67 Hashimoto Keigaku Among those sacrificed during the Great Ansei Purge who should be lamented were two are the most worthy of being mourned. They were two whose stature surpassed all others for the previous several centuries, and whose like had not been seen again in the hundred-odd-years since. Who were these two ? The first was Hashimoto Keigaku (Hashimoto Sanai), and the second was Yoshida Shouin (Yoshida Torajirou). Keigaku was executed on the 7th day of the 10th month of the 6th year of Ansei (1859) at the age of twenty-five. Shouin was executed shortly after, on the 27th, at the age of twenty-nine. Although they were young, they had incredible insight and most certainly were geniuses. After their deaths, their teachings guided the Meiji government. Let us take a brief look at them. (an omission) Keigake went to meet Saigou Takamori, seeking his help in his great undertaking for Japan. (an omission) This is the general gist of Keigaku's scheme for handling the national crisis, which so impressed Saigou Takamori and Kawaji Saemon-no-jou Toshiakira: 1. The Ploblem of Foreign Intercourse The sakoku (closed-door) policy existed without good reason. Moreover, it was unviable under existing circumstances. They had to open the country up resolutely and begin commerce with the nations of the world. At the same time, Japan would hold firmly to the teaching of loyalty, fililality, and morality, and she sould teach these qualities to the foreigners. In return for that, it would be acceptable to gain the material culture and precision machinery from the West. (an omission) 2. The Problem of Shogunal Succession If one were resolved that the opening of the country would lead to a war with either England or Russia, this was a problem important to the fate of the nation. The shougun was the central figure in the government. For the sake of the national polity, it was necessary to select an intelligent man who would not make mistakes in his handling of the government. (an omission) 3. Reform of the Government Given the opening of the country and the acceptance of the possibility of war, the structure of government that Japan had had to that point could not continue. (an omission) This was generally what Keigaku's great plan for Japan was. At no point in the plan is there anything selfish, nor is there any obstinacy shown. Still, Keigaku's carrying of this plan around to the Court, the shogunate, and to other daimyou was criminal. Why did the tairou Ii Naosuke condemn him to death ? Naosuke stubbornly thought to maintain the existing governmental system of the Tokugawa shogunate. Since the time of Ieyasu, the shogunate had received the mandate of the Imperial Court and acted independently to govern Japan. Whether to close the country or open it, and who should decide whom should succeed to the office of shougun, and indeed on any aspect of the authority of the shogunate, was the shogunate's business. There was no call for Keigaku to approach the Court or to think of asking the various daimyou for their opinions. For Ii, the ones who may judge the shogunate were limited to the tairou and roujuu (elders) chosen from among the fudai (hereditary vassal) daimyou who are high-ranking officials of the shogunate; not the go-sanke (main branches of the Tokugawa family), nor a shinpan (daimyou related to the Tokugawa), and especially not retainers. Ii Naosuke was at the head of the list of those high-ranking shogunate officials, and as the tairou was acting as the shougun's agent. For him, the audacity of people sticking their noses into affairs of state - be they important ministers of the Court or evn members of the go-sanke - must be condemned, and all the more condemned should be a mere retainer acting out on his own authority. This was the thinking that led to Hashimoto Keigaku's execution. When Mizuno Chikugo-no-kami Tadanori, the superintendent of the treasury, observed this, he said, "The tairou Ii's killing of Hashimoto Sanai is enough to bring down the Tokugawa house." Someone had to take the blame for all of this. Ii - and the shogunate - eventually would take the blame. But before that, we must take a look at the other person who should be mourned: Yoshida Shouin.

　

67　橋本景岳 　 　安政の大獄に犠牲となった人々、いずれも惜しむべきであります中に、最も惜しい人 物が二人あります。それは過去幾百年の間に、かって現れなかった偉大なる人物であり 、それより今日に至る百数十年の中にも、まだこれだけの人物は出ていないからであり ます。二人とは誰か。一人は橋本景岳（通称左内）、一人は吉田松陰（通称寅次郎）、 これであります。景岳は安政六年（西暦一八五九年）十月七日殺された時、二十六歳で した。松陰は少し遅れて十月二十七日に斬られましたが、年齢は三十歳でありました。 かように若かったのでありますが、その人物識見は抜群であって、真に天才と云うべき であり、その教えは没後において明治の御代の指針となってきたのでありますから、そ の概略をお話しましょう。 （中略） 　 　景岳は西郷隆盛をたずねて、国家の重大事について協力を求めました。（中略） 　それではその、西郷を心服せしめ、川路左衛門尉を屈服せしめたところの、景岳の国 難打開策は、どういう内容であったか、と云いますと、大体次の通りです。 （一）外交問題。鎖国と云う事は、もともと道理にもかなわず、その上今日の情勢では 不可能に属する故、断然国を開いて、世界万国と交易し、忠孝仁義の教えは自ら固く之 を守ると共に、外国にも之を教え、その代わりに物質文明、精密機械は外国より採り入 れるが良い。（中略） （二）将軍後嗣の問題。開国はやがてイギリス又はロシアとの一戦を覚悟しなければな らぬとすれば、それは国家浮沈の一大事である。従って政局の担当者である将軍には、 国体に明らかであって大局の判断を誤らない英明の人物を選定しなければならぬ。（中 略） （三）政治の大改革。ゆくゆくは一戦を覚悟しての開国であるから、政治機構を今まで 通りにしているわけにはゆかぬ。（中略） 　 　景岳の雄大なる国策が、どういうものであったかは、以上で大体お分かりでしょう。 そこには一点の私も無く、また何一つ頑固なところもありません。しかるに景岳は、こ の国策をひっさげて、朝廷に説き、幕府に説き、諸藩に説いたために罪せられたのであ りました。何故に井伊大老が之を死刑にしたかと云えば、井伊は徳川幕府従来の体制を 頑固に維持して行こうと考え、家康以来天下の政治は、朝廷より御委任を受けて幕府の 専決するところであって、国を鎖ざすか開くかも、将軍の後嗣に誰を選ぶかも、すべて 幕府の権限に属し、今更朝廷の思し召しをうかがう必要もなければ、諸藩の意志を聞こ うとは思わない、そして幕府において之を破断する者は、御三家御三卿でも無ければ、 親藩でも無く、将軍の高級幕僚たる溜の間詰の譜代大名のうち、選ばれて大老たり、老 中たる者に限る、もともと井伊はその高級幕僚の筆頭であり、そして今や大老として将 軍代行の地位に在る、井伊を差し措いて、国家の重大事に嘴をさしはさむ者は、朝廷の 重臣であろうとも、御三家であろうとも、その僭越は咎められねばならぬ、まして陪臣 たる者が越権にも何を云うのだ。かような考えによって、橋本景岳は斬られたのであり ました。勘定奉行水野筑後守は之を見て、「井伊大老が橋本左内を殺したるの一事、以 て徳川氏を亡ぼすに足れり」と云いました。人は、それぞれその行為の責任を取らなけ ればならないのです。井伊は、また幕府は、やがてその責任を取るでしょう。然しその 前に、今一人の惜しむべき犠牲者、吉田松陰について語らねばなりません。

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