"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Those lunatics!"
After returning from his audience with the Emperor, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi slammed his fist against the desk again and again, grinding his teeth in fury.
"Those idiots with shit instead of brains! What? Invite Killian here? Do they have any sense at all—"
In the middle of his furious outburst, he noticed the pale faces of his subordinates and immediately changed direction.
"Of course His Majesty the Emperor might say such things—he doesn't have access to enough information. But how could the officials who serve him say something so ridiculous!"
Even if the Emperor was little more than a figurehead, openly criticizing him was dangerous.
But insulting the officials beneath him was another matter entirely.
One of the Shogun's close aides, Dojima, quickly chimed in.
"No words could better describe them than utterly ignorant."
"Hoo… yes, exactly. Those fools are nothing but trash whose only value is producing more nonsense every day."
The most absurd part was that the men supporting the proposal were not simply flattering the Emperor.
Anyone with a functioning brain knew that the real power in Japan belonged to the Shogun.
And they knew it perfectly well.
In other words, they supported the idea because they thought the Shogun himself would approve of it.
It was enough to drive him insane.
And yet, astonishingly, many people still believed that.
This is truly maddening.
"What about the daimyō in the provinces? Do we know how they are reacting?"
"Surprisingly, most of them support it. Even Satsuma and Chōshū insist that General Killian should be welcomed as a grand state guest…"
"Those lunatics! They're usually so uncooperative, and now they're spouting this nonsense?"
"It seems the rumor has spread that the Emperor himself proposed it first… and that the Shogun also agreed."
"Damn it all. Is there really no way out of this? No, no, no! Dojima, you know this too, don't you? General Killian is no longer merely a general. He's now the Prince Consort of Britain. And didn't you read the news that recently arrived through the Dutch? They say he has become the lord of a land called Canada, larger even than Qing China! He's practically a king!"
"The land may be vast, though its population has not yet reached that scale. But it's certainly true that his power is far greater than before."
This was never what Ieyoshi had intended.
It was true that Killian had humbled Qing China and was rising triumphantly across Europe.
Originally, Ieyoshi merely hoped to ride the momentum of such a rising hero—strengthening the Shogun's authority and securing Japan's safety in the process.
That alone would have been enough.
But he had never imagined Killian would go so far as to marry the Queen of Britain.
And now he ruled a land even larger than Qing or India.
As time passed, Killian's fame would only grow to a level that Japan could barely comprehend.
"Damn it. If he were still a diplomatic official, we could invite him under the pretext of negotiating a treaty. But how can we summon the Prince Consort of a nation as if he were some envoy?"
"We wouldn't order him to come, of course. We would invite him respectfully… but yes, it would still be difficult."
"Of course it would! Even if their ships are fast and barely affected by the wind, I've heard it still takes nearly half a year for a round trip between Britain and Japan!"
If someone proposed that to him, Ieyoshi himself would assume the other side had gone insane.
After all, Killian was not truly a Tokugawa by blood.
Why would he feel any affection for Japan or its Emperor?
Worse, he might even feel insulted that the Prince Consort of Britain had been summoned like this.
If that happened, their negotiations for a non-aggression pact with Russia would collapse.
In the worst case, the shogunate might become isolated across Northeast Asia.
"No… that's not even the end of it. If Killian rejects our proposal, it would effectively mean rejecting the Emperor's invitation in public. Public opinion would turn ugly."
Nominally, Killian still had Tokugawa blood.
If things turned ugly, the blame would fall partly on the shogunate as well.
Especially Satsuma and Chōshū.
They would eagerly seize the chance to criticize the shogunate—and their criticism would be perfectly justified.
From every possible perspective, inviting Killian to Japan was nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.
"Damn it. Is there really no good solution?"
"But if Killian actually came, wouldn't it tremendously elevate the authority of the Shogun?"
"What are you saying? The whole reason I'm so furious is because he obviously won't come!"
"Then we must make him come. The worst outcome would be if the Emperor personally invites him and they reject it outright. In that case, we must choose the lesser evil. Offer whatever conditions are necessary to persuade him."
"You mean… opening the country?"
Until now, the shogunate had maintained a strict policy of national isolation.
Even the Dutch, who maintained relatively friendly relations, were allowed only limited trade.
And Ieyoshi was not a fool.
Just from the goods brought by Dutch merchants, it was obvious how far Europe had advanced beyond Asia.
If Japan opened its ports and began uncontrolled trade with such powers, the result was obvious.
Japan's silver would pour out of the country.
And thirty million Japanese would become little more than livestock consuming European goods.
Of course, if Japan pursued radical reforms alongside opening the country, it might grow into a wealthy and powerful nation within several decades.
But that was nothing more than a gamble.
And even if they offered to open the country, Britain would likely ignore the offer.
They would have to offer something more.
But offering too much might provoke rebellion among the provincial daimyō.
"…No matter what path we choose, we're trapped. Hoo…"
Though he said that, Ieyoshi had already made up his mind.
As his aides had said, if he had to choose, he must choose the lesser evil, not the worst.
"First, we must cling to Killian's leg if necessary and bring him here. And if he actually agrees to visit, we must ensure absolute security. They will guard him heavily themselves, but we must station soldiers along every route and movement so that no accident occurs."
"Understood. If His Highness Killian truly visits, we will prepare with the resolve that we will all commit seppuku if even a single scratch appears on him."
The aides present nodded with firm determination.
It was unlikely—but if anything happened to Killian while he was a guest of the shogunate, the shogunate would be finished.
What kind of country was Britain?
It was the strongest power in Europe—the nation that had devastated the Great Qing, treating the entire coastline from Hainan to Tianjin as if it were its own backyard.
If angered, destroying Japan's coastline would be trivial for them.
"Remember this. Now that things have come to this point, we must become Britain's closest partner in Asia, no matter what. Joseon? Those fools couldn't even recognize a remarkable man like Killian and drove him away. Killian himself will surely realize that cooperating with us is far more beneficial than siding with such idiots."
Once you climb onto the back of a running tiger, the only choice is to ride it to the end.
And after all—
Both nations were island countries.
From this point forward, Japan would pursue one goal:
To become the Britain of Asia.
At the same time, elsewhere in the Japanese archipelago, secret conversations were also taking place.
"Do you really think General Killian will visit this country?"
"Of course not. Britain isn't a neighboring state like Joseon or Qing. There's no way he would travel such a distant road."
"Then the day when the Shogun's lie is exposed to the world won't be far off."
"And even if he does come, it doesn't matter. If we inform him that the Shogun intends to use Britain to raise his own prestige, they will naturally fall out."
The powerful figures of Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa domains were rapidly growing closer, setting aside ideological differences in order to weaken the shogunate.
Japan was not the only country recklessly accelerating toward chaos.
The small spark ignited by Killian had crossed the Atlantic and Pacific, growing into something so large it could crush both Qing China and Joseon.
Joseon, which had decided to bring Britain into the situation and sign a non-aggression pact with Russia, ignored Qing's request for military assistance.
Of course, as a country still operating within the traditional Sinocentric order, Joseon could not openly disregard Qing.
That would violate the Confucian hierarchy.
So their reply was polite.
—but meaningless.
"We would like to send reinforcements, but the current situation in our country makes it difficult to dispatch troops. Severe drought has struck all eight provinces of Joseon, leaving us no spare grain to provide assistance. Production of gunpowder has also recently suffered disruptions, making export impossible…"
They never directly said go away.
But the message was obvious.
They had absolutely no intention of helping.
The Qing envoy exploded with rage upon hearing the reply.
But Joseon simply repeated polite apologies and refused to change its decision.
The envoy even threatened that this was a violation of the Son of Heaven's command.
But Joseon had its own confidence.
If we refuse support, what can you actually do?
Will you stop fighting Russia just to attack us?
Even if Qing tried to send troops, its weakness had already been exposed in the war against Britain.
Still, Joseon would maintain formal respect.
But nothing more.
Their perception of Qing was slowly sinking to rock bottom.
And this sentiment was not limited to foreign observers.
"Sons of China! Why do you think the Great Qing has fallen into such a miserable state?
Because of greedy officials?
Yes, that is true!
But the real reason is that the false doctrine this empire has worshipped for centuries has reached the end of its life!
A feudal ideology that divides people by status and allows the rich to oppress the poor can no longer guide us in this age!
Do you remember the war with Britain not long ago?
We did not lose to white men.
The enemy was led by a man of mixed blood like us!
This is a warning sent by the Supreme God in Heaven, using their hands to awaken us!"
The man delivering this sermon was Hong Xiuquan.
After repeatedly failing the imperial examinations, he had been working as a village teacher near Guangzhou.
One day, after reading a Christian pamphlet, he founded a new religious sect.
He combined Western Christianity with his own claim that he was the second son of God and the younger brother of Jesus.
At first, the number of followers grew slowly.
But when he began boasting that he personally knew Killian Guai of Britain, the man who defeated Qing, the story unexpectedly gained traction.
Among the suffering common people, it worked remarkably well.
He portrayed Qing's ruling elites as evil—
and Killian, a man with Asian blood who had defeated them, as righteous.
Originally, Hong had not intended to preach rebellion.
But as his movement grew larger than expected, he had no choice but to define the Qing itself as the corrupt evil that must be destroyed.
"Awaken!
If we destroy the old and false order with our own hands, the world of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace will descend upon this land!"
The followers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom grew rapidly across Guangdong and Guangxi, where government control had weakened.
But the central government had no time to deal with them.
Almost at the same time the Emperor exploded in rage over Joseon's refusal—
Russia declared war and marched troops across the border.
A great spark had finally fallen upon the accumulating powder keg.
Without anyone fully realizing it—
Asia was becoming a vast crucible, melting together the interests of the European great powers.