Qingdeng's statement was very long... After all, the troops he commanded this time were a huge army of 200,000!

Such an amazing battle cannot be ignored by him.

In order to achieve a complete victory, Seito and his staff (Hijikata Toshizo, Shannan Keisuke and others) made full plans and preparations.

About an hour later, he finally finished his report, quietly raised his eyes, looked at Tokugawa Iemo, and waited for the other party's reply.

Tokugawa Iemo stared at the map on the table, thinking deeply.

After a moment, he curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled bitterly:

"...To be honest, I can't comment."

He said in a self-deprecating tone:

"I grew up in the palace and don't understand military affairs at all."

"Not to mention leading an army of 200,000 people to fight. If you ask me to take 200 people to go on a spring outing, I can't even guarantee that I can bring back all of them."

"Anyway, let me summarize your combat ideas first."

"To put it simply, the 'Tsuwa Field Front' and the 'Ogura Front' are feints. Their main goal is to contain Choshu's troops and distract them."

"As long as the 'Anyi Front', which is the main direction of attack, can win, the end of Changshu is imminent."

Qingdeng nodded:

"Yes, that's exactly it."

The reason why Qingdeng chose the "Anyi Front" as the main battlefield was because the terrain here was relatively flat, making it much more convenient for both marching and supplying supplies to the front line.

As long as they break through the defense line of the Choshu Army in the direction of Anyi, they can attack the hinterland of the Zhou defense in one go, then drive straight in, capture Hagi Castle, and destroy Choshu!

Tokugawa Iemo glanced at the map a few more times:

"... Mr. Ju, I can't make any decent suggestions, so just fight according to your own wishes."

"When the war begins, all matters on the front line, big or small, will be decided by you."

"When necessary, you don't need to ask Edo for instructions. You can do things on your own as the situation arises. Don't delay the military plane."

After Qingdeng heard this, he was slightly startled for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and declared "yes".

Let Qingdeng handle all matters on the front line by himself - this is not surprising.

He is the commander-in-chief of the legion, and it is natural for him to be given the power to lead the front line.

However... the second half of Tokugawa Iemo's words is amazing.

When necessary, you don't have to ask Edo for instructions and can make your own emergency response... The "degree of freedom" and "operability" in this are so great!

Even Aoto, who was accustomed to Tokugawa Iemo's generosity, couldn't help but think to himself:

——Your Highness...isn't he worried about my rebellion?

With an army of 200,000 in hand, the front line is far away from the shogunate's control area, and they have the right to kill first and then report later. The shogunate does not have strong control over this army... These conditions are simply tailor-made for rebellion!

It is no exaggeration to say that if Qingdeng is a greedy and ambitious man, then he is fully capable of wearing a yellow robe and directly rebel against his mother.

Even Aoto could imagine that after learning that Tokugawa Iemoji had granted him such great power, many ministers would definitely protest fiercely.

"General, please think twice", "Your Highness, you are raising a tiger for trouble!", "Lord! Please remember Tianbao's past events!"... These words that have been said countless times will be mentioned again and again.

Tianbao's old stories - naturally refers to the Anshi Rebellion.

Due to Tokugawa Iemo's love for Aoto and Aoto's own power, no one dared to speak ill of Aoto openly.

However, in recent years, there have been more and more people who hate Aoto, or who are worried about the future of the shogunate, secretly calling Aoto the "Anroku Mountain of Edo".

Such a title is not wrong.

After all, no matter from which angle you look at it, Qingdeng looks like the second Anlu Mountain.

An Lushan served as the Jiedushi of Fanyang, Pinglu and Hedong towns.

Qingdeng held the three positions of Army President, Gyeonggi Town Governor, and Eighth Prince with thousands of people working together. He also owned a fief of 400,000 shi.

An Lushan had hundreds of thousands of elite frontier troops.

Seito holds two elite forces, the Shinsengumi and the Hachioji Thousand People, with the latter deployed directly at the doorstep of the shogunate.

Anlu Mountain is very popular among the people in Hebei.

Cheongdeung is very popular in the Gyeonggi region.

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty favored Anlushan very much.

Tokugawa Iemo was very fond of Aomori.

Listing the similarities and differences between Qingdeng and Anlushan one by one, we can find that the only difference between the two is that Anlushan raised an army to rebel, but Qingdeng did not.

To the ministers, Qingden was now like the "Sword of Damocles".

They were afraid that one day Qingdeng would also shout the slogan "Qingjun side".

In fact, even Aoto himself felt that Tokugawa Iemo was too partial to him.

Rewards were given in abundance, official positions were promoted rapidly, and military power was given away at will.

It's no wonder that people think there is some hidden secret between them.

If Aoto hadn't known that he was innocent and was sure that Tokugawa Iemo had no weird hobbies, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to help but feel that the other party had some intentions towards his Mizoko or something else...

What does Tokugawa Iemo want?

I don’t understand… I really don’t understand…

Qingdeng has thought about this problem many times, but until today he still can't think of a reason.

At this time, Tokugawa Iemo suddenly turned his head and looked at the sky outside.

"Oh, it's already this time..."

As he spoke, he took out his pocket watch from his pocket. After confirming the specific time, he raised his head and said to Qingdeng:

"If I make Hegong wait too long, I'm afraid she will be angry."

"Um?"

——Why did a "harmony palace" suddenly appear?

The unexpected name made Qingdeng startled.

Tokugawa Iemo smiled and said:

"Ji Jun, just last night, He Gong specially asked me to let you go see her after I finish talking to you about the business."

The look of confusion on Qingdeng's face only increased:

"Meet with the palace? Why?"

"You'll know when you see He Gong. Let me keep it a secret for now."

After saying that, Tokugawa Iemo specifically raised his right index finger and touched his lips lightly, making a "silence" gesture.

"I just have to deal with some government affairs now. Tachibana-kun, after meeting with Hemiya, go and wait for me in the 'break'. I have something very important and serious to tell you in person."

"'A very important, very serious matter'...what is it? Can't you tell me now?"

Tokugawa Iemo shook his head gently.

"That won't work. Remember, it's 'between breaks', don't go wrong. 'Between breaks', 'between breaks'."

He repeatedly emphasized "between breaks" as if this location was extremely important and could not allow for mistakes.

Although it was fleeting, Qingdeng did find an intriguing look in the other person's eyes...

Aoto blinked and looked at Tokugawa Iemo who had become the "Riddler" in confusion.

Tokugawa Iemo smiled, strange emotions appearing in the depths of his eyes again.

…

…

Wagoniya, the current emperor's biological sister, happens to be 18 years old this year.

In the second year of Bunkyu (1862), in order to further promote the "union of public and military affairs", the shogunate took the initiative to request a marriage from the imperial court.

At that time, the only woman in the imperial family who was suitable for marriage was the emperor's biological sister Wakomiya. In order to get Wakomiya to agree to marry Kanto, both the shogunate and the court spent a lot of effort.

First of all, Wagoniya entered into a marriage contract with Prince Arisugawa Miya Chihito as early as 6 years old.

Suddenly asking her to break off the engagement and remarry someone else... From a moral perspective, He Gong could not accept it.

Secondly, just like most people in Kyoto, Wamiya has extremely serious regional discrimination.

She believed that Guandong was a barbaric and smoky land, and that the people in Guandong were a bunch of vulgar and uncultivated savages.

In her eyes, there is no difference between marrying General Zhengyi and marrying a strong orc.

All in all, after exhausting various means, he finally got the palace to nod and agree to the marriage.

However, she put forward a lot of additional conditions, including but not limited to, that after going to Edo, she must retain her previous living habits, continue to wear court-style clothes, and use court-style utensils.
To be continued...