One day in early July of the first year of Manen (1860), the new area of ​​Bingo Fukuyama Domain was very lively. People from two villages and eight villages, including Suiton and Xiaomae, gathered here. You must know that today is a big day for the division of land.

The farmers who were assigned to the land forgot their previous complaints when they went to serve in the country. Regardless of the mud, they knelt in the mud and kowtowed to the feudal lord continuously. The voice of "English Lord" could not be heard.

However, the side servant Eki Shitaro did not accompany the family master as usual. Having experienced thousands of mountains and rivers, he understood that "in this day of being in the limelight, the glory should be enjoyed by one person alone."

He can understand the pressure on the head of the family, so let him be happy today.

Twenty-one-year-old Abe Iyo is an orthodox believer. In the eyes of others, he is a noble person who enjoys endless prosperity. But in fact, the orthodox believer who is burdened with huge pressure is actually very troubled - but who among the important ministers of Fukuyama in the past two years has not been like this.

Although the Abe family was a famous family in the shogunate, the Daimyo family did not have any surplus food.

Starting from June 2, the sixth year of Ansei (July 1, 1859), Nagasaki, Kanagawa (Yokohama), and Hakodate opened up trade to the outside world. Prices were boiling that year, and there is no sign of improvement in the past year.

It stands to reason that Bingo Fukuyama Domain's foundation is not bad. It is located in the Seto Inland Sea with convenient transportation. Its territory of 110,000 koku is also quite rich. Abe, who lives in seclusion in the main hall, has also served as the chief minister of Laochu for many years. But it doesn't cost a hundred days.

, since the fourth year of Anzheng (1857), the family's finances have been deteriorating.

In June of that year, Attendant Abe fell seriously ill. After finally recovering, he resolutely resigned from his post as a senior minister, despite the government's and other important ministers' repeated attempts to persuade him to stay.

We all know this truth, but the Bingo Fukuyama Abe family did not expect it to happen so quickly. Maybe they were dissatisfied with the old feudal lord's insistence on resigning. Although the shogunate did not severely pursue the family's previous loans, this new loan

But he hesitated and never gave me any more.

Intimidated by the power accumulated in seclusion in the palace for many years, no one dared to complain publicly, but the retainers all said in private:

"The financial difficulties of the vassal hall are not due to the loyalty of the main hall."

Attendant Abe has served in the public service in Edo for many years and has held important positions. He is quite honest as an official, but he has a wide circle of friends and has to support his wealth, so he spends a lot of money. According to a popular saying recently, "all the money is coming up" - it has been a long time since

No more money.

For many years, our family's finances had been entirely supported by borrowing from the shogunate, but when the borrowing was suddenly interrupted, we were immediately unbearable.

Shitaro Eki still remembers the situation at that time. In July of the fourth year of Ansei, the 18-year-old Orthodox lord took over as the lord of the domain. He did not have the feeling of a young man who was ambitious and energetic. The inauguration ceremony was also hastily completed, which seemed to be quite shabby.

In order to save costs and avoid suspicion - the main hall has been in charge for many years and has a deep foundation, which is quite feared by those in power. After many letters, in the autumn of the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the main hall quietly returned to Fukuyama Castle from Edo.

As a person close to the main hall, Shitaro visited the whole territory and reported to him the current situation of the decline of various industries. At that time, the main hall was full of "old tears" - you must know that this is the "wisdom power state" master who did not change his face when Mount Tai collapsed in front of him.

ah.

"I boast that I can only hold the sky with my hands, but I don't know that my family is no longer at peace."

Shitaro Eki will never forget the look of grief in the main hall at that time.

A penny can stump a heroic man. Even though Abe and his son and Jiang Mu both pride themselves on their talents, they can't accomplish anything without money.

"One hundred thousand taels of gold!"

No one expected that the new acting governor of Nirayama, Egawa Tarozaemon Hidetake, would come to help, and with such a large amount of money! - Of course, Hidetake didn't have that much cash, and only sent 40,000 Tenpo Koban that year.

The other 60,000 gold will need to be sent in batches in the next two years.

He lived in seclusion in the palace and was kind to others all his life (long-sleeved and good at dancing). When he was in power, he promoted many talents. Unexpectedly, good deeds would be rewarded in the end, and he would be rewarded like this.

Ryōtoku-in—the monastic name of the old family leader, Abe, who became a monk after becoming a monk in seclusion, once lamented to his confidant, who had been giving advice for many years:

"Looking at it this way, Tarozaemon is really on the right track."

In the third year of Honghua (1846), Liangdeyuan promoted Jiangchuan Tan'an to the position of Yinweishu.

To be honest, despite the kindness of being revived and promoted, Jiangchuan was suppressed many times for promoting Lanxue. Although Liangdeyuan offered help many times, in principle, there was no special protection for the main hall.

On the contrary, Egawa changed his former glory, took the initiative to give in many times, and endured humiliation and heavy burdens before advancing his career to the point where it is now indispensable to the shogunate - the Nirayama Iron Works is now the largest steel plant in Fuso; Izu Country,

It has also become a wealthy place known far and near.

It is a pity that on July 4th, the fifth year of Anzheng (1858), the honest Jiangchuan Tanan died of illness due to overwork. Everyone who heard about it at the time felt sorry for him.

Since the second year of Honghua (1845), when the head of the old family was promoted to the head of the old school, Shitaro Eki was the mastermind beside him. How could he not know the unfinished meaning of the main hall's emotion, "The shogunate has been repeatedly tossing for so many years, countless

Each of the famous ministers had their own opinions and ambitions. Among them, Jiangchuan Tanan was the winner in the end. He saw the most clearly, went the furthest, and was the most successful.

.”

No one is in his position, and he does not seek his own government.

I was exhausted and discouraged by the shogunate affairs in seclusion in the main hall. In order not to wade through the muddy waters, I officially became a monk. How about the shogunate affairs, like the floating clouds in the sky, let's just put them aside for now.

The money from the Eikawa family came like a timely rain, relieving the Abe family from their suffering. With this money, the Fukuyama Domain began a determined path of self-rescue.

He has been a veteran of the shogunate for fourteen years, including ten years as chief. Although the main hall himself underestimates his ability to govern the shogunate, such experience is more than enough to govern a territory of 110,000 koku. Although he is said to live in seclusion and delegate power, he has become a monk.

It is worldly, but in the eyes of people like the old family leader, Jiang Mu, what he says is what he does, and what he does is most secretive. If you really want to keep your promise, are you a fool?!

Salt and iron are of great benefit to the country.

Iron-making, although the income was high, was too much and made too much noise, so the monarchs and ministers put it aside and did not consider it. On the contrary, with the seawater-proof cement provided by Jiushan, the salt field could be carried out on a large scale.

Of.

In the summer of the sixth year of Ansei (1859), the Fushan Salt Fields produced salt on a large scale, and everyone in the family cheered for it.

But this is just one of the Fukuyama New Deals. Agricultural sciences, textiles, and industry and commerce are all now quite promising.

Hakodate pursues Horinao Hide. Although it is famous among the people for the Battle of Shirolord, in the eyes of the main hall Abe Isemamoru and Eki Shitaro, he is the "famous prime minister" who is a master of internal affairs. He went to the Northern Ezo Land alone and achieved such a feat with his own hands.

The achievements are not known to others. Can these monarchs and ministers understand the reason? The victory of this swordsmanship depends first on money and food. As a proud disciple of Jiangchuan Tanan, it can only be said that "famous teachers make great disciples". After seven years of painstaking savings, they can win in one battle.

Become famous.

Naoxiu didn't know that people had always paid attention to what he did, but because he was far away and his actions were different, no one was willing to bring it up to cause controversy.

In the second year of Jiayong (1849), Naohide returned to Fuso from overseas. At that time, he wrote a "stinky and long" confession letter. In these years, it seems that "there has been no news and no waves", but in fact, since Jiayong,

Six years later (1853), after the first visit of the Mi Renhei Ship, interested people had already paid attention to it.

Besides, every time he made a major achievement, Ekawa Tanan wrote a letter saying, "Hiki Naohide has foreseen this matter, please transfer him back to Edo to show his talents." In recent years, Ekawa has achieved a lot, so he has written a lot, so the boss

The ministers and ministers were tired of hearing this.

With Jiang Chuan here, it would be difficult for everyone to forget Nao Soo.

Therefore, it is not that no one has read the Kohakusho written in the second year of Naohide Yoshiei, but because it involves too many shocking experiences, it is only circulated in a small area - of course, the readable alias is recognized by everyone, so

There are too few people who can read it.

"Iron and cloth will be the most important things in the internal affairs of the future."

This sentence, based on their experiences over the years, Abe Isemamoru and Eki Shitaro recognized it very much - yes, originally, the official position of the seclusion hall was from the fourth rank to the lower rank, but in September of the fifth year of Ansei (1858)

After the "Wuwu Disaster" began, Seclusion Hall took the initiative to resign from his official position. Now he is no longer a "attendant" of the imperial court.

Why?

First, the official position was given by the small court in Kyoto. Now that Edo and Kyoto are at odds, resigning can avoid suspicion;

Secondly, after the "Wuwu Disaster" began, the ministers promoted by the old patriarch began to lose power one after another. This was also a gesture that should be made to show weakness.

Originally, they all lived in seclusion and became monks, so retaining their official positions was just a favor from the shogunate to their long-standing ministers.

Sure enough, after submitting the letter, it was said that the elder Isao was very satisfied and the official position of attendant was removed, but "Ise Mamoru" kept it - at this time, the small court in Kyoto had been subdued by Edo.

"It's so hot today." Shitaro, who had been the servant of the family head for two generations, continued to think.

If you don't dare to do it, if you take a step back, you will have to do it with Bu.

But this was possible thanks to Jiangchuan Tanan's work in Niushan. Before Jiangchuan's death, in addition to developing small blast furnaces, Napoleon cannons, bottom-blown acid converter steelmaking methods, and front-mounted rifled barrels, he also improved many agricultural tools.

, manufactured many machines, including long plows for cattle plowing, steam tank pumps, and textile looms for fuso linters.

Thinking of this, Shitaro felt great sadness in his heart. It was a pity that such a great talent as Jiang Chuan left so early!

At that time, whoever paid attention to these "wonderful tricks" must have focused on major events such as ordnance. But now that Fukuyama has implemented the New Deal, these civilian equipment are finally remembered.

Even the money was offered on his own initiative. Naturally, the new Nirayama Acting Governor Egawa Hidetake would not begrudge these. He, who also served as the head of the iron smelting department, immediately arranged for his subordinates to arrange these equipment into tasks - as long as it did not affect the ordnance production, the shogunate

I don’t care, the money I earn is purely extra money. Anyway, it’s not just the Fukuyama family who wants it. Now Satsuma, Higo, Hizen, Chikuzen, Tosa, Choshu and other companies are coming to buy, and if they have money, they can increase their production capacity.

Very quickly.

After waiting for the spinning machines and looms to be in place, and then under the guidance of the technicians of the Nirasan Ironmaking Works, it was already the summer of the sixth year of Ansei (1859) when the textile factory opened, just after the salt fields were produced, it was a double happiness.

The reputation is well-deserved, and what it says is true

yes!

According to estimates, the cost of cotton cloth produced by Western-style textile methods is only one-third of that of homespun cloth. Of course, homespun cloth is thicker and new cloth is thinner, but the price is still low.

Originally, the retainers had some opinions on competing with the people for profit. After the textile factory was officially put into operation, it became unprofitable due to the sharp drop in prices, and soon there was no private spinning.

In the past, there was a girl named Ami, a famous filial daughter from Changzhou who never married. It is said that she supported her sick old father by spinning yarn day and night. If she lived today, both her father and daughter would starve to death.

But the tide of discussion soon changed.

In June of that year, starting from June 2 (July 1, 1859) of the sixth year of Ansei (1859), Nagasaki, Kanagawa (Yokohama), and Hakodate opened up trade with foreign countries. After that, foreign cloth poured into Fuso like sea water.

The price was only half of that of homespun cloth, and the local Fusang merchants were struggling. Some even jumped into the sea and committed suicide in despair. Only then did the public opinion at home change.

"Fortunately, fortunately!"

Only then did the applauded retainers understand why this thing was promoted at home - after the founding of the country and trade, if you didn't move forward, the Westerners would force you to have nowhere to hide.

However, although the salt industry and textiles were both major events that prospered the family, the idea of ​​​​being able to focus on agriculture was still the mainstream, so the results were slow and the investment in land reclamation has not been relaxed.
To be continued...