On June 6, the second year of Bunkyu (1862), Matsudaira Keinaga convened the first Laozhong evaluation meeting after he took office as the "eldest boss".

Originally, this issue was how to deal with the decree of the small imperial court. Shimazu Saibin, accompanied by the imperial envoy Ohara Shigenori, was about to arrive in Edo.

But as time goes on, the building becomes crooked.

In fact, it doesn't matter if it's not crooked. Although everyone looks down on the ministers and thinks that they can only talk on paper, they will have no burden if they don't do practical things, so this tone is high, and it immediately hits the key point of the shogunate.

Especially the second article in the edict, "It is advisable to select the five major feudal lords as the five major figures according to Toyotomi Taihe's story to consult on national affairs." This is a powerful move. It is obviously a plan to sow discord, but there is no smoke without fire.

Provocation is well-founded, so if one fails to respond, the shogunate system headed by the shogunate will fall apart.

Why do you say that?

Although the edict did not name the five major feudal lords, the shogunate's chief minister said:

"According to reliable information, the imperial court favors Date, Shimadzu, Yamauchi, Maeda and Mori."

These five daimyo are quite impressive, with a total territory of three million koku. However, including the Kaga Maeda family, which is regarded as a Tokugawa clan, they are actually all outsiders at their roots.

"Such a daimyo is naturally unreliable in a critical situation" - this statement comes from the shogunate's close lords, the gendai daimyo and the naotomi banner.

Of course it's unreliable. It's a damn thing if it's reliable. You're so desperate to squeeze people out, why don't they resist if you can't do it!

The shogunate system of the Tokugawa shogunate was that the royal family entrusted the overall administration to the shogunate, and then the shogunate unified all the feudal lords to govern Fuso.

But the pancake is so big, so when it is divided, it is natural to differentiate between inside and outside, and there are degrees of familiarity and distance. The shogunate, the close feudal lord, the Shodai Daimyo, and Naomi Hatamoto take away the benefits first. As for the outside world, the hardships come first, and the enjoyment comes first.

, who allowed you to enjoy it?

When the Tokugawa family opened, the reason why they did not wipe out all the foreigners was not because they didn’t want to, but because their strength did not allow it:

According to later statistics, 70% of Fusang is mountainous and the transportation is very difficult, so it is enough to conquer them. If I really want to kill them all, hey, who can bear to have to go deep into the mountains and forests to suppress bandits for several lifetimes?

Besides, rabbits bite when they are anxious. The Tokugawa family was strong at the time, but to say that one of them picks them all is too much.

After the Tokugawa shogunate was established, it was all about trying to torment foreigners. But later, one was the fierce resistance from the other side, and the other was the Little Ice Age and the continuous Fuso earthquake. The shogunate was also tortured, and the feudal lords were enfeoffed.

, the ability to write down famous names gradually became weaker, so this thought gradually faded away, and it was not pleasant to live a good life.

But even so, the life of the outside daimyo was not much easier. As the leader of the samurai family who was responsible for the great political affairs, the shogunate naturally had no shortage of means. The donations during festivals were trivial, and the four major burdens of each feudal clan were paid in person.

, assisting in military service, hand-in-hand general invitation and Zhuzhongjian specialization:

The pilgrimage requirement is that each feudal clan pays homage to Edo once every two years - there are a few exceptions but this is not always the case;

Assisting the military service means that the shogunate can let the princes send troops to help for free;

The shogunate asked each family to bring their own dry food to complete the project, and each clan provided the bulk of the labor. The shogunate only provided a token amount, and sometimes even a penny;

As for the Zhu Zhongjian franchise, the shogunate prohibited direct trade among the vassals. If you wanted to trade, you could only go through the traders in the big cities of the shogunate such as Edo, Osaka, Nagasaki, Kyoto, etc. "Zhu Zhongjian" was a roadblock.

The act of plucking hair while passing by.

In addition to these, the shogunate also monopolized gold, silver, copper and other minerals. As long as the scale was found to be larger, Edo ordered it to be taken back to the shogunate. The appearance was extremely ugly.

Of course, in addition to enjoying various benefits, the shogunate also has certain responsibilities, such as helping each family to stabilize its internal situation and prevent being bullied by powerful neighbors, or providing subsidies, "pawn money" or even materials when it is in financial difficulty.

Loans and the like.

But the problem is, because we expect the shogunate to preside over

To be fair, the centripetal force of this small domain towards the shogunate is not bad; but for the country's lords and daimyo like Date, Shimazu, Yamauchi, Maeda, and Mouri, they can only bully their neighbors, and it is difficult to apply for subsidies and loans due to the huge amount.

, I am the one who contributes so much, but if the benefits stand aside, then the loyalty will naturally be very questionable.

In the past, it was better for the shogunate's authority to be stable. After all, the power of a big fist was the reason. In addition, with the Tokugawa family's marriage, black hat relatives and other win-win methods, these foreign princes were still submissive.

But now, Edo has joined forces with the public and military forces in Kyoto. Everyone can see the turmoil of the shogunate, so the decree requires the establishment of five big brothers. Such a provocation will make the shogunate rulers feel bad;

Ignore it, this is not sending strength to the court, so don’t push it;

But if you really agree, this will not only make the small court a favor, but more importantly, with this power in hand, the five princes will get the first bite of blood. Will they be able to agree with the shogunate again in the future? I wonder.

Therefore, at this evaluation meeting, there are one elder, six elders, and three elders, and most people are particularly troubled by this matter.

But there are exceptions to everything. The elder Matsudaira Qingyong thinks it is very simple:

"This is easy. I have a plan. You can't have both fame and fortune. It depends on how the five princes choose."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the audience was shocked, "No, you have a way, you must be lying."

But someone who can become the head of ministers must not talk nonsense, so everyone waited for the next chapter with doubts.

But Qingyong saw that everyone's appetite was aroused, so he was not anxious anymore and started talking about irrelevant things:

"Actually, someone took advantage of this, and it comes from the theory that 'there may be no reason for something to come out of nowhere.' So, as long as the root of the problem is eliminated, this problem will be solved."

What are you talking about? Are you kidding me?

Everyone said that the source of this problem was, first, the instigation in the small court, and second, the restlessness of the princes outside. In the final analysis, it was because the people were in dire straits after foreign trade, and the shogunate, the leader, lost the prestige of the past. To solve this fundamental problem, of course

Well, if you have this ability, not to mention the edict can be taken as a blow to him, even the combination of public and military can be avoided.

But can you solve it?

Qingyong smiled slightly, showing that he was confident, but he changed his tone and brought the topic back again:

“Strengthening the foundation and cultivating the foundation is not something that can be done in a day, it can be discussed later.

What I said today is that the five big men in the imperial court are just trying to win people's hearts. What you are worried about is just the five big men wielding power.

But if we take action in advance to alleviate the situation and set up three or seven bosses or something like that, while ensuring that our authority is not lost, then this edict will be defeated with one punch."

To put it lightly, you have set up a boss but have no real power. Do you think he is stupid?

Now this small court is able to stir up troubles, and it is not because of the tricks of your Qi Zhao family. With great righteousness and fame, you have a sharp knife and a murderous intention. Qingyong, you pretend to be a wise prince, but your level is terrible.

It's really not that good.

Just when everyone was slandering, the old man Kuze, who was originally a clay body and a wooden statue, jumped out and praised:

"Wonderful, this plan is very clever. It has a winning method and a business method. It can be used by foreign royal officials. What's the harm in establishing a new name? When all the talents are here, it will definitely be a different scene."

All of you here are smart people, and everyone knows what Kuze means when he says this:

This strategy is too destructive. According to Kuze's idea, it is to set up a few more "big bosses" and so on, and then push the problem over, and if it fails, it will be solved within a time limit. The court's sowing discord has become the shogunate's

Disaster is diverted to the east.

If the problem can be solved by then, it will be due to the open-mindedness of the shogunate; if it cannot be solved, it must be the fault of the imperial court - who knows, it was you who issued the decree, and now something has happened.

Thinking of this section, everyone applauded and praised it. Although this was just their own plan, and it may not work as people wanted in the end, it was the nature of governance. It was always better to show off one's tactics at first glance than to refuse bluntly - that is, "big

The name "guy"

The head doesn't sound good, but it would be much easier to accept if it were changed to "Lao Zhongge".

Moreover, after this incident, many people present felt relieved:

Although the old man Kuze seems to have taken refuge in Qingyong, this is nothing compared to Qingyong's single-mindedness with the court.

Qingyong responded so hard to the imperial edict, which showed that he really had no intention of setting up a new stove.

Everyone here, except Qingyong, is either a feudal lord or a shogunate. It would be a lie to say that we are not worried about the Qi Zhao family using the combination of public and military forces to cause trouble.

Everyone has sat in the position of ruling the shogunate. Even if we are close to the small court, can we be stronger in the future than now?

It's impossible, so no matter what tricks the public and military forces come up with, it has to be based on the Edo side.

So Qingyong's performance and stance today made everyone very satisfied - no matter how many factions there are, they can't ruin the meal, is that right?

Seeing that the originally wary atmosphere had eased, Qingyong added some more thoughts:

It turns out that he was well prepared when he said, "You cannot have both fame and fortune."

This is just a fool's errand. The idea of ​​recruiting more "big bosses" is just to talk about it. In fact, Qingyong just wants to attract more princes, set up more "imperial guards", give some "old middle-class", "ruonian post" and so on.

Hats don’t cost anything anyway.

At that time, the construction of coastal defenses, stabilization of commodity prices, and even certain parts of the colonial industry can be thrown away. Anyway, in the end, the central government of the shogunate will have to make a decision and support, and there is no fear of turning the world upside down. Qingyong said that these "imperial hooks"

, it only has the right to make suggestions but not to make decisions. If you want to forcefully push something, you are overthinking it. At best, you can do it in your own territory and force others to do it, which is not good.

If it can be done, this will solve the problem, and the shogunate will be the biggest beneficiary; if it can't be done, then the responsibility will not belong to the shogunate and the government and the government will not be as unfavorable as it is today - of course, it is the best if it can be done.

And this big boss doesn’t get it right in one step. He has to wait until he achieves something.

At that time, there will be such a large number of "Lao Zhongge" and "Ruonian Jige", if they want to select a boss, there will definitely be internal disputes. Therefore, even if some princes eventually become the boss, they will definitely have established many enemies, and the shogunate will

He just put his hands up and down in it.

Wouldn't it be great to take a step back and successfully postpone the big boss matter to a few years later?

Moreover, it is unreasonable for a big boss to not contribute money or efforts. In the past, the shogunate collected (collected) things, but now it is his own choice. This can't be blamed on the shogunate.

Slow things down, everyone here understands that, and those with strength have privileges. This hard pressure cannot be suppressed, so it is natural to take a step back. Therefore, everyone feels that Qingyong's words are quite reasonable.

And if you think about it carefully, you feel that this is the only way to deal with the imperial edict. A hard top is too crude and has no aesthetic feeling at all.

Moreover, if you think about it carefully, according to Keinaga's plan, this "big brother"'s final service may not necessarily fall into the hands of a foreign daimyo.

As for the worry that someone will make it big during this period, I believe that as long as you draw a circle in advance and add more sand, it will not be easy to make it big. In the final analysis, it is the shogunate itself that cannot do it. Now it is necessary to do this to avoid the weakness.

Not a good thing.

However, even if most people agree in their hearts, Qingyong will not be able to get through so easily this time. If it turns out to be the old man Jingyi's pattern again, where he can decide everything with just one word, it will be completely troublesome.

Therefore, some people are ready to jump out and find fault. This is a beautiful idea. What if it gets out of control and the power cannot be taken back?

However, before anyone else could take action, Lao Naka Kuze jumped out again:

"Lieutenant General Sakonoe Kwon, if these five big guys are dealt with in this way, the daimyo will be widely involved in the shogunate affairs. Then what I said before, do you think we should also discuss it today?"
Chapter completed!