I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, Hizen... all these difficult to please daimyo gathered in western Japan.

Otsu happened to be located at the westernmost edge of the shogunate's sphere of influence.

East of Ōtsu was the shogunate's controlled area, while to the west was the territory of the western daimyo... In other words, Ōtsu was the western frontier of the shogunate!

In summary, a major grain-producing area is a logistics hub, a transportation hub, a tourist destination, a frontier town, and a defense zone for the capital.

Calling Otsu the "Central Plains" of Japan is truly an understatement!

Tokugawa Iemochi's handing over Otsu to Aoto was like a Chinese emperor entrusting most of the Central Plains to a meritorious official who was not related to him—in this way, one can roughly understand how shocking Tokugawa Iemochi's actions were.

Although the Edo Shogunate was always generous in distributing territory, enfeoffing more than 300 daimyo over two hundred years, making the current political map of Japan as fragmented as a meat sauce, the shogunate always firmly held onto these four most important strategic locations.

The Kanto region was the core base of the Edo Shogunate.

The Noo region was the territory of the Owari Tokugawa family, one of the "Three Great Families".

Both the Osaka and Otsu regions were territories directly under the control of the shogunate.

The shogunate actually ceded one of the "Four Great Strategic Locations"... This is the first time in more than two hundred years!

It's no exaggeration to say that Tokugawa Iemochi really handed over half of the shogunate's arm to Aoto!

At this moment, the commander noticed the unusual behavior of Qing Deng in the main seat.

Qingdeng did not appear as excited as the others present.

He gazed into the distance, lost in thought.

"Tachibana-kun, what's wrong? Why are you so serious? You've become the lord of a city and a territory, and a great daimyo with 30 square kilometers of land. Aren't you happy?"

The commander's words immediately drew everyone's attention to Qing Deng.

Qingdeng paused for a moment, then smiled:

"Of course I'm happy."

"I was just... expressing my feelings."

At this point, Qingdeng let out a long sigh of relief, his expression becoming meaningful.

"I am a daimyo now..."

Upon hearing Qingdeng's words, everyone present showed expressions of confusion, as if they had no idea what was going on.

They are not Qingdeng, so they cannot truly empathize with the psychological changes Qingdeng is experiencing.

To suddenly possess one's own territory, population, and resources... the specific feelings involved are probably only known to those who have experienced it.

Suddenly, Souji chuckled and jokingly changed the subject:

"Mr. Orange, when are you planning to go and take a look around your territory?"

Yamanami Keisuke smiled and said:

"I'll be busy again from now on."

Hijikata Toshizo picked up the conversation:

"First, we need to survey the land, then build the new city, and then conduct population surveys and organize household registrations..."

Qing Deng gave a bitter smile:

"There's no rush to go to Otsu right now."

"Let's finish up the things we have at hand first, and then go to Otsu after Kyoto has completely stabilized."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Yamanami Keisuke, who was not far away.

"Kei-suke, what's the date today?"

Yamanami Keisuke immediately replied:

March 9rd.

"The 20th... then let's tentatively go to Otsu on September 25th!"

"Alright, everyone, you can all leave now."

After saying that, Qingdeng was the first to get up and leave his seat.

After leaving the auditorium, his gaze seemed to be drawn by a transparent thread, looking straight eastward, towards the distant Otsu.

"Qin Jin, huh..."

He muttered something under his breath.

A dazzling light shone from his eyes.

……

……

The news that 30 koku of land south of Lake Biwa would all belong to Aoto quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys of Kyoto.

Whether they admired or hated Qingdeng, everyone was shocked by this.

For a time, from Luozhong to Luowai, from the streets to the alleys, from the dining table to the bathhouse, everyone was talking about this newly born "Qinjin Fan," exchanging opinions and conveying emotions.

The majority of the reaction was one of shock – just like Yamanami Keisuke, everyone from military and political leaders to ordinary citizens was dumbfounded by the shogunate's grand gesture.

Huh? Let Tachibana Aoto become the master of Otsu? Is that really necessary? Isn't that a bit too much?

Even if Aoto was Tokugawa Iemochi's son-in-law, it shouldn't be this bad, right?!

Moreover, Aoto wasn't even Tokugawa Iemochi's son-in-law.

Princess Kazu has not yet given birth to any children, and Tokugawa Iemochi is currently childless, making a marriage alliance with Aoto impossible.

To date, Aoto and Tokugawa Iemochi have no familial relationship; their only bond is that of "lord and subject."

Despite being completely unrelated, Qingdeng was treated with such great favor... Words like "favor" and "trust" are insufficient and inappropriate to describe the extent of the treatment.

"Is it really okay to treat Tachibana Aoto so well?"—Such a question arose among the common people.

In fact, there were many dissenting voices even within the shogunate itself.

The "opposition" unanimously believes that Tsing-teng's current power is too great! It's gone too far!

How powerful has Qing Deng become now?

They possess a highly independent and extremely powerful field army (Shinsengumi); they own land rich in resources and possess a vast amount of hidden assets (Hakitsu Domain); and they have an armed force that can besiege Edo at any time (Hachioji Senjin Doshin).

This...this...!

What if Qingdeng raises the banner of rebellion and repeats the events of the Tianbao era (the An Lushan Rebellion)?

It must be said that the opposition's claims are not without merit.

History has proven time and again that it is a grave taboo for envoys to possess excessive power!

However... Tokugawa Iemochi had only one attitude towards the opinions of the "opposition": ignore them.

He was determined to hand over Otsu to Aoto.

The opposition was powerless to do anything about it.

With the downfall of the Hitotsubashi faction, there is no political force within the shogunate capable of restraining Tokugawa Iemochi.

Various speculations arose among the common people regarding Tokugawa Iemochi's act of selling his head as a reward to Aoto.

Some say that Tokugawa Iemochi and Aoto were long-lost brothers.

Some say that Tokugawa Iemochi and Aoto actually had an unspeakable special relationship, just like the King of Wei and Lord Longyang back then.

Some people even joked: Could it be that Tokugawa Iemochi betrothed his mother to Niou?

If we're talking about a woman who had a close relationship with Tokugawa Iemochi and happened to be of marriageable age... then there's only Tenshōin.

Tenshōin was Tokugawa Iemochi's nominal mother. If Aōdō were to marry Tenshōin, he would become Tokugawa Iemochi's nominal father.

A 27-year-old mother, a 21-year-old father, a 17-year-old son... What a chaotic family!

If Aoto were to become Tokugawa Iemochi's father, then Tokugawa Iemochi's series of unusual behaviors would be explained.

What's wrong with a son being filial to his father?

Of course, people just treat this as a joke.

Regardless, Tenshōin was the "Empress Dowager" of the shogunate, and also a nun who had already become a nun.

How could there be any logic in betrothing the Empress Dowager to a subject?

Unless the shogunate lost power and collapsed, Tokugawa Iemochi would not have dared to defy the world and allow Aoto to openly marry his mother.

The real reason why Tokugawa Iemochi treated Aoto so well... remains a mystery.

In addition, there were other unusual noises in the streets.

For example, questioning the speed of Qing Deng's promotion.

Aoto went from a hatamoto with less than 10,000 koku of rice to a daimyo with 300,000 koku in one go... Isn't such a speed of promotion a bit too exaggerated?

However, not many people have raised any objections to this.

The reason for this is not complicated.

Firstly, there is precedent for this.

Back then, in order to consolidate his power, Taiko Toyotomi Hideyoshi promoted a large number of his cronies.

A prime example is the "Seven Spears of Shizugatake," led by Fukushima Masanori and Kato Kiyomasa.

They didn't achieve much merit, nor did they demonstrate any great skill, yet their ascension speeds became increasingly exaggerated, and the territories they acquired grew larger and larger.

Secondly, most people believe that Qingdeng deserves such a large territory.

As early as when Aoto withdrew the British fleet from Edo Bay, everyone felt that Aoto should become the lord of the domain.

When people learned that Qingdeng's reward after the incident was merely a slight increase in his family's salary and the command of the Eighth Prince's thousand-strong army, they were all puzzled.

Many people even felt this was unfair, believing that the shogunate had mistreated its meritorious officials.

Therefore, people only believed that Seito had received the honors and rewards he deserved long ago, as the shogunate had bestowed upon him this time.

……

……