freenovelworld Chapter 1088 The world knows, there is no room for maneuver.
Chapter 1088 The world knows, there is no room for maneuver.
Using his dark network and connections, Takasaki Motonori secretly contacted and infiltrated the rebel planning circle under the guise of a "sympathizer" and a "higher-level supporter."
It's not about stopping them, but about "helping" them refine their plans, and even providing certain conveniences, such as exploiting loopholes in the defense of a certain sentry post, arranging the daily schedule of a certain high-ranking official, or establishing "reliable" communication channels with those close to Prince Chichibu.
To ensure that the rebellion breaks out on the scale they need, at the time and place they need.
The goal was to expose all potential destabilizing factors, all disloyal soldiers and factions, to the light of day, or rather, the bloodshed, and then...
Eliminate it once and for all.
"I remember you infiltrated their inner circle back then." The Emperor looked at Takasaki Motonori, his eyes filled with a complex admiration—the admiration of a chess player for his sharpest piece, and the complex emotion of a monarch for his most loyal, yet most ruthless, subject: "You even helped them 'plan' the targets for occupation and the assassination list."
Takasaki Motonori chuckled, but there was no warmth in his smile, only a cruel pleasure: "Not only that."
I also "suggested" that they must raise the banner of "honoring the emperor and punishing the traitors" and make a big enough noise that the whole of Kyoto and the whole of Japan could hear it in order to successfully force the emperor to abdicate.
In reality, this was to make their rebellious intentions known to the whole world, leaving them no room for maneuver.
I also "reminded" them that Prime Minister Keisuke Okada's bodyguard bore a striking resemblance to the Prime Minister, and that they could use this to create the illusion that the Prime Minister was dead, leaving the cabinet leaderless and thus buying them more time.
He paused, as if recalling that time filled with deception and death: "As for Chichibu-no-miya... my people also 'just in time' 'assisted' the rebels in contacting him."
A man claiming to be an "old friend" of Prince Chichibu's military aide provided the rebels with the exact location of Prince Chichibu's villa in Karuizawa, as well as a "safe" route of communication.
Then, he reported to His Majesty "more promptly" on the Prince's whereabouts and his contact with the rebels.
This means that Prince Chichibu was under their surveillance from the very beginning, and the so-called "support" may have been nothing more than a manipulated bait.
The prince himself may still not know that those officers who "sympathized" with him and those secret contacts who "supported" him were all traps tailor-made for him.
As I approached the end of the text, I felt a chill run down my spine.
Even though so much time has passed, and even though he himself learned the truth shortly after the incident, hearing Takasaki Motonori recount it in such a calm tone now still sends a chill down his spine.
He picked up the tea, which had long since gone cold, and took a sip.
The cold tea was extremely bitter when it went down my throat.
"Then, it was time to close the net," said Ayako Kono, her tone tinged with lingering fear and relief.
"All the rebels' actions are under our control."
Just when they thought success was imminent, His Majesty had already contacted Marquis Kido Koichi, the Minister of the Interior, who was also one of the acquaintances. "Takasaki Motonori specifically emphasized this point to show that he and the Emperor were not the only ones involved in this secret, but rather a much larger inner circle.
"They secretly contacted the Navy, unlike the Army which remained in a wait-and-see and ambiguous manner."
The navy, deeply intertwined with nobles and financial magnates, had long awaited this opportunity to "serve the emperor and quell the rebellion" in order to establish its superiority over the army.
The marines of Yokosuka Naval Base, the naval guns of the First Fleet... their mobilization efficiency exceeded everyone's expectations, hehehe...
Takasaki Motonori looked at the Emperor, his eyes revealing just the right amount of admiration: "Your Majesty issued the edict of suppression without the slightest hesitation."
Because His Majesty knows which malignant tumors must be eradicated and which tendencies can be pruned.
Those guys at the Army General Staff were still waiting to see how things would turn out, and even thinking of coming out at the last minute to clean up the mess and gain political capital.
How ambiguous were the initial attitudes of Army Minister Yoshiyuki Kawashima and Chief of the General Staff Prince Kan'in Kotohito!
They only panicked when the Marines surrounded the rebel stronghold.
Emperor Hirohito nodded slightly.
That memory remains as vivid as yesterday in his mind.
On February 29th, the last day of the crackdown, he stood on a high place in the palace and could see the black smoke rising in the distance through his telescope.
Marines advanced toward the rebel positions under the cover of tanks, the sound of gunfire like thunder.
He held the final version of the "Order of Expedition" in his hand, which was already stamped with the imperial seal.
His fingers were steady, his heartbeat was calm, because he knew that the outcome of this "rebellion" was predetermined from the beginning.
"I have never hesitated." The Emperor's voice was calm, but beneath that calm lay an unfathomable resolve: "Because I know that this is not just about suppressing a rebellion."
This is cutting away the rotten flesh of the empire, reshaping the skeleton of the nation.
The Imperial Way Faction must be eradicated completely. Those soldiers who thought they could hold the Emperor hostage and use violence to enforce their own agendas must be punished with their blood as a warning to those who follow.
He paused, his gaze becoming distant:
"Although the Control Faction came to power and people like Sugiyama Gen took over the army, they also fully understood who the only master of this country was."
Their so-called "dictatorship" must be under my decree.
They can use "independent command" to undermine the cabinet, and they can use "active military officers as ministers" to coerce the government, but they will never dare to, and cannot, challenge the imperial power.
Because February 26th had already shown them, with the corpses of 1,400 rebels, what the consequences of challenging imperial power would be.
What seemed like a coup that would shake the very foundations of the nation ultimately turned out to be something else entirely.
Potential threats to the throne were controlled and marginalized, and subsequently remained "ill" for a long time, far from the political center.
The disobedient Imperial Way faction was physically eliminated, nineteen masterminds were executed, and more than forty people were sentenced.
The military high command, who had been trying to profit from the chaos, were shocked and realized that the Emperor was not a puppet to be manipulated at will.
The navy received preferential treatment in terms of resources due to its meritorious service to the emperor, and gained the upper hand in the budget competition in the following years.
Most importantly, Emperor Hirohito's authority, through this bloody purge, which he himself partly directed, not diminished but rather rose, becoming even more unchallenged.
Takasaki Motonori, who carried out all these dark missions and whose hands were stained with the blood of his comrades, was further mired in the Emperor's shadow and was placed under protective house arrest.
But he gained unparalleled trust and became the Emperor's absolute confidant.
“So,” Takasaki Motonori concluded, his tone laced with sarcasm—sarcasm directed at himself, at this cruel world, and at the very nature of the power game: “Compared to 226, the thing that Takuto did in Central China, while it was no small feat, was entirely different in nature.”
He was helping Your Majesty discipline the disobedient dog. The dog barked too fiercely and bit without restraint. He gave it a good whack to teach it a lesson, and incidentally, he also retrieved a bone from the doghouse for himself.
What we did back then...
He grinned, a chilling ease in his smile: "It's about helping His Majesty... eliminate the wolf that wants to bite its master, and incidentally scare the other guard dogs into submission. It's a different level."