I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 832 The truth is revealed! Boss Kiryu's true identity is revealed! [4800]

In the Edo period, being an executioner was considered an unclean job and not a respectable position.

Generally speaking, the people who are responsible for doing the dirty work of killing people and dealing with corpses at the execution ground are all pariahs who are not considered human beings...that is, Eta and Heni.

In such an environment, the Yamada Asaemon family seemed particularly different - they were a family of executioners who specialized in killing people, but they enjoyed a very high social status.

In fact, the main job of the Yamada Asaemon family was not to kill people, but to test swords for the general. They were the sword testers of the shogunate.

For the general public who have no money or power, the most common way to test their knives is to chop wood or bamboo mats.

However, no matter how hard and thick wood or bamboo mats are, they cannot perfectly replicate the density and texture of the human body.

It's really boring to chop such mundane things, and you can't test the true sharpness of the blade.

The only function of a sword is to kill.

Therefore, if you want to test the true sharpness of the blade, you have to chop someone!
Therefore, there are often some cruel and perverted people who, in order to test the sharpness of a new knife, hide at the street corner late at night, ambush passers-by, and kill people to test the knife.

This behavior is called "Tsuji-slashing".

Many innocent people died tragically at the hands of these beasts.

When generals, daimyo and other important figures wanted to test their swords, they would certainly not use things like wood or bamboo mats that would lower their status.

Most of them will use three methods of testing knives: "testing on living people", "testing on dead people" or "testing on hard objects".

The first two are easy to understand, which is to use living or dead people to test the knife.

As for the "hard object test", it is to chop hard objects such as helmets and armor.

The "Living Test" is too cruel, so the official never uses this method - at least not openly.

Therefore, the most mainstream official method of testing swords is still the "dead man test".

In the early Edo period, a swordsman named Yamano Kaemon is considered to be the first professional sword tester.

It is said that he tried to behead more than 6000 corpses in his lifetime.

His son Yamano Kanjuro inherited his mantle and became not only the shogunate's sword tester, but also the shogunate's executioner, specifically responsible for executing death row prisoners.

Unfortunately, his descendants were not proficient in swordsmanship and were unable to perform the tasks of testing swords and executing people.

For this reason, the Yamano family's positions as the royal sword tester and royal executioner were removed.

Afterwards, several of Yamano Kanjuro's disciples took on the role of trial executioner.

The first ones were Jūroemon Washi and Chodai Matsumoto.

After the death of these two people, only one person was left - his name was Yamada Asaemon Sadaetake.

In 1736, Sadauchi submitted a request to the shogunate to allow his son Yoshitoki to succeed him.

In this way, the Yamada Asaemon family officially became the shogunate's official sword-tester, and sword-testing became a profession monopolized by them.

The reason why the Yamada Asaemon family was able to receive this honor was, firstly, because their swordsmanship was indeed superb, and secondly, because Sadaemon was a relative of the shogun's concubine.

Since Sadaemon's time, the Yamada Asaemon family has inherited the position of "Koshimono Bugyo" and enjoyed a salary of more than 1,000 koku.

As the name suggests, "waist object" means the knife on the waist.

The main responsibility of the obimono-no-buyo was to manage the general's swords, the swords bestowed upon the daimyo, and the swords presented by the daimyo.

Of course, on the surface they were responsible for keeping the swords, but in fact, their main job was to help the general test the swords.

Whenever the general got a new sword, he would order the Yamada Asaemon family to test the sword.

The corpses were pulled from the execution ground, and the toughness and sharpness of the swords were tested by chopping off different parts of the corpses.

In this way, the concept of "dōzhan" was derived.

"Dozan" is an important indicator to measure the quality of a sword.

"Yitangzan" means to cut a human body in half with one strike of the sword.

You know, the human body is not that easy to cut.

The human body has both flexible skin and hard bones.

A knife that can cut off a body with one strike is considered to be of high quality.

The "Sando Zhan" is a rare sword.

The current record is the "Seven-Do Slash" set by Yamano Kaemon.

At that time, Yamano Kaemon, holding the famous sword Kanefusa, stood on a high platform, jumped down quickly, and with just one sword he chopped off seven stacked corpses.

After testing their swords, the Yamada Asaemon clan would carefully record the results, which was called "origami", and keep them carefully as a basis for assessing the value of the swords.

Not only that, they would also engrave the test results of the sword on the blade - such as how many slashes were completed - and then engrave their own names on it to prove that the sword was indeed tested by the Yamada Asaemon family.

The continuous accumulation of experience in trial swordplay, coupled with the noble status of "the shogunate's official sword tester", made the Yamada Asaemon family have absolute authority in swords.

As long as the sword is approved by the Yamada Asaemon family, it is definitely a good sword - this concept is deeply rooted in people's minds.

If a sword can be recognized and praised by the Yamada Asaemon family, then the economic value and collection value of the sword will rise sharply!
Therefore, the daimyo and dignitaries of the feudal domains often hired the children of the Yamada Asaemon family to help them test their swords.

The Yamada Asaemon family was also happy to earn this extra money.

In 1797, the third generation king, Yamada Asaemon Yoshitsugu, compiled a picture book called "Hoken Huaishaku" based on the sword-testing data left by his predecessors.

This illustrated handbook records the famous swords in the world and divides them into four grades: "the best swords", "the best swords", "the best swords", and "the best swords".

With the release and publication of this book, the Yamada Asaemon family's absolute authority in the sword appraisal world was further confirmed.

Although the main job of the Yamada Asaemon family is sword testing, compared to "knife testers", their other identity - executioners - is more famous!

Because of their superb swordsmanship, they were responsible for serving as executioners at the execution ground in addition to testing their swords.

Beheading is a technical job that not just anyone can do - this was especially true during the Edo period.

According to the regulations of the Edo period, beheading was not just about chopping off the head.

You have to chop off the head, but you can't chop off the head completely.

After the head is chopped off, there must be a layer of skin left connecting the head to the torso - this way of beheading is called "holding the head".

If the head is chopped off, it would be a very serious work error and you will be punished.

If you want to chop off the head beautifully, the best place to cut is the gap between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae.

In order to hone their swordsmanship, the Yamada Asaemon family created a very unique practice method - stacking two tatami mats vertically together, and then using a knife to split the gap between the two tatami mats.

The gap is at most one or two millimeters, not much wider than the blade.

To make the blade accurately cut into this gap... you can imagine how difficult it is!

No matter how he swung the sword, as long as he made a move, the blade would be able to accurately cut into the gaps between the tatami mats - only by doing this could he be considered a successful master.

With a strong family heritage and plenty of training opportunities, all the descendants of Yamada Asaemon's family are great swordsmen with superb swordsmanship!

Their swordsmanship was terrifyingly fast and accurate! They had an extremely precise control over their own strength!
If I say I will cut your eyebrows, I will never cut your eyes.

How many people have the Yamada Asaemon clan killed over the years?

No one can count them.

Even if we take a conservative view, there are at least tens of thousands of people!
A family that has killed tens of thousands of people over the past hundred years...it is not an exaggeration to call them the "executioner family"!

In addition to the "Executioner Family", they also have names such as "Shukiri Asauemon" and "Hitman Asauemon".

Those who made mistakes and had to commit seppuku to apologize would even hire descendants of the Yamada Asaemon family to act as their scapegoats in order to make their death more painful.

The current head of the Yamada Asaemon family is named Yamada Asaemon Kishi.

When Qing Deng was still a fellow of the Northern Barbarians, he had met this man several times.

According to the shogunate regulations, whenever a criminal was to be executed, the officials in charge of the case, Yoriki and Doshin, had to go to the execution site to observe in person.

In this way, Qing Deng had met Yamada Asaemon Yoshitoshi several times at close range at the execution ground.

The deepest impression the other party left on Qing Deng was... "coldness".

His face was expressionless and his eyes were as sharp as knives.

He mechanically moved to the side of the criminal, then mechanically drew his sword, and then mechanically swung the sword again.

The decisiveness and determination of the knife-drawing was chilling.

It seemed that in its eyes, the victim was not a living human being at all, but just a pile of meat.

But on the other hand, his swordsmanship is so advanced that it is truly astonishing!
His movements were as smooth as flowing water, he made light work of heavy objects, and his knife strikes were so precise that it seemed as if they had been measured with a ruler.

The blade cut into the gap between the third and fourth joints of the back of the neck exactly, cutting off the head and leaving only a layer of skin as thin as a cicada's wing and even faintly translucent.

He clearly used enough force to sever tendons and break bones to chop off the head, but he was able to retract the force in time, leaving such a thin layer of skin...

Thinking about it now, Qing Deng is still amazed. At that moment, the idea that "the Yamada Asaemon family lives up to its name" was deeply rooted in Qing Deng's heart.

It is worth mentioning that after Yoshida Shoin, the mentor of the "Three Heroes of Choshu" and the spiritual guide of the Sonjo faction, was arrested by the shogunate in 1859, his head was chopped off by Yamada Asaemon Yoshiharu.

Qing Deng thought that after leaving Beifanso, he would no longer have any dealings with this gloomy family.

He never expected... that he would be related to the children of this family in this way!

Whatever.

No matter what, there is only one thing to do now - find Boss Kiryu and confront him face to face!
……

……

The first year of Yuanzhi (1864), June 7th——

Osaka, the headquarters of Huluya——

"Mr. Ju, please come this way."

Led by others, Qing Deng strode towards the depths of the mansion.

In a moment, an exquisite courtyard came into Qingdeng's sight.

"Jujun, how are you?"

In the center of the courtyard, Mr. Kiryu held a bowl of bait in his hand and leisurely threw the bait into the pond at his feet to feed the koi in the pond.

Seeing Qing Deng coming, he immediately put on a gentle smile.

"I've heard about the 'Battle of Ikedaya' a while ago."

"Congratulations, you have accomplished another great feat."

At this point, Mr. Kiryu changed the subject and adopted a confused tone:
"At this critical moment right after the war, you should have a lot of things to do, why did you suddenly come to find me?"

Qing Deng ignored his questions, strode towards him, and said directly:

"Yamada Asaemon Katsumi."

As soon as this name came out, Boss Kiryu was struck by lightning, his whole body froze, and complex and indescribable emotions burst out in his eyes.

Qing Deng moved to his side and stared straight into his eyes.

"Boss Kiryu, who exactly is Yamada Asaemon Katsumi?"

Boss Kiryu was silent for a moment, then turned his head and looked into each other's eyes with a serious expression.

"...Jujun, where did you hear that name?"

Qing Deng told the other party in detail how Souji and others encountered Prajna.

After hearing this, Mr. Kiryu pursed his lips—countless emotions surged in his cheeks.

Qing Deng said nothing and waited quietly.

After a while, the old man sighed silently.

"I see... you met him..."

He said this with a wry smile, poured the remaining bait in his hand into the pond in one breath, then turned and walked towards the corridor at the side.

After sitting down in the corridor, he reached out and patted the empty seat next to him.

"Jujun, come here and sit over here."

Qing Deng did as he was told and sat down next to the other person.

"Honestly speaking, if possible, I don't want to tell you about this..."

After expressing his feelings like this, Mr. Kiryu looked up at the sky, a look of reminiscence on his face.

"Where should I begin?"

Silence fell between the two.

About 10 seconds later, Mr. Kiryu said the following:

"Anyway...I'd better tell you my real name first."

"Tachibana-kun, I told you a long time ago that my true identity is the once world-famous 'Liuguang Hachiman' Mamiya Jiulang."

"That's true, but in fact, 'Mamiya Jiulang' is also my pseudonym."

"My real name is actually 'Yamada Asaemon Yoshitsune'."

Hearing this, Qing Deng's eyes widened uncontrollably and he cast a horrified look at the old man.

Boss Kiryu smiled slightly and continued:

"I am not only a descendant of the Yamada Asaemon family, but also a direct descendant of the family."

Qingdeng: "..."

At this moment, Qing Deng seemed to have crashed. His eyes were fixed and he remained silent for a long time. In fact, his brain did stop working temporarily due to the excessive amount of information.

Kuro Mamiya is not the real name of Kiryu's boss - Qing Deng is not surprised about this.

Because Boss Kiryu is so mysterious and he doesn't often talk about his past, Qing Deng has long suspected that "Kuro Mamiya" is not his real name.

Qing Deng had many speculations about the true identity of Boss Kiryu.

He never expected...that the truth would be so explosive!

Direct descendant of the Yamada Asaemon family!

At this moment, Qing Deng realized belatedly that his connection with the Yamada Asaemon family seemed to be deeper than he had expected!

Seeing that Qing Deng had recovered a little, Mr. Kiryu continued the conversation slowly:
"I am the eldest son of the seventh generation, Yamada Asaemon Fumiaki."

"As the eldest son of the family, I should have inherited this huge family business."

"However...something happened later that caused some unpleasantness between my father and me, so that I finally resolutely gave up the family name and left the family."

"Tachibana-kun, you should also know that in addition to testing swords and beheading people, Yamada Asaemon also has a side job of refining medicine."

Qing Deng nodded slightly, his expression changing slightly.

When talking about the Yamada Asaemon family, there is one thing that is widely known and horrifying.

The Yamada Asaemon family was responsible for both carrying out executions and disposing of corpses.

Generally speaking, these bodies are kept for later use as knife tests.

However, before being taken away for knife testing, these corpses had other uses.

And this is the famous sideline of the Yamada Asaemon family: using human organs to make medicine!

In ancient Japan, people believed that the human liver, brain, gallbladder, and bile were all good things, and that human internal organs could be used as medicine.

In this way, the Yamada Asauemon family made full use of the power to dispose of corpses obtained from the shogunate, and used the liver, gallbladder, brain, etc. in the corpses as raw materials to make medicines such as "Human Liver Pills" and "Asayama Pills".

The most famous pill among them is the "Human Gallbladder Pill".

It is said that the medicine made from human bile is specifically used to treat lung diseases, and is especially effective for bloody cough...that is, tuberculosis.

Therefore, high-quality "human bile pills" have always been in short supply.

With one hand testing knives and the other selling medicine, the Yamada Asaemon family made a fortune and became extremely wealthy.

In terms of financial resources alone, the Yamada Asaemon family can even be compared with the daimyo who have a salary of 3 or 4 koku.

Not only do they make a living by testing knives and beheading people, but they also use human organs to make medicine... Because of these reasons, the general public's impression of the Yamada Asaemon family is basically dark.

There are many urban legends related to the Yamada Asaemon family circulating in the market.

Something like collecting a large number of corpses and secretly conducting dark experiments.

In order to treat an important person, they secretly captured people to make medicine under the order of the shogunate.

The list goes on and on.

When talking about "having an unpleasant experience with his father", Mr. Kiryu lowered his eyelids and his expression became more sad.

"Under the orders of the shogunate, my father secretly abducted a large number of innocent people and took their fresh internal organs to make medicine."

"I really cannot agree with this kind of crazy behavior."

"So, I broke with my father and gave up the name 'Yamada Asaemon'. From then on, I became a ronin."

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PS: Leopard Leopard once considered designing a female swordsman from the Yamada Asaemon family. But since Souji and Sanako already occupied the niche of "female swordsman", designing another female swordsman would be boring, so I gave up.