I formed the strongest swordsman group

half year later--

The first year of Yuanzhi (1864), June 15th——

Qinjin Fan, Dajin——

It's early summer now.

The blazing and scorching sunlight shone down from the horizon, shrouding the entire Dajin in a humid and monstrous heat wave.

The "buzzing" sound of cicadas seems to be far away and yet close at hand, blurry and clear.

"Give way! Give way! If you don't want to be hit, just make way for me!"

The coachman shouted, speeding up and down the street as if no one else was watching, stirring up layers of dust.

Pedestrians on the road retreated to the street to make way.

Looking at the carriages passing quickly, passers-by had expressions of boredom, and some even started to curse.

"Really! There are so many people here and they are driving so fast!"

"Aren't they just driving a carriage? Look at how arrogant they are!"

"Hey, forget it. Everyone, please be considerate. Construction is going on everywhere in this domain now. These coachmen are shouldering the heavy responsibility of transporting supplies. They are too busy to touch the ground. Their tempers are more impatient. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

"Look what you said! They are very busy and tired. Aren't we craftsmen also busy and tired? Look! My hands are covered with blisters!"

"That's right! We farmers are also very tired! Do you know how tiring it is to turn a piece of wasteland into cultivated land that can grow things? Loose soil, weeding, and picking up rocks... It takes at least 2 years to successfully open up wasteland. !”

"Oh, we are all Qinjin's people! What's the fuss about?"

…

The air smelled of dust and heat.

Although the sky in summer is very hot, when it comes to "heat"... Otsu is no less generous!

Looking around, every street and alley in Dajin is filled with a flourishing atmosphere!

The drivers waved their reins and rushed to deliver supplies.

Farmers carried hoes and rushed to the wasteland waiting to be cultivated outside the town.

The craftsmen picked up their tools and continued to focus on the project at hand.

Everyone performs their duties and rushes back and forth.

Although there are occasional conflicts, this does not prevent them from continuing to serve this kind of town and this feudal country and contribute their efforts.

Similar prosperous scenes appeared in various cities, towns and villages of Qinjin Domain.

It is no exaggeration to say... the current situation of Qinjin Fan can be said to be the best explanation of the term "ascendant"!

Regardless of other places, take Otsu as an example.

Compared with half a year ago, Ojin today has undergone earth-shaking changes!

The previous Otsu... to put it harshly, was just a town with nothing special except for its long history.

The population is not large, there is a lack of funds, and the infrastructure is backward. The whole town has an air of dilapidation.

There are even many buildings that can be traced back to the Warring States Period.

But now, in just half a year, Otsu has completely changed his appearance!

The roads were neatly repaired.

New houses are springing up like mushrooms after a rain.

Of course, the most significant change is undoubtedly the change in population.

A "recruitment order" from the Qinjin vassal government attracted countless people of the right age.

The large influx of young people indirectly promoted the development of commerce.

The rapid development of business has attracted new young people.

Reinforcing each other, the two form healthy development.

Although Otsu is far less prosperous than Osaka and Kyoto, on the other hand, it has unlimited possibilities!

Because it is white paper, you can dye it any color you like.

The best counterexample is undoubtedly Kyoto.

Because of its long history and large population, Kyoto town has a large number of old houses that resemble "Shiyama Code", which seriously hinders urban development.

Even if you want to reorganize Kyoto's town planning, you don't know where to start and you can only tinker with this "hill of shit".

In order to prevent this situation from happening, Qingdeng specially commissioned Huluwu and invited professional urban designers to make detailed plans for Dajin.

Every new house and every new street must be reported to the feudal government in advance, and construction can only begin after obtaining permission.

If you violate this rule, you will be fined!

Qingdeng prefers fines to harsh measures such as imprisonment and execution.

Although Qingto had already realized this when he took up the post of serving as the side minister and the servant of the imperial government, it was only after he became the leader of a feudal clan that he understood more deeply: National construction is simply a bottomless pit!

No matter how much money and food you spend, it will be difficult to fill this bottomless pit!

Even with the support of the "super nanny" of Calabash House, the money is still spent at the same rate as water.

Qingdeng had to find ways to raise funds - issuing fines was a good way to raise funds.

All in all, thanks to Qingdeng's precautions and the urban designer's carefully formulated plan, the streetscape of Otsu is exceptionally smooth, beautiful, and really well-organized.

In terms of the beauty of street scenes alone, even Edo and Osaka are hard to match!

…

…

Qinjin Domain, Otsu, a certain izakaya—

There was a lot of drinking and drinking.

The moment the door curtain of this izakaya was opened, noise and hot air spurted out.

The store was extremely hot, and under the influence of the heat, the view was like a blurry, distorted and shaky "filter."

This "filter", coupled with the hazy tobacco mist, makes it almost impossible to see what the izakaya looks like in the depths.

Although it is still broad daylight and the sun is still hanging high in the sky, the izakaya is already crowded with townspeople who have come to have a few drinks in their spare time.

"Drink! Drink more!"

"Oh, Bintaro, you can drink a lot today! Lady boss! Another 4 bottles... no, 6 bottles of shochu!"

"Hey! Come on!"

After a while, the graceful lady boss came out of the kitchen with 6 bottles of shochu on a tea tray, bringing a touch of beauty to this pub full of "manliness".

As we all know, wherever men gather, "keyboard politics" is inevitable.

I don't know who took the lead, but everyone in the house suddenly discussed the recent current affairs.

"Hey, do you know? My buddy who works for the shogunate told me that the shogunate has basically completed its pre-war preparations, and by the end of the year, it will officially send troops to Choshu!"

"Oh, I thought you were going to say something big, isn't the shogunate's "Choshu expedition" already known to everyone?"

"I heard that this time, the shogunate will mobilize 80,000 hatamoto cavalry, Aizu Domain, our Qinjin Domain, and the 21 domains in the west headed by Satsuma! A total of 200,000 troops!"

"Yeah, I heard that too! A real 200,000 troops! Not an imaginary number!"

"Two or two hundred thousand?!"

"Is this true..."

"An unprecedented Western Expedition! This should be the largest war since the Battle of Sekigahara, right?!"

"It seems that the shogunate is determined to destroy the Choshu clan this time..."

"Humph! It should have been so long ago! I have long disliked Choshu!"

"You can't say that. Choshu and the shogunate just have different positions. There is no good or bad."

"On the other hand, this "Choshu expedition" is a continuation of the Battle of Sekigahara two hundred years ago.

"Coincidentally, I thought so too. Looking back at the Battle of Sekigahara, the Mori family was against the Tokugawa family. After the Tokugawa family won the Battle of Sekigahara, they only reduced the Mori family's territory. Unexpectedly, the Mori family did not learn their lesson at all. After more than two hundred years, they jumped out to make trouble again. This time, the Tokugawa family must withdraw the Choshu clan and remove the Mori family from the clan! ”

“Alas… We haven’t had a few days of peace and quiet, and we’re going to have another war…”

“Amitabha… Amitabha… We must not have a war here…”

“Oh! What are you afraid of! We have Niou and the Shinsengumi here! Even if a million troops come, what can they do to us?”

“That’s right! Don’t forget, Niou is our patron saint! He will definitely protect us! ”

…

Suddenly hearing the word “Niou”… Qing Deng subconsciously lowered his bamboo hat while continuing to drink alone.

Listening to everyone’s mindless flattery of him, he secretly felt amused and couldn’t help curling his lips.

He wanted to continue listening and understand more about people’s livelihood.

But unexpectedly, after “Key Politics”, everyone in the room began to discuss the recently discovered Okada with a very high cost performance…

Sure enough…When men get together, the topic they talk about is either “Key Politics” or “Sesame”.

Qing Deng, who lost interest, left the wine money on the table and strode out of the izakaya.

As soon as the door curtain was opened, the rolling heat wave hit him.

Qing Deng walked onto the street, watching the surrounding street scenes with great interest.

Peddler carrying a shoulder pole and hawking his wares; women walking hurriedly to buy vegetables; children playing and laughing; the increasingly dense crowds of people... all these scenes made him look satisfied.

The people of Otsu probably never thought that the King they respected would often appear beside them, eat simple meals with them, and sometimes chat about the past and present.

Since the beginning of spring this year, Qing Deng has had a new way to relax, which is to go out incognito.

He disguised himself as an ordinary samurai and went deep into izakayas, teahouses and other places. While listening to the people's voices, carefully observe the changes in Qinjin Domain.

Building a country step by step, making it strong and making its people rich... It is really difficult to describe the sense of accomplishment it brings with specific words!

It has been more than half a year since Qing Deng became the lord of Qinjin Domain.

Qing Deng has gradually changed from being unfamiliar with this land to being familiar with it now.

After several months of peace since the "August 18th Coup", the whole of Japan is once again shrouded in the shadow of war.

At this critical juncture, Qinjin Domain must be extremely strong in order to stand firm in this vortex called "era" !

When Qing Deng thought of this, he felt his skin tighten and his nerves tense.

The lingering sense of crisis urged him to continue working hard and find ways to make Qinjin Fan stronger.

However, even if we put aside these utilitarian elements and only talk about feelings, Qing Deng sincerely hopes that the working people in the territory can live a better life.

Therefore, whenever he sees the ever-changing streets, the thriving markets, and the booming Fan Kingdom, Qing Deng will feel particularly satisfied!

His heart was filled with a heavy sense of accomplishment, and the fatigue of his body was reduced by half. He immediately felt sincerely that his long-term efforts were not in vain!

At the same time, the whole body will be rekindled with energy and motivation.

In terms of practical effect, there is really no better way to relax than this.

Qing Deng looked up at the sky.

When he found that the sun was setting, he murmured:

"Go back..."

As he said, he turned back and set out on the road back to the Tachibana residence.

It will still take a long time for Otsu Castle to be completely completed.

Before that, Qing Deng's family can only live in the Tachibana residence.

So, in order to improve the quality of life and to provide a better growth environment for the little life in the future, at the beginning of this year, Qing Deng spent money to expand the Tachibana residence by a full double, and built more courtyards with more beautiful scenery.

In this way, his home became the largest and most luxurious mansion in Otsu, without a doubt.

He walked very fast.

After a while, a towering shadow gradually appeared in front of him-it was the gradually growing scale of Otsu Castle!

Kinoshita Lin is indeed reliable.

After learning about Qing Deng's need to "build a bastion", she immediately found a designer named "Reiner" from Prussia.

This man is indeed a candidate recommended by Kinoshita Lin, and he is indeed quite capable.

After actually investigating the geographical environment of Otsu, he tailored a huge bastion in the shape of an eight-pointed star, covering an area of ​​300,000 square meters!

To be honest, just looking at the design drawings, Qing Deng's eyes were already full of brilliance.

If you want to break through this bastion, you can either find a way from the inside, or you can only mobilize a large number of artillery to launch continuous bombardment - he is so sure!

Qing Deng's heart is full of expectations for this giant bastion that is like the embodiment of the word "impregnable".

While submitting the design drawings, the designer also submitted a budget sheet.

Although he had prepared himself mentally in advance, Qing Deng couldn't help but take a breath after seeing the specific numbers on the budget sheet.

According to the contents of this budget table, the waterway project requires at least 20,000 taels of gold, the civil engineering and stone wall project budget is 100,000 taels of gold, and the construction project budget is 30,000 taels of gold... All in all, the total budget is 200,000 taels of gold!

And this does not include the cost of hiring workers!

Although this is an astronomical figure that makes people dizzy, but... there is a saying that "9999 things in the world can be solved as long as there is money"!

With the strong support of Huluwu, although Qingdeng dare not say that he has accumulated gold and jade, he can also be said to be rich.

He issued an order, and the granary and vault were all opened!

Recruiting workers, purchasing materials, and starting construction quickly!

One by one, huge trees and pieces of stone were transported to the construction site.

Shouting, panting, horses neighing, cows mooing, wheels turning... The construction site is shrouded in huge noise all day long.

Because the work is hard, some workers would just pick up their buckets and run away after receiving their daily wages.

But at the same time, new people would rush to the construction site every day.

The world is not good now, and people are eager to do the hardest work.

The total number of workers, coming in and out, is roughly around 6,000.

This is a huge project of astonishing scale, so Kinoshita Lin specially sent several capable people under his command to assist Qing Deng and help look after the construction progress of the city.

Qing Deng is not too worried about the money.

What he is most worried about now is time.

Right now, the "Choshu Expedition" is imminent.

The "August 18th Coup" in the middle of last year caused a huge change in the political situation in Japan.

Choshu fell into the abyss and became the enemy of the court appointed by the emperor to disrupt the government.

Since the "Black Ship Incident", Choshu has been trying to disgust the shogunate in various ways.

For this extremely disobedient traitor, Tokugawa Iemochi wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible.

So...would he miss this great opportunity to completely destroy them?

As early as September last year, Tokugawa Iemochi began to prepare for the Western Expedition.

What a pity...there are too many problems within the shogunate!

It's like a tangled mess, even if you want to sort it out, you can't do it.

Even though the "Ichibashi faction" has completely lost power and Tokugawa Iemochi has become the absolute leader of the shogunate, the so-called "politics" is not so simple that everyone in the whole system will obey orders just by relying on the words and orders of the Shogun.

There are many people in the shogunate who don't want to fight.

Among them, the biggest resistance and opposition are actually the core military force of the shogunate, that is, the direct sons and daughters.

Just kidding! When my ancestors fought the Battle of Sekigahara and annihilated the Toyotomi family, they did all my life's work! I came to this world to enjoy life! Eating, drinking, watching plays, and playing with women in Yoshiwara, how happy it is! What kind of war is this?

The generals and soldiers were strongly opposed, and the civil officials were also shaking their heads in disapproval.

The civil officials' arguments were nothing more than the old sayings of "lack of food and pay", "too long a distance to fight", "low morale of the army", and "little benefit".

This is war... real blood and fire!

This is no longer a simple dispute over interests, it concerns the life and death of countless people!

In order to avoid this war, those people and factions who usually put on a submissive appearance in front of Tokugawa Iemochi now formed an alliance, argued with reason, and vigorously opposed the "Choshu Expedition", unwilling to give in.

Under heavy resistance, Tokugawa Iemochi was dancing in shackles and catching rats in a porcelain shop, pushing forward the war agenda with great difficulty.

It took nearly a year, and after repeated coercion, inducement, and compromise, Tokugawa Iemochi finally managed to integrate the hearts of the people within the shogunate and complete the war mobilization.

All the "rumors" that the people in the izakaya just now claimed were true.

This time, Tokugawa Iemochi decided to issue an unprecedented mobilization order!

Not only 80,000 hatamoto cavalry should be dispatched, but also the Qinjin clan, Aizu clan, and the 21 western clans headed by the Satsuma clan, a total of 200,000 troops! Divide into five routes to attack Choshu!

As Tokugawa Iemochi's core confidant, Qing Deng had received reliable news not long ago-this "Choshu expedition" will be led by Matsudaira Yoshiyasu's Aizu army and his Shinsengumi as the main vanguard!

The tentative time for the expedition is November this year.

When thinking about the battle plan, you must not be blindly optimistic, and you must take the worst into consideration - this has always been Qing Deng's good habit.

Although from the current situation, the shogunate has an absolute advantage, with a large-scale expeditionary force and the righteousness of "conquering the enemy of the court".

However, since the war is going to start, we cannot ignore the possibility of "Choshu Domain taking the initiative, launching an eastern expedition before the shogunate, and fighting all the way to Otsu Castle".

In fact, Qing Deng believes that such a possibility does exist!

In short, it is necessary to formulate a corresponding response plan based on the premise of "Choshu launching an eastern expedition".

At present, Otsu Castle has just dug a moat and laid a solid foundation. Not to mention the high walls, even the earthen walls have not been built.

If the enemy attacks, this kind of fragmented city is really useless.

What is the use of a castle that can't catch up with the war?

Qing Deng once found a designer and asked him how long it would take for Otsu Castle to be completely completed.

"According to the current progress...if there are no natural disasters or man-made disasters, there is hope that it will be completed within 5 years" - said the designer.

5 years...to be honest, this time is too long!

Although he was very anxious, Qing Deng knew that the only thing he could do now was to wait slowly.

Whether it was the recruitment of manpower or the investment of funds, the marginal effect had been reached.

Even if more manpower was recruited or further additional investment was made, it would not increase the speed of construction, and it might even cause a counter-effect.

In other words-it is the fastest speed now!

Therefore, we can only wait patiently...

...

...

After returning to the Ju residence, Qing Deng walked through the winding corridors with ease and ran straight to the depths of the mansion.

"Your Highness, how are you?"

"Your Highness! How are you!"

"Your Highness, Madam Wu's calf is cramped again."

...

"Your Highness" one after another surrounded Qing Deng from all directions.

Now, he has also become "Your Highness" in the mouths of others.

The waiters and guards along the way retreated to both sides, making way for them while respectfully saluting Qing Deng.

Such a magnificent mansion naturally requires a large number of servants to maintain its daily operation.

In addition, sufficient guards must be equipped to ensure safety.

Since Qing Deng became famous, especially now that he has expelled the Choshu clan and completely offended the Sonjo faction, there are countless people who want to take his life.

Although Qing Deng is not afraid of these rats, he has to consider Sanako and others.

So, he selected a group of elites with high skills from the Shinsengumi to form a guard team specifically responsible for protecting the Tachibana residence.

The members of the guard team are not only good at fighting ten people with one, but also well-equipped, with swords, spears, chain mail... everything, and even equipped with muskets.

If there are unscrupulous people coming to attack, let them die as many as they come!

By the way, Qing Deng took Kyubei over.

After the grand wedding of "one man and three women", Kyubei approached Qing Deng and sincerely expressed his desire to continue serving Qing Deng.

Although he was very happy working at the Shiwei Pavilion and Kondo Shusuke's family took good care of him, he still wanted to serve the Tachibana family.

"Master, you and the late master have been very kind to me! In order to repay you, I made up my mind a long time ago to "work for the Tachibana family for the rest of my life!"

Seeing that the other party had said this, Qing Deng could only nod in agreement.

So, he took Kyubei over and asked him to continue to serve as the Tachibana family's loyal servant, responsible for cleaning Qing Deng's room and washing Qing Deng's underwear - this kind of extremely private work can only make Qing Deng feel at ease if it is given to Kyubei who is absolutely trustworthy.

The maid who just met told Qing Deng: Awu's leg cramped again.

After learning about this, Qing Deng was stunned for a moment, then with a wry smile on his face, he asked where Ah Wu was now, then changed direction and strode to find her.

After a while, he heard a familiar groan.

"Um...! Um...! Um...! Um...!"

"You are really troublesome... Your legs cramp every other day, how do you feel now?"

"Um...! A little lower... Yes, right there... A little harder... Um...! It hurts...!"

"Oh, you are so troublesome. You want me to massage you again, and after I massage you, you complain that I am too strong. Really... How about now? Is this strength okay?"

"Well... just right..."

Qing Deng followed the voice and came to a spacious, quiet and unique courtyard.

On the veranda, two beautiful figures came into Qing Deng's sight.

A Wu lay flat on the veranda, with her legs without socks resting on Sanako's knees.

Sanako looked helpless while massaging A Wu's legs with her hands.

Compared with two years ago, the appearance of the two girls has changed significantly.

It's not that their faces have changed, they are still so young and beautiful.

It's their figures that have changed - their originally flat and tight stomachs are now significantly bulging.

The last chapter took a lot of effort and deleted a lot of content, but it finally passed the review smoothly... Not happy! (Leopard Explosion.jpg) However, now that things have come to this, there is no point in complaining ...

Speaking of which, I haven't promoted the book group for a long time! Book friends who want to join the group can go to the comment area of ​​​​the mobile terminal of Qidian! There is a group number there! .jpg)

For the sake of Leopard Leopard's conscience, please be sure to vote for this book! (Leopard Head Cry.jpg)