I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 138
Although the National Assembly has passed the bill to abolish the old samurai class, the specific steps to do so need to be carefully discussed. After all, it is best to avoid unrest.

After the bill was passed, Kido Takayoshi was the first to ask: "Since the Prime Minister has proposed the abolition of the samurai class, the samurai will not give up."

Tokugawa Yoshiki also said: "Even if the Prime Minister proposed the national examination to appease the samurai, not everyone can pass the national examination. What will happen to the rest?"

Yagyu picked up a new document and said: "This is the "Order on the Permission of Miao Characters for Common People" drawn up by the cabinet. From now on, all Japanese citizens will have Miao characters, and this is no longer the privilege of samurai."

"There is also the "Conscription Order". As long as the men are over 20 years old and in good health, they are obliged to join the army to protect their families and the country. It is no longer the privilege of the samurai to serve as a soldier.

The last item is the "Abandoned Sword Order". Except for the military, police and other positions that can wear real swords, others are not allowed to wear real swords. Violators will be punished.

In addition, according to the national constitution, except for His Majesty the Emperor, all other people are Japanese citizens and everyone is equal. Citizens need to salute the Emperor out of respect for the Constitution. As for other people, they may or may not salute out of courtesy. "

Shimazu Hisamitsu couldn't help but said: "We have devoted so much to the development of the country, but in the end we will be the same as civilians?"

Ohara Shigenori and others nodded repeatedly, recognizing Shimazu Hisamitsu's remarks.

"You have contributed, and so have the civilians. They pay taxes for the country and join the army for the country. Their contributions are no less than yours. We should give the civilians the respect they deserve.

A country is not just made up of us, the vast majority are civilians. Without the support of civilians, we will be like the Qing Dynasty. When the enemy invaded the country, no one rose up to resist, and the vast majority of people looked on. The country is sinking, and some people are even leading the way for foreign enemies.

We must give our citizens enough dignity so that they can live a better life, so that they can love the country from the bottom of their hearts. "

Katsu Kaishu, who had seen Western civilization, was the first to clapped his hands and agreed: "What the Prime Minister said is so right, it's so refreshing! I've been to the United States, and they are like this. If we want to catch up with Western countries, we have to respect the people." !”

Sakuma Shoyama also said: "Since the Constitution has given citizens such rights, we should abide by them. Otherwise, the Constitution will lose its meaning."

Shimazu Hisamitsu looked at Kido Takayun, Okubo Toshimichi and others. They were thinking and could not find a reason to refute Yagyu for a while, so they could only remain silent.

Prince Chaoyan immediately knocked and said: "Since everyone has no objections, let's start the voting."

Minutes later, all three bills passed.

After the Congress ended, the three bills were printed into books and then distributed to various vassals and newly established states and counties.

The first thing implemented was to register the Miao characters of civilians in various places.

In order to prevent people from randomly taking Miao characters, the Yagyu cabinet issued a list of Miao characters to various registration offices. It contains all Miao characters that have appeared in history. People can choose their favorite Miao characters from the list.

However, some special surnames and Miao characters such as Minamoto, Taira, Ashikaga, Tokugawa, and the Gongqing family are not included in this list.

Then there is a list of registered warriors from all over the country to take the national examination. The content of the national examination is divided into martial arts, military strategy, arithmetic, foreign languages, medicine, engineering and other subjects.

After all, the worst of the samurai class are those who have read books, have high literacy rates, and have certain talents. Yagyu wanted to abolish the feudal vassal and establish a county. There were not enough officials in a short period of time, so he had to select enough officials from among the samurai. .

The entire country of Japan has over a million samurai. Except for those rural warriors, the number of regular samurai is at least about 50. Even if only a few tens of thousands are selected, it is enough to make up for a large number of official gaps.

The issuance of the "Common Miao Character Permission Order" and the "Conscription Order" aroused dissatisfaction among the samurai. Many samurai did not register or participate in the national examination to express their dissatisfaction.

Some samurai even went to beat civilians in Kyoto to disrupt government orders. The police station took action and arrested several samurai.

Outside Kyoto, many feudal lords acquiesced to the samurai causing trouble. As for places where prefectures and counties were established, the newly established police bureaus would arrest people.

Just two new laws have caused uproar everywhere.

Looking at the reactions from various places, Tokugawa Yingxi advised Yagyu: "Prime Minister, if you give the sword order, there will be a riot. Can you please slow down?"

Yagyu flatly refused: "Since the resolution of the Congress has been passed, it cannot be revoked. Otherwise, where is the majesty of the Congress? The "Abolition of Swords" was issued on time!"

Yagyu knew the chaos everywhere. This was just the beginning, and more intense situations would follow.

Under Yagyu's strong promotion, the "Abandoned Sword Order" was issued ten days later. Once the news spread, samurai everywhere became furious.

About 170 samurai including Higo Fan's Ota Kurobanio, Kaya Kaken, and Saito Kirisaburo formed a godly party, attacked the Higo Domain barracks, killed officials and soldiers, took control of the fort, and created a "kamikaze". "Lian Zhi Chao".

Then they issued a memorandum. In the memorandum, they accused the Yagyu cabinet of ignoring Japanese traditions, flattering ugly prisoners, banning our country's inherent swords, how to revive the inherent imperial way after the abolition of swords, etc. In short, they demanded that the government take back its orders.

Not only Higo Domain, but also riots occurred in other domains.

Yagyu immediately convened the Diet and asked all feudal lords in Beijing to attend the meeting.

This time is the second Congress, just over a month has passed since the last one.

In the Qingliang Hall, the feudal lords gathered together whispered with the feudal lords they knew recently, discussing what might happen next.

Shimazu Hisamitsu said to the surrounding feudal lords with a happy face: "I said that the samurai class should not be abolished, but unfortunately no one listened to me. What about now? Prime Minister Yagyu is still too young." Maori smiled and said: "No matter what As for him, anyway, it was Prime Minister Yagyu who caused the trouble, so he should be responsible for it. If he can’t solve it, he should leave office early and leave the Prime Minister to others, hahaha.”

Iwakura Tomoe, Ohara Shigetori and others looked at the empty prime minister's seat above, eyeing it with eagerness.

A few minutes later, Emperor Meiji, Prince Asahiko, and Yagyu entered the hall one after another and sat down one after another.

Prince Asahiko knocked on the door and shouted: "The second Congress has officially begun. Prime Minister Yagyu please speak."

Yagyu held a document, stood up and said: "Since the "Abandoned Sword Order" was issued half a month ago, samurai riots have occurred in the vassal states with more than [-] koku. I have sent people to investigate. These vassal states The vassal soldiers turned a blind eye to this matter.

Lord Higo, please stand up and tell me why there are less than 20 samurai in your domain who have registered for the national examination, and why your domain's defenses were empty when the riots broke out? "

Keishun Hosokawa looked at Yagyu, stood up with a panicked expression, and said tremblingly: "I don't know."

Yagyu snorted coldly and said: "A noble domain lord knows nothing about domestic affairs. I don't think there is any need for the Higo domain to exist, and the same goes for those feudal states that are causing trouble.

My proposal today is to abolish vassals and establish counties. All vassals will be abolished and integrated into prefectures and counties, which will be directly managed by the emperor and the cabinet. All official appointments will need to pass the national examination of the cabinet before they can take office.

You and other vassal chiefs must return the vassal's books to the cabinet within three months. If there is any delay, you will be dismissed and investigated.

Of course, the cabinet will also provide compensation. All feudal lords will become nobles. Those with 25 to 25 shi will be barons, those with 50 to 50 shi will be viscounts, those with [-] to [-] shi will be earls, and those with [-] shi will be Earls. The above are marquises, and dukes can only confer royalties with real positions of power, including heads of the Tokugawa clan and the Gosho clan.

The salary of the fifth-class nobles is as follows: a baron has an annual income of [-] gold, a viscount has an annual income of [-] gold, an earl has an annual income of [-] gold, a marquis has an annual income of [-] gold, and a duke has an annual income of [-] gold.

The above is the treatment of each feudal lord after the feudal lords were abolished and counties were established. "

Shimazu Hisamitsu's heart was filled with joy. My dear, you, Yagyu Hiken, are actually going to fall out with more than 200 vassals. This is no less than going against the whole country.

Lord of the feudal lord, all the samurai have been offended. Yagyu Hiken, your death is not far away!
Without waiting for anyone to vote, Emperor Meiji took the lead and said: "I agree with this proposal. After all, the vassal state was originally conferred by the shogunate. Now that the shogunate is gone, what kind of vassal state is needed?"

With Emperor Meiji expressing his stance, Nijo Saikei and other ministers directly raised their hands in approval. Together with the cabinet members, the vote was over half.

Prince Chaoyan rapped: "The bill is passed!"

Shimazu Hisamitsu asked maliciously: "Isn't the Prime Minister worried about the vassals uniting to resist?"

Yagyu put away the documents, looked at Shimazu Hisamitsu calmly, and said: "The three newly formed Guards Divisions just need training. If you are not afraid of death, let's do it. We will send them to Alaska to open up together.

Don't think that riots can scare the cabinet. The cabinet has the courage and determination to heal wounds. If anyone is unwilling, I can let you go and you can go back and reorganize the army to prepare for war. "

Shimazu Hisamitsu looked a little embarrassed. He didn't expect Yagyu's attitude to be so tough.

There are now five Guards Divisions, and the First and Second Divisions swept across the Sacho clan and the Shogunate army.

The third, fourth, and fifth troops that are now established are all new armies. Most of them are soldiers from the shogunate and the shogunate. However, the officers are all arranged by Yagyu. It is very difficult to launch a rebellion.

Everyone is aware of the combat effectiveness of the Guards Division. The two shogunate sects and the shogunate were overthrown, and their combined vassals were defeated individually.

Furthermore, more than 200 feudal clans are not of the same mind. For example, Matsudaira Yōho has agreed to abolish the clan, and several major clans such as Matsudaira Chunaku and Sanneido have also compromised.

As for the vassal states near Kyoto, they were the first to surrender. Inaba Masakuni and others had no intention of resisting at all. They were too close to resist.

In other words, it seems that there are more than 200 feudal lords, but in reality, half of them is pretty good.

The reason why Yagyu dared to use hard steel at this time was because he had clearly calculated the strength of both the enemy and ourselves.

He has tens of thousands of new troops in his hands, and he has just defeated the shogunate and the shogunate. Dozens of nearby vassals did not dare to resist and surrendered directly. Even if his enemies numbered [-] vassals, how many troops could they muster?
Moreover, the army they gathered together was not a new army. I am afraid that even the weapons were cold weapons and there were not many guns. With such a mob, the Guards Division swept across them without any pressure.

Furthermore, Yagyu also took a step back and gave him status and money. Those who were capable could also become officials. What else could he be dissatisfied with?

If these princes were too greedy, he would have no choice but to take action.

Facing the powerful Prime Minister Yagyu, the princes returned to their vassal states. After the princes left Kyoto, Yagyu requested orders from Emperor Meiji to mobilize the Three Konoe Divisions to Higo to quell the unrest.

The princes of the Western Kingdom, the Four Kingdoms, and the Nine Provinces immediately returned their books without delay.

When the princes in other places saw that the cabinet was really coming, they did not dare to wait and see any longer, and entered the capital one after another with military service accounts registering people and land.

As for the more than 100 samurai who caused the kamikaze company turmoil, they were quickly suppressed by an infantry company of the [-]rd Guards Division. The samurai riots in various places were also quickly quelled. About [-] samurai became prisoners and their families were escorted to Alaska to develop.

(End of this chapter)