I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 753 Aoto's new name! [Genjuku Netachibana Akimori Aoto Moriharu] [6300]

  After Ii Naosuke was murdered...that is, since the "Sakuradamon Incident", the Sonjo faction has tasted the sweetness of "using physical means to eliminate dissidents."

From then on, the Sonnang faction became particularly fond of killing people.

He killed both clerks and ordinary people, and called it "heaven's punishment" and "doing justice on behalf of heaven."

When the Sonno Nikki Movement was in full swing, Kyoto was once shrouded in blood and gore.

The so-called "Four Great Killers" led by Kawakami Hikosai and Okada Izou became famous during this period.

It was not until the Shinsengumi entered Kyoto that the terrible situation of "the Sonjo faction killing people at will" was alleviated.

Once upon a time, many people in the Shinsengumi suggested to Qing Deng: Why don't we learn from the Sonjō faction and clear the obstacles with the most direct and violent means!

In fact, if Qingdeng also plays the trick of "sending assassins" and "assassination", it will definitely be a terrible nightmare for those people and forces that are hostile to Qingdeng.

  After all, Qing Deng owns the most powerful swordsman group in Kyoto!

It is not uncommon to find swordsmen with superb skills and top strength.

After the "Black Ship Incident", in order to resist the invading Westerners, a "martial arts fever" broke out across Japan, and a large amount of fresh blood poured into the Japanese swordsmanship world.

Not only has the number of people practicing sword increased, but the average level of swordsmen has also improved significantly.

  Having said that, swordsmen like Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Hajime and others who have both extraordinary skills and extremely rich practical experience are one in a hundred!

Whether or not one has experienced actual combat, whether or not one has seen blood - this is a watershed for warriors.

Once you cross this hurdle, your own strength will improve by leaps and bounds!

What's more, Qing Deng has two trump cards under his command, Souji and Mai Kinoshita.

Souji is the Shinsengumi's top general besides Aoto, and there is a huge gap between him and the others.

If Aoto is the TO of the Shinsengumi, then Souji is T1. The rest are all in T2 and below and are not qualified to be compared with the first two.

Even Serizawa, who has a proud personality and always acts like "God is the boss, earth is second, and I am the third", has to admit that Souji's strength is far above his.

As for Mai Kinoshita, there is no need to mention her. She is a female ninja who is proficient in body movement and infiltration.

In terms of assassination skills alone, I'm afraid even Qing Deng is not as good as her.

  Imagine this: what would happen if Qing Deng sent Souji, Kinoshita Mai, Nagakura Shinpachi and others out and ordered them to secretly eliminate all those who were enemies of the Shinsengumi like the "Four Great Killers" did?

It is no exaggeration to say that as long as Qing Deng has that intention, few people in the whole of Kyoto can escape his "hunt order"!

Those people and forces who are against the Shinsengumi should be thankful - in the face of the "assassination plan" proposed by his subordinates, Qing Deng firmly rejected it.

Qing Deng once announced publicly that he would never agree to assassination, either now or in the future.

Qing Deng always believed that if there is an organization that is very keen on assassination and likes to rely on assassination to eliminate dissidents and solve enemies, it means that this organization is really weak and has no real ability.

Because of incompetence, we can only rely on such low-level and despicable means to solve the problem.

The assassins of the Sonnang faction attacked everywhere, killing people in large numbers. At first glance, it seemed like a huge movement.

But the question is...does their assassination really work?

Human politics is far from being so simple that the problem can be solved directly by simply destroying one or two people!

Assassinating others is not only impossible to solve problems, but it may also intensify conflicts and even lead to bigger problems!

For example, the "Sakuradamon Incident" - after Ii Naosuke was killed, did the shogunate stop the expansion of the country? Did the Sonjo faction usher in the prosperity they wanted?

Absolutely not!

The murder of Ii Naosuke completely intensified the conflict between the pro-shogunate faction and the Sonjo faction, directly leading to the current chaotic times.

  The Sonnang faction killed so many people, from clerks to the elderly, the weak, women and children, leaving blood flowing everywhere. But did they ever achieve any political goals?

Not once.

Qing Deng disdains assassination and such low-level tactics.

If judged by the standards of a politician, Qingdeng is still a rookie.

However, he always kept two principles in mind.

One of them is "do not promote unknown teachers."

The second is "make more friends and fewer enemies".

He felt that as long as these two basic principles were grasped, it would be enough to do politics well.

All other theories and ideas are merely appropriate supplements to these two principles, or are outrageous and unorthodox practices.

When Qingdeng was still an unknown person, he was very keen on making friends, so his friends came from all walks of life.

He will show kindness to anyone who is possible and worth making friends with.

Whether it is the people like Saigo Yoshinosuke who are jumping around, or Yamauchi Dodo who has suddenly emerged, Qing Deng is very happy to interact with them.

He treated the court in the same way.

Even though he disliked the imperial court and looked down on it from the bottom of his heart for being noisy and incapable of getting practical work done, Qing Deng still held his nose and gritted his teeth, trying his best not to make enemies with it.

Any human being with a normal mind would not like a guy who is keen on assassinations.

  Who can guarantee that they will not be included in this person’s “assassination list” in the future?

Therefore, in the long run, being keen on assassinations will only greatly damage one's popularity.

Let alone other things, even if we only talk about practicality, "kill if you don't like it" is far behind "don't promote an unknown teacher".

No matter it was the previous Choshu, Tenchu-gumi, or the current Tosa Kinno-tō, Qing Deng adopted the strategy of "never taking action without the justice of sending troops" when facing every enemy.

While actively accumulating strength, he secretly waited for the best opportunity to fight.

After getting the righteous cause of sending troops, we will launch a thundering attack and crush these villains with the force of a mountain like crushing insects.

If you don’t take action, it’s fine. But once you take action, it will determine the outcome.

On the other hand, the Sonnang Faction assassinated so many people, but did not achieve any political results worthy of praise!

To give an illustrative example, the assassination activities of the Sonnang faction are like plucking out body hair. Although it is painful to have body hair pulled out, it does not hurt the root cause.

Qing Deng's method was to throw a heavy punch and knock down the opponent in one go.

All in all, no matter from which angle you look at it, Qing Deng has no reason to favor the assassin.

  When it comes to politics, the right way is to combine the ways of the king and the ways of the tyrant!

The so-called "assassination" is always something that is not worthy of being shown on the stage.

Even Takechi Hanpeita, who loved assassinations the most, never dared to nod and admit that he was the mastermind behind "Renzan Izang".

  Although the parties involved have vehemently denied it, everyone has already determined that the birth of "Hinzan Izo" must have been helped by Takechi Hanpeita!

What a pity that even to this day, no relevant substantive evidence has been obtained.

Okada Izo is an extremely important witness, so now is not the time to send him to the west.

As Takechi Hanpeita's "blade", Okada Izo must know a lot of unspeakable secrets, especially the dirty deeds of the Tosa Kinno Party.

Once he tells the truth, it will provide evidence of a series of crimes committed by Takechi Hanpeita.

In this way, Takechi Hanpeita could be sent to the deepest part of hell, and the last row of nails would be put in the coffin of the Tosa Kinno Party.

Following Qing Deng's order, the surrounding soldiers came forward one after another.

Okada Izo has completely lost the will to fight.

His mind was almost broken and he was easily pinned down like a dog.

In the blink of an eye, he became a tied-up "dumpling".

It was not until this time that Qing Deng had the leisure to check the talent he had just copied.

——“Yuan Yang +3”... Not bad.

Qing Deng slightly curled up the corners of his mouth, a happy smile appearing on his cheeks.

In this way, his "Yuan Yang" was raised to "+7", which is close to the maximum level.

There is no need to explain in detail the benefits of having abundant kidney qi.

Ever since he acquired this talent, Qing Deng felt that his physique had been strengthened a lot, and his physical and mental condition had greatly improved.

Having a clear mind, full of energy, and seemingly endless energy is one of the most practical talents.

Of course, the biggest change that this talent brought to Qing Deng was naturally... a huge increase in energy in "that aspect"!

Before, when he was still "Yuan Yang +4", his excessive energy made Souji very dissatisfied.

Qing Deng is a very busy man and is often very busy.

The Shinsengumi is like this. Souji and others only need to manage their respective squads wholeheartedly, but Aoto has a lot of things to consider.

Therefore, Qing Deng could not be intimate with Souji anytime and anywhere.

As a result, he often encounters the embarrassing situation of "holding it in for a long time".

Souji is fine, her energy in "that aspect" is just at the average person's level.

This is not the case with Qing Deng... His energy, which far exceeds that of ordinary people, always makes him feel uncomfortable because he cannot release it in time.

There was a day when Qing Deng hugged Souji for the first time in a long time, and he worked hard - that night, Souji didn't even have the strength to move a finger.

Nowadays, "Yuan Yang + 4" has become "Yuan Yang + 7"...

Qing Deng didn't even dare to imagine how abundant his "energy" would be now!

——It’s time to seriously plan my marriage with Sanako and the others.

Qing Deng thought to himself half jokingly and half seriously.

Although he accidentally lost his focus, he quickly regained his composure.

Now is not the time to think about such things.

Qing Deng took a deep breath, temporarily suppressed these messy thoughts, and then began to review the battle just now.

To be honest, in his opinion, the threat posed by Okada Izo was not even as great as that posed by Kawakami Hikosai.

Not to mention personal strength, even in terms of psychological quality, the former is not even worthy of carrying shoes for the latter.

After being suppressed, Kawakami Hikosai still retained his fighting spirit and tried to fight back.

In comparison, Okada Izo's psychological quality is really terrible.

After discovering the huge gap between himself and Qing Deng, his mentality collapsed. He played worse and worse, more and more outrageous, and finally he even became a trembling "ostrich".

After all, he was a swordsman who was feared throughout Kyoto, but he ended up like this... It's really sad.

Qing Deng sheathed his sword and murmured in a voice that only he could hear clearly:

"I didn't even break a sweat... How boring..."

……

……

at the same time--

Somewhere in the other direction——

“Huff…! Huff…! Huff…! Huff…!”

With a knife in hand, Takechi Hanpeita pushed aside the branches that blocked his way, kicked the mud and grass, and fled.

Although he had just said to Okada Izo with great righteousness, "Go away and don't worry about me," after seeing the other party trying to attract the attention of the Shinsengumi for him, he finally chose to turn around and run away.

This forest is not big.

In a short moment, he suddenly felt enlightened—a dazzling light appeared in front of him!

Almost out of the woods!

Looking at the light that was getting closer and closer in front of him, a look of relief slowly appeared on Takechi Hanpeita's cheeks.

However... in just a moment, his "relaxation" turned into "stiffness".

  Because when he rushed out of the woods, what came into his eyes were rows after rows of light green!

Dozens of Shinsengumi soldiers waiting here were arranged in a tight formation.

Souji, Kamo Serizawa, and Niimi Nishiki stood side by side at the front of the formation.

"Takechi Hanpeita, surrender!"

Xin Jianjin put his hand on the knife and said in a deep voice:

  "To be honest, I admire you. If you can just surrender..." Before Niimi Nishiki could finish her words, she was interrupted by Serizawa Kame:

"Jin, don't talk nonsense with him!"

Serizawa Duck carried the knife on his shoulder and tilted his head:

"Boy, surrender quickly! Don't waste our time!"

"..."

The chief said nothing.

She just silently pulled out the Kaga Kiyomizu from her waist, ready to fight at any time.

"..."

Another person who remained silent was Takechi Hanpeita.

He frowned, pursed his lips, adjusted his breathing, and rolled his eyes, looking sideways to glance at Souji and others who were blocking his way.

After a while, he slowly held the knife in front of him and assumed the upper position.

Upper part - only focusing on attacking and ignoring defense.

He gave a firm answer with silent movements.

At this point, Souji and others no longer hesitated.

In the blink of an eye, Souji, Serizawa Kame and Niimi Nishiki rushed forward!

Justice three against one!

Takechi Hanpeita stepped forward fearlessly to meet him.

Although his struggle was heroic, it could not change the already inevitable outcome.

The first person to arrive was Souji.

Souji approached with smooth movements, and swung his blade diagonally, striking Takechi Hanpeita's wrist like lightning.

Takechi Hanpeita exerted all his strength to deflect the attack.

Souji took advantage of the situation and rushed forward, and the two men passed each other and exchanged positions.

The next moment, the swords in their hands turned back ahead of their bodies - the two swords clashed again.

The clanging of metal was deafening.

At this time, Kamo Serizawa and Niimi Nishiki arrived one after another and joined the battle.

The three of them each occupied a corner, forming an equilateral triangle, surrounding Takechi Hanpeita in the middle.

For a moment, the flashes of swords and the shadows of sabers danced between heaven and earth.

Takechi Hanpeita is indeed the top swordsman with unrivaled strength in Tosa.

  Despite being in a desperate situation of being alone against three people, he actually held on for a while!

Even the foul-mouthed Serizawa couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his skills and perseverance.

But unfortunately... in the face of such a one-sided and unfavorable battle situation, he could only hold on for "a while".

After fighting for countless rounds, Takechi Hanpeita was clearly at a disadvantage.

The offensive of the three men grew stronger and stronger, and he was soon suppressed.

Anyone could see that if he continued like this, he would be defeated in no time.

  Takechi Hanpeita gritted his teeth and thought: I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well give it a try!

When he thought of this, he immediately decided to turn from defense to offense!

He saw that Niimi Nishiki was the weakest, so he planned to use this as a breakthrough point.

He raised the tip of his knife and switched to the Blue Eyes stance in one breath.

At the moment when his sword changed from mid-section to blue-eye, his sword briefly left the midline of his body - this fleeting flaw was clearly seen by Souji!

Souji took aim, took a quick step forward, and slashed with his sword without hesitation—

  hum!

Kaga Kiyomitsu drew a graceful arc in the air and hit the blade of Takechi Hanpeita's sword.

The blade and back of a samurai sword can withstand great force, but the blade is very fragile.

Once the blade is hit hard, it is easy to be damaged or broken.

So, as expected, with a crisp sound of "clang", Takechi Hanpeita's sword broke into two pieces.

The upper half of the broken blade flew out horizontally and fell into a ditch not far away.

The general's offensive is not over yet.

After breaking the sword with one strike, she pulled Kaga Kiyomitsu back and slapped Takechi Hanpeita's cheek with the blade.

This is a big piece of iron.

Being hit in the face with something so hard and thick...it must not feel good.

Takechi Hanpeita cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

Half of his cheek swelled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He seemed to want to get up.

But after struggling for a few times, he was ultimately succumbed to the dizziness that attacked his brain.

  His eyelids sank little by little - at the moment when he completely closed his eyes, a strong look of unwillingness flashed in his eyes.

Seeing that the other party had finally lost consciousness, Souji let out a long sigh and then turned to look at his subordinates not far away.

"Tell Tachibana-kun that we have successfully captured Takechi Hanpeita."

……

……

In just half a day, the "Tosa Loyalist Party" was completely turned into a historical term that was eliminated.

The top leaders of the organization, led by Takechi Hanpeita, were all caught in one fell swoop, and no one survived.

Qing Deng packed them up, loaded them into a car, and immediately sent them to Tosa Domain.

The Shinsengumi's full support soon won a positive response from the Yamaguchi Dojo.

He was tactful enough to return the favour.

Not only did he promise "generous rewards", but he also said very enthusiastically: We Tosa will be the Shinsengumi's eternal friends!

Qing Deng did not take Shantou Tang's slightly corny words to heart.

An old fox like Shantou Dougao is best at telling lies with open eyes.

However, Qing Deng did not object to this.

He was not afraid to deal with savvy politicians because their behavior was predictable.

As soon as the Tosa Kinno Party and the Seikawa Party were destroyed, the "mole" bribed by Qing Deng - Ikeda Toritaro - was eager to find Qing Deng.

His purpose was simple, he just hoped Qing Deng could fulfill his promise.

A reward of 12,000 taels of gold and a residence permit in Nagasaki - just for these two things, he "jumped" to the Qingdeng camp regardless of his own safety.

When he approached Qing Deng, he looked very nervous.

It seems that he is afraid that Qing Deng will destroy his bridge after crossing it.

It's normal for him to have such concerns.

With the demise of the Tosa Kinno Party and the Kiyokawa Party, he was no longer of any use.

In this case, there is nothing strange about being killed to silence the witness.

However, he was obviously worrying too much.

First of all, Qing Deng hates assassinations, he only likes to kill people openly.

Secondly, don't go back on your word on such a small matter.

Moreover, Toritaro Ikeda did make remarkable contributions.

It was precisely because of him that the Shinsengumi was able to annihilate the Seikawa Party and the Tosa Kinno Party in succession within one day.

It is neither moral nor reasonable to treat such meritorious officials unfairly.

Qing Deng immediately fulfilled his promise.

He readily paid him a reward of 12,000 taels of gold and at the same time helped him get a residence permit in Nagasaki.

After getting the money, Toritaro Ikeda immediately rushed to Shimabara to redeem the prostitute he fell in love with.

Afterwards, he took the prostitute and rushed to Nagasaki without stopping, not daring to stay in Kyoto for long - probably because he was afraid of meeting an "old friend".

In short, Qing Deng's relationship with him ended here.

Whether Ikeda Toritaro lives or dies, whether he and the prostitute can live a peaceful and happy life... all these are none of his business.

Never seeing each other again for the rest of their lives is the best connection between them.

After seeing off Ikeda Toritaro, Qing Deng began to handle the trial of the Qinghe Party.

There's actually nothing to deal with.

The Shinsengumi Law clearly stipulates that those who betray the country and collaborate with the enemy will be executed on the spot!

It's written in black and white, and it's clear at a glance.

With the assistance of Toritaro Ikeda, Qing Deng had a lot of evidence that "Qiyukawa Hachiro was plotting a rebellion."

The evidence is irrefutable, there is nothing to examine.

Two days later, Kiyokawa Hachiro and his accomplices were pushed to Sanjo River and beheaded in public.

Until the moment he was executed, Kiyokawa Hachiro was still shouting, "I have made great contributions to the Shinsengumi! Let me meet Mr. Tachibana!"

……

……

Choshu was evacuated, the Tosa Loyalist Party was gone, and Kyoto ushered in the long-awaited peace.

The pro-shogunate faction won a complete victory, and the air in Kyoto was no longer filled with the tense atmosphere of confrontation.

Soon, production and life in and outside Kyoto began to gradually recover.

In recent days, people can always be seen having heated discussions in social places such as pubs, teahouses, and bathhouses.

What they discussed was surprisingly consistent.

From big names in the military and political circles such as Saigo Yoshinosuke and Matsudaira Yoshiyasu to ordinary people, everyone is looking forward to it - they are all waiting for the shogunate to reward Aoto!

What is certain at present is that Qingdeng will definitely become a great name with a state and a country.

It would be unjust if he didn't become famous this time.

Therefore, the main concern of the military and political leaders is where Qingdeng will be granted fiefdom and how much land he will get.

The location of Qing Deng's fiefdom and the scope of the territory he obtained would greatly affect the political landscape in the next few years or even decades! All parties had to pay close attention.

Under everyone's eager anticipation... Unexpectedly, the reward from the shogunate has not arrived yet, but the reward from the imperial court has come first!

On September 9, the Emperor issued an imperial edict.

This imperial edict consisted of hundreds of words, and the various difficult sentences made one's tongue tied and head ache when reading it.

  To sum it up, it can be roughly summarized in one sentence - Tachibana Moriharu defeated the enemy in Yamato, clarified the universe, and made contributions to the country, so he was given the surname "Sukune"! His official position jumped two levels and was promoted to Aki no Kami!

From now on, Qingdeng will have a brand new name——

  Genjuku Ni Tachibana Akimori Aoto Moriharu!

*******

*******

Today is another 6,000 leopards! Leopard has been so kind recently, if you don't vote for him, it would be too unreasonable! (crying leopard head.jpg)

Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

  Volume 3 is finally coming to an end!

By the next volume, Qing Deng is almost ready to get married.

You should also be able to see that Leopard is promoting Qing Deng's marriage recently~~