英語訳
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Toyohashi City Historical Discourse (Matsudaira Nobuyori's Succession) 378
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⦿ Matsudaira Nobuyori's Succession
As stated in the previous chapter, Matsudaira Nobuaki died of illness at his Edo residence on August 16, Bunka 14 (1817), at the age of 55, while still serving as senior councilor (rōjū jōza). The one who inherited his position and became lord of Yoshida castle was Nobuyori.
Nobuyori was Nobuaki's second son, whose mother was a house lady of the Kusumi family. Since the legitimate eldest son died young, this Nobuyori became heir apparent and succeeded to the family headship. Born on June 7, Kansei 5 (1793), he was exactly 25 years old when he inherited the position. His childhood name was Chōjirō, and he was first appointed Suruga-no-kami, later Izu-no-kami. Like his father Nobuaki, he was of a diligent nature, but appears to have possessed a tolerant yet meticulous character.
The Bunka era ended with year 14 when Nobuyori succeeded, changing to Bunsei. In the 8th year of Bunsei, on May 6 (1825), Nobuyori was appointed magistrate of temples and shrines (jisha bugyō). Bunsei later ended with year 12, changing to Tenpō, and on May 25, Tenpō 2 (1831), Nobuyori was appointed Osaka castle keeper and departed for his new post.
**Political Context:**
At that time, the Tokugawa shogun was still Ienari. As I have described in previous chapters, during Ienari's reign, initially the famous Matsudaira Sadanobu emerged to carry out major reforms of the shogunate administration, dismissing the Tanuma faction and greatly disciplining official conduct.
However, from around that time, Hitotsubashi Harunari—that is, Shogun Ienari's biological father—began attempting various interferences in government affairs, frequently causing difficult situations. This was compounded by flattering retainers and remnants of the Tanuma faction who established connections with him, making the situation increasingly complex.
After Sadanobu's retirement, Nobuaki inherited his aspirations and strove not to damage Sadanobu's legacy in any way. He was supported not only by distinguished ministers like Kanō Tōtōmi-no-kami Hisakane, but also Aoyama Tadahiro and Hotta Masaatsu. However, in Nobuaki's later years, Harunari's influence gradually grew stronger, and his chief retainer Mizuno Tadakuni became senior councilor rank, supported by powerful ministers like Hijikata Nuinosuke, gradually increasing corruption.
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After Nobuaki's death, Tadakuni rapidly gained power and became senior councilor. The distinguished ministers from Sadanobu and Nobuaki's era gradually retired from their positions, and social customs quickly fell into frivolous vanity, with bribery running rampant, once again bringing the corrupt practices of the Tanuma era.
Initially, when Sadanobu, Nobuaki and others successively managed shogunate affairs, they recognized that the source of this disease lay with Harunari, so they constantly struggled to restrain him. The shogun, being his biological father, wanted to honor him early by having him called "Great Retired Lord" (Ōgosho), but Sadanobu opposed this. Later, when they tried to welcome him into the inner citadel (ninomaru), Nobuaki also opposed it.
However, when Tadakuni became senior councilor, knowing about the imperial title incident and other matters, he began gradually ingratiating himself with the Kyoto court, making various offerings to the imperial court—which could be called a great achievement, but ultimately resulted in requesting the appointment of Harunari as associate minister (jun-daijin).
**Economic Policies and Hokkaido:**
Through this, Tadakuni's power came to dominate the shogunate. His frequent currency reforms completely reversed the policies Nobuaki had long maintained, and the rampant production of debased currency truly occurred during this time.
Admittedly, the shogunate's financial difficulties were severe at the time. Some argue that the cause lay in the failure of Hokkaido (Ezo) administration, but I believe this is a superficial observation. As I detailed in previous chapters regarding Hokkaido administration, while it certainly created great financial difficulties for the shogunate, given Russia's designs on our northern borders, it was absolutely necessary for the shogunate to directly control Hokkaido, eliminate the Matsumae clan's accumulated abuses, and manage it with external defense in mind.
It was precisely because of this that our northern borders were not left vulnerable to Russian aggression at the time. However, just four years after Nobuaki's death, the Hokkaido territory was returned to its former lord, the Matsumae clan. This is said to have resulted either from the Matsumae clan's ingratiating themselves with Tadakuni, or from appealing to Harunari.
For these reasons, Hokkaido's defenses completely slackened, and the lands that had been painstakingly developed became wasteland again...
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Toyohashi City Historical Discourse (Matsudaira Nobuyori's Succession) 379