On the 16th day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Kayei (February 13, 1854 in the Western calendar), the Mi people's black ship once again broke into Edo Bay. Subsequently, the shogunate's grand appraisal meeting decided to "hurry up to send people to negotiate with the Mi people, don't let the black ships

"The ship can't wait to sail to the Edo coast." Chief Tokugawa Saiaki said nothing at the meeting, but another coastal defense officer Egawa Hideryu, who was sick and participated, agreed with this.

However, the negotiation team sent by the shogunate next had nothing to do with these two people.

It turned out that the Mi people promised to come back the following year last time, so the shogunate had already decided on the candidates to receive him, and Mr. Qi Zhao and Tan'an were not among them.

The detailed story of what happened is this:

After the black ships left on June 12 last year, the ministers discovered that the power of the coastal defense officers was too great. The original purpose of setting up nine coastal defense officers was actually to form a large advisory group. However, they did not expect that when the black ships came, the coastal defense officers

Because their responsibilities are related, they can actually influence the direction of the negotiation - there are so many people in Haiphong, and they have nine opinions when they mention it, which makes others unable to find a new position if they want to interrupt. This is very uncomfortable.

However, there are many factions behind the nine coastal defense officers. They have huge potential and cannot be abolished without reason. Therefore, other ministers waited for a summary and said, "There is nothing wrong with the presence of the coastal defense officers, but it involves detailed provisions. After all, another faction needs to be sent."

"Educated people grind" - So who are the learned people? Of course they are the Confucian officials who serve as close servants to the generals. At this point, the ministers close to the generals can also directly intervene in foreign affairs.

Now that Confucian officials can participate, other important ministers of the shogunate are not far behind. Originally, the coastal defense post was an advisory position, so how could an advisor personally end up doing so? At the very least, advisors could not account for the majority in the negotiation team.

After a fierce battle, the shogunate decided on the candidates to receive them - Lin Yu, Tsutsui Masanori, Ido Kakuhiro, Kawaji Shomo, Uden Nagarui and Matsuzaki Mitaro.

Among them, Lin Yi was the head of the university. He was the chief minister of Chang Pinghuang, the official school of the shogunate, and the head of the public Confucian officials. He presided over the compilation of "Navigation List", a total of 350 volumes, recording the history since the ninth year of Yonglu (

From 1566) to the eighth year of the Bunsei period (1825), all Fuso's diplomatic affairs with foreign countries were involved, so the selection of the head of Lin University was "popular."

Among the remaining five people, Tsutsui Masanori is the Omatsuke, Ido Kakuhiro is the Edo Town Chief, Kawaji Shomo is the Assignment Chief, Uden Choe is the Omatsuke, and Matsuzaki Mitaro is the Odaisho Confucian who is proficient in writing and allusions.

official.

However, compared with the first negotiation with Miren, the people who came forward this time were not all sea defense officers - there were only two sea defense officers, Tsutsui and Kawaji.

Doesn’t it mean that no one wants to take risks?

In this regard, the other six people said that it was really sweet - there are those who are not willing to take risks, and naturally there are those who are willing to risk their lives to get the position. Only the Confucian official Matsuzaki Mitaro was reluctant. He was forced by the head of Lin University to be an assistant.

, it’s completely like “a fire at the city gate affects the fish in the pond”.

But after the great appraisal meeting, the negotiating team sent by the shogunate was not composed of these six people. Why?

Therefore, Ōmatsu Tsutsui Masakori and the strategist Shogawa Route Shomo went to Nagasaki. At that time, the Lucian envoys also came, and they also wanted to discuss the founding of the country with the shogunate, trade and the determination of borders. These two have not returned until now.

As for why the other four members of the negotiating team did not go to Nagasaki?

It's not because of humility, it's because the shogunate had bad intentions from the beginning and didn't want to really talk to the Lucians!

The reason why they don’t want to talk about it is very simple. In November of the Western calendar last year (December 1853 in the Western calendar), Xianheng Foreign Company sent a steam ship to the port and told the shogunate the good news, "The Lucians invaded on June 21 in the Western calendar."

Lower Danube".

According to the legend provided by Xianheng Company, England, France, Osmaga, and the Kingdom of Sardinia are all dissatisfied with this, and the war is about to break out.

Therefore, the Lucians will not be aggressive anyway - compared with Fuso, Europa is the key to Lucia. Logically speaking, the situation in Europa is tense, and the Lu people should not make another move under the current powerful enemy.

Branches.

Because Xianheng Foreign Company has accumulated considerable credibility with the shogunate in recent years, and there are various Yomiuri (newspapers) as evidence, so the shogunate believed it-actually not completely, but it did not affect the shogunate's arrangements.

Tsutsui and Kawaji led the team to fool around with the idea that if the Lucians were to become arrogant, it would be better to let the first-class people from Hayashi University set off, which was in line with the delaying strategy that the shogunate had always adopted.

But now it's a bit confusing. The Mi people arrived early, but the six good envoys are missing two people, but this is easy to handle. There are still seven coastal defense posts in Edo, so just grab two, so we determined

Following Mizuno Tadōtoku, Gomefuhori Toshiki was selected, and then the envoys set off quickly - Mr. Tanan was not selected. First, he was designated as a low-ranking Ginmi Service officer, and second, he was "sick."

But within ten days, the shogunate asked the "ill" Jiang Chuan to negotiate with the Mi people immediately - Mr. Tan'an couldn't go. Seeing that the two sides were about to fight, as a famous master of orchid studies and art of war, he had to go to the scene.

Assess the military situation of the Mi people.

It turned out that after the top leaders of Lin University arrived at the shore near the black ship's anchorage, the two sides kept arguing over the location of the negotiation. As a result, the Mi people did not follow common sense and actually sent a steam battleship wave on the 27th of the first month (February 24, 1854).

The Watan sailed to the coast of Shinagawa Port in Edo, which shocked the shogunate and the princes!

Although both sides refrained from firing cannons, the shogunate couldn't bear it anymore. The black ships were so big that Edo would not be reduced to a sea of ​​flames if they really fought, so they immediately sent someone to question the top leaders of Lin University, "What on earth did you say?

You provoked people to send warships to Edo! The first item of your mission was not to let rice ships approach Edo, but you forgot?!"

Of course, there was a turmoil before sending people. Tokugawa Saiaki, who had said nothing at the last evaluation meeting, became more energetic. He personally went to Shinagawa Odaiba and asked for the cannon to be fired. If Mr. Tanan hadn't stopped him at the scene, the two sides would have

The fight has already started.

The situation was tense at that time, and the shogunate had no choice but to convene another meeting. The last evaluation meeting included all ministers except Qi Zhao. This time, even the important princes who were in Edo to attend the meeting participated.

Qi Zhao's power among the princes was very large. At that time, there were endless remarks that "Mi Yi bullied others too much", so there were two opposing views. The Qi Zhao faction demanded an immediate war, but the side headed by the shogunate ministers

It requires "be prepared but do not take action first, so as not to confuse the truth."

Egawa Tarozaemon was responsible for building Shinagawa Odaiba, so of course he had to ask for his opinion on whether to fight or not to fight, but as soon as Mr. Tanan's reply came out, the whole audience fell silent - "Winning is difficult, and you can't fight!"

"

"Although the firing range of the breech-loading cannon is farther than that of the black ship's main gun, the caliber is very different. Therefore, defeat is inevitable, but victory is also a miserable victory. The black ship can withstand artillery fire due to its rough skin and thick flesh.

The wooden houses on the shore will be a sea of ​​fire in Edo."

"Besides, what if the black ship escapes? Although there are mines, but even if the black ship is trapped in Edo Bay, and the enemy finally surrenders after running out of ammunition and food, can the United States give up and give up? In the future, the rice people will come back again

Send new black ships to attack the Fuso coast. Other places are not as well defended as Edo Bay, let’s say Osaka. What if the black ships attack Osaka?”

This was the first time someone from the shogunate openly admitted at a formal court meeting that "skills are inferior to others", and the speaker was the one who built the coastal defenses of Shinagawa Odaiba, so the whole place was silent at first and then in an uproar.

Even Laozhong Chief Abe Masahiro, who had been silent all this time, couldn't sit still. He quickly spoke to comfort the scene, saying, "Egawa's words are not rough, of course we can still win in a fight, but as Egawa said, counterattack

I got angry, but it’s not easy to deal with the aftermath. After all, I haven’t reached that point yet, and I still need to figure out what Mi Ren wants to do.”

No one dares to complain. The Mi people’s credentials have long been issued. They ask for a "port of refuge", "supply port" and "trade". It's not clear "what do they want to do?"

But the shogunate has been building up its power for a long time, and no one dares not to listen to the words of the chief veteran. Didn't even Tokugawa Qi Zhao, who advocated the war, remain silent? In fact, Qi Zhao remained silent for a reason:

As a coastal defense officer, he had read the legend of Xianheng Foreign Company. The book clearly stated that "Admiral Perry has no right to start a war." He also provided some information as supporting evidence. Although Qi Zhao did not trust his colleagues from the bottom of his heart.

Miren's Xianheng foreign company, but the information they provided many times was accurate, and they also provided a large number of new ordnance, and the prices were very reasonable. If you say that someone has evil intentions, you must provide actual evidence.

Lao Zhong Chief Abe's Attendant also sat on the fishing platform for the same reason, but he has seen a lot of things. One of them doesn't believe that Mi Ren's secrets can really be obtained by businessmen, and the other one also thinks that Mi Ren's naval forces

The military commander Perry may "receive the foreign emperor's orders to some extent," so he also couldn't figure out the right balance.

But no matter what, Abe has already communicated with several other Lao and Chinese, "This war must not be started lightly." As for the evaluation meeting, this is a way to share risks - the Lao and Chinese directly go into battle shirtless, take medicine and be stupid.

It's great.

But he really didn't expect that Qi Zhao would be so belligerent, and Jiang Chuan would outspokenly stir up trouble, so he had to step in to control the situation.

The chief Lao Zhong spoke, and everyone bowed their hands and obeyed the order.

So Jiangchuan was sent to warn the top people of Lin University to "act with sincerity", and the shogunate also asked Jiangchuan to stay there to participate in negotiations - he was a giant in orchidology and military art, and the builder of Shinagawa Daiba. If Jiangchuan stayed in Jiangchuan,

If someone preaches that "victory is difficult and cannot be fought," it's so demoralizing. Let him get out of here!

In addition, Egawa is also a good candidate for negotiation. He knows both military and orchid studies. In September last year, he and Oguri Tadjun also presented a book "A Summary of Agreements between Western Countries", which recorded some of the contents of the agreements between Western countries. Although

They are all excerpted from Western books, but they can be considered thoughtful.

After Jiang Chuan arrived at the scene, the top leaders of Lin University couldn't help but chat with each other - the two sides were mortal enemies, one was the leader of Confucianism, and the other was a giant of Orchidology. Moreover, Torii Yozo, who was born in the Lin family, was Jiang Chuan's mortal enemy. The grudges here were deep.

Unexpectedly, Jiangchuan only conveyed the order of the shogunate to the top people of Lin University, which was to "negotiate quickly and don't let the black ships continue to demonstrate overseas outside Jiangdu."

He said privately, "Mi people are cruel and brutal, and there were a lot of unreasonable things last year, so don't take it too seriously." At that time, everyone at the scene was moved. "Mr. Tan'an is such a kind person!"

To be honest, the top leaders of Lin University are also very dissatisfied, and they don’t know what the shogunate is thinking. Last year, the two ministers of Uraga, Toda was promoted to Nishimaru residence, and Hiromichi Ido was promoted to Omatsuke. This time

Neither of them came forward. Uraga, who was participating in the negotiations with the top leaders of Lin University, was Izawa Masagi. It was the first time for everyone to deal with Miyi, so it was inevitable that they were in a hurry. What kind of trouble was the shogunate going to make?

These people have forgotten that after the black ships left last year, the coast guard was unharmed due to the large number of people. The Mito Tokugawa retainer Fujita Hiro was sprayed all over his face and went home to be "cautious" again. Toda and Ido also

Being raised up and down covertly, almost everyone present put in a lot of effort.

Jiangchuan brought a strict order from the shogunate. In order to prevent the black ships of the Mi people from continuing to harass Edo, the negotiation location was quickly determined at Yokohama Village near the Mi people's anchorage, and Mr. Tan'an also showed up in subsequent negotiations.
Chapter completed!