The person who led Pei Zi Yun into the hall was a new maid. She was petite and wore a light white maid uniform. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, and her movements were light and her voice was soft.
"It really is a castle." When Pei Zi Yun was led into the hall, he realized that the walls were built to reduce the blind spots of the surrounding defense. There was no sign of Heavensguard Pavilion. He guessed that the cannons had already been installed to prevent them from being attacked.
"It's not a mountain city, it's a flat mountain city!"
This was a city built on hills and hills. During the Warring States period, there were many such cities. Of course, the cities in Japan could be considered a type of fortress.
However, this was a peaceful era. Around the hall, there were courtyards and lawns on the ground. There was running water and fake mountains. There were even fruit trees and servants taking care of them.
Pei Zi Yun took a quick look and realized that these trees were loquat trees. He felt that it was strange. In Japan, loquat trees could be used to treat illnesses, and their leaves and seeds could be used as medicine. They were very common fruit trees and were highly respected. However, it was a taboo to plant loquat trees in a courtyard.
This was because loquat trees were evergreen, and their leaves were wide. If they were planted in the courtyard, the sun would be blocked, and the Yin energy would be heavy.
Furthermore, it was related to the time when the loquat trees bore fruit. It took a long time for the seeds to bear fruit. When the loquat trees were planted, there would be older people in the family. When the loquat trees bore fruit, the older people might die of old age. Hence, there was a misconception that the loquat trees bore fruit meant that someone in the family would die. This caused many Japanese to feel fear.
Furthermore, the loquat seeds were poisonous. If eaten by children, it would be very dangerous. Nowadays, almost no family in Japan would plant loquat trees in their courtyards.
Pei Zi Yun followed the maid into the hall. He thought to himself, 'The loquat trees are planted in the courtyard. Is it a coincidence, or is there another reason?'
When he entered the hall, it was a little gloomy. A few maids were busy preparing a small banquet. Pei Zi Yun even saw a small cake. When they saw the guests, they all bowed to greet them.
'Cake? I remember that it's not Sakato Yuanzi's birthday today. Which Sakato family member is celebrating her birthday?' Pei Zi Yun thought to himself as he squinted his eyes. These maids were moving in unison. Their appearance and even their temperament were similar.
The Sakato financial group was extremely wealthy and had a strong foundation. To nurture these people, they not only spent money, but also time.
After a while, they arrived at a living room.
Entering the living room, Pei Zi Yun noticed that the walls of the living room were decorated with ukiyo-e paintings. There were also some old weapons on the shelves.
"Hi! Please take a seat, Young Miss will come over immediately! " The maid brewed a cup of tea and left. The entire hall fell silent. Pei Zi Yun drank a mouthful of tea and placed the wooden blade on the table. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked around.
Pei Zi Yun had some understanding of the Ukiyo-e as well. As he walked closer, he realized that the Ukiyo-e was not only well-preserved, but also had smooth textures. There was a certain charm to it, and it was obviously the work of a master craftsman.
Pei Zi Yun took a closer look at the contents and realized that they were all pictures of the Reverse Curtain War.
Just as Pei Zi Yun was observing carefully, a voice rang out in his ear.
"Yamada-kun, are you also interested in the curtains?" It was the owner of the dojo, Sakato Genko.
Pei Zi Yun turned around and bowed, "Ban Dongsang, how do you do?"
Ban Higashi Genko was a beauty, but she looked a bit skinny. She wore a long dress, but because she was skinny, she looked a bit empty, and her face was a bit pale. Her information stated that she was 16 years old, but she looked like she was only 14 or so. However, her eyes were incredibly spirited and lively.
"Yes, I'm a little interested." Pei Zi Yun pointed at the painting, "This painting is quite realistic. Some of them are Ukiyo-e paintings of war, but most of them are of samurai wielding katanas fighting."
"That's not right."
"Although both sides had katana teams, and the shogunate had the famous Seiguchi team."
"Nozomi Hiuzen was known as the number one samurai of that time. He assisted the shogunate in their battles, and killed many of their enemies. He was known as the Thousand Killer, and was rewarded with 1,100 stones."
"But in terms of overall warfare, it was already at the level of firearms."
"These samurai wielding katanas and slashing at each other was a result of the poison of The Last Samurai." It was nearing noon, and the rain was getting heavier.
Ban Dongsang smiled, "I've read two of your novels, and I'm very impressed. A twelve-year-old samurai, I didn't expect you to have such thoughts."
"That's two different things. Even if I'm a samurai, I can't deny the truth."
"You're right, the weapons of the anti-shogunate were similar to the weapons of the shogunate. One was English, and the other French." Ban Dongsang Genko said, "Of course, strictly speaking, every country had their own weapons. It was only after the shogunate won that they unified their weapons."
She looked at the painting, "These are the battles my family participated in. There are a total of seven paintings, representing seven battles. The first and second battle were the most intense, and seven men from my family died!"
Ban Dongsang Genko pointed at one person, "This is my direct ancestor, Sakato Takumi. My father and brother died in battle, and he inherited the position of family head. He continued to fight for the shogunate, but he was shot three times and was carried off the frontlines. This was reported in the newspapers at the time."
"After the war was won, the shogunate rewarded the Sakato family according to their contributions. They gave the Hokkaido family 3,000 stones, and the head of the family 3,800 stones. Our sacrifices were repaid."
Pei Zi Yun nodded his head. Many people thought that there weren't many Knowledge Executors, but it was actually quite a lot. For vassals, a salary of 150 stones and above was considered a great fortune. For elders, the salary was between 1,500 stones and 2,000 stones.
As for the Shinkawa Shogunate, there were five thousand bannermen, and the Yu family had eighteen thousand. Among these bannermen, there were two Knowledge Executors above nine thousand stones, four above eight thousand stones, twelve above seven thousand stones, twenty-one above six thousand stones, and seventy-three above five thousand stones. There were a total of 112 people, and they were considered the direct descendants of the main family.
100 stones to 200 stones were the lower class bannermen. Most of the bannermen had 500 stones and below, which made up 60% of the population. 3,800 stones were considered the main bannermen of the shogunate. They could set up their own house to manage the bannermen, and the previous owners of the bannermen were all highly regarded.
The Sakato family received the recognition of the shogunate during the war against the Bakufu, and thus soared to the top.
Although Sakato Genko had seen his results in the documents, she saw Pei Zi Yun's face in deep thought, and couldn't help but laugh. She then asked, "Why do you think the rebels won first, and the shogunate won last?"
"That's too simple, Sakato Senko." Pei Zi Yun shook his head and said, "The three feudatories sold their outdated muskets a long time ago, and bought British rifles. However, the shogunate weren't idiots, and bought French weapons as well."
"In terms of weapons, it could be said that they were evenly matched. In fact, the shogunate was a little slow, but the difference wasn't too big."
"The key to victory was in the formation of the army. After two hundred years of peaceful rule, the descendants of the samurai who fought in the wilderness had become nobles who were afraid of blood." Pei Zi Yun's eyes revealed a tinge of regret.
"The three feudatories had very few people, and the samurai had been infiltrated by the shogunate for a long time, so they were a little unreliable. Hence, they abolished the samurai as the basic formation, and established a new army with rogues and peasants as the main force. Although these people were inexperienced, they were not afraid of death."
"Although the shogunate had new weapons, they were all made up of old ones. These people had not seen blood for two hundred years, and although it wasn't impossible for them to improve, they needed time."
"At that time, the shogunate also experienced two major events. Firstly, the samurai assassinated the head of the shogunate in broad daylight. This was described in my 'Samurai Under the Cherry Blossoms'."
"Secondly, General Qing Zhong died suddenly, and Qing Xing ascended to power. He was only seventeen years old at that time."
"The head of the shogunate was killed by the samurai, and the new general ascended to power at a young age. The reputation of the shogunate was greatly affected, and what they lacked the most was time. Hence, the first battle resulted in the defeat of the shogunate." Pei Zi Yun said.
When Sakato Genko heard this, she was shocked. The smile on her face disappeared, and she looked at Pei Zi Yun with a new gaze. She didn't expect a twelve-year-old boy to have such a clear understanding of this period of history!
After all, Sakato Genko had spent many years researching this period of history, but she still couldn't understand the reason behind the defeat of the shogunate.
"General Qing Xing saw that the situation was dire, and mobilized the entire army of Hokkaido. He didn't place much hope in this, but the weather in Hokkaido was relatively harsh, and the samurai were not corrupt. Hence, the moment they entered the battlefield, they were able to stop the army of the shogunate." Pei Zi Yun continued.
"After a few battles, General Qing Xing discovered the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, and issued an order to defend the frontlines."
"Once the army of the shogunate was stopped, their weakness would be exposed. After all, the shogunate had more men and more resources. It was relatively easy to control them. By the time they entered a war of attrition, the 80,000 strong army of the shogunate would be able to adapt and adapt to war. By then, the army of the shogunate would have been defeated."
As Pei Zi Yun spoke, he knew that the history of this world was similar to that of Tokugawa Yoshinobu's era. Both of them had made many mistakes in politics, which left people speechless.
It was the same for the military as well. After two hundred years of peace, there wasn't a single army that could fight. They were able to suppress the rogues and the peasants, but when faced with a new army, they were defeated.
Of course, what was more serious was the huge mistake in strategy.
Even if the previous cards were wrong, even if there was no Hokkaido army, they could just order the shogunate army to not rush into battle. Instead, they could just surround them and not attack them. Then, they could just use the tactic of 'surround them but not attack them'.
The reason was simple. Even if they couldn't attack, they could still defend and shoot at them.
Once the army of the shogunate was stopped, their weakness would be exposed.
It could be said that once Tokugawa Yoshinobu knew this, he could easily crush the army of the shogunate. The so-called inevitability of history was worthless.
"So the purpose of the Hokkaido army is to control them?" After her initial shock, hearing Pei Zi Yun's words, Ban Dong Yuanzi was a little disappointed. The leader of the Hokkaido army was the Ban Dong family.
"Controlling them would mean the difference between life and death. The fate of the country would change. Of course, the general had to wake up at that time." Pei Zi Yun laughed, "If not, although the Ban Dong family fought valiantly, they didn't have many accomplishments. How could they have obtained the 3,000 stones of knowledge?"
This sounded easy. All the general had to do was wake up and control them, and the result would be different.
However, Pei Zi Yun knew that if he didn't have the foresight and strategy, how would he be able to wake up?
"The first general wouldn't have been able to predict what would happen in the next two hundred years. However, when he opened up Hokkaido, there was a Hokkaido army that managed to stop the army of the shogunate. This caused the general to wake up and change his strategy. Within three years, the entire army of the shogunate was wiped out."
"This, everything is connected. It's too miraculous." Pei Zi Yun sighed. At this point, the entire manor shook violently. "Boom!"
"Earthquake?" The both of them were shocked.
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