I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 151 Navy construction, discussing new technologies

"Why, Prime Minister Yagyu is not dead!"

Eto Shinpei looked at Okuma Shigenobu with a look of disbelief!

Shima Giyuu asked hurriedly: "Beppu Shinsuke, Murata Shinpachi and the others are not ordinary people. How could they miss?"

Okuma Shigenobu was a little absent-minded, and murmured to himself: "I don't believe it either, but they say that the Prime Minister can kill bullets with a knife, and no one can beat him."

When Shima Giyuu heard Okuma Shigenobu's words, everyone was dumbfounded and cut the bullet with his knife!They are very aware of the power of foreign guns. There are only a handful of people who can dodge bullets. If one person can dodge bullets, it is enough to brag about it. However, it is simply unimaginable to kill bullets with a knife.

Eto Shinpei collapsed and said: "His swordsmanship is so great, what kind of swordsman is he? Even the sword master can't compare!

Swords can't kill him, guns can't kill him, artillery will definitely be discovered, but what about explosives?You can blow him up! "

Okuma Shigenobu shook his head and said: "No, Prime Minister Yagyu seems to have become one with nature and can sense danger in advance."

"This…"

Shima Giyuu didn't even know what to say.

"What's the plan? It's completely impeccable!"

Eto Shinpei also gave up. He really couldn't find a way to assassinate him.

Okuma Shigenobu also looked disappointed and said: "Then what should we do?"

Eto Shinpei calmed down after hearing this, and he immediately changed his mind and said: "Now that Prime Minister Yagyu is in an invincible position, what we can do is seize the interests of others and strive for more power for Saga. "

Okuma Shigenobu nodded and said: "This is the only way."

Eto Shinpei regained his confidence and said: "Now among the powerful feudal lords such as Satsuma Tohi, Tosa Domain has united with us, Higo Domain is neutral, and the leaders of Satsuma Domain and Choshu Domain have all gone to Europe.

Now that the person who assassinated Prime Minister Yagyu is a member of the Satsuma clan, he will definitely be attacked. The Saigo Clan will be implicated. If we take action to drag the Choshu clan into trouble, then I, the Saga clan, will be the No. 1 subordinate in the Yagyu cabinet. "

Okuma Shigenobu nodded and said: "I have heard some rumors recently that Inoue Kaoru of Choshu has colluded with those businessmen. This is a violation of the law. We need to find evidence and impeach him!"

After several people discussed it, they decided to attack people from Satsuma and Choshu. Not only the impeachment of Inoue Kaoru, Choshu's Ito Hirobumi, Yamagata Aritomo and others were also implicated.

After reviewing these impeachments, Matsudaira Yongho had no choice but to follow the procedures and ask the Ministry of Justice to send people to investigate the evidence.

Eto Shinpei is an official of the Ministry of Justice, and Inoue Kaoru did have evidence of close contacts with businessmen. Inoue Kaoru was forced to suspend her duties and stay at home.

Everything that happened in Kyoto was recorded by the secret police and would later be sent to Yagyu through secret channels.

After inspecting Hikone Castle, Yagyu set sail for Oshu to inspect, and then followed the Tokaido Road into Wushu to inspect Edo.

Within a year of Tokugawa Yoshiki becoming a shogun, shipyards and ironworks were built in Edo Bay. After the shogunate surrendered, these factories were taken over by the imperial court. The French here had evacuated, and the imperial court sent engineers to take over.

Yagyu established two shipyards in Osaka, one specializing in building commercial ships and the other building steam warships.

This shipyard in Edo mainly builds naval warships.

However, a few months ago, Yagyu had purchased shipbuilding machinery from the United States and Russia and transported them to Hokkaido to build a new shipyard there.

When Yagyu arrived in Edo, he mainly inspected factories and inquired about the situation of banks. He also took a look at the New Army stationed near Edo, and then took a boat directly to Hokkaido.

Yagyu and Hijikata Toshizo have been missing for almost a year, and Sakamoto Ryoma has already arrived in Hokkaido to supervise the construction of the shipyard.

Hijikata Toshizo took Yagyu to the secretly constructed shipyard and met with Sakamoto Ryoma.

Sakamoto Ryoma said with excitement: "Your Majesty Prime Minister, the shipyard has been put into production. We are building the first domestically produced ironclad ship, which is expected to be about three thousand tons. The two main guns are laid out along the center line, and small and medium-sized ships are installed on both sides. Twelve guns.

The main gun is a 170mm Krupp breech-loading cannon, with a theoretical rate of fire of one round per minute, four 1mm medium-sized guns, and eight 120mm small guns.

In addition, this battleship is completely powered by steam, using a horizontal water tube boiler steam engine with a speed of 13.6 knots. "

Yagyu is very satisfied with this data. After all, they are a small country. If they compare with Britain and France without overestimating their capabilities, they will only exhaust themselves.

If Ryoma Sakamoto can lead people to build this ironclad ship of about [-] tons, it will also increase Japan's strength by a large margin, and he will be more confident in facing the Netherlands.

Although the Netherlands has declined, it still has a strong fleet, which is deployed in Indonesia.

However, like Japan, the Netherlands does not have four to five thousand-ton ironclads. Moreover, the Dutch's ironclads are still at the level of 20 years ago, iron-hulled ships wrapped in iron sheets.

As long as Japan takes out these two [-]-ton ironclad ships, it can negotiate with the Netherlands about the unequal treaties it signed before.

Even if there is pressure from England, he is not without helpers. Prussia, Tsarist Russia and the United States can all be won over by him.As for France's attitude, he no longer cares.

Yagyu nodded slightly and said: "Very good, I really look forward to when this ironclad ship comes out. Ryoma, we have to catch up with the West and at the same time have our own innovations. Steam power is very important for ironclad ships. Let the craftsmen think more. How to Build a Better Steam Engine.”

Upon hearing this, Ryoma Sakamoto subconsciously asked, "Does the Prime Minister have any suggestions?"

Yagyu didn't pay attention, and said casually: "We can use a multi-cylinder multi-expansion steam engine, that is, several small, medium and large cylinders are arranged side by side in proportion, and the high-pressure steam is compressed step by step, and is obtained in the third cylinder. Venting should improve steam power.”

The foreman on the side brightened up and said: "Yes, this is indeed feasible, but Mr. Prime Minister, we are not very familiar with the construction of steam engines, and we still need to explore."

"Go ahead and try, it's okay."

Yagyu immediately encouraged the foreman that if a new steam engine could be built, the navy's strength could be improved.

Yagyu turned around and said: "I heard that Western countries have invented a kind of ship that can dive into the water and blow up warships with torpedoes. When the time comes, I will have people send me the information. You can also study it. This kind of ship is called a submarine. In Used in the American Civil War.

There is also a new type of weapon called a torpedo. This weapon, like a submarine, sails underwater. Although it cannot change its course, it is difficult to prevent it underwater. We also need to study it. "

Ryoma Sakamoto and the foreman couldn't help but marvel as they listened to Yagyu's description of the advanced ships and weapons.

"What a fantastic idea. I originally thought that black ships were very powerful, but I didn't expect that there are submarines that sail underwater. It's so interesting. I must build a submarine!"

Yagyu also feels that they can find a submarine. Today's submarines are different from those in World War I and World War II. A submarine can carry eight people, and its endurance and combat effectiveness are somewhat useless.

Today's submarines basically play the role of a kamikaze team, where they go and never come back.

Although the Confederate submarine Hanley successfully destroyed the Union frigate Housatonic, it also sank due to the vortex generated by the explosion.

After Yagyu inspected the shipyard, he chose to go home and returned to Kyoto in less than half a month. It had been more than two months since he left in June and returned. The farmland on both sides of the streets in Kyoto was already a golden ocean.

When he returned to the mansion, he saw Tetsunosuke Ichimura and Souji Okita coming out to greet him.

"Tetsunosuke, are your wounds healed?"

Ichimura Tetsunosuke quickly saluted and said: "Prime Minister, my wound is not serious, it will be healed soon."

On the side, Souji Okita said hurriedly: "Brother-in-law, my sister is pregnant!"

Yagyu was stunned for a moment. To be honest, the news made him a little panicked. After two lifetimes, this was the first time he was a father. He didn't know how to deal with it.

Just like the panic he felt when he killed for the first time.

But he was more happy and excited. With a smile on his face, he ran quickly into the hospital and shouted: "Ajin, Ajin..."

Okita Jin responded at the door of the small courtyard on one side: "Sir, I am here."

Yagyu ran over quickly, hugged Okita Jin, and said excitedly: "Okay, okay, I'm going to be a father!"

With a happy smile on his face, Okitajin explained: "They didn't let me move. Originally, I was going to greet you at the door."

"Hey, it doesn't matter whether you accept it or not, your health is important."

Yagyu changed his position, held her back, stroked Okitajin's abdomen with one hand, and pulled her towards the courtyard.

The excited Yagyu pulled Okita Jin and talked a lot. At night, he hugged Okita Jin and thought about the future.

He is about to have a child, but the current situation is still full of dangers.

"For the happiness of my children's lives, anyone who dares to oppose will die!" Yagyu secretly decided to suppress all opposition with an iron hand.

The next day, Yagyu came to the cabinet, and Eto Shinpei and others presented evidence of Inoue Kaoru's corruption. Yagyu knew what these people were thinking, but Inoue Kaoru did make mistakes.

"Since the evidence is conclusive, it is enough to just follow the law on this matter. Do you still need me to handle it?"

Faced with Yagyu's dissatisfied questioning, Eto Shinpei quickly bowed his head and admitted his mistake, but he was ecstatic in his heart.

However, Yagyu continued: "I hope you understand that the laws established are not decorations. No matter who dares to violate them, they will suffer the same fate as Inoue Kaoru!"

All the officials in the cabinet felt the chilling air emanating from Yagyu, and even the excited Eto Shinpei only felt a chill.

Yagyu calmed down and began to deal with the backlog of government affairs during this period.

In fact, there are only some major matters that require Yagyu to decide, but there are no major events during this period. Many documents are statements, and Yagyu only needs to briefly understand them.

(End of this chapter)