Flower Spelling - Chapter 40
Chapter 40 – Expulsion of the Barbarians
Even the soft yellow leaves of the trees started to gradually change to a darker shade of green, signaling the presence of early summer.
Following the Shogun’s recent announcement that the 10th of May would be the date for the expulsion of the barbarians, the Choshu clan’s residence was awash with excitement, as if before a festival.
Seishi Sadahiro returned to his homeland to prepare for the defense of Choshu and was followed by Kusaka and other volunteers from the Sonno Joi. On his return to Choshu, Kusaka promptly organized a group of about 60 men, including Choshu samurai and r?shi from other clans. The group was called the Komyoji Party because it was stationed at Komyoji Temple.
Meanwhile, Yamada was still in Kyo. He had hoped to return to Choshu at once and join Kusaka and the others in the construction of an artillery battery at Bakan, but permission to return was not granted.
Suppressing her impatience, she did her best to tighten her face, which was always teased for its childlike appearance, as she carried her petite frame along, and over the rustling of the leaves came the sound of talking. She couldn’t help but tilt her head to the side because the other side was speaking in a faltering Kyo dialect.
“What are you doing?”
Sogetsu and Ito were sitting opposite each other as if they were engaged in some sort of practice.
“Hello, Mr. Yamada. Thank you for your hard work.” ????????????????????
When Sogetsu noticed Yamada, she bowed to him in Kyo dialect, causing him to take a step back in amazement.
“What’s going on, that’s creepy. Have you eaten something strange?”
“How rude! How can you say that it is creepy?”
Relieved to see that Sogetsu was instantly back to her former self, he bluntly apologized.
“… So, what was that entertainment earlier?”
“It wasn’t entertainment. I asked Mr. Ito to help me practice my Kyo accent.”
“Well, Sogetsu is teaching me English, so I am paying her back by this.”
The previous day, Ito, who smiled wryly, had made up his mind to go to the West after Shido’s repeated attempts to persuade him to do so.
“Look, Sogetsu wrote this for me. Isn’t it amazing?”
It was a small booklet that could fit in the palm of his hand. Opening it, he found that the pages were meticulously filled with English sentences and translations. From simple everyday conversation to questions about how to operate a warship, the range, and construction of a cannon, etc.
“How do you know all these words? Generally, one would need to be an expert to know this.”
“When I was in Edo, I was translating Western books with Teacher Murata, so it seemed to come naturally to me. But in fact, I don’t remember the spelling. If you want to learn about the navy, you’ll need it.”
“Wait a minute, by Teacher Murata, you mean that Murata Zoroku?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Who would not know him??He is an expert in military science! Is amazing you were with such a person…” Yamada heaved a huge sigh at the carefree Sogetsu.
“Well, well. So, how are things going with your situation?
“Absolutely nothing.” Sogetsu’s shoulders immediately slumped. “I always think for a moment before I speak, and the words don’t come out smoothly. If I am not careful, I immediately revert to my original way of speaking… Even though Mr. Ito didn’t learn it, he knows Kyo dialect very well, doesn’t he? Even in English, he picks it up rather swiftly. I wonder if he has a good ear.”
“Before, I struggled to correct my Choshu accent. In Edo, if you spoke with a strong accent, you were mocked as a country bumpkin. But Mr. Katsura has lived in Edo for a long time, so it seems to have come off naturally.”
“Mr. Katsura’s Choshu dialect? Wow, I can’t imagine Mr. Katsura speaking in the Choshu dialect as well as Yamada speaking in the stiff samurai dialect… I mean it would be absolutely ridiculous if Yamada suddenly started talking like ‘A certain person (Soregashi)…’, I would laugh!” She was already laughing hilariously while saying it.
Yamada was astonished.
“You laugh too much. If I spoke properly, I wouldn’t be so funny.”
“It doesn’t suit you either. Yamada, when I used Kyo dialect, you gave me a funny look.”
“I admit I was startled, but I didn’t laugh.”
“Then, just try to imagine that Mr. Katsura suddenly bursts out speaking in the language of the nobles. Maro is Katsura?”
Both Ito and Yamada blew out simultaneously.
“Ah, there you go, it’s funny, isn’t it?”
“Idiot, that’s because you were talking nonsense. That’s disrespectful. No matter what, Mr. Katsura would never speak the language of the nobles.”
“Yeah, but imagine how funny it would be… Ah, Mr. Ito, please don’t ever tell Mr. Katsura that I said these things.”
“I understand.” Ito agreed, nodding broadly in between laughs.
?
“I haven’t been able to look Mr. Katsura in the face since then!”
It was not until a few days later that Sogetsu returned from Ikumatsu’s, and Yamada came running in, furious as a raging fire.
“I was trying to hold in my laughter and he said, ‘Are you sick in the stomach?’”
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t think you would be so into it.”
Sogetsu giggled and apologized, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Why don’t you just tell him honestly? You can get Mr. Katsura’s special natto as a freebie.”
“What’s that special natto you’re talking about?”
“A persistent complaint.”
“Who needs something like that?”
When he immediately retorted, he was fully carried away by the atmosphere of Sogetsu.
She asked him to have a seat in the room. Kohagi, who was curled up in a corner, rose and noiselessly climbed onto Yamada’s lap, curling up again. He slowly stroked her back.
“By the way, have you heard? The Lord has approved for Shido and his friends to go abroad.”
“Yes, Mr. Ito told me. Mr. Ito has received an order to procure weapons, so he will leave for Edo right away. It seems that Mr. Shido and the others will soon follow, so it will not be long.”
Sogetsu propped the shamisen she was holding up on a stand in the corner and glanced back at Yamada.
“But the Choshu clan is strange, isn’t it? On one hand, they are trying to expel the barbarians by force, but on the other hand, they are sending students to study abroad and gain knowledge from other countries.”
“This is the result of the Lord’s great capacity. Not many men would be so willing to listen to their subjects and leave them to their own discretion. I can’t wait to head back to Choshu and bring the expulsion of the barbarians to fruition.”
When he revealed his aching inner feelings, Sogetsu’s expression was unusually wan and she simply said, “Yes.” And Yamada complained about the lack of response.
“Because I am against the expulsion of barbarians by force.” Sogetsu continued in a somber voice. “Foreign countries possess high military power. I don’t think it’s easy to win a war against them… Also, when I was in Edo, I befriended an Englishman. He is polite, funny, and a wonderful person. If someone in his country is injured or killed in an attack by Yamada and his friends, what kind of face should I make when I meet him? ‘The people from the clan that I am indebted to have hurt the people in your country. But since I didn’t participate in it, let’s continue to be friends,’ there’s no way I can say something like this.”
“What’s with… that?”
Yamada’s complexion grew redder by the second. In his normal state, Yamada would have been sympathetic to Sogetsu’s feelings, but in his impatience with the expulsion, it sounded as if he had been betrayed.
“Are you on the side of the barbarians!? How can you say such a thing when you are under the care of the Choshu!”
“It’s not like I’m taking sides or anything! Both sides are equally important??”
“Enough!”
Yamada interrupted her and stood up.
Kohagi, who had fallen to his knees, squealed in protest, to which Yamada did not look back as he left the room.
“… He got mad.”
Sogetsu picked up Kohagi and laid her cheek against the soft warmth.
“I’m halfway there.”
Unable to shout out his opposition to the expulsion of the barbarians in an open and honest manner, she simply hurt Yamada by lashing out at him with her emotions. Even after arriving in Kyo, she had failed to act on the “Somo Joi” campaign she had so proudly advocated.
Somewhere in her heart, she thought it’s someone else’s affair.
??One day I will return to the era I belong to.
No matter what I think, there is nothing I can achieve.
More and more excuses were made.
She closed her eyes as if to turn away from it all.
“Really, nothing can be done.”
Her voice faded away, unheard by anyone.
?
In a short period of time, the day arrived for Ito to leave for Edo.
It was forbidden for him to travel abroad, regardless of the permission he had been granted by his lord. If exposed, there was no certainty of his life. Even assuming he managed to get on the ship, there was no assurance that he would make it to England in one piece.
“??According to Monta, the first thing to do is to negotiate with the British consul and make arrangements to go to England… Do not worry. Teacher Shoin failed, but this time the situation is different from then. Mr. Katsura and Mr. Asada will support us, besides we have the military funds. Even if the officers find us, we will not be caught. If we are determined to go, we will do it, even if we have to stick to the bottom of the ship. You know how difficult it is for me and Monta to accept defeat.”
Sogetsu came out to see him off, leaving Ito to his usual antics.
“Please be really, really careful.”
Sogetsu pulled out a small drawstring bag the size of her thumb from her pocket and presented it to Ito.
“Please take this with you. It contains a pebble from the inner shrine of Kifune Shrine. I heard it would bring blessings for safe voyages, so I took it.”
“Kifune!? You went all the way to that far away place to get it for me???Thank you.”
Ito untied the cord, tied it to a drawstring, and carried it around his neck.
“In comparison to this, my gift to you is quite mediocre.”
Ito’s hand extended and gently touched Sogetsu’s hair. When they separated, a pale pink jade hairpin was on display on her head.
“Since you’re dressed like a girl, you should wear these things once in a while. Yeah, it looks good on you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ito. Not only for the hairpin but also for everything up to now. It’s been a lot of fun being with you.” She said and smiled as much as she can.
“Me too. I will be praying for Sogetsu’s successful return to her home.”
With a smile on his face, Ito departed.
?
Perhaps it was the start of the rainy season, but it was drizzling every day.
Yamada, who had finally been given permission to return to his homeland, scrambled to build a battery platform with Kusaka and his troops. The work was rendered difficult by the rain, but with the cooperation of the townspeople, they were able to erect a battery of some thirty guns on the coast of Maeda Village and Dannoura, and on the high ground of Kameyama in Dozaki, Sotohama Town, and Urayama in Eifukuji in the south.
“You don’t look so happy, Ichi.”
Looking down from Kameyama at the sea below, Kusaka spoke to Yamada at his side.
On the sea, the large clan ships such as the Jinjutsumaru, the Kigaimaru, and the Koshinmaru, which had been sent to guard the straits, were ready and waiting for the moment of decision.
“Did you have a fight with Sogetsu?”
“Why does her name keep coming up?”
“What do you mean by why?” Kusaka smiled with the ease of an elder.
“You seem to be avoiding the subject of her. You seem to have been on good terms with her recently, but ever since coming here you haven’t once mentioned her name. One would think it is strange.”
“… She said she opposed the expulsion of barbarians,” Yamada said disconsolately.
Making such a face, his originally childish face appeared even younger, but the person in question hardly realized it.
“This is at a time when the whole clan is about to join forces to expel the barbarians. Yet all she talked about were demoralization, about the power of other countries, about friends from other countries.”
“Because ‘Somo Joi’ is Sogetsu’s principle.”
When Yamada asked him what that was, he gave him a brief explanation and then curved his lips into a frown.
“I know what you want to say. I guess that would be called being naive. To be honest, I think so too. But why do you think Sogetsu told you such a thing? She knows that in the current state of affairs in Choshu, if she were to say such a thing out in the open, she would be accused of being in contact with a foreign power and would be cut down. Sogetsu spoke to you because she trusted you. Even if you don’t accept her way of thinking, take her feelings into account.”
Yamada remained silent and did not reply.
?
Midnight on 10th May.
Choshu spotted the American merchant ship Penngrove anchored off Tanoura. They fired a volley of cannons at it, first from a gun platform on the shore, then from the Kigaimaru, and finally from the Koshinmaru, on which Kusaka and the Komyoji party had boarded. The Penngrove, unable to cope with the immediate danger, escaped in the drizzle, scrambling for cover.
Needless to say, the clan was thrilled by the success of the expulsion.
Choshu, in high spirits, bombarded the French ship Kien Chan on the 23rd and the Dutch ship Medusa on the 26th.
It was a triumphant moment.
Kusaka and Narazaki Yahachiro left Choshu for the capital on the 27th to report the results of the battle. Katsura and his colleagues in Kyo were pleased with the success of the expulsion, but Choshu was the only one of the many clans to carry out the expulsion. The other clans showed no sign of even moving.
Meanwhile, while Kusaka and the others were away, a major incident was taking place in Kyo.
On the 20th, Sir Anegakoji Kintomo, a prominent advocate of expulsion of the barbarians, was assassinated on his way home from the imperial palace near Sak?heimon gate.
Katsura, through Lord Sanjo, advised the Imperial Court to entrust Choshu with the protection of the Imperial Palace. The court accepted this request and ordered the Choshu clan to guard the Sakaimachi gate and the Satsuma clan to guard the Inuimon gate.
When Kusaka and Narazaki returned to Choshu, they were confronted with the reality of a destroyed coastal battery, a wrecked fleet, and over a hundred dead and wounded in a foreign retaliatory attack.
The great battalions who had been defending the coast were defeated in the face of the overwhelming military might of the foreign powers. Fortunately, the foreigners pulled out after destroying Choshu’s armaments and did not plunge the country into an all-out war.
In order to rebuild the defense system of Bakan, Takasugi, who had been living in hiding, was brought in by order of the feudal lord and at his suggestion, the ‘Kiheitai’, a group of militia, was established.
Despite hearing of Takasugi’s return to the capital from Kusaka, Sogetsu’s spirits were not lifted.
Choshu indeed implemented the expulsion of the barbarians. Without warning, they unilaterally opened fire with their cannons.
Upon first hearing the news, she felt relieved that it was not a British ship.
And then she hated herself for being relieved.
This is ridiculous. Just because it’s a foreign ship, it doesn’t mean they can attack a ship that hasn’t done any wrong… This is the same as Tsujigiri. Even if a foreign country retaliates, you can’t complain…
Sogetsu was oblivious to the times as it moved on seamlessly.
When the Imperial Court expressed its intention to take over the shogunate, Katsura, who had maintained a cautious outlook, eventually decided to do so. He had the 6-pounder, weapons, and ammunition left at the Edo residence secretly transported to Kyo.
At the beginning of July, Kurushima led his troops to the capital.
As if to escape from the completely somber atmosphere of the clan residence, Sogetsu devoted herself to practicing her art.
Yamada, who had arrived in the capital, had been occupied with guarding Sakaimachi gate, where he had been assigned as an artillery officer and had been unable to speak to him since then.
The only bright spot for Sogetsu at the moment was the news from Ito that the ship had sailed safely out of Edo.
T/N:
Bakan – The old name for Shimonoseki
Kyo dialect – Kansai dialect
A certain person (Soregashi) – ????????An indefinite demonstrative pronoun, in this case, it means ‘You are’, used to refer to people or things without knowing the name
Maro – Literally ‘I’, a first-person personal pronoun