Qi Zhao's admiration for the Fuso royal family finally came to fruition—of course, Qi Zhao and the others may have been complacent, believing that this was a counterattack against the shogunate elders who had insisted on their own ideas and finally fought back against them.

In March of the fifth year of Anzheng (1858), the incident of the 88th secretary of the court finally happened:

Out of fear of the opening of the country, after gaining the support of the Qi Zhao family, the Kyoto small court rejected the forgiveness applied for by the shogunate and officially said no to the "Fuso Miren Trade Agreement"!

Eighty-eight so-called officials of the court, led by the ministers Kuga Kentsu, Nakayama Tadano, Sanjo Shimi, Iwakura Gushi, Ohara Shigetoku and others, collectively asked the imperial family for their lives, and then more than 150 middle- and lower-ranking ministers wrote letters of support, and finally the shogunate's chief elder Nakamada Masamu and others returned in vain.

Since the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, this is a major event that has not happened in more than 200 years - the first time that the small imperial court in Kyoto has explicitly rejected a major request from the shogunate!

As a result, the authority of the shogunate was dealt a major blow.

However, out of the idea of the right and left, the small court of Fusang did not completely fall to the side of Qi Zhao - there was no tendency in the internal affairs of the heir issue.

On April 21, Hotta, Kawaji, Iwase and others who had sent an envoy to Kyoto returned to Edo, and the shogunates who learned of the results were in an uproar, "The small court, which has always been weak, actually refused to grant amnesty, who gave them the courage!" ”

Therefore, the spearhead was naturally pointed at the Qi Zhao family, which had always called for respect for the imperial family, and a considerable number of "loyal" shoguns began to be dissatisfied with the Hotta family, believing that it was too weak to leave an opportunity for others to take advantage of.

On April 23, the shogunates, who were dissatisfied with the Qi Zhao lineage, joined forces and promoted the head of the Hikone domain, Ii Sho, as the "Great Elder" - according to tradition, the Great Elder was a position established by the shogunate during extraordinary times, with only one person in charge of government affairs and decision-making secrets, and was above the elders.

Prior to this, there were eleven elders in the shogunate, and the appointments took place during the turmoil of the shogunate. And before that, the Jing family has produced six elders, and they have done something in office, so the new Naobi is regarded as the hope of saving the shogunate from the crisis.

In fact, it was not Jing Yi who had the highest demand for the election of the old man, but Keinaga, the head of the Fukui Matsudaira family of the pro-clan - since May of the fourth year of Ansei (1857), Qi Zhao's family frequently wrote to recommend Keinaga to serve in this position. As a result, a year later, Ii was born out of nowhere, pushing Matsudaira Keinaga aside.

The inauguration of the head of the shogunate announced a major adjustment of the shogunate, and the attempt of Qi Zhao's department to intervene in the shogunate center completely failed.

At the same time, the focus of the shogunate battles in recent years, whether or not to sign the public prince and the trade agreement, was also determined by the ascension of Ii.

But before the dust settled on these two things, Naohide was stabbed by the big old Iyi for the first time when he took office.

Last year, in July of the fourth year of Ansei (1857), the White Lord defeated the invading Lucian navy, sinking three of the four warships, killing and capturing most of them. After that, the White Lord took the initiative to go to Edo to wait for the shogunate to deal with it, but because the Lu people never came to negotiate, the matter remained unresolved.

In the fifth year of Anzheng and the fifth month of the calendar, the new head of the Da Lao Jing Yi Sweep Department took the lead in making a decision on this matter - the white lord counterattacked according to reason, and the victory was meritorious, and everyone in the service was rewarded:

Among them, the white lord pursued a thousand stones of Zhixing and a thousand stones, and the Hori family became a large body flag of two thousand two hundred stones;

The white lord and Egawa Youngmin also increased by two hundred stones, and the stone height became eight hundred;

Moreover, after obtaining Naohide's consent, the shogunate changed Okubo Riji, Murata Eitoshi, and Nakahama Manjiro from vassals to flags, and the family was all fifty stones-Okubo was the Hakulord Town, Murata was the land Daibanto, and Nakahama Wan was the naval army Daibantou, and all three were the backbone of the commission. This is clearly that the shogunate wants to take power, how dare Naohide disagree.

In the same way, the other group heads and heads of the white lord were also transferred to the royal family genealogy of the Tokugawa family.

At this point, from a formal point of view, the White Lord Shogunate was the same as other distant country offices, and it was completely incorporated into the control of the shogunate.

It stands to reason that the shogunate "elder" has a big grasp

Zheng, a small distant country can't alarm such a big man, but because it involves the battle with Nanban Lucia, Jing Yi is also famous for coming forward to ask questions.

And when this is done, the results are extraordinary:

As everyone knows, Da Lao Jingyi's tendency is to open the country to trade, and he is not in harmony with Qi Zhao, who demands a tough foreign policy. But as soon as he took office, he rewarded the white lord who started a war with the Lu people, without the slightest regard for the possible backlash of the southern barbarians.

Jing Yi did this according to reason, and even Qi Zhao and his family had nothing to say, so his popularity among the shoguns soared.

But Naoxiu, who was brushed with prestige from his body, was unlucky - although he was promoted, he was actually promoted and secretly descended. However, he was left behind in Edo and awaited a new appointment under the banner of the flag, and the position of the white lord was officially transferred to the original deputy Edo Hidetoshi.

The Banner Shrine, also known as the Confession Lodge, is to give some important ministers the same status as the daimy, so that these people can participate in the shogunate.

Part of the flag book is a family personality, that is, no matter who the head of the family is, it is this treatment; There is also a part of Naohide, just personal treatment - for example, if Naohide hangs up, his son Fukutaro will not be able to enjoy the qualifications of this flag book.

After becoming an idle flag book, Naohide could only end his "recuperation due to illness", and then go to the city for a few days at the beginning of each month.

However, he came from a humble background, and the daimyo and the shogunate were not very willing to pay attention to him, so he could only pretend to be a transparent person in Yanagima.

It stands to reason that Naoxiu will not be so bleak.

But I don't know if it's because I've been in poor health or if I just forgot about Naoxiu, and the Gongfang family hasn't summoned Naoxiu. Even when the grace was issued, it was also carried out by the Gao family.

And Ito Genpo, who is the imperial doctor, has also been busy lately - he has been staying in Edo Castle and not going home, and even the correspondence between him and Naohide has been cut off.

Nagasaki Governor Oguri Tadashun was not in Edo this year, and Mr. Tanan, who was also a foreign trade officer, was busy making steel and casting large cylinders in Nirayama, and he had already asked for a long time to wait and not return to Edo.

As for the four daimyo who are good friends with the white lord:

Qi Bin, the head of the Shimazu family, did not attend the pilgrimage this year;

Saga's abacus daimyo is lukewarm to Naohide - Nabeshima Qi is a friend of the new boss Ii Sweep Department, and at this time the spring breeze is proud, where can he take care of the little shrimp of Naoxiu;

As for Date Munejo in Uwajima, it is worthy of its reputation for being good at dancing with long sleeves, and he is very affectionate to Naoxiu. But Zongcheng is the general of Qi Zhao's family, and Naoxiu is reluctant to participate in the battle between the two sides, so the friendship has not been warm.

And the most disappointing thing for Naohide was the Tosa Yamauchi family.

Although Toyonobu, the head of the Yamauchi family, behaved boldly and chicly, and vaguely had the demeanor of a future virtuous marquis, he took the position of Yoshida Kanbei in politics last year - you must know that Kannei is a friend of Naohide and Oguri Tadashun, so Naohide inevitably has an estrangement from Toyonobu.

In the midst of misery and misery, Naohide spent his first time in the city at the beginning of June in the Heli calendar.

And then the good and the bad came together:

The good thing is that old friends met - Okubo Riji, Murata Nagatoshi, and Nakahama Manjiro of the White Lord Office went to Edo to be canonized. Becoming banners was a big deal, and they immediately came to Edo after receiving the shogunate's order.

didn't think about it, just like when Naohide was promoted to Qiben, they didn't see the public side, only the public came out to comfort them.

The three of them took advantage of the excitement and returned from defeat, and after leaving Edo Castle, they ran to Naohide to complain.

Although the white lord is doing more and more forbidden things, he has not been directly involved in rebellion.

In this regard, Naohide has always instilled in everyone, "The shogunate's governance is too conservative, and the white lord is just making a difference for the future." "After telling this lie many times, everyone seems to have found support; In addition, most of the proceeds of the White Lord's Execution Office were invested in the military and people's livelihood to fight against Lucia, so the backbone believed it on the surface.

But in the end, this matter can't be hidden from the discerning people, and Okubo, Murata, and Nakahama are all heroes of the moment, and they and Naohide just know it.

Even so, the prestige of the shogunate for hundreds of years still had a great impact on them, so the lack of a public appearance still dealt a big blow to the three who claimed to be heroes—although they knew that they might not be taken seriously, but the result was like this, and the arrogant three were inevitably frustrated.

However, compared to the other thing, these are only small things.

On May 20, 1858, the Anglo-Buddhist army captured the Dagu Fort of the Tang Dynasty, and on the 26th, the allied army traced the Baihe River and invaded the suburbs of Jinmen.

This big bad thing soon spread to Fuso through the Hamhyung foreign company, and at the same time, Harris, the special envoy of the Mi people, also took the opportunity to pass on the news to put pressure on the shogunate.

The shogunate still kept the matter a secret from the outside world according to tradition, but Egawa Hidetoshi had already sent someone to report it secretly.

Before the pilgrimage, in order to avoid suspicion, Okubo, Murata, and Nakahama did not come to visit Naohide, but after the ceremony, they could no longer suppress their worries, and immediately went to the door to discuss the countermeasures with Naohide - there may have been another statement before the transfer, but after becoming the flag book, the three of them and Naohide were ministers in the same hall, and their mutual interactions were normalized.

For what happened more than a month ago, Naoxiu also scratched his head, his lips were cold and his teeth were cold, such a huge change happened across the sea, if it had no impact on Fusang, the child didn't believe it.

After deliberating, the four agreed that Lucia would take the opportunity to get revenge.

After leaving the house of the Hori, the three of them immediately wrote a letter requesting to return to the white master. The shogunate allowed it quickly this time, and the three of them set off to return to the north in mid-June to prepare for the war.

At the same time, the influence of the Tang people's frustration finally seriously interfered with the direction of the shogunate:

When he went to the city on the 2nd day of the seventh month of the calendar to discuss politics, Naohide and many daimyo and shoguns suddenly learned several important news, and they collectively lost their voices for a while.

On June 19, without the court's pardon, the shogunate and the Mi envoy Harris formally signed the "Fuso Mi People Trade Agreement";

At the same time, the shogunate officially confirmed that "Keifuku, the head of the Kishu Tokugawa family, one of the former three imperial families, was made Nishimaru-in."

At this point, the dust has finally settled on the two major events that have been debated for several years.

And these two things are not all, the news of the public announcement also includes:

More than a month ago, the Anglo-Buddhist coalition defeated the neighboring Tang people in Jinmen, and the capital of China was in danger;

On the third day of the signing of the agreement with the Mi people, on June 21, Hotta Masamu, Matsudaira Tadagu, Hisai Hiroshu, Naito Nobuko, and Wakisaka Yasutaku jointly signed a joint letter to the Kyoto Small Imperial Court, claiming that "the unequal consent is a matter of improvisation." Forced by the situation, if the opportunity to sign a contract is lost, the Anglo-Buddhist fleet will come, and Fuso will risk repeating the mistakes of its neighbors";

Two Elders Dismissed – On June 23, two veterans, Hatita Masamu and Matsudaira Tadagu, were dismissed for delaying the signing of the contract;

The four relatives were reprimanded - on June 24, the four daimyo of the Imperial Edia were reprimanded for going to the castle for no reason. On the same day, the two heads of the Mito Tokugawa family, Qi Zhao and Kei Atsu, had already Owari Tokugawa head Keikatsu and Echizen Tokugawa head Keinaga, and the head of the Echizen Tokugawa family Keinaga, went to the castle to ask the signing of the agreement with the rice people.

And the last major piece of news is that the Rusian warships are pressing the border - the four warships of Lucia have arrived in the Xiangjiang River in China, and it is estimated that they will soon come to Fusang to ask for the guilt.

One shocking news after another stunned everyone! The crowd no longer cared about etiquette, and they began to talk about it.

Although all four chieftains were grounded, the rest of the Qi Zhao clan still raised questions about the shogunate center, and the shogunate meeting of the day and the next day turned into a back-and-forth quarrel.

However, on the last day of the Fourth of July, everything finally came to fruition - the shogunate officially announced that Qi Zhao was "forever in residence", Keidu was "cautious", and Keikatsu and Kei Yong were "secluded and cautious".

Seclusion is the abdication of the head of the house, and prudence is thinking behind closed doors.

At this point, the fiasco of the Qi Zhao family ended, and the internal struggle within the shogunate, which lasted for five years, began to come to an end.