I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Imagine an iron house, utterly windowless and impossible to break down, where many people are fast asleep and will soon suffocate. They will die in their sleep, unaware of the sorrow of their impending death. Now, you shout and awaken a few of the more conscious ones, forcing these unfortunate few to suffer the unbearable agony of their final moments. Do you think you have done right by them?

……

That indescribable emotion surged through Qingdeng's entire body once more...

……

……

In the following days, Aoto and his group visited various famous and important places in Edo.

A gold base for minting gold coins.

A silver station for minting silver coins.

The Four Residences of Edo, known as the "Gateway to Edo".

Following the precedent set by Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei in Kyoto to guard the outer demon gate, and Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu Shrine to guard the inner demon gate, Kan'ei-ji Temple and Zojo-ji Temple, located in auspicious and strategically important locations, were respectively established...

Before we knew it, the sun had hidden behind a patch of white clouds in the west.

"It's already this late..."

Tokugawa Iemochi looked up at the sky.

As he looked up at the sky, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a luxurious teahouse, not small in size, standing not far to his right.

Tokugawa Iemochi glanced at the teahouse, blinked, then turned to Aoto and the others and asked:

"Thinking about it carefully, we've been out for so long and traveled to so many places, but we haven't rested at all. How about we go to that teahouse, have some tea and snacks, and rest for a while?"

He walked for a little over two hours in Edo City at a pace no different from a post-meal stroll. Such a small amount of exercise was nothing to Qing Deng, who currently possessed a host of abnormal talents such as "Yuan Yang +1" and "Qiang Jing +1". He didn't even break a sweat.

The two sisters are professionally trained female ninjas, and this level of fatigue is nothing to them.

However, the fact that Qing Deng and the Nijō sisters are not tired does not mean that others have such good stamina.

Although Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin had both practiced martial arts, they had lived in the palace for a long time and their bodies had not been properly exercised for a long time. Therefore, their physical abilities were nowhere near those of monsters like Aoto and the Nijō sisters.

From the moment she arrived, Qingdeng noticed a faint trace of fatigue on Tianzhangyuan's pretty face, and her feet, wrapped in white cloth socks, frequently clenched and unclenched, trying to relax her aching toes.

Out of consideration for Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin, who were both physically exhausted, and also because it would be presumptuous for him, as a subordinate, to loudly say "no" to the current lord, Aoto nodded to Tokugawa Iemochi without much thought.

At almost the same time, the two sisters also nodded in approval to Tokugawa Iemochi.

Having reached a consensus, the group headed straight for the teahouse.

Before even getting close to the shop, the refreshing aroma of tea and the sweet scent of Japanese sweets wafted straight into Aoto's nostrils.

As the curtain was lifted, a waft of fragrance poured out like a burst dam, overwhelming Qingdeng's head.

"Greetings, esteemed guests!" A young woman dressed in a traditional dress greeted Qing Deng and his companions with a smile and quick steps. "May I ask how many of you are in your party?"

“Five.” Tokugawa Iemochi smiled politely and held up five fingers to the young lady.

"Okay! Please follow me!"

Miss Teshiro led Aoto and his group to a table in a corner of the hall that was neither too inconspicuous nor too secluded.

After quickly ordering their desired tea and snacks, Qing Deng listened to the cheerful greeting from the young lady, "Alright! The tea and snacks will be here shortly! Please wait a moment!" while listlessly looking around at his surroundings.

This is a rather awkward time for the catering industry.

Most of the workers haven't finished their shifts yet, so the teahouse isn't very busy right now.

Roughly speaking, only half of the seats were occupied.

As Qingdeng was idly daydreaming, a pleasant female voice suddenly pulled him back to reality.

"Tachibana-kun, your actions during my visit to the Koishikawa Health Center just now were truly admirable!"

"Ok?"

Qing Deng raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction of the voice—the one belonging to the woman sitting directly opposite him, Tian Zhangyuan.

At this moment, Tenshōin was resting his arms on the table, his blue kimono sleeves drooping lightly under the influence of gravity, revealing his fair and delicate skin with a rosy tint.

With both palms facing upwards, supporting her cheeks on the left and right, her soft and bouncy cheeks are piled up into two cute little peaks.

Above the "peak" are a pair of beautiful eyes, smiling and gazing straight at Qingdeng.

I said: "When I visited the Koishikawa Health Center just now, what you did was very admirable."

Tenshōin repeated what he had just said in its entirety.

Qingdeng, unaware of why Tenshōin had suddenly brought this up, smiled and said:

"You flatter me. I have not done anything particularly remarkable or worthy of being talked about."

As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, Tianzhangyuan slowly shook his head.

"No, you're underestimating yourself. I think your action of rushing to save those sisters without hesitation was truly remarkable."

“Not everyone can be like you, able to lend a helping hand to Eta without hesitation.”

At this point, Tenshōin gave a bitter smile with a sigh.

"There is still a long way to go before we can eliminate prejudice between people..."

"Ladies and gentlemen! Your tea and snacks are here!"

The conversation between Aoto and Tenshōin was interrupted by the lively shouts of Teshiro-san and the quick yet orderly footsteps.

The young lady carrying the huge tea tray skillfully placed the teacups and snack plates on the tray in front of Qingdeng and the others.

Qingdeng was feeling a bit thirsty.

Just as he raised his teacup, preparing to savor the fragrant aroma of the tea—

"That Ju Qingdeng is nothing but a brute! How dare such a boorish person, who is ignorant of the teachings of the sages, sit in the high halls of power!"

A young male voice filled with regret and sorrow attracted the attention of Qing Deng, Tian Zhangyuan, and others.

Qingdeng and his group simultaneously stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction from which the male voice, whose content was hard not to concern them, was coming.

The speaker was from a large table just one table away from Qingdeng and the others.

Around the large table sat 14 young samurai, none of whom were very old.

These 14 warriors were all impeccably dressed.

From head to toe, from clothes to sword, nothing was cheap, and even the chonmage hairstyle on his head was meticulously maintained.

Curious about the identities of these people, Qing Deng turned to the young lady, who was still standing beside him and asked who these samurai were.

After hearing this, Miss Hand replied:

"Oh, sir, you mean them? They are the Confucian scholars from the Changpingban Academy!"

********

********

In the East Asian cultural sphere during the feudal era, a certain group that cannot be ignored has finally made its appearance.

6000 words today! As you can see, the word count is steadily increasing! It's gradually returning to the update level I had before my mom was hospitalized!

Please be sure to vote for this book with your monthly tickets, considering how hard the author has worked!

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

Chapter 339 Want to sell your daughter? I'll help you! [6000]

Upon hearing the name "Changpingzaka Academy," Qing Deng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

As for what kind of place this Shohei-zaka Academy is, it is a top-tier institution of learning with extremely high renown in Edo... no, throughout Japan.

Its predecessor was the Kobunkan, a private school opened in Oshioka, Ueno Province in 1632 by the renowned Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan.

In 1690, the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, moved it to Shohira-zaka in Yushima.

Originally a private educational institution of the Hayashi family, it became the Shōheizaka Academy, directly under the Edo Shogunate, under the Kansei Reforms (1787-1793) led by Matsudaira Sadanobu.

The shogunate stipulated that the Shōheizaka Academy would only recruit sons of shogunate retainers, namely hatamoto and gokenin, to support the government and cultivate practical talents. The curriculum included the Four Books, Five Classics, history, poetry and prose, and the teaching materials were mainly the works of Zhu Xi.

Today, thanks to the vigorous construction and promotion by the Edo Shogunate, the Shōheizaka Academy has become the highest institution of Confucian education, a dream destination for all those aspiring to study Confucianism.

Although the Shohei-zaka Academy only admitted children of shogunate officials for its livelihood, starting in 1800, the shogunate began to allow and encourage children of commoners to attend classes at the Shohei-zaka Academy.

However, the promulgation of this regulation did not have any remarkable effect, and very few common people went to the Changpingzaka Academy to audit classes.

After all, there was no civil service examination system in the Edo period, and there was no such thing as "studying to become a high-ranking official" or "there are houses of gold and beauties in books".

No matter how many books ordinary people read or how deeply they study the Four Books and Five Classics, they cannot change their fate or achieve upward social mobility.

Since reading is utterly useless, why would anyone bother to painstakingly navigate the vast sea of ​​literature?

"Those people are regulars at our store."

The young lady lowered her voice and explained slowly.

"Whenever they have free time, they like to come to our shop, drink tea, and talk loudly, criticizing current affairs."

Tokugawa Iemochi chuckled lightly, clearly intrigued.

"Oh? Criticizing current affairs?"

The young lady turned to look at the group of scholars, and after confirming that they weren't paying attention to them, she stuck out her tongue and adopted a half-joking tone:

"I don't really like them. They always talk very loudly, which disturbs other guests."

"Furthermore... I don't think they're very decent people. They always hang out with a scumbag named Itakura Hirahiko. People who would be friends with scumbags can't be good people themselves."

When she said the name "Itakura Hirahiko", Ms. Teshiro stuck out her tongue in an exaggerated gesture, as if something spicy, bitter and numbing had pricked her mouth.

"Itakura Hirahiko?" Tenshōin tilted his head cutely. "Who is this person? A Yakuza?"

Miss Handshake shook her head:

"No, Itakura Hirahiko is a proper samurai, and a very high-ranking one at that—he is the second son of Itakura Katsutora, one of the most promising young samurai of our time."

Ruonian's second son—that's indeed a very high level.

If the highest official position in the Edo Shogunate's bureaucratic system, "Dairou," which was only established in special circumstances, was the regent, and the highest official position in ordinary times, "Rojū," was the prime minister, then "Wakatoshi-yori" was the deputy prime minister.

Wakatoshi-yori: This position was an assistant to the senior councilors. Officials not under the jurisdiction of the senior councilors, the governors, or the three commissioners (temple and shrine commissioners, administrative commissioners, and town commissioners) were all under the jurisdiction of the wakatoshi-yori. The number of staff was 3-5, and like most official positions in the shogunate, they were subject to a "monthly rotation system" where staff took turns working on a monthly basis.