I formed the strongest swordsman group

Whenever the shogunate weakens, there will always be people in the Kyoto court who are ready to take action.

For example, at the end of the Kamakura shogunate, the two eastern expeditions of the Yuan Dynasty army shook the rule of the Kamakura shogunate.

The emperor at the time - the famous Emperor Go-Daigo - was quite burdened and tried to regain control of the country.

He recognized the golden opportunity of the declining Kamakura shogunate, resolutely overthrew the shogunate, and devoted himself to reviving the imperial court.

In the end, he really succeeded.

Through a series of coups, he instigated the rebellion of the shogunate general Ashikaga Takauji, destroyed the Kamakura shogunate, and took back the country's power.

However, it didn't take long for Ashikaga Takauji to have irreconcilable conflicts with the court due to the classic "unequal distribution of cakes", so he rebelled and established the second shogunate in Japanese history (the Muromachi shogunate). The court also If you didn't keep the "power" in your hands warm, it was taken away again - and that's another story.

The large-scale invasion by Western powers; the opening of the country; the continuous signing of unequal treaties; the assassination of Ii Naomi; the inability to maintain national order... embarrassments occurred frequently, causing the authority of the Edo shogunate to gradually decline.

As a result, just like Emperor Go-Daigo back then, "enthusiastic people" appeared within the imperial court who regarded "reshaping the authority of the imperial court" as their own responsibility.

Sanjo Mimi is one of the representative figures.

A group of young ministers led by Sanjo Sanimi want to overthrow the shogunate and restore the imperial court's rule over the country.

Facts have proved that partisanship is everywhere.

There were party disputes not only within the shogunate, but also within the imperial court.

Young people are always associated with "radical" and older people are always associated with "conservative". This has always been the case throughout the ages.

The ministers who advocate "the supremacy of the imperial court" are basically young men like Sanjo Sanimi.

And those older ministers, such as the predecessor Kanbai Kujo Naotada who was born in the 10th year of Kansei (1798), believe that the existence of the shogunate is indispensable. There should be no confrontation between the court and the shogunate, and peace should be the basis. No matter how expensive it is, the integration of public and military forces is the right way.

The former made a fuss about the "respecting provocation movement" - provocations cannot be excluded today, and the word "conquest of barbarians" is a false title! The Edo shogunate is no longer worthy of ruling this country!

The latter uses the "ancestral constitution" as a shield - "Government is governed by Tokugawa, and sacrifices are carried out by the imperial family" is the ancestral constitution! Whoever dares to change the rules of the ancestors will lose their head!

The two factions fought fiercely, and both sides had their own reasons.

The former criticized the latter for being pedantic and a treacherous minister who did not want to make progress and turned his elbows outward. As a minister of the emperor, he actually sacrificed his life for Tokugawa.

The latter scolded the former for being stupid. Since the Kamakura period, the ministers of the imperial court have lived a comfortable life of playing with birds in cages and reciting poems for more than 700 years. They are completely ignorant of the current national situation and international situation. , how to govern a country?

Even if we take back power, can we govern the country well?

In the end, it is not necessary to entrust the important task of governing the country to others, causing the power to fall away again!

Generally speaking, in this fierce partisan struggle, the "respecting and resisting ministers" currently have the upper hand.

A considerable part of the reason for this is because they have strong foreign aid.

In the second year of Bunkyu (1862), Choshu Domain saw a rare opportunity for a vacuum in Kyoto's order, quickly sent troops to Kyoto, and took control of the court.

They provided money and people to fully support the "respecting and resisting ministers".

Soon afterwards, the Tosa Domain also joined the ranks of sponsoring them.

In this way, along with the two powerful forces of Choshu Domain and Tosa Domain, the energy of "Zunbo Pai Gongmin" greatly increased.

The "centrist ministers" who were originally wavering between the two factions also fell to the Zunzheng camp under the fierce offensive of the two vassals' power.

In order to prevent the "Samu-sect ministers" from becoming bigger, the two feudal lords, Cho and Dou, even sent people to strictly monitor the imperial palace to prevent the ministers from having unauthorized contact with the shogunate and Samu forces.

The opportunity has been lost, and even if the shogunate wants to support the "Samu Pai Gongmin", it has become difficult.

In addition, the theoretical propositions of the "Samu Pai Gongqing" are also weaker than those of the other party.

The Edo shogunate no longer has the majesty it once had, and it is unable to suppress the various factions - this is an ironclad fact.

The claim of the "Shogunate of the Sabu Pai" that "the shogunate is very important and its existence is indispensable" is really unconvincing.

The theory is untenable, and the opponent is inherently weak.

This makes it even more difficult for them to defeat Sanjo Sanimi and others in party struggles.

All in all, for Sanjo Sanimi and others who were determined to restore the prestige of the imperial court, Aoto, who was now an important minister of the shogunate and a general of the shogunate, was naturally a thorn in their side and a thorn in their flesh.

So, it's no wonder that he glared at Qingdeng with such malicious eyes.

In response to Sanjo Sanimi's naked malice, Aoto didn't even move his brows and looked away, ignoring the other person's existence.

Qingteng never took Sanjo Sanimi seriously...or rather, he never paid attention to the ministers of the imperial court.

It is true that the imperial court and its ministers have a cultural influence that cannot be ignored.

If you can get the support of these people, you can be like Cao Cao who ushered in Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, and he can have overwhelming righteousness in everything he does.

However, its effect is limited to this.

These guys who only know how to write poems, lyrics and songs, and wear ghost-like makeup every day, are just "flowers", not "brocade".

The icing on the cake, the icing on the cake... there must be the existence of "brocade", and the existence of "flower" can become meaningful.

A strong army, abundant funds, and the support of the people - these three things, especially the support of the people, are the "jin"!

If you have no soldiers, no money, and no popular support, even if you have the support of all the officials in the court, what's the use?

What can these monsters and monsters do to help you? When you are very bored, will you sing to relieve your boredom?

Therefore, Qingdeng never considered "winning over ministers" as his first priority.

Building an army, making money and winning people's hearts are the top priorities!

As long as the troops are well-equipped and the people's hearts are what they want, gaining the support of the ministers is just a matter of course.

After all, the ministers of the imperial court and Duke Yansheng are of the same character - whoever wins will be helped!

The investiture ceremony was a very solemn ceremony, so the entire small imperial palace was very quiet, with almost no sound.

Qingdeng sat in the center of the small imperial palace, waiting quietly.

After waiting for another half an hour, the most important participant finally appeared.

Tao, Tao, Tao, Tao, Tao, Tao...

Out of the blue, Qingden suddenly heard a slight sound coming from the front - it was the sound of silk socks rubbing against the tatami.

A thin figure appeared behind the translucent curtain directly in front of him.

The man gave alms, walked slowly into the small palace, and then sat down lightly.

Although every move of this man stood out as a desperate person, it was undeniable that his demeanor was very dignified.

To appear on stage and be able to sit behind the curtain... this person's identity is naturally obvious.

It is none other than today’s emperor, Tongren.

According to legend, the Emperor's family is the descendant of Amaterasu, the god of creation in Japanese mythology, and is also the supreme leader of Shintoism.

In order to show their divinity, the Imperial family does not have surnames. The names of all male members are "X Ren" and the names of all female members are "X Palace".

When meeting with ministers, the emperor usually sits behind a translucent curtain.

This rolling curtain is called "imperial curtain".

The reason for this can be considered to be many reasons.

First of all, from a historical perspective, in order to maintain the emperor's symbolic and lofty status, the emperor often stayed behind the curtain to strengthen his status through his symbolic presence.

Secondly, from a traditional perspective, the Japanese royal family has been adhering to a conservative and closed mind since ancient times, requiring the maintenance of the purity and dignity of the royal family.

Under this traditional concept, the emperor, as the core of the royal family, needs to maintain a certain degree of mystery and privacy.

Finally, from an etiquette perspective, the Emperor of Japan also complies with Japan's unique etiquette norms behind the curtain.

The imperial court has a strict etiquette system, especially the rules for treating superiors.

The emperor has a high status and as the supreme ruler, he needs to show his majesty and dignity.

Staying behind the curtain can create a solemn and mysterious atmosphere, reflecting the emperor's dignity and majesty as the head of state.

The emperor showed up, everyone who was supposed to come had arrived, and the investiture ceremony could finally begin officially.

First, salute the emperor.

The Minister of Administration, who is responsible for matters such as rituals and music - similar to the Minister of Rites - led the crowd to salute Tongren.

Then, there were a lot of ceremonial activities that Qingdeng couldn't name.

These etiquette activities are outrageously complicated!

Finally, the edict of investiture is read out.

The person responsible for promulgating the edict is the current Guan Baiying Si Fuxi.

He sat directly under the imperial curtain. Before holding the edict, he watched the whole process with his eyes and nose, and his nose and heart.

He slowly unfolded the edict, and then read out the edict to Qingdeng with a protracted tail tone and a sharp accent that was very difficult to understand and sounded like a eunuch.

"Edict

"Use mediocrity as a golden mirror, improve political performance in Tongsan, use ignorance to accept Yaotu, increase virtue and shine in Mingyi, and do not see Liangbi in a dream, who can give advice?

"Yuan Shengqing, the governor of the capital city, has a famous name and is so powerful that he is astonishing to the world. He is the vassal screen of the Forbidden City. He is loyal and selfless. He is the pillar of the vine gate. He has unique talents and is capable of all kinds of things..."

This long and drawn-out way of speaking sounds very hypnotic.

While listening to the edict, Qingdeng could not move around at will and had to remain motionless.

So, in order to pass the time, Qingto quietly raised his eyes and looked at Emperor Tonghito, who was rarely seen with his peripheral vision.

Although he was blocked by the imperial curtain, with the blessing of his talent "Fire Eyes + 5", he could barely see Tongren's appearance clearly.

Tongren has a very thin figure and a slender eggplant-shaped face.

His facial features are very similar to Wakura's, which is natural, after all, they are half-brothers and sisters.

[Note: Wagoniya: Tokugawa Iemo's wife. In order to ease the conflict between the imperial court and the shogunate, with the strong promotion of the public and military combined faction, Yu married Tokugawa Iemo in the second year of Bunkyu (1862)]

Tongren was born in the second year of Tianbao (1831), and is only 32 years old this year.

He is in his prime and should be full of vitality.

However, his face was covered with traces of vicissitudes of life and fatigue.

Although it was very unrealistic, Qingdeng indeed observed that Tongren's eyebrows were filled with a strong look of decadence. At first glance, he looked very lifeless.

Tonghito's appearance made Qingden couldn't help but recall the secret that was rumored in the market - the "Zunbo Pai Gongqing" headed by Sanjo Sanmi colluded with the Choshu clan. The two cooperated internally and externally, and jointly controlled the imperial court. The right to speak, put Tongren under house arrest, and held the emperor hostage to order the princes!

It is unknown whether the Tosa Domain was involved.

It seems that Chuanren did not hate the shogunate.

He just hates Westerners and hopes that the Tokugawa family can take on the responsibility of generals to conquer foreigners and expel foreigners.

Because of this, he showed such a big reaction when the shogunate signed the Ansei Five Kingdoms Treaty (1858).

He actually supported the existence of the shogunate.

In other words, he is a very firm believer in the combination of public and military affairs.

Otherwise, he would not agree to let his already engaged sister, Wakiya, marry far away to Edo.

For the forces that respect and resist, Tongren's political stance is really too fatal!

Their slogan is to respect the king and fight against the barbarians, and Tongren is their spiritual leader.

Our own spiritual leader is actually a supporter of the enemy... In this case, all the theories and actions of the Zunban forces will become ridiculous.

Therefore, the purpose of Choshu Domain's strict surveillance of the Imperial Palace was not only to restrict the interactions between ministers and the shogunate, but also to prevent Tongren from contacting the outside world and to prevent the outside world from knowing Tongren's true voice!

Not only that, it is said that they were bold enough to forge edicts!

It is said...it is really just a rumor! The current edict that urges the shogunate to expel the barbarians as soon as possible, and urges Tokugawa Iemo to come to Kyoto as soon as possible to discuss the plan to expel the barbarians, was all forged by Choshu Domain patriots, Sanjo Sanimi and others!

What is the truth is still a matter of debate...

If this matter is true, then the Choshu feudal patriotic people and the "Zunbanpa Gongqing" are really extremely hypocritical.

He kept saying "respect the king and resisting the barbarians" and praised Tongren high, but in fact he did treacherous and treacherous things.

Qingdeng's thoughts were secretly scattered... Before he knew it, the lengthy reading of the edict had quietly ended.

After Ying Si Fuxi babbled for a long time, he finally came to the last sentence, "I am proclaiming you the Chief Minister of the Ministry of War."

Qingdeng stretched out his hands, held the edict, and also received his official seal.

In this way, today's investiture ceremony... no, this Iga offensive and defensive battle that lasted nearly half a month finally came to a neat ending.

However, perhaps because he felt the heavy air inside the Imperial Palace today, Qingden suddenly had a premonition: It won't be long before a more intense battle is coming!

…

…

The complete victory in the offensive and defensive battle of Iga brought many benefits to Aomori.

After this battle, he gained new legendary deeds.

There are so many things like "two hundred against ten thousand, defeating the enemy in one day", "taking advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy, traveling more than a hundred miles in a day and night".

In addition to the "unparalleled swordsmanship genius", he has also been labeled as "the general who wields troops like a god", "the captain of the Shinsengumi who can defeat a thousand people with one horse", and "the master of fortification who strategizes".

In addition, Aoto's reputation within the Aizu Domain improved greatly.

At first, the Aizu feudal lords had only one impression of Tachibana Aoden - not very familiar with him.

Aizu is located in a remote Tohoku region. Due to inconvenient transportation, they do not have deep feelings for Aomori like the Kanto people.

In fact, people in other areas are like this too.

Basically, only the Kanto people are familiar with Aoto and know the power of Niou.

People in the rest of the area have only heard of Qingdeng's name, and know that this man seems to be a great hero. Other than that, they don't know much about anything else.

The Aizu soldiers who came as guest troops to participate in the Iga offensive and defensive battle all saw Aoto's unparalleled heroism with their own eyes, and under Aoto's leadership, they all made outstanding achievements in this battle.

This made the Aizu soldiers who were stationed in Kyoto and missed the battle feel extremely envious.

By the way, among the Aizu soldiers who participated in the offensive and defensive battle of Iga, Sagawa Kanbei was the only one who failed to gain any merit.

Because he had been in jail, he stayed in jail until the end of the war.

Article 1 of the "Shinsengumi Code": All actions must be followed.

Violators will be beheaded directly!

Sagawa Kanbei ignored Seito's order "not to go into battle without authorization" and advanced with light troops. As a result, several valuable cavalrymen were killed before the battle started, which damaged his own morale.

According to the military regulations set by Aoto, Sagawa Kanbei should have been executed in public long ago.

However, Sagawa Kanbei was a guest general after all, and it was always inappropriate to use the "Shinsengumi Code" to restrain him.

Besides, Sagawa Kanbei was from the Aizu clan.

The relationship between the Shinsengumi and the Aizu Domain is already very delicate.

The "self-preservation faction" in the Aizu Domain, headed by Saigo Norimu, has been seeking opportunities for the Aizu Domain to withdraw from the chaos in Kyoto, no longer participate in the disputes between the Sabaku faction and the Zunbo faction, and return to their own three acres of land. In the divided land, they lived a peaceful life without fighting against the world.

If Sagawa Kanbei is executed without authorization, it will give Saigo Norimu and others a clue, which will be detrimental to future cooperation between the two parties.

Neither killing nor releasing... With no other option, Ayoto could only imprison Sagawa Kanbei, and when he returned to Kyoto, he would be handed over to Matsudaira Yongho, who would then handle his subordinates.

In this way, Sagawa Kanbei was absent from the entire battle, and he stayed in prison until the end of the battle.

Not only did he fail to achieve any merit, but he was also charged with "disobeying orders and disrespecting the general".

The trusted general sent to assist Qingden actually made such a big mistake and lost such a big face... This naturally made Matsudaira Yongho feel ashamed and his face was disgraced.

In order to give Aonto an explanation, and also to improve his own military discipline, after Sagawa Kanbei was escorted back to the capital, Matsudaira Yoshiho did not waste any time and directly issued a series of severe punishments such as salary cuts and grounding.

I hope that when the two armies reunite, the generals on the Aizu side can be more reliable - Aomori sincerely hopes for this.

…

…

Compared with those messy false names, Qingto still values ​​​​things that can truly bring practical benefits to him and the Shinsengumi.

After defeating the rebel army, the Shinsengumi confiscated a large amount of supplies in the enemy camp.

Aoto handed over the task of counting the spoils to Shannan Keisuke, who was responsible for paperwork, and Yataro Iwasaki, who was responsible for making money.

The two of them mobilized a lot of manpower and spent several days, almost knocking out the stars in their abacus, before they finally came up with a specific number.

Overall, their achievements are nothing short of astonishing.

According to statistics, they seized a total of 3,121 millet stones! Tares 1893 stones! Rice costs 230 shi! The remaining crops are 2454 stones!

Generally speaking, one stone of grain is almost equal to a year's ration of an adult male - of course, this is calculated based on the average food intake at the time.

In terms of money, a total of 3,292 taels of gold, 4,687 taels of silver, and 13,569 copper coins were seized.

In terms of livestock, a total of 95 cattle and 239 horses were seized.

Harvest!

A truly great harvest!

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PS: "Yuan Shengqing" is Qingdeng's most formal name, surname + real name. It is used in extremely high-end official occasions, such as the award ceremony of this chapter. In contrast, Ju Qingdeng is his most informal name, Miao character + common name, and is only used in daily life.