I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 204 Replacing the Deputy Prime Minister

The cabinet meeting ended quickly. Yagyu arranged several major events, and all departments had to get busy.

After the meeting, Yagyu left Matsudaira Yongho alone.

The two came to the Prime Minister's Office and sat down. Yagyu was the first to speak: "Ms. Matsudaira, I want you to step down as Deputy Prime Minister."

Matsudaira Yongho was a little surprised, but he was not angry. He just felt that Yagyu had some plans.

"Since it is the request of the Prime Minister, I have no objection. However, if I suddenly step down, it will cause a disturbance."

Yagyu nodded and said: "This matter is indeed a bit troublesome. It is inevitable that some people will have random thoughts, but the next reform will offend many people. I need a tough person to cooperate with me."

Matsudaira Yoshiho frowned. He thought that the Prime Minister's methods were already very tough. If another tough person came, he would probably make his successors have a fixed mindset.

"Prime Minister, if you say that, then I have a different opinion. The Prime Minister's previous methods were also very tough, and if the Deputy Prime Minister is also very tough, I am worried that people in the future will follow the example of the Prime Minister."

Matsudaira Yongho's words are not unreasonable. Although it is a constitutional monarchy and the cabinet is in charge, in fact, he basically has the final say in the cabinet. Once there is opposition, he will suppress it forcefully. This will definitely become a lesson for future generations. appearance.

Originally, he was going to choose Okubo Toshimichi as his deputy to implement the next new policy together, but after hearing what Matsudaira Yongho said, he really couldn't make a decision on this matter lightly.

We must know that Okubo Toshimichi in history squeezed out Saigo Takamori and others, implemented a dictatorship, took power into his own hands, and implemented the New Deal.

However, as soon as Okubo Toshimichi put up a fight, he was assassinated by noble clan opponents.

After that, Japanese high-level officials adopted the same method as Okubo Toshimichi to suppress all objections. This also triggered the practice of assassination of high-level officials.

This is normal. If you follow the dictatorship of Okubo Toshimichi, you have to accept the price of assassination.

However, when Yagyu thought about it carefully, the main reason why such a problem occurred was that Okubo Toshimichi encountered great resistance, and he died every year when he took power exclusively, which led to such consequences.

Now he has dealt a huge blow to the nobles and basically destroyed their offensive power. More than 100,000 samurai families either died or were sent to the Tokaido (Alaska) to open up.

Most of the samurai have joined the new government, or have joined the police system and the army. The grassroots level of the gentry has been completely destroyed, and only the middle and high-level people still have strength, but these forces are not a big problem for Yagyu.

He feels that his age is not a problem at least if he lives to be 70 or 80 years old. Even if he does not become prime minister in the future, he will choose someone from his own group to be prime minister. As long as he is around, Japan will not go out of the route he planned.

"Sir Matsudaira's consideration is very insightful. Others may have to consider this issue, but it is not a problem for me and I will handle it.

At present, our main energy is to involve the reform in all aspects of the country, change the previous political structure, and disintegrate the gentry politics since the Kamakura Shogunate to the present.

As for the issue of dictatorship, after the country's political stability is stabilized, I will start it and I will end it. "

Matsudaira Yongho felt the strong confidence in Yagyu. He thought of the firm eyes when he saw Yagyu for the first time, and nodded: "Since the Prime Minister has a solution, there is nothing to worry about. I will Resigning as Deputy Prime Minister on the grounds of ill health.”

When Yagyu appointed Matsudaira Yoho as the deputy prime minister, he was attracted by his sincere temperament. He immediately said: "Matsudaira-sama will rest in Kyoto for a while, and then he will join the House of Nobles as a member."

Matsudaira Yongho didn't say much and directly accepted Yagyu's arrangement.

After sending off Matsudaira Yongho, Yagyu asked Ichimura Tetsunosuke to call Okubo Toshimichi.

When he saw Okubo Toshimichi, he didn't talk nonsense and said directly: "Toshimichi, Lord Matsudaira will resign as deputy prime minister. At that time, I will elect you as deputy prime minister to assist me in my reform."

Okubo Toshimichi was a little excited. He studied in Europe and was infected by Bismarck's deeds. He secretly vowed to be Japan's Bismarck.

But what Yagyu had done spread to Japan and was praised by Bismarck, which made Okubo Toshimichi a little disappointed. After all, Bismarck was his idol, but his idol praised other men in front of him, which was a bit of a blow to him.

But Yagyu brazenly declared war on Spain and France. This move made him very excited. He was indeed a man praised by Bismarck. He was indeed brave!

This makes Okubo Toshimichi and Ei Yuanyuan, coupled with Yagyu's reforms today, makes him somewhat admired.

Okubo Toshimichi looked at Yagyu, bowed slightly and saluted: "Prime Minister, Matsudaira resigned from the position of deputy prime minister, will Sagawa Kanbei, Yamakawa Daizo and others object?"

Yagyu waved his hand and said: "Don't worry about this matter. Lord Matsudaira is dedicated to serving the country. He should be advising the people of Aizu now."

Okubo Toshimichi then said with confidence: "Since the Prime Minister does not distrust me because I am a Satsuma, I will definitely go all out to assist the Prime Minister in implementing the New Deal!"

"Hahaha, you are a Satsuma native and a Japanese citizen. Why should I doubt your loyalty to the country? Toshitoshi, you have to work hard. The country still has the great mountain of Great Britain on its back."

Yagyu warned earnestly, treating him as a confidant.

Okubo Toshimichi once again expressed his determination and then left the office.

……

In the Matsudaira Yongho Mansion, Matsudaira Yongho called Sagawa Kanbei and others. He said calmly: "I have already written a resignation letter and resigned from the position of deputy prime minister."

"what!"

This sentence made all the Aizu people present change their expressions.

Sagawa Kanbei asked anxiously: "Is it forced by the Prime Minister?"

The reason why he asked this was because only the prime minister with the highest prestige could shake the position of deputy prime minister.

Yamakawa Dazang was puzzled: "Why is this happening?"

Matsudaira Rongbao quickly stretched out his hand to stop him and said: "Quiet, listen to me first."

Everyone immediately fell silent and looked at Matsudaira Yongho.

Matsudaira Yongho explained: "The next reforms will be more detailed, which will touch the interests of many people. The Prime Minister is worried that I will not be able to suppress it, so he asked me to resign from this position and replace him with a tough person."

Sagawa Kanbei was still confused and said: "My lord, you can be tough!" Matsudaira Yongho shook his head and said: "The Prime Minister asked me to resign from this position. It must be the result of careful consideration. He must be aware of the risks involved, so he let me Stand down and let someone else take the lead.

You should not complain, and do not go against the Prime Minister. In everything, His Majesty the Emperor and national affairs should come first. You must not imitate Eto Shinpei. Do you understand? "

Faced with Matsudaira Yoshiho's consolation, Sagawa Kanbei and others could only accept this result. However, they felt a little more comfortable when they heard that Matsudaira Yoshiho would later serve as a member of the House of Nobles.

This new policy has not yet begun. Deputy Prime Minister Matsudaira Yoshiyasu resigned due to illness, which caused shock. Immediately afterwards, Yagyu elected Okubo Toshimichi as deputy prime minister, which caught people off guard.

You must know that Okubo Toshimichi was born in the Satsuma Domain. The battle between the Satsuma Domain and the Yagyu faction was very fierce at the beginning. It is really puzzling to never expect that Okubo Toshimichi became the deputy prime minister.

However, everyone is waiting and watching. Eto Shinpei, Okuma Shigenobu and others have been taken to prison and will be tried soon. This group of people were defeated with the support of the British, and they did not dare to stroke Yagyu's tiger beard.

However, there are also some people who have chosen a different path from Eto Shinpei. These people are Iwakura Tomomi, Motoda Eifu, Sasaki Takayuki and others.

Like Ohara Shigenori, this group of people saw that Yagyu Heiyan was monopolizing power in the cabinet, so they wanted to promote the emperor's pro-government, reorganize the cabinet, and seize power.

This group of people is more powerful than Ohara Shigenori.

Ohara Shigenori was old-fashioned and adopted the old method of speaking ill of Yagyu in front of the emperor and creating the theory that Yagyu had usurped power, but Emperor Meiji did not listen to him at all.

But Tomomi Iwakura and others were different. They had studied Western theory, and Sasaki Takayuki, Motoda Nagafu and others were also proficient in Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and their methods were superior to Ohara Shigenori.

They discussed changing Emperor Meiji's thinking through lectures and gradually advancing the plan to seize power.

In fact, Motoda Eifu made such a suggestion to Ohara Shigenori, but Ohara Shigenori looked down upon Motoda Eifu's origin and chose to fight alone, suffering a lot.

Tomomi Iwakura was different. He did not despise the feudal lords, but chose to cooperate. In the past there were Takayoshi Kido, Toshimichi Okubo, and now there are Takayuki Sasaki, Eifu Motoda and others.

However, they are not able to take action yet. Sasaki Takayuki is an official of the Ministry of Justice, and he has to participate in discussions on the establishment of more than a dozen laws.

Motoda Eifu is an official at the Ministry of Culture, and he has to participate in discussions on how to promote the spread of Japanese culture internationally.

After Yagyu appointed Okubo Toshimichi as deputy prime minister, he involved him in discussions in these departments.

He himself is personally in charge of the Ministry of Justice, while Okubo Toshimichi is in charge of the Ministry of Finance, Interior Affairs, Transport and Culture.

This time the Ministry of Justice has a very heavy and important task, and Yagyu is personally in charge.

Regarding which law to establish first, Tsuda Shinichi chose the Declaration of Human Rights.

When he published his work, he had already collected the declarations of human rights from France and the United States, printed many copies of these materials, and gave them to officials of the Ministry of Justice for review.

After Tsuda Shinichi bowed to Yagyu, he began his speech.

“Everyone, many revolutions have broken out in Western countries over the years, including Britain, France and other countries.

Especially after the revolution, Britain and France, one became the maritime hegemon and the other became the land hegemon. Although France was defeated this year, it is undeniable that the revolution made the country progress.

Why will such a democratic revolution make the country progress? This is mainly because not every king of a country is wise.

Take France as an example. Eighty years ago, the last king of France, Louis XVI, was a mediocre and dim monarch, but his great ancestor Louis XIV made the Kingdom of France powerful.

This is the drawback of the monarchy. A country is strong because of the wise monarch, and a country declines because of the stupid monarch.

But democratic revolution is different. In democratic decision-making and elections, the minority obeys the majority. The policies formulated in this way will adhere to the interests of the majority. If it only meets the interests of the minority, then the majority will oppose it.

For a country, the power of the people is the greatest. The revolutions in Britain and France were successful because of the support of the people.

That's why the Prime Minister mentioned the Declaration of Human Rights.

But the situation in our country is different from other countries. National affairs are often managed by the shogunate and samurai. No matter whether they are businessmen, workers or farmers, they are not qualified to participate. Everyone simply does not know how to use their rights.

But according to the constitution promulgated by our country, our country should also grant rights to its citizens, so the Declaration of Human Rights tells the people what to do. Can you tell me, what should we do with the Declaration of Human Rights in our country? "

The officials below listened to Tsuda Shinichi's words and were not eager to express their opinions. After all, Yagyu was watching here, and if he said the wrong thing, he was afraid that it would hinder his future.

Yagyu could see the restraint of these people, and he said: "Everyone can discuss and express their suggestions without worrying about the consequences.

We are different now from the shogunate period. We will not be punished just for saying a few words. As long as what we say is reasonable and well-founded and not deliberately slanderous, it will be fine. "

Ito Hirobumi stood up and took the lead in saying: "Most of our people are illiterate and do not have enough knowledge about democracy. Their actions will be deceived by others. I think there is no rush to implement comprehensive democracy."

Other officials nodded and discussed: "Sir Ito is right. Previously, the Prime Minister said that after people in various places became Miao, they claimed to be descendants of samurai. If they are allowed to participate in the discussion of national affairs, they will definitely be restored."

"Yes, major national affairs can be decided by the cabinet and parliament. As for comprehensive democracy, we must wait until the education level of the people improves before making decisions."

"This proposal is good, but if it is not finalized, who can propose it in the future?"

Tsuda Shinichi took over and said: "This is a good question. Although there are still many problems in implementing comprehensive democracy, if it is not settled now, it will be difficult to establish rules in the future."

"The Prime Minister has proposed that the House of Commons will be established, and the members will be elected by citizens from various places as members to participate in national affairs. This will avoid the shortcomings of comprehensive democracy."

Ito Hirobumi responded: "In this case, Article 1 of the Declaration of Human Rights can be established."

The first declaration compiled by Tsuda Shinichi based on the declarations of the United States and France, and based on the characteristics of Japan, is: All people are born equal, and everyone has the same rights, which are inviolable. People's differences stem from the different division of labor in society, but citizens must give the emperor due respect.

Yagyu had no objection to the first point. Even his power came from the Emperor. There was no big problem in respecting the Emperor.

(End of this chapter)