Chapter 10 Sakurada Gate Incident-2

Jizaemon laughed softly.It seems that Yusuke has indeed been forgotten by the comrades in the domain.The second elder brother also taught Jizaemon that he was not clever, and he himself did not have much political talent. "why are you laughing?" "It's nothing, in the final analysis, it's just a sword. Seniors are working in their own countries, working in Kyoto, but the key is to kill Jingyi, isn't it?" Indeed it is.Talented people, too much politics, will lose the essence of things.People like Jizaemon, on the contrary, are not confused in times of chaos.

"Jizaemon, we must defend the reputation of the Satsuma feudal clan. No one but our two brothers can show the world and future generations that the Satsuma people are faithful." "Brother, you also like to talk! Needless to say, the important thing is that the world will change if Jing Yi is defeated. That's enough." "Yes!" In Yusuke's eyes, his younger brother Jizaemon gradually grew taller. A few days later, the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month.Kimura Gonnoemon came to Kusakabe's house and asked Matsuko to go to the Satsuma domain to invite Arimura brothers. Although Kimura was poor in the domain, he was in his 35s and 60s, and he was one of the top activists in the Mito domain.

"What? The Satsuma clan who ruled the world chose you two brothers in the end," "No! That's not the case. . . . " Yusuke was sweating profusely explaining the situation in the domain, but Kimura seemed to understand.This is also very natural, and Yusuke himself is also unclear. "understood." Kimura finally said.What he knew was not the inside story of the Satsuma clan, but the ambition of the Arimura brothers to shoulder the honor of the Satsuma clan.Sano Takenosuke, who was listening, flushed with excitement, took Jizaemon's hand and said: "I was deeply moved."

Yusuke pleaded to Kimura Gon'emon: "Mr. Gonnoemon, in order to make the assassination of Ii more effective, our comrades are planning to hold the Kyoto uprising, but the progress of this matter is still unknown. Can the date of the uprising be postponed until the details are obtained?" "The Uprising in Kyoto is a matter of your domain. If you set the date of Mito according to the situation of your domain, you may miss a good opportunity. The situation of Mito domain is also extremely complicated. If there is any delay, it will be impossible to concentrate the personnel in Edo. According to the situation of our domain, the assassination date is around February 20th. It is better sooner rather than later, and it is difficult to sneak into Edo with too many people, so fifty people were selected."

"Where is the location of the assassination?" "Outside Sakurada Gate." Hikone's 350,000 Ishii family's Shangfan residence is located outside the Edo Sakurada Gate. "Also, we want to choose Mr. Seki Tetsunosuke as the leader. This Mr. Takasaki-kun once ran around Kyoto with your vassal, so he also has a relationship with the Satsuma people." He meant to demand obedience.There are only two people on Satsuma's side, and it is only natural that they obey the command of the Mito Domain in everything. Kimura was often followed by the guards, so he didn't dare to stay here for a long time, so he left. ***

After mid-February, Mito allies sneaked into Edo one after another.They hide in various parts of the city, and the connections among comrades are all based on Ah Jing, Songzi's mother and daughter, and women will not arouse suspicion.One day, Jing said to Jizaemon: "Brother Jizaemon has not been in Edo for a long time, and he is not familiar with the streets of Edo. How about asking Matsuko to take you for a stroll?" "Do you go shopping?" "Let's visit Sakura Field!" Ah Jing hinted that Jizaemon went to scout the predetermined battlefield terrain.Jizaemon thought it was reasonable, so he asked Matsuko to take him there.

Edo Castle Sakurada Gomon Gate is a pass from the main gate Gyoen to Kasumigaseki Humen. Behind it is a high city wall with earth foundation and stone body, and there are gun holes on the white wall.This gatehouse alone is equivalent to the main building of the small castle. "Hey!" Jizaemon stood in front of the door and looked innocently, "It's really close enough. You can even count the tiles on every house in Ii's house." It can be said that it is only a few hundred meters away.Jing Yi's family received a salary of 350,000 shi, ranking among the best among daimyos from generation to generation.Ii is proud of this.At this moment, the magnificent gate is close at hand.The gates are painted red with red lacquer or cinnabar.Ii has been the pioneer of the Tokugawa family since the ancestor of the feudal family, and his armor and flags are all red.During the battles of Sekigahara and Osaka, the mention of Ii's "Red Army" made the enemy tremble with fear.

This is the root cause of people calling Da Lao Zhi Bi a "red ghost". "The mansion in front of me is Matsudaira Osumi Shufu of Bungo Kitsuki, that is..." "You are very familiar!" "I've been here three times." Pine nuts are serious, he said.The vengeance of their mother and daughter may be stronger than that of the Mito Leaguers. Afterwards, Jizaemon walked to the Saikatsu River not far away, observed the location of the "Hitaka House", and grasped the terrain of the "Battlefield". When he came back, Jizaemon looked around and wanted to hire Matsuko a sedan chair, but Matsuko stopped him.

"I'll go back, Jizaemon-san doesn't have money for the sedan chair!" Of course he didn't. "I'm too poor to have money for a sedan chair." Pine nuts are generous, he said. They had to walk.On the way, Songyu talked about how the family was in a difficult situation when his late father was engaged in sports.This topic about poverty is very interesting, and the profound truths in it are so clear.Jizaemon couldn't help laughing out loud several times.As the saying goes, good people tell poor stories.Jizaemon felt more fond of this girl. "Ms. Matsuko is really a good person. Sano Takenosuke-kun is a rare hero. If you marry someone like him, you will definitely..."

"Well," Matsuko showed a surprised expression, "Mr. Jizaemon...... Didn't my mother say anything?" "what?" "Although there are grandfathers and fathers who lived in Mito, the Kusakabe family has followed the Shimadzu family for generations. If you are not a Satsuma vassal, Matsuko will not marry." "Don't you like Mito people?" "Mito is my hometown, my mother's hometown. It is very warm to see Mito people. But I still prefer Satsuma people." Jizaemon happily looked up at the sky.But the young man didn't realize the feelings Songzi expressed to him just now.

"Mr. Jizaemon, you are a good person!" Songyu said slightly sad.Then he turned his face to look down at the Sakurada Castle River where the microwaves were rising. After the reconnaissance, Jizaemon drew a schematic diagram and told his second brother Yusuke the terrain around Iifu.The two brothers couldn't help getting excited as they talked. "It's not far from the time of the uprising, let's write a letter home. Even if we don't talk about it, we must say goodbye to our mother." They each picked up a pen. The next day, they paid the trust to the messenger of Benfan. It is unclear when this letter arrived at their home, but it was already after the "incident" that the mother's reply letter arrived at the Edo feudal mansion.There is also a waka in the letter: Autumn high crescent moon, There are also hazy and cloudy, Only because of the rain. If you are open-minded, The sky and the earth are full of light. Sano Takenosuke seems to like Jizaemon very much.One day, he showed Jizaemon one of the clumsy drawings he had made—which still exists. "This is a portrait of you and me." The painting shows a samurai fighting and finally piercing the neck of the culprit Ii. "However, there is only one person on the screen." "This person, you see it is you, but I see it as me. But I specially give it to you." "Ah! Give it to me." Jizaemon happily took the painting back to the mansion, then enclosed a letter and sent it to his mother.Jizaemon was just boasting of himself to his mother naively, not necessarily because he deliberately regarded the painting as a relic. Jizaemon secretly made up his mind that although there are many comrades, he should do it like the painting on the painting with his own hands. Kill Ii. The contacts among comrades gradually became more frequent, and the uprising plan became more specific. Because the shogunate monitored Mito radicals very closely, it was difficult for many people to sneak into Edo, so the number of Mito participants was reduced to a few dozen.The date was also pushed back a few days. It was already after February 10 that the fat leader Seki Tetsunosuke came to Kusakabe's house with the final plan. "Decided to take action on March 2. (March 3 is the Shangsi Festival, as you know, according to the usual practice. On the Shangsi Festival, the princes will go to the city to celebrate, and the time to go to the city is Chenshi (8 o'clock in the morning). I know everything well, Then go to ambush first, it will definitely succeed." Then, Leader Guan said something unexpected: "Mr. Youcun, no, it is Mr. Xiongzhu. You and our son, Sun Erlang, will not participate in the uprising that day. You have other important responsibilities." Yusuke was taken aback. Guan Mengzhu continued to say: "It's a pity to abandon the original plan of the Satsuma clan. Yusuke-kun and my clan Kaneko-kun did not participate in the battle, but when they saw the result of the battle, they immediately ran to the Satsuma clan's residence in Kyoto. No matter what, we must seize the opportunity and do some work as soon as possible. The movement should change the direction of supporting the imperial court and reforming the politics of the shogunate. Otherwise, our bloody sacrifice in Sakurada will lose half of its meaning.” "However, it's okay if I don't go." "You are a member of the Satsuma clan, and you are doing the work of the Satsuma clan. There is no one else but you. Kaneko-kun will accompany you as the representative of Mito Shido." "if it is like this……" "Yes, your brother is the only Satsuma vassal participating in the battle outside the Sakurada Gate." On March 1, they rented a secluded room in Yamazaki House on the west bank of Nihonbashi in the name of "Calligraphy and Painting Club" and had their last meeting.All the village brothers attended. Before the meeting, Sano Takenosuke persuaded Seki and Kaneko who came first: "Please make a decision. No matter who assassinates Ii, please let Arimura Jizaemon Kaiii take the head in the end." What Sano thought of was that the young Satsuma man was alone among the feudal vassals. It was so pitiful. The Satsuma vassals who had talked so much at the beginning withdrew one after another, and finally he was left alone. Jizaemon said to Sano one day: "I alone can prevent future generations from suspecting that the Satsuma people are sincerely participating in the Mizusai League." Jizaemon thought he represented the Satsuma clan. He said, "I want to represent the four hundred years of the Shimadzu family. Be brave, be the first to rush into Jing Yi's queue." Sano asked: "How about it?" Leader Guan thought for a moment, then made a decisive decision and said: "Just do it!" Giving the head of Jizaemon Kaiiyi and giving such honor to the Satsuma clan is the political consideration of the leader Seki for the Satsuma clan. After the assassination, the Kyoto Uprising cannot but rely on the Satsuma clan, so it is necessary to give this honor to stimulate its rise . --That's it.In the following seven years, that is, in the third year of Qingying (1867), before the three vassals of Sa, Chang, and Tu were discussed in secret, the Satsuma vassal did not rise up. After everyone arrived, Mr. Seki put forward the above proposal, which was approved by everyone. Everyone's eyes were focused on Jizaemon, and both eyes were looking at this young man in good faith.Jizaemon wanted to say: "I will definitely do it", but he couldn't say it, and tears welled up in his eyes. "It must be done! It must be done!" After saying this, he smiled. On the next day, March 2, the Mito feudal vassals were afraid that the lord would be hurt if the incident happened, so they went to the Mito feudal mansion in Koishikawa and put one application for resignation per person into the suggestion box.Then we went to the Shinagawa prostitute street together, and after entering the "Toraya" that attracts customers, we held the last banquet in the "Dozo Sagami" building of the brothel. Jizaemon didn't go to have fun with them.He has no money.When he went, the people of Suihu had to invite him, which made him unhappy.He parted ways with his comrades going to Shinagawa, and went to Kusakabe's house with his brother Yusuke to bid farewell. —However, there is a strange thing. Let's look at the records in Okubo Toshimichi's diary.Okubo was in Satsuma at the time, and he heard this record with his own ears later.Not the same as the rumors. "On the eve of the uprising, all comrades will meet at Kusakabe's house on March 2nd. When the discussion is over and the guests will return, my mother (A Jing) said that there is something to do, and I will keep my brothers from the village. The brothers will sit down and ask why." Brother Yusuke has noticed eight or nine points.Ajing had said to him before: "Can you invite Jizaemon to come to my house and live in Ji Kusakabe's house." Yusuke declined without discussing with anyone, because he adopted a person who was about to go to the battlefield and could hardly survive as an adopted son. Either way, it's meaningless. Sure enough, Ah Jing brought up the matter again this time.Yusuke declined for the above reasons, and asked his brother: "Jisaemon, what do you think?" Because it was so sudden, Jizaemon only felt that this incident was as bizarre as a child's life story. He was stunned for a moment, but immediately realized that this was his own business, and panicked. "No, no. Tomorrow morning I shall die. How can I be a son-in-law!" Let's quote Okubo Toshimichi's diary here: "My mother said that although I am a woman, I still have secrets. Another reason I mention this is that ghosts appear in dreams." One night, daughter Matsuko dreamed that her late father Kusakabe stood beside her pillow three times and said, "Adopt Jizaemon as your adopted son and be your husband!" Leaving aside whether there are ghosts manifesting dreams, in short, it can be asserted that Matsuko's secret love for Jizaemon has become a dream at night. In addition, although the Kusakabe family does not have a head of household, it still belongs to the Satsuma domain. If people in the domain are adopted as adopted sons, the family name and salary can be maintained.All in all, the Kusakabe family can justifiably gain some benefits by forming a relationship with the Satsuma people.Even so, why deliberately choose the man who will die tomorrow as his son-in-law? "If you want to choose a son-in-law, you must choose this one." The mother and daughter are in such a state of mind, it must be because they have been in the vortex of assassinating Jingyi and revenge for a year, which made them extremely sentimental. Let us quote Okubo's succinct article again: "'I must wish so!' Ah Jing said firmly. Then, she begged with tears: 'If you don't understand our intentions, I will not let you go.  …" We can imagine how excited Jizaemon was.Isn't this just the success of love? In life, no one can receive such deep affection like Jizaemon.People want to promise their daughter to him who is about to die. Okubo records: "Jizaemon couldn't refuse this friendship, so he happily said: 'Since it is so firm, I will respond!' The mother was very happy, called her daughter to drink the designated glass of wine, and held a simple ceremony. Engagement." They had another simple wedding.It is unknown whether the newlyweds entered the bridal chamber that night.However, Okubo Toshimichi's diary records that although it is only midnight, it is "a couple who have been together for a hundred years". It can be imagined that Ah Jing is a gift from her daughter to send the young warrior on the journey.Going forward, since the strong man Jizaemon has been the son-in-law even for one night, for the Kusakabe mother and daughter, the murder outside the Sakurada Gate is revenge at the hands of relatives. At dawn the next day, Jizaemon put on his straw sandals and walked out from under the eaves of Kusakabe's house.The road is white.In the light of the lantern, snowflakes were flying,—Snow on March 3rd is rare—Jisaemon returned, asked Matsuko for a bamboo hat, and started on the road again. The pre-agreed meeting place is near the Atago Santop Shrine office. As we walked, the beautiful snow scene of the urban area appeared under our feet.The goose feather snow began to fall again, and the balls of snow spun and landed—it seemed that it had to go down.Near the social affairs office, comrades are already gathering.Some wear umbrellas and ordinary overcoats; some wear straw hats, take off their trousers and put on raincoats.One person, one style, a total of eighteen people. With such a small number of troops, can the team that attacked Hikone's majestic vassal be successful?This is disturbing. "Oh, Jizaemon." Sano raised the umbrella over Jizaemon's head.Kurosawa also came over with a smile.But the other samurai seem to be a bit indifferent, this is because they are not very familiar!According to the recollections of Umi Saganosuke, Mori Gorokuro and others, this was the first time they saw Jizaemon. Takenosuke Sano introduced them one by one. After that, the commander-in-chief Guan Tetsunosuke made the final deployment, and then began to go down the mountain in groups of several people and groups of several people. After a while, they entered the "Inviting House" outside the Sakurada Gate as a scout. Attack in groups.The task of the attacking team in the front line was to disrupt Jing Yi's queue, and the attacking groups on the two wings were divided into left and right groups, and they might jump directly at Jing Yi's sedan chair.Jizaemon belongs to the left group, and Sano Takenosuke belongs to the right.There is also an attack group behind. "Others will pay attention to us, go out one by one!" Commander Guan indicated with his eyes. There are eighteen people sitting in the "Yin Ke Room", and anyone who sees it will be suspicious. There were four people left in the "hiker house", including Jizaemon and Sano, and the others pretended to be country samurai sightseeing, holding the samurai genealogy prepared earlier, waiting for the ranks of the daimyo, the country Takegami sightseeing, that is. Comparing the family emblem on the family tree of the samurai, identify the daimyo in the queue, "That Jiuyaoxing is the Marquis of Hosokawa, and this is the Marquis of Sanada." No one doubts that this is a common scene on the day when princes go to the city. "Sano, I want to rush up first." "Don't be the first. Follow the deployment of Commander Guan." It will be eight o'clock in a while.The big drum of the castle telling the time thumped. The snow fell harder and harder. "coming!" "No, that's Marquis Owari." Jizaemon replied.One of Satsuma's children's games is to recite the family crests of the princes, so Jizaemon can recognize them at a glance. When Owarihou's procession disappeared inside the Sakurada Gate, the red gate of Ii Mansion flew open. The team leader walked out the gate. Then, a queue of fifty or sixty people walked over solemnly, all wearing bamboo hats and red raincoats, holding a long gun in their hands. Commander-in-chief Guan Tiezhisuke, holding an umbrella high, wearing a raincoat and clogs, walked slowly towards Jing Yi's formation like pedestrians, and Sano and others followed behind him. Sano wanted to unbutton his jacket, but Commander Guan still looked at the sky and said: "It's still early, it's still early." On the left, Jizaemon and a few others were walking along the road near the long wall of the Matsudaira Osumi garrison. After a while, the head of the team passed by Jizaemon and walked another twenty or thirty steps. "Isn't it time yet?" Time to fire the signal gun. When the leader of the team walked to the large sewer in front of the gate of Matsudaira Osumi Shoufu, Mori Gorokuro, who had already knelt behind the patrol hut, suddenly ran over from the front assault team and shouted repeatedly as if accusing: "Hand it over! Hand it over!" "what?" Naga Nikakabe Saburoemon, the attendant of the Ii family who was walking in front, and Gunroku Sawamura, the attendant inspector, came over.At this moment, Mori took off his bamboo hat and took off his coat.The white turban had been fastened a long time ago, and the sleeves were also rolled up. I saw him flying over the snow with one stride, and cut down the chief attendant in one fell swoop. "what!" The chief attendant wanted to draw his sword, but before he could pull it out, he was cut down again; because it was snowing, Jing Yi's attendants were dressed in snowy clothes, with the hilt in the hilt and the scabbard in woolen or oiled paper sheath.To draw a sword, one must first untie the rope from the hilt. "Bandits!" When the inspector Sawamura Junliu shouted, Mori came up and cut him down from the right. What was even more unlucky for Jing Yi was that there was a "whoosh" from the sky, the wind picked up, snowflakes flew, and no one was seen five or six feet away. Find out what happened to the team leader later. Then, the signal gun went off. Jizaemon charged from the left, about thirty or forty meters away from the sedan chair. Sano lunges from the right. On the right side of the sedan chair, there is the Ii family's most skilled attendant, Kawanishi Chuzaemon, who supervises Kawanishi Chuzaemon. He quickly took off the handle of the broadsword, stabbed the rushing Inada Shigezo with his right hand, and drew his sword out of its sheath with his left hand, blocking Hirokako. Jiro's sword.Kawanishi is a famous swordsman with two hands.He then slightly injured Saganosuke, who was rushing forward, but was cut off by Hiroka who rushed over again. At the same time, he also stabbed Hiroka in the forehead. At this time Sano Takenosuke rushed over and gave Kawanishi a fatal knife, then jumped over Kawanishi's body, and went straight to Jingyi's sedan chair. The sedan chair just lay on the snow. "Traitor!" Sano cursed and stabbed. At this time, Jizaemon also thrust his sword into the sedan chair from the other side.It is not known which knife comes first and which knife comes after. No, maybe before the two of them, Shigezo Inada, who was seriously injured and fell to the ground, crawled and stabbed into the sedan chair, that was the first knife. An eyewitness, a stay-at-home official (diplomat) Xingjin, saw this scene from the window of the Matsudaira Osumi Shoufu, which is very close at hand.His conversation was recorded in "The Beginning of the Country Unindexed". "A big man (Jizaemon?) and a medium-sized man rushed to the sedan chair, and pulled the master (Naobi) who was wearing a formal dress outside from the sedan chair. One of them cut the master three times on the back. The sound of kicking a football three times. The big man cut off the master's head and shouted loudly. I heard the name Jing Yisaobu, and I knew that it was Jing Yigong who was killed." Jizaemon tore off the sliding door of the sedan chair, and pulled Ii out by the collar. Ii lay dying on the snow, and Jizaemon raised his knife and chopped off Ii's head. It is said that Tezaemon yelled with a Satsuma accent, probably to report victory to his comrades! At the same time, according to the prior agreement, everyone yelled and evacuated the place one after another. It is said that the fight took about fifteen minutes.Because the enemy suddenly appeared in the heavy snow, the Hikone vassal was stunned and was hacked to death.Only a dozen or so people took off their handles and fought, but they were either killed or passed out on the ground. During the fight, the gate of the Hikone Mansion, which was only four or five hundred meters away from the scene, remained closed.Due to the violent snowstorm, the people in the mansion did not hear any unusual noises. Among the rebels, Shigezo Inada was stabbed to death on the spot by Chuanishi Chuzaemon, a pair of swords.On the side of the Ii family, Kawanishi Chuzaemon, Rita Kurota, Sawamura Junroku, Nagata Tarobei died on the spot, and three others were seriously injured and died within a few days. In addition, the rebels, except for a few inspectors, were wounded. When they returned, they did not go far, exhausted, and many committed suicide. Sano Takenosuke said at the scene: "Jizaemon, I still have a mission to go to Wakisakakaku's old mansion to surrender the crime. Let's break up here!" He was on the road, but with difficulty.During the hand-to-hand fight, he didn't feel it at all. In fact, his feet, shoulders, arms, etc. were all covered with wounds, and blood was splashed everywhere. Every step he took, a pile of snow was stained red under his feet.Holding a knife, he finally walked to the Weisaka mansion, handed in the certificate of ex-rape, and died. When Jizaemon jumped on the sedan chair, he cut two people and was cut himself.He thought it was the blood of the enemy, but his throat hurt, and when he touched it with his hand, the wound was as big as a finger.There was a wound three inches long above and below the left eye that penetrated into the bone.Also, the back of his right hand was cut.The left index finger was cut off. Jizaemon has an important task: he must bring back the head of Ii.He picked Ii's head with his sword, and left the scene together with Hirokako Jiro, passed the Yonezawa domain, and when they arrived in front of the Choshu domain not far from Hibiya, a man who was seriously injured and on the verge of death chased him through the snow.The two didn't notice it. The one who caught up was a Hikone vassal named Ogawara Hidenojo, who suffered more than a dozen wounds while fighting beside the sedan chair and passed out.But he soon wakes up: this is when the enemy departs with his master's head. The bloody Xiao Heyuan started to chase. Not only was the owner killed, but his head was also taken away, which was a great shame to the Hikone Domain. Finally caught up in front of the Changzhou Mansion. Thanks to the snow, the opponent didn't notice.Ogawara suddenly raised the knife he was leaning on, and slashed down hard, hitting the back of Jizaemon's head. The wound was four inches long, and immediately expanded to seven inches.The blood flowed from the neck to the buttocks at once, but Jizaemon did not fall down. He frowned and said: "Hirooka-kun, the enemy!" Hiroka turned around and cut down Xiao Heyuan, Xiao Heyuan passed out again, he later woke up and talked about the above situation. Jizaemon and the others continued to move forward.But after passing Wada Kuramon Gate and reaching the gatekeeper's office of Endo Tajima Shoufu in Tatsunoguchi, Jizaemon couldn't move. "Hirooka-kun, I am here to commit suicide by caesarean section!" Hirooka was seriously injured and unconscious, so he didn't hear it, so he continued walking, but he didn't take a few steps. He sat down on a big rock in front of Sakai Yale Toufu, and said: "Mr. Youcun, I am here to commit suicide by caesarean section!" He probably thought Jizaemon was still around.He cut open his stomach vertically, stabbed his throat twice, and fell to the ground. Jizaemon fell on the road at this moment, pulled out his sword, and finally stabbed him in the stomach, but he didn't have the strength to stab again. Someone from the Endo mansion came out and asked with his ear: "Which house are you from?" "I was originally a retainer of Dr. Shimadzu..." After muttering a word like this, I couldn't hear it behind me, and I died after a while.