On October 15, the second year of Bunkyu (1862), after a reception dinner held for Hashimoto Tsunayuki, Mito celebrity Hiro Fujita took the lead and asked Okubo Ritsuchi about the reclamation of Ezo land.

Those present at this time were not only the two shogunate rulers Keinaga and Kexi, but also the new boss Itakura Katsushige’s mastermind Yamada Yasugoro, Sakuma Shoyama, and the other three powerful feudal lords Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa.

's companion.

In fact, Okubo is not a good target.

As for the reason, when Hashimoto was exiled to Ezo, Okubo took care of him. Moreover, who doesn’t know that the host of this dinner, Naohide Hori, was Okubo’s benefactor. Therefore, Fujita asked Okubo,

It offends both the host and the guest of honor at the same time, and is highly likely to ruin the place.

But Fujita Tiao has been famous for a long time and is very old. Therefore, he has to rely on his old age to sell his old stuff. For the time being, everyone really has no choice but to be patient.

"The Great Edo Earthquake in November 1855. If I hadn't leaked the secret, Fujita would never have had the opportunity to appear. I wouldn't even be grateful."

Naohide complained secretly while watching how Okubo responded.

Who is Okubo? As one of the three heroes of the Restoration in later generations, he is not afraid of criticism. What’s more, he and Fujita Tiao had fought against each other before, and he was never at a disadvantage at that time:

In the fifth year of Kayei (1852), Okubo was sent to Edo as an envoy. When he attended a gathering of celebrities, Fujita Tiao asked everyone to compose a poem with the title of Okunan Gong.

There were three people who were tested at that time, not counting Okubo, one of them was Choshu Yoshida Nobukata, and the other one was Hihou Miyabe Daizo.

Yoshida and Miyabe both wrote poems in praise of Kusunoki Masashige, but Okubo did not give Fujita face and wrote a satirical poem on the spot. Fortunately, Sakuma Shoyama came around and it ended.

Now ten years have passed, and Fujita has experienced ups and downs, and is now the mastermind behind the Shogun's posthumous celebration, but Okubo has long since ceased to be Wu Xia Amon:

Returning to Edo this time, Okubo was rewarded with three hundred koku for his meritorious deeds, which was already the flag of the shogunate's majestic five hundred koku;

Moreover, the shogunate also applied for the official position of Danzhenjie for him. Although the small court in Kyoto has not yet approved it, this is still a qualification after all.

So Okubo was not willing to be outdone, and he went back and forth with Mr. Toko Fujita Tiao. On the matter of reclamation of Ezo land, the two of them bickered more and more, and gradually became angry.

In response to this, everyone present laughed secretly:

Who doesn’t know that this Okubo was a generation after generation, and Fujita was “Xiangzhuang danced the sword with the intention of Peigong”.

Therefore, the dispute between these two people is just a teaser, and there will definitely be a lot of drama later on.

It turns out that Matsudaira Keinaga took office as the shogunate leader in early June, and Ichihashi Keiki was promoted to shogun in early July. In the leap month of August, the two men joined forces to launch the Bunkyu Reform.

It stands to reason that Qingxi and Qingyong are both generals of Qi Zhao's line. Now that everyone is turning around together, it is even more important for them to work together.

But now in the world, "Civility is not first, military is not second", so the differences between the two people are getting bigger and bigger:

First of all, there is the question of who takes the lead.

This Qingxi is Qi Zhao's biological son, so it is logical to inherit the mantle of Qi Zhao's line, but after all, he has never achieved anything before; and Keinaga's Echizen Fukui Domain has done a good job in the development of agriculture and industry in recent years.

Due to the age factor, Qingyong was thirty-five and Qingxi was twenty-six, so the princes and ministers were more inclined to support Qingyong.

Moreover, Keinaga became the lord of the domain in the ninth year of Tenho (1838) and came to the country in the fourteenth year of Tenho (1843). After so many years, his wings have long been full.

Fortunately, as the head of the Hitotsubashi family, he does not have this condition.

The territory of the Imperial Sanqing was managed by the shogunate, and the retainers were regarded as the same as the imperial family members. They also performed the duties of the shogunate, so Qingxi did not have many powerful confidants, so he became a shogun.

See you later

, his brother Keiatsu, the lord of the Mito domain, couldn't stand it, so he supported a few retainers - that's how the mastermind Fujita Hiro came to be.

Although Qingxi tried his best to pull, but after all, it was still a short time before he turned over. It was not easy, but it was just the addition of Sakuma Shoyama who could help him.

But what's really annoying is that Qingxi adheres to Qi Zhao's philosophy of fighting off the foreigners with force, while Sakuma is actually the pioneer who founded the country. How can this be justified?

But it’s not possible without Sakuma:

In addition to Sakuma's reputation for being shrewd and capable, he was born in the Sanada family of Matsushiro. The Sanada family and the new boss, Katsushige Kurama, are of the same bloodline, and can be traced back to the Kuwana Matsudaira family. Therefore, Sakuma is not only quite popular among the Sanada family,

reused, and because of this relationship, it has also been favored by Laozhongbancang.

Moreover, although the current head of the Kuwana family, Sadaki Matsudaira, is one of the four Takasu brothers and the son-in-law and adopted son, the main wife is still a bloodline of the original Kuwana Matsudaira family.

Therefore, by holding on to Sakuma, Qingxi also deepened his relationship with his boss, Itakura and the four Takasu brothers. This small profit can be huge, even if you pinch your nose, you have to use it.

In addition to the dispute over status, the political views of Qingxi and Qingyong are quite different:

Like Qi Zhao, although he loves orchids, Qingxi currently seems to be an out-and-out powerful anti-barbarian faction;

As for Qingyong, his position was somewhat hesitant before Anzheng Prison. Fortunately, Qi Zhao was still alive at that time, so he didn't show it too much.

But now, after taking the power, Qingyong shouted to fight the foreigners, but his buttocks had long been crooked. Many of the measures taken in the Wenjiu Reform were heading towards Westernization and never looked back.

The most typical example is that Qingyong felt that the title of "elder brother" was a bit inappropriate and always wanted to change it to "political president". Listen, is this something that a serious person can do?

There were disputes over status, and political differences gradually emerged, but after all, it was still young, so Qingyong and Qingxi still maintained a superficial harmony.

But just because the boss can endure it, doesn't mean that his subordinates can tolerate it. Therefore, Fujita Biao, who claims to be the mastermind of Qingxi, used excuses to stir up trouble this time. Everyone knows the whole story and is waiting to see the show.

At this time, Okubo and Fujita were both a little angry, and the issue of reclamation of the Ezo land had already reached a critical point.

What is important is the relationship between the practice and the various settlers.

It turned out that at the end of August, Hakodate returned to Edo to follow Hori Toshihi. When he reported on the reclamation situation in early September, this big mouth failed to control himself again:

Originally, at the Edo Castle Grand Appraisal Meeting, Hori Toshihi's previous remarks were very good, such as dividing the Ezo land into fourteen countries, and Western farm tools, etc. Everyone praised him, "Tiger father has no dogs, and the Hori family has another

A capable minister".

It was such a simple formality, but at the end, Hori Toshichi actually made another mistake, "There are many talented people who come to Hakodate for farming. Please follow the old rules of the martial arts school and select talents to serve in the Hakodate Office."

.”

In fact, it was nothing. When Naohide talked about it with Horihi afterwards, he just felt that the political orders of each family were different and communication in Ezo was too difficult, so he wanted to build a unified structure, a federation or something like that.

This saves each family from having to go through many troubles again and again. Of course, since the practice is the main focus, it is best for each family to have someone work in the practice.

But the problem is that Qingyong and Qingxi carried out the Wenjiu Reform. Such a big move is just to say, "Non-generational daimyo can be old and middle-aged." It means that the shogunate now treats the princes equally and no longer alienates the near and far.

Have the opportunity to participate in major political affairs.

But in fact, this is just a vision. Shimazu Qibin dances so happily, but at present he is just a laozhongge, and is not yet an official laozhong who handles daily affairs.

But Hori Toshi was lucky enough to step out in one step.

You know, in the lectures at the Military Academy, the professors are accompanied by princes and ministers, but these are just teaching and teaching, and they have no actual power. But if you bring non-flag books and imperial family members into the Hakodate School, it seems that you are not asking for donations.

Get up, this is to poach the princes alive

Is it dripping in the corner or something?

If you can dig people out today, why don't you take back the fields that each family has worked so hard to cultivate tomorrow?

If you think about it this way, Hori Toshi's suggestion is very meaningful.

Therefore, at that time, a middle-aged man came forward to stop Horihi and asked him to go back and write a detailed statement, and then everyone could discuss the matter again.

No matter what Horihi's original intention was, after the evaluation meeting, a rumor was rampant:

"The shogun rejoiced and manipulated the selection of the five big men. The power of the princes became increasingly powerful, and the shogunate's flag was restless. Fortunately, Hori Toshi stepped forward.

He deliberately proposed to select the accompanying ministers as ministers, which can be described as tit-for-tat."

What’s even more troublesome is that both Hatamoto and the Imperial Family have expressed support for the rumors:

"Even if there is poaching and the shogunate shares the Ezo land, shouldn't the princes show sincerity?

The imperial edict stated the selection of five great men, and Qingxi used this matter to invite princes to participate in the great political affairs. Now, if the old Zhongge is flying everywhere, is it possible that there are no talented people in the imperial family, the flagship of the Tokugawa family? Since it is said to be breaking down the family.

Juxian, then why can’t Qiben be regarded as Ruonianji or even Laozhong?!”

In fact, since the long-term renewal of literature is called innovation, the change naturally involves the abandonment of interests and the fluctuation of people's hearts, especially among the ministers, who just use this matter to express their dissatisfaction.

Now that Qingyong and Qingxi are in power, the division of labor between the two has gradually become clearer. Qingyong focuses on economics, while Qingxi focuses on foreign affairs. As for other major issues, the two will discuss them with the elders.

The two presided over the reform, but now they are targeting Qingxi. What's going on?

Considering that some banners have recently cooperated with Qingyong's innovation, the Qingxi series, which is already considered weak, is inevitably a little careless.

Therefore, Fujita insists on insisting today. Although Okubo is not the instigator of Hori Toshihi, as a leader of Hakodate Town, you dare to say that you don’t know?

However, the recruitment of accompaniments to the shrine was indeed a sore point in the current Tokugawa system. Naohide really did not dare to let Okubo speak openly, otherwise it would be a mistake, right or wrong. Therefore, as the master, Naohide had to intervene to dissuade him.

As for the method of dissuasion, the only way is to make peace with the mud. Anyway, Okubo told a lot of reclamation experiences and stories earlier, and everyone listened with interest, so there is nothing wrong with interrupting it here.

Since Hori Toshihi's words can be extended to mean that "Hatamoto and other ministers are dissatisfied with Qingxi and even the princes", then saying something kind to the princes at this time can alleviate some of the mood.

Even though Bunkyu's innovation started in full swing in the leap August of this year, and there are still few fruits at the beginning, since Qingyong became the boss in early June, he has done a few good things, and Naohide chose one at random.

:

"Mr. Yunxuan, Yokohama Quanye Bank is booming. You have done a lot of great work. Can you show me some of it to share with others?"

The four most trusted confidants of the shogunate elder Keinaga, in addition to Hashimoto Tsunori, Yokoi Tokitomi, Nakane Shizhi and Mioka Hachiro, are all present today. These people are numerous and powerful, so no matter how Mito Fujita interrogates Okubo, these people are safe.

Sitting on the Diaoyutai - after all, even if the fire burns oneself, it will be extinguished by spitting foam.

But Mikaoka Hachiro never expected that Naohide would actually implicate him after he came forward to change the situation.

Yokohama Quanye Bank, which opened in leap August, is indeed booming now. Naohide mentioned this out of kindness, to make his name known to him as the president.

Now everyone here is a master of financial management. Even Fujita Tiao once presided over the Mito Domain's Tenho Reform, and everyone had a stake in the bank. Therefore, when Naohide mentioned it, everyone applauded and wanted to know the details.

Due to human feelings, Migan had no choice but to start the introduction.
Chapter completed!