I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 896: The whereabouts of Kikuichimonji, the "Choshu Expedition" begins! [6000]

Yamata no Orochi shook his head.

"No, not 'blood cough'."

"I've never coughed up blood, so it can't be 'blood cough'."

"The doctors can't tell what the disease is."

"They said I was ill from overwork."

"Whatever. Death is nothing to be afraid of."

"Because I know I have a terminal illness, every day I live feels like a reward, and it adds a strange sense of joy to me, hahahaha!"

After saying this, he laughed out loud with a calm expression.

There was no fear of death in the laughter.

Looking at the Yamata-no-Orochi laughing openly, a hint of admiration appeared on the cheeks of Katsura and Takasugi.

To be honest, they still couldn't believe that this fat man who would be out of breath after walking a few steps quickly could be the leader of the Fazhu Party...

In their imagination, the leader of the Hozuku Party, who commanded countless talented people and caused the shogunate a lot of trouble, should be a powerful hero who could control the sea and the sky.

In fact, even to this day, they still don't know the specific reasons why powerful people like Otakemaru, Shuten Doji and others only follow him.

However, what Yamata no Orochi had just said and the performance he displayed made Katsura and Takasugi slightly change their views of him.

They had to give high praise to his optimism.

Knowing that he had a terminal illness, he was not afraid at all and instead faced it with a smile - this is not something that everyone can do.

……

……

From the end of October, the shogunate and the imperial court launched a series of actions.

First, the imperial court once again designated the Mori family as enemies of the court and stripped Mori Yoshichika and his son of their ranks and official positions.

At that time, Mori Yoshichika's rank was the 4th rank, Upper Councillor, Left Guard Lieutenant General; Mori Sadahiro's rank was the 4th rank, Lower Councillor, Left Guard Major General - now, all these honorary titles of theirs are gone.

The shogunate revoked the taboos and titles of Mori Yoshichika and Mori Sadahiro (son of Mori Yoshichika), and abolished their daimyo treatment.

As a result, the two changed their names to "Mōri Jingqin" and "Mōri Hirofu".

[Note: In samurai society, the superior person bestows a character of his or her name on the inferior person to establish a master-servant relationship. The character "庆" in Mori Yoshichika's name comes from the 12th shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi, and the character "定" in Mori Sadahirosuke's name comes from the 13th shogun Tokugawa Iesada.]

Since the establishment of the Edo Shogunate, each generation of the Mori family's head and crown prince were granted the titles of "Matsudaira Daizen Daifu" and "Matsudaira Nagato no Kami" by the Tokugawa family, which was a symbol of status.

Now, these honors have been confiscated, and he can no longer be called Matsudaira, but can only be called Mori Daizen and Mori Nagato.

Not only that, the Mori family's residences in Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka were confiscated, and the daimyo and retainers were prohibited from leaving the domain.

There was a magazine called "Wujian" which was like today's current affairs news magazines, allowing ordinary people to understand political developments.

Since the Mori family was accused of being an enemy of the court, all reports and news about the Mori family have been deleted.

Anyone could see that this was the shogunate building momentum for the "Choshu Expedition"! They launched a political attack in advance to belittle and weaken Choshu to the greatest extent.

It is not difficult to judge that Tokugawa Iemochi really intended to wipe out the Mori family!
If not, it wouldn't have come to this.

Under the dual efforts of the shogunate and the imperial court, Choshu had been demoted to an enemy of both the court and the shogunate.

Before the battle even started, the shogunate had already gained the moral advantage.

Tokugawa Iemochi really put all his efforts and painstaking efforts into this war.

In fact, the Choshu conservatives' call for surrender was not groundless.

It has to be said that they had a very accurate view of the shogunate's weak character.

Ever since Tokugawa Iemochi announced the launch of the "Choshu Expedition", an anti-war faction with considerable energy and a loud voice immediately emerged within the shogunate.

Those guys who strongly advocate against the war have said: War is a major event for a country, a matter of life and death, a way of survival and destruction, and it must be carefully considered!

We can't fight a war! Fighting a war is both time-consuming and expensive!
It is not worthwhile to waste manpower and money just to take over the small city of Choshu.

If you want to make Choshu surrender, you can use other methods.

For example: pretending to attack, pretending to be at the gates of a city, and forcing Choshu to surrender.

After the Mori family submitted their surrender, their fiefdoms were symbolically reduced, and both sides gave each other a way out. The matter was settled with both sides saving face.

In order to convince Tokugawa Iemochi, they all put on their book bags and quoted from classics.

From Emperor Yang of Sui's three expeditions to Goguryeo, which exhausted the country's strength, to Toyotomi Taiko's expedition to Korea, which caused widespread complaints.

In a word, there is only one thing they want to express: this battle must not be fought!

If it was the incompetent former shogun Tokugawa Iesada, he might have been fooled by these guys.

However, Tokugawa Iemochi was not Tokugawa Iesada, nor was he the kind of mediocre ruler who had no opinions of his own.

Tokugawa Iemochi did not dare to compare himself to Emperor Gaozu of Han or Emperor Taizong of Tang, and never thought that he had any extraordinary talent, but he was well aware of the principle of "beating a drowning dog hard."

After experiencing the tragic defeats of the "Shimonoseki War", the "Ikedaya Incident" and the "Kyoto Summer Campaign", Choshu today is at its weakest period in three hundred years.

If we don't attack now, when will we attack?

Today, Choshu has become a banner - the banner of the Sonjo Movement.

Tokugawa Iemochi realized that only by eliminating the unstable element of Choshu and breaking this flag can the absurd Sonnō movement be completely suppressed and peace be restored to the world!

Furthermore, he really hated the faces of these "anti-war" people.

Although they sounded elegant and looked like loyal and righteous men, Tokugawa Iemochi saw clearly that every one of these guys was full of talk about morality and justice, but they were actually full of thieves and whores.

Are they really concerned about the shogunate and considering its future so they are strongly opposing the war?

Having served as the Shogun for so many years, Tokugawa Iemochi understood one thing: one must never trust all the people in the room without permission, and certainly not think that they are good people!
The reason they opposed the attack on Choshu was simply because it would do them no good.

If this battle was won, the only ones who would benefit would be Tokugawa Iemochi, who launched the war, and Aoto, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu and others who personally commanded the battle.

If the war was lost, the authority of the shogunate would suffer a devastating blow, which would in turn affect the fame and fortune of his family.

Since this matter does me no good at all and instead involves considerable risk, why should I get involved?
If they had frankly admitted, "Yes, I am selfish and I only care about my own family," Tokugawa Iemochi would have felt better.

But these guys were clearly only concerned with their own personal interests, yet they insisted on pretending to be loyal ministers and capable generals, which made Tokugawa Iemochi very angry.

To put it bluntly, the longer he stayed in the position of general, the more he hated these hypocritical bastards.

They will never do any serious work, but are very active in making things worse.

Faced with the strong obstruction of the "anti-war faction", Tokugawa Iemochi launched an unyielding struggle.

"I have made up my mind. I will not return until I conquer Changzhou!"

He was determined to push for the implementation of the "Choshu Expedition" and even engaged in fierce verbal battles with the "anti-war faction" several times in Ohiroma.

【Note: Ohiroma: A famous room in Edo Castle. The New Year's visit to the shogun, the shogun's announcement of government decrees, the announcement of military laws, and other official activities of the shogunate were all held in this room.】

As the saying goes: political power comes from the barrel of a gun.

The two brightest stars in the current shogunate's political arena are Aoto and Katsurintaro.

One of them created the shogunate navy, and the other created the Shinsengumi, while at the same time they led the Hachioji's thousands of men.

These two tough guys were Tokugawa Iemochi's trusted aides who were promoted by him. It is not an exaggeration to call them Tokugawa Iemochi's right-hand men.

Thus, under the threat of the two pillars, Aoto and Katsurintaro, although Tokugawa Iemochi's power could not be said to be able to call the wind and rain, it could not be shaken by these good-for-nothings who only had a big mouth.

The ministers could oppose Tokugawa Iemochi, but they had to consider the consequences and costs of doing so.

No one wants to have an irreconcilable feud with the number one person in the shogunate’s army or navy.

In this way, just as Katsura and Takasugi convinced the conservatives, Tokugawa Iemochi also successfully suppressed the anti-war forces, unified their thoughts, and barely integrated the various forces within the shogunate.

As soon as the "August 18th Coup" ended, Tokugawa Iemochi put the "Choshu Expedition" on the agenda.

After more than a year of meticulous efforts, all manpower and materials are in place.

All the work currently being done is merely the final step in this long war preparation.

time flies……

Finally... the day to send troops has arrived!
……

……

The first year of Yuanzhi (1864), June 11th——

Somewhere in the wilderness in the western suburbs of Kyoto, in a tent——

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The crisp sound of breaking wind came one after another.

Qing Deng was alone in the tent, waving the new sword in his hand repeatedly.

Horizontal chop, vertical cut, diagonal slash, upward slash, straight stab... every move and every style shows the style of a grandmaster, and the sword strokes are extremely correct.

About 3 minutes later, he slowly stopped, let out a long breath, and then looked down at the new knife in his hand.

"Finally I'm getting a little used to it..."

The mirror-like blade reflected his crushed face.

Vairocana sent it to be recast.

The fixed ghosts and gods were lent to the general manager.

Although Qingdeng still had the family heirloom sword, Jushui, in his inventory, its quality was no longer satisfactory to him.

As a result, Qing Deng was in a dilemma of having no sword to use.

As the president of the army, the general of the Shinsengumi, and the strongest swordsman in the shogunate, wouldn't it be a joke if he didn't even have a good sword?

Regardless of these false reputations, not having a good sword will indeed have a great impact on Qingdeng's strength.

Therefore, Qingdeng issued a reward to the public to collect good swords, and anyone who could provide a good sword would be rewarded generously.

As soon as this reward was issued, it attracted countless people to come forward and offer knives.

Although many people came, only a few offered good swords.
However, this is understandable, his "knife-hunting" journey is not destined to be smooth.

Those famous swords were either broken in the process of being wielded or kept in the homes of the rich and powerful. There are only a handful of excellent swords that have been circulated among the people.

Finally, when a swordsmith in Kyoto heard that General Tachibana was on the expedition, he immediately went to Otsu to sell his treasured sword - Bizen Osafune!
Just like "Nagasone Kotetsu" and "Izumi-no-kami Kanesada", Bizen Osafune is also a brand name, commonly known as Osafune.

When it comes to Bizen Osafune, its name is known to everyone. It can be said to be one of the most famous, oldest and most stable quality sword schools in Japan.

The Bizen Osafune school had at least 2000 swordsmiths during the ancient sword period. The swords of this school were of high quality and produced in large quantities.

Its prosperity is due to the high-quality iron ore nearby. The quality of its sand and gravel is among the best in Japan. In addition, the nearby water quality is suitable for making knives, and the rich forest resources also provide a large amount of charcoal.

In addition, the Bizen Osafune faction was far away from the center of political power and was not affected by changes in regime. Therefore, it was able to provide swords to the national market, lead the trend of the times, and produce many famous craftsmen.

Swordsmith schools across Japan, regardless of their fame or size, all have one common problem: they are unable to maintain quality.

For example, of Izumi-kami Kanesada, only the sword of the second generation Kanesada was of top quality, while the swords of the other generations were not very good.

The same is true for Tsuda Sukehiro. The first generation of Tsuda Sukehiro was the famous "Mogami Daiyomo", but the swords forged by his descendants were mostly mediocre.

It is rare to find a school like Bizen Osafune that continuously produces good swords with quite stable quality.

The Bizen Osafune presented by the swordsmith is the most famous sword among all the swords collected this time.

Qing Deng invited the most professional knife appraiser he knew, Mr. Kiryu, to help him appraise the knife.

Mr. Kiryu carefully appreciates every detail of this Bizen Osafune with the professional techniques unique to the Yamada Asaemon family.

The result of his appraisal was as follows: This sword should be the work of Bizen Osafune Hidemitsu, and its quality is acceptable. Although it is not a masterpiece of the time, it is indeed a good sword and can be classified as a "specialty item."

Property...This rating made Qingdeng a little disappointed.

He did not expect to obtain the "greatest achievement" that was hard to come by.

However, he has expectations for "Dayewu".

Of course, he knew in his heart that it was a blessing to be able to obtain a "property".

Therefore, he readily bought the Bizen Osafune for 500 taels of gold.

Interestingly, in the process of looking for a good sword, Qing Deng accidentally heard a very interesting rumor: Kikuchimonji Norimune who was living among the people!

Kikuichimonji Norimune - Since it is named "Chrysanthemum", it is not difficult to see that this sword is related to the Kyoto royal family.

In fact, it is true.

During the Kamakura period (1185-1333), Emperor Go-Toba commissioned the Ichimonji school swordsmith Norimune of Bizen Province to forge a tachi - this sword was the Kiku-ichimonji Norimune.

The blade is 78.48cm long, the tip is extremely long, and the blade is thin and thin. The 16-petal chrysanthemum emblem representing the royal family is engraved near the handle, and a horizontal "一" pattern is carved below it.

This sword has a history of 800 years. Because of its long history, it is a national treasure.

There are generally two opinions about the practicality of Kikuichimonji.

One is that the Kiku-monji Zezong is a weapon made by the royal family, that is, a ceremonial vessel, mostly used for decoration and to show majesty.

Although its overly slender blade looks good, it is not suitable for combat.

Secondly, Kikuichimonji Norimune ensured both its beauty and practicality.

The blade is very sharp. In terms of sharpness, it is not inferior to the most superior Daigyemono.

Regardless of which statement is correct, Qing Deng became somewhat interested in the knife.

So he spent some time to find out the whereabouts of the ancient sword.

Then he heard this story:
About 30 years ago, the long-lost Kikuichimonji Norimune reappeared in the world, possessed by a powerful swordsman named Seta Sotaro.

Sotaro Seta is a martial arts fanatic who is obsessed with swordsmanship. He challenges masters everywhere and wins every battle.

Just when he was on his way to victory, he suddenly met a hermit with extraordinary skills.

The opponent defeated Sotaro Seta without any effort.

Soutarou Seta accepted defeat sincerely and conceded defeat. He said loudly, "A good sword deserves a famous master." Then he presented the Kikuichimonji Norimune from his waist to the opponent.

In this way, Kikuichimonji fell into the hands of this hermit master.

Who is this extremely powerful hermit?
The jury is still out.

In fact, even whether this story is true or not is a question.

In short, Qing Deng tried to find Kikuichimonji Norimune, but as expected, he found nothing.

Anyway, he didn't expect to get the long-lost knife, so Qing Deng didn't feel disappointed.

After getting the Bizen Osafune, Qing Deng practiced basic swordsmanship every day and worked hard to hone his skills.

The Bizen long ship is good, but it is difficult for Qingdeng, who is used to Vairocana, to adapt to it for a while.

The more powerful a warrior is, the more he will pay attention to the coordination between himself and his weapon.

At Qing Deng's level, he rarely encounters someone who is stronger than him or has much higher strength than him.

When competing with a guy of similar strength to you, the competition is mainly about details.

For example, did you sleep well last night?

Another example is whether the weapon in your hand is satisfactory.

From the very beginning, Qingdeng and Vairocana had a very high degree of compatibility.

The weight, length, curvature of the blade... every detail of Vairocana is in perfect harmony with Qingdeng.

It is no exaggeration to say that this sword seems to be tailor-made for Qing Deng! It seems that the only purpose of its birth is to become Qing Deng's sword!

Whenever Qingdeng held Vairocana, he did not feel that he was "holding a knife", but felt that his arm was extended.

The unity of man and sword is nothing more than this.

But now, holding this strange knife, he suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.

No matter how I swung it, it just didn't feel right.

To use a vivid metaphor: every time he swung the Bizen Osafune, it felt like he was running with a prosthetic leg or playing basketball with a prosthetic hand.

Although this metaphor is a bit exaggerated, it is indeed Qingdeng's true feeling.

However, after a long period of adjustment, he has finally gotten used to this new knife.

Just as Qing Deng was about to continue sharpening his new sword, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside the tent.

In a moment, Hijikata Toshizo, dressed in Western style, lifted the curtain and half of his body came in:
"Ju, the soldiers are all here."

Hijikata Toshizo seemed to have completely fallen in love with that suit.

Now he always wears this suit whether in public or in private.

Qing Deng heard this and nodded slightly:
"Okay, I'll come right away."

As he spoke, he sheathed his sword, grabbed the clothes beside him, dressed himself, and strode towards the tent entrance.

When I left the tent, the dazzling sunlight shone directly towards me.

The sun was high behind the mountains in the east, and the sky was clear.

Right in front of Qingdeng is a large flat wilderness.

In the wilderness, tens of thousands of soldiers were lined up in neat battle array, towering into the sky!

The sunflower-patterned flag representing the shogunate, the gentian-leaf-patterned flag representing the Kinatsu domain, the majesty-flag representing the Shinsengumi, the Aizu sunflower-patterned flag representing the Aizu domain, the Maru-cross flag representing the Satsuma domain, the Owari sunflower-patterned flag representing the Owari domain...

Large flags of different colors and patterns fluttered in the morning breeze.

After Qingdeng stepped onto the high platform used for reviewing troops and selecting generals, all the generals had arrived.

Seeing Qing Deng coming, generals such as Yamanami Keisuke, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu, and Saigo Yoshinosuke came forward to greet him.

Just three days ago, the shogunate issued a formal appointment: the lord of Qinjin Domain, Tachibana Aonori, was appointed as the governor-general of Seicho, the lord of Owari Domain, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, the lord of Fukui Domain, Matsudaira Shigeaki, and the lord of Aizu Domain, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu, were appointed as deputy governors-general, and Yoshinosuke Saigo of Satsuma Domain was appointed as the chief of staff!
Tokugawa Yoshikatsu - the current lord of Owari Domain, is 40 years old.

Shigeaki Matsudaira - the current lord of the Fukui Domain, currently 28 years old.

The reason why these two people were appointed as deputy governors of the Changchang Campaign was purely out of political considerations.

Owari Domain and Fukui Domain were both extremely large royal domains, with the former having a royal fiefdom of 61 koku and the latter of 9 koku.

The main purpose of letting the two of them serve as deputy governors-general of the shogunate was to give them a title to show the shogunate's importance to the friendly vassal states.

Both the Owari and Echizen domains sent troops to participate in this battle, so it would be unreasonable not to give them a resounding and weighty title.

Shannan Jingzhu said to Qingdeng word by word:
"Ju Jun, all the troops have been assembled and are ready to go at any time!"

Qing Deng nodded slightly, then held the knife at his waist, moved to the front of the platform, and overlooked the wilderness below.

Looking up, the view was filled with dense crowds of heads.

The Shinsengumi, Aizu Army, Satsuma Army, as well as troops from the Owari, Fukui and other domains were arranged in square formations, filling the entire area of ​​Qing Deng's sight.

In the sunlight, all kinds of equipment such as rifles, muskets, cannons, etc. sparkled.

Seeing Qing Deng appear, no one knew who started the movement, but everyone started waving their spears and cheering loudly.

Then, as if a chain reaction had started, more and more people discovered Qing Deng, and more and more cheers were heard.

The shouts came one after another, deafening, as if even the sky and the earth were shaking!

Looking at the spectacular sight of thousands of troops and listening to the endless cheers, Qing Deng took a deep breath and tried to suppress the excitement in his heart.

Then, he waved his hand, and the hem of the light green feather knitting flew up high.

"Set off!!"

……

……

On November 1864, 11, the shogunate officially dispatched troops, with 18 troops divided into three routes to attack Choshu.

The conquest of Choshu begins!
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PS: In historical facts, the governor-general of the expedition was Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, the lord of Owari Domain, and the vice-governor-general of the expedition was Matsudaira Shigeaki, the lord of Fukui Domain. They were both in name only, and the actual command of the army was in the hands of the staff officer Saigo Yoshinosuke.

(End of this chapter)