I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Mr. Iwakura! It's been a long time!"

Iwakura Tomomi smiled knowingly.

"Mr. Gui, it's been a long time."

Katsura Kogoro always valued Iwakura Tomomi highly and maintained contact with him.

In 1862, he was forced to resign from his official post, become a monk, and was forbidden from going out. Katsura Kogoro did not neglect him and continued to visit him as always.

Katsura Kogoro favored Iwakura Tomomi because of his outstanding talent and his prominent status as a court noble.

Having a highly capable ally among the court officials is definitely a win-win situation.

"Mr. Iwakura, where have you been all this time? I've been looking for you, but I can't find you anywhere."

Iwakura Tomomi shook his head with a wry smile.

"To my shame, after rescuing His Majesty and the Crown Prince, I went straight to Changzhou."

"Unexpectedly, before even reaching the border of Changzhou, we received news of a coup d'état launched by the 'popular faction'."

"I had no choice but to find a place to hide and observe how the situation would develop."

"Thanks to Mr. Gui's heroic prowess, the 'conventional school' will be wiped out in no time, like grasshoppers in autumn."

"After receiving definite intelligence that the 'righteous faction' had regained control of Changzhou, I rushed here to meet you without stopping."

After speaking, Iwakura Tomomi paused for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Mr. Gui, things have come to this point, and I have no way back. I can only fight alongside you and make a huge scene together!"

Upon hearing this, Katsura Kogoro nodded vigorously with an excited expression.

"Mr. Iwakura, let's turn this place upside down!"

Iwakura Tomomi brought the Emperor and the Crown Prince to seek refuge in Choshu... For Choshu, this was undoubtedly a timely help.

Although the Emperor has no soldiers under his command and only a prestigious title, if used properly, it can be a trump card!

The news that the Emperor and the Crown Prince are in Choshu will surely greatly inspire the fighting spirit of those who uphold righteousness!

Thinking of this, Katsura Kogoro couldn't help but feel his heart surge with emotion.

However, at that moment, a very important question suddenly occurred to him, and he immediately asked:

"Mr. Iwakura, where is His Majesty?"

The physical condition of the royal children and the court officials was truly one of extreme weakness after another!

Their daily entertainment consisted of composing poems and essays. They were extremely sedentary and had a very unhealthy diet. No matter what kind of dish it was, it all tasted the same—tasteless and devoid of any nutritional value.

The distance from Kyoto to Choshu is not short.

The Emperor and Crown Prince's delicate bodies might not be able to withstand the long journey.

Fortunately, Katsura Kogoro soon received a reassuring reply:

"His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince are both safe. However..."

The final word, "but," made Katsura Kogoro's heart, which had just settled down, jump again.

"But what?"

Iwakura Tomomi replied with a complex expression:

"His Majesty is unwilling to come to Choshu, unwilling to be an enemy of the Shogunate, and unwilling to participate in the Sogekyou Movement."

"He has recently gone on a hunger strike in protest."

"No matter who tries to persuade me, it's no use."

Katsura Kogoro was taken aback upon hearing this.

"His Majesty is on a hunger strike...this..."

He muttered to himself, grinning with a complicated expression.

The current emperor's political stance is known to all.

He has no intention of changing the current political order of "government is controlled by Tokugawa, but sacrifices are performed by the emperor," and only wants to maintain the status quo.

The trigger for the "August 18th Coup" was that the Emperor was unwilling to get involved in the Sovereignty Movement, let alone be a puppet of the Shogunate. Therefore, he sent a secret edict to Matsudaira Katamori (Lord of Aizu Domain), which gave Seito and others the righteous cause to raise an army.

Despite being the supreme leader of the pro-imperial faction (in name only), he was loyal to the shogunate... This is roughly the essence of so-called "black humor".

Despite feeling helpless, Katsura Kogoro composed himself and solemnly said to Iwakura Tomomi:

"Lord Iwakura, please persuade His Majesty that his health is of utmost importance."

Iwakura Tomomi nodded slightly.

"That's natural, I will do my best."

He paused at this point.

He seemed to be organizing his words.

About five seconds later, he spoke again—his tone lower:

“Mr. Gui, we can persuade him for a while, but not forever.”

“If His Majesty continues to oppose us, we will be in a very difficult position.”

"Therefore, it would be better to..."

At this point, he raised his right hand and made a "beheading" gesture at his neck.

"Kill the Emperor! Install Crown Prince Mutsuhito on the throne!"

*******

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Chapter 1030 Establishing the "Satsuma-Choshu Alliance"! Sakamoto Ryoma's Volunteerism [4500]

Before the other person could finish speaking, Katsura Kogoro's eyes widened, his face filled with intense horror.

Because he couldn't believe his ears, he couldn't help but ask:

"What did you say?"

Iwakura Tomomi smiled slightly and explained in detail, unhurriedly:

"His Majesty is loyal to the Shogunate and is constantly making things difficult for us."

"It's fine for the time being."

"But how can this continue indefinitely?"

"In that case, let's just replace him with an obedient emperor."

"His Highness the Crown Prince is only thirteen years old and easy to control."

“If conditions permit, we might as well get rid of His Majesty and put the Crown Prince on the throne.”

This time, Iwakura Tomomi explained in exceptional detail, leaving no room for error.

Katsura Kogoro gasped, his face turning slightly pale.

After a short while, he took several deep breaths to suppress the shock and fear in his heart.

"Mr. Iwakura, do you know what you're saying? How can we, as subjects, commit regicide?"

His tone was very strong, conveying a sense of condemnation.

However... no sooner had he finished speaking than Iwakura Tomomi shrugged and chuckled as if he had heard an amusing joke.

"As a subject, how can one commit regicide... Mr. Gui, these words are only good for fooling fools, don't fool yourself."

With just that one sentence, he shut Katsura Kogoro up.

Loyal retainers of the Emperor... do exist, but they certainly do not include Katsura Kogoro.

From beginning to end, Katsura Kogoro had no loyalty whatsoever to the court or the imperial family.

His view of the Emperor has always been consistent—a very useful tool.

Whether it's supporting the imperial court or treating the royal family with courtesy, it's all just a formality.

After all, their political slogan was "Respect the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians," so even if they were unwilling, they had to grit their teeth and acknowledge the Emperor as their supreme ruler.

Initially, the "Zunxiang faction" was divided into two factions.

One faction, represented by Kusaka Genzui, genuinely wanted to restore the authority of the court and the royal family and achieve a return to the old ways of benevolent rule.

The other faction, represented by Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kogoro, used the guise of "respecting the emperor and overthrowing the shogunate" to actually overthrow the shogunate! They seized this once-in-a-millennium opportunity to overthrow the shogunate and establish an immortal legacy!

With the passing of Hisaka Genzui, the former has completely disappeared, and the latter has become the leader of the "Revere the Exile Faction".

In other words, the "Revere the Expedition Faction" is now essentially the "Anti-Shogunate Faction"!

To overthrow the shogunate, a slogan that could stand the test of time and win over the hearts of the people was needed—and "Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians" was an excellent choice.

The vast majority of scholars and commoners had very low levels of education, but were full of enthusiasm.

Therefore, the only way to hypnotize and exploit them is through a religious-like approach—repeatedly emphasizing "respect for the emperor and expulsion of barbarians," making them believe that what they are doing is right, and filling them with hatred for the shogunate.

To put it bluntly, "Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians" is just a slogan, essentially the same as "Amitabha."

Only fools would actually believe in the so-called "respect the emperor and expel the barbarians." The leadership, headed by Katsura Kogoro and Ōmura Masujirō, scoffed at it.

Now that things have come to this, anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that the "barbarians" cannot be driven away, and that "learning from the barbarians' superior techniques" is the only way out.

While shouting "Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians," they also learned from the barbarians' superior skills without any psychological burden... Thus, the strange phenomenon of shouting "Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians" but having no resistance to using Western equipment such as guns and cannons appeared.

In fact, let alone the Emperor with whom he had almost no relationship, even his own lord, whom he saw frequently, was not loyal to Katsura Kogoro in the slightest.

The "righteous faction," the "popular faction," and even the neutral faction—none of them respected Mori Takachika.

This was partly due to Mori Takachika's utter incompetence.