I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 203 Complete Abandonment of the Mito Doctrine

Yagyu glanced at the crowd and knew that they had different thoughts. After all, these people were people who had been in power in the old days, and his reform was not complete. He had expected such a situation.

But over the years, his prestige was enough to overwhelm these voices, and all those who opposed him failed.

In order to seize the opportunity of the Franco-Prussian War, his reform reforms mainly focused on improving the economy and developing the military.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the only yoke left on Japan is Britain. Compared with the Meiji government in history, Japan is freer.

Now that he wants to make a comprehensive reform, he must unify his thinking. This is the most important thing.

He wants to unify not only the upper class, but also the middle and lower classes. Only when the top and bottom share the same desire can he succeed.

Therefore, Yagyu took advantage of his highest prestige to promote ideological reform and develop a new culture.

As for the spirit of Bushido, the empire, the Kingdom of God, and other ideas, all are abandoned. You must know that the disease of Japan in World War II went to the abyss because of these ideas.

Let's put it this way, Japan in World War I and Japan in World War II were completely different.

Japan's combat effectiveness in World War I was the greatest, even a small country like the Netherlands could not match it.

During World War I, Tsarist Russia was overthrown and the Soviet Union was established. Western bourgeois countries organized armies to block the Red Revolution. Japan also sent troops to attack the Soviet Union. As a result, it was chased and beaten by the Red Army. The casualties were the most among all countries. The Beiyang government's record was better than Japan's. .

The Japanese army at that time was better than that of the former Qing Dynasty. The Japanese army also had access to food, drink, prostitution and gambling, so the army of the former Qing Dynasty was worse. Otherwise, who would Japan win?

As for the victory of the Russo-Japanese War, it was mainly due to Tsarist Russia's lack of preparation. Japan also suffered a tragic victory and paid a heavy price. If it were not for the Sino-Japanese War indemnities, Japan would definitely go bankrupt.

But after Japan was severely beaten by the Soviet Red Army, only ten years later, the Japanese army took on a completely new look!

This is mainly because of the world economic crisis in 1929. Japan was in a bleak situation. The people in the country were in dire straits. The soldiers and people at the bottom did not know about the economic crisis. They only felt that there were traitors in the government. Therefore, the soldiers at the bottom broke out in rebellion, and there were world-famous events such as the February th Incident. During the coup, senior officials died one after another.

However, no one felt that it was the emperor's fault. Even if they failed, no one felt that they were wrong. The captured soldiers were regarded as loyal ministers in the eyes of the people, and everyone went to Beijing to petition for immunity.

The reason for this situation is that the common people feel that they are the descendants of warriors, and they are loyal and patriotic without guilt!

In addition, the samurai always try to defeat the superiors, so they point their finger at the higher-ups, with just one word: kill!

Then the military came out to favor these soldiers, and the people supported the military, and then some people took advantage of this sentiment to expand externally.

Compared with European fascism, Japanese fascism is absolutely explosive. This is a bottom-up morbid thought. After Hitler came to power, he only treated his own people preferentially and gained support. What about Japan? It was about squeezing the people to death, and the people were happy with it, and even gave everything to support the war. Even in the end, they were crazy about dying together.

This kind of Japan is completely different from the Japan before World War I and before, and it is different from Germany, Italy, etc. in Europe.

Japan's expansion abroad is not the will of the upper class, but the will of the people, the will of the vast majority of people.

Thoughts play a big part in this kind of madness.

Therefore, he must take precautions and transform Japanese thinking in advance.

However, the Japanese people have not had the experience to participate in politics for a long time, even after the Meiji Restoration in history, so Yagyu still has a long way to go.

In today's discussion, he could already see that the vast majority of people were disgusted with the issue of equality, but he would not compromise. He had to do this, and he had to do it to the letter, and implement it completely. Who dared to violate it? Just dare to take his head.

Yagyu raised his hand to signal everyone to sit down. He stood up and said, "Everyone, times have changed. If we want to become a civilized and advanced country, we must learn from the experience of the Westerners.

We should give more respect to our citizens and allow them to participate more actively in national construction. Moreover, our constitution also stipulates this, and we cannot violate the constitution.

The Ministry of Justice has agreed on a human rights declaration, which will then be submitted to Parliament for review and voting. "

The new Justice Minister Tsuda Shinichi did not object to this, because when Tokugawa Yoshiki became shogun, he carried out modernization reforms of the shogunate.

Tsuda Shinichi clearly pointed out in the "Taiwan Law Theory" published in 1868: "Many people live in a territory. In order to promote their common interests and increase their common interests, they have a common master and obey his authority. This is called For the country. The chief has the authority to use the full force of the people in accordance with the established regulations."

During the shogunate's reforms, Tsuda Shinichi formulated the "Japanese General System", implemented a bicameral system and granted all citizens the right to vote.

Therefore, Yagyu confidently handed over the "Japanese Declaration of Human Rights" to the Ministry of Justice.

However, this declaration must serve his purpose and there will be no deviation.

In addition to legislating on human rights, he must also establish a complete legal system in all aspects to prevent conspirators and capitalists with no bottom line from taking advantage of loopholes.

He will not completely study the Western system like the Meiji government did in history. He will establish a system unique to Japan.

After confirming the first thing, he started a new topic, but this was still on the legal side.

Such as business, labor, marriage, inheritance, civil law, education and other subdivided laws.

Prior to this, Japan had only one national constitution, and other legal regulations still followed the laws of the old era.

So many laws have to be determined, which is both painful and happy for the Ministry of Justice. Tsuda Shinichi looked happy.

So many new laws are like ropes for the officials here, binding them so that they cannot be as unscrupulous as in the old days.

Kuroda Kiyotaka asked: "Prime Minister, if you suddenly enact so many laws for the people to abide by, it is likely to cause a lot of problems."

"Problems can only disappear when they break out and are solved. If we deceive ourselves and think that we can solve the problem without touching it, we are totally wrong.

If the country wants to develop, we must have the determination to reform, and we must not be timid due to some reasons. "

Yagyu's eyes were very firm and his tone was very decisive.

Kuroda Kiyotaka immediately shut up, he knew that this matter could not be changed.

Yagyu opened another page and said: "The next step is to reform business. Before, our control of business was still very rough. There is still a lot of things that have not been done in terms of learning from Western countries.

We need to establish a corporate system, expand commercial banks, and open stock exchanges to be in line with European standards.

In terms of business development, we must catch up with Europe and at the same time develop the characteristics of our own country and nation. For example, the silk industry and some handicrafts must be vigorously supported and given our own name.

I propose here that silk, lacquerware, ukiyo-e, and Japanese paper should be vigorously promoted as our country’s national quintessence. Does the Minister of Culture understand? "

Nakamura asked honestly: "This official is stupid, please give me a clear explanation, Prime Minister."

Yagyu thought for a while, this was the first time this happened. People nowadays don’t know much and don’t know how to promote their own culture. He needs to give some advice.

“Our art of silk, lacquerware, Japanese paper, and ukiyo-e have a long history, and their beauty is no less beautiful than Western art.

What we have to do is promote its beauty, tell the story behind it, and let everyone know that when you see these things, you can think of Japan, and they are our symbols. "

Nakamura listened carefully and kept thinking about what Yagyu said. He nodded repeatedly and said: "I understand what the Prime Minister meant. Please rest assured, Prime Minister. I will ask the Ministry of Culture to study this matter and publicize it as soon as possible."

Liu Sheng was still a little worried, so he said, "Okay, you guys have a plan and show it to me when the time comes."

Shibusawa Eiichi on the side quickly asked: "Prime Minister, are we going to fully integrate with Europe in terms of business?"

"Yes, we need to build more advanced companies and factories, which will help us control business. In addition, we also need to carefully divide business taxes.

For example, we need to lower taxes on daily necessary consumables such as food, oil, and salt. For expensive items and large-scale trade, such as valuable items such as gold and silver jewelry, non-essential consumables such as alcohol and cigarettes, and the entertainment industry, etc.

The above are just some details. Regarding industrial and commercial taxes, my suggestion is to divide them into fixed industrial and commercial, temporary commercial and street vendors according to the business methods of industrial and commercial operators, and adopt different collection methods respectively.

Business tax and income tax for fixed industry and commerce are levied separately, and based on the soundness of their accounting systems, self-reported audits and rate-based levies are adopted respectively, and the tax bureau comes to review at the same time.

Business tax and income tax for temporary businesses are levied together. Fixed vendors and larger vendors need to report their income to the local tax bureau regularly for tax collection.

For general vendors, the tax bureau arranges for regular collection of fixed amounts.

The above tax amount is at least 15% and the maximum is 40%. "

“Of course, in addition to taxes, there are also tax exemption policies. In some supported industries, 10% to 30% of the tax can be exempted.

This is my suggestion. Regarding the specific situation, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Finance will discuss it together and give me a white paper. "

Sakuma Shoyama and Shibusawa Eiichi looked at what they had written down and nodded repeatedly.

Yagyu looked at the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of War and said: "Our country's territory now spans tens of thousands of miles from south to north. As for the army, it is already the limit to maintain 300,000 people. However, we issued the conscription law at the beginning. This matter needs to be Get it working.

Last year, our army recruited more than 100,000 new soldiers. According to the conscription law, they will retire next year and then recruit new soldiers.

However, among these retired soldiers, outstanding soldiers must be selected as the backbone, and outstanding officers and soldiers must be sent to military academies for further training.

In addition, if there is no accident in the war between Germany and France, Germany will definitely win. At that time, I will go to Paris with His Majesty to participate in negotiations.

I will try my best to obtain France's high technology. When the time comes, our Ministry of War will select a group of talents to study the German Dresser rifle and the French Chassebou rifle to develop our country's new rifle. "

Sheng Haizhou asked: "What about the navy?"

Yagyu frowned slightly and said: "We should be able to get a war reparations. The construction of the navy cannot fall behind. We must build a few more battleships, as well as the newly born torpedo boats and destroyers to prevent torpedo boats.

Don't worry, in terms of military expenditure, the country will support you even if it sells iron. "

Japan today is different from Japan in history.

The land area is about 2.4 million square kilometers. Although the usable land area is about 800,000 square kilometers, the resources that can be used are several times more than Japan in history.

In addition, Yagyu knows the location of many gold mines, and the central bank's gold and silver reserves are increasing day by day. From this income alone, the Japanese government has been increasing it at a rate of 10 million yen every year, and this year it has reached 60 million yen.

Military expenditures for the army and navy may need to be increased, by at least 30 million to a level of around 80 million, but with the support of war reparations, coupled with economic development and the issuance of national debt in the next few years, overall, the country is under pressure Not big.

The reason why it is necessary to maintain a large army and continue to invest in naval construction is mainly because there is still land that can be occupied in the Nanyang area. In addition, there will be some disputes between Japan and Britain and the United States regarding the Ogasawara Islands, and military development must not stop.

Without a strong army, no matter how good the economy develops, it is still fat in the mouths of the great powers.

Although the Qing Dynasty experienced two Opium Wars and civil strife, after the Westernization Movement, the country's economy was still the first in Asia. But in the end, wasn't it bullied by Japan and beaten by the Eight-Power Allied Forces? In the end, all the money was given to the great powers.

Of course, military development must be done within one's capabilities.

After Yagyu arranged these big things, he started asking about other small things.

The first one is the construction of the postal service. It has been more than a year since Maeshima Mitsuru and Sugiga Aizou established the postal office, and the postal construction has only barely started.

Their main energy is spent on registering the population and dividing areas. In addition, due to the construction of Japanese railways and highways, post offices in various places only have a framework.

It will take at least several years to build a national postal system.

Yagyu comforted: "This matter is very difficult, there is no need to rush, just take your time.

Next, the country's focus will mainly be on the country. When the time comes, I will try to arrange more manpower for you. "

After Yagyu said this, ministers from other departments also clamored to increase manpower.

"All right!"

Yagyu waved his hand quickly.

"I know that we are short of manpower, everyone. After a while, I have decided to hold a second national examination. This time, the subjects are not limited to samurai. This time, as long as citizens can take the examination, they will need to pass the national examination in the future. Only citizens who have graduated from the education system can refer to it.”

(End of this chapter)