I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 164 Medal, Bicycle
The first day in February happened to be sunny and the breeze was blowing. It was a nice day.

Yagyu happened to be holding a commendation meeting today, awarding medals to the meritorious officers in previous naval battles, and recording them with reporters from home and abroad.

This time Emperor Meiji will also appear in person to award medals to several soldiers who have won high medals.

The reason why the commendation meeting was held almost a month later was mainly to wait until the Keio and other ships returned to Osaka Bay.

Today, everyone gathered at the military port in Osaka, and the Keio with traces of naval battles became the background.

It was also the first time for Emperor Meiji to see a huge battleship. There was obvious excitement and blush on his face.

However, compared with foreign warships, Japan's main warships are too sophisticated.

As the sun rose and the time came to eight o'clock, the conference officially began.

The honor guard took the lead and walked to the foot of the flagpole in goose. The flag bearer hung the Hinomaru flag in front of him and the royal banner on the other side. As the musical instruments played, the flag bearer immediately waved the flag and other flag bearers began to pull the flag.

The Hinomaru flag and the royal banner gradually rose.

All the navy officers followed the accompaniment and sang in unison: "What is there in front of the prime minister's horse, killing the beautiful face with the wind? This is the enemy's land that is being conquered. How can the rebels know that there is an emperor..."

This was originally supposed to be a song for the new government army formed by Sacho, but the coalition forces of Sacho were defeated by the new army formed by Yagyu. After the central government unified Japan, people from the two feudal lords of Sacho entered the central government to work. Yagyu hoped to have a song for the army. The lyrics for the song were written by Shinagawa Yajiro.

As for the music, it was Omura Masujiro who composed it. Originally, he was waiting for the chief to take power and use it when the curtain fell. As a result, he failed and took the blame for the Mori family and was chopped off.

This piece of music came into the hands of Yagyu, and it happened to be paired with Shinagawa Yajirō's music, which became "Prime Minister Prime Minister Oma Mae".

Yagyu doesn't mind it, this song is quite good, it has a bit of a magical brainwashing feel.

As the military song ended, the flag was raised to the highest point.

Yagyu was the first to speak, and Yagyu shouted: "Soldiers, we are gathered here today to commemorate our close friends who died in the war. Not only us, but in the future, everyone's sacrifice will also be remembered.

Their sacrifice is not meaningless. We gather together today to remember them, inherit their legacy, and continue to serve our country!
……

Japan will never forget every soldier who sacrificed his life for the country, let alone those who made meritorious service to the country. Next, I would like to ask His Majesty the Emperor to pay my respects! "

Yagyu gave up his position, and the young Emperor Meiji stepped forward wearing a new military uniform and spoke inspiring words in a childish voice.

All the navy officers shouted excitedly: "Long live the Emperor, long live the Prime Minister!"

After a minute, everyone calmed down, and Yagyu said again: "Now please come forward to accept the medal for your meritorious service!"

The Yagyu cabinet established a nine-level military medal system, divided into three levels of gold, silver, and bronze.

The lowest level is the Order of the Five-Seven Kirigiri Pattern, followed by the Order of the Chrysanthemum Pattern, and finally the Hinomaru Order.

Each step has these three patterns, and because gold, silver, and copper are divided into high and low levels, the bronze step is the simplest. Cherry blossoms are added on both sides of the silver step, and the sacred bird Yatagarasu is added at the top of the gold step.

The recipients of honors start from the lowest bronze level Wuqitong coat of arms.

Yagyu took the list and shouted: "Inoue Jubei, who operated the Kaiyo Maru's main gun to hit the Dutch ship, causing serious damage to the enemy ship, is awarded the bronze five-seventh pear pattern!"

A noncommissioned officer stood up excitedly, quickly came to the stage, and saluted: "Thank you, Prime Minister!"

Yagyu personally placed a medal on his chest, patted his shoulder to encourage him and said, "Inoue, keep working hard!"

"For Japan, for His Majesty the Emperor, and for the Prime Minister, I will be brave in sacrifice and dedication like those martyrs!"

Jubei Inoue's face turned red and he responded to Yagyu's encouragement loudly and impassionedly.

As Jubei Inoue stood aside, Yagyu continued to read names. Within a few minutes, there were many naval officers with medals standing on the stage.

There were only a small number of people, just over 50. The reason why there were so few was because all the soldiers who had truly made meritorious deeds had died in the naval battle.

The living person who made the greatest contribution is Nobuyuki Nakajima. The transport fleet he led used as a decoy to disrupt the formation of the combined fleet and severely damaged the French warships at the beginning of the battle, which provided an opportunity for victory in the battle.

What made the war final was that Yagyu personally led the Keio into battle, and the Shikamaru fought desperately to ram the French warship to win.

Both Yagyu and Nobuyuki Nakajima received the highest Kim Hinomaru Medal. The captain of the Shikamaru also received this medal. His family will receive support from the government to inspire all soldiers.

Gold-level medals are no longer awarded by Yagyu. This level of medals were handed over by Emperor Meiji personally to Yagyu, Nakajima Nobuyuki and others. As for the captain of the Shikamaru, the medal was personally handed over to his family by Emperor Meiji. .

Whether it was the meritorious officers on the stage or the naval officers below, everyone showed envy and yearning in their eyes. This moment was the most glorious moment. Many people were determined to win the medal next time they went to war!

The investiture ceremony was basically over. Yagyu asked everyone to stand up. He stood in the front row and looked at the camera not far away.

"Boom..."

As the camera flashes white light, a group photo of the meritorious soldiers is taken. This will be the headline of the Kyoto Daily News. Soon, the entire Japanese people will know the identities of these soldiers.

This was specially arranged by Yagyu. In order to strengthen the cohesion of the army, he had to improve the army's sense of honor.

Now Japan has become famous internationally by virtue of its battle with the United Fleet, and now its citizens no longer shrink back when they see foreigners.

After the investiture ceremony, Yagyu and the imperial guard battalion escorted Emperor Meiji back to Kyoto.

Yagyu specially took the time to hold this ceremony.

In fact, Yagyu still has a lot of things to be busy with.

You must know that at the beginning of Japan's reform, Yagyu did not overdraw the national power and promoted the reform on a large scale. Many policies were based on the national conditions and promoted the most important things.

Now Japan has received the first batch of compensation from the Netherlands and Spain, totaling 1000 million yen. With this money, Yagyu plans to build a postal system.

However, the postal system was built on the basis of the road system. The internal road system in Japan is relatively developed now, especially in Gyeonggi Province. The roads have been replaced by cement roads, and the railway distance is close to [-] kilometers.

Next, Yagyu will strengthen the construction of roads and railways. At least the main roads across the country will be replaced with cement roads, and the railway length will be more than [-] kilometers.Beyond that, it’s about building a postal system.

Of course, Japan's postal system is not completely impoverished. It already had a complete postal system during the Tokugawa shogunate period, but the method was relatively backward, mainly through manpower.

What Yagyu wants to build is modern postal service. Japan will then introduce wired telegraphs. At that time, Yagyu will set up a national post office, erect wire stakes along the main roads, pull up wires, and set up telegraph offices and post offices in major cities. .

However, the postal system temporarily used human and animal power.

Of course, Yagyu also thought of a way, which was to develop a bicycle.

The bicycle is one of the most successful human-powered machines invented by mankind. It is a complex machine composed of many simple machines.

In 1791, the first "wooden horse wheel" car for transportation was built by Sifulak.

This earliest bicycle was made of wood, and its structure was relatively simple. There was neither a driving device nor a steering device. The rider pedaled hard on the ground with his feet to move forward, and he could only get off and move the car when changing directions.

Even so, when Xifulake rode this bicycle to the park for a ride, the people present were quite amazed and admired.

By 1816, Delais began to make wooden wheel carts, which looked similar to those made by Sifulak.

However, a steering handlebar is added to the front wheel to change the direction of travel.But when riding a bicycle, you still need to use two feet to push the ground step by step to push the bike forward.

In 1840, Macmillan, a blacksmith in England, got a dilapidated "lovely pony".He installed a crank on the axle of the rear wheel, and then used a connecting rod to connect the crank to the front pedals. The front and rear wheels were both made of iron, with the front wheel larger and the rear wheel smaller.

In 1861, French Michaud and his son, who were originally carriage repairmen by profession, installed a rotatable pedal board on the front wheel; the saddle of the car was placed on the front wheel, so that unless the rider was particularly skilled, he would not be able to ride the bicycle. If you can't hold the handlebar firmly, you will fall off the car.

They gave this two-wheeled vehicle the elegant name "Bicycle" and exhibited it at the Paris Exposition in 1867, which opened the eyes of the audience.

The current bicycle is still in its infancy and does not have the appearance of a modern bicycle. It was not until 1886 that John K. Staley of the United Kingdom designed a new bicycle style from the perspective of mechanics and kinematics, and equipped the bicycle with The front forks and brakes were removed, the front and rear wheels were the same size to maintain balance, a diamond-shaped frame was made of steel pipes, and rubber wheels were used for the first time.

Staley not only improved the structure of bicycles, but also modified many machine tools used to produce bicycle parts, opening up broad prospects for the mass production and promotion of bicycles. Therefore, he is called the "Father of Bicycles" by future generations.

The bicycles that Staley designed are basically the same as today's bicycles.

But all this is no longer a Western invention. From now on, the father of bicycles will be Yagyu.

Moreover, Yagyu planned to invent the rubber air tire in one step.

With today's industrial technology, it is not difficult to make bicycle parts. Even chains and sprockets can be made.

The more difficult part is rubber tires. Of course, as long as the materials are in place, craftsmen can quickly manufacture them.

The only difficulty is how to mass produce and form an industrial chain.

After returning to Kyoto, Yagyu sent Empress Meiji back and immediately rushed to the National Factory No. [-] to inquire about the progress of bicycle development.

Chief craftsman Tarobei Tanaka excitedly launched Bicycle Lane No. [-]: "Look, Prime Minister, this is a bicycle built based on your design drawings. We have tested it and the product is very successful."

Yagyu looked at this old-fashioned bicycle that looked like a Phoenix brand, and couldn't help but nodded: "Very good, the appearance of this experimental product has met my requirements, let me try its effect."

He took the bicycle from Tanaka Tarobei, stepped on the pedal, and pushed the bicycle forward. Then he sat on it and moved forward on the bicycle. His movements were very smooth.

Tanaka Tarobei was a little surprised and said: "The Prime Minister is worthy of being the one who came up with the bicycle. The movement is so smooth. It took us more than an hour to operate the bicycle."

The other craftsmen nodded and whispered.

Yagyu rode a circle, returned to the starting point, stopped, and said with a smile: "Very good, the performance of this bicycle is already very good. Your next task is to make this bicycle mass-produced."

You must control costs. The government will purchase bicycles in large quantities and manufacture a batch of exquisite bicycles. Remember? "

Tarobei Tanaka nodded quickly and said: "I remember it, Prime Minister, don't worry."

Yagyu smiled and said: "Tanaka Fantou, you have made great contributions this time, and the government will not treat you badly. On behalf of the government, I will reward you with a thousand yen and a certificate of honor.

Other workers involved in this matter will be rewarded. I hope everyone will keep this matter confidential. Do you understand? "

"Understood, I am extremely grateful to you, Prime Minister!"

Tarobei Tanaka took the lead in saying thank you.

Satisfied, Yagyu pushed the No. [-] test object out of the factory. The bicycle was then secretly escorted to the imperial palace and displayed to Emperor Meiji for inspection.

Emperor Meiji was very interested in bicycles.

Yagyu introduced the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is a complete industrial product. Once it is unveiled, it will definitely surprise all Western countries. This represents that our country has the ability to produce a complete industrial product on its own. This represents our country's The industrial level is divorced from the lowest level.

With this bicycle, our country's postal system can get rid of the backward human transportation. Even compared with animal power, bicycles have an absolute advantage.

We can replace these two backward modes of transportation with bicycles, save a lot of money, and also improve efficiency. "

Emperor Meiji nodded slightly and said, "Since your father-in-law has thought it over clearly, I have no objections. I can rest assured that your father-in-law will do the work."

After Yagyu displayed the bicycle, he took it back to the cabinet for safekeeping.

The reason why it was not left to Emperor Meiji was mainly because he was surrounded by the Empress Dowager and other ministers, who were not very trustworthy.

Yagyu clearly knows that the diehard forces in the country are still very strong, because he has not yet cleaned them up.

The reason why such hidden dangers were left behind was because he was helpless. He had to deal with these people for a few years. When the first batch of people graduated from five-year basic education came out, he could take action against these die-hards.

Although Yagyu wants to take the overall situation into consideration, it does not mean that Yagyu will not take action in advance. If someone is like Shimazu Mori, he will naturally act decisively to eliminate all hidden dangers. You must know that he is an executioner who kills without batting an eye.

(End of this chapter)