I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"The moment the enemy realizes they have been invaded, their house will be like an anthill, with fully armed guards constantly pouring out."

"At that time, we will face at least dozens of adversaries."

"And we only have a pitiful 5 people on our side... Could it be that Ebina and the others all possess extraordinary courage?"

"The Courage of Ogata Itase"—a new allusion widely circulated among ordinary people after Ogata Itase, the "Eternal Sword Saint," rose to fame. Its meaning is similar to "The Courage of Xiang Yu."

Nishino had fought alongside my grandson, so he knew my grandson's capabilities—he did have some martial arts background, but not much.

As for Ebina, Ichinose, and Akutsu... since he had only known them for a short time, Nishino didn't know much about them.

"Well..."

My grandson gave a wry smile.

"If only Mr. Ebina and the others had the extraordinary martial prowess of Ogata Hayanari! That way, our revolutionary cause would surely progress much more easily!"

"The idea of ​​'unbridled courage' is definitely not true. However, they are still worthy of being entrusted with important tasks."

"Although Akutsu is young, he has mastered excellent skills and is a master of the kusarigama technique."

"As for Mr. Ebina and Mr. Ichinose..."

My grandson paused for a moment, as if he was thinking about the right words.

A moment later, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, forming a meaningful arc.

"Let me put it this way—they participated in the war 24 years ago and are survivors of that brutal battle."

Upon hearing this, Nishino's pupils suddenly contracted.

"24 years ago" and "war"... The only battle that can combine these two elements is that far-reaching war - the Battle of Osaka, in which Ōshio Heihachirō led his troops in an uprising against the tyranny of the shogunate, turning one-fifth of Osaka into ruins.

Ebina and Ichinose both look to be around 40 years old... which makes sense in terms of age.

—Are you a veteran who experienced war firsthand...?

Thinking of this, Nishino subconsciously turned his head and glanced at the two elders not far away.

"Isn't your Great Shio Party a powerful and influential family, with the mission of overthrowing the Edo Shogunate? If so, don't you have any more allies in Edo? Can't you summon more helpers?"

"To say something like 'large and prosperous' is really an overstatement."

My grandson gave a wry smile.

"For the past 24 years since the failed uprising, we've lived a life of constant hiding and fleeing, no different from rats in a stinking ditch!"

"Our lives only started to improve after the Black Ships incident, when the Shogunate was preoccupied with its own problems."

“Our main bases are in the Gyeonggi region, so we don’t have that much influence in the Kanto region.”

"The rest of our comrades stationed in Edo... there must still be some. It's just that they are either pure scholars who are not good at fighting, or they have other things to do and can't leave."

Upon hearing this, Nishino couldn't help but purse his lips.

"The capital region, the capital region... Why do you traitors and rebellious sons all like to gather in the capital region?"

My grandson smiled.

"Who says the capital region is the center of Japan? Whoever controls the capital region controls the world—whoever controls the capital region will have an unshakeable advantage on the road to dominating the world."

"..."

Nishino remained silent—his quietness signified his tacit approval of my grandson's earlier remarks.

The Kinai region was one of the first areas in the Japanese archipelago to be developed.

Because it was developed early and has excellent natural conditions, it has had extremely strong productivity since ancient times.

Besides its superior economic conditions, Gyeonggi Province has another outstanding advantage that other regions do not have – its culture.

Although the Kyoto court, headed by the Emperor, had no real political power, they were completely ignorant of governing the country and even unaware of the true state of affairs in the country. They thought that Westerners were a bunch of dirty barbarians and kept clamoring for "expulsion of the barbarians," constantly putting pressure on the Edo Shogunate and causing great distress to the Shogunate's officials.

However, despite having no real power, the Kyoto court's every word and action could still influence Japan's political situation—this was because the Kyoto court held an unshakeable dominant position in the cultural sphere of Japan.

Legally speaking, the Chrysanthemum Dynasty lasted for more than a thousand years, and its legal system was never interrupted. Under the successive deification by Shintoism, Confucianism, and Mito School, its status was so high that it was "incomprehensible to foreigners and only understandable to the Japanese."

Leaving aside the uneducated common people, at least in the eyes of contemporary intellectuals, the Kyoto court was an inviolable entity.

As a result, people in the capital region also developed a strong sense of honor.

Even now, the people of Gyeonggi, who are considered "the conquered" in the political landscape, still hold themselves in high esteem and regard all areas outside of Gyeonggi as rural areas.

Especially in the Kanto region—due to historical grievances, people in the Gyeonggi area particularly look down on people from Kanto, considering them barbaric, rude, and lacking in manners, and contemptuously referring to them as "Eastern Barbarians."

This alone is enough to show just how extravagant the "cultural resources" are in the Gyeonggi region.

Simply put, if one occupies the capital region and subdues the imperial court in the capital, one will not only possess formidable economic power, but also be able to play the trick of "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes" and launch a cultural offensive against the enemy—just like Cao Mengde during the Three Kingdoms period.

At this moment, my grandson spoke again:

"Although at first glance, the plan to 'force our way into Phoenix House' may seem reckless, it is the best we can do right now."

My grandson held up his first finger.

"First of all, the privileged merchants led by Jacha are parasites on the nation that we swear to eradicate."

"To achieve this goal, we have long ago thoroughly investigated the backgrounds of privileged merchants in Edo, Kyoto, Osaka, and other places. Therefore, we know the interior structure of the Phoenix Mansion like the back of our hand."

My grandson held up his second finger.

"Secondly, although the other side has many guards, because the house is very large, they need to be stationed in various places, so their defensive forces are bound to be scattered."

“It will take some time for the guards stationed on the east side of the mansion to run to the west side.”

"As long as we take advantage of the time difference when they gather their forces, capturing Phoenix House Yataro alive will not be difficult."

"As for the end..."

My grandson held up his third finger.

"We must act quickly and without delay!"

“We have been dealing with the Dharma Extermination Party for a very long time. Therefore, we are very clear about how troublesome the Rakshasa is.”

"In my eyes, Rakshasa is one of the most ruthless and difficult characters to deal with in the Dharma Punishment Party."

"Looking at the entire Faju Party, the only figures more troublesome than the Rakshasa are their leader: Yamata no Orochi, their spy chief: Tamamo-no-Mae, their army commander-in-chief: Shuten-dōji, and their strongest fighter: Ōtakemaru!"

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Another failed attempt to reach 10,000 views today! How could this happen?! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

Chapter 461 Unparalleled Infiltration! Only Unparalleled Martial Arts is the Right Path! [4500]

Nishino knew very little about the law's persecution of political parties.

He only learned of the existence of this force not long ago... that is, after drinking the "Sleeping Tea," being "captured alive" by my grandson, being locked in the basement, and being recruited by the Rakshasa.

Based on what he saw and heard, Nishino was convinced that the Fazhu Party, with its extreme ideology and radical actions, was far more dangerous than the Daishio Party!

Although both were traitors and rebels, the latter was clearly less dangerous than the former.

In Nishino's view, the Ōshio Party's ultimate ideal of creating a peaceful and prosperous era was still commendable; they simply mistakenly regarded "overthrowing the shogunate" as an important way to achieve this ideal.

As for punishing the party members according to the law...

If Nishino had to use one word to describe the Fazhu Party... then the only adjective he could think of was—chaos!

The Ooshio Party, which regards Ooshio Heihachiro as its spiritual mentor and upholds his ideas as its guiding principles, at least has something that resembles a guiding ideology.

The concept of "punishing the party with law" is completely absent.

They seemed to only think about overthrowing the Edo Shogunate.

They would stop at nothing to overthrow the Edo Shogunate!

They were indifferent to everything except the overthrow of the shogunate, including the lives of the common people and how the new country should be governed if the Edo shogunate were truly overthrown.

If the Salt Party is just a bunch of stupid people who can't think straight, then the Law Punishment Party is a bunch of incomprehensible lunatics!

Nishino had long ago secretly resolved that once he returned to the magistrate's office, he would write to the shogunate requesting that all the officials do their utmost to suppress the Fa-ju-dō (a faction of corrupt officials).

If this calamity is not eliminated soon, it will surely become a major problem in the future!

Having finally had the chance to gather intelligence related to the Fazhu Party, Nishino was naturally not going to let this precious opportunity slip by.

He immediately perked up his ears and tried to get information out of her:

"Shuten-dōji? Ōtakemaru? Who are they?"

“Nishino-kun, I think I’ve told you before? The executives of the Fazhu Party all use names of demons and monsters from Japanese folklore.”

"At the same time, they would also get tattoos of the demons they used as their code names on their backs."

"Yamata no Orochi is the leader of the Fa-ju-dō (Buddhist Extermination Party)."

"As for Ōtakemaru, Shuten-dōji, and Tamamo-no-Mae, they are three high-ranking officials whose status is second only to Yamata no Orochi."

"The Party is very adept at intelligence control."

"Despite the best efforts of our intelligence agencies, we still know very little about the four people at the top of the Faju Party."

"Let alone their detailed background, apart from the fact that it has been confirmed that Ōtakemaru and Shuten-dōji are male, the genders of the other two are completely unknown."

"It took us a lot of effort to finally figure out what each of these four people was responsible for."

"Yamata no Orochi holds absolute and unquestionable authority within the Hoju Party, and is the undisputed leader."

"Tamamo-no-Mae is a specialist in espionage."

"Shuten-dōji was in charge of training and commanding the troops."

"And Ōtakemaru is the strongest member of the Fazhu Party."

Compared to Orochi, Tamamo-no-Mae, and Shuten-dōji, Ōtakemaru, who bears the title of "strongest," is more likely to pique Nishino's interest.

He pressed further:

"Top combat power? Is that Ōtakemaru really that strong?"

My grandson paused for a moment, then slowly turned his head and gave Nishino a look that was both funny and exasperating.

"Haha...that's for sure. Ōtakemaru's strength...is not just ordinary."