In response to the defeat of Qing Dynasty in the Opium Wars, Tadakuni shifted his foreign policy to more flexible one by amending the conventional edict to repel foreign vessels to the law to provide water and fuel for foreign ships, while he ordered Hidetatsu EGAWA and Shuhan TAKASHIMA to introduce the western style gunnery and the modern military buildup.
忠邦はまた、阿片戦争における清の敗北により、従来の外国船に対する異国船打払令を改めて薪水給与令を発令して柔軟路線に転換する一方、江川英龍や高島秋帆に西洋流砲術を導入させて、近代軍備を整えさせた。