I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 749 Chapter 263 Tokugawa Iemochi: I really want to marry Qing Deng! [5400]

It’s no wonder that Tianzhangyuan reacted like this.

Anyone who has a little knowledge of Japanese geography would be shocked when seeing the land that Tokugawa Iemochi was pointing at.

  This is no ordinary land!

The importance of this land to the Edo Shogunate was simply immeasurable.

What Tianzhangyuan just said, "giving half of the shogunate's arm to Shengqing", is absolutely not false!

  In a nutshell - once Tokugawa Iemochi announces the reward to Aoto, it will definitely cause a huge shock in Japan!

Facing the surprised look from Tenshoin, Tokugawa Iemochi smiled indifferently.

"Tachibana-kun has made great contributions to the shogunate."

"Rewards should be given for merit, and punishments should be given for faults."

"Now, he has become the 'pillar of the country' and a key figure in the shogunate."

"It's not too much to give him half an arm, right?"

After hearing this, Tianzhangyuan smiled helplessly.

"Since you have made up your mind, I have no right to interfere."

"It's just that... those old stubborn people will probably not agree with your overly generous reward."

When she mentioned the words "too generous", she suddenly emphasized the tone.

"They will definitely come out and nag again, making your ears callused."

Tokugawa Iemochi smiled:

"It doesn't matter. Let them nag."

  The speaker changed his tone to a half-joking one:

"Now I have the confidence to bargain with them, or even ignore them!"

His words were full of strong confidence.

He wasn't bragging or bluffing.

The farce of "starting the expulsion of foreigners on May 5th" staged by Ichibashi Yoshinobu not only greatly damaged the prestige of the Ichibashi faction, but also put the shogunate on the fire.

Thanks to Qing Deng who single-handedly repelled the British fleet in Edo Bay at this critical juncture, the goal of "expelling the barbarians" was achieved, and the shogunate had a way out. Otherwise, I really don't know how it would end.

Logically speaking, after causing such a huge disaster, it would not be surprising even if Ichibashi Yoshinobu was ordered to commit seppuku immediately.

What can be done...Ichibashi Yoshinobu's backing is too strong.

The legitimate son of Tokugawa Nariaki, the former lord of the Mito Domain, one of the "Gosanke", and the current head of the Hitohashi family, one of the "Gosanke".

With such a strong backing, not even Tokugawa Iemochi could easily touch him.

In the feudal era, there was really no need to talk about the legal system.

Fortunately, Yoshinobu Ichibashi was sensible.

Without waiting for Tokugawa Iemochi to issue a formal punishment, he voluntarily resigned from his position as the shogun's rear guard, stayed at home and no longer saw anyone.

Matsudaira Harugaku, the second-in-command of the Hitotsubashi faction, also resigned and returned to his domain because he could not shirk his responsibility.

In short, with the resignation of these two people, the power of the Ichibashi faction plummeted.

There is no power vacuum.

The Ichibashi faction declined and there was no possibility of it rising again in a short period of time.

  Naturally, the power of the Nanki faction grew rapidly! They completely controlled the right to speak in the shogunate!

In this way, Tokugawa Iemochi finally became the sole ruler of the shogunate!

Regardless of the rise and fall of power among factions within the shogunate, the mere existence of Aoto made other forces dare not touch Tokugawa Iemochi's tiger's whiskers.

Qingdeng’s political energy is expanding rapidly, and the expansion process is still ongoing.

  First there was the Shinsengumi, and then there were the Hachioji's thousands of men. The combat troops directly under his command alone numbered a full 5,000 people!

Moreover, all his troops were elite warriors, far superior to the direct disciples who had become useless.

Although there is no official confirmation, everyone can see that Qing Deng is now the first general of the shogunate!

Such a ruthless man who not only commands a large number of troops but is also very good at fighting is truly like a "stabilizing force".

It is no exaggeration to say that Qing Deng is the biggest foreign aid of the Nanji School.

  As long as Qing Deng is there, as long as Qing Deng is still Tokugawa Iemochi's close confidant, who dares to challenge the Nanki faction?

Even the conservatives led by Honjuin could no longer manipulate Tokugawa Iemochi as they pleased.

[Note: Honjuin: The mother of the previous shogun, Tokugawa Iesada, the Empress Dowager, whose thoughts were extremely conservative.]

This is where Tokugawa Iemochi's confidence came from.

Suddenly, Tokugawa Iemochi seemed to remember something, blinked a few times thoughtfully, and then sighed softly:

"It's a pity...I don't have a daughter."

"Otherwise, I really want to become a good friend of Ju Jun."

Upon hearing this, Tianzhangyuan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Then you should ask Kazunomiya to give birth to a daughter as soon as possible."

Tokugawa Iemochi shook his head:

"I don't know how long it will take for me to have a daughter and for her to grow up to the right age for marriage."

"Speaking of fertility... Iemochi, you and Kazunomiya have been married for nearly two years. Why is Kazunomiya still not pregnant?"

[Note: Kazunomiya: the emperor's sister, Tokugawa Iemochi's principal wife]

  Tokugawa Iemo smiled bitterly:

"Mother, why are you urging me to reproduce?"

Tianzhangyuan looked helpless.

"I am not in a hurry at all about your private affairs with Princess Kazunomiya. It's just... Lord Honjuin has been bothering me..."

When Tokugawa Iemochi heard this, he immediately showed an expression of understanding.

As the concubine of the previous shogun (the 12th shogun) Tokugawa Ieharu, Honjuin witnessed that all of Tokugawa Ieharu's 28 children died young, with only her only son... Tokugawa Iesada surviving to adulthood.

However, even though Tokugawa Iesada had grown up successfully, his body was extremely weak.

He died early without leaving any offspring.

Honestly speaking, after experiencing so many separations and deaths, especially the early death of her own son, she did not go crazy because of gains and losses, and always maintained a normal and stable mind, which is really rare.

However, due to the continuous stimulation of these tragedies, she eventually suffered from some "sequelae".

One of the "aftereffects" was that he was very concerned about Tokugawa Iemochi's personal safety.

When Tokugawa Iemochi went to Kyoto, Motosumaru was the first to stand up and oppose him taking a warship to Kyoto. He urged Tokugawa Iemochi to take the safer land route, resulting in a lot of wasted money.

The second "aftereffect" is that she is extremely obsessed with the reproduction of the general's bloodline.

Honjumaru attached great importance to the order of the Great Myoku.

In her opinion, people in the Great Inner Palace... especially old immortals like her, should not bother the general too frequently, so as not to affect the state affairs.

As a result, she rarely went to see Tokugawa Iemochi.

However, on the other hand, she would go and cause trouble for Tianzhangyuan every now and then!

Tenshoin is also a member of the Ooku, so if that’s the case, there’s no need to worry so much!

She frequently urged Tenshoin to fulfill her duties as "the Shogun's mother" and to allow Tokugawa Iemochi and Princess Kazunomiya to consummate their marriage and give birth to a child as soon as possible, which made Tenshoin very annoyed.

"Mother, let's not talk about my personal affairs for now."

Tokugawa Iemochi lightly mentioned the topic of "reproduction".

Afterwards, he abruptly changed the topic back to "wanting to marry Qing Deng".

"If only I had a ready-made relative who could marry right away..."

His tone was deep...but when he mentioned the word "family members", his voice suddenly changed to a sonorous one, enunciating each word.

Tian Zhangyuan was busy playing with the calico cat on his lap at this time.

Therefore, she didn't realize it until a while later - Tokugawa Iemochi was looking at her meaningfully...

  She asked back with a puzzled look:

"Hmm? Jia Mao, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something dirty on my face?"

"nothing."

Tokugawa Iemochi shrugged.

"It's just... I suddenly thought of something that is difficult to talk about."

……

……

After recaptured Takatori Castle, the Shinsengumi rested for two days at the foot of Mt. Takatori.

  After the rest, the entire army officially broke camp and headed north, escorting the captured Yoshimura Toratarou and others back to Beijing!

On the day the Shinsengumi returned to Kyoto, the streets were deserted.

Countless townspeople poured into the streets just to catch a glimpse of the heroic figures of the soldiers.

"Look! It's Lord Niou!"

"Lord Niou! Thank you for your hard work!"

"Lord Niou! I admire you a lot! Would you accept a disciple?"

"Mr. Hijikata! Mr. Hijikata!"

"See? That person is Okita Souji!"

"He's so handsome! It's a pity that he's a boy. His face is so pretty. It would be better if he was a girl."

"What nonsense! She's so good-looking, but she's actually a man - isn't that better?"

……

Among the Shinsengumi, the person who is most watched and welcomed by the townspeople is undoubtedly Aoto.

Qing Deng was already accustomed to this kind of scene, so he didn't feel anything intense.

He waved gently, greeting the townspeople around him.

After repelling the British fleet from Edo Bay, Qing Deng had not made any new big news for a long time. At this time when his popularity was slightly declining, Qing Deng timely created a new "hot spot" of "breaking into Takatori Castle alone", which made his popularity reach a new level!

Throughout the ages, ordinary people have always admired heroes and loved legendary stories.

The existence of Qingdeng has well met this part of the needs of the people.

Long before the Shinsengumi returned, the story of Aoto's siege had spread like wildfire in the streets of Kyoto.

Each of them talked in detail, as if they were all there on the night Qingdeng attacked the city.

Then, the classic story of three people making a tiger happened again.

At the beginning, it was normal information dissemination.

Then, at some point, the conversation became increasingly biased and fantastic.

What about "Niou did not sneak in, but directly attacked the city from the front".

Something like "Niou used a single Iai move to chopped down the main gate of Takatori Castle."

The latest version is that Qing Deng is like possessed by Susanoo, who blew up the gate of Takatori Castle with a single blow from the front, and then directly killed his way through the entire Takatori Castle, killing his way in and out of the city seven times with just one man and one sword.

Judging from the current trend, these rumors may become even more outrageous.

Qing Deng not only did not oppose this, but was happy to see it happen.

Ever since he became the governor of the capital, Qing Deng has welcomed the amazing imagination of the common people and their ability to make people believe what they hear.

  What’s there to object to, free, highly effective publicity?

By hyping him up as if he were possessed by a superman or the reincarnation of a god, one day he might be able to scare the enemy with his name and achieve the effect of defeating the enemy without fighting.

It is worth mentioning that not only Aoto, but the popularity of other members of the Shinsengumi also began to increase dramatically.

Especially the five people: Souji, Hijikata Toshizo, Yamanami Keisuke, Sanako and Kinoshita Mai.

No matter how the times change, everyone likes handsome men and beautiful women.

In the Edo period, people made no secret of their love for handsome men and beautiful women, and there were many decent jobs that could only be held by good-looking people.

The most typical example is the Edo Town Fire Fighting.

The so-called "holding" can be understood as the person carrying the flag, who is responsible for holding the command flag at the fire scene and assisting the captain in commanding the team members to extinguish the fire.

Because the leader is the face of a team and often has to show up in front of the townspeople, it can only be the strongest, brightest, and most handsome person in the team.

Souji and others are the handsome guys in the Shinsengumi, so it is only natural that they are so popular today.

Hijikata Toshizo is a handsome guy with a ruffian type of personality.

Yamanami Keisuke is a handsome and elegant man.

Okita Souji is a handsome guy with a masculine side.

As for Sanako and Mai Kinoshita, there is no need to mention them.

One was the most beautiful woman in Edo, and the other was a beautiful girl with a pretty face and a proud figure, both of whom were deeply loved by the old perverts in Kyoto.

I’m afraid the number of fans of both of them is not inferior to Qing Deng.

Of course, in addition to the generals, middle and lower-level soldiers of ordinary status also received great attention.

Under the admiring gaze of the townspeople, all the soldiers held their heads high and chests puffed out, with proud expressions on their faces.

The vast majority of the Shinsengumi were lower- and middle-ranking samurai of humble origins.

Most of them dreamed of "turning their lives around through military merit" and came to join the Shinsengumi without fear of hardship.

  When had they ever been treated with such respect before?

At this moment, on this bustling street where townspeople lined the streets to welcome them, they were all extremely grateful for their wise decision to join the Shinsengumi!

……

……

  On the same day that the Shinsengumi returned to the capital, the Emperor issued a new edict - the so-called Yamato tour that had been publicized with great fanfare a while ago was actually a despicable conspiracy by Choshu and the Sonjo faction nobles, so this matter was invalidated!

This edict was like the final nail in Choshu's coffin, completely solidifying Choshu's identity as a "traitor".

Choshu was driven out, and the shogunate, Aizu and Satsuma jointly controlled the political situation in Kyoto.

At this point, the Sonjo faction was completely driven out of Kyoto.

The Son of Heaven movement, which was in full swing until a while ago, has just died down.

In less than four months, huge political changes took place from Edo to Kyoto.

On the Edo side, the Nanki faction overwhelmed the Ichibashi faction.

In Kyoto, the pro-shogunate faction overwhelmed the Sonnōjo faction.

Major changes in the political situation naturally triggered a series of chain reactions.

As expected, it is time to "take sides" again.

Those people and forces who had previously stood on the side of the Sonjo faction cut ties with Choshu, stating that they had nothing to do with Choshu and had no intention of opposing the shogunate and the imperial court.

As for those fence-sitters who were caught in the middle, they were also busy showing their loyalty to the shogunate.

The first to take action was the former lord of Tosa Domain, Yamauchi Dodo, who lived in seclusion in Edo.

Although Yamauchi Dodo had given up the position of feudal lord and lived in seclusion in Edo long ago, he was like Qianlong. In name, he was a retired emperor, but he was still the actual ruler of Tosa domain.

After Choshu lost power and the Sonjo movement suffered a serious blow, he immediately issued an order: The Sonjo faction in the domain is a rebel! Arrest them immediately!

  The Sonnōjō faction within Tosa Domain... There is no doubt that he was referring to the Tosa Loyalist Party led by Takechi Hanpeita!

In recent years, the presence and activity of the Tosa Kinno Party have been very high.

The ambitious Takechi Hanpeita even proposed the idea of ​​"one domain serving the emperor", that is, the Tosa domain alone should realize the great cause of going to Beijing to serve the emperor.

Therefore, it was no surprise that when this decree from Yamauchi Dodo came out, it caused surprise among the people.

His decree was equivalent to erasing the legitimacy of the Tosa Loyalists, turning them into traitors!

Anyone who knows a little about politics can sense the clues behind this series of actions by Yamamoto no Tomoyuki.

As the actual ruler of Tosa Domain, Yamauchi Dodo could take action at any time if he wanted to cause trouble for the Tosa Loyalist Party.

As a result, he didn't take action until now.

Before this, he had been watching the development and growth of the Tosa Kinno Party.

It is not difficult to see that Shantou Tongtang is just sitting on the fence in another way!

He never expressed any political stance, neither respecting the king nor supporting the shogun.

On the other hand, the Tosa Loyalists were allowed to make trouble.

In this way, we can leave a backup plan and enough room for change.

If the Sonjo faction gained power, they would strongly support the Tosa Kinno Party and call it the pride of Tosa.

If the pro-shogunate faction came to power - like now - they would denounce the Tosa Kinno Party as traitors who committed evil.

He will support whoever wins… In this way, Yamanouchi Dodo and the entire Tosa Party will be invincible.

  A brilliant calculation!

In fact, the terrifying cunningness of the Yamauchi Hall has long been no secret.

Yoshida Toyo, the former councilor of Tosa Domain, was a close confidant of Yamanouchi Do who was promoted by him.

As a result, Yoshida Toyo was suspected of being assassinated by the Tosa Kinno-no-Tai Party, but he did not make any statement. He continued to drink, have fun, and let the Tosa Kinno-Tai Party run wild.

  Such cunning, such political skills...it’s terrifying when you think about it!

In short, with the order from Yamauchi Dodo, the Tosa Loyalists are now like grasshoppers in autumn - they won't be able to jump for much longer.

Although it is very touching, but... the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit - this is an unchanging truth from ancient times to this day.

In this way, the Tosa Kinno Party encountered the same desperate situation as Choshu - they became traitors that everyone hated overnight - it can be said that both sides shared the same suffering.

……

……

In a humble mansion in Kyoto (one of the secret bases of the Tosa Kinno Party)——

"What do we do now?!"

Someone shouted anxiously.

"Let's run away! We can't stay in Kyoto any longer!"

echoed another.

"Escape? Where to? The world is big, but is there still a place for us?"

Instantly, this person's words made the atmosphere in the whole place freeze.

The Yamauchi Department has already labeled them as traitors, and they will definitely not be able to return to their hometown.

If they want to escape, they can only seek refuge with other forces.

  But the question is, which force is willing to take them in?

Today, the Sonnang Faction has become a pariah, and most forces do not want to have anything to do with it for fear of being implicated.

What's more, Tosa Domain was a powerful domain with a territory of 24 koku and one of the most powerful domains in western Japan. Few forces were willing to offend Tosa Domain.

In short, the various feudal states were eager to avoid the Tosa Kinno Party.

The only clan that could possibly take them in was the Choshu clan.

However...Choshu Domain was too far away, located at the westernmost tip of Honshu's Oshima Island.

Moreover, the Choshu clan is now in a difficult situation, and whether they have the energy to resettle them is a huge problem.

At this time when everyone in the house was frowning——

  Blah blah blah!

There were frequent footsteps outside the house.

Immediately afterwards——

"We are the Shinsengumi! We are conducting an official search!"

  *******

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  Are there any readers of this book who are preparing for the college entrance examination? Forget it. Anyway, I wish all college entrance examination candidates can achieve satisfactory results!

Baobaozi failed to get into the history department of Peking University, which was a lifelong regret...