In the middle of the autumn breeze of the sixth year of Kaei (late September 1853), Oguri Tadashun, who had just returned to Edo, heard the bad news that the 12th shogun of the Tokugawa family, Iekei, had actually died!

As a banner that has been loyal to the Tokugawa family for generations and a shogunate trusted by the family, Oguri was shocked when he heard the news, this, what's going on? Before I left Edo, I had seen Gongfang, and although the Lord was unwell, he seemed to be in good spirits, so why did he die suddenly?

It turned out that on the tenth day of the departure of the black ship of the United States, on the 22nd day of the sixth month of the calendar, the general Jiaqing died suddenly due to the aggravation of his illness - although Jiaqing was sick before this, he could still receive his courtiers until a few days before his death, so the majority of the ministers did not expect this at all, including the chief Abe attendant of the old middle.

Gongfang Jiaqing was already sixty-one years old, and even if he lived a long life in this era, it was not surprising that he died, but this time it was said that there was a problem with the imperial doctor, and it seemed to be misdiagnosed again, and I heard that Lord Abe had arrested several imperial doctors, but whether it was the reason or not, no one could say.

The deceased is a relief, but the living still have to face the problems in front of them.

Originally, after the departure of Kurofune, the shogunate, which was greatly shaken, immediately began an internal discussion, and Admiral Perry of the Mijin announced that he would go to Nagasaki the following year to receive the shogunate's reply to the credentials, so how should we reply?

In addition to the Lan Kingdom, all the previous visits of the Western countries were politely rejected by the shogunate, and they didn't even read the letter of state brought by the envoy, but this time they were forced to accept the letter of state, if they refused, would the barbarians of the United States use force? -- Eleven years ago, the battle between China and England in the South China Sea is not far away, and once the force is used, the result may not be as people wish.

In fact, the current situation of the shogunate is much better than Naohide's original world:

First of all, because the Hamhyung & Co. and the Lankoku Shokan corroborated each other, the shogunate did not regard the warning of the rice boate's visit as an exaggeration, so they made some arrangements in advance, which not only avoided being caught off guard, but also did not get blamed by the government and the opposition for negligence.

Secondly, Shinagawa Odaiba was built before the first visit of the black ships - although the Odaiba on both sides of the Uraga waterway was not built and equipped with Western cylinders, so although the shogunate was panicked in the face of the black ships breaking into Edo Bay, after all, there were still means of defense - not to say otherwise, so it did not cause extreme panic among the shogunate and the people, nor did it cause contempt from the princes and the people because of the panic.

Also, because they knew more about the rice people and the Western countries, the shogun and the old and middle ministers did not mess with themselves and did not rush to the hospital when they were sick, so they did not give the old lord of Mito, Tokugawa Saiaki, and other well-intentioned people too many opportunities, so the shogunate, especially the old ones, still maintained a noble and cold attitude to the outside world, rather than self-doubt and self-division internally - in fact, there were signs but not serious.

There's another standout:

Although the multi-headed governance of the nine coastal defenses is criticized, after all, it unifies the different factions within the country, and also leaves a buffer room for the old and middle schools - after all, can the black cauldron let the coastal defense hangers carry it first.

Although there was a suspicion of being unresponsive during the visit of the black ship, after all, the matter still landed safely, and although they received the letter of state, it was also for the safety of Edo Castle, which is understandable.

Moreover, after the Mi people launched artillery demonstrations, didn't the coastal defense hangers still use their colors, and they also fired dozens of cannons, and there were exchanges on the scene, and no one could say that the shogunate was weak -- when dealing with overseas, out of self-esteem, a sense of honor, or out of a sense of security, showing toughness often won praise, while concessions often attracted suspicion and criticism, and it was the same in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad.

So after the black ship left, the shoguns led by Lao Zhong still felt good - although it was just so-so, but this is not how these years have passed

Come, you can get up.

But as soon as the public party celebrated like this, the situation changed in another direction.

Say a thousand ways and ten thousand, the old middle school is the same as other important ministers, and there is a public above the courtiers, and the family is a family connected by blood, usually the courtiers can pull the general's tiger skin to order the shogunate, and now the general is hanging, so at this important moment for the survival of the Tokugawa family, you have to look at the public.

At this time, there is not no one in the old middle school, Matsudaira Chengquan and Matsudaira Tadayu, but there is also a distinction between far and near, although these two are top shoguns, they are inconspicuous characters within the Tokugawa family - the family world is like this, the hierarchy is extremely strict, and it is an individual who can score a high or low, and it has to be divided from multiple angles and different postures.

The members of the Tokugawa family from high to low are the Imperial Three Families, the Imperial Three Secretaries, and the Relatives - although there is a dispute over which of the Imperial Three Families and the Imperial Three Secretaries is higher or lower, the dispute is also an internal matter of the Tokugawa family, and there is no room for foreign ministers to intervene.

It's a pity that although Matsudaira and Matsudaira Tadayu are pro-feudal daimyo, as soon as you hear the word "Matsudaira", you will know that it is a Tokugawa split, and if you want to be really close, the Miao character must be "Tokugawa".

The shogun's family celebrates the death, and the Tokugawa family's relatives have all jumped out - not jumping out, no, the shogunate has been inherited for more than 200 years, and there is an endless struggle for power between the relatives and the daimyo of the genealogy, and the flag book - the foreign daimyo said that I will take a look and say nothing, but there are few times when the pro-clan has the upper hand, and in recent years, it can only be jumped a few times before and after the shogun succeeds to the throne, since it has caught up with the good time, it is natural to show a sense of existence.

But why can the pro-clan only bounce a few times before and after the general's succession to the throne in recent years?

Because the general is not stupid, the low-status and far-blooded relatives are okay, and they can be the elders, but this high-status relatives already have "righteousness" and strength, and if they let the family hold the power of the shogunate, won't their own branch be threatened? This is the same as the vassal kings of China, the higher the status, the more guarded they are, and they will not let you stand out easily.

But there is only one time when this is not the case, and that is when the shogun dies, and at this time, of course, the elders and brothers in the family need to come out to support the field - look, there are still people in my family, and no one wants to take advantage of the chaos.

Of course, it's not completely righteous, and there are many benefits in it - it doesn't matter whether the next Tokugawa shogun needs to be supported by his relatives, the important thing is that since he came out as a relative and friend to earn face for himself, the new shogun has to give some benefits afterwards anyway.

There are a lot of benefits here.

Cold pork can't be divided--vegetarian in the Edo period, so it's okay to give other benefits-for the sake of his loyalty, let the shogun order his son to be passed on to other daimyo families, or borrow some money directly from the shogunate, and order it again, and let the daimyo raise money to build a water conservancy, a castle, or a road for him.

If the new general is a little stupid, taking advantage of the fact that he is not sober when he first takes office, in case he promotes the person he recommends to the old middle school or other important positions, this will pay more - with great power, I am afraid that I will not have the opportunity to rub oil, it does not exist.

As a result, as the top sect, the three royal families and the three royal secretaries have ended.

At this glance, it was faintly headed by the old lord of Mito, Tokugawa Saiaki, who had always been unhappy with the deceased general's family celebration, and was not less suppressed on weekdays, but the world was unpredictable, and Qi Zhao actually came to a salted fish this time to turn over.

If you look at the Mito Tokugawa and the Mito Tokugawa, you can see that this is not strange.

The three families are Owari, Kii, and Mito.

The head of the family of Owari Tokugawa is Keikatsu, who inherited the position of head of the family of Owari Tokugawa from the branch Takashu four years ago, and the ancestral blood of Keikatsu comes from the Mito Tokugawa family, and he was also praised by Qi Zhao before succeeding to the throne, so the relationship between Keikatsu and Qi Zhao is very close.

Kid

Qingfu, the current head of the Sichuan family, is eight years old this year, so it can be ignored - it's okay to rely on retainers to support the field, but it's not okay to fight your heart now.

Not to mention the Mito family, Qi Zhao, as a hermitage hall, firmly controls the feudal government, and the head of the family, Qing Du, bows down to his father, who has accumulated prestige for a long time.

In addition, the previous heads of the two families of Owari and Kii were all hanging, so one of the three families left the scene automatically, and the two families advanced and retreated together with Mito Qiaki.

Yu Sanqing is the Hitotsubashi family, the Shimizu family, and the Tian Anjia.

The head of the Hitotsubashi family is Qingxi, seventeen years old this year, and the same previous head of the family also died, it stands to reason that although Qingxi is not very old, but as the head of the Ichitsubashi family, he can stand up and fight against Qi Zhao - he has little experience but it is still okay to carry a big banner, but Qingxi is the successor to the Hitotsubashi family, and his father is Qi Zhao! If you want to stand, you will also stand in Mito.

The head of the Tian An family is now Keiri, twenty-six years old this year, in 1839, after the head of the family Qi Zhuang ran to become the lord of the Owari domain, he succeeded to the throne, it stands to reason that he should stand up as a banner at this critical juncture, but this has a good personality, is more easy-going, and does not like to clash head-on with people, if it is soft and rigid, of course it is good, but this "Gang" has never been revealed, so the prestige is not enough.

The remaining Shimizu family is in the state of "Ming Yashiki", that is, there is no head of the house for the time being - Yu Sanqing is different from all other daimyo families, the territory is 100,000 stones, and the distribution is scattered, usually the shogunate is directly managed, and at the same time, the retainers of the Gosanqing are generally regarded as direct ministers of the shogunate, so there is no big problem with whether there is a head of the house, and the phenomenon of "Ming Yashiki" often appears.

This is from beginning to end, the three families, the three families, the three Qingli, Owari, Mito, and Ichibashi are grouped together, the leader is Tokugawa Saiaki, and the rest of the Kii family is young, the Shimizu family head is vacant, and the Tian An family head is weak, and it has become a mixed color, and the old lord of Mito, Qi Zhao, dominates the rivers and lakes.

Moreover, Mito's Qi Zhao and Owari's Keikatsu have a lot of allies, and those who have a good relationship don't need to be counted, and the princes who have blood relations are a large area:

Qi Zhao, who was fifty-four years old at the time, had many sons and daughters, the number reached more than thirty, and of course there were many children, of course, the main wife and the side room added up to a lot, many sons were passed on to other princes as sons, and most of the daughters were married to princes from all over the country as the main room, plus the wives' maiden families, Qi Zhao's latent power was extremely huge, and the total stone height of Mito and his allies was as high as nearly two million stones!

And the head of the Owari family, Tokugawa Keikatsu, is not ambiguous, he has two blood brothers, Matsudaira Rongho is the lord of the Aizu domain with a height of 230,000 koku, and Matsudaira Jokei is the son of the 100,000 koku Kuwana domain, plus 610,000 koku of the Owari domain, 30,000 koku of the branch clan, and nearly one million koku of the stone height in his own hands and his allies.

At this time, the total height of the table in Fuso is about 26 million stones, and 3 million stones account for a little more than 10%, which doesn't seem to be too much, but the territories of the relatives and the daimyo of the spectrum are only more than 9 million stones, and those 3 million stones account for more than 20%, so it is terrifying - as long as there are about 20% of the irons in any organization, or even less, 17% is fine, if you don't do anything angry, and then win over some other allies, you can dominate the situation.

Of course, Fuso hasn't summed up this truth at this time, but the truth doesn't know that the facts will speak, and the momentum of Qi Zhao's family is getting higher and higher after losing the suppression of the general Jiakei, and Koguri Tadashun, who returned to Edo, has a deep understanding - originally after seeing the strong ships and cannons of the rice people in person, only Mito Qi Zhao is the only one who insists on completely destroying the nine coastal defense hangings, and Qi Zhao's "fight when you see a Western ship" statement really has no supporters, but now Xiao Li found that the wind direction has changed greatly after two months, The number of shoguns who originally supported the continued delay or limited opening of the country was greatly reduced, and the number of people who supported Qi Zhao's views increased.

Of course, Oguri thinks that this is the courage of the unscrupulous, but he is just an "envoy" who came back from the northern land, even if he adds his identity as an imperial eye, he can only beat the side drum when making decisions on the major policies of the shogunate, and the big idea is still to be taken by the old people, so what is the tendency of the old people now?