Masuda's words distracted Mr. Zhang, and he couldn't help but think about why his classes were not popular with Japanese students.

At this moment when he was stunned, Yitian Shizhen suddenly quietly slipped back to the procession, and after leaving Zhang Pu's distance of about ten steps, Yitian Shizhen stopped and shouted to Zhang Pu: "Teacher, I can't go to your class today." When I get back, I'll get the punishment from you myself..."

Zhang Pu, who came to his senses, looked at the students who were mixed in the crowd, and finally just shook his head and smiled bitterly for a while, and did not continue to chase after Yitian Shizhen back. After the procession had passed, he continued his way towards Osaka University, east of the city.

After arriving at the school, he hurried to the classroom where he was classing, and sure enough, as he guessed, the classroom with a small number of attendees was even more empty today.

The school official with a white towel wrapped around his head looked panicked, and he didn't know how to explain to Zhang Pu that there was no student in the classroom at the moment. But Zhang Pu, who is arrogant and serious on weekdays, instructed him very kindly today: "I have something to take a day off today, and if the students come to class, let them study on their own." ”

The school official hurriedly agreed, and after Zhang Pu took another look at the empty classroom, he turned around and left the classroom.

Osaka City Hall, located in the western part of the city, was renovated from a former government office. Osaka Mayor Sota Ikeda was sweating profusely in the Nijin courtyard of the City Hall, and there was a bamboo ladder on the edge of the roof.

The rebellion initiated by these citizens reminded Ikeda of the time when Vice Governor Lee led his troops to attack Osaka. He was very worried that the citizens outside who were shouting to defeat the Toyokyo, punish the thieves, and oppose the continued occupation of Sado Island by foreigners would eventually vent their anger on these employees in the city hall.

As Ikeda pondered how to quell the civil unrest, Kosuke Yoshikawa, who had been observing for most of the day, finally climbed down the bamboo ladder and said to Ikeda with a relaxed expression: "There are just a few rabbles out there, so Mr. Ikeda doesn't need to worry too much, as long as we deal with it properly, the situation will not go bad." ”

Ikeda replied subconsciously, "If that's the case, that's great. So, Mr. Yoshikawa, should we order them to disband immediately in the name of the Governor's Palace, or should we wait for the troops from outside the city to come to their aid? ”

Kosuke Yoshikawa, who was holding the bamboo ladder in one hand, suddenly looked at him with wide eyes and said, "Mr. Ikeda, how can we do that?" The citizens and samurai from outside came to petition us officials only with a desire to serve the country.

We should now channel their patriotic fervor and turn them into supporters of the Osaka shogunate, instead of exacerbating the contradictions by force and putting ourselves in opposition to them, wouldn't that be a mockery to the Edo shogunate and the southern barbarians? ”

Ikeda looked at Yoshikawa Kosuke in a dazed voice, not knowing how to guide the angry citizens outside.

Kosuke Yoshikawa looked at him and smiled and said, "Mr. Ikeda will stand next to me when the time comes, and I can echo me..."

The citizens gathered more and more around the town hall, but no matter how they shouted, the door of the town hall was still tightly closed. Some frivolous ronins and townspeople began to pick up clods and stones from the roadside flower beds and threw them towards the gate of the town hall.

Just as the anger of these citizens grew, the closed door of the city hall was suddenly opened, and Kosuke Yoshikawa, the economic commissioner, and Sota Ikeda, the mayor of Osaka, stepped out of the door.

Seeing that the two of them only brought three or four unarmed officials to come out, the citizens outside the door calmed down a little. Before these citizens could produce a leader, Yoshikawa Kosuke immediately jumped into a pulled carriage in front of the door and shouted to the citizens in front of him, "Citizens of Osaka, what are you doing here today?" Could it be that they want to attack the city hall of His Royal Highness Taiko? ”

The crowd in the face of Yoshikawa Kosuke suddenly shrank back, and the crowd in the street of righteous indignation obviously did not think about standing up to answer the questions of the shogunate officials.

Masuda Tokizhen, who was originally standing at the back of the line, responded loudly to Yoshikawa Kosuke without fear at this time: "No, we are here to petition His Royal Highness Taiko. Didn't Yoshikawa have heard of it? Our compatriots shed their blood and died on Sado Island and in the South Seas, but those hateful Nanbanians refused to recognize our contributions.

Not only did they not allow us to participate in the distribution of the interests of the South Seas, but they also ignored our desire to recover the Japanese rights and interests that the Dutch had usurped. Aren't these Nanbarians treating us as natives of the Americas and the South Seas, and if we don't rise up again, Japan will become the next Mexico..."

Yoshikawa Kosuke's eyebrows jumped, he really didn't expect these citizens to have such a figure who was good at inciting the masses, and seeing that the crowd in front of him began to be indignant again, he immediately shouted: "Well, when I heard these news, my anger was no less than yours." Now, can this gentleman please come to the front? I want to be able to talk to you face-to-face. ”

At the call of Kosuke Yoshikawa, the crowd suddenly gave way to the passage, allowing the young Masuda Tokisada to walk to the front. Kosuke Yoshikawa looked at Masuda Shizhen who was so young in front of him, and he was just shocked and returned to normal, and then asked him, "Young man, can you tell me your name?" ”

Masuda Tokisada did not avoid Yoshikawa's gaze and replied loudly, "In Shimomasida, Tokisada is a medical student at Osaka School. ”

Kosuke Yoshikawa looked at him and continued, "So do you think that the action of shouting slogans around the town hall and throwing stones into the town hall will make those Europeans give up their decision?" ”

"Nope." Masuda Shizhen's echo was a little quieter, but he immediately raised his voice and asked rhetorically, "But your lords enjoy the worship of the people on weekdays, shouldn't you come up with countermeasures to deal with those southern barbarians at this time?" ”

When the crowd behind Masuda Tokisada was nodding their heads, Kosuke Yoshikawa suddenly raised his head and glanced at the crowd around him, and then said loudly, "How do you know that we are not working on countermeasures, and while you are surrounding the city hall, I am studying countermeasures with Mr. Ikeda."

Yes, when you hear some news that is not good for Japan, you have a patriotic heart, which is the most basic emotion that a Japanese citizen should have.

However, please do not forget that from His Royal Highness Taiko to the Governor's Palace and below, we have been working hard for the rise of Japan. Aren't the soldiers who fought bloody battles on Sado Island and in the South Seas the Japanese army that we and everyone have built together to protect the people? ”

Under Yoshikawa Kosuke's rhetorical questioning, the surrounding crowd suddenly fell silent again, and at this time, they remembered the contributions made by the city hall and the officials of the governor's palace to the construction of Osaka.

The mayor of Osaka, Ikeda Sota, who was watching everyone, also nodded appropriately at this time and claimed that he had just discussed the countermeasures of this matter with Yoshikawa Kosuke, which made the originally aggressive crowd suddenly weaken.

Taking advantage of this time, Yoshikawa Kosuke once again shouted to the crowd: "At this difficult time in Japan, we must not have any more internal chaos within ourselves.

In order to vent your anger, you smashed the street furniture and roadside shops, and beat up those Westerners, except to give the European countries an excuse to sanction our country, and to regard our country as an ignorant nation without civilization.

If you believe that His Royal Highness Taiko and the Governor's Office will ask ASEAN for an official statement, then you should go back and work harder to build Japan into a country that Europeans no longer dare to despise.

Of course, if you have any requests for the Governor's Palace and His Highness Taiko, you can also elect your own representatives, and like this student of Masuda, to state your thoughts to me and Mr. Ikeda, and we will certainly submit your requests to His Highness Taiko..."

Thanks to Yoshikawa Kosuke's efforts and persuasion, the citizens besieging the city hall elected 12 representatives, and after a total of 13 representatives, Kamata Tokisada gradually dispersed.

However, the citizens who went to the door of the parliament to petition were not so lucky, and the council located in Sannomaru was connected to the office of the shogunate, and the lord of the Kumamoto domain, Tadahiro Kato, was on duty today.

As the chief elder of the Taiko shogunate and the father of the next Taiko, Tadahiro Kato's power in western Japan can be described as thriving. Regarding the exclusion of Japan from the post-war distribution of benefits by the ASEAN Association, Kato Tadahiro only cursed a few words.

In response to the bad news from Japan, he was even more disgusted by the citizens of Osaka who came to make trouble. Naturally, Japan's government affairs should be handled by the shogunate, and when will it be the turn of these ordinary people to come forward.

Therefore, after receiving the news that the citizens were besieging the parliament and wanted to petition the council, Tadahiro Kato immediately ordered Yuta Higuchi, the commander of the Osaka garrison of Ninomaru and Honmaru, to send troops to disperse.

As an old-school high-ranking samurai, Yuta Higuchi naturally regarded Tadahiro Kato as the master of Western Japan. Although Akito is strong, he still has to leave after all, right? Therefore, he didn't think much about it, so he sent the fourth wing stationed in Ninomaru to go to Sannomaru's council to disperse the citizens of Osaka.

However, the citizens of Osaka, who were deeply influenced by the new ideology, and the samurai of various feudal clans who studied at Osaka University, apparently expected Tadahiro Kato to be much braver. The dispersal of the 4th Wing soon led to a clash in which 2 soldiers were seriously injured, 7 soldiers were slightly injured, 17 citizens were killed, and 100 citizens were slightly and seriously injured.

After hearing the news, Goro Hirano, the military minister stationed in the military camp outside the city, hurriedly led his army into the city to impose martial law, which calmed down the larger conflict that broke out later.

Because of this conflict, Kato Tadahiro's reputation among the citizens of Osaka completely collapsed, and even some officers and soldiers of the Osaka Division were considering whether it was appropriate for Tadahiro Kato's son to serve as the second generation of Taiko.

After quelling the riots in Osaka Castle, Hirano Goro refused Tadahiro Kato's arrest of the leading citizens' representatives, and after consulting with other councilors, relieved Yuki Higuchi of his position as commander of the Osaka garrison and ordered him to move to Kobe with the 4th Wing that caused the conflict, which eased the anger of the Osaka citizens somewhat.

In the classroom of Osaka University, in front of the few students in the audience, Zhang Pu gave up the content of his previous lectures and wrote the words "rich country and strong army" on the blackboard.

The students, who were originally indignant about the conflict and had no intention of studying, were immediately attracted by these four words written by Zhang Pu.

Yitian Shizhen, who was deeply loved by Zhang Pu, couldn't help but get up and ask the teacher for advice: "... What does it mean to be rich and strong? ”

Zhang Pu immediately summed up the information collected from the old Daming Times these days: "Didn't you ask what kind of knowledge could save Japan when you were on the road before? The ancient Guan Zi of our country once said: All the way to govern the country must first enrich the people, and the people are rich and easy to govern. He also said: If the people are rich, the country will be rich, the country will be rich, the army will be strong, the army will be strong, and the victor will be wide... This is the science of saving Japan. ”

Listening to Zhang Pu's explanation of the rich country and the strong army, the students below suddenly became more energetic, and Yitian Shizhen couldn't help but ask again: "Then may I ask the teacher, how should Japan today enrich the country and strengthen the army?" ”

Zhang Pu said confidently: "Promote industry and commerce, expand education, enlighten the people's wisdom, reform the old and disadvantages, and everything is decided by the public... Of course, the most important point is: respect for the emperor. ”

The last four words of Zhang Pu immediately moved the students present and made them quickly convinced of this teacher's knowledge.

This book is from:

This book is from: