I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 118 Salesman, crusade against the imperial edict
In order to promote canned instant noodles, Yagyu specifically told the emperor about this matter, and then formally invited the six countries of Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Prussia, and the Netherlands to come to the cabinet conference room for a banquet.

Parkes was originally an envoy in the Qing Dynasty, but he was appointed as the minister to Japan more than a month ago. When he entered the conference room, he saw that the Russian consul was somewhat dissatisfied.

However, the Russian consul was also displeased with Parkes.

Fortunately, Yagyu was always there, and the consuls of the two countries gave him some face and did not start a quarrel. After all, there were still consuls from France and the United States, so they couldn't lose their grace.

Yagyu took the lead and said with a smile: "Gentlemen, I invite you all to come here today. I have a business to discuss with you."

Parkes asked in a stiff tone: "Oh? I really don't know what kind of business in Japan can interest us."

Yagyu said indifferently: "Mr. Parkes, Japan has just begun its reform, and everything is in ruins. However, Japan has a long history and excellent culture.

Although we are far behind in terms of technology, in some aspects, even England is not our opponent in Japan. "

Arissa, the consul of Tsarist Russia, provoked the matter: "Mr. Parkes, England is just an island country, almost the same as Japan, hahaha!"

Parkesli said angrily: "Our British Empire has the strongest navy in the world!"

Florentino Ariza was not to be outdone and said: "What about the Army?"

Parkes felt a little guilty and said: "We only use the navy."

Florentino Ariza laughed and said, "Can your boat still land?"

Seeing that the two of them were about to lose control, Yagyu immediately said loudly: "Gentlemen, the focus of today is business, harmony makes money!"

Parkes and Florentino Ariza then regained their composure.

Yagyu immediately waved, and Tetsunosuke Ichimura immediately came up with seven cans of instant noodles.

Yagyu picked up one of the cans and said: "Gentlemen, this is our homemade instant noodle can in Japan. It contains a piece of noodle bread, one tael of fish, one tael of beef, and seasoning packets.

This instant meal only needs to be soaked in boiling water and can be eaten in 3 minutes. It tastes good. Let me demonstrate it to you. "

Ichimura Tetsunosuke immediately brought boiled water and poured it directly into the can. Yagyu covered the lid and took out his pocket watch to time the time.

Everyone looked at Yagyu's actions and felt a little confused.

"Mr. Yagyu, are you trying to do some magic?"

“I’ve eaten Japanese food, but what are instant noodles?”

"Such convenient food can indeed be used as military rations. Mr. Yagyu plans to start a big canning business."

Several consuls talked about their guesses, but they were not in a hurry to explain. He just looked at his pocket watch and waited for three minutes.

"click..."

Just when several consuls were getting impatient, Yagyu put away his pocket watch and said with a smile: "Gentlemen, the time has come. It's time to witness the magic."

Yagyu opened the lid, and a scent quickly spread. Parkel and Florentino Arissa who were sitting nearest smelled the scent.

Dutch Consul Van Bols was surprised: "The fragrance is so strong. Just smelling it makes me appetite."

Prussian Consul Barland nodded and said: "This fragrance really attracts appetite."

Yagyu immediately said: "Gentlemen, this is definitely a good product. Think about it, when soldiers who have experienced cruel wars come to eat, I think it will be inspiring to eat such a bowl of fragrant and warm instant noodles. Soldier morale!
And this can of instant noodles is very cheap. You can buy a box of it for only fifty pence, for a total of 24 boxes of cans! "

Florentino Ariza was a little moved. The Tsarist Russian Empire was now conquering Central Asia. Although Tsar Alexander II had strengthened Tsarist Russia's national power through reforms, there were many places where money was needed, and some could be saved.

He asked: "I think I can only decide if I try the taste myself."

Yagyu clapped his hands and said: "Of course, now I will ask someone to prepare it for you."

Soon, a steaming can of instant noodles was placed in front of Florentino Arissa. Florentino Arissa took a bite and nodded: "Okay, that's great. It's really nice to have a mouthful of hot food in the ice and snow." Happy things.

Mr. Yagyu, we can order [-] boxes of canned instant noodles from you first! "

Twenty-five thousand pounds!

This is a big business. Excluding costs, Yagyu will earn at least [-] to [-] pounds from this business!
Yagyu immediately stretched out his hand to shake Ariza's hand and said, "Mr. Arissa, this is a wise choice. You are welcome to order again!"

With Florentino Ariza taking the lead, the other five consuls also purchased tens of thousands of boxes of canned instant noodles. The transaction price was around 6 pounds.

Unfortunately, his business did not catch up with the American Civil War, so the American consul did not buy too many.

But this trade is already a victory for Yagyu.

Yagyu happily sent away the six consuls, and then said to Ichimura Tetsunosuke with excitement: "Inform the factory and give me overtime production! Several more food processing plants need to be built, this is our leading industry. "

After Yagyu's sales meeting to several consuls, shops selling canned instant noodles appeared on the streets of Kyoto.

"Let's take a look. The emperor and the general have been talking about the new delicacies, and they are sold overseas. Come and take a look!"

Pedestrians on the road heard the shouting and wanted to join in the fun, and soon a large number of people gathered in front of the store.

The waiter opened a can, poured hot water into it, and said, "Guests, wait patiently for 3 minutes, and then you can see a delicious dish being made!"

The guests who were watching the excitement immediately shouted: "Isn't that right? Don't lie to people and waste our time!"

“If it’s really delicious, I’ll buy one to take away right away!”

"How much is 3 minutes?"

The waiter chatted animatedly with the onlookers, and soon after 3 minutes passed, the waiter opened the lid, and the rich fragrance instantly lingered in the guests' noses.

"Hiss...it smells so good..."

"This is the first time I've smelled such a fragrant smell."

"It's just scent, let me have a taste!"

The guy picked up his chopsticks and gave some to the people in front of him, letting them all take a bite.

"Well, it's delicious, the noodles are very chewy!"

"It smells so good, it fills your mouth with fragrance!"

"Bring me two cans of instant noodles!"

As those who had tried it bought it, other onlookers immediately followed suit and bought one to try it out.The few people who had eaten instant noodles withdrew from the crowd, looked at each other, and muttered: "I've eaten at several restaurants, how many more are there down there?"

"It's just one family. When you're done, you can go get the rewards."

"Then the instant noodles tasted really good at first, but now that I've eaten too much, it's just like that, ugh..."

Several officials complained and left silently.

It took half a month for Yagyu to launch instant noodles. In addition to the more than 2 boxes sold to the consul, more than [-] boxes were retailed in this half month.

However, not long ago, a Western businessman ordered [-] boxes with the intention of selling them to the West, Southeast Asia and other places.

In total, Yagyu earned thirty to forty thousand pounds through the instant noodle canning business.

When the reputation of canned instant noodles is fully developed, there will be more income.

Now that the instant noodle canning business is on the right track, Yagyu leaves it to officials at the Ministry of the Interior.

For many things, Yagyu just started and handed them over to cabinet officials once they were on track.

After all, Yagyu had too many things to do.

Just as Yagyu read the report on instant noodles cans, Zentaro Cai entered the office under the leadership of Tetsunosuke Ichimura.

Cai Shantaro immediately reported: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, Prince Gong of the Qing Dynasty is very satisfied with the foreign guns we provided. They plan to purchase another one thousand Spencer rifles and five thousand Enfield rifles. As for the Napoleon artillery, Prince Gong wants to One hundred doors.”

Yagyu smiled and said: "Okay, I'll ask the armament depot to prepare it for you right away. This time you go to the Qing Dynasty and negotiate a business with them. We need to buy a large piece of land on Hainan Island in the Qing Dynasty to grow things. In addition, we need to We need to open local factories and build ports.”

Cai Shantaro wrote down Yagyu's request, nodded and said: "Prime Minister, these matters are not difficult to solve. As long as you give the Prime Minister's Yamen enough money, you can solve them."

Yagyu nodded and said: "Money is not an issue, you just give it to them."

Cai Shantaro put away the documents and immediately left.

After arranging Zentaro Ai, Yagyu was reminded by Tetsunosuke Ichimura to go to the warehouse in Osaka to check the arms sent by the United States and an ironclad ship nearly 70 meters long and with a displacement of 150 tons.

Yagyu immediately took a train to Osaka and saw the armored ship. This armored ship was similar in shape to the Koshi, not an iron lump covered with a turtle shell.

Yagyu was very satisfied and shook hands with the American consul at the handover.

Katsu Kaishu on the side said excitedly: "It's really spectacular, but compared to the navies of Western countries, we are still far behind."

Yagyu comforted: "There is a long way to go to build the navy. Mr. Katsu must work harder. I hope that one day we can make ironclads."

Sheng Haizhou said with confidence: "Don't worry, I will definitely work hard!"

Yagyu did not stay long in Osaka. He rested for a while and then returned to Kyoto.

Yagyu was busy with his money-making business, opening factories and recruiting businessmen. He was very busy.

The appearance of Kyoto also began to change. Businessmen from Britain, France, the United States, Russia and other countries purchased land in Kyoto and built their own chambers of commerce, and some Western businessmen built their own villas.

In just three months, several styles of Western architecture appeared in ancient Kyoto.

Yagyu even persuaded the emperor to build a three-story luxury villa.

There was still extra space inside. Emperor Komei listened to Yagyu's advice and built a villa. Construction has been started for more than a month.

It is already September and the weather is getting cooler, but the atmosphere in Kyoto is getting a little tense.

Hitotsubashi Keiki repeatedly wrote to the court, asking the court to issue an imperial edict to attack the Choshu Domain. However, Okubo Toshimichi of the Satsuma Domain had been persuading the ministers who supported the Satsuma Domain to intervene to stop him.

This matter has been noisy since June until now, and there are already voices of dissatisfaction within the shogunate.

Ichihashi Yingxi was worried that the crusade would end in failure, so he decided to launch a final decisive battle to force the court to agree to the shogunate's request.

On September [-]st, Ichibashi Keixi brought along Matsudaira Yongho and Matsudaira Sadaki, and the three of them went to court together to pay homage to the emperor.

When Ichibashi Qingxi saw that Guan Bai and Erjo Qi Jing were absent, he immediately asked: "Where is Master Guan Bai? Why haven't you attended yet?"

Konoe Tadafusa said immediately: "Lord Guan Bai will be here soon."

Hitotsubashi waited for a long time and said angrily: "Is Mr. Guanbai contemptuous of the shogunate?"

A minister hurriedly ran over and said, "Sir Guan Bai was stopped by Okubo Toshimichi of the Satsuma Domain."

"It's the Satsuma clan again!" Ichihashi Keixi was furious. He stood up and said, "The dignified Guan Bai is actually controlled by a feudal minister. Is this even remotely decent? If the imperial court must stand with the Satsuma clan to prevent the shogunate's conquest Changshu, if I stay in Kyoto, it will be a dead end, so I can commit suicide in this hall!"

Konoe Tadafusa said quickly: "Why should I be impulsive, Hitotsubashi-sama? You must not do it!"

Hitotsubashi Yingxi snorted coldly and said: "This won't work, that won't work either. What does the court think? Since the court does not agree to the shogunate's expedition to the Choshu Domain, I have no choice but to resign from my position in Kyoto and return to my own domain. ”

Matsudaira Sadei immediately followed and said: "I will also resign from this official position and return to the feudal kingdom."

Matsudaira Yongho was in a dilemma. He saluted and persuaded: "Your Majesty, now that the shogun has arrived in Osaka in person, he is preparing to lead the shogunate's army to conquer the Choshu domain. If the shogun withdraws his troops because the imperial court does not issue the edict, then where will the shogunate's face be? Your Majesty. Think twice.”

Emperor Takamei naturally did not want the shogunate to collapse, but he also did not want a domestic war. However, if Hitotsubashi Keiki and others left Kyoto, it would be detrimental to subsequent plans.

Emperor Takamei immediately said: "The Choshu clan is the enemy of the imperial court after all. There was no good person in the past who was the strongest. Now he has provoked the shogunate and started a civil war. This is an unforgivable crime.

I then followed General Tokugawa's wishes and issued an imperial edict to attack the Choshu Domain. "

Hitotsubashi breathed a sigh of relief, sat down and saluted, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After the imperial edict was issued, Okubo Toshimichi, who was still persuading Nijo Saikyo, sighed, stopped trying to stop Nijo Saikyō, and returned to Satsuma Mansion to discuss with Saigo Takamori.

Komatsu frowned and said with a sword: "The Choshu clan only has 4000 people now. How can this small force be the opponent of the shogunate? Yoshinosuke, what should Choshu do?"

Saigo Takamori looked at the fallen leaves in the yard and said: "At this time, even if the shogunate wants to send troops, the feudal lords do not want to send troops when winter is approaching.

The Choshu clan still has time to train their army, so we are now waiting for news from Sakamoto Ryoma. "

In the cabinet, Yagyu's office, Kondo Isamu reported to Yagyu the news about the shogunate and Satsuma clan.

Yagyu stopped what he was doing, leaned back on his chair and said: "War is inevitable. Continue to send people to keep an eye on the movements inside and outside Kyoto. If there is any trouble, let me know."

Toshizo Hijikata reported the news from Choshu and Nagasaki: "Director, Sakamoto Ryoma has persuaded Yingshang Grove to purchase arms, and Katsura Kogoro is already training new troops in Choshu."

(End of this chapter)