There has always been a saying in Japan that Emperor Taisho, who was still on the throne in 1923, had been sickly since childhood. He suffered from meningitis which left sequelae, and at the age of 40, he suffered from cerebral thrombosis, which turned into mental illness. When the illness attacked, the Emperor would often behave ridiculously in public. For example, while watching a military exercise, he would suddenly run down from the reviewing stand, open a soldier's backpack and rummage through it. Once, when attending the opening ceremony of the Diet, on a whim, he giggled while rolling up his speech into a cylinder, placing it over his eye like a telescope, and staring wildly at the foreign envoys. The elder statesmen felt that he could no longer make a fool of himself and lose face for the Japanese people, so in 1921, they decided to have Crown Prince Hirohito serve as Regent. In his later years, Emperor Taisho was already in a state of mental derangement.

However, there is also a theory that Taisho was actually quite healthy. But he was engaged in a fierce struggle with the various factional genro of Japan, and all factions from top to bottom wanted to curtail the immense power that Meiji possessed. Therefore, many of Taisho's "misconducts" were actually the result of Taisho's struggle with the cliques.

From the perspective of historical materialism, struggle exists eternally. Just like action and reaction, these seemingly contradictory and opposing sides cannot exist unilaterally, just as isolated and static things can absolutely not exist unilaterally. So regardless of what kind of person Taisho really was, in the struggle with the powerful ministers, the final outcome of the Crown Prince becoming Regent declared Taisho's failure.

"Your Highness! Good day!" At the Akasaka Detached Palace in Tokyo, the 39-year-old Okamura Yasuji bowed seriously to the 22-year-old Regent Crown Prince Hirohito.

Hirohito wore a formal suit, not a Western suit, but the kind of military-style clothing that Japan imitated from European royalty. It is rare to find fat people among 22-year-old Japanese, and coupled with the good training of the royal family, the splendid clothes, and the hair cut short almost to the scalp like a soldier, Hirohito looked very spirited. Hirohito liked the army very much. During his childhood and adolescence, the principals of the schools Hirohito attended were Nogi Maresuke and Togo Heihachiro, which gave this young man the unique enthusiasm and "confidence" of a second-rate enthusiast for military affairs.

"Okamura-kun, would you prefer to stand inside the room, or walk around with me?" Hirohito asked Okamura Yasuji with a smile.

"Whatever Your Highness commands," Okamura Yasuji said with gratitude. Standing inside the room referred to an official position like a guard for the entire garden party, while walking around meant the status of Hirohito's attendant. Theoretically, the latter seemed to be able to effectively improve Okamura Yasuji's status, but Okamura Yasuji did not really want to act as Hirohito's attendant. Sometimes, showing off one's relationship with the upper echelons too much would only create more enemies.

Crown Prince Hirohito looked at the thin-faced Okamura Yasuji and suddenly smiled. "Okamura-kun, you should walk with me. There are some things I want to ask you."

This way of handling things was considered the mildest. Both being a guard or an attendant would bring trouble to Okamura Yasuji. As someone he valued, Hirohito also did not want to create too much unnecessary trouble for Okamura Yasuji.

In terms of political struggle, although Hirohito was young, he was not a completely inexperienced fledgling. In 1918, when the 17-year-old Hirohito entered his youth, his marriage was naturally brought up. Nagako, Princess Kuni, was internally decided as the Crown Princess, and the marriage was planned for that year. However, Yamagata Aritomo, a genro figure who held sway over the government at the time, opposed the marriage on the grounds that Nagako's mother was colorblind, believing that Nagako's family genetics were poor. As a result, the disturbance over this marriage lasted for a full year and a half with neither side giving in. In the end, Hirohito overcame all dissenting opinions and decided to take Nagako as his wife, while Yamagata Aritomo was forced to resign due to this incident. In Japan, as long as power is involved, trivial matters can become the key to the rise and fall of certain big figures. With his own marriage as practice, Hirohito thoroughly understood this point.

It was also after this incident that Okamura Yasuji and others decided to support Hirohito. To get rid of the deeply entrneched Choshu Domain in Japan, they could only rely on the power of the future Emperor. This was also the reason why Okamura Yasuji, Nagata Tetsuzan, and others swore to support Hirohito, who was now the Regent Crown Prince, to formally ascend the throne.

The conversation between Hirohito and Okamura Yasuji in the garden naturally attracted the attention of many people, but for such matters, instead of holding secret talks, it was better to meet openly like this. As long as no one was eavesdropping at close range, the action itself was enough to make the guys who dominated Japan's fate have many associations. As for whether the positive or negative effect of this on Okamura Yasuji was greater, that would depend on the will of Amaterasu Omikami.

"Okamura-kun, what are your thoughts on the Lushun-Dalian issue?" Hirohito's question was actually very simple. As a disciple of Nogi Maresuke, the great hero of the Battle of Port Arthur, and Togo Heihachiro of the Russo-Japanese naval battle, Hirohito believed that he definitely could not be called ignorant of military affairs. Therefore, this Regent Crown Prince was not satisfied with the many discussions in the cabinet.

"Your Highness, now is not the time to start a war with China," Okamura Yasuji immediately answered seriously. If anyone wants to be a fool, let those guys go be fools. Something that cannot be done simply cannot be done; for Okamura Yasuji and those behind him, this was merely a fact.

"But General Tanaka's attitude is very strange." Hirohito also did not believe that Japan currently had the power to compete with China for the Lushun-Dalian area. Although dissatisfied, this Crown Prince was not an overly stubborn guy.

"General Tanaka's attitude is more for himself. Hasn't Your Highness heard the news that General Tanaka is preparing to enter politics?" When it was time to stab Tanaka Giichi in the back, Okamura Yasuji knew exactly what to say.

"General Tanaka wants to enter politics?" Hirohito had really heard this news for the first time. He frowned slightly, feeling very suspicious in his heart.

"At least the news I received is indeed so," Okamura Yasuji said seriously. Party politics is currently the most popular thing in Japan. There are already many rumors in the Army Ministry that Tanaka Giichi is preparing to give up the title of Marshal to enter politics and gain the power to lead Japan through party politics. Although Tanaka Giichi might really want to destroy party politics through party struggle, in Okamura Yasuji's view, this was purely messing around.

After thinking for a while, Hirohito's once tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. He laughed: "Then I can only wait and see."

The backstabbing that needed to be done had been done, so Okamura Yasuji did not continue to fan the flames.

After talking for a while, Hirohito smiled and said, "Okamura-kun, I believe in your loyalty."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Okamura Yasuji immediately replied. He knew that this conversation had ended.

For the rest of the time, Okamura Yasuji stood guard outside the gate of the garden party like a wooden stake. Whether it was the people specifically responsible for guarding or those high-ranking Japanese officials, they all looked at Okamura Yasuji with unfriendly eyes. However, Okamura Yasuji did not care at all. If one wants to continue climbing up in Japan, this kind of situation will definitely not happen only once or twice. One must swim across the boundless ocean of malice to reach the shore of victory. Okamura Yasuji was very clear about this.

Envoys from various countries had already arrived at the scene of the garden party one after another, including the Chinese ambassador to Japan. Many people noticed Okamura Yasuji sticking out in the group of guards at the door. This thin Japanese colonel was not wearing the uniform of the Imperial Guard, so his lonely figure was particularly eye-catching. The ambassadors were all extremely shrewd people. This abnormal appearance forced people to notice Okamura Yasuji, but no one showed a reaction different from usual. Although many people committed Okamura Yasuji's appearance to memory.

Garden parties equivalent to state banquets were basically nonsense. Unless someone wanted to deliberately create a topic, everyone tacitly said some probing words to each other, and then gave some ambiguous answers to other inquirers. Around 11 o'clock, Regent Crown Prince Hirohito delivered the traditional welcome speech, and then the ambassadors of various countries began to find people to chat with according to their needs.

Not long after the chatting began, it was noon, and the foreign envoys were being entertained. Amidst the joyous exchanges between hosts and guests, a violent, sudden tremor came from deep underground. "Earthquake!" The thought immediately popped into everyone's mind. In earthquake-prone Japan, it is common for the earth to shake, but the violence of this shaking was truly unlike anything seen before. Everyone felt as if they were riding a small boat on the sea, tossing about. Some guests in poor health even lost their balance for a moment and slipped to the ground. Then the entire ground vibrated like a wild horse, and the sound of violent collisions came from the beams and windows. Everyone's face changed color. If this group of people were not envoys from various countries, the agile ones among them would probably have started rushing out the door to avoid the earthquake.

However, many maids in the garden party did not have the composure of the ambassadors and Japanese big shots. They could not help but scream. Amidst the screams of women and the low exclamations of men, the earth continued to shake violently and uncontrollably. It was unknown how long it took before it gradually returned to calm. Every guest's face was pale; they had never felt such a strong earthquake.

Before the shaking earth and clinking bowls and chopsticks had completely returned to absolute calm, Hirohito disregarded etiquette and stumbled out to the garden outside the hall. He saw a scene like a landslide and earth crack. The newly completed 12-story Tokyo Tower "was snapped in two like a matchstick"; countless tall buildings collapsed in an instant. Tokyo suddenly appeared low and empty.

The Akasaka Detached Palace had extremely high earthquake resistance and did not collapse. However, many biographers later wrote one after another that in the courtyard of the Detached Palace, where aftershocks continued, Hirohito's expression was dull and he was "dazed". This was not a description but a record. Japan's Regent Crown Prince Hirohito was staring blankly just as the words described, as if he were merely an earthquake victim too.

Okamura Yasuji recovered extremely quickly from the panic of the earthquake. Since he was acting as a guard, he was standing at the door. He could see the entire earthquake scene more clearly. Outside the Akasaka Detached Palace was a large open area, from which one could see the appearance of Tokyo almost at a glance. That was truly a hellish scene. Reinforced concrete, brick and wood, pure wood, traditional Japanese wooden structures with papered windows—all kinds of buildings jumped and twisted in an instant. If the traditional Japanese houses were merely swaying, those new-style buildings began to show huge cracks during the shaking, and then snapped or collapsed like a dream. The Tokyo that Okamura Yasuji saw seemed to scatter like a house of cards, and the scattered pieces formed a bizarre and motley appearance in various shapes.

Then, columns of silvery-white water suddenly rose from the ground, rushing high into the sky like beautiful fountains. Rainbows appeared in the scattering water mist.

Okamura Yasuji was not deceived by this beautiful illusion. He knew that was the result of the underground water pipes rupturing. However, for the water pipes buried underground to suffer such thorough destruction, how great was the destructive power of this earthquake?

"Protect Your Highness!" This was Okamura Yasuji's first thought after recovering his basic senses. He was the first to react among a group of dumbfounded guards. Striding forward, Okamura Yasuji rushed into the hall where the meeting was being held. Then he saw the back of the Japanese Regent Crown Prince Hirohito standing blankly on the spot.

Seeing that Hirohito was safe and sound, the big stone in Okamura Yasuji's heart immediately fell to the ground. However, seeing Hirohito standing there dumbly without saying a word in his crisp military-style formal dress, Okamura Yasuji only felt considerable disappointment in his heart.

Whether one is a qualified soldier or not, looking at whether they wear a military uniform is completely useless. Whether one has experienced the test of blood and fire, whether one has experienced the painful torment of the heart during wartime, can be seen clearly from the temperament a person displays. People who have truly passed the test of life and death have something that only those who have passed the same test can feel. If forced to describe it, it is "looking forward" at all times. On the battlefield, guys who cannot look forward will be finished. Even if they have just brushed past death a second ago, true warriors will not deliberately recall the soul-stirring nature of that second. Because if they do not look forward and do not face the death rushing towards them in the next second head-on, then death is only a matter of time.

Okamura Yasuji had also met some high-ranking cadres of the People's Party. They more or less had the unique temperament of having passed through death. That was strength tempered by depression and suffering. Okamura Yasuji himself had experienced such tests in Northeast China. Therefore, he did not care about any superficial things at all. His modification of his appearance was merely due to the needs of others. For Okamura Yasuji, he fundamentally did not care what his appearance looked like.

But Crown Prince Hirohito obviously lacked these things. The upbringing possessed by great aristocrats could make his behavior look quite dignified. But it was only just that. At this time, what this Regent Crown Prince needed to do was not to daze, but to issue orders immediately. Even if not for disaster relief, at least he should appease the order within the Akasaka Detached Palace and see if anyone was injured. Standing there dazing is of no fucking use!