In Part 2, I wrote about the great power of the elder, Naosuke Ii.
In the third, let's write from the crackdown of Naosuke Ii, who was forced to carry out the shogunate.
The collapse of the Rōjū system at the end of the Edo period
After disposing of the Mito feudal lord, Tokugawa Nariaki, the 13th shogun, Iesada, died.
Iemochi, who was recommended by Naosuke Ii, was renamed Iemochi and succeeded the Tokugawa family.
Emperor Komei was angry at the signing of the treaty without permission against Naosuke, who was forced to open the country.> I ordered you to do.
On the other hand, Naosuke is going to crack down on the scholars of the Sonno Jōi school ...
Ansei Purge and Sakuradamon Incident
Naosuke Ii sent Rōjū and Manabe Akikatsu to Tokyo to report the signing of the treaty to the emperor. At the same time, he arrests and suppresses the priests of the Sonno Jōi faction one after another.
This is the so-called Ansei Purge.
In addition, Rōjū / Manabe Akikatsu and Ota Suketsugu, who advised Naosuke to take a strict punishment for the Mito clan, were dismissed.
In this Ansei Purge, half of the eight people who disregarded it were Mito Domains, and the Mito Domains who had a grudge against Naosuke departed from the domain and were aiming for the assassination of Naosuke Ii.
March 3, 1858 , Naosuke Ii is attacked by 17 Mito Domain Ronin and 1 Satsuma Ronin outside the Sakurada Gate while climbing the castle in Kago in heavy snow and loses his life. He was 46 years old.
After Naosuke Ii was defeated, he tried to restore the prestige by showing the Kobu Gattai to the world by realizing the relationship between Iemochi and Wamiya in an attempt to revive the authority of the Shogunate, but once lost, it will be restored. It is not a thing, and it continues to collapse with the Shogunate Rōjū system.
Change outside Sakashitamon
In 1861, Kazumiya descended to Edo, and Nobumasa Ando's Kobu Gattai plan succeeded, but in 1862 Nobumasa was injured by being attacked by the Mito Domain outside the Sakashitamon Gate. As a result, Nobumasa was dismissed from the old age.
Bunkyu's Political Reform
April 1862 , An incident occurred that overturned the basis of the shogunate's Rōjū system.
Satsuma feudal lord, Hisamitsu Shimazu Going to Tokyo with soldiers aiming for shogunate reforms I say that. At this time, Kyoto Shoshidai and Sakai Tadaaki had no way to do it, and asked the old men for help, but they were refused. Meanwhile, Hisamitsu Shimazu arrived in Edo and submitted a written opinion on the reform of the shogunate.
In the reform plan, Matsudaira Yoshinaga's elder inauguration of the Gosankyo Tayasu family And Yoshinobu Tokugawa of the Hitotsubashi family as guardian of Shogun Iemo Was inaugurated, and the old men were troubled, but in the end they had to agree.
On July 6, Yoshinobu will be the guardian of Shogun Iemochi, and on July 9, Matsudaira Yoshinaga will be political governor . have become. The reason why Yoshinaga became the governor of the political affairs instead of the elder was because many of the old and middle-aged elders were Fudai Daimyo of 50,000 to 60,000 stones, so the three lords and the three families were appointed. It seems that it was an impossible treatment to do.
In this way, at the center of the shogunate, general guardianship, political governorship, and senior citizens Decision-making mechanism is divided because each of them has different ideas. Will continue to do. The shogunate's old man is no longer the best decision-making body by name.
However, even if it rotted, the old-age system itself was maintained by the sea bream.
The end of the Rōjū system
In 1866, the 14th Shogun Iemochi died at Osaka Castle.
Because of the situation, Yoshinobu, who was the guardian of Iemochi, was appointed as the successor to the Tokugawa family, saying that the shogunate should not be vacant for a day.
The Rōjū system during the Yoshinobu era had a role similar to that of the current Minister of State.
Rōjū, Itakura Katsukiyo, who was always on the side of Yoshinobu, Yasunao Matsudaira, the governor of the account, and Rōjū, the minister of foreign affairs, were treated as middle-aged by Ogasawara Nagamichi and the governors of the Army and Navy. ..
Taisei Hokan
Yoshinobu has appointed Rōjū even after the Taisei Hokan.
In fact, even if the shogunate disappeared, the fact that the old man was appointed means that the old man was an old vassal of the Tokugawa family, and even if the shogunate disappeared, the old man remained.
The last old man, Masakuni Inaba
The old men at this time were , Itakura Katsukiyo, Inaba Masami, Sakai Tadatoshi, Matsudaira Yasunao, Ogasawara Nagamichi, Inaba Masakuni . There was a problem. However, starting with Itakura's resignation, everyone except Masakuni Inaba offered to resign.
This was the moment when the shogunate's Rōjū system completely collapsed.
In February 1868, Yoshinobu Tokugawa left Edo Castle and resigned.
However, in Edo Castle, Rōjū / Masakuni Inaba Remains until the end and is performing financial processing.
After that, he was dismissed by the new government, but he became the governor of the Yodo domain due to the reversion of the version the following year, and resigned from the post of governor in the abolished domain prefecture in 1871 (Meiji 4).
Thus,
Tokugawa Shogunate and Rōjū system Closed the curtain ...
Summary
The Rōjū system of the Edo Shogunate was made possible by the fact that Ieyasu Tokugawa became a shogun and became a nationwide daimyo. It is a mechanism.
Initially, [elderly] Called Ieyasu [General] Since I was only involved in the consultation and transmitted the words to the whole country, it would have been better if the shogun's aides did not do it by a leading daimyo.
The reason why Rōjū became an independent organization from the shogun was the 4th shogun Ietsuna who succeeded the shogun at the age of 11. Age. Until now, the politics that was initially run with the will of the shogun changed to a form in which the shogun ruled that it had been escalated based on the ideas of the old man.
In this way, the Rōjū system came to have a role independent of the will of the shogun.
In the era of Tsunayoshi, the 5th generation, the Rōjū system became an organization that was somewhat independent of the will of the shogun, so an aide was needed separately from the Rōjū, and the side employee system Has been established.
In addition, the method of appointing Rōjū changed during the time of Tsunayoshi, and Tsunayoshi, who became a shogun in a tributary, could not appoint Rōjū from aides such as small surnames. I made Fudai Daimyo, who had a career, into Rōjū.
This established a bureaucratic Rōjū promotion course.
In the era of Yoshimune, Fudai Daimyo, who had never been a Rōjū, became a Rōjū, and the Rōjū system was completely established as a national governing organization. In this way, the condition of being a Fudai Daimyo did not change during the old age, but if he had the ability and reputation, he became a position where every house had a chance.
After that, the promotion course of Rōjū became a senior citizen through a side servant, and a person who was promoted to a senior citizen by jumping from Osaka Jodai or a temple and shrine magistrate, etc. It will stand out. Also, since he was in his 11s and 12s for a long time, he needed more ability to control the shogunate.
And, at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Rōjū system continued to collapse, but everyone noticed that this was not because the Rōjū system collapsed, but because of the weakening of the power of the shogun who was giving power to the Rōjū system. Probably.
To the last, Rōjū did not have such a high position even in Fudai Daimyo. Still, it functioned as a national organization because of the authority of the shogun behind it. Without that authority, an organization composed of mid-level Fudai Daimyo would not be able to function.
The above is a long description of the transition of the Edo Shogunate's Rōjū system, but is it only me who thinks the above summary is the easiest to understand? ?? If you want to know more, please do your best to read it.
Excuse me for a long sentence ...