Nishimaru Iemo married a prince within the imperial family in order to stabilize people's hearts, and having Princess Tokugawa in the family also had many benefits, so Naohide had reason to refuse.

But politics in this world can sometimes be too private and treacherous, so there's nothing wrong with being careful.

This is what Yokoze Sadugu of the Gao family does. As a broker, he has to bridge the gap up and down, and run left and right to ensure that both parties are satisfied.

"There are no empty warriors under such a good reputation. This person who can rise to the top with bare hands is certainly not a good person!"

Yokose knew that this matter was not that easy, but Naohide's reaction still surprised him.

"The public has shown such great kindness that I cannot repay it with my body broken into pieces. However, the nobles and nobles are in such great lofty places that no one dares to cross them."

Listen, this sounds nice, but in fact it is not a bargain - don't rush to reach out when you see the huge benefit, this is not a bad measure.

The so-called Hatamoto "Takajia" is actually a down-and-out family that took in the Tokugawa shogunate when it was founded. They are usually responsible for the rituals and ceremonies of the shogunate. To put it nicely, they are noble, and to put it bluntly, they make a living by selling face.

The shogunate governed based on Zhu Xi's Confucianism, and this "propriety" was as important as "benevolence".

If it were a peaceful time, it would be a good thing for the Gao family to be able to pretend to be powerful, but now the chaos in Fuso has become apparent. Today, Yokoze sent a girl to his door again. He is a smart man, so he can naturally distinguish the important from the important, so he is extra careful.

As the saying goes, "If you beat a wolf with a straw, you will be afraid of both ends." So Nao Hide here also murmured:

Since ancient times, "car and boat shops, feet and teeth, innocent people deserve to be killed". Although it is biased, it also shows that this matchmaker is not easy to mess with.

Moreover, the Gao family is good at playing tricks. In the Ako Forty-seven Martyrs Incident, the great name Asano Nagaki was tricked to death by the Gao family.

"To show your courtesy for nothing is to be either an adulterer or a thief."

If Yokoze meant it correctly, he seemed to be asking Princess Shotokugawa to give him such a big pie. Who would believe it if there was no price for it?

Besides, this Yokoze Sadagu has no contact with the Hori family, and he has no previous friendship. If he talks about such a big thing with bare teeth when they meet, he would not be a fool if he is gullible.

Yokoze is accustomed to being a matchmaker, and he also knows that he can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. Therefore, this first visit is just to say hello formally, and there will naturally be an endless supply of tricks after that. Therefore, he did not pester him, and waited until he met Hidea

After the crown prince Fukutaro passed away, Yokose left with a smile while carrying the specialties.

This retainer who had just left and stayed behind in Horiken reported to the door and asked for an audience:

"My lord, I'll invite you tomorrow."

Now that Naohide and his son Horihi are collaborating in an affair, it is natural that he will come if he is invited.

Hori Ken is a senior and has served as an Omatsu for many years. His position is now a high-quality stay-at-home residence. With him as a guarantee, Naohide can be sure, "This is indeed a good thing. There doesn't seem to be any conspiracy."

There is an old man who pats his chest and guarantees:

"Although it is hasty, this is also the kind intention of the public. It is just a wish before I prepare to retire."

If you really want to talk about it, this Ezo land reclamation can be regarded as a frontier expansion in a certain sense - after all, the Matsumae family's governance was rough. In the past, except for the Saruto Peninsula, other places could be said to be barbaric lands. If the family's rise this time is officially

After establishing a country in the North, that family must have truly achieved this reputation.

Therefore, Iateda wanted to do something like this before abdicating the throne, which Hori Ken understands very well.

And he also has his own thoughts:

His son Hori Toshihi has always boasted, "How wonderful it is to develop the Northland." Now the Tokugawa family wants Princess Shang to be given to Naohide. It seems that this is actually true.

According to the plan of the shogunate, it is to prepare for the establishment of "Hokkaido" and then divide it into sixteen kingdoms. If you want to establish a country with the Hori family, you can only occupy one or two, and the rest will be the turn of your own family - all have the surname Hori, why can't they?

Similarly, those who are near the water and the towers get the moon first. No matter how good the flag is, it can't keep up with the name of the king of Weifu for his own use!

Therefore, when the public was summoned by the father-in-law, Hori Ken felt like grass had grown in his heart when he heard about this matter. He had already made up his mind to accomplish this matter.

There was a matchmaker and a guarantor, and all parties were willing to promote it, so things progressed very quickly. Naohide arrived in Edo at the end of January, but the marriage was settled in early February.

Speaking of

Come on, it's a bit hasty, but if you just "accept" the engagement, it's not too difficult.

It turns out that Shimazu Saibin's daughter Hiwaki had already become a daughter of Nishimaruo Iemo - because she had to marry other powerful people even if she didn't marry into the family.

Now that the princess is in place, why not just accept gifts?

The specific steps are:

Naohsiu went to the table first, "Due to old age and frailty, he applied to abdicate in favor of a worthy person" - this was a lie at first glance. He was thirty-seven years old and frail, what a liar.

Afterwards, the official issued an edict to comfort him, and then the old and middle-aged men began to build momentum:

"His hard work and great achievements, and his deep understanding of the ways of giving in to his ministers, show that he is not only talented but also loyal."

Well, when the great ministers and ministers took a look at it, they found that the response was quite good, so everyone should just watch the show in silence.

Sure enough, during the assessment of the city in early February, some people couldn't wait to jump out and said, "The reclamation in the North has gone smoothly over the years, and they have made great achievements in fighting the Lu barbarians, so they need to be commended."

Then, Gongfang Jiading began to cry bitterly:

"Since the sixth year of Jiayong (1853), Fusang has been in many difficulties. Fortunately, thanks to the wisdom of the Imperial Palace, good ministers have been promoted in the wilderness, and they have worked bravely for a hundred years to achieve the first results in the north."

When everyone hears this, this hat is well worn. First, move out the deceased shogun Iakei, and then mention that the reclamation of the Ezo land is a century-old plan, and it also has the aura of repelling the foreigners and promoting talented people regardless of family status. No matter what is arranged next

What, this is all natural and natural.

Besides, everyone knows that the father-in-law will abdicate in a few days and make some arrangements for his escape before leaving. This cannot be stopped by emotions or reason - dare to get in the way? Believe it or not, Jia Mao immediately vented his anger on his adoptive father after he took office.

, I understand that father is kind and son is filial!

Therefore, the officials above felt the same way, and everyone at the evaluation meeting quickly shed tears.

When the atmosphere was almost brewing, Kuze, the leader of Laozhong, proposed that strict rewards and punishments were the foundation of the Wu family. Since the development of the Northland was good, those who had made meritorious services must be rewarded heavily.

How to reward?

Jiading said, "The reward will be discussed later. Before that, let's treat it as a princess."

At that time, people really wanted to jump out and object. She was just a princess. The family decided to live in seclusion. It was too unrestrained. Hori Naohide was born in the second half of the royal family. This family background is too low.

Marrying a princess used to be too shocking!

But then, Taogu Yokoze of the Gao family came out and arranged things clearly. Everyone was speechless after hearing this:

It turns out that Princess Shang's wife is not the Hui family, but His Highness the Tian An family - even if Naohsiu had the guts to do so, he wouldn't dare to divorce his wife Eiko!

Moreover, this time His Highness the Tianyasu family was obviously going to make a fortune, and was arranged to establish a kingdom in the Northern Territory. His territory included the southern part of the Northern Ezo Territory and the northern part of the Northern Ezo Territory, and he was also in charge of the northern part of the Northern Ezo Territory.

No one can tell why the princess of the Tokugawa family married His Highness, the Imperial Highness, but the name of this Highness is "Shigemin". I have never heard of it - when did His Highness Keirai have such a big son?

La?

No one reacted until Qing Lai, the head of the Tian An family, and Mao Min came out to express gratitude.

Only Qing Lai laughed secretly in his heart. All the famous ministers and generals in the hall drank the foot-washing water this time!

It turns out that Naohide's eldest son, the seventeen-year-old Fukutaro, silently became the adopted son of Keiyori, the head of the Tianyasu family in Gosankyo two days ago. Not only that, Yuanfu also received the title of Nishimaru Nao Iemo.

The first name is "Mao Min".

Keirai himself doesn’t reject this very much, why?

First, he already has a legitimate son, Shou Qianyo, so what if he adopts an adopted son and agrees to immediately separate him as the head of the country? It is just a formality for him.

Therefore, whether you should do this favor or not, of course depends on the benefits.

After Qing Lai learned the details, he immediately slapped his thigh, it smelled so good!

It turned out that the adopted son's future wife was from the powerful Shimazu family, and she was also the adopted daughter of a future general. How could it not be nice that the Tian Yasu family had two powerful connections?

Moreover, although the adopted son was from an ordinary background, the gift money was sufficient - Naoxiu was very generous, and he donated 10,000 golden tickets for this matter.

gold.

Although Wan Yan's small ban gold is almost meaningless and far inferior to Tianbao's small ban gold, the world today is not the same as it used to be, isn't it?

Last year, after Wagongiya arrived in Edo from Kyoto, the shogunate only presented the small court with two thousand taels of gold as a thank you gift. This sounds nice to say, but in fact it is just a small fine of two thousand ten thousand yen.

After so many years, natural and man-made disasters, as well as previous military reorganizations, especially after the opening of the port for trade, prices soared and the market was depressed. Now every family is in embarrassment, and the Juijia is willing to offer 10,000 gold, which is also public, so

This adopted son must be accepted!

Keirai even directly joked about Naoxiu who thanked him above:

"I heard that you have a son and two daughters. If anything happens in the future, you are welcome to come to me again."

"I'm addicted to stealing money, so I'll pull you down." Fortunately, Nao Xiu didn't get angry to death on the spot - Tian An's family received 10,000 gold, but Jia Mao accepted 30,000 gold, and Jiading and Atsushi also received 30,000 gold.

Elderly care, plus the matchmaker Yokoze's thousand dollars, and the sponsor Hori Ken's thousand dollars, all in all, it cost seventy-two thousand without the fateful gift. It hurts!

Of course, no one in the palace knew the inside story of this matter.

After Tian An family head Qing Lai returned to the throne with Mao Min to thank him, the reward drama in the North officially began:

Granted to Hara Hakokan, who pursued a career of rising up to show his wealth, and earning a fortune of 10,000 koku, he was the head of the Matsudaira Shigetoshi, the leader of the Minamiwa Tai Kingdom. There is a precedent for the shogunate to directly reward daimyo's attendants, such as the Maeda family's 50,000 koku headmaster;

The original Hakokan was promoted to the head of Toshihiro Hori, who took charge of the Hakokan;

The reward is 1,000 stones for Hidetoshi Egawa, and 200 stones for Nagatoshi Murata, who is designated as Hakodate;

The remaining meritorious officials will be rewarded when they make a pilgrimage to Edo in the future.

But how could the great names and ministers of the families who participated in the great appraisal have the time to listen to this - if we set up a kingdom in the north and set aside some of it, what about the remaining territory? Will it be gradually distributed in the future? Does my family have any chance?

Someone well-informed revealed that the shogunate was planning to establish the Sixteen Kingdoms of Hokkaido. Suddenly, like flies seeing blood, everyone immediately became uneasy:

The great traitor Tanuma Yoshiji (born and died 1719-1788) once said, "There are three million koku in Ezo land!"
To be continued...