I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 868 Suffering from Stockholm Syndrome [5100]

The first year of Yuanzhi (1864), June 10th——

Qinjin Domain, Otsu, Tachibana Residence, Qingdeng’s office——

After his health was no longer seriously ill, Qing Deng returned to work.

At this moment, he was buried in front of his case, holding a letter in his hand, reading it attentively with a serious expression.

This letter was written by Tokugawa Iemochi and was just delivered to Qing Deng.

In recent days, the two have been exchanging letters very frequently, with messengers running between Edo and Otsu almost every day.

If someone saw the specific contents of these letters between them, they would probably be shocked.

Every letter discusses the same thing: reforming the shogunate military system!

Shortly after Qing Deng was officially demoted to the position of "President of the Army", he received a secret letter from Tokugawa Iemochi.

This letter is very long, and to summarize it, it has this content: Eighty thousand hatamoto cavalry are not fit for duty! Reforming the current military system is urgent!

The Hachiman Ki of the Hatamoto - the core military force of the Edo Shogunate.

What this sentence means, of course, is not that the Edo Shogunate had 80,000 hatamoto, and even if the entire shogunate was sold, it would not be able to support so many hatamoto.

After the shogunate issued a general mobilization order, both the hatamoto and the samurai were obliged to send their retainers to participate in the war.

Back then, when Qing Deng was still a retainer of Baigokujialu, his only retainer was the old servant Kyubei.

If the shogunate issues a general mobilization order, not only will Aoto go to the battlefield, but Kyubei will also have to join the battle.

The hatamoto, the samurai, and their retainers, together can form a total of 80,000 troops, which is the origin of the "Hatamoto 80,000 Cavalry".

The hatamoto and gokenin were combat soldiers who were responsible for specific combat missions.

Their retainers served as auxiliary troops, responsible for logistical work such as transporting food, digging trenches, and building fortifications.

In the feudal era, this system was considered advanced.

There are both full-time professional warriors and auxiliary soldiers with decent qualities.

With this system, the Edo Shogunate, which had an army of 80,000, made all the feudal lords in the world dare not disobey it.

However, times have changed.

The 80,000 hatamoto cavalry can no longer adapt to the current situation.

Moreover, the corruption of the hatamoto and samurai has become a common problem.

No one would think that these guys, whose bodies have been hollowed out by sensual pleasures, have any fighting power.

Tokugawa Iemochi's idea was very simple, which was to learn from the model of the Shinsengumi, vigorously introduce advanced Western equipment and tactics, and form a new Western-style army.

Putting aside those grand goals, the mere possibility of causing trouble for the 80,000 hatamoto cavalry made Qing Deng very interested.

Once the military system is successfully reformed and a new army is formed, the status of the 80,000 cavalry of the flag bearers will inevitably be shaken.

Qing Deng had long been annoyed with these useless people who had nothing to do but eat, drink and have fun all day long.

Therefore, he was naturally happy to see these guys suffer a setback.

Today, Qing Deng is already the president of the army, controlling all the army forces of the shogunate.

If the shogunate's military system is to be reformed, it would be most appropriate for Tokugawa Iemochi to take the lead and for Aoto to be responsible for the specific affairs.

It’s just that…although “reform” is just two simple words, it carries a lot of weight!
Once the military system is reformed, it will mean that the 80,000 cavalry of the flag will be taken away.

There is a saying that goes "Destroying a person's financial resources is like killing his parents."

History has proved countless times that the cake of interest groups is not so easy to move. If you are not careful, blood will flow.

What the hatamoto and the samurai relied on was nothing more than their status as "the core military force of the shogunate."

They could have just rest on their laurels and wait for death.

And now, you want to take away their privileged status?
They had already felt uneasy since the rise of the Shinsengumi.

It was only because Aoto's prestige was too high, and the Shinsengumi was based in the capital, far away from the hometowns of the hatamoto and gokenin (Kanto), that the opposition was slightly smaller.

It is conceivable that when Tokugawa Iemochi announced the reform of the military system, the opposition would be like a tsunami!
By then, it would not be possible to suppress it relying on Tokugawa Iemochi's status as shogun or Qing Deng's personal prestige.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is not impossible for someone to stand up and shout the slogan "Kill Qing Deng and clear the court."

This matter is of great importance and we must not act rashly.

Therefore, the messenger responsible for delivering the letters between the two was not an ordinary flying kick, but an elite ninja from the new Oniwaban, who would never leak any information.

In short, if they want to reform the military system, there are only two methods available to Aoto and Tokugawa Iemochi.

First, mobilize all the troops that Aoto can mobilize, including the Shinsengumi and the Hachioji Thousands of Soldiers, to fight a civil war that will turn the world upside down! Eradicate the 80,000 hatamoto cavalry from the root and completely dig out this abscess!
The second is to cut the flesh with a blunt knife, using a gentle method that will not irritate the opponent to slowly eliminate the influence of the Hatamoto Hachimanki.

The former is definitely not advisable.

If a civil war broke out at this time, what would happen to the "Choshu Expedition"? What would happen to the imperial court that had just calmed down? What would happen to the Satsuma, Tosa, and Hizen domains that were eyeing the situation covetously? What would happen to Mamoru Isu's law to punish the party?
Qing Deng does not think that the energy he currently possesses is enough to go to war with so many forces.

Besides, if 80,000 hatamoto cavalry were destroyed, would the Edo Shogunate still exist?
The 80,000 hatamoto cavalry were the cornerstone of the Edo shogunate's rule.

In other words, they were one of the concrete embodiments of the Edo Shogunate's ruling will.

"Destroying 80,000 hatamoto cavalry" is no different from "destroying the Edo shogunate."

What specific actions should be taken?
How can we minimize the cost of reform?
In recent days, Qing Deng and Tokugawa Iemochi have had a long discussion around these two issues.

There were more than twenty letters exchanged between them - fortunately Japan is not big and the distance from Edo to Otsu is not that far, otherwise the round trip alone would have killed the messenger.

As of today, they have finally reached a consensus: to use the Hachioji Thousand-Man Army and the "Jiaowu Army" as pilot troops.

It is definitely unrealistic to carry out comprehensive reforms that will cause major setbacks right from the start.

Therefore, we can only take it slow.

Start the reform with one or two troops first, and then slowly expand the scope, that is, cutting meat with a blunt knife and boiling a frog in warm water.

Although there will certainly still be people who jump out and make a fuss, the noise will certainly be much smaller and can be completely suppressed by relying on the prestige of Aoto and Tokugawa Iemochi.

The Eight Princes and Thousands of People are united as a militia armed with half soldiers and half peasants.

Because they have been farming for generations and their customs have changed, they are not as corrupt as the hatamoto and gokenin. They are a real unit of good families, loyal and with a certain level of combat capability. It is most appropriate to choose them as a pilot unit.

The same is true for the "Jiaowu Army".

"Jiangwu Army" is the abbreviation of the new army of the Jiangwu Institute.

Long ago, under the order of the shogunate, the Military Academy organized and trained a new army with guns and cannons as its main weapons.

Unfortunately, due to various reasons such as lack of funds and malicious attacks by 80,000 hatamoto cavalry, the development of the "Kōmu Army" was quite tortuous and it underwent several rounds of downsizing.

So far, its total strength is about 500 people, and it is not a real Western army.

To put it in simple and easy-to-understand terms...it is an "ancient army with advanced guns and cannons" and there is still a lot of room for reform.

To sum up, taking these two forces as the primary targets of military reform is the most appropriate choice.

Although there is no guarantee that such an approach will be effective, at the very least, if a civil war really breaks out in the future, having two more Western-style armies that are proficient in the use of guns and artillery will increase the chances of victory.

The main content of the letter that Qing Deng is currently studying is that Tokugawa Iemochi told him: Resources will be allocated to the Hachioji Thousand People Unit and the "Kobu Army" in the near future, and efforts will be made to achieve results within three months.

After reading the letter, Qing Deng silently closed the letter paper, turned his head to the sky, let out a long breath, and murmured:
"It really isn't that easy to be the 'Army President'..."

Since his promotion, Qing Deng often had the following feeling: the power in his hands had not expanded, but the burden on his shoulders had become much heavier.

At this moment, the waiter's voice suddenly sounded outside the door:

"My lord, Kyoto Director Tojo Shintaro is here!"

Qing Deng was stunned for a moment, then quickly said:

"Well, let him in."

"Yes!"

After the Summer Campaign in Kyoto ended, the people who had fled everywhere to avoid the war returned to Kyoto one after another.

This was originally a good thing, but many bad guys took the opportunity to occupy the road and rob the people returning to the city of their money.

Faced with such vile behavior, Qing Deng, as the governor of the capital, naturally could not remain indifferent.

Ever since Shintaro Tojo took office as the director of Kyoto City, he has been mainly responsible for maintaining Kyoto's public security.

Although he knew that the other party was an undercover agent of the Great Salt Party, Qing Deng not only did not report him, but also continued to use him as before - of course, he would not be allowed to participate in certain tasks involving important secrets.

Qing Deng quickly dispatched Tojo Shintaro and ordered him to wipe out the bandits in the shortest time possible, and sent Niimi Nishiki, Harada Sanosuke and their 5th and 10th squads to assist.

Tojo Shintaro is indeed a capable official worthy of reliance.

After more than half a month of intensive anti-bandit operations, the bandits were either killed or escaped, and the roads around Kyoto returned to peace.

Seeing that the road bandits have been cleared, Qingdeng asked Dongcheng Shintaro to come over today to give a detailed work report.

Qing Deng waited silently while sitting up straight and adjusting his clothes.

After a while, he heard heavy footsteps approaching from afar. Wow—the door opened, and the fat figure of Tojo Shintaro came into Qingdeng's sight.

"Your Highness, long time no see."

Tojo Shintaro bowed slightly with a faint smile on his face.

"Don't be so formal. Relax."

Qing Deng said and waved his hand.

Suddenly, his gaze involuntarily tilted downwards and looked straight at Tojo Shintaro's right abdomen, with complex emotions flashing in his eyes.

His strangeness is only temporary.

Qing Deng quickly adjusted his eyes and expression and remained calm.

There was nothing special about Tojo Shintaro's work report.

He simply stated the results of the battle in brief terms, such as how many bandits were killed, how many heads were chopped off, and so on.

After Qing Deng listened quietly, he gave the other party an admiring look.

"Dongcheng-kun, thank you for your hard work."

Tojo Shintaro hurriedly said:

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

At this time, he probably remembered something important, his expression changed slightly, and he looked as if he wanted to say something but was unable to.

Qing Deng saw all the subtle changes in his expression.

"Dongcheng-kun, what's wrong? If you have anything to say, feel free to say it."

Qing Deng's words dispelled the other party's last bit of concern.

"…Your Highness, I have something to report to you."

He put on a solemn expression and said word by word:
"From what I have discovered, many Kyoto citizens sympathize with Choshu."

Qing Deng was surprised when he heard this:
"Do you sympathize with the people of Choshu? Kyoto?"

Tojo Shintaro nodded vigorously and continued:

"Because of the Ansei Five-Nation Treaty, domestic goods were in short supply, prices soared, and people's lives were severely affected. Therefore, many Kyoto warriors and people have always sympathized with the Choshu domain, which was actively fighting against foreigners."

"Recently, the 'Choshu Bixi' has become popular among the people of Kyoto."

Qing Deng interrupted:

"'Bixi'? What is this?"

Tojo Shintaro answered:

"'Bixi' is a dialect word, which means sympathy. Simply put, when people chat, they always use euphemisms to express their sympathy for Choshu."

After hearing this, Qing Deng immediately understood.

The Edo Shogunate strictly prohibited people from openly criticizing politics.

However, as the saying goes, "Every policy from the top has a countermeasure from the bottom."

Regardless of what orders the shogunate issued, the common people at the bottom also had many ways to respond.

The most typical example is, as Tojo Shintaro just said, using all kinds of "secret language" and "code words" to discuss and criticize current affairs.

"In addition to the 'Choshu Bixi', a round red bean glutinous rice ball called 'Choshu Hagi Mochi' has become popular among the people of Kyoto."

“'Choshu Hagi Mochi' is actually a specialty of the Hagi Castle Town in Choshu.”

"Recently, many stores in Kyoto have started selling this kind of Hagi mochi."

"When selling this cake, the store will specially arrange three round Hagi cakes in the shape of a Chinese character '品', and place a pair of chopsticks horizontally on top, which looks like the family crest of the Mori family, '一文字三星'."

"The price of this cake is set at 36 sen, which symbolizes the high koku of the Choshu domain."

“When you buy something, you should say ‘負けてくれ’ (Give me a discount).”

“The seller would reply, ‘負けん’ (It can’t be cheaper).”

"That's a classic pun."

“'負ける' can mean a price reduction, or it can mean failure.”

"That means 'Choshu will not fail.'"

"These people expressed their spiritual support for the Choshu clan through Hagi mochi and puns."

"In addition to Hagi mochi, 'Choshu Katsu' from Choshu has also become popular and is now one of the hottest dances in Kyoto."

"As the name suggests, this is a dance song praising Choshu's victory."

"It is said that this dance started from a restaurant in Akaishi,"

"The master got drunk and put on the child's clothes and danced 'Changshu Sheng'. His wife finally stopped him, but the child suddenly died."

"The neighboring owner came to ask what happened, and the inn owner said that the child died because his wife stopped him from dancing, and if he didn't dance, he would get into trouble."

"So the neighbor's owner went home and started dancing the same dance. Word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and soon the word 'Changzhou wins' spread throughout the capital."

"Even the Choshu-produced cotton wool, which is essential for dancing, became a hot commodity overnight."

Dongcheng paused and hesitated for a while before continuing:

"There is one more thing that I think it would be better to report to you at the same time."

"After our army won a complete victory in the Kyoto Summer Campaign, a samurai from Choshu named Yamamoto Motonosuke, who was retreating westward with the main force, felt that there was no hope of escape, so he committed suicide in Amagasaki and his body was buried on the spot."

"Somehow, a while ago, there was a rumor that 'Yamamoto Motonosuke's grave has the miraculous effect of curing difficult and complicated diseases', and people from the surrounding area rushed to pay their respects."

"The local lord forbade it, so he ordered his men to bury the body somewhere else."

"When his men were digging the grave, they suddenly became stiff and died of fever. The lord was frightened and never dared to dig the graveyard again."

"This miracle has further strengthened the people's faith, and there is an endless stream of people going to the local area to worship."

"Local residents specifically named this cemetery 'The Tomb of Sadness' to express their sympathy and pity."

After Tojo Shintaro finished speaking, he stood quietly, waiting for Qing Deng's response.

"..."

Although Qing Deng said nothing and looked calm, he had already started cursing in his heart.

——Tsk…what’s going on…!
——Could it be that all these guys are suffering from Stockholm syndrome? The more you abuse them, the better they feel?
Stockholm syndrome is a very classic psychological disease. Its main manifestation is that when the victim faces extreme threats, he or she will have emotional identification with the perpetrator and form a harmonious relationship with him or her.

As the "Choshu Expedition" was imminent, Qing Deng dispatched a large number of elite ninjas, led by Yamazaki Jun, to go to the western country to gather intelligence.

For this reason, Qing Deng's intelligence network in Kyoto has become much weaker, and he has not received much intelligence related to Kyoto recently.

If Tojo Shintaro had not given him this series of reports today, he would not have known that Kyoto had undergone such changes recently.

To be honest, Qing Deng sincerely felt that these Kyoto warriors and citizens who sympathized with Choshu were either intentionally doing bad things or unfortunately suffered from Stockholm syndrome and actually developed an emotional identification with the perpetrators.

It would be fine if it was someone from somewhere else, but why would you people from Kyoto sympathize with Choshu?
During the Battle of Ikedaya, radical elements in Choshu planned to burn down Kyoto and kidnap the emperor in the chaos.

If Qing Deng and others had not crushed their conspiracy, who knows how many people would have died that night.

In the Kyoto Summer Campaign, Choshu mobilized tens of thousands of troops and headed straight for Kyoto.

If Qing Deng had not led his troops to block the Choshu army outside Kyoto, it is hard to imagine how much serious damage this battle would have caused to Kyoto.

It is obvious that Choshu never cared about the lives of Kyoto's people.

In order to achieve their goals, they have repeatedly put innocent people into danger.

Even though Choshu was so bad, there were still so many people in Kyoto who sympathized with and respected Choshu.

This this……

Qing Deng was speechless for a moment, and wanted to curse someone but didn't know who to curse.

Suddenly, Tojo Shintaro asked:
"Your Highness, do you want to ban these acts of support for Choshu?"

Qingdeng waved his hand:

"No need, I'm not that stingy."

"There must be someone behind these incidents fueling the flames."

"We can only 'drain', not 'block'."

"Otherwise, it will play into the other party's hands."

"By then, we will be accused of being 'narrow-minded' and 'suppressing the people'."

Qing Deng narrowed his eyes as he spoke, his eyes looked unfriendly, his expression solemn, as if he was in deep thought.

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