I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Damn it! Damn it!

The more Jinno thought about it, the angrier he became, his teeth grinding together.

He desperately wanted to tear this despicable traitor to pieces right now! Otherwise, he simply couldn't quell the hatred in his heart!

"Tachibana Aoto...I will kill you with my own hands...!"

Jinno slowly turned his head and looked at the distant Edo city.

His eyes held a murderous intent that he could not conceal.

……

……

5 days later—

The first year of Wanyan (1860), December 1th——

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Test Guard Hall——

Goo ya! Goo ya! Goo ya!

The crows outside the window made a noisy cawing sound.

The sun had long since disappeared below the horizon, and the afterglow turned the clouds in the sky a deep red.

Since it is now closing time, the dojo of Shieikan is empty—only one person remains in the center of the dojo.

Qingdeng, who was not wearing any protective gear, held a bamboo sword and closed his eyes tightly.

He would sometimes crouch down, sometimes stand up, sometimes take a step forward, and sometimes slash at the air in front of him with his sword... At first glance, one might think that Qing Deng had lost his mind and was actually fighting against the air, but in fact, Qing Deng was now conducting a "simulated battle".

—Back then… if I had taken just half a step further, I could have exerted even greater pressure on Kamino…

In Qing Deng's mind, the various scenes and details of his one-on-one duel with Jin Ye five days ago kept replaying.

Recalling that battle.

Reflecting on what I didn't do well and what I could improve upon.

The body moves in response to thought!

Standing alone in the center of the dojo, he dodged, defended, countered, and attacked... Even though there was no one in front of him, his increasingly swift and sharp movements really made it seem as if he were engaged in another fierce battle in Kamino.

Nearly half an hour later, Qingdeng gradually stopped wielding his bamboo sword and slowly opened his eyes.

After such a long and mentally taxing "simulated battle," Qing Deng was now covered in a thin layer of sweat.

He shrugged his right shoulder, casually wiped the sweat from his face with the fabric of his right shoulder, then grinned and let out a light, cheerful laugh.

"Very good... My strength has improved again...!"

To recognize Aoto's achievements and to allow him to rest and recuperate after his left leg was slashed by Kamino during the battle, Usui generously granted Aoto a 10-day leave.

Qingdeng made the most of his long-awaited vacation.

Since the start of the holiday, he has hardly gone anywhere—he has stayed at the Shieikan, constantly reviewing his battle with Kanno while his memory is still clear.

Qingdeng has recently come to realize the power of the talent he copied from Shannan: "photographic memory".

When he first learned about the "photographic memory" ability, Qingdeng thought this talent would only benefit his academic studies.

But as time went on, Qingdeng discovered that his strong memory was also of great benefit to his martial arts training!

Because of his exceptional memory, he can remember every battle in the past with remarkable clarity, which greatly helps Qing Deng to review these battles!

Even though five days have passed, Aoto still remembers every detail of his duel with Kamino—when he made what move and when Kamino made what move.

The fierce, life-or-death encounter between the anti-barbarian group and the barbarian confederation office—in terms of results, this incident five days ago was truly fruitful for Qingdeng.

In summary, Qingdeng gained five major insights from this incident.

First gain: Qing Deng copied a new talent from Jin Ye: Beautiful Hair.

This talent... from a certain perspective, is quite a strong talent.

How many people are troubled by the pain of hair loss?

Now that Qingdeng is blessed with beautiful hair, she should no longer need to worry about hair loss or receding hairline.

The second gain: I made good friends with Katsurin Taro and the Banshu Institute.

This needs no further explanation—Katsurin Taro and the scholars at the Banshu Institute were extremely grateful to Seito, who had saved their lives.

The Foreign Studies Institute was the academic center for the study of Western learning under the Edo Shogunate, where a group of academic luminaries gathered to conduct research.

As for Katsurin Taro, there's no need to mention him. He's been a political favorite in recent years, deeply trusted by Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi and the Ōmikado Tenshōin.

Now, with his special relationship with this senior retainer of the shogunate and this academic center of paramount importance, Seito has gained a political backer and is no longer a helpless figure without any political support.

The third gain: The fierce battle with Jinno and others allowed Qing Deng to achieve a new breakthrough in his strength.

The battle with Jinno and the others convinced Qing Deng that it was indeed the kind of real sword duel where one had to fight to the death that could improve a person's strength!

In terms of which method can improve a person's skills, 100 friendly sparring matches with protective gear and bamboo swords are not as good as one life-or-death fight with a real sword.

In the past few days, Qing Deng has been constantly reviewing the battle with Jin Ye and the others in his mind.

Reflecting on my shortcomings, the techniques I didn't use effectively, and areas for improvement...

They rely on their photographic memory to review the battle.

Then, with the blessing of the two god-level talents, "Sword Prodigy" and "Heart of the Demon," whose effects are extremely abnormal, and after reviewing the game again and again, Qingdeng felt that his swordsmanship had successfully improved by a lot!

Qingdeng felt that if he trained hard for a while longer, or if he had one or two more intense real sword duels with someone, his strength would improve to the point that he would not trigger "Lone Wolf" when he fought against Jinye again!

The fourth gain: Qingdeng's reputation was further enhanced.

Needless to say, Qingdeng, who made another great contribution, is now known and familiar to more people.

As for Saito, Nagakura, and others, they also became famous in one battle.

The people in the Southern and Northern Garrisons now know that Qingdeng has recruited several extremely skilled subordinates!

Each of them was a master capable of taking on ten opponents at once. Aoto made another great contribution, and the assistance from Saito, Nagakura, and others was indispensable.

Because Qing Deng's record of defeating dozens of members of the anti-foreign group who attacked the foreign affairs office with only a few subordinates was so dazzling and fierce, it has even been said that Qing Deng's troops are the number one "military faction" in the Edo Magistrate's Office!

In the past few days, some of Qingdeng's colleagues came to visit him and took the opportunity to ask him where he had found such a powerful force.

Qing Deng was happy to give a shout-out to the Senjiya, which had been helping him a lot all along.

So whenever someone asks this question, Aoto will enthusiastically answer that it was Kiryu, the owner of Senjiya, who introduced him to it, and he will also praise Senjiya as such a high-quality job agency.

As for the fifth gain... it was the most unexpected gain for Qingdeng.

Just yesterday, the reward for Qingdeng's outstanding contribution was confirmed and issued.

A reward of 50 taels of silver and an increase of 400 koku of rice in salary! Promoted to a mid-level retainer with a family stipend of 500 koku!

*******

*******

Last night I went to a very important dinner party with my Mai Shiranui friend and didn't get home until very late, so today's update will be a little shorter, but I'm still asking for your monthly tickets and recommendations! I'll try to write more tomorrow (crying face).

Thank you so much to reader [Book Friend 20180122225820265] for the generous donation! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

This book has gained another leader, congratulations!

The number of chapters owed is getting bigger and bigger... This book currently owes four patrons a total of extra chapters...

But please rest assured! I will definitely make up for these missed updates! No delays whatsoever! I remember exactly how many patrons I still owe a large number of chapters!

Feel free to push me!

Chapter 127, Part 126: The Swordplay Competition of the Marquis of Aizu

Qingdeng himself did not expect that the reward he received this time would be so high, with his family stipend increased by 400 shi!

In the Edo period, with its extremely strict class system, it was very easy to fall in social status, but extremely difficult to rise.

If you, as a samurai, commit any serious offense, the consequences range from a reduction in your family stipend to being stripped of your samurai status and demoted to a commoner.

If one wants to improve one's family's fortune, one must make outstanding contributions.

However, since the establishment of the Edo Shogunate, Japan has maintained a relatively peaceful existence for nearly three hundred years. This long period of peace has meant that samurai have had virtually no opportunity to distinguish themselves.

The lack of opportunities to earn merit directly resulted in the fact that the stipends of many samurai families remained largely unchanged.

Three hundred years ago, when the Edo Shogunate was first established, one's family received the same amount of stipend as they do now—this phenomenon is all too common.

Therefore, Qingdeng's family stipend was increased... and by a direct 400 shi (a unit of dry measure), which is indeed a rare and enviable thing.

Including the original 100 shi of family stipend, Qingdeng's family stipend now totals 500 shi.

500 koku is considered a threshold. Hatamoto and Gokenin whose stipends are below 500 koku are collectively referred to as "lower-rank Hatamoto" and "lower-rank Gokenin".

Therefore, in terms of rank, Aoto has now moved beyond the category of "lower-ranking servants".

As long as you don't waste money, a household allowance of 500 koku is enough to ensure you never have to worry about food.

This enormous reward indirectly made Aoto a celebrity in the current shogunate.

Under the shogunate's deliberate manipulation, Aoto's achievement of "an increase of 400 koku" was promoted as an example, encouraging everyone to learn from Aoto. The shogunate promised generous rewards to anyone who could achieve great merit!

Aoto... it should be said that most people don't know that he was promoted as a role model, and it was the order of the shogun Tokugawa Iemochi himself.

This publicity campaign was very effective. Many people were inspired by this role model and began to work even harder in their public service, hoping that one day they could also achieve a leap in social status like Qingdeng.

The prospect of family fortune being elevated, directly benefiting future generations... the temptation was simply too great.

Incidentally, Saito and Nagakura also received rewards, but their rewards were nowhere near as good as Aoto's.

After all, Aoto was a real official and a member of the establishment, while Saito and others from Okabiki were just Aoto's bodyguards... To put it bluntly, they were just a bunch of employees working for Aoto. Being outside the system, they naturally couldn't receive the same generous rewards as Aoto.

Saito and his companions each received a reward of 10 taels of gold, and there were no other rewards... However, Saito and his companions did not complain about this, especially the brothers Nagakura and Harada.

Upon seeing the reward of 10 taels of gold, the two men grinned from ear to ear, exclaiming, "Wow! There's so much money!"

Qing Deng is now on a long vacation, and his subordinates are naturally on vacation with him as well.

Upon closer reflection, Nagakura and his colleagues' onboarding experiences are quite bizarre.

Less than half a day after joining the company, I participated in a massive manhunt operation, and afterwards I was rewarded and given a long vacation for my contributions...