Fuso referred to the traitor as a riche, that is, a person who wielded a knife against his companions.

At this time, in Satsuma Kamiyashiki, there were four people sitting, the master Shimazu Saibin, the envoy Ohara Shigetoku, and the two old Nakawakizaka Yasuya and Itakura Katsushine.

Wakisaka and Itakura informed Qi Bin that "the shogunate wants to appoint Qi Bin as the old man", and as soon as the news came out, the four of them looked at each other, no one spoke, and the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

Why don't you speak?

Because these four people all know that in the edict of the Ohara Belt, there are "three policies", one of which is, "The five major coastal feudal lords, Date, Shimazu, Yamauchi, Maeda, and Mori, these five families have outstanding merits and can participate in national politics as the five major bosses", but now the shogunate actually took the lead and appointed Shimazu Saibin as the elder before receiving the envoy.

There is no such coincidence in this world, someone must have leaked the news in advance, so the shogunate took the initiative to resolve the small court's intention to win over Qi Bin in advance.

Therefore, everyone has the same thoughts, that is:

"! Sure enough, there is a richer, but who is this person? Which side did it do? ”

In fact, not only did the envoy Ohara and Qi Bin who accompanied him look ignorant, but the two old middle schools who came to the door, Wakisaka and Itakura, were actually quite surprised in their hearts:

Just two days earlier, on June 6, 1862, Matsudaira Keinaga convened the first meeting of the "Great Elder" at which he proposed to appoint Date, Shimazu, Yamauchi, Maeda, and Mori as the senior high schools.

It turns out that if the "big elder" does not come out, then the old middle of the shogunate is the top shogunate.

And this position has always been selected from the genealogy of the daimyo of the dynasty, and there is a tradition, that is, the territory of the candidate cannot be too big or too small, generally above 25,000 stones, less than 100,000 stones—this territory is too small, its own strength is not enough, its prestige is insufficient, and the position of the old middle is unstable; And the territory is too big, and there is a danger of gaining power.

Mizuno Tadashi, the former chief of the old middle school, in order to successfully ascend the throne, once reluctantly changed his family from the Karatsu Domain to the Hamamatsu Domain - both of them are 60,000 meters high, but the Karatsu Domain is rich, and the real height is more than 100,000 stones.

Therefore, Qingyong's proposal to propose five coastal families as the old middle schools shocked the six old middle schools at once.

Because there are too many slots, I can't spit it out for a while - "Where do you start to refute it?" "Isn't that embarrassing.

But Qingyong is not a foolish critic, it naturally makes sense for him to dare to say this - if there is no Zhixiu indiscriminately, Qingyong July, Qingyong, who is in power in the shogunate, is a fierce man who dares to change the position of "elder" to "president of governance"!

Therefore, he beckoned his hand and asked his attendants to invite in the big eye Fu Izawa Masayoshi.

"Misakumoru, tell everyone about it."

Seeing Ize come in, the six elders were all shocked.

Why?

Although this old man is noble, the real power of the shogunate is in the hands of the flag book, and these people, as the direct subordinates of the shogun, regard themselves as the eagle dogs of the Tokugawa family.

Don't say anything else.,Big body flag and daimyo quarreled.,It's not for nothing that you pull out a knife and cut each other.,The most famous.,The eldest son of the old Nakata Marsh Yiji.,All of them have achieved the high position of Wakanian.,Dad was still a real power at the time.,That's not the same.,Flag Ben Sano Masano said that he would be hacked to death - although he was held accountable afterwards.,But there's a hair.,People are gone.。

Moreover, as the apex of the official path of the banner, this post has a big eye to pay and a post to stay behind, both of which are not the hardcore henchmen of non-public generals.

Damu Fu is nominally under the management of Laozhong, but has the right to play the general, so it must not be taken lightly.

Therefore, this Qingyong and Ome Fu Ize colluded together so quickly, and it was very scary to think about it.

Izawa Masayoshi came in with a smile, and after greeting Shi Li, he began to pour beans:

"On May 21, the Kyoto Imperial Court established a new official position, called 'State Secretary of the Imperial Palace', and about 27 ministers served in office, most of whom participated in the 'Eighty-eight Secretaries of the Court'. And the envoy Ohara Shigetoku who came to Edo this time was one of them.

This is the news that the Osaka Clippers just sent yesterday. ”

It stands to reason that after the news was told to the elder Qingyong, he should immediately report it to the old school, but now the six old middle schools have no time to complain, because the news is too exciting!

Although the establishment of official positions seems to be the right of the small imperial court - the official positions are under the control of the royal family, in fact, this is not the case at all:

Since the opening of the Tokugawa family, the "Prohibition of the Laws of the Imperial Government" has stipulated that "the ministers of the Imperial Administration, the ministers of the left and right sides, and the regents must choose the 'instrument user'".

The meaning of this sentence is that whether there is a "instrument" or not, the shogunate has the right to judge

can be used to intervene in personnel appointments.

Major changes in the government, such as the creation of new official positions, were not in accordance with the law of etiquette without the consent and written signature of the Imperial Minister, the Left and Right Ministers, and the Regents—that is, the shogunate could interfere in the affairs of the court by being close to his minister.

But now, suddenly there is an official position of "the secretary of state affairs", the shogunate doesn't know about it, no one tells us, this public and military combination is imminent, how can the Kyoto court be so ignorant!

Listen, this "royal use of state affairs" shows that it is necessary to intervene in major politics in a righteous and bright manner, and it is inflated, iron.

Moreover, most of the candidates are people from the "Eighty-eight Secretaries of the Court", can this be a serious person?

Wasn't it because these people made trouble that the shogunate violated trade with Western countries? They disagreed, and in the end, the shogunate could only bear the black cauldron of foreign trade.

Speaking of which, the six old middle schools, Hisashi Hiroshu, Matsudaira Nobuyoshi, Mizuno Tadashi, Itakura Katsushine, Wakisaka Yasutaka and Inoue Masano, although this is not a heart, but it has been done in the old middle, even if it supports the combination of public and military, then it will definitely not be able to sit all the ass on the side of the court.

Therefore, everyone is staring at Itakura Katsujing, which means:

"What's going on? You are the king's Qi Zhao family, hurry up and talk about it. ”

Itakura was so angry that his eyes turned black, and he thought to himself, why is this!

"Although I was succeeded to the Bichu Matsuyama Domain, I was the son of Matsudaira Dingyong, the lord of the Kuwana Domain.

Because the current head of the Sang family, Dingjing, is one of the four brothers of Takasu, he and the two heads of the four brothers, Owari Tokugawa, Keishu and Maode, are close, so they are regarded as the Qi Zhao line.

It's really picked up, everyone is not clean - this long life, Matsudaira don't mention, the four of us who are newly in power, who doesn't hook up with Qi Zhao and the family now, otherwise why should they be on top:

For example, Inoue Masachi your kid married to my Itakura family, and he was also a relative of Wakisaka's house - of course, the two of us are the hardcore, and I am close to Qi Zhao's family, so you have to follow;

Mizuno Tadashi, you married the princess of the Inoue family, not to mention, but because of the collusion between the transfer and the Inoue family, the previous head of the family was still ousted by his brother-in-law Masahiro Abe, otherwise, can we get together;

And Wakisaka Azuta, you are a cutter, if you are not related to my Itakura family and the Inoue family, and you have been driven down by a long time, who cares about you. And if you want to talk about the inside story of this court, you Wakisaka should know best!

Itakura Katsujing is close to the Owari Tokugawa family, and Owari is one of the cores of the Qi Zhao family of the king, why does Itakura feel that Wakisaka is closer to Kyoto than himself?

Of course, it's because of Wakisaka's identity as a riche, and when it comes to this matter, the two old middle schools who stayed in office, Jiushi and Matsudaira, are also inseparable from each other - feelings, these six old middle schools are more or less clean, either they are now friendly with Qi Zhao's family, or they have contact with the imperial court.

It turned out that in order to promote the integration of public and military, the original old middle school first Jiushi was once colluded with the Maori family in Changzhou, but as a result, the Maori family saw that Jiushi was about to collapse, and sold Jiushi as soon as he turned around; And Wakisaka Asutaka has an in-law with the Maori family, so he was able to catch the boat of the Gongwu Combination instead.

The Maori family has been intimate with the imperial court recently, and this Wakisaka can't receive any rumors, which is impossible.

However, Wakisaka, who has thick eyebrows and big eyes, jumped from the moderate founder to the side of the hardliner Iyi, and after striking at the Gongqing and Qi Zhao family in Ansei Prison, he has now turned around and relied on the relationship of the Maori family to promote the combination of public and military, so although the three Itakura have formed an alliance with him, no one dares to have a deep friendship with this Riche - who knows if Wakisaka will jump back tomorrow.

If it's for this reason, Wakisaka doesn't tell you any news, which is also understandable - a few days ago, everyone shook hands with the Jiushi family and made peace, didn't they notify Wakisaka in advance, there is fifteen on the first day of the new year, which is very fair.

Itakura winked his eyebrows to show his innocence, and he turned his head to look at Wakisaka, trying to divert everyone's attention to the man.

Don't say it, this trick is really useful, at least he will be fooled for a long time, he looked at Wakisaka viciously:

"Riche, you must know about this, because according to the time, at this time, the son of the Maori family, Dingguang, is already in Kyoto, so you have no ventilation?"

"This is innocent and innocent, why!"

Wakisaka was full of grievances, but he couldn't tell the difference, because the Maori family who joined forces with him did not take Jiushi lightly.

As for how Wakisaka and his in-laws, the Maori family, deceived Jiushi, this matter is a long story.

Although it has now been reconciled by Qingyongju of Qi Zhao's family, Itakura and Jiushi have reconciled, but thinking of the origin of this incident, he still can't help but gloat a little, "Let you reconcile in the middle and the left and right, this time you will be trapped." ”

It turned out that the long time before knew what he had done, and the Wanyan (1860) coinage made the princes of the Western Kingdom not shallow, and the main storage coin depreciated greatly

, the same as robbing, can you not attract hatred.

Moreover, in June of the sixth year of Anzheng (July 1859), the three ports were opened to the outside world, and the prices soared and the people's livelihood was difficult.

Therefore, when the Maori family came to the door and said that "the Maori family has a way to stop the negotiation", the two ruling elders, Hisashi and Ando, were immediately hooked because they were being scolded.

After careful questioning, well, it really sounded like the same thing, so the two agreed to ask the Maori family to mediate.

This suggestion, which became famous in later generations, was called "Navigation Strategy", and was proposed by the Maori family's Nagai Shiyong. This person is a famous family in the Maori family in Choshu, and he is from the same line as the head of the family, and he has won the trust of the head of the family.

What is this "Navigation Strategy" talking about?

To put it simply, it is not advisable to use force to destroy the country, and only by actively strengthening the strength of foreign trade can the situation of being bullied by Western countries be reversed.

The relationship between "Navigation Strategy" and the combination of public and military forces lies in the fact that Nagai believes:

"Only when the imperial court and the shogunate are in harmony (the imperial court orders and the shogunate executes) can the national theory be unified, and then there will be the conditions for the implementation of the nautical strategy."

From the Kyoto side, the "Navigation Strategy" clearly placed the imperial court above the shogunate, which is okay; The Edo side felt that if the imperial court could agree to trade with foreign countries, not only would there be people to share the burden of foreign trade, but also the gap between them would be bridged, and there would be fewer people who would oppose themselves under the guise of the imperial family, and wouldn't it be good.

Nagai Tokiyong was the "Navigation Strategy" proposed by the head of the family in March of the first year of Bunkyu (1861), and after discussion among the retainers, it was officially adopted as a feudal theory.

In May of the same year, Nagai was ordered to go to Kyoto and asked to meet with Minoru Sanjo, the prince of Nagon Masajincho, and submitted this proposal. After that, the ministers of the Gongwu faction expressed their support.

In this way, Nagai went to Edo again in June, persuaded the old man in July, and got Ando Nobuyuki in August.

At this point, the head of the Maori family, Qingqin, can finally go out in person:

In November, Keijin arrived in Edo.

But at this time, the form also changed, and the sound of the earthquake was great, and Qingqin shrank and began to paddle.

However, by this time, Nagai had already been unable to ride a tiger, so in December, Nagai, who had worked hard and twists and turns, finally obtained permission to come forward on behalf of the Mori family and officially proposed a long-term navigation strategy to the shogunate.

But it was not until the first month of the second year of Bunkyu (1862) that the change outside the Sakashita Gate occurred, and the old man Ando Nobuyuki was assassinated, and there was no progress - the imperial court did not say anything, and the shogunate did not say anything about increasing the opening of the country.

After that, the situation against Hisayo and Ando gradually became clear, and Nagai, who had no choice, only had to go from Edo to Kyoto again in March and try to make a last stand.

The head of the Mori family, Keiko, saw that the old man Ando Nobumasa had been deposed on April 11, and he finally gave up, and at the end of that month he sent his son Dinghiro to Kyoto to express his approval of the rebellion, and he officially changed his position.

And the ascension of Ataka to the throne of Maywakasaka, in addition to the help of other allies, the support of the Maori family is also an important factor.

So, if there is love for the house and the black, there is hatred for the black and the bird, and now Itakura Katsujing hints that this long time Hiroshi decided that Wakisaka Anzhai knew about it and did not report it.

Among the six elders, in addition to Wakisaka himself, Itakura, Mizuno, Inoue and Hisashi all suspect that Wakisaka is holding back, and the remaining one, Matsudaira Nobuyoshi is naturally not exempt from vulgarity.

Speaking of which, Matsudaira Nobuyoshi is also a founding faction, and because of his in-laws with the Makino family, he has a very good relationship with Abe and the Hisashi lineage who are good friends with Makino.

Therefore, the Maori family has pitted the long-term family through "Navigation Strategy", and he is also one of the victims.

And counting, the Xinyi from the Kameyama Domain is even worse, and he is still a victim of Anzheng Prison because of his family's in-law relationship with the eldest Jing Yi, but he has not been less in Anzheng Prison to shout for Jing Yi, and now the king's Qi Zhao family has turned over, in fact, he is more afraid than Jiu Shi.

Therefore, due to the Maori family's anti-water, the navigation strategy was completely defeated, and this Matsudaira Nobuyoshi was also particularly hostile to the old Nakawaki Saka supported by the Maori - Nobuyoshi was not besieged, one reason was that he was the eighteenth family of Matsudaira, and he was still a little preferential as a branch of the Tokugawa family, and the other factor was because the Kameyama Domain and the Sakai family were also in-laws, and the Sakai family was now also secretly exerting force, so more or less, Matsudaira Nobuyoshi also borrowed light.

But Wakusaka is really aggrieved, he really doesn't know why the imperial court suddenly came up with such a strange plan, and he has to set up a new official position on May 21 "The Secretary of State Affairs".

The pressure in everyone's eyes is getting bigger and bigger, and it makes Susaka feel like sitting on pins and needles, but he suddenly raised his head, this old Matsudaira Keinaga is not one of the main generals of Qi Zhao's family, why don't you suspect that he already knew that he had colluded with the imperial court?!