The meeting of princes lasted until late at night, and no one came up with a solution.
In order not to give up the excuse of "colluding with Tang Yi", Sendai Houida Shigemura refused to come forward to negotiate, and did not agree with his men to go; others, including Shimazu Shigehao, did not want to go, so in the end the shit basin ended up back at the Hitotsubashi family. On the head.
Historically, after the Eighth Generation Tokugawa Yoshimune asked his fourth son Soyin to open the Hitotsubashi Tokugawa family, the Hitotsubashi family produced a total of two generals. One is the current Tokugawa Ieki, and the other is the last Tokugawa Keiki.
After returning to his residence inside the Hitotsubashimon Gate, 35-year-old Tokugawa Haruji had urgent discussions with his men, and they came up with an idea.
"How about letting Marquis Baihe go?"
Tokugawa Haruji narrowed his eyes and said, "Tell me about it?"
"I want to support Marquis Shirakawa as the chief minister, but currently both the Owari and Mito clans are opposed. If Marquis Shirakawa can successfully negotiate, the objections will surely be subsided."
After hearing this, Tokugawa Haruji couldn't help but feel moved in his heart. The reason why he chose Sadanobu Matsudaira to be the senior junior high school student was because Tokugawa Iesai needed someone who could be by his side for a long time and strongly support him to grow into a full-fledged man, and the chief senior junior high school student was the most suitable candidate.
In terms of blood relationship, Shirakawa Marquis himself and the Hitotsubashi family are both descended from the lineage of the Eighth Generation Shogun Yoshimune. However, as a concubine, Matsudaira Sadanobu was adopted at the age of fifteen to Matsudaira Sadanobu, the head of the Hisamatsu Matsudaira family and the lord of Shirakawa Domain. Moreover, Matsudaira Sadanobu was just a low-ranking branch leader. Tokugawa Jiji did not have to worry about Matsudaira Sadanobu seizing power or even threatening his right to speak in the shogunate.
In the morning of the next day, the envoy who rushed out from the Ichibashi Hall arrived at the Shirakawa clan's mansion and conveyed Gonggao's order. The 28-year-old Matsudaira Sadanobu and his retainers knelt down and listened with anger on their faces, thinking that this bastard was trying to harm me! However, when the messenger informed Sadanobu of Tokugawa Haruji's original intention, Sadanobu decided to set off for Uraga.
The problem is that Matsudaira Sadanobu can't just ride a horse and bring someone with a nickname to negotiate. The Kingdom of God also has to pay attention to face and pomp! You have to bring a thousand warriors with you, right?
At this time, people in Edo Castle were beginning to panic. Because there were no cargo ships entering the port in the morning, when shops opened in the morning, the prices of salt, rice, soy sauce and other daily necessities began to increase.
The shops selling swords and armors were crowded with Hatamoto samurai, who were all busy ordering armors and selecting weapons. No way! With the mobilization order, even if the bannermen go to the merchant Zhacha to borrow money, they still need to have a piece of armor that fits them.
"How do you wear this thing?" A warrior muttered, holding two pieces of armor.
A bearded Hatamoto samurai stood in front of a pile of armors on the table and shouted: "Give me a piece of Nanman chain mail!"
"Chenghui Shiliang." The store clerk greeted with a smile on his face.
"So expensive!" The bearded warrior almost jumped up, then picked up a piece of leather armor with an iron deck on the chest and said, "How much does this cost?"
"This only costs two taels."
"Okay, let's take it!"
Just as the bearded warrior was about to leave, another warrior suddenly grabbed him, bowed and asked, "Excuse me, how should I wear this armor?"
The bearded man rolled his eyes and said to himself, "If you ask me, I will ask who to go with!"
On the coast of Shinagawa, hundreds of Hatamoto samurai and ashigaru warriors wearing various armors carried flags on their backs and were practicing assassination with two guns.
Others were busy deploying various cannons pulled out of the armory in Edo Castle on the defensive positions built overnight. Among these cannons, there were Portuguese big guns that were already covered with green rust, and even the British naval guns and Ieyasu's heavy cast iron cannons used in the siege of Osaka two hundred years ago were also moved out.
The famous Ieyasu heavy iron cannon is the most conspicuous in its black color, almost the caliber of a 12-pounder cannon.
Since the Warring States Period, the island country's technology tree has been distorted. Those self-made artillery pieces a hundred or two hundred years ago, regardless of their caliber, all had a wooden support underneath, which looked like a large matchlock gun; and the firing method was the same as a matchlock gun.
These large-caliber matchlock guns are usually mounted on artillery carts. To adjust the muzzle height, just use a few ropes.
The most common of these artillery pieces are those with a caliber exceeding 30 to 40 mm, which are called "hug-type barrels." When shooting, either set it up on a tripod, or find someone to hold it in front. The maximum range of the hug-type barrel can reach 800 meters, but the accuracy is very poor.
"Come on, push harder, push harder!"
Several warriors struggled to push a cart with a large bronze bell brought from the temple.
"I said, why are we bringing this hanging clock here?" A sweaty young warrior asked the people around him.
"I heard..." The warrior next to him pushed the cart and replied pantingly: "Here, put the bell towards the sea. This way, the white ship will think it is a cannon."
"Cannon?" The young samurai looked up at the huge bronze bell and said to himself that if the people on the white ship dared to get close to Shinagawa, they would probably be scared away when they saw such a thick muzzle...
The Uraga Administrative Office received an order from Edo at this time, requesting to delay as much time as possible, so Tanzawa Hisaemon once again negotiated with the Thor and asked to board the ship for discussions.
Zhao Xin thought about it for a moment. He knew that the islanders had terrible urine habits, so he asked Jiuzang to deal with it.
When Tanzawa Hisaemon and his companions were led into the conference room of the Thor like fools, Kuzo and a clerk quickly sat across from the two.
The two sides bowed to each other and after introducing their respective identities, Tanzawa Hisaemon said: "Our country requires you to withdraw from Uraga before negotiating."
"Impossible." Jiuzang shook his head and refused.
"What is your purpose?"
"On behalf of the Great Ainu Kingdom, we request the shogunate not to immigrate to Ezo Land or launch attacks on Ezo Land. Can you agree to this? Do you dare to agree?"
Tanzawa Hisaemon said in his heart that if I agree, I will die! So he said expressionlessly like a repeater: "Please leave Uraga and let's talk again."
Jiuzang said: "Since last year, you have attacked Matsumae Castle twice in a row. As a good friend of the Great Ainu King, my Highness is very angry at this behavior of the shogunate. This time we brought an army of three thousand people. If If you do not send a representative worthy of my Royal Highness’s status tomorrow, we will bombard Edo.”
Tanzawa Hisaemon said angrily: "You attacked Matsumae Castle for no reason, and then blackmailed the Nagasaki Administrative Office. This is an act of aggression!"
Kuzo said: "The Matsumae clan has been extorting and oppressing the Ainu people for a long time. We responded to the Ainu country's request and expelled them. As for Nagasaki, we were originally going to negotiate the 'Susakabune Incident', but Nagasaki followed suit. They actually sent troops to make a surprise attack. So you should ask Nagasaki and Hagi about this."
Tanzawa Hisaemon said in his heart that the former Nagasaki acting official is dead, I ask who is going! Then he said: "Since your leader claims to be His Highness, he should submit his credentials first and wait for our response. Therefore, please withdraw from the Uraga Sea before discussing."
"It's impossible. My lord told you yesterday, Yu Sanjia or Yu Sanqing. The trick of delaying the deployment of troops is useless to us. The range of our ship's artillery is 20 miles. If you don't believe me, you can ask Nabeshima Family people.”
Zhao Xin still hid something. The maximum effective range of the d30 is 15.4 kilometers, which is 30 miles. He asked Jiuzang to tell him 20 miles, concealing one-third of the range.
But when Tanzawa Hisaemon heard the number "twenty miles", his eyes widened!
Tanzawa Hisaemon, who tried his best to suppress his inner emotions, stared at Kuzo, and after a while he suddenly said: "Is it possible that you are from the Mutsu area of our country?"
Jiuzang nodded and said, "Yes, I was originally a mountaineer in Yanmu Mountain."
Tanzawa Hisaemon looked angry and reprimanded: "Have you forgotten the decree of the shogunate? Leaving the country without permission is a serious crime! It is betrayal!"
"Seeking a way out is betrayal. Do we farmers living in the dirt deserve to starve to death?" Jiuzang looked at the other party with cold eyes, murderous intent suddenly rising in his heart. "For you samurai masters, it is best for all of us to die and become corpses left unburied on the roadside for wild dogs to eat. And you people continue to live a life of drunkenness and dreams in Edo City. .Is this your theory?!"
Tanzawa Hisaemon said in his heart that I would like to, but it is a pity that I am only a man of two hundred stones, and it is not my turn to live in a dream or die.
After that, Jiuzang came to the deck with two more samurai, pointed at the two D30s covered under the gun jackets and said: "Remember, you only have one day! At noon tomorrow, we will drive to Edo In the bay, bombard Shinagawa.”
The more than four-meter-long barrel of the d30 and Kuzo's warning shocked Tanzawa Hisaemon and his companions. When they walked down the gangway tremblingly, they were already sweating profusely.
If he really allowed the other party to bombard Edo, he and his companions, including Uraga Moriyuki and the navy leader, would all have to commit seppuku.
At the end of the afternoon, when the eight bells sounded from the clock tower on Nihonbashi Ishimachi 3-chome, another Uraga stationed in Edo followed the order of Kōkata and rushed to Uraga with a group of subordinates. Congratulations to the office.
(The time telling in the Edo period started with the nine bells at midnight, and then went backwards from eight, seven, six, five, and four; when it reached noon, it started with nine bells. As for why it starts with nine, This is because the number nine is the largest positive number.)
"Ah! Twenty miles!" When the two Uraga agents heard that the artillery on Tang Yi's ship could hit twenty miles, they were so frightened that they almost peed their pants. "How many cannons do they have?"
"I only see two doors below."
The two Uragasuke let out a long sigh of relief, thinking that it was only two doors.
wrong! Uraga, who was stationed in Edo, suddenly remembered what happened to the Nabeshima family in Nagasaki. It is said that Tang Yi fired two cannons at that time, and when Gon appeared in the formation of the Sannabeshima family, there were immediately a lot of casualties. Even Nabeshima Harushige was injured and evacuated. Tang Yi's cannonballs will explode!
"Fortunately, His Highness Baihehou is already on the way and will be able to reach the Imperial Palace in the evening!"
"What about the time for negotiation?"
The two Uraga ministers discussed it. Since Tang Yi said that he would bombard Shinagawa at noon, then the time should be set as noon.
"Where is the formation?" Asking Tang Yi to sail the boat to Gobansho would definitely not work; and Yashikiura on the south side was full of civilians and businessmen, so it was even more inappropriate there.
At this time, a Yuli suddenly said: "Sir, I know that there is a very suitable place. It is in the narrow strip between the Whale Cutting Field and Mingdeng Hall on the south side of Pinggen Mountain. The ground there is flat and the view is wide. And our area The military formation can set up a defense line on Pinggen Mountain, and Tang Yi's every move will not escape our surveillance."
"Oh? Map!" The two acting officers first looked at the map, and then one of them asked the team leader below to lead someone to survey the terrain.
Under the threat of Zhao Xin's alleged bombardment of Shinagawa, the speed of work at the Uraga Administrative Office was so clean and fast. By four o'clock in the afternoon, the negotiation venue had been surveyed.
The messengers galloped out from the Gobansuo on fast horses. Some went to Edo Castle to report the progress of the incident, and some reported to Matsudaira Sadanobu on the road at any time.
At the same time, a Kusumu samurai from the Uraga Administrative Office brought his subordinates Yuli, Doshin and fifty ashigaru to the vicinity of the Whale Cutting Field. He first dispersed the fishermen working nearby, and then began to plan the formation. set up.
At dusk, the Thor received a notification document from the Uraga Office, stating the time and place of the negotiation. But when the Thor followed Tanzawa Hisaemon's guidance and sailed into the bay, Zhao Xin, who was standing on the deck, felt happy.
Isn’t this the location of Perry Park in later generations? Well, Zhao Xin felt very satisfied.
At nightfall, three thousand Hatamoto samurai who arrived panting from Edo took advantage of the darkness to camp on the west side of Mount Hirone. In addition to the hills on both sides, they mainly set up defense lines overnight and built antler wooden fences at the mountain pass on the west side of the whale cutting site.
At around four o'clock the next morning, when it was still dark, Zhao Xin walked to the deck and looked around with an infrared telescope for a while before asking a few sailors to lower the gangway on the right side of the ship close to the water. After that, he drove away the sailors, waited for a few more minutes, walked down the gangway alone, and took out the two catamaran passenger boats that had previously transported oil field workers.
This ship can hold 300 people at a time. With three round trips, a group of people can complete the landing.
Zhao Xin came with two regiments this time in order to shock the shogunate and let them understand that he had the ability to capture Edo Castle at any time, so that they could put an end to their ambitions in Ezo Land.
As for the thankless task of conquering Edo, Zhao Xin was not interested.
After the daylight brightened, the samurai on guard on the shore discovered two more strange white ships under the Thor. Although they were not as huge as the Thor, their size was comparable to the main Kansai ships of the Shogunate navy. This surprised all the island warriors.
Especially the guards who were on duty all night on the shore and the naval forces monitoring the nearby sea were even more frightened. They couldn't figure out when these two white strange boats slipped in.
Good guy! He could do it without anyone noticing under his nose. If he secretly drove into Edo Bay at night, even a hundred heads of people like him wouldn't be enough to cut off. However, the navy leaders on several ships were already ashen-faced and weak in defense. They would not be able to escape even if they had to disembowel themselves to apologize!
At eight o'clock in the morning, another group of thousands of samurai and ashigaru, riding donkey-like southern war horses, with bright armor and holding large flags, slowly came from the direction of Uraga Office.
After these people arrived at the whale cutting site, they quickly set up security near the negotiation site and planted flags. The Ashigaru took tools and set up a screen at the negotiating point.
Since the Nara period, this thing has been the curtain surrounding the army when they camped in the field. It is also called the "military curtain". Early military regulations stipulated that every 10 soldiers must carry a dark blue curtain for camping in the wild.
"The Story of the Past" says that when warriors set up camp, the curtains could not only block the wind, but also withstand weakened bow and arrow shots.
According to the "Honcho Military Weapons Examination" written by the famous Confucian scholar Arai Shiraishi in the Edo period, the height of a screen is 5 feet per screen, and the total length must be two feet and eight feet; that is, each screen is 1.5 meters high, and the total length is 8.4 meters.
The vertical pole with its head exposed and decorated with patterns in the formation is called "curtain string". There should be 10 curtains for generals, and eight for ordinary generals. There are also requirements for the ropes tied to the formation screen. They are usually white ropes, black ropes, or green cloth ropes.
As for the family emblem on the array curtain, it is required to be in the position of three, five, or seven corresponding to the curtain string.
It should be noted that by the mid-to-late Edo period, the jinbu had a religious nature like a barrier, which could ward off evil spirits and avoid ghosts. This thing cannot be cleaned, otherwise it will be an ominous sign.
An hour later, a screen surrounded on three sides with a total length of more than ten meters was completed.
On the Thor's side, at ten o'clock in the morning, before Uraga sent anyone to notify him, Zhao Xin began to order Pan Xiucheng to take people to board the catamaran passenger ship and prepare to disembark.
And 1,500 people began to disembark, and this formation quickly frightened the warriors on the shore.
