In the first month of the fifth year of Ansei (1858), the shogunate finally issued an order to Naohide.

In the seventh month of the previous year, the White Lord had defeated the Ruthia fleet, after which Naohide Hori rushed to Edo to await disposal. After waiting for half a year, he finally waited for a result that was not conclusive:

"Recuperate with peace of mind, and all affairs of the white lord will be handled by Jiang Chuan Yingmin."

said that it was a punishment, but he did not remove the service of the white lord of Naoxiu; Said it was spared, but in fact, Naohide was placed under house arrest in Edo.

Such an ambiguous decision certainly caused controversy between the government and the opposition:

Since the first visit of the Mito Black Ship on June 3, 1853, the shogunate has retreated step by step, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among many people.

There were many forces that demanded a tough stance towards foreign countries, and these people, led by the old lord of the Mito domain, Tokugawa Saiaki, usually echoed each other—among them, Mito and Owari of the Gozo family, Ichibashi of the Gosan family, Fukui of the Tokugawa clan, and Uwajima and Kagoshima in the Daimyo of the foreign daimyo were the most active.

At the same time, there were also a considerable number of people among the daimyos, daimyos, and shogunates who supported this lineage.

In the eyes of these people, "The white lord not only won the battle but also won the clean and beautiful, and greatly increased the prestige of Fusang, so he should be vigorously praised." ”

Therefore, the handling of idle straight shows has caused a lot of commotion.

In this regard, Qi Zhao and others wrote, "Lucia is unreasonable first, and the white master has no merit." and broke the enemy, and deserved to be commended. It's incomprehensible. ”

To be honest, these cantata are reasonable - because there was no agreement between Lucia and the shogunate before, so Lucia's invasion of the White Lord was a crime! The white lord is really right to fight back, and he won the battle, which can be said to be very happy. Therefore, the shogunate is really a bit unreasonable.

However, the shogunate elders who made this decision felt aggrieved, "Naohide was just recuperated, and he was not demoted and removed, which is good!" ”

In the final analysis, in the past four or five years since the visit of the black ship, the foreign-related attitude of the important ministers of the shogunate has become more and more relaxed, so everyone knows that Naohide did the right thing and did it beautifully, but when it comes to rewarding Naohide, no old man dares to do it.

The reason is simple. It's good that I didn't know before, but now that I know about the overseas situation, the more uncertain I am in my heart.

Seven days in the cave, a thousand years in the world.

Although the Closed Kingdom has not been a thousand years but only two hundred years, and the shogunate still retains the Ran Kingdom as an external channel, but now everyone opens their eyes and sees that this world has become too strange:

Take the globe as an example, everyone used to think that this was a lie, how can there be so many kingdoms in the world! But the Mi people, Lucia, and England knocked on the port one after another, and now the facts are in front of them, and you can't believe it.

And everyone has seen the steamship with their own eyes, and it really goes away without wind. The Western countries are strong in ships and artillery, and this Fusang is too far behind!

Therefore, I can't fight, I can't afford to fight.

Moreover, the current situation is not suitable for overly stimulating Lucia - the Lucians have not come to Fusang to negotiate, so the old and middle of the White Lord War do not dare to close the coffin.

The five veterans all felt that this matter was unpredictable, and according to the current situation, it was better to wait and talk.

What happened to make the old middle school so undecided?

That was the Yarrow War.

In October of the fourth year of Anzheng (1857), Xianheng reported that the Yarrow War broke out, and England began to attack Yangcheng in China.

According to the news that came to me, the outcome of this Tang people may not be good, it is estimated that the same as the last battle of the South China Sea in the thirteenth year of Tianbao (1842), the future is very bleak under the strength of others.

The old people were afraid that the southern barbarians were of the same kind as the people, and if they thought that the shogunate was unfair in handling foreign affairs, if the English came to Fuso to vent their anger to the Lucians, it would be extremely bad!

Your own children can hit it by themselves, and others will try it!

People are of the same mind, so the old middle school thinks that they are right, and this southern barbarian group must be guarded against.

But unlike Qi Zhao and others, most of the important ministers of the shogunate, including several old middle-aged people, felt that Naohide did a good job and relieved their anger, so they were idle Naohide to love him and protect him.

At that time, the initial plan was that even if a few Westerners really joined forces to persecute it, then Naoxiu's position would be removed from the sky. As for the punishment, there must be no one! - Even if there is, it's just a superficial article, and it will still be reused for Naoxiu in the future.

Because the white lord did things very solidly, before releasing the prisoners, the photos, evidence and paintings were all in hand, so this time it was rare for the old middle school to be ruthless, if Lucia did not forgive, and even lost money, then the fight would start! - The old middle school is not stupid, if there is no bottom line at all, then it is just to be slaughtered!

Moreover, the old and middle schools are also ready for mediation through other channels.

Lan Guo is on the one hand - through the wind of Xianheng Yangxing, the old people now know that Lan Guo is really not good, but in the spirit of mosquitoes are also meat, the shogunate still asked Lan Guo to mediate.

But what they are counting on in their hearts is not Lan Guo, but Mi people!

Harris, the special envoy of the Mi people, arrived at Shimoda Port in July of the third year of Ansei (1856).

To tell the truth, the shogunate was very resistant to Harris's request for trade, so it has always refused - due to the influence of Naohide's incursion, the shogunate now has some capital. Having the capital naturally brought confidence, so in June 1857, the supplementary clause of the "Fuso Rice Country Peace Agreement" was not signed.

But form is stronger than people, and as soon as the Arro War broke out in China last fall, the shogunate changed its attitude and agreed to start negotiations.

Beginning in December of the 4th year of Ansei (1857), Shimoda Shimosashi Inoue Kiyonao and Mimetsuke Kakeke Iwase Tadashi came forward, and after 13 rounds of negotiations between the two sides, a draft was finally reached at the beginning of the first month of this year.

The Mi envoy Harris was overjoyed and agreed to mediate the dispute between Fusang and Lucia.

This is also why the will of Zhixiu was given at the beginning of the first month - the old middle school has two preparations, so they dare to idle Zhixiu. Otherwise, how to deal with it will continue to drag on.

Therefore, Qi Zhao and others wrote to Zhixiu to plead for him, but the important ministers of the shogunate ignored it, "Ignorant people, reckless people!" You must know that we not only arranged the straight show clearly, but also considered the shogunate very carefully! ”

Qi Zhao's family stopped making trouble for a few days, because the chief of the old middle school, Hotta Masamu, was no longer in Edo - Hotta Masamu and Kanjo and foreign trade Kakegawa Road Shengmo Masatsuki sent an envoy to Kyoto.

The quarrelling party slipped away, and the trouble was in vain, and there were more important things to do than how to deal with Naoxiu, so the situation gradually subsided.

What is so important?

This is the princess of the heir! That is, to decide who the next shogun will be.

In addition to asking the small court to approve the trade agreement with the rice people, the two envoys of Hotta and Kawaji to Kyoto also undertook the important task of requesting approval for the establishment of an heir.

With such a big event, Naoxiu's matter was put aside, and each family sent henchmen to Kyoto to contact the minister, hoping that the candidate on their side would win.

The current general Jia must have succeeded to the throne in November of the sixth year of Jiayong (1853) at the age of Chinese New Year's Eve.

It stands to reason that the thirties are at the peak of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the matter of establishing an heir can be considered in the long run.

However, Tokugawa Iedai was frail and sickly since he was a child, and his temper was eccentric and short-tempered, and there was controversy before he succeeded to the throne, that is, many people were not optimistic that he could take over the throne.

In December of the fourth year of Honghua (1847), the then Kokata Eikei made an important decision to arrange for Tokugawa Yoshinori to succeed as the head of the Hitotsubashi family.

The eleventh generation of the shogun Jia Qi and the twelfth generation of the shogun Jia Qing are both from the Ichibashi family, so Ichibashi is considered to be the head of the three emperors. Therefore, Keiki became the head of the Ichitsubashi family, and at that time he was generally considered to be a candidate for Nishimaru-like - at that time, most of the biological sons of Gongfang Jiaqing died, and only Jiaxiang was left alone. And Jiaxiang, later known as Jiading, was in very poor health and had no heirs born.

In the sixth year of Jiayong, after the death of the shogun's family Kei, there were rumors at that time that the seventeen-year-old Keiki would replace the original Nishimaru-like Iesho to ascend to the throne.

Although in the end, it was Jiading who succeeded to the throne, but because Jiading had no heirs after that, the rejoicing market rose again, and many people thought that he would eventually take over as the prince.

Before his arrival at the Hitotsubashi family, Keiki was the seventh son of Tokugawa Saiaki.

Because Qingxi is expected to ascend to the throne and love the house and Wu, his father Qi Zhao is also optimistic, which is also one of the important reasons why Qi Zhao's family is extraordinary-what's wrong with this early knot, this will be friendship in the future!

Especially in the last year, in the fourth year of Anzheng (1857), Jiading's physical condition was not very good, and the matter of establishing an heir was put on the agenda by people with intentions.

This matter is not offensive, the Gongfang family must have been thirty-four years old, and it has been more than half a year since the wedding to the princess Atsuhime of the Shimazu family, but there are still signs of an heir, and the courtiers are very worried about this.

The Tokugawa familyTokugawa family, the head of the Tokugawa family is the shogun of the shogunate, so the family is the country, and the family affairs are the affairs of the state. This has not been like Nishimaru, and it is indeed easy to cause suspicion and turmoil.

It stands to reason that since the era of the deceased Daigosho Ie, Hitotsubashi Keiki has been regarded as a candidate for the prince, which has been deposited for ten years, and Keiki himself is quite famous, and Keiki becoming the prince should be a ripe and natural thing.

But the development of things is not like this at all, to explain in one sentence, there will be a pit father in the future generations, and there will be a pit son at this time - Qingxi has been dragged down by Qi Zhao!

Keiki's biological father, Tokugawa Saiaki, has an outgoing personality and has a clear love and hate.

Originally, it was understandable that his personal personality was like this, but Qi Zhao acted in the same way in official affairs, leaving neither room for himself nor others, and facing his mistakes at every turn.

At this time, Fusang was a human system, advocating the weight of weapons, and paying attention to a group of harmony, so many people, especially the Daimyo of the Spectrum Dynasty and the Shogunate Banner, did not like Qi Zhao, and could even be said to dislike him.

The deceased Imperial House Jiaqing hated Qi Zhao, and the same is true of the current Gongfang Jiading's biological mother, Honjuin, but the reasons for the two are different - Jiaqing thinks that Qi Zhao is too sharp, acts recklessly, and often confronts him in person, and Honjuin is not only influenced by her husband, but also because she cares about her son.

Before the son's family was set to succeed to the throne, there were rumors that Qingxi wanted to seize the throne, which mother could stand this!

As for the rumors that circulated in later generations, the statement that Qi Zhao proposed to ask Da Ao to be frugal and then offended Honshouin is not groundless, but this reason is not on the table after all-because no matter how frugal he is, he can't be thrifty on the head of the general's biological mother!

During the Edo period, the shogunate governed with Confucianism, which was inseparable from benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and filial piety, so the views of his deceased father, the surviving Honjuin, on Saiaki deeply influenced the Kokata family.

Again, Jia Ding also hates Qi Zhao - he is not in good health and does not like to be noisy, but Qi Zhao often speaks fiercely, loudly and with an excited attitude, and Jia Ding feels very uncomfortable about this.

In addition, the chief old middle middle Hotta Masamu and another old middle Matsudaira Tadagu are also Qi Zhao's sworn enemies.

Therefore, these people joined forces to stop Qi Zhao's son Keiki from becoming the general's son, Nishimaru.

However, Zhixiu thinks that the reason for Qi Zhaokeng's son is not only these - although personal preferences are indeed very important under the human system, no matter how you say it, the establishment of a general heir is also a major military event, and everyone should be more or less cautious, and still take into account some of the overall situation.

Naohide once discussed the current situation with Egawa Hidetoshi and Okubo Riji, and when talking about Tokugawa Qizhao, Naohide once said, "The government of Jingshan is sloppy, and I am afraid it will be difficult to meet the expectations of the public." ”

Dare to say that the famous Qi Zhao can't do it, of course there is a reason for Zhixiu.