CHAPTER XXXV
MOBILISING THE SAMURAI
Daikomitsu took pains to see for himself that Tetsutaisho had kept his word with reference to Kinsans punishment, then without further attention devoted himself to the arduous duties rapidly crowding around him. He felt that Takaras secret rested safe for the present, therefore did not worry much about her, although the knowledge of her failure had been a severe blow to him. There were other things needing his attention more than a private affair, and as he had never been an extremely ardent lover it did not entail any great sacrifice on his part to put thoughts of Takara aside and busy himself with matters more urgent.
Rumours coming in daily from the south made it more and more apparent that sooner or later a determined resistance would be offered to the mandates of the shogun, no matter who the incumbent or what the purport of their recent letter might be. Yet the shogunate had in no wise prepared to meet it, and the delay hoped for as a result of the frank and unequivocal resignation of Hitotsubashi was much needed by Daikomitsu and Okotsuba in making a last heroic effort to gather and utilise the fragments of their strength. Tetsutaisho took no active part in these endeavours, neither did he offer any strong resistance or disencouragement; nor was his failure at that time so much felt. He was a fighter, not an organiser; still his actions had a bad influence upon the samurai (which constituted the shoguns army), as it also embarrassed the remaining members of the triumvirate in the use of a free hand and undisturbed purpose. The feeling of uncertainty arising from his indifference caused more hindrance than any other, and Daikomitsu grew puzzled to know just what Tetsutaisho would do when it came to the final test.
Both Daikomitsu and Okotsuba knew very well that the commander-in-chiefs influence with the army rose above that of any other man, and that without his leadership the samurai would be hard to hold intact. Yet they could not think of surrendering entirely to his careless if not boastful ideas, so they undertook to make their preparation for war harmonise with his notions, in so far as it became necessary in order to hold his support.
The letter containing the resignation, upon its arrival at Kyoto, so surprised the leaders of the southern combination that they forthwith began the reorganisation of the government upon the lines laid down at a previous assembly of the daimyos. They felt that the first step toward a complete rehabilitation had been successfully effected, though not entirely secured without having gained the sole and unqualified possession of the person of the mikado. It had been a universal custom for the shogun to keep a body of samurai posted at the gate of the Kyoto palace as a safeguard to the security of the mikado, and now that the combination looked upon the latter as their sole supreme ruler they no longer deemed it safe or desirable to intrust in any measure his protection to a guard of the enemy, nor to allow them access to the palace.
Hence on the third of January Saigo seized the gates and dismissed the detachment of samurai there stationed, while the council issued in the name of the mikado, an edict abolishing the office of shogun, forbidding the bakufu entrance to the palace enclosure, and warning all against interfering in any way with the royal court or council.
It came as an unexpected blow to the shogun and his advisers, thoroughly convincing them that, contrary to their expectations, Hitotsubashis resignation had been promptly accepted and positively acted upon. It also disabused the minds of the triumvirate of any hope of their being recognised by the combination at Kyoto, and Daikomitsu was forced to acknowlege that Hitotsubashis resignation had been considered the act of the shogunate: that he as well as the adherents of the Tokyo court would be compelled to defend with arms their time-honoured institution. The last hope of conciliation had been swept away, and Daikomitsu, if not his associates, realised that it had come to a battle to the death, not for the expulsion of the foreigner, but for the very life of the shogunate itself.
Immediately upon the mikadates closing of the gates at Kyoto and declaring the shogunate at an end, the princes Owara and Kii had been despatched to the shogun with a request that he come to Kyoto, join the new government, and receive suitable recognition and position thereunder. The shogun was weak and unable to decide; he hesitated and wavered between two counsels, for there now developed a test of strength between Daikomitsu and Tetsutaisho.