When the U.S. East Indies Fleet Admiral Perry commanded the cannons to pry open the gates of Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate, which had been closed for nearly three hundred years, was frightened after seeing the advanced cannons of the Americans, and the old artillery equipped by Japan was not at all the opponent of the American Peixan guns, and in desperation, Japan could only accept Perry's request, stimulated by other forces, Japan entered a new era of the end of the shogunate that was surging and full of killing, and the first victim of the era conflict was Naohiro Ii, who once advocated reform.
When Perry first arrived in Japan, he demanded that the Shogun and the Emperor of Japan personally receive him on the grounds that he had carried the letter written by the President of the United States. It happened that General Tokugawa was ill, and the shogunate ministers used this as a reason to politely refuse Perry's request, and finally temporarily broke up the aggressive Perry and kept Edo Castle safe. But before leaving, Perry put down his harsh words, saying that he would come to Japan next year, and that the shogunate would have to give him a satisfactory answer, otherwise he would not be blamed for negotiating in a "Western civilized way".
In response to Perry's serious problems, the Tokugawa shogunate summoned a total of 49 daimyōs to Kyoto for a meeting of the Imperial Family to study how to deal with the next question, whether to agree to Perry's terms for opening ports to sign a trade agreement. At the previous meeting, the 14 daimyōs, led by Tokugawa Yoshiaki, the lord of mito domain, firmly opposed trade and denounced how the shogunate would respond if it bowed to Perry, and that in the future more great powers would come to Japan to force the shogunate to sign unequal treaties. To avoid this, the Shogunate Britain adopted a euphemistic and ambiguous attitude to delay time, while establishing a unified Japan centered on the emperor, calling on the whole country to work together against foreign enemies.
Tokugawa's proposal was generally recognized by most of the daimyo, after all, in the eyes of the Daimyo, if it fell out directly with the United States, Japan obviously had no chance of winning. But at this time, a pivotal figure stepped forward, and he was the lord of the Hikone Domain, Naohiro Ii, a leading figure in opposing the entry of foreign religions into Japan, and his kokugaku education in the Territory of Hikone Domain was so successful that everyone thought he had come out to support Tokugawa Kisaki. However, as soon as I opened his mouth, he expressed his approval of the opening of the country through trade, which almost distorted Tokugawa's nose.
Inohi explained his views unhurriedly, arguing that in the current situation of Perry's aggressiveness, the refusal to refuse the demand would inevitably lead to strong dissatisfaction in the United States, which in turn could trigger a crisis in Japan. Moreover, everyone present turned a blind eye to russia's trade in Nagasaki and Hokkaido, but blindly demanded that the shogunate reject the American proposal, which was a double standard. Japan could have taken advantage of the opportunity of its founding to establish ocean-going trade with Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, France, the United States, and Russia, and then the profits from the trade would be used for defense construction and naval construction. Ii also stressed that the top priority should be to unite first in order to resist foreign enemies in the future, so he expressed his support for the establishment of a unified Japan. Although the founding of the country was a very disappointing event, it was also the only means for Japan to confront the great powers at present.
Shogun Katsumisuke also attended the Imperial Council, and he always believed that the navy was an indispensable part of national defense, so he agreed with Ii Naohiro's strategy. With the support of the shogunate ministers, what Ii Naohiro said was obviously more confident, Andogawa Kisaki thought about it again and again and finally agreed to Ii Naohiro's proposal, although the founding of the country sacrificed Japan's current interests, but in the future Japan is strong and then snatched back, so the daimyo reluctantly reached a consensus and decided to sign the Japan-US Treaty of Friendship, Goodwill and Commerce.
In 1855, the year after the treaty was signed between Japan and the United States, the shogunate implemented reforms at the suggestion of Ii Naohiro to form a new army, successively hired army instructors from France, hired naval instructors from the Netherlands, and established a naval training institute in Nagasaki. With the formation of the Kobuya Discussion Council, the Emperor, who had long been a mascot, once again returned to the throne of King's Landing Japan.
Just when the daimyo agreed to sign a treaty of commerce, the Japanese Emperor Takamitsu at the time was not very happy, and unlike the previous emperors, he had a strong personal opinion and was very sensitive to many things, especially the ministers and vassals who disobeyed their orders. He had already made it clear that he refused to open the country, but Iti Naohiro and the Five Regents Elder Eagle Si Zhengtong, Guan Bai Jiujo Shangzhong colluded against his will.
In Emperor Hyomyomi's view, signing a treaty with the United States would shake Japan, so he could not agree, but Emperor Hyomyō also wanted to establish a Japan centered on himself. It happened that at this time, the samurai class in Japan reacted strongly to the founding of the country, and they felt that the shogunate's move was tantamount to betraying Japan and the emperor, so they were full of strong hatred for the shogunate. Emperor Hyomyō established contact through his own channels with the feudal states that opposed the founding of the country, including satsuma and Changzhou, the two main forces in the later fall of the curtain.
At the same time, Emperor Takamachi also acquiesced to Tokugawa's plan to establish another shogun, and if Tokugawa Kiaki succeeded, Emperor Takamachi would establish a Japan with complete control by the emperor. After receiving the emperor's acquiescence, Tokugawa Kisaki, who felt that his backstage was hardened, immediately broke into Edo with his guards and asked Ii whether he supported the emperor or the shogun, only to be angrily reprimanded by Ii Naohiro and forced to retreat.
Ii Naohiro felt that forcing Tokugawa Akira to retire would save the lives and faces of both sides, but the samurai of mito domain immediately exploded after hearing the news that the lord of the domain had been forced to retire, and in the eyes of these hot-blooded samurai, Iti Naohiro dared to humiliate his lord and the honorable emperor in such a way, which was simply a heinous sinner, and at the same time confirmed the crime of the Tokugawa shogunate for betraying the country and seeking glory. So they and the ronin who opposed the shogunate formed the so-called Yomi faction to expand the scale of the attack, not only hunting foreigners everywhere, but also pointing the spearhead directly at the shogunate, resulting in the assassination of several shogunate ministers.
In order to maintain order, Ii Naohiro launched the infamous "Ansei Dai-ji" and sent the Shogi faction to prison, which shows that his position was to support the Tokugawa shogunate rather than the Emperor Takamitsu. At this time, Ii Naohiro focused all his energy on suppressing the Shogi faction rather than on the task of shogunate reform, and even turned a blind eye to the general's reduction of the budget of the new army and navy. Emperor Hyomaki finally found an opportunity to divide the shogunate and the daimyōs and strengthen the imperial power, so he secretly issued an edict to get rid of Ii Naohiro.
However, due to the leakage of Emperor Hyomaki's plan, the Satsuma and Choshu clans involved in the secret operation could not act directly, and Ii Naohiro expanded the scope of the Ansei Prison after learning the news, and even sent spies to Kyoto to monitor the people who had close relations with the emperor, and even many secretaries of state and reform participants were arrested. So a group of escaped samurai decided to get rid of Naohiro I, a national thief and an obstacle to the Restoration and Progress Movement. (In fact, it may have been an assassination operation directed by Satsuma and Mito and Choshu under the slogan of restorationists.) ）
On March 3, 197, a group of ronin made up of mito clan samurai and Satsuma clan samurai secretly lurked near the Sakurada Gate. This day was the day when Naohiro I received the daimyo of the Edo region, and he was bound to pass through the Sakurada Gate, so this place was the best place to carry out the assassination. It was snowing in the sky, accompanied by sea fog, and visibility was very low, and Naohiro Ini's guards were covered with cloth according to the rules, and these skilled samurai had no idea that someone would attack them.
Just as Ii Naohiro's palanquin passed through the Sakurada Gate, a dead soldier disguised as a civilian complaining about injustice stopped Ii Naohiro's team, and then the Assassins who were ambushed in the surrounding area rushed up, and the frightened palanquins scattered, and the unsuspecting guards, although absolutely superior in numbers, were killed by the Assassins one by one because their weapons were stored in cloth bags and could not resist. Although Izumi in the palanquin was a master of the Aiki chopper, he could not move because he was shot during the attack (one said that he was stabbed in the abdomen by a dead soldier who rushed out from the side, and it is also said that he was shot with a crossbow arrow, in short, he was injured. In the end, he was dragged out of the palanquin by the Assassins and killed with a knife. As a result, the end of the curtain was officially opened, and the foundation of the century-old Tokugawa shogunate faced the challenge of force majeure from the times.
Although Ii was the main promoter of Japan's founding reforms, he became an obstacle to Japan's restoration in his attempts to maintain shogunate rule and maintain his position. At the same time, the act of preventing the emperor from filial piety also affected his political career and even endangered his own life. He was eventually killed outside The Gate of Sakurada, and the death of Naohiro Ikai marked Japan's official entry into a turbulent new era of the Makutoku Period.
Naohiro I and the Founding of the Shogunate
《Sakurada Kogaino-Yōno- Yōno- Ying
From the End of the Curtain to Meiji 1853-1890