On October 14, 1854 in the Western calendar, the shogunate and the English signed the "Fuso English Peace Agreement", which was signed by the Admiral of the Xiangjiang Detachment Stairin, and on the Fuso side, Nagasaki pursued Oguri Tadashun.

This is a big deal, of course Mr. Tanan knows - although he has resigned from the Kanding Yinwei service, he still has the post of Haiphong, but it was not written in such detail in Oguri's letter before, so he also listened to it with relish.

"Stellin received 30,000 taels of gold? And the internal response? You didn't write it in your previous official documents and private messages! ”

In the face of Mr. Tan'an's questioning, Oguri could only smile bitterly, can this be written?

The shogunate leaked like a sieve, and it was spread out in the future, where would there still be Westerners who dared to do internal response and collect money! If you don't collect money, your attitude will naturally be extra tough, and it's not Fusang himself who suffers!

What's more, this money is not collected by people in Nagasaki - Shi Tailin is a major general of the English Navy and has achieved fame, so he will definitely not collect such unclear money, otherwise he will be ruined if he spreads it! So it was Xianheng Foreign Company who sent the money, and it is said that it was done in Xiangjiang, and as for the specific plot, Xiao Li didn't ask.

It stands to reason that he shouldn't have asked, but Oguri can't see the people of Hamheng now, and the subordinates who went to meet him didn't dare to ask too much, so he didn't ask - because there are more and more Western ships coming to Nagasaki, in order to keep it secret, Hamhiro Sailor is now delivering goods at Taro Saki Port on Tsushima Island, and from then on, it was Nagasaki's subordinates who went to trade with Nagasaki Metsuke, so Oguri couldn't see anyone.

However, Oguri Tadashun didn't suspect that this was empty talk, because one is that Xianheng has always had a good reputation, and the other is evidence:

The British Admiral Stellin deliberately released the water, and he could feel it - when he was suffering, although Stellin sometimes pretended to be angry and walked away, but people were only tough on the surface, but in fact there were many concessions, and the agreement was written in black and white, which could not deceive people.

Moreover, many English bow and attachés were frowning at themselves, and cooperated in negotiations, and some people privately asked themselves what their relationship was with Sanjiang Foreign Company, and hinted in their words that they would continue to take care of the business of this foreign company.

Although I have never dealt with Sanjiang Foreign Company, and I don't know what the hell Sanjiang Foreign Company is, as long as I am a little scheming, I can understand that Sanjiang Foreign Company is a painting skin of Xianheng Foreign Company, so I made a lot of money in a muffled voice and dealt with it vaguely.

In addition, the British had a interpreter who claimed to be Yamamoto Otoyoshi, and privately showed a letter from Xianheng Foreign Company, saying that he was a drifter, and then thanked himself for Dade, saying that "the Fuso family is taken care of by adults, and it is grateful, and it is engraved in the bottom of my heart." In the subsequent negotiations, although Yamamoto could not control the situation due to his humble status, he also revealed a lot of inside information in private, and the help was very large.

Therefore, Xiao Li was ignorant, and confirmed the number of 30,000 taels of gold of Xianheng Foreign Bank - this up and down is so thoughtful, 30,000 taels is not much, but it didn't cost so much, and I admit it! It's worth it.

However, Xianheng spent the 30,000 small judgments, but how to repay them later has become a big problem!

Tell Edo that you want the money back? I'm afraid not.

Because there is no basis for the words, as soon as the report is reported, in the face of the whereabouts of such a huge sum of money, the shogunate must have asked three times, "How did the money come from, how did it go, and who are the witnesses?" At that time, Oguri could only say that it was sent by someone else. And then there must have been another triple hit, "Why are others so righteous?" So how do you know so well? Did you kid get a rebate? ”

When the time comes, I can't tell it clearly, and when the good things become bad things, why bother!

Therefore, Oguri Tadashun did not report this expense, and the account to the shogunate was to spend more than 40,000 small tenpo small judgments, which were borrowed from various wealthy merchants in Nagasaki, and the purchase list was also clear, and the accounts were not afraid of checking at all!

As for the fee for Shi Tailin, he only told Nagasaki Mufu Nagai Iwacheng alone before - there is no way, to make up the hole in this money, Nagai must cooperate, not to say no.

"It's not in Nagasaki, so how did you send this heavy money?"

Jiang Chuan Yingmin couldn't hold it back, and asked directly - I listened to this for a long time, but Oguri kept going around in circles, which was too torturous!

"Xianheng Foreign Travel!"

"That's right."

Mr. Tan'an nodded slightly, Xianheng Foreign Bank now monopolizes the foreign-related trade of Fuso with the Languo Commercial Hall, the Tang people, and Goryeo, and he definitely does not want others to come to get a piece of the pie, and this motive is very clear.

"But 30,000 taels of gold, it's not a small amount, Xianheng is willing to pay this money? That's how the Nagasaki trade is made? Moreover, a Miren foreign bank can influence the British navy, and the magic power is so vast that it is worth pondering. ”

No one answered the question, and when Mr. Tanan looked up, he found that the other two were looking at him meaningfully—when Oguri said he was worried just now, Youngmin didn't quite agree, and now he is in full agreement! The two are hardcore allies, and their father is still suspicious, if this is reported to the shogunate, Oguri Tadashun's skin must not be peeled off a few layers!

"Of course, Xianheng Foreign Company has conditions, I thought about it again and again, and finally agreed. Mr. Tanan should also help with this matter. ”

After some explanation, Jiang Chuan and his son understood that Xianheng Foreign Bank had a request, and this request was not simple, and it could even be said to shake Fuso Kunimoto, and this request was to ask the shogunate to agree to the export of gold!

The gold-silver ratio in Fuso is 1:5, while overseas is 1:15, so Xianheng is eyeing this piece of fat and is willing to pay a price of 30,000 pounds for this.

"It's so big, why hasn't anyone mentioned it before!"

Yingmin is selling cuteness - he started doing this three years ago, but because of the small trade volume of the white master, he has not been conspicuous, and he knows all this.

But Mr. Tanan was shocked and didn't notice that his son's expression was wrong.

"This must not happen!"

There is a big problem with the price comparison of gold and silver, which has been mentioned many times by Xianheng Foreign Company, but the shogunate has not said no, because it involves people's livelihood and the stakes are high.

"Kanto gold, Kansai silver."

This means that gold was widely used in the central part of Edo, and silver was the main medium of exchange in and west of Osaka – and of course, the common people and townspeople still used copper coins in many places.

Knowing that there was a huge profit that would change hands and make twice as much, the reason why the shogunate did not act was because he was concerned about the people's livelihood:

If there is three times more silver, then the price of goods in Kansai will definitely skyrocket, and the price of gold in Kanto will inevitably fall, and there are too many things involved, so the shogunate can't make up its mind for a long time - after more than 200 years of singing and dancing, although the shogunate is already bulky and unbearable, but as a Fuso government, there is still a sense of responsibility, after all, this is his own Fuso, and he can't just do it for no reason.

Mr. Tanan also had the same attitude, so when he heard this, he expressed his resolute opposition, "Exporting gold in exchange for silver, although the shogunate will benefit from it, it will do great harm to the people, so you must not do this!" ”

But then Oguri Tadashun gave a detailed reason, and Mr. Tanan was speechless, so he had no choice but to agree, and made it clear, "If Edo asks for his opinion, he will definitely support it." ”

However, Mr. Tan'an's eyes wept, "As soon as this case is opened, there will be endless troubles!" The common people and townspeople will be in dire straits, and the Kansai feudal clans will also be centrifugal, and I don't know what future generations will say about you and me! ”

In this regard, Oguri said, "Even if the shogunate doesn't do it, there will be people who will do it!" It's too late to regret it. ”

The three people present, Mr. Tanan, Oguri Tadashun and Egawa Hidetoshi were all relatively sober among the shogunates, and Naohide kept reminding them that not to look at the "Fuso Rice Country Peace Agreement" does not involve trade, but the founding of trade is inevitable, unless the shogunate can cheer up within three or five years, at least the warships and ordnance can catch up with the Western level, otherwise everything is not to be discussed.

Can you catch up? Difficult! It's basically a fantasy.

Oguri Tadashun just persuaded Mr. Tanan to use four reasons, "many disasters and difficulties", "authoritarian side", "Lanxue industry is not prosperous", and "strong branches and weak cadres", among which "industry is not prosperous" is related to this:

In the fourth year of Kaei (1851), Hamhyung sent a 3-inch rifled gun, a breech-loading rifle Sharps 1848 and a Colt Patterson revolver, and the following year a trigger-type mine, but the shogunate has not succeeded in copying it so far.

As for the reasons, there are many.

The apparent reason is that in the fifth year of Kaei (1852), the Nirayama Iron Works were separated, and at that time, Katsuyoshi Kuni, who was "head totori", fled and took a large number of backbones with him to prepare for the construction of the Yokohama and Yokosuka Iron Works, which almost caused the Nirayama Iron Works to collapse.

But in fact, even if there is no such thing, it should not be made, and it will still not be built.

The foundation of Fuso is too thin, and although the Nirayama Iron Smelting Plant, which was built with the power of the shogunate, is known as "full of talents", it is actually "a big man in the smelter", and they are all verbal experts, and they can only read according to the books, so every small progress has to go through a lot of hardships.

Thanks to Xianheng foreign company, there is no shortage of tools such as machine tools, but the casting and processing technology is not improved, no, Jiushan only succeeded in imitating the Napoleonic cannon last year, you must know that this is only a bronze front-loading smoothbore gun with a more complex process, and it is estimated that it will take a year or two to successfully imitate the rifled gun-this is the result of Mr. Tan'an's personal assessment.

Moreover, it is impossible to do without artillery shells.

Live ammunition is no problem, but this grenade is made, but it is also the ears of a deaf person - an ornament, which cannot be mass-produced at all.

As for the ammunition of metal shells, it is even more useless.

The raw material of the fire cap, mercury rayonate, requires alum oil and other raw materials, and the manufacturing method does not seem to be difficult, but the output is not high, it cannot be mass-produced at all, and the quality is not good.

There were also several accidents during this period, and there were several people who did not die but their fingers were blown up, and now everyone in the Jiushan Iron Smelting Institute is in danger, and no one wants to do it at all, and there is no way to talk about this improvement!

Today, the achievements of the Nirayama Iron Works are:

Nearly 2.7 million guan (10,000 tons) of pig iron are smelted every year;

In terms of large barrels, Napoleon cannons can be mass-produced - hundreds of guns a year, live ammunition can be supplied by itself, and grenades need to be purchased;

As for the iron cannon, the flintlock mini rifle that fired lead, that is, the rifled rifled gun, could be mass-produced, and the annual output was five or six hundred - more could be made with more manpower, but the shogunate disagreed, believing that it was outdated, and the future was the era of breech guns;

Mines can also be made, but the quality is not easy to say, anyway, the Uraga Navy said "high wind and bright festival", "Please distribute these self-produced goods to more needed places" - who wants whom, anyway, we don't.

Egawa Taro Saemon jumped to his feet in a hurry, and repeatedly wrote to ask for more manpower and an increase in the budget, but the reply of the survey office was four words, "It is better to buy than to build", the amount of ordnance of Xianheng Foreign Company is large and cheap, so why bother - fortunately, the old middle school is still relatively sober and has been gritting their teeth to allocate funds, so the ordnance manufacturing of the Nirayama Iron Works can still move forward.

The progress of the Nirayama Ironworks was the result of the shogunate's efforts to build it, and at the same time, it also had the connections accumulated over the years by Mr. Tanan, a giant of orchid studies and an important minister of the shogunate, so the other orchid industries of the shogunate did not go so smoothly.

For example, the Yushima Cannon Foundry has always been an important ordnance production area of the shogunate, but it is still not as good as Nirayama, and the traditional bronze smoothbore cannon is still being cast, not to mention live ammunition, and the best firing range is only 10 ding (1,000 meters), which is completely outdated.

As for the two newly built ironworks in Yokohama and Yokosuka, because of the shortage of manpower, Yokosuka completely stopped work, and the personnel were assigned to Yokohama, and the Yokohama ironworks were not good, not to mention the frequent accidents, the output of pig iron was only half of that of Nirayama, and as for the level of ordnance casting, it was about the same as that of the Yushima Foundry, and it could only produce flint-fat mini rifles and old-fashioned large barrels.

Even Katsutori Katsuyoshikuni ran away and became the head of the Tsushima Naval Training Center and the head of the teaching superintendent - the "head service" is equivalent to the "jukutoi", the head of the students in the private school, and the "teaching supervisor" is the gentleman in charge of discipline, and the good head of the Yokohama Iron Works does not do it, and Mr. Tanan shook his head and sighed at the mention of him, "Why is this person unwilling to be down-to-earth." ”

Again, there is no orchid industry worth mentioning in the shogunate, and now the shogunate is mainly based on iron smelting and ordnance, and the people's livelihood orchid industry has not been invested at all, so it is not worth mentioning, the overall size of the cat is three or two, and it is very desolate, no wonder Oguri Tadashun said that "the orchid industry is not prosperous", and Mr. Tanan nodded yes.

However, when Oguri Tadashun persuaded Mr. Tanan to agree to "exchange gold for silver", he used four reasons, "many disasters and difficulties", "authoritarian sidelines", "the orchid industry is not thriving", and "strong branches and weak cadres", what are the specific reasons for the remaining three?