The governor of Osaka, Zhou Kangung, who had just been in office for less than a year, sat under the porch in front of Ninomaru's office, interrogating a case that seemed ridiculous to him.

As the Governor of Osaka, de facto Governor of Western Japan, Zhou Kangeng wielded much more power than the previous prefect of Taiwan. He not only supervised the Toyotomi family's domains and negotiations with the Kyoto Imperial Court, but also had the power to supervise the administration of the Osaka shogunate and the training of the western Japanese military officers.

It can be said that the Governor of Osaka is actually the Emperor of half of Japan. It stands to reason that unless it is a conflict between lords, it generally does not require Zhou Kangeng to come forward in person to adjudicate.

But the case in front of him was so strange that not only did the Edo shogunate and the Kyoto court send envoys to talk about it, but even attracted the attention of the common people of eastern and western Japan and the entire Osaka citizens.

In fact, the case itself is not complicated, it is nothing more than the retainers of the Aizu clan who betrayed their main family and took their families and relatives abroad to live in seclusion in Koyasan. However, when Hori Lordsui and his brother Tagai Matahachiro led the party clan out of Aizu, they were dissatisfied with the lord's family, and when they left, they ordered their men to attack the castle tower of Wakamatsu Castle, the stronghold of the Aizu domain, with iron cannons, which caused the displeasure of Kato Akinari, the lord of the Aizu domain.

As a result, the feudal lord Kato Akinari violated the regulations of the Edo shogunate and sent his men and horses abroad to hunt down the Horijo Mizuzu clan without informing the shogunate, and even besieged Koyasan with an army to force the Buddhist resort to hand over the Horijo Mizuzu clan. Koyasan originally had the "extraterritoriality" to protect and rescue criminals who had fled to the mountains, but when outsiders entered the mountains, the government could no longer pursue them, and outsiders were not allowed to leave the mountains again.

However, the thunderous lord of the Aizu Domain, Kato Akinari, not only violated this agreement, but also slaughtered them outside the mountain after he handed over the men of the Horijo Mizui clan in Koyasan. If this is the end of the matter, then this case still has nothing to do with the Osaka Shogunate, after all, it is a matter under the Edo Shogunate.

However, Koyasan is a sacred place for Buddhism, and only men are allowed to enter the mountain, so the Horijo Mizumi clan sent all the women of the clan to Tokeiji Temple to seek refuge before entering the mountain. Kato Akinari was not satisfied with killing the men of the Hori-main water clan, and sent an army to Tokeiji Temple to try to take revenge on the female relatives of the Hori-main water clan in the temple.

However, although Toyotomi Chiyo, the presiding officer of Tokei Temple, has returned to the world, he has not stepped down as the presiding officer of Toeiji Temple, so the temple is still under his protection. In addition to establishing a concession in Yokohama and negotiating with Edo, the former Japanese governor Ye Yuxuan also stationed a company of men and horses at the foot of the mountain of Tokeiji Temple to maintain the safety of Tokeiji Temple, as a sign of respect for Toyotomi Nutaiko.

Therefore, when the Aizu clan soldiers tried to besiege Tokeiji Temple, they were immediately attacked by this army. The Aizu Seven Guns, led by the Aizu feudal soldiers, did not feel uneasy about besieging a temple, but after facing the small army of the Toyotomi family, they became timid, after all, the Japanese feudal clans knew that the Toyotomi family was behind the Ming Kingdom.

As a result, the heavily armed soldiers of the Aizu domain had to retreat for the time being, and the chief general of the Aizu domain sent people back to the domain to ask for instructions while negotiating with Tokeiji Temple. Seeing that the other party stayed at the foot of the mountain and refused to leave, the general of the Toyotomi family who protected Tokeiji Temple simply secretly sent the female dependents of the Horijo Mizuzu clan onto the ship, and then transported them directly to the lower courtyard of Tokeiji Temple in Osaka Castle.

Toyotomi Chiyo knew that it would be difficult to return to Tokeiji Temple in Kamakura, so he had a lower courtyard of Tokeiji Temple built in Osaka Castle to live in the future. However, after Chongzhen assigned her to a noble relative three years ago, it seems that this lower court can hardly become the destination of this Toyotomi female Taige.

The bureaucrats of the Edo Shogunate had not yet reacted to the reckless behavior of the lord of the Aizu Domain, after all, Kato Akinari was born innocent and was a true descendant of the Tokugawa clan. Although Kato Akinari was tyrannical, the feudal soldiers in his hands were extremely well trained, and Edo was naturally unwilling to fight such a powerful daimyo because of the problem of a mere retainer, especially during the period of confrontation between East and West Japan.

However, when the Toyotomi family secretly transported the daughters of the Horijo Mizui clan back to Osaka, this incident violated Edo's taboo. After all, whether the Horijo Mizuzu clan lives or dies, it should be disposed of by the Edo shogunate, and the Toyotomi family has overstepped its authority. Retainers who had committed crimes in eastern Japan would be fine if they ran to Osaka, and how Edo would manage eastern Japan in the future.

Therefore, the officials of the Edo Shogunate, who had been slow to react, reacted quickly this time, and immediately sent a note to the Osaka Shogunate while the daughters of the Horijo Mizuya clan were still at sea, asking them to return to Edo immediately. Edo even sent a letter to Wakayama Castle asking the Kishu clan to assist in intercepting the Ming merchant ship carrying the daughters of the Horijomizu clan.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu felt that he was not crazy, and he had a good day, so he went to intercept the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he received the Edo envoy in a serious manner, and after listening to the instructions of the shogunate read by the other party, he replied with a blank face: "Although it is a pity, I still trouble the envoy to go back and tell the shogun that according to the order of the imperial court, the Kishu domain is under the control of the Taiko shogunate, and if the shogun wants to give any instructions to the main domain, it is better to note Osaka first." Without Osaka's instructions, the Honfan would not have been able to accept such a chaotic order. In addition, please say hello to the Shogun on behalf of the Hon-Domain, and tell the Shogun on behalf of the Hon-Domain that there is only a personal relationship between the Hon-Domain and Edo, and there is no official matter to discuss, so please do not send the shogunate here next time..."

Although Tokugawa Yorinobu's behavior stunned the shogunates sent by the Edo shogunate, he was greatly praised by Zhou Kangeng afterwards, believing that Yoshinobu was indeed a person who had a clear distinction between public and private and should play a more important role in the Taiko shogunate.

Of course, Osaka also rejected the note sent by the Edo shogunate at the first time, believing that Osaka would not repatriate these female dependents unless the Edo side showed that they had participated in the rebellion against the lord. In addition, Osaka officials were very sympathetic to the plight of the Horijo Mizu, so they were less polite in their reply to Edo's note, claiming that Osaka was a civilized city with laws, not a city inhabited by barbarians like Edo, and therefore would not send innocent women to a land of lawlessness.

As the city in Japan that closely follows the Daming culture and is also the most inhabited by Chinese, the people of Osaka have distinguished themselves from the rest of Japan by this time. A series of vicious customs of samurai slashing civilians in the street have long been abolished by the former governor Ye Yuxuan. The civic culture, which is already more developed than other parts of Japan, has been made free and open by a series of liberal policies.

The enthusiasm of the citizens of Osaka for politics and entertainment is difficult to understand in other conformist Japanese feudal states. Edo's note to the female relatives of the Horijo Mizui clan and Osaka's reply were soon published in the Osaka Times, and the story of the slaughter of the Horijo Mizu clan men was also appended to the article, which led to the defection of the Aizu clan quickly spreading throughout Japan.

The Osaka Times' accusations of the atrocities of the Aizu clan and the criticism of the Edo shogunate in the event soon made the Aizu clan and Edo the name of a thousand people. Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun, was furious when he saw the criticism in the newspapers, and the incident escalated again, and the Edo side publicly and forcefully stated that the Hori main water case would be tried, so Osaka asked Osaka to send the person to Edo.

At this time, Osaka will naturally not let go. After several more written exchanges, the Governor of Osaka, Zhou Kangeng, decided that the case would be tried himself, and that both the Edo shogunate and Kyoto could send envoys to attend the hearing. In order to show justice, Zhou Kangeng decided to try the case in public, inviting the public and representatives of various feudal clans to observe.

Zhou Kangen originally thought that this was a rather difficult sentence, but he realized that he was wrong. The representatives sent by the Aizu clan were arrogant and unreasonable, and on the other side, the female relatives of the Hori lord water clan had been crying silently, and he didn't need to do anything, and the citizen representatives who were listening were already extremely dissatisfied with the samurai of the Aizu domain.

Not to mention, when the female dependents of the Hori Lord Water clan publicly exposed Kato Akisei's tyrannical inaction in the country, and the evil deeds of robbing the domestic beautiful girls and beautiful boys to torture to death, it made the citizen representatives scold, so that Zhou Kangeng had to expel several representatives, which could be regarded as calming the scene.

After more than half an hour of trial, Zhou Kangeng decided to end this farce, he struck Fang Ji in front of him with a mallet and said: "This official has a full understanding of this case, and this official has also made the following decisions.

First of all, there is conclusive evidence that the lord of the Aizu domain has brutalized civilians, and the official will initiate an impeachment with the Kyoto Imperial Court. According to the spirit of our Ming law, and the agreement signed with China and Japan, any act of mutilating the life of another person should be punished, regardless of the status of the perpetrator.

Secondly, the Horijo Mizuzu clan shot at the castle tower where the lord of the clan lived before leaving the country to vent his anger, and since the Aizu clan had already relieved the Horijo Mizui clan of his official position, the two sides no longer had a subordinate relationship. Therefore, this matter can only be regarded as an improper act of the wandering samurai, and cannot be regarded as a rebellion of the retainers.

The Aizu Domain's slaughter of the Horijo Mizuzu clan had already exceeded the level of retribution allowed by law, and the official would also initiate an impeachment with the Kyoto Imperial Court.

In the end, since the Horijo Mizuzu clan was not part of the rebellion of the retainers, and the female dependents of the clan did not shoot at the castle tower, the official did not believe that the female dependents of the clan should be punished. In view of the failure of Edo to stop the massacre of civilians by the Aizu clan in a timely manner and the absence of any subsequent condemnation, it is reasonable to believe that Edo has no intention of protecting the lives of innocent civilians. In the spirit of humanitarianism, the official decided not to repatriate these women and allowed them to live in the lower courtyard of Tokyoji Temple..."

"Bastard, what kind of judgment is this. If the Horilord Water clan commits a crime, he should naturally accept the severe punishment of the feudal lord, this is Japan, not the Ming Kingdom..."The representative of the Aizu clan finally couldn't help but curse at Zhou Kangen, but before he could stand up, he was pushed to the ground by the two soldiers behind him.

Regarding the rudeness of the representatives of the Aizu Domain, Zhou Kangeng didn't raise his eyelids, so he said casually: "Roar at the court, insult the official, drag out the cane and beat forty." ”

Zhou Kangen's verdict not only made the Hori lord water girls on the other side cry with joy, hugging their heads and crying. The representatives of the Osaka citizens, who were also in attendance, also stood up and applauded warmly, expressing their respect to the Governor-General.

Only then did Zhou Kangen turn his head to look at the representative of Edo on the side and asked, "Do you have any opinion on the official's verdict?" ”

The other party looked at him with an extremely ugly face and said, "Your Excellency, you are destroying the peace between Osaka and Edo, and the majesty of the feudal lord is inviolable. ”

Zhou Kangeng raised his eyebrows and replied: "No, the majesty of the law is inviolable. Please go back and tell the general that indulging in evil deeds will not give him majesty, that he is digging his own grave. ”