After personally experiencing the series of tricks perpetrated by the group of lunatics headed by the anti-barbarian group, Qingdeng already had a stress reaction to the word "anti-barbarian".

"Your Majesty Niou, please don't misunderstand me."

Noticing the sudden change in Qingto's expression, Ito Dazou quickly waved his hand and tried to distance himself from the "radical anti-barbarian faction" as quickly as possible.

"Although I respect people with lofty ideals, I am a serious person with lofty ideals. I am not a lunatic like the anti-barbarian group who kills people in the name of righteousness."

At this time, the general manager, who never cared about worldly affairs and focused entirely on practicing swordsmanship and eating sweets, asked in an innocent tone:

"'Honor the king and repel the barbarians'? What does this mean?"

As soon as the Souji finished speaking, Ito Daizo suddenly became energetic:

"Good question!"

Ito Oizou straightened his back, raised his voice a bit, and acted like a teacher.

"'Respect the king and repel the barbarians' was originally an allusion from the Tang Dynasty."

"During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in the Tang Dynasty, the overlord of Qi State, Duke Huan of Qi, took up the banner of 'respecting the king and rejecting the barbarians', respecting the Emperor of Zhou as the Lord of the Central Plains, and raised his troops to resist the massive invasion of nomadic peoples from the north and Chu barbarians from the south..."

If we use the fashion terms of the 21st century to describe it... then "respect the king and reject the barbarians" is the hottest new word in Japan nowadays.

"Respect the king and reject the barbarians" - this slogan has extremely outstanding generality. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it has gradually evolved into a political term with complex meanings. It has played an important role in the history of the Central Plains, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese Islands and other regions.

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In the sixth year of Yongjia (1853), after the outbreak of the "Black Ship Incident" in which Commodore Perry led a fleet to Japan, two ideological trends emerged in Japan: the "respect for the king" theory and the "rejection of foreigners" theory.

The "anti-foreigners theory" is easy to understand, which is to expel all the Western barbarians and return Japan to a state of isolation and isolation from the world.

As for "King Respect"... this idea actually has a long history, and can be traced back to Japan's first samurai regime: the Kamakura Shogunate period (1192-1333).

At that time, the emperor's political power was completely taken away by the samurai family for the first time. Since then, the emperor has basically never regained the power.

Although the emperor has been marginalized politically, due to the special national conditions, the emperor's cultural and spiritual influence has always been strong.

This is why the Wu family's regime has changed one after another, but no one has ever deposed the Juhua family.

Therefore, influenced by the special spiritual charisma and cultural appeal of the imperial family, Japan's past dynasties have no shortage of people who are loyal to the imperial family and want to revive the glory of the Kyoto court.

Historically, with the help of these loyal ministers, the emperor almost regained the power to govern the country.

The "Black Ship Incident" dealt a heavy blow to the authority of the Edo shogunate.

From the feudal lords to ordinary people, countless people had deep doubts about the strength of the Edo shogunate and whether the Tokugawa family still had the ability to govern the country.

This allowed those who believed in the "King Respect Theory" to see a once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity to reshape the authority of the Emperor and the Kyoto court!

For a time, the "theory of respecting the king" became very popular.

Respecting the king and resisting the barbarians - logically speaking, these two ideas are completely different in terms of meaning and proposition, so there should be no connection between them.

But the development of history is sometimes so unexpected.

Whether those who wanted to respect the king or those who wanted to fight against the barbarians, their struggles were all aimed at the same goal: the Edo shogunate.

People of the King-honoring faction felt that the Edo shogunate was a traitor to the country.

People in the anti-barbarian faction believed that the Edo shogunate was a waste that bowed to the barbarians and could not even defeat the barbarians.

Although both parties disliked the Edo shogunate, a skinny camel was ultimately bigger than a horse.

The current Edo shogunate is indeed no longer as majestic as it once was when it brought peace to the people and ended the warring states. However, no matter how weak it is, it cannot be overthrown by thousands of samurai holding swords and spears.

As the saying goes: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

In this way, two waves of people with completely different political ideals looked at each other and saw the right thing.

Later, a certain character's speech provided a realistic theoretical basis for the merger of these two parties.

This figure is relatively well-known in Japan today - he is the current emperor: Emperor Tōhito.

Tongren hated the "barbarians" who came from the West. He urged the Edo shogunate several times to launch a "war against the barbarians" as soon as possible, and asked the Tokugawa family, who had the hereditary post of general to conquer the barbarians, to fulfill their obligation to "conquer the barbarians" as soon as possible.

Tongren's political stance can be said to have given the anti-Barbarians a shot in the arm - they got the title of anti-Barbarians - the emperor hates the barbarians, and we kill the barbarians in compliance with the emperor's order! We have a reputation for learning.

The Master of Justice!

Don't underestimate your reputation.

Throughout the ages, countless heroes and heroes have proven the importance of justice and honor countless times with their actual actions and their blood.

In war, a military title that is tenable and can win the heartfelt recognition and support of the masses is better than thousands of troops.

Today, the emperor hates the barbarians → By killing the barbarians, we are supporting the emperor and responding to the emperor’s call → To respect the king is to resist the barbarians, and to resist the barbarians is to respect the king.

A perfect logical closed loop is formed.

The oppression of the actual situation + the temporary pursuit of common interests = the combination of the king-respecting faction and the anti-barbarian faction.

The two ideas were organically combined, and a new trend of thought came into being: "Respect the king and reject the barbarians".

As soon as this trend of thought appeared, it spread throughout Japan at a terrifying speed.

To this day, the idea of ​​respecting hostility has extremely strong appeal and influence.

Patriots who resist the foreigners - this title is already an antique from the previous version.

A popular title nowadays is "respecting people with lofty ideals".

"The clouds rise and the dragon appears! Transform into a prince!"

Ito Daizo recited this famous line from "Book of Han·Xu Zhuan" affectionately, and then took a full breath to prepare his emotions.

"Nowadays, times are changing rapidly!"

"The Western barbarians are eyeing our country! The country's situation is in danger!"

"In the face of tremendous changes unprecedented in thousands of years, we, the people with lofty ideals, should bravely take the lead!"

"A real man should carry a three-foot sword in his hand to achieve unparalleled achievements!"

"If I just have to be a dojo master for the rest of my life, I really won't be willing to do it!"

"So I've made up my mind!"

“In five years at most, I will put down all the mundane matters at hand and work wholeheartedly to realize the dream of ‘Zunxing’!”

"Dedicate the sword on my waist! Dedicate my life! to the great cause of honoring the king and repelling the barbarians!"

Daizo Ito's speech was very moving; however, the feedback he received was a little more subtle.

Qingdeng had never been interested in anything related to politics, so he had a calm expression throughout the whole process.

The general secretary listened very seriously, but she just listened as if she was listening to storytelling. What political ambitions can you expect from a person whose mind is full of swords and sweets?

Harada Sanosuke, an illiterate person who couldn't even recognize Chinese characters, looked confused. Although he couldn't quite understand what Ito Daizo was talking about, it turned out to be that.

Nagakura Shinpachi's face glowed red and he looked excited. But he was not moved by Ito Daizo's lofty ideals and grand ideals of respecting the king and fighting off the foreigners. He was just impressed by Ito Daizo's words: "A man should carry a three-foot sword.

"To make an immortal contribution" resonated.

Saitoichi was still the same as before, holding his sword and huddled in the corner of the hall expressionlessly, looking into the void in front of him. Whether he was in a daze just now, or whether he was listening to Ito Daizo, I am afraid only God knows.

Genzaburo Inoue, like Aoto, was insensitive to the right and wrong in these temples. Although he listened to Ito Daizo's speech, he heard it in one ear and out the other.

Hijikata Toshizo didn't seem to like Ito Daizo. He didn't even bother to look at him, let alone listen to him.

In the entire audience, there were only two people who really responded positively to Ito Daizo's speech.

One of them is Toudo Heisuke.

As a disciple of Ito Daizo, Toudo Heisuke respected and admired his teacher very much.

After Ito Ozo started his lecture, he looked like he was listening respectfully to the holy scriptures, with a fiery light of "admiration" in his eyes, and almost said, "Teacher, what you said is really good", "Teacher, I

I really admire you." These two lines were written in big characters on my forehead.

As for the second one...it's Isamu Kondo.

"I am really not willing to be a dojo teacher for the rest of my life..."

Kondo Isamu repeated in a low voice the exact words Ito Oizou said just now at a volume that he could not hear clearly.

A strange brilliance gradually emerged from the bottom of his eyes...

…

…

Ito Daizo and Toudou Heisuke had been in the trial defense hall, and they didn't get up and leave until almost noon.

Although the Kondo family tried to persuade the two of them to stay for lunch, they declined on the grounds that "it's almost time for us to go back and prepare for tonight's New Year's Eve dinner."

For Qingnobo, Ito Daizo's sudden visit was just a minor episode in today's event.

After bidding farewell to Ito Daizo and having lunch, everyone in the Imperial Guard Hall got back into the busy but lively "festival preparations".

…

"Tachibana-kun! Look! I pinched Mr. Hijikata out!"

Souji took advantage of the situation and made a snowman out of the snow in the yard. Except for the fact that it was barely human-shaped, there was no resemblance to Hijikata in any way.
To be continued...