Imperial House - the residence of the Emperor.
In fact, just looking at the difference between the Imperial Temple and Edo Castle, you can clearly feel the weakness of the royal family in the Shogunate era.
To put it simply, the Imperial Palace is just a larger and more luxurious park.
It is 700 meters wide from east to west, 1300 meters long from north to south, and an area of ​​110,000 square meters.
The area looks quite large, but its defense ability is really worrying.
Not to mention Sannomaru, Ninomaru, and Moonmaru have ladder defenses. There is not even the most basic defense facilities such as moats and oars, but there is only a circle of walls - and this wall is not high.
Just build a slightly longer staircase and you can easily climb over the walls of the imperial station.
In short, the two are not of the same level at all. Compared with Edo Castle, the Imperial Palace is really just a large park.
Regarding the matter of "how to defend Kyoto", Qingdeng (Gyeonggi Prefecture Envoy) and Matsuhei Yoongbo (Kyoto Guardian) have always had very clear functional divisions.
At the beginning, when these two positions were specially established, Tokugawa Ishiki made quite clear provisions on the specific rights and responsibilities of the "Gyeonggi Governor's Governor" and the "Kyoto Guardian's Office".
The former is responsible for guarding the capital and maintaining public security in Kyoto.
The latter is responsible for monitoring the Western countries and defending the imperial office.
In other words, the imperial office does not belong to Qingdeng's management.
This is true in Kyoto. As long as Qingdeng is wholeheartedly guarding the capital and maintaining the public security of Kyoto, he has to consider many things.
Matsuhira Etsu is a loyal minister of the shogunate, and his loyalty to the shogunate is beyond doubt.
But while being loyal to the shogunate, he also respected the court very much.
With great hard work and great contributions, coupled with this respectful and humble attitude, the Emperor has always favored Matsuhei Tomokazu and regarded him as one of the only objects he could trust.
On the eve of the "Coup on August 18", the Emperor, who was deeply disgusted with Changzhou's arbitrary behavior, also handed over the "Langle Edict" to Matsuhei Rongbao. It was thanks to this "Langle Edict" that Qingdeng and others were able to have the righteousness of "exiting Changzhou".
The Emperor's trust in Matsuhei Toruo can be seen.
In this regard, the latter has always been Minggan Wu Nei.
In order to repay him, he specially selected elite soldiers from the Aizu army and deployed them inside and outside the Imperial Office, trying to make the Imperial Office the safest place in Kyoto.
The special relationship between Matsuhei Tomosa and the Imperial Office has given him another title in the market: "Guardian of the Royal City".
Since the "Coup on August 18", the court has been quiet, with no big changes, no longer jumping up and down like when Changzhou was in power - and this depends on the emperor's "ruling by inaction".
The current emperor's political stance is consistent - maintaining the status quo.
He is not hostile to the shogunate, so he is more welcome to the shogunate.
He had no intention of changing the tradition of "sacrificing oneself is the only one who is the only one who is the only one who is a polite to Tokugawa", and he just wanted to continue to be a "carefree puppet".
However... he was happy to be idle, but it did not mean that the rest of the court was like this.
Whenever there is chaos in the world, ambitious people will emerge like spring after rain - this is common sense in the world.
Just tonight, on a seemingly ordinary night, black shadows headed straight towards the Imperial Hall...!
...
...
Iwakura Hikari - one of the few capable people among the imperial court.
Whenever this person is mentioned, his comments are always similar - his wrists are hard enough! His heart is cruel enough!
At the beginning, after the shogunate issued a proposal to "combined Gongwu" and caused a huge sensation in the court.
At that time, Changzhou took control of the imperial court.
Under the influence of Changzhou, the imperial court's ministers fiercely opposed the "combination of Gongwu and Wu" and shouted wildly.
What are the words "a general is not worthy of marrying a princess", what are the words "How can a noble princess marry far away from the wilderness?"... all kinds of absurd remarks are all in one go.
Only a very small number of ministers, including Iwakura, judged the situation and keenly saw that the "combination of Gongwu" was in line with the interests of the court.
In order to promote the "gongwu fusion", he worked hard and did a lot of dirty and tiring work.
For those ministers who disagree with marriage, Iwakura Shishi personally interviewed them, either bribed them or threatened them directly as "demolished".
With the use of both soft and hard work of Iwakura Tsubasa, even Prince Arisugawa Shiren, who had been married to Iwakura, surrendered.
The isolated and helpless Hegong had no help and was desperate, so he had to agree to the marriage.
Because Iwakura's behavior is too despicable and cold-blooded, it is called a "gecko" by the world and was once regarded as a traitor by the revered patriots.
Ultimately, it turns out that Iwakura Koshi's actions were correct.
He used "marriage" as bargaining chips to put pressure on the shogunate, forcing the shogunate to make compromises.
In the internal and external troubles, the shogunate was forced to agree to most of the conditions proposed by Iwakura Hoshi.
As a result, he did earn a lot of benefits for the court.
"Promoting the Combination of Gongwu" is the first time that Iwakura Koshi appeared in front of the world, showing outstanding means of being versatile and outstanding political vision.
Compared to other ministers who are unconventional and only know how to recite poems and essays, he is indeed an outstanding figure.
After he set off in the east, he went there as a follower. It was during this period that he met Qingdeng.
Not long afterwards, he left Edo and returned to Kyoto.
Soon, he was affected by the "August 18 coup" and was forced to leave his post and live in seclusion.
After that, there was no news about him.
Today tonight, at this moment, I saw him leading a group of confidants and heading straight to the imperial station!
Their target is Xuanqiu Gate located on the west side of the Imperial Hall.
Xuanqiu Gate - This gate is also called "Public House Gate" or "Tang Gate". It is the first gate for princes, ministers or generals and princes to enter the palace.
In a moment, the gorgeous Xuanqiu Gate had already come into their eyes.
However, I did not see the Aizu sergeant who should have been guarding here.
Iwakura stepped forward calmly, moved to the bottom of Tang Pofeng, and raised his head and shouted:
"It's me, Iwakura Koshi! Open the door quickly!"
[Note: Tang Pofeng: Common decorative parts of the main door roof in traditional Japanese buildings are buildings with sunken sides and protruding in the center, which are bow-shaped like canopies. The appearance is similar to the Chinese Huxia.]
After the words were finished, a "creaking" sound was heard - Xuan Qiu Gate was slowly opened!
Iwakura looked forward with his head raised and walked past the threshold. Then he saw a young samurai in a helmet and armor. This man was the Aizu general who was responsible for defending Xuanqiu Gate.
Iwakura Koshi looked at him and nodded to each other.
The warrior said:
"Please hurry up."
Iwakura Tsubasa said lightly:
“This is nature.”
Then, he stopped talking and led his confidants to the depths of the imperial hall.
At this time, a close confidant behind him accelerated his pace a little, and said to him excitedly:
"Mr. Iwakura, everything is developing as you planned! We broke into the Imperial Site without a single shot!"
Iwakura looked up at the corner of his mouth, revealing a meaningful smile, and then slowly recited the famous quote from "Six Strategies Introductory Proverbs":
"'The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for profit'."
"Most of the 'loyalty' in this world is because the price of 'betrayal' is not high enough."
Just now, there was no complicated reason why the Xuanqiu Gate guard opened the door.
Iwakura Shishi offered a huge sum of money that he could not refuse, allowing him to act as an insider - that's that simple.
Induce others - this is the skill that Iwakura Yuen already knew when promoting the "gongwu fusion".
The larger the organization, the more likely it is to make mistakes and cause ridiculous accidents from time to time.
Sometimes, the superiors have a good intention - for example, the elite troops of Matsuhei Tomokaro were specially deployed in the Imperial Site.
But after the execution layer by layer, it completely changed - for example, Iwakura Toshi easily bribed the guards of Xuanqiu Sect by just using the "money offensive".
The times were arduous, and even the elites in the Aijin army were trapped by money.
"Breaking into the imperial office" is just the first step, and it is far from time to relax your vigilance.
Iwakura looked back on his face and said in a deep voice:
"Action according to the plan! Remember to move quickly! No matter how much you want to waste it!"
After this order was released, their group immediately dispersed and turned into three groups of people and horses, each running towards different areas.
Tonight, they have three tasks to complete-
First, rob the Emperor.
Second, the crown prince was robbed.
Third, steal the "three magical tools".
No matter who it is, after looking at this "plan list", I am afraid I will take a breath.
Forcibly robbed the Emperor and the Crown Prince, and also snatched away the "three magical weapons"... Such behavior is the first time in ancient times!
Iwakura Hitoshi will personally take charge of the most important of these three tasks: the robbery of the Emperor.
Before resigning from office and living in seclusion, he walked around the imperial hall a lot.
Therefore, he knew the terrain and architectural layout of the interior of the imperial office.
It is no exaggeration to say that even if he walks with his eyes closed, he can easily find the Emperor's bedroom.
The imperial capital covers a much lower area than Edo Castle.
Not long after, they arrived at their destination as scheduled.
I saw many nearby servants waiting outside the Emperor's bedroom.
Seeing an unknown person approaching, the closest servants were stunned:
"What are you..."
Before this person could finish speaking, Iwakura looked at the confidants behind him and rushed forward and removed the other party from a huge chunk.
The cruel massacre began with the preparations and the fight without preparation.
In just 5 seconds, the world returned to silence... The servants outside the Emperor's bedroom were slaughtered.
Iwakura Hiro pushed open the door with expressionless eyes and stepped in.
Immediately afterwards, he heard a shrill scream:
"Who are you?!"
In the center of the bedroom, behind the imperial curtain, there was a figure shaking violently.
【Note ·Imperial Curtain: The curtain that blocks the emperor's appearance.】
Iwakuraki walked over quietly and said to the emperor through the curtain:
"Your Majesty, please be calm."
"You, who are you?!"
"Your Majesty, it's me, Iwakura Hikari."
"Iwakura? You, why are you..."
The strong shock made the Emperor at a loss, his tongue was knotted, and he temporarily lost his language function.
Iwakura is too lazy to talk too much, so he is straight to the point:
"Your Majesty, Kyoto is already a den of a dragon and a tiger, so you can't wait any longer. Please move to Changzhou."
When the Emperor heard this, he recovered instantly.
After hearing the word "Changzhou", it was like a psychological shadow was touched. He roared without hesitation:
"Changzhou? I will never go to Changzhou!"
Speaking like this, such a situation... No matter how stupid the Emperor is, he knows his current situation.
He didn't care about anything else, and hurriedly opened his voice and screamed in embarrassment:
"Come here! Come here! Protect your car! Protect your car!!"
Seeing this, Iwakura smacked his tongue with dissatisfaction:
"Tsk... I wanted to be gentler to you, but there is nothing I can do..."
After saying that, he turned his head and gave a wink at the two confidants behind him.
The two of them stood up with understanding, lifted the imperial curtain, and then pulled the emperor out like a dog.
The Emperor struggled but was futile.
In despair, he glared at Iwakura's eyes:
"At this point, are you still unwilling to give up?!"
"Changzhou is already declining! It will be destroyed soon!"
"What's the use if I robbed me to Changzhou?"
Faced with the Emperor's criticism, Iwakura laughed silently - a sarcastic smile.
The next moment, he sneered "hum" and said.
"How can the sparrow know the ambition of the swan?"
"Your Majesty, you're right."
"Changzhou is indeed like a candle in the wind."
"If you want to preserve your fame and fortune, it is better to surrender to Ju Qingdeng as soon as possible - just like the wine bags under your command."
"But, in my opinion, there is something more important in this world than 'fame and wealth'."
“‘Build a world of my ideal’ – this is my great ambition!”
“Jiang Qingdeng is not trustworthy.”
"I don't think that the 'world' that Ju Qingdeng wants is the same as the 'world' I want!"
"So, instead of waving his tail to Ju Qingdeng for mercy, I would rather fight with Changzhou until the last moment!"
After speaking, he reached out and took out a wet cotton cloth. The next moment, he leaned forward and used the cotton cloth to block the emperor's mouth and nose.
The Emperor, who was struggling violently just now, became a pool of mud in a blink of an eye, and it took two people to lift it to barely move his body.
Iwakuraki said coldly while holding up the wet cloth:
"Put him into the sedan chair."
The confidants responded, and then rudely stuffed the emperor into the sedan chair prepared in the morning.
Although the process was a bit rough, the result was very satisfactory - they successfully captured the Emperor!
"Let's go!"
Iwakura Shi waved his hand and then led everyone back along the same route.
They hurried back to Xuanqiu Gate, waiting for the other two men to make a good news.
After a while, a sound of foot sound came - Iwakura looked in the sound, and recognized that this was the team to hijack the crown prince, so he asked quickly:
"Where is Prince Muren?"
In order to demonstrate the particularity of the royal family, the male members of the Japanese royal family are basically called "X Ren".
The current emperor is called "Tongren" and the crown prince is called "Muren".
Prince Muren is only 13 years old this year and is still a teenager.
As soon as Iwakura Yushi finished speaking, an excited response came from the opposite side:
"Catched! In the sedan chair!"
The other party said, pointing at the sedan chair in the team.
Iwakura nodded, showing satisfaction:
"Very good! Now it's just a short 'three artifacts'!"
The three magical artifacts - the Tiancongyun Sword, the Eight-foot Qiong Gouyu, and the Eight-foot Mirror.
It is said that when the descendant of the Tensun, Amaterasu granted Qiongqiong Jutsu and inherited from generation to generation by the Japanese Emperor.
These three artifacts have been used as tokens of the Japanese royal family for thousands of years and as symbols of Japanese imperial power, similar to the jade seal of China.
However, there are rumors that all three artifacts were lost when Emperor Ander jumped into the sea and committed suicide. All the "three artifacts" that have been passed down are fakes.
The facts are hard to verify.
In any case, under the conventions of the world, the "three magical tools" play an important role in the Japanese royal family and are an important thing that must be obtained.
Iwakura Was anxiously waiting, stretching his neck frequently in hopes of seeing the team that was going to grab the "three magical artifacts".
Unexpectedly... I didn't see the "Three Magical Artifacts", but I heard the noisy shouts first...
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Chapter completed!