My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 6: Chapter 4: An Era of Blood and Carnage (Part 2)

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In this era, Japan naturally did not have bandages.

People in Japan during this time used a thing called ”hemp cloth” to stop bleeding and bandage wounds.

The injury on Aoto’s leg was merely a small wound, not affecting his daily activities, and he would recover completely after resting for a period.

While Kyūbē awkwardly helped Aoto bandage the wound on his leg, Aoto was rubbing his furrowed brow hard.

——So what’s the situation now... Just crossed over, and fell into an abyss where he could get killed by a bunch of madmen at any moment?

After searching through the memory of ”Original Tachibana Aoto,” Aoto finally figured out the identity of the three samurai who attacked him.

They were from the Anti-foreigner Faction!

What is the Anti-foreigner Faction?

This is a long story.

More than a thousand years ago, the great eastern nation across the sea had entered the Sui and Tang Dynasties, while Japan was still in a backward slave society.

After realizing the huge gap between their country and the Sui and Tang Empire across the sea, the rulers of Japan at that time decided to fully learn the advanced systems and culture of the Sui and Tang Empire in 645 AD to seek prosperity.

This reform was historically known as the ”Great Transformation.”

The Great Transformation can be said to have completely reshaped Japan, transitioning in a breath from the slave era to the feudal era.

Shortly after the Great Transformation, Japan moved its capital to Nara, and the period when Nara was the capital is known as the ”Nara Era” (710-794).

By 794, Japan moved its capital again to Heiankyo (modern Kyoto), and the period when Heiankyo was the capital is known as the ”Heian Era” (794-1192).

The Emperors of the Nara Era and Heian Era in Japan were veritable heads of state like the Emperor in China, holding the national authority.

However, by the mid Heian Era, the military families, otherwise known as the samurai group, began to rise.

The military families originally were just a bunch of rough men responsible for fighting, but by the end of the Heian Era, they gradually united, rose, and began to take control of the government, sidelining the Emperor.

The samurai group gradually became a new influential class in Japan: the Samurai Class!

Finally, by the end of the 12th century, the Genji Warrior Group completely sidelined the Emperor, seizing control of the court’s power.

Due to Japan’s unique national conditions, they couldn’t arbitrarily abolish the Emperor and change dynasties like China.

At that time, abolishing the Emperor’s lineage, which had existed for centuries, was a highly difficult and risky undertaking.

So the leader of the Genji Warrior Group: Minamoto no Yoritomo established the ”Shogunate System.”

He sought the position of ”General of Expedition” from the Emperor, retained the Emperor and court, but set up a new government in Kamakura Region.

This new government is called the ”Shogunate.”

Since it was built in Kamakura, it is customarily referred to as the ”Kamakura Shogunate.”

The head of the Shogunate is the General of Expedition, and the position of General of Expedition is passed down through the generations of the Genji.

The nominal head of state and ruling bodies are still the Emperor and the Kyoto Court.

But the actual holders of power and the institutions governing the country are the General of Expedition and the Shogunate in Kamakura.

The Shogunate General thereafter became the de facto emperor of Japan, and the title ”General of Expedition” became a symbol of supremacy, coveted by countless ambitious individuals.

The Kamakura Shogunate only lasted over 100 years (1185—1333). The era when Japan was ruled by the Kamakura Shogunate is called the ”Kamakura Era.”

After the decline of the Kamakura Shogunate, the court led by the Emperor attempted to reclaim national power but ultimately failed, losing it to another warrior group—the Ashikaga Clan.

The Ashikaga Clan destroyed the Kamakura Shogunate and established Japan’s second shogunate in the Muromachi Region: the Muromachi Shogunate, seizing the office of General of Expedition and national authority from the Genji, with the Emperor and court continuing as ceremonial entities.

The period the Muromachi Shogunate ruled Japan is known as the ”Muromachi Era” (1336-1573).

Due to the unique political system, by the late Muromachi Era, local powers began to rise and rebel, plunging Japan into an unprecedented era of warfare: the Warring States Era (1467—1603).

This was an era where dukes rose and fell, vying for national supremacy in a turmoil.

In the end—the victor was the Tokugawa Clan.

A samurai named Tokugawa Ieyasu succeeded in unifying the country in 1603, then established Japan’s third shogunate in Edo (modern Tokyo): the Edo Shogunate.

The title of General of Expedition subsequently fell to the Tokugawa Clan.

And this is the era Aoto finds himself in—the Edo Era governed by the Edo Shogunate.

By the time Aoto is living in the Edo Era, the Shogunate system can be said to have been perfected to near perfection.

At this time, Heiankyo had long been renamed Kyoto. The Emperor and court remain in Kyoto but have become complete ceremonial entities, devoid of any real power.

Simply put—Japan now has two governments: the Kyoto Court and the Edo Shogunate.

The head of the Kyoto Court is the Emperor, while the head of the Edo Shogunate is the General of Expedition, a position inherited by the Tokugawa Clan.

The former is a symbolic national head, while the latter is the real ruler of Japan, the true ”Japanese Emperor.”

Aoto, unfamiliar with Japanese history and unsure of the current year in the Common Era, estimates through the memory of ”Original Tachibana Aoto” that it is roughly the mid to late 19th century.