Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 787
Episode 787: Internal sorrow (5)
A few days later, Yamaguchi’s Kyoko.
It was late at night and the Emperor was having a private meeting with Taro Konoe.
“So the governors decided to rise up?”
“That is so, Your Majesty.”
“Whoa~.”
In response to Taro Konoe, the Emperor let out a long sigh. After taking several deep breaths to calm the fire in his heart, the Emperor opened his mouth.
“It was truly a long time. Those miserable times when the shogunate, established by a general who was merely a vassal, was over the emperor’s head… Phew~.”
The emperor was sighing to calm down the boiling fire again.
* * *
Originally, the shogun, the head of the shogunate, could not open the shogunate in the capital, Kyoto.
However, the Muromachi shogunate, which ended the four generations of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, opened a shogunate in Kyoto and reigned over the emperor.
Ouchi, who ended the Muromachi shogunate, went one step further.
He dragged the emperor out of Kyoto and brought him to Yamaguchi, his sphere of influence.
Kyoko, built by Ouchi in a more pleasant environment in many ways than Kyoto, which was devastated by the war, was also magnificent in its own way. However, it paled compared to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.
The biggest problem was that the emperor had now become completely alienated from the people.
In the case of Godaigo Tenno, who opened the Northern and Southern Dynasties era, he staged a coup d’état and abolished the Kamakura shogunate and established a pro-government system.
The reason this was possible was because the control over the nobles and the people was strong.
However, as time passed, the Muromachi shogunate came into power again, and the emperor was once again covered by the curtain created by the shogunate.
There was a court led by the emperor and nobles of the old family who ran the court, but they could only exercise their power in the Kyoto and Kanto regions.
Thanks to this, the relationship between the emperor and the people had no choice but to become distant again.
As Ouchi began a new shogunate regime, the relationship between the emperor and the people became even more distant.
This was because the Ouchi shogunate, which had completely cleaned up the palace, brought the emperor to Yamaguchi.
In the Kyoto and Kanto regions that Kuge controlled, there were many people who still remembered the emperor. However, to the people of Kansai, the emperor was a figure that only appeared in stories and was loved by children.
Traditionally, the people of the Kansai region were accustomed to the rule of Kuni, the territory of the shogunate and feudal lords.
Therefore, the Emperor was able to understand why Ouchi had brought him here to Yamaguchi.
-Complete severance of relations between the emperor and the people.
This was Ouchi’s desired goal.
* * *
“Phew~.
The Emperor calmed down his complicated feelings with a long sigh and continued speaking again.
“Now I can let go of my anger. So, when will the rebellion begin?”
To the Emperor’s question, Taro Konoe answered while kneeling down on the floor,
“I am doing my best to carry out the rebellion as soon as possible. “But I’m having a hard time because I don’t have enough.”
“I don’t have enough? Didn’t you say before that the people of Kyoto and Kanto responded favorably?” ”
The people and nobles of Kyoto and Kanto are doing their best, but they are having a hard time because they have lost so much in the civil war.
“Huh~. That’s a real problem.”
After hearing the story, the Emperor could not hide his disappointment, so Taro Konoe got to the point.
“That is why the governors are desperately seeking your help. If your Majesty shows them favor, their morale will skyrocket.”
“Hmm.”
The Emperor looked perplexed at Konoe Taro’s request.
* * *
Although he lacks much compared to previous emperors, the emperor had a lot.
Ouchi also did not touch the fields owned by the imperial family out of respect. In addition, since the emperor also served as a Shinto priest, the shoguns of Ouchi offered large offerings whenever a ancestral rite was held.
Compared to the emperors who had to live during the Warring States Period in Japan’s history before Hyang intervened, they were in an incredibly wealthy situation.
The problem was that the emperor wanted to take advantage of the fruits achieved by the governors, but did not want to open his own pockets.
* * *
Konoe Taro seemed to have sensed the Emperor’s feelings and bowed his head.
“The Ouchi faction, a high treason criminal, still has great power. On the other hand, the governors are shedding tears of blood as they realize their shortcomings. Your Majesty! If this rebellion fails, there will be no loyalists left to free your Majesty’s wish. “It’s coming!”
“Whoa~.”
The Emperor, who let out a long sigh at Taro’s feet, finally made a decision.
“I will give you an order. Discuss it with him and then do it.”
When the Emperor’s permission was given, Taro Konoe bowed down and raised his voice.
“Hwang Eun is devastated!”
* * *
“Then be careful.”
“I understand.”
Taro carefully came out through the side door used by the servants working at the school, looked at the bowl, and quickly hid in the darkness.
Taro returned to his lodgings after wandering around the back alleys to avoid potential pursuers. As soon as he entered the room, he untied the hat he was wearing, threw it away, and sat down.
“Heeyu~.”
After taking a long breath, Taro lay down and looked at the ceiling.
“Her Majesty the Emperor’s Majesty’s Return… Foot!”
Taro burst out laughing and continued speaking with a face full of cynicism.
“Everything will be ruined! Whether it’s the Emperor, Ukokuji Incident, or Ouchi, everything will be ruined!”
* * *
Although Taro was a direct descendant of the Konoe family, he was a bastard. It was also the child of a maid who had been raped by her father.
-If you are a man, you must take responsibility for what you do!
At the time, Taro’s grandfather decided to give him the surname Konora, but his situation was not good.
In the case of other lions similar to him, their mothers and concubines were also women from families with a certain status. Therefore, even if he was an illegitimate son, he could be treated as a member of the family.
However, Taro’s mother was a maid who worked at the mansion.
-I gave you my last name at the order of the head of the family, but how do I know if I really inherited the blood of the West?
Taro had to spend his childhood hearing these words thrown out loud in his face. Thanks to this, Taro was treated similarly to the servants working in the mansion.
The same was true for education. The illegitimate children and other illegitimate children had to gather in one place and learn how to read by watching them learn.
This situation was the same even in the civil war that took place after Taro grew up.
The other brothers, who had grown up, wore fancy armor and became commanders leading the army, but Taro was in the position of leading 50 spearmen and charging at the front line.
And in the battle that took place, Guge’s army suffered crushing damage and was defeated by Ouchi.
His half-brothers and family relatives, who had gone to the front in fancy armor, became targets of the Ouchi army, who were seeking merit. Those who barely survived the battle were all captured and killed in Ouchi’s continued pursuit. The family was also wiped out, regardless of its direct or collateral line, by the invading Ouchi army.
In the process, Taro survived because he cut his own face and used a fighting tablet stolen from the corpse of a fallen soldier.
Taro, who barely survived, returned home and saw horribly burned mansions and a large burial mound. Taro, who saw the graves where the Ouchi army, who had exterminated his family, gathered the bodies and buried them in one place, developed strong resentment toward the Ouchi.
No, he also harbored a grudge against the conservatives who started the war that killed his mother.
“This damn world! Fuck it all!”
* * *
Taro, who wandered around Japan as a revenge demon, came into contact with the Zonchi faction and became a member.
However, his treatment within the organization was not very good.
“Ho! Did you say the Konoe family?”
This was because the people who had been pleased as soon as they heard Taro’s last name became unhappy when they saw Taro’s identity. No, there are people who openly look down on me one by one.
“You guys are the same guys! Sigh!”
Taro gritted his teeth and did his best to create opportunities.
First, he joined an extremist group that was passionate about recruiting and recruiting talent and built up his own personal network. And he used those connections to secure funds.
“Why the funds?”
“I would like to see His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Is it possible?”
“I think it’s possible.”
After securing funds, Taro made desperate efforts to secure a meeting with the Emperor through the servants of Kyoko, who served the Emperor.
Taro smiled bitterly as he returned from his appointment.
“This damn castle helped me this time.”
Taro was able to meet the Emperor along with a member of the extremist faction.
“There was a survivor of the Konoe family! This is the God of Heavenly Rain!”
The Emperor was thrilled when he asked various questions and confirmed that Taro was from the Konoe family. And through the accompanying executives, this incident spread within the radical faction, and Taro was able to become the core of the radical faction.
And as time passed, Tarot became an important link between the emperor and the radicals, and this time he finally gained the emperor’s help.
However, Tarot’s goal was different from what the Emperor and the Zonchi faction thought.
Taro’s goal was the chaos and destruction of Japan.
* * *
Imperial Year 17 (1465). March.
The railway station of Omi (old name of Kita River City).
The railway station built in Omi was very large compared to the population of Moi.
The purpose was to supply iron horses with water drawn from the nearby Lake Biwa and to maintain the iron horses that returned after traveling long distances.
A large number of Ouchi troops were stationed here.
This was because facilities related to the railroad, one of the country’s core facilities, were gathered together and Kyoto was nearby.
If a subversive movement occurred in Kyoto, the troops stationed in Omi were to immediately dispatch and suppress it.
It’s still a chilly March night.
A group of people were moving silently between the shadows of the railway facilities at Omi Station.
After a while, the people who were moving relying on the shadows of the building and the iron horse gathered in one place and whispered softly.
“Is everyone in?”
“hot!”
“What about luggage?”
In response to the conductor’s question, some of the men held up thick bundles.
“Good! Today is the start! Don’t forget that you must succeed!”
“hot!”
“Then Sangae!”
As soon as the conductor finished speaking, the people again divided into groups of threes and fives and disappeared into the darkness.
After a while.
“Who are you? Stand there!”
“If you move, I’ll shoot!”
bang! Tatang! Quack!
A loud explosion followed by a loud gunshot.
bang! Quack!
Soon after, a large pillar of fire rose from the area where the water tank and iron horse maintenance facility were located.
“Fire!”
“Put out the lights! Take out the equipment!”
Workers at the railway station made desperate efforts to put out the fire and save precious equipment.
“Some kind of crazy guy!”
It was a signal announcing a full-scale armed resistance by the conservatives.