After several months of repairs, the First Fleet finally set sail again.
Returning to the shipyard this time, the fleet replaced the damaged armor. It also made fine adjustments to some problems exposed in the battle.
The First Fleet that returns to sea will be even more powerful.
Although it is not a high-sea fleet, it is still no problem to cross Japan.
Qi Bin stood on the front deck of the flagship Yangtze River, looking at the turbulent sea in front of him.
The frigate's bow split the waves like a sharp sword.
A group of frigatebirds soared over the sea against the wind and waves. Occasionally they would land on the edge of the bridge to rest.
With this transfer, Qi Bin has handed over the power of the Protector of Mobei.
His new appointment is the President’s Special Plenipotentiary Envoy for the Japanese Issue.
Let him, a Japanese, handle the problems of Japan.
Dong Shuheng was obviously testing him.
The problem that occurred in the Japanese country this time seemed to be that the three powerful vassals, instigated by Britain and France, wanted to make a comeback and leverage the rule of the shogunate.
In fact, it was to shake up the ruling order created by the Renaissance Army in Japan.
But then news came that Tokugawa Iesada was seriously ill.
Because of the issue of heir creation, the shogunate was divided into the Hitotsubashi faction and the Nanki faction, and the two sides fought fiercely.
Now the shogunate is like sitting on a powder keg. The situation may get out of control at any time.
It was also difficult for the remaining personnel of the Renaissance Army in Edo to handle such a complicated matter.
Qi Bin knew everything from the military expansion and war preparations of the three powerful vassals, to the serious illness of the Tokugawa family, to the split within the shogunate.
This series of events is definitely not a coincidence.
As a politician born in the Japanese country, Qi Bin knew that there was no shortage of conspirators in the Japanese country.
Since Dong Shuheng took this matter to test himself, no matter what kind of enemy he faced, Qi Bin would settle the matter.
Just after Qi Bin went to sea, another news came from the sea that Emperor Xiaomei was also seriously ill.
This makes things a bit more complicated.
Everyone knows that Emperor Komei was supported by the shogunate. The shogunate always obeyed his words.
In recent days, the shogunate's rule has been strengthened again.
Emperor Komei is very low-key and usually does not appear in public view.
Why did the Emperor have problems at this juncture?
Qi Bin knew that in the current Japanese country, the emperor was enshrined like a religious god.
The emperor basically has no substantive power in his hands. If something goes wrong with the emperor at this time, it is either a coincidence or a very huge conspiracy.
But as a Japanese, Qi Bin knew that at critical moments, the emperor could play an unexpected role.
"Respect the king and fight against the barbarians!"
The emperor visited a palace in Kyoto.
A group of young Japanese men in kimono are gathering.
Kido Takayoshi, Sanjo Mimi, Fukuoka Takadi, Shintaro, etc. were all young powerful feudal lords.
"Everyone, if the Japanese Empire wants to rise in the world, it must abolish the shogunate."
"Looking at the world, the major powers in the West are all powerful."
"Japan needs a powerful emperor to rule the whole of Japan. Give me twenty years, and I will assist the new emperor to turn Japan into a powerful country like the British and foreigners." Kido Takayun's voice full of confidence and passion rang in the room,
Infecting everyone in the room.
"Kido-kun, everything is ready now. All we need is the east wind. We have done all the work." Shintaro said.
He is the current director of the Shinto Musen-ryu Training Center and Kido's senior brother.
Kido Takayun once studied kendo with Yakuro Saito.
But Saito Yakuro is even more obsessed with industry. He has resigned from the position of curator and given this position to Shintaro.
Only then did Kido Takayun have the opportunity to use Shintaro's support to secretly train a group of dead soldiers in the training hall, known as "stormtroopers".
He also united a group of young feudal lords and put forward the slogan "respect the king and repel the barbarians".
It is necessary to abolish the rule of the shogunate, imitate the Great Empire, and establish a representative government with the emperor as the core of the rule.
This idea was supported by many young feudal lords.
In the past few years, due to the support of the Renaissance Army, the shogunate's vassal strength has been strengthened. They have benefited greatly from this trade.
Through their kinship with the shogunate, they obtained the power to distribute Chinese goods.
It can be said that he made a lot of money. After having money, the power of Zongfan became even stronger.
As for the powerful vassals in the south, they did not have these benefits as outside daimyo.
Originally, they were able to maintain their status as a powerful vassal and compete with the shogunate by carrying out smuggling trade from foreigners.
However, due to the impact of Chinese goods, this kind of smuggling trade is not easy to do now.
There were also some vassals from other vassals who were dissatisfied with the Renaissance Army recruiting laborers from Japan.
These middle-level feudal lords make a living by exploiting the people at the bottom.
Nowadays, many Japanese civilians and samurai without fiefdoms have been recruited by the Renaissance Army to develop overseas territories.
Especially this year, the West Pacific Company was established, recruiting tens of thousands of workers and samurai in Japan.
In this way, those Japanese people who can't survive will have more choices.
Now the common people of Japan are living a much harder life than the common people of China.
They had to accept layer upon layer of exploitation from the country officials, feudal officials, and daimyo shogunate.
Moreover, 80% of the land of Japan was originally mountains. Only 20% of the land was suitable for farming.
However, these narrow islands are prone to disasters.
The people here are really mean, and their lives are very mean. The samurai can go up and chop a civilian to death just because he glanced at him, without being held accountable.
The conditions for the Renaissance Army to recruit workers and mercenaries here are also not very good.
But there are many people who sold themselves out for a few Hua Yuan to settle down.
Most of the Japanese laborers recruited by the West Pacific Company were sent to eastern Papua.
There are inaccessible mountains, forests, and swamps everywhere.
The jungle is inhabited by these ferocious headhunters.
The mortality rate of the first batch of workers to develop the area was extremely high.
These people have already given money to Anjia, and their death will be in vain. It is their luck that they can continue to live and return home with their own commissions.
Even so, the low-level civilians of the Japanese country still squeezed their heads out of the Japanese snakeheads who recruited workers.
"Shintaro, you must be careful, those people from the Celestial Dynasty are not easy to mess with." Kido Takayun reminded.
"Kido-kun, are you talking about those black clothes?"
"They are indeed very powerful in Edo, but in other places, their lackeys are not being played around by us. The Japanese Empire belongs to us, and they are outsiders after all."
The Fuxing Army did underestimate the Japanese people's respect for the emperor.
The reason why Kido Takayoshi was able to gather so many people around him was mainly because he used the name of the emperor.
The reality is that he just colluded with the emperor's aide to fabricate a secret edict from the emperor.
Now Emperor Komei is so poor that he can only eat two meals a day.
As the power of the shogunate strengthened, there were fewer and fewer daimyo loyal to the emperor in various places.
The emperor would naturally become poorer and poorer if he could not be worshiped.
When the emperor is poor, his subordinate officials will naturally suffer poverty as well.
It is precisely because of this that the bold Kido Takayoshi was able to bribe the emperor's attendants.
Ordinary people would definitely not dare to do this, because in their minds the emperor is a god, and who would dare to bribe the waiters of the gods.
However, Kido Takayoshi is not an ordinary person.
In his grand plan, Emperor Takamei must be replaced. The Empire of Japan needs a strong emperor.
Not this coward who is just a coward.
Even the emperor dares to change, what else can't he do?
"As long as those damn Chinese people don't interfere, then our plan will be half successful. After we overthrow the shogunate and unite the whole of Japan, it will be too late for them to interfere," Kido Takayun said.
Today's gathering is just their daily gathering.
On the other side of the three powerful clans, the Chosu clan was contacted personally by Kido.
He himself was born in the Choshu Domain and was a feudal lord of the Choshu Domain. He had a very good relationship with the Maori family head.
Brother Fukuoka contacted the Tosa Domain, and he was a feudal lord of the Tosa Domain. Sanjo contacted the Hizen Domain...
The three powerful vassals organized and trained more than 20,000 new troops this time.
Although the total number of people is not large, they are all elite and strong troops.
The one who colluded with Kido was Harris, the U.S. representative in Nagasaki. Originally, he was sent to Japan by Mailen to sign the Japan-U.S. Goodwill Treaty.
As a result, the Japan-US goodwill treaty was not signed because of the interference of the Renaissance Army.
Harris still did not leave Japan, but there was no place for him in Edo.
Harris had no choice but to run as far as Nagasaki.
This is the only place in the entire Japanese kingdom open to Western barbarians.
Here Harris met Kido Takayun, who was proficient in orchid studies.
Kido Takayoshi had no plans to collapse at that time.
But Harris started investing in him then.
This Jewish American has a very ruthless vision and is also very good at investing.
Under the introduction of Harris, Kido Takayoshi met the British, French and Dutch ministers in Nagasaki. These people all had one thing in common - they hated the Renaissance Army.
With the support of these Western barbarians, Kido Takayun began his own overthrow plan.
First, he used the support of these Western barbarians to persuade the three powerful feudal lords to prepare secretly, because only these three clans could muster so many troops.
Then, he used the expressions of these three powerful vassals to attract sponsorship from these Western countries.
The British provided equipment, the French provided instructors, and the Americans and Dutch provided loans.
Soon Kido Takayun gathered a group of overthrowing forces in Japan.
Most of them were feudal lords under various great names.
Many people were simply dissatisfied with the trade interests between the shogunate and the Renaissance Army.
There are only a few people who really see the problems of Japan and want to make Japan strong.
"After His Majesty the new Emperor takes control of Japan, we will have the support of Western barbarians and the support of tens of millions of Japanese people. If those arrogant Chinese people dare to interfere, then we will fight to drive them away.
"A young feudal lord said with pride.
"Everyone, before the big thing is accomplished, please remember to act with caution." Kido Takayun reminded everyone.
The reason why they were concentrated in Kyoto during this period.
The purpose is to make a good layout here, in order to quickly occupy Kyoto and control the emperor's family when the three powerful feudal lords send troops, and then issue orders from there.
At that time, there will be support from the Western barbarians outside and a large army of various famous names from outside.
Kido Takayoshi is still confident in overthrowing the shogunate's rule.
What's more, he also used a tactic to draw out the firepower.
…
The shogunate has indeed trained a lot of soldiers in the past two years, and also equipped them with good equipment.
But Takayoshi Kido knew only too well the corruption and incompetence of the shogunate.
Those sects and vassals with heavy armies were each more greedy than the last.
They are very rich now, but they continue to exploit the soldiers and civilians below them.
Following the example of the Renaissance Army, the shogunate now also has a standing army, but among these standing armies, there are serious cases of false reports.
Tokugawa Iesada himself was a sick man who stayed at home, so how could he manage his relatives of the Tokugawa family well?
Abe Masahiro is currently busy with the selection of the family's heir, and has no energy to take care of those messy affairs of the clan.
Just after the Spring Festival, Tokugawa Iadaide suddenly fell ill and was bedridden.
At the beginning, this news was still blocked within a small scope.
But soon word spread that the general was seriously ill.
The close lords and ministers of the shogunate unanimously requested that the successor be decided as soon as possible.
But there were great differences on who should succeed the shogunate.
The relatives and vassals each had their own plans, and they all wanted to adopt their children to the family.
Abe Masahiro also had his own successor to the shogunate.
As a generational daimyo, Masahiro Abe naturally hopes that the current shogunate's rule will continue to be strengthened.
From the cooperation between the shogunate and the Renaissance Army, the sects and lords were basically the beneficiaries.
Tokugawa Keifuku of Kishu Domain has the closest blood relationship with Iedada, so he is the most suitable candidate.
While Matsudaira Keinaga, Tokugawa Saiaki and others supported Hitotsubashi Keiki, they had a reputation as wise and were members of the reformists.
This group believes that the shogunate should gradually weaken the influence of the Celestial Empire and take a more independent path, so that it can become rich and powerful.
But this is obviously contradictory to the interests of conservatives.
The reformists were not actually opposed to the Renaissance Army, they just felt that they could not allow the dividends from trade with China to be grabbed by a small number of people.
They advocated that the shogunate should be more open and that trade should not be monopolized by a few lords and daimyo.
When the entire Edo City was attracted by the dispute over the successor.
Kido Takayoshi was weaving his own downfall in the city of Kyoto.
After everyone left, a Japanese woman wearing heavy makeup and a gorgeous kimono walked into the room.
"Kogoro, is it worth doing all this?" The young Japanese woman walked up to Kido Takayun, reached out and touched his face, and asked softly.
If he didn't do these things, Kido Takayun would be able to live a good life with his talents.
At the very least, he can go to China and seek refuge with his teacher, Mr. Qi Bin.
"Chizi...do you regret following me? Someone in Japan must stand up, otherwise this country will be over."
"Look at the current feudal lords and lords who lead arrogant and luxurious lives, but ordinary people are starving and dying everywhere. Even the emperor can only eat two meals a day. But those ordinary Japanese who are looking for a way out have become
Laborers and cannon fodder of the Celestial Empire." Kido Takayun's voice choked up when he said this.
He is a smart man and a Japanese with an open mind.
He understood that if this situation continued, Japan would only become a vassal of the Chinese Empire.
It was even eventually annexed by the Chinese Empire.
"Ji Zi, please leave. Stay away from Kyoto and Edo. I have left you a sum of money so that you can visit those Western countries." Kido Takayun said.
The woman named Ji Zi took the man into her arms as if she were a child.
Use your full chest to comfort him.
She is just a geisha in Kyoto and not worthy of a talented man like Kido Takayoshi.
In her heart, she was always jealous of the talented woman who followed her father to the heaven.
She knew that Kido Takayun did so many things and risked beheading, largely because of that woman.
"No, Kogoro, I will always be by your side. If you want to die for Japan, then take me with you." Kezi said.
The two people were cozying up in the room, as if they were going to the execution ground tomorrow.
Kido Takayun knew how risky his plan was, and the Celestial Empire was weighing on his heart like a big mountain.
Even people like Teacher are willing to be the lackeys of the Celestial Empire.
…
ps: I wish everyone a happy new year, success in work and success in studies!