at the same time--
Edo, suburbs, beside a certain river——
Kimura, who was on vacation today, was sitting on the bank of the river, fishing with a fishing rod in hand, motionless like a stubborn rock.
On one side is a rushing river, followed by dense bushes. Under the bushes are rocky hills, connected to the hills not far away.
On the other side is an open wilderness, with several trodden paths crisscrossing the area. The paths extend eastward and end at the outskirts of Edo.
Looking around, it's a beautiful scenery - but such a beautiful scenery is ruined by Kimura's expression at the moment.
Kimura's face was expressionless, every line on his face was as cold as the spine of a knife, and his expression was unpredictable.
Beside Kimura, the captain of the fifth division of the Huosaka Thief Division: Huisaka Genzo, who was also on vacation today, was also fishing there with a fishing rod.
At first glance, the two people sitting side by side seemed to be fishing seriously.
But after taking a closer look, we can see that both of them are drunkards who don't care about drinking.
Kimura half-closed his eyes and stared at the river. His thoughtful eyes made him look like he was staring at a distant world.
As for Kawasaka, he looked completely distracted.
Sometimes he glanced at the river as quiet as a mirror, sometimes he tilted his eyes and peeked at Kimura's face.
——Lord Kimura suddenly called me to come fishing... What exactly do you want?
At this time, Huosaka is full of question marks.
Today is a long-awaited rest day. In order to make full use of this rare vacation and eliminate the accumulated physical and mental fatigue to the greatest extent, Huosaka made a very detailed "play plan".
Even though he is very young, Kasaka is still more playful and knowledgeable than young people.
First, let's go to "Edo's No. 1 Entertainment Street": Ryogoku Hirokoji, listen to storytelling, and watch performances such as Kabuki and Joruri Puppetry.
After watching the show, if you still have time, go to Suharaya in Nihonbashi—one of the most famous bookstores in Edo—to see if there are any new yellow paper books on sale.
Yellow Paper: A sentimental literary publication with yellow leather embroidered figures. It has been at the top of the sales list of various bookstores for a long time. Because this kind of reading material sells so well, many writers make a living by writing yellow paper.
Kawasaka is a very sexy woman. Reading yellow forms is one of his biggest hobbies. I have a large collection of yellow paper in my home. The amount of it fills the entire room and makes people sweat every time they go out.
After spending the day leisurely and leisurely, he went to the place that countless Edo men dreamed of: Yoshiwara, the "city that never sleeps", and spent a night of fun in the lap of a beautiful woman. He missed the Hayaki of Hakumoya too much. The lady's feet are small.
A perfect plan, a fulfilling day - but Kimura's sudden arrival completely disrupted his perfect plan.
Early this morning, Kimura suddenly came to visit and said that he wanted to go fishing with Huosaka.
Kimura's sudden invitation made Huosaka very confused.
Although he and Kimura are both captains of the Fire Thief Kai squad, they don't have much interaction with each other on weekdays.
The relationship between the two of them was neither stranger nor stranger, nor familiarity at all - at least not so familiar that they could go fishing together on their days off.
Huosaka originally wanted to refuse, but considering that this was someone's initiative, he was embarrassed to offend others. In addition, he was also curious about why Kimura suddenly invited him to go fishing, so he finally reluctantly accepted the invitation.
Under the leadership of Kimura, the two of them came to the small river on the outskirts of Edo.
From the moment he started fishing, Kimura remained silent--to Hizaka's growing confusion.
What exactly is Mr. Kimura going to do? Do you really just want to fish with me?
Kimura remained silent.
And Huosaka was troubled by doubts and couldn't find a suitable topic for a while.
The two sides remained silent.
An unknown amount of time passed, until a wisp of refreshing breeze ruffled the surface of the river. Kimura finally said his first words after throwing the fishing line into the river:
"...Housaka-kun, what do you think of Tachibana Aoden?"
"ah?"
Hosaka turned his face, blinked hard at Kimura, and asked Kimura with his movements: Mr. Kimura, why are you asking this?
Kimura, whose eyes were still fixed on the river in front of him, seemed to have not noticed the eyes that Hosaka was casting towards him, and continued to himself:
"Hosaka-kun, there are only you and me here, no outsiders are present. And you should also know: I hate Tachibana Aoden, so don't worry, feel free to speak freely."
Kawasaka raised his eyebrows slightly.
He silently looked away from Kimura and pursed his lips thoughtfully. After a moment, he said softly:
"I... hate Tachibana Aoden."
A gloomy cloud of worry passed between Huosaka's brows.
"I, Hosaka Genzo, have been serving the Tokugawa family since I was 16 years old. After decades of self-denial and dedication, I have accumulated countless merits and hard work, and I have finally reached my current high position."
"And that Ju Qingden just killed some lunatics who talked about 'rejecting the foreigners', and he transformed from a 'Three Chapters' Concentric to the captain of the Third Division who is on an equal footing with me... It's really unreasonable!"
Speaking of this, Kawasaka's hand holding the fishing rod trembled slightly like a dead leaf in the wind, and jealousy burst out of his eyes as if they were about to solidify.
As if he wanted to drain away all the private words accumulated in his heart, he no longer hesitated and opened his voice:
"Ju Qingden's promotion is disrespectful and blasphemous to a veteran minister like me who works hard every day!"
When Huosaka spoke, Kimura listened quietly the whole time.
As if he had long expected that Huosaka would express his dissatisfaction with Qingden, his expression was calm, and there was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.
"Hosaka-kun, I knew you must hate Tachibana Aoden just like me."
After saying that, Kimura put down the fishing rod in his hand, turned around, and met Kasaka's eyes with a serious face.
"Hosaka-kun, the reason why I invited you to go fishing today is actually because I want to discuss something important with you: do you want to join hands with me and work together to bring trouble to Tachibana Aoden?"
Let Tachibana Aoden be unlucky - as soon as these words entered his ears, a bright light suddenly flashed in the depths of Kawasaka's pupils.
However, this bright light was fleeting and disappeared quickly the next moment after it flashed.
"Of course I would like to see Tachibana Aoden's life uncomfortable, but... can this kind of thing be done?"
Huosaka slumped his shoulders and looked gloomy.
"Although I really don't want to admit it...but that kid with a yellow mouth does have some talents."
"Excellent swordsmanship, dare to fight and charge. He made great achievements on the first day he took office here... Damn it...!"
Although Kawasaka's expression dimmed, the jealousy in his eyes did not go out—in fact, it became even stronger.
Hearing Huosaka's words, "He made great contributions on the first day he took office here," Kimura's face suddenly turned uglier. From a certain perspective, Aoshinobu's new contribution was still He gave it to Qingdeng.
He originally wanted to assign a difficult task to Qingto in order to embarrass him, but who would have thought that he would further enhance his reputation... Until now, every time he thinks of this matter, Kimura is still so depressed that he wants to vomit blood.
Kimura took several deep breaths, and after barely gathering his emotions, he sneered:
"Hosaka-kun, you can't say that."
"I admit: that 'Yuan Yu family' does have some abilities - but that doesn't mean he really has the ability to live a peaceful life in the Huofu Thief Kai."
"You and I are both captains of the Huoshu Thief Kai squad, so Huosaka-kun, you should also know very well how difficult it is to discipline the soldiers in the team."
"There are many arrogant soldiers in the army who cannot be beaten or scolded, and are more delicate than porcelain."
"Not to mention commanding these arrogant generals, just telling them not to cause trouble and not to hinder me is enough to make Ju Qingden very busy and exhausted."
"Well..." Huosaka nodded in agreement, and the gloom on his face suddenly disappeared.
The Edo shogunate was a samurai regime, and the samurai who were in the ruling class were, to put it bluntly, a group of "hereditary soldiers."
Everyone does their own thing on weekdays.
Open a sword hall to open a sword hall.
Those who do knowledge do knowledge.
Work as an errand in the government.
But if there is a war and the shogunate issues a mobilization order, then all samurai are obliged to put down all the affairs and work at hand, take their own armor, swords and guns, and join the army.
In other words, the samurai are a group of "professional soldiers waiting to be called upon at any time."
Therefore, since the Tokugawa family established the shogunate in Edo, there has been no such thing as "recruitment" whether in the shogunate's territory or in the vassal territory.
Civilians were not qualified to serve as soldiers, and the military was entirely handled by samurai.
Whether it is the Huofu Thieves Kai, the "Third Division" or other troops, all the existing standing armies of the shogunate, from generals to ordinary soldiers, are all serious samurai. The ancestors of almost every one of them had been wounded, shed blood, and made meritorious service for Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo shogunate.
They were either selected or gained through connections. Among them, there are many rich and powerful families with strong backends who stuff incompetent disciples from their families to gild their qualifications.
Although Aoto, my grandson, and Kimura are the captains of the team, they do not have the power to eliminate old team members and select new team members.
Let alone changing a team member, even if you are punishing a team member, you must carefully consider it first - the Yuli or Tongxin in front of you may appear to have a lower official position than you, but the family power behind him may be much greater. It can scare you to death.
Generally speaking, samurai would not marry commoners. Samurai only married samurai.
After 300 years of evolution, the samurai community has long formed an extremely complex interpersonal network that affects the whole body.
The military has become more partisan... This is one of the important reasons that led to the deteriorating military strength of the Edo shogunate and the "three hundred princes".
Therefore, Qing Deng and other officers when they were running the army. You must be careful, careful, and more careful; cautious, cautious, and more cautious. If you accidentally offend someone you can't mess with, you'll be in trouble.
Therefore, Kimura would feel this way: just to subdue the arrogant soldiers in the third division and make the third division truly a force that "can listen to his own orders" would be enough to torture Qingto into a state of embarrassment. Unbearable.
"Hosaka-kun, put your ear closer."
Kimura hooked his finger at Huosaka.
"I hate that 'Yuan Yu family' much more than you expected! How can such a low-blooded thing be on an equal footing with us?"
"Seeing that guy doing meritorious service and being in the limelight is more painful than cutting my heart with a knife."
Kawasaka nodded vigorously in agreement.
Kimura continued:
"In the past few days, I have been thinking deeply about what I should do to make the 'original imperial family' no longer proud - it really made me think about something."
"Now... I have a plan that if successful, I will have a great chance of driving out the 'royal family' from Huo Fu Thief Kai. Mr. Huosaka, are you interested in hearing about it?"
Huosaka's expression changed slightly.
After hesitating for a while, he slowly leaned forward and put his ear to Kimura's lips...
…
…
Edo, the Third Division's camp, the school grounds——
As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, someone walked out from behind a big tree next to Qingdeng with steady steps.
He has thick hair that is not shaved into a Tsukiyo head, slightly frosted temples, a slightly thin figure, eyes as bright as stars, and a faint smile on the corner of his mouth - it is none other than Katsu Rintaro!
In an instant, the soldiers of the Third Division under Qing Deng exploded.
"Katsu Rintaro? Is he the famous Katsu-sama in recent years?"
"It's really him!"
"Are you sure it's him?"
"I'm sure! I once had the honor to meet Lord Katsu. The middle-aged man standing next to Lord Tachibana now is indeed Lord Katsu!"
"Katsu Rintaro... I remember, isn't he going to be transferred to form the navy soon?"
"Tachibana-sama actually invited the future leader of the navy to speak to us?"
…
Whether it was Akabane, Shirasaki, Aoi, and the others, as well as the colleagues at the grassroots level, their eyes widened in astonishment.
While everyone was stunned, Katsurin Taro spoke:
"Hello everyone!"
Katsurin Taro smiled and spoke in a gentle tone.
"Mr. Tachibana has just introduced himself to me, so I won't go into details about who I am."
"I am extremely honored to be standing here today speaking to you."
"The Huo Fu Thieves Kai... I have been curious about this army that has made countless illustrious military exploits since its formation!"
…
Rintaro Katsu gave a morale-boosting pep talk to the soldiers of the Third Division just as Aintome had just said.
He is humorous and knowledgeable, and his speeches are interesting and never boring at all.
However, the catch is that not many people are paying attention.
Except for Aoto, who was smiling and standing beside Katsurin Taro, everyone present looked dazed to varying degrees.
Everyone here is a member of the martial arts family who is serving the government.
Since they are all Feng Gong people, who wouldn't know that the name of Katsurin Taro is so prestigious that even if you look across the country, you can definitely call him a reputable man?
Some people who are relatively well-informed and familiar with all the ups and downs in the officialdom know better: Rintaro Katsu is a popular figure among Tokugawa Iemo! Under the leadership of Tokugawa Iemo, he will soon be transferred to the head of the warship training center, fully responsible for the training and establishment of the shogunate navy!
Tokugawa Iemo has always had an open-minded and supportive attitude toward advanced Western knowledge, so he greatly admired Rintaro Katsu who was proficient in Western knowledge. He often summoned Rintaro Katsu to the city to have an audience and ask for advice from Rintaro Katsu - this is an honor that many people yearn for. ?
The reason why Katsu Rintaro was able to soar to the top in just a few years was inseparable from the appreciation and vigorous training of Tokugawa Iemo.
At present, Katsurin Taro has been confirmed to be transferred to the military because he is proficient in artillery and naval affairs, and will take over the establishment of the shogunate navy. But anyone with a discerning eye can see: He is deeply appreciated by Tokugawa Iemo, and his future achievements are limitless!
The first marshal of the Shogunate Navy... This is most likely not the end of his career!
As a rising star in the shogunate's political arena in recent years, Katsurin Taro can be said to be one of the most popular and popular figures nowadays.
There are as many people who want to curry favor with him and hug this "big thick leg" as crucian carp crossing the river.
And such a big shot actually appeared in front of them at this moment, giving them a speech with a kind face...
How could Tachibana Qingden invite such an important official to give a speech in the camp of their security force? !
This card is too big!
More and more people unconsciously turned their gazes towards Qingdeng with awe and conviction.
In a society like ancient Japan, where class solidification was so serious that it was almost distorted, many people were more afraid of the power of "a single thought, and blood flowed everywhere" than the force of "a man's anger can cause blood to flow five steps".
In many situations and in the eyes of many people, power is far more prestige than force.
As the saying goes: Don't be afraid of vagabonds on the street, only be afraid of the ministers of the court.
Tachibana Aoden actually became friends with Katsurin Taro - when thinking of this, many people's moods quietly changed uncontrollably.
In fact, the reason why this group of people, headed by Akabane and Shirasaki, dared to ignore Qingdou, or even speak harshly to Qingdeng, was entirely because they felt that their backing was very strong, and they believed that Qingdou could not do anything to them. Sample.
Nearly half of the people in the team are from Hatamoto, and their families are somewhat influential.
With the support of the family behind you, there is no need to fear Qingdeng - this is a true reflection of the hearts of many team members.
However, when they saw Aintomasa and Katsurin Taro standing side by side with their own eyes, their thoughts had to change.
Katsurin Taro...they can't afford to offend such a big shot!
Not to mention that he was offended, it was too late to flirt with and flatter him!
This man with a legendary experience is the future leader of the Navy. Although from a functional point of view, the Huo Fu Thieves belong to the Army and have nothing to do with the Navy, they are still part of the same military system.
If you can cling to such a big military boss... then you will probably go to heaven!
For a moment, the atmosphere on the school grounds suddenly changed.
Some people no longer look at Qingden with indifference and boredom.
And some people... became even more excited.
As expected of a benevolent king! Not only do I get to know high-ranking officials, but I can also invite them to give speeches!
*******
*******
Yesterday I was in a bad state, and the number of words was a bit short... (Leopard Head Cries.jpg) But I still have the audacity to ask for a monthly ticket!
Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation!
PS: Suharaya is a real store. There was indeed a famous bookstore called "Suharaya" on Ryogoku Bridge in the Edo period.
(End of chapter)
