I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 699 Qingdeng is promoted! Eighth Prince and thousands of people share the same heart! 【4300】

Edo, Edo Port——

As the largest port in Edo, the flow of people entering and exiting Edo Port every day can be described as prosperous.

Although Edo has inevitably declined, this place is still one of the liveliest areas in Edo.

However, today is slightly different from the past.

It's not that the flow of people has decreased, on the contrary, there are too many people today.

Since early this morning, a large number of people, including men and women, old and young, have gathered at Edo Port.

They stretched their necks, stood on tiptoes, and looked at Edo Bay in the distance.

They were not admiring the beautiful scenery, but waiting for Qingto...or rather, waiting for the result of the "Makuei Negotiation".

The sound of small conversations came and went:

"Has Nioh-sama set off?"

"We've already set off."

"Why hasn't he come back yet..."

"We talked for a long time today."

"Oh...what a crime...how could the majestic Tokugawa shogunate be reduced to the embarrassing situation of being threatened by the Western barbarians..."

"If there really is a war, what should we do..."

"What else can I do? Of course I pick up the sword and fight to the death with Xi Yi!"

"You put it lightly! Xiyi has guns!"

"It is better to die fighting than to be scared to death by Xiyi!"

……

The news that "the British side has a deadline of June 6th, if they don't give them an explanation before then, they will bombard Edo" has long spread throughout the streets and alleys of Edo.

The common people of Edo cannot help but care about this "Makuei Negotiation".

After all, this time there was really a "Sword of Damocles" hanging above their heads.

The success or failure of the negotiation is directly related to the wealth and lives of the people in the city.

It’s still the old saying: Under naval guns, all living things are equal.

Once a naval gun is fired, no matter who you are, you will be wiped out.

Those dignitaries can pack up their belongings and flee to other places, but they cannot move their houses or take away their land.

If Edo was destroyed by war, these dignitaries would also suffer a huge blow.

Therefore, the entire Edo, from the high-ranking officials of the shogunate to the most inhumane people, all pinned their hopes on Qingnobo's "departure" - hoping that Nioh would be able to create miracles and save Edo as usual.

Although they knew it was useless, in order to calm their uneasiness a little, many soldiers and civilians still gathered at Edo Port, looking forward to Aomori's triumphant return.

Nearly an hour had passed since Hamrimmaru set sail and Qingto and others rushed to the Uriaus.

With every second that passes, the hearts of the soldiers and people waiting at the port become heavier...

At this moment... someone suddenly shouted:

"Hey! Look! Xiyi's warship seems to have retreated!"

As soon as this statement came out, the whole place was shocked!

In an instant, heads suddenly lifted up, and their gazes were cast towards Edo Bay in the distance.

Looking around - the nine "black spots" that stretched across Edo Bay and tortured the people of Edo like a nightmare for nearly more than a month began to move slowly.

They spewed out thick black smoke and began to change formations.

First, it changed from the horizontal line of the "T" to the vertical line, then whined, sailed, and sailed away from Edo Bay little by little.

Steamboats are very fast.

In just a moment, these nine British ships disappeared into the distance and were swallowed up by the distant sky.

Looking at this scene, the soldiers and civilians at the port all opened their eyes wide, with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

It was eerily quiet...no one spoke, only the sound of heavy breathing was like the bellows in a blacksmith shop, "whirring" repeatedly.

A while passed like this...the time that seemed to have stood still finally started to flow.

"Xi Yi retreated!"

someone shouted.

"They all withdrew!"

Someone echoed.

After these two started, the soldiers and people on the port showed expressions of ecstasy, shouting at the top of their lungs like crazy.

"Xiyi has retreated! Retreated!"

"We're safe!"

"Nioh-sama succeeded!"

……

In an instant, the entire Edo Port was filled with an atmosphere of overwhelming joy.

A few people even cried with joy.

Suddenly, another person shouted:

"Look! It's Xianlinwan!"

On Edo Bay, the Kanrim Maru, filled with canvas and spitting out black smoke, sailed straight towards

Everyone who knew it was Qingdeng who had returned gradually held their breath and gathered their spirits.

Before it arrived, Xianlinwan docked steadily and entered the harbor.

The tall figure appeared in front of everyone.

With a faint smile on his face, Qing Deng strode onto the covered bridge.

Under the eager anticipation of everyone, he said loudly:

"Everyone, I believe you have all seen it!"

"So, I won't stop talking nonsense!"

"Yes! Everything is as you can see! The British ships have retreated!"

"They gave up their claims against the shogunate! And they will never threaten Edo again!"

The moment Qingdeng finished speaking, a huge wave of cheers spliced ​​together tightly surrounded Qingdeng!

Everyone present - including the sailors on the Xianlin Maru - cheered as loudly as they could.

The so-called "thundering of joy" is nothing more than that.

Katsurin Taro and Manjiro boarded the covered bridge slowly and step by step.

The two looked at the magnificent scene in front of them and smiled at each other.

Katsurin Taro let out a sigh of relief.

"It's finally come to an end..."

Manjiro grinned and agreed:

"It's not easy... To be honest, I almost thought that even Niou-sama was going to fail. Fortunately, in the end, we finally got a happy ending."

Hearing this, Taro Shenglin burst into laughter:

"Everyone is happy? I'm afraid Satsuma won't think so."

Manjiro's expression became strange. :

"At this point, we can't take care of others, we can only take care of ourselves."

When you want to open the window, the people in the house object with all their strength. When you say that you want to blow off the roof, the people in the house agree to open the window. No matter how the times change, this is the commonality of human beings.

The reason why the British came to seek compensation from the shogunate was purely to extort money.

Therefore, when they find that income does not match costs, they will naturally consider exiting gracefully.

However, it is obviously impossible for Britain, which is accustomed to being a robber, to suffer the consequences of being dumb.

Anyway, Qingto had only one goal, which was to protect Edo and then preserve the interests of the shogunate as much as possible.

As a result, Qingde went out of his way to ask for a high price when he came up, threatening that "neither the Shogunate nor Satsuma will claim compensation!"

When the time is right, then "soften" your tone and say, "As long as you don't let the shogunate lose money, you can do whatever you want in Satsuma."

Sure enough - the British, who had been frightened by Aoshito's force and words and no longer wanted to tangle with the shogunate, immediately targeted Satsuma.

The shogunate was secured.

The British side received the goods decently.

Everyone is happy!

The world where only Satsuma was injured is complete!

Satsuma may have some objections to Qingdeng's operation.

However, Qingdeng cannot be blamed for this. Anyone with any sense of rationality knows that this is not even a diversion of disaster.

The "raw wheat incident" was originally a disaster caused by Satsuma. It is really reasonable for them to deal with the aftermath.

As far as the results are concerned, the shogunate achieved an extremely satisfactory result in this "Municipal Negotiation", directly achieving the perfect effect of killing two birds with one stone!

First, Edo survived and the risk of war was eliminated.

Second, it weakened Satsuma's strength.

The former is easy to understand.

As for the latter - judging from the current political situation, the shogunate must not only severely attack Choshu, but also take appropriate precautions against Satsuma.

Although Satsuma currently maintains neutrality... to put it harshly, it is sitting on the fence... it is not as blatantly confronting the shogunate as Choshu.

But no matter what, it is always a foreign name, and it is also a very powerful foreign name.

The Zunbo forces within the Satsuma Domain are not weak.

After Shimazu Hisamitsu came to power, he created the bloody "Teradaya Incident" and suppressed the feudal forces within the domain with an iron fist.

Although it has gone through a wave of great purges, the Zunhui forces within the Satsuma Domain have only gone dormant temporarily, and there is still the possibility of their resurgence.

God knows whether Satsuma will turn around and form a common front with the Choshu clan in the future.

Therefore, it is necessary to try to weaken its power.

How Satsuma will deal with the British fleet that is about to visit its doorstep - and this is none of Qingdeng's business.

However, he still felt a little guilty about it.

After all...Satsuma is the hometown of Tianzhangyuan.

……

……

"The siege of Edo is relieved! "Nioh" Tachibana Tachibana boarded the screen and retreated from the British ships" - this news spread quickly to all directions like a gust of wind.

Although people often say "good things don't go out, bad things spread thousands of miles", but this time is an exception.

This was a great thing that saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Edo!

The soul that had been suppressed for more than a month was finally liberated.

The excitement of the people of Edo and the joy of the people of Edo are difficult to express in words.

After only half a day, people in and outside Edo were singing about Aoshito's great achievements.

Immediately afterwards, Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin's group, who were still in Tokai Street and still on their way back to Edo, also received Aoshino's good news.

……

……

Donghai Street, somewhere——

"What's wrong with Mr. Dashu?"

"After reading the urgent letter, I looked up to the sky and laughed with joy."

"This is the first time I've seen Mr. Dashu so happy."

"Yes, he is always expressionless on weekdays, making it impossible to guess what he is thinking. He does not look like a 17-year-old boy at all."

"There must be something great in that urgent letter."

……

Taking advantage of the break, Tokugawa Iemo's personal attendants gathered together, whispering to each other, and discussing in low voices the strangeness of Tokugawa Iemo just now.

This all started from 10 minutes ago.

Ten minutes ago, a member of the team came to Tokugawa Iemo's team and bluntly said that there was an urgent letter from Edo to be delivered to the general.

[Note following Hikka: Hikka (the fastest courier in the Edo period), specializing in errands]

After Tokugawa Iemo read this letter, he, who usually showed no emotion or anger, showed a rare expression of excitement and uncontrollable excitement, and even laughed to the sky.

Immediately afterwards, he quickly ordered "rest where you are" and then summoned Tianzhang Court to bring his sedan.

The two of them have not come out until now.

……

……

Inside Tokugawa Iemo's sedan——

Tianzhangyuan read the letter in his hand over and over again.

Sometimes one glance and ten lines, sometimes word for word, as if studying the texture of the paper in detail.

After a while, she slowly put down the letter in her hand and murmured in a daze:

"Sheng Qing succeeded..."

After a while, she changed to a more passionate tone, with an expression of disbelief on her cheeks, and repeated it again:

"Sheng Qing succeeded...!"

Tokugawa Iemo, who was sitting opposite her, curled up the corners of his mouth again, and kept slapping his thighs with his hands that he didn't know where to place.

No wonder the mother and son were so shocked and excited.

It’s not that they don’t believe Qingdeng will succeed.

It's just... They never expected that Aoto would take down the British fleet in Edo Bay in such a short time!

Counting from the time he returned to Edo, it only took him two days to drive the British fleet out of Edo Bay, which the previous high-ranking shogunate officials had exhausted their energy and methods and were unable to resist! And persuade the British to stop claiming compensation from the shogunate!

Such shocking deeds and outstanding achievements cannot be overstated!

Tenzouin simply calmed down, then excitedly rushed to Tokugawa Iemo and asked:

"Jia Mao, Sheng Qing has made another great contribution. How do you plan to reward him?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Tokugawa Iemo replied without thinking:

"I have already thought about the reward for Qingdeng."

With that said, he took out a scroll from his arms and handed it to Tianzhangyuan.

Tianzhangyuan unfolded the scroll and took a closer look - at just one glance, her expression was dominated by strong shock.

"Iemo, are you serious? Do you really want to hand this army over to him?"

Tokugawa Iemo nodded gently.

"Of course! No one except Qingdeng is qualified for this position!"

……

……

Three days later, the shogunate's reward for Ayoto, who had made another great contribution, was officially announced to the world——

Increase family fortune by 1500 shi! Give the eighth prince a thousand people to share the same heart!

The Eight Princes and Thousands of People United as One—the most famous group of countrymen under the shogunate.

At the end of the Warring States Period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who dominated the world, transferred his fiefdoms from the original Mikawa and Sunfu to the Kanto Plain in order to weaken Tokugawa Ieyasu's power.

At that time, the Guandong Plain had not yet been deeply developed and was covered with swamps.

In addition, Tokugawa Ieyasu was completely unfamiliar with the place and had no foundation in the Kanto Plain.

Therefore, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's transfer of the title to Tokugawa Ieyasu is a classic rise and fall.

The Toyotomi clan's base is in Osaka, which is the Keihan area.

From the Keihan area to the Kanto Plain, there is the vast Koshu Mountains sandwiched between it.

In order to guard against the invasion of the Toyotomi clan and to prepare for future hegemony in the world, Tokugawa Ieyasu established a half-peasant and half-soldier army to guard Koshukou.

He mobilized the Takeda clan's remaining ministers and samurai who had no masters, and ordered them to settle around Hachioji.

These people were then divided into 10 groups, with about 100 people in each group.

This army of country soldiers is the "Eight Princes' Thousands of People with One Heart", also known as "The Eighth Princes' Thousands of Guns" and "The Eighth Princes' Thousands of People".

Although the team members have the status of warriors, they usually engage in farming as high-ranking common people - which can be understood as common people with higher status.

Half peasants and half soldiers are the so-called "field soldiers".

The leader of this group is the "Eighth Prince and Thousands of People with One Mind".

Now, after becoming the envoy of Gyeonggi Town, Qingdeng has obtained this new position.

In other words - Qing Deng now controls both the Shinsengumi and the Hachioji Thousand People's Heart!

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According to historical facts, the shogunate honestly paid a compensation of 10 pounds to successfully survive the disaster. Although war was avoided, the finances were almost bankrupt and the people under the shogunate became increasingly poor.