Orange House is located in the town center of Otsu.

As soon as one man and one cow left the house, they went up to the street, and tall gates and big houses spread out along the line of sight.

Compared to other areas in Otsu, the street scene in the center of the town feels like a world away.

The most obvious changes are undoubtedly "the buildings have become more beautiful" and "the number of samurai has suddenly increased".

Five out of ten people walking on the street and sitting in shops were wearing long and short swords on their waists.

After seeing the iconic big black bull, all the samurai along the way put down their work and hurried to the street, knelt down on the street, assumed the most standard Doge seat posture, and shouted loudly:

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

…

A louder "Lord" was heard, surrounding Qingdeng from all directions.

Yes, these warriors are all Qingdeng's retainers, that is, the nobles of the Qinjin clan.

Where there are people living together, there will definitely be the birth of classes - this is the truth of the world.

Except for a handful of idealists, most of the Shinsengumi's generals are ordinary humans who are greedy and long for fame and wealth.

The reason why they tuck their heads in their belts is to realize their dream of "getting fame on the fly", to become famous in one fell swoop, and to rise to great heights.

After Qingdeng established the vassal, all the heroes and generals of the Shinsengumi were eagerly looking forward to Qingdeng's enfeoffment.

On the other hand, "establishing the gentry of Qin and Jin" has also become Qingdeng's urgent priority.

No matter how powerful Qingdeng is, he cannot manage a huge territory of 300,000 people by himself.

He needed people to serve as officials of the Qinjin vassal.

He needs a group of loyal and trustworthy people to govern Qinjin with him.

As a result, under such a "two-way rush", shortly after the wedding, Qingdeng held a grand and grand ceremony to confer all the ministers.

Based on his position and merit, he promoted more than 200 people from the Shinsengumi group at one go - they thus transcended classes and became the original gentry of the Qinjin clan.

In order to show their status and protect the Tachibana family, all the nobles moved to the town center of Otsu.

Around Otsu Castle, where the foundation has been laid and walls started to be built, row upon row of magnificent buildings are spread out like a chessboard.

The higher the level of the nobles, the closer they lived to Otsu City.

To be honest... Qingdeng felt very uncomfortable with this kind of "artificial division of classes".

The education he received in his previous life was that "everyone is equal" and "elimination of exploitation and oppression".

Therefore, whenever he saw the picture of "everywhere he went, civilians would kneel on the ground", he would feel uncomfortable inside.

Of course, Qingdeng also understood very well: it is a rather naive behavior to talk about ambitious goals without actually being able to achieve productivity and the limitations of the times.

If you go against the will of nature, you may not only gain nothing, but also have a high probability of causing endless disasters.

As his own experience continues to grow, Qingdeng now realizes more deeply: no matter how fast or fierce the blade is, there are still many things that cannot be cut off.

Although he felt heavy, he still chose to seek truth from facts, adapt measures to local conditions, and govern Qinjin with the traditional "Shiqing Shilu" that is most suitable for Japan today.

With reference to the systems of other vassal states, Qingdeng designed a complete hierarchy system for the gentry of the Qinjin vassal.

Under Qingdeng's design, the nobles of Qinjin Fan were divided into "three classes and ten levels".

The first level is [Master Attendant], which includes two levels: "family elder" and "middle elder".

"Family elders" enjoy a salary of 1,500-10,000 koku, are in charge of domestic affairs, and hold executive positions. They also serve as leaders of the main military and can use the name of the Tachibana family. Their relationship with Qingdeng is like the most trusted genealogy.

The relationship between daimyo and vassal daimyo is the same as that of shogun.

"Middle-aged" people enjoy a salary of 450-1,500 dan. They are candidates for some important official positions. Compared with distinguished family elders, they are usually closer to the implementation and implementation of policies.

The second level is [Sergeant], which includes three levels: "Mahui", "Jinxi", and "Liubei".

"Mahui" enjoy a salary of 100-700 shi. The name comes from their location on the battlefield - around the daimyo camp. They serve as most of the leadership positions in the management.

"Jin Xi" enjoys a salary of 70,250 shi and land. He is responsible for serving the Malay Hui, most of whom are local officials.

The "left-behind residents" enjoy a salary of 50-200 shi and are responsible for serving recent Xi Jinping. They are mostly local officials and low-level officials.

The third class is "Pingshi", which includes five levels: "country scholar", "employee", "disciple", "group outside" and "ashigaru". They are all responsible for holding local grassroots positions.

"Rural scholars" enjoy a salary of 30-250 shi.

"Employers" enjoy a salary of 15-30 shi.

"Tushi" means "soldier who is not qualified to ride a horse" and enjoys a salary of 12-17 shi.

"Outside the group" enjoys a salary of 10 stone.

"Ashigaru" means "soldier on foot", and their income is barely enough to ensure that they will not starve to death, only enough to make ends meet.

The Shinsengumi generals who were the first to follow Ayoto...that is, the senior ministers headed by the "Tsukeikan Faction" were all awarded the rank of Master Attendant, namely "Jia Lao" and "Middle Lao".

Among them, Hijikata Toshizo and Shannan Keisuke are the ones with the highest status.

So far, only the two of them are the "family elders" of Qinjin Fan.

Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Ichi and others are still just "middle-aged" people.

As the most powerful people under Aoto, Hijikata Toshizo and Shannan Keisuke hold great power with both hands.

The positions they hold within Qinjin Domain are no different from the positions they hold in the Shinsengumi.

The former was in charge of the "military" of the vassal state and was in charge of military affairs, similar to the Taiwei.

The latter was in charge of the "wen" of the vassal state and in charge of political affairs, similar to the prime minister.

From a certain point of view, Toshizo Hijikata is the most inspiring person in the Shinsengumi besides Aoto.

Among the generals, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito and others were renounced ronin without any position, salary or fixed residence, but their social status was still that of samurai.

In fact, Qingdeng's starting point is very high and has nothing to do with any "waste comeback".

Born into a royal family, he enjoys a family fortune of hundreds of dollars, a stable and high-paying job, and can eat white rice every day - such family conditions have surpassed more than 90% of his peers!

On the other hand, Hijikata Toshizo was just a farmer and was not even qualified to carry a sword.

Although he usually hangs his beloved sword Izumimori Kanesada on his waist unscrupulously, his behavior is actually illegal.

However, because he was the deputy chief of the Shinsengumi, no one dared to pursue him.

From a peasant, the notorious "Thorn Wicked Boy", he rose to become the captain of a vassal...

In the eyes of ordinary people, this is another perfect example of achieving "the carp leaps over the dragon's gate" and "getting fame right away"!

After Hijikata Toshizo's deeds spread, more and more people came to Seito, eager to become a member of the Shinsengumi.

It is worth mentioning that among the Shinsengumi generals, the only one who accepted Aoto's enfeoffment was Isamu Kondo.

Tama is adjacent to Edo and is the Ten Territory of the Shogunate.

Affected by this, coupled with the factors of folk customs, Tama people have always had a strong sense of pride and are proud of their status as "tenling people" and "ministers of the shogunate".

As a Tama native, Kondo Isamu has always been a die-hard supporter of the shogunate and was unwilling to give up his status as a "minister of the shogunate".

Although Qingdeng extended an olive branch to him, he politely declined.

In other words, his current status is still that of a "kid" temporarily lent to Aoto by the shogunate, and he is not Aoto's direct retainer.

Regarding Kondo Isamu's choice, Aoto did not interfere, but chose to respect and understand it.

Even though Kondo Isamu was not his retainer, Seito still entrusted him with important tasks and made him responsible for the security and surveillance work in the domain.

…

…

Otsu, suburbs, Shinsengumi headquarters——

After nearly an hour's trek, Qingteng arrived at the Shinsengumi headquarters in the western suburbs of Otsu on time.

With the formal establishment of Qinjin Fan, Qingdeng had a base area that belonged only to him in the true sense.

In this way, the Shinsengumi's eastward move has become imperative. (Otsu is located east of Kyoto)

Although in name, the Shinsengumi was the new army directly under the shogunate, in reality, the Shinsengumi was Seito's private army.

Since Aoshito concurrently served as the eighth prince last year, Tokugawa Iemo has promised to allocate 20,000 taels of military expenditure to the Shinsengumi every year.

This amount of money may seem like a lot, but for an army...and an army that has already realized the use of firearms and modernization, it is simply a drop in the bucket.

The Shinsengumi's food and salary mainly depended on Ayoto's own financing.

He eats Qingdeng's food and receives Qingdeng's salary. On weekdays, he only sees Qingdeng, the general who conquered the barbarians. He is far away in the world and has never been seen before.

What's more, many generals are not from Tianling and have no sense of belonging to the shogunate.

In this way, the generals of the Shinsengumi naturally generally regarded Qingden as their supreme commander, and they saw him as an envoy but not as a general.

Since it is one's own private army, it is natural to deploy it in one's base area.
To be continued...