I formed the strongest swordsman group

One million taels of gold... What a terrifying number this is!

Even Qingdeng, who now knows how to make money, would have spent a lot of time saving such a large amount of money.

After learning that the shogunate planned to use 1 million taels of gold to come to Shangluo, Qingden first couldn't believe his ears, and then his eyes widened in extreme shock, and he stood frozen on the spot, unable to speak for a long time.

Using 1 million gold to cover travel expenses to Luo... Is there any mistake?

Back then, when the Shinsengumi was founded, the military expenditure they received was only a measly 3,000 taels of gold.

In order to raise military expenses, he thought hard and spent a lot of effort before finally overcoming the financial difficulties.

You just took a trip to Donghai Street, and you didn’t have to cross the mountains and cross the sea. Donghai Street is a flat avenue, and there are many stations along the way for supplies. In the end, it will cost you a fucking 1 million taels of gold! And this amount only covers the outbound trip, not the return trip!

What can't you do if you have this money?

Do you still think that this is the heyday under the third generation shogun Iemitsu?

Do you think there is too much money in the treasury and nowhere to spend it?

There is no place to spend money anymore!

Forming a new army and purchasing weapons—these two alone are enough to feed the gold-swallowing beast.

Even if you distribute this money to the people in Guandong, it is far better than using it as the so-called "travel expenses" to Shangluo!

Just for the so-called appearance, just for the so-called "showing the general's spirit", just to comply with the so-called etiquette, one million taels of gold...

Qingto couldn't help but think to himself: If he could have these 1 million taels of gold, he could directly expand the Shinsengumi's strength to more than 10,000 people!

In the eyes of Qingdeng, who pursues pragmatism, this kind of behavior is no different from pretending to be fat, which is simply incomprehensible!

In response to the extremely expensive travel expenses, the warship leader Rintaro suggested: "This is expensive and time-consuming. If it costs too much, it is better to go by boat."

He advocated taking the sea route by warship, which was not only efficient and less expensive, but also to a certain extent, taking a warship to Beijing was far more powerful than going to Luo on his legs.

However, the "ritualists"... or "conservatives" of the shogunate immediately strongly opposed this proposal put forward by Katsurin Taro.

The reason they gave was "The general has never been on a ship before. What if the ship sinks?"

This reason is completely untenable.

First of all, the warships currently used by the shogunate are no longer old classical warships, but advanced warships produced in the West.

Tokugawa Iemo has always been very concerned about the construction of the shogunate navy.

Not only did he single-handedly promote Rintaro Katsu, but he also planned to establish a naval training center in Kobe next year specifically for cultivating naval talents.

In recent years, under the instruction of Tokugawa Iemo, the shogunate has successively purchased several advanced warships from the West.

For example, the steamship Hamrim Maru was started in the Netherlands in 1855, completed in 1857, and sailed across the Pacific in 1860 to carry the Japanese mission to the United States.

It's probably too much to expect these junior warships to go to war.

But if it's just transporting people and goods, that's not a problem. In terms of safety alone, it's absolutely guaranteed.

Secondly, it is not about crossing the Pacific or traveling around the world. After leaving Edo Bay, the warship will sail close to the country. The journey will be calm. It is April and it is not the monsoon season. What is the danger?

The leader of the "conservatives" and the person who was most opposed to the general taking the ship to Luo was Oku's Honjuin.

[Note·Daao: The General’s Harem]

Partisanship is literally everywhere.

Even the little Da'ao has fucking party struggles!

Honjuin - the side chamber of Tokugawa Ieyei, the 12th shogunate of the Edo shogunate, and the biological mother of the former shogun (13th shogun) Tokugawa Ieyada.

To make an analogy, Honjuin's status is similar to the "Empress Dowager" of the shogunate, which is one level higher than Tenzouin who is the "Queen Mother".

The original names of Honju-in were Mitsu and Kenko.

Compared with Tianzhang-in, which has always maintained a high degree of topic due to its peerless beauty and various specious rumors, and often appears in people's discussions after dinner, Honju-in's sense of existence is very weak, and it is quite unknown. means.

In recent years, she has not appeared in the public eye, and people have almost forgotten that there is such a "hidden BOSS" in the Big Ori.

Even though Honjuin is silent now, when Tokugawa Iesada was still alive, she was also a restless master.

As the biological mother of Tokugawa Iesada, she naturally hopes that her children can continue the family line and hope that she can have lovely grandchildren.

Ever since, as soon as Tianzhangyuan married into the shogunate, she would run to Tianzhangyuan from time to time to ask Tianzhangyuan: Do you and your family have Zhuo Ai... Ah, no, correction. It should be "Are you pregnant with a child?"

She eagerly anticipated and waited.

As a result, Tianzhangyuan's belly remained silent.

Expectations gradually accumulate into disappointment...

It is said that when the rumor spread that "Tokugawa Iedada has not consummated her marriage with Tenzouin", she was so angry that she ran to question Tenzouin.

The content of her question is unknown.

However, they must also be those clichéd things.

According to the values ​​​​of this era, it is the duty of the imperial family to give birth to an heir for the shogun and continue the descendants of the Tokugawa family.

Therefore, in Honjuin's view, Tenzouin's behavior of not consummating the marriage with the Tokugawa family and not having children is simply dereliction of duty and failure to fulfill the duties of the imperial office.

On the one hand, she did ideological work for the Tokugawa family, and on the other hand, she strongly urged Tianzhangyuan to give birth to the Tokugawa family's heir as soon as possible.

Over time, the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law became increasingly tense.

Benshouyuan didn't even want to give Tianzhangyuan a good look.

Tianzhangyuan, who was just a daughter-in-law, was unable to fight against her mother-in-law and could only endure the bad breath silently.

This "cold war" between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law did not last long.

Because... In 1858, Tokugawa Iesada died of illness.

After losing her husband in middle age and losing her son within a few years... Honjuin was deeply hit and became disheartened from then on.

With his only son gone and his bloodline gone, there is no point in continuing to be hostile to Tianzhang Academy.

She moved into the depths of Da'ao, rarely seeing people, and lived a life of seclusion.

As time went by, she and Tianzhangyuan settled their differences, and their relationship gradually improved.

Ironically...it wasn't until their son (husband) died that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law gradually broke through...

Honjuin never interfered with political affairs and never gave any advice on the administration of the shogunate.

However, she was quite concerned about Tokugawa Iemo's personal safety.

Although she is not her blood relative, she still has deep feelings for Tokugawa Iemo.

In the succession dispute that year, Ooku, led by the Honju-in and Tencho-in, always stood firmly on the side of the Nanki faction and supported Tokugawa Iemo.

In this process, Honjuyuan relied on its lofty status to contribute a lot.

Therefore, Honjuin can be regarded as one of the great contributors to Nanji Sect.

As the noble "Empress Dowager", and as a core member and great hero of the Nanji Sect... Due to emotions and reasons, neither Tokugawa Iemo nor Tenjoin could act arrogantly in front of Honjuin.

Honjuin strongly opposed the proposal put forward by Katsurin Taro to "go to Luo by ship".

His attitude was so resolute that it could be called hysterical, and quite a bit like "If Tokugawa Iemo goes to Luo by ship, I will commit suicide directly."

In fact, Qingden can understand Honjuin's inner world very well.

Anyone who has carefully studied Honjuin's life will not find anything unusual in her fierce attitude of treating "riding on a ship" as "going to hell".

She has experienced too much excitement in her life.

Her husband, the 12th shogun Tokugawa Ieyaki, reigned for 16 years (1837-1853). He was quite strong and had strong fertility. He had two children, Tokugawa Iesada and Tokugawa Yoshi, between him and his wife. Chang and other 11 males and 16 females.

However, Tokugawa Iesada was the only heir who could successfully grow up.

Other children either died at birth or died young.

Just when everyone thought that Tokugawa Ieyei was about to die off his children, Honjuin gave birth to Tokugawa Ieyada.

Before giving birth to Tokugawa Iedada, Honjuin had given birth to two boys, but they both died young.

It can be said that the birth of Tokugawa Iesada was a hard-won surprise.

Godaisuo is a title that can only be held by the main wife. The Honjuin who is just a side room does not have this title.

However, she was given an identity commensurate with the biological mother of the next general: Yu Nianyi Your Majesty.

In order to protect his descendants, Tokugawa Ieyaki directly issued a strict order: Keep Masanosuke (Tokugawa Ieyashi's nickname) in the deepest part of Ooku! Don't let him get a hint of cool breeze!

In this way, after caring at all costs, this single seedling was finally saved.

It's a pity... Although this single seedling survived, it also became disabled.

Perhaps it was the successive deaths of his brothers and sisters that brought considerable excitement to Tokugawa Iesada.

Although there is no direct evidence, judging from some of Tokugawa Iesada's behaviors as an adult, he not only suffered from brain damage paralysis, but also suffered from a certain degree of persecution delusion.

Tokugawa Iesada was "born in a deep palace and raised in the hands of women" in the true sense.

Tokugawa Ieyaki's strict "no-football" order made Tokugawa Ieyaki almost never leave Ooku until he reached adulthood.

This extremely closed growth environment created his cowardly and autistic character.

He always shuts himself in the deepest part of the Great Ao, trying his best to avoid interacting with anyone.

In addition, he always felt that he was not safe and that criminals were coming to kill him.

He didn't want to eat the food cooked by the imperial chef, so he built a small stove in Da'oli and cooked three meals a day by himself. He even developed a passable skill in baking pastries.

Towards the end of his life, his paranoia became more severe.

He locked himself in a room, saw no one, and only communicated with the wet nurse Songqiao.

Judging from Tokugawa Kesada's symptoms, the rumor that he never consummated his marriage with Tenjoin might be true.

He didn't even want to believe the Ooku female officials who had watched him grow up, so how could he trust and get close to a strange girl who was married from all the way from Satsuma Domain?

He and Tianzhangyuan may not have even met a few times.

All in all, it is only natural that Honjuin, which has witnessed too many abnormal deaths, is very concerned about Tokugawa Iemo's personal safety and strongly opposes Tokugawa Iemo's taking risks.

I would rather spend 1 million taels of gold to let Tokugawa Iemo take the safer land route. He must stay away from the sea route where accidents may occur!

Due to the distance between the two places, Aonto had no idea how Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzōin viewed the astronomical Shangluo fee.

But based on what I know about them - it is absolutely impossible for the mother and son to agree to waste a precious 1 million taels of gold on such a face-saving project!

When I led the army to Luo, Tokugawa Iemo only gave me 3,000 taels of gold!

How could he possibly approve such a ridiculous thing if he is so "stingy"!

Ayoto could imagine the scene - in order to persuade the "conservatives" headed by Honjuin and change their minds, Tokugawa Iemoji and Tenzouin tried their best to argue with each other until they were blushing and thick-necked.

But...this mother and son, with their shallow foundations, are really undervalued in the face of the "conservatives" represented by Honjumaru.

Thinking of this, Qingdeng couldn't help but sigh.

He deeply understood the difficulties of Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzōin.

One is the 14th shogun of the Edo shogunate and the supreme leader of the samurai family; the other is the indescribably noble Odaisho.

Although they all have extremely famous names, they can't help themselves in many things.

My own foundation is not strong enough, the constraints of powerful officials, the interference of my relatives...the debuffs are almost full!

Now the deal is done, no matter how upset or deeply regretful it is, it's too late.

time flies……

In the third year of Wenjiu (1863), on April 20, the general's campaign to Luo, which cost millions of taels of gold, began with great fanfare.

…

…

A huge team of three thousand people slowly spread out on the streets of Donghai, stretching for several miles. It was so spectacular.

Tokai Street is the shortest distance connecting Edo and Kyoto.

Over hundreds of years, after years of repairs and constant trampling by countless feet and hooves, the road surface of Donghai Street is extremely smooth and hard. There are deep and clear ruts in the center of the road, which is very conducive to walking and marching. It was the "highway" of the Edo period.

Again - Japan is an island country with a small land area.

It's not that far from Edo to Kyoto. The straight-line distance between the two is only a mere 380 kilometers.

Under the strict requirements of Tokugawa Iemo, the Kamiro team took on the momentum of a rapid march and marched all the way, maintaining a very high speed throughout the process.

In only 7 days, Tokugawa Iemo's Kamiro team arrived at Otsu, located southeast of Kyoto and guarding the throat of Kyoto.

On this day, the ministers stationed in Beijing, led by Aoto and Matsudaira Yoshiho, all left the city to Otsu, waiting for the arrival of Tokugawa Iemo.

…

…

Wenjiu three years (1863), April 27——

Gyeonggi Province, south bank of Lake Biwa, Otsu-su——

There are 53 accommodation stations along Donghai Street, and Otsu Inn is the last one.

The warm spring wind blew past my ears, and the warmth was mixed with the fragrance of new buds.

The weather today is very good, the wind is gentle and the sky has been clear and clear since early morning. The blue sky is like the best interpretation of the word "blue sky," as if it can reach the end of the universe.

With the arrival of spring, the trees covering the mountains in the distance begin to sprout new green branches, rustling in the breeze.

"Moo moo... moo moo..."

Carrot made a very lethargic cry and scratched the ground with his front hooves in boredom.

As for Qingdeng sitting on it, he also looked bored.

Matsudaira Yongho, who was riding a fine BMW, stood side by side with him.

The Shinsengumi generals, the important ministers of the Aizu Domain, and the other ministers stationed in Beijing were arranged behind them in order according to their status.

Hijikata Toshizo went to Edo to recruit soldiers and would have to wait for some time before returning.

For this reason, the person currently in charge of commanding the Shinsengumi generals is Isamu Kondo.

The Shinsengumi generals headed by Isamu Kondo all wore spotless light green haori - for them, this light green haori was their dress.

As for those with official official positions - such as Seto and Matsudaira Yongho - they all wore samurai ceremonial robes.

According to reliable information, Tokugawa Iemo's Kamikawa team successfully arrived at Kusatsu-juku (the 52nd stop on Tokai Street) yesterday evening.

If nothing else goes wrong, they will be able to arrive at Otsujuku before noon at the latest.

By the time we get to Otsujuku, Kyoto is just around the corner.

In order to show respect for the general, Qingden and others had been waiting here early in the morning.

While waiting for the general's arrival, everyone, including Seito and Matsudaira Yongho, kept silent.

At first glance, the atmosphere is quite solemn.

He could neither move nor talk randomly... Although it was uncomfortable and boring, Qingdeng did not feel bored.

When he thought that he would soon see Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin who had been away for a long time, the corners of his mouth slightly curved uncontrollably.

Suddenly, the tips of Qingden's ears trembled.

Then, he raised his eyes, looked at the end of the road ahead, and murmured:

"coming."

With the blessing of the talent "Perceiver of Wind +1", Qingdeng was the first person to sense the movement.

Immediately afterwards, Matsudaira Yongho, Kondo Isamu... everyone present heard the dull rumbling footsteps.

About 10 minutes later, the tip of a gun with a scabbard came into view by Qingdeng and others.

The warriors wearing bamboo hats on their heads and carrying spears on their shoulders formed a relatively neat queue of six, striding towards Qingteng and others.

These warriors who carry guns are called "gun bearers".

Gun holding - the classic ceremonial configuration of the Edo period.

The spear represents war.

Carrying a spear with you means "I am always ready to go to the battlefield".

Whenever a big shot of the Wu family travels, there will definitely be a large number of guns accompanying them.

Immediately after the gunman, there was a flag with a clover printed on it fluttering in the wind.

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PS: When writing this chapter, Bao Baozi really felt that Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin were really having a hard time. There are party struggles everywhere, within the shogunate there are party struggles, there are party struggles within Ooku, and even the Shinsengumi and Aizu Clan, which they rely on, are not completely of the same mind...