Regarding the victory of the coalition fleet in the Seto Inland Sea, Li Chenfang and Xu Xinsu were not as happy as the others. Because the news of the suppression of the Suruga Rebellion had reached Osaka, it was said that even Tokugawa Tadanaga was brought back to Edo.

Although the shogunate already knew that the Akito was behind the Suruga rebellion, they were not sure how much the Akito had intervened on the Osaka side, so they issued an order in the name of Tadashi to surrender Osaka.

In addition to this order, the emissary on behalf of the shogunate brought a threat that if Osaka did not surrender within 15 days, the shogunate would use force against the Osaka rebels.

After letting the arrogant shogunate envoy go down to rest, Xu Xinsu said to Li Chenfang: "Calculate the time, today is only 5 days before the defeat of Zhongchang, it seems that not long after the capture of Junfu City, they sent messengers, and the shogunate is indeed a little anxious." I think the use of troops after the 15th is more likely to be a pretext to paralyze us, and the shogunate is likely to launch an attack within the 15th. ”

Li Chenfang couldn't help but nod and said, "What Xu Xunyue said is right, I also see it that way." It seems that it is necessary to withdraw the troops attacking Nara and prepare to hold Osaka Castle. I didn't expect that Zhongchang was so stupid and unguarded against his father, and this time I made a mistake. ”

Xu Xinsu's face suddenly became a little embarrassed, and he sat back and watched the confrontation between Junfu and Edo continue to deepen the contradictions between the two sides, which was also his proposition, but he didn't expect the situation to take such a sharp turn.

Xu Xinsu thought about it for a while, and then changed the topic, "It's still to blame me for blocking the proposal to send troops to Kyoto, but the matter has come to this, let's think about how to keep Osaka Castle first."

Although the coalition fleet is now in port, the fleet cannot go ashore after all, and if it wants to hold Osaka Castle, it still needs to rely on land force. Nearly a quarter of the force in the castle was in the hands of the former shogunates, should we first remove them from their posts? ”

Li Chenfang thought about it for a long time before denying: "I'm afraid that removing them from their positions will not have any effect, but will cause a commotion among the people in the city." In addition, if all of these former shogunate ministers are dismissed, the work in the castle will also be paralyzed, and this matter needs to be done carefully. ”

Xu Xinsu couldn't help but be a little discouraged, and asked uncertainly after coming over for a long time: "Then can you be sure that when the news of Tadacho's capture spreads, these former shogunate ministers and the people of Osaka will stand on our side when the shogunate army attacks?" When they abandoned the shogunate, they did not hesitate. ”

Li Chenfang thought for a long time before saying solemnly: "This matter can't be hidden, rather than letting the citizens of Osaka hear the news that is unfavorable to us from the rumors, it is better for us to make the news public first." It may be more advantageous for us to know the choices of the citizens of Osaka before the shogunate army is dispatched. At the very least, we can prepare to retreat first. ”

Xu Xinsu originally didn't want to give up Osaka City, but after thinking that the main defenders in the city were local citizens, he had to approve of Li Chenfang's idea, with more than 2,000 people in their hands to fight a field battle, but if they want to defend such a large Osaka City, I'm afraid that the troops are still insufficient.

What is even more worrying is that if the field battle with the enemy is defeated, everyone knows that they can withdraw to the sea, and the morale of the army will not fluctuate. However, if there is no way out of the city surrounded by enemy troops, it is difficult to say what will happen to the morale of the army.

Xu Xinsu was about to nod his head in agreement with Li Chenfang's statement, but suddenly remembered something, so he said to Li Chenfang: "I think, we don't need to say this news, and the citizens of Osaka may not fully believe our words."

Isn't there a messenger from the shogunate, so it would be better for him to tell the news in front of the citizens' representatives at the citizens' assembly tomorrow. We asked a few more provocative questions to let the delegates know that even if they wanted to get back on their feet, the shogunate might not accept them. ”

Li Chenfang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's okay, there are some things that are easier to believe when they hear them with their own ears..."

However, the envoy sent by the shogunate played an even better effect in the parliament than Xu Xinsu and Li Chenfang expected. After hearing that His Royal Highness Tadacho had been brought back to Edo by the Lord of the Imperial Palace, and that the rebellion at Sunpu Castle had been quelled, most of the representatives of the Osaka City Council looked uneasy.

A number of citizen representatives began to try to get close to the messenger representing the shogunate, but their currying favor did not impress the hard-hearted shogunate samurai, but instead heard the envoy's harsher rebuke.

All in all, the envoy not only announced the abolition of institutions such as the town council and the town police station, but also claimed that the merchants who financed the rebellion of His Highness Tadashi during this period would be held accountable. As for the army that Osaka is recruiting now, except for those who are samurai-turned, everyone else will be removed from the army. As for the shogunate samurai who had previously surrendered to the rebels, the messenger did not announce a pardon, but claimed to wait for the shogunate's final decision.

In his arrogant remarks, the shogunate envoy treated the citizens of Osaka as lambs to be slaughtered at will, rather than as opponents in negotiations.

The citizens' representatives, who were already a little frightened, were immediately enraged by the envoy's remarks. Even some representatives of former ministers of the shogunate lost interest in moving closer to the shogunate after hearing these remarks.

Although His Royal Highness Tadashi failed, but Osaka's side has always been victorious, not to mention the naval army that defeated the Seto Inland Sea before, even Nara has been successfully taken, if it weren't for the problems on His Royal Highness Tadacho's side, with the current situation in Osaka, you can directly send troops to Kyoto.

Although the representatives of the citizens of Osaka still feared the authority of the shogunate, this fear was not the same bottomless submission as it had before the fall of Osaka. The merchants, who made up the majority of the representatives, felt that they could always bargain with the shogunate and try to get the most out of themselves.

As for the troops of His Highness Tadashi in Osaka Castle, although the delegates sympathized with their fate, very few of them were willing to advance and retreat with these troops who were bound to fail. Besides, there were so many large ships in the harbor that these troops could have left Osaka by boat, and they were going to live on this land after all.

However, the shogunate envoy easily cut off their retreat, and after Li Chenfang seized Osaka Castle, I would like to ask which merchant dared not to fund this army, and those privileged merchants who were regarded as hardcore supporters of the shogunate had been raided by Li Chenfang early on.

As for the policies that were formulated after the fall of Osaka Castle in favor of merchants and commoners, the shogunate indiscriminately abolished them, which caused a lot of losses to the delegates. Not to mention that the proletarians, who had managed to eat the public meals with great difficulty, would be expelled from the army, the town police station, and other institutions in the blink of an eye, and become homeless on the streets again, so no one would like the conditions given by the shogunate.

After enduring the envoy's nonsense for more than half an hour, a citizen representative finally couldn't bear it anymore and refuted the envoy's remarks. Someone took the lead, which naturally made many delegates respond in groups. Unable to convince the delegates, the emissary quickly resorted to a killer move, threatening to record the defame of the shogunate in front of him and hand it over to the shogunate.

The shogunate's threats silenced the citizen representatives, but soon one of the representatives took off his shoes and threw them at him, shouting, "You bastard, take my shoes and report to the shogun, see if the shogun can recognize who I am from the shoes..."

Under the demonstration of this brave representative, the place of the citizens' assembly opened up by Ninomaru was suddenly in chaos, and countless pairs of shoes were thrown towards the rostrum where the envoy stood, and the envoy of the shogunate, with a blue nose and swollen face, finally escaped from the venue on his stomach.

After driving away the hated messenger of the shogunate, the deputies of the Diet, who had cheered for a while, fell silent again, and it was easy to defeat a messenger, but how to deal with the shogunate army that came later, the hearts of those present were also unsure.

However, Yodowa Musashi quickly ran up to the rostrum and said to everyone: "The matter has come to this, there is nothing to talk about between us and the shogunate, although His Royal Highness Tadacho is gone, but don't we still have His Highness Fang."

Since His Highness Fang can capture Osaka Castle with 300 men, he will definitely be able to lead us to repel the attack of the shogunate army. We might as well ask His Highness Fang to lead us to continue to resist the shogunate, and we can't teach the shogunate to retaliate in vain. ”

Soon, a representative asked in a low voice: "There are so many foreign ships in the port, will His Highness Fang leave us alone and leave directly on a foreign ship?" Besides, even if we all support war with the shogunate here, will the people and troops inside and outside the castle share our thoughts? They won't surrender to the shogunate army like they did before, right? ”

Yodowa Musashi knocked the table and quieted his colleagues before he said fiercely, "Since the shogunate is so unkind, don't blame us for being unjust.

Isn't the shogunate going to pursue the people who financed His Royal Highness Tadacho? We announced to the people of the city that the shogunate had sent people to demand our surrender, and we also put forward three conditions for surrender: first, in the next 30 years, the tax revenue of the merchants and citizens of Osaka Castle would be doubled, and no less than 30,000 pieces of silver a year;

Second, all samurai and citizens who had served His Royal Highness Tadashi should be registered for the shogunate's inquiry and disposal;

The third is to order the citizens of Osaka to compensate the Shogunate and its privileged merchants for the losses suffered during the war, with a total of 1,000,000 taels of gold...

Then we joined forces to make a statement to His Highness and asked him to step forward and take charge of the overall situation and find a way out for the citizens of Osaka. ”

Yodowatsu Musashi's statement was quickly supported by the majority of the delegates, and the envoy of the shogunate, with a blue nose and a swollen face, left Osaka that night with a grudge.