1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

In short, Yongren's forced departure not only temporarily caused him to lose his direct influence on Japanese politics, causing those who were on the fence to start thinking about their retreat, but also took away a group of officers who supported him, greatly reducing his control over the military.

For example, there is the "poet" Masaharu Homma, who once served as deputy military attaché to Chichibu Prince, is currently an adjutant of the General Staff, and is about to make a difference in the Army Ministry.

This 1.8-meter-tall fellow, who looked nothing like a Japanese like Fujiwara no Kanezane, knew that he had been deeply marked with the "Chichibu Palace mark," so when Yongren found him, he chose to follow without hesitation.

Although he knew that going to Europe would inevitably put him far away from the political center of Japan and hinder his future, what could he do?

The struggle for imperial power has always been a life-and-death struggle. Once you have chosen a side, you must stand firm. Fence-sitters will be swayed by both sides.

Of course, switching sides is never unacceptable in political struggles, but who can blame Honma Masaharu for always looking down on Hirohito?

Letting a sickly man who gave birth to three daughters but couldn't produce a male child, and even vomited blood and fainted, become emperor, the future of the country is worrying...

So, like many other officers, he didn't think this was a big failure at all, but instead continued to wait for opportunities with full confidence.

His Highness Yongren is so young and strong, it's only been five years, and the future is still unknown!

(In fact, Yongren cannot be reborn)

2. Almost on the day that Yongren left, Hirohito issued the second imperial edict, which completely confirmed his intention of "I want to punish Yongren and all the bastards who dare to covet the imperial power."

He bypassed the Home Minister's Office and ordered the police and other relevant departments to immediately arrest a group of people headed by "Kumizawa Kanmichi", send them all to prison, and quickly investigate and try them.

Why did Hirohito suddenly arrest and even execute such a person who was almost unknown in Japan and not even a political figure?

Kumazawa Kanmichi, a native of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, once served in the Toyohashi Cavalry Company. In 1913, he became a monk of the Seiyama School of Pure Land Buddhism. He returned to secular life last year and currently runs a Western-style grocery store in Nagoya to make a living.

The resume itself is unremarkable, nothing much to say, but what is surprising is the one thing this person has been doing all the time:

I want to be the emperor!

This person has been claiming to be "the descendant of the Southern Dynasty Emperor of Japan, the 118th Emperor, and the true Emperor" for more than a decade now!

Historically, Kumazawa Kanmichi not only asked the Kwantung Army to return to Japan to defend the emperor, but also wrote a letter to MacArthur after the war, claiming that he was the real emperor. MacArthur took advantage of the situation and used this to give Hirohito a good beating.

If it were an ordinary person, he would have been killed immediately, but Kumazawa Kanmichi has been alive and well until today and no one has touched him.

It sounds incredible, but it's true.

In 1920, Kumazawa Kanmichi wrote letters to a number of important political figures, including Konoe Fumimaro, Araki Sadao, and Tokutomi Soho, asking them to recognize and support him;

Even Tojo Hideki, who was then just an intern at the Army Ministry, received a copy of the rubbing, which frightened him so much that he quickly fled to Germany to avoid getting involved (the novelists say that it was already arranged and had nothing to do with this matter).

This is very difficult to do.

After careful consideration, Konoe and the others collectively chose to act like deaf and blind, unable to see or hear, and simply ignored it.

After all, it is an internal matter of the imperial family, and it should be handled by your Majesty Taisho and Your Majesty Hirohito personally.

Not to mention the unconscious Taisho, even Hirohito, who came to power, also cursed when he encountered this incident.

Damn it, you bunch of traitors, you are hard to deal with, but I am easy to deal with?

My grandfather didn't even kill Kumazawa Dairan, Kumazawa Kanmichi's father (adoptive father), and in a sense "acknowledged" his royal status. What can I do?

Kumazawa Dairan once produced a fairly complete "Southern Dynasty Imperial Family Tree" and handed it to Emperor Meiji and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, requesting to become a member of the imperial family;

As a result, Emperor Meiji not only did not deny the authenticity of the genealogy, but the Tokudaiji family (Fujiwara clan), who were in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time, are said to have even privately agreed to allow the Kumazawa family to become part of the imperial family!

Obviously, Emperor Meiji definitely agreed to this, and the Fujiwara clan certainly did not object, otherwise Tokudaiji would never have dared to make such a promise.

If Kumazawa Dairan had not been so greedy and insisted on being the first in the royal family, perhaps there would have been another "Prince Kumazawa" in the Japanese royal family.

(Because the Meiji era had only one prince, Taisho, if Kumazawa became the first, as long as Taisho had an accident, the new emperor would be Kumazawa... The details are very complicated, so I won't go into details here. If you are interested, you can look it up yourself.)

Since his grandfather did this, Hirohito naturally had to turn a deaf ear and dumb.

After struggling for a while, he found that the higher-ups ignored him and the people had no reaction either. Instead, most people praised the emperor's kindness and scolded him as a traitor, and even threatened him. So, Kumazawa stopped struggling.

Kumazawa Kanmichi didn't make any trouble, and Hirohito ignored it, and everyone lived in peace. (Kumazawa's behavior is very strange. It would have been fine after the war (at that time, more than a dozen people who claimed to be emperors appeared in Japan), but before the end of World War II, such behavior was essentially the same as seeking death;)

(If the family tree in Xiongze's hand is fake, according to his outrageous demand for "recognition of identity and enthronement as emperor", not cutting the earthworms in his home in half vertically would be considered a great kindness of the Japanese royal family, so I tend to think it is real. You win if you argue.)

(By the way, in order to ascend the throne as emperor, this guy also fabricated a bunch of rumors about the Japanese royal family. It was not until he witnessed Hirohito's brutality after the February 226 Incident that he was scared and dared not do it again (before the end of World War II))

(For example, one rumor is that Emperor Meiji had actually died a long time ago, and was killed by a traitor from the Tokugawa family who stabbed him in the chrysanthemum with the handle of a knife. The Tokugawa family then found someone who looked very similar to Emperor Meiji to replace him - the real Chrysanthemum and the Sword)

(Incidentally, during the famous "226 Incident," some military officers declared their support for "Emperor Kumazawa," but Kumazawa Kanmichi remained aloof (probably because he didn't have time to intervene).)

But this time, stimulated by Yongren, Hirohito decided not to show any mercy and was not afraid to reveal his brutal side.

So, Kumazawa Hiromichi, who was planning to write a letter to the Kwantung Army asking Prince Hachimangu Kanezane to support his ascension to the throne, was arrested by the police from a small shop in Nagoya and sent to prison along with his wife and children.

The charges were naturally "high disrespect", "impersonating a royal family member", "insulting the royal family", "conspiracy for treason", etc. In short, each one was more serious than the last.

In addition to Kumazawa Kanmichi, almost all those who participated in the "Southern Dynasty Recognition Movement" during the Meiji period (demanding that the Meiji Emperor recognize their status as descendants of the Southern Dynasty and become members of the nobility) were also arrested.

Even several mentally ill people who claimed to be the emperor or questioned the emperor's royal bloodline were sent in together and sentenced to death.

The resolute attitude, great force and fierce means of handling the matter this time shocked all those who knew about it and triggered quite heated discussions.

This is because the inheritance rights of the Kumazawa lineage were actually tacitly accepted, and the people had a lot of sympathy for the "Southern Dynasty Story". This was a big reason why the Meiji and Taisho eras Hirohito did not deal harshly with the Kumazawa lineage.

For example, in December 1910, during the trial of the "Kotoku Treason Incident," the presiding judge coaxed the principal offender, Kotoku Shusui, into confessing his guilt, saying, "You have committed a heinous crime, unforgivable by heaven or man, by plotting to assassinate the most holy and virtuous Emperor (Meiji)."

Kotoku Shusui disdainfully asked, "Isn't today's Emperor the descendant of the Northern Emperor who killed the Southern Emperor and seized the Three Sacred Treasures? Why would he commit such a heinous crime by murdering such a despicable ruler?"

With just this one sentence, the dignified presiding judge sent by Emperor Meiji was left speechless and incoherent. The other jurors also began to talk, and the courtroom was immediately in chaos and forced to stop.

Although Kotoku Shusui was executed, his public questioning once again triggered a major discussion on the issue of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Japan, and finally forced Emperor Meiji, the successor of the Northern Dynasty, to make a ruling:

The Southern Dynasty, which possessed the "Three Sacred Treasures", was the orthodox dynasty, and the five emperors of the Northern Dynasty who ascended the throne without the blessing of the "Three Sacred Treasures" were no longer included in the imperial succession sequence.

From this, we can see the general attitude of the Japanese towards the Southern Dynasty of Japan, which once possessed the "Three Sacred Treasures of the Pillar State".

Now, Hirohito has taken such a cruel approach to Kumazawa, a descendant of the Southern Dynasty, obviously no longer caring about any historical issues or face issues.

(In 1392, Emperor Go-Kameyama left Yoshino Palace with the "Three Sacred Treasures" and surrendered to the Muromachi shogunate on the condition that his son would be the next crown prince, thus ending the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Japan.)

(As expected, the Northern Dynasty broke their promise, and the remaining members of the Southern Dynasty's royal family attacked the Emperor's palace, stole the Kusanagi sword (which was actually not the original one) and the magatama, and were later suppressed and recaptured by the Northern Dynasty. Later, Emperor Kameyama's son was also killed.)

(Therefore, the Japanese have always been very sympathetic to Emperor Go-Kameyama. Kumazawa demanded the return of the throne, and the Northern Dynasty royal family really couldn't say anything)

Southern Dynasty?

I will kill anyone from the Northern Dynasty who threatens my throne! Does it matter whether Xiong Ze lives or dies?

unimportant.

But it is very important to accuse Kumazawa Hiromichi of those crimes in order to severely intimidate certain people.

To put it bluntly, it was aimed at Yongren and those ambitious people who coveted the throne because Hirohito had no children. The so-called "the drunkard's intention is not to drink."

The third piece of news made all the nobles in the Tokyo circle "eager to make a move" against a certain person.

Emperor Hirohito ordered that the "Southern Dynasty Genealogy" confiscated from Kumazawa Kanmichi be handed over to Fujiwara no Kanezane, who was responsible for enshrining the last emperor of the Southern Dynasty, Emperor Go-Kameyama, and his grandson, Prince Kumanomiya Nobumasa, at Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine.

On the surface, it may seem insignificant, but in fact, this order has extremely important political significance.

Because this is the right to offer sacrifices! The most important affairs of state lie between offering sacrifices and fighting! "Sacrifice" comes before "war"!

Back then, Xiong Ze Da Ran had a falling out with the Minister of the Interior, who had originally agreed to allow him to enter the imperial family. Besides the issue of the first place in the family, there was another important reason: Xiong Ze Da Ran's request for this "sacrificial right"!

Of course he would be rejected, because the only ones qualified to offer sacrifices to the Emperor or his direct descendants are the Emperor himself or his direct heirs!

Back then, Emperor Meiji, who had only one prince, Taisho, was so stubborn that he refused to allow Kumazawa Dairan to perform the sacrifice. And the current Emperor Hirohito doesn't even have a prince!

So, what did the Emperor want to do by giving such an important sacrificial right to Fujiwara no Kanezane and allowing him to worship the last emperor of the Southern Dynasty, who was of great political significance?

Anyone with even a modicum of political sensitivity would understand that, in addition to demonstrating benevolence, this was also a pre-announcement of the Emperor's right to inherit the throne!

In other words, Fujiwara no Kanezane became the new "Crown Prince"! Although it was not explicitly stated, it was almost the same!

This news completely shocked the entire Japanese political arena.

Since 1932, everyone knew that Fujiwara no Kanezane was very favored, but no one expected that this young head of the next generation of the Fujiwara family would be favored to this extent!

how?

Is the Imperial Family preparing to "return power" to the Fujiwara clan again?

Oh, that's not right. For so many years, there is no such thing as the Fujiwara family or the imperial family. Aren't we all one family?

Now, no one cared about the departed Yongren and the damn Emperor Kumazawa, and no one paid attention to the major personnel changes in the navy and army. Everyone was thinking about what to do.

The shock caused to the political circle by Fujiwara no Kanezane being ordered to represent the Emperor in offering sacrifices to the Southern Dynasty lineage was much more severe than the last time he was given the title of "Hachimangu Kanezane Lord".

Countless people began to speculate when His Majesty the Emperor would officially announce that this gentleman would become the "Crown Prince", and some even made bets in private.

In fact, is it true that no one knows that this series of changes in Tokyo were the work of Fujiwara no Kanezane?

Of course not.

His entry and exit from the palace were all open, with no intention of concealing anything;

Everyone knows that the Emperor's behavior and the misfortune of Yongren and others must be related to this person.

But what if I knew?

The most powerful rival, Yong Ren, has been sent to Europe, and his forces are suffering a ruthless blow;

At this very moment, Prince Kanezane himself was given the important task of worshipping the lineage of the Southern Dynasty Emperor;

It is obvious which way the political wind is blowing. Success is success, failure is failure;

Making any excuses is nothing but the wailing of a loser.

If you don't kowtow to the great King Kanezane at this time, are you going to confront him? Only a fool would do that.

Everyone was staring at the next move of the young man who was about to lead some members of the royal family to preside over the sacrifice with anticipation, vigilance, ecstasy, or worry.

When will "His Majesty Kanezane" become "His Majesty Kanezane"?

Where will he lead Japan?

No matter what, this is the only supreme ruler of Japan's future!

307 Get two red princes to play with you

Kyoto, Ishikimizu Hachimangu Shrine.

“..The ceremony is over!!”

With the priest's shrill voice, the simple and lengthy sacrificial ceremony finally came to an end. Fujiwara no Kanezane, who had long been impatient, waved his hand casually at everyone:

"Alright, that's all! You don't have to go through the rest of the process! You can leave!"

Does Fujiwara no Kanezane understand sacrifices? He knows nothing.

Not to mention that he was a Chinese in his previous life, even if he inherited the memories of this life, a playboy would have no idea about sacrifices and the like.

But it doesn't matter. As long as someone understands it, his job is actually to play the role of a puppet and lead the two young royal representatives sent by Hirohito to go through the procedures.

"Yes, Your Highness."

The priests obediently gave up their finishing work and hurriedly left the main hall. The two young royals looked at this scene in amazement and were speechless for a moment.

Prince Kanezane, does he have such strong control over Shinto priests?

They didn't know that the first chief priest of Hachimangu Shrine was indeed a naughty one. After he took advantage of his seniority in front of Fujiwara no Kanezane and was slapped twice, locked up and starved to the point of collapse, and threatened with the death of his entire family, he became much more obedient.

Moreover, from the deputy military officer to the civil official in charge of the seal, from the shrine maiden to the priest, everyone in Hachiman Shrine had been replaced by agents, so no one dared to make trouble.

Not to mention just giving up a part of the process that was originally insignificant, even if Fujiwara no Kanemitsu urinated on the statue of Amaterasu, probably no one would dare to say anything openly.

"Brother Xuanren..."

"Yes, Your Highness Prince Kanezane."

Prince Takamatsu Nobuhito, the third son of the Taisho era and Hirohito's younger brother, 27-year-old, bowed his head slightly and greeted Prince Hachiman Kanezane, who was seven years younger than him.

Fujiwara no Kanezane was being waited on by his agent. He took off his heavy ritual robes and changed into Western-style casual clothes, tilting his head and smiling:

"Brother Xuanren, why are you so cautious? Could it be that you also take those rumors outside seriously? Do you really think I want to be the emperor?"

"Uh... Your Highness Prince Kanezane, this... this is no joke."

"Hey, you're being too cautious! I always speak like this in front of His Majesty the Emperor. What are you afraid of?"

To be honest, Nobuhito felt very uncomfortable with someone as lively and eccentric as Fujiwara no Kanezane, and even acted a little nervous:

"King Kanezane..."

"Okay, okay, okay, call me that if you like. It's up to you..."

Through historical materials and the "Diary of Nobuhito" later made public by Nobuhito's wife, Princess Kikuko, Fujiwara no Kanezane was very clear about why Nobuhito had such a character and did not force him.

As the third child in the family, he was not as favored as the fourth child, nor did he have the first inheritance right as the eldest brother, nor was he as lively and popular as the second brother. His actual status was very awkward.