I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

In order not to provoke the "Northern Court", Saigo Kinosuke and Katsura Kogoro carefully kept the news secret after signing the alliance in Shimonoseki, never letting the outside world know that Satsuma and Choshu had made peace and formed an alliance.

The two factions maintained a facade of "no interaction" and "mutual hostility," successfully deceiving the spies sent by Qingdeng.

Now that the "Western Alliance" has been formed, there is no need to continue to conceal it.

All sorts of previously blocked information are now being leaked out all at once.

With the lifting of the information censorship, Qingdeng was able to learn more about the inside story.

It is said that two debaters played a very important role in the formation of the "Western Country Alliance": one was Sakamoto Ryoma, and the other was Nakaoka Shintaro, both of whom were Tosa ronin.

Qing Deng didn't know much about the latter, but he had heard of the former before.

He had heard of "Sakamoto Ryoma" when he was still an unknown Edo Doshin.

He studied at the Chiba Kenkan, where he was classmates with Sanako and Yamanami Keisuke.

His swordsmanship talent was exceptionally high. Even in the Chiba Sword Hall, where masters were numerous, he was one of the best. He once won the championship in a very high-level swordsmanship competition, which made him famous in Edo and made him a well-known genius swordsman at the time.

Chiba Sadakichi and Chiba Jutaro both held him in high regard, and even the usually arrogant Sanako respected him greatly.

After finishing his studies at the Chiba Kenkan, he returned to Tosa and never returned to Edo. He disappeared without a trace, and even Chiba Sadakichi and Sanako did not know his whereabouts.

Aoto's understanding of Sakamoto Ryoma was limited to this.

Given that Aoto is considered half a disciple of the Chiba Sword Hall, Sakamoto Ryoma is also considered half a senior disciple of him.

He never expected that he would hear that name again in this way.

Legend has it that after facilitating the "Satsuma-Choshu Alliance," Sakamoto Ryoma traveled alone to Tosa.

Through the introduction of Goto Shojiro, he met with Yamanouchi Yodo, the former lord of the Tosa Domain.

What they talked about remains unknown.

All that is known is that after the talks, Yamanouchi Dodo agreed to form an alliance with Satsuma and Choshu!

Thus, the "Sarchang Alliance" became the "Sarchang Tu Alliance".

Upon learning that Tosa had sided with Satsuma and Nagato, the Hizen Domain, which had been hesitant, immediately changed its attitude—with Tosa joining the cause, defeating the Southern Shogunate was no longer a pipe dream!

Finally, under Shintaro Nakaoka's strong persuasion, the last of the four powerful western domains also left his name and fingerprint on the alliance agreement.

Everything unfolded exactly as Saigo Kinosuke had planned: the "dominoes" were toppled, creating a chain reaction!

If Tosa is settled, then Hizen will be settled; if Hizen is settled, then the western provinces will be greatly pacified!

The establishment of the "Western Alliance" once again destabilized the world situation.

Needless to say, the Eastern Kingdom was greatly alarmed.

Encouraged, some minor, insignificant vassal states in the West rushed to join the "Western Alliance."

The various domains in western Japan were mostly outzama daimyo, who had long suffered oppression from the shogunate and could easily be subjected to severe punishments such as reduction or relocation of their fiefdoms.

Previously, they dared not speak out against the unreasonable bullying by the shogunate.

Now, an opportunity to overthrow the shogunate and rebuild the world order is right in front of them... How could they not be tempted?

Although these small domains were weak, with few soldiers and poor equipment, they could at least boost morale. Therefore, Saigo Kinosuke and others did not discriminate and accepted them all, continuously expanding the ranks of the "Western Country Alliance".

The turmoil caused by the establishment of the "Western Alliance" goes far beyond this.

Shortly after Saigo Kinosuke and others announced that the "Western Country Alliance" had been formed, the long-silent "Northern Shogunate" also made a move—Tokugawa Yoshinobu issued a statement: the "Northern Shogunate" will stand with the "Western Country Alliance" through thick and thin!

Like a double act, no sooner had Tokugawa Yoshinobu finished speaking than the "Western Alliance" responded, acknowledging the "Northern Shogunate" as the legitimate shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshinobu as the rightful and legitimate fifteenth Shogun, Tokugawa Iemochi as deceased, Tachibana Aoto as having usurped the power of the samurai class, and calling on the righteous and patriotic people of the "Southern Shogunate" to rise up against Tachibana Aoto's tyrannical rule.

It's obvious that the "Northern Shogunate" had already reached an agreement with the Western Kingdom! They were just waiting to announce it to the public!

Following the court, the western country has now acquired the right to claim the title of the samurai.

In terms of the "righteousness" they hold, the Western Kingdom is in no way inferior to the Eastern Kingdom!

The Northern Shogunate completely sided with the Southern Court; the Southern Shogunate and the Northern Court were interdependent... Thus, the spheres of influence of the two major camps in the east and west were completely divided!

The "Southern Dynasty" of "Western Alliance" + "Northern Shogunate".

The "Northern Dynasties" of "Southern Shogunate" + "Samu vassals".

Both sides have completed their war preparations... A decisive battle to determine the fate of the world, like the Battle of Sekigahara, is imminent!

……

……

The first year of Kuangtian/the first year of Meiji (1865), November 10th——

Qinjin Fan, Dajin, Judi, military conference room——

Qingdeng lowered his head and carefully read the dossier in his hand.

This file contains detailed information about Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro.

Qing Deng was very interested in how these two ronin had brought about the "Western Country Alliance," so he specifically ordered the members of the Ninth Division to collect as much information as possible about them.

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Chapter 1107 The Shinsengumi's military parade begins! [5100]

Despite the efforts of the team members who received the order, who filled the file to the brim, unfortunately, there was almost no high-value information in the entire file.

Age, birthplace, sword style practiced... these are mostly meaningless details.

This is understandable, since before the information about the "Western Alliance" was released, Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro were both little-known figures.

Admittedly, Sakamoto Ryoma was once a renowned genius swordsman in Edo, but that was many years ago.

In recent years, Japan has lacked everything: money, food, weapons, and peace, but it has never lacked geniuses.

Okita Souji, Kondo Isami, Hijikata Toshizo... the swordsmen of Shieikan have long been representative figures of the "Edo swordsmen".

Moreover, there's Qing Deng, an extraordinary monster.

Qingdeng's sudden emergence was like the moon rising in the sky, its brilliance dimming the stars!

Since Qingdeng, no matter how outstanding an individual may be, they have all lived in his shadow.

After rounds of "iterations," Sakamoto Ryoma's title of "genius swordsman" has long been outdated, and his fame has long since dissipated. Nowadays, when people mention "genius swordsman," they only think of "Nioh" and "Heavenly Sword."

Even now, if it weren't for his great contribution in "facilitating the 'Western Alliance'", there would probably be very few people who still remember the name "Sakamoto Ryoma".

As for Shintaro Nakaoka, needless to say, while Ryoma Sakamoto was at least famous in Edo for a while, he was a complete "nobody," remaining unknown to the world.

Therefore, it is naturally extremely difficult to collect detailed information about these two people.

Taking Sakamoto Ryoma as an example, the information that the members of the Ninth Division could gather only went up to the point where he left the Tosa Loyalist Party.

During the period after he left the Tosa Loyalist Party and the Tosa Domain, it is impossible to find out where he went or what he did.

By the time he had new information, it was already the right time: "Two ronin from Tosa, named 'Sakamoto Ryoma' and 'Nakaoka Shintaro' respectively, have made the 'Western Country Alliance' a reality."

Qingdeng, having read through the file carefully but finding nothing of value, casually tossed it aside.

Suddenly, Hijikata Toshizo, who was not far away, shrugged and said half-jokingly to Yamanami Keisuke beside him:

"Brother Shannan, your junior brother is truly remarkable. He has managed to stir up the world despite being a wanderer."

Keisuke Yamanami and Ryoma Sakamoto were fellow students. Although they lost contact after the latter returned to his domain, they had a pretty good relationship and exchanged many messages during their time studying at the Chiba Kenkan.

There was someone who had had close contact with Sakamoto Ryoma, so naturally, they couldn't help but ask him questions.

Upon receiving news of the "Western Alliance," Qing Deng and the others immediately approached Yamanami Keisuke to inquire in detail about Sakamoto Ryoma's background.

Another person who had contact with Sakamoto Ryoma was Sanako, who was also a member of the Chiba Kenkan.

"Sanako, what kind of person is Sakamoto Ryoma?"—Aoto casually asked Sanako for her opinion as well.

Interestingly, both Sanako and Keisuke Yamanami shared a remarkably consistent assessment of Sakamoto Ryoma: he was an unpredictable and eccentric individual, whose thoughts were unknown, seemingly possessing lofty ambitions yet appearing utterly aimless.

Faced with Hijikata Toshizo's teasing, Yamanami Keisuke gave a wry smile and replied in the same half-joking tone:

"What a pity. If I had known that Sakamoto-kun was such a skilled debater, I should have recruited him sooner, so as to fill the gap in the Shinsengumi's lack of debaters."

Qingdeng smiled and interrupted:

"To be able to accomplish such a great feat, both Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro are indeed quite courageous."

"However, in the end, they all just played a 'driving' role."

"The fundamental reason why the 'Western Alliance' was able to be established was that Satsuma, Choshu, Tsuchiya, and Hiroshi had long desired to join forces."

It's obvious that even if Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro were reincarnations of Su Qin and Zhang Yi, they couldn't possibly persuade the powerful western vassals of the West to set aside their prejudices with just a few words.

It is clear that Saigo Kinosuke, Katsura Kogoro, and others had long harbored the idea of ​​"joining hands to overthrow the shogunate"!

They were just missing an opportunity—and the appearance of Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro provided just that opportunity.

At that moment, Kondo Isami suddenly interjected:

"Mr. Tachibana, to be honest, when I passed through the Otsu market yesterday, I found that many people were very worried about the establishment of the 'Western Country Alliance'."

"Some say the 'Western Alliance' is about to attack."

"Some say that the 'Western Alliance' is too powerful to resist."

"In short, everyone is panicked, and we must take action as soon as possible to appease the public and the military."

These words caused the atmosphere to become slightly more somber.

The powerful alliance of Sa, Chang, Tu, and Fei has undoubtedly dealt a significant blow to Dongguo.

The high morale of the people and the military, which had been boosted by the "successful expansion of the new electoral group and the great increase in military strength," vanished in an instant.

From any perspective, the rulers and ministers of the Northern Dynasties could not remain indifferent to this.

Otherwise, it would only give people the impression that the "Northern Dynasty" was incompetent and powerless to resist the "Western Alliance".

How to eliminate the negative impact caused by the establishment of the "Western Alliance"? This is precisely why Qing Deng and others held a meeting at this time and place.

After a moment's thought, Yamanami Keisuke slowly said: