History of Asia

[Edo Castle Bloodless Kaishu] Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishu saved the lives of 1 million people!

This time, the final battle of "New Government vs. Old Shogunate" that took place at the end of the Edo period " Yang Earth Dragon ( " Boshin ) War ".

Despite that, " Edo Castle , which is also the home of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the general of the former Shogunate army. " Edo Kaijo I will introduce about.

What were the thoughts of the former shogunate who surrendered Edo Castle without conflict?

Despite surrendering the base of Edo Castle, the Boshin War will continue in the future.

Edo Castle was released before it was just the beginning.

Let's go!

The Boshin War begins! !!

What is the meaning behind "Taisei Hokan"?

15s Tokugawa who is also the last shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate Yoshinobu ( Yoshinobu ) Is " Taisei Hokan ( Taisei Hokan ) I returned the administration from the shogunate to the imperial court.

This marks the end of the samurai government, which has continued for more than 700 years since the Kamakura Shogunate.

However, Mr. Yoshinobu had an idea, and when he repatriated the Taisei Hokan, the imperial court has neither the ability nor the system to manage politics . Therefore, in the end, I was glaring that the Tokugawa family would be entrusted with politics.

Moreover, Yoshinobu resigned from the shogunate, but was not accepted.

And defeat ( of Satsuma domain etc. Tobaku ) "Defeat the Shogunate with force" It seems that there was also the idea of ​​suppressing the purpose and peacefully reforming the politics.

A big reversal with the "Great Order of Restoration of the Royal Government" !?

Yoshinobu-san thought that he would not "return to the Taisei Hokan", and the Satsuma Domain's defeated faction was a big miscalculation! !!

And, as Yoshinobu expected, the court continued to entrust politics to Yoshinobu . It is.

It seemed that the Tokugawa family would continue to rule, two months after the Taisei Hokan , The fallen sect will take another step.

" Restoration ( Ousei Fukko ) Great Command , And decided to establish a new government.

Accepted Yoshinobu's resignation from the shogunate, and completely abolished the shogunate, regent ( Let's go ) And Kampaku ( Kanpaku ) , Kyoto Shugoshoku and other positions that you have heard of have also been abolished.

The confiscation of Yoshinobu's territory will also be decided.

The Shogunate army becomes a thief army in the "Battle of Toba-Fushimi" !?

There is a risk that the soldiers will be upset by the unreasonable disposition of the shogunate, and if they fight the new government army in Kyoto, the shogunate army will be hostile to the imperial court. Choki ) There was a risk of becoming.

Meanwhile, in Edo, the Satsuma feudal clan's residence was burned down by the shogunate soldiers Was happening.
There was information that there was a coup d'etat against the Shogunate by Satsuma.

Due to this incident, the Shogunate army in Osaka was in a rage!

"Satsuma should be defeated!"

Finally, the battle of "new government army vs. old shogunate army" "Boshin War" has started.

" Battle of Toba-Fushimi , which is also the first battle of the Boshin War. The shogunate army was numerically superior, but the imperial court the new government army is the imperial army of the imperial court Inevitably, the former shogunate army is the enemy of the imperial court, the "thief army" . It will be.

The former Shogunate army, which became a "thief army", completely lost its fighting spirit ...

Yoshinobu also abandoned his army and returned to Edo, defeat of the former Shogunate army It has become.

Everyone's favorite "Shinsengumi" is also the Shogunate army, so they lost the battle in this battle.

To the opening of Edo Castle!

Is the Tokugawa family's policy a white flag?

The new government army is " Yoshinobu Additional decree ( I'm happy ) Was issued.

Yoshinobu, who returned to Edo, said, " Kyojun Or " anti-war You will be forced to make two choices.

And the choice made by the Tokugawa family is decided to be "Kyojun" , Okubo Ichio ( Okubo Ichiou ) Sanya Katsu Kaishu ( Katsukaishu ) Will be the partition.
Yoshinobu also stayed at Kaneiji Temple in Ueno and lived a humble life that revealed Kyojun.

Of course, the former Shogunate army also had "anti-war factions," so they became dissatisfied with the official policy of the Tokugawa family and began to take action on their own.
That's why the Boshin War continued to Hakodate.

Anti-war groups have formed corps in various parts of the country and are fighting against the new government forces.
The Shinsengumi is " Koyo Relief Corps ( Koyochinbutai ) I changed my name and fought in Katsunuma, Koshu.

The intention of these battles, which was implicitly approved by Army Governor Katsu Kaishu, was to eliminate anti-war factions from Edo who were dissatisfied with Kyojun. It is also said that there was.

Negotiations between Saigo Takamori and Yamaoka Tesshu

March 9 , Saigo Takamori , who was a staff member of the former Shogunate suppression army and is also famous for the statue of Ueno. ( Saigo Utakari ) Tetsutaro Yamaoka with a letter from Mr. Katsu Kaishu Is Sufu ( Sumpu ) We will meet in (Shizuoka Prefecture).

At this time, the new government army decided to advance to Edo Castle on March 15 . was doing.

Mr. Saigo's presentation to Mr. Yamaoka, who advises to avoid the start of the war, is

.
  • Opening Edo Castle
  • The vassals in the castle are Mukaishima ( Mukoujima ) Destinence
  • Hand over all warships and weapons
  • Suppress government forces in the event of a riot
  • Punishment of those involved in the outrage of Tokugawa Yoshinobu
  • Tokugawa Yoshinobu's personality should be entrusted to the Bizen clan (Okayama Prefecture)

On the other hand, Mr. Yamaoka categorically refused to accept Mr. Yoshinobu's personality.

"Do you know if you are going to offer your lord !?"

Mr. Saigo was moved by Mr. Yamaoka's loyalty and guaranteed Mr. Yoshinobu's personal safety.

Mr. Yamaoka also said that he was grateful for Mr. Saigo's decision and cried.

The first negotiation between Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishu.

The Edo Castle siege network by the new government forces is already being completed March 13 To first negotiation ..

No deep talk, just a few questions and answers and a promise of tomorrow's meeting place.

In dramas and the like, a meeting between Mr. Saigo and Mr. Katsu is depicted in the production, but in reality, several people such as Mr. Yamaoka are also present.

The second negotiation on the day before the advance of Edo Castle.

Mr. Katsu's answer to the surrender condition is

  • After completing the procedure for surrendering Edo Castle, Lord Gosankyo ( Gosankyo ) Return to Tayasu Tokugawa
  • Those inside the castle are outside the castle Destinence
  • Weapons and warships together, after Present
  • Riot matters try as much as possible To
  • No life-threatening punishment for those who helped Yoshinobu Tokugawa
  • Yoshinobu Tokugawa is in his hometown of Mito

This is a watered answer It was like refusing to present the new government, but Mr. Saigo trusted Mr. Katsu and others and stopped tomorrow's Edo advance . , I promised to take the answer back to Kyoto for consideration.

Later, Mr. Katsu talks about Mr. Saigo at that time.

"Saigo believed in everything I said. Until the end, he kept his hand on his lap and did not lose his position and did not look down on the defeated general. strong>
Thanks to Saigo, one million lives and property in Edo, the crisis of the Tokugawa family's destruction was saved.

Edo Castle is a bloodless opening!

Mr. Saigo brought back the contents of the meeting with Mr. Katsutoshi to Kyoto and had another meeting within the new government.

Of course, there were some things that I was satisfied with and some that I didn't go to, but they were corrected and confirmed again, and Mr. Saigo returned to Mr. Katsu.

Then, an agreement was reached between the new government and Tokugawa, and April 1868, the bloodless opening of Edo Castle was completed . I did.

Summary

This time, during the new government army vs. the old shogunate army, it was a story of surrendering Edo Castle, the home of Tokugawa, without conflict.

It is said that the greatest achievement was not involving the 1 million people of Edo and the town of Edo in the war.

Mr. Katsu described Mr. Saigo as " Edo's great benefactor I praise it.

Of course, Mr. Katsu is also a big benefactor.

If the town of Edo had turned into a battlefield, the capital Tokyo might not have existed either!