Chapter Twenty-Four: The Butterfly Becomes a Great White Goose

In the eighth month of the second year of Bunkyu (1862), the Yokohama Koyo Bank was established with Mioka Hachiro as its president, and its business was mainly short-term lending to merchants who traded with foreigners.

It turned out that the foreigners bought Fusang properties, and the small amount was fine, but the large amount often had a three-month account period, and the Fuso merchants were all troubled:

One, pressing the account for three months, isn't the capital turnover tense;

Second, the risk of this cannot be said to be absent, although it is not common for foreign businessmen to run away, there are also some, and for this reason, each family has sent people to watch over Yokohama, and it has increased a fee for no reason.

And the reason for the foreign merchants to do this is also very strong, the Fuso merchants often raise the price in groups, and as soon as the three-month account period comes out, in order to get the money as soon as possible, the alliance of the Fuso merchants cannot be maintained - of course, the three-month money and interest accumulate into a lot, which is also an additional input for the foreign merchants.

Therefore, as soon as the Yokohama Quanye Bank appeared, it was a great benefit to Fuso businessmen:

The payment slip of this foreign businessman can now be directly handed over to the bank for mortgage and cash, although some interest has been paid, but for the sake of capital turnover and risk aversion, it is definitely worth it.

And I'm willing to take three months to settle the bill, and I didn't say no.

This is one more road, who dares to say that it is not fragrant!

As for the banks, because of the background of the shogunate, foreign merchants are not too difficult, so some of them make money, and the future is promising.

The banquet was held on October 15, and the Yokohama Bank began operations two months ago, and the first batch of foreign merchants' payment receipts acquired by it began to be realized at this time.

When Mioka Hachiro mentioned this, he was naturally full of ambition, and the courtiers here were also very happy.

Why are these people happy?

Of course, it's because the bank also has its own shares, which is a good thing that there is no loss, not to mention that when I heard President Mioka say this, dividends can be expected, which is not an unexpected joy.

At the beginning, the winner Fang Nakahisai Hiroshu proposed the establishment of a Western-style bank, and then obtained the consent of the shogunate.

Similar to the two substitute merchants of Zhonghua Qianzhuang, etc., they have long appeared in Fuso, and the most famous is the "Ten Group of Two Substitute Merchants" in Osaka, which was established two hundred years ago.

Now that the shogunate has set up its own Western-style bank, not to mention that "the samurai are not good at business", and regardless of the innovation in structure, name, and bookkeeping, what the hell is it that you can save money and pay interest?

You must know that even if you want to deposit money at the door of a wealthy businessman like "ten people and two substitutes", you also have to pay a storage fee to others, and as for the interest on the money, you can only have it if you ask these wealthy businessmen to lend.

There is money to be taken casually like this, shogunate, are you serious?

Therefore, the princes and shogunates all thought that this was a new posture that the shogunate had studied, in order to loot money.

But the latter view is a little shaken, because the shogunate did not adopt any strong laws to require deposits, but after all, the time is still shallow, and it is possible to catch big fish with a long line, so everyone is still waiting and watching - since the opening of Fuso's port to the outside world, the economy has withered and the people have not made a living, but in fact, there are still a lot of rich people, but they are just suffering from no way to invest.

But individuals can wait and see, but the princes can't completely stay out of the matter:

In June, the edict of the small imperial court, didn't it say that the shogunate should select the five princes to assist the government, and the operation of Keixi and Keiei, who governed the government, actually linked this matter to the bank.

The original shogunate system, the imperial court was in charge of the shogunate, and this power fell into the hands of the daimyo and the big banner, and now, Fuso is shaky, and the shogunate is centrifuged, in order to tide over the difficulties together, in order to prevent the princes from running to support the imperial court, anyway, this separation of powers is imperative.

But how to operate it specifically, that is, "the benevolent see the benevolent, and the wise see the wise".

This Fuso is small in size, and the turmoil in recent years has a lot to do with the opening of the port to the outside world, so this domestic and foreign trade can be regarded as the top priority today.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Keiki and Keiei regard banks as a stepping stone for deepening cooperation between the shogunate and the clan.

In the past, the shogunate arbitrarily put all the tariffs in their own pockets; Now, it is through the Yokohama Quanye Bank that it has opened an opening and opened a model of equal interests.

Don't look at the turbulent discussion now, but after all, the shogunate has been a monopoly for more than 200 years, and the princes, especially the outsiders, really don't have the idea of ascending to the sky at this time, so after carefully considering the pros and cons of the bank, everyone has become a shareholder.

this

In the first year of Mangen (1860), in the leap March, Edo issued a Gosin Edo Order, demanding that five kinds of goods be purchased and sold in Yokohama, including miscellaneous grain, water and oil, wax, wufu, and raw silk, and this management right naturally fell into the hands of wealthy merchants who were close to the shogunate.

Now, taking advantage of the establishment of the Yokohama Bank, the shogunate has opened its mouth, saying that the five-product return order will continue to be implemented, but the management rights can be liberalized, and now the royal merchants of each family can come to get a piece of the pie.

Actually, the shogunate also had no way:

The five-product Edo return order stipulates unified purchase and sales, but many powerful daimyo do not abide by it.

For example, the raw silk with the most profits, who has a way, has started a secret trade, and if there is no way, then find a partner with a way, anyway, no one will let the shogunate rub oil in vain.

Now that the management rights were liberalized, Yokohama's trade growth was just around the corner, so the advantages of the bank were immediately manifested, and there was a saying that the wealth was strong, and whoever controlled the bank undoubtedly controlled the merchants and trade shares in disguise.

To tell the truth, if it weren't for the shogunate, the risk and the limited capital, the princes would have been eager to open such a bank themselves.

In addition, the shogunate also changed its original domineering style and made the Yokohama Koyo Bank a semi-government institution, and although it was under the jurisdiction of the surveyor, the personnel and management were completely autonomous, and all the investors negotiated with each party.

In order to show sincerity, although the first capital of 100,000 gold was issued by the shogunate, even the president was served by Mioka Hachiro, a member of the Echizen Fukui domain.

It is seen as a small bank, but in fact there is a prospect of remote control of trade with foreigners, so since the shogunate is willing to share the fertilizer, there are naturally people who support it.

After today's dinner, each of them has contributed capital in the bank, among which Keiyong, Keiki, and Shimadzu are the most, each with an investment of 30,000 gold.

Seeing that Keiyong's henchman Mioka Hachiro was talking boastfully there, and there was a lot of flattery in the audience, Keiki's mastermind Fujita Biao couldn't sit still, and he couldn't help but stab:

"It's imminent, but this bank is helping foreigners to trade, I'm afraid it's not appropriate."

This remark made a big splash on the scenery, so the audience was stunned as soon as it came out:

"What does this person think? The bank, your master, is also involved, is this drinking too much and starting to talk nonsense? ”

In fact, everyone doesn't know the inside story, and Fujita has a thorn in his heart to say this:

Those of you here, Echizen of Keiyong, Matsuyama of Laozhong Itakura, Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, and Minami Kata, and even the Matsushiro Domain, who was born in Sakuma Zoyama, were all rich, and as for how the money came from, it was all related to the development of the industry and trade.

Mito, where Fujita Biao was born, has always been agricultural-oriented and spurned commerce since Qi Zhao's Tenpo reform, so it has been hit hard after opening its port to the outside world, and is now extremely poor.

Originally, the people of Mito were not short of ambitions, and they could also comfort themselves with strong soldiers:

"We just don't care about crooked things or something.

Now is the time when Fusang is in danger, and it is the first thing to strengthen the army to resist foreign aggression. ”

However, the white lord cooperated with Aizu Kamiraku, and the Northland soldiers arrived at Nakominato by boat on September 4, and arrived in Edo within three days of passing through Mito, and this incident completely stripped off the last fig leaf of Mito:

Although the white lord didn't fight with Mito, it seems that he can see the advantages and disadvantages.

This helmet is bright, the boots are loud, the height is strong and high-spirited, the Mito samurai are all ashamed of themselves, this is not enough to eat, not warm to wear, but the spirit of pride has been compared, how can this be broken?

Afterwards, someone in Mito went to Edo and complained to Fujita Biao about the matter, and Fujita was angry at the time, thinking that the white lord Matsumae was a minister, and the landing from Nakominao was intended to give Mito authority.

Since the head of the old family, Qi Zhao, this Mito and the shogunate have not been on good terms, so it is understandable that Fujita thinks so.

In fact, he really guessed correctly:

The route of the White Lord's troops was to go south along the Tokai Road, from Oshu to Edo.

As for the port of landing, in the vicinity of Edo, of course, it is not possible to violate the shogunate's ban on soldiers entering the port, but it may not be impossible to fight for it in Shimokokucho Choshiminato, Shimoda or Nirayama in Izu.

And Naohide had to choose Nakaminato to land, it was really not good-intentioned, he just wanted to deter the Mito Tengu Party, don't sit in the well all day and watch the sky, be arrogant, have that leisure, farm well or do some economy, and live a small life

It's better than anything to have a prosperous life!

This Mito Tengu Party is worried about the country and the people, Naohide doesn't dare to have an opinion, but if you disagree, you will use a knife and a gun, and even put people to death, which is too arrogant, and if it is a disease, it will be cured.

Therefore, Fujita is crooked, and he really did not wronged Kitachi, and from Naohide, the white lord Matsumae family was dissatisfied with Fujita and even the general Gomi Keiki.

But Fujita is dissatisfied and dissatisfied, and it is a bit self-conscious to stir up trouble in public:

Not only Naoxiu, but all of you, including Sakuma Zoyama, who is also the mastermind of Keiki, who is not incompatible with Fujita, everyone is a well-known role in their country, this colonization and industry, and vigorous trade are made by these people, how to drop, do you Fujita have an opinion?

Even if it is not as big as the Luzon eagle's wingspan of 2.2 meters, there is also a big white goose with wings spread of 1.4 meters, and if you make a goose feather fan, it is also very magnificent.

The impact of the chaos is so great that let's take the people here today as an example:

Mito Fujita Biao, who did not die in the Great Edo Earthquake of 1855, is now alive and vibrant, and can still spray people with a clean mind;

However, Sakuma Zozan of the Matsushiro Domain not only did not live because of the drag of the student Yoshida Jukata, but because of the support of the Northland, he made great achievements in the breeding industry of the Matsushiro Domain, and now he has hooked up with Keiki two years ahead of schedule - the Matsushiro Domain has many mountains and basins, and the climate is similar to that of Ezo, so it can be seamlessly connected to the Akuchi agriculture and aquaculture industry.

As for Yokoi Shicun, this Mr. Konan now has deep roots in the Higo Kumamoto Domain, although he is still not on good terms with the old man of the family, so he cannot be reused in the Domain, but in the mouths of wealthy merchants and wealthy farmers, this can be worshiped like a god descending from the earth.

The remaining three of Keiyong's four confidants, Tsunaki Hashimoto did not die in Ansei Prison, and Mioka Hachiro, who is now the president of the bank, has become the head goose of the in-depth cooperation of the shogunate, only the Nakane division has changed the most, but now the Fukui clan is much stronger than the original, and he has benefited a lot from the rising tide.

Next are Saigo Takanaga of the Shimazu family, Yoshida Jukata of the Choshu Mori family, and Yoshida Motoyoshi of Tosa:

This Saigo did not throw himself into the sea with the monk Yuezhao, but under the arrangement of Naoxiu, he went to Beimi to study for further study, and now he has returned to Fuso, and has won the trust of the head of the family, Qi Bin.

Of course, I didn't go to the desert island to be exiled, and this second spring is gone, but Naohide believes that Saigo, who has a beautiful family now, will definitely not care about this.

And Yoshida Jufang, like Hashimoto, escaped the fate of death in Ansei Prison, and he also got his wish to go to England to study, and now he is the side of the head of the family, Maori Keiqin, and was able to participate in the politics of Changzhou, which can be called a god-like flip.

As for the other Yoshida, Yoshida Motoyoshi of Tosa, he is even more majestic in real terms, and others are the henchmen of the head of the family, but he is sent to be the father of the head of the family.

Although, in the fourth year of Ansei (1857), the fourteenth generation head of the family, Yamauchi Toyonobu, in view of his growing authority, found an excuse to remove him, but wasn't Toyoshin unlucky in the Ansei prison, and Motoyoshi took the path of the twelfth-generation head of the family who was still alive and took advantage of the situation to recover.

The new head of the family, Toyonobu, was young, Toyonobu was cautious in Edo, and Toyoshinobu was old, and Yoshida, who had learned a lesson, took the opportunity to completely reform the shogunate, breaking the distinction between sergeants and townsmen in Tosa for more than 200 years.

Relying on the influence of these years of painstaking management and economic development, Tosa is now a complete Yoshida party.

As for the assassination that originally happened in April this year, because the Tosa Qin Wang Party had not become a climate, it naturally did not happen - now life in Tosa is good, and the villagers also have a chance to get ahead.

As for the last Okubo Riji and Ryoma, they are now hot figures in the Northland, one is the head of the civil officials who look forward to his own self-pride, and the other is a rising star who is deeply anticipated, because Okubo is not thinking about the fall, and Ryoma has no chance to be a "chic" ronin.

Poor Mr. Fujita Biao of Donghu is now facing the fruits accumulated by Naohide after 20 years of chaos, so even if he has a mustard, even if he feels out of place, but in fact, what waves can he turn over.

Seriously, Naohide really didn't take Fujita seriously, what he was thinking about now was how to take advantage of the situation to suppress Keiki, and then further promote Keiei's reform of the shogunate.

In the second year of Wenjiu (1862), it was actually a very good time, the time, the place, and the people were all together, and it was a pity that it was not a big deal.