Hearing Gentaro Kodama's words, Chihito was moved in his heart for a while.

Oh, yes! The world only knows that he is the main culprit in the burning of Kyoto, but how many people understand the real purpose of his actions?

"Kodamama-kun, do you really think so?" Chiren asked.

"Your Royal Highness, that's what I think. I also believe that this fire should be a turning point in this war. The momentum of the thief army should turn from prosperity to decline. Gentaro Kodama said, "Wasn't it the fire in Moscow that made Napoleon's army frustrated, flourished and declined, and finally collapsed?" In my opinion, the achievements of the Kyoto fire are comparable to the Moscow fire! ”

Hearing Gentaro Kodama's words of praise, Chihito almost burst into tears.

"Your Royal Highness! You don't have to be frustrated and worried, like the German critic Franz? Merlin said: 'The fire in Moscow began an era. I think that the fire in Kyoto is also the beginning of a new era! Gentaro Kodama said excitedly.

"Kodama-kun, thank you......" Chihito choked up.

"Your Royal Highness, don't care what others say! You should make your point of view clear in your report to His Majesty the Emperor and in your suicide note! In this way, even if you are wronged for a while, history will give you a correct evaluation in the future! Kodama Gentaro took Blazing Ren's hand and said firmly.

"I see!" Chiren's heart stirred.

After Gentaro Kodama left, Blaze Ren lost his sleepiness, simply took a pencil and paper, and began to write a report to the emperor.

By the time he finished writing his report and suicide note, it was already late at night, and the forest was silent. The sound of the stream flowing at the bottom of the mountain stream is monotonous and loud. His eyes closed unconsciously.

"What else should I write? ...... "Although the report and suicide note were written. But Chiren still felt that something was missing. He muttered to himself. I wanted to fight against the Sandman, but in the end I forgot about war, death, duty, dignity, and honor, and fell asleep on the grass.

The next morning, he was awakened by a loud noise, and he jerked to his feet, where he saw a group of government soldiers dressed in black, led by an officer, walking towards where he was sleeping.

"Is it His Royal Highness Prince Chihito of the Arisugawa Palace?" The officer who led the team saw Chi Ren's military uniform and recognized his rank. stepped forward and gave a military salute and asked.

"Exactly." Chiren raised his hand in return and asked, "Is there anything wrong?" ”

"On the orders of His Majesty the Emperor, I will dismiss His Highness from his duties and immediately protect His Highness to Tokyo and wait for the handling." The officer said, showing Emperor Meiji's warrant to Chihito.

Hearing the officer's answer, Chi Ren's heart couldn't help but sink, and he took the warrant and glanced at it. His hands trembled.

And Gentaro Kodama who rushed over also changed his face when he heard the officer's words.

"For my subordinates. Does His Majesty the Emperor have an order? Chi Ren asked calmly.

"This ...... I do not know. The officer made him stunned, "I only received orders about His Highness." ”

"I see." Blazing Ren nodded and sighed, he could almost guess what was waiting for him when he returned to Tokyo this time.

"Kodama-kun, this is my suicide note, if I don't have a chance to write it again, you can give it to my family! Please! As he spoke, he took out the written suicide note from his bosom, along with the report on the war in Kyoto, and handed it to Gentaro Kodama.

Gentaro Kodama took it with tears in his eyes, choked in his throat, and couldn't even speak.

Blazing Ren turned around, not daring to look at him and his subordinates again, but with his head held high, he came to the army that had arrested him, like a martyr rushing to the execution ground.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Tokyo, Ministry of War Administration.

Military Judge Mamichi Tsuda was sitting at his desk at this time, writing hard.

“…… There was an extremely strict system of gate valves among the nobles. And the stubbornness of this gatekeeper system is not only manifested in the official affairs of the domain, but even in the current personal relations, and in the relationship between the children there is also a distinction between the high and the low"; "At that time, it was a feudal era, and it was the same everywhere in Japan, and the feudal system was conservative. There were strict rules about the status of each feudal lord, and the sergeant was the sergeant and the corporal was the corporal. This solid feudal order is as if it were sealed in a box, and there is no room for accommodation in between. …… If a lowly person is rude to a samurai or a courtier or a courtier, it is okay to kill him...... In ancient times, there were slaves in the land, and the right to live, kill, and take away all belonged to the master, without the slightest right. It is equivalent to birds, beasts, plants and trees, but the owner holds a thing and an ear, which is a big violation of heaven and humanity. Later generations of culture and education explained that everyone has equal rights, and there is no difference at all, so human slavery is far from its traces. However, the other country is confused by the bad views or desires of the ancients, and the cloud black slave is a sinner of the sky, not an ordinary human being, and it still exists recently. As the English people were abolished, the United States recently put down the slavery rebellion, and black slaves began to be able to live in human beings. However, my Bangshi people can be called rude, and have the right to kill human rights, the supreme power? Irrational? Woohoo terrible! ”

"If you look at the rule of Tokugawa, the people were enshrined in this authoritarian government, and they examined the situation in the world, regardless of the conduct of the people, and tens of millions of people in Japan were enclosed in tens of millions of boxes, or as if they were cut off by tens of millions of walls, and it was difficult to move an inch. Not only did they distinguish their identities as Shinong and industrialists, but there were also Shilu Shiguan in the Shi clan, and even Confucian officials and doctors, whose family members were not allowed to change their occupations for generations. Farmers also have family backgrounds, and merchants and workers also have shares, and their barriers are as strong as iron, no matter how strong they are, they cannot be broken. Although people have talents, they have no goal of starting a career, so they can only retreat and seek ways to protect themselves. Over the course of hundreds of years, their habits have gradually become human nature, and they eventually lose their so-called spirit of daring......"

Mamichi Tsuda was born into a family of Tsuyama feudal clans in Mimasaka Province. He was studious from an early age, and at the age of 22 he left the feudal domain and moved to Edo, where he learned Western studies from Misaku Nguyenfu, Sakuma Zoyama, and Ito Genpo. After serving as an instructor at the Shogunate's Office for four years, he was ordered by the shogunate to study in the Netherlands at the same time as the Western Zhou Dynasty, where he studied law and economics under Ficelinger at Leiden University, as well as the positivist philosophy of Comte and Mill. After returning to Japan, he worked as a professor at Kaisei Institute. His lecture notes in the Netherlands were published under the title "The Law of the Kingdom of Tessie". He wrote the preface to the book, "The Essentials of Tessie's Jurisprudence". It was the first general treatise on jurisprudence written by a Japanese. He later served as a shogunate cavalry officer. At the time of the return of the Great Shoi, he designed a constitutional plan centered on the Tokugawa family for Tokugawa Keiki. After the Meiji Restoration. He has served as a recruiter and a criminal justice officer of the Ministry of Justice. Participated in the preparation of the "New Rules Framework" and proposed a ban on human trafficking. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for four years in the Meiji era, and is now a military judge in the Ministry of the Army.

Nearly four months have passed since the "Kyushu Rebellion", and the people working in the Ministry of War are all concerned about the progress and losses on the battlefield. What is more concerned is to take the opportunity of the largest civil war in Japan's history to sweep away the idea of feudal hierarchy in Japan.

Through his studies in the West, Tsuda Mamichi compared the historical differences between the high and the low in Eastern and Western societies. He found that Japan's feudal system was similar in many ways to ancient Western slavery, and he wrote an article denouncing the great harm that this hierarchy caused to society, arguing that the United States abolished the dark slavery system through the Civil War. However, under the feudal hierarchy of Japan, the samurai, as the ruling class, had the power to kill the so-called "lowly" people, which was really unreasonable. He strongly criticizes the inhumanity of this hierarchy and warns that it will continue in the long run. The future of Japan's social development will become very frightening, and it will be impossible for it to catch up with advanced countries such as Europe and the United States.

Actually, in the Meiji period. The new Japanese government carried out a major reform of the old feudal hierarchy. The Meiji government stated in the "Imperial Decree on the Retro Large-Horn of the Imperial Government": "From then on, the Regency and the Shogunate were abolished, and the three positions of president, agreement, and participation were temporarily established to handle all kinds of opportunities." All things should be according to the beginning of the Shenwu business, and there is no distinction between gentry, samurai, upper and lower, and all must be made public as much as possible. Although the decree was issued as an expedient measure to win the hearts and minds of the people in response to the special circumstances of the time, it set the tone for a change in the feudal hierarchy that had long been practiced by the shogunate, so that all estates could have a political voice. In the "Five Oaths" released later, there is also "one heart and one mind, great economic development; The secretary of state and the samurai are of the same mind, so that the common people must make each his own will fulfill his will and the people's hearts will not be tireless", indicating that the time to abolish the feudal hierarchy is not far off. On June 17, Meiji 2, Executive Circular No. 542 announced the establishment of the title of the Chinese clan: "In accordance with the spirit of unity and coordination between the ministers and the samurai, it is hereby instructed that in the future, the titles of the princes, ministers, and princes should be abolished and renamed as the Chinese." However, the official position will not be changed in accordance with the previous provisions. On December 2 of the same year, Proclamation No. 1004 of the Imperial Government announced the establishment of the title of Scholar: "In the past, the feudal lords corrected the disorder of the righteous ranks, inspected the situation in overseas countries, and returned their fiefdoms, so as to make public deliberations...... The feudal domains were also to be reformed gradually in accordance with the new form of government. Abolish the titles of the middle and lower doctors, all of whom are called scholars and soldiers...... But all the land is handed over, and all are given rice. That is, the titles and territories of the former feudal nobility were abolished. On August 28, Meiji 44, the Imperial Governor Bulletin No. 448 again announced, "The names 'Filta' and 'Inhuman' are hereby abolished, so that their status and occupation should be the same as that of commoners." The next day, it was further stipulated in the Imperial Governor's Proclamation No. 449 that "because of the abolition of the names 'Filth' and 'Inhuman', they should generally be registered as civilians, and their status and occupation should be treated the same as those of civilians." However, in addition to the land tax, there is still a practice of exempting the levy, which should be re-investigated and reported to the Ministry of Finance. On the 29th day of the first month of the fifth year of the Meiji era, the Imperial Government announced the abolition of the title of "Pawn Clan": "The strokes of the habitual subordinates of each prefecture and prefecture were on duty in the old days, and in the name of 'Bao Substitute', they were given to their sons and other children, and the situation has naturally formed a hereditary situation, and in the future, they can be classified as scholars and reported to the Ministry of Finance for the record." However, it may be paid according to customary conditions. However, only one generation shall be limited to those on duty, and according to the new regulations shall make them civilians, and their salaries shall be paid according to the previous provisions. This series of reforms has changed the legal status of the vast majority of the people to a certain extent, and at the same time, it has also created a more relaxed public opinion environment for promoting the idea of modernizing interpersonal and political relations.

However, although the Meiji government established the principle of "equality of the four peoples," it was not able to fundamentally eliminate traditional inequalities. The rule of the feudal lords continued, and the feudal supra-economic coercion remained heavy. What is even more serious is that the feudal hierarchical system that has been practiced for a long time has been deeply imprinted in people's minds, and it is very difficult to completely reverse the people's hierarchical concept in a short period of time. For example, the old hierarchical notions of the peasant class were particularly acute, and although they were in the second estate during the shogunate period, they were in fact of a humble position, unaware of their basic rights, and at the same time largely looked down on the lower merchant class. This mentality was not only severe during the end of the Edo period. It continued for some time after the Meiji Restoration. For example, once Fukuzawa Yukichi deliberately acted as an arrogant and unreasonable warrior. The frightened peasants trembled. He didn't even dare to ride his own horse. When he asked others in a kind manner, the interviewee thought that Fukuzawa Yukichi was a lowly "Osaka businessman", and behaved arrogantly and even unreasonable. Yukichi Fukuzawa sighed, "The ancient habits are terrible. These people, because they are not educated, do not know what is going on, and they do not know that there is a law. It is impossible for the common people to be in such a situation. "As a result of the long practice of feudal hierarchies, people have become accustomed to nature, and the spirit of striving for equality has been lost.

This situation in which the people were firmly bound by the feudal hierarchy undoubtedly constituted a serious obstacle to Japan's march toward modernization. Therefore. There is an urgent need to launch a large-scale ideological campaign to deny hierarchical privileges in order to arouse the masses, free people from the old feudal hierarchical conceptions, and establish the concept of modernizing political relations between people.

Tsuda Mamichi strongly advocated reform and eradication of the old system, but he also clearly understood that the old vested interests would not stand still and would rise up and rebel, and he foresaw that the old Shi clan would rebel, and believed that there would inevitably be a decisive battle between the old and new forces and ideas. But what he didn't expect was that the scale of this decisive battle would be so large. And the resistance of the old scholars was so fierce that the new Meiji government was in danger of falling.

In the face of the powerful offensive of the Kyushu rebellion, coupled with the unfavorable situation of the government army, the voice of the Japanese people's restoration began to surge again, and Tsuda Mamichi was resentful of this, and he wrote those sharp articles in order to fight back.

While Mamichi Tsuda was writing, an officer hurriedly walked in.

"Your Excellency Tsuda, summoned by His Majesty the Emperor."

Tsuda was stunned to hear that it was Emperor Meiji who was going to summon him, but it was quickly replaced by excitement and glory.

In this era, not everyone has the honor of being summoned by His Majesty the Emperor (at this moment, the concept of equality disappeared from Tsuda's mind).

Tsuda did not know why the emperor had summoned him, but he guessed that the exposing article he had written earlier about the slogans of "new national government" and "Seijun side" put forward by Saigo Takamori when he raised troops had been approved and valued by the emperor.

After arriving at the Imperial Palace Audience Hall, it didn't take long for the thin figure of Emperor Meiji to appear. Tsuda Mamichi noticed that Emperor Meiji received him with Empress Ichijomiko and Gonori Yanagihara Aiko, and couldn't help but feel strange.

"Tsuda Qing is proficient in law and has made many achievements in national politics and law, and I am very gratified." Emperor Meiji looked at Mamichi Tsuda and said some comforting words.

"Your Majesty's imperial grace is mighty, and the ministers are sincerely afraid." Mamichi Tsuda replied respectfully.

"Tsuda Qing has always advocated the legal system, and the current army secretary and military judge must be a mountain of law enforcement, no matter who commits a crime, he can be dealt with according to the law, right?" Emperor Meiji asked again quietly.

"What Your Majesty said is very true, and the minister did exactly that." Mamichi Tsuda replied, a look of pride in his voice.

He did exactly that, and Western concepts such as "equality" and "rule of law" were the ones he enshrined and unswervingly implemented.

I am very relieved that you replied. But Tsu Tianqing, have you ever thought that one day, you will meet someone who you dare not judge according to the law? Emperor Meiji asked again.

"I think this person doesn't exist." When Tsuda Mamichi heard Emperor Meiji's question, he thought that the emperor was testing his bottom line, and he couldn't help but immediately reply loudly, "As the old saying goes: If a prince breaks the law, he will be guilty of the same crime as the common people!" In the eyes of the ministers, there is only the law, and no one else! ”

"What Tsu Tian Qing means is that even if I break the law, I will be guilty of the same crime as the common people, and if it falls into the hands of Tsu Tian Qing, I will also be tried according to law, right?" Emperor Meiji asked again with a sound that resembled a sneer.

Hearing Emperor Meiji's question, Tsuda Shinmichi's back broke out in a cold sweat.

Why would the emperor ask such a question? This...... What does that mean exactly?

"I think it...... That'...... so," Mamichi Tsuda replied stiffly, but his tone was not as firm and confident as he had just been.

"Tsuda Qing can answer like this, I am very relieved." Emperor Meiji turned his head and said to Ichijomiko and Yanagihara Aiko with a smile, "It's really rare for me to have such a courtier. ”

"Your Majesty is wise." Ichijomiko and Yanagihara Aiko bowed their heads and replied in unison.

"I ask you again, Tsuda Qing, if it is my relatives who have committed a crime, do you dare to judge according to the law?" Emperor Meiji asked again.

Hearing the emperor's question this time, Tsuda Mamichi understood, and immediately replied loudly: "The minister will definitely be judged according to law!" No mercy! ”

"That's good, my kin, Prince Chiren of Qichuan Palace, has committed a serious crime of military law, and it happens to be judged by you, I hope Aiqing will judge impartially and in accordance with the law." Emperor Meiji finally stated the purpose of summoning him.

"Prince Arisugawa Miyachihito? This...... Isn't Your Excellency the Governor of the Western Expedition on the front line? ......" Tsuda Mamichi was horrified when he heard who he was trying was, but he immediately understood why the emperor had left the prince to be judged by himself. (To be continued......)

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