Akamoto, Tokyo, Imperial Palace Gyoen.

The Imperial Garden is the royal garden, but it is not quite accurate to say that it is a garden, it is actually a natural garden covering dozens of hectares of ancient trees and thick shade, with tall walls, hills, rivers and verdant lawns, as well as Japanese-style bungalows and pavilions for the royal family to rest. Viewed from the air, the Imperial Garden resembles a green silk horse, connecting the vast and scattered palace complex into a coherent whole.

Like all lonely Oriental emperors, Taisho Emperor Kahito locked himself and his family in this eerie palace like a thousand-year-old labyrinth. It is not that Emperor Taisho is unwilling to step out of the red wall and shop and talk freely, enjoy the bright sunshine on the seaside, and breathe the less fresh but free air of the streets of Tokyo, but rather that the imperial status is like an invisible rope that binds them hand and foot, turning them into "gods" rather than "people" on high above.

The greatest feature of Eastern feudal politics lies in its mystical surname.

In Western countries, all heads of state and political axes, whether they are presidents, prime ministers, prime ministers or presidents, must often report to the people on stage (national conditions consultation), and when they get off power, they go to business, open restaurants, sell peanuts, write books to earn manuscript fees, and queue up to receive relief funds. If you make a mistake, you will still be criticized, if you violate traffic rules, the police will still be fined, and so on. In short, the common ground between the president and the civilians, the prime minister and the common people is that they are all ordinary people with flesh and blood, but there is a distinction between the stage and the stage.

But in the East, it's very different.

The monarchs of the East are by no means willing to admit that they are ordinary people, and they deliberately create a lot of evidence to prove that they are different: Emperor Xiangmoto is a descendant of the "god Amaterasu", and the emperor of China is the embodiment of the "true dragon son of heaven". Even the peasant rebels in Wagangzhai, Liangshanbo, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as soon as they laid down a corner of the country, began to break away from the masses and engage in corruption, claiming that they were the Jade Emperor or the immediate family members of the Jade Emperor and other relatives who had come down to "save" the suffering common people. This situation is actually very similar to the traditional Chinese folk witchcraft: the sorcerer hides in the dark all day long, pretends to be a ghost, deliberately makes many mysterious effects, and then claims that "the gods possess the body" (human rights are bestowed), and then he can do whatever he wants, fool or even break the surname of the superstitious. If we strip these wizards of their disguise and drag them to the public and in front of the public to exhibit, it is not difficult to see that they are nothing more than a group of two-legged animals that are severely degraded mentally and physically.

Now, the "Amaterasu Okami", the 123rd Emperor Kahito, is breathing fresh air in the damp woods to nourish his somewhat sober mind. Behind him, the queen followed in a cumbersome kimono with heavy makeup. Her Majesty struggled to move small steps through the trees, looking like a clumsy tropical goldfish swimming in the green air. At this time, the trail was still stained with dew, and it was very slippery to step on, and Emperor Taisho unfortunately fell on his back, and although the fall was not very heavy, the expression on his face became angry and embarrassed. An attendant of the court rushed to pick up Emperor Taisho and cautiously bowed down and asked: "The cabinet ministers are all waiting for the Holy Driver in the Privy Council Chamber, please ask the emperor to tell me when to be diligent?"

Hearing the words of the attendants, Emperor Taisho was very unhappy, and in his opinion, these people did not have any right to disturb his life early in the morning and make him uneasy. Shouldn't the emperor enjoy the tranquility and freedom of life?

Emperor Taisho's anger was justified, since he fell to the ground, he was given the privilege of controlling the fate of 100 million people, so his personal life was destined to be unpeaceful. The emperor is the supreme god and the symbol of the national body, so everything about him, including his personal life, does not belong to himself, but to the whole country.

Emperor Taisho furrowed his brows and commanded loudly, "Call them in, and I will receive them here." ”

Hearing Emperor Taisho's orders, the attendants couldn't help but look at each other. Because it was unceremonious and unprecedented, for the emperor to receive a minister in the damp woods, not to mention that the emperor still had a lot of dirt on his body.

"Are you deaf?" Emperor Taisho said angrily, "Don't go to that Privy Council and tell them to come in and talk to me!" Do as I tell you! ”

The attendants agreed repeatedly, so the empress led the ladies to retreat, the attendants spread parasols and blankets in the woods, and Emperor Taisho sat on a chrysanthemum chair and began to meet the courtiers.

In the eyes of the court attendants, Emperor Taisho was an arrogant, irascible and easily agitated man, and he would whip his attendants to beat him with a horsewhip when he was upset. Emperor Taisho was also a Western admirer, with a horned mustache similar to that of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and often dressed like a German cavalryman, riding a tall horse on a rampage through the palace. Like his father, Emperor Meiji, Emperor Taisho was frail and sickly since childhood, suffering from meningitis, and his spirit was sometimes good and bad. Emperor Taisho often behaved in a ridiculous manner in public. For example, when watching a military exercise, he would suddenly run down the review stand, open the soldier's backpack and rummage through. Once, when attending the opening ceremony of the National Assembly, he actually rolled his speech into a cylinder, put it on his eyes, and used it as a telescope to take pictures of foreign envoys. Because of this "telescope incident", the political elders of the Samoto felt unbearable, and for a time planned to support the crown prince Hirohito as regent.

In fact, Emperor Taisho did suffer from meningitis as an infant, but he had already recovered his health in his youth, and his mental state was sound. After ascending to the throne, the political elders expected him to learn from the Meiji Emperor and become a majestic and ruthless monarch, because a weak and romantic emperor did not fit the image of a powerful empire, which severely suppressed his enthusiastic and unrestrained surname, and his health was also affected.

The reason why Emperor Taisho had so many strange behaviors can be seen as a kind of dissatisfaction and rebellion against reality.

"Do you want to invite the prime minister to meet you first?" The Minister of the Imperial Household asked the Emperor.

"Okay, I'll see the Prime Minister first." Emperor Taisho nodded and said.

Soon, Prime Minister Hara was led into the Imperial Garden in fear, and after lying down, he was given a flat body.

"Aiqing, do you have any news to tell me?" Emperor Taisho asked with a pleasant face. The attendants around him couldn't help but be surprised when they saw that the emperor's mood had returned to normal.

Hara Kei didn't notice the change in the expressions of the attendants, and he couldn't wait to show off what the military department had done recently to put aside the political axe, and the seriousness that it had brought about.

“…… The army believed that the political axe's interrogation of the army's actions was a serious violation of the emperor's commanding power, and the empire's provocative behavior against the Chinese army must not sit idly by. But in fact, it is difficult to say whether it was the Chinese army that provoked the emperor [***] team. The current situation is that the political axe of China is sending more troops to Manchuria, and violent actions have taken place in various cities of China against the exclusion of Chinese people, boycotting Japanese goods, and infringing on overseas Chinese. The Army saw this as an indication that the Chinese political axe had become determined to become an enemy of the Empire. The Army was determined to deal a heavy blow to the Chinese army in both Manchuria and the coastal areas of China, severely punish the brutal Chinese, and achieve the goal of securing Manchuria. And that would mean a state of total war for the Empire and China......"

"Is it true that the Prime Minister thinks the Army's actions are wrong?" Emperor Taisho frowned and asked.

"Of course, the opinions and feelings of the army cannot be ignored, but the army cannot put aside the political axe and act on its own." Yuan Jing said with a worried face, "Now the international environment facing the empire is very complicated, and the political axe is trying to get out of isolation and establish good relations with Western countries, especially Britain and the United States, and now if the empire breaks out in war with China, it will definitely become the enemy of the whole world." ”

Listening to Hara Kei's words, Emperor Taisho was silent for a while.

"Has Your Majesty decided to go to war on China?" Yuan Jing asked again.

"I want to hear the Prime Minister's opinion."

"The Cabinet of Ministers believes that the time has come to immediately stop the build-up of troops to Manchuria and Siberia, to pursue a policy of not expanding the war, and to avoid provoking the Anglo-American powers and Soviet Russia."

Hearing Yuan Kei's answer, Emperor Taisho's face couldn't help but turn a little pale.

"In fact, given the isolated situation that the empire is facing now, whether it is a provocation by the Chinese army or not, the empire should not take drastic actions to expand the situation, because behind the Chinese army, there is the support of Britain and the United States. According to reliable information, the China Navy has a total of 12 giant ships of more than 50,000 tons, all of which were built by the United States, and their combat power has surpassed that of our navy. If the war breaks out, the slightest setback in our navy, the more than 100,000 troops in Manmon Siberia will be alone, and then it will be dangerous! Yuan Jing said a little anxiously, "I hope that the emperor can take the world's billions of trillions as the priority and stop the army's actions!" ”

"What does the Prime Minister want me to do? Let them say that I am insane again? Emperor Taisho sighed and said.

Listening to Emperor Taisho's words, Yuan Jing was stunned at first, but he quickly understood that Emperor Taisho was telling the truth.

"Please ask the crown prince to come to the Imperial Treasury and wait for an audience, I will discuss with the crown prince," Emperor Taisho looked at Hara Kei and said calmly, "Prime Minister please step down first, the result of the deliberation and my decision, I will let the Imperial Minister inform you on my behalf, what does the Prime Minister think?" ”

Hara Kei silently bowed to Emperor Taisho, then turned and left.

At this time, Yuan Jing had already roughly guessed what the final result of this kind of deliberation would be.

Mukden, railway station.

The sound of gunfire gradually faded down, and a bleak full moon hung high in the air. The air was scorching and pungent, and the burning embers flickered everywhere in the fortifications built by the Japanese army, and the smell of burnt grain, rubber, wood, and human flesh wafted from some improvised positions.

Yoichi Takahashi struggled to his feet from the rubble.

It was a temporary fortification built from the station warehouse, and most of the fortifications had collapsed, many bunkers had been razed to the ground by artillery fire, and a damaged cannon had fallen to the rubble. Takahashi endured the pain on his body and shouted a few times, and no one in the empty position answered him at all.

This means that the combat team he led may have all been gloriously "broken", and the heavy responsibility of holding the position has historically fallen on him alone.

Just a few days ago, Yoichi Takahashi, who was still a timber merchant, was told by the officers of the garrison that tens of thousands of [***] teams would soon launch a full-scale attack on the army of Yuben in Mukden City, and because the army was inferior in numbers, it could only shrink its stronghold and wait for reinforcements, while some of the outer positions would be handed over to the guards of the Yueben expatriates.

At that time, the number of expatriates living in Mukden was considerable, including bankers, merchants, investors, students, intellectuals, ronin, monks, hooligans, and women. They have different occupations and identities, but they come from the same country and form a common force to enter the Chinese market. But the problem is that now that there is going to be a war, business will definitely not be done, and it is said that it is a country with a tradition of patriotism and martial arts, so women, the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled have been evacuated back to China, and the remaining thousands of overseas Chinese men have volunteered to stay behind and form a "self-defense force" to take up arms to assist the army in fighting.

At first, the diaspora did not see this as a local confrontation with a huge disparity in strength.

For a long time, due to the deliberate propaganda of the government and some non-governmental organizations, the Chinese [***] team has been shaped into the world's most incompetent army image in his mind, and in his own impression, hundreds of soldiers of the empire can defeat tens of thousands of Chinese [***] troops.

In the 1915 local war with China, although the original failed, this impression did not change. Because in that war, the army of Yuben caused the attacking squadron to pay heavy casualties, and if it were not for the outbreak of the plague, Yuben would probably have defeated China at that time.

But this time, things seem to have changed.

The squadron that came to attack was well-equipped and had high morale, and it can be said that they had taken advantage of the advantages of time, place, and people, and they carried out a flood of ferocious attacks day and night, giving the defending Self-Defense Forces an unprecedented horror. As far as the Self-Defense Forces are concerned, they are all amateur soldiers, and many of them have never been in a barracks, so they suffered heavy casualties as soon as the war began. Yoichi Takahashi, who had served in the Navy and was appointed as a squad leader, suffered more than half of his squad casualties in just two days. But the SDF members still encouraged each other to hold their ground.

"All our soldiers and civilians should be loyal and brave to kill the enemy, promote the prestige of our country, make great achievements, and forever record the glorious history of the empire!"

I remember that day, Takahashi and the Self-Defense Forces heard the Holy Emperor's "supreme instructions" from the country, and Takahashi and his team looked up in the direction of Samoto, and they all shed tears of excitement.

On this very day, they fought valiantly for the emperor until the "jade shattered", and not one of them retreated and fled.

There was a sudden, imperceptible tremor on the ground, as if a very heavy train was passing far away. But soon the noise gradually widened like ripples of water, and the ruins of the warehouse began to shake, and the roof supports let out a moan. Yoichi Takahashi shuddered as if he had woken up, and then leaned out of his cover to observe.

In the flickering light of the fire in the distance, a rumbling behemoth appeared!

Takahashi's eyes widened, and he looked ahead, only to see that the figure of the other party looked like a small hill that would move in myths and legends. This was followed by the second and third towers...... As the metal tracks of the enemy tanks rolled in, many monster-like enemy infantry were insidiously hiding behind the shadow of the tanks, crawling or jumping to follow.

Takahashi Yang pressed his face tightly against the cold bunker wall, and at this moment, all he could hear was the strong and powerful beating of his heart.

Yoichi Takahashi is 40 years old this year, and it has been 10 years since he retired from the army, he has a wife and children, and his family life is harmonious and happy. Although he was successful in business and very wealthy, in the subconscious of this former navy major, he never gave up the noble idea of being a hero of the empire.

In the eyes of a true soldier, death is not a pain but an honor. The enemy is in front of him, either come forward and sacrifice himself without hesitation, or pretend to be dead on the spot, and then sneak out of the battlefield in the dark night to pick up a life. In this last moment of life and death, Yoichi Takahashi did not hesitate, he despised death and admired honor. The Yamato nation is a people who are not afraid of death, they believe in the spirit of bushido, and believe that death is not suffering but sublimation, so whether you are a professional soldier or not, you must be prepared to die to defend the honor of the Yamato nation. When the enemy approached, any thought of survival was shameful and guilty, so Takahashi Yoichi even secretly thanked the enemy in his heart for giving him the opportunity to complete the glorious deeds of serving the emperor and the imperial trust with a glorious "jade shatter".

He can't defeat a powerful enemy, but he will overcome himself.

For the soldiers, the highest purpose of existence is to enter the Yasukuni Shrine, so there is no big difference between whether they live or die, the only difference is whether they can obtain this kind of recognition, because it is related to the honor or shame behind you.

Yoichi Takahashi, a retired military officer who "longs to serve the motherland", almost effortlessly overcame his inner fear, that is, he chose to abandon individual life and material forms. He took a deep breath of the spicy air of the battlefield, barely holding on to his wounded and almost unconscious body, and then slammed into it the moment the enemy's first tank approached, steadily igniting the fuse on his explosive bag.

Yoichi Takahashi happily watched as his life burned rapidly in the sparks of the sparkling fuse......

(To be continued)