Edo Traveler

v8 Chapter 36: Examining the British King's Constitutio

By the way, it is Tokugawa Keiho, the writer of the Yusan family, who led the student group to the United Kingdom this time. His request to go directly to the UK to study in the UK was rejected by Tokugawa Ieki, but about Tokugawa Ieki was also a bit open to see the world, so he approved his request to lead the team to the UK.

Of course, he changed his name in name and became a samurai of the Owari clan, and escorted Watanabe Hanzo, the old son of the Owari clan, to study abroad. Then the first batch of international students who went to study in the UK many years ago and have completed university courses returned to China.

It doesn't hurt to go out to see and see!

Tokugawa Jiaqing finally agreed anyway, what else could others say. There is nothing to object to. There are three reserves, Chuemon, Shimaru, and Nagayoshiro. Tokugawa Keibao will not be much more than him.

Before leaving, Chuemon and Keiho Tokugawa met and asked him to look at as many new technologies as possible in Britain, such as telegraphs, railways, and industrial construction machinery. use.

The other is to focus on the British political system and carefully examine it. As the representative country of the constitutional monarchy, it has considerable reference significance for the shogunate.

Why does Britain have a constitutional monarchy? Perhaps looking at the macro level, what is the tradition of constitutional government, the development of urban autonomy, the struggle between feudal power and religious power has weakened the two, and so on, for various reasons. But in the final analysis, there is only one reason.

Kings and old nobles cannot kill the new nobles and the bourgeoisie, nor can the new nobles kill the old forces!

It's that simple and simple. If the upstarts had enough strength to completely extinguish the power of the feudal monarchy and the old aristocracy, the republic would have been implemented for a long time. It is not that the conservatives are strong enough to maintain their own rule.

In the end, the two sides compromised each other, which led to the so-called British constitutional monarchy. This is fundamentally different from the Polish republic electing king system of the nobility or the enlightened monarchy of the second German Empire in the future.

Chuemon personally felt that the shogunate wanted to strengthen its rule, in addition to actively responding to challenges from various parties in the country. Accepting British support, being a British dog, and being a comprador is also one of the ways to continue the rule.

Learn from the United Kingdom and fight and compromise with foreign princes who thirst for political power in China, as well as those rich farmers, merchants, and townsmen who have gradually developed during the two hundred years of peace under the world.

Fight, it is estimated that there are still several battles to be fought. However, it is impossible to eliminate the entire class that is trying to share power by fighting alone. Since it cannot be eliminated, a certain compromise is required in the end. The British-style constitutional monarchy is in line with the reality and needs of the shogunate.

To absorb some foreign princes who are willing to compromise with the shogunate, as well as the wealthy people, give them certain political privileges. Strike down another part of the princes and the rich who are unwilling to cooperate, and give the relatively neutral princes and the rich the hope and ways to participate in politics.

To further divide this part, about two million people opposed the shogunate's rule and continued the shogunate's rule. As for how many years it can last, and how many generations it can last, that's a story. As long as the shogunate fell faster than the shogunate in history, even the generals were the first to vote.

As for selling out a little bit of national interest, to put it in a chiguoguo phrase, sometimes the ruling class of a country does not necessarily stand in complete harmony with the people and national interests of the country.

Although he didn't quite understand what Chuemon said, Tokugawa Keiho still memorized these words, saying that he would definitely read and learn more in the UK and increase his knowledge.

To the Hagi domain’s Yoshida Shoin, Katsura Kogoro, Shidobunta, and Tosa’s Sasaki Takayuki, Sakamoto Ryoma, and others, Tademon was worried that they would learn some messy ideas in the UK. So I asked a few more words. After spending so much money to study abroad, I must study hard, keep my ears aside, and just read science and technology books.

The more guns, warships, science and technology they learn, the more solid they are, the better they can return to serve their vassal lord and build their own hometown and vassal kingdom.

They must have thought the same in their hearts, only that Chuemon was eagerly looking forward to it, and being kind to them, didn't think so much about it, just agreed.

I hope...

The rest is about money. After Tademon reported the matter to the shogunate, the veterans probably understood what it meant. It is to deposit to the Dutch in Nagasaki, and then the Dutch issues the ticket, and then you can get it when you arrive in the Netherlands. The Dutch charge a certain fee in the middle, which is a normal pattern.

The adults did not object, so the huge amount of gold of 90,000 taels was given to the Dutch, and the Dutch issued a general account document to the shogunate. As long as they hold this document, the shogunate's foreign students in the UK can receive monthly living expenses, and the tuition fees paid to the university by self-financed students can also be directly debited from this.

In addition to this convenience, Chuemon actually thinks a little bit longer. With the helpless financial situation of the shogunate alone, it is absolutely impossible to make money every year and make fixed investments in industries.

Although it is feasible to obtain profits from the export of silk reeling, this is an industry that needs to develop slowly. Mulberry trees need to be planted on a large scale, silkworm seeds need to be promoted throughout the country, and advanced silk reeling machinery also needs to be imported or imitated. It will take at least ten years to make it bigger.

During this period of time, it is not enough to rely on the investment of more than 100,000 yuan a year from Hongzhiwu Jinshan. If you want rapid investment development, the best way is of course to raise debt!

Borrow foreign money!

The biggest advantage of Chuemon over others is that he knows what the industry is really successfully developing behind Japan. UU reading www.uukanshu.com does not need to be like others, constantly trial and error, construction and production of those who cannot be profitable. , Or a business that can't make a big profit.

As long as the business of investment is successful, what about the development of borrowing money? If we can still pay the principal and interest, then what is there to be afraid of.

The only thing to worry about is that if you borrow foreign money, generally speaking, these foreign money will have various political conditions attached. For example, many great powers borrowed money from the neighboring Qing country. To build a railway requires the right of way and various governance powers along the way.

Some loans have very high interest rates, and even a lot of handling fees and rebates. There are also loans, which stipulate that the loans can only be used for what purposes, or even not given to you at all, directly to the shipyard or weapon company that needs to be used.

Not only got the loan interest, but also promoted the sales of domestic weapons, all of which were favorable terms for them.

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