I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Once the desire is awakened, it tends to grow wildly."

"A person who has been hungry for a long time is very likely to develop a mentality similar to 'revenge' after tasting a delicacy for the first time."

"He will tirelessly pursue more and better food."

Before becoming the universally praised King Jijin, Tachibana Seito was merely a servant with a meager stipend of only 100 koku.

"From an unknown magistrate to a renowned military governor of the capital region, he witnessed a beautiful landscape he had never seen before."

"From now on, will he still be able to see the world around him with the same perspective as before?"

"Does he have no new pursuits in food, women, money, or power?"

"Wouldn't he want to go a step further and see what the view from the upper levels is like?"

As Yoshiki Ichitsuya finished speaking, silence enveloped the room and the surroundings once again.

After listening attentively to the other party's impassioned speech, Matsudaira Haruaki fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he let out a long breath.

"...Lord Hitotsubashi, you are right."

"Money and power are the two most corrupting poisons on people's minds."

"Anyone can be controlled by greed."

"Being born into such a humble background meant that Tachibana Seiden had never experienced the joys of money and power before."

"And now, he has become the esteemed Commander of the Capital Region."

“His every word and every action can determine the livelihoods of millions of people and even influence the course of the world.”

"He held a high position of power and influence, and wielded the power of life and death... No one can say for sure whether his mentality would become distorted under such circumstances."

At this point, Matsudaira Haruaki's tone suddenly changed.

"Fortunately, judging from the current situation, Tachibana Aoto and his Shinsengumi should be well-behaved for a long time."

"Although Tokugawa Iemochi granted Tachibana Seito a great deal of financial autonomy, allowing him to raise funds on his own, no matter how capable he was, he could not create money out of thin air."

"Developing new sources of revenue is not an easy task."

At this point, Matsudaira Haruaki seemed to recall some painful memory, his lips twitching and his face turning bitter.

"I bet Tachibana Aoto is currently worried about the Shinsengumi's military expenses."

"He will definitely spend a lot of energy trying to solve the Shinsengumi's financial problems afterward."

“If the money issue is not resolved, it will be impossible for him to become a loyal retainer of the shogunate or to become the next An Lushan.”

"He will have no time to attend to other matters until he has secured a stable income for the newly elected group."

"So, for the time being, we don't need to worry about him causing any more big trouble."

Yoshiki Hitotsubashi nodded slightly in agreement.

At the same time, his expression gradually relaxed, and his facial features softened.

"Yes, this is the only good news recently."

……

……

7 days later—

Wenjiu three years (1863), January 18th——

Kyoto, Mibu Village, Shinsengumi Garrison—

It was a little past seven o'clock.

Spring is approaching, the days are no longer short, and the sun is now high in the sky, its pale golden light spreading across the earth.

Kiyokawa Hachiro strolled along the sun-drenched veranda.

To the right are rows of paper sliding doors, and to the left is a small garden with an endless sky.

He turned his head, looked up at the sky, and, bathed in the golden sunlight, recited with great interest the ancient text from the "Thirty-two Plum Blossom Poems with Preface" in the Manyoshu:

"It was early spring, a fine month, the air was gentle and the breeze mild... Alas, what a pity! If the garden could have been preserved in its original state, it would have been a breathtakingly beautiful sight..."

After saying that, Kiyokawa Hachiro sighed and lowered his gaze to look at the garden below the sky... or rather, the "former garden" that has now become wasteland.

Previously, this place was a very classic Japanese garden.

The veranda adjacent to the garden, the courtyard full of spring colors, and the startled deer making a "knock knock" sound.

The so-called "deer-startling vessel" is a small bamboo tube for pouring water, also known as a water-adding vessel, monk's vessel, or bird-startling vessel. It is one of the most representative water containers in Japanese gardens.

Water is introduced into the bamboo tube, and through the lever principle, a certain amount of water is stored to transfer the balance between the two ends of the bamboo tube—similar to the principle of a seesaw—and one end of the bamboo tube strikes a stone, producing a crisp sound.

Its original design was intended to use the sounds it made to startle birds that fell into the garden, but it gradually evolved into a landscape design full of Zen.

Kiyokawa Hachiro, who considered himself a refined gentleman, had always been fond of the stunning deer.

Therefore, he was very fond of this garden.

He could imagine how pleasant it would be to lie leisurely on the veranda when spring came, enjoying the gentle breeze and listening to the crisp sound of deer hitting the stones.

However... he had a title but no real power, so his voice carried little weight.

Despite his best efforts to dissuade him, Aoto, as the sole leader of the Shinsengumi, remained stubborn. He simply stated that "military strongholds do not need these useless things" and, just like when he created Training Ground A and Training Ground B, he completely eradicated the garden.

Even the deer statue that Kiyokawa Hachiro really liked was directly taken away and sold by Aoto.

The garden, which was once filled with beautiful, sparsely planted greenery, is now just bare yellow soil.

Qingdeng plans to transform this land into a stable.

Thinking of this, Kiyokawa Hachiro couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache, muttering to himself:

"Hmph, what a boorish savage who doesn't know anything about refinement...!"

In his eyes, Qingdeng's behavior of "disregarding all consequences and completely eradicating the gardens in the newly selected village" was no different from burning a zither and boiling a crane.

Kiyokawa Hachiro, who was devoted to the emperor, didn't think much of Aoto, who was in the pro-shogunate camp.

After witnessing Qingdeng's "atrocities" firsthand, he felt even more disgusted and mentally labeled Qingdeng as a "vulgar and unrestrained savage," deepening his contempt for him.

At this moment, Kiyokawa Hachiro was on his way to his bedroom when he encountered many soldiers.

Every member of the squad who saw Kiyokawa Hachiro greeted him warmly.

"Good morning, Chief of Staff!"

Good morning, Mr. Qinghe!

"Mr. Qinghe, thank you for helping me write the letter before!"

……

In response to the greetings from the crowd, Kiyokawa Hachiro put on a warm smile and responded to each person enthusiastically—of course, this was all just a performance for him.

If he wants to take control of the Shinsengumi, his own prestige is indispensable.

Otherwise, if he were to oust Qingdeng and then take the position of the Shinsengumi's commander-in-chief, only to find that no one under him would be willing to submit to him, he would be left with nothing but tears.

Therefore, in order to cultivate popularity, Kiyokawa Hachiro always paid great attention to his personal image.

Whenever he stands in front of people, he always wears a Sendai-hei-style haori (traditional Japanese kimono) with five neat, symmetrical folds on the front.

[Note: According to the etiquette requirements of the Edo period, when samurai wore hakama (traditional Japanese jackets), the front of the jacket had to be folded into five creases, representing the five cardinal relationships: ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, brothers, and friends, as well as the five constant virtues: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. Wearing hakama without creases was considered sloppy and impolite.]

The sword's hilt has also been fitted with the currently popular red scabbard.

The hair is shaved into the most standard chonmage style, and it is always combed neatly. The scalp is shaved clean, and the hair is treated to be shiny and lustrous.

A dignified and imposing appearance alone cannot win the widespread support of soldiers.

Therefore, with the aim of "winning favor", he actively extended a helping hand to the soldiers who encountered difficulties - such as writing letters home for them.

Overall, Kiyokawa Hachiro is a weaker version of Yamanami Keisuke.

He was skilled in both literature and martial arts, possessing both. He could fight the fierce barbarians on horseback, and he could also draft military dispatches on foot.

Judging from his personal resume, Kiyokawa Hachiro is definitely a top student, one in a million.

By the age of 14, he had become well-versed in classics such as the Analects, Mencius, the Book of Changes, and the Book of Poetry.

At the age of 18, he went to study ancient studies at the great Edo scholar Tojo Ichido, and later transferred to the private school of the famous teacher Anji Ryosai to study Zhu Xi's philosophy.

After Qinghe Hachiro launched his "letter writing service," it immediately attracted the attention of countless people.

Most of the Shinsengumi soldiers came from lower to middle-class backgrounds.

They're fine with wielding swords and spears, but asking them to write is really asking too much of them.

For a learned and eloquent scholar like Kiyokawa Hachiro, writing letters home was nothing more than a piece of cake.

Because of its beautiful writing and elegant language, the family letters handled by Kiyokawa Hachiro were widely praised.

As time went on, more and more soldiers asked Kiyohachiro to write letters home for them.

Although winning the soldiers' favor in this way was somewhat clumsy, there was no doubt that this clumsy method was surprisingly effective.

Today, many soldiers have changed their way of addressing Kiyokawa Hachiro, no longer calling him the cold "Chief Advisor," but the more affectionate and respectful "Mr. Kiyokawa."

And so, Kiyokawa Hachiro greeted the soldiers along the way as he leisurely made his way to his bedroom.

Just as his bedroom door came into view, a loud shout rang out from behind him:

"Ah, Qinghe-kun! I've finally found you! Hey! Qinghe-kun!"

Kiyokawa Hachiro stopped in his tracks and looked in the direction of the sound—Harada Sanosuke was running towards him, munching on grilled squid.

As Harada Sanosuke drew closer, a barely perceptible hint of disdain flashed in Kiyokawa Hachiro's eyes.

Of the 10 captains of the Sword-Drawing Squad, the one he looked down on the most was Harada Sanosuke.

Okita Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Hajime, and others all possessed unparalleled bravery.

Even those two women were no ordinary people.

There's no need to say more about Sanako; she's a near-perfect woman.

As for the seemingly weak Kinoshita Mai, she also shone brightly in the recent "Kusunogi Group Extermination Battle".