I formed the strongest swordsman group

In the first year of Wanyan (the seventh year of Anzheng, 1860), March 19——

Edo, Kiyanagi-cho, a cloth shop——

The shop owner sitting cross-legged behind the counter - a bald middle-aged man with an abacus in his left hand and continuous drawing on the ledger with his right hand.

After a while, he let out a long sigh, closed the account book with a tired face, stretched out his right thumb and rubbed the frown between his brows.

"Daddy." The shop owner's young daughter came over with a cup of hot tea at this moment, "The tea is ready."

"Oh..." The store owner tried to squeeze a smile at his daughter, "Thank you."

The shop owner took the hot tea from his daughter, sipped it after gently blowing the wind for a while.

Looking at the sadness remaining on her father's face, the daughter couldn't help hesitating and said:

"Daddy...the business in the store...hasn't improved much recently?"

"Ah...hahaha..." The owner of the store sipped his tea for a while, and then put the teacup in his hand on the counter while laughing, "The improvement...is still a little bit, and it has become better than before. Months are a little better."

After all, the store owner sighed forcefully.

"Hey... how did those barbarians manage to weave such good cloth and at the same time keep the price so low..."

Since the gate of the country was forced to open under the threat of Western countries, and a large amount of Western goods poured into this country, the business of the shop owner and his cloth shop has become more and more difficult.

The shop owner has not figured it out until now—why can those barbarian cloths be woven so well and at the same time so cheap?

After seeing the cloth sold by Yi people for the first time, the shop owner was so shocked that he almost forgot to blink.

He kept rubbing the Yiren's cloth with his hands, and couldn't believe the tactile sensation he felt in his palms.

Such a good cloth, only sell for so little money? ! With such a small amount of money, you can't even earn back the cost, right?

Foreigners' cloth is of better quality and cheaper than yours. How can we compete with others?

Ever since, the business of their cloth store has become more and more difficult... The income has dropped by more than half compared to before the country was opened.

"...Daddy." The daughter hesitated for a while, then took a deep breath, "How about... let me go find a job outside."

"I am also 14 years old this year and can work."

"I happened to see a teahouse in the next town beckoning yesterday."

The shop owner froze for a moment, then showed a moving smile to his daughter.

"Don't worry too much about family affairs." The shop owner raised his hand and rubbed his daughter's head lovingly. "No matter how bad our family's business is, it won't make our family hungry."

Suddenly, there was the sound of the curtain being lifted and the footsteps of people coming in from the store door.

"Welcome light..." The store owner forced out a formulaic smile reflexively.

He just said "Welcome" in the middle of the sentence, and the rest of the words were stuck in his throat.

What I saw entering the store were 4 warriors with swords on their waists.

The hair and stubble of these 4 warriors were messy, and their bodies and clothes were quite dirty, and they hadn't been cleaned for an unknown period of time.

Looking at the four warriors who all looked like ronin, the shop owner felt a little bit of a premonition...

He quickly signaled his daughter beside him to quickly enter the shop with his eyes—it's a pity that his daughter didn't notice his eyes.

"Are you the owner of this store?" The leader of the four warriors, a middle-aged man with a big nose, asked loudly to the owner of the store.

The accent of Big Nose is very heavy, it is the accent of Northeast Ozhou, because the accent is too heavy, the shop owner can barely hear what the man is saying.

"Yes, yes!" The shop owner rushed out from behind the counter, with a flattering smile on his face, "I don't know if the customers are..."

Before the shop owner finished speaking, Big Nose interrupted him in a low voice:

"We are people with lofty ideals against barbarians!"

"I am about to go to Nagasaki, and I will annihilate all the barbarians gathered in Nagasaki with the rest of my comrades!"

"But suffering from insufficient travel expenses at present."

"So I want to come to Tonggui to borrow some travel expenses and military expenses."

"After the great cause of eliminating barbarians wins a complete victory, we will return double the amount borrowed!"

The ingratiating smile on the store owner's face froze instantly.

His reaction was also quick, and soon he adjusted the expression on his face.

"Uh... this..."

The store owner wiped the cold sweat that oozed from his forehead without a trace.

"Ahahahaha, it turns out that the adults are people with lofty ideals who are determined to fight against the barbarians! It's amazing! I respect the people with lofty ideals to fight against the barbarians the most!"

The store owner said a lot of good things to these 4 people.

What "You guys are so amazing", "I have long since disliked those barbarians"...

Big Nose and the others enjoyed the praise of the shop owner very much, and they all showed complacent expressions.

After coaxing the four of them with the eloquence that he had cultivated in his business for so many years, the shop owner changed the subject——

"Master Samurai, I also want to help you all, and contribute my own efforts to the great cause of eliminating barbarians."

"But this shop is just a small shop... Usually it is very difficult to support a family, and there is no money to borrow..."

As soon as the shop owner said this, the expressions of Big Nose and the others, who had been proud of the shop owner's praise just now, changed instantly.

"What?!" Big Nose twitched his eyebrows, "Aren't you trying to support our great cause of eliminating barbarians?"

"No, no, no!" The store owner quickly waved his hands, "I didn't think so! I really want to support you, but I really don't have any money!"

"Boss, it's because you don't know righteousness!" Big Nose straightened his chest, raised his head, and put on an awe-inspiring look, "Have you never heard such a saying? Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world! "

"Right now, the barbarians from the West are wantonly desecrating the land of my kingdom of God."

"At this time of national calamity, everyone should stand up, fight the enemy bravely, and serve the country loyally!"

"Think about those patriots who carry knives in their hands and are not afraid of hardships and dangers to fight those barbarians and traitors."

"They even put their own lives and safety behind them, and now they just ask you to lend some money, and you just don't want to borrow money like this."

"It's not like we won't pay you back. Didn't I just say that? We will pay you back double when the great cause of eliminating barbarians is completely won."

The store owner is now crying out of anxiety.

"Master Samurai, it's not that I don't want to give money! But our family really has no money!"

"Ah!" At this moment, a guy who was as thin as a hemp stalk standing behind the big nose raised his hand and pointed at the shop owner's counter, "You guy, are you using barbarian things?"

Ma Zhu rushed to the counter and grabbed a western pocket watch on the counter.

"Wow!" Big nose and brows stood up, "No wonder you don't want to lend us money, so you are a national thief who uses barbarians' things!"

Bass - Big Nose pulled out the saber from his waist.

"Ah!" The shop owner's daughter took a few steps back in fright, and the blood on her face quickly dissipated.

The owner of the shop was also very frightened by the shining knife in Big Nose's hand, but he still forced himself to calm down and said quickly: "Master Samurai! This pocket watch was given to me by my friend, and I didn't buy it... ..."

"So what if you didn't buy it?" Big Nose shouted, "Whether you bought this pocket watch or someone else gave it to you, if you use something from a barbarian, you are a traitor!"

"Let me ask you one last thing!" Big Nose glared at the shopkeeper viciously, and put the knife on the shopkeeper's neck, aiming the blade at the shopkeeper's carotid artery, "Are you willing to support our great cause of eliminating barbarians? "

Feeling the cold metal touch coming from the neck, the owner of the shop shook vigorously a few times.

The shop owner dared not fight any more with these vicious so-called "spirited men".

Trembling and stumbling back to the back of the counter, he took out a small brocade box from the cabinet under the counter, and with slightly trembling fingers, he took out a handful of fine copper coins contained in the brocade box. A few silver coins here and there.

Big Nose grabbed the scraps of money in the shop owner's hand and stuffed them into his arms, then waved his big hand without saying "thank you", calling the three companions behind him to leave quickly.

After rushing out of the cloth shop, they suddenly found that there was a lot of noise on both sides of the street.

Turning his head and looking to the left and right——Qingdeng led Saito and the heavily armed Mulianagi's own servants, and they were coming towards them in a mighty manner.

"Oops!" Looking at Qingdeng's cage with the seal of the enforcement office and the ten hands tied with red tassels on Qingdeng's waist, Big Nose's expression changed suddenly, "It's the concentricity of the enforcement office!"

He glanced around anxiously, looking for the direction to escape.

There are only two directions they can escape-the intersection on the east and the intersection on the west.

And these two intersections have now been blocked by Qing Deng and his men.

There are 12 self-serving members in the west, and there are only 8 self-serving members in the east, but the east is the direction that Qingdeng and Saito personally lead the team.

After weighing the matter, Big Nose gritted his teeth and rushed to the west. He and his companions were all swords in their hands at this time, showing their teeth and claws.

The most common arresting tools used by the servants of Okabiki and Jiban were long ladders and spears.

The so-called "stab fork" is a long, big iron fork.

First use the long ladder to control the movement of the prisoner, and then use the stabbing fork to pass through the gap between the cross bars of the long ladder to fork the prisoner.

Because the attack distance of the stabbing fork is too long, and when catching the prisoner, it is basically one more hit, so even a martial arts master with very good skills will be arrested if he is careless.

Seeing Big Nose and the others attacking towards them, the 12 soldiers of their own at the intersection on the west side immediately set up their formation skillfully.

Six of them grabbed three ladders to control the escape direction of Big Nose and the others, and the other six held prods and poked them through the gaps between the ladder's cross bars.

Just look at the knife-holding movements and footwork of the big noses and the others-they don't know any martial arts at all.

In an instant, the two companions with big noses were pinned to the ground by the thorns of the servants, unable to move.

Taking advantage of the juncture when the servants were dealing with his two companions, Big Nose and the skinny stalk narrowly escaped from the defense formed by the servants.

However... before they had time to escape a few steps, Qingdeng had already led the rest of the soldiers to catch up from the east...

Big Nose and Thin Hemp Stalk walked very slowly, far behind Qingdeng.

Ever since he got the talent of "strengthening muscles" which makes his muscles less prone to fatigue, and his leg muscles are no longer prone to fatigue and soreness, Qingdeng's sprint and long-distance running abilities have been greatly improved.

Qingdeng was the first to catch up with the slowest runner, Shoumazhuang.

He raised his big hand, grabbed Slim Stalk by the back collar, raised his foot and kicked Slim Stalk's right knee hard.

The skinny hemp stalk screamed, his center of gravity was unstable, and he fell forward like a dog eating shit.

After the thin hemp stalk fell, the servants of his own who followed Qingdeng rushed forward, pressed the thin hemp stalk down, and took out the thick hemp rope to tie the thin hemp stalk tightly.

After subduing Slim Stalk, Qing Deng went after Big Nose again.

Big Nose also saw that he couldn't outrun Qingdeng at all, and if he didn't try to do something, Qingdeng would catch up to him in just a few seconds.

Then, Big Nose let out a nondescript chiming sound, and slashed back the knife in his hand, towards Qingdeng.

How could his sword speed, which had never practiced swordsmanship before and was surprisingly slow, escape Qingdeng's "Eagle Eye"?

With a quick glance, after seeing the trajectory of the slash, Qingdeng pulled out the knife suddenly, pulled out the Dingguishen from his waist, and struck the blade from bottom to top, knocking the big-nosed knife into the air.

The next moment, Qingdeng freed his left hand and used a move he has been fond of in recent times—use his left hand to firmly hold Big Nose's right hand to prevent Big Nose from drawing the weapon with his dominant hand. A shoulder throw sent Big Nose to the ground.

When the big nose that was thrown so hard to see the stars came to his senses, his slaves had already jumped on him like a tiger on the mountain...

...

...

"Master Tongxin! Thank you very much!"

The owner of the cloth shop who was robbed of money just now, holding the money he snatched back from Big Nose and the others, bowed to Qingdeng incessantly as if he was about to cry.

The shop owner's daughter also followed his father and bowed to Qingdeng to thank him.

Qingdeng, who was not particularly good at dealing with such occasions, could only speak self-effacing words while telling the shop owner to straighten up quickly.

Looking at the shopkeeper and his daughter who were on the verge of crying with joy for the rest of their lives, Qing Deng couldn't help feeling deeply moved.

The owner of this cloth shop was also very lucky—Qingdeng happened to be patrolling nearby just now.

He had just heard a report from Muliu Town's own channel: a servant saw four habitual criminals who often blackmailed around under the banner of "Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world" appeared in Muliu Town.

After learning of this informant, Qingdeng led Saito and his own servants with all their equipment without any hesitation, and chased after the place where they saw the four habitual offenders. money, and catch them before they escape.

Naosuke Ii was assassinated outside the Sakurada Gate—this was undoubtedly a shocking event, and it happened more than half a month ago.

Although only half a month has passed, a lot has happened during this time.

Japan also has the habit of changing the year name to get rid of bad luck once something bad happens.

Just yesterday, exactly half a month after Li Jingyi Naobi was killed, the Kyoto court changed the year name at the suggestion of the Edo shogunate.

The reign name was changed from "Anzheng Seventh Year" to the current "Wanyan First Year".

The eldest brother was assassinated... Such a bad incident happened, and the shogunate naturally would not let it go.

The shogunate immediately organized a "special task force" composed of cronies to arrest all fugitives who participated in this "change outside the Sakurada Gate".

Qingdeng and his group of "capital police" who were not qualified to participate in this politically significant arrest operation that could only succeed but not fail were responsible for maintaining the law and order of Edo with all their strength during this period.

The assassination of Jingyi Naosuke... This incident can be said to have greatly boosted the morale of the "rejection faction".

In the eyes of the "barbarians", the group of Mito feudal vassals who successfully killed Ii Naosuke who insisted on "founding the country" are simply heroes.

look! The vassals of the Mito domain were so brave that they dared to kill even the elders, how could we shrink back?

The soaring morale of the "anti-barbarian faction" made Edo... no, it made the security situation in all parts of the country instantly worse...

A large number of "people with lofty ideals" have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

Abusing or directly killing the so-called "national thieves" in their eyes, forcing wealthy families to pay the military expenses needed to "save the country and wipe out the barbarians"...

This suddenly strong ethos of fighting against barbarians has also led many local hooligans to follow suit. They pretend to be "people with lofty ideals against barbarians" and follow the style of "people with lofty ideals against barbarians" to extort money everywhere, and even directly "dedicate their lives to the great cause of fighting against barbarians". It's your honor" to rob people's daughters.

The number of various cases related to the "people with lofty ideals against barbarians" has risen linearly in this short period of half a month.

In order to reverse the deteriorating security situation in Edo, the shogunate had to issue two orders to the Edo Executive Office.

Order 1: The "Yuefan account" system is temporarily suspended.

That is to say, for the time being, the southern and northern administrative offices will no longer be allowed to take turns managing Edo on a monthly basis. All officials of the two administrative offices will have to go to work regardless of the month until the security situation in Edo is restored.

Because of this order, the officials of the Nanfan Office who were supposed to take paid leave in March had to bite the bullet and put on their seal cages and return to the government.

The second order: At all costs, suppress all criminals in Edo City who do evil under the banner of "rejecting barbarians"!

Faced with the death order issued by the shogunate, the Southern and Northern Executive Offices had to divide the "three times" into two groups.

One of the groups is in charge of handling cases that were not brought up by the "people with lofty ideals against barbarians".

Another group is dedicated to quelling the rising tide of barbarians.

Qingdeng was assigned to the latter.

During this period of time, Qingdeng's daily task was to patrol the roads of Edo and hunt down the so-called "people with lofty ideals" who were making trouble everywhere.

The achievements are also remarkable, including the big nose and others who were just caught by Qingdeng, in the past half a month, 4 batches of "people with lofty ideals" have been planted in Qingdeng's hands.

The rest of the colleagues who are responsible for combating the "anti-barbarians" have also achieved outstanding results-but even though they have worked hard to crack down on these lunatics, the "wind of anti-barbarians" that has gone rampant still shows no sign of stopping...

At this time, a middle-aged man rushed to Qingdeng.

"Master Tachibana! Those 4 guys are all tied up!"

This middle-aged man was the owner of Muliu Town, Hui Dalang, who had despised Qingdeng in every possible way when Qingdeng came to this Muliu Town to investigate the case of "Grandma Ping's murder".

Qingdeng is no longer the "dumb tou" he used to be, he is now a rising star in Edo.

The change of identity has caused Hui Dalang's attitude towards Qingdeng to undergo an earth-shaking change.

At this time, when Hui Dalang faced Qing Deng, there was no contempt in the depths of his eyes, only sincere respect and respect.

"En." Qingdeng nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, let's take them back to the enforcement office."

"Yes!" After bowing respectfully to Qing Deng, Hui Dalang turned around and shouted to his servants, "Take them away!"

"Get up! Go! Go!"

"Stand up!"

...

The servants of their own group used slightly rough movements to drive away Big Nose and the others who were now tightly tied up and pulled into a long line with a long hemp rope.

Big Nose and the others don’t have the momentum to yell at the cloth shop owner just now, “every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world”, they all droop their heads like a defeated rooster.

Many townspeople gathered around to watch the excitement.

"What's the matter? What's the matter? What happened?"

"Another group of 'rebels with lofty ideals' who are looting and extorting everywhere have been caught."

"Tsk... Why are these scumbags like cockroaches, they can't be killed all the time... Huh? Isn't that guy Ju Qingdeng?"

"Yes, it's the Ju Qingdeng who caught the murderer who killed Granny Ping!"

...

This is the place where Qingdeng solved the "Grandma Ping's murder case": Muliu Town, so this is the place where Qingdeng's name is the most resounding.

Naturally, this place also has the most people who recognize Qingdeng.

During this period of time, Qingdeng has actually gotten used to the feeling of being recognized by passers-by on the street, so even now that he is surrounded by those who recognized him, Qingdeng still looks normal.

Standing beside Qingdeng, Hui Dalang, watching his subordinates take away Big Nose and the others, suddenly sighed with emotion: "This world is really getting more and more chaotic..."

"...Master Tachibana."

Hui Dalang turned his head and asked Qingdeng in a helpless self-deprecating tone.

"What will it take for this absurd 'great cause of expelling barbarians' to stop?"

Qingdeng, who was suddenly asked such a question, was stunned for a moment, and then sighed silently: "...I don't know about this kind of thing."

...

...

After the shogunate issued a death order to curb the atrocities of the "anti-barbarians", the Southern and Northern Fansuo now leave two concentric night shifts in their respective enforcement offices every night to deal with all emergencies that occur at night.

Qingdeng, who didn't need to be on night shift today, spent another day of "patrolling the streets of Edo from morning to night", and led Saito back to the testing hall with some fatigue.

As soon as he climbed up the high slope where the testing hall is located, Qingdeng saw that Chong Tian was sweeping the dust outside the gate of the testing hall with a broom.

"Ah, Tachibana-kun, Saito-kun, you're back." Okita picked up his broom, and walked quickly towards the returning Qing and Saito, "Aren't you going to be on the night shift today?"

"Yeah." Qingdeng nodded, taking off the scarf around his neck—it was almost late March, and the weather in Edo was still surprisingly cold, "It won't be my turn to be on the night shift until the day after tomorrow."

"That's it..." Okita nodded, "Then let's go back to the house and have a rest, Auntie and Mr. Kubei are almost ready for dinner."

As a housewife, Abi takes care of all kinds of housework in the clinic.

Listen to what Okita said: Some of the housework in the test hall will be shared by Gensaburo Inoue.

In Okita's introduction, Gensaburo Inoue, who also lives under the same roof as the Kondo family, is an old man who loves to do housework, and often offers to help...even directly grabbing housework from Abi.

Now that Inoue Gensaburo is temporarily absent from the testing hall due to some business, the burden on Abi's shoulders has not increased because of this—because of Jiubingwei's help for Abi.

After serving Mr. Ju for so many years, Jiubingwei, who is very good at handling all kinds of housework, has been very active and active in helping Abi to share the various tasks in the testing hall after following Qingdeng and Saito to live in the testing hall. chores.

Cooking is considered Kubei's best skill, almost every meal Kubei will get into the kitchen to help Ah Bi.

Because Jiubingwei has been enthusiastically helping with housework, Jiubingwei is now the one in Qingdeng's group who is most familiar with Abi.

After entering the test hall, after a brief rest, Abi, Jiubingwei and the others brought out a sumptuous meal from the kitchen, calling everyone to come and have dinner.

The recent increase in income of the test health hall has even made the food in the test health hall a lot richer in the past few days.

After a quick dinner and sitting down for a while to let the food in his stomach digest, Qing Deng entered the dojo, ready to start today's exercise.

Even though he was so busy during this time, Qingdeng never neglected physical exercise.

I have worked tirelessly for such a long time, and the effect of the exercise has gradually appeared.

Qingdeng's body became a lot stronger, and the body that was originally like a "white chicken" began to have edges and corners.

When Qingdeng put his palms on the wooden floor of the dojo and began to do push-ups, Okita suddenly rushed into the dojo with a brisk brisk pace and came to Qingdeng:

"Mr. Ju, a guest is coming to see you!"

"Guest?" Qing Deng was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly asked, "Is it a servant from the enforcement office?"

"It doesn't seem to be." Okita shook his head, "It's two people who cover themselves tightly, and one of them is a little girl."

——Hide yourself so tightly? little girl?

With doubts, Qingdeng rushed to the gate of the testing hall.

Outside the gate, there were quite a few people.

A total of 8 warriors with a strong aura in both their faces and bodies gathered around two figures, one big and one small.

One of them was quite petite, wearing a white and yellow women's kimono, and a pair of yellow button straw sandals on his feet.

The other person has a larger body, wearing an ordinary kimono and hakama, and the huge belly pushes up the fabric on his belly.

Both of them were wearing snow-proof hats with deep brims, and their faces were covered with windproof cloth, which completely covered their faces.

After seeing these two people... To be precise, after seeing that big belly, Qing Deng felt a strong sense of familiarity...

Before Qingdeng had time to say anything, he saw the big belly take off the bamboo hat on his head and the cloth used to shield his face from the wind.

"Mr. Orange, long time no see."

"Mr. Angoulême?" Qing Deng was startled.

The woman in the yellow kimono also took off all kinds of "equipment" on her face at this time, revealing a head of golden hair and a pair of blue eyes.

"Mr. Orange." The blond-haired loli bowed to Qingdeng in a very standard way, and said in a vigorous voice, "Long time no see!"

These two were the grandparents of the Angouleme family who hadn't seen each other for more than a month—Anthony and Elodie.

The coquettish operations of these "people with lofty ideals" in this book are all historical facts, and the author did not exaggerate in the slightest.

Although under the exaggeration of some literary and artistic works of the island country, the "people with lofty ideals" at the end of the shogunate were portrayed as majestic and upright, but the "spiritual warriors against barbarians" in real history were a group of very annoying groups. Either they are opportunists, or they just want to use the slogan of "get rid of the barbarians" to commit crimes.

There is probably not one out of 100 people with lofty ideals and righteous means.