Fukui Domain (2/2)The Echizen Matsudaira family continued to rule until the Meiji period.

Yoshikuni Matsudaira, the 8th lord of the domain, followed the wishes of his adoptive father, Masachika, and focused his efforts on financial reconstruction. Since his policy coincided with that of the 8th Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, he gained a great deal of trust from Tokugawa Yoshimune, and the Fukui clan was given custody of 100,000 koku of Tenryo in Echizen. Ten years after becoming the feudal lord, he died at the age of 41.

Munemasa Matsudaira, the 9th lord of the domain, was the third son of Masakatsu Matsudaira, the first lord of the Matsuoka domain. He became lord in his mid-40s, but died at the age of 50. Munenori Matsudaira, the 10th lord of the domain, succeeded in rebuilding the domain's finances for a time by implementing good governance. Unfortunately, he passed away at the young age of 35.

Shigemasa Matsudaira, the 11th lord of the domain, became lord at the age of 10 and died young at the age of 16. During the reign of the 12th lord, Shigetomi Matsudaira, the country's finances deteriorated further and uprisings occurred frequently. From then on, three generations of feudal lords passed away young, up to the 16th lord, Shungaku Matsudaira.

Shungaku Matsudaira, the 16th lord of the domain, was a cousin of the 12th shogun, Ieyoshi Tokugawa, and is also known as the author of ``Itsuji Shiho,'' an important historical document from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. After becoming the lord of the domain at the age of only 11, from 1839, he carried out a bold financial restructuring by halving the stipends of all feudal retainers for three years and reducing the lord's own expenses for five years. achieved some success.

At the same time, he developed close friendships with various feudal lords, including Nariaki Tokugawa, Nariakira Shimazu, the lord of the Satsuma domain, and Masahiro Abe, the head of the Roju. insists on strengthening. However, he later became a proponent of opening up the country and submitted a petition to the shogunate that advocated the active opening of the country.

He was also involved in the succession issue of the 13th shogun, Iesada Tokugawa, and opposed the Nanki faction, which recommended Yoshifuku Tokugawa, the lord of the Kishu domain, as the next shogun, and recommended Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi. Many people are probably familiar with this process, as it is often covered in detail in dramas and novels set at the end of the Edo period. Afterwards, Matsudaira Shungaku disagreed with Dairo Ii Naosuke and was suspended in the Great Prison of the Ansei era, but when Ii Naosuke was assassinated during the Sakuradamon Gai Incident, he returned to the shogunate government and became the head of political affairs in 1862. After assuming the position, he worked hard to reform the shogunate government. In addition, he served as a liaison between the shogunate and the imperial court as a member of the Kobu Gattaiha, and worked hard to protect the Tokugawa family during the Boshin War. From the perspective of the new Meiji government, he was an enemy, but even after the Meiji Restoration, he held various positions including Gijei, Minister of Civil Affairs, Minister of Finance, and University Betto and Chamberlain.

Furthermore, when Shungaku Matsudaira was confined in the Great Prison of Ansei, the last lord of the domain, Shigeaki Matsudaira, succeeded him and became the last lord of the domain, but he had no real power and was almost a puppet.

Fukui domain summary

The Fukui domain was the domain of the Echizen Matsudaira family as the parent domain of the Tokugawa family, but due to frequent natural disasters, the internal situation of the domain was very difficult, and the domain lords had been struggling for generations. There is a theory that the restoration of imperial rule went smoothly because of his fame and his success.
The Echizen Matsudaira family still exists today, and the current head is in his 20th generation.