In the middle of the autumn month of the sixth year of Kayei (late September 1853), the dusty Oguri Tadatsun had just rushed back to Edo when he heard the bad news. Iekei, the twelfth generation of the Tokugawa family's general who conquered barbarians, had passed away!

As a Hatamoto who has been loyal to the Tokugawa family for generations and a minister trusted by Iakei, Oguri was shocked when he heard the news. What is going on? I had an audience with Kougata before I left Edo, although the Lord's body was

I felt unwell, but seemed to be in good spirits. Why did he die so suddenly?

It turned out that on the tenth day after the American black ship left, on the 22nd day of the sixth lunar month, General Jiaqing died suddenly due to an exacerbation of his illness. Although Jiaqing had been ill before that, he was still alive until his death.

It was still possible to receive ministers for several days, so most ministers did not expect this at all, including Laozhong's chief minister Abe.

Mr. Jiaqing was already sixty-one years old. In this era, even if he lived a long life, it would not be surprising to die. But this time, it is said that the imperial doctor had a problem again. It seems that he was misdiagnosed again. I heard that Lord Abe put several imperial doctors into the hospital.

They were all arrested, but no one could tell whether this was the reason.

The deceased father is relieved, but the living people will continue to face the problems before them.

Originally, after the Kurofune left, the greatly shaken shogunate immediately began internal discussions. Admiral Perry declared that he would go to Nagasaki the next year to receive the shogunate's reply to the letter of credence. So how should we respond?

Except for the Lan Kingdom, all previous visits from Western countries were declined by the shogunate. They even refused to read the letters of credence brought by the envoys. However, this time I had no choice but to accept the letters of credence. If they refused outright, the American barbarians would

What if you don’t know how to use force? - The war between China and England in the South China Sea eleven years ago is a lesson that is not far away. Once force is used, the result may not be as expected.

In fact, the current situation of the shogunate is much better than Naohide's original world:

First of all, because Xianheng Foreign Company and Languo Merchant Company supported each other, the shogunate did not regard the warning of the rice ship's visit as an exaggeration, so it made some arrangements in advance to avoid being caught off guard, and the shogunate center was not criticized by the government and the opposition for negligence.

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Secondly, the Shinagawa Odaiba was built before the first Kurofune visit - although the Odaiba on both sides of the Uraga waterway were not built and equipped with Western large tubes, so in the face of the Kurofune intrusion into Edo Bay, although

The shogunate was panicked, but after all, it still had defensive measures - if nothing else. Therefore, it did not cause extreme panic among the shogunate, nor did it lead to contempt among the princes and the people due to panic.

Also, because they had a better understanding of the Mi people and Western countries, the generals and senior and middle-ranking ministers did not mess up their positions, nor did they seek medical treatment in an emergency. Therefore, they did not give the old Mito lord Tokugawa Saiaki and other interested people too many opportunities.

The shogunate, especially the senior middlemen, still maintain a noble and cool attitude to the outside world, but they are not self-doubting and self-divided internally - in fact, there are signs of it but it is not serious.

There is another outstanding point:

Although the polyarchy of the nine coastal defense bureaucracies is criticized, it has unified different internal factions and left room for buffering for the senior middlemen. After all, can the scapegoats be shouldered first?

The coastal defense officials also lived up to expectations. Although they were suspected of being slow to respond during the black ship's visit, after all, the matter came to an end safely. Although they accepted the credentials, it was for the safety of Edo Castle. It was understandable.

Moreover, after the Mi people launched artillery demonstrations, didn't the coastal defense officials return the favor and fired dozens of cannons?

Whether out of a sense of security or out of security, acting tough can often win praise, while giving in can often attract doubts and criticisms. This is true at all times and in all countries.

So after the black ships left, the ministers headed by Lao Zhong still felt good - although they were just passing by so-so, but wasn't that how they lived these years?

Are you here? Come on if you can.

But as soon as Mr. Ji Jiaqing passed away, the situation changed in another direction.

To put it bluntly, the senior ministers are ministers just like other important ministers. There is a sect above the ministers. People are a family connected by blood. Normally, ministers can pull the general's tiger skin and order the shogunate. Now the general

If you die, then at this important moment for the existence of the Tokugawa family, you still have to look at the family.

At this time, it is not that there is no one clan in Laozhong, Matsudaira Norizen and Matsudaira Chuyu are two of them, but there are also far and near clans. Although these two are top ministers, they are inconspicuous roles within the Tokugawa family.

——The family world is like this. The hierarchical system is extremely strict. It depends on individuals to score, and it has to be done from multiple angles and different postures.

The Tokugawa family's sects from top to bottom are the Gosan family, the Gosankyō family, and the close domain. Although there is a dispute between the Gosankō family and the Gosankyō family as to which one is superior, the dispute is also an internal matter within the Tokugawa family.

Mr. Chen has no room to interrupt.

Unfortunately, although Matsudaira Norizen and Matsudaira Chuyu are close feudal lords, as soon as you hear the word "Matsudaira", you will know that they belong to the Tokugawa branch. If you want to be really close, the Miao character must be "Tokugawa".

"ah.

After the death of Shogun Iekei, the Tokugawa family's close feudal lords all jumped out - it was impossible not to jump out. The shogunate has inherited the shogunate for more than two hundred years, and the feudal lords have passed down generations of daimyo. There is an endless struggle for power among the banners - the so-called daimyo expressed

I just looked at it and said nothing, but it was rare that the feudal clan had the upper hand, and in recent years, it could only be done a few times before and after the shogun succeeded to the throne. Since it was a good time, it was natural to show its presence.

But why in recent years, the pro-vassal clan can only jump around a few times before and after the general succeeds to the throne?

Because the general is not stupid, a low-status kin-han with a distant bloodline is okay, and he can be a senior middleman, but the high-status kin-han already has "righteousness" and strength, and if he lets others control the power of the shogunate, then he himself

Isn't this group under threat? It's the same as the vassal kings in China. The higher the status, the more guarded you are, and you won't be able to get ahead easily.

But there is only one time when this is not the case, and that is when the shogun passes away. At this time, of course, the elders and brothers in the family need to come out to support the situation - look, there are still people in my family, no one can take advantage of the chaos.

Of course, speaking out is not completely righteous, and there are many benefits in it - it doesn't matter whether the next Tokugawa shogun needs his relatives to come out to support him, the important thing is that since he has come out to earn face for himself as a relative and friend, the new shogun will have to give it to him anyway.

Let's do some good.

There are actually quite a lot of benefits here.

There is no way to divide the cold pork - people were vegetarian in the Edo period, so it would be fine to give other benefits - for the sake of their loyalty, let the shogun order his son to be adopted by other famous families, or borrow it directly from the shogunate

Spend some money, then spend it again, and let the outside world raise funds to build a water conservancy project, build a city, or pave a road.

If the new general is more stupid and is not clear-headed when he first takes office, if he promotes the people he recommends to serve as senior middlemen or other important positions, the rewards will be greater - if you have great power, you are afraid that you will not have the opportunity to take advantage of it, which does not exist.

As a result, as the top sect of the Yu San family, Yu Sanqing came to an end one after another.

At a glance, it turned out that the old lord of Mito was headed by Tokugawa Qiu Zhao. This person had always been at odds with the late general Ikei, and was often suppressed. However, things are unpredictable. Qi Zhao actually came to the rescue this time.

Salted fish makes a big turnaround.

Later, if we look at the Gosan Family and Gosankyō outside Mito Tokugawa, we will find that this is not surprising.

The three imperial families are Owari, Kii, and Mito.

The head of the Owari Tokugawa family is Qing Sheng. He inherited the position of the head of the Owari Tokugawa family four years ago from Takasu. Qing Sheng's ancestral bloodline comes from the Mito Tokugawa family. Before succeeding to the throne, he also got the support of Qi Zhao who spared no effort.

Because of this, the relationship between Qingsheng and Qi Zhao is very close.

Gide

The current head of the Chuan family, Qingfu, is eight years old this year, so he can be ignored - relying on retainers to support the family is fine, but being arrogant is not enough yet.

Not to mention the Mito family, Qi Zhao was a secluded master but firmly controlled the feudal government, and the head of the family, Keitsu, was obedient to his father, who had accumulated power for a long time.

In addition, the previous heads of both the Owari and Kii families died, so one of the three families left voluntarily, and the other two families advanced and retreated together, led by Mito Saiaki.

Yu Sanqing is from the Hitotsubashi family, the Qingmizu family and the Tian Yasu family.

The head of the Hitotsubashi family is Qingxi. He is seventeen years old this year. The previous head of the family is also dead. It stands to reason that although Qingxi is not old, as the head of the Hitotsubashi family, he can stand up and fight against Qi Zhao - he has little experience but

It is still possible to carry a big banner, but Qingxi was adopted into the Hitotsubashi family, and his biological father is Qi Zhao! If he wants to stand, he must stand in Mito.

The head of the Tianyasu family is now Keiyori, who is twenty-six years old this year. He succeeded him in 1839 after the head of the family, Saizuo, ran away to become the lord of the Owari domain. Logically speaking, he should stand up as a flag at this critical moment, but this

You have a good personality, relatively easy-going, and don't like to have direct conflicts with others. It would be nice if you were soft yet strong, but this "hardness" has never been revealed, so you don't have enough prestige.

The remaining Shimizu family is in the state of "Mingyashiki", that is, there is no head of the family for the time being. Unlike all other famous families, Yu Sanqing has a territory of 100,000 koku, and it is scattered scattered. The shogunate is usually there.

Direct management, and at the same time, the retainers of the three ministers are generally regarded as direct ministers of the shogunate, so it doesn't matter whether there is a head of the family or not, and the phenomenon of "mingyashiki" often occurs.

Let’s go through this from beginning to end. The Gosan family, Gosanqingri, Owari, Mito, and Ichibashi are all together. The leader is Tokugawa Saiaki. The remaining head of the Kii family is young, the head of the Shimizu family is vacant, and the head of the Tianyasu family is weak.

, actually became a mixed color, and the old lord of Mito, Qi Zhao, unified the world.

Moreover, Mito's Sai Zhao and Owari's Qingsheng both have many allies. It doesn't matter if they are close to each other. There are a large number of princes who are related by blood:

Qi Zhao, who was fifty-four years old at the time, had many children, more than 30, including many wives and concubines. Many of his sons were adopted as heirs to other princes, and most of his daughters were married to princes from various places.

As the main wife, plus the wives' natal family, Qi Zhao's potential power is extremely huge. The total stone height of Mito and his allies is actually as high as nearly two million stones!

The head of the Owari family, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, is no ambiguity. He has two blood brothers. Matsudaira Yōho is the lord of the Aizu domain with a height of 230,000 koku, and Matsudaira Sadaki is the crown prince of the Shikōkoku Kuwana domain. Together with the 60-year-old Owari clan

Ten thousand shi, the vassal's height is 30,000 shi, and the stone height controlled by himself and his allies is also nearly one million shi.

At this time, the total land area in Fuso was about 26 million koku, and three million koku accounted for a little more than 10%. At first glance, it does not seem to be too much, but the total territory of the clan and the Daimyo was only 900 koku.

If there are more than 10,000 stones, the three million stones will account for more than 20%, which is terrifying - as long as there are about 20% of the hardcore in any organization, or even less, 17% will be enough.

If you do a good job, you can win over other allies and dominate the situation.

Of course, Fuso has not yet concluded this truth at this time, but facts do not speak for themselves. The momentum of the Qi Zhao family has become stronger after losing the suppression of General Iekei. Oguri Tadashi, who returned to Edo, has a profound understanding of this——

Originally, after seeing the powerful ships and artillery of the Mi people in person, only one of the nine coastal defense officials insisted on completely resisting the barbarians. Qi Zhao's statement of "fighting Western ships on sight" really had no supporters, but now

Oguri found that the direction of the war changed drastically after two months. The number of ministers who originally supported the continued delay or limited founding of the country was greatly reduced, and more and more people supported Qi Zhao's opinion.

Of course Oguri thought this was a fool's errand, but he was just an "envoy" who came back from a mission to the north. Even with his status as an imperial minister, he could only play a supporting role in making major decisions for the shogunate. The big ideas still had to be made.
Chapter completed!