Guan Zhuofan's eyes jumped slightly, but his tone was very calm: "You say." Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"The chaos of the Choshu Domain," Xu Silin said, "It was in the fourth year of Tongzhi that the prince pacified Japan, and at that time, the shogunate was elated, and they all thought that his 'world' would be settled from now on, and from now on, they could sit back and relax."

After a pause, "When I took up my post in Japan, the prince admonished me, saying that the shogunate had only temporarily survived the difficulty, and pressed the gourd to float the scoop, and the first fire was temporarily extinguished, and the second fire would soon burn, so I should pay attention to everything." ”

After another pause, "To tell you the truth, at that time, I didn't really understand the weight of the prince's words, but after two years, everything was as the prince expected!" Rajah...... It's truly insightful! ”

"In the fifth year of Tongzhi -- on the Japanese side, it is the first year of Jiaotai -- the situation in the first half of the year is quite passable, and from the second half of the year, the situation will come out."

"The prices of raw silk, tea, and cotton have risen higher and higher, and finally reached a point where ordinary people can hardly bear them -- all of these things are used for 'selling foreign villages,' and there are more exports, but fewer are left in the country, and the supply exceeds demand, and the prices have gone up."

"It's just raw silk, and the common people don't need it anyway; As for the tea, although everyone drinks it, if you drink a little less, you won't be able to die, and that's it; However, when the price of cotton goes up, I can't stand it! -- If you're a person, you have to wear clothes! ”

"That's all that, the most terrible thing is that the price of this rise, as if the epidemic has been sick, has risen in the same way, all the same, and in the end, even the rice and noodles that are not used for export at all have also risen! - This is going to die! ”

"In the city, there are more and more small workshops and craftsmen going bankrupt; Outside the city, the life of the peasants is even more unbearable! ”

Speaking of this, Xu Silin looked at Guan Zhuofan, hesitated for a moment, and continued: "Some people say that Mizhu Xingui, tracing back to the roots, is all ...... the 'Second Changzhou Expedition'"

He hesitated again, stopped, and thought about what to say.

"Zisui," Guan Zhuofan said, "what do you say--you are now debriefing." Besides, this is my private residence. ”

Xu Silin froze, "Yes!" ”

The meaning of "debriefing" means that as a minister stationed abroad, he must report the situation in the country to the person in charge of the country in a comprehensive and objective manner, leaving nothing behind and nothing to conceal; "Private" means that even if there are any taboos that are not suitable for being placed on the table, there is no need to be afraid.

"Some people think," Xu Silin said, "that the 'Second Changzhou Expedition' invited Chinese and Americans to help fight the war, but the people only contributed people and did not pay for it, and if the war was won, the military expenses had to be returned." Unexpectedly, China and the United States, the lion opened his mouth, and this account could not be repaid clearly -- raw silk, tea, and cotton were all taken to 'sell foreign villages,' isn't it just to earn back silver dollars and pay off the accounts of Chinese and Americans? ”

After a pause, "Also, Japan's customs are all controlled by the Chinese and Americans, and the 'foreign tax' is collected, so naturally it will be used to pay their accounts first, when will this money be spent on the heads of the Japanese themselves?" How do you live this day? ”

Speaking of this, he smiled, "Ken said 'repay the debt', which is quite good, some people say that according to the agreement signed before, the 'foreign tax' was collected, China, the United States, and Japan were '3131', and in addition to two-thirds of the repayment, Japan itself could finally fall behind one-third, but the real 'foreign tax', China and the United States were '21 plus 5', and none of them were left for Japan!" ”

"Oh? And this statement? ”

"Yes! Moreover, it is widely spread! ”

After a pause, Xu Silin continued: "The shogunate can't tell the difference - the military expenses really have to be compensated back to us, and our military expenses are indeed not low, not to mention anything else, let's just talk about the salary of the soldiers, a soldier of the Xuan Army, and six or seven Japanese 'curtain soldiers'!" On the American side, the situation is similar. ”

"Therefore, the average Japanese naturally think that China and the United States are sitting on the ground and raising prices, and the 'lion opens his mouth' or something."

"Well," Guan Zhuofan smiled slightly, "too—it seems that we are not completely wronged." ”

Xu Silin also smiled, "As for '3131', '21 plus five' or something, can't you directly post the treaty or agreement to the people?" Besides, even if it is really posted, it is useless - the rumor is that we are fierce and domineering, and we refuse to 'divide the account' as originally promised! ”

"In this way," Guan Zhuofan said, "this rumor is probably deliberately fabricated by someone with a heart?" ”

"Nine times out of ten!" Xu Silin said, "However, the road is circulating, and there is no way to check it, even the people of the 'New Selection Group' are helpless."

Speaking of this, his throat felt a little dry and itchy, he picked up the tea bowl on the table, took a sip of tea, put down the tea bowl, and continued:

"The 'Second Choshu Expedition', in addition to paying back the military expenses of China and the United States, the Japanese themselves have a lot of military expenses!"

"The military expenses of China and the United States are mainly repaid with the profits and taxes from imports and exports; Filling their own holes had no choice but to increase taxes - as was the case with the shogunate, as well as with the rest of the warring feudal domains. ”

"In this way, the situation is even worse, and the life of the common people is even more sad!"

"There's another thing that makes matters worse—"

"In Japan, silver has always been expensive and gold is cheap, but the Taixi countries have reversed, silver is cheap and gold is expensive, so foreign merchants will use their own silver, wantonly buy Japanese gold, the gold in the treasury of the Japanese feudal domains, more and more scarce, there is no way, the feudal clans have to take these two roads - one is to reduce the gold content of the newly minted gold coins, and the other is to indiscriminately issue 'feudal records' -- similar to our previous 'treasure money'."

"After such a toss, the money is naturally even more worthless!"

"Well," Guan Zhuofan nodded, "All this, in the words of foreigners, the current situation in Japan is extremely serious 'inflation'." ”

"inflation" is expressed as "inflation", Xu Silin heard it for the first time, he was stunned for a moment, thought about it carefully, and said happily:

"'Inflation' - the description of the prince, is really called three points!"

After a pause, "The life of the Japanese is already sad, and they are really overwhelmed by such a serious 'inflation'!" As a result, there are more and more people who take risks -- starting from the end of the fifth year of Tongzhi, that is, the first year of Jiaotai, there have been more riots of all sizes! ”

"The larger of them is what the Japanese call 'Ichiku'."

"Harada-gun in Aki Province, Saeki County in Aki Province, Tado County in Zanki Province, and Uto County in Yamato Province are the largest in these places, and among them, 'Ichika' in Saeki County has the largest number of mobs, more than 5,000 people."

"It's the countryside; In the city, Osaka and Hyogo, riots also broke out one after another. ”

"Even Edo and Kyoto have not been spared."

"The chaos in Edo and Kyoto was a matter of the second half of the year, and it was surprisingly similar -- in the beginning, it was the common people of the city who gathered together to demand 'price reduction and relief for the poor,' and the common people of Edo went to the inner castle of Edo to petition, and the common people of Kyoto went to Nijo Castle to petition."

Edo Inner Castle was the "imperial city" of the shogunate in Edo; Nijo Castle, also known as the Nijo Imperial Palace, was the shogunate's residence in Kyoto.

"After that," Xu Silin continued, "it was the same - the petition procession, halfway through, was stopped, and after two rounds of arguing, it started to move, and then it was chaotic, smashing, looting, burning, out of control, whether it was Edo or Kyoto, from south to north, from east to west, half of the city, it was a mess. ”

Guan Zhuofan said in a deep voice: "Dry firewood." ”

"What the prince said is very true!" Dry wood and fire' -- these are the four words! ”

"The shogunate...... How so? ”

"The shogunate is naturally anxious," Xu said, "but when I met with Tokugawa Yoshiki, I found that he wasn't really nervous. ”

"Huh?"

"Tokugawa Keiki always felt that "there were only a few mud legs to make trouble, and it didn't become a big climate, and what 'one stroke' and 'two strokes' were not such a new thing, and they didn't come after the 'Second Choshu Expedition' -- there were cases before, and I didn't see how to take the shogunate?" ”

Guan Zhuofan smiled faintly, "Well, he hasn't seen our twisting mess!" ”

*