I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The main character of today's official appointment ceremony was not carried in, but walked there on his own—if this were to spread, wouldn't it be a laughing stock?

There's no other way... No matter how painful or uncomfortable it is, I can only endure it.

Fortunately, the Imperial Palace is located in the heart of Kyoto, not far from Mibu-go.

In just a short while, the majestic Jianli Gate appeared before Qingdeng's eyes.

[Note: Kenreimon Gate: the main gate of the Imperial Palace, also known as the South Imperial Gate.]

After passing through Jianli Gate, turn left and proceed forward. You will see the various high-ranking officials and the imperial carriage in succession.

The Imperial Carriage Gate is an ancient Tang-style gate with a broken wind. When nobles and officials who could ascend the throne to meet the Emperor entered the palace, they had to change into shallow turbans specifically for audiences at the palace.

[Note: Karahafu: A common decorative element on the roof of the main entrance in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of recessed sides and a centrally projecting arch-shaped structure resembling a rain shelter.]

The character 浅沓 is derived from the ancient Chinese character 靸.

In Japan, "asata" generally refers to shoes made of leather with silk padding on the inside and black lacquer on the outside.

After changing shoes at the Imperial Carriage, one then passes through a corridor to enter the "Sakura Room" (for the gentry), "Tsuru Room" (for the courtiers), and "Tora Room" (for the nobles), which are divided into different ranks from west to east.

[Note: *Denjojin*: A mid-level official in the Japanese imperial court who served the Emperor.]

These three rooms are collectively referred to as "Shodaifu no Masa," which are three tatami rooms separated by Japanese-style sliding doors, with tiger, crane, and cherry blossom paintings on the doors.

Qing Deng was a scholar-official, so he naturally stayed in the Sakura-ma room, silently waiting for the Emperor's audience.

The waiting process was incredibly long...

It wasn't until about half an hour later that he finally received the imperial decree to be summoned to an audience.

Led by the messengers, he passed through the connecting corridors between the officials and entered the small imperial residence behind the Zichen Palace.

Zichen Hall is the main hall of the Imperial Palace. It is spacious, majestic, solemn and dignified. It is the main building in the main building complex of the Imperial Palace and is also known as the "South Hall" or "Front Hall".

Next to the Shishinden is the Seiryoden, also known as the Middle Hall, which is the Emperor's daily residence.

To the northeast of the Zichen Hall, there is a wooden structure with a juniper bark roof, called the "Small Imperial Palace".

Generally speaking, only extremely solemn ceremonies such as the Emperor's enthronement, the New Year's Day celebration, the White Horse Festival, the establishment of the Crown Prince, the coming-of-age ceremony, the abdication, and the revision of laws are held in the Shishinden Hall.

As for routine daily activities and administrative matters, they were carried out in the Seiryoden or the Kogosho.

The ceremony for Qing Deng's conferment of official titles was held at the Kogosho.

As soon as he entered the small palace, Qing Deng saw a large group of strange-looking people.

The description of "strange and unusual" here is not an exaggeration.

It is truly bizarre and grotesque!

Looking around, the small palace was already filled with well-dressed nobles on both sides.

Every time Qingdeng saw the appearance of a high-ranking official, he couldn't help but shiver and feel a chill run down his spine.

The reason is simple—the appearance of these nobles is just too creepy!

Although it is now the 19th century, the court nobles still retain the dress styles of the Nara and Heian periods.

Black teeth, white face, and imperial eyebrows—the "three-piece set" most beloved by nobles.

Teeth are stained black using a special black dye.

Her face was covered with a thick layer of white powder.

The custom of shaving or plucking eyebrows and then drawing an oblong shape with ink above them is called "palace eyebrows".

Just imagine this scene...

His face was pale, he had no eyebrows, and the places where eyebrows should have been were drawn with round black blocks. When he grinned, there were two rows of black teeth... It was really terrifying!

Qingdeng tried his best to keep his eyes straight ahead and not look at the officials on his left and right.

Otherwise, seeing too many of these nobles' terrifying appearances would really make him feel physically uncomfortable!

A moment later, Qingdeng saw some familiar faces.

The Aizu Domain lord, Matsudaira Katamori, led a group of retainers and sat in a corner of the small palace.

Because they were there to attend a court ceremony, Matsudaira Katamori and the others were dressed in solemn court attire.

Noticing Aoto's gaze, Matsudaira Katamori turned his head and nodded slightly to him, giving him a silent greeting from afar.

Matsudaira Katamori was a samurai nobleman, so he naturally wouldn't shave his eyebrows and paint his teeth like court nobles.

Looking at Matsudaira Katamori's normal appearance, Aoto felt relieved—this is what a human should look like!

Just then, Qing Deng suddenly felt a sharp gaze.

He followed the gaze and turned his head to look—he saw a rather young nobleman with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face, and an extremely ugly appearance, staring at him fiercely with an intriguing look in his eyes.

Upon realizing that Qing Deng had noticed him, the young nobleman immediately looked away and pretended nothing had happened.

Qingdeng immediately recognized the person.

This person was none other than the leader of the "Respect and Expulsion Faction" – Sanjō Sanetomi.

Simply put, this person can be considered his political enemy.

*******

*******

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Chapter 667 Counting the Spoils! A Huge Harvest! Countless Pieces of Money and Grain Seized! [5500]

Whenever the shogunate weakened, there would always be restless people in the Kyoto court.

For example, during the late Kamakura period, the two eastern expeditions of the Mongol army shook the rule of the Kamakura Shogunate.

The reigning emperor—the famous Emperor Go-Daigo—was quite ambitious and sought to regain control of the government.

He seized this golden opportunity presented by the decline of the Kamakura Shogunate, resolutely overthrowing the shogunate and wholeheartedly dedicating himself to restoring the imperial court.

In the end, he actually succeeded.

Through a series of maneuvers, he persuaded Ashikaga Takauji, a general of the Kamakura Shogunate, to defect, destroy the Kamakura Shogunate, and regain control of the country.

However, not long after, Ashikaga Takauji had an irreconcilable conflict with the imperial court due to the classic "unequal distribution of the pie," so he rebelled and established the second shogunate in Japanese history (the Muromachi Shogunate). The imperial court had not even had time to warm up its "power" before it was taken away again—but that's another story.

The massive invasion by Western powers; the opening of the country's doors; the signing of a series of unequal treaties; the assassination of the chief minister Ii Naosuke; the inability to maintain national order... These embarrassing situations led to the gradual loss of the authority of the Edo Shogunate.

Thus, just like Emperor Go-Daigo in the past, "passionate individuals" emerged within the court who took it upon themselves to "restore the authority of the court."

Sanjo Minami is a representative figure among them.

Led by Sanjo Sanetomi, a group of young court nobles plotted to overthrow the shogunate and restore the imperial court's rule over the entire country.

As it turns out, factional strife is truly ubiquitous.

Not only were there factional struggles within the shogunate, but there were also factional struggles within the imperial court.

The younger generation is always associated with "radicalism," while the older generation is always associated with "conservatism"—this has been true throughout history.

The court nobles who advocated "the supremacy of the imperial court" were mostly young and promising figures like Sanjo Sanetomi.

Those older retainers, such as the former Kanpaku Kujō Naotada, who was born in the 10th year of Kansei (1798), believed that the existence of the shogunate was essential, that the court and the shogunate should not be in opposition, that harmony should be valued, and that the union of the court and the military was the right path.

The former uses the "Respect and Expel" movement as a pretext—that if we cannot expel foreign aggression today, the term "conquest of the barbarians" is meaningless! The Edo Shogunate is no longer fit to rule this country!

The latter used "ancestral laws" as a shield—"Politics is handled by Tokugawa, and sacrifices are performed by the Imperial Family"—this is the ancestral law! Anyone who dares to change the ancestral rules will lose their head!

The two factions fought fiercely, and both sides had their own reasons for their arguments.

The former criticized the latter as pedantic, an unambitious, and treacherous minister who betrayed the emperor and served Tokugawa.

The latter criticized the former for being foolish, saying that since the Kamakura period, the court nobles had lived a leisurely life of playing with birds and composing poems for more than 700 years, and were completely ignorant of the current national situation and international situation. How could they govern the country?

Even if we regain power, can we govern the country well?

In the end, they still had to entrust the important task of governing the country to others, resulting in the loss of power once again!

Generally speaking, in this fierce partisan struggle, the "respectful and rebellious nobles" currently have the upper hand.

One of the main reasons for this is that they have strong external support.

In 1862, the Choshu Domain seized the opportunity presented by the vacuum of order in Kyoto and quickly sent troops to Kyoto to take control of the imperial court.

They provided both money and manpower to strongly support the "respectful and rebellious faction of officials".

Soon after, the Tosa Domain also joined in sponsoring them.

Thus, by relying on the Choshu Domain and the Tosa Domain, the power of the "Sōyō-fū" faction of court nobles greatly increased.

The "centrist ministers" who were originally wavering between the two factions also sided with the Zunxiang camp under the fierce offensive of the two vassal states' financial power.

To prevent the "pro-shogunate court nobles" from gaining too much power, the Nagato and Tochi domains even sent people to closely monitor the palace, in order to prevent the court nobles from making unauthorized contact with the shogunate and pro-shogunate forces.

Having lost the initiative, even if the shogunate wanted to support the "pro-shogunate court nobles," it became extremely difficult.

Furthermore, the theoretical propositions of the "pro-shogunate nobles" were weaker than those of their counterparts.

The Edo Shogunate was no longer as powerful as it once was, and could no longer suppress the various villains—this is an undeniable fact.

The claim by the pro-shogunate nobles that "the shogunate is very important and its existence is indispensable" is simply unconvincing.

The theory is untenable, and it is inherently at a disadvantage compared to its opponent.

This makes it even more difficult for them to defeat figures like Sanjo Saneyoshi in factional struggles.

In short, for Sanjo Sanetomi and others who were determined to restore the prestige of the imperial court, Aoto, who was now a senior retainer of the shogunate and a general of the shogunate army, was naturally a thorn in their side.

Therefore, it's no wonder that he glared at Qingdeng with such ill intent.

Despite the blatant malice displayed by Mitsumi Sanjo, Aoto didn't even flinch, simply turning his gaze away and ignoring her presence.

Qing Deng never took Sanjo Sanetomi seriously... or rather, he never took the court nobles seriously.

Admittedly, the imperial court and its officials wielded considerable cultural influence.

If one can gain the support of these people, one can be like Cao Cao who welcomed Emperor Xian of Han, and thus have an overwhelming moral advantage in everything one does.

However, that's about all it does.

This group of people who only know how to write poems, lyrics, and sing songs, and who wear ghostly makeup every day, are nothing but "flowers," not "brocade."