On the second day, the Imperial Council.

In the main hall of the Imperial Palace, on the right side stand high-ranking government officials headed by Okubo Toshitsu, Okuma Shigenobubu, and Ito Hirobumi. On the other side were representatives of the military, led by the Secretary of the Army, the Governor of the Guards, the Chief of Staff of the Army Ministry, and the Senate of Yama Prefecture Aritomo.

"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" The military attache shouted.

Hearing the shouting, the Japanese military and political dignitaries standing on both sides bowed in unison.

Emperor Meiji did not go to see his ministers, but walked straight to his throne and sat down.

Today's Meiji Emperor is wearing a black military uniform and a large medal on his chest, which may be because the military uniform gives him an unusual sense of majesty, because he looks much more vigorous today than usual.

After Emperor Meiji sat down, he raised his hand: "All the ministers are flat." ”

The ministers ended their bowing and entered their seats. The military attache was about to announce the start of the Imperial Council, but unexpectedly, Emperor Meiji himself opened his mouth first.

"For the seal of Xixiang Qing, please speak freely."

What Emperor Meiji didn't expect was that his first sentence was cold.

No one responded to the voice.

After a long time, Emperor Meiji saw that there was still no one to speak, so he said again: "How do you think this matter should be resolved?" ”

Listening to the emperor's somewhat stern question, Yama Prefecture Youpeng glanced at Shigenobu Okuma on the other side, and Shigenobu Okuma frowned and lowered his head, putting on a look that it was none of his business.

Yama Prefecture Aritomo looked at Okubo Ritsu again, but at this time, Okubo Ritsu did not lower his head, but turned his head and stared at the cherry trees outside the window, as if everything in front of him had nothing to do with him.

The hall fell silent for a moment, and only the sound of people's breathing echoed in a low voice.

Seeing that Okubo Toshiyu turned out to be calm, Emperor Meiji was extremely angry, but he held back and did not get angry.

Emperor Meiji has always had an instinctive fear of Okubo Toshitsu, who has always been an iron fist, even when he talks to Okubo Toshitsu, he will never be as relaxed and calm as he is with Ito Hirobumi.

Born into a family of samurai warriors in Shimojiya-cho, Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain, Okubo was appointed assistant to the Domain Records Office at the age of 17. However, when he was 19 years old, the Satsuma clan suffered from the Yura Riot over the succession of the feudal lords, and the enlightened Shimazu Saibin faction, supported by his father Okubo Toshiyo, lost power. However, Okubo Ritsu did not stop there, and his common concern for the fate of the country and politics gradually brought him together with fellow villagers Saigo Takamori, Yoshii Tomomito, and Ichi Chimasaharu. At that time, Japan had already learned the news of the defeat of the Qianguo in the war against Britain, and how to save Japan from the mistakes of the Qianguo became a question that every Japanese who cared about the fate of the country had to ponder. The Seitada-gumi, a political group of more than 40 people, including Okubo Ritsu, often met to discuss world affairs in the hope of one day making a comeback in the domain.

The opportunity has finally arrived. With the support of Masahiro Abe, the elder of the shogunate, Shimazu Kibin finally became the lord of the domain, and Okubo Toshitsu was reinstated, on the eve of Perry's request for the opening of Japan. Shimazu Saibin practiced enlightened politics within the domain, and the shogunate crisis caused by Perry's knock on the customs increased the voice of each domain, and Shimazu Saibin, as the lord of the male domain, was naturally unwilling to be lonely, and was often active in the front of the central political situation. Okubo Ritsu actively assisted Shimazu Kibin, and his talent became more and more apparent, and his official position was promoted from secretary of the feudal records office to infantry overseer, and his political experience became richer day by day.

However, the good times did not last long, and after the conservative Ii Naobi replaced the sick and dying Abe Masahiro as the shogunate elder, the "Ansei Prison" was raised, and many patriots were slaughtered. Shimazu Saibin died of illness at this time, and Ii appointed Shimazu Tadadayoshi, the son of Shimazu Hisamitsu, Shimazu Kisamitsu, as the lord of the Satsuma domain, and conservatives began to rise in the domain. Okubo is determined to work on the real power figure Shimazu Hisamitsu in an attempt to reverse the unfavorable situation. He discovered that Shimazu Hisamitsu loved to play Go, so he practiced his chess skills so that he could communicate. When he heard that Shimazu Hisamitsu wanted to read the "Ancient History Biography", he managed to get as many as 28 volumes of the "Ancient History Biography" and lent it to Shimazu Hisamitsu, and took the opportunity to include a note in the book to let Shimazu Hisamitsu understand his views on the situation. The hard work paid off, and Shimazu Hisamitsu finally gradually distanced himself from the conservatives and began to reuse Okubo Ritsu, and the "Seitadashi-gumi" also gained legal status.

Both the Satsuma Domain and the Shogunate were planning a "Gongwu Alliance" movement in which the Shogunate and the Imperial Court cooperated to deal with external crises, and Shimazu Hisamitsu, together with Okubo Toshimitsu, led 1,000 feudal soldiers into Beijing to exert pressure on the Imperial Court. Such a military campaign was the first of its kind during the Tokugawa shogunate.

At the same time that Okubo Ritsu was actively promoting the Gongwu Movement together, the early comrades of the "Seitaka Group" Arima, Shinshichi Arima, and others, who had already been involved in the more radical Movement to respect the king, were planning to attack the ministers of the Sashoku faction when Shimazu Hisamitsu entered Beijing. In order to achieve his own goals, Okubo Ritsu resolutely sent troops to kill Arima Shinchi and others after sending people to persuade them to no avail, which was the "Teradaya Incident". This incident caused a complete split between the Gongwu faction and the Zunwang Zongyi faction, and accelerated the process of the Gongwu Coalition movement. The Imperial Court issued an edict, which basically satisfied Shimazu Hisamitsu's demands and announced that he would reform the shogunate. Preparations were made for the Imperial Domain, which was the culmination of the Gongwu Movement, and a six-member "participation council" consisting of Tokugawa Yoshiki and Shimazu Hisamitsu was set up to discuss national policies under the auspices of the Emperor. However, due to the selfish intentions and political views of each feudal clan, Tokugawa Yoshiki dreamed of the shogunate regaining power, and within three months, the "participation council" disappeared due to the resignation of the six participating parties. The movement suffered a major setback.

And after a period of silence, the movement of the Emperor Reverence has risen again. The feudal power of Choshu, another feudal domain, returned to the hands of Kido Takayoshi and Takasugi Shinsaku of the Imperial Clan, and Choshu began to implement a policy of secession. The shogunate planned a second conquest of Choshu. Originally, Satsuma had met with Choshu many times during the Forbidden Gate Rebellion and the first war against Choshu, but at this time, Choshu gradually approached it because of the purchase of British weapons by Choshu through Satsuma.

In his early years, Okubo Ritsu had the idea of "one country separating the country", but when he saw it realized in Choshu in another form, he gradually transformed into a shogunate.

In February of the second year of Keio, the two feudal clans formed an alliance under the mediation of Sakamoto Ryoma and Shintaro Nakaoka, and the friendly relations between the Satsuma domain and Tokugawa Yoshiki were interrupted. In order to ensure the success of the fall, Okubo Ritsu cooperated with the Imperial Court Secretary Iwakura Gushi, and used the emperor's authority to successfully launch a palace coup d'état on January 3, Keio 4. The Imperial Court issued the "Imperial Government Retro Trumpet Order", which abolished the imperial court's regency, the Sekihaku system, and the shogunate's shogun. The Imperial Court defeated the Shogunate forces that had advanced to the outskirts of Kyoto, and the Shogunate was wiped out in the Boshin War. Okubo Ritsunori served as a staff officer and then as an advisor to the President's Bureau in handling internal affairs, assisting Saigo Takamori in commanding operations, thus establishing and consolidating the new Meiji regime.

――――Dividing Line――――

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