ran away.
Along with the wind, the fire quickly burned through the two streets and rushed towards the Nijo Castle Imperial Palace to the west and the public housing area to the north.
Heita and the other two crawled out of the Kamogawa River in a wet state, and ran eastward for several miles before stopping. They looked back at the red-hot sky in the distance, thinking they were so worried that they almost didn't run out.
In another time and space, the famous "Tenmei Fire" burned for two days, and was known as the largest fire in Kyoto during the Edo period. But in this time and space, two boxes of approximately 200 kilograms of napalm burned
With the help of others, the fire burned for four days before gradually extinguishing.
This fire burned down all 1,967 towns in Kyoto. More than 40,000 houses, more than 200 temples, and more than 30 shrines were all reduced to ashes. Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, Kyoke Yashiki, Nishimachi Office, Shokokuji Temple, Shensenen,
Rokkaku-do, Seimei Shrine, Kamigorei Shrine, Kamo Gozu Shrine, and Tozai Honganji Temple were all reduced to ruins.
Afterwards, statistics showed that more than 3,000 people were killed in the flames.
The most unlucky ones were Fushimi Miya Kuniyai's family, all of whom died; Kanin Miya Norihito's family, five of their six sons died; the Konoe family, the Ichijo family, the Nijo family, the Kujo family and Takashi, who had just been re-adopted from Kanin Palace.
The Tsukasa family suffered heavy casualties, and the last female emperor in the history of the island nation, the 117th generation Emperor Sakuramachi, failed to escape the sea of fire and was buried in Sento Imperial Palace.
However, Kyoto's big boss Kanehito, Emperor Kokoku, managed to escape under the protection of Kyoto's Shidai, and later used the Shogoin Temple in the east of Kyoto as a temporary residence.
After hearing the news, Heita and the others sighed. They all said that if they had known there would be such a fire, they should have buried a box of napalm in the Holy Guardian Temple the night before the fire.
It is said that Emperor Kokaku was not called Kanehito before, but was called "Shihito". Because its Japanese pronunciation was the same as "dead man", his name was changed after he ascended the throne. In another time and space, Kanehito was a modern emperor in history.
direct ancestor.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Regarding the misfortune of Emperor Gosakura Town, Emperor Kokaku showed great sadness. Since he ascended the throne eight years ago, due to bloodline issues, he can rely on
And the only one who helped him was the empress.
Why is it like this? Because the previous Emperor Gomozono died too hastily, and his only descendant, Prince Kinzina, was only one year old. So after being recommended by the minister, Emperor Kokaku, who was the candidate at the time, was the closest to Prince Kinzina.
, and then he was hastily appointed as the prince and enthroned.
And his future queen is none other than Prince Kinzinai, who was one year old when he ascended the throne. In terms of seniority, his uncle married his granddaughter. But this is nothing to the island country, after all, the bloodline has been separated.
Three generations.
The problem lies in the bloodline separated by three generations. To put it bluntly, the bloodline is impure! Therefore, neither the public family nor the military family have much respect for the adopted emperor, and even the people are criticizing him.
Since blood cannot gain respect, there is only one way to gain respect, sacrifice. To put it bluntly, it is to restore the ritual system through celebration activities, which is what Confucian culture says "ritual is the foundation of governance."
The first is the festival celebration of "Shuodan Winter Solstice".
In ancient times, the emperor of the island country would come out of the main palace "Shichenden" at this time every year to have a banquet with his ministers. However, since the Onin Rebellion, the banquet has not been held for more than 300 years due to wars.
So starting from May of the sixth year of Tenmei (1786), Emperor Kokaku expressed to the shogunate through the "Bukeka Chuanzou" that he wanted to personally participate in the "Shuodan Winter Solstice" festival celebration. The shogunate didn't think much, and quickly approved and approved it.
Two hundred shilumi are paid as expenses.
However, Emperor Kokaku and a group of ministers seemed to have forgotten one thing. The previous Emperor Gomozono died in November, so November is also the "Jiu month". Emperor Kokaku, as Emperor Gomozono's successor
The adopted son also married Prince Kinzinai, so holding a celebration that had not been held for more than 300 years during the "Jiyue Month" when the previous emperor passed away was simply a "grave dance".
The sacrifice must be held, so after communicating with the shogunate, the month of death was changed to the day of death, as long as the celebration was not held before November 9th.
Afterwards, Emperor Kokaku worked hard to restore the Shinjo Matsuri in the sixth year of Tenmei. The revival of various types of sacrifices not only improved Emperor Kokaku's status in the eyes of the ministers, but also became popular among the people of Kyoto. After all, the sacrificial activities in the palace
When there are more, the city atmosphere will become more lively, which will require more materials and personnel, and the people of Kyoto will also get more business and employment opportunities.
In this way, Emperor Kokoku implemented his "retro plan" step by step.
Last year, weren't there rice-grabbing riots in Edo, Osaka, Kyoto and other places? So the people needed a clear spiritual sustenance, and Emperor Kokaku's establishment of rites naturally made nearby townspeople and farmers feel that there was a figure in Kyoto who they could rely on.
, naturally rushed to visit.
The fire in Kyoto shocked the world. The emperor even lost his palace, so the issue of reconstruction came to the fore.
Who provided the money? Of course it was the Tokugawa Shogunate. Emperor Kokaku's annual salary was only 100,000 koku. He had to support a large group of people, so he naturally had no money.
However, the Tokugawa shogunate's current deposits are only 800,000 taels. Due to the dispatch of troops last year, the compensation for the Kyushu vassals that were severely beaten by Beihai Town, and the various expenditures that will be incurred this year, the fiscal deficit is expected to exceed 2 million taels.
It was precisely because of the huge financial hole that Matsudaira Sadanobu, the senior shogunate, decided to ease the confrontation with the Sendai Domain against all objections. At the end of February this year, with the consent of Tokugawa Iesai, representatives were sent to start negotiations with the Sendai Domain.
But it was another story in Sendai Domain.
It is said that after joining forces with Hokkai Town to destroy the Satsuma clan last year, the Sendai clan's territory increased by 600,000 koku, and the actual total stone height was close to two million koku, making it the most famous in the world after the shogunate.
Nowadays, Sendai Domain's three prefectures in the north of Minami Kyushu belong to Hokkai Town, and there are 2,700 garrison troops to help resist the shogunate's offensive. At the same time, Mutsu has received financial and material assistance from Hokkai Town to train new troops, which can be described as guns and cannons.
Sharp, strong soldiers and horses, simply awesome.
Seeing this situation, the foreign daimyo of Kyushu and Mutsu Dewa also made secret arrangements with the Sendai clan, either seeking refuge or doing business secretly behind the shogunate's back.
Facing the envoys sent by the shogunate, the Sendai clan's demands, headed by Ishikawa Murafumi, were clear and clear. There were only two demands: declare the Shimazu family to be rebellious, and transfer the land of the Three Kingdoms of Southern Kyushu to the Date family; in addition, Mrs. Tohime should be transferred to the Date family.
Washiki Saburo sent it back.
Returning people is fine, as long as the Sendai clan promises not to use force again. But telling the world that the Shimazu family is rebellious is unacceptable.
Everyone in the world knows that Shogun's wife is the daughter of Shigego Shimazu, and last year the shogunate announced that Date Shigemura died of a vicious disease; now it is said that the Shimazu family is rebellious, isn't this a slap in the face!
As a result, the negotiations have been delayed, and the two parties have been negotiating back and forth for more than half a year without reaching an agreement.
The Tokugawa shogunate in Edo was in a state of panic, and the ministers of Kyoto who lived in the temple actually started jumping up and down, and some even shouted "return the great government".
Things have to start with rebuilding the palace.
After the fire broke out, Matsudaira Sadanobu, the leader of Laos and China, personally led a team to Kyoto to inspect the disaster in May and stayed there for ten days. After inspecting the Emperor's temporary residence, Shogoin, Matsudaira Sadanobu asked the Kyoto Governor to deliver a memorial to the samurai family.
A report was made, hoping that one or two temporary palaces could be built first for Kaneto and Gongqing to live in, and then the palace complex could be rebuilt according to the original appearance of the burned palace.
Nothing else, the shogunate is too poor now! Matsudaira Sadanobu even proposed that "the beauty of the palace is also the blood of the common people", hoping that the Kyoto court can "correct the evil habits of luxury".
But in mid-June, after receiving Zhao Xin's instructions, Liu Zheng, who had moved from Juqiubahama to Aoba Castle, found Ishikawa Murafumi. This guy had been living a shameless life in the island country for more than a year.
The level of daily conversation has improved by leaps and bounds.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "I heard that there was a fire in Kyoto and the emperor's palace was burned down?"
Ishikawa Murafumi didn't understand Liu Zheng's purpose, so he followed the other person's words with a worried look on his face and said: "Hey, come to think of it, we ministers are really worried."
Liu Zheng asked Ishikawamura Wenping to step back, and then whispered: "Your Excellency Ishikawa, don't you think this is a good opportunity now?"
Ishikawamura Wendao: "What does Liu Sang mean by this?"
"Since the Sendai clan wants to compete with Edo, why not win over the imperial court now?"
"Sigh~" When Ishikawa Murafumi heard this, he thought it was right. We don't want to be a general to conquer the barbarians. We can just be a Guan Bai. When the time comes, we can compete with the Tokugawa family. It's very beautiful to think about it!
"However, this vassal does not have much funds left now. You also know how Liu Sang spent the three million taels of gold that Zhao Dian borrowed before."
Of course Liu Zheng knew that most of the three million had been turned into shiploads of grain, artillery, and various goods produced in Beihai Town. At the same time, Ishikawa Murafumi also used a lot of daimyo to bribe Mutsu Deha.
In the famine years, everyone was very realistic. If you don’t have money, who will mess with you?
Liu Zheng chuckled and said: "I have already told Zhao Dian, how about providing another two million taels of interest-free loan to Sendai Clan?"
Ishikawa Murabumi was overjoyed. He slapped the banquet with his fan and nodded, saying, "In this way, great things can be accomplished!"
So in late June, the Sendai clan, which had received a loan from Hokkai Town, sent people to quietly send 500,000 taels of gold to Kyoto. With the money, the Kyoto court was determined from top to bottom to follow the Heian era
The palace was rebuilt in style.
Emperor Kokaku first summoned the monk Kozen who had been studying the history of palace architecture in private. This person had been trying to research and restore the Heian era palace drawings for the past 30 years, and he later compiled it into the thirty-volume "Research on Ouchi Ritu"
.Years ago, Guzen was carefully punished for being involved in political disputes; now in order to rebuild the palace, Emperor Kokaku not only pardoned Guzen's punishment, but also appointed him as a consultant to rebuild the palace.
However, ministers are not fools. No matter how skinny the Tokugawa family is, a camel is still bigger than a horse, so the Kyoto court began to play with the details of the drawings. Although the Shichenden Hall and Qingliangden Hall on the drawings have new cloister buildings,
The drawings that were finally submitted to the Edo Shogunate for review were 10 tsubo less than the total area of the palace before it was burned down, totaling 1,514 tsubo (nearly 5,000 square meters).
Emperor Kokoku dared to do this, which meant that with the support of the Sendai Domain, he began to try to get out of the framework set by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Do you think this is the end? That's impossible! Emperor Kokaku's restoration actions and measures to rebuild the imperial palace gradually brought his prestige to its peak.
So he took the next step, to give his biological father an honorary title.
As early as the beginning of his accession to the throne, Emperor Kokaku asked if he could give his biological father, Kanin norihito, the title of "emperor". If this happened, Prince Kanin norihito would be able to receive the treatment of emperor. However, the shogunate was noncommittal at the time.
What a joke! Your legal biological father is Emperor Gomozono, and Kanin Gong Norihito is a minister.
At the end of August, under the instigation of the Kyochu ministers who had accepted bribes from the Sendai clan, Emperor Kokaku made a comeback again and sent a letter to the shogunate.
Emperor) asked the shogunate to discuss the issue of bestowing a title on the 57-year-old Prince Norihito.
In early September, this letter was delivered to Matsudaira Sadanobu, the chief senior officer of the shogunate, and the foreheads of Matsudaira Sadanobu and other senior officers were buzzing.
Nothing else, the current shogun Tokugawa Ieki is also making the same noise, and wants to give his biological father Tokugawa Jiji the title of "Grand Imperial Palace" to show his filial piety.
As the initiator and implementer of the "lenient reform" in the Edo period, Matsudaira Sadanobu attached great importance to building a set of ideologies that maintained the stability of the Edo shogunate. He valued loyalty more than filial piety; Qianlong next door often said, "The emperor and his ministers are like father and son.
"When the thought reaches the island country, it in turn becomes "Father and son are like monarchs and ministers." As long as you have no experience of taking over as a general or emperor, you cannot obtain the titles of "Grand Imperial Palace" and "Emperor".