Chapter 568: Gion Bloody Battle (2)

What Shinsaku Takasugi talked to Gabriel tonight was indeed an out-and-out big business.

While the daimyos of the vassals were still arguing about whether they should order Tokugawa Yoshiki to return the government and take responsibility for a series of mistakes made by the previous shogunate, Shinsaku Takasugi had already made a decisive decision and decided to bring down the curtain by force in Kyoto. His main purpose of coming to Kyoto It was to meet with Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori to make a plan to bring down the curtain by force.

They decided to deceive Tokugawa Yoshiki from Edo to Kyoto first, and then used force to detain him directly. However, Tokugawa Yoshiki himself is also very vigilant and suspicious, so he may not be able to guess their plan. Soldiers and horses are always protecting, and the power of the Kyoto shogunate is also very strong. In addition to the troops of the Yusanjia and Qingsanjia, there are also ronin groups such as the Shinsengumi and Mihuigumi.

And if the soldiers and horses of Changzhou or Satsuma were transferred to Beijing, Tokugawa Yoshiki would definitely be aware of it, and it would probably turn into a nationwide melee.

This is not what Shinsaku Takasugi and Toshimichi Okubo want to see. The two still hope to complete the power change through a small-scale, preferably a palace coup, and preserve Japan's vitality to the greatest extent. Send these people to Kyoto without telling the shogunate.

They finally pinned their hopes on Gabriel, a French businessman.

Shinsaku Takasugi had contacted and cooperated with Gabriel as early as when the Changzhou Domain reformed and strengthened the army. He knew that the latter had a wide range of avenues, not only cotton yarn, iron cannons, and matchlock guns. Even Takasugi Shinsaku's purchase of the new warship Heishin Maru was led by Gabriel. Coupled with his French status, few people dared to check his cargo ship.

Shinsaku Takasugi hopes to quietly order a batch of weapons from Gabriel, which will be transported to Kyoto under the cover of a cotton yarn cargo ship. The channel was transported to Kyoto, for which Satsuma and Changzhou were willing to pay a high price of 10,000 taels of gold.

However, Gabriel did not immediately agree when he heard the words.

It is the nature of a businessman to seek profit, no matter which country is no exception, not to mention that Gabriel is the most greedy businessman. The business in Japan these years has made him a lot of money, but it is precisely because of this that he has to think carefully. Shinsaku Takasugi proposed the deal.

Gabriel, like other Western businessmen, is silently paying attention to the civil war in Japan. However, except for the fact that there were too many voices against barbarians for their own safety, the joint fleet of the United Kingdom, the United States, France and the Netherlands attacked Shimonoseki in retaliation. Foreigners still try not to participate in Japan. country's civil war.

Like the Shogunate’s Second Long War, which was repulsed by Takasugi Shinsaku, the Western countries were just onlookers from the beginning to the end, because at present, both the Shogunate and the Fallen Sect are likely to win the final victory, and there were assassinations before the Fallen Sect Westerners have previous convictions, but now advocate the founding of the country, while the shogunate led by Tokugawa Yoshiki is just the opposite. It has cooperated with Western countries before, but now it tends to continue to lock the country, so Western countries have no clear position to support which side. .

Political investment is very risky. Once it fails, it will be hostile by the next ruler. On the other hand, political investment is also the most profitable investment. Although Gabriel did not agree to Shinsaku Takasugi's request, he did not explicitly refuse it.

This is actually a clear attitude and requires Takasugi Shinsaku to increase the price.

All the warriors present scolded Gabriel for being greedy in their hearts, but now the initiative is indeed in the hands of the French businessman. If he does not nod, Changzhou and Satsuma will not be able to bring troops in, and the matter of the armed downfall will not continue. Next implement.

…………

Zhang Heng was actually a little surprised.

In history, Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori were indeed the main forces to bring down the curtain by force, but the time was not so early. In fact, if the side of the downturn party delays for a while, Tokugawa Yoshiki himself will play the trick of returning the government. He took the initiative to return the rights of the shogunate to the Emperor Meiji in exchange for his status and rights in the new government. His move of putting him to death and rebirth is indeed powerful.

Not only did Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori no longer have an excuse to carry out a palace coup, but they also successfully divided the power of the downfall faction. After the return of the great government, Tokugawa Yoshiki's reputation began to change. People who spoke well of him and hoped that he would join the new government More and more, while Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori became more and more isolated.

In the end, the deployment of troops into Beijing was actually a last resort choice after being forced into a desperate situation. With the strength of the Satsuma domain at that time, there was actually no advantage over the shogunate, but in the end Saigo Takamori still won in the face of the shogunate army three times his own. The Battle of Toba Fushimi, which determined the direction of the times, of course, these are all things to come.

Compared with history, Takasugi Shinsaku is still alive and kicking now, which will undoubtedly be a big change. However, although he came to Kyoto with his strength and talked in front of everyone, he may be able to hide from the two clans in the teahouse. He is a samurai, but Zhang Heng's observation skills trained through the deductive dungeon still let him see that Shinsaku Takasugi does not have much time left, and his face is already full of death.

This may also be the reason why he can't wait to start a big event, because he wants to see the new era he created with his own eyes before he dies.

But before that, he still needs to negotiate the current business with Gabriel.

French businessmen have a big appetite, and they are not satisfied with just 10,000 taels of gold. However, Shinsaku Takasugi also has his own bottom line. Although some people in the Banbai faction also advocate learning from the West, many people are also wary of those Westerners meddling in their country things, such as Takamori Saigo.

The Treaty of Kanagawa caused the shogunate to lose its prestige among the people. Such a lesson is still fresh in our memory. The new regime obviously cannot repeat the same mistakes. Therefore, according to the consensus reached by Takasugi Shinsaku and his group before, Gabriel can talk about money, but it can only be Money, if he wants something else, then the Falling Curtain faction can only find another way, even if they have to postpone the Falling Curtain.

The negotiation entered a tug-of-war. In order to prevent communication barriers caused by language differences, both sides brought translators to convey their respective meanings as much as possible. At the same time, they could also correct the translation errors of the other side and ensure that their true intentions were known to the other side.

However, Zhang Heng's mind was not on this business meeting. He was always thinking about how to get the Shuzhumaru Kojiro on Nakamura Hanjiro's waist, and the most important thing was how to get out of this flower street alive.

Since the person who came here tonight is Shinsaku Takasugi, it is obviously impossible for the Banbai faction to let him, a temporary translator who was hired halfway, walk out of the tea house alive.

Once the two parties negotiate a good deal and reach a consensus, his value will no longer exist.