"The sound and writing outside the mountains are broken, and after winter comes spring again. I am even more timid when I'm close to my hometown, and I don't dare to ask anyone who's coming."

In early September 1861, Saigo Takanaga returned to Fuso after three years of absence. At this time, he felt the warmth of a wanderer returning home, but also the panic of an uncertain future.

But as soon as the ship entered Hakodate, he was shocked - where is this, who am I, is this Fuso?!

I saw a constant flow of ships, a busy steam tower emitting black smoke on the pier, and a towering lighthouse in the distance. Although it cannot be compared with New York or San Francisco, it is undoubtedly a modern port.

Saigo never dreamed of seeing this scene. It wasn't until he secretly disembarked from the boat at night and saw Okubo that he believed it was not a hoax.

"Today we know Masuke's vision."

In 1850, Naohide went to Kagoshima to "kidnap" people. Not only did Saigo not fall for the trick, he also took advantage of Naohide's favorites, including Murata and Kawamura. If it weren't for Okubo and his family, Naohide would have almost lost everything.

Okubo laughed, indicated that the dock was not a place for long conversations, and let Saigo and others into the carriage.

After returning from a foreign country for the first time, Zhixiu hosted a family dinner that night. Everyone was very happy during the dinner.

But they are different from other international students - they are at home when they arrive at Hakodate, but Saigo is still thinking about returning to Kagoshima, so during the dinner he tested Naohide:

"The kindness of saving lives and the meaning of encouraging students to learn will never be forgotten by Takanaga. He can only pray for peace in Kagoshima and repay each other with a ring of grass in the next life."

What, are you trying to default on your debt?

Naohide smiled hoarsely, this Xixiang is so big but dishonest.

Although Fusang and Beimi are far apart, there is a message in the family letter. Since meeting Naoxiu, Xixiang's family has become rich, and with the intentional care of Qi Bin who lives in seclusion in the main hall, his family has been safe and sound during the three years he has been studying abroad. Now.

When you say "I'll never forget it, we'll talk about it in the next life", is this a rhythm that makes you want to run away as soon as you arrive?

Thinking of this, Zhixiu couldn't help but secretly admire Qi Bin. This method of harmonizing the king and his ministers and winning people's hearts is really amazing.

Not only in the matter of Xixiang, but also in other matters, Qi Bin did a good job.

Because Saigo and Yuezhao were missing, the Shimadzu family was not really involved in the "Secret Edict of Wu Wu" case even when the shogunate reached it. In addition, the current father-in-law also married another princess, so the Shimadzu family did not suffer much.

A big blow - of course, the Shimazu family's great strength also made the shogunate take action.

Although Shimazu's previous head of the family, Sai Bin, has nominally abdicated, he still controls the power. Although he has a fierce battle with the old Chujiao family of the writing family supported by the shogunate, because the Shushoukan industries he founded have achieved great results in recent years, so

The fundamentals are quite solid.

I guess Saigo knew this from letters home. He was anxious to return to Kagoshima to show off his talents.

In fact, it was Hakodate's plan to let Saigo return to Satsuma, so Naohide had no intention of hindering him, but Saigo, you can't just run away after all, it would hurt your self-esteem too much.

Besides, Naohide really didn't dare to let him go just like that - not because Saigo still offered a reward for the capture of the wanted criminal, but because he was afraid that if he returned to Satsuma and painted a tiger, he would become an anti-dog.

This guy's main job of studying abroad is "social science". If he gets fooled by some tricks, and if Qibin and Satsuma clan are so ambitious, the scene at the end of the act will be strange - Naohide doesn't want to point fingers, but everyone will do it in the future

If we want to cooperate, we must reach some consensus no matter what.

Therefore, he and Saigo high-fived each other during the dinner and swore, "I will never force you to stay, but you have to take a good look at it in the north, lest what you learn is not suitable for Kagoshima."

"That makes sense." Xixiang thought about it and stayed.

In fact, he was a little flattered. He originally thought that his good fortune was due to the care of his good friend Okubo, but after three years, he no longer dared to think so - Torajiro treated him preferentially in everything, and Okubo's reputation might not be able to cover it up.

Xixiang also wanted to confirm what kind of medicine Naohsiu was selling in the gourd so that he could feel at ease.

After that, Saigo was assigned a false identity and began to observe the public sentiment in Hakodate as a businessman.

Because his appearance changed drastically, there was no risk of being recognized - although life in Xixiang was good in the past, he had to travel everywhere, so he was a dark fat man. However, after studying abroad for three years, he has become not only elegant in temperament, but also has beautiful skin.

She is much fairer and has something in her mouth, so she can walk freely.

But after all, he had to avoid suspicion, so Naohide could not arrange for him to experience in detail such important places as the ironworks or the practice, so Saigo naturally had no chance to inspect them.

But these are enough for those who are interested:

Article 1, everywhere in Hakodate

They are all paved roads, not even New York.

At this time in North America, big cities generally only have "Makadan Road", which is actually a kind of gravel road. Only particularly important streets have stone roads or brick roads, but they are rare; as for remote places and villages

, it is simply a dirt road that has been repaired slightly.

However, Hakodate, a Fuso port city, is full of flat gravel roads paved with coal tar. Although the remote areas are cinder roads, the main streets are not bad either. Saigo can't help but be surprised.

Only when I had the opportunity to ask Okubo did he find out that Hakodate had no choice but to do so - the iron smelting plant had expanded, and the coke production had also been greatly increased, so the coal, coke, and pitch were not in vain.

Second, there are many foreigners in Hakodate, but they are quite polite and get along well with the Fuso people.

Although when Saigo was tied to the ship in 1858, Hakodate was not yet open to foreign trade, but it was already a supply port to the outside world. Although Saigo's stay was very short, he also heard about the illegal activities of some Nanman people at that time.

.

Why are they suddenly at peace now? - Xixiang has studied abroad, and naturally has a deep understanding of the arrogance of foreigners, so he is very curious, how is this done?

He inquired carefully, and then he realized that foreigners were so gentle because they were afraid and inconvenient.

Don't you dare? It's naturally because almost every household in Hakodate has weapons.

Since Naohide took office in Hakodate in 1858, he has used the shogunate's agreement that all people in the northern region should become soldiers, and he has trained rural soldiers vigorously. As long as they perform well, they will be given the title of "Dodo Ashigaru". Because Dou Ashigaru is also known as Ashigaru to the outside world.

Ah, you can carry a gun with the word Miao, so it is very popular.

Originally, the townspeople thought this was Naohide's plan to make money - at that time, wealthy townspeople bought ashigaru status, so it shouldn't be too common.

But as time went by, everyone discovered that the practice did not charge money and provided guns at low prices, so everyone was enthusiastic.

With this guy in hand, he naturally has extraordinary courage. There was once a time when foreign sailors made trouble, and the incident got so big that they were surrounded by hundreds of gun-toting townspeople.

Since then, the atmosphere of Hakodate has declined.

As for the inconvenience, it was because business in Hakodate was fair and blackmail rarely occurred; and, most importantly, Naohide was on good terms with the British and American governors here, and any conflicts between Westerners and locals were done impartially.

There is no favoritism in handling matters.

It is said that the marriage agreement signed in the seventh year of Kayei (1854) did not have this clause, but according to the trade agreement signed in the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the foreigner committed the crime by himself - legend has it that this was because the shogunate was not familiar with Western laws.

, so we could not jointly resolve the case, so we had to ask foreigners to do their own trial.

But Zhixiu He Zehe pointed out the absurdity in it. The original trade agreement stated that "if Fusang officials do not participate, the Western country can self-examine", that is, "the consul and local officials will judge fairly".

According to this article, whenever there is a conflict between Westerners and locals, Naohide will become a co-judge.

The largest foreign business forces in Hakodate are Yingji Huitong and Miren Huili, and Zhixiu is just short of wearing a pair of trousers. The governors of these two countries naturally have to "dispose of them impartially" when they are short-handed. Wanli came here to

Getting rich is not just to relieve anger, this reason is enough!

It was dealt with impartially, and with this official attitude, and the heroic folk customs of Hakodate, this foreigner would naturally not be too arrogant and domineering.

After the Arrow War ended in 1860, and in the spring of 1861, John Bryan Jr. officially took over as the governor of England Hakodate, his friendship with Naohide made the communication even smoother.

So, what Saigo saw in Hakodate in 1861 was a harmonious scene between Westerners and local residents of Fuso, which was very different from other places - at this time, there were constant voices of resistance to the foreigners in Fuso, and attacks on Westerners

happens sometimes.

The more famous attacks at that time include:

The earliest one was in Yokohama in August of the 6th year of Ansei (1859). A trainee sergeant from Lucia was hacked to death, and one sailor was injured. This may be due to Naohide's intrusion. It originally happened in July.

Turned to August.

In February of the seventh year of Ansei (1860), also in Yokohama, a Languo captain and an attendant were killed.

This year it will be even more powerful.

In December of the first year of Wanyan (January 1861), Shusken, the interpreter of the Miren Legation, was assassinated in broad daylight in Edo.

In February of the second year of Wanyan's reign, the famous Nagaoka gathering took place. "The children of the Mito feudal lords abandoned their nationality and settled in Nagaoka post. They gathered 1,800 scoundrels and sent a message: 'Shaogu's legacy to the Yellow Gate, in order to

Raise the flag of rebellion. One general will lead the navy to attack Yokohama, burn the hall and attack the barbarians. The other general will lead the army to enter.

In Edo, those who punished the officials were allowed to trade with each other.’”

Edo quickly sent people to suppress it, and finally managed to calm the matter down.

But in May of that year, the first Tozenji incident still happened:

On the 28th day of the fifth month of the Japanese calendar (July 5, 1861), Mito rogues attacked Tozenji Temple, the British residence in Edo, injuring Oliphant, the embassy clerk, and Morrisson, the Nagasaki consul.

-Some say that three people killed more than ten guards sent by the shogunate at the same time.

From this time on, "English set up troops in Yokohama, equipped with red eyes and Japanese troops."

These are relatively well-known incidents, and other incidents of insults, collisions and mutual beatings occurred from time to time in Nagasaki and Yokohama.

Therefore, as one of the three ports for foreign trade, it is really surprising that Hakodate is the only one that can be peaceful.

As for the third thing that impressed Saigo, of course it was the prosperity of the Hakodate trade.

In fact, Yokohama accounted for more than 80% of foreign trade at this time, but Hakodate's trade was very different from Yokohama's, which surprised Saigo.

In the leap month of the first year of Manen (1860), the shogunate issued a five-grade Edo order, ordering that "in foreign transactions, five varieties including miscellaneous grains, water oil, wax, Wufu (silk), and raw silk can only be purchased in Yokohama.

unified marketing".

In fact, in addition to the above five types, tea, silkworm seeds and aquatic products are also the major purchases by foreigners.

But in any case, bulk commodities are actually raw materials. As for handmade products such as porcelain, pottery, wooden lacquerware, etc., there are some but the share is not large.

As for the imported private goods, in addition to textiles such as foreign cloth and yarn, there are also other industrial products, such as various ironware.
To be continued...