I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Clang, clang, clang...

The blade was slowly drawn from its sheath, making a clear, crisp sound like flowing spring water.

The blade of this knife is very long.

The blade of a typical katana is usually around 65cm long, but according to Qing Deng's estimation, the blade of this "Demon-Slaying" katana is close to 70cm long.

The blade is narrow with a large curve, and paired with the red and black handle, it looks grand and imposing.

Upon close inspection, one can discover that the texture of the blade is quite fine.

Boiling point lines are closely arranged.

The blade pattern is irregular, resembling leaping mountain peaks.

A beam of clear, soft morning sunlight shone through the window next to it, falling on the sword that could ward off evil spirits.

The blade gleamed with a blinding blue light under the sunlight.

Qingdeng did not know how to appraise swords.

Even though he knew nothing about swords, Qing Deng could tell at a glance that this sword was a masterpiece, one in a thousand.

Some people in the hall stared at the sword in Ii Naosuke's hand with eyes practically green with envy. A very few even swallowed hard in exaggerated gestures.

Exquisite and valuable swords—these held a fatal attraction for samurai who loved swords and swordsmanship.

Moreover, this precious sword was bestowed by the government and can be passed down as a family heirloom.

After staring intently at Ding Guishen with their greenish eyes for a while, these people all turned their gazes to Qing Deng.

My gaze was filled with envy and jealousy.

"A fine sword deserves a worthy master." After showing Aoto the "full view" of the Sword of Deterrence, Ii Naosuke smiled and sheathed the sword. Then, he held the Sword of Deterrence in both hands and placed it above Aoto's head. "Tachibana-kun, I hope that your future actions will not disgrace this sword."

"I hope you will continue to work hard in the future."

"Continue to achieve feats that will earn you such a generous reward again."

I know that some readers may think after reading this chapter:

Oh dear, author, this chapter is so padded! Why spend so much time introducing the Shangsi Festival and the life of Ii Naosuke? It's so padded! I just want to see Qing Deng showing off. Any part of the story that isn't Qing Deng showing off is just filler. Hehe~

To this... I can only say—

You'll understand why I wrote it this way once you read on.

I believe that some people familiar with the history of the late Edo period in Japan will have already smiled knowingly when they saw me describing what the Shangsi Festival was, and will understand why I am focusing on the way the Shangsi Festival was celebrated in the Edo period in this chapter.

Chapter 102 recommends Tachibana Aoto to the General!

As Qing Deng responded loudly, he raised his hands above his head and took the Dingguishen from Ii Naosuke's hands.

After Qingdeng took the knife, the way everyone in the hall looked at him changed further.

In the eyes of Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama, only pure joy and congratulations could be seen.

Dongcheng remained calm, seemingly unconcerned about what reward Qingdeng had received.

Meanwhile, the emotions conveyed in the gazes of the three members of the "East City Group," led by Nishino, as they looked at Aoto became even more complex.

However, the complex emotions in the eyes of these three people are not entirely the same.

Nishino's gaze also contained negative emotions such as jealousy and displeasure, but the most dominant emotion among these was envy.

The other two members of the "East City Group" were not like that—the most obvious emotion in their eyes was jealousy.

……

……

Some are happy, some are sad – this proverb perfectly describes today's assessment meeting.

Ultimately, the main purpose of this assessment meeting was to take the opportunity to eliminate those mediocre and useless people, and to "cleanse" the "three-times" of the Southern and Northern Foreign Affairs Offices.

The whole "receiving the reward" thing was just a minor episode in this assessment meeting.

As Ii Naosuke just mentioned, he didn't have much time, so he got straight to the point.

He really wasn't just making small talk.

After Aoto returned to his seat in high spirits with his reward, Ii Naosuke also sat back on the tatami mat, and then... officially began the main topic of the day.

Ii Naosuke first praised some people who also had excellent political achievements.

Nishino of the "Tojo Clan" was also among those receiving praise.

In fact, Nishino's performance has been mediocre recently, because he was assigned to take charge of the case of "Neko-san," who is said to be a female ninja, more than a month ago.

That cat monk could move freely on extreme terrains such as rooftops and tree canopies, appearing and disappearing without a trace, his whereabouts unpredictable. The only clue was that he only stole money from notorious villains.

It's easy to imagine how difficult it is to catch the cat monk.

Qing Deng had heard that Nishino had made no progress on the "Nekosō" case for more than a month.

But what can be done when Nishino is the highly decorated "top detective in the North District Police Station"?

Even though his performance over the past month or so has not been particularly outstanding, his past achievements alone are enough to make his overall political record stand out from almost all his colleagues.

Following praise and compliments... comes criticism and scolding.

For some, this is where their nightmare begins...

Originally, based on Qingdeng's past achievements, he, the "dumbhead Deng," should have been one of those who received a reprimand.

But now, he has successfully "come back to life" thanks to his two great achievements: "solving the murder case in Mokuyachi" and "defeating the anti-foreign thugs and protecting the French merchants".

In terms of overall political achievements, he can be considered the "number one meritorious official" for the three "returns" of the Southern and Northern Barbarians in the past three months. He had just received a generous reward from Ii Naosuke and had no worries about losing his official position at this assessment meeting.

A total of five officials were reprimanded by Ii Naosuke.

They are one Doshin from the temporary and hidden missions of the Northern Frontier Bureau, and one Yoriki and one Doshin from the fixed town mission of the Southern Frontier Bureau, as well as one Yoriki from the temporary mission.

Two of them were loyal and three were of one mind—all five of them had recently achieved results that greatly displeased Naosuke Ii.

When reprimanding the five people, Ii Naosuke did not show any ferocious expression, nor did he use any angry words.

Instead, he calmly and slowly recounted how the political achievements of these five people disappointed him.

Even though he didn't use any particularly fierce expressions or words... for some reason, he could make the listener feel immense pressure...

After listing the poor performances of these five people, Ii Naosuke personally ordered their punishment—two of them, whose performance was not too bad, would have their salaries and allowances halved for the next six months, while the other three... from today onwards, they should all find their own way to make a living.

The two men, upon learning that their official positions were still in effect but their salaries had been docked, wore expressions of relief.

As for the three who were stripped of their official titles... their faces were as white as paper, and cold sweat poured down their backs...

They dared not raise any objection to Ii Naosuke's punishment.

Who would dare to raise objections to the "Premier" face-to-face?

All they could do was hang their heads in despair...

"I hope you can all learn from this."

Ii Naosuke glanced at the three people who were now hanging their heads.

Previously, whether he was personally rewarding Aoto or verbally praising Nishino and others, Ii Naosuke always had a faint smile on his face. However, after he began to name and reprimand those who did not meet the performance standards, the faint smile on his face disappeared.

There was neither sorrow nor joy; no emotion could be seen.

“Protecting Edo is the duty of your ‘Sanhui’.”

"I have always believed that it is only right to get rid of those who cannot even do what they are supposed to do."

"I will continue to conduct assessments like today's from time to time."

"So those who successfully passed this test should not feel relieved or think they are safe."

Upon hearing Ii Naosuke's words, some people who had been showing expressions of relief after successfully passing today's test immediately froze.

"Taking this opportunity... let me also reveal something to you all."

Ii Naosuke straightened his back even more and sat up straighter.

“Right now, the rampant activities of the ‘expelling the barbarians’ faction have reached an intolerable level.”

“They are a bunch of unreasonable thugs. If we don’t find a way to curb their arrogance, they will sooner or later commit acts of violence even more extreme than the attacks on foreign businessmen.”

"In the past month, I have had many more important things to deal with, so I have not had time to properly deal with the matter of the 'expelling the barbarians' faction."

"But now, I finally have the time and energy."

“From today onwards, I will focus on Edo and Kyoto and intensify my crackdown on the ‘expelling the foreigners’ faction.”

"In other words, those of you who are the 'three-times' of Edo will be quite busy from now on."

"Therefore, everyone should be mentally prepared."

"Let's all do our best to contribute to the ongoing campaigns against the 'anti-foreign faction'."

"I hope that in future performance evaluation meetings, no one will have such poor performance that it is unbearable to look at."

Usui and Atsukawa led the group in bowing low and respectfully responding to Ii Naosuke.

……

……

Because Ii Naosuke did not speak any lengthy official or formal language from beginning to end, the assessment meeting proceeded extremely quickly.

From the moment Ii Naosuke appeared until he stood up and announced the end of the assessment meeting, less than an hour had passed...

After Ii Naosuke led his entourage out through the side door they had come through, Aoto and the others also gradually left the council hall.

As soon as they retreated to the corridor outside the council hall, Inugaya approached Aoto with a curious expression.

"Tachibana, let me see the new sword that Lord Ii just bestowed upon you."

Qingdeng readily handed the Dingguishen, which he was holding in his right hand, to Zhugu.

With a whoosh, Inoya took the sword and pulled the blade out of its sheath by about an inch.

Many people gathered around and examined the ghost with varying emotions.

As people gazed at the beautiful, blue-glowing blade of the Ding Guishen sword, exclamations of admiration rose and fell.