I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 864 Qing Deng is promoted! [Army President] and [Left Guard General]! [5300]

  The first year of Yuanzhi (1864), June 9th——

Qinjin Fan, Dajin, Judi——

"Hmmmm... S, Sanako, are you still not well...?"

Qing Deng clenched his teeth, his face was covered with fine beads of sweat, his expression was happy, and his ten fingers on both hands kept grabbing the bedding beneath him.

Sanako raised his hand unhappily and slapped him hard on the back.

"Really? That's all? Just bear with it and hold on a little longer!"

After saying that, she picked up the burning moxa stick again and poked it into Qingdeng's back.

"Ah ah ah ah ah……!"

Qing Deng screamed again.

"Don't scream! Just bear with it! It will be fine soon!"

The man took off his shirt and lay face down on the bed; the woman took a burning unidentified object and poked the man's back... At first glance, you would think the couple was playing some strange game.

In fact, anyone who knows a little about acupuncture knows that Sanako is doing moxibustion on Qingdeng.

Moxibustion - moxibustion in traditional Chinese acupuncture therapy, is a treatment method that uses the heat generated by moxa sticks made of moxa leaves to stimulate the acupuncture points or specific parts of the human body, and adjusts the disordered physiological and biochemical functions of the human body by stimulating the activity of meridian qi, thereby achieving the purpose of preventing and curing diseases. It is indeed a famous oriental mysterious power.

Sanako's great-grandfather Chiba Yukiemon was a famous "swordsman and doctor". Although he was a doctor by profession, he loved kendo more than medicine and was very skilled.

In addition to swordsmanship, he also passed on the medical skills he had honed over decades of practicing medicine to his descendants.

When it came to Sanako's generation, her brothers (Chiba Eijiro, Chiba Shigetaro, etc.) had little interest in medicine.

In fact, Sanako has no interest in medicine.

However, she has a special liking for acupuncture and believes that this technique of curing patients by inserting a few needles is very magical.

So, in addition to practicing martial arts, she also worked hard to learn acupuncture passed down by her ancestors.

And this became Sanako's biggest support when she was refusing to get married and arguing with her brother Chiba Shigetaro.

"Brother, don't worry about my future. At worst, I can open an acupuncture clinic! I don't believe that I will go hungry with my skills!"

Whenever Sanako said this, Chiba Shigetaro would be speechless.

As Sanako's elder brother, he naturally knew how great the other party's skills were.

Although I dare not say that he is the reincarnation of Hua Tuo, it is definitely at the level of "if I open a store, I will definitely not lack customers."

Honestly speaking, Sanako's face alone is enough to attract countless old perverts to come and help her.

Qing Deng doesn't like acupuncture, whether it is the traditional method of pricking the body with thin needles or moxibustion, he doesn't like it.

The reason for this was that he had watched a horror movie in his previous life.

A character in the movie accidentally fell off the bed while doing acupuncture, and the side full of needles fell to the ground, and all the needles were inserted into his body...

From then on, Qingdeng suffered a great psychological trauma from acupuncture.

Every time he sees acupuncture, he can't help but think of this movie...which then triggers a strong resistance.

After the battle with Prajna, although Qing Deng was not fatally injured, he suffered many injuries of varying sizes, a total of 17.

In order to help Qingdeng recover as soon as possible, Sanako volunteered to use his ancestral moxibustion to activate Qingdeng's blood and qi and enhance his resistance to disease.

Faced with Sanako's enthusiasm, Qing Deng was very moved, but then refused.

It's easy to imagine, how could he possibly defeat the strong-willed Sanako?

Under Sanako's strong request, he could only obediently take off his shirt, lie on the bed, and let the other party do whatever he wanted - just like Qingdeng usually did to his wives.

In this way, Sanako would personally perform moxibustion on Qingdeng every few days.

You know what, her craftsmanship is really amazing.

Although the process of moxibustion is painful, Qingdeng always feels a lot lighter afterwards.

About twenty minutes later, today's moxibustion finally ended...

"Sanako, I always feel that today's moxibustion lasts much longer than usual."

“Are you going to have a problem?”

Sanako tilted her head, looking confused—there was a hint of smile in her eyes.

"… I say, you didn't deliberately prolong the treatment time just to let me see my miserable state more, did you?"

"Well... I can only say: it's up to your imagination."

After saying that, she smiled triumphantly and looked at Qing Deng, who had a helpless look on his face, very happily.

Since getting married, Sanako has become much more cheerful.

Although she was still the dignified and solemn Yamato Nadeshiko in front of outsiders, she would often reveal her cunning side in private, as she did just now.

"Okay, stop being naked and put on some clothes. It's already autumn, don't catch a cold."

While Qing Deng was getting dressed, Sanako was packing up her equipment and gave him a concerned look:

"Qing Deng, how do you feel now? Does the wound still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt much anymore, and my body is recovering very well. I think I'll be fully recovered in ten days or half a month at most."

  Sanako smiled gently upon hearing this:

"Ah That's good."

The Kyoto Summer Campaign happened a month ago.

During this month, nothing major happened, whether it was Qing Deng's personal affairs or his official business.

Qing Deng concentrated on recovering from his injuries, and unless it was a confidential or urgent matter, he left it to Hijikata Toshizo and Yamanami Keisuke to handle.

Registering those who have made contributions, treating the wounded, and providing relief to the dead are all tedious tasks.

After the Summer Campaign in Kyoto, 59 Shinsengumi members were killed and 177 were injured.

Compared with the amazing results of the battle, these casualties are simply not worth mentioning.

The casualties in Choshu were more than ten times that of the Shinsengumi.

But even so, Qing Deng still felt the pain.

After all, his troops were very elite, all of them were good soldiers and generals who had been trained with sufficient food and wages.

For Qing Deng, even if they were just ordinary soldiers in the army, every death or injury was a huge loss.

Re-recruiting soldiers and replenishing losses is also a tedious task.

If we have to say what major event happened recently, it should be the court declaring Choshu as an "unforgivable enemy of the court."

Even without the coercion and inducement of the shogunate, the emperor wrote an article on his own initiative, criticizing Choshu in the harshest language.

Although the reason Choshu gave for the war when launching the Eastern Expedition was very high-sounding, saying that the emperor was deceived by villains and wanted to welcome the emperor back to Choshu, but...

As we all know, those who claim to clean up the emperor's side will end up cleaning it out exceptionally thoroughly.

Not only did he clear the "king's side", but he also cleared the "king" at the same time.

Therefore, the Emperor did not think that Choshu had any good intentions.

From the emperor's perspective, what Choshu did was no different from what An Lushan and his ilk did.

Although the imperial court had declared Choshu an enemy of the court since the "August 18th Coup", in order to express its attitude, especially the emperor's great aversion to Choshu, as soon as the Kyoto Summer Campaign ended, the imperial court immediately gave Choshu another title, calling it "the unforgivable enemy of the court."

As a result, Choshu's situation became increasingly precarious.

Conversely, this was a huge boon to the shogunate and its supporters.

As early as the beginning of this year, the news that the shogunate was going to launch an expedition to Choshu had spread everywhere.

Now that Choshu's national strength has been greatly reduced, how could we not take advantage of its weakness and destroy it?

Anyone who walks down the street knows that it won’t be long before a new, even larger-scale war breaks out across the entire Changzhou.

With this noble cause of "suppressing the unforgivable enemies of the court", when launching the "Choshu Expedition" in the future, it will surely be twice as effective with half the effort.

Of course, launching the Western Expedition and conquering Choshu would definitely be a matter of several months later.

Qing Deng, who had fought two major battles in a row, the Battle of Ikedaya and the Battle of Kyoto Summer, did not want to think about things so far in the future for the time being.

After putting on his clothes, Qing Deng turned his head and looked at the sky outside the window.

The azure sky, the white clouds rolling and unrolling…Looking at this beautiful scene, Qing Deng lowered his eyelids and seemed to be thinking.

After a moment, he suddenly said to Sanako:

"Sanako, the weather is nice today, shall we go for a walk in the yard together?"

  Sanako blinked her beautiful eyes several times, with a look of surprise on her face:

"Of course you can...but why so suddenly?"

"Nothing, just a whim. When I think about it, it's been a long time since I could be with my wife without any worries."

  Sanako laughed when she heard this:

"Okay, let's go."

Souji was busy in the Shinsengumi's camp.

Ah Wu, whose sleep and rest habits have become more and more like a cat's, was sleeping soundly in the room.

Therefore, now Sanako was the only one who had time to accompany Qing Deng's wife. Qing Deng supported Sanako's waist, and the two walked side by side to the courtyard not far away.

The hot summer has passed and the wind has a hint of autumn.

The gurgling water, the melodious singing of birds, and the rhythmic knocking of stones by frightened deer make crisp "dong", "dong", "dong" sounds, adding a touch of tranquility to the courtyard.

Sanako walked down the corridor, her two white and tender feet slipping tightly into the flat wooden clogs under the corridor, and slowly walked towards the center of the courtyard - where the sunlight was as soft as sweet.

"The weather is great."

She raised her little face to welcome the warm sunshine with a gentle smile like a bodhisattva.

Qing Deng slowly walked to her side, nodded slightly in response, and enjoyed the scenery and Sanako's expression with interest.

Although it may sound a bit corny to say this, Qing Deng would feel happy whenever he saw his wives showing such happy expressions, and negative emotions such as fatigue and depression would be swept away instantly.

Ikeda House, Kyoto Summer Battle... In recent days, these far-reaching and not to be ignored battles have been fought one after another, leaving Qing Deng with no time to relax.

It's nice to spend a leisurely day like this occasionally.

  Suddenly, Sanako asked him out of the blue:

"Qing Deng, have you thought of a name for the child?"

As she spoke, she raised her hand and gently stroked her increasingly round and bulging belly.

Perhaps it was because Sanako and Wu were both martial artists and were in good health, so they did not feel any strong discomfort after becoming pregnant, nor did they experience morning sickness or a craving for sour food. They ate and drank as usual, and there was nothing unusual except for some inconvenience in movement.

That is, Awu often suffers from leg cramps - a classic symptom of calcium deficiency in pregnant women.

In fact, after Qing Deng forced her to eat more calcium-rich foods such as shrimp shells, her condition had improved a lot.

All in all, both girls had smooth pregnancies.

According to the doctor's diagnosis, because they became pregnant at a very similar time, their delivery times were also very close, with a difference of only a few days at most.

Around early November, the second daughter will be due to give birth.

Early November...that's two months later, it's not far away.

  Facing Sanako's question, Qing Deng was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly:

"Honestly... not yet. I'm really bad at naming..."

"Ah, I have thought of a nickname for the girl. Let's call her 'Ning Ning' (ねね). It sounds cute, doesn't it?"

Sanako chewed the name "Ningning" gently.

"Ningning... Ningning... It's okay, not outstanding, but not bad either."

  As if afraid that Sanako would go back on his word, Qing Deng nodded hurriedly:

"Okay, then it's confirmed. If we give birth to a boy, his nickname will be 'Jiulang'; if we give birth to a girl, her nickname will be 'Ningning'."

At this time, Qing Deng seemed to remember something, paused, and then continued:

"To be honest, I think 'Ningning' is a good name for a girl."

"Ju Ningning, nice to listen to and easy to write."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Sanako said unhappily:

"Don't be lazy! The child's name is very important and can't be taken lightly!"

  After glaring at Qing Deng with his eyes sideways, Sanako changed back to a gentle tone:

"Qing Deng, I know you're not good at naming, so don't worry, just take your time."

"Anyway, I've already thought of nicknames for the boy and girl, so there's no need to worry about not having a name for the baby after it's born."

"As for the official name, we can think about it later."

According to Japanese custom, descendants of samurai are generally given nicknames, and the nicknames are often passed down from generation to generation.

Take the Tokugawa family as an example. Since the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, had the nickname Takechiyo, all the eldest sons born during the shogun's tenure were given this nickname.

The same is true for Qingdeng's family, which has used the nickname "Jiulang" for generations.

His father Tachibana Takayuki's nickname was Jiulang.

His nickname is also Jiulang.

Therefore, his eldest son's nickname will follow tradition and continue to be "Jiulang".

For Qing Deng, this saved him a lot of time as he didn't have to think about what his son's nickname should be.

Qing Deng has been troubled by the issue of "child's name".

It just so happened that he was recuperating from an injury recently and had relatively free time, so he took advantage of this time to look through classics such as the Four Books and Five Classics, Chu Ci, and Manyoshu, carefully searching for words that were suitable for use as names.

However...you can't expect a guy who named a black cow "Carrot" to have outstanding naming skills.

Qing Deng did work hard, but in the end he could only come up with a female nickname "Ningning".

Although I haven't thought of a formal name for my child yet, I have achieved some success by deciding on nicknames for the boy and girl.

However, Qing Deng currently only has one nickname for each boy and girl.

His wife, who is about to give birth, has two children.

If Sanako and Mami both gave birth to boys, or both gave birth to girls, there wouldn't be enough names.

After all, it is impossible to name both sons "Jiulang" or both daughters "Ningning".

If this situation really happens... let's talk about it later!

Just as the couple was quietly enjoying their time alone, they suddenly heard quick but orderly footsteps coming from the direction of the corridor.

Qing Deng knew who was coming just by the sound of footsteps.

"Kei-suke, what's wrong?"

As he spoke, he turned his head to look.

Sure enough, at the same time he turned his head, the tall figure of Yamanami Keisuke appeared at the end of the corridor.

  Looking at the couple standing side by side in the middle of the courtyard, Shannan Jingzhu was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly:

"Am I disturbing you?"

Sanako smiled and shook her head:

"It's okay, don't worry about me. If there is anything important, just tell Qing Deng. I don't care."

"It's nothing important. I came here just to congratulate Mr. Ju."

"Daoxi?"

Qing Deng raised his eyebrows and asked:

"Jingzhu, what's so good to say?"

A smile of pure joy appeared on Yamanami Keisuke's cheeks.

"Tachibana-kun, just now, the messenger from Edo arrived."

After Shannan Jingsuke finished speaking, Qingdeng had not yet responded, but Sanako became excited first.

"The messenger from Edo? He's finally here!"

A month after the end of the war, Edo sent an envoy to Qin - anyone with a little bit of common sense would know what this meant.

Shannan Jingzhu looked at Qingdeng, and the joy on his face became even more intense.

"Ju Jun, prepare to receive your reward!"

……

……

"What kind of reward will 'Nio' receive this time?" - In recent days, this topic has often appeared at banquets, tea parties and dining tables among scholars and civilians.

There is no doubt that Qing Deng, who took full command of the anti-Choshu corps and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Choshu army, was the greatest contributor to this battle.

Earlier, Aoto led his troops to annihilate the leaders of the Sonnōjō faction, led by Miyabe Teizo and Yoshida Toshima, in the Battle of Ikedaya, saving Kyoto from danger.

As soon as the "Ikedaya Incident" ended, Choshu immediately launched an expedition to the east, so the shogunate had no time to reward Aoto.

For this reason, the shogunate will definitely combine the merits of the Battle of Ikedaya and the Summer Campaign of Kyoto and reward Qing Deng for both.

  Adding these two merits together... God knows what kind of amazing reward Qing Deng will get this time!

Nowadays, everyone knows that Qing Deng is Tokugawa Iemochi's close confidant and most favored minister.

Tokugawa Iemochi's favor for Aoto had reached an incomprehensible level.

One can't help but wonder whether they have some unknown special relationship besides the friendship between the monarch and his subject.

Whenever Qing Deng made contributions, Tokugawa Iemochi would reward him generously, making Qing Deng's promotion speed as fast as a rocket.

Not only that, all the official positions he obtained were high-ranking and powerful positions.

The Lord of Qinjin, who governs 30 koku of land in Otsu, the Gyeonggi Chinfushi who is in charge of all military affairs in the Gyeonggi region, the Hachioji Thousand People's Leader who guards the west gate of Edo... It is really hard to imagine what kind of power Tokugawa Iemochi will let Aoto hold this time.

Time passed...Finally, after everyone's anticipation, today, the official specific reward for Qing Deng was finally announced!

The first is the reward from the imperial court.

Aoto's original official position of "Junior Fifth Rank Lower Aki no Kami" remained unchanged.

  On this basis, he was given the title of "General of the Left Guard from the Third Division"!

Next came the rewards from the shogunate.

Tokugawa Iemochi granted an additional 10 koku of territory to Aoto, expanding the territory of the Qinjin Domain from 30 koku to 40 koku.

  In addition, Qing Deng was promoted to "Army President" and was in charge of all the army forces of the shogunate!

By the way, when Aoto was promoted to "President of the Army", his old friend Katsurintaro, who was also a close confidant of Tokugawa Iemochi, was demoted to "President of the Navy". The two of them took charge of the shogunate's army and navy forces respectively!

  Army President, Left Guard General... As expected, after the official specific rewards for Qing Deng were made public, the world was in an uproar!

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If nothing unexpected happens, this volume will be completed in one or two chapters (豹散花.jpg) Please look forward to the next volume: "The Land of Two Divided Worlds"! Baobaozi is very excited because there are many things I want to write about in the next volume! (豹嗨.jpg)