On the evening of the same day, Fuso Kyoto, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's residence Kitayama Dai. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Ashikaga Yoshimori, the general of the Seiyi Army, faced his father Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and said, "Father, is it really going to replace His Majesty the Emperor?" ”

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said: "Today, you have heard the words of the Ming envoys, if you do not abolish His Majesty the Emperor, you will not accept our Fuso as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty." ”

"It's just that you can't become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and more importantly, the Ming Dynasty has come to open the sea in Shanghai, and we have six or seven out of ten merchants in Nagasaki Port, and you must be a merchant of a vassal country to do business in Shanghai. Our Fuso people are very different from the merchants of Nanyang and North Korea, and it is difficult to pretend to be them. If this continues, we will not have any money in our hands. ”

"Although since the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty gave up the throne of Emperor, the daimyo in various places dare not disobey our orders, but this is because we have money in our hands, and if we have money, we can feed a large number of samurai and buy good weapons and armor for the samurai."

"Now we still have our previous savings in our hands, and we can last for a while, but what about when the savings are gone? Even if each family has its own heirloom for weapons, armor does not have to be purchased often. But now there are large cannons and iron cannons (guns) coming from the main road, and these things need to be built and repaired at the expense of money. ”

"When there is no money in hand, these can't be afforded, can the daimyo from all over the country be ready to move? Our ancestors have not been called 'respecting the emperor and begging for adultery'. ”

"However," said Ashikaga Yoshinori, "it has been nearly two thousand years since Emperor Jimmu arrived, and Fuso has never been a subject to a dynasty on the mainland. Now, after my father deposed the emperor, he established himself as the emperor but became a vassal to the dynasty on the mainland, and I am afraid that the daimyo in various places will rebel. ”

Ashikaga Yoshinori was still a little hesitant. It is a bit nonsense to say that Fuso's throne is a family of ten thousand generations, but it is true that it has always been passed down among the emperor's close relatives, and although they are also descendants of the emperor back then, they already have their own surname (Emperor Fuso has no surname), and there is no precedent for the emperor's situation, so he still can't make up his mind.

In fact, how could Ashikaga Yoshimitsu be willing to abolish Emperor Komatsu now? Although Yoshihiro Ouchi raised troops in the western country last year and was suppressed by him (Onei Rebellion), there was no daimyo west of the Gyeonggi region who could compete with him, but the daimyo in the Kanto and Tohoku regions still had strong strength, and he had not yet leveled them, and Emperor Komatsu was a little hasty after he was deposed.

But he couldn't help it, and he was uneasy every day when he looked at how many shortfalls he had pulled down in the accounts. He calculated for himself, if it drags on for another three years, I'm afraid there will be no money for the war. The peasants under his command have also been squeezed to the most severe point, and they need to sell eight of the year's harvest, and if there is a disaster, it will be a great famine.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had no choice but to usurp the throne immediately. Otherwise, he would have to give up the usurpation and become a courtier of the emperor.

Of course, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was unwilling to give up the usurpation, so he said: "Today, I am not very respectful to His Majesty the Emperor. Decades ago, didn't a samurai say, 'If you don't have an emperor, you can carve one out of wood or one out of gold, and exile the living emperor somewhere else, so you don't have to do it.'" ”

"The most worrying thing is that the daimyo from other places rebelled in the name of honoring the emperor and begging for adultery, but now we still have some money in our hands, and this time we went to pay tribute, because Gongshun also got some rewards, which is enough to deal with the daimyo from all over the Kanto."

Seeing that his father had made up his mind, Ashikaga Yoshimochi no longer dissuaded him, but said, "Then how can you abolish Gokomatsu's position as emperor?" ”

"Tomorrow, I invite Emperor Gokomatsu to come to Kitayama and prepare a cushion for me with a pattern that only the emperor and the emperor can use, and ask him to abdicate."

"I'm already old, so I'm no longer the emperor, Yoshichi, you come to be the emperor, and I will continue to be the minister."

Ashikaga Yoshinori said, "Let's make Yoshitsugu the emperor, and I will continue to serve as the general of the Seiyi." ”

Just kidding, when you become the emperor, you have no power in your hands, who doesn't know that you Ashikaga Yoshimitsu likes Yoshimitsu, I became the emperor, and Yoshiji became the general of the expedition, and in the future, when the son of the righteous heir grows up, you will not depose me and make your own son the emperor?

Ashikaga Yoshinori saw this very clearly, since the deposition of the emperor was inevitable, then his current purpose was to make his son the emperor after he survived Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and he himself had been serving as the general of the expedition.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu looked at Ashikaga Yoshinori, and Ashikaga Yoshinori looked at Ashikaga Yoshimitsu without showing weakness. Ashikaga Yoshinori thinks well, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu really likes his second son, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, and wants to pass on his power to him.

However, Ashikaga Yoshinori has now served as the general of the expedition for many years, and his power is not small, and it is not easy to deal with; What's more, now that he is at a critical moment, his family will make trouble again, and even if he destroys Ashikaga Yoshinori, he will not be able to suppress the local daimyo.

So after a moment of silence, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said, "Okay, let's make Yoshitsugu the emperor." ”

……

……

The next day, just after dawn, a group of people came out of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. Although this team of men and horses is gorgeously dressed and imposing, they seem to be very capable of fighting; However, if a veteran general who has been in battle for a long time sees this group of men, he can immediately see that they are nothing more than showmanship.

This team of men and horses is the team that escorted Emperor Komatsu out of the palace to Kitayamachi. Emperor Go-Komatsu yawned and said to himself in the car: "Why did Ashikaga Yoshimitsu suddenly ask me to go to Kitayama so early?" Haven't you had anything going on lately? ”

"If you want to say that there is something, that is, the Ming Kingdom has sent envoys to me to Fusang. Could it be that Ming Guo has something to say, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu wants to discuss with me? He wondered.

After a while, the carriage arrived at the gate of Kitayamatsu, and Emperor Gokomatsu got out of the car and walked in. At this time, he vaguely felt that something was wrong: if it was usual, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu would definitely greet him at the door at this time.

However, Emperor Gokomatsu couldn't think of what Ashikaga Yoshimitsu wanted to do now, he just thought that he was more domineering, and he was unhappy, but he could only endure it.

Then Emperor Komatsu walked into the place where Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was, and when he entered the door, he saw that the pattern of the cushion on Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's seat was for the emperor, and he was even more angry, but he quietly greeted Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and said, "What did the Minister tell me today?" "He still has to endure.

It's a pity that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu didn't give him a chance to endure it. He said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, yesterday the envoy of the Ming Dynasty came to Kyoto. ”

"I know, could it be that they have something going on?" Emperor Komatsu said.

"Your Majesty, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty has once again rejected my request to accept my Fuso as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, unless, His Majesty the Emperor of Fuso, is willing to take the initiative to remove the title of Emperor and demote him to the king of Fuso." He said.

"This, how can this work? The 2,000-year-old imperial legacy of Fuso cannot be lost in my hands. Emperor Gokomatsu said.

He expressed his unacceptability to become King of Fuso.

Unexpectedly, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu nodded and said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks so. ”

Emperor Go-Komatsu was puzzled by Ashikaga Yoshimanchi's attitude. He knew that because of the Ming Dynasty's opening of the sea in Shanghai, the merchants of Fusang could not make much money now, and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu could not support the expenses of the current samurai and ministers with agricultural taxes alone, so how could he give up so easily and force himself to be demoted to the king of Fuso.

But he didn't wonder right away. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said, "The minister also thinks that the two-thousand-year-old emperor of Fuso is not a minister, and it cannot be thrown into the hands of His Majesty. ”

"Therefore, the minister begs His Majesty to abdicate."

Emperor Gokomatsu was silent for a while and said, "If I abdicate, who will take over as emperor?" Can it be by Crown Prince Mian Ren? ”

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said, "Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, the son of the minister, took over as emperor. ”

At this time, Emperor Go-Komatsu finally understood Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's purpose, and said in disbelief: "Your son Ashikaga Yoshitsugu will take over as emperor?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. His Majesty can immediately take the righteous heir as his adopted son, and then pass on the throne to the righteous heir, and abdicate himself. ”

"I, Kiyokawa Genji, am also a descendant of Emperor Kiyokawa back then, and I am given the surname Gen, with Ashikaga as my clan, and I can also be the emperor." Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said.

Emperor Komatsu now knew that things were inevitable. When he was in the Northern and Southern Dynasties before, he was prepared to lose the throne if the Southern Dynasty won the throne, so although he was surprised, he didn't panic.

But fear is always inevitable. Emperor Komatsu said in a trembling voice, "What will you do with us after that?" ”

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said: "Your Majesty and Crown Prince Mianhito will be placed in Shikoku, and Your Majesty will be placed according to the treatment of the Emperor, and in the future, after the death of Your Majesty, Crown Prince Mianhito can also be placed according to the treatment of the Emperor." ”

In the struggle for supreme power in Fuso, there is rarely a matter of rushing to the end, and it is all up to the point. At the end of the modern era, Tokugawa Yoshiki, the last shogun of the Imperial Empire, was able to enjoy his old age after handing over power, and his son was later a high-ranking official of the Meiji government. The struggle for supreme power in China is much more brutal.

But this has nothing to do with quality. The struggle for supreme power in any country under the dictatorship of a centralized monarchy is bound to be extremely cruel, and this is necessary in order to retain the power in his hands.

Therefore, Emperor Gokomatsu also believed Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's words, asked a few more questions, and accepted his fate of losing the throne.

The rest is easy to say. Emperor Komatsu recognized Ashikaga Yoshitsugu as his adopted son and passed the throne to him the next day.

The succession ceremony was very grand, and the envoys of the Ming Dynasty were invited to watch the ceremony. Many traditional ministers thought it was not in accordance with the etiquette law, but they were rejected by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. These ministers also have no rights in their hands, so they can only complain behind their backs.

After a period of preparation and a solemn ceremony, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu officially announced the removal of the title of emperor of Fuso and accepted the canonization of the king of Fuso by the Ming Dynasty.