英語訳
**Margin:**
Toyohashi City Historical Discourse (The Zenith and Setbacks of the Expulsion Party) 532
**Main Text:**
(Note) The year of this letter is unclear, but it shows one aspect of Sakaki's associations with loyalists of the time.
The above are surviving portions of Takao's letters, which, as noted in the annotations, span from around Ansei 1 (1854) to Bunkyū 3 (1863). Therefore, I hope they will be well-referenced alongside the discussion of national trends in later chapters. Originally, this historical discourse aims to explain the great trends of the realm while interspersing stories from each era related to this Yoshida matter. However, when discussing Takao's biography, I inevitably must mention earlier events for continuity, which causes some overlap with discussions of national trends. There may be some disorder in my presentation, but this is unavoidable, so I ask that you refer to various chapters before and after to maintain continuity. This applies not only to Takao's biography but also to Kozan's, so I ask for your understanding in the same manner.
◎The Zenith and Setbacks of the Expulsion Party
Second Eastern Mission of Imperial Envoys: As mentioned in the previous chapter, the shogunate had decided on the shogun's journey to Kyoto, but on the other hand, on the seventh day of intercalary eighth month (Bunkyū 2), Yoshinobu, Yoshinaga, and all the senior councillors sent a joint letter to Kyoto. It contained statements such as: "Regarding the future unity of court and shogunate, we shall exert ourselves wholeheartedly. If His Majesty still has concerns, please inform all of us, and we will certainly comply with any reasonable matters. Should there naturally be matters difficult to implement due to current circumstances, we may regretfully have to decline, so please be well aware of this point." This led to further arguments, but in Kyoto, as soon as this correspondence was revealed by the court intermediaries, since at that time court nobles like Lord Kujō and others who would take positions defending the shogunate were all being ostracized, the court nobles' discussions immediately deemed the shogunate dilatory and temporizing, entirely inadequate for action, and
**Margin:**
Publisher and Printer: Sanyō Printing Partnership Company, 48 Kōnya-chō, Toyohashi City; Editor: Nakanishi Kenzō; Publisher and Printer: Kuno □kichi
**Left Page:**
**Margin:**
Sanyō Newspaper No. 4531 Supplement (Published December 2, Taishō 2 [1913])
**Main Text:**
thus the theory of sending imperial envoys down again to urge expulsion of foreigners arose vigorously.
Namely, on September 28th, Middle Captain Sanjō Sanetomi was promoted to Middle Counselor, and Chamberlain Anegakōji Kimitomo was promoted to Minor Captain, both receiving commands as imperial envoys to go east again. Upon hearing this, there were various discussions within the shogunate. However, Yoshinobu ultimately resolved to go to Kyoto himself and present the international situation to reverse the court's intentions, planning to depart Edo on October 8th with this determination. But Kyoto regarded this as contempt for court deliberations and ultimately stopped his journey to the capital. Moreover, regarding this second mission of imperial envoys, there were various instructions about how to treat them, which also caused confusion within the shogunate, with Yoshinaga once threatening to resign. Just as this matter seemed settled, what followed was yet another problem of Yoshinobu's resignation. At the time, Yoshinobu, as guardian, felt it was utterly unbearable to accept the imperial command for expulsion, which was clearly impossible in practice, so he sought to resign his position. The former lord of Tosa, Yōdō, who was then in Edo, was also greatly concerned and worked together with Yoshinaga. Amid all this great confusion, the imperial envoys arrived in Edo on October 28th, and during this period there was also the rampage of loyalist activists, making the shogunate's confusion indescribable. I should briefly mention here that when this Sanjō imperial envoy mission went east, they stayed at the house of Mr. Iida Takebei in Arai, which is mentioned in Hatano Takao's letters cited in the previous chapter, so referencing this would be quite fascinating, hence this brief interjection.
The main points brought by the imperial envoys were, as expected, urging the expulsion of foreigners, but the establishment of imperial troops was also an issue. However, as mentioned before, Yoshinobu stubbornly maintained that he could not accept this and would not easily change his mind about resigning. Thus Yoshinaga and Yōdō's efforts were extraordinary, but on November 4th
**Margin:**
Toyohashi City Historical Discourse (The Zenith and Setbacks of the Expulsion Party) 533