Yoshikawa Kosuke's proposed solution was finally approved by Zhou, who acquiesced to him going to Beijing to take charge of the entire plan. And one of the most important aspects of this plan is to obtain the support of Mu Tianbo, the prince of Qianguo, who has just married Prince Kokonai, which is why Yoshikawa Kosuke came to visit when he first arrived in Kyoto.

Although Yoshikawa Kosuke hid a lot of key points when he told Mu Tianbo, Mu Tianbo finally understood a general idea, so he couldn't help but interrupt the other party and said: "I already understand the general thing, and there is no need to talk about the others, just tell me one thing, just tell me one thing, just what is the plan you discussed with the governor to quell the chaos." ”

Regarding Mu Tianbo's rough nerves, Yoshikawa Kosuke really didn't react for a moment. He has been with Ye Yuxuan and Zhou Kangeng for a long time, and for a while he thought that the officials of the Ming Dynasty were thoughtful, so he always described the details in detail when reporting.

However, he quickly reacted, and hurriedly replied to the other party: "Back to Grandpa, the plan discussed between the lower officials and the governor is like this. In recent years, although the slogan of respecting the king has had a wide influence among the people, in fact, most of the people do not know what the essence of the king is at all.

What many people know or can understand is just the slogan of honoring the king. The king was to respect the imperial court, and it was the people's dissatisfaction with the feudal politics, so they hoped that there would be a strong imperial court to punish those vassal lords and samurai who misbehaved; The rebellion is the dissatisfaction of the people with the barbaric and domineering Europeans who have recklessly behaved in Japan, hoping to drive them out of their hometowns and return to the peaceful life of the past.

As for the internal struggles of those who shouted the slogan of respecting the king and advocating for the emperor, which were in essence supporters of the theory of the founding of the country and the theory of closing the country, it did not receive great attention from the people. This time, these feudal lords and ronin, who shouted the slogan of honoring the king, took advantage of the rice riots that occurred in various parts of Japan this summer to direct the people's dissatisfaction to the shogunate and the governor's palace, not because they had won the support of the people, but because the people's dissatisfaction had accumulated too much.

At this time, any action by the shogunate and the governor's office will be seen as an opposition to the voice of the people, and will be used by those feudal lords and ronin, and it will become a complete break between the people and the shogunate and the governor's office.

Therefore, if we want to crush the schemes of these traitors, we must first break the banner of the king that brought the people together. Xiaguan believes that the best way to solve this incident is to intensify the contradiction between the founding faction and the lockdown faction, disintegrate the alliance between the king, the feudal lords, and the ronin from within, and make the people at the bottom lose their leaders. ”

Mu Tianbo asked with great interest: "Then how do you plan to intensify the contradiction between the founding faction and the closed faction?" ”

Yoshikawa Kosuke raised his head and carefully observed Mu Tianbo's expression, and said: "Although the banner of the Emperor and the Ronin raised by these feudal warriors and ronin has deceived many people, this banner also has a big drawback, that is, what kind of attitude the emperor himself has towards these people. If the emperor himself was against these feudal lords and ronin under his banner, then they would have lost their righteousness in rallying to the people.

As far as the lower officials know, in the family of the minister in Kyoto, there is sympathy and support for these feudal lords and ronin. For example, Emperor Shaoren is still young today, and the power of the imperial court still exists in the hands of Emperor Taishang and these ministers. As long as there are these ministers who sympathize with the king, it will be difficult for the imperial court to issue a proclamation condemning these feudal lords and ronins.

And the most favored ministers in front of Emperor Taishang today are none other than the current emperor's grandfather, Lieutenant General Konoe Ren, the right minister Ichijo Akira, the minister of the interior, the public security of Tokudaiji Temple, and the power of the great Nayan Yatsukoji Longji. Among them, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Public Security Department of Tokudaiji Temple, and the Great Authority of the People's Republic of China, Yanyouxiao Road, Longji, were the most trusted by the Emperor.

However, the Minister of the Interior, Tokudaiji Public Security, was not only a favorite of Emperor Taishang, but he also formed an alliance with the Satsuma and Choshu feudal domains, and handed over Austrian aid to the two feudal domains in Beijing and the palace. The position of Minister of the Interior was extremely important, not only to represent the emperor to the imperial court, but also to control the Habayashi army in the palace.

Since we signed an agreement with the Edo shogunate and agreed not to garrison Kyoto without permission, the only force to defend Kyoto has been this Habayashi Army. Although we and Edo are both planting men in the Habayashi Army, the part of the Habayashi Army stationed in the Inner Court is still under the control of Emperor Taishang.

Therefore, if the public security of Tokudaiji Temple is unwilling to let the emperor issue an edict to reprimand the feudal warriors and ronins who raise the banner of the emperor and rebel, we will not be able to do anything about him in a short time. The first step of the lower officials' plan was to attack and assassinate the Tokudaiji public security in the name of the Emperor and the Emperor, and to destroy the relationship of trust between the two feudal domains of Satsuma and Choshu and Emperor Taijo.

Once the Tokudaiji public security is assassinated, Kyoto and the palace will inevitably be in chaos. As the husband of Prince Kokonai, you can rightfully take over the security power in Kyoto and the palace, and control the Yulin Army in your hands. At that time, as long as the grandfather cuts off the connection between inside and outside the palace, controls the emperor and the emperor, and appoints the great power of Nayan Yaoji Takaki to take over the post of internal minister, then we can use the name of the imperial court to rebuke those feudal warriors and ronin who launched the action of honoring the king, and causing trouble to the court and the local rebels. ”

Mu Tianbo pondered for a while, and still asked with some doubts: "But didn't you just say that you want to intensify the contradiction between the founding theorists and the country-locking theorists within the Zunwang Zongyi faction, and assassinate a public security officer of the Deda Temple, so as to achieve this effect?" ”

Yoshikawa Kosuke nodded and said: "Yes, the public security of Tokudaiji Temple always preaches on weekdays that although Japan is going to carry out a reform that respects the king, the purpose of this change is by no means to return to the Warring States period in the past when they closed themselves off and the princes on the island attacked each other and fought each other.

Among the ministers of Kyoto, he was a well-known representative of the founding faction, and even the local samurai and ronin knew his ideas. The assassination of him by a group of people who claimed to be the king's aspirants would inevitably lead the founders to believe that it was a conspiracy by the sequestrians to lead the movement on their own. At this time, coupled with the reprimand issued by the imperial court, there will inevitably be people and some founders who abandon this movement to respect the king. ”

Mu Tianbo still asked with some suspicion: "Do those founders really think that it is a conspiracy of the country-lockers, not the hands and feet of the shogunate?" ”

Yoshikawa Kosuke replied with confidence: "Yes, didn't the lower officials report before, we have caught a group of dignitaries in Osaka who intend to assassinate the shogunate, and this assassination can be worn on their heads." ”

Mu Tianbo shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay, since Zhou Zhongwen has agreed with your plan, then I will naturally cooperate with you." So, when do you plan to start this project? ”

Yoshikawa Kosuke subconsciously looked at the sunlight in the sky, and after estimating the time, he said to Mu Tianbo: "If the time of the lower official is not miscalculated, the plan should have been acted by now..."

The Kyoto Imperial Palace, which was built in 781 AD, was the residence of the Emperor. Located in the north of Rakyo, the Imperial Palace is surrounded by the Kamo River and the Kamogawa River, but it has fallen into disrepair and the walls of the palace are mottled with vines and plants, and it has lost its gorgeous appearance when it was first established. However, because the area around the palace is sparsely populated, the pine and cypress inside and outside, the plum and cherry blossoms are intertwined, and the waterside is full of weeping willows, and the vigorous vitality of these plants hides the aging and dilapidated buildings, but instead gives the palace a sense of historical vicissitudes.

The emperors who lived in this environment for a long time did not have much material life, but they did not lack spiritual life at all, so there were many masters of chanting poetry throughout the ages.

The palace is 700 meters wide from east to west and 1,300 meters long from north to south, with an area of 110,000 square meters. There are four gates in and out of the palace, Xianchun Gate, Yiqiu Gate, Jianli Gate, and Shuoping Gate. Among them, the Yiqiu Gate on the west side is the palace gate where the ministers go in and out every day.

While Yoshikawa Kosuke and Mu Tianbo were talking, a group of servants were carrying the Minister of the Interior, Tokudaiji Public Security, out of the Yiqiu Gate, and then marched north along the street to the residence near Xiangguoji Temple. Kyoto's urban layout is modeled after the castle of Kara-Luoyang, so there are no shops on either side of the street, only a wall of fangs.

In Kamigyo District, there are either residences or shrines and temples, so even during the day, there are often no pedestrians in sight, and the Tokudaiji Public Security Bureau and his party walk on the shady streets, which is no different from walking on a country road, except for the sound of birds chirping and the wind blowing leaves, you can hear the sound of the sedan chair drivers.

In addition to the mountain bandits who invaded Luojing during the Warring States Period, the greatest threat to the city has always been those foreign princes with bad intentions. And after the world has been peaceful for so long, the security in Kyoto should be good. Especially the team with the coat of arms of the minister's family, generally speaking, no one dares to rob.

Therefore, the public security of Dedaiji Temple went to court every day, that is, with a palanquin man and some errand servants, and only carried the family crest banner of their own papaya flower and rhombic floating thread, and the entourage was only about a dozen people, and there were no samurai with swords to defend them.

He never dreamed that someone would hit him with the idea of assassinating an empty minister like him. So when his palanquin was stopped, he hadn't figured out what had happened.

On the other side, when Gamo Naoyu jumped out of the road with the samurai disguised as the king's warriors, he was stunned to find that the team in front of him had instantly abandoned the palanquin and fled, and the servants shouted loudly as they fled: "Come on, the robbers have entered the city..."

In order to prevent the incident from becoming an ordinary robber blocking the road and robbing the incident, Gamo Naorou had no choice but to draw his knife while shouting on his own: "Respect the righteous people for the country to eliminate traitors, Sojiro Tian punished the national thief Tokudaiji Public Security here..."