I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 764: Kiryu Boss suddenly attacks, "Tachibana-kun, draw your sword!" [4500]

In the third year of Wenjiu (1863), early morning on February 10th——

Kyoto, Mibu-go, Shinsengumi Station, Council Hall——

Harada Sanosuke: "Tsk... I'm so sleepy... Why do we have to meet in the early morning? I haven't gotten enough sleep..."

Inoue Genzaburo: "I heard that something very important will be announced to us."

Nagakura Shinpachi: "'Very important matter'? What is it?"

Saito Ichi: “Who knows?”

Niimi Nishiki: "Could it be that a rebellion has broken out somewhere else?"

Shannan Keisuke: "Regarding this, I can tell you with certainty: it is not true."

Fujido Heisuke: "Mr. Kondo, Mr. Hijikata, Mr. Yamanami, do you have any gossip?"

Hijikata Toshizo: "Well... we do know some gossip. However, since Tachibana asked us to keep it a secret, we are sorry that we cannot disclose it."

Serizawa: "Tsk, what..."

Kondo Isami: "Okay, everyone be quiet, Tachibana-kun is about to arrive."

……

Early in the morning, all the Shinsengumi generals gathered in the meeting hall.

They were divided into two rows according to their status and sat down in order.

Not long after, with a "whoosh" sound, the side door facing the main seat was slowly opened, and Qing Deng slipped in.

The generals who had been sitting upright in the previous second, now bent their waists, lowered their heads, and saluted Qing Deng respectfully.

Qing Deng strode towards the main seat.

As soon as he sat down, he, as always, showed his vigorous and resolute character and announced in a loud voice:

"The reason why I have hastily gathered you all together today is to announce a happy event: from today on, the position of 'Director' will no longer be vacant!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene was immediately filled with surprise.

Except for a very small number of people like Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, everyone else looked at each other with surprise on their faces.

The first head of the Shinsengumi was born - this was indeed a great event worth publicizing.

After a brief moment of surprise, everyone's mood gradually turned into curiosity.

who is it?
Who is so capable that he can sit in the position of director?
In terms of status, the director of the department is on the same level as the deputy director, the chief director, and the director, and is second only to Qing Deng, who is the general commander.

In other words, if you can become the head of the finance department, it would be an extraordinary success!
He will surpass captains such as Souji and Nagakura Shinpachi and directly become one of the senior leaders of the Shinsengumi!

Putting aside the utilitarian factors, the extremely high requirements required to be competent for this position also made everyone curious about this new colleague who suddenly arrived.

In charge of the logistics of the Shinsengumi... Everyone has a clear understanding of how difficult this job is.

The work content of the director, deputy director and general manager can all be supplemented by experience.

But the director is not like that.

The head of the department needs to deal with mathematics frequently, and a major characteristic of mathematics is that “if you know it, you know it, and if you don’t know it, you don’t know it.”

Your hard work or accumulation of personal experience cannot help you become a math expert.

Because this type of "mathematical" talent is so rare, this position has remained vacant until now.

So, at this moment, everyone stretched their necks and looked around, eager to see who the director who had caught Qingdeng's eye and finally filled the long-standing vacancy was, what kind of person he was, how old he was, and what he looked like.

After everyone calmed down a little, Qing Deng raised his neck and said loudly:

"come in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the main door of the meeting room opened.

All of a sudden, everyone at the scene raised their eyes and looked towards the gate.

Outside the gate, there was nothing except a clean corridor.

I waited eagerly...but in the end, there was not even a shadow of a thing.

Such a scene naturally confused everyone.

However, Qing Deng seemed to have anticipated this.

He smiled slightly, and then changed his tone to a gentle one:
"Don't be afraid, we are all family here, there are no outsiders."

"..."

Qing Deng's words finally caused some movement outside the gate, breaking the silence.

Pasha, Pasha, Pasha, Pasha, Pasha...

The sound of clothes rubbing against the floor.

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap…

The sound of footsteps coming closer and closer.

After a while, a petite and cute girl appeared in front of everyone.

She wore a light yellow inner garment, a light green haori of the Shinsengumi style on the outside, white hakama on the lower body, and a pair of clean white socks on her two small feet.

She is a real Japanese girl - judging from her clothes alone, that's true.

Long golden hair with slightly curled ends; sapphire-like eyes; three-dimensional and delicate facial features... Anyone with eyesight can clearly see these three striking features that are different from the Japanese.

Except for Kondo Isami, Hijikata Toshizo, Kinoshita Mai and others who knew the truth in advance, the rest of the people stared at Elodie with wide eyes, with a look of disbelief on their faces.

Serizawa Duck frowned and curled his lips:

“Barbarians…?!”

Niimi Nishikawa, who was standing beside him, also had a similarly intense reaction.

Both of them are fans of Mito Manabu.

The theory of "respecting the king and expelling the barbarians" originated from Mitogaku.

Therefore, although people like Serizawa Kamo were not as crazy as the radical Sonunoism faction, they had absolutely no good feelings towards Westerners.

As for Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Hajime and others, they all had all kinds of expressions at this time.

After years of being influenced by Westerners, they all have more or less negative impressions of them.

This cannot be blamed on them, it is purely a problem of the overall environment.

There is a lack of media channels nowadays.

Under this circumstance, there was basically no positive news about Westerners circulating in the market.

Let’s not even mention the long-ago “Black Ship Incident” (1853).

Just recently, a huge British fleet blocked Edo Bay and demanded a huge amount of compensation from the shogunate.

They can't tell the difference between America, France, Britain, and Russia. They only know that these guys are a bunch of barbarians with thick body hair and strong body odor.

It’s the British’ fault, and the barbarians from other countries must also bear the blame!

Of course, there were also a few people who showed interesting reactions that were completely different from the atmosphere on the scene:
Inoue Genzaburo murmured:
"Eh... So this is what Westerners look like..."

Fujido Heisuke couldn't help but ask back:

"Mr. Inoue, have you never seen a foreigner before?"

Inoue Genzaburo spread his hands:
"I have not traveled far since I was born, and I have basically stayed in Edo. How could I have seen foreigners?"

When she reached the center of the meeting room, Elodie stopped.

You can see that she is nervous.

His lips were tightly pursed, his face was slightly pale, and his limbs were as stiff as if the joints were fastened with screws.

Everyone present cast mercilessly scrutinizing glances at her, so that the air around her seemed to sink to the ground, revealing an indescribable sense of solemnity.

At first glance, it gives people the illusion of "a poor little lamb and a group of big tigers watching her".

If measured by the average height in Japan today, Elodie, who is 1 meters tall, is not short.

Throwing her among the Shinsengumi generals who are all tall, she naturally looks short.

But if you put her on the street, her height will be very harmonious and nothing special. Don't overestimate the average height of Japanese people.

The reason why people like Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Hajime are so great is entirely because of the "survivor bias".

Anyone who is not tall enough will not be able to become a strong person because of this congenital defect.

Not to mention the outside world, even in the Shinsengumi where elites gather, people shorter than Elodie are everywhere.

It's just that Elodie has a very slender frame, so her body looks thin and small.

The light green haori she was wearing was clearly fitted, but because of her small frame, it gave off a loose feel, like a "child wearing adult clothes."

Although everyone at the scene was silently putting pressure on her with their oppressive and sharp gazes, she tried her best to straighten her back and hold her head high, not letting herself show any signs of stage fright.

"Everyone, this is my first head of the Shinsengumi Finance Department - Elodie Angouleme."

As soon as Qing Deng finished speaking, Elodie immediately said loudly:
"Nice to meet you. My name is Elodie Angouleme and I am from France. Thank you for your guidance in the future."

As soon as she opened her mouth, exclamations rang out from the audience.

The reason was simple - the extremely authentic standard Japanese without any accent really surprised everyone at the scene.

People who came from remote areas, such as Nagakura Shinpachi (from Ezo) and Harada Sanosuke (from Shikoku Island), did not speak Japanese as well as this little girl from a foreign country.

Harada Sanosuke couldn't help but mutter:

"Is she really a barbarian? Why does she speak Mandarin better than me..."

After Elodie finished speaking, Qingdeng took over the conversation:
"I know what you're all thinking."

"How can a dignified Shinsengumi employ a Western woman and even promise her a high position?"

"It's normal for you to have such doubts."

"Next, I will answer your questions one by one."

"First of all, the Shinsengumi's philosophy of employing people has always been 'recruiting talents regardless of their background'."

"Anyone with outstanding talents will have the opportunity to become a member of my Shinsengumi."

“It doesn’t matter where you come from, what gender you have, or how old you are.”

"Secondly, you don't have to worry about Elodie's personal abilities."

"I can tell you with certainty that the position of 'head of department' is tailor-made for Elodie."

“Even if you look at the entire Gyeonggi Province, there won’t be a second person who is more qualified for this position than her.”

"Isamu, Toshinori, and Keisuke have all experienced her abilities."

"Promoting Elodie to the position of Director of the Finance Department was not my own decision, but was unanimously agreed upon by me, Yong and others. It was truly what everyone wanted."

"Finally, I want to warn you of one thing."

"Ailuodi is not only Awu's good friend, but also my disciple."

Qing Deng's words were like a stone that caused a thousand waves, and the impact it brought to everyone was greater than any of the words he had just said.

King Ren actually has a disciple?
And she’s a Western woman?
Except for a very small number of people represented by Mai Kinoshita, the rest of the people did not know until this moment that Qing Deng actually had a disciple.

"All in all, Elodie is someone I can completely trust."

"After Elodie accepted my request and was willing to share my worries, I secretly vowed to protect her at all costs."

"So... don't vent your resentment and anger on people who shouldn't be venting it on."

Speaking of this, Qing Deng's tone suddenly changed and became extremely low.

Not only that, he slowly lowered his eyelids and his eyes became terrifying.

"If anyone feels dissatisfied, just come at me."

"No matter when or where, I will accompany you to the end."

……

……

The first director of the Shinsengumi's finance department was Elodie Angoulême from France. This unique personnel change soon gave the samurai and common people in Kyoto something to talk about for a long time.

Ordinary people did not react much to this - they had only a vague understanding of the various conflicts between their country and the Western barbarians.

On the contrary, those radical patriots shouted: The Shinsengumi hired Western barbarians! This is naked treason and collaborating with the enemy!

Although they didn't know how hiring a Western woman could be considered treason, the radical pro-Japanese faction insisted on this slanderous term.

This is a typical example of "if you want to accuse someone of a crime, you can always find a pretext for it."

Even if Elodie had not become the head of the Shinsengumi, these lunatics would have been able to find evidence of "collusion" between the Shinsengumi and the Western Barbarians from other sources.

Qing Deng despised the radical pro-Japanese faction's various claims from the bottom of his heart.

Anyway, I have already torn my face with this group of lunatics a long time ago, so I don't care about their voices anymore. Let them shout however they want.

Qing Deng originally thought that Elodie would have some time to adapt after her first experience in the Shinsengumi's logistical work.

But I didn't expect...she would be so successful right from the start!
It took her only a few days to integrate the Shinsengumi's current transportation capacity and arrange it in an orderly manner.

Which pack horses were responsible for transporting supplies from Edo.

Which carts were responsible for supporting the construction of Qinjin Domain.

Then, she re-recorded the grain and fodder stocks in the warehouse and corrected the defects and errors in the past account books.

Of course, we cannot forget the "Otsuboku".

She put a lot of effort into revising the "Dajin Book".

This is a large and complex project.

Fortunately, Elodie’s working ability is so strong.

If there is no doubt, in just one month, Qing Deng will be able to see a brand new "Otsu Book"!

If we use the phrase “the innate holy body of logistics” to describe Elodie...it’s really not an exaggeration!
Qing Deng couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that she has done a similar job before?

In any case, with the joining of Elodie, the logistical shortcomings of the Shinsengumi were made up.

The organization's operating efficiency has reached a new level!

Qing Deng, who no longer had to take care of logistical work, was finally able to free up his hands and concentrate on dealing with other more important matters.

……

……

time flies.

In the blink of an eye, 5 days passed (October 10th).

On this day, Qing Deng, who was concentrating on his work, suddenly heard a notification:

"Lord Niou, there is an old man at the gate who calls himself 'Kiryu Kazuma' and wants to see you by name!"

Qing Deng raised his eyebrows vigorously, and a hint of joy appeared on his cheeks.

——Boss Kiryu? Why is he here?

With uncontrollable joy in his heart, he excitedly dropped the work at hand and ran towards the door.

As soon as he reached the door, the extremely familiar old figure came into his sight.

"Boss Kiryu!"

Qing Deng quickened his pace and went to meet Boss Kiryu.

But who would have thought... Mr. Kiryu, with an expressionless face, glanced at Qing Deng and said without any sadness or joy:
"...Tachibana-kun, draw your sword."

bass.

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly drew the sword from his waist...

*******
*******
Leopard, leopard, come back to life!

Because I haven't written for 2 days, I forgot where I was... (crying leopard head.jpg) My physical condition is still a little bad, but I will work hard to adjust! (leopard hi.jpg)

Let's vote for the monthly ticket and celebrate the resurrection of Leopard! (Leopard head crying.jpg)