Ii Naobi smiled slightly and continued in a half-joking tone.

"Now, the 'anti-barbarian' thugs are becoming increasingly rampant, and their existence has threatened the existence of the shogunate."

"Ando Nobumasa and the others are not yet equipped to deal with such critical moments, and they are still unable to help you, General, overcome the difficulties you are facing."

"What's more, even if I hide temporarily, I may not be able to escape the attack and murder of those who hate me."

"If these assassins are determined to take my head, even if I flee to the ends of the earth, they will eventually find me."

"So - General, I appreciate the good intentions of you and His Highness Tianzhangyuan."

Hearing what Ii Naomi said, Tokugawa Iemo immediately looked anxious.

He was about to continue to say something to persuade Ii Naobi.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, he paused.

In the eyes of the veteran minister in front of him, he saw a series of glances that made him involuntarily think of a rock.

Looking at the light in Ii Naobi's eyes, a thought flashed out of Tokugawa Iemo's mind - words alone cannot move Ii Naobi...

"ah……"

Suddenly, Ii Naobi seemed to remember something. After letting out a low exclamation, he smiled and put his hand into his arms.

"General, I originally wanted to wait a few days before giving this to you."

"But since it's rare for us to be alone now... let me just leave this to you now."

Ii Naoki took out a thin booklet from his arms.

"This is...?" Tokugawa Iemo took the booklet with a puzzled look and opened it.

Inside the booklet, there are names written one after another.

Some of the names in this book are really impressive.

For example - Matsudaira Yoho, the lord of the Aizu Domain, Matsudaira Sadeiki, the lord of the Kuwana Domain...

Behind each person's name, there is a simple sentence like a comment.

Behind the lord of the Aizu Domain, Matsudaira Yoho, there is a saying: "As a minister of the Hashira Kingdom, you can boldly reuse and trust him."

On the back of the lord of the Kuwana Domain, Matsudaira Sadaki, is written "He is not brave enough, but he deserves to be reused, but he should not be given too heavy a burden."

The rest of the names on the list all have similar long or short comments -

He has very good eloquence and is a good debater; he is good at managing finances; although he has no special talents, his loyalty deserves recognition...

When Tokugawa Iemo was surprised by the contents of this booklet, Ii Naomi smiled softly:

"Although I have increased the number of guards I take with me when I travel every day, there are still some gaps in the hundred secrets."

"No matter how many guards you bring, you can't ensure absolute safety."

"71 years ago, the lord of Hirose Domain, who was protected by hundreds of guards, was still forcibly killed by 'Shura' Ogata Issei with one man's power."

"So, you have to be prepared for a rainy day."

"This booklet is the 'list of outstanding talents' that I spent a full month making."

"The names recorded in this list are all outstanding talents carefully selected by me after careful inspection."

"These people have high and low backgrounds. Some are lords of a certain vassal state, while others are just low-level warriors from humble backgrounds."

"But regardless of their origins, they have one thing in common - they are all outstanding talents worthy of reuse or attention."

"General, if one day... I am no longer here, please use this list as a reference and reuse or pay attention to these talents on the list as appropriate."

Tokugawa Iemo's eyes widened in surprise.

He looked at Naobi Ii who was smiling with a dazed expression.

Then, he pursed his lips tightly and returned his gaze to the booklet in his hand.

Silently, he flipped through page after page of the "List of Outstanding Talents" specially made for him by Naomi Ii.

When he turned to the last page of the list with a name written on it, Tokugawa Iemo's fingers suddenly stopped.

Tachibana Qingden——This is the last name written on this "list of outstanding talents".

Behind each person's name on the list, there is a simple comment that introduces what kind of talents they probably have.

The only exception was Tachibana Qingden - there was no comment written behind him.

"Tachibana Aoden...?" Tokugawa Iemo chewed the name carefully.

So far, Tokugawa Iemo has been slightly impressed by every name he has seen on this list.

Only the name "Tachibana Aoden" felt strange to Tokugawa Iemo, but he also felt that he had heard this name somewhere recently...

Naoki Ii's reaction was also very quick.

After noticing Tokugawa Iemo cast a doubtful look at the name "Tachibana Aoden", he immediately said:

"General, you should have heard of this name."

"He is the man who protected a French businessman and his family in the siege of more than 200 'anti-barbarian' thugs more than a month ago, Tachibana Aoden from the town of Hokkaido, Kitaban, Edo."

These words of Ii Naomi suddenly dissipated the fog trapped in Tokugawa Iemo's mind.

"Oh...I remember..." Tokugawa Iemo nodded gently, "That's him..."

"According to my observation and consideration, Tachibana Aoden did not achieve such a beautiful victory by relying on good luck." Ii Naoki said slowly, "He relied on excellent dispatching and command, as well as an extremely keen sense of battlefield.

Won that chaotic battle."

"Tachibana Aoden has a certain commanding ability - there is no doubt about it."

"But whether he is worthy of reuse remains to be seen and tested."

"After all, the battle he won was just a small-scale battle with the total number of people on both sides not exceeding 300. The scale of the battle was too small to be an effective reference."

"What the shogunate needs now is the kind of talented people who can fight beautifully no matter how big or small they are."

"Furthermore, because the time of contact with Tachibana Aoden is too short, his character has not yet been ascertained."

"Although we cannot yet determine whether this person is worthy of heavy reuse, his future is worth looking forward to."

"So, I also wrote his name into this 'list of outstanding talents'."

"If I am no longer here, I would like to ask you, General, to observe and test this Ju Qingden."

"Maybe... it's not impossible for him to become the future 'Minister of the Pillar Kingdom' of our shogunate."

"Ii!" Tokugawa Iemo raised his eyes with displeasure and glared at Ii Naobi, "Please don't say such unlucky words like 'if the queen is no longer here'!"

Looking at the displeased Tokugawa Iemo, Ii Naoki was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said: "Sorry... I will pay attention to it later."

After briefly scolding Naoki Ii, who kept saying unlucky words, Tokugawa Iemo turned his attention back to the name "Tachibana Aoden" on the list.

"Ju Qingden..."
Chapter completed!