I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Of course, if we were to say which side is the most excited and moved right now, it would undoubtedly be the Shinsengumi soldiers standing below the high platform, facing Aoto.

They shouted and yelled, not stopping even when their voices were hoarse.

A very small number of people even shed tears due to excessive emotional distress.

Needless to say, people as emotionally rich as Souji, Kondo Isami, and Harada Sanosuke are also highly expressive.

Even the usually calm and collected Sanako couldn't help but be moved at this moment.

This is not only because Qing Deng's demeanor and tone are highly infectious, but also because his speech resonated with them deeply.

Unless one experiences it firsthand, it is absolutely impossible to imagine how oppressive the lives of these lower-ranking samurai and commoners were, based solely on a few sentences in books or a few words passed down by word of mouth.

The family stipend and salary have remained unchanged for 250 years.

The increasing pressure of life.

Class divisions are extremely rigid, and life is predictable with no hope of advancement.

In such circumstances, the emergence of a new force that disregards gender and background, and a stage where they can make great strides... how could their eyes not light up? How could they not be filled with ambition?

They're going to do something big!

Just as Qing Deng said: From now on, whenever anyone who followed Qing Deng to Luoyang on February 1st opens their mouth to speak, they will feel that they are so lacking in heroism and have nowhere to hide!

At the same time, the group of bigwigs behind the platform—including Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi, Haruaki Matsudaira, and Tokugawa Iemochi—all looked at each other with surprise on their faces.

They all saw the same question in each other's eyes: How could Tachibana Aoto have such excellent oratory skills?

Tokugawa Iemochi blinked, then laughed with a hearty expression.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Katsura Rintaro couldn't help but smile.

As for Hitoshi Yoshiki, Matsudaira Haruaki, and others who were enemies of Aoto, they all had strange expressions and heavy faces—nothing is more disheartening than discovering that your opponent is stronger than you expected.

To be honest, not only they, but also the people involved were shocked.

This was the first time Qing Deng had given a speech in front of others.

This is also the first time he has used his talent "Failed Art Student +2".

With the added advantage of being a "failed art student +2" in terms of talent, Qing Deng's speech was exceptionally inspiring.

However, this talent will only enhance his charisma; it will not make Qing Deng a great speaker, much less a silver tongue or a string of witty remarks.

This speech was originally Qing Deng's spur-of-the-moment idea.

As for the speech, it bubbled up from Qingdeng's mind one after another, without stopping, like bubbles blown by a fish.

Gazing at the frenzied scene before him, Qingdeng, in a moment of daze, suddenly felt reassured:

The morale of the army is now high!

……

……

The departure ceremony concluded successfully amidst a sense of accomplishment.

The entire army officially set off! Stepping out of Zojoji Temple, they formed three columns and headed west along the Tokaido!

The second, fourth, and tenth squads of the Battōtai (Sword-Drawing Corps) acted as the vanguard, with Hijikata Toshizo and Kiyokawa Hachirō in charge.

Teams 3, 5, 6, and 8 were positioned at the rear, with Isamu Kondo and Keisuke Yamanami serving as commanders.

Qing Deng personally led the first, seventh, and ninth teams to oversee the central army.

This arrangement contains profound meaning for Qingdeng.

The first, second, and third squads were the three strongest units in the Shinsengumi, so Aoto distributed these three squads evenly among the front, middle, and rear armies to ensure that each part of the army had a certain level of combat power.

Of the 10 captains, only the fourth division captain, Serizawa Kamo, and the fifth division captain, Niimi Nishiki, were not Aoto's confidants, and the two were very close friends.

So Qingdeng separated the two of them, preventing them from staying together.

Kiyokawa Hachiro is an unstable element; pairing him with Hijikata Toshizo is definitely the right choice.

With the "Thorn Child's" abilities, subduing him would be no problem.

As for why the First Division Captain Okita Souji, the Seventh Division Captain Chiba Sanako, and the Ninth Division Captain Kinoshita Mai were with Aoto... that was purely accidental! It was definitely not Aoto using his position for personal gain!

The Shinsengumi is currently extremely poor, with military funds amounting to a mere 3000 taels of gold... Ah, no, correction, it should be 3600 taels of gold.

The fate of the Shinsengumi is directly related to Aoto's future.

It's no exaggeration to say that it even relates to the future fate of Qingdeng.

Therefore, it is pointless to be a miser and hold onto money tightly.

If he fails to build up the Shinsengumi, all the money he accumulates will be meaningless.

It would be better to use all of one's wealth to subsidize the budget of the new electoral group.

Now is the time to need money!

So, just a few days ago, Qingdeng sold all his personal belongings that he probably wouldn't use again in the future, such as books he had finished reading and clothes he had worn out.

The money scraped together by selling everything he owned, plus the savings he had left after buying weapons for the commander and others, amounted to about 600 taels of gold.

Qing Deng added every single 600 taels of gold into the Shinsengumi's fund pool.

Since the Shinsengumi is essentially his private army, he wouldn't feel bad about putting all his money into it.

It's hard to believe that Tachibana Aoto, the dignified Governor of the Capital Region and the captain of the Shinsengumi, who served as a high-ranking official and a servant of the Emperor for one year and eight months, is now penniless, with a total net worth of less than one tael of gold.

Because the Shinsengumi had not yet formed a cavalry force, nor did they have the financial resources to do so, the Shinsengumi's only animal power at present consisted of a dozen or so pack horses donated by the shogunate for transporting supplies.

Of the entire army, only Qingdeng had a mount.

He rode his big black ox, Radish, slowly moving forward, surrounded by his army.

Given Qingdeng's current status and position, acquiring a fine horse would be no problem for him.

However, Qingdeng couldn't bear to part with the radishes.

Radish was his old partner and comrade-in-arms.

As early as when he took on the important task of "taking charge of the capital region", Qing Deng had already made up his mind: he would take Luo Bo with him on his westward journey.

From this day forward, he will continue to ride this great black bull, conquering the north and south!

Perhaps in some people's eyes, heroes like Qingdeng should ride horses, and they should be the kind of magnificent white horses. Riding an ox is too tasteless and beneath them.

But in Qingdeng's eyes, riding a bull was not a shameful thing.

In the long history of China, there once appeared a divine being who could summon meteorites to attack enemies, and his early mount was a yellow ox.

Moreover, in terms of running and charging ability, a radish that dares to run and charge is no less capable than a fine horse.

More importantly, Luo Bo is very smart and understanding, can understand simple instructions, and has a great rapport with Qing Deng.

On the ever-changing and intense battlefield, the power exerted by riding a mount that has a good rapport with you is definitely far greater than riding a mount that has excellent abilities but cannot coordinate well with its master.

Radish is probably very happy now because its two owners, Aoto and Sanako, are by its side.

It held its big, chubby head high, its tail swishing back and forth, occasionally making cute "moo moo moo~" sounds, and its steps were bouncy and lively.

The roadside was lined with onlookers.

The well-prepared officials from the "Sanhui" branch of the magistrate's office and their own quarters formed a solid human wall using long sticks and their own bodies, ensuring the smooth flow of traffic and maintaining order.

All sorts of shouts and cheers rose and fell:

"Long live Niou! Long live the Shinsengumi!"

"Lord Renwang! You must wipe out these treacherous officials in the capital region!"

"Let those spineless cowards in Kyoto who only know how to apply powder and lipstick show them the might of Kanto men!"

"That's right! Two hundred and fifty years ago, on the battlefield of Sekigahara, the warriors of Kanto could beat the trash from the capital region and the western provinces to a pulp. Now, our strength can still make them tremble!"

……

[Note: Battle of Sekigahara (1601), the battle in which the Tokugawa family established their rule over Japan. In this battle, the Eastern Army defeated the Western Army in less than a day.]

The enthusiastic send-off from the Edo samurai and commoners further boosted the morale of the Shinsengumi soldiers.

They responded to the enthusiasm of the people by waving their hands vigorously or shouting.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Harada Sanosuke... this lively and energetic guy who loves excitement, raised his hands high above his head, crossed them, and shouted enthusiastically, as if he were talking to his fans.

"Fellow citizens of Edo, just you wait! We will surely return in triumph!"

Taking advantage of his height atop the ox's back, Qingdeng found many acquaintances along the roadside on both sides.

Hey everyone! Have a safe trip!

Kondo Shusuke cupped his hands around his mouth, forming a makeshift megaphone, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Kondo Shusuke, Mrs. Abi, Kondo Isami's wife Acho, Hijikata Toshizo's sister, Hijikata Toshizo's brother-in-law Sato Hikogoro, the elders and folks of Tama... these people have always been the most loyal supporters of Shieikan.

How could they not come to see off the young people they were most proud of who were about to embark on a new journey to a distant land?

Souji's older sister, Hikaru Okita, and her husband, Rintaro Okita, also came.

They made a special trip all the way from Hinojuku to see their sister off.

"elder sister……"

Looking at his sister, whom he was about to part ways with and who knew when they would meet again, Souji silently pursed his lips, his eyes flickering.

Okita Hikaru stared intently at Souji for a moment, then raised his gaze and looked directly at Aoto, his red lips moving as if he were making mouth shapes.

Thanks to his excellent eyesight, and the fact that the words Okita Hikaru was trying to say weren't complicated, Aoto quickly understood the meaning behind the other person's lip movements:

(Please protect Xiao Si.)

Qing Deng's expression immediately turned stern.

He met his gaze with unwavering eyes and nodded emphatically.

Due to the limitations of the occasion, he could not speak freely to others, nor could he jump off the cow's back, but he believed that his meaning had been successfully conveyed—because Okita Hikaru showed a gentle smile.

However, after a short while, she changed to a complicated look and glanced at Sanako and Kinoshita Mai who were guarding Aoto... Aoto quietly turned his head away, pretending that he had not seen anything and knew nothing.

Ah, right, the old servant of the Tachibana family—Kyubei—this old man who has served the Tachibana family since the time of Tachibana Takayuki, for decades, is also in the procession seeing them off.