I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Ah Wu often experiences leg cramps—a classic symptom of calcium deficiency in pregnant women.

In fact, after Qingdeng forced her to eat more calcium-rich foods such as shrimp shells, her condition has improved considerably.

In conclusion, both women had smooth pregnancies.

According to the doctor's diagnosis, because their pregnancies were at very close times, their delivery times were also very close, differing by at most a few days.

Around early November, the two women will give birth.

Early November... that is, two months from now, the time is not far away.

Faced with Sanako's question, Aoto paused for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh:

"To be honest... not yet. I'm really bad at naming things..."

"Ah, I've already thought of a nickname for the girl, let's call her 'Nene' (ねね), it sounds cute, doesn't it?"

Sanako gently chewed on the name "Nene".

"Ningning... Ningning... It's alright, not outstanding, but not bad either."

As if afraid that Sanako would change her mind, Qing Deng nodded hurriedly:

“Okay, then it’s settled. If it’s a boy, his nickname will be ‘Jiulang’; if it’s a girl, her nickname will be ‘Ningning’.”

At this moment, Qingdeng seemed to remember something, paused for a moment, and then continued:

"To be honest, I think 'Ningning' is a pretty good official name for a girl."

"Ju Ningning, it sounds nice and is easy to write."

He had barely finished speaking when Sanako retorted irritably:

"No slacking off! A child's name is very important and cannot be taken lightly!"

After glancing sideways and glaring at Qing Deng, Sanako switched to a gentler tone:

"Qingdeng, I know you're not good at naming things, so don't rush, take your time."

"Anyway, we've already decided on nicknames for the boy and the girl, so there's no need to worry about the children having no names after they're born."

"As for the official name, we can think about it later."

According to Japanese custom, descendants of samurai families are usually given a childhood name, which is often passed down through generations.

Take the Tokugawa family as an example. Since the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, had the childhood name Takechiyo, all the eldest sons born during the shogun's term of office used this name as their childhood name.

The same is true of Qingdeng's family; they have used the nickname "Jiulang" for generations.

His father, Tachibana Takayuki, was nicknamed Kuro.

His childhood nickname was also Jiulang.

Therefore, his eldest son's nickname will continue to follow tradition and remain "Jiulang".

For Qingdeng, this saved him a lot of trouble, as he didn't have to rack his brains to think of a nickname for his son.

Qingdeng has had a lot of trouble with the issue of "children's names".

He happened to be recuperating from an injury recently and had some free time, so he took advantage of this time to search through classics such as the Four Books and Five Classics, the Chu Ci, and the Manyoshu, carefully looking for words and phrases suitable for use as personal names.

However... you can't expect a guy who names a black cow "Carrot" to have any outstanding naming skills.

Qingdeng did work hard, but in the end he could only come up with one female nickname, "Ningning".

Although we haven't decided on a formal name for the children yet, we've already settled on nicknames for both the boy and the girl, which is a small achievement.

However, Qingdeng has only decided on one nickname for each of the boys and girls so far.

His wife, who was about to give birth, had two children.

If Sanako and Mai both have boys, or both have girls, then there won't be enough names to go around.

After all, it's impossible to name both sons "Jiulang" or both daughters "Ningning".

If that situation really happens... then let's wait until then!

Just as the couple were quietly enjoying their time alone, suddenly, the sound of quick but orderly footsteps came from the direction of the corridor.

Qingdeng knew who it was just by hearing the footsteps.

"Kei-suke, what's wrong?"

He spoke while turning his head to look.

Sure enough, at the same moment he turned his head, Yamanami Keisuke's tall figure appeared at the end of the corridor.

Looking at the couple standing side by side in the middle of the courtyard, Yamanami Keisuke paused for a moment, then gave an awkward smile:

Did I disturb you?

Sanako smiled and shook her head:

"It's alright, don't worry about me. If there's anything important, just tell Qingdeng. I don't mind."

"There's nothing important here. I just came to congratulate Tachibana-kun."

"Congratulations?"

Qingdeng raised an eyebrow and pressed for an answer:

"Jingzhu, is there anything to tell you about?"

A pure, joyful smile appeared on Keisuke Yamanami's cheeks.

"Tachibana-kun, just now, an envoy from Edo arrived."

After Yamanami Keisuke finished speaking, before Aoto could react, Sanako became excited first.

"An envoy from Edo? They've finally arrived!"

A month after the end of the great war, Edo sent envoys to Qin—anyone with a brain knows what this means.

Yamanami Keisuke looked at Aoto, his joy deepening.

"King Tachibana, prepare to receive your reward!"

……

……

"What kind of reward will 'King Ren' receive this time?" - This question has been frequently asked at banquets, tea parties, and dining tables among the common people recently.

Without a doubt, Qing Deng, who had full command of the anti-Changzhou army and caused the Changzhou army to suffer a crushing defeat, was the greatest contributor to this battle.

Earlier, Aoto led his troops to wipe out the leaders of the pro-imperial faction, headed by Miyabe Teizō and Yoshida Toshima, in the Battle of Ikedaya, saving Kyoto from disaster.

Because Choshu immediately launched an eastern expedition as soon as the "Ikedaya Incident" ended, the shogunate did not have time to reward Seito.

Therefore, the shogunate will certainly combine the credit for the Battle of Ikedaya and the Summer Siege of Kyoto and reward Seito with both.

With these two merits combined... Heaven knows how amazing the reward Qingdeng will receive this time!

Nowadays, everyone knows that Aoto is Tokugawa Iemochi's staunch confidant and most favored retainer.

Tokugawa Iemochi's favoritism towards Aoto had reached an incomprehensible level.

This makes one wonder if, besides the bond between ruler and subject, there was some other unknown special relationship between them.

Whenever Aoto made a contribution, Tokugawa Iemochi would reward him with great generosity, which made Aoto's promotion speed like a rocket.

Moreover, all the official positions he obtained were high-ranking and powerful ones.

The lord of the Hatatsu Domain who governed 30 koku of land in Otsu, the governor of the Kyoto region who oversaw all military affairs in the region, the commander of the Hachioji Senjin Doshin-go who guarded the western gate of Edo... It's really hard to imagine what kind of power Tokugawa Iemochi will give Aoto this time.

Time has passed... Finally, amidst much anticipation, the official rewards for Qingdeng have been announced today!

First, there were the imperial court's bestowal of honors.

Qing Deng's original official rank of "Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, Governor of Aki" remains unchanged.

Based on this, he was further granted the title of "Grand General of the Left Guard, Third Rank"!

Next came the rewards from the shogunate.

Tokugawa Iemochi granted Aoto an additional 10 koku of land, expanding the territory of the Hatazu Domain from 30 koku to 40 koku.

In addition, Aoto was promoted to "Commander-in-Chief of the Army," in charge of all the army forces of the shogunate!

Incidentally, at the same time that Aoto was promoted to "Commander-in-Chief of the Army", his old friend, Katsura Rintaro, who was also a confidant of Tokugawa Iemochi, was promoted to "Commander-in-Chief of the Navy". The two of them took charge of the army and navy forces of the shogunate respectively!

Army Commander-in-Chief, Left Guard General... As expected, the public was in an uproar after the official rewards and honors bestowed upon Qing Deng were made public!

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Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this volume will be perfectly completed in another chapter or two (Leopard confetti.jpg). Please look forward to the next volume: "The Land Divided in Two"! Leopard is very excited because there's a lot of content I really want to write in the next volume! (Leopard excitement.jpg)

Chapter 865 The First Person of the Shogunate Army: Tachibana Aoto! [5200]

The Emperor was already quite displeased with Choshu's reckless behavior.

The Emperor's act of launching an attack on Kyoto under the pretext of "protecting the imperial court" brought his hatred for Choshu to its peak.

Conversely, he naturally felt a strong affinity for Aoto, who protected Kyoto from ravages.

It is said that when the court was discussing what reward to give Qingdeng, the officials originally only wanted to grant him the official position of "Grand Master of the Left Capital, Fourth Rank".

Ultimately, it was only at the Emperor's strong insistence that it was changed to "Junior Third-Rank Left Imperial Guard General".

The Left General of the Imperial Guard is the highest-ranking officer of the Imperial Guard.

The Imperial Guard was divided into left and right sections to protect the Emperor. They also served as personal guards when the Emperor traveled. It was a department that guarded the inner side of the Imperial Palace. The highest-ranking officers were the Left Imperial Guard General and the Right Imperial Guard General.

The position of general is a very important official post, and it is extremely difficult to be appointed to it.

The fact that the Emperor would bestow such a significant position upon Seito shows how highly he regarded Seito.

From now on, Qingdeng will have another honorific title—General Tachibana or General Qinjin!

While being appointed governor of Higo Province, Matsudaira Katamori also held the rank of acting lieutenant general of the Left Imperial Guard, hence he was often referred to as "lieutenant general of Aizu".

Of course, the imperial court's bestowal of titles and honors had no practical use other than making your name more famous.