In July of the first year of Mangen (1860), Tomomi Yoshii and Atsushi Tatsushi of the Satsuma Seitaka Group watched the public drill of Hakodate and reported to Saibin, the head of the Shimazu family:

"The shogunate's qi is not exhausted, and the northern land is invincible!"

Regarding the saying that "the number of qi is not exhausted", it is said that in fact, the Shimazu family has no objection, at least not at this time - the Tokugawa shogunate has lasted for more than two hundred years, and now the residual power is still there, and there is really no daimyo who dares to really jump out of the tiger's whiskers.

Therefore, this sentence is just to vent anger, after all, the Wanyan coinage in May of that year can make the major names of the western country a lot of holes, and the western country, which uses silver coins as the main means of circulation, was ruthlessly cut leeks by the eastern countries led by the shogunate for no reason in this turmoil of fierce appreciation of gold.

But Qi Bin didn't care about the resentment of his retainers, and he never forgot to participate in the big politics, so he was more interested in "the north is invincible".

"Why do you say that?"

Since Zhixiu became famous, the original deeds have become a folk legend - no way, Jiayong three years (1850) seventeen horsemen to serve in the north, self-made, blue wisps, seven years later defeated the Lucia invasion, in today's foreigner-rampant world, now such an exciting story, everyone loves to hear it.

Ke Qibin's focus is different:

He admits that the development of the Northland is good, but where is the original foundation, even if Zhixiu has all kinds of means, but in just ten years, this vast and sparsely populated land cannot but admit it.

Therefore, even if there are one or two thousand elite soldiers, how can we talk about this "invincible", you must know that the Shimazu family has soldiers in the peasants, and if they are in a hurry, they can pull out 20,000 horses, and they can't win this ten dozen or one?

Seeing that Qi Bin obviously didn't believe it, Yoshii Yu was really anxious, he had a reputation as a soldier in Satsuma, and this authoritative hat couldn't be lost:

"When the army fights, the array is invincible, and it is not a mistake to fight."

Qi Bin doesn't like to hear this, he doesn't have a chance of winning this head-to-head battle, and then it doesn't make sense if he can't win!

The tax office on the side looked up and saw that it was going to be bad, and he was in a hurry, so he came up with a good idea of persuasion:

"Lord, this thing is also flourishing in the Northland."

Qi Bin turned his head and saw that he was referring to the beloved thing hanging on the wall - it was the sample that Saigo got from Naoxiu in the fourth year of Jiayong (1851), a breech gun!

Speaking of which, I can't take it.

Kagoshima has also been tossed for a small ten years, although it is not possible to mass-produce this thing, but the performance has long been familiar, if Hakodate is really widely equipped with this thing, then a dozen ten is really possible:

Originally, the early breech guns were single-shot, and the speed was more than five times that of the breech guns. But Naoxiu is hanging, not to mention the bolt, he also brought a magazine to this thing, so this launch speed, ten times faster is really not too much - this is good, if it is not too late and the process is challenging, it is even worse to make a magazine!

Yoshii Tomomi also reacted at this time, although the head of the family is a mallet but a mallet with pursuit, as a subordinate, whether Qi Bin understands it or not, but you have to be detailed and reasonable, so he hurriedly added:

"Hakokan is not only good for iron cannons, but also for this rifled large cylinder."

Hearing this, Qi Bin was even more annoyed.

Why?

Because this rifled cannon shogunate has been in place for a long time, but like steelmaking, the technology has been tightly blocked to the outside world, and everyone is dead.

The Nagasaki Navy Training Center, which was established in the second year of Ansei (1855), including the martial arts training center and the Shoshu Shogunate, allowed all the courtiers to enroll in schools and even serve as lectures and professors.

But what's the use of this, "it's better to bury the monk alive if he is not full", this is tucked away, the amount of equipment is too small, and the leading brother is incompetent.

In fact, there is also a public case in this case, the gold-silver ratio of Fuso is three times that of overseas, and the Satsuma Shimazu family also discovered it, but the western trade is mainly silver, and there is not much gold collected, so until the shogunate Mangen coinage (1860), I was stunned that I did not get much profit from it.

Moreover, after the coinage of Mannobu, the shogunate issued some loans to the princes, Shimazu

The family didn't get it because of its rich name.

Therefore, Qi Bin and the important ministers in the family all felt that it would not work like this - it was okay in the past, but now, when is the time when the foreigners are pressing the border and trading with foreign countries, and Fuso is in turmoil, if the Shimazu family can't participate in the big politics, then it will be sold, not to mention, and you have to count the money for others for free.

Today's report by the two, Qi Bin strengthened his belief:

"The Northland Shogunate is changing with each passing day, and it's obvious that the shogunate wants to leave everyone alone. This is not good, if it is good, everyone will be good together, otherwise, hum~"

But at this moment, Yoshii and the tax office threw out the gossip again:

The two of them have been friends with Saigo and Okubo since childhood, so Okubo is the town of Hakodate, and he still has to give some preferential treatment.

Besides, at that time, it happened to be the end of the battle of Aihui and the time when the box pavilion planned to "engage in fundraising, technology diffusion and talent introduction", how could this Satsuma fat sheep watch it slip away.

Therefore, Okubo told them, "These are the results of Hakodate's own work, and if Satsuma wants to learn, he will teach and take care of his own accommodation."

Of course, Naohide hadn't returned from Edo at the time, so it was unknown whether the shogunate would approve of the establishment of the Hakodate Institute, so Okubo could only hint, "As long as the money is in place, anything can be discussed in private." ”

Qi Bin was in good spirits when he heard it, this thing sounds like a spectrum - because Zhixiu had a previous conviction before.

In the fourth year of Kaei (1851), Saigo went to Kitachi for the first time to hook up with Naohide and Okubo, and exchanged 3,000 gold for the iron-making process and the manufacturing method of the breech rifle.

Although the breech gun Satsuma was not mass-produced, the ironmaking was successful.

Besides, although the breech gun is difficult to develop, after all, the craftsmanship of the Shimazu family has been improved, and now that the Minnie gun is installed, this alone cannot be said to be worthless for three thousand gold.

Moreover, Qi Bin has always felt that Naoxiu and others, like himself, are secretly engaged in secret trade, and they are not completely of the same mind as the shogunate.

So there's a lot of cooperation here.

Of course, Qi Bin didn't think that Zhixiu was a thief, but he just felt that Zhixiu was bold and had his own opinions, and this was understandable - if he went to develop the North Ezo Land in a poor and white way, then there must be some tricks, and he couldn't wait for a long time. What's more, Zhixiu defeated the Lucian people, and he never shirked the tribute in ordinary times, so there is no loss in this big festival.

Things turned out to be better than expected.

In the first year of Mangen (1860), Naohide returned to Edo to report on his work, and the shogunate agreed to the establishment of the Hakodate Institute of Foreign Studies, which allowed foreign students to be enrolled.

So, Qi Bin, who knew a lot of insider stories in the box hall, hurriedly sent someone to go to the white master to learn the scriptures in a bright way.

Of course, private affairs were also indispensable, and after the Shimazu family paid a transfer fee, the manufacturing process of this rifled gun and breech gun was also obtained.

At this time, the Shimazuya Western Industry Integration Center was also beginning to see its scale, so it was not as easy to be fooled as last time.

The manufacturing process of the breech gun given by Naohide back then is clear at first glance, but there are a lot of holes dug inside - it can't be said to be a pit, but there are too many aspects involved.

Therefore, Xixiang had also gone to the north to ask Naoxiu for guilt, but Naoxiu couldn't help it, he couldn't even sell a piece of meat and even send it to the shop - the landlord's family had no surplus grain, and the Naoxiu forces didn't have any talent accumulation at that time, and the white lord didn't have any industrial environment, so he couldn't build it himself, so he could only talk on paper.

And this time it's much better:

At the Hakodate Institute of Foreign Studies, you can systematically learn theories, but at the Ironworks, you are not allowed to touch them.

After all, it is a militaristic weapon, and if Naohide and others do not pull the flag and rebel for a day, this red line is still inconvenient to cross.

But when maintaining machinery, there are still opportunities to visit and take a look, so there is also a shadow when you go back to take pictures of cats and tigers.

Therefore, although it still can't be built, after all, it is known what is wrong, and the Shimazu family has made it clear the direction of catching up.

But the more I studied, the more weak the integration hall group of heroes became, and not only behind the head of this rope

It's cows, and it's a herd.

The information was summarized to Qi Bin bit by bit, and he had a complete estimate of the strength of the box house, "How about the relationship, within ten years, Naoxiu has secretly become a crouching tiger in the northland!" ”

The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, no, it is "lying on the salary and tasting the guts", but Qi Bin and his subordinates didn't understand it when they thought about it:

Let's say that there are no intentions, but after many analyses and temptations by the Kashimazu family, the current Naohide family is obviously loyal to the shogunate;

But this collusion with foreign daimyo is obviously not the way of a pure minister.

In the end, it was simply and rudely attributed to the word "fame and fortune" - the desire of the hero, but these two kinds, properly!

With such an understanding, Qi Bin naturally took action, and after knowing that Gongfang was going to accept his daughter as the adopted daughter of the Tokugawa family, he communicated with his own family, Atsuhime of the Imperial Observatory:

"Of course, this princess has to find a strong one, and I think it's good to follow the Boxhouse family."

Qi Bin's reputation for being wise and resolute is outside, and Du Ji is very convinced of this, so she blows the pillow wind with the general Jiading, but she didn't expect that Jiading also means this.

But the family is sloppy, and the usual power is all in the hands of the chief elder Nakahisai Hiroshi and the deputy Ando Nobuyuki, after these two learned about this, their reaction was a little strange - not to say yes, not to say no.

Jia Ding's reply to Atsuhime was:

"At that time, the two old middle school were restless, as if they had eaten the wrong thing."

knew that her husband was unreliable, but she didn't want to be like this, and she still made Atsuhime half angry.

The eyeliner of the Great Ori family is dense, and when she turned around, she found an opportunity to figure things out through the lady's route:

It turns out that these two are not opposed, but the identity of the Hori family is here, and they are afraid of criticism from others.

This princess-like daughter was originally a non-royal family, a top minister, the Tokugawa main branch of the Imperial Three Families, the Imperial Three Secretaries or the branch Matsudaira Eighteen Families did not marry, even if they were married, they were also a daimyo of the level of the lord of the country, and as for the Xu ration to the flag book, I had never heard of it.

And to elevate the family to the lord of the country, from the big body flag to the lord of the country, is this a big step?

Since the opening of the Tokugawa family, in addition to the early large-scale division of heroes, it is not without examples of the later flags becoming famous, but the symbolic characters are too famous, and there is this previous experience, so Jiushi and Ando dare not risk the world's disapproval.

Who is this celebrity?

Speaking of which, this person advocated the development of Hokkaido, and now Naoxiu is executing, which is really fate.

This celebrity is the big traitor "Tanuma Yiji" (8 years), who not only went from 600 koku all the way to the daimyo of 10,000 koku, but also served as a side employer and a top service in Lao Zhong.

However, during the reign of Tanuma, he encountered such an unfortunate event as the Great Famine of Tenmei, and his administration was evaluated as "the shogunate's priority was to collect money, and the people suffered from the harshness of the law", so he became a traitor hated by everyone.

If you think about it carefully, this Tanuma is quite similar to Naohide Hori, both love Lanxue and value business, and the reason for starting is from a close relationship with the public.

But Tian Nua is still born in 600 stone flags, and before Naoxiu started, he was a royal family who didn't have a stone, and if this made the Hori family a big name, it would not only be easy to contact the Tanuma rebellion, but also cause a huge challenge to the tradition of today's family gate valves, so it must not be!

Therefore, when Atsuhime of the Imperial Observatory heard this, she broke off this thought, but she turned the day and pondered, this is not right:

Adoptive father Qi Bin dared to say this, it would not be unsure;

Although the husband's family is not in tune, he is not stupid but impatient, so if there is no basis, he will not approve of this matter;

And Jiushi and Ando are also heroes, if it is impossible at all, it would be good to refuse directly, so why twist and pinch.

So there's a lot of article here!

As soon as Du Ji became curious, she grabbed her family and held on to it, and the public was so unbearable that she had to summon Jiushi again, "Whether this will work or not, everyone has to make it clear." ”