I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 806: The Legendary Story of Ogata Ittosai Saving Kyoto [Leopard Update 6K]

Seeing that they were about to discuss serious matters, Yamanami Keisuke and the others collected their thoughts, consciously moved closer, and sat next to Qing Deng and Tojo Shintaro, sitting with their knees against each other, forming a circle.

Tojo Shintaro asked:

"Ikeda-ya? What is this place? Where is it located?"

Qing Deng turned his head and looked at Shannan Jingsuke.

"Kei-suke, map."

His words were obviously redundant.

Before he could speak, Yamanami Keisuke had already consciously taken out the notebook he carried with him from his arms, then pulled out a neatly folded map of Kyoto, spread it out, and placed it on the tatami in front of everyone's knees.

“Ikeda-ya is located on Sanjo Street.”

Yamanami Keisuke took over the conversation and answered for Qing Deng.

As he spoke, he pointed out the exact location of Ikeda House on the map.

"This is a very ordinary, unremarkable hotel."

"The decoration is ordinary, and the operator is not a famous person."

"However, not long ago, we received reliable information that a large number of guests have been coming in and out of Ikeda-ya recently."

“This is not the amount of traffic that a normal hotel like this should have.”

"According to the investigation, the managers of Ikedaya did not spend money to advertise their store in the tabloids, or do anything else that could increase its popularity."

"To sum up, it is obviously abnormal that the hotel business suddenly became prosperous when nothing happened."

"Although the authenticity of this information is still under discussion, but... it is said that the guests who have been frequently coming and going from Ikeda-ya recently are all from Choshu."

Coming from Choshu - everyone naturally understood what this sentence meant.

  Shannan Keisuke paused, then added:

"It is said that one of them was Miyabe Teizo, one of the core figures of the Sonnōjō movement."

Miyabe Teizo - Kumamoto samurai, joined the Higo Kinno-tsutsu Party in 1861 and began to work in Kyoto in 1862. After the August 1863th Coup d'état in , when the Choshu forces were exiled, he went to the Choshu domain.

Simply put, this person is a veteran-level Sonnong patriot who enjoys a high reputation among Sonnong patriots and plays a vital role in the current Sonnong movement.

"Miyabe Teizo..."

Tojo Shintaro chewed on the name lightly.

"If we can capture or kill this man alive, it will definitely greatly suppress the arrogance of the patriots, which will be a great benefit to us."

  At this point, he suddenly changed the subject:

"But... I'm curious about one thing."

"If Miyabe Teizo really sneaked into Kyoto and frequently went in and out of Ikeda-ya, what was his purpose?"

"A big shot like him shouldn't be in danger himself."

  As soon as he finished asking, Yamanami Keisuke immediately answered:

"Mr. Dongcheng, we have naturally considered your question."

"To the Sonnō warriors, Kyoto is now undoubtedly a den of dragons and tigers."

"Miyabe Teizo is willing to risk his life to sneak back to Kyoto... After thinking about it, there is only one answer: the Sonnōjō faction is planning to launch a large-scale operation in Kyoto! So they need a big shot like him to stay in Kyoto!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense.

"Hmph! That's perfect!"

  Nagakura Shinpachi sneered a few times and continued:

"After being driven out of Kyoto by us, these scum have been like rats in a gutter, annoying as hell!"

"I wish they would come out of the ditch and fight us with real weapons!"

Yamanami Keisuke and Harada Sanosuke nodded - Nagakura Shinpachi expressed their thoughts.

Just as Nagakura Shinpachi said just now, after going underground, the Sonjo patriots were like rats in a ditch, hiding in dark and secluded places, popping out from time to time to contaminate food and bite people.

Although no serious losses were caused, the frustrating feeling of "wanting to fight but not being able to" made the Shinsengumi soldiers feel extremely irritated and angry.

  If the Sonjo patriots really intend to launch a large-scale action in Kyoto... this will be no small matter!

It's no surprise that these lunatics could do anything.

But if you think about it from another perspective, this is a great opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop!

When they thought about sending these bastards to hell, Yamanami Keisuke, Nagakura Shinpachi and others felt full of energy!

Tojo Shintaro pondered for a moment.

  Then, he raised a new question:

"Since this inn called 'Ikeda-ya' is suspicious, have you developed any corresponding countermeasures?"

Shannan Keisuke opened his mouth and was about to answer.

But Qing Deng spoke before him:

"Of course there are countermeasures!"

"Since we knew there was something wrong with this hotel, why didn't we take precautions?"

"We are still unable to confirm the true identities of the people who entered and exited Ikeda-ya, so we must not act rashly."

"If there is a misunderstanding, it would be embarrassing at the least, but it would alert the enemy and we might lose the opportunity for nothing."

"Therefore, I sent one of my capable men who is very good at hiding himself, and ordered him to disguise himself as a clerk and lurk in Ikeda-ya to monitor his movements at all times."

When talking about the term "capable general", Qing Deng curled up the corners of his mouth with a meaningful look on his face.

After hearing this, Tojo Shintaro nodded.

"Well, so good."

As he spoke, he narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze on the map of Kyoto in front of his knees. His sight quickly wandered over the buildings and streets, his brows slightly furrowed.

"…Your Highness, may I express my opinion?"

Qing Deng made a "please" gesture without hesitation.

"Mr. Dongcheng, you're welcome. If you have anything to say, just say it. We are all ears."

Tojo Shintaro sat up slightly with a serious expression.

"Your Highness, I personally think that Kyoto will be very dangerous in the next period of time!"

"The Sonjo warriors are likely to launch a large-scale attack while the Gion Festival is in full swing!"

Gion Festival… Upon hearing this word, Qing Deng, Sannan Keisuke and others all frowned and looked solemn.

There isn't much else in Kyoto, but there are many festivals of all kinds.

With thousands of years of history, Kyoto has preserved many cultural relics, with more than 1600 temples and 400 shrines scattered throughout Kyoto.

Throughout the year, Kyoto's temples and shrines hold various festivals.

There are grand events almost every month.

In January, there is the "Hakuba Sōran Shinto" at Kamigamo Shrine; in February, there is the "Setsubun Festival and Oinori" at Yoshida Shrine; in March, there is the "Tangdi Dance" at Zuishin-in Temple... In November, there is the "Fire Festival" at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine; in December, there is the "Sotenjin" at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

Among these many festivals, the most famous and grand one is undoubtedly the "Gion Festival" in July.

Gion Festival - one of the three major festivals in Japan, along with Kanda Festival in Edo and Tenjin Festival in Osaka.

In 869 AD, a plague raged in Kyoto. In order to eliminate the plague, the emperor ordered people to erect 66 spears in Kyoto's Shinsenen Garden and welcome the statue of the Gion Shrine to Shinsenen Garden. This was the predecessor of the Gion Festival, the "Gion Goreikai".

Nowadays, various Gion Festival activities are held in Kyoto from July 7st to 1st every year, and the entire month of July is the Gion Festival.

The climax of the Gion Festival is undoubtedly the "Yamaboko Parade" on July 7th.

The so-called "Yamaboko" is an exquisitely decorated, man-powered float specially used for parading in festivals. It is decorated with exquisite paintings and decorations, and sometimes includes character performances, reflecting Japan's historical stories, myths and legends, and natural landscapes.

On July 7, a convoy of magnificent yamaboko will parade through Kyoto to ward off evil and disaster for the townspeople. Along the way, the sounds of music, shouts, and cheers from the audience will interweave, bringing the festival to a climax.

  Tojo Shintaro continued in a gloomy voice:

"The current goal of Choshu... or the Sonjo patriots is very clear, that is to find ways to cause trouble for the shogunate and weaken the shogunate's power by any means necessary."

"Assassinations, arson... these brutal acts were all carried out with the ultimate goal of 'attacking the shogunate.'"

"Kyoto is the residence of the Emperor."

"There is no doubt that if Kyoto were to fall into a great crisis and the emperor were to be put in imminent danger, the shogunate would become the target of public criticism."

"In addition, it can also make the governor of Gyeonggi Province bear the stigma of 'incompetence'."

Having said that, he deliberately rolled his eyes and glanced at Qing Deng.

"In that case, there is no better time to strike than during the Gion Festival."

"The Gion Festival is the largest and grandest festival in Kyoto, so its popularity is self-evident."

"Especially during the 'Yamaboko Parade', people would flock to the streets to see the beautiful hoko carts."

"When speculating on the intentions of the Sonjo patriots, if we take 'destroying Kyoto and causing great trouble to the shogunate' as the premise, it is not difficult to find that 'taking action during the Gion Festival' is their best choice."

"If I were a patriot, I would definitely use 'fire attack'."

"A simple fire can cause a devastating blow to a town. There is no more effective means than this."

"I will choose to light a fire upwind when the people are attending the festival, and use the power of Zhurong to destroy Kyoto."

"The Gion Festival, the streets are empty, sparks fly, and pillars of fire rise... I'll leave the rest of the scene to your imagination."

Tojo Shintaro finished.

The banquet hall became extremely quiet, and you could hear a pin drop.

Qing Deng lowered his eyelids and gaze, staring at the map of Kyoto in front of his knees without blinking, a thoughtful look on his face.

As for Yamanami Keisuke and the others, they looked at each other in bewilderment - they all saw strong expressions of horror on each other's faces.

"How is this possible..."

Yamanami Keisuke was the first to break the silence.

I saw that he had a gloomy face and a dark complexion.

"Burning down Kyoto... and doing it during the Gion Festival... This, this..."

"Even if they are unreasonable lunatics, such a thing is also..."

Yamanami Keisuke couldn't continue. He pursed his lips, his cheeks filled with astonishment and disbelief.

Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada Sanosuke, who were standing by, also clenched their fists, looking solemn.

Even Harada Sanosuke, who was a bit stupid, knew how horrible the scenes that Tojo Shintaro had just described would be.

There is no need to mention the "Yamaboko Patrol".

As the climax of the Gion Festival, when the Hokosha is running on the street, both sides of the street are absolutely crowded with people.

Even when there are no yamaboko to see, the streets can be seen full of people celebrating the Gion Festival.

Every night, many vendors set up stalls in the middle of the town, selling snacks such as grilled squid and grilled eel, or providing games such as pitching pots and archery.

【Note: Monzenmachi: a neighborhood formed in front of a shrine or temple】

The townspeople wore yukatas and went to the nearby Monzen-machi in groups of three or five, laughing and playing, making the scene particularly lively.

At that time, if the Sonnōjō patriots really planned to burn down Kyoto... there is no doubt that this would cause an extremely horrific tragedy!

Let’s not talk about the damage the fire did to the city.

  When the flames suddenly ignite and illuminate the sky, panic is bound to spread rapidly like a plague!

Given the amount of people attending the Gion Festival, if panic spreads, it would be no joke!

Imagine this -

The streets were crowded with people, fire was raging, people were scared out of their wits, screaming, pushing, howling, and trampling...

These pictures make one's teeth shudder just by imagining them!

Regardless of camp or stance... even if one only thinks as a "normal person", Yamanami Keisuke and others cannot believe that the Sonjo patriots would not hesitate to cause such a cruel human tragedy in order to strike at the shogunate!

"...Honestly, I can't believe it either."

Suddenly, Qing Deng spoke.

"But for a leader, 'always being pessimistic' is a good quality."

"I think Mr. Dongcheng is not aimless."

“His opinions are very informative.”

"In fact, after synthesizing all the information currently known, I also speculate that the Sonjo patriots intend to launch a large-scale, hair-raising terrorist action in the near future."

"This can be connected with the intelligence we recently received, such as 'A large number of unknown people entered and exited Ikeda' and 'Miyabe Teizo sneaked back to Kyoto'."

"It is better to prepare for a rainy day than to dig a well when thirsty."

  Shannan Jingzhu heard this and nodded slightly:

"…Well, Tachibana-kun, you are quite right."

Qing Deng raised his eyes and looked at Nagakura Shinpachi.

"It's quite new. This month it's the turn of the Second and Fourth Divisions to patrol Kyoto."

"You guys better cheer up."

"Once you discover an illegal person or encounter an emergency, you do not need to ask Otsu for instructions. You can make your own judgment and act."

Nagakura Shinpachi sat up straight and said seriously:

"Yes! Mr. Tachibana, please rest assured that I, Shinpachi, will definitely fulfill my mission!"

At this time, Tojo Shintaro seemed to remember something funny and chuckled a few times.

  Nagakura Shinpachi thought the other party was making fun of him, so he frowned slightly and asked back with an unhappy look:

"Mr. Dongcheng, may I ask what you are laughing at?"

  Knowing that there was a misunderstanding, Tojo Shintaro quickly clarified:

"Sorry, it just occurred to me that the Gion Festival in Kyoto is full of disasters."

"It is said that 70 years ago during the Kansei era, a group of criminals also planned to turn Kyoto into a living hell during the Gion Festival."

"Fortunately, the 'Eternal Sword Saint' Ogata Ittosai and another righteous man stepped forward and worked together to thwart the opponent's conspiracy, thus saving Kyoto from disaster."

"I never thought... 70 years later, history would repeat itself."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Shannan Jingsuke smiled helplessly:

"'Ogata Ittosai and the unknown warrior secretly saved Kyoto'... I've heard that story before, but it's just a rumor and can't be considered true."

  Tojo Shintaro spread his hands:

"Although unofficial history and rumors are always fabricated, but... the protagonist of this unofficial history is Ogata Ittosai."

"In this case, no matter how bizarre or incredible the story is, it may be true."

Shannan Jingsuke wanted to say something else, but Qing Deng interrupted first:

"Okay, let's put this topic aside for now."

"After all, this happened more than 70 years ago."

“No one can tell right from wrong, true from false.”

"In my opinion, this kind of 'not knowing the truth' is the unique charm of these legends."

"Let's get back to the topic now."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Your Highness, apart from the 'unusual movements at Ikeda-ya', are there any other movements by the Sonjo activists in Kyoto?"

"Of course I have. If I were to describe it in detail, I'm afraid it would take me even a whole night to finish it. Thanks for your help."

After hearing Qingdeng's call, Shannan Jingzhu understood and bent down, pointing at the map with his finger.

"Mr. Dongcheng, please look here..."

……

……

Compared to those corrupt officials who usurped power and did nothing but eat, Tojo Shintaro is considered a very conscientious official.

The day after arriving in Kyoto, he immediately took up his post and devoted himself to his work.

His office...the office of the Kyoto governor, was located on Shichijo-dori, west of the Kamogawa River, adjacent to the Nishi Honganji Temple.

The people of Kyoto used to call this new government office "the government office of prohibition".

The public security in Edo was far from being peaceful and secure, and people could leave their doors unlocked at night, so Edo was naturally unable to transfer too many criminal investigation talents to Kyoto for assistance.

Therefore, when he went to Beijing to take up his post this time, Tojo Shintaro did not bring many subordinates with him.

Although he cannot be said to be a "lone commander", his team is indeed pitifully small, and he has only two or three subordinates whom he can order around at will, which is very inconsistent with his resounding title as the Director of Kyoto.

No matter what, Tojo Shintaro is now considered Qing Deng's direct subordinate.

As the boss, he felt ashamed because his subordinates were doing so poorly.

Therefore, Qing Deng specially selected several young men from the Shinsengumi who were physically strong, nimble, and smart, and ordered them to go and assist Tojo Shintaro as "guests".

Even though these people knew nothing about criminal investigation, they had no problem moving things, running errands, and doing some manual labor.

In this way, with the help of Qing Deng, the framework of the banning office was set up.

The recent movements of the Sonjo patriots are very strange - now, this information has been basically confirmed.

In order to prevent any disaster from happening, following Aoto's order, the Shinsengumi took quick action.

On the one hand, Qing Deng asked the Shinsengumi to always be in a state of combat readiness and be ready to fight at any time to ensure that when something happened in Kyoto, the Shinsengumi could immediately go out and rush to the battlefield to provide support.

On the other hand, he secretly dispatched the 9th Division.

A large number of soldiers from the 9th Division disguised themselves as ronin or beggars...disguised as various characters, they secretly lurked in various places in Kyoto to collect intelligence more further and more deeply.

Our side is in the light, while the enemy is in the dark... In such a situation, we must never act rashly.

The best strategy is to try to gather intelligence first.

After more than half a year of painstaking construction, the Ninth Squad is now becoming more and more presentable.

Under Awu's careful teaching, a group of outstanding ninjas headed by Yamazaki Zheng were successfully trained.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, Lightning Style: Kirin... Of course, the ninjas of the 9th Squad would never use these outrageous moves.

  However, climbing walls and climbing over roofs, sneaking through doors and picking locks... these skills are very suitable for thieves, and they are all proficient in them!

The "Ninja Army" led by Yamazaki Zheng usually has only one mission -

Disguised as Wu Xing Ba Zuo, he walked through the streets of Kyoto, went in and out of the shops of Kyoto, listened carefully to people's gossip, paid attention to what people did, and then summarized what he saw, heard, and heard every day and reported to his superiors.

At first glance, this behavior seems nonsensical.

What useful information can be gathered by strolling around the streets?

  However, in fact, at the moment when a full-scale war was launched against the Sonjo patriots, this approach unexpectedly worked!

Nowadays, those who respect the country are lurking in the streets and dare not show their heads - therefore, the whereabouts of these guys are often hidden in clues.

For example: The number of guests in a hotel suddenly increases.

For example: For some reason, a few strangers appeared in the remote longhouse.

Especially for izakayas, Qing Deng has set various izakayas in Kyoto as his focus.

As we all know, any place related to "drinking" is an excellent point for leaking secrets!

It’s the same old saying - once a man sits down to drink, drinks a few cups of horse urine, and then lets a woman flatter him, his IQ will immediately plummet, and he will say everything he should and shouldn’t say all at once.

Therefore, many ninjas of the 9th Squad dressed up as frustrated ronin and lingered in various pubs all day long. They seemed to be drinking alone, but in fact they were eavesdropping on the conversations of the drinkers.

Judging from the results, the ninjas of Squad 9 did a great job.

After noticing something was wrong with the Ikeda House at Sanjo Ohashi, they made another discovery -

  The antique tool dealer at Shijo Kobashi, a guy named Yuya Kiemon, is behaving suspiciously! Yuya's house, which is so simple that it should only be inhabited by lower-class townspeople, has recently been visited by a large number of guests!

Soon, this information was confirmed.

Now that things have come to this, what else is there to say?

Shinsengumi Second Division, move out!

Captain Shinpachi Nagakura and vice-captain Noboru Nakajima personally led the team to the place!

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