This meeting in the Chomei izakaya was recorded in history by later generations. See. Wool, Chinese NetIt marks the end of one era and the beginning of another.

In just two hours, the two sides made six covenants and formed an alliance of life and death. After that, Kido Kojiro quickly returned to Choshu, and the Mibu gumi's arrest plan fell through again.

The Kyoto Imperial Palace, the emperor's palace and the shogunate's office, was held in an endless stream of daily official meetings. However, the Fusang Emperor did not sit in the court, and the national affairs were given full authority to the "General Zhengyi" to preside. Tokugawa Yoshiki, who currently holds this position, is the head of the entire shogunate.

He was clutching a front-line report in his hand and scolding.

"Waste! Blame you rice buckets for letting go of the anti-thief Kojiro!

What is happening now? The 30,000-strong army joined forces with the Tosa and Hizen feudal domains to advance by land and water and approached Kyoto, and the banner was called 'Qingjun's side'! Listen, we have become anti-thieves!"

The ministers were silent, each with their own plans. Suddenly, a person said: "The general doesn't have to worry, the Changzhou anti-thieves seem to be menacing, but in fact they are vulnerable!"

When I looked at it, it turned out to be the Minister of the Interior, Iwakura Gushi. This person is resourceful and has a very accurate grasp of the current situation, which is quite appreciated.

Keiki asked, "Why did Iwakura Gong say this?"

Iwakura said: "My lord, although our army finally retreated to Kyoto in the last crusade against Choshu, it has actually inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. According to the minister's hear, the young and middle-aged men in Changzhou were killed and wounded, and almost every family mourned. This time, they raised their troops, but they bluffed and used offense as defense. The general can personally lead the army to conquer and suppress, and if this battle is decided, the rebellion can be put down!"

Qingxi laughed and said, "Iwakura Koya, who knows me, I also have this intention." ”

At this time, another person suddenly shouted: "Iwakura Gong's words of misleading the country, the general must not be gullible!"

Everyone sees it as the source of the Gen clan.

He said: "General, I think that my shogunate owns a quarter of the land of Gyeonggi and Fuso, and what coalition army can attack it? If the army moves lightly and gives the traitors a chance, it will be too late to regret it!"

Iwakura said angrily, "Genji, do you want to see the general bear the infamy of being a thief and be indifferent?

Tokugawa Qingxi smiled and said: "It's all for the country, why should the second prince be angry? I have made up my mind, and I will order troops to go out tomorrow, and there is no need to discuss this matter anymore!"

Iwakura is overjoyed and worships Tokugawa. And Yuan Qingsheng looked up to the sky and sighed, and he couldn't get sick the next day.

However, it is said that Tokugawa is happy to gather 100,000 troops to go on the expedition, and the phalanx stretches for more than 10 miles. After more than ten days of marching, the Changzhou army walked away, and there was not a single soldier fighting.

Tokugawa was proud of the Chinese army: "Our army is so majestic, I'm afraid that we will scare the courage of the Choshu anti-thieves, right?"

Qinghu, the commander of the last expedition to Changzhou, said: "General, this group of thieves is brave and ruthless, but they are by no means cowardly, please pay more attention!"

Qingxi looked more and more unpleasantly at this sixteenth brother who had suffered defeat, snorted, and said lightly: "Okay, I know." ”

At this time, the herald suddenly came to report: "General, urgent military affairs!"

Qingxi bowed down and asked, "Is there any news from the front?"

The herald said, "It's not the front line, it's the ...... It is Kyoto. ”

Keiki was shocked: "What's wrong with Kyoto?"

"Kyoto...... Kyoto's six generals, Mori Katsumoto, led the guards of the imperial palace to raise troops and hijack the Son of Heaven, and now they have occupied all of Kyoto!"

Qingxi's eyes darkened, and he sat down on the ground with a loud scream.

The herald said nervously: "General, take care!"

Qinghu hugged Qingxi and said in a deep voice, "Is there anything else?"

"There is ......"

"Report it!"

"Yes......" said the herald sweatingly, "the Son of Heaven issued an edict under the threat of Mori Shengyuan, and ordered the general to hand over the seal sword on the same day, reduce his post to the people, and dismiss all private subordinates. Combine...... And go back to Beijing alone to plead guilty!"

Even Qinghu couldn't stand these words, he took half a step forward and slapped the herald in the face. Angrily: "Fart!How is it possible?"

The herald said with a sad face: "My lord, what the little one said is true!"

At this time, Keiki regained his senses a little, and struggled to ask, "What about Iwakura Gushi, is there any news of him?"

"Yes. Because of his meritorious service, Iwakura Gong was named Minister Zuo by His Majesty, and the Consul General was ...... civil affairs"

Tokugawa was so angry that he trembled, and scolded: "The old thief of Iwakura deceived me too much!"

Qinghu asked, "Seventh brother, what should I do now?"

Qingxidao pondered for a moment and said, "Return to the teacher immediately, and you can't delay for a moment!"

At the sound of the order, the 100,000-strong army immediately turned around and headed back to Kyoto. The soldiers were talking, confused as to what had happened. But just after half a day of marching, an envoy came to Kyoto.

When he saw Qingxi, he said proudly: "His Majesty the Emperor dictated, and Tokugawa received the order!"

Even if Qingxi was unwilling, he had to kneel down and say, "The minister accepts the order." ”

The envoy said: "Your Majesty said: "Your Majesty said: Tokugawa old thief, if I ask you to hand over the military power and you don't do it, then it will be a rebellion!

Everyone in the tent gritted their teeth when they heard this, and secretly scolded Mori Katsumoto and Iwakura Gushi. You must know that the emperor was just 14 years old and was just a child, and he knew what kind of power struggle? This edict was ruthless and resolute, and it must have been instigated by someone else behind his back.

However, this does present a problem for everyone. Accepting the order is tantamount to admitting that Qingxi is plotting rebellion in disguise; if you don't accept it, it is a disobedience to the order. In short, no matter what, it must be true.

But Tokugawa Qingxi was an old man after all, so he cried without saying a word, and beat his chest and said, "Old minister...... The old minister is sorry for the first emperor!" while crying, he gave Qinghu a look to the side of him.

Qinghu comprehended, stepped forward and grabbed the messenger and said: "You dog thief! The Son of Heaven was kidnapped by the Satsuma thieves, and you didn't want to repay the service, but instead acted for the tiger and spread false edicts without permission. I'll do it for the Son of Heaven!" he said, drawing his sword and cutting down the messenger.

Qingxi cried darkly: "I can't help it, I can't help it!" but nodded lightly at Qinghu, signaling that he had done a good job.

Everyone in the tent also understood this trick, either to comfort Qingxi, or to complain that Qinghu was reckless. In short, everyone made a show and turned this matter over.

Qingxi wiped his tears and said, "The Satsuma thieves are bullying me like this, how do you think you should deal with it?"

The subordinate generals Oguri Tadashun and others bowed down and said: "I am willing to fight back to Kyoto and take the head of Mori Katsumoto, please allow me to wait for a battle!"

Qinghu also persuaded: "Seventh brother, for the sake of today, it is important to quickly return to Kyoto and regain Your Majesty! Otherwise, Mori Shengyuan and other rebels will use the name of the imperial court at every turn, which will put us in a disadvantageous position. ”

Qingxi held his forehead and said, "It's not appropriate." is so suspected of killing the king, it is easy to be true. Moreover, the Changzhou army was eyeing the rear and had to be guarded against. ”

He stood up and paced from side to side, silent for a while. After a meal, he suddenly said: "Yes! We will lead the army to slowly return eastward and surround Kyoto without fighting!"

He pointed out on the map: "You see, the Toba area southwest of Kyoto is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and our army can occupy the position as long as it is stationed here. After we cut off the water source of the grain road, we can wait for the reinforcements from Changzhou such as Lao Dan. If he dares to come to his rescue, our army will immediately attack, and we will win a great victory. This is the plan that the enemy has to save in the art of war. ”

The generals were impressed and said, "The great general, I can't wait!" So the entire army of the shogunate moved according to the order and stationed in the Toba area southwest of Kyoto.

At the same time, Katsumoto Namori and others at the Kyoto Imperial Palace were also thinking about countermeasures. These capable and wise men are like clever chess players, and any change will be added to the grand thinking.

Sen Shengyuan frowned and sighed: "I am glad that this old fox has found the key to victory or defeat! Although our army is famous, it is advantageous to fight quickly. But the shogunate's immobility is a real headache. At the moment, I'm most worried about Kojiro, if he comes to the rescue of Kyoto on the spur of the moment, then he will fall for the enemy's plan!"

Iwakura, the inner director of the Satsuma Domain, said, "Why don't you give Keiki a half-official position and lure him into Beijing?"

Mori Katsumoto smiled bitterly: "Iwakura-kun, he Tokugawa Yoshiki is a general, what official function is greater than that?" Alas...... In order to bring down the great cause, I have to use some despicable means!"

Under the orders of Mori Katsumoto, three days later, a group of samurai of the Satsuma clan infiltrated Osaka Castle, the old camp of the Tokugawa family, and without saying a word, they began to burn and loot to create panic. The local shogunate army fought back angrily, and both sides suffered casualties.

Although this move of the shogunate faction disturbed the morale of the shogunate, it also lost the hearts of the people in Osaka.

And Tokugawa Yoshiki seemed to see through Mori Katsumoto's anxiety, and he was still calm and calm.

On the other hand, in the Choshu army, everyone was also worried about how to provoke Tokugawa to send troops. Lin Junfu came up with more than ten bad ideas, but they were all rejected by Kojiro one by one.

In the end, Lin Junfu was anxious, and said hatefully: "This is not good, that is not good, could it be that my brother is afraid of death? If this is the case, Junfu is willing to lead a death squad to raid Qingxi to relieve his brother's worries!"

Kojiro shook his head: "Shunsuke, why do you always say something childish? If you can't hold your breath, how can you take on heavy responsibilities in the future? Look at Tokugawa Keiki, the mountains collapse in front of you and don't change color, just this calmness is enough for you to study for another ten years." Now people have set a trap waiting for you, but you hit it up, isn't this looking for death?"

Lin Junfu said: "Then let's just wait and fail." ”

Kojiro sighed: "That's all there is to it. We have to wait for an opportunity, a variable. Until then, no one can act rashly. ”

At this time, a female voice said, "Kido-kun, I'm afraid you won't be able to wait for this opportunity." ”

When everyone looked at it, it turned out to be Miyuki Sakura. Kojiro asked, "Why did Miyuki-sama say that?"

Miyuki said, "Because he's from the Tokugawa family." Their family, starting with Tokugawa Ieyasu, was known for their ability to endure people. The bravest, wisest, most ambitious, and even most treacherous opponents were all killed by them, and the shogunate was created today.

So no matter how you deal with Tokugawa Keiki, the only thing you can't do is wait. ”