Since the beginning of the 19th century, whether Fuso himself realized it or not, in fact, its fate was closely related to China, especially the Yarrow War (1856-1860) had a strong impact on it:

At the beginning, in the first battle of Dagukou in 1858, the Anglo-Buddhist alliance won the battle, forcing the head of the Dalaojing Yisao Department to resolutely sign a trade agreement with the foreigners;

In 1859, the Second Battle of Dagukou was won by China, which made the Fuso high-level waver on whether to adhere to the establishment of trade and commerce, and then prompted the Ii family to be swept away after the Sakurada Gate Incident;

By the end of the war in October 1860, Eifo finally gained the upper hand, and the shogunate at this time for a long time, Ando returned to his original position - foreigners could not be provoked, and it was necessary to think long-term.

But there is a price to pay for swaying from side to side like this, and when the upper echelons hesitate, the wind of Fuso has become the climate, and even Westerners feel the pressure.

According to the trade agreement signed in the 5th year of Ansei, Fuso opened the three ports (Nagasaki, Kanagawa, and Hakodate) to the outside world on June 2, 1859, the 6th year of Ansei (July 1, 1859), and the two ports were to be opened immediately:

The port of Niigata opened on January 1, 1860 in the Western calendar;

and Edo on January 1, 1862;

Hyogo and Osaka on January 1, 1863.

With the exception of Niigata, which was abandoned by Westerners due to too many sandbanks, by the first year of Bunkyu (1861), the opening of the ports of Edo, Hyogo, and Osaka was imminent. However, in view of the high atmosphere in Fuso, the British minister Ali Guo actually agreed to the shogunate's request to postpone the opening of the market, but asked him to send an envoy to Europa to negotiate with various countries in person.

"I don't eat any meat in my mouth", this is really a rare sight, which shows the great momentum of the storm at this time.

In fact, the upsurge of Fusang is also deeply influenced by China:

The Yarrow War, which began in 1856 and ended in 1860, was a time when the Anglo-Buddhist and Chinese were at odds, and the trade continued to suffer greatly – of course, the turmoil caused by the Long Hair Revolution was also an important factor.

In July 1859, Fuso was officially opened to foreign trade, which was equivalent to discovering a pillow when I was sleepy, so many foreign merchants came to Fuso from China to trade.

So this year, that is, the first year of Wenjiu (1861), the economy was hit hard in just two years - prices suddenly rose to the sky, and people's lives suddenly deteriorated sharply, but what is even worse is that the large export of raw materials led to the Great Depression of Fuso's handicraft industry.

This cost increases and income decreases, and under the attack from both sides, there can be a good!

Take hand-spinning as an example, at that time spinning was a major source of livelihood for ordinary people, and it was estimated that 40% of households used spinning to subsidize their living income - in terms of households, not 40% of people engaged in this work, if 40% of people spindled yarn, how could they pay it back.

However, after the influx of foreign cloth and yarn, because the price was only half of that of the local counterpart, hand-spinning became unprofitable, and women stopped working, and the proportion gradually increased, and by the end of the Edo period it had been reduced to one-tenth of its original size, because the homespun cloth was thick and the foreign cloth was thin, and a small market was still more or less retained.

The opening of the country and trade made the lives of the people extremely poor, and it also affected the lives of the samurai—the income of the shogunate and the feudal domains decreased, so that half-knowledge and knowledge were reduced, and even worse the number of ronin gradually increased.

And the root cause of all these difficulties comes from the founding of the country.

Therefore, although the strength of the shogunate is still there, and even because of the reason for Naohide's indiscriminate entry, the advantage over each domain is greater, but such a big fist in a casserole is useless - after being subdued? It's not that you have to be hungry, you can't solve the fundamental problem.

Last year, the first year of Manyeon, Hakodate's statistics on the number of large-scale births in Fuso were 43, and the average number for the Tenpo Great Famine (1833-1839) was 32.5!

Moreover, in the past, the appeal of the one was dissatisfied with the deputy or the pursue, so through the one beat this fierceness

the "Yue Sue", which demanded the attention of the shogunate or feudal lord; But now, many ordinary people (peasants) do not make demands at all, and directly attack the government, and refuse to pay annual tribute and various taxes and forced labor after burning the "land inspection account".

There were also frequent rice riots in the castle town, also more often than during the Tempo Great Famine - you must know that the townspeople were richer than the common people, and since most of the samurai of each family lived in the castle town, it was really surprising that the castle town was in turmoil.

What does this mean?

It shows that the shogunate and the feudal clans are unpopular and eat jujube pills.

Therefore, the shogunate has been actively saving itself, and Edo can still take care of the distant Hakodate-who will not care about you if there is no big mess.

At this time, it was a critical moment, and the game between the Tokugawa family and the small imperial court in Kyoto and many foreign daimyo had reached a critical juncture, and all actions were carried out closely around the huddle for warmth, that is, the combination of public and military.

In short, the ship of Fusodu is about to sink, so let's unite and find a way.

The so-called Gongwu Combination is the union of the small court of the public family and the samurai shogunate.

The original proposer was the old lord of Mito, Tokugawa Saiaki, and later, when Ii was in power, he found that it was broken, and the opposition united under the banner of the imperial family, which was not easy to do, so he wanted to draw a salary from the bottom of the kettle, "It's okay to get together, but the initiative should be on the shogunate's side." ”

In the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the difficulty of the Wuwu period in September began, but in October of the same year, the old middle of the country was in Kyoto, and while arresting people, he was ordered to start testing whether the imperial family could marry a daughter to Nishimaru-like Ieshige.

At that time, the ruling shogunate was fierce, and of course the small court in Kyoto did not dare to harden it, so it dealt with it vaguely.

However, Akaonii was also a person, so by the time he was stabbed to death in March of the first year of Manyeon (1860), the matter had been basically finalized.

As a result, no one expected that something happened to Yi before the dust settled, so the matter had another twist and turn.

But the boiled duck could still run, and on April 1 of the first year of Manyan, the shogunate sent the Kyoto office to submit the internal petition for marriage to Sekihaku Kujo Naotada.

At this time, nearly a year has passed since the three ports were traded to foreign countries, and the momentum of this rebellion has risen, so the small court in Kyoto began to raise prices, but it was dragging left and right anyway, and it just refused to agree.

Although the big fist can't solve the fundamental problem, but if you can't manage a lot of things, you can solve people, so under the threat of the shogunate, on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Japanese calendar, the Japanese palace finally said yes - coincidentally, it was also the day of the death of Tokugawa Saiaki, the old lord of Mito, the leader of the Shoyi faction.

Legend has it that the shogunate also made concessions, and it is said that the two consuls, Hiroshi Nakahishiro and Nobumu Ando, promised to start the rebellion in July of that year—not by force immediately, but to "delay the pace of foreign trade and gradually abolish various agreements within a decade or so, so that Fuso could return to the former paradise." ”

On October 9, the shogunate sent tribute to the palace to marry, on December 21 the envoy Sennai thanked him, and on the 25th the ceremony was held.

The problem, however, was that the shogunate had just made a promise to "delay the pace of foreign trade," and as a result, a treaty was signed with Prussia on December 14.

Therefore, the small court in Kyoto felt that they had been fooled:

On June 17 of that year, the shogunate signed a trade agreement with Franky, and as before, there was no agreement, but at that time, it was not confirmed that he and Miyashita would marry.

But what's going on this time?

Still disrespects the royal family, ignore me and sign it, this is too burying people!

Speaking of which, this is due to the fact that the small court in Kyoto is closed to news, and it is completely unaware that the shogunate was shocked by the final defeat of the Qing court in the Arro War - the shogunate itself has its own problems, and this mysticism is going back and forth, and the blockade of news is a thief, and as a result, it has pitted itself.

So the matter was delayed again.

You must know that at that time, Emperor Fusang had great expectations for the combination of public and military forces, and with the threat of his own abdication and the monkhood of the palace, he was able to deal with the ministers who had been clamoring for force, and now their faces have been thrown into the sea, can you not be annoyed!

Later, after repeated explanations by the shogunate envoys, this matter was finally restarted, but as a price, Jiamao, the object of the palace's relationship, must be made the imperial princess by the prince Nishimaru before the marriage ceremony, and the royal princess will become the imperial platform, so it must not happen that this kind of yin and yang will not happen.

What do you say about this requirement?

It's not too much.

It's too much, and it's the first time that the small court has interfered with the inheritance of the Tokugawa family, but the problem is that the princess used to marry the daughter of a top minister, and he never married a princess of the royal family!

There's a big saying here:

The royal princess has the right of inheritance in Fusang, although the Fusang emperor at this time has a son, this right is not used, but what if?

At that time, my husband will be the general of Zhengyi, and my wife will be the emperor of Fusang, and I will have children, and this public military will not be combined, but united!

With the wolf-like nature of the shogun, this "inherited from ancient times" minister has not been wiped out.

Therefore, the imperial family has taken such a big risk, and your shogunate has defaulted on the contract first, so don't you have to show some sincerity now?

After the news was transmitted back to Edo, the shogunate was in an uproar, this used to be reluctant to let the child trap the wolf, but now it has become the old man, what is going on!

But calm down, everyone thinks it's still earned:

After all, the small court is an empty shelf, and when this princess marries, it is obvious who takes advantage and who suffers.

Besides, this public family is not to say that he is sloppy in government, and his temper is also weird, but it is the Nishimaru family that is smart and decisive and generous, and at the age of sixteen, he showed the bearing of Mingjun, and it is good to change it.

So, at the instigation of everyone, the first old middle school had to report the matter to the public family.

In fact, Jiushi didn't want to change the master, after all, the family was slack, and it was he who was cheaper.

But he also thought about it clearly, now that there are internal and external troubles, the first seat of the old middle school has changed like a marquee, so it is good to change to a decent public square. Besides, Nishimaru is only sixteen years old, even if he is pro-government, he probably still has to rely on himself.

And all of them, these shogunate governors didn't end well:

From the first visit of the black ship in the sixth year of Jiayong (1853), the first seat of the old middle school at that time was his brother-in-law Abe Masahiro, and as a result, he stepped down two years later - this is not bad, after all, after ten years in power, he was the winner of Fang Laozhong for two years, and then retired from illness, which can be said to be a complete retreat;

Later, Hotta Masatsu was driven down after only being the head of the old middle school for more than two years, and he was also held accountable in the Wuwu disaster;

Da Lao Jing Yi swept the head of the department, and was stabbed to death in less than two years.

"It is effortless to see people carrying firewood, and they are burdened and bent their waists", speaking of which, the position of the shogunate is not easy to do now, and this combination of public and military forces now seems to have a lot of benefits, and it is better to bridge from it.

But after a long time of calculation, I never dreamed that when I heard that I didn't need to be a businessman, not only did I not get angry, but I danced with my hands, which blinded the worries of the courtiers!

Because of Naoxiu's chaotic intrusion, under the mistake of the sun, the Gongfang family was seriously ill in the fifth year of Anzheng (1858), but he did not die, but now there are more and more internal and external troubles, and there are more and more bad things, so he really didn't want to do this position for a long time.

Therefore, when he heard that the small court asked Shizi Jiamao to succeed him, he was so happy, "Understand me!" You know me! ”

The biggest obstacle imaginary is gone, and the natural combination of public and military forces begins to go smoothly.

In April of the first year of Bunkyu (1861), the shogunate reconfirmed it in Kyoto and the small imperial court, and it was done!

When the news spread, the Fuso Shogunate rejoiced, feeling that it would naturally be a new scene after the joint efforts of the public and military forces.

But Zhixiu opened the hanging, of course, he knew that this was an empty joy, so he increased the construction of internal affairs.

As a result of everyone's efforts, in early October 1861, the first railway in Fuso was finally opened in Hokchichi.

Whether to give priority to power and strategy or industry, the competition on the road to reform has finally officially begun.