】
Qingden responded loudly, raised his hands above his head, and took the Dingguishen from Ii Naobi's hand.
After Qingdeng received the knife, the eyes of everyone in the hall towards Qingdeng changed further.
In the eyes of Arima, Inodani, and Ushiyama, we can only find pure joy and congratulations.
Dongcheng looked indifferent and didn't seem to care much about what reward Qingdeng got.
As for the three "Tojo Group" headed by Nishino, the emotions contained in their gazes on Aoto became more complicated.
However, the complex emotions in the eyes of these three people are not exactly the same.
There are also negative emotions such as jealousy and displeasure in Nishino's eyes, but among these many emotions, the most dominant one is envy.
This is not the case for the other two members of the "Dongcheng Group" - the most obvious emotion in the eyes of these two people is jealousy.
…
…
Some people are happy and some are sad - this proverb is very appropriate to describe today's assessment meeting.
After all, the main purpose of this assessment meeting is to take the opportunity to eliminate those ordinary people with mediocre abilities who are of no use, and to take the opportunity to "cleanse" the "three rounds" of the Southern and Northern Institutes.
"Qingden receives the reward" and so on... it's just a small episode in this assessment meeting.
Naoki Ii said just now: He didn't have enough time, so he went straight to the point.
He really didn't say any polite words there.
After Qingtou took the reward he received and returned to his seat in a graceful manner, Naoki Ii also sat back on the tatami, and then... officially began the main topic of the day.
Naoki Ii first praised some people who also had very good political achievements.
Nishino of the "Tōjo Group" was also among those praised.
In fact, Nishino's performance has been mediocre in recent times, because he was assigned to take charge of the case of the "Cat Monk" who was said to be a female ninja more than a month ago.
That little cat monk can walk on rooftops, tree canopies and other extreme terrains as if on the ground. He comes and goes without a trace and his whereabouts are erratic. The only clue is that he only steals money from notorious villains.
One can imagine how difficult it is to catch the Cat Monk.
Qingden has heard that for more than a month, Nishino has made no progress on the case of "Cat Monk".
But how could it be that Nishino is the "number one crime-solving master of the Beifan Institute" with outstanding merits?
Even though his performance in the past month or so has not been very impressive, his previous achievements alone are enough to make his overall political achievements stand out from almost all his colleagues.
After praise and praise... comes criticism and scolding.
This is where some people’s nightmares begin…
Originally, based on Qingdeng's original achievements, he, the "idiot", should have been one of the people who received training.
But now, he has successfully "resurrected" by relying on the two major achievements of "solving the murder case in Koyanagi Town" and "defeating the anti-barbarian thugs and protecting the French merchants".
In terms of overall political performance, he can be regarded as the "number one hero" in the "three rounds" of the Southern and Northern Divisions in the past three months. He just received a generous reward from Naomi Ii, and there is no need to worry about being in this evaluation meeting.
Throw away the black gauze hat.
There were a total of five officials who were reprimanded by Ii Naobi.
They are one Tong Xin who was temporarily returned to the northern branch and secretly returned, one Yori and one Tong Xin who were temporarily returned to the town of Nan Ban.
There are 2 Yuli and 3 Tongxin - all 5 of them have recent political achievements that make Ii Naomi very dissatisfied.
When reprimanding these five people, Ii Naobi did not show any ferocious face, nor did he use any angry words.
Instead, with a calm face and a calm tone, he unhurriedly detailed how the political achievements of these five people disappointed him.
Obviously there are no very ferocious expressions or words...but for some reason, it can make the listener feel the huge pressure in his heart...
After counting the poor performance of these five people one by one, Naomi Ii personally issued a punishment for them - two of them whose political performance was not too ugly will have their salary and the offerings they can receive in the next six months halved.
, and the other three...from today on, they will all go to fend for themselves.
After learning that their hats were still there, but their salaries had been deducted, the two men looked as if they were surviving the disaster.
As for the three people who had their official bodies stripped off... their faces were as white as paper, and cold sweat could not stop pouring out...
They did not dare to raise any objections to Ii Naobi's punishment.
Who has the guts to raise objections to the "prime minister" in person?
All they can do is hang their heads in despair...
"I hope you can learn from this."
Ii Naobi glanced at the three people who were now hanging their heads.
Previously, Ii Naoki, who had always had a faint smile on his face, whether when personally giving Aonto the reward or verbally praising Nishino and others, after he began to name names one by one and reprimanded those whose political performance did not meet the standards, a faint smile appeared on his face.
The smile disappeared.
There is no sadness or joy, no joy or anger can be seen.
"Protecting Edo is your 'Sanchai' duty."
"I have always believed that it is only natural to let those who can't even do what they should do go out."
"I will hold assessments like today from time to time."
"So those who have successfully passed this assessment should not feel relieved and feel that they are safe."
Hearing these words from Ii Naomi, some people who expressed joy for successfully passing today's assessment immediately froze.
"Taking this opportunity... let me reveal it to you."
Naoki Ii straightened his waist a little straighter and sat upright.
"Right now, the rampage of the 'anti-barbarian faction' has reached an intolerable level."
"They are all a bunch of unreasonable thugs. If we don't try to curb their arrogance, sooner or later they will commit more extreme atrocities than attacking foreign businessmen."
"In the past month, because I had many more important things to deal with, I had no time to properly deal with the 'rejection faction' matters."
"But now, I finally have freed up time and energy."
"From today on, I will focus on the two cities of Edo and Kyoto to intensify the rectification of the 'anti-barbarian faction'."
"That is to say, as Edo's "Three Chapters", all of you will be in a hurry from now on."
"So——everyone, please be mentally prepared."
"Let's all try our best to make some contribution in the operations against the 'rejection faction' that will be carried out in the future."
"I hope that in the subsequent evaluation meetings, no one will have such poor performance that it is difficult to see."
Bojing and Atsukawa led the crowd and bowed their waists and responded respectfully to Jingyi Naobi.
…
…
Because Ii Naomi didn't speak any long official or formal talk from beginning to end, the process of this assessment meeting was extremely fast.
From the time Naomi Ii showed up to the time he stood up and announced the end of the assessment meeting, less than an hour had passed...
After Ii Naomi led his entourage and left through the side door they came from, Aomori and others also exited the meeting hall one after another.
As soon as he retreated to the corridor outside the meeting hall, Inotani leaned towards Qingteng with a curious look on his face.
"Ju, let me see the new sword that Mr. Jing Yi just gave you."
Qingden happily handed the Dingguishen he was holding with his right hand to Inotani.
Uh-huh - After Inotani took the knife, he pulled the blade out of the sheath just a few inches.
Many people around him came closer and looked at the ghosts and gods with their eyes with different emotions.
Looking at Ding Guishen's beautiful blade glowing with blue light, I was filled with admiration.
"What a good knife..." Inotani smacked his lips a few times, carefully looked at the blade of the Kishin's blade several times, then put the knife away and handed it back to Qingteng, "If I sell this knife, I will sell it."
It’s not impossible to get 300 taels of gold…”
Qingdeng smiled and said: "This kind of good knife can't be bought even if you have money. I won't sell it unless it is absolutely necessary."
After saying that, Qingdeng lowered his head and looked at the Dingguishen in his hand.
His current sword, which was the family sword that had been passed down by the Tachibana family for several generations, was seriously damaged in that "snowy night battle", with more than a dozen holes broken.
Seito is a samurai with an official position, and he must never do such a thing as taking the thieves' property as his own.
If the government discovers that you have done such a thing, the consequences will be disastrous. If the financial amount you possess is too large, it is not impossible to ask you to commit seppuku.
The weapons left by the "anti-barbarian" thugs on the ground could not be taken away, so after the battle, Qingdeng could only pick up his family sword.
When he first moved into the Imperial Guard Hall, Aoto borrowed money from Kondo and took his severely damaged family sword to a knifesmith's shop for repair. It took about 10 days to successfully repair it.
.
Of course, the "money to repair the knife" borrowed from Kondo has been fully paid back after receiving the gift money from the French Embassy.
Qingden weighed the Dingguishen in his hand - this Dingguishen has a very large arc and is longer than an ordinary katana, so its shape is more like a tachi.
This kind of long knife is actually very suitable for a tall person like Qingdeng. A tall person like him can naturally wield this kind of long knife more easily than those short people.
Qingdeng was naturally very happy to be able to obtain a sword whose quality was significantly higher than the one he was currently using. Qingdeng was looking down at the sword in his palm, with a faint smile on his face.
.
A sword of excellent quality has always been priceless.
Having a sharper and tougher sword close to you will directly improve your strength in a straight line.
Qingden had not had time to savor the joy of getting a new sword when suddenly——
"Tachibana-kun!"
"Sir?" Qingden paused and looked at Bo Jing, who was walking quickly towards him from behind.
"...Tachibana-kun." Bo Jing quickly walked up to Qingto with a complicated expression and lowered his voice, "Come with me now."
"What's wrong?" Qingdeng was stunned, "What happened?"
"Don't ask so many questions yet. Anyway, just hurry up and follow me."
Qingto didn't know why, but Bo Jing had a serious face, so he didn't dare to neglect it.
He nodded, spoke to Arima and the others around him, followed Susui, and quickly shuttled through the Beibansuo, heading to an unknown location.
After ascending to the second floor of Beibansuo with Susui, Aomori couldn't restrain his curiosity and once again asked Susui, who was walking in front of him:
"Master Boi, where on earth are we going?"
Bo Jing pursed his lips.
Then he said quietly:
"Elder Jingyi...he wants to see you alone."
"……What?"
…
…
Hakui led Qingto to a remote room on the second floor of Beibansuo.
Bo Jing opened the slightly old sliding paper door himself, and in the room, a familiar face that had just been separated for a while came into Qingdeng's eyes.
Naoki Ii sat cross-legged in the center of the room, with his four followers standing neatly on his left and right sides.
"Sir Big Boss." Bo Jing bowed and said, "I brought Ju Qingden."
"Yeah." Ii Naobi nodded, "Thank you for your hard work. Please step aside for now."
Bo Jing: "Yes."
Wow... After Hakui bowed to Naomi Ii again, he respectfully exited the room and closed the door.
"Tachibana-kun." Ii Naobi said in a humorous tone, smiling at Qingto who was left in the room, "We meet again."
He raised his hand to gesture in front of him.
"Come on, Mr. Ju, feel free to sit down."
Why did Mr. Jingyi, who had just been separated for a short time, suddenly summon me to come and meet with me alone?
With this question in mind, Qingteng knelt down to the position pointed by Ii Naobi, and then placed the Jingguishen in his hand on his right side.
At this time, Ii Naoki was sitting cross-legged casually with a faint smile on his face, looking quite relaxed.
"Hahahaha." Looking at Aoto who was sitting upright, Ii Naobi joked, "Tachibana-kun, don't be so rigid, you can relax a little."
"I just wanted to have a brief chat with you, so I called you here alone, so you don't have to sit so upright."
"Chat?" Qingdeng couldn't help but asked in a low voice.
"Well... there are no outsiders here anyway, so I will tell you the truth." The smile on Ii Naobi's face gradually became more meaningful, "The reason why I decided to personally participate and host today
This assessment meeting is actually just to see with my own eyes what you look like."
"I told you at the assessment meeting just now, right? I've wanted to see you for a long time."
"But throughout February, I was really busy and couldn't spare any time."
"It wasn't until today that I finally found some spare time."
"Since I happen to be free today, I will take advantage of the opportunity to attend this assessment meeting. Not only can I meet you, but I can also make up for the rewards that should have been given to you long ago."
"Ah, speaking of this, let me tell you a little secret: As for what kind of reward I want to give you, I have actually decided on it more than half a month ago."
"But I specifically request that these rewards must be handed over to you in today's assessment meeting in front of the other officials of the 'Three Chapters'."
"It's rare for someone to make such a remarkable achievement. It would be a waste not to take this opportunity to boost the morale of the 'three times'."
"Seeing you receiving such a good knife in such a glorious manner will surely inspire a lot of people's fighting spirit."
The feeling that the Ii Naoki in front of me brings to Qingto is slightly different from the feeling that the Ii Naobi whom I saw just now in the assessment meeting brings to Qingto.
At this time, Ii Naoki...became more "ordinary".
There are more smiles on his face, his speech is a little garrulous, and he looks more like an ordinary old man next door.
After Naoki Ii talked a little bit about some very short-term things, the topic changed——
"Ah, no, no, no. It seems that I accidentally talked about too many irrelevant trivial matters."
Naoki Ii tilted his body to the side and leaned on the elbowrest next to him.
"Haha... Once you feel too relaxed, you will easily fall into the old habit of nagging..."
"Let's get back to the topic."
Ii Naobi cleared his throat.
"Mr. Ju, can you tell me in detail... the whole process of how you encountered and defeated that group of 'anti-barbarian' thugs that night?"
Qingdeng couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at this moment.
Regarding what happened that night... Ayonobu had already written in detail what happened that night in the letter asking for help when he requested someone from the Edo Administrative Office to come to Kanagawa-juku to help them who were afraid to leave the dormitory again.
.
After returning to Edo, Aoto immediately submitted a more detailed report.
Everything you can say and know is written in the report.
As a boss, there is no way Naomi Ii would not see these reports from him.
You can clearly tell something by just reading his report, so you need to call him over and ask him again?
Ii Naobi seemed to see Qingto's doubts at this time, and smiled:
"Although I have carefully read the document you submitted that details the entire process of how you defeated the enemy with a small number, I still want to hear with my own ears how you came up with such an attack on the enemy that night.
policy."
Although I still don't understand Ii Naoki's slightly weird behavior, now that this middle-aged man who is currently in power has spoken, Qingto doesn't dare to disobey.
Qingden told Ii Naobi the detailed and complete process of the "snowy night battle" that he had told countless people in an orderly and unhurried manner.
Because it had been taught so many times that Qingdeng had become proficient in it, so it only took less than 10 minutes for Qingdeng to finish explaining everything he could.
"Well..." As soon as Qingden finished speaking, Ii Naobi groaned in a low voice.
After pondering, he stopped talking.
After a long time like this, I finally heard him break the silence with his harmonious voice:
"As expected...no matter how many times I hear it, it still seems incredible..."
After saying that, Ii Naobi stretched his body.
"Mr. Ju, thank you for your special trip here. You can leave for now."
Qingdeng stared.
This makes me leave?!
Qingdeng just feels confused now.
Quite confused.
Suddenly called him over.
Then, after asking him to recount the whole process of the "Snowy Night Battle" that he had already written in detail in his report, he suddenly let him go...
Why did this person call me here? This question kept swirling in Qingdeng's mind.
But doubts were doubts, and Qingdeng was not too confused to be stunned for too long.
Elder Jing Yi asked him to step back, so Qingden had no other choice but to comply.
Qingdeng bowed and saluted, said "yes", grabbed his Dingguishen, and exited the room in a slightly dazed state.
After watching Qingden leave, Ii Naobi smiled slightly.
Immediately afterwards... he reached into his arms and took out a booklet as big as a palm and half a finger thick.
The attendant closest to Ii Naoki took out this booklet when he saw it, and immediately, like a conditioned reflex, took off a small writing brush with a tip soaked in ink from his belt, and a small bamboo tube filled with water.
Ii Naoki took the brush handed by the attendant, put the tip of the brush into the bamboo tube, moistened the dried ink on the tip with the water in the bamboo tube, and turned over the booklet in his palm.
Open it, turn to the still blank page, and with a swipe of brush, write three Chinese characters on it -
Orange Qingden.
Naoki Ii blew gently on the name he had just written on the book. When the ink dried, he closed the book suddenly and took it back into his arms.
"...Sir Daibo." The attendant who just handed over a pen and water to Ii Naobi hesitated, "Are you... planning to recommend that Tachibana Aoden to the Shogun?"
Ii Naobi smiled calmly.
No response.
…
…
That day, in the evening——
Ayoto and Saito took advantage of the dusk to return to their current home: the Trial Guard Hall.
When Qingdeng and the others returned, it happened to be the closing time of the Trial Guard Hall.
After passing through the gate and entering the dojo, Qingto saw Okita sitting cross-legged alone on the floor of the dojo, using a rag to wipe the bamboo swords in the sword bucket next to him one by one.
"Okita-kun, we are back!"
"Tachibana-kun, Saito-kun, come back... eh? Tachibana-kun, what's going on with the sword in your hand?"
After noticing the ghosts and gods mentioned in Qingteng's hand, Okita's eyes immediately lit up, he threw away the rag and bamboo sword in his hand, and ran towards Qingteng quickly.
"Oh, this..." Qingden smiled and held the Sekishin in his hand in front of him, and then told Okita what happened today in a concise and concise manner.
Okita was not very interested in the assessment meeting that Qingnobo went through today, nor was he interested in Ii Naoki.
He was only interested in the Dingguishen in Qingdeng's hands.
"Tachibana-kun, can you let me see your new sword?"
"Of course." Qingto handed the Seikijin into Okita's palm.
Okita wiped his palms on his hakama, wiped the sweat from his palms, and then took the knife with both hands.
As soon as he pulled the blade out of its sheath, a surprise jumped out of Okita's eyes.
After completely withdrawing the knife, Okita waved it vigorously into the air in front of him a few times. He then raised his head and looked at the blade of the knife carefully while blinking hard with his eyes that were constantly gleaming with surprise.
"This knife is so powerful!"
——Ah, here comes...Okita-kun's "It's so awesome"...
Aoto silently complained in his heart once again about Okita's lack of vocabulary to the point where he would only use "so awesome" to describe anyone and anything.
"The quality of the iron, its sharpness, its center of gravity...all are amazing."
As Okita continued to speak, he turned the blade of the sword and carefully looked at the extremely curved back of the sword.
"The arc of this knife is larger than that of an ordinary knife, but the blade is not too curved... It is a very suitable knife for performing sword drawing techniques..."
The principle of sword drawing is to use the curvature of the blade and scabbard when drawing the sword to create an instant explosive force, thereby delivering a more powerful and faster slash than swinging the sword directly out of thin air.
Therefore, using a knife with a slightly larger arc can make it easier to perform powerful sword drawing techniques.
"The sword-drawing technique..." Qingdeng laughed dumbly, "It's a pity that our natural spirit-ryu doesn't have the sword-drawing technique."
Okita fully admired the Dingguishen for a while, and then handed the sword back to Qingnobo with a look of reluctance.
"That's great..." Okita sighed, looking enviously at the Jingkishen who had just returned it, "When will I have such a good sword..."
After smiling slightly, Qingdeng said harmoniously: "There will come a day. Maybe someday in the not-too-distant future, you will be able to obtain a great sword that is countless times better than my ability to slay ghosts and gods."
After finishing speaking, Qingden raised his head and glanced at the pile of bamboo knives Okita had just wiped.
"Okita-kun, are there still many people coming to learn swordsmanship today?"
Okita smiled and said, "Today, 8 more people came to our door and expressed their desire to learn our Natural Rishin-ryu style!"
"So many?" Qingdeng couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, then smiled and said, "Then the master's wife will be extremely happy."
"Yes." Okita put his hands on his waist and said with emotion, "Auntie has been so gentle in recent days that I am not used to it..."
In the past few days, the Trial Guard Hall has been very busy - there is an endless stream of people coming to the Trial Guard Hall to learn swordsmanship, which makes everyone in the Trial Guard Hall a little overwhelmed.
Become famous in one battle - this idiom perfectly sums up the state of the trial defense hall these days.
In the "Plum Blossom Festival" a few days ago, under the plum blossom petals flying in the sky, the little-known Shiwei Hall, witnessed by hundreds of spectators, brilliantly defeated the famous Xiaoqianba Sword Hall... This victory
Let the Trial Guard Hall become famous immediately!
Countless people know it - in Kohinagayanagicho, Koishikawa, there is a trial guard hall that teaches Natural Rishin-ryu. This sword hall defeated the small Chiba sword hall in the "Red and White Battle".
The most intuitive impact of the increase in reputation is the increase in the number of apprentices.
Countless people came here in admiration, wanting to become a disciple of the Shiwei Hall and practice the natural Rishin-ryu style that defeated the Little Chiba Sword Hall.
The increase in apprentices means an increase in the income of the training hall.
These days, A Bi, who usually has a bad face, has been extremely gentle...
Especially when dealing with Qingdeng, who was the biggest contributor in helping them win the match at the Tri-Wei Hall, Abi showed a tenderness that even Qingdeng found extremely uncomfortable...
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Let me tell you, the author may have to take a day off tomorrow, because when you read this line, the author is on an important date that may change his life in the future. I probably won’t have time to write it today.
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This chapter has been completed!