mentioned in the previous article that Shimazu Yoshiki carried out family separation reform and rectification, established the status of "one imperial clan and four families", and consolidated and enhanced the authority of the Shimazu clan's main clan, the lord of the Satsuma clan. However, Shimadzu Yoshiki's reforms did not help alleviate the Shimadzu family's financial crisis. Although the successors Shimazu Tsutoyo and Shimazu Munanobu were determined to make a difference in finance, Shimazu Tsutoyo was the head of the Tokugawa shogunate The son-in-law had to settle in Edo for a long time and was beyond the reach of the feudal government. Shimazu Munonobu was very talented, but he only reigned for three years and died of illness before he could exert his influence. Shimazu Munanobu died young, unmarried and childless, so Shimazu Tsuyoshi established his second son, Shimazu Shigenobu, as the family governor and lord of the domain. Shimadzu was only twenty years old when he succeeded to the throne. How would this young feudal lord deal with the series of challenges facing the Shimadzu family?
1. The "Public Invitation of Mitate Chuan of Kawakawa" from the Shogunate
In the second year of Kanyan (1749) When Shimazu Shigenen succeeded to the throne in July, there was actually a lot of pressure, because his brother Shimazu Sonobuta If he is excellent, no matter what he does, people will compare him to Shimazu Munebu. Fortunately, Shimazu is young and energetic, and is determined to solve the various problems faced by his family by not losing to his brother. Shimazu followed Shimazu Munanobu's approach throughout his career, worked hard and worked hard at night, and the Shimazu family showed a prosperous scene.
It is a pity that the Tokugawa shogunate did not allow the Shimadzu family to continue to prosper like this. On December 25, 1753, the Tokugawa shogunate, the Tokugawa shogunate sent an urgent document to the Shimadzu family. The content of the document was extremely brief, with only a few lines:
"This is to issue an order to Noshu, Seshu and Oshu Kawakawa Mitate have been informed of the general request. Please refrain from visiting Edo during the general request.
Nishio Oki Mori Tadanobu (monotype)
Matsudaira Ukon General Superintendent Takemoto. Monogram)
Honta Hiki Mori Masaru (monogram)
Sakai Zaemon Otadayoshi (monogram)
Hota Sagami Morimasaaki (monogram)
December 25th of the third year of the Hōreki
Matsudaira Satsuma Moriden"
This The meaning of the document is that it was jointly signed by Nishio Tadanashi, Matsudaira Takemoto, Honda Masaki, Sakai Tadaki, and Hota Masaaki, five senior officials of the Tokugawa shogunate, and issued an order to the Shimadzu family to build Mino, Ise , Owari water conservancy facilities in Ise , Owari three places of water conservancy facilities request mission. "Chuanchuan" generally refers to all rivers in the three places. "Matsudaira Satsuma Shrine" is Shimazu Shigetori. Because the heads of the Shimazu family in the Edo period received the name "Matsudaira" from the Tokugawa shogunate, they were all called "Matsudaira" in the official documents of the Tokugawa shogunate. The head of the Shimadzu family is Matsudaira or Genji.
This document was issued on December 25, 1753, and was delivered to Kagoshima on the 10th day of the first lunar month, 1754. Most of the Shimadzu family were not familiar with the geographical conditions of Mino, Ise, and Owari, nor did they know the scale of the so-called "Kawakawa Mitateden Fujo" project. The old man in charge of the family's financial affairs, Hirata Tensei, asked Isshiki Masaru, the envoy sent by the shogunate to Kagoshima to deliver documents, about the scale and budget of the project. Isshiki Masaru replied:
" Water control is not my specialty and I cannot be accurate. Calculation. However, as far as I know, the Kiso River , Nagara River, and Ibi River on the Nobi Plain are all big rivers. It is not easy to control the water. "
As mentioned above. According to the description, the annual fiscal revenue of the Satsuma Domain in the Edo period was converted into about 150,000 taels of gold (the currency system of the Edo period in Japan, one piece of small gold was one tael, weighing about 16.5 grams), and by During Shimazu's reign, the Satsuma Domain still owed a debt of 400,000 ryō. This time, Mitateden's popular request will cost the Satsuma Domain nearly a year's income, which will make the Satsuma Domain's finances extremely deteriorated and make matters worse. However, the Tokugawa shogunate was also very "considerate" and exempted Shimadzu from Shigeto's obligation to go to Edo to attend the meeting during the Mitateden General Assembly, which saved the Shimadzu family a lot of money.
Japanese small gold, one is called one tael.
According to the Shimadzu family's practice, major matters must be "negotiated" before they can be implemented.Shimazu summoned his family to discuss the matter of this universal invitation to the Imperial family. Many retainers had strong resistance to this universal invitation to the imperial family, and even believed that this was a "shogunate's plan to destroy the imperial family." Also ". However, conflict alone cannot solve the problem. After all, it is hard to violate the order of the emperor. Shimazu Shigeto can only bear the pressure and appoints the veteran Hirata Tensei as the chief executive of Mikawa flood control, and Daimefu Ijuin Kutō as the deputy chief executive, leading the feudal lords, craftsmen, A total of more than 1,000 civilians (750 of them set off from Kagoshima Tsurumaru Castle and 280 people set off from the Shimadzu family's Edo residence) went to Mino to control the flood.
On February 16, 1754, the fourth year of the Horoscope, Hirata Tensei and others arrived in Osaka, , and met with Takagi Yushuo, the shogunate official who was responsible for supervising the general invitation to Mitateden. Takagi Xingzhou told Hirata Renren that the budget for the Mitote Chuan general request was about 300,000 taels, all of which was borne by the Satsuma Domain. Takagi Yushu was born in the Tokugawa family, and his family was responsible for the shogunate's water control affairs for generations. What he said was naturally more professional than Isshiki Masaran, who did not understand water control.
After listening to Takagi Xingfeng's words, Hirata Rensheng felt like a basin of cold water was poured on his head, chilling him from head to toe. I originally thought that one hundred thousand taels would be too much to bear, but I didn’t expect that it would cost three hundred thousand taels! Wouldn't this cost the Shimazu family their lives?
But Hirata has a very strong psychological quality. He calmed down secretly, thinking that although Takagi Yufune is an expert in water control, there are bound to be errors in judgment. We go to the site to investigate and design, be careful with budgets, and reduce the scale of the project, which may save some costs. No need to spend so much money.
On March 2, Hirata arrived at Mino Country and set up the main formation at Puzhao Temple in Damaki Village, Ishijin County. He also set up advance formations at Wuming, Youdao, Nabeda and other key construction areas. This was completely in accordance with the military Carry out water control work in a combat mode. After settling in, Hirata immediately took craftsmen who knew water control technology to the site to survey the geographical terrain. After walking around, he realized that the hole dug by the Tokugawa shogunate for the Shimadzu family was too deep.
Japan has a saying of "flying mountains and thick water" since ancient times. Hizan refers to the high mountains of Hida, and Numi refers to the many rivers that crisscross Mino, making it a very rich water system. Most of the rivers on the Mino Plain originate from the high mountains of Hida and Shinano, and the terrain has a huge drop. The largest Kiso River has a drop of more than 2,000 meters between the east and west ends. Therefore, the rivers in Meinong are not only huge but also turbulent, and floods are prone to occur during the rainy season.
Kiso River Basin
It is undoubtedly very difficult to build a dam in a large river like the Kiso River. According to the construction methods at that time, the stone materials were usually transported to the construction river section by boat, and then the boat was scuttled and sunk to the bottom of the river together with the stone materials. In this way, the dam foundation was slowly built on the river bottom. After the boat sank, the boatman had to swim ashore. If it was an ordinary small river, it would not be a big problem, but if it encountered a big river like the Kiso River, it would be very dangerous.
There is another special reason for the frequent flooding in the Meinong area. In other words, the Mino and Owari areas are both plains formed by the alluvial flow of the Kiso River, and are collectively called the Noo Plain. The Noo Plain is bounded by the Kiso River, with Owari on the left bank and Mino on the right bank. During the Edo period, Owari was the territory of the Owari Tokugawa family, one of the "three families" of the Tokugawa shogunate, while Mino was the territory of many small and medium-sized banners of the Tokugawa family. In order to protect the "imperial leader" of the Owari Tokugawa family, the Tokugawa shogunate built a "imperial dike" with a maximum height of three meters on the left bank of the Kiso River. However, Mino on the right bank was not allowed to build dikes. The result can be imagined. Once a flood occurs , all those who were flooded were Mino, but Owari was safe.
The small lords of Mino are all the flagships of the Tokugawa family. They are also members of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa shogunate always cheats its own people, which is not a solution. Finally, the senior officials of the Tokugawa shogunate showed mercy and decided to build a dam at Mino on the right bank of the Kiso River to divert the flood into the sea. Therefore, the task of summoning the royal family suddenly fell on the Shimadzu family.
Pingtian Renyi led the flood control craftsmen to survey the terrain and designed a construction plan. After calculation, it would cost 400,000 taels of gold no matter how stingy it was.Unexpectedly, Takagi Xingzhou's estimate was already very conservative, and the actual cost would be more, not less. At this moment, Hirata's mental toughness was about to collapse, no matter how good he was.
had no choice but to truthfully report this situation to Shimadzu. The news that the "Kawakawa Mitateden General Request" issued by the Tokugawa Shogunate would cost 400,000 taels reached Kagoshima, and the retainers in Tsurumaru Castle seemed to have exploded into an uproar.
Lao Naka Shimazu Gakusai led sixteen of his family members into the Sato Academy of Tsurumaru Castle to meet with Shimazu Shigetoshi, and made an impassioned speech filled with righteous indignation:
"The shogunate wants to use this hand-delivered universal appeal to destroy the Shimazu family. It has become clear that Come on. We can't bear to see the six-hundred-year-old royal family perish, so please prepare your military equipment immediately. If the shogunate cancels the general invitation of the royal family, everything will be fine. If the shogunate raises troops to attack, we are all willing to defeat the shogunate in one battle. Hope."
Shimazu Gakusai comes from the Shimazu family in Miyanojo. He is Shimazu's great-uncle in terms of seniority, so he dares to rely on his elders and take the lead in speaking out boldly. At that time, the Tokugawa shogunate implemented a policy of suppressing the princes, and the leaders of each domain would be severely punished if they were not careful. Shimazu Gakusai claimed to go to war with the shogunate . If this was known by the Tokugawa shogunate, it would be a very dangerous thing for the Shimadzu family. What's more, what Shimazu Gakusai did was not only tantamount to rebellion, but also akin to forcing the emperor to marry him. It seemed to force Shimazu Shigeto to adopt his ideas. This made Shimazu Shigetoshi very disgusted. He ignored Shimazu Takesai's reputation as the elder of the family and angrily scolded Shimazu Takesai and others. He immediately dismissed Shimazu Takesai from his post as a senior middle school officer and was imprisoned in Huanggu, Satsumadani Mountain County. The remaining sixteen people were also exempted from their posts and fines and were confined at home.
The senior middlemen of the Shimadzu family have always had a very high status. Since Shimazu Tadashi killed Ijuin Tadō, Hirata Masumune and Hishijima Kunitaka, the Shimadzu family has never had an example of punishing the senior middlemen. Shimadzu's imprisonment of Shimazu Gakusai this time can be said to be an extraordinary move. The purpose is to use actions to show that the Shimadzu family is always loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate and dare not have any dissent.
After Shimazu Gakusai was imprisoned, no one in the Shimazu family dared to raise any objection. Shimadzu wrote a letter in reply to Hirata's tenacity, saying that by raising donations from the feudal lords, cutting expenses, delaying the payment of the service fee of the feudal servants, and increasing the head tax, , vehicle and ship tax, cattle and horse tax, etc., 150,000 taels of gold can be raised, and the remaining He must try his best to raise the two hundred and fifty thousand taels, and he must complete the imperial biography.
Hirata Ren has been responsible for the finance of the feudal clan for a long time. He is familiar with the situation and has many ideas and methods. He personally went to Kyoto and Sakai to lobby businessmen in the two places, and successfully borrowed 200,000 taels of gold using the income from Satsuma Domain's brown sugar monopoly as collateral. The yield of brown sugar was very low at that time and it was an expensive luxury product because brown sugar needed to be refined from sugar cane. The planting and refining of sugar cane had certain technical requirements. The geographical location of Satsuma Domain was very suitable for growing sugar cane, especially Ryukyu. It is also famous for its rich production of sugar cane. The Shimazu family has been producing brown sugar since the Kamakura period, but the output was not high. During the Warring States Period, they learned sugar cane planting and sugar making technology from Portuguese merchants, and then increased the brown sugar production.
But even so, from the perspective of Japan as a whole, brown sugar production is still far from meeting market demand, and it has always been a hot commodity with high prices. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate granted the Satsuma clan the monopoly right to sell brown sugar. Only Satsuma clan's royal merchants could operate brown sugar, and no one else could intervene, making the brown sugar industry an important source of financial revenue for the Satsuma clan. The income from the brown sugar monopoly was quite high, and even businessmen in Kyoto and Sakai were coveting it. In order to borrow funds for flood control, Hirata had no choice but to cut off this piece of his heart.
The scary thing is that the Shimazu family was so ruined that they only raised 350,000 taels, leaving a shortfall of 50,000 taels. But this can only be considered slowly in the future. With 350,000 taels of gold in hand, we can already start construction.
2. The Horiki Flood Control and the Death of Hirata Tensei
In the fourth year of the Horiki Period (1754) On March 27, the "Horikushi Flood Control", a grand project in the history of the Shimadzu family, began.According to the design of Hirata Tensei and others, this Mitateden Pujo project is divided into four sections, which are started at the same time. The construction period is one and a half years, and the construction is divided into spring and winter. At this time, it had only been three months since the Tokugawa Shogunate issued the general petition. The Shimadzu family's efficiency can be said to be very high. However, after the construction started, Hirata Renren discovered that the hole dug by the Tokugawa shogunate for the Shimadzu family was not just a financial issue.
Hirata Tensei is a descendant of Hirata Mitsuune
Originally, according to the previous practice of the Tokugawa shogunate, in most cases, the shogunate acted as a hands-off shopkeeper for general invitations to the Mitote, and the entire process was left to the gaibei daimyo who was responsible for the general invitations. The shogunate is only responsible for supervising the progress of the construction period and inspecting the quality of the project. But this time the water control situation is a little different. On the one hand, the flood control area involves the territory of the Owari Tokugawa family and many Tokugawa clan members. The shogunate needs to strengthen supervision of the entire process. On the other hand, the Shimadzu family has obviously insufficient manpower to invest in flood control. In order to complete the project as soon as possible, the shogunate is very " He thoughtfully sent a group of people to "cooperate" and "support" the Shimadzu family.
This group of people sent by the Tokugawa shogunate was divided into three groups. The first group of
is the " Water Control Service Personnel " led by Takagi Yushuo. They are mainly responsible for providing technical guidance on water control and supervising and inspecting quality issues during the construction process.
The second group is the " surveyor " led by Okubo Tadayoshi, who is mainly responsible for supervising the use of funds of the Shimadzu family and ensuring that all these funds are invested in water control instead of being used to enrich themselves.
The third group is the " embankment servants" led by Yasuki Aoki, the county magistrate of Ishizu County in Mino Province. They are mainly responsible for recruiting local farmers to provide logistical support such as building houses, washing and cooking, and transporting materials for flood control. Of course, Aoki Yasuki was only responsible for finding people to come over, and the cost of hiring people to do the work had to be borne by the Shimadzu family.
On the surface, the three groups of servants of the Tokugawa Shogunate each have their own responsibilities, and they are all here to help the Shimazu family. But in fact, these three groups of people are all cronies of the top officials of the Tokugawa shogunate. They all have their nostrils turned upward and are arrogant. Not only do they look down on these rural samurai from Satsuma, they call them "Yamushi" or even "Tasheng slaves". Moreover, among these three groups of people, you are disobedient to me and I am dissatisfied to you, and they often quarrel and cause conflicts. The Satsuma feudal lords, headed by Hirata Renren, were caught in the middle of these three groups of elders. They were in a dilemma and at a loss as to what to do. They were scolded bloody at every turn, suffered humiliation, and were in a very difficult situation.
What's abominable is that these servants sent by the Tokugawa shogunate didn't help much. They often instigated local farmers to drive up prices and create disputes. Seeing that Hirata Tensei and other Satsuma clan officials were struggling to deal with these chores, they Stand by and watch, enjoying yourself while doing nothing.
The conflict between the Satsuma feudal lords who controlled the floods and the shogunate servants intensified. On April 16, shortly after the general petition project started, fifty-two Satsuma clan lords including Sadayuan Otonakata and Sohei Nagakichi committed hara-kiri. Onkata Sadayuan and others collectively committed seppuku in order to protest to the shogunate and ask the shogunate to improve their treatment. However, Nekata Sadabuchi and others were simple-minded lower-level samurai who did not understand politics. They could not have imagined that after the seppuku incident, the first person to feel the pressure was not the shogunate, but the senior officials of the Shimadzu family. This is because this incident is equivalent to resisting and evading the shogunate's general appeal. It is a bad incident that challenges the bottom line of the shogunate's general policy. If it is not handled properly and the matter becomes serious, it may even bring about the demise of the Shimadzu family. disaster.
The first person responsible for the seppuku incident was Takeshi Hirata, a veteran of the Shimadzu family who presided over the flood control campaign at the scene. Hirata Tensei knew that this matter was not a trivial matter. He was calm and decisive. At the same time, he ordered the bodies of the fifty-two feudal lords who committed seppuku to be put into "Chabi" (cremated) , and their ashes were buried in Kaizoji Temple under Ise-sanna Castle. It was announced to the public that he died from injuries sustained during the construction of a water control project, and a fast horse was dispatched to report Shimazu Shigenuo urgently, requesting Shimadzu Shigenuo to provide pensions to the families of these fifty-two people.
Hirata's handling of this incident is tantamount to turning a protest incident into a work-related injury incident.In this way, these Satsuma feudal lords who committed seppuku did not resist or evade the shogunate's imperial invitation, but dedicated themselves to death for the imperial palace. Shimadzu Shigenen fully agreed with Hirata's tenacious approach and paid generous pensions to the survivors of the seppuku feudal lord. On June 25, Shimadzu ignored the scorching heat and took his young eldest son (later Shimadzu Shigego) to inspect the flood control site in person to show that the Shimadzu family attached great importance to the Mitateden petition. . After a quick operation, the negative impact of the seppuku incident was finally eliminated. The Tokugawa shogunate had no special reaction to the incident, and the Shimadzu family survived a hidden and dangerous crisis.
After the seppuku incident, the shogunate officials involved in flood control also realized that the warriors of the Satsuma domain were fierce and wild, and they would commit seppuku at the slightest disagreement and were not easy to mess with. If a few more commit seppuku come later, I don’t know what the consequences will be. Other than that, it's okay to say that the shogunate servants can't shoulder this responsibility just because they're afraid of delaying the completion of the universal appeal for Mitote Chuan. Therefore, the attitude of the shogunate towards the Satsuma clan has changed slightly, at least they will not do anything too outrageous.
After all this fuss, things started to go smoothly. In the fourth year of Baoli (1754), the rainy season was not heavy, with more sunny days and fewer rainy days. This was very beneficial to the construction of water control projects. The progress of the entire Mitateden Pujo project was faster than expected.
However, even if the situation has improved, conditions on the construction site are still extremely difficult. In the winter of the fourth year of Baoli (1754), plagues such as "red dysentery" (a gastrointestinal disease caused by diarrhea and blood in the stool), "heat virus" (flu) appeared at various water treatment sites, and as many as 10,000 people were infected. There were more than 500 people, including 85 who died of illness. Including the 52 people who committed seppuku before, 127 people in the Shimadzu family have died due to flood control.
Under such difficult conditions, the Satsuma clan led by Hirata Tensei still completed the extremely difficult construction of the Oil Island Nitta Kiriki (blocking) project and the Ohasagawa Irrigation (diversion) project. On May 20th of the fifth year of (1755), , the imperial hand-chuan popular request, which was called "Baoli Water Control" by later generations, was completed. It took one year and two months, which was longer than the expected construction period of one and a half years. Four months ahead of schedule.
What is particularly rare is that the projects built by the Satsuma clan are not only fast-paced but also of excellent quality. After the Hoki flood control, the floods caused by the overflow of the Kiso River were greatly reduced. The Yushima Nitta Cutoff Project and the Ohekawa Irrigation Weir Project have been repaired and consolidated, and have withstood many typhoons and tsunamis. They are still functioning today and can be said to be legacy to future generations. .
Nowadays, the Kiso River has become a tourist attraction.
However, the paradox is that the great hero Hirata Tensei, who successfully completed the task of popularizing the Mitateden, committed suicide on May 25th in Omaki Village, where the flood control honjin is located. Death. At this time, the water control project had been accepted and taken over by the shogunate, and everyone in the Satsuma Domain was preparing to withdraw to Satsuma. At this time, such an ominous thing happened, which inevitably made people suspicious. After Hirata's death, the highest-ranking among the Satsuma clan's deputy ministers was Ijuin Kutō. He followed Hirata's approach in handling the feudal hara-kiri incident and buried Hirata's body on the spot, claiming that he died of illness to prevent Some people took advantage of the topic and made slanderous remarks to the shogunate, slandering the Shimazu family and being dissatisfied with the shogunate.
So, why did Hirata Tensei commit suicide? Since the Shimadzu family kept the matter secret and remained silent after the incident, historical data were lost and cannot be verified. Perhaps Hirata Tensei was really seriously ill and could not bear the pain. Perhaps he felt guilty for those feudal lords who committed seppuku. Or maybe it was because of the huge feudal debt he borrowed for this flood control, which made Hirata Renshou deeply blame himself and develop a sense of responsibility. Guilt.
In addition, Shigeno Anuki, a historian of the Meiji period and a former scholar of the Satsuma Domain, mentioned a possibility in "The Collection of Satsuma Domain Historians". He believed that part of the debts borrowed by the Satsuma Domain during the Horoki flood control period were borrowed by Hirata Hirata on his personal credit without writing an IOU. Therefore, as long as Hirata died, no one would be able to prove the existence of this debt. There is no need to pay back the money.The patriarch of a powerful family actually committed suicide in order to avoid paying debts. If this is true, then Hirata's tenacious death will be even more tragic.
In fact, the Shimadzu family's handling of the aftermath of Hirata's death was considered very successful at the time, and was recognized by the Tokugawa Shogunate. In view of the huge sacrifices made by the Shimazu family in controlling the Horeki floods, even the Tokugawa shogunate felt a little sorry. In the following decades, the Tokugawa shogunate did not send an imperial hand to the Satsuma clan again. It was not until the eighth year of the Tenmei Dynasty (1788) that the Kyoto Imperial Palace needed repairs, so the Satsuma clan was responsible for the construction of the imperial palace. From the fifth year of Hōreki (1755) to the eighth year of Tenmei (1788), Satsuma had a temporary breather of thirty-three years.
After the death of Tensei Hirata, the Shimadzu family has always kept a low profile on the matter. Even the name "Tenshi Hirata" is not allowed to be mentioned casually, for fear that the shogunate will blame him if the matter gets too big. It's just pitiful that Hirata Tensei spent all his time thinking for the sake of the feudal clan, even risking his life in order to pay less money, but he got this result. After the Meiji Restoration, senior political and military leaders such as Okubo Toshichi and Togo Heihachiro, who were born in the Satsuma Domain, commissioned historical scholars such as Nishimura Shazo and Iwata Deyi to investigate and study the details of the Horiki flood control and published the book " "Excerpts of the Martyrdom of the Satsuma Martyrs in the Holi Flood Control Works" , only then did the world know about this dusty history. Hirata's tenacious deeds were adapted into a drama that toured in Tokyo, Gifu, Nagoya, Kagoshima and other places, arousing strong responses. The Gifu Prefectural Government renamed the village of Omaki in Anpachi County, where Hirata Tōboshi died, as "Hirata Town", and established a "Water Control Shrine" to commemorate Hirata Tōboshi and the fifty-two Satsuma feudal lords who committed seppuku. Taisho (1917) In March, the Japanese government posthumously awarded Hirata Tenshi the fifth official position, which finally gave a fairer evaluation of Hirata Tenshi's achievements.
3. "Orchid-loving Daimyo" Shigehao Shimazu
Horeki flood control was completed on May 20, the fifth year of Horeki (1755), . Less than a month later, on June 16, the main island of Satsuma Domain Jin Zhongnian also died of illness at the age of only twenty-seven, after reigning for six years. According to the Shimazu family's practice, after Shimazu's death, he was buried at the Bodhi Temple of the Shimazu family - Yuryuyama Fuchang Temple, with the Buddhist name "Entokuin Kakumitsu Ryōgi Daiji", and the deity was enshrined at Herei Shrine. It is called "The great events of the Rongguo are in charge". The reasons for Shimazu Shigetoshi's death were that, firstly, he was too worried and overworked on the specific matters of Horeki's flood control, and secondly, the huge debt left after Horeki's flood control reached an unprecedented 886,000 taels, which was enough to put Shimazu Shigetoshi out of business. I'm so worried.
Shimazu died young and suddenly, and he did not have time to establish an heir apparent during his lifetime. Therefore, the former feudal lord Shimazu Tsuyoshi, who had retired, came forward and appointed Shimazu Shigeto's eldest son, Shimazu Tadahiro, who was ten years old at the time, as the family governor and feudal lord. According to the order of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Lord of the Satsuma domain did not need to attend the meeting during the Mitote Chuan general petition. However, now that the Mitote Chuan general petition has been completed, it is time to resume the participation and explanation. Therefore, Shimazu Tadahiro immediately set off for Edo, climbed Edo Castle , saw the shogun Tokugawa Ieshige , was given the name "Matsudaira" and the taboo word "Shige", and changed his name to "Shimadzu Shigehao " ".
Shimadzu Shigehao (later years)
Shimazu Shigehao was founded by his grandfather Shimazu Tsutoyo. It is not difficult to imagine that in the early days of Shimazu Shigehao's succession, the real power of the family was in the hands of Shimazu Tsutoyo. However, Shimazu Jihe was old and died of illness in the tenth year of Baoli (1760) at the age of sixty. He reigned for twenty-six years and lived in seclusion for fifteen years. According to the practice of the Shimazu family, after his death, Shimazu Tsutoyo was buried at the Bodhi Temple of the Shimazu family - Yuryuyama Fuchang Temple. The Buddhist name was "Yukangyuan Enkan Xiangying Daijiji". The deity was enshrined at Heling Shrine. The name is "Changlong Zhenxiu Xiangyan Ming".Shimazu Tsutoyo's life was rather strange. He was born in Edo. At the age of twenty-eight, he married the adopted daughter of the former general Tokugawa Tsunayoshi and became the son-in-law of the Tokugawa shogunate. He has been living in Edo since then and has never Having been to Satsuma, Shimazu Tsuyuyo became the only strange leader in the history of the Shimazu family who had never set foot on Satsuma land.
After Shimazu Tsutoyo's death, Shimazu Shigehao became the real head of the Shimadzu family. Shigehao Shimazu has excellent personal qualifications, is full of energy, and has a strong thirst for knowledge. He has studied Confucian classics and Chinese poetry from Confucian scholars Yamada Junhao and Koriyama Morishi since he was a child. He is very proficient in Chinese and can communicate with Qing businessmen in Nagasaki through letters. . In the fourth year of the Ming Dynasty (1767), Shimazu Shigehao personally presided over the compilation of the "Nanshan Colloquial Examination" that explained Chinese spoken vocabulary. In the eighth year of the Ming Dynasty (1771), with the personal approval of Shogun Tokugawa Ieshige, Shimazu Shigehao went to Nagasaki for inspection. He visited Nagasaki businessmen of the Qing Dynasty, talked about scriptures, practiced Zen and Buddhism, purchased books and the Four Treasures of the Study, and played What a joy.
While in Nagasaki, Shimazu Shigehao also visited the Dutch Commercial House. It doesn't matter if he goes there, it opens a door to a new world for Shimazu Shigehao.
Visit the Dutch Business Store
The Netherlands' scientific and technological knowledge in astronomy, geography, agricultural medicine, military navigation, etc. was called "Lanxue" at the time. Shimazu Shigehao was deeply attracted by the novel orchid science, and could even be said to be obsessed. In order to learn orchid, Shimazu Shigehao also taught himself and Dutch . He purchased a large number of orchid science books in Nagasaki, and immediately recruited people for study and research after returning to Satsuma, and established the Soshi Hall, the Martial Arts Hall, the Meiji Hall (later changed to the Planetarium ), , and the Medical Hall to conduct research and promotion. Use orchid knowledge.
Shimazu Shigehao's card written in Dutch
Zo Shikan was originally the Confucian school of the Satsuma Domain, which housed the Sencheiden Hall to enshrine Confucius, but Shimazu Shigehao appointed a large number of Orchid scholars as teachers of the Saishikan , turning the Confucian school into the Orchid school. In addition to teaching the traditional skills of swords, guns, bows and horses, the martial arts hall also explains world geography, shipbuilding, navigation and other knowledge. To this end, Shimazu Shigehiro compiled Japan's earliest world map, "The Complete Map of the World, the Earth and the Sea". Meitokikan uses telescopes and armillary spheres to observe the movements of celestial bodies, calculate calendars, and formulate the "Satsuma Calendar" that adapts to the local climate characteristics of Satsuma. The medical center mainly teaches Dutch medical knowledge. At the same time, it establishes herbal gardens in Yoshino, Sata, Chiran, Yamakawa, Amami Island and other places in Satsuma, grows various herbal materials, studies pharmacology and tempering technology, and compiles "Illustrated Formation" and " Questioning Materia Medica" and other pharmaceutical books. In addition, Shimazu Shigehao also organized and compiled "Ryukyu Tanki", which records the customs and customs of Ryukyu, and "Bird Names", which researches the names of various birds. The official history of the Shimadzu family, "Shimadzu State History", was also compiled under the leadership of Masaki Yamamoto, a teacher at the Shimazu Kan, during the period of Shimazu Shigego.
The world map drawn by Shimadzu Shigehao organization
Shimazu Shigehao is extremely obsessed with orchidology, and is known as the "orchidophile daimyo". This was a derogatory term at the time, because although Ranxue continued to exist during the Edo period, it was regarded as heretical by orthodox samurai and Confucian scholars. Shimazu Shigehao attached great importance to orchidology and tried to regard orchidology as authoritative knowledge. This was a deviant move in the eyes of people at the time. The famous Satsuma military scholar Tokuda Onki was very opposed to the Dutch military system and technology advocated by Shimazu Shigehiro. Onki Tokuda compiled the "Shimadzu Family Imperial Military Law Volume", advocating that the "Aiden-ryu Art of War" popular during the Shimadzu Yoshihisa period is "the supreme key to the art of war" and "the rest are not worthy of discussion." , angered Shimazu Shigehao, and was exiled to Tokunoshima to serve hard labor by Shimazu Shigehao. Due to Shimazu Shigehao's status and power, many lower-level samurai had no choice but to use the nickname "Ranchi Daimyo" to tease Shimazu Shigehao behind his back.
Shimazu Shigehao's strong promotion of Orchidism shows that he not only studies knowledge, but also has excellent political skills. However, the most powerful thing about Shimazu Shigehao is his political marriage policy.
Shimazu Shigehao's political marriage policy first came from his grandfather Shimazu Tsutoyo and his grandmother Takehime.Shimazu Tsuyoshi himself was the beneficiary of the marriage with the shogunate. Although there were many inconveniences in being the shogunate's consort, in general, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, and it also helped improve the status of his family. Takehime also took great care of the Shimazu family. It was Takehime's idea that Tokugawa Munekatsu of the Owari Tokugawa family wanted to recruit Shimazu Munebu as his son-in-law. But later Shimazu Munonobu's marriage failed and he died, which made Takehime deeply regretful. When Shimazu Shigehao arrived, Takehime started busy making arrangements again, and finally selected Hoki, the daughter of Tokugawa Soin of the Hitotsubashi family, one of the Tokugawa shogunate's "Go Sankyo ", as his wife.
The relationship between Shimazu Shigehao and Hoki is very good. They are affectionate and loving, which makes Takehi very happy. In the eighth year of Ernsong (1779), Takehime died of illness. Before her death, she left her last words to allow the Shimazu family and the Hitotsubashi family to continue their marriage relationship. Takehime's words were quite influential in the shogunate. In the following year, in the ninth year of An'ei (1780), under the auspices of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Hitotsubashi family and the Shimazu family carried out Takehime's last words and made the Hitotsubashi family the leader. Kawajiji's eldest son Tokugawa Toyochiyo (at the age of eight) married Shimazu Shigehao's daughter Mohime as his first wife.
Perhaps Moji's marriage brought blessing to the Hitotsubashi family. The year after Tokugawa Toyochyo's marriage, that is, the eighth year of An'ei (1781) , because the shogun Tokugawa Ieharu 's only son Tokugawa Ieki died of illness, the Tokugawa clan was in danger of extermination, and the Tokugawa family was closed. Tokugawa Toyochiyo was adopted as his adopted son, named "Tokugawa Family Qi", and established as the crown prince, who would inherit the Tokugawa clan in the future. In the sixth year of Tianming (1786) , Tokugawa Ieharu passed away. Fourteen-year-old Tokugawa Ieqi became the eleventh shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. Tokugawa Ieki ascended to the position of shogun, and Shigehime also transformed into the shogun's main wife. At that time, he was called " Godaisho". He was the master of the harem of the shogunate and the "Ooku" of Edo Castle. He was considered to be very important in the Tokugawa shogunate. characters.
Mohime
Mohime became the "Odaisho", and Shimazu Shigehao's identity also suddenly changed, becoming the "Kunibana" of the shogunate, a very prominent figure in Edo City. Shimazu Shigehao was originally a high-profile person, but after becoming the "Kingdom Head", he even took over power and did whatever he wanted. As early as the seventh year of Tenmei (1787), Shimazu Shigehao had already retired, leaving his son Shimazu Sainobu to succeed the feudal lord. However, after Shimazu Shigehao became the "Kunijo", he once again came to the forefront, not only interfering in the affairs of his own vassal, but also intervening in the affairs of the shogunate and other vassals. After Shimazu retired, he lived in the Takanawa mansion of the Shimazu family under Edo Castle. Every day, there was an endless stream of people who came to the Takanawa mansion to seek services. There was a bustling crowd. Shimazu Shigehao was also known as "Takanawa dismounted shogun" ".
"Dismounting" means that at that time, a "dismounting sign" would be set up in front of the residence or residence of a general or daimyo to remind visitors that they must dismount and walk. The word "dismount" is often used to refer to the residence or residence of a general or daimyo. "Takanawa Shima Shogun" means "the general who lives in Takanawa", which means that Shigehao Shimazu's power is no different from that of a general, except that he does not live in Edo Castle but in Takanawa.
下马牌
Shimazu Shigehao retreated instead of hiding, but instead intervened in political affairs everywhere. In addition, his "orchid addiction" that admired orchidology made many people criticize him. In Edo, Shimazu Shigehao had the closest relationship with Tokugawa Haruji, the biological father of the general Tokugawa Ieki, and Ikeda Harisama, the former lord of Okayama domain. The three of them were all retired. They often got together to rely on their elders, discuss politics, criticize people, and express their gratitude to others. The rulers of the shogunate exerted pressure to interfere in political affairs. Shimazu Shigehao, Tokugawa Haruji, and Ikeda Masasa were called the "Edo Three Ghosts" by Edo people at the time.
Shimazu Shigehao was physically strong and energetic. He married two main wives and four side wives in his life, and had five sons and five daughters.His eldest son, Shimazu Sainobu, inherited the position of governor and became the lord of the domain. His second son, Shimazu Masaka, was adopted as an adopted son by the lord of Nakatsu Domain, Okuhira Masako. His third son, Shimazu Kunei, was adopted by the lord of Echizen Maruoka Domain, Arima Onjun. His fourth son, Shimazu Sai Hiroshi was adopted by Kuroda Saikiyoshi, the lord of Fukuoka domain, and his fifth son, Shimazu Nobujun, was adopted by Minami Shigenao, the lord of Hachinohe domain. The eldest daughter, Mokihime, married the general Tokugawa Ieashi, the second daughter, Takahime, married the lord of Kuwana domain, Matsudaira Tadashi, and the third daughter, Tanahime, married. To the lord of the Ogaki clan, Toda Ujii, the fourth daughter was married to the lord of the Koriyama clan, Matsudaira Shinari, and the fifth daughter, the princess, was married to the lord of the Shinjo clan, Tozawa Nagatomi.
Shimazu Shigehao's sons, except for the eldest son, were all adopted to other feudal lords and daimyo families. Once given the opportunity, the son of the Shimazu family may become the lord of another vassal. This move is cruel enough. Of course, this also depends on Shimazu Shigehao's background as the shogunate. Later, Okuheichang Takasuma succeeded as the lord of the Nakatsu domain, and Kuroda Saifuzuma succeeded as the lord of the Fukuoka domain. In particular, Kuroda Saipu was very active in the political situation at the end of the Tokugawa period. He supported Shimazu Saibin (equivalent to his grandnephew in terms of seniority) to succeed as the lord of the Satsuma Domain. During the civil strife in the Satsuma Domain, he took in Saigo Takamori and other feudal lords. In the end, he supported the overthrow movement of the Sacho Alliance. After the Meiji Restoration, he was awarded the title of marquis and was included in the Chinese ethnic group.
Kuroda Saihiro (actually the son of Shimazu Shigehao)
Shimazu Shigehao admired orchid learning and developed culture and education in the feudal kingdom. At the same time, he seized the power of the shogunate and other clans through political marriage. He was extremely powerful for a while. However, it costs a lot of money to develop culture, education and political marriage. In particular, Shimazu Shigehao's martial arts halls, martial arts halls, meiji halls, medical halls, etc. are all money-burning machines, and the huge investment cannot bring about success. In terms of direct income, it is a business that makes money at a loss. Shigehao Shimazu was a high-profile, face-saving man, but he was also a careless spender, and he had no sense of restraint when it came to spending money. In the ninth year of the Civil Service (1827), the Satsuma Domain's debt including principal and interest had reached a despairing 5.3 million taels. At that time, someone formulated a 250-year debt repayment plan for the Satsuma Domain. According to this plan, the Satsuma Domain used the annual fiscal revenue balance to repay the debt for 250 years, until 2080 AD, which is now. (2022) and are not finished yet. This period of two hundred and fifty years is still based on the premise that the Satsuma Domain will not borrow new debts. If the Satsuma Domain borrows and repays at the same time, it will be endless and completely useless.
You must know that the feudal debt of 886,000 taels back then was enough to worry Shimazu Shigeto to death. Now the feudal debt has increased five or six times, reaching 5.3 million taels, and Shimazu Shigehao is still spending a lot of money. He doesn't know how to control himself, but his psychological quality is really good.
However, Shimazu Shigehao is not completely heartless. Although he cannot change his extravagant spending habits, he has also begun to take some measures to implement fiscal reforms and increase income. Among them, the most important measure, and one that had the greatest impact on later generations, was the unusual promotion of a lower-level samurai who was a "tea ceremony leader" and transferred him to Hiroyuki to be the senior middle-aged man in charge of the financial affairs of the Satsuma Domain.
Where will the extravagant Shimadzu Shigehao take the debt-ridden Shimadzu family? Can Hiroyuki Sogo, who is in charge of finance, pay off the debt and reverse the Satsuma Domain's huge debt situation? What impact will the upcoming Tokugawa crisis have on the Shimadzu family?
Please continue to pay attention to the next article of "Shimadzu Family's Hundred Years' War".
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