I formed the strongest swordsman group

Tachibana Residence is located in the center of Otsu.

As soon as the man and the cow left the house and walked onto the street, tall gates and large houses spread out along the line of sight.

Compared with other areas in Otsu, the streetscape in the center of the town seems to be a world away.

The most obvious changes are undoubtedly "the buildings are more beautiful" and "the number of samurai figures has increased suddenly."

Five out of ten people walking on the street and sitting in the store have long and short swords on their waists.

After seeing the iconic big black cow, all the samurai along the way put down their work, rushed to the side of the street, knelt on the side of the street, posed in the most standard posture of the ground seat, and shouted loudly:

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

...

"Lord" one after another surrounded Qing Deng from all directions.

That's right, these samurai are all Qing Deng's retainers, that is, the samurai of Qinjin Domain.

Where there are people, there will definitely be the birth of classes - this is the truth of the world.

Except for a few idealists, most of the generals and soldiers of the Shinsengumi were ordinary people who were greedy and eager for fame and fortune.

The reason why they put their heads on their belts was to realize the dream of "gaining fame on horseback", becoming famous in one fell swoop and rising to prominence.

After Qing Deng established the domain, all the meritorious veterans of the Shinsengumi were eagerly looking forward to Qing Deng's enfeoffment.

On the other hand, "establishing the samurai of Qinjin" also became Qing Deng's imminent priority.

No matter how powerful Qing Deng was, he could not govern such a large territory of 300,000 by himself.

He needed people to serve as officials of Qinjin Domain.

He needed a group of loyal and trustworthy people to govern Qinjin with him.

So, under such a "two-way rush", shortly after the marriage, Qing Deng held a grand and solemn ceremony of enfeoffment and conferred titles on all the officials.

He promoted more than 200 people from the Shinsengumi at once according to their positions and contributions. They thus crossed the class and became the first samurai of the Qinjin Domain.

In order to show their status and to protect the Tachibana family, all the samurai moved to the center of Otsu.

Surrounding the Otsu Castle, which had already laid the foundation and started to build the walls, rows of magnificent buildings were spread out like a chessboard.

The higher the rank of the samurai, the closer they lived to Otsu Castle.

To be honest... Qing Deng felt very uncomfortable with this "artificial division of classes".

The education he received in his previous life was "equality for all" and "elimination of exploitation and oppression".

Therefore, whenever he saw the scene of "wherever he went, the common people hurriedly knelt on the ground", he would feel uncomfortable.

Of course, Qing Deng also understood that it was a very naive act to talk about those grand goals without considering the actual productivity and the limitations of the times.

If you go against the will of heaven, you may not only gain nothing, but there is a high probability that you will cause endless disasters.

As his own experience continues to grow, Qing Deng now realizes more and more deeply that no matter how fast and fierce the blade is, there are still many things that cannot be cut off.

Although he was in a heavy mood, he still chose to seek truth from facts and adapt to local conditions, and govern Qinjin with the traditional "hereditary nobility" that is most suitable for Japan today.

Qing Deng referred to the systems of other feudal states and designed a complete set of hierarchical systems for the samurai of Qinjin Domain.

Under Qing Deng's design, the samurai of Qinjin Domain are divided into "three classes and ten levels".

The first class is [Main Attendant], which includes two levels: "House Elder" and "Middle Elder".

"House Elder" enjoys a salary of 1,500-10,000 koku, is in charge of domestic affairs, and serves as a magistrate. They also serve as leaders of the main army and can use the name of the Tachibana family. The relationship with Qing Deng is like the relationship between the most trusted hereditary daimyo, the daimyo of the close domain and the general.

The "junioro" received a salary of 450-1500 koku. They were candidates for important official positions and were usually closer to the implementation and execution of policies than the respected family elders.

The second class was the [chushi], which included three levels: "mahui", "jinxi", and "liushouju".

"mahui" received a salary of 100-700 koku. The name came from their position on the battlefield - around the daimyo's camp. They served most of the leadership positions in the management.

"jinxi" received a salary of 70, 250 koku of land. They were responsible for serving the mahui, mostly local officials.

"liushouju" received a salary of 50-200 koku, and were responsible for serving jinxi, mostly some local officials and low-level officials.

The third class was the [heishi], which included five levels: "xiangshi", "yongren", "tushi", "zugai", and "shigaru". They were all responsible for serving local grassroots positions.

"xiangshi" received a salary of 30-250 koku.

"yongren" received a salary of 15-30 koku.

"Tushi" means "soldiers who are not qualified to ride horses", and they enjoy a salary of 12-17 koku.

"Gumi-gai" enjoys a salary of 10 koku.

"Ashigaru" means "soldiers on foot", and their income is 3-7 koku, which is barely enough to ensure that they will not starve to death and just enough to make a living.

The first Shinsengumi generals who followed Aoto... that is, the elders and important ministers headed by the "Shieikan faction" were all awarded the rank of royal attendant, namely "jia ruo" and "zhong ruo".

Among them, Hijikata Toshizo and Yamanami Keisuke are the highest-ranking ones.

So far, only the two of them are "jia ruo" of the Qinjin domain.

Others such as Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Ichi are still just "zhong ruo".

As the highest authority under Aoto, Hijikata Toshizo and Yamanami Keisuke both hold great power.

The positions they hold in the Qinjin Domain are not much different from those in the Shinsengumi.

The former is in charge of the "military" of the domain and is in charge of military affairs, similar to the Taiwei.

The latter is in charge of the "civil" of the domain and is in charge of political affairs, similar to the prime minister.

From a certain perspective, Hijikata Toshizo is the most inspiring person in the Shinsengumi besides Aoto.

Among the generals, although Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Ichi and others are ronin who have no position, no salary, and no fixed place to live, their social identity is always samurai.

In fact, Aoto's starting point is very high, and it has nothing to do with "a loser's comeback".

Born into a family of samurai, enjoying a family salary of 100 stones, having a stable and high-paying job, and being able to eat white rice every day - such family conditions have surpassed more than 90% of his peers!

In contrast, Hijikata Toshizo is just a farmer and does not even have the qualifications to wear a sword.

Although he usually hangs his beloved sword Izumi no Kami Kanesada around his waist without restraint, his behavior is actually illegal.

However, because he is the vice-chief of the Shinsengumi, no one dares to pursue him.

From a peasant, a notorious "thorny evil boy", he rose to the position of Taiwei of a domain...

In the eyes of ordinary people, this is another best example of "leaping over the dragon gate" and "gaining fame on horseback"!

After the story of Hijikata Toshizo spread, more and more people rushed to Aoto and were eager to become a part of the Shinsengumi.

It is worth mentioning that among the generals of the Shinsengumi, only Kondo Isami did not accept Aoto's fief.

Tama is adjacent to Edo and is the shogunate's heavenly territory.

Influenced by this, coupled with the factors of folk customs, Tama people have always had a strong sense of pride and are proud of their identities as "people of heavenly territory" and "servants of the shogunate".

As a Tama person, Kondo Isami has always been a staunch supporter of the shogunate and is unwilling to give up his identity as a "servant of the shogunate".

Although Qing Deng extended an olive branch to him, he still declined politely.

In other words, his current identity is still a "sent-officer" temporarily lent to Qing Deng by the shogunate, not a direct retainer of Qing Deng.

Qing Deng did not interfere with Kondo Isami's choice, but chose to respect and understand.

Even though Kondo Isami was not his retainer, Qing Deng still entrusted him with an important task, making him responsible for the security and surveillance work in the domain.

…

…

Otsu, suburbs, Shinsengumi headquarters——

After nearly an hour's trek, Qing Deng arrived at the Shinsengumi headquarters located in the western suburbs of Otsu on time.

With the formal establishment of the Qinjin Domain, Qing Deng had a base that belonged only to him in the true sense.

In this way, the eastward migration of the Shinsengumi became a must. (Otsu is located east of Kyoto)

Although in name, the Shinsengumi is a new army directly under the shogunate, in reality, the Shinsengumi is Qing Deng's private army.

Since Qing Deng took on the post of the head of the Eight Princes last year, Tokugawa Iemochi promised to allocate 20,000 taels of gold to the Shinsengumi every year.

This money seems to be a lot, but for an army... and an army that has already achieved firearms and modernization, it is simply a drop in the bucket.

The food and wages of the Shinsengumi are mainly raised by Qing Deng.

They eat Qing Deng's food and receive Qing Deng's wages. On weekdays, they only see Qing Deng himself. The Shogun is far away and has never seen him.

What's more, many generals and soldiers are not from Tenryo and have no sense of belonging to the shogunate.

In this way, the generals and soldiers of the Shinsengumi naturally regard Qing Deng as their supreme commander, and they have the pacification envoy in their eyes but not the general.

Since they are their own private soldiers, they will naturally deploy them in their own bases.

How can they let their own troops stay away from their own territory?

Moreover, as the size of the army continues to expand, the small garrison in Mibu Township, Kyoto, has already accommodated so many people.

In short, it is no longer appropriate to set up the headquarters of the Shinsengumi in Kyoto.

Therefore, Qing Deng made drastic changes to the Shinsengumi's station.

The garrison originally located in Mibu-go was changed to a branch of the Shinsengumi in Kyoto, with a permanent force of 700-800 people.

The headquarters of the Shinsengumi moved eastward and was relocated to the western suburbs of Otsu.

There are two main reasons for choosing this place.

One is that the place is very open.

Looking up, as far as the eye can see, there are endless plains, which is an ideal place for garrison.

Even if the force is expanded to more than 10,000 people, there are still sufficient training grounds.

As for the second, it is a military consideration.

The place is right in the middle of Kyoto and Otsu.

In this way, if something happens in Kyoto or Otsu, the Shinsengumi can move easily and quickly.

Whether heading to Kyoto in the west or Otsu in the east, they can be deployed to the battlefield within 2 hours!

Before passing through the camp gate of the headquarters, Qing Deng had already heard the loud neighing of horses and the roar of people.

Right above the camp gate, two large flags - the "three-leaf sunflower" symbolizing the shogunate, and the "gentian leaf" symbolizing the Qinjin domain - stretched in the wind and fluttered.

"Moo moo moo..."

Qing Deng stroked the big head of the radish, telling it to "wait obediently" with his gesture, while skillfully and lightly jumping off the cow's back.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he heard a familiar yet unfamiliar baritone from his side:

"My lord, how are you."

Qingdeng was startled for a moment, then turned to look - a young man was kneeling on one knee, with a serious expression and a solemn demeanor.

I saw that the man had a face that was... too ordinary.

Eyes, nose, mouth... every part of his face is ordinary, without any outstanding features that can impress people.

In the true sense of the word, “If you throw it into the crowd, you won’t find it.”

In addition, his height, body shape, voice, and temperament are all very ordinary.

Not handsome or ugly.

Neither tall nor short.

The physique is neither fat nor thin.

The voice is neither loud nor shrill.

The temperament is neither strong nor wilting.

In short, this person is like the human embodiment of words such as "ordinary", "ordinary" and "inconspicuous".

Qingdeng stared directly at this man's face, with a look of reminiscence and contemplation on his face.

About 3 seconds later, he slowly showed an expression as if he had suddenly realized something.

"Oh...it's Yamazaki-kun, why are you here?"

The man called "Yamazaki" replied calmly:

"Back to my lord, I've been here all along. I was about to enter the camp when I vaguely heard the cry of Carrots, so I waited here first, but you didn't notice me, lord."

"Oh, that……"

"My lord, listening to your tone, you have forgotten me again, right?"

Qingden laughed a few times:

"This... you are right. I'm sorry, I forgot about you again."

Yamazaki shook his head calmly.

"Lord, there is no need to apologize. This is my own problem. It is because I am so inconspicuous that everyone always forgets me."

When Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help but secretly thought:

——You no longer belong to the category of "inconspicuous"...

This person's name is "Yamazaki Hao". He is from Osaka. He stood out from the "Grand Recruitment" four months ago and successfully joined the Shinsengumi.

His martial arts skills are not outstanding, he only has a superficial understanding of swordsmanship, and only jujitsu is passable.

However, he is very agile, runs very fast, jumps very high, and his body is very flexible, just like an ape.

The "big conscription" four months ago was truly magnificent.

Talented people from all over the world gathered in Otsu just to compete for a place in the Shinsengumi

In such a large-scale event, the reason why Yamazaki Hao was able to stand out was secondary to his agile skills, mainly because of another talent in him.

That is "presence".

His presence is extremely low! It’s so low that it can be called metaphysics!

Maybe it's because his appearance is too ordinary. His sense of existence is so low that he can be easily forgotten.

One second she was staring at his face, and the next second she looked away, it was as if her memory had been reset and she immediately forgot his appearance.

Not only is he agile, but he also has an extremely low sense of presence... Is there any reason why he should not recruit such a great talent?

Aoto instantly thought of the most suitable unit for him - the Shinsengumi's ninja unit, Division 9!

In Aonto's view, Yamazaki Yumi is the "innate ninja holy body".

His extremely low sense of presence means that he is very suitable for secret missions such as infiltration and undercover.

Not to mention anything else, just by escaping and getting rid of the enemy's tracking, he can be invincible.

If he walked into a busy city and hid in a dense crowd, he would be like a leaf entering a jungle or water entering the sea. Even if you blind your eyes, you would not be able to find him.

If trained properly, he will definitely become the new ace of the Shinsengumi!

In this way, under Qingteng's appointment, Yamazaki Hao quickly enlisted in the army and returned to Awu's command, becoming a newly trained recruit.

Although Ah Wu was pregnant at that time, it was not to the point where her pregnancy was obvious and her daily activities were not affected, so she had not yet retreated to the second line.

Yamazaki Haomoto has a foundation in Jiu-Jitsu and a very good physique.

Under Mai Kinoshita's intensive training, he quickly learned skills such as flying over walls and climbing over walls, sliding doors and picking locks.

In less than 3 months, he passed Ah Wu's assessment and successfully graduated.

According to A Wu, he is now a qualified ninja.

With his excellent talents, he was successfully promoted to the vice-captain of the ninth division not long ago.

After Kinoshita Mai temporarily stayed on the second line, he has always been in charge of the overall situation of the ninth team.

In terms of actual performance, he did a good job, and the cultivation he received from Qingdeng and A Wu was not in vain.

He has always fulfilled his duties and managed the ninth team in an orderly manner. So far, there have been no major mistakes.

However... it is worth mentioning that his extremely low sense of presence, before causing trouble to the enemy, first caused trouble for his own people...

Even comrades who get along day and night can find it difficult to remember his appearance clearly, so there are many misunderstandings on weekdays.

Just like Qingdeng - Qingdeng still can't remember his face...

Every time he saw Yamazaki Hao, he would feel as if he had seen this person somewhere, and then he would think about it for four or five seconds before he could remember who he was.

This is true even for Qingdeng, who has the gift of "photographic memory", let alone others.

It is even more common to be stopped outside the camp because the guards forgot about it...

…

…

Ayoto and Yamazaki Hao stepped into the camp one after the other.

In the camp, a light green color filled the view.

The soldiers were running back and forth, each performing their duties.

Some people were armed with spears in their hands and sabers at their waists, and stood guard at their posts.

Some people rushed to the stables holding bundles of fodder.

More people lined up in neat queues and rushed to the training ground as fast as flying.

Although the camp is large and there are many people, it is orderly, complex and not chaotic.

This alone shows how strict the Shinsengumi's military discipline is.

Seeing Qingdeng's arrival, no matter what they were doing, the team members stopped what they were doing, stood respectfully on the spot, and bowed to Qingdeng.

According to the rules set by Ayoto, once he enters the military camp, Ayoto's primary identity is no longer the lord of Qinjin Domain, but the general of the Shinsengumi.

In this way, there is no need to engage in the feudal etiquette of "when seeing a daimyo, you must step aside and kneel to greet him."

When seeing Qingdeng in the military camp, all he had to do was bow slightly and give a brief salute.

Nioh will inspect the training of the new recruits today - this news has spread throughout the Shinsengumi a few days ago.

For this day, everyone from Hijikata Toshizo, Shannan Keisuke and other senior officers to ordinary soldiers have made countless preparations and are ready to go.

Therefore, today, as soon as the sky turned white, the entire camp was filled with a tense atmosphere!

…

…

After a while, Qingdeng arrived at the general commanding platform at the training ground.

On the general stage, all the talented people have arrived.

Compared with half a year ago, with the expansion of the army, the number of generals in the Shinsengumi has more than doubled.

Looking up, there are old faces such as Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi, and Saito Ichi on the ordering stage, as well as many new faces of different ages.

Everyone stood in order under the main seat according to their rank, waiting for Qingdeng's arrival.

After being granted a territory of 300,000 yuan and having a super nanny named Huluwu, Qingdeng had broader and abundant financial resources.

It is no longer like before, with only the New Selection Chamber of Commerce as its money bag.

Recruiting troops and buying horses depends on two things: money and food.

Now that we have money and food, it is imperative to further expand the Shinsengumi's military strength.

Four months ago, Qingdeng held a new round of "big conscription" that was larger than ever before!

While recruiting troops, Seito made certain changes to the Shinsengumi's military system.

First, he established a new unit designation: Squadron 11.

The 11th Division is the artillery team.

As the name suggests, this is a force specifically responsible for artillery warfare.

Guns and artillery are the mainstream of today’s wars.

Qingden specially divided the artillery into a new independent unit, which shows that he attaches great importance to it.

In other words, this team, like the Sixth and Eighth Divisions that have been transformed into the Musketeers, is the fist unit that Qingto focuses on.

Secondly, set up "officer's assistant" and permanently establish the position of "deputy captain" in each division.

Previously, because the size of the army was too small, there was no need to have a large number of officers.

As a result, each division does not have a permanent deputy captain.

As for the "chief assistants", they are the adjutants of the four chief officers - the deputy chief, the chief, the director and the room chief. Their status is equivalent to that of the deputy captains of each division.

As the "Grand Recruitment" was announced and launched, countless brave athletes who had long been fascinated by the inspirational stories of "civilians becoming warriors" and "farmers becoming 'captains'" came from all over the world and enthusiastically signed up to join the army.

When the "Grand Recruitment" ended, the Shinsengumi not only added a group of fresh blood, but also recruited a large number of outstanding heroes, including Yamazaki Hao.

Faced with the current lineup of generals of the Shinsengumi, Qingteng can proudly say: "All the heroes in the world are under my command!"

Currently, the lineup of the Shinsengumi is as follows:

The first is the central agencies and logistics departments——

【Metropolitan Police Bureau】(Gendarme)

Director: Isamu Kondo.

Assistant to the Director: Taro Ito Koshiko.

The total payment is 380 people.

[General Affairs Department] (in charge of administrative work)

Chief: Shannan Keisuke.

Chief Assistant: Takeda Kanryusai.

Control 120 people.

[Finance Office] (in charge of financial work)

Director: Elodie Angoulême.

Assistant to the Chief: Kawai Kisaburo.

Appoint 100 people.

[Refining Lao] (in charge of weapon forging and repair)

Refining Head: Kitahara Harutaro.

200 blacksmiths.

[General Application Department] (in charge of field engineering and civil engineering operations)

Pu Qingtou: Toyun Natsujiro.

Hand pass to 120 people.

[Medical] (in charge of medical affairs)

Medical head: Nanjo Akizaburo.

80 doctors.

Central agencies and logistics departments, totaling 1,000 people.

Next comes the combat unit, the Bato Team—

Deputy Chief: Hijikata Toshizo.

Deputy Chief Assistant: Ogata Shuntaro.

[First Team] (Elite Infantry Team):

Captain: Tachibana Division (Okita Souji).

Vice-captain: Shimada Kui.

Troop strength 300.

[Second Division] (Elite Infantry Team):

Captain: Nagakura Shinpachi.

Vice-captain: Noboru Nakajima.

Troop strength 250.

[Third Division] (Elite Infantry Team):

Captain: Saito Kazuo.

Vice-captain: Nakazawa Sadaki.

Troop strength 250.

【Fourth Division】(Infantry Team):

Captain: Serizawa Duck.

Vice-captain: Sanjuro Tani.

Troop strength 550.

[Fifth Division] (Infantry Team):

Captain: Niimi Nishiki

Vice-captain: Mantaro Tani.

Troop strength 450.

[Sixth Division] (Musketeers):

Captain: Gensaburo Inoue.

Vice-captain: Chief Sōma.

1000 troops.

[Seventh Division] (Cavalry Division):

Captain: Sanako Tachibana (Chiba Sanako).

Vice Captain: Koto Nakazawa.

400 troops.

[Eighth Division] (Rifle Division):

Captain: Heisuke Fujido.

Vice Captain: Kanichiro Yoshimura.

1000 troops.

[Ninth Division] (Ninja Division):

Captain: Mai Tachibana (Mai Kinoshita).

Vice Captain: Samurai Yamazaki.

200 troops.

[Tenth Division] (Cavalry Division):

Captain: Sanosuke Harada.

Vice Captain: Tadashi Matsubara.

400 troops.

[Eleventh Division] (Artillery Division):

Captain: Juro Abe.

Vice Captain: Risaburo Nomura.

200 troops.

800 elite infantry, 1000 ordinary infantry, 2000 musketeers, 800 cavalry, 200 ninjas, 200 artillerymen, a total of 5000 combat soldiers.

5000 combatants, 1000 central agencies and logistics personnel, a total of 6000 troops!

After "changing from 100 to 3000", the total force of the Shinsengumi ushered in the second wave of rapid growth! From 3000 to 6000, it has doubled and has become a 6,000-man army!

Such a strong force is hard to find an opponent even if you look at the whole of Japan!

In addition to the shogunate, only a few powerful domains such as Satsuma, Choshu, Aizu, and Kaga can mobilize an army of equal size.

As for whether the combat effectiveness can match it, that's another matter.

Today, the combat troops of the Shinsengumi are no longer the backward army that could only wield swords and guns at the beginning.

It now has both infantry that can charge and destroy, cavalry that can break through the front lines, ninjas that can fly over eaves and walls, and gunners that are unstoppable.

In this way, it seems a bit inappropriate to call it the "Sword Team".

Therefore, someone once proposed to Qing Deng: Should the name of the combat unit be changed? Or should the ninjas and gunners be separated from the sequence of the Sword Team?

However, Qing Deng always thought that the name "Sword Team" was very good.

The so-called "Sword Drawing" is not just drawing the sword from the waist, but also drawing the sword from the heart!

So, under Qing Deng's instruction, the name of the Shinsengumi's combat unit remains unchanged, and it is still the "Sword Team"!

A new January has begun! Book friends who have monthly tickets, please be sure to vote for this book! (tearful leopard head.jpg)

I don't know if you have noticed that Leopard has been very hardworking recently. It's either 6K or 7K. The "Four Thousand Leopards" haven't appeared for a long time. For the sake of Leopard's hard work, please vote for him! (Leopard crying.jpg)

PS: All the new generals of the Shinsengumi are historical figures, there are no original characters.