I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 102 Arrangements for Cabinet Meetings
Recruiting talents does not happen overnight. However, Yagyu and built most of the cabinet. Matsudaira Yongyasu, as the deputy prime minister, brought people from the Aizu clan to help Yagyu.

From February [-], when the establishment of the cabinet was announced, to today, February [-], Yagyu held the first meeting of the cabinet.

In the hall of the Military Guard Mansion, there was a long table in the middle with dozens of chairs on both sides.

Yagyu and a group of ministers sat at the long table, while the other cabinet officials sat on the chairs behind.

Yagyu stood up, raised his hand to signal to everyone, and said: "This is the emperor's attempt to govern the country, and he entrusted me to form a cabinet. Although the imperial court started the reform last year at my insistence, this is only the first step of the reform. Let the imperial court's finances be enriched.

Everyone, we have to understand that reform is not just talk. Reform requires a lot of money to introduce advanced foreign machines. Not only that, we also need to send people to Western countries to learn their culture.

Now let me talk about what the cabinet will do this year. First, I will establish three schools: navy, army, and industry. The schools are divided into primary schools, middle schools, colleges, and vocational schools.

The purpose of vocational schools is to cultivate students who are familiar with majors in a short period of time, while the other elementary, middle and high schools are for the future of Japan. I would like to ask Mr. Yokoi to follow up on this matter. "

Yokoi Xiaonan stood up and nodded: "I understand."

Yagyu continued: "The next thing to talk about is factories and other issues. Next, the cabinet will set up new factories. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce can issue information to allow private businessmen to invest in opening factories together with the imperial court.

In addition, I will introduce cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, tobacco and other crops to Western countries. Cotton, tobacco, etc. are cash crops, and corn, sweet potatoes, etc. are to solve the problem of low domestic food production.

The Ministry of Interior should supervise these things and introduce some measures to encourage people to study production issues, such as how to increase grain production and so on.

Not only in agriculture, but also in industrial science and technology, the cabinet should also issue policies as soon as possible to support people from all walks of life and classes to engage in research. As long as they are approved by the cabinet, they can get a large cash reward, and the government will provide subsidies to support them in opening factories, etc. wait. "

The Minister of the Interior was vacant, so it was managed by Koshitaro Ito, while the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was managed by Eiichi Shibusawa. The two immediately responded to Yagyu's request.

Then Yagyu looked at the Ministry of Defense. The Minister of Defense was Katsu Kaishu. This was Yagyu's request to Hitotsubashi Keiki, and Hitotsubashi Keiki happily agreed.

"Mr. Katsu, please pay more attention to the Navy. Hijikata, you will be responsible for reorganizing the new army into a Guards Division. The weapons will be in place in three months at most. You need to recruit manpower for training first.

I will also arrange the armament of the Police Department as soon as possible. In the future, in addition to wearing knives, ordinary police officers in the Police Department will be equipped with revolvers. In addition, the police stations will also be equipped with Spencer rifles.The tax bureau's action team is similarly equipped. "

"That's roughly what I'm going to talk about today. You all should act in accordance with the plan I announced."

Everyone put away their notes and immediately followed their bosses to leave.

Okubo Toshimichi, an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted down a few key points and got up and left the Military Guard.

Yagyu first went to Yokoi Xiaonan and explained his philosophy: "There are not many skilled workers now, which seriously affects the speed of opening factories. Therefore, Mr. Yokoi's initial focus is still on vocational school, and the other is to find out a set of To quickly eliminate illiteracy, if you want to become an advanced civilized country, the literacy rate of the people is very important."

Yokoi Xiaonan was full of energy. He nodded and said: "Okay, Prime Minister, don't worry, I understand your difficulties and will definitely start a vocational school first."

Yagyu then found Katsu Kaishu and said: "Mr. Katsu, the establishment of the navy did not happen overnight. Although I had arranged for many students to study in your Katsu private school before, the number of students was still a drop in the bucket. I told you that now There will be eight steam warships owned by the imperial court, six of which are about 300-[-] tons, an ironclad ship of more than [-] tons, and an ironclad ship of more than [-] tons. In total, the navy still lacks hundreds of people. This requires Mr. Sheng’s help.”

Katsu Kaishu thought for a while and said: "I think there are some things I need to ask clearly before I can decide whether to help Mr. Yagyu."

"Excuse me." Yagyu was not angry.

Katsu Kaishu asked: "Did Yagyu-sama form a cabinet for the imperial court and expand the navy and army? Do you want to overthrow the emperor, or do you want to deal with the two feudal lords?"

Yagyu shook his head and said: "No, I strengthened the imperial court to save Japan. The shogunate will be unable to save Japan for a while. Once the war against the Choshu Domain begins, many fatal flaws will be exposed, and the imperial court will have to clean up the mess.

As for the Satsuma clan, it is indeed good to learn Western technology and be proactive, but many of them are influenced by Yoshida Shoin and tend to become radical. As for Saigo Takamori and others, their structure is too small and they only focus on the Satsuma clan. Conducive to the overall development of Japan.

That’s why I want to make the imperial court stronger, balance the two forces, and eliminate the possibility of civil war. What do you think, Mr. Sheng? "

Sheng Haizhou smiled slightly and said: "Leave the navy to me, but you have to be mentally prepared for the money."

Yagyu smiled and said, "That's why I want to open more factories."

"Hahaha." The two looked at each other and smiled, then dispersed.

After a while, Yagyu found Hijikata Toshizo. Hijikata Toshizo was influenced by Yagyu. Since last year, he has been secretly learning Western military skills. It is for this reason that Yagyu arranged for Hijikata Toshizo to be in charge of the army.

When Yagyu found Toshizo Hijikata, Toshizo Hijikata was arranging for people to go to the countryside to recruit soldiers. According to Yagyu's requirements, the soldiers must be honest country people.

Hijikata Toshizo saw Yagyu and joked: "Is the Prime Minister so leisurely? That's right, everything has been arranged for us, and the Prime Minister has nothing to do."

Yagyu stepped forward and hugged Hijikata Toshizo's shoulders, threatening: "Hijikata, although I have switched to using a gun, my swordsmanship has not fallen behind. Do you want to try it?"

"No, it can't be done." Toshizo Hijikata quickly gave up, "What advice do you have, Prime Minister?"

Only then did Yagyu take out a plan from his arms and said: "This is the armament arrangement of the Guards Division. The Prussian Dreiser rifles used by the infantry can be equipped with bayonets. In today's battlefield, bayonets are still important.

As for the dragoon regiments and artillery regiments using Spencer rifles, the dragoon regiments are mainly used to harass enemy troops, while the artillery regiments use Spencer rifles to defend against enemy sneak attacks.

In addition, Prussian officers will help train the new artillery. You must quickly get the new army into combat effectiveness within a year. "

"Understood." Hijikata responded with a serious face.

(End of this chapter)