I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The power vacuum naturally leads to a struggle – the “popular faction” and the “just faction” engaged in fierce open and covert battles.

Ultimately, the "righteous faction," whose strength greatly increased by joining forces with those who respected and opposed the enemy, seized the power of discourse.

With the decline of the "popular faction," the military and political power of the vassal state fell into the hands of the "righteous faction."

Although the political propositions of the "righteous faction" are much more advanced than those of the "popular faction," whose thinking is still stuck in the feudal era, there are not many of them.

How would you describe the "righteous faction"?

To put it simply: they're a bunch of mad dogs!

The reason for this has to start with a guy named Yoshida Shōin (1830-1859).

Yoshida Shōin was born in the first year of the Tenpō era (1830), and his life was quite complex.

He was a thinker of the Yangming School, and was well-versed in many disciplines such as Han studies, Mito studies, Chinese studies, and military science. He was a famous child prodigy from a young age.

While advocating respect for the emperor and resistance against foreign aggression, he did not harbor any outdated or xenophobic ideas.

After the "Black Ships Incident" broke out, in order to better understand the "barbarians," Yoshida Shoin, who happened to be studying near Edo at the time, took his disciple Kaneko Shigesuke and the two of them rowed a small boat and secretly boarded the American Black Ships under the cover of night, hoping to go to America with the fleet.

According to the "Seclusion Edict," which was still in effect at the time, the shogunate strictly prohibited its citizens from leaving the country, under penalty of death.

Therefore, while Admiral Perry, the commander of the U.S. fleet, greatly admired Yoshida Shoin's courage in disregarding his personal safety, he also found himself in a rather difficult position. The United States had just signed a treaty with Japan, and to help Yoshida Shoin, they would have to go through further negotiations.

In the end, Yoshida Shoin and his disciples were sent back to shore.

After failing to board the Black Ships, Yoshida Shoin was sent back to his hometown. He was first imprisoned, and then in 1855, he was pardoned and sentenced to solitary confinement.

During this period, he borrowed the Matsushita Sangaku from his uncle Tamaki Fuminosuke and his maternal uncle Kubo Gorozaemon, where he studied and taught at the same time.

In addition to reading, Yoshida Shoin would also arrange physical training such as martial arts and swimming for his disciples, as well as teach them military strategy and battle formations to prepare them for future combat.

It is worth mentioning that the concept of "honoring and rebellion" initially followed by Yoshida Shoin is not the same as the concept of "honoring and rebellion" that is currently popular.

Yoshida Shōin's theory was based on the premise that the Emperor was a descendant of Amaterasu, a lineage unbroken for eternity, and that the Emperor had now appointed the Shogunate to govern the feudal lords and rule Japan. As subjects of the Emperor, we should not overthrow the Shogunate, which was also a subject of the Emperor; as feudal lords, we should do our best to persuade the Shogunate to correct its mistakes.

On the other hand, as long as the shogunate revered the emperor, it naturally gained the emperor's loyalty; and the feudal lords revered the shogunate, they naturally gained the loyalty of their retainers. In other words, respecting the emperor did not equate to overthrowing the shogunate; rather, it was a theory for consolidating the social ethical order.

However, in 1858, shortly after Ii Naosuke became the Grand Elder, the Shogunate bypassed the Imperial Court and signed trade treaties with the United States, the Netherlands, Russia, Britain, and France without authorization, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the Imperial Court. Emperor Tonin directly issued a secret edict to the Mito Domain, rebuking the Shogunate for signing the treaties without authorization and demanding that the Mito Domain and other domains join forces with the Shogunate to expel the foreigners. After the Shogunate discovered this, Ii Naosuke used this as an excuse to launch the "Ansei Purge" and severely suppress the "Hitotsubashi Faction". After the "Illegal Seal Transfer Incident" broke out, Yoshida Shoin, contrary to his usual behavior, directly declared that the Shogun was already a villain of the world and that if the Shogunate was not attacked, it would only attract criticism from the world.

He didn't just talk the talk; he actually planned various actions to overthrow the regime.

He advocated using radical methods such as assassination and sabotage to deal with the shogunate, which angered the shogunate.

In 1859, the shogunate ordered the Choshu Domain to send Yoshida Shoin to Edo for trial. He was executed shortly afterward.

Because Yoshida Shoin was a rather radical person, his students were naturally all radicals.

Among Yoshida Shoin's many disciples, three stood out as the most outstanding: Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogoro, and Kusaka Genzui.

Shortly after Yoshida Shōin's death, under the leadership of these three men, the Choshu Domain's power and influence grew rapidly.

Inspired by these three men, the patriots of the Choshu Domain were known for their radicalism.

They advocated war against the Westerners, firmly believing in the absurd notion that "with this Heavenly Sword, we can face the Western gun corps with a smile; the Westerners are nothing but excrement," and that "as long as we unleash the fearless spirit of the samurai, even ironclad warships on the vast ocean can be cleaved in two." They vowed to expel every single Westerner from Japanese soil. Furthermore, they wanted to severely punish the shogunate for its subservience to the Westerners.

After Zhou Fufang's "faction of justice" joined forces with Takasugi Shinsaku and others, they were also infected by this radical atmosphere.

Under their leadership, and with the iron-willed Mori Yoshichika's words, "Alright, let's do it this way!", the Choshu Domain completely sided with the "Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians" movement, becoming the strongest bastion of the Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians camp.

In the spring and summer of last year (1862), Shimazu Hisamitsu, who personally led 1000 Satsuma Domain soldiers to Kyoto in order to seize political dominance, briefly took control of Kyoto before leading his entire army eastward to force the shogunate to accept his proposals such as "establishing five elders" and "respectively appointing Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu and Matsudaira Harugaku as shoguns and presidents of government affairs."

With the departure of Shimazu Hisamitsu and his Satsuma army, a power vacuum was created in Kyoto—the Choshu Domain seized this opportunity to advance into Kyoto and take the Emperor and the Imperial Court hostage.

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This chapter is extremely important! Don't underestimate this chapter! If you don't understand the history of the Choshu Domain, you definitely won't understand the subsequent plot developments and character motivations.

Chapter 586: Using the Emperor to Command the Feudal Lords and the War Between the Anglo-Saxon States! [4500]

Taking advantage of the situation, the Choshu Domain colluded with court officials who harbored ambitions of advancement and power.

Because they had been far removed from politics for so long, the nobles of the Kyoto court spent their days composing poems and couplets, so they had no clear understanding of the general trend of the times or the world situation.

They firmly believed that the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and other countries were despicable, uncivilized, and easily defeated barbarians.

It was entirely due to the incompetence of the shogunate that these barbarians were able to set foot on Japanese soil in large numbers.

The court nobles, such as Sanjō Sanetomi and Sanjō Nishikichi, who advocated the idea of ​​respecting the emperor and suppressing the rebellion, quickly reached an agreement with the Choshu Domain and joined forces to control the imperial court.

These court nobles who cooperated with the Choshu Domain were collectively referred to as the "Choshu faction court nobles".

The patriots of the Choshu Domain and the Choshu faction of court nobles always talked about the Emperor and the Imperial Court.

However... judging from their current actions, there is absolutely no indication that they hold any respect for the Emperor.

Although sufficient evidence has not yet been obtained, all indications suggest that the Emperor has been kidnapped!

They controlled the Imperial Palace, effectively imprisoning and monitoring the Emperor, preventing his voice from reaching the outside world.

During this process, they could easily engage in "behind-the-scenes manipulation".

Simply put, it means issuing a false edict!

Currently, the Emperor has issued several imperial edicts, severely reprimanding the shogunate for its weakness in dealing with foreigners and demanding that the shogunate and the various domains immediately drive all foreigners within the territory of Japan back to the sea.

How many of these imperial edicts were actually written by the Emperor himself? Which words were spoken by the Emperor himself? Which words were completely fabricated? There is simply no way to verify them.

During the Edo period, supporting the imperial court was the most politically correct thing to do.

As long as one supports the imperial court, one can occupy the natural moral high ground.

Therefore, these imperial edicts, whose authenticity was unknown, put the shogunate and the various domains in a very passive and unfavorable situation.

Otherwise, Tokugawa Iemochi would not have been determined to personally travel to Kyoto at the beginning of this year to discuss the expulsion of foreigners with the imperial court.

This can truly be described as "holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords"!

The actions of the Choshu Domain naturally aroused the vigilance of the shogunate and other domains.

However, by the time the shogunate and the various domains realized what was happening, it was too late. The imperial court was already under the control of the Choshu domain, making it difficult to take any further action against them.

……

……

After listening to Matsudaira Katamori's detailed explanation, Aoto let out a long sigh of relief.

"Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogoro, Kusaka Genzui... What a coincidence! I've met the other two, except for Kusaka Genzui..."

Matsudaira Katamori raised an eyebrow:

"Lord Tachibana, have you met Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro?"

Qingdeng nodded slightly:

"Yes, I met them once before."

Thanks to his extraordinary memory granted by his innate ability to "remember everything he sees," Aoto clearly remembers the faces of Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro.

In November of the first year of the Man'en era (1860), Aoto, who had just taken office as the captain of the third squad of the Fire Thieves Reformation, encountered Takasugi Shinsaku when he went out to suppress the remnants of the Exile Group together with Kimura Kazuma, the captain of the fifth squad, and Tsuchida Masayoshi, the captain of the seventh squad.

At that time, Takasugi Shinsaku's formidable fighting power, which single-handedly routed the Seventh Division of the Fire Thieves, left a very deep impression on Aoto.

Qingdeng's talent "Berserker" was copied from him.

As for Katsura Kogoro, we have to go back to an even earlier time.

On August 20, 1860, the first year of the Wanyan era, the Shiwei Hall and the Xuanwu Hall held a fierce battle of red and white.

Saito Yakuro, who greatly admired Aoto, led his beloved student to watch the entire match – at that time, his beloved student was Katsura Kogoro.

Katsura Kogoro is undoubtedly much more famous than Takasugi Shinsaku.

He was once a renowned swordsman in Edo.

At a young age, he obtained the complete mastery of the Shinto Munen-ryu style and became the instructor of the training hall, a place teeming with strong individuals, thanks to his absolute strength. He is an outstanding figure who excels in both literature and martial arts.

At that time, after the match against Genbukan, Saito Yakuro led Katsura Kogoro to greet Aoto.

This was the first and last time Aoto saw Katsura Kogoro.

From that point on, he completely lost contact with Katsura Kogoro.

Only one day in the future did I learn from someone that he had resigned from his position as the acting instructor at the training center and returned to his hometown alone.

After Aoto finished recounting the entire story of how he met Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro, Matsudaira Katamori nodded thoughtfully.

“I see… Lord Tachibana, I never imagined that you had such a connection with Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro of the Choshu Domain.”

"Among the Choshu camp, the two we need to be most wary of are these two, as well as Kusaka Genzui, who is from the same school as them."

"They are all outstanding talents, and extremely difficult to deal with."

At this point, Matsudaira Katamori paused for a moment.

"So, next... let's talk about the Satsuma Domain."

“When talking about the Satsuma Domain, there are three figures who must be mentioned: Shimazu Nariakira, Saigo Kichinosuke, and Okubo Ichizo.”

Upon hearing the name Shimazu Nariakira, Aoto's gaze involuntarily sharpened.

……

……

The Shimazu clan is a rather ancient family.

Their ancestors were descendants of the Qin clan, who claimed to be descendants of Qin Shi Huang.

From the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the Shimazu clan ruled the Satsuma region for generations.

Compared to Mori Yoshichika, a useless good-for-nothing who could only shout "Okay, then so be it!", Shimazu Nariakira, the former lord of the Satsuma Domain, was truly an unparalleled and great ruler.

Shimazu Nariakira was the 28th head of the Shimazu family and the 11th lord of the Satsuma Domain. He succeeded as lord of the Satsuma Domain in 1851.

In his youth, he was passionate about Western science, looked to the world, and actively learned and absorbed advanced Western knowledge.