I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 1024: The 4600th Shogun: Tokugawa Yoshinobu! []

After fully waking up, Kondo Isami and others hurriedly put on their clothes.

Harada Sanosuke: "Oops... I cooked it for too long and the sea otter meat has turned into charcoal."

Serizawa Duck: "Forget it, it doesn't matter. I'm not hungry anymore."

Nagakura Shinpachi: "Do you still want to take a hot spring bath?"

Saito Ichi: "I'm no longer in the mood for a hot spring bath."

At this time, Inoue Genzaburo laughed and said in a nonchalant manner:
"We seemed very excited just now and played very intensely. Why is that...hahaha..."

His original intention was to lighten the mood.

However, good intentions can lead to bad consequences.

Not only did his words fail to play a positive role, but they made the atmosphere even more chaotic.

Everyone: "..."

They paused in their dressing movements.

Then, they subconsciously looked at each other, and then consciously looked away, as if they would find evil on each other's faces.

After a while, Kondo Isami said slowly in a heavy tone:
"...Don't tell anyone."

Serizawa Duck—he and Kondo Isami were the ones having the most fun just now—twitched his lips:

"Ok, I know."

The others nodded silently, with complicated expressions...

……

……

Although Qing Deng escaped the crisis of being played around by Elodie, a new crisis is before him - what should he do now?

Elodie was unconscious, and he was nearly unconscious.

Passed out in a hot spring pool… this is no joke.

Let’s not talk about how much harm it will cause to the human body if you stay in a hot and stuffy environment for a long time.

This pool of hot spring water alone is a risk that must be paid attention to.

If you lose consciousness, you might slip into the water and drown in the pool.

As far as Qing Deng knows, although there are few people who unfortunately drowned due to being dizzy while taking a bath, it does exist.

Fortunately, at this moment, a refreshing night breeze blew.

To Qing Deng, the night breeze was truly refreshing. The "heat" in his brain was blown away, and his body's strength was restored a little.

He took the opportunity to hug Elodie's body and dragged her back to the shore.

He laid Elodie flat on the ground, then lay beside her and rested for a while.

After he regained some strength, he ran to the east end of the pool, found Elodie's clothes, and helped her put them on.

During this process, it was inevitable to see parts that shouldn't be seen, and a lot of physical contact occurred... Qing Deng could only secretly say "sorry" to Elodie in his heart.

After leaving the hot spring pool, Elodie's facial lines became noticeably more relaxed, and she no longer felt the pain she had just felt.

Her breathing gradually became steady and she would probably wake up soon.

Looking at Elodie's face, Qing Deng pondered for a moment as if he had realized something.

——Elody... You are not a child anymore...

His sigh was not only referring to Elodie's physical changes.

Before this, he had subconsciously viewed the other person as a child who needed protection.

It's not that Qing Deng looked down on her, but it's just inertia.

Thinking back to the time when the anti-foreign group attacked the Edo settlement, she was helpless.

And now, she is one of the biggest contributors to defending Edo and defeating the Faqi coalition.

Although Qing Deng was well aware of how great Elodie's growth was, his "mental inertia" still remained.

Just now, when he helped her ashore and dressed her, Qing Deng felt the strength hidden in her petite body - this was the physique that only people who had been immersed in martial arts for many years could possess.

Therefore, until this moment, Qing Deng's "thinking inertia" was finally corrected: the girl in front of him was no longer the weak girl of the past.

Now she can stand on her own!
……

……

Not long after, Elodie woke up.

"Hey... Master, what's wrong with me?"

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around blankly. The "ripples" in her eyes were no longer there.

Seeing this, Qing Deng first breathed a sigh of relief, then explained:

"You've lost your mind."

“I fainted… Eh? Eh? Eh? Eh? Eh?! Then, then who carried me to shore, and who helped me put on my clothes?”

"..."

Qing Deng was speechless for a moment and did not say anything - his silence had already announced the answer.

"Master, master..."

I have to say that she and Awu really complement each other on many levels and are really a pair of interesting best friends.

Awu blushes easily, while Elodie is the type who doesn't blush easily.

But this time, her face turned red instantly, as if it had been burned by fire.

The red glow spread rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, all the way to the ears.

At the same time, her eyes became hazy, with a strong sense of shame circling in them.

In order to appease the other party, Qing Deng's talent "Trickster +2" began to activate:
"Don't worry, I was very careful and didn't touch anything I shouldn't touch, nor did I see anything I shouldn't see."

“Is that so… That’s good…”

She seemed relieved.

However, the blush and shyness on her face did not fade away.

I don't know whether she really believed Qing Deng's words or was just pretending to be stupid and taking advantage of the situation.

In fact, it is easy to imagine that since they carried the person ashore and helped him put on clothes, how could they not touch or see anything?
Elodie tucked her clothes in silently, then said weakly:

"Master, don't tell anyone..."

"Yes, I know."

In this way, this matter became a secret belonging only to the master and the disciple.

It seemed that Elodie didn't remember what she had done to Qingdeng before she fell into a coma - Qingdeng was very grateful for this.

Otherwise, I really don’t know how it will end.

After thinking it over again and again, Qing Deng decided to treat it as a "secret that must not be disclosed."

She feels happy when she bullies others...I'm afraid even she herself is not aware of this "hidden nature" of hers.

If it were revealed, regardless of Qingdeng, he felt that Elodie would be so ashamed and angry that she would commit suicide by cutting open her stomach...

……

……

When Qing Deng settled Elodie and returned to the west end of the pond, he happened to see Kondo Isami and others who were busy getting dressed, and the pot of sea otter meat that had turned into charcoal due to being overcooked.

"What the hell were you doing just now? Why was there such a loud noise? Also, why was this pot of sea otter meat cooked like this?"

Faced with Qing Deng's questions, they either remained silent or talked nonsense.

In short, every one of them acted as if they would never tell the truth even if they were beaten to death.

Anyone with a little bit of vision could notice that something was wrong with them.

Since they didn't want to talk more, Qing Deng didn't want to ask any more questions, so the matter was left unresolved.

In just one night, both Qing Deng and Elodie, as well as Kondo Isami and others, had their own secrets.

For this reason, no one spoke on the way home after leaving the hot spring, and there was always an indescribable subtle atmosphere between them.

It is worth mentioning that when they were about to return to Wakamatsu Castle, Elodie suddenly approached Qing Deng:

"Master, when I was soaking in the water, I had a strange dream." "Huh? What dream?"

"I dreamed... Hehe, it's a bit embarrassing to say it out loud. I dreamed that I was playing with a little bear. Whenever I touched the fur of the little bear, it would make very cute sounds. The interesting thing is that I always felt that the little bear looked like Master... Hmm? Master, what's wrong with you? Why do you have such an expression?"

"No, nothing..."

Even with the gift of "Emperor's Art", Qing Deng couldn't pretend nothing happened.

……

……

Afterwards, Qing Deng conducted a secret investigation and discovered the hidden properties of sea otter meat.

The smell emitted when cooking sea otter meat will stimulate people's sexual desire... After learning this fact, he first felt "so that's it", and then remained silent for a long time.

From then on, he never asked Kondo Isami and others what happened that night - and this is a story for later.

……

……

The work was done and the hot spring was also bathed.

Putting aside the wonderful experience caused by sea otter meat, in terms of results, this "Oshu trip" was extremely successful.

On the morning of the next day after taking a hot spring bath, the 3,000-strong Shinsengumi army moved out of camp and headed south, returning to their feudal domain.

Because they were going home, the soldiers were in particularly high spirits. They spontaneously quickened their pace and their marching speed was extraordinary.

The entire army followed the same route they came from - the Ou Kaido - and first returned to Edo to pick up Tenshoin, Tokugawa Iemochi and Princess Kazunomiya.

The transfer of the shogunate center had begun long before Aoto launched the "Mito Campaign".

The person who was fully responsible for this important task was Katsurintaro.

During the time when Aoto was attacking Mito and heading north to Oshu, Katsurintaro took over Aoto's position in Edo.

While he was devoting all his efforts to rebuilding Edo, he also organized manpower to complete the relocation of the shogunate center.

Confidential documents, important materials... were transported to Otsu one truck after another.

Although there has been no specific announcement, this is undoubtedly a de facto "relocation of the capital."

Many shogunate retainers strongly opposed this.

"This is the land of our ancestors", "Edo is the heart of the shogunate and cannot be easily abandoned" ... the reasons they hold are nothing more than these.

To be honest, their opposition is not without reason.

No matter in what era or place, moving the capital is a major event that cannot be taken lightly.

Since Tokugawa Ieyasu was appointed Shogun, Edo has been the "center of the world" for 260 years. Therefore, it has an incomparable weight in the hearts of the people. Abandoning it easily may bring about unpredictable negative consequences.

Qing Deng certainly understood this logic.

However, his reasons for moving the capital are enough to outweigh these clichés!

Whether it is to destroy Mito or to subdue Oshu, their ultimate goal is the same: to concentrate all their strength and destroy the western feudal lords!

The Satsuma clan, which was caught between two opposing sides, the Choshu clan, which could never die, the Hizen clan, which had an extremely high level of technology... none of them were easy to deal with.

When fighting against the western feudal lords, the capital was the front line of the battlefield.

With the capital as the base, both intelligence gathering and troop deployment can be much faster.

Therefore, from a "military" perspective alone, there was sufficient reason to move the shogunate center to Otsu.

If Qing Deng stayed in Edo, he would only show a weak image to others - he would not dare to face the western feudal lords directly, and only wanted to hold on to his own piece of land in Kanto and become the "King of Kanto".

Doing so will destroy one's own morale and boost the prestige of others.

In summary, Qingdeng's determination to move the capital is very firm and cannot be changed!

After staying in Edo for a day, the Shinsengumi's 3,000-strong army set out again.

Compared to when we just left Ou, there is a more solemn atmosphere in the queue.

The reason is not complicated.

Until reaching Otsu, the soldiers will protect the Shogun, O-Odai-no-kō, and Odai-no-kō.

God knows whether the "Ichibashi faction" or some other hostile forces will jump out to cause sabotage.

If anything happens to these three nobles, even ten heads would not be enough to chop off!
No one would feel at ease under such heavy pressure.

When leaving Edo, Qing Deng said goodbye to Katsurintaro solemnly:

"Rintaro, Edo... No, Kanto is left to you."

Katrintaro smiled:

"If there is any need for me, please send me."

Although the capital has been moved, Edo's important position will not change, and it is still the most important city in Kanto.

In this case, it is natural to send a trusted minister to take charge - is there anyone more suitable than Katsurintaro?

In order to facilitate Katsurintaro's work, Aoto specially created a position for him: Edo Castle Lord.

Edo Castle Mayor - Commands the personnel of various departments in Edo, handles government affairs, and is also responsible for protecting Edo and monitoring the movements of Kanto daimyo.

From now on, Katsurintaro was the mayor of Edo Castle and president of the navy, becoming the second most powerful person in the shogunate after Aoto.

Qing Deng never doubted Katrintaro's character and talent.

With Katsumata Rintaro guarding his backyard, he was able to focus on dealing with the western feudal lords without any worries.

Qing Deng sincerely hoped that this trip home would be safe and smooth - it would be too tiring to travel and deal with affairs at the same time.

However, it turns out that in these turbulent and precarious times, "calmness" is a rare luxury.

When they were marching to the Mikawa area, Qing Deng suddenly learned an important piece of news - Ichibashi Yoshinobu had ascended the throne!

According to the "setting" of the "Ichibashi faction", Tokugawa Iemochi had already died, and Tachibana Aoto was greedy for power and wanted to usurp the throne, so he announced to the outside world that "Tokugawa Iemochi is still alive."

Faced with the nonsense of the "Ichibashi faction", the "Nanji faction" suffered a great loss.

Because there is no convenient thing like live broadcast nowadays, it is impossible for the whole world to see Tokugawa Iemochi who is still alive with their own eyes.

Besides, Tokugawa Iemochi was in a coma, making it difficult for him to appear in public.

Looking back at the previous "Second Edo Siege War", although the "Ichibashi faction" would have been defeated if the fighting had continued, Ichibashi Yoshinobu's escape from the battlefield did indeed plunge the war into an irreversible tragic situation.

Although many people in the "Ichibashi faction" had complaints about Ichibashi Yoshinobu, they could do nothing about it - who told them that they had no one else to choose from?

Putting aside the fact that there is no more talented person than Ichibashi Yoshinobu in terms of age, family background, etc., at this critical juncture, replacing the leader without authorization will only make the situation worse.

Therefore, even though they were extremely disappointed by what Yoshinobu Ichibashi did, they could only grit their teeth and continue to respect Yoshinobu Ichibashi.

Anyway, they have already rebelled and there is no turning back.

In this case, we might as well stick to it until the end!
In this way, under the persuasion of a group of ministers from the "Ichibashi faction", Ichibashi Yoshinobu officially ascended the throne as the 15th Shogun and changed his name to "Tokugawa Yoshinobu".

At the same time, they put forward slogans such as "Revenge for Tokugawa Iemochi" and "Save the Edo Shogunate" - there was a sense of humor that the Qing army entered the pass to avenge Emperor Chongzhen.

Regarding Ichibashi Yoshinobu...ah, no, from now on I will call him "Tokugawa Yoshinobu".

Qing Deng was not surprised by Tokugawa Yoshinobu's sudden accession to the throne.

He never thought that the "Ichibashi faction" would give up.

Although the "Ichibashi faction" suffered a severe blow and can only retreat to Echizen Domain, it is still alive and well.

After Tokugawa Yoshinobu announced his accession to the throne as the 15th Shogun, only a few diehard members of the "Ichibashi faction" such as the Echizen clan recognized his status.

The domains in Gyeonggi, Kanto, and Oshu that had just been conquered by Aoto did not recognize Tokugawa Yoshinobu as the new Shogun, calling him a "pseudo-government."

Although most of the feudal states in the world did not recognize Tokugawa Yoshinobu, it was undeniable that from now on there would be two shogunates in Japan.

According to geographical location, one is the "Southern Shogunate" which respects Tokugawa Iemochi as the leader, and the other is the "Northern Shogunate" which respects Tokugawa Yoshinobu as the leader.

It is worth noting that the western feudal lords did not express their views.

Faced with the internal strife of the shogunate, the western feudal domains all remained silent, neither expressing support for the "Southern Shogunate" nor leaning towards the "Northern Shogunate".

This aroused Qing Deng's vigilance.

There is no doubt that the western feudal lords are watching and thinking.

Judging from the current power comparison, the "Northern Shogunate" is no match for the "Southern Shogunate".

However, if the western feudal lords recognized and supported the "Northern Shogunate", the situation would be very different - if the western feudal lords cooperated with the "Northern Shogunate", the latter would obtain powerful external aid, and the former would gain the righteousness of conquering Aoto!
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