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Make a small correction to the end of the previous chapter - instead of "receive 20,000 taels of gold every month", but "receive 20,000 taels of gold every year", I hope everyone knows~
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Through what he saw and heard, as well as his own practical experience, Qingdeng realized a truth - party struggle is actually the number one disaster in politics!
Once party strife breaks out, no matter how large an organization or how powerful a group, it will be in danger.
A lot of energy and resources have been invested in endless internal fighting.
The most obvious and tragic example of "party strife harming the country" is China's Nanming period.
In this huge dynasty, because of the feuding between brothers and repeated party disputes, the mountains and rivers were shattered and the country was no longer a country.
In recent years, the shogunate has quite a Nanming style.
The "Nanki Faction" led by Tokugawa Iemo and Tenjoin, and the "Ichitsubashi Faction" led by Hitotsubashi Keiki and Matsudaira Harugaku, fought fiercely and in confusion.
The struggle between the two sides has almost reached the highest form of party struggle - opposition for the sake of opposition.
As long as it is an idea put forward by the "Nanki School", no matter whether it is right or wrong, the "Ichitsubashi School" will oppose it.
Vice versa - no matter whether the ideas put forward by the "Ichitsubashi School" are correct or wrong, the "Nanki School" has only one attitude: No!
The administrative efficiency of the shogunate was extremely slow due to redundant officials and personnel.
And now, because of the increasingly fierce party struggle between the "Nanki Faction" and the "Ichitsubashi Faction", administrative efficiency is getting worse and worse.
What could have been done in three days took more than a month, or even more, to get it done.
Yoshiki Hitotsubashi is the current governor of the Hitotsubashi family, one of the "Three Imperial Lords". His father is Tokugawa Saiaki, the highly respected former lord of Mito Domain, and he himself has a reputation as a virtuous man.
Regardless of his family background or his own prestige, Hitotsubashi Keihe can be regarded as the best in the world.
In addition, he also had the full support of Matsudaira Harugaku, Shimazu Hisamitsu and other powerful feudal lords.
With the blessing of so many positive buffs, the political energy of the "Ichitsubashi Sect" is not at all inferior to that of the "Nanki Sect".
Everyone must think so - the struggle between the two factions will last for a long time.
However... it turns out that human history is indeed full of unpredictability!
At the critical moment when Tokugawa Iemo fell ill, Hitotsubashi Kei was ordered to negotiate with the imperial court on behalf of the shogunate.
But what’s the result? Because of a momentary loss of control over his emotions, his energy and blood surged up and he became indiscriminate in his words!
The random political promise of "starting to fight the barbarians on May 10th" put the shogunate into an extremely unfavorable situation!
After getting into such a big disaster, instead of trying to remedy the situation, he hid in Nijo Castle and didn't meet anyone.
After nightfall, he sneaked back to Edo alone without saying hello to anyone, including Matsudaira Harugaku.
Such mindless, unruly and irresponsible behavior is really shocking!
It is no exaggeration to say that Hitotsubashi Keihi’s outrageous operations directly caused a huge “political turmoil”!
The political landscape of the shogunate changed suddenly!
The first thing to bear the brunt was the disrepute of Hitotsubashi Keiki and the decline of the "Ichitsubashi Sect".
Prior to this, in order to raise the reputation of Hitotsubashi Keihe, members of the "Ichitsubashi Faction" had been sparing no effort to promote it.
He is said to be a "sage with both civil and military skills" and "he is the one who can re-create the shogunate"... He is just short of being praised as "the reincarnation of Yao and Shun".
There is a proverb that goes like this: Don't get angry casually, because once you get angry, you will use your true skills, and then people will find out that your true skills are terrible.
This proverb is extremely appropriate when applied to Hitotsubashi Keiki.
Previously, under the propaganda offensive of the "Hitchhike Sect", many people...even Ayoto, believed that Keiki Hitotsubashi, who had received elite education since childhood, was more or less capable.
However... Hitotsubashi Keiki's actual performance in the face of crisis formed a strong contrast with its reputation.
The sage praised by the "Ichitsubashi Sect"...is this it?
Is this the leader of the "Hitobashi faction"?
Is there really any way to save the shogunate with such a thing?
People all over the world have come to realize that Hitotsubashi Keihi seems not to be as majestic as it appears on the surface.
Overnight, Hitotsubashi Kexi's reputation plummeted and he became the laughing stock of the world.
Even the "Ichitsubashi Sect" became the object of ridicule.
Obviously, the infamous "Ichitsubashi Sect" is no longer qualified to confront the "Nanki Sect".
Hitotsubashi Yingxi knew that he had caused a big trouble. After he sneaked back to Edo, he voluntarily resigned from his position as "a general post", hid in his house, and became an apartment house, giving himself a decent life.
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As the core figure of the "Ichitabashi faction", Keiki Hitotsubashi has "surrendered". Matsudaira Harugaku, who is only the "second in command", naturally has no reason to continue to hold on.
He also handed over his position as "political president" and returned to his domain (Echizen Fukui Domain).
In this way, the two leaders of the "Hitobashi faction" resigned one after another and retired.
Just because of Hitotsubashi's happy words, the "Itotsubashi faction" completely lost power and was already dead in name only.
The fierce party struggle between the "Nanji Sect" and the "Ichitsubashi Sect" that had lasted for many years came to an end with a funny and absurd result.
There will never be a vacuum in power, there will always be other people or forces to fill the vacancy of power.
When the "Ichitsubashi Sect" lost power, the "Nanki Sect" naturally gained power.
Compared with the hesitant Ichitabashi celebrating, Aoshito's feat of retreating from the British ships a few days ago can be described as vigorous and resolute, full of masculinity!
It not only solved the siege of Edo, but also enabled the shogunate to finally give an explanation to the imperial court.
In any case, it was the shogunate who issued the call to "start fighting the barbarians on May 10th."
Judging from the current situation, this call is misplaced.
The shogunate was not burdened by "repelling the barbarians".
On the contrary, Changzhou fell into the pit.
It's just that... it can never change the fact that "the shogunate went back on its word."
At this critical moment, Qingdeng took action.
Driven away the British fleet in Edo Bay - this can be regarded as fighting against the foreigners!
Although it was not the kind of resistance that the imperial court wanted, it still took some practical actions.
In terms of actual power and status, Aoshinobu is the third-in-command of the "Nanki Sect" - the first two are Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin respectively.
The third-in-command has made such a great contribution, and the prestige of the entire "Nanji Sect" has also increased.
Under the circumstances of the ebb and flow, without the constraints of the "Ichitsubashi Sect", Tokugawa Iemo finally could concentrate his strength and resources to build the shogunate in his mind!
The first thing he did was to allocate funds to the Shinsengumi.
Previously, when the Shinsengumi was first established, the reason why Tokugawa Iemomo only paid such a small amount of military expenditure (3,000 taels) was because the "Ichitsubashi faction" obstructed it at every turn.
Sometimes he says that the national treasury is empty, and sometimes he says that money needs to be spent here and money needs to be repaid there... In short, he is going against Tokugawa Iemo!
Now, all these noisy noises like flies have disappeared.
With a stroke of his pen, Tokugawa Iemo directly approved "to allocate 20,000 taels of military expenditure to the Shinsengumi every year, with one-quarter to be delivered in the spring, one-quarter in the summer, and the remaining one-half in the winter, divided into three parts."
"Pay in full on time" order.
When the "Ichitsubashi Sect" was weak and the "Nanki Sect" was strong, Aotobu, who had made great achievements in "saving Edo", was at the height of his power. No one or any force dared to treat Germany without a long-term view.
This imperial order from Kawajiamao said half of the word "no".
20,000 taels of gold - in the eyes of ordinary people, this is a dizzying astronomical figure.
In the Edo period, generally speaking, 1 tael of gold could buy 1 shi of rice and 10,000 shi of territory...that is, 10,000 shi of rice could support 250 retired soldiers.
The Shinsengumi now has 3,000 soldiers.
Calculated - if you want to feed the 3,000 soldiers of the Shinsengumi, you need at least 120,000 stone meters, which is 120,000 taels of gold.
The annual military payment of 20,000 taels... is really a drop in the bucket for the current Shinsengumi.
However, this is better than nothing.
It is better to have money to take it than to have no money to take it.
As for the current financial situation of the shogunate, Aomori still has some knowledge.
It is not easy to squeeze out 20,000 taels of gold every year to support the Shinsengumi.
Then, with a stroke of his pen, Tokugawa Iemo allocated large sums of money to the Institute of Military Studies and the Institute of Buddhist Studies.
The latter is an educational institution specializing in Western culture.
As for the former - since several years ago, the Military Academy has been trying to train and form a fully westernized new army.
Tokugawa Iemo's intention of allocating funds to these two institutions is clear at a glance.
Then, he summoned Roche, the French minister in Japan, to discuss the possibility of "cover-to-law cooperation."
Both Aoto and Katsurintaro participated in this unique meeting between the two countries.
On the surface, France has the largest army in Europe.
Since the "Black Ship Incident", the number one enemy of the shogunate has never been the Western countries, but the imperial court and the Western vassals who were ready to take action when they saw the situation was different.
Therefore, the shogunate now wants a strong army more than a strong navy.
In this way, the shogunate must favor France, which is better at the army.
The shogunate's proposition is simple - France provides the shogunate with advanced weapons and assists the shogunate in establishing a new army.
As one of the greedy and shameless Western powers, France naturally has no good intentions.
Its purpose is simple - the shogunate is France's dog.
The interests of both parties are consistent in some respects.
The French want the Shogun to be their dog, but in order to make the dog easier to use, they have to make the dog stronger.
After several days of repeated wrangling, although the two parties have not reached a specific cooperation agreement, they can still be considered to have negotiated something substantial.
All the things that need to be dealt with have been dealt with.
The vacation that should have been spent has almost been spent.
The new recruits in Edo have completed their preparations for departure and are ready to go out at any time.
Therefore, Qingdeng, who was full of energy, immediately issued an order——
June 24th, return to Kyoto!
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…
Wenjiu three years (1863), June 23, night——
Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Imperial Guard Hall——
Early tomorrow morning, Aoto and Hijikata Toshizo will lead all the new recruits of the Shinsengumi on their way back to the capital.
Tonight is their last night in Edo.
For this reason, the meal at the Trial Guard House tonight is particularly sumptuous.
It has all kinds of flavors and comes with ice-cold drinks.
Aoto, Hijikata Toshizo, Kondo Shusuke, Okita Hikaru, Okita Rintaro (Okita Hikaru's husband), Abi (Kondo Shusuke's wife), Tsunemu (Kondo Isamu's wife), and Aoto's old servant Kubei,
We gathered together in the hall of the Trial Guard Hall and had dinner quietly.
After Ayoto and others arrived in Luo, Kyuubei took Genzaburo Inoue's place and became the current "butler" of the imperial examination hall. He was fully responsible for the sweeping, laundry and other chores of the imperial examination hall.
Kyubey was originally an old servant of the Tachibana family and served the Tachibana family.
Therefore, he is very handy with these trivial household chores.
It is worth mentioning that the meal Qingden and others had tonight was unusual.
There are obviously only 8 people eating here.
But there are more than 8 meals placed here.
Around Qingdeng and others, there were many dining tables, each with sumptuous dishes on them.
Count carefully, no more, no less, exactly 8 meals.
These 8 meals are steaming out alone.
There is no one sitting around them...
There are obviously not so many people, but so many meals are served... At first glance, this scene is very scary.
But in fact, this is a very solemn custom in Japan - Yin meal.
The so-called "yin meal" refers to providing three meals to people who are away from home when traveling or going on an expedition, praying that they can be fed, clothed and safe in a foreign place.
These 8 meals respectively represent the 8 people who are currently not in the Imperial Guard Hall - Kondo Isamu, Yamanan Keisuke, Okita Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Ichi, Inoue Genzaburo, Toudo Heisuke, and Harada Sanosuke.
In fact, it's not just tonight.
After Qingdeng and others went to Luo, everyone who stayed behind at the Trial Guard Hall would prepare Yin Meal for them every day and every meal with great ceremony.
Before Aoto and Hijikata Toshizo returned, Kondo Shusuke and the others had to prepare not just 8 portions, but a full 10 portions - because they also had to put Aoto and Hijikata Tozo's portions on the table.
You have to prepare so many meals for no one to eat three meals a day... You can imagine how much waste this will cause.
It was only after Aoto returned to Edo that he learned that Kondo Shusuke and others had been praying for them through the "yin meal" method.
He originally thought it was Kondo Shusuke's idea.
Unexpectedly... the person who advocated this matter was actually the hostess of the Trial Guard Hall - Aunt Abi.
Qingdeng was shocked at first, and then had mixed feelings.
No wonder Qingdeng is like this.
When Qingdeng and others first moved into the Trial Guard Hall, Abi always put on a bad face and looked like he didn't want to see them.
For this reason, many people, including Qingden and Nagakura Shinpachi, were quite afraid of Abi and tried to avoid him as much as possible.
This hostess, who values money, is stingy, and caressing every dollar, actually took the lead in proposing to use Yin meal to pray for Qingdeng and others, and she has persisted until now...
In addition, according to Kondo Shusuke's revelations, every morning and dusk, Abi would take out her nemesis Buddha and recite sutras respectfully.
[Note on the Buddha: a Buddha statue that never leaves the body or is placed at home for kneeling and worshiping.]
Why is she chanting?
This can only be left to your imagination.
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…
After dinner, Kondo Shusuke suddenly summoned Aoto and Hijikata Toshizo to the dojo.
Although the two of them didn't know the master's purpose, they still rushed to the dojo in a daze and confusion.
As soon as I arrived at the dojo, I saw Shusuke Kondo sitting on the main seat.
"Ji Jun, Sui San, you are here, please sit down quickly."
The two sat side by side in front of Kondo Shusuke.
"I hesitated for a long time... I still have to hand this thing over to you..."
Kondo Shusuke sighed softly and handed each of them a scroll.
Although they have not read this scroll, both Ayoto and Toshizo Hijikata widened their eyes in surprise.
As disciples of Natural Rishin-ryu, they naturally know what this is - a certificate that is passed down to everyone without permission!
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This chapter has been completed!