"Please, is Tachibana Aoden-sama here?"

The young man asked Kinoshita Mai in this brisk voice while showing Kinoshita Mai the inrō of the shrine in his hand.

"I'm from Kitabansuo! I'm looking for Lord Tachibana Aoden!"

"Huh?" Kinoshita Mai was startled.

Kiryu, who had just entered the back room, turned back to the front hall because he heard strange noises in the front hall.

"Who are you?" Kiryu frowned at the young man.

"I'm from the Kitabansuo! I'm looking for Tachibana Aoden-sama!" The young man repeated what he just said loudly, "Is Tachibana Aoden-sama here?"

…

…

Edo, Kanda Ogawa Town, on a certain street——

"If there is any sushi that is the most delicious... then it has to be salmon sushi." As Harada said, he plucked out a nose hair protruding from his nostril, and then flicked it to his side.

"Ah, I feel the same way." Nagakura agreed, "I also think salmon sushi is the most delicious."

"Then our food tastes are quite similar." Harada laughed, "Mr. Tachibana, what about you? What kind of sushi do you think is the best?"

"Me? The most delicious sushi..." Qingto pondered for a moment, "Eel sushi. But it's not so much that I like to eat eel sushi, it's more that I like to eat eel."

"Oh, the eel sushi is indeed very good. I know there is a shop where the grilled eel tastes great. I will take you to try it next time I have the opportunity."

Ainoto and others decided to have a sushi dinner at noon today, and led the way to a certain sushi restaurant that Harada said was quite delicious.

Nagakura, Harada, and Toudo just met each other today.

Aoto and Saito had just met Harada and Toudou. Although they had met Nagakura before, they only had a brief relationship with him.

Although they were not very familiar with each other, they had a lively conversation on the way to the sushi restaurant.

The reason is that both Nagakura and Harada are very familiar people. They have been very proactive in finding topics to chat along the way, so that the atmosphere among everyone is not too boring.

"I have worked in this place before." Harada pointed around, "I worked as a bodyguard for a merchant here for a period of time, so I am quite familiar with this area! I know how many trees there are in this area.

Got it!"

"Huh? Here..." Todo, who was walking beside Harada, seemed to recall something at this time. He raised his head and looked around, "Here... I have some impression. I remember that the martial arts school is nearby here?"

"

"Yes." Harada replied, "The martial arts school is located here. Look, the large house in front is the martial arts school!"

Ayoto looked in the direction pointed by Harada's finger - just in front of them, there stood a rather large building complex.

"That's the martial arts school there..." Qingdeng murmured, "This is the first time I've seen it."

Six years ago, the Edo shogunate, who was deeply aware of the power of Western powers, opened a school in 1854 that not only taught traditional martial arts, but also gunnery and Western-style military affairs in order to consolidate national defense.

This military academy is the "Martial Arts Institute".

The Edo shogunate has always been very concerned about the operation of this martial arts institute. It spent a lot of money to recruit famous teachers and devoted a lot of resources to continuously expand the scale of the martial arts institute...

In 1857, after the merger of the Military Academy and the Warship Drill Institute, which was specially used to train naval personnel, the Military Academy has now become a large military academy with both navy and army.

The Edo shogunate made great efforts to open a martial arts school, so naturally not just cats and dogs could study there.

Only Hatamoto's children can become students of the Kōbu School, which means that vassals from various vassal states, as well as imperial family members like Ayoto, are not qualified to go to the Kōwushō for further training.

Because the Jianwu Institute was outside the jurisdiction of Qingdeng's office and far away from where he lived, Qingdeng had never seen the full picture of this famous Jianwu Institute until now.

Qingdeng was not particularly interested in the martial arts academy. He looked at the door of the martial arts academy for a few times and then looked away.

However, suddenly - the heavy door of the martial arts school was suddenly pushed open slowly.

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged man, surrounded by several warriors who looked like bodyguards, was seen striding out of the martial arts academy along the pushed open door.

This middle-aged man is about forty years old, with a lean build, slightly dark skin, and gray hair on his temples. He has an ordinary appearance and an ordinary temperament. He is the kind of person who would not be able to find him if he were thrown into the sea.

type.

Logically speaking, such an ordinary-looking middle-aged man should not attract too much attention from Qingdeng and others.

But in fact, when this middle-aged man came out of the martial arts training center, his figure immediately attracted the attention of Qingdeng and his party.

It's not because there's anything special about this person's clothes or other parts of his body.

It's because this person is holding something very rare in Japan today - a globe.

This globe is very large, with a diameter of about 40cm. The middle-aged man held the globe tightly in his arms with both hands, as if holding some treasure.

Suddenly, a piece of cherry blossom petal stained with mud fell on the globe, blown by the breeze.

When the middle-aged man saw this, he immediately blew away the cherry blossom petal with a nervous look on his face, and then wiped the area on the globe that was stained by the cherry blossom petal just now with his sleeve.

A guard next to him opened his mouth and said something to him.

Although the distance was somewhat far away, Qingden could vaguely hear the guard seeming to ask the middle-aged man if he wanted to help him get the globe.

The middle-aged man waved his hands and moved his lips.

Although he couldn't hear what the middle-aged man said to his guard, Qingdeng guessed from his actions that this man was politely refusing the guard's request to "help get the globe."

Qingdeng always felt that this middle-aged man's face looked a bit familiar...

While Qingdeng was carefully studying the middle-aged man's face and thinking about where he had seen this middle-aged man, he suddenly heard Nagakura beside him mutter hesitantly:

"Struggling down the street with a globe in his arms... he couldn't be that Katsu Rintaro, right?"

Nagakura's muttering made the confusion and thinking look on Qingden's face instantly dissipate.

"Yes." Qingden showed a look of sudden realization, "I remembered... Nagakura, you guessed it right, this middle-aged man holding the globe is really the Rintaro Katsu."

As soon as Qingto finished speaking, everyone around him...including Saito, all changed their expressions slightly, and then they all focused their eyes mixed with surprise, curiosity and other emotions on the middle-aged man...that is, Katsurin Taro

on the body.

"He is the Katsurin Taro who is very loved and respected by the shogun now..." Todo said to himself.

Rintaro Katsu: One of the most dazzling rising political stars in recent years.

Anyone who pays a little attention to the recent political situation in Japan will basically know about this legendary figure who can be called a model of diaosi's counterattack.

Qingdeng's memory contains a lot of information about this person.

Katsurin Taro was born in a lower-level Hatamoto family. In this society with extremely strict hierarchical system, his family status could only be a minor official in the government.

However, this man just relied on his talent and luck to change his fate against the odds.

As early as 1841, before the Western powers invaded Japan, this man watched a Western-style artillery launch and gun array military exercise conducted by a certain gunnery expert, and realized that it was no longer about wielding swords and guns.

era, so he resolutely gave up swordsmanship and changed to learn military knowledge such as Western weapons and warships.

In 1853, after the black ship fleet of the United States "visited" Japan, the shogunate, which was at a loss in the face of the Western invasion, widely solicited opinions from the shogunate, the lords of the feudal lords and even the townspeople on the issue of coastal defense.

It was at this time that Rintaro Katsu, who had studied Western military for more than ten years, submitted a "Coastal Defense Opinion" to the Tokaku.

This opinion letter by Katsu Rintaro was greatly appreciated by Masahiro Abe, the leader of the old school who was in power at the time. He promoted Katsu Rintaro regardless of his family status.

Sheng Rintaro rose to prominence.

*******

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There were a lot of personal things yesterday, so today’s updates are a little less.
Chapter completed!