Soon, news came out of the Saga Domain: due to the poor health of the feudal lord Naomasa Nabeshima and the lack of offspring, just in case, the old Nabeshima Shigeshun decided to choose a seventeen-year-old young samurai named Kusaka Genrui for the lord of the domain, renamed Nabeshima Genrui, and recognized him as a stepson, so that he could need it in the future.

When the news spread, the entire Saga Domain was surprised! Everyone knows that Naomasa, the lord of the domain, Naomasa, is in the prime of life, and he is a person who practices martial arts, and his body has always been healthy, so how could he suddenly be in poor health? Moreover, he has nearly twenty brothers, and the youngest brother is even twenty years younger than him, so even if he has no son, he does not have to worry about the problem of no one to inherit the feudal lord. How so? The nobles in the Saga clan were a little confused. Not only can't they figure it out, but the people of the Nabeshima family can't figure it out. Especially those brothers who are honest in Nabeshima are even more angry. They were all staring at it, and there were even many brothers who waited for Nabeshima Naomasa to divide the Saga Domain into more than ten small domains.

But this news was decided by the old Nabeshima Shigeshun, and even the direct family members of the Nabeshima family could not change it. So, the complaint letters in the Saga domain flew to Edo like snowflakes, and prepared to ask the lord of the domain, Naomasa Nabeshima, to return to the domain and ask for clarification.

But unfortunately, they didn't wait for the news of Nabeshima's return to the domain, but they waited for a bad news!

Japan is a small country, and in just a few days, the bad news spread.

Naomasa Nabeshima, who served in Edo, died suddenly.

Since Naomasa Nabeshima had no direct descendants, the position of lord of the Hizen Kunisaga Domain became vacant. Of course, it's bad news, it's just on the surface, but in fact, no one knows what those brothers of Nabeshima think. The people of the Saga Domain just knew that the brothers of the Nabeshima clan were vying for the feudal throne one after another, not only fighting each other, but also wooing the retainers of the Saga Domain.

Since Naomasa Nabeshima has been in Edo for the past two years, the affairs of the Saga domain are all handled by the vassals in Saga, so naturally, the decision to seize the position of the feudal lord is the support of the retainers, and in the end, whoever gets the support of the retainers will be able to dominate the affairs of the domain, and with real power, they can decide the ownership of the feudal lord. In general, these feudal domains were hereditary, and the shogunate did not interfere. Only for those dissatisfied feudal lords, the shogunate will find a way to reduce the suppression, but only suppression, not complete revocation. Once the feudal lord has been selected, it is reported to the shogunate, and the shogunate will issue a formal appointment document.

Just as Nabeshima's brothers attacked each other and competed for the position of feudal lord, an unexpected situation occurred: many of the retainers of the Saga Domain, led by the old Nabeshima Shigejun, Shigeyoshi, Shigemasa and other Nabeshima retainers, the retainers of the Saga Domain, elected Nabeshima Genrui, who had just become his stepson, to become the lord of the Saga Domain overnight, and sent hundreds of feudal soldiers to surround them.

At this time, even a fool knows that something is wrong! Only now did they come to their senses, although the old Nabeshima Shigeshun also went to Nabeshima, but it didn't seem to be a member of the Nabeshima family at all, and what he had been thinking about was to restore the glory of their Takeo Goto family.

It is clear that their trusted family elders and a large group of retainers have betrayed the Nabeshima family, and the territory and glory of their Saga domain are about to be seized by a conspiracy.

Suddenly, the brothers of the Nabeshima family were red-eyed, and they rushed out to kill, wanting to flee to Edo to find the shogunate for help, but the former retainers and feudal soldiers have become devils at this moment, not to mention, there are a large number of gray-clothed people who came out of nowhere, holding foreign guns and pointing them at them is a bang.

All the direct members of the Nabeshima family died, and only two members of the side clan in their early twenties were left to study abroad and survived, but they stopped traveling and secretly went to Ezo Island (Hokkaido) to change their names and hide in hiding. It is equivalent to the Nabeshima family of the Saga Domain, which is almost completely wiped out.

But that's not all. The two branches of the Nabeshima family, the Kashima Domain and the Ogi Domain, which were branches of the Saga Domain, were soon attacked by the soldiers of the Saga Domain over the next two days.

At the same time, the new lord of the Saga domain, Genrui Nabeshima, announced that he would take back the status of the Kashima Domain and the Ogi Domain as a branch of the Domain, and establish the unique Saga Domain.

The Nabeshima branch of the Kashima Domain and the Ojo Domain was quickly conquered. The Saga Domain was soon unified, and the new lord of the domain, Genrui Nabeshima, officially became the owner of the Saga Domain.

Subsequently, the Saga Domain divided two of its domains, established two new small domains, and reported them to the shogunate. One is to seal Kashima to the Kusaka family and rebuild the Kashima Domain, with 5,000 koku; One is to give Takeo to the Goto family and establish the Takeo Domain, which is 10,000 koku.

Within two days, the Tokugawa shogunate approved it with rare efficiency, officially sealing Nabeshima Genrui as the lord of the Saga domain, and the Kashima and Takeo domains were also sealed.

At the same time, Nidaibune of cloth parked at the Nagasaki pier was unloaded and transported to Edo Castle, the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate.

After Nabeshima Genrui became the lord of the domain, he began to follow Lawson and went on his study tour. The affairs of the Saga Domain were all handled by a person from the Celestial Empire named Lin Hongnian.

Immediately afterwards, there was another shocking news from Edo Castle: the Tokugawa shogunate made a decision to divide Nagasaki, the only open port in Japan, into the Saga domain and hand it over to the Saga domain. The price was that the Saga clan handed over 1 million koku of grain to the shogunate every year.

Japan's hundreds of feudal states, large and small, speculated as to why the shogunate made such a decision, and the final analysis leaned toward the Tokugawa shogunate's own reputation and practical interests. On the one hand, the shogunate wanted to tighten the seclusion of the country, but on the other hand, it was reluctant to accept the tariffs and profits brought by Nagasaki's trade with the outside world, especially China's trade. So, such a decision emerged.

Originally, Nagasaki was under the direct administration of the shogunate, and not only did it collect customs duties from foreign merchants who came to trade, but also designated merchants who could only be appointed by the Edo side to trade with it. The pressure on the shogunate was also very great, and in desperation, the Tokugawa shogunate came up with such a play. Of course, the price is not for nothing.

In terms of tariffs, it has been reduced by half. Moreover, what no one knows is that the previous series of actions, including not only not pursuing the mysterious death of the lord of the Saga domain, but also the seizure of the feudal throne, etc., are the price to be paid.

However, the shogunate was willing, and the other surrounding feudal states were reluctant. The Chikuzen and Chikugo domains, which were the most bordering of the Saga Domain, were the first to protest, and with the support of the Mosa Domain, a powerful domain at the southwesternmost tip of Kyushu Island, they sent thousands of troops to the border of the Saga Domain, proposing to share some of the benefits of Nagasaki Port.