I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Lord Saigo, indeed, it is just as you said."

"It is not our duty to quell the Doi Ikki in Ise."

"However, the rebel army is advancing menacingly towards Kyoto!"

"Such actions have seriously threatened the safety of the imperial court!"

"The imperial court is in danger; surely we have no reason to send troops?"

No sooner had Sagawa Kanbei finished speaking than Saigo Raimon snorted coldly without any politeness:

"Lord Sagawa, what you say is truly inspiring!"

"But let me ask you this: what should we do if Sa and Chang take the opportunity to cause trouble while we are out of the city to fight the bandits?"

"The current situation in Kyoto is already quite delicate."

"Mu, Sa, and Chang, a tripartite balance of power."

"If either side increases its power or its strength is weakened, the current fragile balance will collapse instantly."

"Who will take responsibility then?"

"Who can shoulder such a catastrophic responsibility?"

Sagawa Kanbei launched a sharp rebuttal.

"Of course I know that Sa and Changji might take advantage of our weakened military strength to cause trouble."

"Therefore, we only need to deploy a portion of our troops!"

"To put it bluntly, the attacking bandits were nothing more than a bunch of ignorant peasants!"

"What fighting power do these guys who only know how to wield hoes have? At most, they can only bully unarmed civilians! How can they be a match for us?"

"If we deploy only half of our forces, plus the assistance of the Shinsengumi, we are fully capable of defeating the rebel army!"

"We only need to kill a portion of the bandits, and the rest will scatter like birds and beasts!"

The Aizu Army currently stationed in Kyoto has a total of 1000 men, half of whom are 500.

Finally, Sagawa Kanbei added loudly:

"Even if we leave only 500 soldiers, that will be enough to hold back Sa and Chang!"

Upon hearing this, Saigo Raimon's face revealed an even more blatant expression of mockery.

"Hmph! 'Even if only 500 soldiers are left, it will be enough to hold back Sa and Chang'... What a confident and insightful observation!"

"To base our victory on underestimating the enemy—it is truly a blessing to have a general like you!"

Sagawa Kanbei twitched the corners of his mouth a few times, his face also showing a mocking expression as if he wanted the other party to see it.

"Shouting 'It's none of my business,' cowering in the city in fear, your courage and irresponsibility are something I can't help but admire!"

The invisible smoke of battle filled the air... Neither side would give way.

The so-called "defense of the imperial court" inherently had considerable room for maneuver.

They could use the pretext of "serving the emperor" to go out of the city to fight against the foreign enemies that were pressing towards the capital, or they could use the same pretext to stay out of it.

At this moment, another person chimed in:

"You are all extremely rude! How can you behave in such a disorderly manner, arguing so loudly in front of the lord and the garrison commander?"

As he spoke, Yamakawa Heibei, a senior retainer of the Aizu Domain, glanced back and forth between Saigo Yorimoto and Sagawa Kanbei, his aged face filled with a helpless expression.

In the generally young decision-making body of the Aizu Domain—Matsudaira Katamori, Saigo Yorimaki, and Sagawa Yorimaki were all young people in their 2s or 30s—Yamakawa Heiwa, whose hair was already gray, was undoubtedly a worldly and experienced old man.

Yamakawa Heibei, with his gentle and honest personality, has always presented himself as a kind-hearted person.

After succeeding to the position of chief retainer, he was mainly responsible for financial matters and loyally assisted Matsudaira Katamori.

With his high reputation and excellent management skills, he rebuilt the finances of the Aizu Domain, which greatly increased the domain's revenue.

It is no exaggeration to say that it was thanks to Yamakawa Hyōe's financial management skills that Matsudaira Katamori had the confidence to march on Kyoto.

The "blame-shifting faction," led by Saigo Yorimo, opposed the Aizu Domain's participation in the war.

The "war faction," led by Sagawa Kanbei, supported the Aizu Domain's participation in the war.

Led by Yamakawa Heibei, they were a group of people who kept trying to smooth things over and were essentially "slackers."

At this moment, the senior retainers of Aizu gathered in the council chamber numbered only about a dozen people, yet they were able to distinguish three distinct factions... It makes one sigh: factional strife is truly everywhere!

On the other hand, the Zhenfu Mansion was much quieter.

After all... they had no other choice.

The Aizu side could come up with a hundred reasons to refuse to send troops.

Only the Zhenfu Prefecture did not have this power.

As the Commander of the Capital Region, Qing Deng had no reason to stand idly by when unrest broke out in the capital region!

As if he could no longer tolerate his subordinates' antics, Matsudaira Katamori, who had been silent since earlier, suddenly reached out and slammed his hand on the low table in front of him—a loud bang that echoed throughout the hall.

"Alright! Quiet down!"

In an instant, the entire venue fell silent.

“If no different opinions can be put forward, it cannot be called a ‘military council’.”

"I sincerely welcome everyone here to express their opinions."

"But! Mutual mockery and insults are a different matter!"

"As pillars of Aizu, how can you act like a shrew from the countryside, repeatedly spewing insults?"

Please pay close attention!

The lord has spoken... Saigo Yorimoto and Sagawa Kanbei both bowed and apologized.

"...There is one thing that puzzles me."

Suddenly, Yamanami Keisuke spoke up.

Finally, someone from the Zhenfu Prefecture spoke up.

Matsudaira Katamori and other senior retainers of Aizu, including Saigo Yorimo, unconsciously listened intently.

"This uprising happened far too suddenly."

"Did they directly instigate the riot? Didn't they make any demands on the local lords?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at each other, as if trying to find the answer in each other's faces.

According to research, uprisings first began during the Muromachi period.

To be precise, a uprising does not necessarily have to be an armed rebellion; it is more like an "armed protest."

Farmers who are struggling to make ends meet usually negotiate based on their own demands—such as tax cuts and grain distribution—and only resort to armed uprisings when negotiations break down.

Typically, during periods of poor harvest, or when people suffer from the exploitation of usurers, riots are launched to demand the cancellation of annual tributes or to issue "benevolent decrees" declaring loan contracts invalid.

Generally speaking, in most cases, local lords—especially the lords of various domains—are happy to listen to and agree to the demands of the people when an uprising breaks out.

"Reducing the size of the domains" was always the basic national policy of the Edo Shogunate.

Looking back over the past two hundred years, countless families have suffered the loss of their fiefdoms, the relocation of their fiefdoms, and the abolition of their kingdoms.

If a large-scale peasant uprising breaks out, the local lord will definitely be in trouble.

Even if the rebellion is eventually quelled, the shogunate will impose severe punishments such as reducing the size of the domain, transferring the domain, or even abolishing the country altogether.

Therefore, whenever an uprising broke out in a certain place, the lord of that place would try his best to agree to the demands of the people in order to avoid the uprising from expanding in scale, for fear of being punished by the shogunate. As long as there was no armed rebellion, everything else was negotiable.

Just as everyone was puzzled by the suddenness of the uprising, Qing Deng's voice suddenly rang out:

"Let's think about this later."

"No matter what, what we need to do now remains the same—that is, to send troops and crush them!"

At this point, Qing Deng turned to look at Matsudaira Katamori.

"Due to its late formation, the Shinsengumi currently lacks a formidable cavalry, archer, and arquebus units."

"Lady Higo, how about this—could you lend me some of your cavalry, archers, and arquebusiers?"

"As long as I can get the support of these three... especially archers and arquebusiers, I am confident that I can defeat the enemy army!"

As he spoke, he leaned over to look at the map on the low table.

"The rebel army rose up in Ise and is heading towards Kyoto."

"In that case, the best place to intercept them..."

Qing Deng extended his right index finger, pressed it against the square black dot representing Kyoto on the map, and slowly slid it towards the lower right corner.

A moment later, his finger stopped somewhere southeast of Kyoto.

"Iga! We will meet the enemy forces in Iga!"

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P.S.: The Aizu clan elders appearing in this chapter are all historical figures. Just remember Saigo Yoriyuki's mother and Sagawa Kanbei; Aizu is an ally of Seito, so these two will have significant roles in the future.

Chapter 634 Purple Blade Iron Ox, General Leads the Banner Eastward to Battle! [4200]

As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, everyone in the room craned their necks to look over.

A barrage of scrutinizing gazes fell upon the map that Qing Deng was pointing to.

Maps from this era cannot be compared to satellite maps of the 21st century.

There are no contour lines, and no 3D terrain.

However, despite its simplicity, this map clearly marks the essential elements—roads, the distribution of important strongholds, the direction of mountain ranges, and so on.

Looking around, even someone completely unfamiliar with military geography can immediately tell how high the military value of Ise is after seeing the surrounding terrain and the roads that run through it.