In February of the second year of Bunkyu (1862), starting with the founding of the Nanhuatai Kingdom, Naohide forces began to intervene in the shogunate affairs.

Before that, if we did not consider Hamoyo's foreign trade, the influence of the Hokki on the shogunate was passive. Although it stabilized Ezo, curbed the southward invasion of Lucia, and by the way reduced the shogunate's investment in the Hokki, it was generally closed.

The mouth works silently.

During this period, even though there were predictions of earthquakes and hints of epidemics, the Naoxiu family was still quite honest and never made any confessions to anyone outside the Northland - that is to say, the Northland never publicly stated that they

political stance.

Goshen is the king. Originally, Naohide and his family wanted to continue to make a fortune in silence, but on April 11, the senior middle school leader Nobuyuki Ando was dismissed, and then the material controversy was directly directed at the old middle school chief Kuze. This Naohide couldn't bear it:

The official internal split in the Tokugawa shogunate began with the loss of power of the conciliator, that is, the retirement of Abe Masahiro in the fourth year of Ansei (1857). Now, with great difficulty, another conciliator, Kuze, has become the leader. No matter what, he must be forced to

Resigning from office, does this mean that everyone will be killed?

"Governing a big country is like cooking a small one", that is, don't mess around all the time. The same principle applies to governing a small country. If you are not sure, don't lose your limited and poor vitality easily - of course, those in power will never repent.

Or maybe it's arrogance. It would be better to deal with such a disaster as early as possible.

Therefore, Naohide, who had already made up his mind to protect Kuze, started his performance:

First of all, his son Fukutaro became the lord of the country. This advantage cannot be used, so Naohide immediately sent a letter to ask for help.

Speaking of which, as a human being, it is best to distinguish between public and private affairs, even if it is a father and son.

Now Fukutaro has become the adopted son of the Tian Yasu family, and his name has become Matsudaira Shigetoshi. Therefore, Shigetoshi is the head of the country, and Naohide is the elder of the family. The relationship between monarch and minister has been determined. Although Naohide will eventually overthrow this, but now "Singing on that Mountain"

"That song", before you have the strength to overturn the table, you still have to abide by the existing rules.

Although the whole Matsudaira family is filled with old people from the Naohide line, you still let Fukutaro act according to the plan without any regard. Being so rude is not allowed between father and son - even if it is due to strength, it is delicious.

It’s hard to swallow. Many of the final falling outs are accumulated from small dissatisfaction. This kind of lesson cannot be ignored.

Besides, this independence of personality is the foundation of Naohide's family. When it's his son's turn, he must abide by it, otherwise he will destroy the foundation. How many seniors who have interfered in talk about equal rights and progress, but when big things happen, they will do it on their own.

After all, with this wise and powerful force and the protection of hundreds of gods, Naohide felt that "I don't have that fate, and it won't be my turn."

So, after Naoxiu wrote the letter, he asked his ship to set off quickly.

It’s funny to say that although the shipping industry has developed significantly after Naohide’s intrusion, in order to prevent someone from using this opportunity to raid Edo, the shogunate still prohibited long-distance passenger ships from going directly to Edo:

Daimyos from the Western Kingdom who traveled far away had to disembark at Osaka and then take the Tokaido Road to Edo by land;

As for the Togoku daimyo, they had to go through five streets to get to Edo, so it was not possible to come directly by boat.

Even if the high-ranking daimyo is like this, ordinary samurai and ordinary people will naturally not dare to cross over, so everyone has to walk in Edo.

In contrast, Westerners took boats every time they went to Edo, and the shogunate did not dare to stop them.

But this weird and twisted regulation is not without loopholes:

First, passenger ships can’t do it but cargo ships can, so why don’t I just go with the ship and load some cargo?

Secondly, there is a difference between inside and outside. The princes must go by land, while the shogunate himself turned a blind eye and let it go in the name of official business, saying that he had something important to do.

Still need to check

It is absolutely impossible to lead a large army. The Uraga Office is specialized in doing this.

In the past, during the Hakodate period, everyone used the above two excuses to sail directly to Edo. Since Ezo was really far away, the shogunate did not strictly investigate this.

This time Naohide sent a letter back to the White Lord, still in the name of a cargo ship. As a result, twenty days later, Naohide received a reply from the King's son, "As you wish, go ahead and do something big."

It was also early May of the second year of Bunkyu (1862), and as soon as Matsudaira Shigetoshi's memorial was presented, it immediately caused an uproar.

Logically speaking, this letter should not have such power:

Although Fukutaro was the adopted son of the Tianyasu family of the Gosankyō, when the Minami-Ezo Territory was sealed, he was called "Matsudaira Shigetoshi" instead of the Miao character "Tianyasu". This means that he is a Tokugawa branch, so there is no

The inheritance rights of the Tian Yasu family - that is to say, even if the head of the Tian Yasu family, Keiyori, and his son are dead, Fukutaro is not qualified to inherit the Tian Yasu family.

Therefore, as the new head of the country, Matsudaira Shigetoshi is a popular fried chicken, but in fact it is just like that. It is okay to be on the list, but if you want the shogunate to take it seriously, then you really think too much.

But the problem is, the memorial that Shigemin forwarded to Jingzhixiu is so exciting and touches on the general trend of the shogunate. It’s impossible not to pay attention to it!

What exactly is said in the memorial?

In fact, he didn't say anything. Maomin just pretended to be stupid and asked a small question, and then asked the shogunate what I should do.

The problem is indeed very simple, it is about annual tribute.

Logically speaking, as a formal prince and not an imperial prince, the Minami Ezo Territory does not need to pay annual tribute to the shogunate.

But the Imperial Palace Family decided to promote this matter not just to sacrifice themselves and help others. Princess Shang made the Yui family famous and established the country. Naturally, there were conditions for this win-over. One of them was that the Matsudaira family, the white master, had to donate 30,000 yuan every year for ten years, including

It is responsible for the annual tribute in the northern part of Kitai Ezo Territory.

The Matsudaira family's own territory includes the "Nanka Taiguo" in the southern part of the Northern Ezo Territory, the "Soya", "Monbetsu", "Nemuro" and the four cloud islands in the northern part of the Northern Ezo Territory, plus the escrow

The northern part of Ezo Land happens to be completely separated from the Lucia Territory and the Hakodate Sanctuary - in fact, this is the positioning given to the Hori clan by the shogunate, "Do your best, don't worry about anything else, just be careful of the Lu people!"

As for the stone height, the earliest stone height enshrined by the White Lord was 30,000 stone, and now the stone height is nearly doubled. Not counting the 8,000 stone of Beihua Tai in escrow, the total height of other territories is set at 50,000 stone.

How about saying "Don't treat others as fools". According to the statistics of Naohide and his colleagues at the end of 1861, the number of subjects of the Matsudaira family of the White Lord is exactly more than 50,000. If Naohide hadn't been convinced, "the shogunate, which has been so anxious in recent years, has not

He must devote all his energy to conducting in-depth investigations." He even suspected that there was a mole in his family!

Donate 30,000 yuan every year. Calculated as receiving 50,000 shi and taking care of 8,000 shi, the ratio is just close to the five public officials and the five citizens. Otherwise, the shogunate’s calculation is very accurate. If you have the ability, you can go through troubles. Anyway, the shogunate will not suffer; and it is agreed to donate money.

Even if it is limited to ten years, it does not mean that everything has been wiped out. After ten years, the family will naturally have a brighter future, and the two parties will not be harmed by this.

But thinking about it on the other hand, Naohsiu and his team spent money to clean up their reputation. All the bold and arrogant things they did in private in the past have been exposed, and they no longer need to be vigilant day and night, so it is not a loss.

Of course, the main idea of ​​the Ogosho family and the Shimazu family was to win over Naohide, while the ruling elders Kuze and Ando just went along with the flow and plucking hair from the way. However, the parties involved in this matter never thought about the impact of opening the gate to let the tiger go.

Infinite.

But no, now the Matsudaira family, the white master, has started to cause trouble. Of course, the donation is a secret agreement and cannot be brought to the table, but there is something to be done for the annual tribute of the 8,000-koku Beihuatai territory in escrow:

"I am stupid,

I would like to ask for instructions on how to calculate the annual tribute for the entrusted land."

This sentence may not seem like much at first glance, but the central government is all smart people, so how can you not understand the implication?

This question about the annual tribute ratio is false. In fact, it is to complain about the current discord between the public and the military. All the thoughts are focused on the first word "chen".

Why do you say that?

The reason is that in name the general who conquered the barbarians is only in charge of political affairs on behalf of the royal family, so the royal family is the righteous one. Now that Matsudaira Shigetoshi has become the lord of the country, the princes cannot surrender to the general.

But the question is, Mao Min is right to be a minister in this way, why?

Of course, it was because Mao Min’s position as the head of the country was unclear.

It turns out that in the general evaluation in early February, the Yang family of Gongfang approved Nanhuatai's founding of the country, but Mao Min's imperial position has not yet been approved!

Since the founding of the Tokugawa family, the imperial positions of various daimyo were not granted by the small imperial court in Kyoto, but were applied for by the shogunate. The procedure was generally that Edo submitted a request to Kyoto to "request that such-and-such be an official".

Then the small imperial court naturally approved it without even pretending, and even the decree was directly promulgated to the shogunate. Anyway, from the beginning to the end, there was no direct connection between the daimyo and the small imperial court.

For more than two hundred years, everyone has become accustomed to this.

Therefore, after experiencing the grand marriage ceremony between Iemo and Wagongiya in February, Maomin applied to join the country. At that time, the new prince, Iemo, and other senior officials all realized that something was wrong and believed that it was natural for him to settle down in the territory as soon as possible.

So it's OK.

But it was only now that Matsudaira Shigemin's memorial was presented, and everyone realized that it had been nearly three months, and the small court had not given Maomin an official position. Isn't this a joke!

If Matsudaira Shigetoshi has no official position, then why should he be the head of the country? No, as soon as the word "subject" comes out, the fun begins - as for annual tribute, is it a matter of how much annual tribute is paid? We have to wait for the court

Only after the official decree is issued can the shogunate formally order Shigemin to pay the amount, otherwise in what name will they be able to take charge of the territory?

Therefore, Matsudaira Shigetoshi was asking how to pay the annual tribute, but he was actually asking, "What happened? Why was the shogunate's decision blocked by the small court?"

Therefore, when the word "chen" comes out, it is really dazzling!

Since the marriage of the new shogun Iemo and Miyazaki in February, all the ministers have been very happy. Everyone thinks that "now that the bad blood between the public and the military has been eliminated, the situation will naturally be great in the future." However, Shigemin's memorial was like a bucket of cold water.

, everyone is confused, who am I, where am I, what am I going to do?

When they woke up, everyone realized that the idea of ​​merging the public and military forces was just a theory. The imperial court and the shogunate had not yet made it clear to the world. As for the method of merging, there was no conclusion yet.

I originally thought that after getting married, we would naturally join hands and understand each other, but now it seems that I took it too much for granted.

If you don’t believe it, look at it. Matsudaira Shigetoshi founded the country, but the last important decision that the Imperial Palace family decided to make on the shogunate was now blocked by the small imperial court in Kyoto. This official union does not seem to be as smooth sailing as imagined.

"It takes ten years to sharpen a sword, and its move will be extraordinary." With Naohide's move, the situation of besieging Kuze Hiroshu immediately eased:

Originally, everyone was thinking that with the merger of the public and military forces imminent, the first position in Lao Zhong would be such a hot spot.

Now it seems that it is better to wait, because the situation is unclear now, and something might happen. It is better to let Kuze take the lead and resist the thunder first.

In this way, the political situation in Edo, which originally seemed very clear, became chaotic again.
Chapter completed!