I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 229 Heading east!

Under Yagyu's pressure, the next Congress was not as lively as before, and all new government plans were passed under Yagyu's supervision. Although businessmen and writers such as Kono Hironaka and Numama Moriichi still wanted to struggle, the cruel facts made them recognize the reality.

Perhaps in other countries, the parliament would be in session for at least half a month, but the session under Yagyu's chairmanship was completed in just three days.

However, before the end of the Congress, Yagyu said to everyone with a hint of warning: "I hope you can cooperate sincerely with the country and the government and unite with the outside world.

If someone colludes with outsiders, or harms the country for personal interests or the interests of a small group of cronies, the country and government will never forgive him easily. When the time comes, he will be placed on the pillar of shame in history. I hope you all Take care of each and don’t make it difficult. "

Yagyu's words made several people who conspired that night tremble. Tokugawa was happy, and Iwakura Tomomi and others looked serious, their eyes were a little wandering, and they did not dare to look at Yagyu.

Liu Sheng looked at the people nearby, caught their expressions in his eyes, and thought to himself: What are these people thinking, do they feel guilty and dare not look at me? has a problem.

But he didn't want to waste time on this kind of thing.

After the meeting, Yagyu held a meeting of the main cabinet officials in the cabinet.

Okubo Toshimichi, Katsu Kaishu, Sakuma Shozan, Tokugawa Keiki, Kido Takayoshi and other ministers attended the meeting.

Yagyu, who was sitting in the main seat, said directly: "The purpose of convening everyone for a meeting today is to talk about several major things we will do this year.

The first major event is that our country will send its navy and some officials to take over several colonies ceded by the French government. From now on, those colonies will be our territory, and the local people will also be our nationals. "

Yagyu did not like the colonial approach, which was nothing more than squandering the entire lake and embodying Western politics' eagerness for quick success.

He preferred to convert these new territories into his own.

It seems that the investment is huge at the beginning and the return is very small. However, after one or two generations, the local integration into Japan will greatly reduce the cost of governance and the return will increase.

The governance of a colony is different. It requires constant investment, and as time goes by, such costs will continue to increase, and are also accompanied by other risks.

Although Yagyu claimed to want comprehensive Westernization, in terms of education, he still retained a place of Confucian culture, and it accounted for a large proportion.

In his opinion, what he needs to learn is Western technology, not their culture. The core of Western culture is too flat and cannot withstand the test.

As for Confucian culture, he also had to carefully screen it to remove the dross and extract the essence.

Generally speaking, Chinese learning is the essence and Western learning is the application.

But unlike the Westernization Movement of the Qing Dynasty, his reform was a comprehensive change from top to bottom, from mind to body.

As for the Westernization Movement of the Qing Dynasty, it was just a self-rescue operation by the upper class, which ultimately failed.

Therefore, Yagyu has learned the lessons of the Westernization Movement since the beginning of the Restoration. He wants to push the Restoration among ordinary people so that they can also benefit, so that the Restoration can be successful.

"Overseas places are thousands of miles away. I'm worried that not many people will go there." Sakuma Shoyama shook his head slightly.

Kido Takayun also said: "Those places are mainly close to Milician and are not very safe."

Tokugawa Yoshiki also suggested: "I think it is a pity to abandon these places that are tasteless and very useless. It is better to return these places to France in exchange for their support, so that we can have more help in negotiations with Great Britain." "

Yagyu frowned slightly. The reason why he agreed to take these places was to go out east.

Many islands in northern Oceania have good economic benefits and rich resources, and he wants to increase Japan's energy reserves.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in the room did not know the value of these islands.

Yagyu said: "The grievances between France and Germany are too deep. We helped Germany attack France, and now it is too late to think about making friends with them.

Besides, France cannot rebuild its country without the support of Britain. Do you think these islands can make France forget its previous hatred and help us?

Everyone, don’t be naive about those Western countries, they are not good people.

As for those islands, they are indeed too far away from us, so we have to establish supply stations along the way.

Mr. Tokugawa, did you resolve the issue of the Ogasawara Islands in the note you asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hold with the United States? "

Tokugawa Yoshiki said quickly: "We have been communicating with the American Ambassador about this matter for more than half a year, but Mr. Mutsu said that Milician insisted that they discovered the Ogasawara Islands."

"I remember that the name Ogasawara Islands was named after the former shogunate, right? Are there still our buildings on the islands?" Yagyu looked at Tokugawa Keki and asked.

After receiving this incident, Tokugawa Yingxi checked the information and found that the incident was exactly as Yagyu Heiyan said.

In 1593, Ogasawara Sadayori of the Shinano Ogasawara clan discovered Chichijima, Hahajima and other islands one after another, and named them "Ogasawara Island".

In the early Edo period, Lieutenant Shimaya Ichizaemon of the Matsuura Party went to the island for exploration and exploration.

In 1670, the Mikan boat of seven people including Nagaemon of Nishu encountered a storm on the way and drifted to Hashima Island, and then to Hachijo Island and Izu Shimoda before surviving. They reported the existence of Hashima Island to the shogunate through the Shimoda Office.

This is the earliest discovery and documentation of the Ogasawara Islands so far.

In 1675, the Edo shogunate incorporated the Ogasawara Islands into Japanese territory through reports from drifters and set up monuments to demarcate the island boundaries. However, they were still uninhabited islands at that time.

Later, Japanese immigrants settled on Ogasawara Island, and Japan began to develop and utilize the Ogasawara Islands.

There are Japanese nationals on the Ogasawara Islands today.

In the past, Japan was weak, so Yagyu naturally did not mention this matter, but now, Japan is no longer in the Edo Shogunate period, and the Japanese navy is no longer vulnerable, so Yagyu wants to take back the Ogasawara Islands.

He wants to use this as a bridgehead to develop to the east of the Pacific.

"Yes, Prime Minister, there are still records in the documents preserved by the shogunate."

Tokugawa said with certainty.

However, he was a little entangled, and he was afraid that he would be humiliating himself if he used these records to argue with Millician.

But Yagyu's words made him stunned on the spot.

"Since there are records proving that it is our territory, why are we talking to the American ambassador? Just inform them. I will take the navy to the Ogasawara Islands when the time comes.

We will go ashore to investigate first, then we will immigrate a group of nationals and then develop towards the southeast. "

After hearing these words, Tokugawa Qingxi didn't react for a long time. It wasn't until Yagyu called him that he woke up and asked, "What else are you going to say, Prime Minister?"

"Huh?" Yagyu looked at Tokugawa Qingxi.

Tokugawa Yingxi resisted the pressure and said in a solemn voice: "Your Majesty Prime Minister, such a move will only cause international disputes."

Yagyu is not worried about this. Millikin is still busy dealing with domestic affairs and it is impossible to send a huge army to take action. As long as Japan takes a tougher attitude, the United States can be made to retreat.

There is evidence for what he thinks. This year, in a few months, a conflict will break out between the United States and the Kingdom of Korea, the Battle of Ganghwa.

This was a conflict that broke out because of the United States' attempt to force the Kingdom of Korea to open its country and trade.

This incident dates back to August 1866, when the warship "General Sherman" loaded with weapons entered the waters of the Kingdom of Korea and headed for Pyongyang via the Taedong River.

While General Sherman was sailing on the Taedong River, envoys from the Kingdom of Korea repeatedly told the crew that there would be no trade and ordered them to leave immediately.

The crew simply ignored this and relied on advanced warships and weapons to shoot at the crowds obstructing the border, blow up some ships, and continue to move upriver.

Several days into the standoff, General Sherman became trapped on a sandbar at low tide.

The Kingdom of Korea seized the opportunity and ordered the destruction of the Sherman warship. After it was set on fire, General Sherman and the entire crew were captured and massacred.

After General Sherman disappeared in North Korean waters, the U.S. government demanded an explanation from North Korea.

Although some French people said they saw the wreckage of the burned Sherman warship, North Korea's reply to the U.S. government was that the ship was wrecked in a sudden storm.

But the United States did not believe it and sent another ship to Korea in 1867 to investigate the disappearance of General Sherman.

But the kingdom was largely unwilling to engage with U.S. officials, and the ship returned to the U.S. without any valuable information.

In 1868, another ship was sent to investigate the Kingdom of Korea, but returned with almost no information.

Unable to endure it, the United States finally decided to send an expeditionary force to the Kingdom of Korea in 1871. This matter was revealed to the Kingdom of Korea by the Qing Dynasty.

In May 1871, the fleet anchored near Wolmi Island near Incheon Port. The crew left the dock and began to search the area and make contact with the citizens of Wolmi Island.

At the end of the month, the fleet reached the riverbank leading to the Han River.

There, three officials met with them and stated that while the Kingdom wished to maintain friendly relations with the United States, it had no intention of trading or entering into a treaty with the Americans.

In order to complete his mission, Frederick planned to continue sailing under the pretext of exploring the river.

But such behavior is a declaration of war for the Kingdom of Korea, because any foreign ship entering the Han River is regarded as an act of war.

The Battle of Ganghwa broke out. Although the Kingdom of Korea was defeated, the US military found that the Kingdom of Korea did not agree to sign a treaty under such circumstances, so it had no choice but to withdraw its troops.

This time the US military dispatched five ships, and even though it failed to achieve its goal, it withdrew its troops. This shows that the US military is not focused on overseas affairs.

This is Yagyu’s confidence.

Of course he will give the United States a step down.

Yagyu's strength and confidence made Tokugawa Yingxi no longer refute, and he could only watch Yagyu's performance silently.

Yagyu's strength does not stop at this. He stood up and said: "Everyone, I have already laid out the domestic development plan. All you need to do is cooperate with Mr. Okubo.

Let me say it again. During this period, I don’t have time to stay in Kyoto, but I hope that everyone can unite and work together to govern the country and make the country better.

If someone insists on challenging my bottom line, I will have no choice but to kill him. "

Tokugawa Yoshiki and Iwakura Tomomi looked at the murderous Yagyu Heiyan, and their hearts trembled.

However, after giving a heads up, Yagyu left, followed by several others.

Sitting there, Tokugawa Qingxi felt his back feel wet. At that moment, he was sweating profusely.

Iwakura Tomoshi said softly: "Did he know something and hit us again?"

Kido Takayun shook his head and said: "This is unlikely. If Yagyu Hiyan knew about it, we would not be qualified to sit here, but would be beheaded on the other side of the Sanjo Bridge."

Tokugawa Yingxi explained: "It seems that he is knocking everyone down. If we act too guilty, we will attract his attention."

Kido Takayun shook his head and said: "Yagyu is still Yagyu, we should not act rashly recently."

Several people then stood up and left the cabinet.

Yagyu did not stay in Kyoto for long. He quickly took a train to Osaka, and then left Osaka on the Fuso and headed for Hokkaido.

He now returns to Hokkaido and gathers two other battleships, the battleship Mikasa and the battleship Asahi to form a naval fleet.

He plans to train for three months before heading to the Ogasawara Islands.

After Yagyu returned to Hakodate, Otto's four-stroke engine had a breakthrough. His new igniter had been manufactured and achieved the desired results through experiments.

He saw Otto's four-stroke engine for the first time.

Otto immediately showed it to Yagyu and said: "Mr. Prime Minister, you see, this is my four-stroke engine. Compared with the two-stroke engine, my engine is ten percent more efficient than the two-stroke engine!"

Yagyu said with great satisfaction: "Very good, Mr. Otto. Since your four-stroke engine has been successfully developed, the cooperation we discussed before can be carried out. The factory is ready and will be handed over to Mr. Otto later. .

In addition, I previously proposed using other resources as a four-stroke engine, and I hope Mr. Otto will not forget it. "

Otto said with satisfaction: "Don't worry, Mr. Prime Minister, since we have signed the contract, I will naturally not violate the contract."

Although Otto has developed a four-stroke engine, it will take some time before it becomes a commercial product.

As for the application of four-stroke engines, it is very extensive.

First of all, it can be used to replace steam engines and become a new power source for large machines.

Secondly, even though it was just a gas internal combustion engine, Yagyu still used it in transportation.

That's a motorcycle.

He planned to ask Otto to make a four-stroke engine of suitable size and mount it on a bicycle to produce a motorcycle.

The design of motorcycles is much simpler than that of cars.

I believe that in the near future, motorcycles will be available in Japan.

When Otto manufactures gasoline and diesel engines, cars will also come out in Japan. By then, Japan will use internal combustion engines and electricity to enter the second industrial revolution and shorten the gap with Europe.

(End of this chapter)