Therefore, out of all the above concerns, Seito specially made the recruitment of soldiers from the Edo side a key project of this recruitment plan.

Qingdeng had long expected that the number of people coming to apply would be as large as the crucian carp crossing the river.

Therefore, in order to ensure the quality of soldiers, he specially raised the recruitment standards to extremely high levels.

If you are not physically strong, don’t do it!

If you are not a good family man with a clean foundation, don’t do it!

Those who are good at martial arts will be given priority!

People with special skills, such as excellent eyesight and hearing, will be given priority!

Qingdeng felt like an unscrupulous capitalist.

If you don’t do it, others will!

The recruitment time set by Qingdeng was one month.

Use 1 month to recruit soldiers, then 2 months to train new recruits, and build a strong military force with strict military discipline within 3 months!

It's a pity that due to being troubled by Pepsi, Qingdeng really doesn't have the energy to "practice" like last time.

He was unable to compete with the applicants and lost an opportunity to gather his talents... This really made Qingden feel very regretful.

After Aoto handed over the recruitment matter to Hijikata Toshizo and Kondo Isamu, he started to deal with another important matter-the establishment of a cavalry team and an intelligence agency!

Qingdeng has been thinking about these two special forces for a long time.

Even people who don't understand military affairs at all know how important a highly mobile cavalry and an intelligence agency used to collect intelligence are.

You can't borrow troops from Aizu every time you encounter a war.

After going back and forth, this favor is not easy to repay.

Now is the time to assemble these two vital forces!

Speaking of which, Qingdeng just made a fortune recently.

Iga's great victory in the offensive and defensive battle not only created a majestic appearance, but also created the value of being invested and attracted.

In recent days, businessmen from Osaka, Kyoto and other places have rushed to Mibu Township to find Qingdeng, with smiles on their faces and mouths saying "Orange War Department".

The words "I admire you very much", "I have been friends with him for a long time", and I want to contribute my heart and soul to the Shinsengumi... In short, they are all words that are neither official nor civilian, and are both official and civilian.

To put it simply, the main idea is one sentence: "We are willing to contribute a sum of money to fund the Shinsengumi!"

After Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help but sneer secretly in his heart.

He dared to conclude that similar remarks must have been made to those in power in Satsuma, Changshu and other forces.

As long as the subject is changed, these "standard words" can be applied to anyone.

Businessmen pursue profits, and hedging their bets is their specialty. He knows the "way to survive in the world" better than Yan Shenggong.

But it’s not bad! There is money to be had anyway, and Qingden is happy to act with them.

Qingdeng curled up the corners of his mouth, put on a friendly smile, and started to play against the businessmen with ease.

With the blessing of the talent "Deceiver +1", and the experience accumulated while hanging around Sanako, Kinoshita Mai and Souji, Aoto has long honed the skills of talking to people and telling ghosts.

"Flexibility".

Afterwards, he received a "sponsorship" that far exceeded his expectations... a full 30,000 taels of gold!

The unit is "ten thousand"! The type is "gold"!

Osaka businessmen accounted for the majority of the investment.

It is a well-known fact that the merchants of Osaka are as rich as the country.

Ayoto has never been to Osaka, and his knowledge of Osaka merchants is limited to hearsay in the past.

After accepting the 30,000 gold, he finally understood why "the anger of the Osaka merchant shocked all the princes in the world."

At the same time, I also deeply realized how wide the gap between rich and poor in Japan is nowadays.

The bandit army led by Shibazaki Renjuro plundered most of Ise, and in total only squeezed a few thousand taels of gold from the people of Ise.

Whenever these wealthy businessmen make a move, the monetary unit is measured in "ten thousand taels"...

The social class of "scholars, farmers, industry and merchants" has disappeared.

Now that you have received an unexpected windfall, don’t waste it!

Qingdeng used all the 30,000 taels of gold to purchase war horses.

There are 8 kinds of native horses in Japan, and they are basically Mongolian horse breeds, generally showing a "low in the south and high in the north" situation.

The horses closer to the south are shorter and suitable for use as pack horses; the horses closer to the north are taller and suitable for use as war horses.

Kiso horses from Kai and Nanbu horses from Tohoku are the most suitable breeds for war horses.

During the Warring States Period, the horses used by the powerful Takeda Cavalry and Date Cavalry were Kiso horses and Nanbu horses respectively.

Speaking of the Northeast...isn't it a coincidence? Qingdeng happens to know a person who has some influence in the Northeast.

Aoto went to Kinkai Kokoji Temple (the Aizu Army's headquarters in Kyoto) in person, met with Matsudaira Yōho, and informed him of his plan to purchase horses.

The other party is indeed a cheerful person.

He not only introduced horse dealers in Northeast China to Qingdeng, but also presented 10 good horses to Qingdeng.

Immediately afterwards, Aomori contacted horse dealers in the Kai area through his own connections and purchased Kiso horses from them.

Japan is just a small island country, and its land area is only that big. Even the northeastern part of Japan, which is half a mile away from Gyeonggi, is not that far away.

So, not long after, Nanbu horses and Kiso horses from Tohoku and Kai entered the Shinsengumi camp one after another.

After the horses were in place, Qingdeng immediately launched a general selection across the entire army to select soldiers who knew how to ride a horse or were tall and suitable to be trained as cavalry.

Since a cavalry team is to be formed, a sufficiently spacious racecourse is required.

There isn't even a place for horse racing, so how about setting up a crappy cavalry team?

Building a racecourse in Rensheng Township... Regardless of the serious lack of space, the strong noise of the galloping horses is enough to attract unanimous complaints from all residents of Rensheng Township.

As a result, Seito spent a large sum of money to purchase a piece of flat wasteland in the southern suburbs of Kyoto.

Fortunately, real estate had not yet been invented in Japan in the 19th century, so it didn’t take much money to buy land or a house.

Of course, a racecourse alone is not enough.

A series of supporting facilities and logistics personnel such as stables, horse pastures, veterinarians, and breeders must all be put in place.

The cavalry is indeed the most expensive unit in the cold weapon era... The money spent on raising one cavalry is enough to raise several, or even a dozen, infantrymen.

By the way, under Qingdeng's compulsory requirement, all cadres including the captain of the Ba Dao Team and above must learn to ride a horse.

His order caused many people, including the General Secretary, to question - do those of us who only know swordsmanship need to learn riding skills? We can't even cut down the enemy while riding on horseback.

.

In this regard, Qingdeng's answer is simple: You don't have to use the skill "Riding", but you must have it! To put it harshly, if we lose the war one day in the future, knowing how to ride a horse can help you regain it.

One life.

In this way, in recent days, I can always see Souji and others practicing their riding skills hard at the racecourse.

The learning process for most people, including Nagakura Shinpachi and Saito Ichi, was relatively smooth.

After a few days, they were able to ride horses and gallop in a decent manner.

On the contrary, it was Souji and Mai Kinoshita... I don't know if these two live treasures were too untalented or something, but their screams echoed frequently in the racecourse...

…

…

In the southern suburbs of Kyoto, the Shinsengumi's racecourse——

Sanako raised his hands and held the reins of Souji and Mai Kinoshita's horses, one on the left and the other on the right.

"Miss Nako! Don't let go! You must not let go! If you let go, I will break off our relationship with you!"

The general secretary's hands tightly hugged the horse's neck, his legs tightly clamped the saddle, and his whole body was directly pinned to the horse's back.

Sanako comforted her with a look of helplessness:

"Don't worry, you won't be able to kill anyone if you fall from this height. At most, your arms, legs and feet will be broken."

The tearful Commander-in-Chief suddenly looked like he was about to cry.

"Wow! Aren't you scaring me more?!"

Kinoshita Mai on the side was not doing much better either.

Kinoshita Mai was seen lying directly on the saddle, like a cat curled up in a ball, with her two front paws buried under her body.

Seeing this, Sanako said angrily:

"Miss Kinoshita, are you trying to keep yourself warm? You can't ride while lying on the horse. Quickly, stretch out your hands and grab the reins, then stretch out your legs and step on the stirrups."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Let me slow down! Let me slow down! Ahhhhh! Don't move! If you move, the horse will move too!"
To be continued...