That night——
Edo, a certain restaurant——
In order to celebrate Aoshito's victory in this swordsmanship competition, following the "red and white battle" of the "Plum Blossom Festival", Shusuke once again generously donated money, booked a room in a certain restaurant, and held a lively Celebration banquet.
Anyway, Zhou helped him pay the bill. Everyone ate with ease, drank with ease, put down their pretensions and had fun together.
It was so lively with people drinking and drinking.
Qingdeng has been very busy recently, and the attack on the "radical anti-foreigners" is still in full swing, so the official affairs seem to be endless. It is indeed a long period of time to solve one official matter and then another. I didn’t have a good time to relax.
Therefore, Aomori temporarily relieved all his burdens tonight, completely emptying his mind, and started messing around with brothers Kondo and Hijikata.
Hijikata's drinking capacity was very good. After drinking a few cups of sake, except for his cheeks being slightly red, everything else was as usual.
When the atmosphere of the celebration banquet became extremely jubilant and lively, Hijikata suggested inviting some geishas to come over and add to the fun.
Geisha are female performers who do not sell their bodies.
Of course - their "artwork but not body" is just a nice thing to say.
In the beginning, geishas did not sell their bodies.
But no industry can stop practitioners from getting involved!
Among the geishas who were constantly entangled with each other, someone finally crossed the bottom line - while performing their talents for their clients, they also displayed other talents that cannot be described in detail.
After someone breaks through this bottom line, more and more geisha will naturally follow suit in order to better make ends meet.
Finally, in this continuous inter-industry interaction, those geishas who "perform their art but not their body" find it difficult to compete with their counterparts who "perform both their art and their body", and their living space is increasingly squeezed.
Therefore, in order to survive, many geisha were forced to let go of their last bit of reserve and dignity as artists, and began to play the piano with their left hand and undress their clients with their right hand.
To this day, those geishas who still manage to insist on "showing off their skills but not their bodies" are almost all big star figures who have money but may not be able to hire them to perform.
After all, only these big stars with outstanding talents or beautiful looks have the confidence to stick to the bottom line of "never sell themselves".
Because geishas now basically take the route of "selling their bodies as well as their skills", the overall hiring cost has become much more expensive.
Zhouzhu, who was sitting in the main seat, silently took out the money bag from his arms with careful movements. After taking a look at the savings in the money bag, he solemnly put the money bag back into his arms with a righteous look.
"Tufang, martial arts practitioners should not be too obsessed with beauty."
"Those who indulge in beauty are often depressed and depleted of energy and blood, which is extremely harmful to the practice of martial arts."
…
Zhouzhu started to talk at length about Hijikata with his chirping and beeping.
He talked so much in a long way, but the central theme was just one sentence - let's just eat and drink tonight, geishas and so on, wait until next time.
"Hmm... Why is there no wine..." Okita, who was sitting next to Qingden, grabbed the wine bottle placed next to his dining table and shook the empty bottle vigorously a few times.
"Okita-kun, you can't drink any more." Qingto, who was also a little tipsy at this time, grabbed the wine bottle from Okita's hand, and also grabbed the wine glass on Okita's table. Pay attention, you are so drunk...Hey, are you still conscious?"
Qingden waved his hands vigorously in front of Okita's eyes.
Okita, who had a poor alcohol tolerance, was so red that his face seemed to be about to drip with dark red blood at any moment, and his eyes were half-squinted with confusion.
After he glanced at Qingdeng who was waving his hands vigorously in front of him, he smiled brightly and showed Qingdeng a bright smile with both eyes bent into crescents.
"Ji Jun... your performance in the competition these past two days has been very handsome... you have passed all the way, no one can beat you..."
Well, I can still speak normal human language, and it seems that I am not too drunk... After confirming that Okita was not so drunk that he could not speak clearly, Qingto nodded with confidence.
Since Aoto was forbidden to drink alcohol, Okita simply drank soup instead of wine.
"Hehehehe..." Okita picked up the miso soup on the dining table with both hands, took a sip, and said happily, "Tachibana-kun won this competition... The apprentices who come to our trial defense hall in the future should also It can become more..."
The previous victory in the "Red and White Battle" in the "Plum Blossom Festival" successfully gave them a bad reputation in the trial defense hall. From that day on, the number of apprentices who came to study with them after hearing about the name of their trial defense hall increased significantly.
Today, Qingdeng successfully won the first prize in this high-profile and grand swordsmanship competition, which is bound to further increase the reputation of their trial defense hall.
It is not difficult to imagine that the number of apprentices coming to the Trial Guard Hall to study in the future will definitely increase further!
As soon as Okita finished murmuring, he heard Zhou Zhuchang in the chair sigh, and then echoed:
"Hoo ho ho, it has been so long since the establishment of the Trial Guard Hall, and now we are finally in a good position."
Hijikata, who was sitting side by side with Kondo, suddenly paused while passing the wine glass to his lips after hearing these two sighs from Okita and Shusuke.
He raised his eyes, glanced at Shusuke, and then at Kondo beside him, and then silently put the wine glass in his hand back on the table.
"...Since we mentioned the Trial Guard Hall...this is a rare opportunity. Master, Asheng, I have some opinions about the current operation of the Trial Guard Hall. Are you interested in hearing it now?"
"Huh?" Kondo squinted his eyes and looked at Hijikata, "Opinions? What opinions?"
Hijikata put the chopsticks he was holding in his right hand back on the dining table and cleared his throat: "As for how to further strengthen our trial defense hall... I suddenly thought of a new idea recently."
"Oh?" Zhousuke's eyes flashed with interest. He looked straight at Hijikata and motioned for Hijikata to continue.
The rest of the people at the banquet, including Qingto, also stopped what they were doing and focused their curious and doubtful eyes on Hijikata.
Everyone was looking at him, but Hijikata didn't show any stage fright. After stuffing a peanut into his mouth, he spoke unhurriedly:
"I'll just get straight to the point."
"Let's try to recruit some warriors with a certain reputation as disciples or diners of the Imperial Guard Hall."
As soon as Hijikata said this, everyone at the banquet immediately looked puzzled.
"Ah Sui." Kondo put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hands, turned around, and faced Hijikata, his face full of doubts, "What do you mean? Why do you want to try to recruit a samurai with a certain reputation as our disciple or diner?" ?”
Hijikata seemed to have expected that Kondo would ask him this question. He folded his hands in front of his chest, showing a confident look.
"This is an inspiration I got recently by accident."
"Just a few days ago, I was chatting with a few newcomers in the library because I was bored."
"While chatting with these newcomers, I learned from their mouths that they were all attracted by Tachibana's name, so they chose to learn swordsmanship from us."
Having said this, Hijikata turned his attention to Qingto.
"Tachibana is now a famous person in Edo. I had expected that some people would come to the Imperial Guard Hall because they were attracted by Aomori's name."
"But after chatting with the newcomers, I suddenly realized that the number of people in this group seemed to be much larger than I had previously expected."
"So, with a playful attitude, I launched a serious investigation to find out how many people entered the trial defense hall because of Qingdeng."
"The results of the survey surprised me: quite a few people heard that the 'Hokubansho Kotengu', who has recently become famous and has made extraordinary achievements, studied here, so they decided to come to the Shiwei Hall to practice swordsmanship."
"After finding out this fact, a new inspiration emerged in my mind."
"If a sword hall has famous disciples or patrons, it can have a strong 'attraction' to others."
"People can't help but wonder: What is the ability of this sword hall to recruit so many celebrities under its command, so they become interested in this sword hall."
"This is similar to the fact that when Yoshiwara's courtesans use accessories or cosmetics from certain merchants, women will often go crazy to buy these accessories and cosmetics."
"So, I think that if we can try to recruit such famous warriors as disciples or diners in the hall, it will definitely be of great benefit to the future development and growth of our trial defense hall!"
Hijikata's eloquence was quite good, and with just these simple words, everyone understood his proposition.
When Hijikata was only halfway through his explanation, Seito had already understood what Hijikata meant - simply put, it was to use the "celebrity effect" to expand the reputation of the trial gym so as to attract more people. Learn the sword at the Trial Guard Hall.
Zhousuke raised his hand, smacking his lips and stroking his smooth chin: "Hmm... Hijikata, I understand what you said."
"But..."
As Zhou Zhu changed the subject, a wry smile appeared on his face.
"Trying to recruit famous samurai as apprentices or diners... This is easier said than done."
"Why do those celebrities come to be our disciples or diners at the Imperial Guard Hall?"
"To put it bluntly and harshly... our trial gym has not completely eliminated the stigma of 'Taro Dojo' yet."
"Currently, all over Edo, there are more attractive sword halls than our trial defense hall. I can't count them with two hands."
"Besides, it's easy to talk about disciples, but as for diners... our current financial resources are not strong enough to support many diners."
"It's very expensive to raise diners. The amount of money a diner pays for a month is not a small sum..."
Although the practice of hiring diners to live in the kennels and help out during the Edo period has always been popular among kenkans, the high cost of supporting diners meant that only a few kentans had diners.
Hijikata intervened at this time and asked: "Approximately how many diners can our trial guardhouse support now?"
"Well..." Zhou Assistant looked like he was thinking, and the hand rubbing his chin was a little harder, "Compared with before, our recent income is much better, but if we make full use of it, at most... we can only support 2. Just 3 people.”
"2 or 3 people..." Hijikata frowned. It seemed that the number of people was slightly different from his expectations.
Based on Shusuke's statement, it is not difficult to see that he is not particularly optimistic about Hijikata's plan to "use the 'celebrity effect' to expand the trial academy."
But at this time, Kondo, who had been silent just now, suddenly spoke:
"...Father, I think this plan that Ah Sui envisioned...may not be something we can't try!"
Kondo straightened his back and continued to say seriously to Shusuke:
"As Ah Sui just said - if we can successfully recruit some celebrities as members of our trial defense hall, then this will indeed be quite beneficial to the future development and growth of our trial defense hall!"
“With these benefits alone, I think it’s enough to give this plan a try!”
"This is the truth..." Zhousuke sighed, "But I just said it, right? Why do those celebrities come to be the disciples or diners of our 'Taro Dojo'?"
Kondo was tit for tat. As soon as Shusuke finished speaking, he immediately responded without hesitation:
"If we still can't find celebrities who are willing to join us...then we have nothing to lose."
Kondo smiled.
"If we can successfully recruit any celebrities, we will make a lot of money."
"But if no celebrities are willing to come to the door, we have nothing to lose."
Seeing that Kondo favored this plan so much, Zhousuke raised his eyebrows vigorously.
After being silent for a while, Zhousuke sighed helplessly:
"...Okay, if you want to try it, then go ahead and do it."
"You are now considered half the head of the Kondo Family and the Trial Guard Hall."
"Anyway, in a few years, I will retire completely and leave the head of the Natural Rishin-ryu Sect and the Imperial Guard Hall to you."
"Just do it according to your own ideas, young people."
His father expressed his approval and support for his idea, and Kondo excitedly bowed to Shusuke and said "thank you."
Hijikata, on the other hand, was equally happy that his plan was approved.
Okita, who was now slightly less drunk, asked Kondo, Hijikata and the others:
"Then...where are we going to find such famous celebrities?"
Okita asked a crucial question to the point.
"... I can only look for fate and find it slowly." Kondo chuckled a few times, "It's unrealistic to just look for someone who is famous all over the world."
"This kind of giant Buddha can't even be provided by our small imperial examination hall."
“So keep your feet on the ground and take your time.”
"At this stage, I plan to first try to recruit people who are only slightly famous in the city of Edo."
Kondo paused for a moment, pursed his lips and let out a self-deprecating laugh:
"However, it's not that easy to find such a person who can be famous in Edo..."
"Even if you find them, it's not that easy to get them to join our trial gym."
"Oh..." Okita nodded seriously, then crossed his arms on his chest and pursed his lips in thought.
Because Okita has thin arms and legs, when he makes this gesture of crossing his arms across his chest, it will not create a sense of majesty, but will only make people feel that Okita has become more petite.
"Someone who is famous in Edo... I don't seem to know such a person..." Okita muttered.
Hearing Okita's muttering, Qingden on the side couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, and secretly said in an annoyed tone:
——A nerd like you would be a ghost if you knew some celebrities!
As early as when he first stayed at the Imperial Guard Hall, Qingto discovered that Okita was really an otaku.
On weekdays, there is no need to leave the front door without taking two steps.
There are 24 hours a day, and he spends 24 hours in the training hall.
Occasionally he goes out, either to replenish the indispensable "strategic resource" he needs to maintain his daily survival: Jinpingtang, or because he is greedy and wants to eat sweets at the teahouses or snack shops he often goes to. dessert.
Okita's social circle is basically limited to the corner of the Trial Guard Hall. The only friends who frequented each other were Aoto, Kondo, and Hijikata.
If Okita knew any famous people in Edo, then Aoto would have really opened his eyes with a knife in the butt.
"Okay, let's think about these serious things later." Qingto put the thick fish on his plate that he hadn't touched because he didn't like it, but Okita loved it very much, and put it into Okita's bowl. in, "Now let's eat well and have fun. Here, I'll give you this fish..."
"ah!"
Before Qingteng finished speaking, Okita said "Ah", interrupting Qingteng's words, and then he suddenly raised his head as if he suddenly remembered something.
"I almost missed it subconsciously... Isn't there a person sitting here who is very likely to know someone famous?"
Okita turned around and showed a big smile to Qingnobo...
"Tachibana-kun!"
While Okita smiled, he stretched out his left elbow and poked Qingto's side.
"An official like you who works in the 'three chapters' of the execution office must have some connections, right?"
"Do you know someone who is famous in Edo?"
"Huh?" Qingdeng was stunned.
Now Qingto, who had no idea that Okita would ask him this question, looked thoughtful.
Connections... Qingden, as the "Sanchai" Tongxin of the Beifan Office, which specializes in handling various criminal cases, naturally has some connections.
But these connections of his are basically colleagues who are also "officials of the office".
Among all the people he knew, the only one who could be called a celebrity... it seemed that the only one he had just saved his life at the Fanshu Diao Institute was Katsurin Taro.
But how could a political celebrity like Katsurin Taro, who was busy with various government affairs every day, become a disciple or diner of their imperial examination hall?
Qingdeng, who thought carefully and couldn't think of any suitable candidates, smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Sorry, I don't know either... huh?"
Qingdeng's words suddenly stopped at this moment.
Because at this moment, Qingden suddenly recalled that besides Katsurin Taro, he also knew other celebrities.
There are quite a few, enough for 3 people.
Although these three people are completely incomparable to people like Katsu Rintaro who are famous all over the world, the three of them do have a certain reputation in Edo.
And, more importantly - according to Qingdeng's judgment, these three people are very likely to be willing to become disciples or diners of the Trial Guard Hall!
"...I actually know the kind of people who are quite famous in Edo... I know three of them."
Aoto raised his eyes and whispered to Okita, Kondo and others who were now showing shocked expressions.
"Kondo-kun, if you are willing...I can bring them here tomorrow."
…
…
The next day——
In order to be able to participate in the swordsmanship competition held by Lord Aizu, Seito asked Usui to take two days off the day before yesterday and yesterday.
Now that the swordsmanship competition has been successfully concluded, Qingdeng naturally returned to the life of a social animal busy with various official duties.
The Huo Fu Thieves Kai are indeed a special armed force responsible for handling various major cases and vicious criminals.
After they were transferred by the shogunate to help implement the "radical anti-barbarian faction" in Edo, the burden on Ayoto's shoulders was instantly relieved a lot.
With the help of Huofu Thief Kai, the enforcement office's recent crackdown on the "radical anti-barbarians" has been very effective. A large number of thugs who committed brutal acts in the name of "repelling the barbarians" have been brought to justice. The arrogance of the "radical anti-barbarians" Got strong pressure.
But it is a pity...the anti-barbarian group, which was listed as a key target by the shogunate, is still at large until now.
The extreme lack of intelligence made it difficult for the execution office and the Huofu Thieves to find the stronghold of the anti-barbarian group and the locations of important figures.
Even the people and strongholds cannot be found, so naturally there is no way to initiate a purge operation.
Because there is a new force of fire to pay thieves to help reduce the workload, Qingnog and the others no longer have to be as busy as they were when the "Sakurada Gate Incident" first happened. They are so busy that they even have no time to rest. Completely out of order, they have gradually returned to a normal work rhythm recently and can go to and from get off work on time as before.
Just like today, after the sky was just dyed with the unique orange light of dusk, Qingdeng successfully completed all his duties for the day and got off work very punctually.
In the past, when Aoden got off work, he was only accompanied by his bodyguard Saito.
But today was a little different - when he left Beibansuo today, besides Saito, there were three more figures around him!
Qingdeng led them back to the trial defense hall in a swaggering manner.
"Oh... Mr. Tachibana, you usually live here." Harada, carrying his beloved gun on his shoulders, looked at the gate of the trial defense hall with interest.
"The door has been scrubbed very clean... This sword hall is usually well maintained." Nagakura muttered seriously while looking at the door of the trial guard hall.
"Ah..." Todo let out a low scream at this time, and then raised his hand to scratch his hair with a guilty look on his face, "I almost forgot, would it be bad if we came to the door empty-handed like this?"
"It's okay, it's okay." Qingden waved his hand towards Todo, "Kondo-kun and the others won't care about such a trivial matter. Okay, come in quickly."
Qingto took Saito and his three subordinates into the trial defense hall.
As soon as he passed through the gate of the Trial Guard Hall, Qingdeng shouted to the hall with a familiar voice: "We are back!"
As soon as Qingdeng said "We are back", the sound of "tapping, tapping" footsteps came from far and near.
Immediately afterwards, Qingden saw Okita, who was holding a bamboo sword in his hand and sweating profusely. He should have been practicing swordplay just now.
"Tachibana-kun, Saito-kun, you are back!" Okita showed his signature bright smile to Aoto and Saito, and then he turned his attention to Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada who were standing behind Aoto. Sanosuke and Toudo Heisuke.
"Tachibana-kun." Okita carefully asked Qingnobo in a tone that suppressed the expectations in his heart, "These three are Nagakura-kun, Harada-kun and Toudou-kun, right?"
Qingden smiled and nodded: "Yes, yes. According to the agreement last night, I will bring Yongcang and the others here."
…
…
The "Battle of Fanshu Diaosuo" more than half a month ago not only further enhanced Qingdeng's reputation, but also caused Nagacang and others who followed Qingdeng to rush into Fanshu Diaosuo. gained fame.
Whether in the government or in the market, many people now know that the "Little Tengu of the North Bansho" Tachibana Aoden has recently recruited three extremely powerful Okabiki!
The reason Aoto is now known as "the strongest martial arts sect in the North Division" is also thanks to the help of Yunagakura and others.
Some good people even went so far as to spread rumors there: The combined combat strength of this team led by Qingdeng is probably greater than the total combat strength of the other "three chapters" teams in the two major divisions of the South and North!
Although in terms of fame, the Nagakura trio are far from being called "celebrities".
However, the three of them currently have a certain reputation in Edo due to the "Battle of Fanshu Tiaosho".
Therefore, Qingto made an agreement with Kondo and the others last night - to bring all three of his subordinates here today!
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