Edo Castle, Japan
Early December 1836
The reports reached Edo faster this time.
There was no delay, no confusion. The moment Abe Masahiro returned from the port, he asked for an audience right away. What he had seen could not be written down and passed around like a normal report. It had to be explained in person.
More than that, it needed a decision.
The council gathered without ceremony.
The room felt different now. Before, they had been discussing something distant, something unclear. Now, they were dealing with something real. Something seen with their own eyes. There was no room left to dismiss it.
Tokugawa Ienari sat at the center, calm as ever, his face giving nothing away. Around him were the same men as before, but their confidence had shifted. What they thought they understood no longer felt certain.
Abe knelt forward.
"They showed us their machines," he said.
No one spoke at first.
One of the advisors leaned slightly forward. "What kind of machines?"
