Chapter 710 Qing Deng Was Awarded the Natural Reasoning Style Free Pass! [4300]

A small correction to the end of the previous chapter - not "receive 20,000 taels of gold per month", but "receive 20,000 taels of gold per year", please know~

Through what I have seen and heard, as well as my own practical experience, Qing Deng has realized a truth - party struggle is the number one disaster in politics!

Once a party struggle breaks out, no matter how large the organization or how powerful the group is, it will become precarious.

A lot of energy and resources are invested in endless internal struggles.

The most obvious and tragic example of "party struggles ruining the country" is the Southern Ming Dynasty in China.

Such a huge dynasty was broken up and the country was no longer a country because of the strife between brothers and repeated party struggles.

The shogunate in recent years has a lot of Southern Ming atmosphere.

The "Nanki faction" led by Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshoin, and the "Ichibashi faction" led by Ichibashi Yoshinobu and Matsudaira Harugaku, fought in a chaotic and chaotic manner.

The struggle between the two sides has almost reached the highest form of party struggle - opposition for the sake of opposition.

As long as the "Nanki faction" puts forward a proposition, whether it is right or wrong, the "Ichibashi faction" will oppose it.

Vice versa - no matter what the "Ichibashi faction" puts forward, whether it is right or wrong, the "Ichibashi faction" has only one attitude: No!

The administrative efficiency of the shogunate has been surprisingly slow due to redundant officials and redundant staff.

And now, because of the increasingly fierce party struggle between the "Nanki faction" and the "Ichibashi faction", the administrative efficiency is getting worse and worse.

Things that could have been done in 3 days took more than a month, or even more time, to get things done.

Ichibashi Yoshinobu is the current head of the Ichibashi family, one of the "Three Lords of the Imperial Court". His father is the former lord of the Mito domain, Tokugawa Nariaki, who is also well-known for his virtue.

Whether it is family background or personal prestige, Ichibashi Yoshinobu can be regarded as the top of the world.

In addition, he also has the strong support of many powerful daimyo such as Matsudaira Harugaku and Shimazu Hisamitsu.

With so many positive buffs, the political energy of the "Ichibashi faction" is not inferior to the "Nanki faction".

I think everyone would think so - the struggle between the two factions will last for a long time.

However... the facts prove that human history is indeed full of unpredictability!

At the critical moment when Tokugawa Iemochi fell ill, Ichibashi Yoshinobu was ordered to negotiate with the court on behalf of the shogunate.

But what was the result? He lost control of his emotions and spoke without thinking!

He made a political promise of "starting to expel foreigners on May 10th", which put the shogunate in an extremely unfavorable situation!

After such a big disaster, instead of trying to remedy it, he hid in Nijo Castle and did not meet anyone.

After nightfall, he sneaked back to Edo alone without saying hello to anyone including Matsudaira Harugaku.

Such brainless, unscrupulous and irresponsible behavior is really shocking!

It is no exaggeration to say that this wave of operations by Ichibashi Yoshinobu directly caused a huge "political storm"!

The political structure of the shogunate changed suddenly!

The first to bear the brunt was Ichibashi Yoshinobu's disgrace and the decline of the "Ichibashi faction".

Before this, in order to raise Ichibashi Yoshinobu's reputation, the members of the "Ichibashi faction" had been sparing no effort to promote him.

What "a wise man with both civil and military skills", what "the one who rebuilt the shogunate, it must be him"... He was just short of praising him as "Yao and Shun in the world".

There is a proverb that says: Don't get angry casually, because once you get angry, you will show your true ability, and then people will find that your true ability is very bad.

Applying this proverb to Ichibashi Yoshinobu is really appropriate.

Previously, under the propaganda of the "Ichibashi faction", many people, including Qing Deng, believed that Ichibashi Yoshinobu, who had received elite education since childhood, was more or less capable.

However, Ichibashi Yoshinobu's actual performance in the face of danger formed a very strong contrast with his reputation.

The wise man that the "Ichibashi faction" advocated... is this it?

Is this the leader of the "Ichibashi faction"?

Can such a person really save the shogunate?

People came to their senses one after another - Ichibashi Yoshinobu did not seem to be as great as he seemed on the surface.

Overnight, Ichibashi Yoshinobu's reputation plummeted and became a laughing stock of the world.

The "Ichibashi faction" also became the object of public ridicule.

Obviously, the notorious "Ichibashi faction" is no longer qualified to confront the "Nanki faction".

Ichibashi Yoshinobu knew that he had caused a big disaster. After sneaking back to Edo, he consciously resigned from the position of "Shogun's rear guard position", hid in his house, and became a retired official, giving himself a decent look.

As the core figure of the "Ichibashi faction", Ichibashi Yoshinobu had "surrendered", and Matsudaira Harugaku, who was only a "second in command", naturally had no reason to hold on.

He also handed over the position of "political president" and returned to his own domain (Echizen Fukui domain).

In this way, the two leaders of the "Ichibashi faction" resigned and left the stage one after another.

Just because of Ichibashi Yoshinobu's words, the "Ichibashi faction" completely lost power and was already dead in name only.

The fierce party struggle between the "Nanki faction" and the "Ichibashi faction" that lasted for many years came to an end, with a funny and absurd result.

There will be no vacuum of power, and there will always be other people or forces to fill the vacancy of power.

The "Ichibashi faction" lost power, and the "Nanki faction" naturally gained power.

Compared to the hesitant Ichitabashi celebrating, Aoto's heroic feat of retreating from the British ships a few days ago can be described as vigorous and resolute, full of masculinity!

It not only solved the siege of Edo, but also enabled the shogunate to finally give an explanation to the court.

In any case, it was the shogunate who issued the call to "start fighting the barbarians on May 10th."

Judging from the current situation, this call is misplaced.

The shogunate was not burdened by "repelling the barbarians".

On the contrary, Changzhou fell into the pit.

It's just that... it still can't change the fact that "the shogunate went back on its word."

At this critical moment, Qingdeng took action.

Driven away the British fleet in Edo Bay - this can be regarded as fighting against the foreigners!

Although it was not the kind of resistance the imperial court wanted, it still took some practical action.

In terms of actual power and status, Qingnobu is the third-in-command of the "Nanki Sect"-the first two are Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin respectively.

The third-in-command has made such a great contribution, and the prestige of the entire "Nan Ji Sect" has also increased.

Under the circumstances of the ebb and flow, without the constraints of the "Ichitsubashi Sect", Tokugawa Iemo finally could concentrate his strength and resources to build the shogunate in his mind!

The first thing he did was to allocate funds to the Shinsengumi.

Previously, when the Shinsengumi was first established, the reason why Tokugawa Iemomo only paid such a small amount of military expenditure (3,000 taels) was because the "Ichitsubashi faction" obstructed him at every turn.

Sometimes he says that the national treasury is empty, and sometimes he says that money needs to be spent here and money needs to be repaid there... In short, he is going against Tokugawa Iemo!

Now, all these noisy noises like flies have disappeared.

With a stroke of his pen, Tokugawa Iemo directly approved "to allocate 20,000 taels of military expenditure to the Shinsengumi every year, with one quarter to be delivered in the spring, one quarter in the summer, and the remaining one-half in the winter, divided into three parts." "Pay in full on time" order.

At a time when the "Ichitsubashi Sect" is weak and the "Nanki Sect" is strong and who has made great achievements in "saving Edo", Aoto is at the peak of his power. No one or force dares to treat Germany without a long-term view. Chuan Jiamao's imperial order said half of the word "no".

20,000 taels of gold - in the eyes of ordinary people, this is a dizzying astronomical figure.

In the Edo period, generally speaking, 1 tael of gold could buy 1 shi of rice, and 10,000 shi of territory... that is, 10,000 shi of rice could support 250 retired soldiers.

The Shinsengumi now has 3,000 soldiers.

Calculated - to feed the 3,000 soldiers of the Shinsengumi, at least 120,000 shi meters are needed, which is 120,000 taels of gold.

The annual military payment of 20,000 taels... is really a drop in the bucket for the current Shinsengumi.

However, this is better than nothing.

It’s better to have money to take it than to have no money to take it.

As for the current financial situation of the shogunate, Qingneng still knows a lot.

It is not easy to squeeze out 20,000 taels of gold every year to support the Shinsengumi.

Then, with a stroke of his pen, Tokugawa Iemo allocated large sums of money to the Institute of Military Studies and the Institute of Buddhist Studies.

The latter is an educational institution specializing in the study of Western culture.

As for the former - since several years ago, the Military Academy has been trying to train and form a fully westernized new army.

Tokugawa Iemo's intention of allocating funds to these two institutions is clear at a glance.

Then, he summoned Roche, the French Minister in Japan, to discuss the possibility of "cover-law cooperation."

Both Ayoto and Katsurintaro participated in this unique meeting between the two countries.

On the surface, France has the largest army in Europe.

Since the "Black Ship Incident", the number one enemy of the shogunate has never been the Western countries, but the imperial court and the Western vassals who are ready to take action when they see the situation is different.

Therefore, the shogunate now wants a strong army more than a strong navy.

In this way, the shogunate must favor France, which is better at the army.

The shogunate's proposition is simple - France provides the shogunate with advanced weapons and assists the shogunate in establishing a new army.

As one of the greedy and shameless Western powers, France naturally has no good intentions.

Its purpose is simple - the shogunate is France's dog.

The interests of both parties are consistent in some respects.

The French want the shogunate to be their dog, but to make the dog easier to use, they have to make the dog stronger.

After several days of wrangling, although the two parties have not reached a specific cooperation agreement, they can be considered to have negotiated something substantial.

All the things that need to be dealt with have been dealt with.

The vacation that should be spent has almost been spent.

The new recruits in Edo have completed preparations for departure and are ready to go out at any time.

Therefore, Qingdeng, who was full of energy, immediately issued an order——

June 24th, return to Kyoto!

…

…

Wenjiu three years (1863), June 23, night——

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Test Guard Hall——

Early tomorrow morning, Aoto and Hijikata Toshizo will lead all the new recruits of the Shinsengumi on their way back to the capital.

Tonight is their last night in Edo.

For this reason, the meal at the Trial Guard House tonight was particularly sumptuous.

It's full of flavors and comes with ice-cold drinks.

Aoto, Hijikata Toshizo, Kondo Shusuke, Okita Hikaru, Okita Rintaro (Okita Hikaru's husband), Abi (Kondo Shusuke's wife), Tsunemu (Kondo Isamu's wife), and Aoto's old servant Kubei, They gathered together in the hall of the Trial Guard Hall and had dinner quietly.

After Qing Deng and others went to Kyoto, Kyubei replaced Inoue Genzaburo and became the current "housekeeper" of the Shiwei Pavilion, fully responsible for sweeping the floor, washing clothes and other chores of the Shiwei Pavilion.

Kyubei was originally an old servant of the Tachibana family and served the Tachibana family.

Therefore, he was very good at these trivial household chores.

It is worth mentioning that the meal that Qing Deng and others had tonight was unusual.

There were only 8 people eating here.

But there were more than 8 meals placed here.

There were many dining tables around Qing Deng and others, and each dining table was filled with rich dishes.

Counting carefully, there were exactly 8 meals.

These 8 meals were steaming alone.

There was no one sitting around them...

There were not so many people, but so many meals were placed... At first glance, such a scene was very scary.

But in fact, this is a very solemn custom in Japan - Yinshan.

The so-called "Yinshan" refers to the three meals provided for people who are away from home because they are traveling or on the battlefield, praying that they can also have food, clothing and safety in a foreign land.

These 8 meals represent the 8 people who are not currently in the Shiweikan - Kondo Isami, Yamanami Keisuke, Okita Soji, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Ichi, Inoue Genzaburo, Fujido Heisuke, and Harada Sanosuke.

In fact, it is not just like this tonight.

After Qing Deng and others went to Kyoto, those who stayed in the Shiweikan would prepare Yinshan for them every day and every meal with great ceremony.

Before Qing Deng and Hijikata Toshizo returned, Kondo Shusuke and others had to prepare more than 8 Yinshan, but a full 10 - because they also had to serve Qing Deng and Hijikata Toshizo.

Three meals a day, every meal has to prepare so many meals that no one eats... It is conceivable how much waste this will cause.

Qing Deng only knew that Kondo Shusuke and others had been praying for them through "Yinshan" after returning to Edo.

He thought it was Kondo Shusuke's idea.

Unexpectedly... the person who advocated this was the mistress of the test health center - Aunt Abi.

Qing Deng was shocked at first, and then he was overwhelmed with emotions.

No wonder Qing Deng was like this.

When Qing Deng and others first moved into the test health center, Abi always had a sour face and looked like she didn't like them.

For this reason, many people, including Qing Deng and Nagakura Shinpachi, were afraid of Abi and tried to avoid Abi as much as possible.

This mistress who valued money, was stingy, and was very niggardly, actually took the lead in proposing to use Yin food to pray for Qing Deng and others, and has been insisting on it until now...

In addition, according to Kondo Shusuke's revelation, every morning and evening, Abi would take out her Nenchi Buddha and recite the sutra respectfully.

[Note: Nenchi Buddha: a Buddha statue that is never left or placed at home for kneeling and worship. ]

Why did she recite the sutra?

You can only imagine it.

…

…

After dinner, Kondo Shusuke suddenly summoned Aoto and Hijikata Toshizo to the dojo.

Although the two did not know the purpose of their master, they still rushed to the dojo in a daze.

As soon as they arrived at the dojo, they saw Kondo Shusuke sitting on the main seat.

"Tachibana-kun, Toshizo, you are here, please sit down."

The two sat side by side in front of Kondo Shusuke.

"I hesitated for a long time... I have to give this thing to you..."

Kondo Shusuke sighed softly and handed each of them a scroll.

Although they had not read this scroll, Aoto and Hijikata Toshizo had already opened their eyes wide in surprise.

As disciples of the Tennen Rishin-ryu, they naturally knew what this was - the certificate of the Tennen Rishin-ryu Menkyo Kaiden!

Request for monthly tickets! Request for recommendation tickets! (Leopard head crying.jpg)