Bingo Fukuyama Domain (1/2)Ruled by the powerful Fudai daimyo family

The Bingo Fukuyama domain was a domain that ruled over the eastern and southern parts of Hiroshima Prefecture and the southwestern part of Bicchu, which was known as ``Bingo Province'' during the Edo period. With a total of 100,000 koku (110,000 koku from the 7th lord of the Abe family, Masahiro Abe), he cannot be called a ``great daimyo'' in terms of stone, but he continued to be ruled by powerful fudai daimyos who were closer to the Tokugawa shogunate than the first generation Mizuno clan. It's a clan.
Let's unravel the history of the Bingo Fukuyama domain.

How the Bingo Fukuyama Domain was born

Bingo, including Fukuyama, was originally the territory of Masanori Fukushima, a powerful feudal lord who served both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
However, Masanori Fukushima was accused of violating the samurai laws.

Additionally, from Bingo to the west, there were many powerful daimyo, including the Mori family, who sided with the western army at the Battle of Sekigahara.
Therefore, Bingo Fukuyama was given to Katsunari Mizuno, a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, as a key location in Chinzei.
Then, Katsunari Mizuno built Fukuyama Castle, developed the castle town, and opened the Bingo Fukuyama domain.

Katsunari Mizuno is a military commander with a legend that he ran away from the daimyo he had served many times and wandered all over the country, but after establishing the Bingo Fukuyama domain, he took over Mimura Chikanari, who had served as a vassal during his wandering days, in Koroku. He builds up a group of vassals by taking advantage of the connections he made during his wanderings, such as working as a retainer.

He also worked hard to develop the castle town, building a water supply network (Fukuyama Old Water Supply) that was second in size to Kanda Water Supply, and bringing a canal from the Seto Inland Sea to the castle.
Katsunari Mizuno was a feudal lord who worked almost like an active worker all his life, including leading his grandson to participate in the Shimabara Rebellion at the age of 75.

Katsutoshi Mizuno, who succeeded him, continued his father's wishes and did his best to improve the castle town.

Katssusada Mizuno, the third lord of the domain, created a prostitute town in the castle town and actively appointed fresh-born samurai, but when he suddenly died at the age of 38, he encountered opposition from the retainers, and Katssusada Mizuno gave him an important position. A riot broke out in the Mizuno family, in which five of his close aides were forced to die.

The fourth generation, Katsutane Mizuno, was blessed with seven sons, but all of them died young, and he himself died at the young age of 36.

The fifth generation, Katsumi Mizuno, took over as head of the family when he was only one year and a few months old, and died the following year, leaving the Mizuno family without an heir, and after the Bingo-Fukuyama domain came under direct control of the shogunate, he became the first lord of the Kuwana domain. After Tadamasa Matsudaira ruled for a while, Masakuni Abe came from the Iwatsuki domain as the seventh lord.

The Abe family is a family of feudal lords of the Iwatsuki domain, and Masakuni Abe is the second son of the second lord, Masataka Abe.
The Abe family became the lord of the Bingo Fukuyama domain until the end of the Edo period.
Masakuni Abe was already 53 years old when he was transferred to the Fukuyama domain, and is said to have been confused by this change at first.
However, when he entered Fukuyama in 1711, he became actively involved in politics within the domain.

Masafuku Abe, the second and eighth lord of the Abe family, served as lord for 34 years, but natural disasters and peasant uprisings occurred frequently.

Masafuku Abe tried to rebuild the domain by purging discipline and making corvée fairer, but the domain government suffered a major blow due to the Great Kyoho Famine, and was ordered by the shogunate to construct the Tone River. was on the verge of poverty.

The 9th lord of the domain, Masasuke Abe, was involved in the administration of the shogunate and had almost no involvement in the politics of the domain, and the 10th lord, Masamichi Abe, also held important positions in the shogunate, such as roju (roju).
However, the domain's finances were on the verge of bankruptcy, and it even received loans from the Jojo Bank, run by the Iwami Ginzan Ginzan Magistrate.