I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qing Deng suddenly raised an eyebrow.

I finally copied the talent!

And it's a long-awaited new talent!

Although this new talent is pretty useless, it's better than nothing.

Yes.

The reason Qingdeng uses this method to select team members is simply to make the most of their talent!

Never miss an opportunity to tap into your talents—this is a way of life that has long been ingrained in Qingdeng's very being.

As early as the day he accepted the commission to "lead troops to Luoyang", Qingdeng planned to take advantage of this great opportunity to "make a fortune"!

The conscription selection process will last from January 3rd to January 20th.

A full 17 days... Heaven knows how much talent he could gather in those 17 days!

There are already thousands of people gathered here today to register!

Of course, Qingdeng did not expect him to be able to replicate many talents, let alone replicate any amazing talents.

Only a very small number of people possess exceptional talents.

Most people in this world are ordinary people with nothing of value.

Qing Deng had always lived a life of "talking and laughing with learned scholars and having no commoners among his friends." The people he met and fought against were all martial arts prodigies led by Souji and top talents led by Kiryu.

That's why he was able to frequently replicate those terrifyingly powerful god-level talents.

Those who came to enlist in the Zhenfu Army were mostly commoners and lower-ranking warriors who either dreamed of a meteoric rise to power or were struggling to make ends meet and were determined to fight for their lives.

Are there any hidden talents among them who seem ordinary at first glance but actually possess top-notch abilities?

Maybe so, but Qingdeng doesn't have high expectations.

If we can replicate useful talents, that would be best. But if we only replicate some subtle talents in the end, that doesn't matter either—that's the mindset Qing Deng currently holds.

However, it's not that Qingdeng personally reviewed the applicants' abilities not to ensure the quality of the Zhenfu Army.

Under Tokugawa Iemochi's series of preferential policies, the Zhenfu Army was essentially Aoto's private retinue.

Since these people will be my soldiers in the future, there is no reason to treat them casually.

Another reason why Qingdeng tirelessly battled each of the applicants was that he wanted to use his cheat code to check if there were truly any brilliant pearls lost in the ocean.

His system is an excellent tool for distinguishing between those who are all show and no substance and those who are truly talented individuals.

……

……

"Waaaaaaahhhhhh!"

The opponent swung his sword and slashed at Qing Deng with lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, his bamboo sword was in front of Qing Deng.

Qingdeng casually spread his legs and stood still, letting the opponent attack him.

With a loud bang.

The two exchanged only one blow before the other slipped and fell to the ground after being struck in the shoulder by a sword.

"You're not qualified, get off the plane."

Another dejected person appeared in the meeting room.

The clerk turned to a new page in the thick book in his hand.

"Next! Serizawa Duck! Serizawa Duck! Is Serizawa Duck here?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's my turn..."

Among the applicants, a burly man scratched his head and yawned widely.

When he stood up, it immediately drew a lot of gasps.

This man had a robust physique that was quite rare among Japanese people these days, with a leopard's head, bulging eyes, a swallow's chin, and a tiger's beard, looking just like Zhang Fei.

His hair was disheveled, he wore clothes covered in dust, and a heavy-looking iron ruler was tucked into his right waist. His thick, bushy beard was also very noticeable.

Since the end of the Genwa era, the Edo shogunate considered not shaving to be a remnant of the Warring States period.

The shogunate was very wary that the trends of the Warring States period, such as growing beards, could lead to rebellion.

Therefore, in the name of "changing customs", the shogunate issued the "Great Beard Prohibition Order" in the tenth year of Kanbun (1670), requiring samurai sons to shave their beards, and those who violated it would be fined.

Only upper-middle-ranking samurai who live a respectable life and can even hire someone to shave them can maintain a clean face every day.

Lower-ranking samurai living in poverty, or ronin who can't even afford three meals a day, certainly wouldn't have the ability to regularly clean their faces.

Therefore, the shogunate turned a blind eye to this and did not impose strict requirements on ronin and samurai of lower status, as long as their stubble was not too obvious.

Of course, high-ranking cabinet members like Seito and Katsura Rintaro, who frequently visited Edo Castle, were absolutely not allowed to grow beards.

If the Hitotsubashi faction discovered that Aoto had grown a beard, then before the next day, a memorial impeaching Aoto for "lacking manners and shame" would likely be presented to Tokugawa Iemochi.

Modern Japan is a place where morality and social order have long since collapsed.

The shogunate has too many things to worry about right now, and can't afford to pay attention to the samurai's beards.

Laws such as the "Bear Prohibition Order" have become defunct in name only.

Many samurai, in order to demonstrate their martial prowess, began to grow beards, emulating the heroes of the Warring States period over the past three hundred years.

"Serizawa Kamo! Get on stage now!"

The officer urged.

"Tsk... Don't rush me, I know."

After yawning widely, the burly man named "Serizawa Kamo" strode confidently toward the platform.

This person's walk exudes arrogance.

Not only did he walk with his feet turned out in a pigeon-toed manner, but he also swaggered around.

At that moment, someone blocked his way and did not make way in time.

"Get out of the way!"

Without saying a word, Serizawa Kamo kicked the man away roughly.

No one would be at peace with being treated like this.

The man, whose clothes had a dirty footprint on the back, turned around angrily.

However, upon seeing Serizawa Kamo's enormous size, which was nearly two heads taller than him, he immediately fell silent and could only reluctantly step aside.

Qing Deng had been quietly observing Serizawa Duck.

If Qingdeng were to briefly describe this burly man, he could say that his appearance and demeanor exuded arrogance.

Aoto, who had witnessed everything Serizawa Kamo had done, slowly frowned slightly.

At the same time, the commander below the platform couldn't help but smile and mutter to himself:

"Duck? That's a weird name."

At this moment, Nagakura Shinpachi paused, a look of surprise on his face:

"Huh? Serizawa Kamo?"

Harada Sanosuke, standing beside him, asked:

"Shinpachi, do you know this person?"

Nagakura Shinpachi nodded.

"He and I are from the same school. He is also a swordsman of the Shinto Munen-ryu school, and he is also a holder of the Menkyo Kaiden. However, I am not familiar with him. I only know that such a person exists."

Nagakura Shinpachi's words caught the attention of Kondo Isami, who was standing nearby.

He turned his head and asked:

"Nagakura-kun, since you know this person's name even though you don't know him well, he must have some extraordinary abilities, right?"

Nagakura Shinpachi nodded.

"You could say that. Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, I've heard that his swordsmanship is superb. In addition, his past identity is also very impressive."

"Past identity?"

Hijikata Toshizo raised an eyebrow and pressed for an answer:

What did he do in the past?

After hesitating for a moment, Nagakura Shinpachi lowered his voice:

He was a member of the Mito Domain's "Tengu Party".

Upon hearing the term "Tengu Party," Souji and the others shrank back, their expressions strange.

The Mito Domain was the birthplace of "Mito Studies," so it produced many proponents of the imperial reverence movement.

[Note: Mito School: A school of thought that emerged during the compilation of the *Dai Nihonshi* by Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the second lord of the Mito Domain. Centered on the teachings of Zhu Shunshui, it integrated traditional Chinese learning and Shintoism, advocating respect for the emperor and the concept of righteousness and legitimacy.]

For this reason, the idea of ​​respecting the emperor has been deeply rooted and widely spread within the Mito Domain.

This is precisely why the pro-imperial and anti-foreign faction within the Mito Domain has always possessed immense power.

The "Tengu Party" was a radical faction of the Mito Domain's pro-imperial and anti-foreign faction that emerged during the reforms of the domain by the former lord Tokugawa Nariaki. It was mainly composed of lower and middle-ranking samurai and was opposed to the conservative Shusei Party.

On the shogunate side, the "Nanki faction" and the "Hitotsubashi faction" were locked in a fierce battle.

On the Mito side, the "Tengu Party" and the "Shusei Party" are fighting tooth and nail—physically speaking, they're locked in a bloody battle.

The "Sakuradamon Incident" in 1860, which led to the death of Ii Naosuke, and the "Sakashitamon Incident" last year, which almost killed Ando Nobumasa, were both led by radical samurai of the Mito Domain—it is conceivable how violent these people were.

The "Tengu Party" and the "Zhusheng Party" have long been in a tense state, on the verge of conflict, and several small-scale clashes have already broken out.

The internal turmoil within the Mito Domain caused great concern among the citizens of Edo.

The distance between Edo and the Mito Domain was only a stone's throw away.

If you ride a fast horse, you can make two or three round trips between the two places in a single day.

The citizens of Edo were afraid that if a civil war broke out in the Mito Domain, Edo would be implicated in the war.