I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 42 The changed Satsuma Domain, buying a gun

In the last fake edict incident, Yagyu made two suggestions to Matsudaira Yongho. The first was to join forces with the Satsuma clan, which was sidelined by the Choshu clan, and the second was to perform martial arts in front of the emperor to intimidate Sanjo Sanimi and other public officials.

This second strategy went very smoothly, but the progress of the conversation with the Satsuma clan was slow. Although the Satsuma clan was a supporter of the public-military combination faction, his original intention was to seize power, and he still had an antagonistic relationship with the shogunate.

Of course, the Choshu Domain framed him, causing the Satsuma Domain to lose its responsibility to guard the palace, which made the Satsuma Domain even more angry with the Choshu Domain.

However, the attitude of the Satsuma Domain has changed drastically in the past few days. This is mainly because seven warships jointly commanded by Lieutenant General Augustus Cooper, commander of the British East India Fleet, bombarded the Satsuma Domain, Kagoshima Castle and nearby forts, and all factories were destroyed. Destroyed, Satsuma was defeated.

The Satsuma clan compensated England twenty-five thousand pounds for the raw wheat incident, and the money was borne by the shogunate.

As a result of the Satsuma-British War, the Satsuma Domain realized that it was impossible to resist the foreigners, so they turned to cooperate with the British to enhance their strength.

The British, taking advantage of the remaining power of their victory in the Opium War, originally believed that the Satsuma domain was vulnerable. However, in the end, although the British army believed that the incident ended in a small victory for their side, they had to admit the strength of the Satsuma army.

Therefore, Britain also shifted from its original policy of supporting the shogunate to getting closer to the Satsuma Domain.

When Yagyu learned about the Satsuma-Bing war, his thoughts wandered for a while. He thought of the Satsuma clan during the overthrow of the war. He thought that Saigo Takasaki and Okubo Toshimichi would soon rise rapidly in the Satsuma clan and start his political career.

Yagyu immediately stood up and came to the treasury. Kawai Kisaburo was settling accounts. When he saw Yagyu approaching, he quickly stood up, knelt aside and saluted, "Director."

Yagyu stepped forward and said, "Qisaburo, how much money do we have left in the group?"

Kawai Kisaburo immediately stood up, picked up the account book, flipped through it, and said: "Director, in the past two months, the group has earned more than 320 and a half taels, and the expenses include the salary of the Shinsengumi group, and the student subsidies from the Katsu School. , cooks, servants, and gaming houses’ wages and commissions are more than 670 and [-] taels, and there are currently more than [-] taels.”

According to the exchange rate, one pound is four U.S. dollars, and according to the U.S.-Japan treaty, one hundred U.S. dollars is legally exchanged for about 160 taels of gold, which means that one hundred pounds is equivalent to more than 640 taels.

The money in his hand is equivalent to more than 130 pounds.

With this little money, he also bought a crappy musket and artillery. He couldn't buy many of them with this little money.

Kisaburo looked at the silent Yagyu and said immediately: "Director, I definitely did not make any mistakes in this account book. You can also ask others to do the accounting. I, Kisaburo, have never done anything greedy..."

Yagyu didn't listen to what Kisaburo Kawai was saying. He was considering whether to let the team members come into contact with muskets at this time.

However, muskets appeared as early as 300 years ago in the Warring States Period, and the samurai at that time quickly accepted it. I think my team members should also be able to accept it.

Liu Sheng stood up immediately and said: "Prepare the money, I will use it when the time comes."

"what?"

Kisaburo Kawai watched Yagyu leave with a blank expression. Only then did he realize that his previous defense was in vain, but he still got up and called his colleagues in the accounting team to do the work.

Yagyu came to Kurotani Guangming Temple to visit Matsudaira Yongho.

Komori Kyutaro's eyelids jumped as soon as he saw Yagyu, and he immediately whispered to Tanaka Tosa: "This man must be in trouble when he comes here."

Tanaka Tosa nodded secretly. He also hoped that nothing serious would happen.

As soon as Matsudaira Yongho saw Yagyu, he asked anxiously: "Jubei, has something big happened?"

"A big deal? No." Liu Sheng was a little confused and immediately shook his head.

Matsudaira Yongho breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled awkwardly and changed the subject: "Oh, what are you doing today?"

Yagyu replied: "I heard that Yingji defeated the Satsuma clan, and now the Satsuma clan has agreed to cooperate with Lord Matsudaira."

"That's right, it's happening."

Yagyu continued: "I also heard that the Satsuma clan is planning to purchase guns from England. I wanted to buy some Western guns before, but failed to do so. This time I came to visit Matsudaira-sama, just to ask Matsudaira-sama to come forward and let me follow Satsuma. Fan, buy some guns from England."

Matsudaira Yoshiho remembered this incident. After Yamamoto Kakuma returned to Kyoto from Kobe, he told Matsudaira Yoshiho about the power of the Enfield 1853 rifled rifle.

Much more powerful than the Dutch rifles in their hands.

After all, the Enfield 1853 rifled gun is one of the masterpieces of the flintlock era. The other one is the American Springfield m1861 rifle.

Both of these are front-loaded rifled guns that use Mini bullets. The maximum effective range of the Springfield M1861 is more than 400 meters. Ordinary soldiers usually shoot at targets about 200 meters away.

Both of these guns later had derivative versions, which were basically improved in some details, and later they were modified with rear-mounted pull bolts.

However, Japan mainly uses the Enfield 1853 rifled gun. This gun was used for decades before Japan developed its own rifle.

Yagyu also considered that after the American Civil War, the United States would cut down its army and a large number of Enfields would be sold at low prices. Being familiar with Enfield 1853 in advance would be beneficial to receiving this dividend.

Matsudaira Yongho said: "Last time, Jakuma told me after he came back, is that foreign gun really that powerful?"

Yagyu immediately explained: "Of course, in the domestic war in the United States, soldiers used this rifle, which shows its superior performance."

"Is the United States also using it?" "They are so powerful and are using it, so we should use it too."

"I'm afraid it would be a big expense to completely change the costumes. The current Aizu Domain cannot afford it."

Matsudaira Yongho also heard the discussions of his retainers and felt a little entangled in his heart.

Yagyu suggested: "Matsudaira-sama can buy about a hundred of them for training purposes. As far as I know, the American Civil War is almost over. Without the civil war, they will cut down the army. At that time, the excess weapons will be sold, and they will be cheap and can be purchased in large quantities.”

"is it?"

Matsudaira Yongho was overjoyed.

"Okay, I'll let Tejiro talk to the people of Satsuma Domain."

Qiuyue Tijiro saluted and said: "Ha, I will contact you right away."

Akizuki Teijiro took Yagyu to visit Satsuma Domain scholar Takasaki Zuotaro who was in contact with him.

Takasaki Zuotaro, whose real name was Takasaki Masakaze, was exiled when he was a boy because of his father's involvement in the Yura incident. In the second year of his exile, Shimazu Saibin succeeded to the throne of Satsuma Domain, and he was pardoned a year later.

This was the person who informed the Aizu Domain of the coup on August [-]th from the Satsuma Domain.

Moreover, this person opposed the collapse of the armed forces, so he was not allowed to be reused during the Meiji period.

Akizuki Teijiro took Yagyu to visit Takasaki Zuotaro, which surprised Zuotaro. He asked in a panic: "Akitsuki-sama, what does this mean?"

Akizuki Teijiro quickly explained: "Don't worry, Mr. Takasaki. I brought Director Yagyu here today for Yingji's affairs."

Yagyu nodded slightly and saluted: "Let me tell you. I heard that the Satsuma clan is planning to learn from England, so I hope that your clan can help. I want to purchase a batch of Enfield 1853 rifled rifles."

"what?"

Takasaki Zuotaro looked confused and thought to himself: No, how did you know?The Shinsengumi spies have arrived in Satsuma Domain?This is so scary!
Akizuki Teijiro tentatively greeted: "Master Takasaki?"

Only then did Takasaki Zuotaro realize that he was too rude. He quickly saluted and said, "I'm sorry, I can't answer this matter directly. I need to ask my boss for instructions."

Liu Sheng nodded and said: "This is what it should be. I'll wait for your reply."

Takasaki Zuotaro left in a hurry, returned to the Satsuma Domain, and met with his family boss Komatsu with his sword.

Komatsu Daito was born in the Kanfu family, which is a family with a family status, that is, a famous family with at least 28 koku territory. The same is true for the Komatsu family. Therefore, at the age of [-], Komatsu Daito became the elder of the family and reformed together with Okubo Toshimichi. Satsuma Domain Government.

Not only does Komatsu Dai Dao come from a distinguished family, but he is also known for his tolerance, eloquence and cheerfulness in terms of personal abilities.

Although he came from a noble family, he made friends with talented lower-level samurai. For Okubo Toshimichi, Saigo Takamori and others who came from lower-class samurai, his presence became an important support for lower-class samurai in the domain.

Outside the domain, he more represented the Satsuma Domain and was responsible for tasks such as liaison and negotiation among the various domains.

In addition to becoming personal friends with Sakamoto Ryoma, he also worked with Sakamoto Ryoma, Nakaoka Shintaro, Itagaki Taisuke, Goto Shojiro and others to promote the Satsuki-Turkish Alliance in the third year of Keio (1867).

However, such people died young and died of illness at the age of 36.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect that Yagyu Battosai, known as the executioner of the shogunate, would actually buy a foreign gun?" Komatsu laughed heartily with a knife, "Learning skills from the barbarians to defeat the barbarians, he is right, it was me in the past It’s narrow-minded.”

After listening to Takasaki Zuotaro's narration, Komatsu Kato immediately apologized for his cognitive error.

Okubo Toshimichi comforted him and said: "Lord Komatsu, why should you be so humble? Even though Yagyu Battousai had this insight, he failed to carry out reforms like us. He was just obsessed with force and fell behind."

Saigo Takamori shook his head and said: "You have also seen this battle with England. Without strong force, it is very difficult to innovate."

Okubo Toshimichi frowned and said: "Even if the shogunate has strong military force, it will never be able to strengthen the country. What they ultimately do is to maintain the rule of the shogunate. What we need to do is to strengthen the vassal, strengthen the country, and stand alongside the great powers."

Saigo Takamori no longer argued. He also felt that the shogunate would not expand externally, but would only shrink within the country.

Komatsu Daito did not participate in the discussion between the two. He just said: "As for Yagyu Battousai knowing about things in our domain, what do you think of this man?"

Okubo Toshimichi said with a solemn expression: "He has strong martial arts skills, a good way of making money, and a sufficient understanding of the international situation. Moreover, this person has repeatedly destroyed the plots of the Choshu clan. Such brave and resourceful men will be the most difficult to deal with once they become opponents. If he becomes our enemy, we must kill him immediately."

Xiaosong nodded and said, "Fortunately, we are allies now, but if we become enemies, how can we kill him?"

Saigo Takamori smiled and said: "There is no need for us to do this. Choshu Domain hates it to the core, so let those rough guys of Choshu Domain do it."

"That's right, hahaha..."

Several people looked at each other and smiled.

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(End of this chapter)