Qingdeng's thunderous wind caused Yuan Shenqi to be stunned for a moment.

After regaining consciousness, he immediately said:

"Yes, yes! Please come with me!"

As he spoke, he turned sideways and made a "please" gesture to Qingden.

Hijikata Toshizo followed closely beside Aoto.

The two of them strode toward the depths of the village, closely surrounded by the heads of families of "thousands of people and ten families."

Judging from the appearance, Yuan Shenqi is about 42.3 years old, in his prime.

Although his beard and hair are half white, he is full of energy, his face is glowing red, his breath is long, and his steps are steady and powerful. You can tell at a glance that he is a martial arts practitioner.

The Eight Princes' Thousand People are divided into 10 groups, that is, 10 troops.

The "Ten Families of Thousands of People" serve as commanders of these 10 troops respectively.

Although nominally speaking, the status of the "Top Ten Families of a Thousand People" is equivalent, in fact, their actual status is slightly different.

Their family income ranges from 200 to 500 shi, which is an enviable figure considering the average level of local wealthy families.

Among them, the one with the richest family income and the highest status belongs to the original family.

Therefore, the original family often plays the role of the talker of "ten families among a thousand people".

Suddenly, Qingdeng asked Yuan Shenqi:

"Mr. Yuan, you... no, how many troops do we have currently?"

Yuan Shenqi replied without thinking:

"We currently have a total of 2,173 adults of suitable age!"

"If we bite the bullet during wartime, we can mobilize approximately 2,500 warriors."

2,500 troops... This is much more than Qingdeng expected.

It is said that "thousands of people work together", but its scale cannot remain unchanged forever.

After more than two hundred years of reproduction and reproduction, their total military strength has naturally exceeded a thousand people.

Qingdeng then asked:

"How much grain do we have in storage right now? How much fodder? How many horses?"

Yuan Shenqi’s response was still swift:

"We currently have a total of 3,282 stones of grain stored, 1,547 stones of fodder, and 82 horses, including 51 pack horses and 31 rideable war horses."

"Where are the weapons?"

"4145 knives, 1389 side swords, 357 three-room guns, 28 longbows, and 12 iron cannons."

Having said this, Yuan Shenqi turned sideways and winked at someone behind him.

This person was quite eye-catching. After noticing the other person's eyes, he immediately picked up the black book in his hand and handed it to Yuan Shenqi with both hands.

This is an incredibly thick leather book.

At first glance, it looked like a city brick. The cover was badly damaged and the paper was yellowed.

Yuan Shenqi changed hands and handed this large book to Qingdeng.

"Lord Nioh, this is our account book since January last year. Please take a look at it."

Qingdeng reached out to take it, spread it out, flipped the pages, and read quickly.

Under the combined influence of his talents of "concentration" and "photographic memory", his reading speed and digestion speed are extremely fast.

While he was watching, he continued to question Yuan Shenqi - the talent of "fighting left and right", activated - effortlessly multitasking.

The questions he asked covered all aspects.

From annual training time to daily eating habits.

From the harvest situation in recent years to whether there are strangers wandering here with strange behavior in recent days.

Faced with all kinds of strange questions raised by Qingdeng, Yuan Shenqi answered them accurately and calmly.

At the same time that Qingdeng finished asking questions, the account book in his hand also turned to the last page.

"...Well, thank you for your hard work."

Qingdeng gave Yuan Shenqi a look of praise, and his facial lines relaxed slightly.

Regarding Yuan Shenqi... no, Qingdeng was very satisfied with the current performance of "Thousand Heads and Ten Companies".

He was used to seeing the shogunate bureaucrats living and enjoying life, and he was also used to seeing their incompetence.

It has been a long time since he met such an official who is willing to do practical work and neither plays football nor does Tai Chi. It really surprised him and he was not used to it.

Not to mention anything else, just this thick account book with detailed records is enough to show the carefulness and attentiveness of "Ten Families of Thousands of People".

The contents in the account books are recorded in very detailed and professional terms.

When the grain, grass and weapons were put into the warehouse and when they were taken out of the warehouse; how much grain was left last month and how much grain was used this month... everything was recorded clearly.

Any question that is thrown...even if it is a very tricky question, Yuan Shenqi, as the "talker", can answer it immediately.

It's obvious - they are not mediocre people who sit on their backs and eat nothing.

They are indeed managing thousands of people with one mind seriously.

At this time, the group of people had reached the depths of the village.

Gray-brown hay roofs, dark stone brick walls, compacted dirt roads, intermittent grinding sounds...

Qingdeng turned around and looked carefully at the closely arranged cottages on the left and right sides, one next to another.

It has a roof, walls, and windows that do not leak air... Judging from the average rural standards of this era, this is already a fairly wealthy village.

The number of villagers I met along the way gradually increased, and they were basically old, weak, women and children.

At this time, the young men are either farming in the fields or honing their military skills in the martial arts field.

Seeing Qingdeng and others, the villagers along the way consciously stepped back to the roadside, saluting respectfully while quietly looking at Qingdeng.

"Which one is Nioh-sama?"

"Of course it's the most conspicuous one."

"So tall... He is worthy of being a warrior capable of defeating a thousand people."

"I never thought that we would one day fight side by side with the legendary 'Nioh' Tachibana Aoden."

"Under the leadership of the benevolent king, we will surely achieve great achievements."

Qingto has a decisive influence in the Kanto region.

Hachioji is located in the hinterland of Kanto and is deeply influenced by Edo culture.

Therefore, the thousands of disciples who work together naturally deeply admire Qingdeng.

Qingdeng silently swept his gaze and observed the villagers around him in detail.

Gradually, as if he noticed something, he frowned quietly.

…

…

Not long after, under the leadership of Hara Shenqi, Qingto and Hijikata Toshizo arrived at a large flat open space behind the village.

In the open space, hundreds of young men carrying bamboo spears were arranged in a crooked square formation, looking ahead, ready to go.

A middle-aged man holding a military paraphernalia in his hand stood at the back of the military formation.

Suddenly, he raised his military equipment in the palm of his hand and shouted loudly:

"prick!"

The next moment, the young men in the array let out chaotic roars while thrusting their spears straight into the air.

Immediately afterwards, the middle-aged man turned the military accessories in his hand and shouted again:

"Change!"

After receiving the new instructions from the middle-aged people, the young men immediately put away their bamboo spears and started running in a chaotic order, spreading into two groups and moving to the left and right sides respectively - it was the classic "Crane Wing Formation"

.

In order to build the Shinsengumi, Aomori made a rough study of the military strategies of various schools in Japan in order to collect inspiration.

Therefore, Seito recognized them at just one glance: they were practicing the Koshu style of war.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogunate of the shogunate, was violently beaten by Takeda Shingen (the original war between the three parties).

When Tokugawa Ieyasu was running away in a hurry, he even pulled his pants on the saddle. After being discovered, in order to relieve his embarrassment (he had a tough talk), he said that this was not shit, but miso soup, which became a "good story".

Perhaps because he was convinced, Tokugawa Ieyasu has always admired the Takeda family's art of war...that is, the Koshu-ryu art of war.

After the demise of the Takeda family, Tokugawa Ieyasu actively absorbed Takeda's remaining ministers, actively learned the Koshu style of war, and realized the "Takedaization" of the Tokugawa army.
To be continued...