Sakamoto Ryoma, who travels to the modern era in Samurai Sensei
Sakamoto Ryoma may be one of the most highly filmed historical figures in Japanese film and television. In the anime Gintama, he is Tatsuma Sakamoto, who has a loud voice and must not stop "aha"; in "The Legend of Ryoma" starring Masaharu Fukuyama, he transforms from a timid and cowardly warrior to a swordsman with excellent swordsmanship, and develops a love story with female characters played by Ryoko Hiromi and Yu Aoi; in "Samurai Teacher" starring Ryo Nishikido and Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sakamoto Ryoma directly travels to modern times, incarnating as a young journalist living in Tokyo, and colliding with contemporary Japanese values.
In fact, as early as the 1950s and 1960s, there were many films about Sakamoto Ryoma in Japan, such as "The End of the Curtain", "Elegy", and "Assassination of Ryoma". In addition to film and television, Sakamoto has appeared in novels, stage plays, games, and even as a business slogan to attract customers.
Screenshot of "The Legend of Ryoma"
On the one hand, many images and commercial expressions naturally stem from Sakamoto Ryoma's historical status as a national hero. He was an important promoter of the Sasaki Alliance, his "Eight Strategies in the Ship" established the basic structure of the modern Japanese state system, he was the initiator of the "Great Political Restoration", and he was also the founder of Japan's first joint-stock company.
On the other hand, it is because of Sakamoto Ryoma's rich life and personality. Sakamoto's family is an excellent example of Tosa's social mobility, his ancestors were farmers, and later became rich from business, until his grandfather's generation bought the title of a townsman, successfully turned from a merchant to a townsman; Sakamoto Tadao was more patriotic than filial piety, abandoning his ancestral home and family; Sakamoto initially had a strong indignation toward the West, was one of the gangsters, but eventually took off his clogs, put on leather shoes, and became a staunch founding faction.
He was out of the ordinary, a rebel of his time. He was a swordsman with a passion for Western pistols; he met his wife in an assassination and was the first Japanese to travel to get married; he had ideals and often talked about state affairs with friends, but died at the age of 31 in a winter assassination.
Screenshot of Samurai Teacher
These vivid facts are mixed into fiction, making Sakamoto Ryoma even more legendary. On the one hand, entertainment and commercialization accelerated the spread of Sakamoto's image, making him a household name for restoration. At the same time, it also deconstructed him, so that he was resurrected from symbols such as the restoration of the Japanese period at the end of the shogunate and the important promoter of the Sasaga Alliance, presenting a vivid, flesh-and-blood image.
As written in Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration (Republic of China, 2019), the "new" Sakamoto Ryoma in historical dramas is mostly young, brave, and distinctive, and he is very optimistic and can quickly accept new ideas. Pistols are better than swords, and business is better than war. Parliamentarism is better than hereditary, and democracy is more practical than daimyo rule.
Therefore, on the other hand, this kind of film and commercialization is another process of mythologizing Sakamoto Ryoma, who looks quite attractive and real, but has a lot of distance from real historical figures.
For all sorts of reasons, Sakamoto Ryoma "has both a god-like status and reverence, and a strange sense of intimacy" in Japan. And what kind of image is the real Sakamoto Ryoma?
Tatsuma Sakamoto in Gintama
Malus Jensen, a well-known Expert in Japanese Studies and the first head of the Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University, recently published the book "Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration" recently published by the Republic, Jensen collected almost all first-hand information, through Sakamoto Ryoma's letters, etc., eliminated fictional stories, meticulously and vividly restored Sakamoto Ryoma's rich life and the era at the end of the curtain, depicting the process of the Restoration.
As Yale Professor John Whitney Hall puts it, the book depicts an uncertain process of Japanese politics, "when policies were tortuous in assassinations."
Ideal Jun excerpted some of the contents from "Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration", trying to show Sakamoto Ryoma's journey from obscurantist samurai who liked to simplify complex problems, to becoming a founding faction under the Katsukatsu Kaifun, perfecting and adjusting his political ideas, to becoming the national hero who contributed to the Sasaga Alliance, and then to his life and ideological changes in life and thought that eventually fell to his assassination. In the era of no change, Sakamoto Ryoma gradually matured, step by step from a remote rural area to the center of the times.
In the crossover drama "Samurai Teacher", Sakamoto Ryoma, who crosses from the end of the curtain, is still full of the spirit of Bushido, and he penetrates time to gaze at some of the money-oriented and selfish modern people in today's Japanese society. The Sakamoto Ryoma salvaged from the historical materials in "Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration" also penetrates the text, witnessing the process of Japan's opening up to the world and leaving a rich legacy for contemporary Japan.
Screenshot of the Big River drama "The Legend of Ryoma"
1.
Loyal obscurantist samurai
In the 1850s, the entire samurai class was undoubtedly influenced by the same faith. It may be argued that most of Sakamoto's early thoughts came from his peers who studied martial arts together.
From the late 1840s to the 1850s, the dangers posed by the West made the Japanese realize that they had to rearm the Japanese ruling class, and a new wave of learning traditional martial arts arose across the country. The kenjutsu dojo is packed with ambitious and energetic samurai, so it's no surprise that it's at the center of the thoughts and actions of extremists and anti-reformists.
The tournaments held at Edo's major swordplay centers provide an ideal opportunity to connect and make friends. Sakamoto's superb swordsmanship meant that he would mingle with the most radical and reckless young man in Edo at the time.
In 1848, Sakamoto was sent to a martial arts building outside Kochi Castle to learn swordsmanship at a martial arts building opened by Higenno Benji. He soon became one of Higenno's best students. In 1853, he was sent to Edo to continue his sword skills. On the eve of his departure, Sakamoto received a simple set of prohibitions from his father, which were the sum of the values accepted by the young townsman:
First, do not forget the practice of loyalty and filial piety, which is the first important thing.
Second, do not spend money on the heart of the props.
Third, do not delay pornography, forget the major affairs of the country, and pollute the soul.
Keep the above three points in mind, practice strictly, and concentrate on returning to China.
Sakamoto returned to Tosa in the summer of 1854. In August 1856, he traveled to Edo again to continue his sword training.
Just two months before Sakamoto left Kochi, Townsend Harris went to settle in Shimoda as stipulated in the Perry Peace Treaty, and shortly after Sakamoto reported to the Tosa Mansion in Edo Tsukiji, Harris first requested to go to Edo and submit the president's letter to the shogun in person.
In recent years, the martial arts hall in Edo has become the center of the idea of Shogi. Because the shogunate was hesitant about which strategy to adopt, those who identified and adhered to a policy enjoyed a high reputation among the samurai. No one's status can be compared to that of the fanatical rebels. Their positions are clear, their solutions are compelling, and their patriotic fervor looks unassailable.
The young people in the budden gradually saw Tokugawa Kisaki of Mito Domain as the leader of their actions. Although Qi Zhao's actual attitude was much more vague than they had imagined, his hostility to the shogunate's strategy and the connection of Mito scholars to the cause of imperial power made him a natural hero among these samurai who were training in traditional weapon warfare techniques.
Subsequently, as Qi Zhao fell out of favor in the shogunate and negotiations began on a trade agreement between the shogunate and Townsend Harris, young buddy students became increasingly dissatisfied with the shogunate's position as they understood, and Qi Zhao became a snubbed prophet in their eyes.
The development of extremism and the idea of King Qin can be clearly seen in this group of Tosa swordsmanship students, of whom Sakamoto was one, and this development was entangled with a man named Takeshi Mizuyama.
In 1856, Ruishan of Wushi was 27 years old. He was the eldest son of a townsman in the village of Nihida in Tosa Nagaoka County. Takeshi absorbed much more traditional ideas than Sakamoto, but his greatest interest was in swordsmanship.
He began learning swordsmanship at the age of 12, and after studying at several martial arts halls in Kochi, he became a recognized swordsmanship teacher. In 1854 he moved his family to Kochi and opened a martial arts museum in the city. Most of the later leaders of the Tosa Chin-no-Mun party came from his disciples. His student number exceeds 120.
In 1856, Takeshi was sent to study at the Momoi Budokan in Edo. Among the young swordsmanship students, Takeshi was a well-deserved and excellent ruler. There was a slowly unfolding impetus in Wushi, that is, the qin king and the reform of the clan government. The latter should stem from his own hierarchical obstacles. He believed that the domain should be meritocratic, rather than granting official positions according to character rank. In addition, he had such great respect for the emperor that he gained the nickname of "Emperor Fan".
In the autumn of the same year, Sakamoto returned to Edo to continue his studies, and soon he was influenced by Takeshi. Sakamoto participated in several tournaments in Edo and earned himself a reputation. He also makes friends with young people all over Japan who share his own ideas. He and the Tosa samurai met many young swordsmanship practitioners from choshu and mito domains, and Choshu and Mito were the two domains that were most dissatisfied with shogunate policy.
In 1857, Sakamoto and Takeshi returned to Tosa. After returning to Kochi, Sakamoto continued his study of swordsmanship. Takeshi continued to work as a swordsmanship teacher in Tosa at this time, and his reputation and influence grew day by day. There were more people clinging to him. Among them was Shintaro Nakaoka from Anyi County.
Nakaoka was a daishoya who managed 13 villages, and the disciples of Takeshi began to take on the characteristics of an alliance of townsmen and sons of shoya. Sakamoto has been An assistant and admirer of Takeshi throughout.
In the late spring and summer of 1858, the leadership of the new shogunate, led by The Great Elder I Naohiro, suppressed those who dared to interfere in the shogunate's decision-making with lightning speed. Tokugawa Kisaki of Mito Domain strongly advocated that the shogunate compromise with the various clans in order to achieve true domestic unity.
At the end of August 1858, as the leader of the operation, he was ordered to be imprisoned in his mansion in Edo. This move angered a large number of Mito Domain's samurai, who accepted the idea of King Zhongjun Qinwang from the scholars of the clan, and are now enlisting the support of their friends who have studied martial arts together, calling on everyone to join the fall of the curtain.
The Ōro's purge of the enemy spread to yamanideo, the lord of the Tosa Domain, and he gradually lost his freedom of movement until he was imprisoned in a mansion in Shinagawa on the outskirts of Edo. Fearing further retaliation from the shogunate, the domain government under Yoshida Toyo acted with great caution. In fact, Yoshida had prayed to Edo not to completely deprive the Yamauchi family of their domain.
Later, the shogunate signed a treaty with foreigners, and war was unlikely to start, so the emergency military measures that had been in place since 1854 began to be relaxed and finally stopped, while Yoshida was trying to repair the damage caused by these measures to the domain's finances.
Sakamoto Ryoma
Takeshi and his followers could not have approved of such a cautious approach. On the contrary, they increasingly expressed strong dissatisfaction with the internal and external policies of the shogunate. Because their voices are not respected, they turn their anger to a political system where they have had little say.
At the same time, from 1859 to 1860, their popularity as leaders grew. In 1859, Takeshi was appointed the governor of swordsmanship for all the townspeople, Shiraza, and above samurai. The following year, at the age of 31, he was approved to lead a small group of followers to central and southern Japan to investigate and train in swordsmanship.
During the period when Rongdo was playing his part in the domestic political arena—before Perry's arrival and the signing of the Harris Agreement—the lower samurai of tosa domain knew almost nothing about domestic problems. Instead, they practiced swordsmanship and unconcernedly echoed all the ideas around them.
However, as Rongdo was placed under house arrest at the Shinagawa Mansion, Tosa-go and Shoya, under the leadership of Takeshi, became increasingly embroiled in the domestic political whirlpool. They were first dissatisfied with the policies of the shogunate, and then their minister of state, Yoshida Toyo. Yoshida's obedience to the shogunate upset them. Eventually they formed an organization to see if they could make a difference on both fronts.
Ruishan, Wushi
In a sense, these people behaved much like the Tokugawa clan ministers who had become agitated by the weakness and lack of coherent policies of the shogunate. Similarly, they link external problems to the need for "meritocracy."
However, the vassals of the Tosa Domain, like the shogunate courtiers, did not have a complete or purposeful plan for the future. They know their country is in trouble, if only because it is weak and defenseless. But they were far from thinking of overthrowing the clan government (or the shogunate) or making the "royal government retrospective".
Progress has spurred them toward radical solutions, and their extreme reactions have accelerated the pace of political reform. Over time, the vague idea of honoring the emperor will gradually evolve into a concrete plan.
Takeshi Mizuyama in Samurai Sensei
2.
From the king to the founding of the country
The Qinwang years began on a snowy day at the end of March 1860.
On that day, 18 shiki attacked the guards of Ōroi I, who was preparing to enter Edo Castle through the Sakurada Gate. Jingyi's guards, dressed in snowsuits and with limited mobility, were tricked out of their posts, and one of the killers cut off Jingyi's head and committed suicide by caesarean section in front of the residence of a high-ranking courtier.
The assassination of the chief minister of the shogunate at the gates of Edo heralded an era of violence.
The merchant ship returning from Osaka brought news of the assassination of Ōoi I naohiro. Students from the Sword School gathered in groups of three or five to discuss the death of the Elder Elder. For several nights, Sakamoto spent several nights discussing responsibility and abiding by the law with his friend Ikeuchi Andromata and other future Qinwang party members.
According to the usual saying, Sakamoto, who was considered ignorant by the Mito clan a few years ago, is now unusually frank in supporting Mito's approach and predicts that he and his friends will have to follow the same path in the future.
Apparently, the stage for the event was ready, the friendship in the buddy was beginning to sublimate into political brotherhood, and young radicals, namely those who studied swordsmanship with Takeshi Ruishan and those who followed Mazaki to learn cultural knowledge, began to see themselves as catalysts for ideological and political change.
Screenshot of "The Change Outside the Sakurada Gate", where Naohiro I was assassinated
The assassination of Ōroi had the most profound effect on the low-ranking samurai who harbored political ideals. Some of them are at least beginning to see the possibility of changing individual and class status.
Most of the Tosa samurai hated the shogunate's treatment of Jongdo. This anger can easily make them unhappy with the main culprit of this seemingly unfair treatment: the feudal system.
Their initial motivation, though, seems to be the anti-reformists' hatred of foreigners, and they associate this with respect for the Kyoto court.
These king-oriented activists, who do not have to take on the responsibilities of negotiation and government, are imbued with a fanatical martial spirit that originates in their own culture, and are ignorant and fearless because they do not know much about the powerful West. They are more than happy to use swords and courage to expel hateful Westerners. They were not yet firmly in thought, but they gradually strongly supported the court in Kyoto.
Takeichi came to Edo a year after the assassination of Naohiro I. After the incident, the social situation was that ronin assassinated politicians, and the shogunate hesitated. For young swordsmen who like to take direct action, there are few moments so exciting now.
Takeshi contacted people from all over the country in Edo. In March 1863, the only list of members of the Qinwang Party was submitted to Yamanamido. The names of the 192 people are all blood books, and Sakamoto Ryoma is among them.
The idea of King Qin has obviously penetrated the hearts of the people in Tosa, and the Party of King Qin in Takeshi is only the most important, cohesive, and active group of young people who have devoted themselves to this cause.
Everywhere in Tosa there are Qinwangmen. Born mainly in the countryside, this group was educated in the private schools that can be found everywhere in Tosa, excluded by career advancement, and at the same time controlled by decrees issued by the city. The townspeople and the shoya were their leaders.
After Edo formed the Konobu Party, Takeshi discovered that new friends from Choshu, Mito, and Satsuma were preparing to use violent means to express their dissatisfaction with the shogunate's policies.
However, Wushi strongly opposed this. He believed that this would not change anything, and would sacrifice a large number of heroes and cause a devastating blow to the cause of The King of Qin. The best thing to do was for the members to return to their respective domains and mobilize the local samurai. If one domain adopted a firm stance and other domains responded, then the shogunate's policy would inevitably change.
In the end, Takeshi's opinion prevailed. The warriors agreed to persuade the leaders of their respective domains to meet in Kyoto the following spring.
However, Takeshi found that the domain's leaders did not welcome the advice of their subordinates and considered his proposals too reckless and radical. What discouraged Takeshi the most was that Yoshida made his story of his alliance with the Choshu and Satsuma people a laughingstock.
The desire of Tosa, Choshu, and Satsuma to cooperate in Kyoto seems unfulfilled. However, the Qin kings of Choshu seemed ready to revolt to force the kingdom to change its policy.
Another messenger in Takeshi was Shotaro Yoshimura. In the spring of 1862, Yoshimura returned to Tosa after going to Kyushu and Choshu. Yoshimura brought back the news that the uprising was on the verge of erupting. He said kurume and Fukuoka's Qinwang Party was ready to act with the Chushu Qinwang Party. The Satsuma assured him that Satsuma's regent, Shimazu Hisamitsu, was ready to lead a large group of men to Kyoto to serve as the leader of the cause of the king.
Ryoma Sakamoto in Doctor Ren
Such news soon caused an uproar among Takeshi's followers, and many strongly asked Takeshi to lead them across the Seto Inland Sea. However, Takeshi was reluctant to take direct action, and he still hoped that the domain would adopt his opinion.
As Takeshi refused to take them away from Tosa, and anticipating that the day of Choshu and Satsuma's uprising was approaching, Tosa's Qinwang people became increasingly impatient.
Sakamoto Ryoma was also impatient with Takeshi's immobility. At the end of April 1862, Sakamoto fled with his friend Sawamura.
In the late summer of 1862, Sakamoto arrived in Edo. At that time, his Tosa Kinnoko friends were sharing the benefits of assassinating Yoshida Toyo. This group dominates kyoto's politics. Sakamoto decided to assassinate Katsumi-a boat – katsukai-a boat, then the commander of the navy, vigorously advocated the founding of the country, attracting the attention of the volunteers.
However, after Sakamoto met Katsu, Katsumoto's patriotism and dissatisfaction with the demands of westerners caused Sakamoto to stop the knife in his hand. Katsu convinces Sakamoto that the best way to strengthen national power and shogunate is to use yiren's technology and systems. Katsu becomes Sakamoto's new mentor.
In the spring of 1863, Katsu went to Kyoto to prepare for the Shogun's trip. He took advantage of Ieshige's visit to the Kyoto area to show him the defensive inadequacies of the Seto Inland Sea. He then wrote a letter pointing out that Osaka and Sakai were vulnerable and that there was an extreme shortage of shipyards and ship repair shops in the Osaka area.
His urging paid off. On May 11, 1863, the government ordered the establishment of a naval training school and shipyard in Hyogo. The agency that had been set up earlier in Nagasaki would be transferred to the new site, and Katsu was appointed to take charge of the project.
In order to accomplish this task, Katsu needs someone like Sakamoto as an assistant. The shogunate's treasury was almost exhausted, and it was clear that the various clans needed to be gathered together, paid for and consolidated their naval forces. Sakamoto was the ideal candidate to negotiate with each clan on behalf of Katsu.
Sakamoto worked as Katsu's assistant at the Naval Academy in Hyogo for about 18 months. This period was an important turning point in his life. He retained the martial spirit of a large number of swordsmen, and the oath of allegiance to the emperor still echoed in his ears. But beyond that, he also acquired a new political outlook brought about by the expansion of contacts, as well as a more sophisticated way of dealing with the world, as well as Katsukazu Okubo's approach to the world.
Sakamoto perfected and adjusted his political thinking. On the one hand, he was encouraged to win, and on the other hand, he did not have to sacrifice his own kinglike beliefs.
Therefore, after Choshu shelled foreign ships in the Shimonoseki Strait, he warned in a conversation with the lord of fukui domain that only a comprehensive reform of the shogunate's institutions could prevent foreigners from invading Japan's territorial integrity, and that institutional reform would only be possible if people such as Matsudaira Harudake, Yamanideo, and Okubo Kazuo were determined to cooperate. In this way, he has begun to envisage a situation centred primarily on mediation and negotiation.
Sakamoto's new concept of political organization gradually took the form of a parliamentary system, a continuation of the advice he had heard from the shogunate minister, Ōkubo Kazuo. He believed that the shogunate should consult the daimyo first when making important decisions. In this way, decision-making and responsibilities will be shared, and people will be more united and more supportive of the country.
3.
Facilitating the Sassman Alliance
In the 1860s, only two domains were able to pose a political and military threat to the authority of the Tokugawa shogunate. Satsuma and Choshu were two of the most powerful vassal states in southwestern Japan. In order to modernize their military facilities, they have invested a lot of energy and money.
Although in 1863 and 1864 the Punitive Bombardments of the West temporarily frustrated their plans for self-improvement, the results also led them to make them more powerful.
But no one can do this alone, and the rulers of the Tokugawa shogunate will use one side to curb the excessive demands of the other side. Satsuma and Choshu's vassals were filled with suspicion and jealousy, always believing that each other was coveting the position of the new ruler of the shogunate.
During the years when the Qinwang Party was in power and Qinwangism was at its hottest, the distrust between the two clans led to a change in their policies. Choshu believed that the policy of shogunate should be adhered to, and Satsuma advocated that reconciliation should be made between the court and the shogunate.
This mutual distrust led to the armed forces of 1863. The Choshu men shelled a Satsuma ship passing through the Shimonoseki Strait, while Satsuma's army, along with Aizu's army, drove Choshu out of the capital. The leaders of Choshu called each other "Satsuma bandits" in their letters, and the Satsuma people did not have a good tone towards the Choshu people.
The only thing that can bring these two sworn enemies together for national sovereignty is a new threat from the shogunate or from a foreign country. The shogunate provided both conditions. Conservatives who pressured the shogunate and succeeded in revoking the position of navy in Katsuhae wanted to inflict more blows on Choshu and bring it to shame.
Everywhere, they said, there was no longer a need to seek the advice and help of foreign daimyo on domestic policies. It seems likely that they have been entrusted by the court and are looking for a new structure of power. To this end, these people are also prepared to consider the military technical assistance program proposed by Emperor Napoleon III of France.
Therefore, the southwestern clan's act of seeking weapons from other Western countries in order to counter the new threat of the shogunate seemed both patriotic and wise. Moreover, this purchase is most smoothly carried out only when the two clans cooperate.
The development of the situation made some kind of cooperation between Satsuma and Choshu natural and even unavoidable. But to achieve this, a great deal of preparation and good offices will be required. This task fell to the Tosa Ronin.
On November 10, 1864, the shogunate relieved katsumi of his duties in the navy. After their hopes at home were dashed, the Ronin fled to Satsuma and Choshu to seek refuge. In 1864, introduced by Yukatsu, Sakamoto met the leaders of the Satsuma Domain's Restoration, and succeeded in getting them to accept his ideas.
Saigo Takamori in "Saigo Hall"
In the autumn of 1864, the Satsuma leader who provided refuge to Sakamoto was the representative of this domain with a long history and rich resources, Saigo Takamori, who was a recognized leader, and as the supreme commander of the Satsuma Army, he had a great influence on the deployment and battle plans of the Satsuma Army.
Saigo initially intended to teach Choshu a harsh lesson, and immediately requisitioning Choshu would give foreigners no excuse to retaliate against Choshu for shelling foreign ships in Shimonoseki.
But on the other hand, Saigo wanted to make it clear that Satsuma was reaching out to the shogunate on an equal footing, and that his actions were in response to the demands of the court, not the shogunate. He changed the plans of the Satsuma army that participated in the operation, criticized the shogunate's deployment, and angrily rejected the shogunate's request to send three military observers to Satsuma.
Saigo gradually believed that a compromise approach was needed to solve the problem. They had absolutely no reason to help the shogunate suppress Choshu. He devoted more effort to political strategy than to military deployment, and paved the way for choshu rulers to retreat with dignity.
He first captured Choshu soldiers in Kyoto through the Satsuma Army, and then personally came to the door to propose reconciliation conditions to Choshu, and obtained the approval of the other side. Three Choshu elders were ordered to commit suicide, yamaguchi Castle's fortifications needed to be demolished, and kyoto nobles who had taken refuge were sent to Kyushu.
Conservatives in Choshu accepted the plan because they were now concentrating on the threat posed by extremists to the feudal state.
In the autumn of 1865, trade between the Satsuma and Choshu clans resumed. Both the rulers of satsuma and choshu wanted a more lasting agreement. There was another group of people who longed for this to come true, namely the fallen secretary of state of Dazaifu. They were very happy to see a powerful alliance dedicated to the cause of Qinwang formed. These people were "rescued" by the Choshu Clan and are now under the protection of the Satsuma Clan. The Ronin who followed them were also eager to broker such an alliance.
Screenshot of Saigoden
As trade relations between the Satsuma and Choshu clans began to take shape, Sakamoto and his friend Shintaro Nakaoka went to Dazaifu to see if the secretaries were interested in adding some prestige to the formal agreement and making it authoritative.
Sakamoto had 24 conversations with Mitsumi Sanjo, and so many conversations with Higashi Hisei. He and Nakaoka tried to persuade the secretaries not to judge their intentions by the Satsuma army driving them out of Kyoto, but to value Saigo's sending troops to Dazaifu to protect them. Although convincing the secretaries to overcome their hatred of the Satsuma rulers was clearly not an easy task, the two succeeded.
After this was completed, Sakamoto and Nakaoka both went to see the rulers of choshu domain, trying to convince them that satsuma was sincere. It took Sakamoto and Nakaoka a long time to convince the leaders of the Choshu domain to believe in satsuma domain.
On March 7, 1866, Kido of Choshu Domain and Saigo, Komatsu, and Okubo of Satsuma Domain finally agreed on an alliance, with Sakamoto Ryoma being a witness. Several of Kido's outlines to Sakamoto became the official text of the agreement.
Tokugawa Keiki in Saigoden
The Purpose of the Sasaga Alliance was to restore the status of the Choshu Domain to the court while preventing the shogunate's political plans to suppress Choshu:
As soon as the war began, sa clan immediately sent more than 2,000 troops to Kyoto, and more than 1,000 troops to Langhua (Osaka) to suppress Keizaka.
2. If the war is favorable to the Choshu Domain, the Sa Domain mediates with the Imperial Court and tries its best to save the Choshu Domain.
Article 3 applies to the failure of Cheung State.
3. In case the Choshu Domain is defeated, it will never collapse within a year and a half, during which the Sa Clan must do its best to support it.
Article IV applies in cases of continued peace.
4. If the shogunate returns to the east without the conscription of the commander, sa clan will write a letter categorically and do its best to apply for immediate exemption from the unjust crime of the choshu clan.
Article 5 envisages the possible entry of satsuma clan into the war.
Five...... If Hitotsubashi, Aizu, Kuwana, etc., as they had always done, supported the imperial court, refused justice, and tried their best to do their best, then the Sa domain would rise up and fight a decisive battle.
Finally, Article 6 guarantees that the two clans will act jointly in the future.
6. Pending the pardon of the unjust sins of the Choshu Domain, the two sides should cooperate with each other to crush the bones of the imperial kingdom, and from today onwards, they will work together to restore the dynasty.
Thus came to an end the protracted rivalry between the two powerful clans. The shogunate's intransigence and the drive of the common interests of the two clans were the inevitable background to the formation of the alliance. Ryoma Sakamoto, Shintaro Nakaoka, and their ronin compatriots acted as mediators and persuaders. Kido said he was particularly grateful to Sakamoto and wrote to tell him that he would be famous in the coming years. His prophecy was confirmed. It was because Sakamoto was so credited with the establishment of the Sacho Alliance that he gained a great reputation.
The Alliance of The Shogunates meant that the chances of the shogunate maintaining domestic leadership were increasingly slim, and it also made it even more unlikely that the shogunate's attempt to suppress the domain in order to achieve a new centralized power would be unsuccessful.
The Sasaga Alliance was an important step in the decline of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the efforts of Sakamoto and Nakaoka not only contributed to the Sasaga Alliance, but also played an important role in the eventual collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate. After forging an alliance between the two clans, Sakamoto and Nakaoka were busy getting Tosa to join in. To this end, through Sakamoto's sea aid team, they continued to trade goods between various regions, and began to spread the new idea of establishing a parliamentary government.
Screenshot of The Assassination Version of Ryoma
4.
Assassinated
On November 30, 1867, Sakamoto returned to Kyoto from Fukui. He then began meeting with his friends, formulating the eight policies of the new government, and discussing (or writing down) the ideas contained in the Treatise.
At this time, the situation in Kyoto was still chaotic. Rumors abound. The supporters of the shogunate were very worried (and this concern proved to be very reasonable), fearing that the conspiracy behind the scenes would take away the little influence of the Lords of the Samuku faction. They suspect and hate all those who have conspired against them, and among these conspirators, Sakamoto's fame, ability, and prestige are unmatched.
The organizations that were set up to maintain law and order in the capital were most likely to take the hands of these pretentious revolutionaries. One of the shin-ku groups recruited members mainly from the Ronin of Kyoto, while the other organization, the Mikaku Group, consisted mainly of young magi descendants.
By 1867, the number of these two organizations had reached several hundred. Their purpose is to deal with the conspiratorial Ronin, dealing with them coldly and efficiently. The greatest threat and danger facing Sakamoto and his friends comes from these people.
Sakamoto knew he was dangerous, but he was optimistic and happy by nature, and it was difficult to stay alert for a long time. His Kyoto headquarters were once located in a soy sauce shop called Omiya in Kawaramachi.
The shopkeeper let Sakamoto live in a back room above the warehouse, which had an exit, so he could quickly go downstairs in an emergency and escape to a nearby temple. However, Sakamoto fell ill after returning from Fukui. In order not to bother others, he moved to a front room where the concealment was not so good.
On the night of December 10, Shintaro Nakaoka came here to look for him. It was very cold that night. The two men chatted in Sakamoto's bedroom, sitting facing each other across the brazier, and next to the basin was a small lamp that lit their faces brightly. Sakamoto has been feeling unwell lately, his face is a little pale, while Nakaoka is very energetic and energetic.
At that time, there were two people in the room, one was Nakaoka's retinue, the other was a servant of the shopkeeper, and Sakamoto's servant Fujiyoshi was in the outer room. After a while, Sakamoto asked one of them to go out and buy some food. The other decided to go with him, and Sakamoto and Nakaoka continued to talk in the room.
Screenshot of Assassination of Ryoma Sakamoto
Then there was a knock at the door below. Fujiyoshi went to open the door. The visitor was a stranger who claimed to be from the TotsuGawa River, an area that belonged to the imperial family and produced items that were owned by the imperial family. Fujiyoshi knew that Sakamoto had acquaintances there, so he took the guest's business card and turned upstairs.
When he came to the landing again to prepare for the guests to come in, the three men rushed up without permission. One of them cut Fujiyoshi down, and the other two rushed over him to the middle of the room, slashing at Sakamoto and Nakaoka. The two men had no chance to pull out their swords.
Sakamoto fell first, suffering serious injuries to his head, face, body and limbs. Nakaoka's situation was a little better than his. His injuries were not so serious, but they were fatal enough.
When Mitsuaki Tanaka, a subordinate of Nakaoka's land aid team, arrived, he found all three of them lying in a pool of blood. At this time, Nakaoka was also able to explain to him what had happened. His spirit and will are still good, but his energy is quickly depleted.
Tanaka encourages Kaoru Inoue's miraculous recovery after his assassination in Choshu and reminds him how much he is needed in the coming war, but that doesn't make any sense. Nakaoka dragged on for two days and stopped breathing on the 12th. He was 29 years old and Sakamoto was 32 years old.
The heroes who gathered to mourn Sakamoto and Nakaoka soon thought of avenging them. During the Restoration War, the members of the Shinsen and Mihui groups were captured and executed, and the ins and outs of Sakamoto's assassination were never fully revealed.
In 1870, a man who was on the sentry downstairs at the time of the attack confessed to being involved in the incident and was ordered to be imprisoned in his home in Shizuoka. A few years later he wrote a long confession, but Tanaka believed that the details of the confession were different from their memories, so he doubted its authenticity. In any case, the mastermind behind this murder will always be a mystery.
The leaders of the Restoration were very sorry for the deaths of the two heroes. Iwakura was particularly sorry for Nakaoka's death, but overall, Sakamoto's easy-going and charismatic personality earned him more praise. Both made him many friends. Mitsuaki Tanaka wrote: "Nakaoka was a saint, and Sakamoto was a true hero. ”
They were buried in a temple in Higashiyama, Kyoto, for whom Takayoshi Kido wrote an epitaph. Shimi Sanjo also wrote a japanese song from Dazaifu praising them:
The heroic soul of the samurai is glorious, and after death, he will still guard the land
(The samurai's mashyi and tamachi are the things that protect the country even if they become gods.)
【New books on the shelves】
"Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration"
By Marius Jensen
Sakamoto Ryoma first proposed the concept of "Japan", and his "Eight Strategies in the Ship" established the basic structure of the modern Japanese national system; he promoted the alliance of the two clans of Sasaga, who were enemies of each other, and put forward the slogan of "Great Political Return", which peacefully overthrew the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate for hundreds of years; he admired Western science and technology, deeply embraced democratic ideas, founded Japan's first joint-stock company, and also taught himself law to confront foreigners.
However, just a few months before the curtain of the Meiji Restoration began, Sakamoto Ryoma was assassinated in Kyoto, and the acclaimed genius meteor suddenly fell.
A hundred years later, Sakamoto Ryoma was resurrected through historical novels and film and television dramas, and his reputation grew, and he became a well-known national hero. Is this kind of novel consistent with the image in the film and television drama with the real Sakamoto Ryoma? How did a low-ranking samurai from a remote land grow into a leader of the Restoration? Princeton University professor Jensen outlines in detail the lives of Ryoma Sakamoto and Shintaro Nakaoka, reconstructing the situation on the eve of the Meiji Restoration from both macro and micro perspectives. The real experience may not be legendary, but it is still exhilarating.
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