Since entering the 19th century, whether Fuso realizes it or not, its destiny is closely related to China, especially the Arrow War (1856-1860), which had a particularly strong impact on it:

In the first battle of Takukou in 1858, the Anglo-Buddhist coalition won, forcing the elder Jing Yisao and his tribe to resolutely sign a trade agreement with the foreigners;

In 1859, the Second Battle of Takukou was won by China, which caused Fuso's senior officials to waver in whether they would insist on opening up the country for trade. This led to the Ii family being wiped out after the Sakurada Gate Incident;

By the end of the war in October 1860, Yingfo finally gained the upper hand and allowed the shogunate to be in power for a long time. Ando returned to his original position - foreigners were not to be offended, and long-term plans were needed to deal with the foreigners.

But there is a price to pay for such swaying. When the upper class hesitated, Fuso's anti-foreign trend became the climate, and even Westerners felt the pressure.

According to the trade agreement signed in the fifth year of Ansei, in addition to the three ports (Nagasaki, Kanagawa, and Hakodate) that opened for foreign trade on June 2, the sixth year of Ansei (July 1, 1859), Fuso also had two ports and two cities.

open:

The opening time of Niigata Port is January 1, 1860 in the Western calendar;

In Edo, it was January 1, 1862;

For Hyogo and Osaka, January 1, 1863.

In addition to the fact that Niigata had too many sandbanks, so the Westerners voluntarily abandoned it, by the first year of Bunkyu (1861), the opening of the ports of Edo, Hyogo and Osaka was already an imminent matter. However, in view of the rising atmosphere of fighting against the foreigners in Fuso,

The English Minister Aliguo actually agreed to the shogunate's request to postpone the opening of the market, but asked him to send an envoy to Europe to negotiate with various countries face to face.

"You won't eat any meat that comes to your mouth." This is really a rare sight, which shows how powerful the opposition was at this time.

In fact, the rise of Fusang's resistance to foreigners was also deeply influenced by China:

During the Arrow War, which started in 1856 and ended in 1860, Britain and France fought and cooperated with China at times, and the trade still suffered greatly - of course, the turmoil caused by the Changfa Incident was also an important factor.

Fortunately, Fuso officially opened to foreign trade in July 1859, which was equivalent to finding a pillow while dozing off. Therefore, many foreign merchants came to Fuso from China to trade.

How could Fusang's small body be able to withstand it? Therefore, by this year, the first year of Wenjiu (1861), the economy had been hit hard in just two years - prices suddenly rose to the sky, and people's lives were

The situation suddenly deteriorated sharply, but what was even more terrible was that the massive export of raw materials led to the Great Depression of Fuso's handicraft industry.

As expenses increase and income decreases, under attack from both sides, there is still a chance of success!

Take hand spinning as an example. At that time, spinning was an important source of livelihood for ordinary people. It was estimated that 40% of households used spinning to supplement their living income. Calculated on a household basis, instead of 40% of people engaged in this work, if 40%

How can people spin yarn?

However, after the influx of foreign cloth and yarn, hand spinning became unprofitable because the price was only half of similar local products. Women stopped working one after another. This ratio gradually increased, and by the end of the Tokugawa period it had been reduced to one-tenth of the original value.

—Because the homespun cloth is thicker and the foreign cloth is thinner, a small market is still more or less preserved.

The founding of the country and trade made the life of the people extremely poor, and it also affected the life of the samurai - the income of the shogunate and the feudal lords decreased, so half-knowledge and reduction of knowledge occurred from time to time, and even worse reductions in the establishment gradually increased.

This number has increased significantly.

The root of all these difficulties comes from the founding of the country and trade.

Therefore, although the strength of the shogunate is still there, and even because of Naohide's intrusion, it has a greater advantage over each vassal, such a casserole-sized fist is of no use - after defeating it? It's not just starving, it can't solve the fundamental problem.

question.

Last year, the first year of Manen, Hakodate counted 43 large-scale famines across Fuso, while the average number for the Tenpo Great Famine (1833-1839) was 32.5!

Moreover, in the past, Yikui's demands were not dissatisfied with acting as an official or following the implementation, so through Yikui's fierce

They called for the attention of the shogunate or feudal lords through "extra complaints"; but nowadays, many common people (peasants) do not raise demands at all, but directly attack the government, burn down the "inspection account" and refuse to pay annual tribute and various taxes and corvees.

Moreover, rice riots often occur in the castle town, and the frequency also exceeds the period of the Tenpo Great Famine. You know, the life of the town people is better than that of the common people, and because most of the samurai from each family live in the castle town, it would be really serious if there is chaos in the castle town.

Already.

What do these indicate?

It shows that taking jujube pills is unpopular among the shogunate and the various feudal lords.

Therefore, all the shogunate clans actively saved themselves, and Edo could still care about the distant Hakodate - who would care about you unless there is a big mess.

This is a critical moment. The game between the Tokugawa family, the small imperial court in Kyoto and many foreign daimyo has reached a critical juncture. All actions are closely centered around the unity of the public and the military.

In short, the ship in Fusodu is about to sink, so we should all work together to find a solution.

The so-called combination of public and military affairs is the union of the small public court and the samurai shogunate.

The original proposer was the old Mito lord Tokugawa Saiaki and his family. Later, when Ii Sobu came to power, he found that something was wrong. The opposition united under the banner of the imperial family. This was not easy to handle, so he thought

Drawing fuel from the bottom of the cauldron, "It's fine to just unite, but the initiative should be with the shogunate."

In the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the Wuwu Rebellion began in September, but in October of the same year, the old central minister, Sensheng, was in Kyoto. While arresting people, he was ordered to start testing, "Can the imperial family marry a daughter to Nishimaru Nomo Iemo?"

Ii, who was in charge of the shogunate at that time, was fierce in his tactics. Of course, the small court in Kyoto did not dare to take the initiative, so it dealt with it vaguely.

But who was Chiguijingyi? Therefore, by the time he was assassinated in March of the first year of Wanyan (1860), the matter had been basically settled.

In the end, no one expected that something would happen to Jingyi before the dust settled, so the matter had another twist.

But the cooked duck could still run away. On April 1, the first year of Wanyen, the shogunate sent Kyoto Secretary Sakai Tadayoshi to submit an internal request for marriage to Kujo Naotada Kanshiro.

At this time, nearly a year had passed since the three ports opened up trade to the outside world, and the momentum of resistance to the foreigners had already risen. Therefore, the small court in Kyoto began to raise prices. Anyway, it was dragging and pushing, but refused to agree.

Although a big fist can't solve the fundamental problem, it can solve the problem if you are in a hurry and can't control many people. Therefore, under the threats and inducements of the shogunate, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Japanese calendar that year, Wagongiya finally agreed - coincidentally, on that day

It was also the day when Tokugawa Saiaki, the old lord of Mito, the leader of the anti-barbarian faction, passed away.

For this matter, it is said that the shogunate also made concessions. It is said that the two rulers, the old middle-aged Hirose Kuze and Nobumu Ando, ​​agreed to start fighting the barbarians in July of that year - not to fight the barbarians immediately with force, but to "slow down the pace of foreign trade and wait until October."

Within a few years, various agreements were gradually abolished, thus returning Fusang to its former paradise of heaven."

On October 9th, the shogunate sent a tribute memorial to invite his wife to marry him. On December 21st, the envoy came to express his gratitude, and on the 25th, the acceptance ceremony was held.

But the problem is that the shogunate just made a promise to "slow down the pace of foreign trade", and as a result, it signed a trade agreement with Prussia on December 14th.

Therefore, everyone in the small court in Kyoto felt that they had been fooled:

On June 17 of that year, the shogunate signed a trade agreement with Frankie. As before, there was no edict, but at that time, the marriage to Miyashita had not yet been confirmed.

But what happened this time?

You still don’t respect the royal family and signed the contract without paying any attention to me. This is too embarrassing!

Speaking of which, this was due to the lack of information from the small court in Kyoto, and they did not understand the shock that the shogunate received when they received the final defeat of the Qing court in the Arrow War. The shogunate itself also had problems.

You've screwed yourself up.

So the matter was delayed again.

You must know that at that time, Emperor Fusang had great expectations for the union of public and military affairs. He only used the threat of abdicating the throne and becoming a monk with the palace to get rid of the ministers who had been clamoring for force to resist the barbarians. Now that their faces have been thrown into the sea, how can you not be angry!

After repeated explanations by the shogunate's envoys, the matter was finally restarted, but as a price, Ie Shigeru, the destined partner of the Japanese palace, had to become the general of the conquest of barbarians from the crown prince Nishimaru before the wedding ceremony - the royal princess became the imperial palace.

, Presumably this kind of inconsistency will not happen.

How do you say this requirement?

Neither too much nor too much.

To say it is excessive is to say that this is the first time that a small imperial court has interfered with the inheritance of the Tokugawa family. But the problem is that in the past, the father-in-law married the daughter of a top minister, and he had never married a princess of the royal family!

There is something great to say here:

The royal princess has the right to inherit in Fusang. Although the Emperor Fusang has a son at this time, this right is not used, but what if?

When the time comes, my husband will be the general who conquered the barbarians, my wife will be the Fusang Emperor, and they will have children. The public and military forces will not be combined, but become one!

With the wolf-like and tiger-like temperament of the ministers, wouldn't this "inherited from ancient times" public officials be wiped out?

Therefore, the royal family has taken such a big risk, and your shogunate has breached the contract first. Don't you have to show some sincerity now?

After the news came back to Edo, the ministers were in an uproar. They used to be reluctant to let go of their children, but now they are reluctant to let go of their parents. What's going on!

But after calming down, everyone felt that they still made money:

After all, the small court is empty-handed. When this princess is married, it is obvious who will take advantage and who will suffer the loss.

Besides, this father-in-law is not only lazy in politics, but also has a weird temper. On the contrary, Nishimaru-kun is smart, decisive and generous to others. He has shown the magnanimity of a wise king at the age of sixteen. It would be nice to change him.

Therefore, under everyone's instigation, Kuze, the head of the Lao Zhong family, had no choice but to report the matter to the public.

In fact, Kuze didn't want to change his master. After all, he was the one who got the advantage because the family was slack in politics.

But he also thought it through. Nowadays, there are internal and external troubles, and the number of old and middle-aged people is changing like a revolving door, so it would be better to change to a decent public servant. Besides, Nishimaruo Iemo is only sixteen years old. Even if he is in charge, he will probably still have to rely on himself.

And all in all, none of these shogunate administrations ended well:

Counting from the first visit of Kurofune in the sixth year of Kayei (1853), the first senior official at that time was his brother-in-law Masahiro Abe. As a result, he resigned two years later. This was not bad, after all, he had been in power for ten years.

After 2000, he worked as a winner, Fang Laozhong, for two years, and then his illness subsided. It can be said that he completely recovered from his illness;

Later, Masatatsu Hotta only served as the head of the Laozhong for more than two years before he was kicked out. He was also held accountable for the Wuwu Incident;

The elder Jing Yishou was assassinated in less than two years.

"It's easy to see people carrying firewood, but it's hard to carry the load yourself." Speaking of which, the position of the shogunate is not easy to fill now. This combination of public and military affairs seems to have many benefits, so it is better to bridge the gap.

But Kuze, who had been thinking about it for a long time, never dreamed that when the family heard that there was no need to do anything official, instead of getting angry, he danced with joy, which made the ministers worry in vain!

Because of Naohsiu's intrusion, due to some strange combination of circumstances, Gongfang's family decided to become seriously ill in the fifth year of Anzheng (1858), but he did not die. However, now there are internal and external troubles and more and more bad things, so this position

He really didn't want to do it for a long time.

Therefore, when he heard that the small court asked the heir apparent, Iemomo, to succeed him, he was so happy, "Understand me! Understand me!"

The biggest imaginary obstacle was gone, and the integration of public and military affairs naturally began to go smoothly.

In April of the first year of Bunkyu (1861), the shogunate reconfirmed it with the small court in Kyoto, and it was done!

When the news spread, the Fuso clan was delighted, feeling that the combined efforts of public and military forces would create a new scene.

But Nao-hsiu knew it was an empty joy, so he stepped up internal affairs construction.

After everyone's efforts, in early October 1861, the first railway in Fuso was finally opened in the Northland.
Chapter completed!