I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 149 Revenge for Xixiang Palace!

Several months have passed since the end of the Battle of Kyoto last year, when Saigo Takamori took responsibility for his crimes, was imprisoned by the New Army and then beheaded in Sanjo Kawara.

Although Saigo Takamori died, his relatives and disciples are still there. Because of Shimazu Hisamitsu's protection, they are now serving in the new government.

Among them, the one who inherited the political legacy of Xixiang Longsheng was his younger brother Xixiang Congdao.

In addition, those who were loyal to Saigo Takamori include Toshiaki Kirino, Shinpachi Murata, Shiro Ikegami, Shinsuke Beppu, Jurota Himimi, Kutake Katsura, etc.

They did not follow other members of the Satsuma Domain to join the new government as officials. Instead, after retrieving Saigo Takamori's body, they returned to Kagoshima County, Sashu to bury Saigo Takamori, and then practiced martial arts and farmed near his grave.

On this day, their peaceful life was disrupted. A samurai came to the village where they lived.

Yokoi Taro came to the village entrance with a letter. Hemi Jurota who was guarding the village entrance immediately shouted: "Who is it!"

"Your Excellency, Taro Yokoi, a member of the Saga Domain. If you have any questions, please contact Saigo Torataro-sama."

Seeing that Jurota did not relax, he continued to question: "The feudal lord of Saga? There is still Saga clan now, and are there any feudal lords? Besides, you Saga clan are still the lackeys of the traitor Yagyu!"

Taro Yokoi was not angry. He retorted very calmly: "We, the Saga Domain, are the lackeys of the traitor Yagyu, but what about your Satsuma Domain?"

"You!" He saw that Juro was too angry and wanted to take action.

Yokoi Taro immediately said: "What's the use of killing me? The traitor Yagyu is still in control of the government. When can you avenge Saigo Palace? Are you waiting for Yagyu Heiyan to die of old age?"

The movement at the entrance of the village had already attracted the attention inside. After hearing Taro Yokoi's words, Murata Shinpachi knew that this man had something to talk about, so he said, "It seems that you have something to do?"

Taro Yokoi nodded and said: "Yes, I am officially here for this matter."

Shinsuke Beppu, who followed, was a little worried and stopped him: "Murata, I'm afraid there is a scam."

Murata Shinpachi raised his hand and said: "It's okay, let's listen and see."

Yokoi Taro followed Murata Shinpachi to the temple dedicated to Saigo Takamori. Murata Shinpachi and others sat down and said, "Let's talk about it."

Taro Yokoi took out the letter and said: "This is the place and time when Yagyu Hien left Kyoto to patrol various places. This time, he will only have more than a dozen guards around him. We will provide Minie rifles and revolvers. You can Assassinate him wherever he must pass.”

Murata Shinpachi looked at the information and nodded repeatedly: "It's really detailed. It seems that your Saga Domain must kill him?"

Taro Yokoi explained: “To be honest, Yagyu arranged for several of his capable confidants to go to Europe to handle the marriage between the emperor and a Western princess, and to learn Western culture along the way.

During this period of time, Yagyu's cabinet is empty of strength. As long as he is killed and the cabinet is leaderless, we can cooperate with Mr. Shimazu to seize control of the cabinet and abolish some of Yagyu's new policies. "

At this time, a young man broke in and shouted: "I don't care about this, I just want to avenge my father and behead the traitor Yagyu!"

Beppu Shinsuke said quickly: "Sir Saigo, this matter is too dangerous. You are a bloodline of Saigo Palace, so nothing will happen to you. Just leave the assassination to us!"

The other people quickly tried to persuade Saigo Torataro to calm down his mood.

Murata Shinpachi nodded and said: "You guys prepare your foreign guns, we will set off to Osaka tomorrow and meet there."

Yokoi Taro was overjoyed and immediately got up and left.

After Murata Shinpachi and others assured Saigo Torataro, they picked up their belongings. Early the next morning, more than 20 people gathered together and took a boat to Osaka.

……

Yagyu wanted to leave Kyoto for a period of time to inspect various places, so he spared time and returned to the mansion in the evening to talk to Okita Kinon and said, "I will be going on inspections in various places in the next period of time, and I will leave tomorrow."

Okita Jin was a little flustered and said aggrievedly: "Why did you say it today? I didn't even have time to prepare for you."

Yagyu stroked Okitajin's back and said with a smile: "It doesn't have to be so troublesome, just prepare something."

Okitajin snorted, then stood up to get something, handed it to Yagyu Sheng and said, "This is a gift I prepared for you, sir."

Yagyu opened it and saw a beautiful hair tie. His current hairstyle was still full length, so he needed a hair tie to tie his ponytail.

"This headband looks great and suits me."

Okitajin smiled, leaned against Yagyu's chest and said, "I made this for you personally."

Yagyu handed the hair tie to Okitakin, turned around and said, "Tie it up for me."

Okita Jin was very happy and immediately tied Yagyu's hair carefully.

Liu Sheng looked at the mirror and nodded: "Yes, it looks good. I have to reward you."

"Uh... um..."

Early the next morning, Yagyu, accompanied by Ichimura Tetsunosuke, arrived at the cabinet in a carriage. Then he met with more than a dozen accompanying guards, took some information, and left Kyoto.

This time he was going to Hikone Castle. There were only roads built on this side and a railway was being laid, so he could only go there by carriage.

Currently, the Ministry of Interior is arranging the railway from Kyoto to Kyushu.

Yagyu sat in the carriage and looked at the documents in his hand, which were all reported by the local secret police. Hikone Castle was the base of the Hikone Domain lord and the capital of Omi State. It was very prosperous because it was close to Lake Biwa.

Because the Hikone Domain Ii family surrendered, the Hikone Domain did not encounter war. Hikone Castle inherited the prosperity of the old era. After entering the second year of the Meiji period, relying on the New Deal, business became more prosperous.

Five factories have been opened here, and docks have been built. Steamships can still be seen in Lake Biwa, and there is a branch bank in Hikone Castle that is no less than that of Osaka.

Yagyu came here this time to inspect the operation of the Hikone City government and the development of industry and commerce.

On the flat road, the carriage was galloping, and there were more than ten guards following on horseback. After a few hundred meters, they arrived at a nearby town.

Ichimura Tetsunosuke asked: "Prime Minister, you can take a rest in front."

"How far is it from Hikone Castle?"

Yagyu asked without raising his head.Ichimura Tetsunosuke looked at the map and replied: "If we don't rest, we can arrive at dusk."

Yagyu nodded and said: "Well, then we won't rest and will go directly to Hikone to rest."

Yagyu's motorcade did not move along the streets of this town.

In this town, Murata Shinpachi and his group had already ambushed here.

They arrived in Osaka two days ago, and then obtained several Minie rifles and revolvers on the outskirts of Osaka. Then they rushed to the traffic arterial between Kyoto and Hikone Castle to ambush. They arrived only half a day ahead of Yagyu.

On the second floor of a house dozens of meters away on the street, Murata Shinpachi was holding a Minie rifle, followed by Jurota Hinami, and others in several other nearby houses were watching.

Within a moment, they saw Yagyu's convoy slowly approaching.

Murata Shinpachi immediately aimed his gun at the carriage moving in the middle.

In the carriage, Yagyu, who was reading documents, felt a palpitation in his heart and a bad premonition. This was a warning he felt when he encountered an assassination.

As a top swordsman, Yagyu reacted quickly. He opened the door directly, grabbed Tetsunosuke Ichimura and threw him out, while drawing his sword on guard.

Fortunately, the carriage was not very fast, and Tetsunosuke Ichimura, who was thrown out, was only scratched. He immediately jumped up from the ground and shouted: "Enemy attack!"

As soon as he finished speaking, gunshots were heard in the distance. Several guards in front and behind were shot and fell from their horses. Yagyu's carriage was also hit several times.

"Ding!"

Yagyu, who was sitting in the carriage, swung his knife and hit a conical bullet, but two other bullets grazed his face and arms.

Yagyu didn't panic. He immediately took out the revolver in his arms, held the wakizashi in one hand, jumped out of the carriage, and shouted: "The enemy is in a few houses due north, on the second floor!"

The guards who had already found a place to hide immediately raised their guns and fired at the houses dozens of meters away.

The Spencer rifle they used carried hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and the firepower of the remaining few men was comparable to that of a platoon.

Murata Shinpachi saw someone jumping off the carriage and knew that Yagyu Hiyan was not dead. He immediately shouted: "Come forward, you must kill Yagyu Hiyan today to avenge Saigo Palace!"

Beppu Shinsuke and others rushed out of the house and quickly approached the street relying on the wooden house.

The guards were focused on fighting the enemies in the north, but south of the street, there was an assassin.

Kirino Toshiaki (note) saw Yagyu Hien jumping off the carriage, and he also saw Yagyu Hien throwing Ichimura Tetsunosuke off the carriage in advance.

"As expected of Yagyu Battousai, his intuition is very strong."

Kirino Toshiaki held a revolver in one hand and a machete in the other, and quickly approached the street. In just a moment, he was less than seven meters away from Yagyu.

Yagyu felt a glow on his back. He immediately left his original position and looked back. Toshiaki Kirino shot decisively, and Yagyu subconsciously slashed with his sword.

"Ding!"

The bullet split again, but the wakizashi in his hand broke.

"How could that happen? Damn it!"

Kirino Toshiaki was stunned by Yagyu's sword.

"It's impossible, it must be luck. I will definitely kill you today."

When Kirino Toshiaki thought of today's mission, he immediately recalled it in his mind and was shocked to boost his morale.

When Yagyu saw Kirino Toshiaki, he dropped the broken blade in his hand, and then fired at Kirino Toshiaki's position. Kirino Toshiaki ran and fought back.

The two fired several shots, but the bullets were all missing.

"Crack..."

Kirino Toshiaki saw that he had run out of bullets, and Yagyu also stopped. Kirino Toshiaki threw away his revolver and walked over with a knife in his hand.

"Yagyu Battosai, I will kill you today."

Yagyu put the revolver back into his arms, took a deep breath, and took a stance to fight.

Kirino Toshiaki slashed straight with his sword, but Yagyu stepped forward without retreating. He rushed in sideways, blocked his wrist with both hands, and then twisted hard. Kirino Toshiaki screamed in pain, and then his hand became weak and the knife was taken away.

Yagyu grabbed the knife in an instant, kicked Kirino Toshiaki away, and slashed horizontally with the knife. Kirino Toshiaki's head fell down and his body fell backwards.

Yagyu killed Kirino Toshiaki, and immediately turned to look at the street. The enemies from the north had rushed up to fight hand-to-hand. The guards were all dead and wounded. Ichimura Tetsunosuke had also been wounded and retreated, relying on the carriage.

He immediately rushed to the carriage and shouted: "Who can kill me Battousai!"

Murata Shinpachi was shocked when he heard this, and saw Yagyu rushing towards him with his sword. Murata Shinpachi immediately retreated and slashed, but was blocked by Yagyu's horizontal slash. The sword deflected away, and he received the cassock slash. Murata Shinpachi was chopped down to the ground.

Shinsuke Beppu was furious. Before he could react, he watched Murata Shinpachi being hacked to death. He immediately swung his sword and slashed at him. Not only did Yagyu slide sideways to avoid it, but Yagyu rushed to his side and fell to the ground with a horizontal slash. .

The remaining Satsuma clan warriors did not retreat and continued to fight, but they were all killed by Yagyu one by one, and their blood was spread on the spot.

The nearby residents had already seen this scene and were too frightened to speak out.

The injured Tetsunosuke Ichimura struggled to get up and shouted: "Prime Minister, please leave quickly!"

Yagyu looked back and saw that more than a dozen guards had died in the battle, and Tetsunosuke Ichimura was bleeding profusely.

"Don't worry, Tetsunosuke, no one can kill me. I'll send you for treatment first."

(End of this chapter)