The platform was chaotic, and people shouted and neighed, but everyone in the carriage did not look bored, especially Saigo Yoshinosuke, who looked out greedily with excitement.

"After a long absence, Zhiyu is inevitably thinking." Okubo casually explained for Saigo - after all, the three giants of Hakokan are all there, and you Saigo only stare out the window when you get in the car, what kind of trouble is this?

Hearing this, Naohide smiled slightly, he knew that Massuke Okubo and Saigo were friends of the general horn, but now it is the beginning of the month, and it has been eleven years since they were separated, and even the last time they met was three years ago, this friendship has lasted for a long time, which is really enviable.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the other side, and there was also a pair of friends sitting there, Hori Riki and Egawa Youngtoshi, these two are also enough - Hori Rixi's grandfather is the head of the university, Lin Shusai, his uncle is Torii Yaozang, Lin Shuzhai is a Confucian leader, Torii is a shogunate known for being conservative, and Yingmin's father, Mr. Tanan, is a giant of Orchid Studies, but now the two of them are actually like one person, which is really an outlier.

Regarding this, Naohide once specially asked Youngmin for advice - he is not at ease if he is not consulted, if Hori Toshiki plays Infernal Affairs for him, it will be a bad dish.

"Hori Rihee, he's been an outlier since he was a child. I don't know what's going on, anyway, he actually loves Lanxue, the kind that he doesn't change after repeated teachings. ”

Naoxiu understood as soon as she heard it, isn't this a rebellious mentality, "The more you don't let you do it, the more you do it, I understand." ”

"Besides, although my father was brought down by Torii Yaozang, but later the elimination of the Torii official has nothing to do with my Egawa family. Therefore, the two families are not feuding. This is in the Northland, everyone is unlucky, what do you care, you have to be open-minded. ”

Yes, Naoxiu was made a disgraced face, which can be regarded as a villain.

Later, he slowly observed that this Hori Lixi is really a beautiful moonlight, except for a little good name, he really can't find anything bad about anything else - and what is bad about liking to clear his name, not to mention his demeanor, this gentleman can also be bullied.

For example, in May 1860, Naohide fooled him into participating in the Battle of Aihui, and although he was very dissatisfied when he returned, it was obvious that Hori Toshiki began to return to his heart.

Hori Rixi's dissatisfaction is not because he participated in the unauthorized border provocation, he thinks that Naohide and others are not bright enough, this advanced ordnance is a lot of them, thousands of elite soldiers (estimated), and obviously there is collusion with the English, what is the intention?

But before joining the war, Naoxiu and Youngmin made it clear to him, saying that the white lord was holding a lot of things, but in order to resist foreign insults, he had to do so, otherwise no matter how big the belongings, the hesitant lords in Edo would have to be defeated.

Since Hori Riki was appointed as the Hakodate commissioner in the spring of 1855, he has suffered a lot from the Westerners, first by the rice people, and then by the Lucia in 1858. So before participating in the battle of Aihui, he didn't think much about it, and he went away with this enthusiasm.

During the battle, he fought beautifully, and he was too late to get excited, and he had to be free to figure out what to do afterwards.

But after pondering this time, he found that something was wrong, originally thought that Zhixiu was secretly hiding good things or secretly developing strength, but thinking of his interactions with the white lord over the years, he realized that the water in it was too deep!

On the way back, he secretly chatted with Jiang Chuan Yingmin, "What does this Zhixiu want to do, is there a disobedience?" ”

"Phew!" Youngmin smacked him in the face at the time, and then told him what he had done since Nao-su secretly ran away overseas in 1846 and returned to Fuso in 1849.

Yingmin is Nao-so's fan brother, and he praises Nao-su as a flower-seeing, and everyone loves him, and he also thinks that "now that the shogunate is declining, non-Nao-su is not able to turn the tide."

Hori Rishi began to be bluffed for a while, although he was the queen of the famous family - the Hori family is the big body of the shogunate, and his father Hori Riken was a big eye from the 2nd year of Honghua (1855) to the 5th year of Ansei (1858), and then he was also appointed as the top of the flag "stayed", but Naohide went abroad for too long, and the shogunate has been turbulent for more than ten years, so there are really not many people who know it now.

"Is it so exciting? Nobody told me,"

Hori Lixi is like listening to a legend, and it took a long time to react, what does this have to do with colluding with foreigners and conspiring with private soldiers? No matter how much you do, this is not an act of loyalty!

Yingmin had no choice but to tell the story of the two battles of Miaotun and the two times a year with the Anglo-Buddhist coalition army to sweep the northern territory of the Lu people.

But he didn't complain - speaking of the Battle of Hakodate in 1858

"The white dog eats, and the black dog is a disaster", but when he participated in the battle of Aihui, he learned a lot about what Lucia did, people are not reasonable at all, burning, killing and plundering is a tradition, so it is a fool not to resist in advance. As for the Hakodate office at the time, most of them could only blame themselves for their lack of innovation.

"Are you sure Naoxiu didn't sell himself to a foreigner?"

Ying Min laughed, "This matter of selling ancestors, my Jiangchuan family can do it!" ”

This Hori Rishi believes that Egawa is a branch of the Genji, and it has been a famous family since the Kamakura Shogunate (year), and it has been passed down for almost 700 years, so it is really unnecessary and impossible to spoil the family style.

Hori Toshiki heard from Youngtoshi that Naohide had made a great career overseas for three years (1846-1949), so he had some strong foreigner relationships, and of course he didn't believe it—what could he do in three years, he would go to the ship for a year, and then take two years to gain a foothold, and maybe he would have to rush back as soon as he found his way.

This fan brother Yingmin is angry, since he arrived at the white master in the seventh year of Jiayong (1854), not only has he done a lot of happy and dripping big things, but also all the way to the top, and now he is the well-known head of the Egawa family in the northern land of Qianshi, so he naturally refuses to let Hori Lixi question the idol Naoxiu.

But Zhixiu and others have been vague about what they did in the United States - how can this biggest hole card be opened until the critical moment, Yingmin can't come up with strong evidence if he wants to refute it, so as soon as he is in a hurry, he will blush out the matter of Xianheng Yangxing.

In fact, the specific roots of Xianheng Foreign Company are not known, but it is certain that he has a lot to do with Naoxiu, so the strength of foreign friends is also a good proof - the shogunate's acquisition of external information and purchased ordnance over the years, including the earliest Westernization of the naval army, Niriyama steelmaking, and ordnance imitation, all rely on the great help of Xianheng Foreign Company, as long as they know, no one can deny their merits.

But Yingmin Qian should not have leaked the shogunate's "exchange of Fusang gold for overseas silver" through the Hamhyung Foreign Company.

Hori Rixi was anxious when he heard it, his father Hori Riken was a big eye from the 2nd year of Honghua (1855) to the 5th year of Ansei (1858), and he also knew a little about Xianheng Foreign Company, but why didn't he get the slightest news about "gold for silver"? Don't you love me anymore?

This gold and silver exchange ratio has changed dramatically, which is remarkable, Hori Toshiki has repeatedly held important positions in the shogunate after his pride, and he understands the stakes in this, "a slight mistake is a disaster that shakes the fundamentals", so he doesn't care about questioning Naohide, and wants to go back to Hakodate to ask for details in person.

In fact, Hori Toshiki only served as the head of the small surname group for a few years, the imperial eye of the family for one year, the imperial envoy of Matsumae Omoto (special envoy) for one year, and the Hakodate commission for three years, and by 1860 he was forty-three years old, but because of his prominent family background and a particularly powerful father, there was someone to take care of everything, so he really had no concept of the sinister heart of the people.

But it is precisely because of his relatively simple mind that Zhixiu and others dare to win him over, and change to an old fox with thousands of mountains and rivers, do people dare to believe it?

In fact, I have repeatedly considered winning over Hori Lixi Naohide's family, after all, the risk is too great, and if it fails, it will not be able to stand on its own immediately.

Although the most unfortunate thing is to fall into the water and die, but how to clean it up is a difficult problem, the important eyes and ears of the shogunate, and the father of the family is in a high position, this matter must be strictly investigated by Edo. But Naoxiu and others have done a lot of "bad things", and when the time comes, check a big hole, so what can I do?

Since Naohide took over Hakodate in the autumn of 1858, Hori Toshiki has been the head of Hakodate, but he has been quite cooperative, and many things have been turned a blind eye, so is it necessary to change rashly?

Moreover, Naohide, Gakujiro, Hidetoshi, Manjiro, Ryoma and others did not approve of "falling into the water and dying", thinking that "once this case is opened, the poison will be endless", and today "I have no choice but to make this decision", and in the future, everyone will follow the example, that "accidentally falling", "taking the wrong medicine" and even "choking on drinking water", this trick is too much.

Although everyone has violated countless prohibitions of the shogunate, they have never done anything dirty, and even if they turn over old accounts in the future, they can also say "with a clear conscience" that "the shogunate is unconscious, and it has to be done" - don't underestimate the righteousness, you can get more help externally, and you can work together internally.

At that time, the debate was fierce, and in the end, Naohide persuaded everyone that this "falling into the water and dying" must not be done, and it is a big deal that Hakodate is self-reliant, anyway, "the assassination of Odai Ii, the people of the government and the wild people are panicking, even if the news leaks, Hakodate is safe."

At the beginning of May 1860, the Hakodate Office, or the Naohide family, was so powerful that it was difficult to hide it—at least, Hori Toshiki, who was the Hakodate Commissioner, could no longer see the problem, which was really impossible.

By the end of 1859, the population of Kita-Ezo had swelled to nearly 33,000 people, and the number of people in the Ezo land under the jurisdiction of Harahakodate had reached 47,000 - not counting the resident merchants, their guards and associates, the soldiers and horses of the Date, Satake, and Tsugaru families who helped defend the Ezo land, and not counting the Matsumae family who were struggling to guard the Ezo land near Fukuyama Castle.

Moreover, in September of the 6th year of Ansei (1859), the shogunate ordered Date Keibang, Hoshina Yoho, Nanbu Toshio, Satake Yoshiharu, Tsugaru Seori, and Sakai Tadashi to reclaim Ezo land. Although in 1859 they only sent people to negotiate the area, in the spring of 1860, the immigrants of these six families began to enter Ezo one after another.

Anyway, there were less than 1,000 people in each family, so Naohide assigned them to the Ishikari Plain and the Tokachi Plain, and mixed with the reclamation group in the early stage.

The six can't fault it, after all, it's all a plain by the sea, and the Hakodate Office promises to provide relief, which is good. The only thing to worry about is that the port operators are not allowed to participate, but Naohide has a record of defeating Rusia in the Battle of the White Lord, and the Hakodate Commission organized a military drill, and the families also pinched their noses and admitted - the shogunate asked you to participate in the reclamation, but it didn't say that the fief was given to you, so be it now, and you have to wait for something to stand still.

However, the six companies have entered Ezo, and there is a lot of contact, and the new policies implemented by Hakodate cannot be concealed at a glance.

Among them, the most important are two things, compulsory education and the whole people are soldiers.

This compulsory education is the foundation of the Zhixiu family, although it is carried out in the name of the township school, but this can not be concealed from people with a heart - only in 1859, on the private account of the Hakodate Commission, the education expenditure was more than 155,000 days to guarantee a small judgment, and the number of people at the end of that year was less than 80,000. Although it is impossible to understand in depth, it can be estimated that the six will be estimated in the future, and this box museum has invested a lot in education, so the question is, where did it get so much money?

After 1859, although the shogunate stopped subsidizing the annual 100,000 gold of Hakodate, when Hakodate opened the port, 80% of the tariff was paid to the commissioner's office, which was not much, only 2,000 gold that year, but this was a small amount of income, and it should not be underestimated after years and months.

Besides, the annual tribute of the shogunate is only 2,000 seal skins, which is only 6,000 gold, but the shogunate still has 15,000 gold for the annual subsidy to the Matsumae family because of the recovery of Ezo land? The shogunate has been paying this money.

As a result, you have the money to engage in education for all, but you don't have the money to raise the annual tribute, which is too much to say, right?

As for the whole people, yes, in view of the threat of Lucia, the shogunate agreed, but you Hakodate village soldiers use iron cannons, what kind of trouble is this? Some of the shogunate's sabor still used swords, guns, bows and arrows.

Of course, this use of cold weapons is the stubbornness of some samurai of the shogunate, but to be honest, the number of weapons produced by Hakodate does not match the reported amount, is this part of it falling from the sky?

In addition, in 1860, the number of industrial workers in Hakodate will exceed 4,000, and although most of them will be in Toyohara in the northern Ezo land and Soya in the northern end of the Ezo land, it is becoming more and more impossible to hide this product.

In this case, in order to continue to keep it secret, then Edo's eyes and ears in the Northland, "Hakodate Mefuko", must completely fall to the Naohide family, and this key person is Metoki Hori - as for changing someone to choose to be the eye, there is a high probability that it is not as good as Hori Rishi. As for the six families who helped the reclamation and the unwilling Matsumae family, they could only hide it as much as possible, and the so-called concealment was also for a while.

In short, the risk of failing to win over Hori Rixi, Naohide has to take it if he doesn't want to, because the strength doesn't allow it.

Besides, Naoxiu and others are not without confidence:

Although in early May 1860, when Hakodate sent troops to Aihui, the stabbed Ii was still "recuperating at home", but even if the eldest Ii did not die, this "blatant assassination" of the shogunate could be easily stopped, and the shogunate and the Kyoto small court and the feudal clans had trouble.

And Hakodate is also strong at this time - all the people are soldiers, it is over, the fixed number is 1,002, but there are 800 private soldiers and 17,000 village soldiers, and if you really fight, don't look at the population is only 70,000 or 80,000, but the shogunate has to break the big teeth if it starts a war rashly.

Even if it is not an advantageous naval army, the white lord also has a new type of steam ship and a big killer weapon like fish & mine, which is not false anyway.

As for the sons of each family raised in Edo, according to what the white lord did, it was light to raid the family and exterminate the clan, and they all had to die anyway, so they could still be so scrupulous - if they lose, they will definitely die, but if they win, there is still a way to live, and they have to recruit peace if they hurt people and set fire to them.

Unless the Naohide family gives up the idea of interfering in the political situation of Fuso, sooner or later there will be a conflict with the shogunate, but after all these years, is it too late to turn back?