I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 123 English Pressure

Sakamoto Ryoma was seriously injured and was sent away from Kyoto by Saigo Takamori to Satsuma to recuperate.

Yagyu was relieved when he heard the news, but the conflicts between the shogunate and Choshu and Satsuma were also brought to the fore.

As soon as the shogunate saw that Satsuma was an opponent, they immediately approached the French ambassador Rossius to ask for more assistance.

However, Rosius was very dissatisfied with the request of the shogunate. Although they supported the shogunate and fought against the British, intending to gain sovereignty in Japan, on the European continent, Prussia was rising, and Napoleon III had to deal with the threat from his homeland.

Coupled with the fact that some people in the country were opposed to continuing to support the Tokugawa shogunate, and that the shogunate did not provide enough benefits to France, Rosius did not want to help the shogunate.

However, in the current situation, Yagyu has been selling cheap cans and weapons to the shogunate, and other behaviors make people think that the imperial court is joining forces with the shogunate.

Komatsu Kato of the Satsuma Domain was very worried about this matter. He asked about Okubo Toshimichi's situation in the cabinet.

Okubo Toshimichi said: “Since Prime Minister Yagyu’s Restoration, there have been a total of 52 factories in Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, and now the railway from Kobe to Kyoto has been completed, and three steam trains have been put in.

Now the Ministry of Interior plans to purchase more steam trains. The Prime Minister means to send people to study abroad to learn steam train technology and strive to make steam trains by himself.

Now that the cabinet finances have a surplus, students in Kyoto and Osaka have also begun to enroll students.

In addition, I asked an official of the Army of the Ministry of Defense. The Guards Division is said to have nearly 1 people. In fact, the Guards Division has more than [-] reserves.

If this continues, the imperial court under the control of Prime Minister Yagyu will become stronger and stronger. "

After listening to Okubo Toshimichi's analysis, Komatsu with his sword said with some worry: "Yagyu is too strong. He is no better than the shogunate. This man has a very long-term plan. Even if we join forces with the Choshu clan, I am afraid we will not be his opponent."

Okubo Toshimichi nodded and said: "Prime Minister Yagyu has already said that no matter what the outcome of the war between the shogunate and the Choshu clan is, the imperial court is sure to resolve the subsequent turmoil."

"So confident Yagyu Nobita!" Komatsu snorted coldly with his sword, "No, we must find people from Yingji to suppress Yagyu, otherwise even if we defeat the shogunate, the Satsuma clan will not have much say in the court."

Komatsu brought a knife to find the English ambassador Parkes.

"Mr. Parkesli, now that Yagyu Kigeon has become stronger and stronger through the reform, if this continues, even if our Satsuma domain becomes stronger, I'm afraid we will not be his opponent." Komatsu said to Parkeli with some dissatisfaction with his sword. .

Parkes was unhappy and said: "This is your problem. He obviously only has one or two cities, but you have a vassal state. Why does his strength surpass you?"

Xiaosong, holding a knife, said anxiously: "Didn't this mean that several countries like you gave him a sum of money? Otherwise, how could he have money for reform?"

Parkes leaned back on his chair and said arrogantly: "We funded him because he promised us to open the port. Besides, we also funded you. Isn't it your fault that the current situation is like this? You'd better think of a way to solve it. Otherwise We can only consider cooperation with Yagyu."

Komatsu's face changed with a knife, and his tone softened: "Mr. Parkes, Satsuma is definitely the best partner of England. We are already thinking of a way, but I want to ask you for a favor."

Parkes saw Xiao Song wearing a knife and subduing himself, and with a smug smile, he said, "Well, tell me about it."

Komatsu took the knife and said immediately: "I hope Mr. Parkes can talk to Yagyu and ask him to stop making deals with the shogunate."

Parkes thought for a while, nodded and said, "Okay, I will talk to Mr. Yagyu."

"Thank you very much." Xiao Song stood up and left with the knife.

Komatsu, who walked out of the embassy with a knife, couldn't help but muttered in a low voice: "Humph, damn ghost guy."

After cursing, Komatsu felt comfortable with his sword, then got into the sedan and returned to the Satsuma Domain.

In the embassy, ​​the secretary said indifferently: "Mr. Ambassador, since Satsuma is not as powerful as Prime Minister Yagyu, why should we help him?"

Parkes explained: "It's really because they are a little worse than the smart Prime Minister Yagyu that they need our help even more. As for Prime Minister Yagyu, he is not a simple opponent."

The secretary still said disdainfully: "No matter how powerful Prime Minister Yagyu is, can the army he leads defeat our British Far East Fleet? I don't think there is any need to worry."

Parkes shook his head and said: "Things are not as simple as you think. Although Prime Minister Yagyu doesn't have many troops, his strength is not easy to evaluate.

We can wait and see how Prime Minister Yagyu solves the problem in this major event. It would be best to see the Guards Division dispatch troops, so that we can get their intelligence.

Daying has plenty of time, so we don't have to rush. "

Parkes immediately sent a letter to Yagyu.

The next day, Yagyu met with Parkes in the small cabinet meeting room.

Parkes and Yagyu exchanged a few words of greetings before getting down to business.

"Mr. Yagyu, I heard that your factory provides a large amount of military rations for the shogunate's conscription. Does Mr. Yagyu want to support the shogunate?"

Parkes' tone was a bit stiff, and it became even more obvious later on.

However, Yagyu was not frightened by this scene. He calmly picked up the hot tea, took a sip, and said: "Mr. Parkes, this has nothing to do with supporting the shogunate. This is just a business. If the Choshu clan wants Buy, we can also trade.”

Parkes nodded and said: "Mr. Yagyu is really quick to talk. Since you don't support the shogunate, do you want to support the Choshu clan?"

Yagyu smiled and said: "I will not support either side, Mr. Parkes. I am the cabinet of the imperial court, and I naturally support the imperial court. Perhaps after this battle, the chaos in the Japanese Congress will end."

Parkes was greatly surprised when he heard Yagyu's words. He didn't expect Yagyu to be so confident, which made him a little unconvinced and said: "Mr. Yagyu, it's better not to be so confident. The backstory of the Choshu Domain is not that simple."

Liu Sheng nodded and said: "Of course I know. I have made sufficient preparations to give everyone a surprise. How about it? Mr. Parkes, are you interested in seeing it then?"

Parkes laughed and said: "Okay, okay, I admire your courage, Mr. Yagyu, then we will see."

"It's a deal." Liu Sheng shook hands with Parkel very confidently.Parkes walked out of the palace, got on his carriage, sat on the soft sofa, and said, "Yagyu Heigen is really a strong opponent."

The secretary was still very arrogant and said: "Mr. Ambassador, don't worry. With our support, the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain join forces, how can they not be Yagyu Higen's opponent."

Parkes also nodded and said: "That's fine. It would be very interesting to defeat an opponent like Yagyu Heiyan."

On behalf of England, Parkes came forward to remind Yagyu. Although he did not make Yagyu surrender, it was a bit heavy for Yagyu.

Before he took full control of Japan, Western powers such as England were the mountains weighing on his head. Japan was just a lonely boat in the Pacific. If he was not careful, he might be smashed into pieces by a large Western ship.

Although the British put pressure on Yagyu, Tsarist Russia brought good news to Yagyu. Things in Alaska were clear.

Since April and May last year, Zhou Hengjuro contacted the ambassador of Tsarist Russia. Emperor Alexander II of Tsarist Russia received a letter from the ambassador of Tsarist Russia and discussed it with officials.

Now the center of the Tsarist Empire is in Central Asia and the direction of the Qing Dynasty, and Alaska is somewhat beyond its reach.

Just next to Alaska, that is, Canada, is an English colony. The relationship between Tsarist Russia and England is not very good. In order to guard against Canada's English, Tsarist Russia needs to garrison troops in Alaska, which is cold all year round, which brings some problems to the national finance. pressure.

Therefore, officials within Tsarist Russia have long made requests to sell Alaska to the United States.

Now that Yagyu is involved, Alaska's ownership has fluctuated.

This was mainly due to the fact that the price given by Yagyu was higher. The other reason was that Arissa, the ambassador to Japan, wrote back to Tsar Alexander II, mentioning that Yagyu's attitude towards countries such as England and France was very subtle.

In addition, Yagyu took the lead in establishing diplomatic relations with Prussia, which made Alexander II consider the possibility of selling it to Japan.

However, Alexander II still had a final test for Yagyu.

Ariza received the Tsar's order and immediately went to Yagyu to discuss Alaska.

Yagyu was very interested in Alaska. When he heard that Arissa was discussing this matter with him, he immediately went to the Russian Embassy to visit Arissa.

After Ariza asked Yagyu to sit down, he said: "Mr. Yagyu, although Alaska is cold all year round, it is still suitable for living in the area near the ocean. The nearby fishery resources are very good, as well as forestry and other resources. It is rich in resources.

Originally we planned to sell it to the United States as a favor, but Mr. Yagyu, many of us still wanted to sell it to Japan, but we spent a lot of money. "

Yagyu immediately took out the gift and said, "Mr. Florentino Ariza, I would like to thank you very much for your help. This is a small thank you."

Florentino Ariza's eyes lit up when he saw a pile of shining gold cans in the opened box. He nodded and said, "Mr. Yagyu, you're welcome. You are my friend. Besides, your cans are of high quality and low price. The Tsar praised it." Your canned food has brought delicious food to our army."

Yagyu smiled secretly in his heart, and he quickly said: "I know His Majesty the Tsar's concerns about Alaska. Although the United States is independent from the British colony, they are descendants of the British after all, and their current relationship is not bad.

But we in Japan are different. If the Perry fleet of the United States had not forcibly opened our country, we would not have been squeezed by Britain, France and the United States.

Mr. Florentino Ariza, when I say this, you should also understand that Japan will never be hostile to your country because of England. You have to know how old we are, how can we compare with the powerful and vast Tsarist Russia?It is my greatest wish to live in peace with your country. "

Ariza nodded and said: "I understand, Mr. Yagyu, I will definitely try my best to help you."

Yagyu quickly thanked him and said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Florentino Ariza. I will give you a big gift when everything is done."

Florentino Ariza was very moved and repeatedly assured Yagyu.

Yagyu then said: "Mr. Ariza, I will send some funds later to help Mr. Arissa contact other colleagues."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Yagyu is really thoughtful. I will definitely help you handle this matter." Florentino Ariza nodded again and again promised.

Only then did Yagyu get up and leave the Russian Embassy.

Ogata Shuntaro, who was following Yagyu, was a little puzzled and said: "Prime Minister, since we agreed to pay for the purchase, why do we have to send money to bribe them?"

Yagyu looked around and whispered: "The money is gone, we can still make more, but Alaska must be obtained. Besides, since I want to spend 200 million pounds to buy Alaska, the tens of thousands of taels of gold that I bribed them with are a sum of money." It’s just a small amount of money, not worth mentioning.”

Only then did Ogata Shuntaro understand what Yagyu meant.

A few days later, Shantaro Cai, who returned from the Qing Dynasty, reported to Yagyu about renting land to build a factory in Hainan, the Qing Dynasty.

Cai Shantaro said: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have rented over [-] acres of land and planted cola nuts and other trees. We also purchased a batch of machinery and raw materials to build a factory in Haikou, Hainan. The people of the Qing Dynasty nearby became Our hired workers and the dock have also been built, costing a total of more than [-] taels of silver.

Among them, 5 taels of silver were given to the Prime Minister's Office and the local magistrate of Qiongshan County received 3000 taels of silver. We only used 5 taels of silver to rent it for 30 years.

It is also very cheap for local people to hire workers, one-third cheaper than our workers. In addition, we funded the construction of the port, but we can use it for free and charge 5.00% less tariff. "

Yagyu nodded and said: "Okay, Zentaro, you and Tsunejuro did a good job, I will report your merits to the emperor, do your best!"

Shantaro Cai, who was a little tired at first, immediately became energetic and said loudly: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, I will do my best to serve the Prime Minister!"

Yagyu encouraged Cai Shantaro for a few words, and then let him go down to rest.

The current situation is that everything is going well for Yagyu. Soon he will be able to launch KFC and Coca-Cola, which will give the court another financial income.

Now the situation in Kyoto and Osaka is getting more and more tense. Although the shogunate received the imperial edict to attack the Choshu Domain last year, it was delayed until September and the appropriate time to send troops was missed, so it was postponed to this year.

It was only April, and Hitotsubashi Keiki couldn't wait to urge soldiers and horses from all over the country to gather in Osaka.

Today, the outside of Osaka City has become a military camp. The number of the army exceeds 12, and there are also soldiers and horses later. Such a huge army makes the shogunate full of confidence.

(End of this chapter)