it consisted originally of the dregs of the soshi - the unemployed samurai who were left high and dry after the meiji restoration of about a hundred years ago - but it later recruited terrorists , gangsters , fascist politicos , cashiered officers from the navy and army , secret agents , soldiers of fortune and other riff-raff , but also big men in industry and finance , and even the occasional cabinet minister who found black dragon support of much practical value when dirty work had to be done .