Five hours after the ultimatum.
Inside a large chamber of Edo Castle, a long wooden table was set, around which sat the shogun's key advisors, influential daimyo, and senior members of the roju. At the head of the table was Shogun Tokugawa Ienari who looked sternly at the Governor of the Uruga, Takeyoshi.
"So, what message do you bring? Governor Takeyoshi?" Daimyo Matsuda, from a southern province, spoke, prompting Takeyoshi to speak.
"The French have delivered an ultimatum to our country. We open up our ports or face war with them. They even have given us a white flag as a sign of surrender, should we choose to defy them and fall," Takeyoshi reported, his voice low and even, despite the storm of emotions brewing inside him.
