Fuso Edo Castle, where the bustling citizens cruising through the night light river, the shouts of vendors, the humming of singers, and the unique sound of three-line plucking are rolled together to form a flower-filled Edo ukiyo-e.

It was the most flowery city in Fuso, and the Tokugawa shogunate's 300-year operation made it the economic center of all of Japan, and you don't even feel that this is a weak country that has been bullied by the West like the Qing country.

In an unpretentious izakaya, four men were quietly watching the flow of people on the street from the second-floor window, and the faint smell of fat powder in the air made them frown.

"The ancient Chinese poem is very right, the merchant girl does not know the hatred of the country, and she still sings ** flowers across the river! How can this not be the case with Japan? The Western powers have bombarded our country with cannons, and Xiao Letian in the south has vilely changed the name of our country, and this is to cut off Japan's ......roots."

"Silence! Kojima-kun is silent...... Don't say that person's name, we already have a lot of taboos when we discuss things together, and there are many forces in Edo Castle, so be careful that the walls have ears!"

The man named Kojima-kun was scolded in a low voice by the man who was sitting on it, and he was so frightened that he didn't dare to say a word, because this person was none other than the well-known pioneer of the Restoration forces, Katsura Kogoro.

Katsura Kogoro, a priest of Choshu and later renamed Kido Takayo, was a very influential boss in the history of the Restoration, but it was a pity that in this era he met the radiant Xiao Lotian, and the strong intervention of the Prime Minister of the East China Sea completely collapsed the Shogun Movement, and the ideal plans of these Restoration aspirants were smashed.

In their eyes, it is simply a great shame that the name of Japan has been changed to Fuso, and the establishment of the Fuso Bank has made Japan's economy controlled by foreigners.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you all know very well that they are loyal only to the lord and not to the country, and when that person can provide better promotion conditions and more opportunities for meritorious service, will they turn back?

Katsura Kogoro's expression was extremely sad, and he raised his head and drank a glass of bitter wine, with tears in his eyes. The remaining three were all loyal fans of Katsura Kogoro, and they toasted a glass of sake together and said bitterly, "Isn't there any way?

"Of course, there is a way, but now it seems that the direct use of military conflict can only cure the symptoms and not the root cause, and when you can't kill that man, the money and military magic in his hands will tempt more and more Japanese samurai to throw themselves into his arms!

"Therefore, we can only find a breakthrough in ourselves, and if we want to get rid of the control of that demon, we must first open up the wisdom of the people, what is the wisdom of the people? First shape the national spirit of our Japan, and instill the concept of the country in all the Japanese, so that they can first recognize the identity of the Japanese people......

"People have to have a sense of distinction, and to let those samurai know that we are Japanese, that they are Chinese, that they are not the same kind of people at all, and that they must have this kind of discrimination......

Katsura's speech inspired his supporters, and the three of them immediately became excited, and they discussed together in a low voice how to awaken the Japanese national consciousness and how to carry out vigorous propaganda.

But they didn't know that in the kitchen outside the izakaya, a dark figure was quietly lurking on the beam, staring at the busy couple below with bright eyes, and a thin wire hung down from the beam, facing the sake jug on the stove.

The transparent liquid slowly flowed down the wire and fell exactly into the narrow spout of the sake jug, one drop, two drops, three drops. When the proprietress turned her head to prepare the sashimi, the wire had been quietly retracted to the beam.

Half an hour later, Katsura Kogoro and three friends suddenly vomited blood from their mouths while drinking, and fell unconscious on the tatami mats.

Katsura Kogoro's experience is not isolated, in just one week, Sakuma Zoyama, Oyama Iwa, Otori Keisuke...... Fifteen reformers were assassinated.

Some were poisoned in izakayas, strangled while writing letters at home, and even drowned while bathing in hot springs......

Fifteen scholars died in the huge Japan, this is not a matter at all, the common people are still living peacefully, in their eyes, what about the day when people do not die?

However, in the eyes of those big names, especially the powerful ones, the death of these people is very intriguing, because these people are the most fanatical reformers, and they are also the core members of the Emperor's Rebellion.

Matsudaira Yoho in Aizu Wakamatsu Castle once sighed in the direction of Kyoto after drinking, "The emperor has no chance to take the stage anymore, and the king is just a dream shattered in the end!"

When Xiao Lotian left Fuso by boat from Edo, he suddenly noticed that the side of the pier was full of people, and there was even the sound of fighting.

After calling Ryoma-kun and casually asking, I realized that it was a ship preparing to sail for the Ryukyus, and those people who quarreled were countless wild samurai who couldn't survive.

"Prime Minister! The life of the Japanese wild samurai is so miserable that they are hungry and full, and sometimes they even have to work part-time as bandits to get enough to eat...... Now their dream place is Ryukyu, and only there is a better chance!"

Following the sound of the wind, Xiao Lotian faintly heard those ronins shouting, they wanted to use the least amount of money to fight for the opportunity to get on the boat, and there were even loan sharks next to the boat.

The poor ronins could not afford even a ticket, and even had to borrow loan sharks to get a chance to board the ship, and the destitute samurai who could not borrow money even had their fists thrown into battle, and the scene quickly spiraled out of control.

Xiao Letian sighed and said to himself, "What is the core competitiveness of a country? What is it that unites people's hearts? Look at these warriors, it is very clear that what they are seeking is just an upward channel, an opportunity to change their own destiny......

"This is the will of the people, whoever can be the first in East Asia to establish an efficient and fair talent promotion system will be able to capture the hearts of the people, especially the hearts of the elites!"

"The wild samurai don't see a chance to change their fate, so they want to overthrow the rule of the Tokugawa family, and Hong Xiu of Guangxi can't see the possibility of being admitted to Xiucai, so he wants to rebel and break the lid on his head!"

"Block! You continue to block the hearts of the people! One day, you will force the elites of all Asia to come under the command of Xiao Letian! There will be a day when you ......."

Note: What's going on lately? Going into April, the subscription is actually two-thirds less than last month!...... Xinjing can only be cheeky and beg book friends to subscribe to the genuine version.