The shogunate assembled dozens of feudal clans, totaling about 150,000 troops, and approached the Choshu clan.
but......
Decisions made in anger are bound to be imperfect.
The extremely poor shogunate and the feudal lords of each domain simply could not afford such a huge and radical military operation.
The feudal soldiers who could not get military pay had no will to fight at all, and many even secretly cursed the feudal regime and the shogun Tokugawa Iemo.
In response, Saigo Moritaka, who participated in the crusade against the Choshu clan and served as a military advisor, came up with a plan.
The huge number only needs to put pressure on them, and there is no need to actually attack.
Although there is no way to really attack...
All the shogunate wants is dignity.
So, just applying pressure is enough.
By forcing the Choshu Domain to hand over the real culprit who planned the Forbidden Gate Incident, the shogunate would be able to gain a minimum of dignity.
Let the Choshu Domain deal with the radicals within the Choshu Domain.
The Choshu Domain did not want to accept this result, but it had to accept it.
An army of 150,000 was enough to plow the land of the Choshu Domain, not to mention the four-nation combined fleet with cannons outside the island.
Kurushima Matabei, Maki Izumi, Kusaka Genzui and other generals of the army committed hara-kiri, but the three family elders who really started the war did not run away.
After the Choshu Domain made a lot of gestures and the top officials were almost killed, the shogunate finally gave in and withdrew its "army" of 150,000 people.
Takasugi Shinsaku was also found, quietly made peace with the foreigners, and signed the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" with the foreigners of his own will. The general content was to give up fighting the foreigners and no longer harbor any ill will towards the foreigners.
Although this crusade against the Choshu clan was somewhat anticlimactic, it finally came to an end.
at the same time......
Zuo Cun stood at the front of a ship, looking at the sea in the distance.
He was waiting for the British merchant ship to join him.
In the alliance of the four of them, Takasugi Shinsaku and Katsura Kotaro are responsible for managing the "teams" established by Takasugi Shinsaku. Ryoma is in charge of scheduling because it is inconvenient for Miss Aaron to come forward.
Zuo Cun, on the other hand, is responsible for contacting foreign caravans and purchasing guns and other supplies.
The guns that appeared in the Forbidden Gate incident a while ago were actually made by Zuo Cun.
In addition, Zuo Cun is also the only front-line combatant among the four.
"If you don't apply what you are best at, how can you devote yourself to this career?"
However, Zuo Cun was not directly incorporated into the teams, nor did he belong to the generals.
Zuo Cun's fighting method is too personal and not suitable for the participation of other people.
Zuo Cun narrowed his eyes.
Ships appeared at the end of the sea.
His eyesight is much better than a telescope.
"The target is coming." Zuomura reminded the sailor.
When the sailors heard the news reported by Zuo Cun, they had no doubts and directly steered the ship towards the target ship.
...
"So, the goods are all here?" The sailor was counting the guns and ammunition, and Zuo Cun was sitting with a British official.
"Of course, Zuo Cun." The weapons smuggler who does business with Zuo Cun is called Payton. Although he is a lawless element, he can often get a lot of good things. "Doing business with you is always so pleasant."
Zuo Cun took the goblet, clinked the glasses with Peyton, and said with a smile, "After all, this is a good thing for both of us."
"You get the money, I get the gun." He smiled and took a sip of red wine.
Zuo Cun doesn't like to drink red wine, he likes to drink sake.
But it is said that red wine represents elegance and temperament abroad.
Although Zuocun didn't know what elegance there was about Payton, a smuggler, but since Payton wanted to drink, let's drink.
The currency used by the two of them to do business was gold, which was mostly obtained from Ryoma, and Takasugi also contributed part of the money.
boom--
At this moment, there was a vibration on the ship.
Shelling!
Zuo Cun reacted instantly.
"Fa-what happened?!" Payton was a little panicked, but he quickly reflected and regained his composure.
He said nonchalantly: "Damn it, it must be those nasty British guys!"
He yelled outside: "Which direction are the enemies?"
"Boss, it's to the west!" A sailor's voice came from the deck.
Zuo Cun rushed out of the room and ran directly to the deck.
To the west of Payton's ship, the Nascimento, a warship was sailing slowly.
"What's the purpose of a watchtower? It's so close that I didn't realize it until the shells hit me!" Payton also followed out, looking at the British warships so close, a little scared, but more angry.
.
Zuo Cun looked up and saw that there was no movement on the mast. Instead, the deck was in panic.
Zuocun jumped up, grabbed the mast, and came to the observation deck at the top.
A sailor was lying inside the lookout, his face was ashen, and he was already dead.
Zuocun lifted the man up and jumped from the observation deck.
Payton was startled when Zuo Cun jumped up. A Zuo Cun was frightened, but he didn't expect...
But this is not important. The key now is how to deal with the situation at hand.
He was responsible for observing that the people around him were dead, and it looked like they had died of poisoning.
"Damn, what should we do now?" Payton's hands were trembling.
What should I do? Can I just die here?
"Is there any water on the side of the boat?!" he yelled and asked.
"Not yet, but I guess it won't last long." Sailor Yingdao said, with fear in his voice.
Zuo Cun looked at the sky, and another artillery shell hit.
When He He unsheathed his sword, Zuo Cun jumped up without hesitation.
The cannons on this British warship are not advanced, and the shells are old-fashioned and will detonate after a violent impact.
Zheng——
Crane Hei struck the side of the cannonball, directly splitting the cannonball in two.
"Zuo... Zuomura!"
Zuo Cun returned to the boat and frowned as he looked at the warships in the distance.
There were no other warships nearby, so it can be concluded that this was a ship specially sent to capture Payton.
"Hey, Payton." Zuo Cun looked at the warships in the distance with eyes like a hawk, "If I can help you escape this crisis, would you like to give me more guns?"
"Huh?" Payton was stunned.
"Yes, yes, yes! I'll give you all the guns on this ship!" Payton nodded quickly.
Zuo Cun took off his Wu robe and put Zhi Yu and Zhen Ling aside. He was shirtless, holding a crane feather, with a little smile.
"Zuo, Zuo Cun, do you want to use this knife?" Payton was frightened, "This is impossible! This gun is for you, you carry the gun!"
"Swords have long been abandoned by the times. It won't work, it absolutely won't work!"
Zuo Cun stood on the edge of the deck, looked at the cannonballs flying in the air, and laughed.
"You can say that the era no longer needs swords."
Jump up and chop the cannonball away again.
"But you can't say that time has forgotten the sword."
Zuo Cun stagnated in mid-air, with murderous intent.