668 Rise of an Empress

Having crushed the enemy forces at Naniwa, and decapitated the rebel general Shimazu Takatame in battle, Itami Riyo returned to her capital in Heian-kyō. Though there was a rebellion underway across her realm, the brutal deaths of the Shimazu clan had forced those who dared to revolt against her rule to rethink their actions. For now, Itami had bought herself enough time to begin the introduction of new weapons to her forces. 

Itami knew she could not produce massive quantities of Murata rifles without modern machinery and because of this, she had worked hard to create the first steam engines in the history of this world. In fact, outside of Heian-kyō, much of her territory had reached an early industrial state. Of course, she had no way of knowing that an old acquaintance of hers from her past life had reincarnated into this world before her and had already produced such technology years prior.