"Everyone is so miserable, why are you so pretentious? Your parents have lived like this, why can't you live like this?"

Amidst the artillery fire, gunfire, fire and shouts, the governor of the Choshu Army, Hisaka Yisuke, inexplicably remembered this passage.

When he was fifteen years old, his family all passed away, and he began to face this cold world alone.

For this reason, he asked himself countless times at that time:

"Why is the world so difficult? Why are good parents not rewarded? Why do I suffer so many times? Is it fate to live like this?"

No!

Being a domain doctor was not his choice, he deserved a better future! At that time, Kusaka vowed to change all of this. Not only did he want to get ahead, but he also wanted to change this rigid world.

Thinking of this, Kusaka couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He lamented in his heart that fate can really play tricks on people. What is given to you easily can also be taken back easily:

In December of the first year of Bunkyu (1861), under the instruction of his teacher and brother-in-law Yoshida Nobukata, he founded a young samurai organization such as the "Ideng Senshenhe", and from then on he began to rise to prominence in Choshu.

In the spring of the third year of Bunkyu (1863), he became the garrison commander of Shimonoseki Odaiba, while his teacher Yoshida had been the feudal lord's side servant for more than a year. His fellow disciple Takasugi Harukaze also became the governor of the surprise army, and even other classmates also

One after another began to come forward, and at that time the Yoshida sect was at its peak.

But who knows, as early as the first year of Wenjiu, there was trouble within the Matsushita Village School:

At that time, as Nagai Tokihiro of Choshu Omatsuke, he proposed a navigation strategy that supported the founding theory of the country. After discussion within the domain, it became a formal domain policy.

However, the Four Heavenly Kings of Matsushita, Harukaze Takasugi, Sugizo Irie, Eitaro Yoshida and themselves did not agree with this feudal theory, but because their teacher Yoshida supported this policy, they did not show it.

Afterwards, it was confirmed that the teacher had indeed made a mistake. After that, not only did the opposition between the government and the opposition grow stronger day by day, but also the senior political officials of the shogunate, Kuze and Ando, ​​who supported the long-distance maritime strategy, also lost power.

However, teacher Yoshida did not give up, and personally went to Luo to persuade the feudal lord, trying to keep Nagai Tokione silent, and also pushed Choshu to go to Edo to participate in the shogunate's new policies - Bunkyu University and Yokosuka Iron Works.

Counting the Yokohama Quanye Bank, which it previously held shares in, Choshu is bound to the shogunate.

At that time, I also participated in:

On October 15, the second year of Bunkyu (1862), Hashimoto Tsunayori was given a grand banquet at the home of Shirozu Matsumae. The teacher took Harukaze Takasugi and himself to attend.

It is undeniable that the scene at that time had a great impact on me. Whether it was the operating situation of Yokohama Quanye Bank, or the prospects of Western-style universities and ironworks, they were all refreshing to me.

But the problem is, the situation took a turn for the worse after that:

Lao Nakawakisaka Yasaka, who was close to Choshu, was dismissed from his post that year, and his family and the shogunate began to become estranged;

Through the Beixiaolu family of Gongqing, who had the same clan as Mao Li and joined the Jiang family, Changzhou and the Peiyi Gongqing got closer and closer.

What's more, not long after, Shogun Iemo went to Luo in the spring of the third year of Bunkyu, and political president Keinaga and General Hou met Qingxi. Due to the founding of the country and the expulsion of the foreigners, the two shogunate administrations almost broke apart openly. The shogunate itself was divided internally, so Choshu was more inclined

At the imperial court and the ministers.

Therefore, Yoshida, a teacher and brother-in-law who served as the feudal lord's side servant, began to lose power. After that, the formal separation of the Matsushita village private school system also followed:

Since the opening of the port, prices have been skyrocketing and people's livelihood has been difficult. Everyone has been inclined to resist the foreigners. Although teachers Yoshida, Asada Kousuke, Nagai Tokihiro and others have opened up trade with foreigners, life is much harder than before. This cannot be faked.

.

Teachers always say, "This is temporary, and these prices have to be paid." But in fact, everyone really can't bear it anymore.

.

Of course, Changzhou's attitude towards supporting the use of force to resist the foreigners became more and more clear, which led to the gathering of anti-barbarian patriots from various vassals in Changzhou, and the impassioned spirit of these people also deeply affected everyone.

Not to mention others, even Takasugi Harufeng was shaken - in May of the second year of Bunkyu the previous year, Takasugi accompanied the shogunate's Chitose Maru mission to inspect Songjiang, China. After returning, his attitude changed from resisting the foreigners to founding the country.

On April 20th of the third year of Bunkyu, the shogunate issued a notice to all feudal lords, setting May 10th as the deadline for the expulsion of the barbarians.

On May 10th, as the garrison commander of Shimonoseki Odaiba, I discovered the traces of the Japanese merchant ship Pembron, and fired the first shot of force against the invaders.

In June, Takasugi Shunfeng also completely abandoned his teacher Yoshida, established the surprise army and became the governor, and personally participated in the cause of resisting the foreigners.

But on June 27, ten British, Buddhist, and American warships attacked Changzhou Xiaguan, knocking Changzhou back to its original shape in one go. After four days of fierce fighting, Changzhou was defeated. Not only did Xiaguantai

The field was destroyed, and the foreign soldiers who landed defeated the vanguard force of the feudal soldiers, and then broke into Shimonoseki Town, burned, killed, looted and plundered.

In the end, it was thanks to Takasugi Harukaze and his team of surprise troops who continued to harass, that they finally came to the rescue and repelled the foreigners.

What was most difficult for me to accept was that Mr. Yoshida, who had always opposed the hasty war, came forward to negotiate hard with the foreigners for four days, and finally ended the war temporarily.

Later, due to the defeat and huge losses, he fired the first shot. From being praised by thousands to being criticized by thousands, it was his teacher who came forward to protect him. He told people everywhere, "This is the order of the feudal lord, not someone's own fault."

Claim.”

Thinking of this, Kusaka's eyes became moist.

"Teacher, you know, I can't look back."

After the incident, although Mr. Yoshida Yukata went around to clean up the aftermath, and his senior brother Takasugi Harukaze also went to Edo to beg the shogunate for forgiveness, in fact, Choshu has never given up its intention to use force to fight the barbarians.

Can't afford to lose?

Maybe.

After nearly half a year, Kusaka has begun to face this bloody problem.

After the Three Kingdoms bombarded Xiaguan, everyone in Changzhou knew from top to bottom that this matter could not end easily.

Sure enough, due to the defeat of Choshu, on August 18 of that year, the original allies turned against each other one after another. Led by the general Houmi Qingxi, the shogunate and the princes joined forces with the court to uproot the seven ministers and the Choshu forces who insisted on using force to fight the invaders.

From then on - not only were the Seven Dukes headed by Sanjo Sanimi expelled, but also the Choshu vassal soldiers who were led by Masuda, the elder of the Choshu dynasty, when he went to Raku on the 12th of July, were all forced out of Kinki by force.

At this point, the forces within Changzhou that hoped to turn around from the desperate situation suffered a heavy blow.

Then, the Maori family's internal force against the foreigners received another desperate news:

At the end of October of the third year of Bunkyu (1863), the shogunate, Choshu and the four Western countries reached a compensation agreement.

Moreover, the shogunate did not kill everyone. Not only did they waive 30% of the compensation, but they also gave favorable conditions for deferred payment. After calculation, in addition to the 260,000 gold that year, for the next three years, only 13% of the compensation was paid each year.

A little more than ten thousand dollars would be enough to understand this.

But such a favorable condition is undoubtedly a disaster for the Changzhou force to resist the barbarians. If Changzhou agrees to such conditions, the people who caused the bombardment of Xiaguan will undoubtedly be nailed to the prison as criminals.

On the pillar of shame.

Therefore, when Yoshida Yukata and Takasugi Harukaze returned from Edo to Shimonoseki in great joy, they never expected their ending:

Just when the two of them met the head of the family, Mori Qing, Fukuhara Motosu, Masuda Chishi and Kunji, the three elders of the family, fell out on the spot and invited Sanjo Sanimi, the leader of the seven ministers in trouble, and handed over the secret decree of the imperial court.

In the name of violating the imperial edict, Yoshida and Takasugi were immediately imprisoned.

Afterwards, the Choshu side ignored the shogunate's messengers for payment.

Reason, while actively preparing for war.

Gisuke Kusaka, who had been idle, was also re-entrusted with an important task - he took over the position of governor of Takasugi Harukaze Team.

Although Kusaka convinced himself at that time that there was nothing wrong with resisting the invaders, and it was even more natural to bombard the foreign ships, because of this, Choshu had to pay more than 700,000 gold, and even the father and son of the family had to go to Edo to plead guilty. This was a great injustice.

, so the three companies always do the right thing.

But the imprisonment of Yoshida and Takasugi made him clearly understand that these are all excuses:

Mr. Yoshida is working in the name of the family leader, and he has achieved merit but no fault in any case;

Senior brother Gao Shan, who turned the tide in the previous Shimonoseki bombardment, has no reason to go to jail.

"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you."

In the spring of the sixth year of Ansei (1859), when I became a disciple of Mr. Yoshida Nobukata, this was the motto of the Matsushita Village School.

It's a pity that when I was twenty years old at the time, I was only obsessed with the Western military system taught by my teacher, and I didn't realize the painstaking efforts of this wise saying at all.

Faced with the ugliness behind the passion to resist the foreigners, all Kusaka can do is to seize the power of the team - he knows that only this can save his own future and the lives of Yoshida and Takasugi.

Even in March of the first year of Yuanji (1864), when he heard that "the imperial court and various princes were extremely dissatisfied with the shogunate's termination of Yokohama's port lockup, so much so that they secretly invited Choshu to send troops, hoping that the Maori family would take the opportunity to go to Beijing to defend themselves.

"Jibing advises to ensure Fusang's plan to fight the barbarians." Even at this time, he did not have any mood swings - trouble must be solved, and force is undoubtedly the best way to rely on it.

It's just different from before. In the past, he believed that resisting the foreigners was the best thing for Fusang. But this time he only said to his wife Awen, who was becoming increasingly haggard:

"After this expedition, regardless of victory or defeat, my brother (Yoshida Nobukata) will be released."

But even with such calmness, Kusaka's heart was broken after Awen cried and said, "Martial arts will last forever."

Therefore, after the Choshu troops entered Kinki, even though his premonition became increasingly ominous, Kusaka did not have the same anxiety as before and just issued orders over and over again.

Even before the war, Kusaka, who was cautious, was attacked by the leader of the selected strike force, Kushima Matabei, saying, "Do cowards, doctors, monks, etc. know about the war?"

But even so, he still requested the leader of the army, Lao Fukuhara Motosu:

"Can you confirm again?

Although Osaka Castle held its troops stationary and did not show any hostile behavior, the main white soldiers blocked the streets of Fushimi and Toba to prevent our main force from approaching Kyoto. This was somewhat amiss.

We only have 2,000 people, but the shogunate alone sent 3,000 elite soldiers to Luo this time.

‘Soldiers are dangerous to the road.’ Please keep an eye on Echigo.”

But while Fukuhara praised Kusaka for his calm demeanor as a general, he didn't care at all:

"General Saionji-sama, the Imperial Guard's Right Guardsman, and Fujita, the governor-sama's confidant, have both joined our army.

Moreover, on March 27th of last month, the Mito Tengu Party had raised troops on Mount Tsukuba, and Koshiro Fujita announced to the world that the shogunate had gone back on its word and stopped the Yokohama port lockup. This news has been confirmed.

Therefore, Kusaka, you can rest assured and just attack bravely on schedule."

Thinking of this, Kusaka shook his head vigorously, stopped thinking, and focused on the battle in front of him.

On the fourth day of April in the first year of Yuanzhi (1864), on the day of the "Aoi Festival" for the third imperial edict, two thousand soldiers and horses from Changzhou Shangluo to plead guilty suddenly began to attack fiercely from Saga, Yamazaki and Fushimi Streets.
Chapter completed!