Kano heard that Sawa had disappeared. That was well. Choshiu’s samurai might not have liked to see the Tokugawa crest among them, and the blood of such a poor worthless creature, could not further the cause. But Choshiu thirsted for vengeance, and drilling went on from morning till night. Nagato was an armed camp.
Thus passed the winter and spring of the year 1864. Kano heard that the number of rônin multiplied at a frightful rate, and that many were congregating in the suburbs of Kyoto. Several young samurai applied for leave of absence, and, when they received a refusal, sent in their resignations and disappeared.
The men were exasperated. On the 4th of August a courier from Kyoto brought news which caused Kano to call an extra meeting of the Council. When they had come together, Kano informed them that in the beginning of July a body of rônin had petitioned Tenshi Sama to remove the decree of arrest from Mori, and to recall the seven kuge and restore them to honor; but the Council of the Gosho, now wholly under the influence of Aidzu had not even vouchsafed a reply. Several hundred Choshiu men had joined the rônin, and were preparing to march upon Aidzu.
This was serious news. What if Aidzu, in triumph at its success, should secure a decree of _Choteki_[89] against Mori from the servile court. That must be prevented at any cost! Kano and Hattori were commissioned to proceed in all haste to Kyoto, and to restrain their clansmen. They arrived at the capital on the 15th, and, appealing to the loyalty of their men, succeeded in bringing them back under Choshiu’s banner.
Aidzu did not appreciate this self-control. On the 19th a Court messenger delivered a notification at the yashiki that Mori was to be punished for contumacy, and that Tokugawa Keiki[90] would command the loyal army commissioned to enforce the Court’s order.
Kano and Hattori deliberated long and earnestly. There was not much choice. It was either to submit to punishment, which would strike their innocent lord the hardest of all, or trust to the spirit of unrest and leave the decision to the sword. The latter alternative was chosen, and Kano prepared a proclamation. He demonstrated the justice of his cause and mentioned the crimes committed by the Tokugawa since the arrival of Perry; he called upon the samurai of Japan to aid him in punishing Aidzu, who was desecrating the private grounds of Tenshi Sama, and implored the pardon of the Son of Heaven “for creating a disturbance so near the wheels of the Chariot.”