Eiichi Shibusawa, who felt a sense of crisis when he saw Japan exposed to the threats of other countries due to the loss of authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate, said that there was no way to save Japan only by slaughter, and he and his scholars burned down Takasaki Castle and Yokohama. I made a plan, but I decided to give up because of my thoughts.
Later, Eiichi Shibusawa and Kisaku will be chased by the shogunate who knew the plan. In this fugitive life, he had been inviting the Hitotsubashi family to serve as a Enshiro Hiraoka . There was a solicitation again from.
At the time of the first solicitation, I was so eager to attack that I had to withhold the answer, but [ standing up and helping the nation The feeling of saying "I" did not change, so Eiichi Shibusawa and Kisaku decided to move the stage to the Hitotsubashi family and try to manage the confused Japan.
Until now, Eiichi Shibusawa has been struggling for the purpose of defeating him, but this time his position is set on the opposite side of the Shogunate, but this Hitotsubashi family also demonstrated his talent.
This series of events is [ Reach Beyond the Blue Sky ] But it was broadcast.
The introduction has become long, but this time I would like to write about the achievements of Eiichi Shibusawa during his time as a Hitotsubashi family officer.
The path of a clerk to the Gosankyo Hitotsubashi family
At the invitation of Enshiro Hiraoka, Eiichi Shibusawa and Kisaku turned from terrorists who overthrow the shogunate to the Hitotsubashi family, who play a central role in the shogunate. When he was an officer, he seemed to have a crush on Kisaku who pierced the jōi, but [ there is no real profit even if he pierces the jōi as it is . ] And persuaded the Hitotsubashi family to serve as an officer.
For the time being, Eiichi and Kisaku were taken care of by the Hitotsubashi family because the Hitotsubashi family vassals could save their companions rather than the moneyless ronin.
Moreover, when he was an officer, Eiichi even issued a written opinion with conditions, and as expected, the person who only becomes the father of the modern economy is a bit different from ordinary people.
The conditions to be worried about are [If you have a desire to call Yoshinobu in the present world and protect the Kyoto Imperial Palace, you may be a servant] and [I would like to directly speak to Yoshinobu]. It was about. As expected, Hiraoka would be dismissed if there was no precedent, but Eiichi wouldn't give up unless he was a clerk.
Even though Eiichi and his friends were in a position to pick them up, the attitude of saying and the enthusiasm to do something about Japan may have moved Hiraoka and Yoshinobu.
Encounter with Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi (Tokugawa)
[ Please let Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi see you directly ] To the enthusiasm of Shibusawa Enshiro Hiraoka Also broke and adjusted Yoshinobu Gome-dori. He was allowed to talk to Yoshinobu while running side by side when riding a horse during the day. This is the first broadcast [ Reach Beyond the Blue Sky ] It is the scene of the first 5 minutes.
[ Reach Beyond the Blue Sky ], Ryo Yoshizawa played and it was a picture, but it seems that Eiichi Shibusawa was worried about running in parallel with the horse because he was obese and short. However, when he did it, Eiichi, who did it, ran brilliantly on the day, and on another occasion he was able to fulfill his wishes indoors.
Therefore, Eiichi Shibusawa said, [ The Shogunate needs to be rebuilt . ], Yoshinobu said that he was listening without affirmation or denial. Eiichi finished the street without knowing the feeling of Yoshinobu, but despite being a newcomer, it can be said that he succeeded in getting the top of the Hitotsubashi family to remember his face.
Eiichi Shibusawa after Hitotsubashi House Officer
Eiichi Shibusawa, who was in charge of the Hitotsubashi family on a sunny day, will handle clerical work such as the keeper of the doorway and the liaison with the outside. At that time, Hitotsubashi family recruitment from Hiraoka Will be entrusted with. In this mission, we have succeeded in hiring about 50 people, mainly in Shibusawa's hometown, who want to serve at least the Hitotsubashi family.
Eiichi said, [ People who stand in the world and are willing to do a lot of activities must first try to be credible people rather than making capital . ]. Indeed, in the Hitotsubashi family, Eiichi Shibusawa is a trusted person . It seems that I tried to do as much as possible.
We are trying to strengthen the armament of the Hitotsubashi family ...
He not only carries out his assigned mission, but also sees problems , Proposal power We have taken measures and are producing results.
As he was [Reach Beyond the Blue Sky], he is not armed enough to protect Kyoto and proposes to gather farmers from the territory to form an infantry corps. Even there, Eiichi made the lord understand the intention of the recruitment [ this application is completely the duty of the lord . ], I decided to voluntarily apply.
Eiichi politely explained to the lords the importance of his mission and the intention of recruiting, more than 450 . We have succeeded in collecting volunteers.
Became the head of the Hitotsubashi family [Kanjo-kumig] and demonstrated his skills
This alone is a wonderful result, but Eiichi Shibusawa said, [ Military work does not suit me . ] I was thinking about other work. If he had a job that he wanted to entrust to him, Eiichi, who had proposed and worked on it earlier, decided to plead with Yoshinobu to get the job again.
The job was to create a profitable system and increase income even in the territory of the Hitotsubashi family, which was scarce. Therefore, Eiichi proposed [ improvement of rice sales . ] [ Construction of a niter factory in Btsuchu ] [ Creating a mechanism to sell Banshu cotton ] We proposed the three pillars to Yoshinobu.
With the support of Yoshinobu and his senior vassals, Eiichi is in charge of finance and accounting [ Kanjo-kumig * ], And started the fiscal policy of the Hitotsubashi family.
* The head of the account group is the official of the account, and in the shogunate, the order was generally as follows:head of the account group → account → controlling account, with the magistrate at the top. I don't know the scale of the Hitotsubashi family, but it seems that Eiichi Shibusawa had the next position in the account office after the magistrate.
The head of the account group in the Shogunate seems to be a salary of about 100 bales of rice, and the modern value is about 2 million to 2.5 million yen, which is equivalent to the living expenses of the common people of Edo at that time for two years. ..
Eiichi Shibusawa's Hitotsubashi House Financial Reform
Eiichi Shibusawa immediately implemented fiscal reforms.
First of all, instead of letting the merchant sell the rice, I sold the rice to a brewer, and the rice was bought at a higher price than the market price, so I changed the sales destination of the rice.
In addition, Bicchu is a niter that is a raw material for gunpowder. Niter Factory Will be opened.
Niter is potassium nitrate Therefore, the naturally produced form is niter. It is used as a raw material for products that require nitrogen such as dyes and fertilizers, and as an essential explosive material for the production of black powder, and demand was increasing especially during the turmoil at the end of the Edo period.
Eiichi, who was one of the first to feel the need for this niter, focused on the niter that can be obtained in the territory and managed to sell it.
The last is the true value of the merchant Shibusawa. White cotton that is often produced in Harima We have succeeded in developing a new sales route to Osaka as a specialty. In the process, the Hitotsubashi family's [ clan bill * ] Is issued and used for sales, which helps to revitalize cotton sales.
* The Hitotsubashi family is not a clan, but for convenience, it is written as [clan tag]. You said [silver bill] in the drama.
I mentioned the clan bill a little in the article on the history of money before, so if you like it, please refer to it ...
Many clan at that time issued clan bills, but [ cannot be used by other clan, difficult to exchange, and cannot be redeemed at face value] There was a problem with it and I didn't have credit. Therefore, Eiichi corrected the insufficiency of the exchange principal of the clan bill and operated it so that it could be used conveniently without causing any harmful effects.
To issue the clan bills, we set up a meeting place in Harima Province, bought cotton cloth produced in the surrounding territories with the clan bills, and sent it to a wholesaler in Osaka. The sent goods are sold by the wholesaler, and the price is paid to the branch office of the Osaka Kaisho.
Harima producers were asked to issue clan bills according to sales at the local kaisho, and later exchanged for cash. The funds sold were divided into local and Osaka in advance, and interest was generated by depositing the funds of Osaka with the Hitotsubashi family's merchants, and the surplus funds were used to turn the products and monetize the finances.
When the issue amount of this clan bill exceeded 30,000 and the buying and selling of cotton began to flow smoothly, Eiichi was recalled to Kyoto and left his job, but this business continued.
Yoshinobu Tokugawa becomes a shogun
In this way, he served the Hitotsubashi family for three years and implemented the above fiscal policy with results.
Eiichi Shibusawa himself [ What I can do for the Hitotsubashi family is in this field! !! ] I think many people saw it in the taiga drama. However, no matter how much the Hitotsubashi family was financially well, the turmoil at the end of the Edo period did not wait.
At this timing, 14th Shogun Iemochi Died, and Yoshinobu Tokugawa was appointed as the 15th shogun.
Inauguration of Shogun Yoshinobu Tokugawa As a result, Eiichi Shibusawa stepped up to become a bakushin instead of the Hitotsubashi family, but he is a low-ranking official who cannot be seen. For Eiichi, who had worked directly with Yoshinobu, it was a completely unmanageable incident.
Moreover, it seems that the Tokugawa Shogunate must have collapsed in the last one or two years, and I thought that he would become a vassal of the exiled country as it is.
Under Eiichi Shibusawa, who was living such a shell-like day, [ Expo Expo in Paris ] Would you like to accompany you? I receive an invitation.
This recommendation was none other than Yoshinobu Tokugawa, and Eiichi Shibusawa set out for Paris, agreeing that if he was buried in the bakushin as it was, he might go to France and open a new path.