Previously, when Tokugawa Iemo, Tenjoin and others came to Beijing, the emperor visited the shrine twice in order to pray for the peace and prosperity of the country and the long-term destiny of the country.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that the purpose of praying for the country is actually to put pressure on the shogunate, put the shogunate on the fire, and force the shogunate to fight against the barbarians.

The first time I went to Kamige and Shimo Shrine, I was accompanied by Tokugawa Iemo, Hitotsubashi Yoshiki and others.

The second time was to visit Ishikimizu Shrine - this trip was particularly thrilling.

At that time, the emperor wanted to personally award the sword to the general on the day of his visit.

In full view of everyone, the general had no reason not to accept the sword.

Once the sword is taken over, the shogunate has no way out and can only go to the dark side on the road to fight against the foreigners.

Otherwise, it means resisting the imperial order, and the vassal states such as Choshu and Tosa will be able to obtain the righteousness and excuse of war to "punish the imperial enemies" and raise troops to attack the shogunate.

However, it was a coincidence that Tokugawa Iemo happened to be ill and fell ill in bed at that time due to acclimatization.

Hitotsubashi Keiki, who was going to replace Tokugawa Iemo, received the news in advance, so he left the parade without authorization on the grounds of abdominal pain.

Fortunately, the shogunate did not accompany him during this trip, and the imperial court performed an embarrassing one-man show, which ended in failure.

Now, Tokugawa Iemo and Tenjoin have returned to Edo.

Logically speaking, the imperial court has no reason to "act" anymore.

As a result, they had to go to Xingxing Shrine again.

If you think about it carefully, it is indeed unusual.

The reason given by the court this time was to pray for the Choshu clan, which was fighting against the Western barbarians, and to pray for a complete victory in the war against the barbarians.

But the problem is that the war between Changzhou and the Western countries has come to an end for the time being.

The war has already ended, and you’ve only come to pray now? What were you doing before?

The war at Xiaguan... Strictly speaking, it is the first stage of the war and has ended long ago.

As expected, the U.S. and French forces violently attacked Changzhou.

After several days of fierce fighting, the former was unscathed, while the latter suffered heavy casualties. The warships were all ink, and the shore batteries were destroyed. It was a complete defeat.

Perhaps in order to serve as a warning to the monkeys, the Western vassals were determined to make Changzhou bleed and suffer an extremely heavy price this time!

The temporary withdrawal of the U.S. and French forces is just to increase supplies and gather British and Dutch warships in an attempt to form a larger fleet to fight against Xiaguan one day!

It will have to wait until next year, no matter how soon, for the four countries, the United States, Britain, France and the Netherlands, to gather their forces and launch the second round of offensive.

Changzhou is safe for the time being.

However... it's only "temporary".

To put it harshly, Changzhou's current situation can be described in one word - just hanging on!

It won't be long before a more intense war will befall them.

By then, the damage to Changzhou would not only be the destroyed warships and shore batteries.

As soon as the American and French coalition forces entered the battlefield, their resistance was instantly destroyed. The proud "Samurai Soul" and "Changzhou Soul" were of no use at all... They probably couldn't withstand such a terrifying stimulation.

, the current Choshu Domain can no longer be treated with common sense!

After being beaten violently by the American and French forces, they did not want to sue for peace or regroup their forces. Instead, in order to vent their personal anger, they sent troops to attack the Kokura clan on the other side of Shimonoseki and seize its territory. They were like a man who lost his mind and bit everyone he saw.

mad dog.

For this reason, most of the vassal states are now silently staying away from Choshu and keeping a distance from it.

After all, who would want to be near a psychopath with a knife in his hand?

As soon as the imperial court announced the emperor's new travel plan, the rumor that "the Zunbo faction was going to kidnap the emperor and burn the imperial palace" quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys of Kyoto.

Although this rumor did not specify whose family the Zunbo sect was, everyone in the world thought in unison - who else could it be? It must be the Zunbo sect from Changzhou!

Everyone knows that although the Zunbo Sect has various factions such as the "Changshu Faction", "Satsuma Faction", "Tosa Faction", etc., only the Zunbo Faction in Choshu can be so extreme!

Given the current extremely unstable mental state of the Choshu Zunbo Sect...not to mention kidnapping the emperor and burning down the imperial palace, it is not surprising that they have done such bizarre and perverted things!

Although they don't know where the source is, Qingnobo, Matsudaira Yongho and others can't help but pay more attention to this rumor.

The rumors here are not groundless!

First of all, the places where the emperor will visit this time are the Mausoleum of Emperor Yamato Jimmu and Kasuga Taisha Shrine. The scheduled time is the end of August.

The previous two trips were in Kyoto, but this trip to Yamato was far away from Kyoto.

Regardless of whether the rumors are true or false, once the emperor leaves Kyoto, he will become a piece of meat on the chopping board, ready to be slaughtered by others!

The emperor does not have any feather guards or imperial troops.

You can't expect those powerless ministers to protect the emperor, right?

If the emperor leaves Kyoto, it will not be surprising what kind of accident he encounters!

Secondly, since a long time ago, there has been a conspiracy theory circulating among the people that "Changshu and the ministers of the Zunbo faction colluded with each other and secretly hijacked the emperor."

The unusual place and time of the trip, and then think of this conspiracy theory...

Forced into desperation by the anti-barbarian war, the Choshu Zunni faction decided to take a different approach and take the emperor hostage to Choshu to further deepen their control over the imperial court and gain the privilege of commanding the whole country. When you think about it, everything becomes reasonable!

To take a step back, let’s leave aside the truth or falsehood of this conspiracy theory for now.

One thing is certain: the Zunbo faction does not respect the emperor that much.

Some members of the Zunbo sect - mainly middle and lower-level members - do indeed respect and love the emperor because of their fanaticism or other reasons.

However, the top leaders of the Zunbo faction, such as Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogoro, Sanjo Sanimi and others, did not love the emperor as much as they seemed on the surface.

In other words, on the issue of "how to view the emperor", the senior officials of the Zunbo faction and the senior officials of the Samu faction are consistent - they regard the emperor as a tool!

As long as the emperor is kidnapped, Changshu can be like Cao Mengde in the Three Kingdoms era, holding the emperor hostage to order the princes.

First, it was announced in the name of the emperor: The emperor came to Choshu voluntarily, and we did not force him.

Then, he continued to use the name of the emperor to order the princes of the world, cause trouble for the shogunate, repeatedly condemned the shogunate, and even deprived the Tokugawa family of the official position of general for conquering barbarians.

Anyway, the Emperor is in their hands, and they can manipulate the Emperor's speech as they please, and say whatever they want him to say.

In fact, the people of Kyoto felt that it did not matter whether the emperor lived or died.

To put it bluntly, from hundreds of years ago, the actual position of the emperor was not the leader of a country at all, but a sage-like existence, just a cultural symbol.

Even for the people of Kyoto who were born under the emperor's feet, there was no shadow of the emperor in their daily lives.

In the eyes of careerists and politicians, the emperor is a useful tool.

But to ordinary people, the emperor was just a dispensable existence.

Whether Lord Yansheng lives or dies is none of their business!

It might be better if he died.

Because it can also give them something to talk about after dinner.

Compared with the emperor's stay and life and death, the scholars and people in Kyoto were more concerned about whether the Zunbo faction in Choshu would burn down the imperial palace - this was an important matter related to their livelihood!

The emperor's imperial palace is not a solid fortress with magnificent walls and a moat like Edo Castle, Osaka Castle and Nijo Castle.

The walls of the imperial palace are very short, and you can climb in by just setting up an escalator.

In addition, the Imperial Palace is just across a street from nearby residences.

Once the palace is on fire and a strong wind blows, countless sparks will scatter in all directions like dandelion seeds.

By then, most of Kyoto will be in danger of being burned to the ground!

In terms of population density, Kyoto is not inferior to Edo or Osaka.

Kyoto cannot afford a fire!

"Publishing rumors and spreading rumors" has always been a favorite among the people.

As the rumors of "taking the emperor hostage and burning the imperial palace" continued to spread, various versions gradually began to appear.

Choshu not only wants to hold the emperor hostage, but also holds all the officials of the imperial court hostage!

Choshu not only wanted to burn the Imperial Palace, but also set fires everywhere in Kyoto!

…

There are countless stories similar to this that are both true and illusory.

In recent days, the air in Kyoto has always been filled with the smell of tension.

Panic spread like a plague to every corner of Kyoto.

A few places have even triggered a rice-grabbing craze.

Seito and Matsudaira Yoshiho had to come forward together and issue a joint statement to calm the mood of the people in Kyoto.

For Qingnog, this is a good reason to increase the manpower for patrolling the town.

As a result, under Aoshito's instruction, the Shinsengumi sent additional manpower to patrol the town on the grounds of "guaranteeing public security."

On the surface it was to protect Kyoto, but in essence it was to prevent Okada Izo's sneak attack.
To be continued...