The resulting damage to the bakufu is…

The resulting damage to the bakufu is significant.

Debate over government policy is unusual and has engendered public criticism of the bakufu.

In the hope of enlisting the support of new allies, Abe, to the consternation of the fudai, had consulted with the shinpan and tozama daimyo further undermining the already weakened bakufu.

In the Ansei Reform (1854-56), Abe now tries to strengthen the regime by ordering Dutch warships and armaments from the Netherlands and building new port defenses.

In 1855 a naval training school with Dutch instructors is set up at Nagasaki, and a Western-style military school is established at Edo; by the next year, the government is translating Western books.

Opposition to Abe increases within fudai circles, which oppose opening bakufu councils to tozama daimyo, and he is replaced in 1855 as chairman of the senior councilors by Hotta Masayoshi (1810-64).