Returning to the ship and sailing on the Seto Inland Sea, the warm sea breeze blows, making people feel warm and sleepy.

The Seto Inland Sea, as its name suggests, is a narrow strait. Later generations believed that the Seto Inland Sea was originally a basin. As a result, at the end of the last glacial period, the sea level rose and seawater poured into the ocean.

The Seto Inland Sea is a transportation channel between Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu along the coast. It has been a busy waterway since ancient times. It starts from Osaka and Wakayama in the east and ends at Shimonoseki in the west. It is about 440 kilometers from east to west. It starts from the south coast of Honshu Island in the north and ends in the south.

Fukuoka, Kyushu, Matsuyama and Takamatsu on Shikoku Island, with a width ranging from 5 kilometers to 55 kilometers from north to south, and an area of ​​about 9,500 square kilometers. There are more than 500 large and small islands in the sea, such as Awaji, Azuki, and Eda.

Rice, citrus, etc. are planted along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, and fisheries and salt industries are also developed.

The weather was sunny during the voyage, with only a few light rains. Everyone was very happy with the scenery along the way. Although due to the northerly route, we did not see the "Naruto Uzushio", one of the "three major whirlpools in the world", which is located on Awaji Island and

Between Tokushima and Shikoku, the scenery of Itsukushima still made Naohide feel that the trip was worthwhile.

We passed Itsukushima in the afternoon when we returned to the ship. The five-foot-tall vermillion torii gate stood majestically in the waves.

Itsukushima is one of the "Three Fuso Scenic Spots", the other two being Amanohashidate located in Miyazu in the north of Kyoto, and Matsushima in Miyagi in the northeastern part of Honshu Island. In the "Research on the Deeds of Fuso Country" written by Lin Shunzai, a Fuso Confucian scholar in the early Edo shogunate,

It is recorded that "Tango Amanohashidate, Mutsu Matsushima, and Aki Itsukushima are the three wonders."

Itsukushima Shrine on the island is dedicated to the three goddesses Ichikishima Himemikoto, Tashin Himimeiko and Tsutsumi Himemikoto. They are regarded as the "Guardians of the Sea". In the Edo period, visiting Itsukushima Shrine was called "itsukushima temple", which is very famous and

Popular. The "big torii" in the sea (the gate of Fuso Shrine) is the symbol of Itsukushima. The torii in the sea, the shrine on the shore and the surrounding blue sea and green trees form a beautiful scene on earth.

After six days of journey, Zhixiu and the others arrived at Xiaguan smoothly. On this voyage, because of Zhixiu's generosity, they had a good relationship with the ship's bow and the crew. Zhixiu paid eight gold medals for the shipping fee and one gold medal.

After thanking him, the ship arranged to unload the cargo. Naohide first took the two students to the customs station (checkpoint) to check the study tour documents. After that, they went to stay at the Hatago (private hotel) recommended by the ship.

Early the next morning, Hatago's proprietress brought a servant. It turned out that yesterday the ship's bow arranged for someone to deliver Naohide's famous assassin (the Fuso name for greetings) to the mansion of the ship's owner, Shiraishi Shoichiro. Shiraishi felt very happy after seeing Naohide's famous assassin.

Out of curiosity, he arranged for a servant to invite Zhixiu to visit him.

Shoichiro Shiraishi was known as the Treasury of Choshu because of his wealth. He was the owner of the leading shipping company in Sanyo Road.

Sanyang Road is one of Fusang's "Five Regions and Seven Regions". The "Five Regions and Seven Regions" are the administrative divisions of the entire territory of Fusang in ancient times under the legal system. "Five Regions" refers to the five countries within the Gyeonggi region, and other territories outside Gyeonggi Province are similar.

The Tang Dynasty in China was divided into seven provinces. Later, after the Meiji regime changed the name of "Ezo Land" to "Hokkaido", it was also collectively known as "Five Regions and Eight Regions".

The name of Gokichichido was officially used from the Nara period until the abolition of feudal lords and the establishment of prefectures in the early Meiji period.

Sanyo Road refers to the eight countries on the Seto Inland Sea side of Honshu and west of Kinai: Harimo Province, Mimasaku Province, Bizen Province, Bichugoku, Bingo Province, Anyun Province, Shufang Province, Nagato Province, and Choshu is Nagato Province.

Another name for.

The detailed name of the current place name is a certain city, town or village in a certain county in a certain country.

Shiraishi Shoichiro is now extremely wealthy. The area of ​​​​his house is very large, and Naohide can't even see the scope from the outside. After entering, the yard is surrounded by mountains and rivers, winding paths, and colorful trees. There are even flowers blooming in late autumn, and Naohide has also been inside.

I have seen the Shogun’s Crown Prince’s residence in Edo Castle, but I actually thought that the Crown Prince’s mansion was

It can't be compared to here.

Baishi's wealth reached its peak more than ten years later. At that time, there was a saying in the world that "there are chivalrous merchants in Shimon Pass", which meant that as long as the anti-barbarian patriots traveling north and south passed through Shimonoseki, they would definitely visit Baishi's house, and Shiraishi would be very...

He warmly received those people with lofty ideals who were as poor as beggars and provided them with money. If they wanted to defect to Changshu, Shiraishi would also help them match up. Shiraishi did not serve in the reform regime, but after his death, Shiraishi was posthumously awarded five titles by the reform regime. As a businessman

Receiving this honor is also a moment of good news.

After entering the seat and chatting over tea, Naohide once again expressed his gratitude to the passengers who came back to the ship and gave him a gift. The Shiraishi people were very generous. After accepting the gift with some excuses, they directly asked Naohide about the purpose of his visit, "Naohide-kun traveled thousands of miles to study.

May I ask what your plans are for going to Changshu? If Shiraishi can do his best, please ask."

"Thank you, Mr. Shiraishi. Naohide is very happy to be able to visit Mr. Shiraishi, who is proficient in traditional Chinese studies and Japanese songs, in person." Naohide didn't greet Shoichiro Shiraishi in front of him.

Asked about Nobukata Yoshida, the successor of the Choshu prodigy Yamaga Ryubu.

"Where did Naohide-kun know about Yoshida-den?" Shiraishi was surprised because Yoshida Nomonakata was only thirteen years old this year and a famous child prodigy in Choshu. He didn't expect that his fame would spread to Edo.

"The tip is in the bag, and the end is seen immediately. I heard a certain Hata Honden mention it in Edo. It is said that Yoshida-kun was able to explain the Yamaga-ryu art of war in public two years ago."

Shiraishi pondered for a moment, "Besides meeting with Yoshida-don, Naohide-kun, do you have any other arrangements?"

Naohide said that he was very satisfied to meet Mr. Shiraishi. If he could learn Yamaga-ryu art of war from Yoshida Nokata again, then there would be no regrets about this trip. He would need to go to Nagasaki to visit his teacher Ito Genpaku as soon as possible.

Shiraishi Shoichiro said that Yoshida was currently in Hagi Castle, the capital of Choshu, and he would check whether there was a return ship to Hagi Castle recently. After that, he sent someone to inform Naohide and invited Naohide to play near Shimonoseki with him. Naohide agreed immediately.

Back in Hatago, Toranosuke and Gakujiro marveled at the luxury of the Shiraishi family today, while Naohide was deep in thought. According to time estimates, Murata Seifu, the main force in the reform of the Choshu Domain, should be losing power soon, so how much impact will Shiraishi Shoichiro have?

?Can visiting Shiraishi achieve the purpose of meeting Nobuyuki Yoshida?

When I think of Murata Qingfeng, I think of Changshu reform, and then I think of Tenpo murderous crimes and Tenpo reform.

Fuso called the Great Agricultural Famine a "ferocious act." The "Tenpo Foul Act" occurred in the fourth to tenth year of Tenpo (1833 to 1839). In the four years of Tenpo, the climate was variable and there were many freezes and heavy rains. The Ou Great Flood, Kanto

Due to many storms, the harvest in Western countries that year was only one-third of previous years, while in central Honshu, Hokuriku and Tohoku regions, one-third or none was harvested. The country suffered a severe harvest failure, which was historically known as the "Famine of the Third Year."

In the next three years, agriculture still did not improve, and the harvest was only 40% of what it was before the Tenhō period. In the past four years, hundreds of thousands of people starved to death in the northeastern part of Honshu alone. From the eighth year of Tenhō to the tenth year of Tenhō (1837-1839), there was another

Insect plagues and plagues occurred across the country, and the 11th year of the Tenpo year was barely a normal year, but the subsequent lean years lasted until the 14th year of the Tenpo year (1843).

Agricultural famine caused rice prices to skyrocket, making townspeople and farmers everywhere miserable, and disasters occurred frequently. In this context, the shogunate and local daimyo adopted various means to save social difficulties, which was historically known as the "Tenbao Reform."

The shogunate took various relief measures, such as supplying rice, setting up disaster relief shacks, restricting sake brewing, lowering retail prices of goods, selling stored rice, prohibiting the hoarding of goods, etc. In order to cope with this crisis, each domain also worked hard to ensure food supply, but in fact due to

Due to successive years of poor harvests, the grain output in Quanfusang was insufficient, and under the national lockdown policy

External food supplies are unavailable, so although the situation has improved, it cannot completely solve the problem.

The end of the Tianbao reform occurred in the twelfth year of Tianbao (1841).

In April of the eighth year of Tenpo (1837), Tokugawa Ieki took office as the twelfth shogun. In the leap month of the twelfth year of Tenpo (1841), Tokugawa Ieki suddenly died at the Grand Imperial Palace, causing everyone around Ieki to be killed.

After being dismissed, Chief Senior Officer Mizuno Tadakuni took the opportunity to appoint Toyama Keimoto, Yabe Sadaken, Okamoto Masashige, Torii Yozo, Shibukawa Keinao, and Goto Sanemon to start further reforms.

Among the measures, the previous system will continue to be implemented, and some new contents will also be added:

1. Strictly practice economy and prohibit luxury. Orders to reduce expenditures, prohibits the use of expensive clothing, and prohibits the sale of high-end food. It stipulates that farmers' housing and meals must comply with ancient farm customs, corrects customs in cities, censors books and articles, and punishes the writer Ryuutei Tanehiko

, for the eternal spring water, etc. At the same time, the warriors are rewarded for practicing martial arts to boost their morale.

Second, control the urban population and issue a "return to farm order". The farmers who flowed into major cities due to famine accounted for almost three-tenths of the surrounding rural population. For this reason, it was stipulated that except those who regularly do business and have wives, all people should return to their hometowns. Restrictions

Farmers move to cities to work and at the same time reduce farm labor wages, aiming to strengthen the natural economy, consolidate small farmer operations, prevent landless poor farmers from migrating to cities, and hope to revitalize agriculture.

At the same time, famous agriculturists such as Suntoku Ninomiya were hired as "Yupu Qingye" to promote agricultural technology and knowledge.

Third, disband the "Zhu Zhongma" (privileged guild). Products from various places shipped to Osaka and Edo no longer have to pass through Zhu Zhongma. Village officials, wealthy farmers, etc. are allowed to concurrently operate as commodity producers and wholesalers, and products can be bought and sold freely.

, strengthen commodity circulation.

Fourth, rectify the finances. The shogunate's annual fiscal deficit reached 500,000 taels of gold due to extravagance and waste, so it issued new coins to make up for the revenue. On the other hand, it imposed heavy taxes on the townspeople to save the finances.

At the same time, the debts owed by daimyo and flagmoto to the shogunate were halved, or the debts owed to the shogunate were lent to them again, in order to maintain the dignity of the samurai class.

Fifth, carry out military reforms. Through the "Lan Feng Storytelling" submitted by the Orchid Merchant Office and the "Tangren Feng Storytelling" submitted by the Chinese businessmen, the Sino-British Battle of Guangzhou in 1840 greatly shocked the shogunate. In the twelfth year of Tianbao (1841)

Years) Senior Nakamizuno Tadakuni ordered Takashima Shunshin Shige Atsushi to hold a live-fire exercise of Western-style infantry and artillery in Musashi Kuntoku Maruhara. Later, Takashima Shige Atsushi was reused to teach Western artillery techniques to reform the military system, and at the same time strengthen iron cannons (rifles) and large barrels.

(artillery) production and improvement, and Westernization of military systems and armaments.

Sixth, issue an imperial decree. In the 14th year of Tenpo, the Daimyo and Hatamoto were ordered to take over the territory (Chikyōji) within ten miles around Edo and five miles around Oban under the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate. The princes within this range were transferred to other places.

.

Because of the frugality order, Mizuno Tadakuni offended the generals, Ooku and superior samurai. The dissolution of "Zhu Nakama" and the increase in taxes on the townsfolk led to the opposition of the beneficiary groups. Because of the Westernization of the system and armaments, the traditional samurai were disgusted.

The order offended a large number of relatives and feudal lords, and established the Daimyo and Hatamoto. According to the historical trajectory, the people rebelled against their relatives, and the chief Lao Naka Mizuno's confidant Torii Yoshizo went to the Lao Naka Doi Rishi who opposed Kamichi Rei and leaked secret documents. On September 10 this year

Mizuno Tadakuni will be impeached and removed from office in three days.

The Tenpo reform improved the administrative efficiency of the shogunate, reduced the shogunate's financial expenditure, controlled population flow, improved agriculture, promoted commodity circulation, and stabilized social order, but it was limited to the agricultural technology at the time, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, improved seeds and other high-yield technologies

It has not yet appeared. Under the lock-down policy, grain output cannot be greatly increased. At the same time, facing the improvement of the status of wealthy farmers and wealthy merchants caused by the development of industry and commerce, the shogunate has not been able to come up with a fundamental solution. The results of the Tenbao Reform can only be said to be unsatisfactory.
Chapter completed!