I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Takasugi, I'm really starting to look down on you more and more."

"It's truly unbelievable that you can call yourself 'The Madman of the Western Sea'."

"Stop calling him 'The Madman of the Western Sea'! Let's call him 'The Turtle of the Western Sea' instead!"

"All you do is fight for power and profit, and play your petty tricks, completely forgetting the greater good!"

Takasugi Shinsaku frowned instantly, his long, thin face suddenly tightening.

"What did you say?"

"Recklessly throwing your life away, jeopardizing the overall situation, using a samurai sword to withstand the Western barbarians' naval cannons—is this your 'righteousness'?"

As he spoke, he grabbed the sword beside his leg, stood up abruptly, and faced Kusaka Genzui menacingly.

Kusaka Genzui did not back down either. He narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Takasugi Shinsaku.

Seeing this, Katsura Kogoro hurriedly got up and rushed between Takasugi Shinsaku and Kusaka Genzui, using his body to separate the two.

"Alright, alright! Stop arguing!"

"We are all from Changzhou, and we are all fellow disciples!"

"What kind of behavior is this, brothers fighting amongst themselves!"

When people talk about the "Three Heroes of Changzhou", their first impression is often that they are outstanding, extremely outstanding.

He was handsome and accomplished in both literary and martial arts.

All three studied under the philosopher Yoshida Shoin and were fellow students. Takasugi Shinsaku and Hisaka Genzui were even known as the "Yoshida Duo".

In reality, outsiders often don't understand that the three of them are not entirely of one mind.

As the old saying goes—partisan strife is fucking everywhere!

It wasn't just the shogunate and the imperial court that had factional strife; even the Choshu Domain had its own factional struggles.

The Choshu Domain was divided into two major factions: the "popular faction" and the "righteous faction".

The former was close to the shogunate and consistently aligned himself with it in political alignment.

The latter disliked the shogunate and advocated for the expulsion of foreigners.

The "righteous faction," which was inclined towards respect and justice, was further divided into two factions: the "slippery faction" led by Shinsaku Takasugi and Kogoro Katsura, and the "hardline faction" led by Genzui Kusaka.

Although both sides used the banner of "expelling the barbarians," the difference between the two can be seen just from their names.

The Slippery Faction – as the name suggests, their ideas and beliefs are very slippery.

Both Shinsaku Takasugi and Kogoro Katsura were well aware of the power of the Western countries.

For them, the so-called "expelling the barbarians" was nothing more than a slogan, a useful weapon—a weapon specifically designed to deal with the shogunate.

As for the hardliners, it's much simpler—they only wanted to expel the foreigners, and opposing the shogunate was just a side effect, because the shogunate was unwilling to expel the foreigners, so they opposed the shogunate.

Previously, Shinsaku Takasugi, like Genzui Kusaka, was one of the most steadfast hardliners.

It wasn't until his trip to Shanghai last year that Shinsaku Takasugi changed his mind.

Last year, in February of the second year of Bunkyū (1862), when the shogunate dispatched the "Chitose Maru" to Shanghai for trade, Takasugi Shinsaku went on the ship with Godai Tomoaki of the Satsuma Domain and Nakamura no Suke of the Saga Domain.

During his two-month stay in Shanghai, Shinsaku Takasugi took every possible measure to observe the situation in China.

During his stay, he personally recorded what he saw, heard, and thought: foreign merchant ships shuttled and competed in the port of Tianjin, foreign trading houses lined the streets, squads of sailors disembarked from warships to carry out missions, and the Waibaidu Bridge over the Suzhou River was open to foreigners free of charge...

He astutely pointed out: "Shanghai is now practically a British colony," and "This is by no means a fire across the river... Who can guarantee that our country will not suffer the same fate? How perilous!"

Furthermore, through this trip to Shanghai, he clearly realized that the future belonged to modern cannons and warships!

Thus, after returning to China from Shanghai, he transformed from a hardliner to a cunning one, and began to clash with Genzui Hisaka, who had always adhered to a hardline approach.

In reality, Genzui Kusaka was not a fool with a narrow view of the world.

He actually had a good understanding of the strength of the Western countries.

However, he was an idealist: he would rather die a glorious death than live a life of dishonor.

He could never get over that hurdle in his heart—how could a man like him stand by and watch Westerners run rampant?

Even if there is no chance of winning, we must fight to the bitter end—this is Kusaka Genzui's inner thought.

Hisaka Genzui represented the thoughts and ideas of a large number of people who respected and opposed the government.

"..."

Kusaka Genzui glanced at Katsura Kogoro, then at Takasugi Shinsaku, before quickly leaving without a word.

"Hey! Wait! Kusaka! I haven't finished speaking!"

Shinsaku Takasugi chased after him.

A faint reply came from afar:

"You haven't said enough, but I've already heard enough."

……

……

Even the heroes of Satsuma and Choshu were bewildered by Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu's bizarre actions, let alone the likes of Seito in the Shogunate camp.

No matter how you look at it, Yoshiki Hitotsubashi's actions are incomprehensible.

In no time, the saying that "Kijima has gone mad" spread throughout Kyoto and beyond.

Aoto, Matsudaira Katamori, and other high-ranking officials of the shogunate currently stationed in Kyoto took turns heading straight for Nijo Castle, determined to demand an explanation from Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu.

Especially Aoto and Matsudaira Katamori—both of them were generals with troops under their command.

If war were to break out with the Western countries, they would be the first to be affected.

The Shinsengumi are still considered a classical army and have not yet transformed into a modern force with guns and cannons.

Fighting against the armies of Western countries... let alone the strongest British and French armies, even the American and Russian armies could easily suppress the Shinsengumi.

Even Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin were caught off guard.

According to Tenshōin himself, after learning about the antics of Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, Tokugawa Iemochi personally demonstrated the dramatic scene of "suddenly sitting up in shock while on his deathbed."

Thus, Yoshiki Hitotsubashi, who had incurred public wrath, was surrounded and confronted by the crowd.

However, he turned into a coward.

He locked himself in his room, refusing to see any guests or go out.

Even when Tokugawa Iemochi issued a strict order, he refused to leave his room, citing "illness."

Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu was, after all, a senior official to the shogun and the spiritual leader of the "Hitotsubashi faction." He refused to see anyone, and Tokugawa Iemochi was powerless to do anything about it.

A day later, on May 8th, everyone learned a shocking piece of news—Yoshiki Hitotsubashi had run away!

Late at night on May 7th, he quietly left Nijo Castle and sneaked back to Edo!

By the time everyone learned of his whereabouts, he had already crossed Otsu and was swaggering back to Edo.

He did not inform anyone in advance of his "sneak trip".

Even Matsudaira Haruaki was kept in the dark.

With Yoshiki Hitotsubashi absconding, everyone's anger could only be directed at Haruaki Matsudaira.

Faced with the public's accusations, Matsudaira Haruaki was utterly speechless with frustration.

Ultimately, under pressure, Matsudaira Haruaki had no choice but to tell the truth.

Thus, after Matsudaira Haruaki's "decryption," everyone finally learned the real reason why Hitotsubashi Yoshiki boasted that "the expulsion of foreigners will begin on May 10th"—there was no special reason.

There was no careful consideration involved.

There were no further tricks up their sleeves.

It was just a passing whim.

Yes, it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing!

To be more precise, it was just a moment of impulsiveness!

The endless, nonsensical debates, the relentless verbal attacks from people like Sanjo Minami, and the immense mental pressure... Hitotsubashi Yoshiki was thoroughly annoyed by all of this.

Out of spite, he gave up on himself and made a promise to expel the barbarians, casually making up a date of "May 10th".

To be honest, Qing Deng didn't even know how to react to this result...

It's no exaggeration to say that when Qingdeng learned the truth, his vision went white and he didn't recover for a long time.

A serious political struggle ended up like a child's play.

Although such a result is absurd, it also has a certain degree of rationality.

When ordinary people look at politicians, they always unconsciously apply a special filter.

They believed these politicians were all exceptionally intelligent, first-rate individuals.

He is resourceful, has a broad vision, and every move he makes is full of profound meaning.

Even something as simple as rolling one's eyes in public can be interpreted in multiple ways by busybodies.

In reality, aside from a very few political machines like Liu Bang, Qianlong, and Pismarck who could completely abandon personal feelings and only care about gains and losses, the vast majority of politicians are ordinary human beings.

Since we are ordinary human beings, we have normal emotions and desires, and we will always make mistakes.

Yoshiki Hitotsubashi is just a young man, only 26 years old this year, in the prime of his life.

It is perfectly normal for a young person like him to have his will dominated by his emotions.

Moreover, Tenshōin had previously warned Aōdō that Ichihashi Yoshiki was a very emotional person.

Thus, thanks to Yoshiki Ichibashi's "blessing," Aoto truly experienced what it means for "plans to fail to keep up with changes."

He originally thought that the shogunate would definitely not be manipulated by the imperial court, so he did not even consider the possibility that the shogunate would agree to expel the barbarians.

In reality, what's the point of considering it?

What's the point of thinking about how to escape when a meteorite larger than Earth is about to hit us?

What gives the current shogunate the right to challenge the Western nations?

The Shinsengumi had differing reactions to this sudden and imminent war to expel the barbarians.