I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Captain Nagakura! We've spotted a suspicious individual acting suspiciously near Nijo Castle! We've brought him here!"

With that, the two soldiers used their strength to force the young warrior they had subdued to kneel on the ground.

The man was about 30 years old, with an average appearance, messy hair, a dark face, and even his clothes were covered in dust and grime.

The moment his knees touched the ground, he shouted in a panic:

"Wait a minute! Please let me explain! I am by no means a suspicious person! There is a very reasonable reason why I am loitering around Nijo Castle!"

His accent was very heavy, and some of his pronunciations didn't even sound like Japanese at first glance.

It took Nagakura Shinpachi and Inoue Genzaburo a lot of effort to finally understand what the man was saying.

On the contrary, Harada Sanosuke did not show any confusion because of the accent. Instead, he looked surprised as if he had discovered something amazing.

"Huh? Judging from your accent... you're from Tosa?"

Harada Sanosuke asked this question in the dialect of his hometown (Iyo-Matsuyama Domain).

The young samurai paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

"Yes, yes! I am a Tosa person!"

Tosa—also known as the Tosa Domain, or Kochi Domain for its official name—was ruled by the Yamauchi clan and had a rice yield of 24. It was one of the most powerful domains in western Japan.

Harada Sanosuke smiled, revealing his teeth.

"Aha! Then we're practically from the same hometown! I'm from the Iyo-Matsuyama Domain!"

Both the Tosa Domain and the Iyo-Matsuyama Domain were located on Shikoku Island.

The former is located on the south side of Shikoku Oshima, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the east; the latter is located on the north side of Shikoku Oshima, bordering the Seto Inland Sea to the west. The two are considered neighbors.

Harada Sanosuke scanned the other person's face, giving him a cursory glance.

"Judging from your clothes and appearance, you must be from the countryside, right?"

The young samurai gave an awkward smile:

"No...no...I am even worse than a country bumpkin...I am a ronin from the underworld..."

Nagakura Shinpachi turned his head and gave Harada Sanosuke a questioning look.

"Zanosuke, what is a countryman? What is a ronin?"

Harada Sanosuke chuckled dryly a few times:

"Ahaha... Well... it's a long story. To put it simply, the samurai and the ronin were a special class in the Tosa Domain."

After a moment's thought, he cleared his throat and began to speak slowly and deliberately—

The Tosa Domain area was ruled by the Chōsokabe clan at the end of the Sengoku period.

In 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara, which determined whether the country belonged to the Toyotomi or the Tokugawa, took place. Chosokabe Morichika participated in the battle as part of the Western Army.

After the Western Army's crushing defeat, Chōsokabe Morichika was demoted and stripped of his lordship, and his territory was taken over by Yamauchi Kazutoyo.

Speaking of Kazutoyo Yamauchi, he can be described as "the king of lateral movement in the Warring States period" and "the master of 'choosing sides'".

He was originally a lowly ronin, with neither outstanding literary talent nor extraordinary martial skills.

From any perspective, he was just an ordinary person with mediocre abilities.

However, relying on his superb "side-jumping skills" and an unparalleled good wife, he served five dynasties—the Makimura clan, the Yamaoka clan, the Oda clan, the Toyotomi clan, and the Tokugawa clan—and completed a great leap in social class, soaring to become a great lord with 24 koku of land.

On the eve of the Battle of Sekigahara, the astute Yamauchi Kazutoyo foresaw that the world was about to change hands again and began to look for a strong person worthy of his allegiance.

At that time, he was already a daimyo who was enfeoffed in Kakegawa Castle in Tōtōmi Province and had a territory of 6 koku.

He foresaw that in this world, only Tokugawa Ieyasu possessed the "three virtues" of wisdom, benevolence, and courage, so he resolutely abandoned his former lord, the Toyotomi clan, and joined the Tokugawa clan.

At that time, his wife, Chiyo, one of the most capable wives in Japanese history, was being held hostage in Kyoto.

The Western Army sent men to threaten Chiyo, forcing her to write to Kazutoyo and persuade him to join the Western Army.

For the sake of her husband's future, Chiyo disregarded her own life and death, pretended to agree, and wrote a letter of persuasion to him. At the same time, she risked enclosing a letter from her own family, which was basically a letter of persuasion to Kazutoyo to submit to Ieyasu. The letter was hidden in the thin string of her straw hat.

This is the famous "笠の丝の文".

After receiving the letter, Yamauchi Kazutoyo handed it over to Tokugawa Ieyasu intact, along with all of Tokugawa's territories.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu saw this, he was deeply moved and praised Yamauchi Kazutoyo's loyalty as "like the core of a tree," while the others were merely "branches and leaves."

In this way, with his bold and well-timed flattery, Yamauchi Kazutoyo won the favor of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Afterwards, Yamauchi Kazutoyo did not perform well in the Battle of Sekigahara and could be said to have accomplished nothing.

However, because of Chiyo's letter and Yamauchi Kazutoyo's actions of handing over the letter and territory to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Ieyasu still gave him the highest reward - moving him from Kakegawa in Tōtōmi Province to Tosa Province in Shikoku Province, and quadrupling the amount of rice he could accrue, from 6 koku to 24 koku!

The year after the Battle of Sekigahara, Yamauchi Kazutoyo officially entered Tosa Province.

He was a lord without prestige when he first arrived in this unfamiliar land.

The former retainers of the former lord Chosokabe in the Tosa region still clung to their former master.

Furthermore, Yamauchi Kazutoyo lacked outstanding personal charisma and relied solely on "choosing sides" and "sycophancy" to gain fame, which made it even more difficult for the remaining retainers of the Chōsokabe clan to trust him.

They outwardly obeyed Yi Feng but inwardly defied him, only feigning obedience.

Even before Ichifeng entered the country, they incited a rebellion to resist Ichifeng's entry.

Later, Kazutoyo dispatched his brother Yamauchi Yasutoyo to carry out a brutal crackdown, resulting in the beheading of more than 270 people.

After the uprising was suppressed, Kazutoyo began to artificially create class conflicts in order to establish his absolute ruling authority in Tosa.

He designated the "Yamachi-ha samurai" who entered the country with him as "superiors" and the former retainers of the Chōsokabe clan as "local samurai".

Between these two groups, there is a transitional class called "Baizha Xiangshi," which is similar to "quasi-senior sergeant."

The status of a village scholar could be bought and sold, but there were strict barriers between the upper-class scholars and other classes.

Under Yamauchi Kazutoyo's meticulous planning, the upper-class soldiers enjoyed a high status and numerous privileges, while the lower-class soldiers suffered fierce suppression.

The discriminatory treatment suffered by the villagers included, but was not limited to: not being allowed to wear wooden clogs; not being allowed to use an umbrella in the rain; having to give way and bow when encountering superiors; not being allowed to wear fine clothes, etc.

As for "underground wanderers," they refer to people who sell their status as local scholars.

"Underground ronin" can still be called by their surname and carry swords, but their household registration is no longer that of a samurai, but a commoner.

After explaining to Nagakura Shinpachi and Inoue Genzaburo what a country samurai and an underground ronin were, Harada Sanosuke's gaze returned to the young samurai.

"Brother, considering we're practically from the same hometown, I won't make things difficult for you!"

"Tell me quickly, why are you lurking around Nijo Castle like this?"

"This place is not for unauthorized personnel to spy on!"

Under the pressure of reality, Tokugawa Iemochi has decided to go to Kyoto in person to negotiate with the imperial court on the matter of expelling the barbarians.

Although the specific departure time has not yet been determined, it is confirmed to be in the spring of this year.

This was the first time a shogun had visited Kyoto since the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651)... Whether the anti-shogunate forces would take this opportunity to cause trouble was anyone's guess.

It's one thing to ignore the others, but Tokugawa Iemochi... Aoto always regarded him as his friend.

Even if it were just out of friendship, Aoto would never allow Tokugawa Iemochi's life to be threatened!

Therefore, several days earlier, he had issued a strict order: to search Kyoto and its surroundings with all our might!

If you encounter suspicious or criminal individuals, take them down immediately.

If the other party disobeys orders, violence can be used, and if necessary, they can be sent to their death.

Acting first and reporting later, granting special authority—that's the Shinsengumi!

Under Qing Deng's strict orders, the members of the Shinsengumi were all on high alert, and dared not slack off in the slightest in carrying out their daily patrol duties.

Nijo Castle was the shogun's temporary palace in Kyoto and a symbol of the shogunate's power.

This castle, rich in special significance, was naturally a key area under surveillance.

At such a critical juncture, a stranger wandering around Nijo Castle while craning his neck to peer into the castle... is practically branding himself with the word "suspicious" on his head!

Therefore, it's no wonder that these two members of the Second Division captured him.

Seeing that Harada Sanosuke was willing to listen to his explanation, the young samurai hurriedly said:

"My lord, I am a ronin from Iguchi Village, Aki District, Tosa Domain."

"Coming from a poor family, he had no chance of an official career and could only make a living by selling birdcages."

"However, though I am of lowly birth, I still harbor lofty ambitions!"

"In order to broaden my horizons, I have requested a short leave from the princely government to travel around!"

"Today is my first time setting foot in Kyoto."

"The magnificence of Nijo Castle truly leaves me in awe!"

"I was so engrossed in watching that I didn't realize I had been captured by these two brave men."

"And then, I was brought here!"

This person has excellent speaking skills.

Not only was his voice loud and clear, and he could explain the whole story in just a few words, but he was also very sweet-talking, praising the two brave men who arrested him as heroes.

Hearing that the other party was being so accommodating, the two team members responsible for restraining him unconsciously loosened their grip slightly.

Harada Sanosuke grinned:

"You're quite the talker! You might have a knack for being a lobbyist!"

The young samurai's words were very sincere.

Judging from his appearance and listening to his explanation... from every perspective, he doesn't seem like a bad person.

However, letting him go like this would seem rather hasty.

So, Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke, and Inoue Genzaburo huddled together, whispering and discussing how to deal with this person.

Nagakura Shinpachi: "What do you think? How should we deal with this person?"

Harada Sanosuke: "My intuition tells me that this person is not lying, and everything he says is true."

Inoue Genzaburo: "Harada-kun, you want to let him go?"

Harada Sanosuke: "Of course not. Although I'm not very bright, I'm not stupid enough to trust someone based on just a few words."