I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Apart from minor differences in patterns and design, they are almost identical!

Qingdeng couldn't help but mentally complain again:

—What's the point of spending so much time changing clothes...?

It is worth mentioning that, in order to maintain the "sanctity" of the Omikado, Tenshōin wore a face mask to cover her face, only revealing her beautiful eyes, so that outsiders could not easily see her appearance.

Whenever he appeared in public, Oomidai would always try to hide his face—which relieved Aoto.

Today we're going to inspect the Shinsengumi headquarters, and we're bound to run into Sanako and Souji—leaving aside everyone else, these two have both personally seen Tenshōin.

Two years ago, when Aoto concealed his tracks and secretly investigated the Phantom Toki, Sanako and Souji, who had traveled all over Edo in search of him, accidentally entered the Moon Shrine and encountered Tenshōin.

If the two of them were to discover that the Edo Shogunate's Ōmitai-sho and the Tsukimiya Shrine's shrine's head priestess looked exactly alike, then even if Aoto used his "Trickster +1" talent to its fullest extent, he wouldn't be able to explain it away.

As soon as the mother and son appeared, Qingdeng and the others bowed to them respectfully.

Qing Deng subconsciously raised his gaze and glanced at Tokugawa Iemochi before looking at Tenshōin.

Coincidentally, at the same time, Tianzhangyuan also looked at him.

Their gazes met in mid-air... In an instant, Tenshōin hurriedly looked away, his eyes fixed on the distant horizon.

"Thank you all for your hard work."

Tokugawa Iemochi stepped forward and offered a perfunctory greeting.

The attendants stepped forward and opened the sedan chair door for Tokugawa Iemochi.

However, Tokugawa Iemochi said:

"The weather is so nice today, it would be a shame to sit in the dimly lit sedan chair."

As he spoke, he waved to his attendant beside him.

The student immediately nodded vigorously, understanding the implication, and then quickly stepped back.

Before long, this attendant led Tokugawa Iemochi's horse back to the public eye.

Tokugawa Iemochi held onto the saddle and the horse's neck, slipped his left foot into the stirrup, and gently flipped upwards, landing steadily on the saddle.

Her agile and nimble movements... it's clear she rides horses frequently.

"Everyone!"

Tokugawa Iemochi turned his head to the side and showed everyone a hearty smile.

"let's go!"

……

……

Radishes and imperial horses advance side by side.

Besides Aoto, Matsudaira Katamori, Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, and Matsudaira Harugaku also received the privilege of "closely following Tokugawa Iemochi."

Tensho-in sat in the sedan chair, half a step behind them.

How could the dignified Grand Master sit with his legs spread wide, straddling the saddle?

Therefore, Tenshōin had no choice but to stay obediently in the sedan chair.

Qingdeng could imagine how unhappy she would be—how could the lively and active Tianzhangyuan possibly be willing to stay in the sedan chair?

Whether it was because of the sunny weather or something else, Tokugawa Iemochi seemed to be in a very good mood today.

He would sometimes look up at the sky, sometimes at the distant scenery, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Suddenly, he spoke up and asked Qingdeng:

"Qingdeng, how is the recruitment process for the Shinsengumi progressing?"

Before he could finish speaking, Qingdeng immediately replied:

"It's going very well. The number of people who have come to sign up for military service far exceeds our expectations."

"We have already achieved one-third of our target."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to successfully complete the goal of expanding the army by 5 people by mid-May."

Tokugawa Iemochi nodded slightly as he continued, "..."

"What about the horses? How's the horse acquisition going?"

“We have signed stable large contracts with horse traders in Kai and Tohoku. In the future, 1000 warhorses and 3000 pack horses will be delivered to the Shinsengumi’s horse farm. Because of the huge contracts, some horse traders have sent me some inferior horses, a total of 150. Although these inferior horses are not suitable for the battlefield, they are more than enough to carry supplies.”

"What about the cavalry? Are the Shinsengumi's cavalry units ready for the battlefield?"

"To be honest, it's still a long way off. Although some knights are already skilled at riding horses, 'being able to ride a horse' and 'being able to fight on horseback' are two different things. It will take quite some time before the cavalry force can begin to have combat effectiveness."

……

The two of them continued their question-and-answer session.

Tokugawa Iemochi kept asking professional and serious questions.

Qing Deng also provided professional and serious answers without interruption.

After asking several more questions, Tokugawa Iemochi nodded slightly, adopting a half-joking tone:

"Aoto, I have high hopes for your Shinsengumi, so please don't let me down."

Qing Deng smiled slightly.

“Your Highness, although I would like to use every word in the language to praise the Shinsengumi, facts always speak louder than words. Now, please go and see this unit for yourself.”

At that moment, a sharp male voice suddenly broke in:

"Your Highness, with the Shinsengumi supporting us externally and the Koshigumi serving as our pillars internally, the Tokugawa kingdom will surely endure for ten thousand generations!"

Qing Deng immediately frowned and looked in the direction of the sound—a thin face with prominent cheekbones came into view.

The speaker was named Maki Toshiro, the head of the second division of the page group.

小姓组共计8组，每组皆设番头1人、组头1人、番士50人，另有专门负责打杂的称为“与力”、“同心”的下级武士30人。

The koshi (clan members) who accompanied Tokugawa Iemochi to Kyoto this time were the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th koshi.

At first glance, Maki Toshiro seemed to be just making a very cheesy compliment.

He praised the Shinsengumi but didn't forget to mention the pagemen as well.

However, Qing Deng, who had been working in politics for so many years, immediately saw through his "word games".

The junior staff is the backbone.

The new electoral group is merely a support group.

Anyone who has ever been to school knows the difference between "pillar" and "support".

While seemingly praising both, it actually subtly criticizes the Shinsengumi.

It elevated the status of the minor surname group.

I stepped on the Shinsengumi.

*******

*******

Leopard, you're back! (Leopard High.jpg)

PS: In historical fact, the Ōmitai-sho (Ōmitai-sho) basically never left Edo Castle.

The passages in this book such as "Tenshōin has arrived in Kyoto" and "Tenshōin went to inspect the troops" are all fictional plots made up by Leopard Leopard. Please be aware of this.

Chapter 679 Is this all the Emperor's personal guard is? [4300]

As soon as Maki Toshiro finished speaking, someone adopted a solemn expression and echoed him in an extremely affectionate tone:

"Sir, I am not aware of the situation of the Shinsengumi."

"But I know that the page corps possesses formidable combat power that surpasses all other units."

"We swear to punish all those who disobey us! To annihilate all our enemies!"

This man's name is Suzuki Konro, and he is the leader of the fourth squad of the page group.

Immediately afterwards, another person chimed in:

"General, please rest assured!"

"Our big show will never let you down!"

"Even if a million-strong army invades! Even if the rest of the Shogunate forces have been annihilated, we are absolutely confident that we can turn the tide!"

The main guard units currently stationed in Kyoto are the First Division and the Third Division.

The speaker was none other than Yamaki Kuro, the leader of the first group of the major division.

Compared to Maki Toshiro and Suzuki Konro, Yamaki Unro made no attempt to hide his malice towards the Shinsengumi.

If the first two were merely being sarcastic, then he was being sarcastic in a way that contained both barbs and words!

What does it mean to say "even though the rest of the Shogunate army has been annihilated"?

Currently, the only shogunate troops stationed in Kyoto besides the daibangu are the Shinsengumi!

Qing Deng glanced at the people who had just spoken, then let out a silent, cold laugh.

Aoto was not surprised by these people's remarks—he had long expected that the Shinsengumi would be ostracized by the soldiers of the "Third Division".

The "Sanbangu," headed by the Koshina group, was the personal guard of the Tokugawa Shogun.

In other words, they were the "Emperor's personal guards".

They were honored and favored by their ancestors, held a high position, and enjoyed privileges that ordinary people could not even imagine.

They have always considered themselves "samurai among samurai" and "the last and strongest fortress of the Tokugawa shogun".

And now... a brand new unit has suddenly appeared.

Not only was it given the prestigious name "Shinsen," but anyone with a brain could see at a glance that Tokugawa Iemochi clearly favored this new force and placed high hopes on it.

Furthermore, this new unit also stole the show in the recent "Battle of Iga," which dealt a heavy blow to the "Third Division."