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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~

*******

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.

But 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 the highly respected former lord of Mito Domain, Tokugawa Saiaki, who 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 the temporary loss of control of his emotions, his anger and blood are so high that he loses control of 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 "Hitobashi 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 included, 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 wise man praised by the "Ichibashi 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 reputation.

.

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 "Ichibashi School" lost power, the "Nanki School" 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 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 Tenjoin 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 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 - to feed the 3,000 soldiers of the Shinsengumi, at least 120,000 kilometers are needed, 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."
To be continued...