I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

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PS: The "Mito Conquest" only lasted one chapter before ending... There was no way around it, the Mito Domain was too weak, it could only be crushed.

Chapter 1005 Heading to Ou! The [Oyu Trial Combination] is held! 【4500】

The "One Country, One Castle Edict" covered all feudal domains—even the Mito Domain, one of the "Three Houses of the State."

Like other domains, the Mito Domain consisted of only one castle, the domain headquarters.

The "one country, one city" rule meant that the tactic of "relying on each city to resist layer by layer" was not feasible.

Once the provincial capital falls, everything will be over.

Therefore, after the fall of Mito Castle, the remnants of the Mito Domain were completely unable to resist—without a castle, where could they procure supplies? Where could they mobilize troops?

Even if they are determined to resist to the end, they will be eliminated sooner or later.

Even the majestic Mito Castle could not withstand the Shinsengumi's offensive, let alone fighting the Shinsengumi in the open field where there was no natural defense.

After Tokugawa Yoshitsu surrendered the castle, the news quickly reached the four major branch domains under his control: the Fuchu Domain, the Shishido Domain, the Moriyama Domain, and the Matsuoka Domain.

Before Qingdeng could send anyone to urge them, they all readily surrendered and became extremely submissive.

Faced with Qingdeng's overwhelming military force, they dared not make any more demands, only hoping to end the war as soon as possible and save their lives.

Qingdeng sent Nagakura Shinpachi to take over the lands of these four branch domains.

He instructed Nagakura Shinpachi that anyone who resisted should be killed without mercy.

The Mito Campaign has ended... but from another perspective, this war has only just begun.

Why did Aoto want to eliminate the Mito Domain?

On one hand, it was naturally for revenge, and on the other hand, it served as a warning to others, to intimidate the world, and to restore the prestige of the shogunate and King Niō.

However, there may be other purposes based on this.

Since the Choshu Campaign, both the shogunate and the Hatatsu Domain have suffered considerable losses.

War is very expensive.

Qing Deng led the Shinsengumi from west to east, suffering heavy losses in food, money, weapons and ammunition.

Artillery shells were the most common type of shell.

The Eleventh Division soldiers bombarded Yizhoukou, Sekigahara, and Mito Castle... They had a blast, but the price they paid was high.

It's no exaggeration to say that Qin Jinfan's hard-earned stockpile of artillery shells in recent years was basically depleted in these three battles.

As for the shogunate, needless to say.

The two successive "Battles of Edo" nearly reduced Edo to ruins, and it would take at least ten years for it to recover.

Since the damage is severe, it is natural to try to recover some losses.

The Mito Domain was one of the "Three Great Houses" and possessed vast and fertile land with highly developed agriculture and handicrafts. Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, it also had a considerable fishing industry.

Thus, the wealth it has accumulated over the past two hundred years is naturally quite considerable.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse—despite the numerous hardships the Mito Domain has suffered in recent years and its national power gradually declining, its "crippled body" is still enough to feed the shogunate and Hatazu.

Aoto had his eye on the wealth of the Mito Domain—though he didn’t say it outright, everyone knew it.

Therefore, after capturing Mito Castle, the part that Aoto had been most looking forward to finally began—to start plundering the wealth of the Mito Domain!

What he acquired first was naturally the territory of the Mito Domain.

The territories of the Mito Domain and its branch domains... Aoto recovered nearly 400,000 koku of land in one fell swoop! And most of it was fertile land in the Kanto Plain! (The Moriyama Domain was in Mutsu, not in Kanto.)

Of course, land alone cannot satisfy Qingdeng's appetite.

As for how to seize the wealth of the Mito Domain, it can be summed up in one sentence: take the Mito Domain's treasury and confiscate the homes of the Mito lord and his retainers!

The Mito lord and his retainers ignored his pleas to surrender and stubbornly resisted—Aoto had every reason to raid their homes.

Anyway, they won't need these things anymore.

Aoto assigned the task of "squeezing water from the source" to Kondo Isamu.

Kondo Isami led several hundred soldiers straight to the treasury of Mito Castle and the residences of the Mito lord and his retainers, strictly forbidding any unauthorized personnel from approaching.

As expected of a long-established power, Kondo Isami's eyes widened instantly upon seeing the mountain of gold and silver after opening the treasury—this was also because he was not in charge of the Hatatsu Domain's finances and therefore rarely saw large sums of money.

Of course, compared to the "private coffers" of the Mito retainers, the Mito Castle's treasury was really insignificant.

Severe land annexation—a common problem in feudal regimes.

Land became increasingly concentrated in the hands of large landowners.

In order to acquire more land, large landowners used various means to seize and plunder land from farmers, forcing them to sell their land and houses and become tenant farmers. This gradually evolved into a situation where "the rich own vast tracts of land, while the poor have no place to stand."

The upper-ranking samurai, led by the lord of the Mito Domain, constituted the largest landowning class in the Mito Domain.

The number of free citizens is decreasing, the state is not collecting money, while these "loyal ministers and generals" are getting richer and richer.

In contrast, the lord of the Mito Domain was actually poor, while all his senior retainers were much wealthier than him.

With such a massive amount of wealth, Kondo Isami had to mobilize a large number of handcarts, which were then used to transport the wealth to Edo one after another after being inventoried.

It is worth mentioning that, in order to curry favor with Aoto and to show their sincerity in "never being an enemy of the shogunate," many Mito merchants have recently come to offer money and provisions.

Qingdeng was naturally happy to see this as an extra source of income.

When moving the "private collection" of the Mito lord and his retainers, Aoto specially invited Tokugawa Yoshitsu and others to come and watch.

On the one hand, we must destroy their spirit and punish the water users in every way.

On the other hand, it was to let Tokugawa Yoshitsu see firsthand how his retainers "repaid" Mito after gaining a superior position.

As expected, after witnessing the astonishing wealth of his retainers, Tokugawa Yoshitsugu's face turned extremely ugly, turning pale and then red.

"You...you...you..."

He said "you all" three times, his voice trembling.

However, in the end, he didn't say anything... He silently shut his mouth, swallowing back the words that were about to come out.

He probably realized that he was now a prisoner and had no right to refute the officials.

Even so, his deep resentment would not disappear.

Until he was taken back to prison, he didn't even glance at the officials beside him again.

Faced with their lord's silent rebuke, all the ministers lowered their heads, not daring to utter a sound, their eyes downcast, their faces full of guilt...

This "economic work," which was both mentally and physically demanding, lasted for a full seven days and seven nights.

After completing the statistics, Kondo Isamu recorded the specific figures and submitted them to Aoto.

"Qingdeng, please prepare yourself mentally."

When presenting the "statistics table," Kondo Isami said this meaningfully.

Qingdeng casually reached out and took it, thinking to himself:

—What's all the fuss about? How rich could the Mito Domain be?

He flipped open the "statistics table," glanced at it quickly—and then, involuntarily, his eyes widened, his expression dominated by intense shock.

The treasury of Mito Castle, the private stashes of the Mito lord and his retainers, plus the donations from Mito merchants... he acquired 5 koku of grain in one go! 50 taels of gold!

This only includes gold coins; it doesn't include silver or copper coins.

If all the coins are included and converted into gold coins... Qingdeng received 70 taels of gold in one go!

As for weapons, equipment, rare antiques, and other items, they are countless!

After witnessing this series of numbers, Qingdeng could hardly believe his eyes.

It's not because the amount of money is large—but the fact that this huge sum of money was found in Mito Castle is astonishing!

He knew that the Mito Domain was well-established, but he never expected it to be this wealthy!

Who said the Mito Domain was in decline?

Qingdeng suddenly recalled the famous story of "Emperor Chongzhen was penniless, but Li Zicheng found 7000 million taels of silver in Beijing".

A closer look at his previous battles reveals that, apart from the "Changzhou Campaign," all of them were internal operations.

Defend and then repel the enemy—even if you win, there won't be a substantial reward.

Even the only operation that could be considered an external campaign, the "Changzhou Campaign," ended in a disappointing failure, failing to yield sufficient benefits.

With just one battle, he gained 70 taels of gold... This far exceeded Qingdeng's prior expectations.

He experienced firsthand why humans are so passionate about war.

The consequences of defeat were certainly terrifying.

However, the enormous rewards after victory are indeed incredibly tempting!

Such a generous income is more than enough to cover the war expenses of Qinjin Prefecture in recent times, and there is still more to spare!

Qingdeng already had a plan for how to use this windfall.

First, a small portion will be allocated to rebuild Edo, and the vast majority of the remaining funds will be sent to Otsu!

This wasn't him lining his own pockets; it was the result of his careful consideration.

Qingdeng's assessment of the world situation remains unchanged: the vassal states of the West are the real threat!

The capital region was the front line against the various western vassal states.

Therefore, he must strengthen the national power of the Qin Jin Domain as soon as possible and further enhance the combat strength of the Shinsengumi in order to meet the challenges ahead.

In conclusion, the Mito Domain's vast wealth was essential to achieving this goal.

Of course, the specific allocation of funds and supplies will be planned in detail later.

While Aoto was busy absorbing the wealth of the Mito Domain, news of "Niou destroying Mito in just half a day" spread rapidly throughout Japan.

The world's reaction to this was remarkably consistent: utterly astonished.

Even the most optimistic people, who had strong faith in the Mito Domain, did not believe that the Mito Domain could withstand the Shinsengumi's offensive.