Just as Xiao Lotian started the dinner of the day, another banquet was also underway in the barracks of the Southwest Coalition Army outside Osaka City, but the atmosphere was much bleaker, including the dishes, which did not match the identity of the distinguished guests at the banquet.

The commander-in-chief of the coalition army, Saigo Takamori, and Yama Prefecture Youtomo and other important generals are now sitting respectfully, and the four men in fancy clothes on the front seat are the real bosses of the Fallen Curtain faction, the lords of the four feudal clans in the southwest.

Yamauchi Eitdo, the lord of the Tosa Domain, who was the lord before Ryoma Sakamoto and Shintaro Nakaoka, almost died at the hands of Ryoma Sakamoto when he left the domain.

Hizen Domain, Naoshima Naodai, is the most backward among the four feudal clans.

Choshu Domain Mori Motoku, the famous Mori family does not need too much introduction, since the Warring States period this is a daimyo who can break wrists with Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the Choshu Domain is known as the birthplace of Japan's modern army, and a group of warlords represented by Aritomo Yamaguyama came out of here.

Shimazu Tadayoshi of the Satsuma Domain is the most thorough study of Western studies among the Japanese feudal domains, Japan's earliest naval school was built here, and the Satsuma Domain also raised its own funds to buy steamships from the West, it is not an exaggeration to say that this is the birthplace of the Japanese Navy.

The gathering of the essence of the forces of the Curtain Curtain was supposed to be a celebration with a big feast, but it made this war miserable and miserable.

Not only did the four feudal clans of the fallen shogunate arrive, but even the shogun sent Okochi as a representative to come to observe, and it seems that under the suppression of Xiao Letian, a fierce dragon, the local snakes finally gave up their previous suspicions and chose temporary cooperation.

A few bottles of sake on the low table didn't kill much, a few pieces of yusheng looked so listless, the jumping candle flame pulled people's shadows like ghosts, and the generals who knelt on the ground sweated like pulp one by one.

In the end, it was Naoda Nabeshima who was the first to speak irritably: "Yaga! Is this the result of your battle?" The essence of the 30,000 coalition forces was swept away, and the remaining survivors were also frightened...... Do you know that this is the result of the efforts of generations of the four feudatories? You should really cut off your heads......

"Hai...... Please calm the Lord's anger, we will apologize for our sins!" Saigo and the others touched the ground with their foreheads and did not dare to refute again.

"Want to die, it's not that simple......" Maori Yuande stood up and kicked at Yama County Youpeng, "Do you want to push the mess on the lord? If you want to die, you have to solve the crisis in front of me......"

"Fools, all fools...... Especially in your county county, when you saw Xiao Letian's army entering the battle, why didn't you retreat immediately? Why did you gamble? If it weren't for your stupidity, how could Takasugi Jinsaku die? I really chose the wrong person......

"Hai...... Hai ...... When this incident subsides, I will definitely apologize to Takasugi-kun by caesarean section!"

"That's it, that's it...... It's useless to say this now, even the French have to retreat when they meet Xiao Letian, and our defeat is still reasonable......" At this time, the most treacherous and cunning Yamamochi Hall spoke, this alcoholic Tosa feudal lord, who was a heavy drinker, had already drunk two bottles of sake at the moment, but his eyes were still shining.

"Before the battle, we didn't expect that Xiao Letian would directly send troops to intervene, let alone that he would take a neutral posture of not helping each other, I am sure that if our Southwest Alliance Army had the upper hand at that time, his artillery would definitely fire at us mercilessly......"

"There are no more than two reasons, the first is that we rejected his proposal to send troops directly, which made him gradually abandon his attitude towards our alliance in his heart...... And the second point is that it is not in his interests to unify and strengthen Japan, and the more chaotic we are, the better it will be for him......"

"Hey...... The world has really changed, since the appearance of the black ship, it is already very difficult for us to solve domestic problems by our own strength, the French want to intervene, Xiao Lotian also has to intervene, and in the future, the Americans, the British, the Russians and even the Qing Dynasty may also intervene......"

"Time is running out, we can't take a wrong step from today onwards, because a wrong step may mean that we can't turn over forever!"

The young Shimazu Tadayoshi continued, "That's right, we didn't expect Xiao Lotian to intervene before, so it's understandable that we were unprepared and failed, but when the war is over, it is very unwise to continue to anger him......"

"Lord Taiga, put aside the grudges between our two families for the time being, I just want to ask you why you sent the White Tiger Boy to assassinate Sakamoto Ryoma?

Okochi represents Shogun Tokugawa Yoshiki, and questioning him is tantamount to questioning the Shogun, and the samurai behind Okawa-sama suddenly glared angrily and held his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Please be cautious, Lord Shimazu! The White Tiger Boy was instigated by the Fog Hidden Imp, and the Fog Hidden Ghost has long become a wanted criminal by us, not to mention that the White Tiger Boy has already apologized to Xiao Letian for his disembowelment, it is not that he does not allow it and we do not have an attitude......

"What about the assassination of the Tongzhi Emperor? Who did this? At least we will not be stupid enough to assassinate the emperor of the Great Qing Kingdom, which is going to cause war!" Shimazu Tadayoshi shouted.

"Nani, do you suspect our shogunate, and what good will it do us to kill Emperor Tongzhi? I think you are the most suspicious, and you want to blame our shogunate......

The two immediately quarreled, glaring angrily at the slightest in their words, and there was chaos in the big tent.

"Stupid quarrel! Since neither of us is suspicious, could it be someone else?, for example, the French, or Xiao Lotian himself......" Yamamochi suddenly opened his mouth to shut everyone up, and there was a dead silence in the big tent.

The assassination of Emperor Tongzhi would not benefit either side, but would be more beneficial to the French and Xiao Letian. The French are desperate to let the war escalate, and it is the Asians who die anyway. For Xiao Letian, an unsuccessful assassination could provide him with an excuse to stay in Japan for a long time.

Everyone gasped, if things were really as analyzed by the mountain, then the situation would be uncontrollable.

At this moment, a samurai came from outside the tent, "My lord, Ito Hirobumi asks to see you!"

"Wrong, just now Xiao Lotian has pried open the assassin's mouth, and the murderer behind the scenes has been found...... It's still a foggy imp!" Hirofumi Ito didn't wait for the summons in the tent, and directly broke in.

After saluting the four daimyos, Ito said, "It's the Misty Hidden Imp, from the results of the interrogation, the Misty Hidden Imp is now in a family of its own, and she has a ninja army that only belongs to him...... And I suspect that there are other forces behind this woman who are supporting her......"

"Nani, is this woman again?" A familiar voice suddenly came from behind the four daimyos, and when the samurai opened the sliding door, the shogun Tokugawa Yoshiki appeared in front of everyone.

"General!" everyone exclaimed, never expecting that the general would actually come to the camp of the coalition forces, and no one knew it.

Almost subconsciously, the samurai of the Southwest Army wanted to draw their swords, but the four daimyo quickly stopped their subordinates, "Yaga......! Stand down!"

Japan is a nation like this, very respectful and humble, as long as your status is high enough, even if it is an enemy, they will respect, if your identity is not enough, even if it is your own subordinates, you can be humiliated casually.

In his mind, there is no contradiction between the two armies fighting on the battlefield for profit, and the respect of both sides in social occasions is for the sake of observing etiquette.

Real history also proves this, even the Aizu Domain, which was the most resistant in the Boshin War, was the last to die of the common people and soldiers, and the defeated Matsudaira Rongho was not wiped out, but was transferred to the Tottori Domain, and the status of the nobility remained unchanged.

As for Tokugawa Yoshiki, the great general, after the Boshin War, he was also transferred to Sunpu Castle and enjoyed the preferential treatment of 700,000 koku, this is Japan, everything is for the service of the aristocracy, and there is no great revolution that the common people overthrew the aristocracy like in the previous dynasties of China.

If the real history had changed and the four feudal lords had failed in the Boshin War, the four feudal lords would not have died, at most they would have transferred their fiefdoms and reduced their benefits.

"See the Shogun!" Led by the four feudal lords, everyone knelt on the tatami mats and saluted the Shogun, and after everyone got up, Naodai Nabeshima was the first to ask, "Why did the Shogun appear here, and why didn't we know anything?"

Eido Yamauchi smiled and said, "I protected the Shogun and came in, because now we have reached the point where Japan will be destroyed if we don't unite...... What do you say? Ito-kun!"

Ito was nervous now, just as he was when he saw the bustling Thames for the first time, before his fate.

Ito Hirofumi took two deep breaths and said with a smile: "Yamauchi-sama is a little alarmist, although Japan's national fortunes are not going well, but it is not to the point of dying, if you think that the French and Xiao Lotian are Japan's enemies, I think you are a little worried!"

"No, no, no, I didn't say French, I said Xiao Letian...... Sakamoto Ryoma and you are not the future prime minister of Japan as Xiao Lotian identified? He wants to carry out the transformation of Japan that he imagined, and he knows that the Qing Dynasty is too big for his existing forces to move, so he must use Japan as a test to see if his theory can succeed......

"Isn't what I said right? Don't challenge my patience, I can't deal with Xiao Letian, but I can deal with you, Ito-kun, don't forget that you are a Japanese, don't forget why you came back from England early......

Sure enough, he was the most treacherous and cunning of the four feudal clans, and his words were as sharp as knives, and the young Ito Hirobumi was no match for him at all.

But if you want to transform Japan and create the glory of Wenchen's rule, you can't retreat now, you must go up.