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After the [[Makishi-Onga Incident]] of [[1859]], in which a number of high-ranking officials were accused of conspiring with [[Satsuma han]] officials behind the back of the royal court, Prince Ie led the investigation as ''kyûmei sô bugyô''<!--糺明総奉行--> (Chief Investigation Magistrate), putting pressure on the pro-Satsuma faction at court.<ref>Marco Tinello, "The termination of the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo : an investigation of the bakumatsu period through the lens of a tripartite power relationship and its world," PhD thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia (2014), 395.</ref>
After the [[Makishi-Onga Incident]] of [[1859]], in which a number of high-ranking officials were accused of conspiring with [[Satsuma han]] officials behind the back of the royal court, Prince Ie led the investigation as ''kyûmei sô bugyô''<!--糺明総奉行--> (Chief Investigation Magistrate), putting pressure on the pro-Satsuma faction at court.<ref>Marco Tinello, "The termination of the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo : an investigation of the bakumatsu period through the lens of a tripartite power relationship and its world," PhD thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia (2014), 395.</ref>
In July 1872, Prince Ie was named lead envoy on an embassy that would travel to Tokyo to pay respects to the Meiji Emperor. The following month, he was named ''[[Sessei]]'' (the top administrative position within the Ryukyuan government).<ref>Kawabata Megumu 川端恵, ''Shô Tai: Saigo no Ryûkyû ô'' 尚泰：最後の琉球王, Yamakawa shuppan (2019), 21.</ref>
He traveled to Tokyo in 1872 alongside [[Giwan Choho|Giwan Chôho]] and 35 others, meeting with the Meiji Emperor on 9/14, and being formally told that the kingdom was to be annexed by Japan as ''[[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]]'', and that King Shô Tai was to become "king" of that [[han|domain]]. While in Tokyo, he also attended the formal ceremony for the opening of Japan's first [[railroads|railway]], connecting [[Shinbashi]] and [[Sakuragicho Station|Yokohama]]. Following his return to Ryûkyû, Ie was named ''[[sessei]]'' (prime minister, or regent).
He traveled to Tokyo in 1872 alongside [[Giwan Choho|Giwan Chôho]] and 35 others, meeting with the Meiji Emperor on 9/14, and being formally told that the kingdom was to be annexed by Japan as ''[[Ryukyu han|Ryûkyû han]]'', and that King Shô Tai was to become "king" of that [[han|domain]]. While in Tokyo, he also attended the formal ceremony for the opening of Japan's first [[railroads|railway]], connecting [[Shinbashi]] and [[Sakuragicho Station|Yokohama]]. Following his return to Ryûkyû, Ie was named ''[[sessei]]'' (prime minister, or regent).