I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 207 Attitude towards the Opposition Party

The civil rights and freedom movement flourished in various places, and various parties sprung up. However, the largest ones were the Patriotic Party, a party of Shitosa gentry, and the Liberal Party, a civilian party of Kyushu Fukuoka.

The members of the Patriotic Public Party are basically aristocrats, and the main source of funding is local wealthy businessmen. Ordinary businessmen are not qualified to fund the Patriotic Public Party.

The Liberal Party in Fukuoka is composed of small and medium-sized businessmen, citizens and farmers. The citizens are divided into coal miners and urban workers, and their number is far greater than that of the Patriotic Party.

The reason why the gentry faction appeared in Shikoku was mainly because the gentry in Shikoku were aware of current affairs, unlike the gentry in Kyushu who fought against the Yagyu cabinet. Therefore, the power of the gentry remained intact.

The nobles in Kyushu have experienced several previous noble rebellions, and hundreds of thousands of nobles have died, resulting in serious losses in strength. In addition, Kyushu has a direct jurisdiction over Nagasaki, and the government attaches great importance to Kyushu. It lacks leaders and is in ruins.

Moreover, Kyushu has been exposed to Western literature very early. Saga in the north and Satsuma in the south have already begun to learn Western culture and start industrialization.

While the shogunate was still thinking about stabilizing its rule, the Saga Domain was able to build steam sailing ships on its own.

Therefore, since the Restoration, a large number of factories have been opened in Kyushu. Today, there are thousands of factories across the country, and Saga and Satsuma in Kyushu account for one-tenth.

Fukuoka even built its first coal factory.

The first batch of members recruited by Kono Hironaka's Liberal Party were coal mine workers.

They have to work more than ten hours a day, eat stale cereals, and have no safety guarantee. If they get sick, they will be fired directly without any compensation.

When Hironaka Kono first came into contact with the idea of ​​civil rights, he had seen the miserable conditions of workers in coal mines. Therefore, he went deep into the mines, talked with local workers, and also went to coal mines for on-the-spot inspections.

Outside the coal mine is a bustling town with bars, restaurants, brothels, casinos, etc., and all kinds of entertainment facilities.

After passing the town is the transportation railway, and further away are the shacks where workers live.

The interior of the shack is intricate and messy, with lice, bed bugs, and rats seemingly endless. The workers have to endure this harsh environment.

In the past, there was an open square where the workers ate. At the end of the open square were passages into the coal mine.

The current production technology is very backward. Workers dig in hot mines, and then someone comes out carrying coal, and someone outside pushes a wheelbarrow to send the coal to the train for loading.

The most miserable and tiring thing is the workers in the mines. The temperature inside is more than ten degrees higher than outside. It's okay in winter, it's very warm inside. But if it's summer, some people will die from the heat inside.

When Kono Hironaka followed others into the mine, he felt the heat rushing toward his face as soon as he reached the entrance of the cave. He could only take off only a single piece of clothing before entering.

After entering, he discovered that the space inside extended in all directions, and the only sounds in the passage were hurried footsteps and the sound of pickaxes digging into the walls.

The workers inside didn't care about the people coming in. They were all looking at the work in their hands and didn't dare to slack off at all, because if they were not careful, they would cause a fire and people would be burned alive.

However, the environment in the mine is relatively dark. There will be a kerosene lamp lighting the corridor, and the danger hangs over their heads.

Kono Hironaka looked at the workers who were only wearing loincloths and were completely black, and felt sad. They looked like no one's human dignity, and they looked like pigs and dogs.

But for the workers, working as a coal miner here has an income of about 60, which is barely enough to keep the family fed without going hungry.

But if the breadwinner of a family dies, the family is not far from extinction. The women and children who have lost their breadwinner can only beg, or risk their lives to pick up cinders on the side of the railway in exchange for food.

If you are not careful, you may be crushed to death by a train, and then taken away and thrown away randomly.

The coal mines in Fukuoka existed as early as the end of the Tokugawa period, and the environment at that time was even worse than now. After the shogunate era, the House of Nobles was established, and after the promulgation of the constitution, coal miners finally had a minimum wage and certain pensions.

During the shogunate era, the workers here would have been worse off than pigs and dogs.

It is precisely because of this kind of exploitation that some coal miners joined Kono Hironaka's Liberal Party. In order to develop, Kono Hironaka led some workers' representatives to form a labor union, win over workers, and then negotiate with factory owners to improve workers' benefits.

The people who run the coal mine factory are nobles. They are very fierce and will not compromise easily, so they want to kill Kono Hironaka secretly. However, the Kono family was also a noble family before and has some connections among the nobles. The head of the Kono family was reminded by others and immediately informed Kono. Guangzhong.

Kono Hironaka was not afraid. In his opinion, this was an opportunity to counterattack the enemy, and he decided to take advantage of it.

On this day, Kono Hironaka took some money from his store to buy things and immediately went to the coal mine.

On the only way, several knife-wielding gangsters rushed out and surrounded Kono Hironaka from the front and back.

Kono Hironaka saw that they were covering their faces and wearing rough clothes, but the way they held their knives betrayed their identities.

He scolded: "I didn't expect you warriors to be reduced to the same level as ninjas. Now you are carrying out assassinations and hiding your head and tail. You are really courageous people!"

The scolded ones were a little ashamed at the moment, but in order to complete the tasks assigned above, they could only say: "I'm sorry, no matter what you say, we must kill you today, don't resist, you can't run away."

Kono Hironaka smiled calmly and said: "I'm afraid you won't be able to kill me today."

Not far away, a group of workers rushed out of the woods. When several warriors saw it, their faces changed drastically. The leader cursed: "Damn it, kill him first!"

As soon as the assassins were about to take action, he immediately looked for an opening and ran away. The workers immediately rushed up and swarmed him. Several samurai were injured with pickaxes, and they were all captured and sent to the Fukuoka Police Station.

When the police station saw several criminals stabbing people with knives, they immediately investigated the matter and quickly arrested a few more dangerous criminals.

The police investigation put a lot of pressure on the factory owner. In addition, Kono Hironaka immediately brought the union representatives to negotiate with the factory owner.

This negotiation is not easy, and the factory owner really doesn’t want to let go easily.

He even threatened Kono Hironaka: "This coal mine is not just mine, Kono, I hope you will make good terms and don't make a big deal."

Kono Hironaka was not polite. He said directly: "The working environment of the workers is too bad. You should find ways to improve it."

The boss said anxiously: "How can this be improved? It's impossible. You are making things difficult for me!" Hironaka Kono was not surprised. He went on to say, "It's okay if it can't be changed, but you should add a high-temperature subsidy of five yuan a month. "

"Five yuan?" The boss became anxious again, "Isn't your subsidy just a disguised increase in salary? This is absolutely impossible!"

When Kono Hironaka saw that his boss refused all the conditions, his attitude was a bit tough and he said, "That means there is no more negotiation?"

The boss snorted coldly. It was just like this from the other side. It was indeed a bit difficult to handle.

"Three yuan at most, no more."

The boss still gave in.

Kono Hironaka then proposed improving the living environment of workers and so on.

The boss agreed after a stalemate with him for a while, but Kono Hironaka had other conditions, but the boss would no longer compromise.

He pointed at Kono Hironaka angrily and said loudly: "I have made enough concessions. If they didn't want to calm down this matter, I would definitely not agree to the first two conditions.

But Kono Hironaka, don't go too far. Even if I'm not in this position, they can let someone else take over. Do you want to kill the enemy? "

When Kono Hironaka saw that the boss was anxious, he had no choice but to give in. Fortunately, he secured a little benefit for the workers.

This movement directly made the Liberal Party famous and its membership increased dramatically. Today, there are more than 3,000 core members and tens of thousands of peripheral members.

However, regardless of whether it is the Liberal Party or the Patriotic Party, some of their information has been sent to Yagyu. Yagyu is not surprised by the sudden rise of the freedom and civil rights movement, and is happy to see its success.

Of course, such a movement must be chaotic and disorderly at the beginning, and such a situation will naturally arouse the vigilance of the central government.

For example, the Liberal Party and the Patriotic Public Party behaved relatively restrainedly, but in some places parties caused considerable violence.

Such a party was suppressed by the local police station, and the core members were convicted and directly exiled to Tokaido.

In the office, Toshimichi Okubo, Takayoshi Kido and others expressed their views on the freedom and civil rights movement.

Okubo Toshimichi said: "Prime Minister, according to reports from various places, many people with ulterior motives have gathered local nobles to establish parties, and their goal seems to be to win seats in the House of Commons.

I think we should immediately restrict the development of these opposition parties, inspect them, and arrest those with ulterior motives and exile them to Tokaido. "

Kido Takayun also said: "This is wrong. The reason for the emergence of such a movement is mainly because of the promulgation of several laws. We cannot suppress them, otherwise what is the point of promulgating laws?"

Itagaki Taisuke also said: "The reason why the Prime Minister agreed to promulgate these laws is to enlighten the people. In the past, national affairs were monopolized by nobles, and the country was bullied by Western powers. We must change all this!"

Okubo Toshimichi was a little angry and asked: "Then how do you solve the violence caused by these opposition parties? What about the Liberal Party leading workers to fight against factories, and the output of many factories has been affected.

This is a critical moment for the country's development. If the Liberal Party's actions spread and workers in other places follow suit, our country's industry will suffer huge losses! "

Itagaki Taisuke retorted: "I have already gone to understand the factory environment in Kyoto and nearby. Most factories are very harsh on workers. The first batch of female workers in the textile factory developed various diseases after working for less than six years, and even Some people were seriously ill, lost their source of income, and died just like that.

Lord Okubo, it is right that the country wants to reform, but we must also pay attention to the lives of the people. We cannot squeeze the people in the country because of the reform, right? If so, how can we compare to the shogunate! "

Okubo Toshimichi's attitude softened a little and said: "What I mean is that the actions of these parties should be more reliable."

Yagyu saw that the topic was almost over, and then he said: "I know all the things you are worried about. It has only been six years since I presided over the reform, and it will only be three years if it is promoted nationwide.

The time is very short, and many aspects are very crude. Now we are carrying out the second update, which is to fill in the gaps and solve the loopholes in the first update.

I said that this time we will benefit people's livelihood. The living conditions of female textile workers in Kyoto mentioned just now are shocking.

In this way, next, the Ministry of Justice will discuss labor laws. We must not only protect the efficiency of the factory and the profits of investors, but also protect the interests of workers. "

"As for political parties in various places, they also need to be restrained. The most basic thing is that they cannot disrupt normal local life, let alone cause social unrest and national division."

With Yagyu's final word, the matter was settled.

It is now March, and the Franco-Prussian War has come to an end. After Prussian King William I ascended the throne as the German Emperor in the Palace of Versailles, on January 1, the residents of Paris once again staged an uprising. After the French government immediately sent troops to suppress the uprising, it cooperated with the Prussian Army Command. Final negotiations were conducted, and a treaty on the surrender of Paris was signed on January 22, and an armistice agreement was signed on January 1.

Most of the fortresses of Paris were handed over to the Germans along with their artillery and ammunition, with an indemnity of 200 million francs.

On February 2, the Versailles Peace Treaty was initialed. Before the National Assembly approved the draft peace treaty, the Germans gained the right to move troops into Paris. These troops did not withdraw from Paris until the peace treaty was approved on March 26.

On March 3, the Parisian people's uprising was successful, and the Paris Commune was proclaimed. This Commune existed until the end of May.

Yagyu planned to deal with the matter in the House of Commons, but it was too late.

Just after he finished talking with Okubo Toshimichi and others, Tokugawa Yoshiki entered his office with an excited face and said excitedly: "Prime Minister, this is news from Germany. The German Emperor invited His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister to go Paris, for the Peace Conference!”

Yagyu immediately stood up and took the telegram, read it carefully, and felt a little excited. The matter was finally settled, and it was time for them to share the fruits of victory!

"This is really good news. This news will be published in the Kyoto Daily News immediately and announced to all parts of the country!

I will enter the palace immediately to see His Majesty the Emperor! "

No wonder Yagyu is excited. This trip to Europe is not a random trip. He wants to bring RB's influence to Europe. This time he can just promote RB's culture and increase RB's influence!

Besides, this time he just missed it. Even if Germany eats meat, he can still drink some soup. Just a little soup is enough for RB to turn into a fat man in one bite!

The rise of RB is just after this peace conference!

(End of this chapter)