Chapter 558 Strange Dance: Isn’t this bad?

They cried, shouted, and begged for mercy, hoping to gain Qingdeng's mercy.

However, Qingdeng's facial lines were always as cold as steel, and he didn't even move his brows.

A certain warrior shouted angrily:

"Even if we are to be executed, at least let us commit seppuku! How can the samurai's heads fall to the ground!"

For a samurai, the most humiliating way to die was to be beheaded.

According to the practice of the Edo period, only samurai who committed unforgivable crimes would be beheaded.

However, his request was ignored by Qingdeng.

They were forced to kneel in a row.

Seven men, who tied their sleeves and rinsed their sabers with water, stood behind them.

Due to the nature of the job, it is easy to offend people and requires a certain amount of strength to hold the position in check.

Therefore, under Qingdeng's deliberate arrangement, the inspectors of the Metropolitan Police Bureau were all good at using knives. For them, beheading was just a simple and trivial matter.

Isamu Kondo shouted:

"preparation!"

The 7 men raised their bright silver swords high in the air.

The cries of the troublemakers reached their peak at this moment.

Some people are still begging for mercy.

Others have accepted the coming end, stopped making any sound, closed their eyes, lowered their heads, and stretched their necks so that the executioner behind them could have a more convenient angle to draw the knife.

"Do it!"

7 silver threads splashed down.

7 heads fell to the ground.

The world suddenly became quiet.

Those cries, those begging for mercy, all disappeared without a trace in an instant.

Looking at the seven headless bodies that had lost their vitality and slipped forward to the ground due to inertia, the team members who had watched the entire execution process could not help but feel sad and sad.

There is an air of fear all around

Qingdeng's expression remained indifferent.

After glancing at the heads lying on the ground, he turned around and faced the soldiers.

Seeing that Qingdeng seemed to have something to say, the team members all stood up straight and cheered up.

"Everyone, some of you seem to have misunderstood something."

"The Shinsengumi are not just a happy-go-lucky tourist group! They are an army!"

"Since we are an army, we should enforce orders and prohibitions!"

"Whatever the superiors ask you to do, you do it."

"Don't challenge the majesty of the superiors, let alone the authority of the 'Shinsengumi Code'!"

"I made it clear before I left Edo, right?"

"If any of the rules in the 'Shinsengumi Code' are violated, the consequences will be death! Either be beheaded in public, or be executed directly on the spot!"

"I said I would let you die, and I will definitely let you die, without exception!"

"Keep in mind the blood tonight! Take these 7 people as a lesson and don't follow in their footsteps!"

"This is my first time killing a subordinate...I hope this will be my last."

"Disband!"

After finishing speaking, Qingdeng left without any hesitation, leaving everyone at the scene looking at each other.

After a while, the cadres and soldiers dispersed in twos and threes.

"..."

The Souji looked thoughtfully at Ayoto's retreating figure.

Then, as if she had made up her mind, she followed quietly.

…

…

Qingdeng walked slowly on the corridor back to his room.

Abruptly, behind him there was the sound of the floor being stepped on, a "creak" sound coming from far and near.

He didn't look back - because he could recognize who it was just by the sound of his footsteps.

"Xiao Si, is something wrong?"

Since there were no outsiders present, he directly called each other by their nicknames.

After Souji caught up with Aoden, the two walked side by side.

"..."

The girl did not speak immediately.

Instead, after a moment of silence, he lightly opened his red lips and said slowly with a worried look on his face:

"Tachibana-kun, implementing the 'noisy success or failure' rule so brutally...is this really okay?"

Noise leads to success or failure - one of Japan's traditional criminal laws, that is, for those who "make a noise" (meaning a dispute or violent conflict between two people in Japanese), both parties to the conflict must be punished, regardless of who is right or wrong.

Both the Muromachi period (1336-1573) and the Warring States period adopted the law of success or failure as the principle of arbitration.

After the Edo period, although there was no explicit provision in the royal decree, the law of success or failure has become a customary law and continues to survive.

For a long time, people have generally believed that "noisy success or failure" is an unreasonable and evil method, and they are deeply abhorred.

Qingdeng's expression was very calm, as if he had long expected that the commander-in-chief, who had a gentle temperament and did not like fighting, would come to question him.

After the Chief's words fell, he said in a faint tone:

"...Xiao Si, I used to think that 'noisy success or failure' is a very ruthless system."

"However, it wasn't until I climbed to the high position I am today that I finally realized that this seemingly ruthless system that has been passed down for hundreds of years has its subtleties."

"For a strict organization like the military that never tolerates disobedience, 'regulation and chaos' should be its focus compared to 'good and evil'."

"No matter who started it, no matter who made the bigger mistake, as long as they are involved in the private fight, they will all be punished."

"Only in this way can everyone be scared, and the seeds of trouble can be nipped in their infancy to the greatest extent, so that everyone has to calm down and weigh their own weight before making trouble."

"It's still the old topic - although our team members all have good physical fitness and martial arts skills, it still can't change the fact that they are still a bunch of untrained rabble."

"The team members have different accents, have different educations, and hold different ideas."

"Some of the soldiers are supporters of the shogunate."

"The emotions of some soldiers tend to be towards the imperial court."

"Some soldiers respected both the king and the minister, and believed that the Kyoto court and the Edo shogunate were both indispensable and important entities."

"There are also some soldiers who don't care about the rise and fall of the shogunate and the imperial court. As long as they have money, they are willing to work for any family."

"The tense situation and tight time do not allow me to leisurely run into the team."

"I am not a god. My eyes cannot distinguish between good and evil."

"If possible, I would also like to make every decision and every punishment within the organization fair and just."

"But obviously, the current me and the current Shinsengumi do not have such ability."

"In order to transform this immature team into a well-disciplined powerhouse as soon as possible, I can only impose heavy penalties."

"So, if a similar situation occurs in the future, I will still adopt the same cruel approach."

After hearing this, the general manager immediately said:

"Mr. Ju, I don't want to scold you. I understand all the things you said. I'm just worried... whether such strict rules and regulations will separate people's hearts."

"No."

Qingdeng replied in a decisive tone.

“Strict discipline and cruel punishment will never lead to separation of people’s hearts—lack of food and salary will.”

"With food, wages and discipline, even in the face of unfavorable situations and powerful enemies, we can maintain order and strong combat effectiveness."

"But if there is no food and salary, no matter the discipline, no matter the authority of the chief, everything will become a castle in the air."

"Having sufficient food and pay is equivalent to having a strong military morale."

"Whenever your food and salary are cut off, even if you treat your soldiers as ancestors, no one will be willing to pay your bills again."
To be continued...