I formed the strongest swordsman group

"Let's put aside the dispute between Satsuma and England for the time being."

Qingdeng waved his hand and continued:

"Let's continue talking about 'Kyoto now'."

Matsudaira Yongho nodded.

Their eyes returned to the map of Kyoto in front of their knees.

"Shortly after Choshu marched into Kyoto and took the imperial court hostage, Shimazu Hisamitsu sent Saigo Kinosuke to lead 1,700 feudal troops to garrison Kyoto again."

"Then, my Aizu army and your Shinsengumi will follow."

"To sum up, the current Kyoto has generally formed a three-legged force of the Satsuma Army, the Choshu Army, and your and my 'Xinhui Allied Forces'."

"Although the Sa and Chang armies have far more troops than us, each has a completely different request, so a delicate balance is formed between them."

"You and I are the 'Gongwu Combination Sect'."

"But Changzhou is determined to respect the king and resist the barbarians, and there is no sign of backsliding or submission."

"As for Satsuma...Shimazu Hisamitsu's heart is towards the union of public and military forces, but Saigo Yoshinosuke, who holds the command of the vassal army stationed in Beijing, favors respecting the king and fighting the barbarians."

"I don't know whether the conflict of ideas between the monarch and his ministers is too sharp or whether it is intentional. Satsuma has not shown a clear position until now."

"That is, he did not support Choshu in a clear-cut manner, nor did he show goodwill to the shogunate."

"I think they are just waiting and watching now, preparing to wait until the situation becomes clearer before dumping their chips and playing the game."

When Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help but interjected and asked:

"There should be more or less pro-shogunate ministers in the imperial court, right? Can we try to win the support of pro-shogunate ministers?"

Matsudaira Yongho sighed.

"Of course I tried to win over the pro-march ministers in exchange for their support, but... compared to the 'Changzhou faction' ministers who have a large number of people, the pro-march ministers are really weak and weak. What they can give Our support is really too weak.”

"..."

Qingdeng stopped talking.

He crossed his arms and silently digested the huge amount of information in his mind.

Choshu Domain - The feudal lord Mori Qingqin has been sidelined, and the military and political power of the country is controlled by the loyal and loyal people in the domain. In addition to holding the court hostage, they also control the homeland.

Under the rule of these madmen who were full of "slashing black ships with swords" and "slaying heroes and destroying laws", Changzhou became more and more fanatical, and the huge vassal state gradually transformed into an enhanced version of the anti-barbarian group.

Characters who need to pay more attention to are Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogoro and Kusaka Genzui.

I don’t know yet what abilities that Hisaka Genrui has.

The other two are both highly skilled swordsmen.

Satsuma Domain - Under the vigorous reforms of the former feudal lord Shimazu Saibin, the national power has become unprecedentedly strong, with industrial capabilities that even the shogunate cannot compare with.

It has a complete military industry and can independently manufacture warships and guns; the development level of civilian industries such as textiles and handicrafts is even more impressive.

Because of the introduction of Western military training methods, its army has long been no longer a simple feudal army, but has the shadow of a modern army.

The characters who deserve more attention are Saigo Kinosuke and Okubo Ichizo.

The former is in charge of military affairs and is currently stationed in Kyoto. He is the general of the army stationed in Kyoto.

The latter is well versed in politics and now stays in Satsuma.

Changshu was determined to go against the shogunate.

Satsuma is sitting on the fence, helping whoever wins.

Either party has strong strength that cannot be underestimated.

Each party has its own Xiao Jiujiu.

"Higo-sama, thank you. Thanks to you, I have a general understanding of Sa and Naga."

Speaking of this, Qingdeng paused for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face.

"...Higo-sama, may I ask you one more question?"

Matsudaira Yongho responded without thinking:

"Speaking."

Qingden took a deep breath:

"Have you obtained the latest information related to the Fa Zhi Party and the Great Salt Party?"

"..."

Matsudaira Yongho fell silent.

The opponents Qingto will face next are far more than just Satsuma and Choshu.

There is no need to say more about the various ways to punish the party. Qingdeng has formed an undying relationship with them.

As for the Great Salt Party... Qingdeng does not hate the Great Salt Party.

Although they are both secret societies determined to overthrow, the differences between them are as big as the world.

One is cruel and unscrupulous in order to achieve his goals.

The other is the "Oshio Heihachiro Uprising" that was born out of 26 years ago, with the goal of "let all the people live a good life without being oppressed". Although they also used violent means to resist the curtain, they also had their own problems. Bottom line.

Comparing the two, the Great Salt Party is simply a breath of fresh air!

In addition, Seinoto also had a friendly past with the patriots of the Oisho Party - my grandson Chutaro, Ebina Hazune, Ichinose Kanyuki, Akutsu Shujiro - to jointly fight against the Hoshio Party, and they also rescued A life passed by Qingdeng.

Just when Qingteng and Rakshasa were dueling in the manufacturing workshop of Huanfu Lake, Qingteng, who was defeated by the opponent, had his knife cut off.

If Ebina and others hadn't rescued him in time at the critical moment, the grass on his grave would have been three feet tall by now.

Although Qingdeng did not have any ill feelings toward the Great Salt Party,... no matter how you put it, he was always a minister, and they were always enemies.

Their differences in identity mean that they can only temporarily form a united front when facing the common enemy of the French Punishment Party.

While Qingdeng waited quietly, Matsudaira Yongho finally spoke slowly:

"...the Fa Zhu Party and the Great Salt Party are both good at collecting and controlling intelligence."

"Especially the Great Salt Party."

“Compared with the Legal Punishment Party, which has a long history and profound foundation, the Great Salt Party is undoubtedly much weaker.”

"However, their intelligence-gathering capabilities are truly top-notch."

“Although I don’t agree with the Great Salt Party’s philosophy that ‘only by overthrowing the Edo shogunate can ordinary people live a good life,’ their ideal of world unity is deeply appreciated by me.”

"For this reason, the members of the Great Salt Party have extremely high fighting spirit."

"After all, the kind of mediocre person who is greedy for power and wealth and is afraid of life and death will not sacrifice his life to join the Great Salt Party."

"It is precisely for this reason that the Great Salt Party has always enjoyed extremely high prestige among the marketplace...especially among the marketplace in Osaka."

"To this day, the elderly people in Osaka still deeply remember the name of 'Oshio Heihachiro'."

When Qingden heard this, he silently raised his eyes and stared at Matsudaira Yongho's face.

Under the illumination of the candlelight, Matsudaira Yongho's expressionless face became bright and dark.

"...Higo-sama, from what you said, you seem to admire Oishio Heihachirou?"

"..."

Matsudaira Yongho pursed his lips, looking thoughtful.

Seeing that the other party remained silent, Qingden grinned:

"Higo-sama, I won't hide it from you - I admire Oishio Heihachiro very much."

Matsudaira Yongbao turned his head and cast a surprised look at Qingden.

After a while, he sighed "Alas", with a complex expression on his face that seemed to be a smile but not a smile.

"Although it seems inappropriate to say this from the standpoint of a minister and a guardian of Kyoto,... a person who has no worries about food and clothing, a person who could have stayed out of the situation when life was in ruins, sacrificed his life to help the poor. He sacrificed everything he had...how can people not respect such a hero?"

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Yongho paused, and then continued in a joking tone:

"Lord Tachibana, luckily it's just you and me here, no outsiders."

"The guardian of Kyoto and the governor of Gyeonggi went so far as to praise the great Shio Heihachiro who once caused the shogunate a headache... If this kind of thing spreads, it may cause a big stir."

Qingden shrugged nonchalantly.

"A mere difference in status cannot hinder my admiration for a noble soul."

"Besides, even if the conversation we just had was leaked, it doesn't matter."

Speaking of this, Qingdeng changed into a joking tone.

"The shogunate is now counting on you and me to quell the unrest in the capital. As long as the shogunate can't do without us, we can be a little more willful."

As soon as he finished speaking, as if they had agreed in advance, he and Matsudaira Yongho both raised their eyes, looked at each other, and smiled tacitly at each other.

——It seems that Matsudaira Yongho is not an idiot...

Qingden let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

For ministers like Seito and Matsudaira Yōho, Oshio Heihachiro is not a person who can be talked about casually.

The reason why Qingto suddenly opened this sensitive topic was to test Matsudaira Yongho.

The Aizu Domain has an ancestral motto that "the Aizu Domain has protected the Shogun's family from generation to generation and cannot blindly follow the position of other countries. If the feudal lord has second thoughts, he is not my descendant and his retainers cannot obey."

Judging from Matsudaira Yongho's current behavior, he faithfully abides by this ancestral precept.

The shogunate promoted him to the position of guardian of Kyoto and made him the guardian of the royal city. Although he felt embarrassed, he resolutely plunged into the bottomless waters.

To be honest, if your partner - especially one who will cooperate for a long time in the future - is someone who will obey the shogunate's words, it will give Qingnobo a headache.

After all, Seito had no sense of belonging to the shogunate.

No human being with a moderately normal IQ would have a favorable impression of such an ignorant, backward, and decadent feudal regime.

Qingdeng never felt that he was a "minister" of the shogunate. He only regarded the shogunate as a large company, and he just happened to work in this company.

The shogunate paid him a salary, so he worked for the shogunate; he did as much work as he was paid - that's all.

For him, the only emotional ties to the Edo shogunate were his friends headed by Katsu Rintaro, Tokugawa Iemo who was like his younger brother, and... that charming and pretty widow.

Therefore, if we do not try to figure out what kind of feelings Matsudaira Yongho has towards the shogunate, it will inevitably have a negative impact on the future cooperation between the two.

And now, through the heart-to-heart conversation just now, Aonto has understood: Although Matsudaira Yongho is loyal to the shogunate, he also has his own ideas, and he is not loyal to the shogunate blindly and stupidly.

If that's the case, it's easy to handle.

Ayoto also took this opportunity to confess his thoughts to Matsudaira Eiho: Like you, I am not a pedantic person who is mindlessly loyal to the shogunate.

In order to hint to the other party, Qingdeng even took the lead in "self-destructing".

After all, Matsudaira Yongho is also a dignified leader of a feudal clan who has received a rigorous education. How could he not see Qingden's intentions?

Seeing Qing Deng take the initiative to show sincerity, he also took advantage of the opportunity to express his true feelings.

In this way, the two completed a brief heart-to-heart talk.

For this reason, the atmosphere between them became much lighter.

"Okay, let's get back to business."

Matsudaira Eiho suppressed the smile on his face and sat up straight again.

“It is reported that the Great Salt Party has an agency specifically responsible for intelligence collection, called ‘Chang Mu Liao’, and its top executive is named ‘Chang Mu Tai’.”

"Because the Great Salt Party is very popular among the people, many civilians have volunteered to become the eyes and ears of the Changmuliao, actively inquiring about and passing on information for them."

"Thanks to this, Changmuliao can always obtain timely and accurate information."

"With Changmuliao's superb intelligence collection and application, members of the Great Salt Party escaped from the siege of the shogunate and the Punishment Party countless times."

"To this day, the shogunate has still not found the base of the Great Salt Party, and the same must be true for the Fazhu Party."

"It's like we're dealing with an imaginary enemy."

"Especially in the past two years, after Changmuliao was replaced with a new Changmu station, their intelligence collection capabilities have improved to a higher level and they have become more and more difficult to deal with."

The new long-term platform—this set of words instantly attracted Qingdeng’s attention.

Matsudaira Yongho's words did not stop:

"While Chang Mu Liao is proficient in intelligence gathering, he is also very good at hiding himself."

"How many members do they have?"

"Where are their main areas of activity?"

"In addition to the help of ordinary people, what other methods do they rely on to collect intelligence?"

"I don't know anything about all this."

"but……"

Matsudaira Yongho's conversation suddenly changed.

At the same time, a smile appeared on his lips.

"The reputation of the Aizu Clan as the 'strongest clan' is not for nothing."

"After careful investigation by my subordinates, we finally made a major discovery - the current Changmutai of Changmuliao, who is also the person who greatly increased the overall strength of Changmuliao, is a codenamed 'Miss Sumire' woman."

Qingden's brows raised sharply, with a look of uncontrollable surprise on his face.

In the Edo period, when men were superior to women, it was not unusual for a woman to become the leader of a spy agency.

Matsudaira Eiho seemed to have guessed Aonto's reaction, and continued after smiling slightly:

"Although I learned the other party's code name, unfortunately, I don't know anything except the code name - age, appearance, body shape."

"The only thing I know is that she has very superior personal abilities."

"Otherwise, she would not have become Chang Mu Tai, and Chang Mu Liao would not have become stronger under her leadership."

"The above is everything I know about the Salt Party."

Qingden nodded slightly and silently wrote down the name "Miss Sumire".

"The next step is to punish the party..."

Saying that, Matsudaira Yongbao paused and frowned slightly.

"In the past two years, the Fanzhu Party has been extremely quiet, and there has been no major movement."

"So, I'm sorry to say that I don't currently have any new information worth mentioning related to the Fuzhi Party."

As soon as Matsudaira Yongho finished speaking, Qingden hurriedly said:

"Higo-sama, there is no need to apologize."

"I know better than anyone what a formidable and formidable enemy the Fanzhu Party is."

"Before I sent my troops to Luo, I was mentally prepared to fight a long and protracted war with the Fa Zun Party."

"Thanks to you, I have collected enough information tonight!"

After saying that, Qingdeng turned his eyes and looked directly at the map in front of his knees, as if thinking deeply.

…

…

That night--

Kyoto, Mibu-go, Shinsengumi's residence, Aoto's room——

After returning from Jinjie Guangming Temple, Qingdeng went straight to his bedroom, set up his desk, lit candles, spread out rice paper, bowed his head in front of the desk, and wrote something quickly.

Within a moment, four large characters appeared on the white rice paper - Infantry Drill Code.

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