Qingdeng himself did not expect that the reward he received this time would be so high, which directly increased his family income by 400 shi!
In the Edo period, where the hierarchical system was extremely strict, it was very easy to fall down the status hierarchy, but it was extremely difficult to rise up.
If you make a big mistake as a samurai, at least your family income will be reduced, or at worst, your samurai birthplace will be stripped away and you will be demoted to a commoner.
If you want to improve your family's fortune, you have to make extremely prominent achievements.
However, since the establishment of the Edo shogunate, Japan has maintained generally peace in the past three hundred years. The long-term peace has basically given samurai no chance to make meritorious deeds.
The lack of opportunities for meritorious service directly resulted in the family fortunes of many samurai families remaining basically unchanged.
Three hundred years ago, when the Edo shogunate was first established, your family received the same salary as your own, and you still get the same salary now - this phenomenon is not too common.
Therefore, Qingdeng's family fortune has been improved... and it has been directly increased by 400 stones. This is indeed a very enviable and rare thing.
Counting the original 100 shi of family fortune, Qingdeng's family fortune now totals 500 shi.
500 koku is considered a hurdle, and those with a family income of less than 500 koku are collectively referred to as "lower-level hatmoto" and "lower-level koku".
Therefore, in terms of rank, Qingdeng has now broken away from the category of "lower-level imperial family members".
As long as you don't spend money frivolously, a family income of 500 shi is enough for people to stop worrying about food.
This huge reward indirectly made Qingnobo a celebrity in the shogunate.
Under the intentional action of the shogunate, Aoshinobu's deeds of "increasing his salary by 400 koku" were vigorously publicized as an example, and everyone was encouraged to learn from Aoshinobo. As long as they can make great contributions, the shogunate will not hesitate to reward him!
Aoto... It should be said that most people don't know - he was promoted as a role model, or it was the order personally issued by the shogunate Tokugawa Iemo.
This publicity was very effective. Many people were stimulated by this example and began to work harder for the public, hoping that one day they could achieve a jump in status like Qingdeng.
The temptation to improve one's family fortune and let future generations directly fall into the shadow is too great.
By the way - Saito, Nagakura and the others also received rewards, but their rewards were completely incomparable to those of Aoto.
After all, Aoto is a real official and an insider, but just Aoto's bodyguard and Okabiki's Saito and others... To put it bluntly, they are just a bunch of wage earners working for Aoto, and they are part of the system.
Besides, it is naturally impossible for them to receive such generous rewards as Qingdeng.
Saito and the others only received a reward of 10 taels of gold each, and other than that, there was no other reward... However, Saito and the others did not complain about this, especially the two brothers Nagakura and Harada.
When they saw the 10 taels of gold bounty, the two of them laughed so hard that their mouths almost reached their ears, and they exclaimed: "Oh! There is so much money!"
Qingdeng is now on a long vacation, and naturally his subordinates are also on vacation with him.
If you think about it carefully, Nagakura's current employment experience is quite bizarre.
Less than half a day after joining the job, he participated in a large-scale arrest operation. After the operation, he was directly rewarded and given a long vacation for his merits...
People who are motivated will think that Nagakura and the others are really lucky. They encountered opportunities to make great achievements when they first joined the company.
People who just want to fish will think that Nagakura and the others are really unlucky to encounter such a dangerous job just after joining the company.
But whether they were people who once thought Nagakura and the others were very lucky, or people who once thought Nagakura and the others were unlucky, they now basically envy Nagakura and the others - after all, ten taels of gold is definitely not a small amount.
Ordinary civilians may not be able to save this amount of money after working hard for several years.
…
After wiping the sweat off his face with his sleeves and taking a brief rest, Qingden put the bamboo sword in his hand back into the sword bucket, and then picked up the saber resting on the edge of the dojo.
Although Qingteng's Dingguishen is one of the best swords in a hundred, after such a fierce confrontation with Kamino and others, some damage was inevitable - the Dingguishen's blade had three small gaps.
On the first day of the holiday, Qing Teng immediately sent the Dingguishen to the knife shop to have it polished. It would probably take another one or two days for the Dingguishen to be repaired.
In the past few days, Qingdeng has been using his old sword...that is, the family sword that has been passed down for several generations in the Ju family for temporary use.
Qingdeng's heirloom sword never had a name... Qingdeng didn't think there was anything wrong with it before, but it wasn't until recently that he gradually realized that this matter had caused some inconvenience in his life.
For example: When I told Kyubei before, "Bring me my katana," it was impossible for Kubei to pick up the wrong sword. After all, he only had this katana before.
But now that he had an extra sword and said to Kubei, "Bring me my katana," Kubei didn't know which sword Aomori asked him to get.
So for the sake of convenience, Qingdeng gave his family sword a name a few days ago.
This is a sword that has been passed down to the Tachibana family for several generations. The blade pattern on the blade is wavy... Based on these two outstanding characteristics, Qingden gave this sword a simple and straightforward name, but it is also quite distinctive.
A somewhat poetic name: “Orange Water”
Qingto took out the orange water and stood back in the center of the dojo, ready to start the "virtual battle" again, when Okita's voice suddenly sounded behind him:
"Tachibana-kun! Stop practicing! Get ready to eat!"
"Ah, is dinner ready? Today's dinner was cooked quite quickly..."
Aoto lowered the orange water in his hand and turned to look at Okita who was standing at the entrance of the corridor connecting the dojo to the residence where they lived.
At this time, Okita was seen wearing Kappo clothes, a scarf wrapped around his head to prevent his hair from getting oily smoke, and holding a rice spoon in his hand.
The so-called "Kappo" can be understood as the apron of this era, which was specially worn on the body when cooking to prevent oil and other dirt from staining the clothes or body.
After putting away the knife and walking slowly to Okita's side, Qingto smiled slightly at Okita: "Okita-kun, you have worked really hard these days to cook for us."
"There's nothing to be grateful for for such a small thing." Okita, with a hearty smile on his face as always, put his left hand on his hips and waved a rice spoon with his right hand, "Go and eat!"
In the Shiwei Hall, there is an agreed-upon order of who should cook.
Normally, their master's wife, Ah Bi, takes charge.
If Abi is not here, Genzaburo Inoue, who also lives in the Shiwei Hall and has returned to his hometown due to business, and whom Qingto has not been able to see until now, will come to cook.
If these two people happen to be absent..."the food and beverage authority of the trial guard hall" will be handed over to Okita.
For some reason these past few days, Master Zhou Zhu and Mistress A Bi have often disappeared.
The two of them have been going out very frequently recently, often staying together for most of the day. When asked what they were doing out there, they were both mysterious and refused to say anything.
Since Abi has been away from home a lot these days, Okita has basically taken care of all the recent meals at the Shiwei Hall.
Although Okita is a boy, he has unexpectedly high girl power and is an expert at housework.
It was not until a few days ago, when Okita had to cook because Abi was not at home, that Qingto knew that Okita could cook and that his cooking skills were very high. The food he cooked was full of color, flavor and flavor, which suited Qingto's appetite.
In addition to discovering Okita's excellent cooking skills, Aoto recently discovered that Okita is also good at needlework.
On the night when he had a fierce encounter with Kamino and others, the haori and hakama Aoto was wearing were cut in the battle.
Afterwards, after seeing the gaps in Qingdeng's clothes, Okita chuckled a few times and then waved his hand: "Give me your clothes, I will help you mend them!"
Qingden never expected that Okita could wield a heavy sword like an arm and a finger, and that a tiny embroidery needle could be used like a cook's knife in his hand.
When Okita helped him sew clothes, Qingto sat beside Okita and watched the whole process.
Aoto couldn't think of words or sentences to use to describe Okita's sewing techniques.
With dexterous movements of his fingers, it only took him less than a few minutes to complete the calculation. He used needle and thread to seal the gap that was several inches in length, and the stitches were extremely beautiful.
After watching how Okita mended his clothes... Qingto just felt lucky.
Fortunately, he was very lucky at that time, and the talent he copied from Okita was "The Talent of the Sword".
Otherwise, he is likely to copy some weird talents such as "outstanding needlework talent" and "dexterous fingers"...
…
…
The next day, Qingdeng, whose schedule had been set long ago, still got up to exercise before dawn as usual.
After the morning glow illuminated the sky and the earth clearly, we saw the apprentices arriving one after another to practice their swordsmanship.
Since becoming famous in that big victory over Little Chiba Kenkan, the number of apprentices in the Imperial Guard Hall who have become famous has increased by 2 or 3 times! And this number is still rising!
The sudden increase in the number of apprentices made master Shusuke and teacher Kondo both tired and happy during this period.
"Tangerine-kun, good morning."
"Senior! Good morning!"
"Tachibana-senpai, why are you just watching? Why don't you come and practice swordplay together?"
…
Every apprentice in the sword hall, whether new or old, would basically say hello to Qingdeng after seeing him.
Aoto, who has repeatedly accomplished extraordinary feats, is now an undoubted celebrity in Edo. With his increased fame, coupled with the achievement of "leading the Imperial Guard Hall to defeat the Little Chiba Kenkan", Aoshinobu's success in the Imperial Guard Hall has
Prestige keeps rising.
Some people in the imperial examination hall even respected Qingdeng as their idol. When they saw Qingdeng, their eyes would shine with fiery light.
Qingdeng's temperament has always been relatively easy-going, and he does not feel arrogant because he is now a celebrity and has contributed to the imperial examination.
No matter who comes to greet him, he will respond positively and enthusiastically.
Not long after the sword hall was opened, as expected—Hijikata Toshizo arrived.
"Good morning, everyone." Hijikata yawned widely as he walked through the gate of the dojo and entered the dojo.
I have to say... "If a person looks good, he will look good no matter what he does" is really an unchanging truth.
Just yawning, Hijikata actually created a sense of unrestrained beauty.
After seeing Hijikata, the trouble-loving demon king coming, some of the old people in the dojo suddenly showed strange expressions.
"Hijikata-kun, good morning." Aomori was the first to greet Hijikata.
"Oh, Tachibana-kun, good morning." After responding to Qingto's greetings, Hijikata smiled slightly, "Tachibana-kun, I thought of a new boxing technique yesterday. Do you want to come and have a few moves with me later?"
After saying that, Hijikata danced his right fist.
"Okay." Qingdeng grinned and agreed without hesitation, "I want to see what new tricks you practice."
After getting along with each other for a period of time, Qingden got to know a lot more about Hijikata Toshizo, the demon king who had countless crushes.
When he first met Hijikata, Hijikata gave Ayoto a "cynical" feeling, but after getting to know him in detail, Ayoto gradually discovered that Hijikata also had a serious side.
He was extremely devoted to the practice of swordsmanship. He would come to the Trial Guard Hall early in the morning to practice swordsmanship almost every day, and would not return home until after dark.
Hijikata's focused look when he was practicing his sword...compared with the frivolous look when he was chatting with his friends, they were completely different.
Hijikata is one of the few people in the trial defense hall who has a strong interest in unarmed martial arts and actively practices his boxing and kicking skills.
Therefore, he often looks for Qing Deng, who is proficient in grappling, free fighting and other skills, to be his sparring partner.
Aoden was already very interested in unarmed combat, otherwise he wouldn't have been proficient in so many unarmed fighting techniques in his previous life, so he always accepted Hijikata's "sparring invitation".
Because they had frequently sparred with Hijikata, Aoto and Hijikata quickly became familiar with each other.
There are not many apprentices coming to the hall to practice swordsmanship today.
He was exercising lively with the brothers in the sword hall. Before he knew it, the sun had almost reached the highest point in the sky.
Early this morning, Zhou Zhu and A Bi went out again. They went somewhere unknown, and they have not been seen back until now.
Just when Okita had to gather around the "Kappo" again and prepare to prepare today's lunch, an unexpected guest suddenly arrived at the test hall——
"Yong! Yong! Are you there?"
In the dojo, Kondo, who was teaching a certain apprentice, was startled when he heard the loud shout coming from the gate of the sword hall: "Jutaro?"
…
…
In the hall of the imperial examination hall, Chiba Jutaro sat cross-legged in front of Aoto, Kondo, Hijikata, and Okita.
"Hijikata-kun, long time no see! I heard you were injured before. Have you recovered from your injuries now?"
"Thank you for your concern." Hijikata smiled lightly, "That little injury has been healed long ago."
After briefly greeting Hijikata, Chiba Jutaro turned his attention to Aoto.
"Tachibana-kun, congratulations!" Chiba Jutaro showed a more enthusiastic smile to Aotobo, "I have heard about it in detail! You have made great achievements recently and increased your salary by 400 koku!"
"Thank you." Aonto smiled modestly at Chiba Jutaro, whom he had not seen since the "Red and White Battle" at the Plum Blossom Festival, "I'm just lucky."
After the two parties exchanged greetings for a while, Kondo, who was sitting directly opposite Chiba Jutaro, cleared his throat abruptly, and then asked in a curious tone:
"Okay, Jutaro, come and tell us what 'important thing' happened again."
Just now, after hearing Jutaro's voice, Kondo immediately rushed outside the sword hall.
As soon as he arrived at the gate, he saw Chiba Jutaro standing alone under the bright sun.
Kondo felt quite surprised and confused about Chiba Jutaro's sudden visit.
Chiba Jutaro is also a person who works vigorously and resolutely.
When he saw Kondo coming out to greet him, and after saying hello to Kondo, he said bluntly: Yong! I'm here to tell you something important!
Although he wanted to immediately ask Chiba Jutaro "What's the 'important matter'?", after all, outside the gate was not a good place to talk, and it was also rude to let the guests stay outside, so Kondo suppressed his curiosity for the time being.
, first welcomed Chiba Jutaro into the hall and brought him to the living room.
"Yong, Jun Tachibana is here too? That's great! What I'm about to say has something to do with Jun Tachibana. Please call Jun Tachibana over to listen!" - After being led into the trial guard.
After learning that Aoto happened to be practicing swordsmanship in the sword hall today, Chiba Jutaro immediately suggested this to Kondo with great interest.
So - Qingdeng was so ignorant that he was called to the living room in a daze.
Also running over to listen were Okita and Hijikata.
After these two people heard about Chiba Jutaro's purpose, they were also very curious and expressed their desire to listen in and hear what Chiba Jutaro wanted to say.
Kondo has gone straight to the point, and Chiba Jutaro is no longer vague.
After hearing Chiba Jutaro laugh a few times, he said quickly:
"Yong, I got a very accurate piece of gossip this morning."
"Aizu Hou, who is currently staying in Edo for a 'god visit', plans to hold a two-day swordsmanship competition in Asakusa in half a month...that is, on April 16th!"
"Aizuhou is going to hold a swordsmanship competition?" Okita was the first to exclaim in surprise.
Aizu Hou——The current feudal lord of Aizu Domain: Matsudaira Yoshiho.
Kondo and others...including Aonto, after hearing the term "swordsmanship competition", uniformly focused their surprised eyes on Chiba Jutaro.
"Joining the Imperial Court" - simply put, it is a system implemented by the Edo shogunate with the purpose of weakening the power of daimyo in various places.
The Edo shogunate stipulated that the lords of each vassal country should go to Edo once a year to assist the shogunate in handling government affairs for a period of time before they could return to their own vassals. They had to pay for the round-trip travel expenses themselves.
In a nutshell - it was the center of power and rule that tormented the daimyo from various places and forced them to come to the shogunate frequently: Edo.
In name, they were allowed to help the shogun handle the government affairs of the shogunate, but in reality they only consumed their financial resources and time and made it easier to monitor them.
Different daimyo have different time intervals to go to Edo.
Most of the feudal states came to Edo once a year.
For some vassal states that were very close to Edo, their lords were required to stay in Edo for a long time. These were called "Shofu".
As for those feudal lords located far away from Edo - for example, the Tsushima Domain whose territory is Tsushima Island located in the Korea Strait, the shogunate allowed its lord to visit Edo once every three years.
On average, the daimyo across the country generally spend only one-third of their time in their own territories throughout the year, and the other two-thirds of their time are either in Edo or on the way to Edo.
Or on the way back to the territory.
In order to pass the boring days of being "imprisoned" in Edo in disguise, many daimyo thought of various entertainment activities to pass the time.
For example: sponsor or hold martial arts competitions.
Some daimyo who like martial arts often sponsor or hold martial arts competitions when they live in Edo for pilgrimage, and invite martial arts masters from Edo to come and compete in the ring.
So in Edo, you could hear from time to time that another feudal lord was preparing to hold a martial arts competition.
"The swordsmanship competition that Aizu Hou is going to hold this time will be quite large."
Chiba Jutaro then continued.
"According to reliable information - the swordsmanship competition held by Lord Aizu is only open to sword halls in Edo."
"Only novices who have practiced swordsmanship for less than 3 years are eligible to participate in this competition."
"so--"
Chiba Jutaro smiled and cast his gaze on Qingto.
"Tachibana-kun, are you interested in participating in this competition?"
"I heard that Lord Aizu is very proud this time. If he wins, he will get a full 20 taels of gold as bonus!"
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In the past few days, the most discussed characters in our book club are Miss Sanako and Tianzhangin. Everyone has a strong discussion on the attributes of Miss Sanako's Big Bear and Tianzhangin's "perfect young widow"
Enthusiastic, you are worthy of being my reader.
There are real historical photos of Miss Sanako, but I haven't shown them to you before. The author will make up for them now. Please see the comment on the right.
Everyone should have heard about the virtues of cameras in the 19th century. The people photographed basically did not have a clear human appearance... To be able to have such a level of appearance under the lens of a camera in the 19th century, Sanako is great.
The lady really deserves the name of "Chiba's ghost beauty".
The author has opened a book club on Penguin! Anyone who is interested can come in and chat about Big Bear together.
Group number: 1162513690. You can join the book club by answering a question to which you will definitely know the answer if you read the book carefully.
