"Okay, please say 'the sea'."

In Nijo Castle's castle tower, Afang, the concubine of political president Keiki Hitotsubashi, smiled brightly at the camera after hearing this.

Looking at the photographer Musashi Koganei who was dancing with joy, he couldn't help but smile a little because he had not shown his face for a long time - after all, the political affairs are now a mess, and apart from the worries, there are only the considerate Fang and the playful Koganei.

Only then can it bring him some joy.

But despite this, Qingxi still couldn't let go. He didn't understand, how could things be so embarrassing?

In the second year of Qingying (1866), influenced by the murders of Qingying and the foreign harassment of Goryeo Bingyin, the Fusang rebellion against the foreigners resumed.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, in February of the third year of Keio (1867), when the shogun Iemo went to Luo as usual and six ministers gathered in Kyoto, Kexi joined forces with Tadashi Sakai, the first shogunate veteran, to launch an attack, and the Fuso political situation changed from

This big change.

Afterwards, as the political president of the reformist group, Matsudaira Keinaga was forced to resign, while Qingxi and Sakai shared power:

As the "Governor of the Forbidden City Guards" of the imperial court, Qingxi was appointed by the shogunate as the "Political President" and "Osaka Castle Representative";

Tadashi Sakai, who was born in one of the four Tokugawa families, was promoted to the newly established "President of Domestic Affairs" and became the veritable number one minister!

As for the general Iemo, he was left in Kyoto to assist in the administration.

After all, the new Emperor Fuso who ascended the throne was only fifteen years old. He was unable to rule personally and needed the temporary assistance of General Zhengyi for one year. Doesn’t this illustrate the success of the combination of public and military forces? Poor Iemo, under the persuasion of his wife and Gong, he

Really believe it.

Both parties are very satisfied with the result:

Not to mention Kei's status was once again transcendent, and the alliance "Ichikai-san" formed by him, Aizu Yoshiho and Kuwana Sadaki, this time completely controlled the Kinki Imperial Leader-Osaka Castle, Kyoto Guardian and Kyoto Superintendent, and the three military affairs

If the positions were added up, Kinaisuji's 610,000 koku would have completely fallen into the pockets of the three of them.

The ministers headed by Sakai did not suffer a loss either. Not only did they overthrow the reformers headed by Keinaga, but they also passed the blame for the hard work of appeasing the armed anti-barbarian faction to Qingxi's group.

According to Sakai's opinion, it was impossible for Qingxi and others to swallow all of Kinki's 610,000 stone royal collar.

Thirty percent of it was the territory under the name of Hatamoto. From this production, unless Qingxi wanted to secede from the Tokugawa family, he would have to pay the annual tribute honestly.

In addition, the "Governor of the Forbidden City Guards" who was celebrating was originally required to withdraw 7,500 taru from the shogunate every month. When converted into a year, it was also a share of 90,000 taou.

As for the transfer of Osaka, isn't it true that Osaka Castle and Osaka Town will implement it? Everyone will just argue with each other.

Besides, without enough benefits, how could Qingxi be willing to help communicate with the court to overthrow the reformists!

You must know that Sakai and others within the shogunate have methods, but six princes are involved, including Satsuma, Tosa, and Uwajima. These princes are now a complete reform line.

If it weren't for the imperial court's help in suppressing this time, but with the support of these foreign aids, how could Qingyong and others be willing to bow their heads and admit defeat.

As for Qingxi, Sakai and others dared to attack and finally got what they wanted, but they were actually affected by three things:

The first one is Qing Ying’s murderous act.

Because a large number of fertile fields were converted into mulberry and tea gardens, in the first year of Qingying (1865), the price of fuso rice, which was slightly more stable, began to rise rapidly again.

In the second year of Keio (1866), despite the efforts and coordination of Naohide Hori and others from the reform faction, the price of rice doubled - of course, we will not mention the obstruction of various interested parties.

Already.

Who let you, the reformers, call the shots? In the second year of Qingying, you signed a trade agreement with the three countries of Belgium, Denmark, and Italy. You are not responsible for the rise in food prices.

Wouldn't that be such a pity?

All the food has been bought by foreigners!

As a result, the storm of resistance in various places began to rise again, and the reputation of the reformers began to be tarnished.

As for whether it's true or not, everyone has their own opinions, so let's just talk about it.

In fact, Qingxi, Sakai and others all understood that because raw silk, tea leaves, and white wax

The prices of camphor, camphor, etc. have been rising all the time. In recent years, grain fields in various parts of Fusang have been continuously converted to other uses. The grain shortage in Fusang became particularly serious in the first year of Yuanzhi (1864).

In the past, the skyrocketing prices were due to hoarding and speculation by some profiteers, but in the first year of Yuanzhi, there was really not enough food to eat!

At that time, Qingyong and others who were in charge of the government temporarily solved this problem by purchasing grain from foreign merchants.

Therefore, this pot was not actually created by the reformists.

But tracing back to its origins, we find that the food shortage was caused by trade during the founding of the People’s Republic of China, so it is not unfair at all for the reformers to take the blame!

The second thing that was unfavorable to the reformers was the "Bingyin Foreign Harassment" that happened in Goryeo.

In July of the second year of Qingying (1866), the Mi-armed merchant ship General Samun ran to the coast of Goryeo and demanded that it open a port for trade.

At that time, the Mi people committed many arrogant acts, and the Koreans went to war with them in anger.

As a result, people have big eyes but small hands. To everyone's surprise, General Shemen was actually sunk!

You talk about this "don't get the porcelain job without diamonds", the Mi people have lost face.

Moreover, although the Mi people clamored fiercely, the thunder was heavy and the rain was light, so the matter seemed to be settled.

This incident spread to Fusang, and the force to resist the foreigners was greatly encouraged. If Goryeo can do it, Fusang can do it.

What’s even more strange is that Bingyin’s foreign harassment was not over yet, and the foreigners suffered another big loss:

Because in the spring of this year, Goryeo massacred Chechidan believers, including nine French monks.

Possibly inspired by the battle of the Arrow, after all, Monk Zhang and Monk Ma were almost the same, so the Buddhists sent seven warships to conquer Goryeo.

On October 14, 1866 in the Western calendar, the Buddhists began to invade Ganghwa Island.

Ganghwa Island was the companion capital of Goryeo and the barrier to its capital city.

Originally, everyone thought that Goryeo would be in dire straits this time. Although the French had few people, and even if they did not dare to land in large numbers to attack the Goryeo capital, Ganghwa Island would definitely be plundered.

But what is shocking is that Goryeo, which has been locked in the country, did not know where to get new Western ordnance. On the night when the Buddhists landed, two warships were blown up.

Moreover, the Korean soldiers and horses who were reinforcing Ganghwa Island actually fought with the Buddhist marines, which was a great pleasure.

Originally, Buddhists were worried about future troubles.

In June of the Western calendar that year, he started a war in Annam and wanted to invade Vinh Long, An Giang and Ha Tien.

What is equally deceptive is that with the help of the remnants of the Tang Dynasty's long-haired army who retreated to Annan, the Buddhists were beaten to a terrible state - especially Shi Yada, the leader of the Tang Dynasty's guest generals, who won every battle, almost frightening the French.

Therefore, the Buddhist Europa government did not agree with this expedition to Goryeo, and it was entirely up to the commander of the Far East Army to make his own decision.

But Annan was not easy to bully, so he came to Korea to find a bargain. This was purely because of his beauty and his desire to be beautiful.

Seeing that there was no hope of a quick victory - in fact, they could not win, the French had no choice but to retreat unhappy, and then went to the Tang Dynasty, the suzerain of Goryeo, to seriously protest.

Goryeo defeated the United States and Buddhism in the "Bingyin Foreign Disturbance", and Annan later succeeded in resisting France, which greatly encouraged the Fusang force to resist the foreigners who learned about this.

But when these people become more powerful, it will be difficult for the reformers who insist on founding the country.

As for the last thing that was unfavorable to the reformers, it was naturally Emperor Fusang's death.

Although Emperor Fuso has always called for the rejection of the foreigners, he is still relatively wise and has always maintained a vigilance and distance from the radical rejectionists. In addition, he has always insisted on the integration of public and military forces, believing that the rejection of the foreigners cannot be successful without the shogunate.

In December of the second year of Keqingying (1866), Emperor Fusang died of a sudden illness. He was succeeded by the fifteen-year-old crown prince.

As for the crown prince, when he was young, he trusted his uncle and grandfather.

Who is the uncle? Prince Chihito is the original husband of the palace, and he has a grudge against the general Iemo for stealing his wife.

Not to mention his grandfather, Zhongshan Zhongneng, whose family was full of fanatics who used force to fight against the invaders——

In the Tenchu-gumi Rebellion in the third year of Bunkyu (1863), the shogunate Gojo Castle was killed, and Totsugawa Goshi was gathered to attack Yamato Takatori Castle. The leader was Tadamitsu Nakayama, the son of Tadano and the uncle of the Crown Prince.

Therefore, the trend of the small imperial court in Kyoto has changed now, and using force to resist the foreigners has become the mainstream again.

All in all, Qingying's murderous actions, Bingyin's foreign disturbance and the court's change of direction were the inducements for the reformists to lose power.

But what Qingxi never expected was that the reformers had fallen, but the situation he faced when he gained power was not the same as when the reformers were in power - but this time, he had to resist the blame.

In fact, no one expected this. The reformers were struggling before, but after changing people, they were not as good as other reformers.

At the end of February in the third year of Qingying (1867), political president Qingyong resigned.

In early April, the President of Domestic Affairs who returned to Edo, the Harima Kuni Himeji Domain, proclaimed Daimyo Tadashi Sakai, and as the acting minister, he began to clean up the reformist ministers:

Political President Keinaga fell, and his confidants, Hashimoto Tsunori and Mioka Hachiro, like Yokoi Tokimori, naturally returned to Echizen Fukui to eat old rice;

The foreign minister, Hori Toshi, who had previously presided over the signing of the trade agreement between Mirnin, Danmo and Italia, was forced to live in seclusion;

Hiromichi Ido, who was originally left behind, was ordered to retire;

The warship was entrusted with the duties of Minister Oka, and Manjiro Nakahama left his post and was on standby, and was transferred to the flag base for consignment;

As a soldier, Nagatoshi Murata was transferred to the Martial Arts Institute to teach;

Naoshi Nagai, the reformist minister who rebelled midway, was promoted to Omatsuke;

Mizuno Tadayoshi surrendered in time, and the position of Daimatsuke was retained;

Komai Asahan, who finally became Omatsuke again, was demoted to the rank of appointed envoy;

The designation was carried out by Takeuchi Yasoutori and Iwase Tadatsuki, who were promoted and secretly demoted to Nishimaru as a stay-at-home residence;

Kanagawa adheres to Okubo Toshiyoshi, but because it excessively handed over foreigners and insulted Fuso's dignity, he had his title reduced and lived in seclusion forever.

…
To be continued...