I formed the strongest swordsman group

Moles are rodents that are good at digging holes. They live in caves during the day and come out to hunt insects at night.

The mole's habit of being good at hiding itself and coming out at night has given it an additional meaning of "spy" in the context of modern countries, that is, a "spy" hidden in the opponent's system.

In modern entertainment works, the process of gathering intelligence is always designed like this——

A handsome guy with an imposing manner or a beautiful girl with a curved front and back, sneak into the enemy camp alone, rely on their extraordinary skills and long-sleeved dance skills to tease the enemy, and finally get the confidential documents from the safe or somewhere else.

The more low-key ones are to hide quietly under the floor or above the ceiling, eavesdropping on the important conversations of the other party's senior management.

Speaking of which, Qingden had used this simple and unpretentious reconnaissance method not long ago.

When the Kusunoki Group was annihilated, he sent Mai Kinoshita to sneak into the Kusunoki Team's base camp and find out the general structure of its mansion.

Thanks to Kinoshita Mai's outstanding performance, the subsequent overall attack became much easier.

There are also some works that cannot be described in detail, but they are fond of describing the seduction techniques of female spies and female ninjas, as well as the imprisonment and punishment suffered after the seduction fails... Regarding this aspect, I will not mention it for now.

After being exposed to these entertainment works, people who are not familiar with the world always think that this is how intelligence is collected, and then have unrealistic fantasies about spies unilaterally - a life of nine deaths, dangerous and handsome, living every day A hard life with death as your neighbor.

In fact, gathering intelligence is indeed quite dangerous. If you are not careful, your life may be in danger. It is true that you live a hard life with death next to you every day, but it is definitely not related to handsomeness.

This crude method of "directly sending people to steal information by force" can only bully the weak.

As long as there is a strict organization, these people who come to steal information will never come back.

To give a simple example: If Aoden sends Mai Kinoshita to infiltrate Edo Castle, she will definitely die.

Edo Castle was a military fortress that the shogunate spent a lot of money and mobilized the world's top craftsmen to carefully build. It was not an ordinary palace.

Regardless of the level of defense provided by day and night police patrols, the "の"-shaped city structure alone can be intimidating.

If you want to enter the core Honmaru, you must first cross the moat, then cross the Ninomaru, Ichinomaru, and finally cross an inland river... What ninja can have such ability?

Not to mention mere ninjas, even a 100,000-strong army cannot enter Edo Castle as long as our own side and the other side do not have the support of heavy firepower!

However, even an impregnable fortress is always fragile on the inside.

Therefore, burying "mole rats" is the mainstream method of collecting intelligence.

In other words, real intelligence gathering is actually very boring.

First, look for someone to win over among the enemy forces.

After finding the person, he made an offer that the other person could not refuse - and a brand new "mole" was born.

The next step is to have the "Mole" provide confidential information on a regular basis.

Generally speaking, "mole" is only responsible for providing information, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, just providing information.

As for the subsequent intelligence analysis and intelligence utilization, it is left to the decision-makers to worry about it slowly.

This will test the wisdom and courage of decision-makers.

Analyzing intelligence is often more important than gathering it.

Of course, there are also extremely high-end ways to bury "mole".

For example, the KGB during the Cold War often spent several years, or even more than ten years, cultivating a super agent who was proficient in the languages ​​of various countries, had both civil and military skills, and had extraordinary courage.

Then, the identity of someone who really exists in the world - such as a young British man named Tom who was killed in the battlefield but whose household registration was lost due to the war - is placed on this agent.

In this way, a legal British citizen named Tom was born. He has a pure British accent, a completely flawless household registration, and he is a pure British person from the inside out.

Even if the opposing forces wanted to thoroughly investigate this "Tom", they could not find anything wrong with his life experience.

Regarding "how to build an intelligence agency from scratch", Qingdeng still has a lot of experience.

After all, he can be considered a member of the intelligence agency.

To this day, he still retains his status as a new banshi.

Although it is not quite accurate to classify Xinyutingban as an intelligence agency.

In essence, the new imperial ban is more like the personal guard of Tokugawa Iemo and Tenzouin. The selected bans are all confidants and confidants of the mother and son.

But no matter what, during the period of frequent visits to Tsukinomiya Shrine, Aoto learned a lot of important knowledge related to espionage.

After careful consideration, Qingdeng decided to take a two-pronged approach!

I want them all!

Not only raise ninjas, but also bury "moles"!

On the one hand, the members of the ninth team are trained into qualified ninjas.

On the other hand, they looked for targets to win over among neutral forces and enemy forces such as the Satsuma Clan, the Choshu Clan, the Tosa Kinnoi Party, and the imperial ministers, and turned them into "moles."

The former was left to Kinoshita Mai.

She is a rare female ninja who has both sufficient theoretical knowledge and rich practical experience.

Who else would give this task to her?

As for the latter, it will be handled by Yataro Iwasaki.

As the president of the newly elected chamber of commerce, due to the needs of the mission, Iwasaki Yataro must frequently go out and come into contact with all kinds of people.

After going back and forth, he has a broad network of contacts, which makes it easier to find those suitable to be attracted.

Yataro Iwasaki was only responsible for finding characters.

As for the subsequent identification of whether these people are worthy of being won over and how to transform them into "moles", it is the responsibility of Aoto himself and Mai Kinoshita.

At first, when faced with the appointment of "training ninjas" given by Aoto, Kinoshita Mai, who is introverted, shy, and very socially afraid, firmly refused.

She shook her little head like a rattle and said at a high speed:

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! How can I be a teacher!"

To this, Qingden replied calmly:

"I don't need the kind of jounin who can throw shurikens, can fight one against a hundred, and is proficient in illusion, invisibility, fire breathing and other spells."

"I just need a group of genin who are agile and can fly over walls."

"In other words, you don't need to teach them those advanced skills. You only need to teach them how to run faster, how to jump across the room, and how to hide their aura. That's enough."

"Having these three skills is enough."

After Qingto's hard persuasion, Kinoshita Mai finally bit the bullet and accepted the task.

Soon, the "Ninjutsu Class" led by the "Female Ninja" Mai Kinoshita officially started!

On the day the class started, Souji, Sanako and others came to observe and join in the fun.

The first lesson for the members of Division 9 was not professional knowledge such as running postures or jumping tips, but learning to listen to Mai Kiyoshita's voice as soft as a mosquito.

"This... um... this... the secret to... uh... moving on the roof... is... just... to lower your body... to step lightly... if, if you step on it... um... Well... the tiles on the roof... are not only easy to cause... physical imbalance... but also easy... uh... this... to be discovered by others..."

Although the process is difficult, Qingto believes that under the leadership of Mai Kinoshita, the ninth team can definitely become a qualified ninja force.

…

…

Recruit troops, build racecourses, expand logistics supplies, establish cavalry and intelligence agencies...

A dizzying workload.

The so-called taking care of everything every day is nothing more than this.

Despite the busy schedule, in the "Sleeping God", "Photographic Memory", "Gathering God", "Strengthening Essence +4", "Yuan Yang +4", "Shen Brain +9", "Locked Blood +7" With the blessing of these talents, Qingdeng showed the spirit of a super scroll king!

If there is a "best model worker in the country" in Japan nowadays, Aoshinobu is absolutely capable of beating the crowd and winning this award with certainty.

Since the start of the major construction of the Shinsengumi, Seito has basically been working on a 48-hour basis, sleeping only once every two days.

Let’s take his itinerary for a certain day as a demonstration——

Correcting documents in the early morning.

After dawn, I went to the racecourse to check the construction status of the racecourse and the training level of the cavalry team, and also to confirm when the next few batches of war horses would arrive in Beijing.

At noon, while nibbling on a cold rice ball and making do with today's lunch, he went straight to the "Kyoto Recruitment Point" on the east bank of the Kamogawa River, met with Kondo Isamu, and personally inquired about the progress of the recruitment.

In the afternoon, he went to the Shinseng Chamber of Commerce and carefully checked the accounts of the Shinseng Chamber of Commerce. During this period, he took the time to take a look at Kinoshita Mai's "Ninjutsu Classroom".

Immediately afterwards, he returned to his room and reviewed the documents squeezed out today until night.

After dinner, he held a small meeting with Shannan Keisuke to discuss expanding logistics supplies.

As the size of the force increases, the logistical pressure also doubles - and it doubles geometrically.

The difference in difficulty between feeding a hundred mouths and feeding three thousand mouths can be described as a world away.

In an extremely serious tone, Shannan Keisuke said to Aoto: "Tachibana-kun, it's time to try to fill the vacancy of 'chief'."

The chief of the office is the highest officer of the finance office, one of the "four chiefs", and his administrative status is equivalent to that of the deputy chief, director and general chief.

The Finance Office, as the name suggests, is responsible for the finance and logistics of the Shinsengumi.

In ancient Japan, mathematics was an absolutely rare skill.

Because of the emphasis on literature over theory, there are many liberal arts talents who are proficient in Sinology and can memorize the Four Books and Five Classics.

But science and engineering talents who are proficient in mathematics are really rare.

Mathematics is a fundamental skill in finance.

It is impossible for people who do not understand mathematics to be qualified for financial work.

In ancient Japan, most people were unable to understand even the most basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division due to the lack of basic education.

Anyone who knows how to make an abacus and master basic arithmetic can find a bookkeeping job in some small shops.

What's more, in addition to accounting, the director of the Shinsengumi also has to take care of logistics.

Compared with finance, logistics is even more complicated.

The inflow and outflow of food, weapons, ordnance and other materials; how to mobilize transportation capacity; how to send materials from the rear to the front line of the battlefield... Just looking at it is dizzying.

In short, the head of the Shinsengumi must have certain financial management and management talents, as well as a hard-working spirit.

Talents of this level are really hard to find even with a lantern!

Since the establishment of the Shinsengumi, the position of chief has been vacant, and its work is basically carried out concurrently by Aoshinobu, with Shannan Keisuke also being asked to help from time to time.

However, as the "Grand Recruitment" unfolds, Aoden and Shannan Keisuke's jobs will inevitably become more and more arduous.

They will definitely become increasingly overwhelmed with the work of the room chief.

Moreover, neither Qingdou nor Shannan Keisuke are experts in economics, so they cannot be allowed to continue to lead the way blindly - giving blind orders.

The scale of the Shinsengumi is not yet large, and the financial and logistical work is not too arduous, so the two of them can barely cope with it.

But in the future, when the Shinsengumi's strength increases to 5,000, 10,000, or even tens of thousands, if it remains like this, there will definitely be a big problem!

After listening to Shannan Keisuke's suggestion, Qingden nodded seriously:

"Well, I understand. I will take time out later to try to find talents who are qualified for the position of room director."

After a small meeting with Shannan Keisuke, Qingteng returned to the room and went to give instructions on the documents. He just bowed his head in front of the case until dawn...

While presiding over so many important tasks at the same time, he can still manage them in an orderly manner.

While boldly delegating power, we also firmly hold on to the power of supervision.

Apart from the hundreds of millions of help from the talent system, it must be said that the days when he served as a side official and an employee of the imperial government indeed laid a solid foundation for Qingden's current military and political management.

Just when Qingdeng was so busy that he wished he could borrow the cat's paws, an unexpected incident distracted his time and energy.

This unexpected incident is not a military matter related to the Shinsengumi, but an extremely important political event - the day of Tokugawa Iemo's arrival in Luka has been determined!

On April 20, General Tokugawa Iemo, the general who conquered the barbarians, led a group of senior shogunate officials including the post-shogunate Yoshiki Hitotsubashi, political president Matsudaira Harugaku, Lao Naka Mizuno Tadayoshi, Lao Naka Itakura Katsushige, etc., along Tokai Street. Head west to Kyoto.

The general went to Luo... This was the first time in 229 years since the third generation of general Tokugawa Iemitsu went to Luo in the eleventh year of Kanei (1634 AD), the Tokugawa generals went to Luo again! A major political event destined to leave a mark in history!

As early as several months ago, the imperial court, which was held hostage by Choshu, continued to put pressure on the shogunate and issued several edicts in succession, requiring Tokugawa Iemo to immediately fulfill his duties as a "barbarian general" and expel foreign barbarians. Go to Luo and discuss the great cause of repelling the foreigners with the court in person.

In the eyes of knowledgeable people, these demands of the court are simply unreasonable!

Regardless of whether the general goes to Luo, it is absolutely impossible to fight against the barbarians.

Japan is an island country with a long and narrow territory, and important cities such as Edo, Osaka, and Nagasaki are located in the coastal areas.

Especially Edo and Osaka.

Edo Bay and Osaka Bay, with their open water and gentle currents, are perfect places to dock fleets.

The Western powers randomly dispatched fleets to the coastal areas, and cities such as Edo and Osaka were within their shooting range.

Although limited by the level of technology, even today's most advanced warships do not have much power in their guns, and their accuracy is even worse. However, Japanese houses are also very fragile nowadays.

Not to mention buildings made of cement, stone houses are very rare, and they are basically sloppy bungalows built of wood.

As long as the right time, place and people cooperate, a single spark can burn down most of the city.

If a thousand or ten thousand shells were fired...then cities such as Edo and Osaka would disappear in one night.

Facing the thousands of artillery fire from the Western fleet, the shogunate was unable to even mount a decent counterattack, let alone resist.

We can't expect the samurai to row small boats to attack the armored warships and "capture the steamship in the sea", right?

All in all, resisting the barbarians is the way to death.

It is absolutely impossible for the general to go to Luo.

If Tokugawa Iemo goes to Kyoto, it will be equivalent to entering the opponent's home court, and the shogunate will definitely fall into a very passive situation.

However... disobeying the imperial decree is an act of transgression and a crime of disrespect.

Even if you want to excuse yourself, there is no way to argue.

Finally... Tokugawa Iemo could not bear the pressure and decided to officially go to Los Angeles on April 20.

This symbolizes both the power of the imperial court and the weakness of the shogunate.

Looking back on the past two hundred years, have the Tokugawa generals ever bowed to the imperial court?

Not only was the imperial court in conflict with the shogunate, it even relied on the shogunate for daily food and clothing expenses.

The salary paid by the shogunate to the court was very low. Even the emperor only had 10,000 koku, which was not even as good as that of a small feudal lord in a remote area. Although it later increased to 30,000 koku, he still lived in poverty.

But now... the situation has changed, and the offensive and defensive trends are different.

Now that we have decided to go to Luo, we need to start making preparations.

Attendants, escorts...all have to be mobilized.

At this time, a group of guys who were all talking about "what's wrong" jumped out.

They brought out traditions, etiquette and so on, and unanimously believed that in order to show the spirit of the general who conquered the barbarians this time, the general should lead a large formation of three thousand people!

The security-related expenses for accompanying the general to Luo were 130,000 taels of gold, and the accommodation along the way was 80,000 taels of gold, plus the food expenses for 3,000 people...roughly calculated, the total cost of going to Kyoto was more than 1 million taels of gold!

This fee only covers the outbound journey and does not include the return journey.

Use 1 million taels of gold as travel expenses!

It was just a trip to Kyoto, and the distance was only from Edo to Kyoto, but it actually cost a full 1 million taels of gold!

When he learned this number, Qingdeng almost fainted.

The military expenditure the Shinsengumi received when they went to Luo was only a mere 3,000 taels of gold!

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PS: In fact, you can find that Qingdeng is not a self-taught genius. Building cities, setting up camps, fighting wars, and establishing espionage networks... these advanced skills were all learned bit by bit from his past work. .