One day in early July of the first year of Manyeon (1860), the new place of the Bigo Fukuyama domain was bustling with activity, and the people of the eight villages of Liangli, Mizuto, and Komae gathered here.

The peasants who had been assigned to the land forgot their complaints when they went abroad to serve in the past, and despite the mud, they knelt down in it and kept kowtowing to the lord of the domain, and the voice of "British lord" was endless

But the side of the person Eki Shigetaro, but he did not stay by the side of the head of the family as usual, he has experienced thousands of mountains and rivers, and understands that "on this day of limelight, the glory should be enjoyed by one person alone".

He can understand the pressure of the head of the family, so let him be happy today.

Twenty-one-year-old Abe Iyo Shou Orthodox Church, in the eyes of others, is a noble man who enjoys endless prosperity, but in fact, the Orthodox Church, which is under great pressure, is actually very troublesome - but who is not the important minister of Fukuyama in the past two years.

Although the Abe family is a famous family of the shogunate, there is no surplus food in the family of the Daimyo of the Spectrum.

On July 1, 1859, Nagasaki, Kanagawa (Yokohama), and Hakodate were opened to foreign trade. Prices were boiling that year, and there was no sign of improvement in the past few years.

It stands to reason that the foundation of the Bigo Fukuyama Domain is not bad, it is located in the Seto Inland Sea, the transportation is convenient, the territory of 110,000 koku is also quite rich, and the reclusive Abe attendant of the main hall has been the first of the old people for many years. But after the fourth year of Anzheng (1857), the family's finances have deteriorated.

In June of that year, Abe's attendant fell ill with a sudden illness, and after he finally recovered, he resolutely resigned from his position in the old middle school, despite the repeated retention of the public and the important ministers.

Everyone understands this truth, but the Fukuyama Abe family didn't expect it to be so fast. Perhaps dissatisfied with the old feudal lord's insistence on resigning, although the shogunate did not strictly pursue the family's loans over the years, the new loans were never given again.

Intimidated by the prestige of the secluded hall for many years, no one dared to complain publicly, but the retainers all said in private:

"The financial embarrassment of the feudal hall is not due to the loyalty of the main hall."

Abe's attendants had served in Edo for many years, and they held important positions, and they were quite incorruptible, but they had to support the rich and noble shelf because of their vast travels, so they spent a lot of money, and according to the recent popular saying, "the bottom bag has come up" - there is no money for a long time.

For many years, the family's finances were supported by borrowing money from the shogunate, but this loan was suddenly interrupted, and it was immediately unbearable.

Shigetaro Eki still remembers the situation at that time, in July of the fourth year of Ansei, the eighteen-year-old Orthodox lord took over as the lord of the domain, and he felt a little young and high-spirited, and the inauguration ceremony was also hastily completed, which was quite shabby.

In order to save money and avoid suspicion, the main hall was deeply rooted in the administration for many years, and after many books, in the autumn of the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the hermit hall quietly returned to Fukuyama Castle from Edo.

As a close person to the main hall, after traveling to the whole collar, he told him about the current situation of the withering of all industries, and the "old tears" of the main hall at that time - you know, this is the "wisdom of Shizhou" Lord who collapsed in front of Mount Tai and did not change his color.

"I boast that I only hold the sky with one hand, but who knows that my family is restless."

At that time, the main hall looked more sad than dead, and Eki Shigetaro couldn't forget it.

A penny is difficult to beat a hero, even if Abe's father and son and Eki both boast of their talents, they can't do anything without money.

"One hundred thousand taels of gold!"

No one expected that the new acting minister of Nirayama, Taro Egawa Saemon, would come to help, and it would be such a large sum of money as soon as he made a move! - Of course, Yingwu didn't have that much cash, and only 40,000 Tianbao small judgments were sent that year, and the other 60,000 gold needed to be sent in batches in the next two years.

Living in seclusion in the hall all his life and being kind to others (long-sleeved good dancing), he promoted a lot of talents when he was in power, but he didn't expect that in the end, he would be rewarded with kindness.

Ryotokuin - The old family owner Abe's attendant became a monk after living in seclusion, and once sighed with his confidant who had been giving advice for many years:

"Looking at it this way, Taro Saemon is really on the right path."

In the third year of Honghua (1846), Ryotokuin promoted Egawa Tanan to the Kanji Ginmi Service.

To tell the truth, despite the kindness of such a revival and promotion, Jiang Chuan was suppressed many times later for the promotion of Lanxue, and although the Liangde Academy repeatedly helped, but in terms of heart, there was no special protection in the main hall.

On the contrary, it was Egawa who changed the flying of the year, took the initiative to retreat many times, and endured humiliation to advance his career to the point where the shogunate is indispensable today - Nirayama Iron Works, which is now the largest steel plant in Fuso; Izu Province has also become a well-known place of wealth.

Unfortunately, on the 4th day of July in the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the well-intentioned Egawa Tanan died of illness due to overwork, and everyone who heard it at the time regretted it.

Since the second year of Honghua (1845), when the old lord was promoted to the first seat of the old school, Eki Shigetaro was the mastermind beside him, how not to know the unfinished meaning of the main hall of this sentence, "The shogunate has been repeatedly tossed for so many years, and countless ministers have their own ideas and ambitions, among which Egawa Tanan won in the end, and he can see the most clearly, and he has gone the farthest and most successfully."

。 ”

If you don't have it, you don't want to do it.

The hermitage hall is exhausted for the shogunate.,Discouraged.,This in order to no longer wade into troubled water.,Officially became a monk.,How is the shogunate.,Like the floating clouds on the horizon.,Now it's better to put it aside.。

The money from the Egawa family was like timely rain to relieve the suffering of the Abe family, and with this money, the Fukuyama clan began a firm path of self-salvation.

Fourteen years of shogunate elders, including ten years of chief, although the main hall itself is arrogant about the level of governing the shogunate, but such an experience, governing the territory of 110,000 stone is more than enough - although it is known as seclusion and decentralization, monks and secular people, but in the eyes of people like the old family master and Jiang Mu, it is said that it is said to be done, and at most it is more secretive, if you really want to keep your promise, are you a fool?!

Salt and iron are the great interests of the country.

Although the iron smelting is expensive, it is too much investment and too much movement, and the monarchs and ministers put it aside and do not consider it; On the contrary, this salt pan, with the sea-proof cement provided by Jiushan, can be carried out in a big way.

In the summer of the sixth year of Ansei (1859), the salt in Fukuyama was produced on a large scale, and the whole family cheered for it.

But this is only one of Fukuyama's new policies, and agriculture, textiles, and industry and commerce are all quite impressive today.

Hakodate pursues Naohide Hori, although it is famous among the people for the battle of the white lord, but in the eyes of the main hall Abe Isemoru and Eki Shitaro, he is a master of internal affairs "Famous Prime Minister" - this alone went to the North Ezo land, and made such a feat with his white hands, others don't know, this pair of monarchs and ministers can not understand the reason! The victory of this sword soldier is first in money and food. As a proud disciple of Jiangchuan Tan'an, it can only be said that "a famous teacher produces a high apprentice", and it took seven years of hard work to accumulate savings to become famous in one battle.

Zhixiu didn't know that what he did had always been concerned, but it was just that it was far away and his actions were different, and everyone was reluctant to bring it up to cause controversy.

In the second year of Jiayong (1849), Naohide returned to Fuso from overseas, and he wrote a "smelly and long" Jianbai book at that time, which seemed to be "no news and no waves" over the years, but in fact, since the first visit of the Miren Black Boat in the sixth year of Jiayong (1853), there have been concerns from people who have long been concerned.

Besides, every time he made a major achievement, Egawa Tanan wrote a book saying, "This matter has been foreseen for a long time, please transfer him back to Edo to show his strengths." Jiang Chuan has achieved a lot over the years, so he has written a lot, so the bigwigs and important ministers are tired of hearing this.

With Egawa here, it's hard for everyone to forget about Naoxiu.

Therefore, the Jianbai book in the second year of Naoxiu Jiayong's second year is actually not unread, but because it involves too many shocking experiences, it is only circulated in a small area - of course, the readability is recognized by everyone, so there are too few people who can read it.

"Iron and cloth are the first priority in the future internal affairs."

This sentence, based on the experience of these years, Abe Isemori and Eki Shigetaro recognized this very much - yes, originally, the official position of the hermit hall was an attendant under the four products, but after the "Wuwu Difficulty" began in September of the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the hermit hall took the initiative to ask to resign from his official position, and now he is no longer the "attendant" of the imperial court.

Why?

First, the official position was given by the small imperial court in Kyoto, and now that Edo and Kyoto are at odds, resignation can avoid suspicion;

Secondly, after the "Wuwu Difficulty" began, the retainers promoted by the old family lord in the past began to lose power, which is also a gesture that should be made by being soft.

Originally, they were all secluded and monks, and this retention of official positions was just a favor from the shogunate to the old ministers for many years.

Sure enough, after the book, it is said that the head of the Odaii Iza was satisfied, and the official position of the attendant was removed, but the "Isemori" retained it - at this time, the small court in Kyoto had been cleaned up by Edo.

"It's so hot today." Shirtaro, who has been the head of the family for two generations, continues to churn in his thoughts.

Iron doesn't dare to do it, take a step back, and the cloth will have to do it.

But this can be done, it is still the credit of the people Jiang Chuan Tanan in Nirayama - before Jiang Chuan's death, in addition to the small blast furnace, Napoleon cannon, bottom blowing acid converter steelmaking method, front-loading rifled cylinder, but also improved many agricultural tools and manufactured a lot of machinery, including the long plough for ox ploughing, the steam tank pumping machine, and the weaving machine for Fuso linters.

Thinking of this, Shigetaro mourned in his heart, a great talent like Jiang Chuan actually left early, it's a pity!

Back then, whoever paid attention to these "kitsch and obscene skills" must have been staring at such a major event as ordnance, but now that Fukuyama has implemented a new policy, these civilian instruments have finally been remembered.

Even the money was sent on his own initiative, and the new acting official of Nirayama, Egawa Yingwu, naturally would not be stingy with these, and he who was also the head of the iron-making office immediately arranged for his subordinates to arrange these equipment into the task - as long as it did not affect the production of ordnance, the shogunate would not care, and the money earned in his hand was purely extraneous. Anyway, it's not just Fukuyama who wants it, but now Satsuma, Higo, Hizen, Chikuzen, Tosa, Choshū and other families are coming to buy it, and there is money to make this production capacity increase rapidly.

By the time the spinning machines and looms were in place, and then under the guidance of the craftsmen of the Nirayama Iron Works, it was already the summer of the sixth year of Ansei (1859) when the textile factory opened, which happened to be the time when the salt fields were produced.

It is worthy of its name, and it is very much said

Be!

According to estimates, the cost of cotton cloth produced by the Western-style textile method is only one-third of that of homespun cloth - of course, the homespun cloth is thick and the new cloth is thin, but it can't stand up to the cheapness.

Originally, the retainers had some opinions on competing with the people, and after the official operation of the textile factory, it was unprofitable because of the sharp drop in prices, and soon there was no one in the folk spinning.

In the past, there was a Ami girl, she was a famous filial daughter in Changzhou, she never married, and it is said that she kept spinning yarn day and night to support her sick father. If she lives in the present, only father and daughter will starve to death.

But the wind of discussion soon changed.

In June of that year, on June 2 (July 1, 1859) of the sixth year of Ansei (1859), Nagasaki, Kanagawa (Yokohama), and Hakodate were opened to foreign trade.

"Fortunately, fortunately!"

Only then did the retainers who clapped their hands understand why the family wants to promote this thing - after the opening of the country and trade, if you don't move forward, the Westerners will force you to have nowhere to live.

However, although the salt industry and textiles are both major events for the prosperity of the family, the idea of agriculture as the foundation is still the mainstream, so the pioneer reclamation with slow results and large investment has not been relaxed.

From the autumn of the fifth year of Ansei (1858) to the beginning of July of the first year of Manyeon (1860), the Bigo Fukuyama Abe family mobilized the people to carry out national service, and even the common people and retainers complained about the excessive conscription and refused to relax.

This new field in front of you is the first of many new fields, with as many as 322 towns (320 hectares) and can accommodate more than 1,400 households.

The two heads of the family have unified their idea - to form a village soldier, and this new field is the land of the village soldiers, and the successful reclamation of this place will greatly benefit from the solid foundation of the family.

Thinking of this, the side employer Shitaro Eki was in pain again:

When this was cultivated, steam tanks, pumps, and iron tools were used; In the future, the plough is used by oxen to plough. These are all related to Mr. Egawa Tanan, but the people have passed away, how unfortunate.

In the first year of Ansei (1854), when Miren Perry led the black ship to visit for the second time, he was sent by the main hall to go to Yokohama to spy on the enemy.

But now, the foreign enemy is not ambitious, and Fusang is drifting away day by day, but Yingjie has passed away in the middle of the road, and it is so unfair that the sky treats Fusang!

It's ridiculous to think about it, during the first and second years of Anzheng (1854-1855), Fuso suffered from natural disasters and frequent attacks by the enemy.

Although Edo tried his best to cover it up, saying that "the head of the sweeping department had a sudden attack and turned around halfway", it was a big day to go to the castle to meet the princess, and the blood in the snow could not be covered up everywhere, and the daimyo and important ministers who passed by continued, so the truth after the incident was widely known.

Even though it was announced on March 28 that the head of the sweep had died of illness, the inside story of the "Sakurada Gate Incident" continued to circulate, and it is said that various families such as the Kyoto Imperial Court, Mito, Kagoshima, Kasama, and Kumamoto were involved.

At that time, the situation was tense, and the Fuso families were ready for a big war.

But I never expected that in the end, it was Edo who took the initiative to take a step back:

In June of that year, he punished Odai Iyi's ally, the governor of Nakishu Tokugawa in the "Imperial Three Families", Lao Mizuno Tadao, and sentenced him to "seclusion and caution".

You must know that the current son of the general of Zhengyi, Higashimaru Ishigeru, was originally the lord of the Kishu domain, and with the help of the old Iyi and the old Mizuno, he has today's status, is this not even a face!

At the same time, the punishment of Ii's great enemy, the Sai Aki family, was lifted, among which Tokugawa Keikatsu, the head of the Owari family, Keiki the head of the Hitotsubashi family, Matsudaira Yoshinaga, the head of the Echizen Domain, and Toyonobu Yamauchi, the head of the Tosa family, turned over one after another, and the "prudent" punishment was canceled, and the head of the Mito Tokugawa family, Keito, was allowed to participate in the castle.

What's going on?

It was discovered that something was not good after the three ports opened trade with foreign countries in June last year, and things were just as Qi Zhao's "five evils of trade" predicted, is this the regret of the Edo ministers?

Or is it that the Anzheng Prison that was quelled last year was implicated too much, and everyone was jealous of Jing Yi's hot hand?

Even was assassinated and broke his courage, afraid that the families would fight, and Fusang would return to the troubled times?

Now, the sound of the Jin Ge Iron Horse seems to be ringing in the ears, and the samurai who come and go are all with a solemn aura.

Anyway, the clothes in the past, the dark fragrance floating in the past, and the staggered cups, I'm afraid they can only be found in dreams.

Thinking of this, Shigetaro, who had long since changed from complacent to regretful, shook his head, and his expression was even more gloomy.

"I really want someone to have a drink!"

Suddenly, a bald head dressed in white came into his eyes, this person can have, and the best drinking friend actually appeared by himself.