I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Adding flowers to brocade... the existence of "brocade" is necessary for the existence of "flowers" to become meaningful.

A powerful army, abundant funds, and popular support—these three things, especially the support of the people, are the true treasures!

If you have no soldiers, no money, and no popular support, what use is it even if you have the support of all the officials in the court?

What can these demons and monsters do for you? Will they sing to you to cheer you up when you're extremely bored?

Therefore, Qing Deng never considered "winning over the nobles" as his primary task.

Building up the army, making money, and winning over the people are the top priorities!

As long as the army is well-trained and the people are willing to support it, gaining the support of the nobles will be a natural outcome.

Ultimately, the court officials and the Duke Yansheng are all the same – they side with whoever wins!

The investiture ceremony was a very solemn event, so the entire small palace was very quiet, almost silent.

Qing Deng sat quietly in the center of the small palace, waiting.

After waiting for another half hour, the most important attendee finally made his appearance.

Stroking, stroking, stroking, stroking, stroking, stroking...

Suddenly, Qing Deng heard a faint sound coming from ahead—the sound of silk stockings rubbing against the tatami mat.

Behind the semi-transparent curtain directly in front of them, a thin figure appeared.

The man walked leisurely into the small palace, then sat down lightly.

Although this person's every move was incredibly frustrating, it is undeniable that he was very dignified.

The fact that this person made a grand entrance and was seated behind the curtain... makes their identity quite obvious.

It was none other than the current Emperor, Norihito.

The imperial family is said to be descendants of Amaterasu, the creator goddess in Japanese mythology, and is also the supreme leader of Shintoism.

To highlight their divinity, the Imperial Family does not have surnames; male members are all named "X-Jin" and female members are all named "X-Miya".

When meeting with his subjects, the Emperor usually sits behind a semi-transparent curtain.

This curtain is called a "royal curtain".

There are many reasons for this.

First, from a historical perspective, in order to maintain the symbolic and exalted status of the Emperor, the Emperor often sat behind a curtain, using symbolic presence to reinforce his position.

Secondly, from a traditional perspective, the Japanese Imperial Family has always upheld a conservative and closed-minded ideology, demanding the maintenance of the purity and dignity of the Imperial Family.

Under this traditional view, the Emperor, as the core of the Imperial Family, needs to maintain a certain degree of mystery and privacy.

Finally, from a etiquette perspective, the Japanese Emperor standing behind the curtain also conforms to Japan's unique etiquette norms.

The imperial court had a strict system of etiquette, especially regarding the rules for dealing with superiors.

The Emperor holds a lofty position, and as the supreme ruler, he needs to project an image of authority and dignity.

Staying behind the curtain creates a solemn and mysterious atmosphere, reflecting the Emperor's dignity and majesty as head of state.

The Emperor has appeared, and everyone who was supposed to be there has arrived. The investiture ceremony can finally begin officially.

First, one must bow to the Emperor.

The Minister of Rites, who was in charge of matters such as rites and music—similar to the Minister of Rites—led the group in bowing to Tongren.

Then came a whole host of etiquette activities that Qingdeng couldn't name.

These etiquette procedures are outrageously complicated!

Finally, the imperial edict appointing officials was read aloud.

The person in charge of announcing the imperial edict was the current Kanpaku Takashi Fukichi.

He sat upright directly beneath the imperial curtain, keeping his eyes down and his mind at ease throughout the entire process before receiving the imperial edict.

He slowly unfurled the imperial edict, then, drawing out the last syllable, he read aloud the edict appointing Qingdeng to an official post in a very difficult-to-understand, high-pitched tone, like that of a eunuch.

“诏

"Using mediocrity as a golden mirror, compromising political achievements with the Three Virtues, accepting imperial decrees with ignorance, enhancing virtue with the Bright One, never dreaming of a wise advisor, who can offer advice?"

"Minamoto no Moriharu, the Pacification Commissioner of the Capital Region, whose name is Tsubasa Hikaru, whose power is awe-inspiring, who is the bulwark of the capital, loyal and selfless, a pillar of the Fujiwara clan, a man of extraordinary talent, capable of handling all matters, great and small..."

This lengthy and drawn-out speaking style is very hypnotic.

During the process of listening to the imperial edict, Qingdeng could not move around at will and had to remain completely still.

So, to pass the time, Aoto quietly raised his gaze and glanced at Emperor Tonin, whom he rarely saw on ordinary days.

Although the curtain obscured his view, with the help of his "Fiery Eyes +5" talent, he was able to barely make out Tongren's appearance.

Tong-in is very thin, with a long, thin, eggplant-shaped face.

His features are very similar to those of the princess, which is understandable, since they are half-siblings.

[Note: Princess Zhuwa was the wife of Tokugawa Iemochi. In order to ease the conflict between the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, she married Tokugawa Iemochi in 1862 under the strong impetus of the Kōbu Gattai faction.]

Tongren was born in the second year of the Tianbao era (1831), and is only 32 years old this year.

At the prime of his life, he should be full of energy.

However, his face was etched with the marks of hardship and fatigue.

Although it was not very clear, Qing Deng did observe that Tong Ren's brows were filled with a strong sense of dejection, and at first glance, he seemed to lack energy and spirit.

Seeing Tongren's appearance reminded Qing Deng of the secret rumor circulating in the city—that the "pro-imperial court nobles" led by Sanjo Sanetomi had colluded with the Choshu Domain, and that the two had worked together to control the discourse in the court, imprisoning Tongren and using the emperor to command the feudal lords!

Whether the Tosa Domain was involved is unknown.

Satoshi Naruhito did not dislike the shogunate.

He simply disliked Westerners and hoped that the Tokugawa clan could assume the role of Shogun and expel the foreign barbarians.

That is why he reacted so strongly when the shogunate signed the Ansei Five Nations Treaty (1858).

He actually supported the existence of the shogunate.

In other words, he is a staunch supporter of the union of public and military forces.

Otherwise, he would not have agreed to let his sister, Kazumiya, who was already engaged, marry far away to Edo.

For the pro-independence forces, Tong Ren's political stance was absolutely fatal!

Their banner was "Respect the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians," and Tongren was their spiritual leader.

Their own spiritual leader is actually a supporter of the enemy... In this way, all the theories and actions of the pro-revolutionary faction will become ridiculous.

Therefore, the purpose of the Choshu Domain's strict surveillance of the Imperial Palace was not only to restrict the interactions between court nobles and the shogunate forces, but also to prevent Nobuhito from contacting the outside world and to keep Nobuhito's true voice from being known to the outside world!

Not only that, it is said that they even dared to forge imperial edicts!

It is said... and it really is just a rumor! The imperial edicts currently urging the shogunate to expel the barbarians as soon as possible and urging Tokugawa Iemochi to come to Kyoto to discuss the expulsion plan were all forged by Choshu Domain patriots and Sanjo Sanetomi and others!

The truth remains shrouded in mystery, with many conflicting opinions...

If this is true, then the patriots of Choshu Domain and the "respectful and rebellious nobles" are truly despicable hypocrites.

They kept talking about "respecting the king and expelling the barbarians," praising Tongren to a high position, but in reality they were doing despicable things that betrayed their promises.

Qingdeng's thoughts wandered... Before he knew it, the lengthy imperial edict had quietly come to an end.

After rattling off a long string of words, Takatsukasa Fusuke finally got to the last sentence: "Ziten appoints you as the Grand Chancellor of the Ministry of War."

Qingdeng stretched out his hands, took the imperial edict, and also accepted his official seal.

Thus, today's investiture ceremony... no, this nearly half-month-long battle of Iga has finally come to a clean end.

However, perhaps because he felt the heavy atmosphere inside the palace today, Qing Deng suddenly had a premonition: before long, an even more intense battle would be coming!

……

……

The resounding victory in the Battle of Iga brought many benefits to Aoto.

This battle added another new legend to his story.

Examples of such feats, like "two hundred against ten thousand, defeating the enemy in a single day" and "pursuing victory and advancing over a hundred li in a day and night," are too numerous to mention.

In addition to being described as an "unparalleled swordsmanship genius," he is also known as a "general who strategizes like a god," a "captain of the Shinsengumi who can take on a thousand men," and a "master of castle construction who plans ahead."

In addition, Aoto's reputation within the Aizu Domain improved significantly.

Initially, the samurai of Aizu only had one impression of Tachibana Seito – they were not very familiar with him.

Aizu is located in the remote northeastern region, and due to inconvenient transportation, they do not have the same deep affection for Aoto as the people of Kanto.

In fact, people in other regions are the same.

Basically only people from the Kanto region are familiar with Seido and know how powerful Niou is.

People from other regions had only heard of Qingdeng's name and knew that he seemed to be an extraordinary hero, but they knew little else about him.

The Aizu soldiers who came as guest troops to participate in the Battle of Iga all witnessed Aoto's unparalleled heroism and, under Aoto's leadership, made outstanding contributions in this battle.

This made the Aizu soldiers stationed in Kyoto, who were unable to participate in the battle, extremely envious.

Incidentally, among the Aizu soldiers who participated in the Battle of Iga, only Sagawa Kanbei failed to gain any merit.

Because he was in prison, he stayed there until the war ended.

Article 1 of the Shinsengumi Law: All actions must be in accordance with orders.

Anyone who violates this rule will be beheaded!

Sagawa Kanbei ignored Aoto's order "not to engage in battle without authorization" and advanced recklessly with light troops, resulting in the loss of several valuable cavalrymen before the battle even began, which damaged the morale of his own side.

According to the military regulations set by Aoto, Sagawa Kanbei should have been executed in public long ago.

However, Sagawa Kanbei was, after all, a guest general, and it was ultimately inappropriate to use the Shinsengumi Laws to restrain him.

Moreover, Sagawa Kanbei was a member of the Aizu Domain.

The relationship between the Shinsengumi and the Aizu Domain was already quite delicate.

The "self-preservation faction" within the Aizu Domain, led by its chief retainer Saigo Yorimo, had been seeking an opportunity to withdraw the Aizu Domain from the chaos in Kyoto, to stop participating in the conflict between the pro-shogunate faction and the pro-impeachment faction, and to return to their own little corner of the land to live a peaceful life away from the world.

If Sagawa Kanbei were executed without authorization, it would give Saigo Yorimo and others a handle to use against them, which would be detrimental to future cooperation between the two sides.