The return ship sails on the Seto Inland Sea, and the warm sea breeze blows, making you feel warm and sleepy.

The Seto Inland Sea is a narrow strait as its name suggests. Later generations believed that the Seto Inland Sea was originally a basin, but at the end of the last glacial period, the sea level rose and the sea water inflowed into the ocean.

The Seto Inland Sea is a transportation route between the Honshu region, Shikoku and Kyushu along the coast, and has been a busy shipping route since ancient times, stretching from Osaka and Wakayama in the east to Shimonoseki in the west, about 440 kilometers from east to west, from the south coast of Honshu Island in the north to Fukuoka in Kyushu in the south, Matsuyama and Takamatsu in Shikoku Island in the south, and the width from north to south varies from 5 kilometers to 55 kilometers of islands, covering an area of about 9,500 square kilometers, and there are more than 500 large and small islands in the sea, such as Awaji, Shodo, and Eda.

Rice and citrus are cultivated along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, and fisheries and salt industries are also developed.

During the cruise, the weather was sunny and there were only a few light rains, and the scenery along the way made everyone very happy. Although the "Naruto Vortex", one of the "three major whirlpools in the world", was not seen because of the northerly route, which was between Awaji Island and Tokushima Island on Shikoku Island, the scenery of Itsukushima still made Naohide feel that the trip was worthwhile.

The return boat passed by Itsukushima in the afternoon, and the vermilion torii gate more than five feet high was majestic in the waves.

Itsukushima is one of the "Three Scenic Views of Fuso", the other two being Amanohashidate in Miyazu, in the north of Kyoto, and Matsushima in Miyagi, in the northeastern part of Honshu Island. In the "Examination of the Deeds of Fuso Country" written by Hayashi Harusai, a Confucian scholar of the early Edo shogunate, it is recorded that "Tango Amanohashidate, Mutsu Matsushima, and Aki Itsukushima are three wonders."

Itsukushima Shrine on the island is dedicated to the three goddesses of Ichichijima Himemei, Tashin Himemei, and Tuitsu Himemei, and is regarded as the "guardian god of the sea", and visiting Itsukushima Shrine was called "Itsukushima Shrine" in the Edo period, which was very famous and popular. The "Otorii" (the gate of Fuso Shrine) in the sea is the symbol of Itsukushima, and the torii gate in the sea, the shrine on the shore, and the surrounding blue sea and green trees form a beautiful scenery on earth.

After a six-day journey, the three of them arrived at Shimonoseki smoothly. On this voyage, because of Naoxiu's generosity, their relationship with the bow and the crew was already good, and after Naohide paid the boat fare of eight gold judgments and a small judgment of thanks, the bow arranged to unload the cargo, and Naohide first took two students to the customs office (checkpoint) to inspect the study tour documents, and then went to the bow recommended travel cage (private hotel) to stay.

Early the next morning, the proprietress of the cage brought a servant. It turned out that yesterday the bow of the ship arranged for someone to send Naohide's famous thorn (the Fuso name of the worship post) to the mansion of the ship's owner, Shiraishi Shiraishi felt very curious after seeing Naohide's famous thorn, so he arranged for the servant to invite Naohide to come to the house.

Shiraishi Shoichiro, known as the vault of Choshu because of his wealth, was the owner of a large ship shop in Sanyo Province.

Sanyo Road is one of the "Seven Roads of Gogi" in Fuso. "Goki and Seven Provinces" is the administrative division of the whole territory of Fuso under the Ritsuryo system in ancient times. "Gogi" refers to the five countries in the Gyeonggi region, and the other territories outside Gyeonggi are divided into seven provinces in imitation of the Chinese Tang system, and later the Meiji regime changed the name of "Ezo to "Hokkaido", and then there are "Goki and eight provinces".

The name of the Seven Provinces of Goki was officially used from the Nara period until the abolition of the feudal domain in the early Meiji period.

Sanyo Province refers to the eight countries west of Kinai on the Seto Inland Sea side of Honshu: Harima Province, Misaku Province, Bizen Province, Bigoku Province, Bigo Province, Yasuki Province, Shuho Province, and Nagato Province, Choshu is another name for Nagato Province.

The detailed name of the current place name is a certain town or village in a certain country and a certain county.

Shiraishi Shoichiro can now be described as a rich party, and the area of the house is very large, and Naohide can't even see the range from the outside. After entering, the courtyard is surrounded by mountains and rivers, winding paths, colorful trees, and flowers blooming in late autumn.

Shiraishi's wealth reached its peak more than a dozen years later, when there was a saying in the world that "there are chivalrous merchants in Maguan", which meant that as long as the people who came and went north passed through Maguan, they would definitely come to Shiraishi's house as a guest, and Shiraishi would be very enthusiastic to receive those who were as poor as beggars and entangle them. If you want to defect to Changzhou, Shiraishi will also match them, Shiraishi did not come out of the new regime, but after Shiraishi's death, he was posthumously presented by the new regime, and it was also a good talk to receive this honor as a businessman.

After entering the seat and tea greetings, Naohide once again thanked the returning passengers and presented a thank you gift. Baishi people are very bold, and after accepting the gift with a little excuse, they directly asked Zhixiu's intention, "Zhixiujun has traveled thousands of miles to study, what are your plans to Changzhou?" If Shiraishi can do his best, please speak. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Shiraishi, Naohide is very happy to be able to visit Mr. Shiraishi, who is proficient in Chinese studies and waka, in person", Naohide never looked at Shiraishi Shoichiro in front of him, he greeted Shiraishi Shoichiro in a proper manner, and only when he was about to say goodbye did he ask Yoshida Juka, the heir of the Choshu prodigy Yamakaru Soldier's school.

"Where did Naohide-kun know about Yoshidaden?" Shiraishi was surprised, because Yoshida Jufang was only thirteen years old this year, and he was a famous prodigy in Choshu, but he didn't expect his fame to spread to Edo.

"In the cone bag, the end of the opinion, in the next in Edo heard a certain flag main hall mention, it is said that Yoshida-kun was able to explain the art of war in public two years ago."

Shiraishi pondered for a moment, "Does Naohide-kun have any other arrangements besides meeting with Yoshidaden?" ”

Naohide said that he was already satisfied to meet Mr. Shiraishi, and that if he could ask Yoshida to teach him the art of war, then he would have no regrets about the trip, and that he would need to go to Nagasaki as soon as possible to visit his teacher, Ito Genpo.

Shiraishi Shoichiro said that Yoshida is now in Hagijo, the seat of Choshu Governance, and he will check if there is a return ship to Hagi Castle recently, and then send someone to inform Naohide and invite Naohide to play around Shimonoseki together, and Naohide agrees.

Back in the Brigade, Toranosuke and Gakujiro were amazed by the luxury of the Shiraishi family today, while Naohide pondered on the sidelines. According to the time calculation, Murata Kiyofu, the main force of the reform of the Choshu Domain, should be about to lose ground, so how much will Shiraishi Shoichiro be affected? Will visiting Shiraishi by himself achieve the goal of meeting Yoshida Kikata?

When I think of Murata Seifu, I think of the Chōshū reform, and then I think of the Tenpo murder and the Tenpo reform.

Fuso called the agricultural famine a "murderous work", and the "Tenpo murder" occurred in the fourth to tenth years of Tenbao (1833-1839), and the climate of Tenpo was changeable and prone to frost and heavy rainfall, the Okuwa flood, and the Kanto region was stormy many times, and the harvest in the western country was only one-third of the previous year, while the central part of Honshu, Hokuriku and Tohoku regions were either one-third or no harvest, and the whole country had a great harvest, which is historically called the "Famine of the First Year". In the next three years, agriculture did not improve, and the harvest was only 40% of what it was before the Tenpo murder, and more than 100,000 people died of starvation in the northeastern part of Honshu alone during these four years. From the 8th to the 10th year of Tenpo (1837-1839), there was a nationwide plague and plague, and the 11th year of Tenpo was barely a normal year, but the subsequent bad year lasted until the 14th year of Tenpo (1843).

Against the backdrop of the agricultural famine, which led to a sharp rise in the price of rice and the misery of local townspeople and farmers, the shogunate and local daimyo resorted to various measures to save the social plight, which is historically known as the "Tenpo Reform".

The shogunate took various relief measures, such as supplying rice, setting up shelters for disaster relief, restricting the manufacture of sake, lowering the retail price of goods, selling stored rice, and prohibiting the hoarding of goods. In response to the crisis, the feudal domains also made efforts to secure food supplies, but in reality, due to the lack of grain production in Jeongfuso at the time of successive poor harvests, the situation was not able to obtain external food supplies under the policy of locking the country, so the situation improved but could not completely solve the problem.

The end of the Tenpo reform took place in the 12th year of Tenpo (1841).

In April of the 8th year of Tenpo (1837), Tokugawa Iekei was inaugurated as the 12th shogun, and in the leap month of the 12th year of Tenpo (1841), the Tokugawa Ieki of the Great Imperial Palace died suddenly, causing everyone around Ieki to be deposed.

In the measures, there is a continuation of the previous system, and some new contents have also been added:

1. Strict economy and prohibition of luxury. Orders were made to reduce expenditures, to ban the use of expensive clothing, and to prohibit the sale of high-end foodstuffs. It was stipulated that peasants' houses and meals must comply with the ancient customs of the peasants, customs were corrected in the cities, books were censored, and writers Liu Ting Tanehiko and Wei Yongchun Shui were punished. At the same time, the samurai were rewarded for practicing martial arts to boost their morale.

2. Control the urban population and issue an "order to return to agriculture." Famine flowed into the peasants in the major cities, accounting for almost three-tenths of the population in the surrounding rural areas. For this reason, it is stipulated that all persons shall return to their hometowns, except for those who are in regular business and have wives. Restricting peasants from moving to the cities and lowering wages for hired peasants was aimed at strengthening the natural economy, consolidating smallholder operations, and preventing the landless poor peasants from moving to the cities, hoping to revive agriculture.

At the same time, famous agronomists such as Ninomiya Sontoku were hired to serve as the "Imperial Puqing Servants" to promote agricultural technology and knowledge.

3. Dissolution of the "Zhu Zhongma" (Privileged Guild). Commodities destined for Osaka and Edo were no longer required to go through the Zhuzhongma, and village officials, wealthy farmers, and other concurrent commodity producers and wholesalers were allowed to buy and sell products freely, thereby strengthening the circulation of goods.

Fourth, straighten out the finances. The shogunate had an annual deficit of 500,000 taels of gold due to extravagance and waste, so it issued new coins to make up for its revenue. On the other hand, heavy taxes were imposed on the townspeople in order to save the finances.

At the same time, the debts owed by the daimyo and the banner to the shogunate were reduced in half, or the debts owed to the shogunate were re-lented to them, so as to maintain the dignity of the samurai class.

Fifth, carry out military reform. Through the "Lanfeng Tales" submitted by the Lan Merchant Museum and the "Tang Renfeng Tales" submitted by the Chinese merchants who traded with trade, the Sino-British Battle of Guangzhou in 1840 greatly shocked the shogunate. In the 12th year of Tenpo (1841), the elder Nakamino Tadashi ordered Takashima Shuntomi Shigetsu to hold a Western-style infantry and artillery live-fire exercise in Musashi Kunitokumaruhara.

6. Issuing a notice. In the 14th year of Tenpo, he ordered that the territories of the daimyo and the banner in the area of ten li around Edo and five li within a radius of five li of Oban (Chiyukiji) should be transferred to the direct jurisdiction of the shogunate, and the princes within this area were transferred to other lands.

Because of the thrift order, Mizuno Tadakuni offended the shogun, Ooku and the superior samurai, and the dissolution of "Zhu Nakama" and the increase in taxes to the townspeople led to the opposition of the beneficiary group, because the Westernization of the system and armament caused the disgust of the traditional samurai, because the Shochi Decree offended a large number of relatives and daimyo and banners, according to the historical trajectory, the confidant Torii Yaozo, who had rebelled against the chief old Nakamizuno, threw himself into the position of the old Naka-Doi who opposed the Uechi's order and leaked secret documents, and Mizuno Tadakuni was impeached and removed on September 13 this year.

The Tenpo reform improved the administrative efficiency of the shogunate, reduced the financial expenditure of the shogunate, controlled the flow of population, improved agriculture, promoted the circulation of goods, and stabilized the social order, but limited to the agricultural technology at that time, high-yield technologies such as fertilizers, pesticides, and improved varieties had not yet appeared, and the grain output could not be greatly increased under the policy of locking down the country.