I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"The reason I've come tonight so suddenly is because I have some important news that I want to tell you as soon as possible."

"Let me tell you the most important things in one go."

"The reward for your great service in your place of residence more than two months ago has finally been approved."

"Congratulations, Mr. Orange."

At this point, Arima adopted a solemn tone with a touch of sacredness, and straightened his back, which was always at a 90-degree angle to the ground, even more ramrod straight.

"The shogunate, recognizing your great contributions, has increased your family stipend by 500 koku and elevated your family status."

"From this day forward, you are a samurai with a stipend of 1000 koku!"

"In addition to your family fortune and family status, your official rank will be promoted several levels."

"You have been promoted to 'Captain of the 3rd Fire Thief Squad and Leader of the 7th First-Hand Archer Squad' in one fell swoop. You will officially take office on November 1st."

"Also, the Great Tree King seems to want to see you and requests that you come to the city on August 28th."

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October is almost over. If you still have monthly tickets, please be sure to use them on this book! It will be a waste if you don't.

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

P.S.: Regarding the story of Hijikata and the courtesans of Edo, the author plans to write a side story. Please see the "Author's Note" below for details.

The author once considered writing a side story that detailed how Hijikata frequented Yoshiwara and Oka districts, how he collected information about courtesans, and how he corrupted Nagakura and the others.

I've already thought of the side story title and introduction—

A Guide to Appreciating Edo Courtesans.

The legendary tales of Edo's red-light district have begun!

I wonder if there'll be any chance this anime will be released to the public...

Incidentally, it seems to be a historical fact that Hijikata corrupted Nagakura and his friends. According to the author's research, Nagakura and his friends were influenced by Hijikata, which led them to develop the bad habit of "going to brothels whenever they had nothing to do."

Chapter 225 I, Tachibana Aoto, would never allow anything to happen between me and Tenshōin-neechan! [6600]

After Arima finished speaking, the hall was instantly enveloped in silence.

"……Um?"

A moment later, Qingdeng broke the silence with a questioning "Hmm".

"This... Lord Arima, is the information reliable?"

Arima nodded slightly with a confident expression.

Even Arima, known for his serious personality, showed this expression, so Aoto had no choice but to believe it...

An incredulous look flashed in Qing Deng's eyes.

"Promoting me directly to the captain of the third squad of the Fire Thieves and the leader of the seventh squad of the First-Strike Archers... isn't that a bit too much of a leap in promotion?"

All of what Arima Shisai mentioned earlier—an increase of 500 koku in his stipend and the promotion of his family to "Hatamoto"—was within Aoto's expectations.

Qing Deng had long anticipated that, given the magnitude of his achievements this time, a raise in family stipend was a foregone conclusion, and his family rank might even be promoted from "Gokenin" to "Hatamoto".

But what Arima said next was completely unexpected by Seito...

He had previously heard rumors that he might be transferred to the Fire Thief Division.

Regarding this rumor, whose veracity was unknown, Qing Deng initially only guessed that even if he were transferred to the Fire Thief Division, he would most likely only serve as a subordinate in a certain squad.

From serving as a trusted advisor in the "Three Returns" campaign, he was promoted to a position of authority over fire and thieves... In an era where class was extremely rigid and promotions for officials were incredibly difficult, this was a truly remarkable promotion.

Qing Deng never expected his promotion to be so exaggerated—skipping the "Power" level and directly taking charge of a squad and a subgroup of the First-Hand Archer Group as "Squad Captain".

The First-Strike Archer Group and the First-Strike Gunner Group—the archer group foot soldiers and the gunner group foot soldiers directly under the shogunate, that is, the two standing armies of the shogunate.

The so-called "iron cannon" is a firearm.

Because the Edo Shogunate closed itself off from the outside world and did not value technological development, the Sensho Arsenal is still using matchlock guns that are over a hundred years out of date.

Matchlock guns had a fatal flaw: after firing, it took a long time to reload the next bullet. Therefore, bows and arrows became an important tool for reloading matchlock guns.

In short, because the Edo Shogunate still uses these outdated firearms that have long been relegated to museums in the Western world, the bow and arrow still have an undeniable place in the world.

Both the first-strike archer group and the first-strike arquebus group are troops that lead the charge for the general in wartime, so the members are selected from those with outstanding martial arts skills.

At the beginning of the Edo Shogunate, there were a total of 34 first-strike archer corps and first-strike arquebus corps. However, starting a century ago, the number of corps was reduced to 8 first-strike archer corps and 20 first-strike arquebus corps.

As the standing army of the shogunate, both the first-strike archer group and the first-strike arquebus group were considered idle positions during peaceful times when there were no major battles to fight.

To keep the second group occupied, the Edo Shogunate assigned them many "part-time jobs".

Outside of military drills, the second group is responsible for guarding the gates of Edo Castle, protecting the shogun when he goes out, and handling fire-fighting duties and converting fire thieves into regular service!

The number of "Sanji" samurai, who were responsible for catching thieves at the Edo North and South Magistrates' Office, was only about thirty. With such a pitiful number of people, it is easy to imagine how much pressure was on the shoulders of the "Sanji" samurai.

A peaceful and stable life is abnormal; being busy and overwhelmed is the norm.

Furthermore, the Edo Magistrate's Office could not control the entire city of Edo. It was only responsible for the administrative, judicial, and police work of the common people of Edo.

For example, temple and shrine grounds and samurai grounds... that is, "the land of shrines and temples" and "the residences of samurai" were not under the jurisdiction of the magistrate.

The land of temples and shrines is managed by the temple and shrine administrator.

Temple and Shrine Administrator—a highly prestigious official position. They were responsible for governing the territories of temples and shrines throughout the country, their inhabitants, and the professions of Shinto priests, monks, Onmyōji (masters of Yin and Yang), musicians (those who make a living by playing music), Go players, and Shogi (chess players).

Under the Temple and Shrine Administrator, there is a Ginjitsu-cho-yaku (鳥味物鯩役), who is responsible for resolving disputes and investigating criminal cases within the temple and shrine's territory.

Once an incident occurs within the territory of a temple or shrine, the chief prosecutor and junior prosecutor under their command will be dispatched to summon or arrest the suspect for investigation.

Because temple and shrine grounds were not under the jurisdiction of the Edo Magistrate, the "Sanji" samurai were not allowed to freely enter or leave these grounds.

Even if a crime is committed within Edo town, which is under the jurisdiction of the Edo Town Magistrate, once the person escapes into the territory of a temple or shrine, the town magistrate cannot arbitrarily enter and arrest them.

In such cases, one can only contact the temple and shrine administrator to request the chief prosecutor or junior prosecutor to make an arrest, or obtain permission from the temple and shrine administrator to enter the temple and shrine grounds to arrest the criminal.

The same applies to the Wu family.

If samurai in the Edo samurai territory committed a crime, the official office of the Kanjō-gyō (military administration office) would be responsible for handling the matter.

When a crime occurs in a town, samurai village, temple, or shrine area, it is necessary to contact the official in charge each time, which greatly hinders the reporting of criminals.

To solve this problem and to alleviate the pressure on law enforcement personnel such as the "Three Returns," the "Eight Prefectures Suppression Office" and the "Fire and Thief Reform Office" were established.

The so-called "Eight Provinces" refers to the "Eight Provinces of Kanto": Sagami, Musashi, Awa, Kazusa, Shimosa, Hitachi, Ueno, and Shimotsuke.

The Eight Provinces Expeditionary Officers were a special type of patrol officer.

Initially there were only 8 officials, but due to social unrest, the number has now increased to 15 or 6.

Their daily work consisted of riding horses and leading their men, aimlessly wandering around the Kanto region. Whenever they encountered criminals, they could arrest them without hindrance, regardless of whether they were in the territory of a daimyo, a samurai family, a temple or shrine, or a town.

They are free to use violence against prisoners and suspects. If a prisoner or suspect resists and is difficult to subdue, they may be shot dead on sight.

To distinguish themselves from the "Sanhui" samurai, the jitte worn by the Eight Provinces Commanders was tied with purple cherry blossom tassels.

As for the fire-fighting thieves, they are "special police forces".

The entire Fire Thief team was basically composed of soldiers from the first-strike archer group and the first-strike arquebus group.

Therefore, thieves who steal fire items were also known as "extra thieves".

The highest-ranking officer of the Fire Thieves is concurrently held by either the First-Hand Archer or the First-Hand Gunner (the highest-ranking commander of the First-Hand Archer or Gunner group).

For convenience, the superior's residence would be used as the office. Therefore, the offices converted by thieves and burglars were not fixed.

Unless there are some special cases, the term of office of the highest-ranking officer of the thief-official is generally about one year, so the position of the office is basically changed every year.

Like the Eight Provinces Expeditionary Administration, the Fire Thieves were allowed to freely enter and exit all areas, including samurai territory, townspeople's territory, temple and shrine territory.

However, compared to the Eight Provinces Expeditionary Force, the Fire-Fed Thieves Bureau had a very strong difference – it was not only an independent security force, but also an independent judicial body.

If the authorities wanted to torture or interrogate a criminal after capturing him, they had to report to higher levels and go through a lot of complicated procedures before they could use torture on him.

Fire thieves, on the other hand, do not need to go through such complicated interrogation procedures at all.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that... they didn't have any interrogation procedures whatsoever.

After they catch a criminal, they can take him directly back to the detention center and torture him severely without asking anyone or going through any procedures.

This power to freely use private punishment is somewhat similar to that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the Tang and Ming dynasties.

Because there were virtually no restrictions on the torture and interrogation of suspects, the torture methods employed by the Fire Thieves were extremely harsh.

Therefore, there is a saying that has been passed down among the people: "Once you are arrested by thieves or fire thieves, don't even think about coming back alive."

Their ability to freely enter and exit any territory, and their privilege to use vigilante justice... these are not the most terrifying aspects of the Fire Thieves, which strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Their most terrifying aspect is their fighting prowess.

All members were professional soldiers from the first-strike archery group and the first-strike arquebus group, and they were able to freely use heavy weapons such as bows and arrows and muskets... Their combat power was incomparable to other security organizations such as the "Sanhui" and the Eight Provinces Expeditionary Bureau.

Although the quality of these standing armies inevitably declined as the shogunate deteriorated, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.

Currently, the Fire Thieves have a total of 8 squads. Each squad is staffed by either the first-strike archer group or the first-strike arquebusier group.

The third squad of the Fire Thieves was actually taken over by the seventh squad of the First-Hand Archer Group.

As the captain of the Third Division, Aoto naturally became the captain of the Seventh Division as well.

From a lowly officer in Sadamachi with only a few subordinates, he was promoted in one fell swoop to a junior archer commander capable of leading dozens of archers... Such a speed and leap in promotion was truly a "rocket-like rise".

—That's so strange...

The more Qingdeng thought about it, the more he felt that his rapid promotion was somewhat strange.

Although he did make great contributions in the decisive battle against the anti-foreign group more than two months ago, Qing Deng always felt that his achievements were not enough to warrant such a high promotion.

"To be demoted to the right is as difficult as climbing to heaven, while to be demoted to the left is as easy as turning one's hand"—this is a common saying that is especially popular among warrior families.

The Edo Shogunate was notoriously stingy when it came to promoting officials, but extremely generous when it came to punishing and demoting people.

After Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo period, ended the Warring States period and ushered in a long-awaited era of peace, the tranquil and stable world led to a population explosion, and the number of samurai increased dramatically.

The samurai, who did not engage in production, were all supported by the stipends and rice stipends from the shogunate and the domain.

Therefore, in order to alleviate the financial pressure as much as possible, both the shogunate and the local domains, while vigorously controlling the number of officials promoted to the right each year and the promotion range of each promoted official, often nitpicked and punished or demoted the samurai who were serving.

There are countless members of the samurai family who have been stripped of their official positions or even stripped of their samurai status and demoted to commoners simply for making minor mistakes.