I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

A reader asked: Where did Qingdeng's money come from? He had 3000 taels of gold as start-up capital given to him by Tokugawa Iemochi, plus his own 500 taels of gold in savings, for a total of 3500 taels of gold, which was enough for him to use for a while.

P.S.: I saw a cow that looked like a radish yesterday, here's a picture for you:

Chapter 593 Training the Shinsengumi using police methods! [4200]

"Trading?"

The chief blinked her beautiful eyes a few times.

"You mean... you plan to make money through business?"

Qingdeng nodded.

The commander showed a look of sudden realization, as if to say, "I don't quite understand, but now I see."

As expected of Tachibana-kun! It turns out he had this all planned out all along!

As she thought this with deep admiration, she pressed for an answer:

"In that case, what kind of goods are you planning to sell? Kyoto kimonos? Local specialties from the Kyoto region?"

As she spoke, an expectant look appeared on her face, and she leaned her delicate body unconsciously towards Qingdeng, supporting herself with her hands on the ground.

"Well..."

Qing Deng pondered for a moment, then gave Souji a meaningful and enigmatic look.

"Please allow me to keep this a secret for now."

The commander paused, taken aback.

"What's so secret about this? Can't even I know?"

Qingdeng gave her a look that said, "Yes, even you can't know."

"This involves a major trade secret, and to prevent leaks, the fewer people who know about it, the better. In short, you'll have to be patient for now. Soon, you'll know the full picture of my trading plan."

"Oh...I see...a major trade secret..."

The commander nodded thoughtfully, her pretty face once again showing an expression of sudden realization, "Although I don't quite understand, I see."

……

……

Shimada Kai chewed carefully, grinding the rice grains in his mouth little by little with his teeth, reluctant to swallow even when they were almost chewed into rice paste.

It is so delicious!

Compared to soft, sweet rice, millet, brown rice, and barnyard grass are simply not edible!

People who say things like "whole grains are delicious" or "whole grains are better than rice" must be high-class guys who never have to worry about food, drink, or entertainment!

Only those from well-off families who can afford rice for every meal would have unrealistic fantasies about the taste of coarse grains.

Whole grains, if eaten occasionally, might taste quite good.

But if you eat whole grains every day, at every meal, you'll definitely start to miss the goodness of rice in less than a month!

If there's rice to eat, who would want to eat this stuff!

Shimada Kai thought to himself: It seems like the last time I ate rice was more than three years ago.

More than ten years ago, Shimada Kai and his family were still able to eat some rice during festivals.

But ever since the "Black Ships Incident" broke out, for some reason, their family's life has become increasingly difficult.

This is not an isolated case, but rather the case in the overall environment.

The tax burden on rural farmers is getting heavier and heavier, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for the homespun cloth that rural women painstakingly weave to sell.

The town's commercial districts are becoming increasingly desolate, and the townspeople are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

As for the samurai, there's no need to mention them.

There are countless samurai who are at their wits' end, and even those who have taken on numerous side jobs in private but are still struggling to make ends meet.

This sudden change, for reasons unknown, has caused the Shimada family's quality of life to decline rapidly in recent years, leaving them increasingly strapped for cash.

Nowadays, even on important days like Lunar New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, they only dare to use a small amount of rice to cook into thin porridge.

Cooking a big bowl of rice... I never even dared to dream of it!

Just like this morning, rice is unlimited; you can eat as much as you want.

However, the side dishes are limited.

The only side dish for everyone was the few plates of meat and egg soup on their respective tables; once they finished eating, that was it.

Although he couldn't eat the side dishes to his heart's content, that wasn't a problem for Shimada Kai at all.

Even without side dishes, just eating rice makes him feel incredibly happy!

In fact, he did just that.

When he ate his first bowl of rice, he didn't touch any side dishes. He just mixed it with his saliva and ate every last grain of rice in the bowl. He even licked away the rice grains stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

It wasn't until the cook served him a second bowl of rice that he began to enjoy the side dishes—not to mention tasting them, these were delicacies he had never even smelled in his entire life!

The fried tofu exudes a wok-sizzling aroma that makes your mouth water.

After peeling off the shell of a boiled egg, the smooth and tender egg white is like the skin of a peerless beauty.

The pork was cooked until very tender, with an incredible texture—it was incredibly chewy and bouncy, and a burst of juice would well up at the slightest touch of your teeth.

The miso soup had a rich flavor and was quite salty, which helped replenish the salt my body lost during this morning's training.

If you eat the meat and drink the soup at the same time, the meat will naturally soften and melt in your mouth. The elastic texture, combined with the soup, will make it go down smoothly.

Two different flavors gently spread out... Shimada Kai understood the true meaning of the phrase "multicolored flavors" for the first time.

Although it may sound a bit exaggerated, Shimada Kai felt as if rich nutrients were gradually seeping into the depths of his body with each bite of this incredibly lavish side dish, each bite transforming into his flesh and blood, nourishing his body.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered what Aoto had just said: the Shinsengumi's fighting strength would be built on iron discipline and abundant food.

—If we could eat such good food every day, it wouldn't be long before our physical fitness would undergo a tremendous change!

Thinking of this, Shimada Kai took several deep breaths, unable to suppress the surging emotions in his heart.

……

……

After lunch is lunch break time.

The soldiers returned to their respective dormitories and took a one-hour nap.

The fatigue accumulated during the morning training session erupted the moment I saw the bedding.

Shimada Kai fell asleep instantly the moment his head hit the pillow.

At 8:00 AM (2:00 PM), the "wake-up clock" rang precisely on time.

Although their bodies and minds still lingered in the warmth of their beds, the fear of strict military orders made the soldiers dare not slack off and quickly throw off their blankets and get up.

—Shouldn't we start training on something else now?

Shimada Kai thought that spending an entire morning training standing was already quite outrageous.

But to everyone's surprise, the afternoon training session consisted of standing at attention again!

Under the command of the commander-in-chief, the members of the First Division stood in a horizontal line as they had this morning, chests out, heads held high, legs taut, and hands pressed tightly against their sides.

Is it really necessary to train standing up repeatedly like this?

Standing at attention is for training one's mind and body, and for laying the foundation for future combat training... Shimada Kai fully understands the profound principles that the commander-in-chief spoke of this morning.

However, in his view, this kind of training content, which does not have a high level of technical difficulty, is enough once you have practiced it to a certain extent.

Most of the time should still be spent on training individual martial arts skills and battle formations.

Practicing standing up repeatedly... is it so that you can intimidate the enemy with your upright posture during battle?

The deeper Shimada Kai thought about it, the more dissatisfied he became.

Just as the afternoon training session began, a large, thick cloud suddenly drifted in from the west, blocking out the sunlight.

Without the direct sunlight, the soldiers immediately felt much more relaxed.

Just after 7 a.m. (4 p.m.), a minor accident occurred on the training ground—

Qingdeng, who had been nowhere to be seen all morning, suddenly appeared at the training ground.

He came alone, surveying the area with a blank expression.

Upon seeing the arrival of the General himself, the soldiers were all filled with renewed vigor.

Just as Aoto arrived at the training ground of the First Division, with the idea of ​​"leaving a good impression on Lord Niou", Shimada Kai hurriedly puffed out his already high chest even more and tightened his already tense legs even more.

However, Qing Deng only glanced at him before looking away.

After a quick glance around, he passed by Shimada Kai, who was standing at the far right of the line, and walked away.

—Did I fail to get Lord Niou's attention...?

Shimada Kai let out a long, regretful sigh in his heart.

However, out of the blue, a large, iron-like hand suddenly grabbed his right arm from behind.

This large hand moved extremely fast and exerted tremendous force.

Before Shimada Kai could react, the large hand pulled his right arm away from his leg.

Because the iron hand was too strong, his entire body fell to the ground due to inertia.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have fallen and gotten a serious injury.

But it is clear that Shimada Kai, as a member of the First Division, does not belong to the category of "ordinary people".

Despite the suddenness of the incident, he still managed to stumble a few steps thanks to his excellent reflexes, quickly adjusted his center of gravity, and barely managed to regain his footing.

Anyone would feel bewildered and frustrated if they were caught off guard by such an unexpected turn of events.

"Tsk! Who is it... gulp!"

Just as Shimada Kai subconsciously turned his head, intending to angrily rebuke the person who had suddenly grabbed his arm, the anger on his face dissipated at a visible speed.