In 1868, Shuei asked for a promotion to the 4th dan level at the age of 17 with the consent of Honinbo and the Yasui family, but Matsumotoinseki INOUE opposed this and designated Tetsujiro KOBAYASHI, his disciple, as the opponent of Sogo (official challenge match).
1868年(明治元年)17歳の時に本因坊、安井家の同意で四段昇段を求めたが、井上松本因碩がこれに反対し、争碁の相手として門人の小林鉄次郎を指名した。