I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 804: The most beautiful girl in Kyoto, here she comes! [Leopard Update 6K4]

Gyeonggi Province Director...Before explaining this position, I have to explain Hachishu Director first.

The Eight States Directors - the full name is "The Eight States Directors of Kanto", abbreviated as "Eight States", and is called "Eight States Lord" by the common people.

Simply put, it can be understood as a relatively special policeman.

He was responsible for touring the eight provinces of Kanto to crack down on criminals and people of unstable residence. He had the privilege of traveling freely in any territory within the Edo Prefecture, regardless of whether it was a natural territory, a temple or a private territory.

Those who served as the governors of the Eight States were basically lower-ranking samurai with a salary of 30 taels and the support of three people, or 3 taels and the support of two people.

Although his identity is not worth mentioning, his social status is quite high.

Their daily task is to patrol the eight provinces of Kanto. Due to this characteristic, many novelists and playwrights are keen on creating chivalrous stories with the Eight Provinces Supervisors as the protagonists.

The plot content is similar: the Eight States Director came to a new place and found that the place was rampant with evil, either corrupt officials were levying heavy taxes or the Yakuza were acting recklessly. With his powerful strength, the Eight States Director suppressed the evil, promoted justice, and incidentally won the heart of a certain girl. Then, under the tearful gaze of the young girl and the grateful villagers, he left and disappeared into the sunset, just like an American western.

Thanks to these literary and artistic works, the social status of the Eight States Directors rose sharply.

Over time, the general public generally has a positive view of it.

After the "August 18th Coup", although the Choshu forces were expelled from Kyoto, the radicals led by Hisaka Genzui did not give up.

Shortly after the coup, a large number of Choshu patriots...ah, no, a large number of lunatics spontaneously sneaked back to Kyoto, vowing to get their revenge.

  Since we can’t defeat them head-on, let’s launch a terrorist attack!

They used all sorts of tricks to harass the shogunate and everything related to it, especially the Shinsengumi, Aizu Army, and Satsuma Army, which had caused them to fall into their current state.

Some attacked soldiers who were alone; some tried to poison the military rations; some threw torches into the military camp, trying to start a fire...some even planned to assassinate Qing Deng!

To be honest, his ambition is commendable as he challenged the highest difficulty right from the start.

Unfortunately, history has proven time and again that spiritualism is useless in the face of overwhelming absolute strength.

Therefore, the assassin's ridiculous ending was doomed before he even started the action - he was knocked to the ground before he could even break through the gate of the Shinsengumi station.

For the sake of convenience and to express their contempt for them, Qing Deng and others nicknamed this group of terrorists from Choshu the "Choshu Madmen".

Although the "Choshu Madman Group" was quickly suppressed with the joint efforts of Qinjin, Aizu and Satsuma, and these large-scale terrorist attacks were banned one by one, those small-scale harassment actions, like "mosquito hum hum", have continued to occur despite repeated bans.

Although mosquito bites and blood sucking are not fatal, the buzzing sound is really annoying! And the swollen, itchy red spots can also make people very manic.

If we don't drive them away, these mosquitoes will become more and more arrogant and take advantage of us.

  Go and chase them away, they run so fast that there is no way to hit or crush them!

Before the shogunate could completely stabilize the security in Kyoto, Choshu jumped out again to disgust the shogunate like a dog that smelled shit.

After Choshu launched a general military mobilization across the domain, it actively prepared for war on the one hand, and on the other hand sent countless spies and agents to Kyoto, ordering them to collect intelligence while creating as much trouble as possible for the shogunate, distracting its attention and consuming its resources.

Therefore, with the strong support of the Choshu officials, since the beginning of this spring, the "Choshu Mad Group" that Qing Deng and others had suppressed with great difficulty has gradually shown signs of revival, and terrorist attacks in Kyoto city have increased again.

  Today they burn down your house, tomorrow they send you a threatening letter, and the day after tomorrow they assassinate lone shogunate officials... It's so annoying! They are simply a bunch of hopeless terrorists!

"Protecting Kyoto" is the responsibility of Qing Deng as the governor of the capital.

The resurgent "Choshu Mad Gang" is wreaking havoc everywhere, seriously endangering the lives and property of Kyoto residents. Qing Deng is naturally responsible.

After suffering many setbacks, the "Changzhou Mad Group" has learned its lesson and become more cunning.

They now completely hide in the shadows and never easily expose themselves to the sun, making it difficult to track their whereabouts and, therefore, difficult to eliminate them.

Simple human wave tactics are no longer effective and may even lead to being fooled.

In this case, the best way to break the deadlock is to send out criminal investigation experts who are observant and meticulous!

  Collect intelligence, follow clues, find the base of the "Changzhou Mad Group", and then eliminate them completely!

However...although the Shinsengumi now has a strong military force with many soldiers and generals, they are basically a bunch of rough men with big muscles and empty heads.

It would be okay to let them charge into battle, kill the generals and capture the flags.

But let's forget about asking them to investigate the case and find the thief.

Although Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke and others had served as Aoto's assistants and had solved many cases with Aoto, they were basically the ones who did the hard work, and the brainpower work was left to Aoto.

In short, sending these rough guys to investigate the case is no different from sending the general manager to manage the accounts.

Funny enough, the only person in the Shinsengumi who has knowledge of criminal investigation is Aoto.

Qing Deng now holds several positions, and every day when he opens his eyes, there are countless official tasks waiting for him to deal with one by one.

It's easy to imagine that he can no longer go to the front line to investigate cases in person like he did before.

How can it be that a dignified governor of the capital is doing the work of Dingcheng Huitongxin?

Even if Qing Deng is willing to go, his retainers and generals will try their best to dissuade him.

Professional matters should be handled by professionals.

  Since I lack criminal investigation talents under my command, I will ask for external help! Find a real criminal investigation expert to fill the vacancy!

In this way, at the suggestion of Aoto, Tokugawa Iemochi created a new position, namely "Kyoto Director".

From its name, it is not difficult to recognize that this position is modeled after the Eight States Director.

The job of the Kyoto Director is to patrol Kyoto and arrest criminals.

Just like the Eight States Director, the Kyoto Director has the privilege of being able to move freely within his jurisdiction, regardless of whether it is a heavenly territory, a temple or shrine territory, or a private territory.

As we all know, temple and shrine territories are managed only by the temple and shrine magistrate, and ten-ryoku are managed only by the town magistrate.

Even when catching thieves, the two areas do not interfere with each other.

This creates the problem of a tail that is too big to be removed.

For example, if a criminal escaped from the heavenly territory to the temple and shrine territory, the officials of the Bugyosho who were chasing him could only stare helplessly, standing outside the temple and shrine territory, and let the criminal get away - they could not interfere in the affairs of the temple and shrine territory.

Once they cross the line and arrest people, they are "challenging the line".

Faced with this situation, all the officials of the Bugyosho could do was to notify the Temple and Shrine Bugyo and let them take over the task and be responsible for the subsequent arrest operations.

If the criminal is good at escaping and runs back to the Tenryo from the temple-shrine territory, the temple-shrine magistrate will have no choice but to hand the task back to the town magistrate...just passing the buck back and forth.

I don’t know how many criminals have escaped in this process of passing the buck.

The privilege of "natural entry and exit from all territories" enjoyed by the directors of Hachishu and Kyoto corrected this drawback and greatly enhanced the efficiency of case handling.

In fact, Qing Deng originally wanted to directly entrust the Kyoto Bugyosho to help investigate the "Choshu Madman Group".

However...the Kyoto Magistrate's Office is rotten to the core!

  To put it bluntly, every single one of the officials in the Kyoto Magistrate's Office are insects!

They are either corrupt officials who are blinded by greed, or mediocre officials who are just sitting in their positions doing nothing.

Not to mention that they were put to use, Qing Deng would be thankful if they didn't make things more complicated.

The Gyeonggi Pacification Commissioner had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Kyoto.

Even if he had the power to intervene, the Kyoto Magistrate's Office was now in such a state of disrepair that Qing Deng would have no idea where to start.

To be honest, in Qing Deng's opinion, there is no other way to rectify the Kyoto Magistrate's Office except to "cut the Gordian knot".

How can we destroy the "Changzhou Madman Group" by hanging out with this group of insects?

Instead of taking the trouble to treat this rotten wood that has rotted even to the roots, it is better to start from scratch and plant and cultivate a new sprout.

Both Aoto and Tokugawa Iemochi were well aware of this, which is why the position of "Kyoto Director" came into being.

From the organizational perspective, the Kyoto Director was subordinate to the Gyeonggi Pacification Commissioner, under the jurisdiction of Qing Deng and directly commanded by Qing Deng, and the two sides had a direct superior-subordinate relationship.

Today, the newly appointed "First Generation Kyoto Director" will arrive in Kyoto as scheduled.

As his superior and host, Qing Deng should host a banquet to welcome him.

Perhaps this was fate—the other person happened to be an acquaintance of Qing Deng.

……

……

Gion, the largest geisha district in Kyoto.

Although people always think of geishas, ​​geishas and geishas when talking about "Gion", in fact, putting aside the geishas, ​​Gion is one of the most prosperous areas in Kyoto.

From ordinary izakaya to high-end restaurant, we have everything.

Because there are many geishas here, and the environment is good and transportation is convenient, dignitaries often hold banquets in Gion.

Today, the welcoming banquet prepared by Qing Deng to welcome the director of Kyoto was held in Gion.

……

……

Kyoto, Gion, a high-end restaurant——

"Mr. Dongcheng, long time no see."

As he spoke, Qing Deng raised the wine glass in his hand.

Seeing this, the fat man sitting next to him also raised his glass.

With a crisp sound, the two wine glasses clinked together.

"Tachibana-kun... No, I should call you 'Your Highness' now. You don't have to be polite. You are my direct superior now. I am overwhelmed by your politeness."

  A fat body, messy hair, a dull complexion... Such an eye-catching appearance belongs to none other than Qingdeng's old acquaintance: Tojo Shintaro!

Criminal investigation talents who are good at investigating cases and have a keen insight into the situation are extremely rare.

If Nishino Hosojiro hadn't died, he would have been a good candidate.

Although Nishino Hosojiro has a bad temper, his criminal investigation skills and his hatred of evil are exactly what Qing Deng needs most right now.

If he became the director of Kyoto, he would definitely put in 120,000% of his effort and would not stop until the "Choshu Mad Group" was completely wiped out.

What a pity...the person is gone and these fantasies are meaningless.

Finally, after careful searching and repeated discussions, the final candidate was finally decided upon, namely, Shintaro Tojo.

Just like that, following an order from his superiors, Tojo Shintaro left the Edo Kitabansho where he had served for more than ten years, and rushed to Kyoto to take up the post of "First Generation Kyoto Director".

Once upon a time, Qing Deng was the one who supported Ding Machi, and Dongcheng Shintaro was the one who supported Ding Machi, and they were in a superior-subordinate relationship.

And now, the relationship between the two has returned to that of superior and subordinate, but the order has been reversed.

That being said, Tojo Shintaro had never bullied Aoto before.

So Qing Deng didn't have the refreshing feeling of "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't look down on the poor young man" or "Hahaha! You have come to this day!" After not seeing him for more than half a year, Tojo Shintaro still looks the same, so shabby that it's unbearable to look at.

His fat belly had grown even bigger, and his bird's nest-like hair seemed to have become even more messy.

However, despite his appearance, he is still a member of the Northern Frontier Army.

Although his abilities are not enough to be called a "super detective", he does have rich experience in criminal investigation that is far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

All in all, Tojo Shintaro is a rare and powerful figure.

After learning that the person who would serve as the "First Generation Kyoto Director" was Tojo Shintaro, Qing Deng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It was precisely because the Kyoto Magistrate's Office was not of sufficient use that Qing Deng specifically proposed the establishment of a new position.

If the person sent to assist him is also an incompetent good-for-nothing, Qing Deng will be in tears.

In the following period of time, he and Tojo Shintaro will work hand in hand to fight against the traitors.

Therefore, it is definitely right to maintain good relations with each other.

In order to express his importance to the other party, Qing Deng specially ordered people to prepare well for today's welcoming banquet.

The restaurant they were in was the largest and most high-end restaurant in Gion, bar none.

Its gorgeous decoration alone is enough to prevent ordinary people from approaching.

In addition to Qing Deng, important generals under his command who could squeeze out time - such as Yamanami Keisuke, Nagakura Shinpachi, and Harada Sanosuke - also came to attend today's welcoming banquet.

As for the food, it should be as sumptuous as possible.

Unlimited rice, fresh sea bream, rich miso soup, premium sake...just from the luxury of the dishes, this was already the most luxurious feast in the Edo period!

Good food, good dishes, good wine... today's welcoming banquet is more than that.

When it comes to the finest banquets in the Edo period, there is one group that is indispensable:

Just as Qing Deng and Dongcheng Shintaro were clinking glasses, suddenly, light, fast but not chaotic, pleasant footsteps were heard outside the room.

In a short while, accompanied by a soft "whoosh" sound, the paper sliding door of the room was gently pushed open.

Then, one after another, beautiful women wearing gorgeous furled sleeves, flower buns on their heads, and sashes wrapped around their waists came in like butterflies flying through flowers, and gracefully moved in front of Qing Deng and others.

  There is no doubt that they are the calling card of Gion - the beautiful geishas!

They are worthy of being the symbols of words such as "beauty", "elegance" and "vitality". As soon as they appeared, they brought a touch of brightness to the room and livened up the atmosphere.

After more than a dozen geishas appeared on stage, they formed two rows in the middle of the room, facing each other.

Then, they were seen bowing slightly, as if welcoming their emperor.

In a sense, they were indeed welcoming their emperor.

Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap…

There were new and extremely pleasant footsteps coming from the direction of the corridor.

The footsteps are soft yet graceful.

A calm and elegant way of walking.

Just listening to the footsteps, one can instinctively imagine: the owner of these footsteps is definitely a stunningly beautiful woman!

In fact, it is true.

After a while, Qing Deng and the others all felt that the light in the banquet hall was a little brighter.

This was not because a few more candles were lit, but because of someone's arrival - her appearance added a brilliant glow to the banquet hall!

I saw a beautiful lady wearing green furisode and with her hair tied up in a bun, walking leisurely through the door and into the banquet hall.

  This woman is truly a beauty!

She has picturesque eyebrows, red lips and white teeth, and she is graceful and elegant. She has a gentle smile on her face. She is as fresh and refined as a lotus flower emerging from water, and her face is powdered with just the right amount of white powder.

The dim light from the candlelight mixed with the white powder made her face look particularly delicate.

The beauty of this woman can be best described by the famous line from "The Book of Songs: Wei Feng Shuo Ren" - "She has a delicate forehead and beautiful eyebrows, an charming smile and lovely eyes."

  With her identity as a geisha and her stunning appearance, her status is self-evident - Miss Ziyang has many reputations such as "the most beautiful woman in Kyoto", "the first geisha in Kyoto", and "the pearl of Gion"!

She obviously did nothing, just walked slowly and showed her face, but she displayed the terrifying dominance of "Kyoto's No. 1 Geisha"!

The geishas who just appeared on stage are all top-notch beauties whose turning heads rate can reach over 70% when they walk on the street.

  But when Zi Yang appeared, all the geishas in the audience were suddenly eclipsed!

Just like the bright moon to fluorescent light, who can compete with it?

Zi Yang walked lightly to the center of the banquet hall, then led the geishas in bowing slightly to Qing Deng and the others.

Then, they dispersed and began to perform songs and dances.

By the way, geisha is geisha and prostitute is prostitute, the two cannot be confused. The former sells art but not their bodies, so they are not prostitutes.

Therefore, Qing Deng did not break the promise he made to his wives that he would never have an affair with prostitutes.

While eating and drinking, inviting geishas to liven up the atmosphere was a classic process for high-end banquets in the Edo period.

  In other words, Qingdeng is doing things completely according to convention!

Everyone does this, I am just following the crowd! Even if the wives are here, they can't say anything - Qing Deng thought to himself confidently.

……

……

Being a geisha is a technical job.

A pretty face is the key to becoming a geisha.

But if you only have a pretty face, you won't be able to walk on this thorny road for long.

The reason why Zi Yang is recognized as the "No. 1 Geisha in Kyoto" is not only because of her stunning beauty, but also because of her extraordinary talent!

Impeccable dancing skills, beautiful singing voice, outstanding emotional intelligence, knowledge and responsiveness to handle any topic... She was at the top of every aspect, which is why she was able to stand at the top of Gion.

When the singing and dancing performance began, Zi Yang was seen dancing gracefully with a folding fan in his hand.

The local people plucked the strings of the zither, and melodious music went up around the pillars.

A group of geishas stood behind Zi Yang, dancing as his backup dancers and acting as supporting actors.

[Note: Geisha are women who play the shamisen and sing songs. They do not wear their hair in a bun, do not put on heavy makeup, and wear simple clothes.]

Even a layman like Qing Deng could see how exquisite Zi Yang's dancing skills were.

She is not simply posing or showing off her figure.

She used her strength skillfully in every movement she made.

It ensures beauty and elegance while maintaining a sense of power.

Her steps are light, her figure is graceful, and her expression is charming.

Not to mention the person himself, even the corners of his clothes seemed to come alive, like fluttering butterflies.

Even though Qing Deng was not interested in singing and dancing, he couldn't help but watch it.

What a pity... Qing Deng really couldn't appreciate the songs and dances.

Just as he said to Hijikata Toshizo today, he was a vulgar person who had no understanding of elegance.

Compared to the girls' dancing, he prefers watching strong men dancing with swords, at least the latter is something he is familiar with.

Of course, the geishas' superb performances always made the atmosphere more lively.

After the singing and dancing, the geishas came leisurely to Qing Deng and others, served them food and wine, and chatted with them.

Laughter and joy rang out one after another.

It turns out that inviting geishas to add to the fun was a wise move.

Although Qing Deng and Tojo Shintaro are old acquaintances, their relationship is not good enough to be called "friends".

The age gap of more than 20 years also means that they lack topics that can resonate with each other.

As far as Qing Deng knows, Tojo Shintaro is not married and is still single in his forties.

In this way, the universal topics used to fill up the time during a chat - "Are you married?", "How is your wife?", "How old is your child?" - will no longer be useful.

Yamanami Keisuke, Nagakura Shinpachi and others who came to the banquet were not familiar with Tojo Shintaro at all and had nothing to say to each other.

After exchanging pleasantries, we could only chat about some awkward things.

Thanks to the arrival of the geishas, ​​Qing Deng and others were finally rescued from this depressing atmosphere.

As professionals whose job is to entertain customers, geishas are all masters at chatting and creating a good atmosphere.

With the enthusiastic company and sweet words of the geishas, ​​the atmosphere on the scene was full of joy and happiness.

The two funny guys, Shinpachi Nagakura and Sanosuke Harada, quickly "fell" into it.

As expected, the drunk Nagakura Shinpachi started dancing his weird dance that was full of emotion but no skills.

And then, Harada Sanosuke also...

"Do you know how I got this scar on my stomach? When I was still in the middle of the Iyo-Matsuyama Domain, a jerk called me a 'petty official who didn't even know the etiquette of seppuku'. I was so angry that I decided to commit seppuku in front of him. Look! This is the scar left after seppuku!"

……

As the most famous person at the scene, Qing Deng naturally "enjoys" the best geisha.

"Tachibana-sama...ah, no, I should call you 'Your Highness' or 'Aki-sama' now."

Zi Yang sat on Qing Deng's left side, keeping a subtle and ambiguous distance from Qing Deng.

"Your Highness, I haven't seen you for a long time. The last time I saw you was in the middle of last year."

Zi Yang said this in a delicate voice while pouring wine for Qing Deng with skillful movements.

"Why don't you come and see me more often?"

As she spoke, she blinked a few times, hunched her shoulders slightly, and looked up at Qing Deng with an aggrieved look.

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PS: The "most beautiful lady in Kyoto" makes her long-awaited return! Because she hasn't appeared in such a long time, I have forgotten her name.