I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

"And the night when the lord of the Owari domain held a banquet in Nijo Castle happened to be the night when we stopped those lunatics from destroying Kyoto together."

"What happened in Nijo City after that, Mucun, you should also know."

"Nijo Castle was single-handedly breached by Ogata Itachi, the castle tower was directly burned, and all the Shiranuiri ninjas who guarded Nijo Castle that night were wiped out."

"The first big mission ended in such an unsightly ending. Shiranui Ri's ugly behavior in Kyoto this summer made almost everyone in the shogunate, including the general, extremely dissatisfied."

"There are many people in the shogunate who are extremely dissatisfied with the general's appointment of the ninja in Shiranui."

"After Shiranui's ugly appearance in Kyoto, the call for letting Shiranui's ninjas go back wherever they came from immediately increased a lot."

"The first time I performed a big task assigned by the shogunate, it ended in failure, and it was a big failure that was full of ugliness. The gang of ninjas in Shiranui were also anxious."

"After the Nijo Castle incident this summer, many vassals criticized the ninjas in Shiranui on the grounds that they were too weak to be used."

"In order to restore the lost reputation, Shiranui decided to send a ninja named Jitaro under their command to participate in the impending imperial trial."

"Take the first place in the military test in the imperial trial, and prove the strength of their Shiranui to those ministers who criticized them."

Hearing this, Mu Cun raised his eyebrows imperceptibly.

The information he heard from Hasegawa's mouth coincided with the information he and Asai Tonight found out from Ji Taro's mouth at Shikiya.

When Hasegawa swallowed his saliva and moistened his dry throat, Mucun took advantage of this gap to interject:

"I understand what happened in Shiranui."

"But does Shiranui have anything to do with what you just said, please ask me if you have something to do, and Ogata Yidaosai?"

"It's really related."

After saying this lightly, Hasegawa cleared his throat.

"Did I say that just now? There are quite a few vassals who are quite opposed to the inclusion of Shiranui Ri as a royal ninja."

"After learning that Shiranui intends to use the imperial trial to restore their reputation, these vassals who oppose Shiranui will naturally not sit idly by."

"And the way these vassals who opposed Shiranui came up with to prevent Ji Taro from getting a good ranking in the imperial trial is to send masters to participate in the imperial trial."

"Send a master to defeat Ji Taro in the Imperial Trial, and then Ji Taro will naturally not be able to get the first place in the martial arts test of the Imperial Trial."

"So the vassal who came up with this method approached me who was in charge of paying the thieves with fire."

Hasegawa raised his right index finger and pointed at himself.

While pointing at himself, Hasegawa showed a wry smile.

"The members of my Huofu Thief Kai are currently one of the few elites in Japan who have both superb skills and rich combat experience."

"It can even be said that the troops currently stationed around and defending Edo are not even as effective as my Huofu Bandit Kai."

"If you don't include Shiranui, who doesn't know the details, my Huofu Thief Kai is currently the strongest armed force in Edo. I am very confident about this."

Speaking of this sentence, Hasegawa's tone was slightly proud.

"A common problem among samurai nowadays is that they have only ever swung their dojo swords, not their real swords."

"Because of lack of actual combat experience, I have seen too many cases where the holders of the exemption who have only swung real knives in the air lose to the holders of the list who have tried to swing real knives at people."

"The vassals who oppose Shiranui also know that my Huofu Thief Kai is currently the most powerful armed force in Edo. The team members have actual combat experience that most samurai currently lack."

"So they came to me and asked me to send the most elite people under my command to participate in the imperial trial."

"They told me that if they can't find a suitable subordinate to participate in the imperial trial, they can still ask a trustworthy and powerful friend."

Hearing this, the messy balls of wool in Mucun's mind were combed one by one to form clear parallel lines.

Mucun finally understood the meaning of Hasegawa's initial sentence "I have something to ask Ogata Ichitosai".

"So that's how it is." Makimura let out a sigh of relief, "Are you planning to ask Brother Ogata and me to participate in the imperial trial?"

"That's right." Hasegawa nodded solemnly, "I have seen your skills in Mucun in Kyoto."

"I have seen a few masters who use the big sword."

"However, the masters of the Odachi I've seen are far inferior to you."

"And Ogata Ittosai is the most skilled swordsman I have ever seen in the past 45 years."

"Makimura, I won't hide it from you."

"I plan to use crowd tactics."

"Currently, most of the elite members of my Huofu Thief Kai are not in Edo because they went to the Northeast region to capture a vicious thief."

"Although most of the elite have left, there are still some people with fairly good strength staying in Edo."

"Among the subordinates currently staying in Edo, there are about 4 people who have good strength, have no important tasks recently, and are able to pass the first literary test in the imperial test."

Hasegawa stretched out 4 fingers.

"I plan to let my four subordinates all participate in the imperial trial."

"At the same time, I will ask some friends who can be asked, and their strength is quite good. Let these friends of mine also participate in the imperial trial."

"In a word, mobilize all the people I can mobilize to participate in the imperial test, and vow to prevent that Ji Taro from winning the first place in the imperial test."

After Hasegawa's words fell, Mucun couldn't help showing doubts on his face.

"It's better to let the subordinates participate in the imperial trial. You are their boss. As long as you give an order, they will definitely not dare to refuse."

"But if you ask your friends to participate in the imperial trial, you may owe a debt of favor."

"You don't hesitate to do this to make it impossible for that Jitaro to get the head of the military test in the imperial test, Mr. Hasegawa. Are you also a part of the shogun who opposes Shiranui?"

"I'm not one of the vassals against Shiranui."

Hasegawa shook his head.

"To be honest, I have always stayed away from this kind of political struggle."

"I don't care what happens in Shiranui."

"The reason why I did not hesitate to do this, but also to stop Shiranui's attempt to close in front of the imperial court, is purely because those vassals who opposed Shiranui offered me a reward that was hard to refuse."

"What?" Mu Cun put on a half-joking tone, "Did those people give you too much money?"

"I didn't give me any money." A helpless smile appeared on Hasegawa's face, "Makimura, do you know the Renzujichang I created?"

"I know." Mucun's face showed a bit of seriousness, "Before I gave up on being the capital of Kyoto, it was about 3 years ago. I heard about Hasegawa-sama you created People's feet are sent to the field."

"Honestly speaking, I have always thought that the Renzuyoriya that you established, Hasegawa-sama, is really great. There must be countless criminals who have been redeemed by your Renzuyongchang."

"Three years ago? That happened to be the time when I became the chief officer of the Huofu Thief Kai and started building the Renzu Depot."

"It's a pity." Hasegawa smiled wryly, "The operation of the Renzu Depot has been quite difficult these days."

"The old middle-aged man thinks that the income of my foot deposit is far lower than the cost, and it is a waste of money."

"So put pressure on me in a different way, and want me to shut down the Renzu Depot, and put all the money used to operate the Renzu Depot into the construction of the anti-thief thieves reform."

"I don't want to shut down the people's foot farm. I am also very distressed by the pressure that the elders put on me."

"And the vassals who opposed Shiranui promised me that as long as they can successfully prevent Ji Taro from winning the first place in the military test in the imperial test, they will lend a helping hand to me and help me run the Renzu Yoyojo together."

"There are many high-ranking and powerful people among these vassals. If I have their help, my pressure will definitely be much less."

"In order to allow Renzujiao to continue to operate smoothly, I also decided to go all out."

After that, Hasegawa let out a few self-deprecating chuckles.

"I understand the details of what happened." Mucun nodded, still clasping his arms around his chest, "Is this necessary to prevent Jitaro from winning the first place in the martial arts test?"

"Can't it be done in another way?"

"For example, doing tricks in the imperial trial."

"As far as I know, there are two trials in the imperial court, right?"

"Let's do the literary test first, and then the military test."

"Only those who pass the literary test can take the military test."

"You can try to use some tricks in the essay test."

"For example, deliberately giving Ji Taro some difficult exam questions."

"Let him fail the literary test, and he is not even qualified to participate in the military test."

As soon as Mu Cun finished speaking, Hasegawa shook his head.

"The trial match before the imperial court is personally organized by Mr. Matsudaira Sadanobu, who is an old middle school."

"For Shiranui, Matsudaira Sadanobu is neutral."

"Although I haven't paid much attention to this trial match before the imperial court, as far as I know, the old man attaches great importance to the trial joint before the imperial court. No one is allowed to mess up the trial match before the imperial court."

"There is an old middle-aged and adult guarding the gate, so it is impossible to prevent that Ji Taro from getting a good ranking in the imperial trial by tampering with it."

"Is that so?" Mucun raised his hand and scratched his hair with a helpless smile, "Master Hasegawa, you still want to ask me to participate in the imperial trial match?"

"I definitely won't be able to participate in the imperial trial."

"I haven't even read the Four Books and Five Classics."

"I'm sure I can't even pass the initial essay test."

"So I'm sure I can't help."

"As for Brother Ogata"

Having said that, the expression on Mucun's face became quite strange.

"Master Hasegawa, what should I say about you? You actually plan to ask Brother Ogata to help you?"

"You are the chief of Huo Fu Thief Kai."

"Brother Ogata only committed the felony of attacking Nijo Castle three months ago and causing the castle tower of Nijo Castle to be burned down."

"As Huofu Thief Changed Chief, you actually want to ask the most vicious criminal in the country to help me. Should I say you are bold or should I say you are abnormal?"

As soon as Mu Cun finished speaking, Hasegawa chuckled a few times.

"Mucun, even though I am the chief of Huo Fu Thief Kai, I have captured countless criminals."

"But don't take me as the kind of rigid, inflexible person who can't tolerate a grain of sand in his eyes."

"You probably don't know what kind of person I was when I was young?"

"When I was young, I was a person who liked to eat, drink, whore and gamble, and was always fighting with people on the street."

"Do you think it's possible for me like this to be a rigid and inflexible person?"

"Be upright when you should be upright, and turn a blind eye when you should be upright. This is my code of conduct."

"I can't imagine the consequences of not having enough people on the field."

"For the sake of people's feet, I can't control so much."

"Anyway, this is not the first time I have joined hands with Ogata Isai, and I have already fought side by side with Ogata Isai in Kyoto three months ago."

"Besides, what's the point of asking Ogata Issai for help?"

"It is necessary to build Huofu Thief Reform and operate the People's Foot Depository. The funds issued to me by the shogunate are simply not enough."

"In order to have enough money to run the Renzu Yokohama, I did something even more daring than asking Ogata Iktosai."

"And I still do it now."

There was a self-deprecating smile on Hasegawa's face.

"What I'm doing to raise money is pretty bold."

"If those high-level members of the shogunate found out what I was doing now, it would be considered light to dismiss me immediately. Maybe they would have to apologize directly."

"However, I have long been aware and prepared for this."

After hearing Hasegawa's words, a look of shock and astonishment climbed onto Mucun's face.

"Master Hasegawa, what are you doing? You have reached the point where if you are discovered, you may have to apologize by harakiri. You are not going to traffic people, are you?"

"Who do you take me for? I wouldn't do such a lowly thing." Hasegawa said angrily, "What I did was not such a treacherous and evil thing."

"But it's not something to brag about. So I don't want to tell you what I've been doing to raise money."

"Let's stop this topic here."

"Let's get back to the topic, Mucun."