Chapter 18 18. Lord of Deadwood

Yoshida Toyo, named Yuanji, named Donghu, was born in the thirteenth year of Wenhua and nineteen years old in Dalongma.Although he was born in a prestigious sergeant's family, he was not the elder of the family, but was promoted to participate in politics after an exceptional promotion.He still lives at his home in Yamachi, where he was born. Yoshida's stubbornness is not a conservative stubbornness, but an aggressive stubbornness.His disposition was already ashamed for the first time when he was eighteen years old.He killed the servant.As for why he killed the servant, Dongyang never said the reason, and the people in the city were not very clear.But according to speculation, it was very likely that the servant had insulted Toyo because of his inappropriate words and deeds.At that time, the master could kill the servant on the grounds that he was rude, so Dongyang was not convicted.

However, this incident seems to have decided Toyo's life.From then on, he closed his doors and pondered over his mistakes, concentrating on studying and practicing martial arts.It's just that he was a self-willed person, and he would not be troubled and melancholy like ordinary literati. He got married the year he killed his servant.His wife was Kotoko, the third daughter of Goto Masasumi, who was in the same family as him, and later gave birth to a boy and a girl. After the Restoration, her daughter, Masako, married a minister named Ohara Shigetoku, the son of Earl Chongxian, and his son, Gentaro Masaharu, served as secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Communications after the Restoration. He was famous for his talents.It's just that he didn't like being controlled by others by nature. Later, he resigned from office and began to try various careers, but in the end he failed to meet his talents. He ended his seventy-year-old life in his home in Aoyama, Tokyo in the tenth year of Taisho.Ito Hirobumi and others often told people around them that among those from Tosa, the one who should be in the cabinet most should be Yoshida Masaharu.However, he failed to enter the cabinet in the end because he was too stubborn and arrogant.This is a later story.

When Yoshida Toyo was twenty-eight years old, he became the governor of the county.He is not a simple bureaucrat, nor is he a simple genius.At this time, he had already begun to suggest the reform of the vassal regime.It can be seen from the content of his suggestions that his reforms have extraordinary highlights in various aspects such as economy, personnel, and education.At this time, in terms of knowledge, no Confucian in the Tosa Domain could surpass him, and he was also first-rate in fencing, and no one could surpass him in debating with others. At the age of thirty-two, he became a sailor.Tosa faces the sea and owns many warships.The peace has lasted too long, the sails are worn out and the rigging is broken.Both the captain and the sailors are hereditary, relying on the salary of the vassal mansion to support them, and they don't know how to make progress at all.Originally, Dongyang did not understand shipping, but still advocated strict training for captains and sailors to make them available.It can be said that he has demonstrated his execution ability.Soon he resigned from this position and asked to travel to various countries, but he also got permission from the feudal lord.As a result, he gathered famous people from all over the world, which greatly broadened his horizons.At the age of thirty-eight, he was promoted to politics.The feudal lord Toyonobu even called him a gentleman, which shows how much he is favored.

Soon after Yoshida Toyo was promoted to participate in politics, he went to Edo with the feudal lord's account, and made friends with first-class celebrities in Edo.It was the first year of Ansei, when Ryoma first went to Edo to learn swordsmanship.However, Dongyang is an important minister of the 240,000 Shifan Kingdom. To a traveling student Ryoma, he is like a cloud in the sky, elusive but unattainable.Ryoma saw Toyo's back only once in the corridor of the Kajibashi feudal residence. At that time, Perry's black ship was attacking, and people in Edo were in panic.Ryoma still remembered the sense of relief he felt when he saw Toyo's back.

Dongyang's face is sharp and angular, carved like a rock, with piercing eyes, majestic mouth corners, broad shoulders, a tall and straight body, and a stalwart.Moreover, he puts a lot of emphasis on appearance, only wearing silk clothes, often wearing a crimson crepe robe, with musk in his arms, and a pair of large and small swords that are also very delicate. Dongyang once did a major event that shook the vassal mansion.This happened on the tenth day of June in the first year of Anzheng. On this day, according to the custom of feudal lords stationed in Edo, the feudal lord personally hosted a banquet for the blood relatives of the Yamauchi family, Hatake Sanshi.

In "Taiko Ji", there is a samurai with the same name and surname as Matsushita Kahei. He is a general of the Imagawa family that Hideyoshi used to follow when he was young.After Hideyoshi won the world, he was found out and awarded a high official and generous salary.After the demise of the Toyotomi family, he became a minister of the shogunate and married the Tosa feudal lords from generation to generation.The contemporary owner, Kahei, likes to compose some unpopular wild songs and haiku, pretending to be a romantic and talented man, and loses his shape when he drinks. On this day, Dongyang was ordered by the feudal lord to accompany Shibuya Den, who was also an important minister in the feudal family, to accompany the wine and dine with these relatives of the Yamauchi family.When the banquet was about to end, Matsushita Kahei was already drunk, and the old problem was committed again, and he started to make trouble again.

"Shibuya..." He called his name directly, made a fool of the Shibuya legend, and even hit him on the head with a fan.Because the other party was a relative of the feudal lord, Shibuya could only swallow his anger and dare not speak. Then, Kahei came to Dongyang again, hugged his shoulders, patted his head, and said, "This useless leader." Before everyone could react, Toyo had already thrown Kahei out, and everyone present turned pale.Not only that, Dongyang also jumped on Kahei's back and beat him up.Kahei cried and begged for mercy, but Dongyang still didn't give up.In the end, the prince had no choice but to leave the table, and personally pulled Dongyang away who was riding on Kabingwei's back.Not long after, the vassals of Tosa compiled the matter into a ballad and sang:

"Qizirei" means fighting in the Tosa dialect, and "Toya Echigo" is a very popular luxurious kimono at this time.In short, this song says that Yoshida is a hero who dares to beat even the relatives of the feudal lord if he is provoked, and he is also a man who dresses up flirtatiously. Afterwards, regarding how to deal with Dongyang, someone proposed to have him cut into seppuku, but in the end, his official position was cut off and he was ordered to return to his hometown. On June 14th of the first year of Ansei, Dongyang left the Edo feudal mansion in dismay.Terada Shisai, a vassal of Edo Jofu, recalled that the road was very muddy because of the rain the night before.He wrote down his thoughts in his diary:

"The Yoshida family has many talents, but they are arrogant, do not listen to others, and judge things harshly. I will know from today's events." Ryoma was only twenty years old at the time, and he had a good impression of Yoshida Toyo.The courage to beat up the lord's relatives is especially rare among cowardly warriors. Dongyang lived in seclusion for four years.At first he lived in Chaokura Village, and then moved to Nagahama Village with a beautiful sea view near Urado, where he buried himself in reading and writing poems while teaching some disciples who came to visit him. Many disciples of the school were promoted to important positions at once, and then created school lords and excluded others.

When he was in Changbin Village, among the sergeant's children in the city, there were two troublesome dandies.They are Yata and Inosuke.They live in Nakajima Town under the castle, and their houses are adjacent to each other.They have been friends since childhood, fighting with others all day long.They beat each other when there was no one to fight.In the eyes of the locals, the two are like plague gods. Yayata is a relative of Toyo.One day, his mother cried and begged Dongyang to teach her son a lesson. "You call them here." Dongyang said. The two dudes rushed over aggressively.As long as Dongyang preached, the two gods of plague raised their fists as if they were going to fight. The two sides argued until late at night, and finally Dongyang ordered them to "scroll" and drove them away.Later, he thought that "the two have a great future", so he sent someone to call them, subdued them, and accepted them as disciples.After the reinstatement, the two men were also promoted to show their posts.Yasuyata is the future Goto Shojiro, and Inosuke is the later Itagaki Taisuke.Toyo is desperately looking for talents according to his own vision.But for Longma and other countrymen, he dismissed them.His concept of family status is still very strong.

Yoshida Toyo re-elected to participate in politics in Ansei five years, when he was forty-three years old.After that, he acted vigorously and implemented many new policies one after another in order to enrich the country and strengthen the army.Not only that, but he also immersed himself in the study, seeking knowledge with all his heart.He wanted to learn Western culture, but suffered from not being able to understand foreign languages, so he asked someone to buy a Chinese translation of the China New Journal in Nagasaki, and even ordered the "China and Foreign News" published in Shanghai at that time.He wanted to understand the situation in the West through these, and even studied physical chemistry. Although he had a Confucian upbringing, he was a thorough founding theorist.On this point, he is consistent with the shogunate's diplomatic policy, so in the eyes of Takeshi Banpingtai and other anti-barbarians, Yoshida Toyo belongs to the "sulphurous China", a weak samurai who succumbs to the ugly barbarians, and is in collusion with the shogunate The anti-imperial faction is the same kind as the big old Ii Naosuke who was assassinated outside the Sakurada Gate last year. "He is Ii from Tosa." The one who hated Toyo the most was Shingo Nasu who threatened to kill Toyo.Of course, Takeshi Banheita, the leader of the Royal Party, also has the same opinion. In the first year of Wenjiu, Dongyang was forty-six years old. This year, the radicals of Wushi in Edo, Satsuma, and Changzhou met in secret and agreed that after returning to their vassals, they would publicize the theory of working hard for the king and use the soldiers of the San Francisco to raise a rebel army in Kyoto.After the agreement, Takeichi returned to Tosa, formed the Qinwang Party, and began to lobby Yoshida Toyo to participate in politics. Takeshi would go to the feudal hall every day, requesting to meet Dongyang. Only Wushi is eligible to enter and leave the feudal hall, and to meet and participate in politics, and villagers are not allowed to enter or leave. Yoshida has also always recognized Takeichi's knowledge, calling him Mr. Ruishan with half respect and half affection.However, he resolutely opposed Wushi's theory of an alliance between Sa Changtu and the San Francisco. "Mr. Takeshi, the chief is the chief, and the tosa is the tosa." Yoshida never changed his kinship posture, and he also had a completely different view of the Kyoto court from Takeshi. "Hahaha, can the emperor and the ministers defend Japan?" He continued: "Mr. Ruishan, you don't understand history. In history, when the emperor and the ministers made troubles, the world was in chaos. The rebellion of Baoyuan Pingzhi, the chaos of the Southern and Northern Dynasties , all due to the emperor's desire for power. Now they want to make trouble again. Those who unified Japan and created a peaceful and prosperous age, Kou Yumoto Yoritomo, Ashikaga Takaji and Ieyasu, all three were the founders of the shogunate, and they were also military exploits Great warrior." Dongyang Yuxi Hojo Yasuki and Ashikaga Takaji are completely different from those who regard these two as rebellious officials and thieves.Moreover, he speaks clearly and clearly, even Wu Shi can't argue with him. Takeshi began to worry, because of Dongyang's stubbornness, he might not be able to fulfill the agreement between himself and Sacho Zhishi.Ryoma said to Nasu Shingo: "As you said, if Toyo Yoshida is killed, Tosa will undergo great changes. But this is the only way, is there no other way?" "I only have this way, the rest are in Mr. Wushi's mind." "Hanpingtai, what can you do?" Wu Shi lowered his voice and said something. After listening to Longma, he suddenly felt that Wushi in front of him was a little strange.He's talking about a big plan.Ryoma didn't expect "Chin" to come up with such a conspiracy, and his mood became very complicated. After killing Yoshida and participating in politics, the Tosa King Party will not be able to control Tosa's domain immediately, and things will not go so smoothly.This is because ninety-nine percent of Tosa's Qinwang Party are rural scholars, and they have no qualifications to participate in politics at all.Among the Qinwang Party, the only people who are qualified to participate in the vassal government are Shirazatake City Hanpeita, Sergeant Hirai Shoujiro, Mazaki Tetsuma, and Hijikata Kuzaemon.It's a pity that these people are too young, and they don't have the prestige to grasp the real power of the feudal hall and rectify the upper and lower order. Therefore, Takeichi Hanpeita thought of joining forces with the conservative ministers.His so-called conservatives refer to the vassal relatives, elders and important ministers who were squeezed out by Dongyang on the grounds of "incompetence, arrogance, and no merit". They are all important ministers inherited from generation to generation, incompetent and lacking in courage, and they have enjoyed high officials and generous salaries for generations, so they have a natural fear of even a little bit of change in the status quo. For Yoshida Toyo's radical reform measures, they Very dissatisfied. "Join forces with those powerful people?" "Yes." Wushi rubbed his chin with some displeasure, and said, "There is no other way but to use strong medicine. If you help the old Guolao Shenweiding who was pushed out by Yoshida to return to their posts, they will Will definitely work with us.” "They would certainly like to, but..." "There's nothing to worry about, it's called fighting fire with fire." "Can you really fight poison with poison?" Those in the old school have no opinions, but they are also stubborn samurai.Wushi wanted to manipulate them behind the scenes and transform the entire clan into Qinwang clan, which was an unprecedented feat in three hundred years. "But those elites are all incompetent rotten wood." "So in the future, we will have the final say, we will manipulate them. But the important position will not be given to them, but to Konan Goroemon." Ryoma also knows Xiaonan very well.He is the only one among the important ministers of the genealogy who supports respecting the king and fighting the barbarians.Wushi wanted the two factions to contain each other.But this approach is too impractical, and Ryoma can't help worrying. "You can come up with such a trick, it's quite scheming." "Oh, yes." Wu Shi said, "But good people can't do these things." "Evil people can't even do it." Ryoma grinned, "Ban Pingta, if you keep thinking about these tricks, people won't follow you anymore. If no one follows you, you can't do great things. People, villains will eventually become No big deal." "Wait a minute..." Wu Shi smiled and narrowed his eyes, staring at Ryoma closely, and said, "You say I'm a villain?" "I did not say." "you've said." "I just said you don't want to become a person who engages in conspiracy and schemes, I didn't say you are a villain." "The conspiracy is once in a lifetime, and it's not out of selfishness, it's for the court. That's why we have to join hands with those rotten important ministers to remove Yoshida from participating in politics. For this reason, I, Hanpeita, can do anything!" "You're crazy." "What did you say?" "This plan is impossible to realize." "why?" "It's just a thought to make the whole family work hard, and it can't come true. You have always been obsessed with ideals, and you seek perfection in everything. You want perfection but can't, that's why you are in a hurry, so I thought this plan would definitely fail." "Such ominous words came out." "Hanpingtai, we might as well abandon this rotten Tosa, it is simply impossible for King Qin of the whole clan to be here." "Abandon the feudal kingdom?" "Yes, don't count on Tosa. Our comrades leave Tosa together, go to Kyoto, seize a small domain, build a cottage, and have the emperor command the world. This is also very interesting." "Nonsense!" Wu Shi was really annoyed, "Shut up and listen to me. Do you think it's fun to say such big words? It's more realistic than ordering the whole clan to work hard." "No, your idea will come to naught in the end." Ryoma disagreed, and still retorted, "You will be a bandit, and I will be a pirate. The mountains and seas will stir up the world, and the people with lofty ideals will flock here. With force, Tosa Fan will naturally submit." "Crap bullshit." "Hanpingtai, listen." Ryoma said solemnly, "I think that if you don't change the vassal system, you can't accomplish anything. What kind of genealogy, the samurai under this system will accomplish nothing. Even if Yoshida is killed to participate in politics, the higher-ups will still There is a prince. All our plans may come to naught because of his words. If that happens, even the prince will have to be killed in the end." "Kill the prince? Be careful with your words, Ryoma." "The Duke of Tosa is notoriously stubborn. Therefore, calling on the whole clan to serve the king is really a dream of the Spring and Autumn Period. It is better to organize an army of ronin to have a better chance of winning." After Ryoma finished speaking, he stood up abruptly and walked away.