This sedan chair is obviously aimed at Qingdeng.

After running quickly to a place five steps away from Qingdeng, the four strong men gently put down the sedan on their shoulders.

Immediately afterwards, a vigorous middle-aged man opened the sedan door and greeted Qingdeng with a smile on his face.

"Yo! Qingden!"

Qingden raised his eyebrows.

"Rintaro?"

"Qingdeng, I haven't seen you for a few days. How are you doing?"

Since the "Plum Blossom Appreciation Banquet" in the middle of last month, Aonto and Katsurin Taro have not seen each other again.

"I've been so busy lately that I can hardly tell the difference between day and night."

Qingden replied half-jokingly.

"Each other."

Katsurin Taro responded with a wry smile.

A while ago, the shogunate decided to build forts in Hyogo and Nishinomiya.

Katsurin Taro, who was proficient in Western military affairs, naturally became the commander-in-chief of this major project.

He has been traveling between Edo, Hyogo and Nishinomiya recently.

In terms of busyness, he is no less busy than Qingdeng.

"Rintaro, why are you here?"

Don't you need to repair your fort? - Qingdeng's words contained this implication.

"I just came back from Hyogo, and I was about to go to the city to resume my duties, so I thought I would stop by and have a look at you."

Climbing the castle - an official term in the Edo period, that is, entering Edo Castle.

"Qingdeng, is the recruitment of sergeants still going well?"

Katsurin Taro asked, looking up at the high platform next to him.

"We have successfully recruited many outstanding talents."

Speaking of this, Qingdeng changed into a joking tone:

"Rintaro, one of you and I are a warship commander, and the other is an envoy to the capital city. When the war in Gyeonggi Province becomes serious one day, I hope that you will lead the shogunate fleet to Osaka Bay and support it with dense rain of ship bombs."

Katsurin Taro laughed "hahaha" several times:

"Ignore Osaka for now, asking me to use naval guns to support the battlefield in Kyoto... Isn't this too much?"

After the two exchanged some pleasantries, Qingdeng changed the subject:

"Rintaro, you came just in time. I happen to have something very important to ask you."

Rintaro raised his eyebrows.

"Oh? What's the matter?"

"Rintaro, you once worked in a military academy, so you should have connections in this area. I would like to ask you to help me purchase a batch of precious swords."

"Precious sword? How much money do you have? How many knives do you want to purchase?"

"I want 8 katana, 1 naginata, 1 spear, and 1 wakizashi. I'll give you a budget of 3,000 gold."

…

…

"You are not qualified, go down."

…

"You are not qualified, go down."

…

"The basic skills are good. If you are qualified, go over there to register your personal information."

…

"You are not qualified, go down."

…

On the high platform, "You are not qualified" and "You are qualified" were repeatedly heard just like yesterday.

Among them, the former still accounts for an overwhelming majority.

Qingdeng ruthlessly defeated every applicant who stood on the stage, one after another.

The officer in charge of calling names ruthlessly flipped through the thick book in his hand, page after page.

The white snowflakes arrived as expected.

First there were one or two pieces, then there were ten pieces and hundreds of pieces, and finally there were thousands of pieces.

The pale dome light illuminates the snowflakes, reflecting the dazzling light.

The cold north wind like a knife whipped up the falling snow flakes and flew all over the sky, dyeing the sky and earth with fairy tale colors.

This level of snow is not enough to make it difficult for people to move.

However, some people still suggested that Qingdeng "suspend the conscription and wait for the snow to stop."

To this, Qingdeng responded without hesitation:

"This snow comes at the right time. It helps me distinguish who is a hero and who is a loser. The guy who 'can only show his fighting power by standing on a flat and clean dojo floor' is not qualified to be my subordinate."

In this way, Qingdeng ignored the flying snow in the sky and other people's suggestions and carried out the recruitment ceremony.

Just as the snowflakes are gradually falling and thickening, enough snow has accumulated on the high platform to cover a person's ankles——

"Next! Qinghe Hachiro! Qinghe Hachiro!"

Immediately after the officer announced the name loudly, the originally quiet venue suddenly became noisy and noisy.

Those who made a noise shouted:

"Ah! It's Mr. Qinghe!"

"Mr. Qinghe is here!"

"Mr. Qinghe!"

…

Qingdeng raised his eyebrows and thought to himself:

——Qinghe Hachiro...has this guy finally arrived?

He turned his head and looked at the stairs to the stage - a young warrior with a dignified appearance, holding a bamboo sword in hand, strode directly in front of him.

I saw that this man had thick and thick hair, his figure was neither fat nor thin, neither tall nor short, his nose was very high, his facial features were sharp and angular, and although his appearance could not be called handsome, he was very masculine.

He was particularly well dressed, his hair was combed and shiny, and he wore a spotless Sendai plain haori hakama.

"Sendai Taira" is a famous textile produced in the Sendai area. It is made of soft silk as the weft thread and thick raw silk as the warp thread. Because it has a bright luster, is very tough, and is not easy to wrinkle, it is very popular among the upper class.

To be honest, just looking at appearance and not looking at temperament, one would not be able to tell who is the superior envoy of Gyeonggi Town, the glamorous Qinghe Hachiro and the Qingdeng who is wearing ordinary kendo uniforms.

"...Qinghe Jun, I have admired your name for a long time."

Qingden said calmly without sadness or joy.

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

Qinghe Hachiro responded with a reserved smile, neither humble nor arrogant.

Qingdeng's greeting was not entirely polite.

He had long wanted to see with his own eyes what this famous guy who would work with him from now on looked like.

As far as personal resume is concerned, Qinghe Hachilang's past deeds can be regarded as brilliant - if you look at it from the perspective of a man who respected the king and fought against the foreigners.

In the first year of Wenjiu (1861), he founded the "Heroes Association" with the guiding ideology of "respecting the king and repelling the barbarians", and together with other radicals in the rebellious faction, he prepared to organize an army to overthrow the emperor.

After the conspiracy was discovered, he was wanted by the shogunate.

Soon after, he plotted an uprising in Kyoto, failed again, and fled again.

Not long ago, after Tokugawa Iemo announced that he would go to Beijing to discuss with the imperial court many matters such as fighting off the barbarians and integrating the public and military forces, he suddenly appeared and wrote to the shogunate, suggesting that the shogunate openly recruit ronin from Edo to form a team for the purpose of guarding the shogun.

Go to Beijing.

Tokugawa Iemo, who originally intended to form a new force to guard the Gyeonggi Province, took the opportunity to agree to Kiyokawa Hachiro's suggestion and tailor-made the position of "Gyeonggi Town Governor" for Aomori.

Therefore, from a certain perspective, Qinghe Hachilang and Qingdeng are quite destined.

His letter became an opportunity for Qingdeng to be promoted to a feudal official.

Logically speaking, a rebel like him with a long criminal record should be dragged directly to the execution ground to be executed after he showed up without any hesitation and wrote the letter shamelessly, and then was killed by Yamada Senemon, the "family of killers"
To be continued...