The Koyasan Shingon sect has a long history and is an authentic Eastern Esoteric sect in the island country. The temple hierarchy is strict.
The island country has a strict hierarchy of hierarchy, not only in the martial arts family, but also in religion. Shiba Yiyin is of noble birth and is the protector of the Shingon sect, so he will naturally receive preferential treatment.
Among the sixteenth-level nuns of the Shingon sect, Zhong Nisheng is ranked third, second only to Dai Nisheng and Quan Dai Nisheng. Koyasan has given the Shiba family enough face.
Although Yiyin is a fake nun who can't distinguish between Tantric Buddhism and Zen Buddhism, who can be more real?
The Shingon sect recognizes him as a high-level nun, and the Honganji Temple will treat him with courtesy. Everyone knows the rules.
Yoshigan went to Settsu Province's Ishiyama Honganji Temple as the Shingon Sect's Kuni. Ichigo Mun must protect the safety of Shiba Yoshigan.
Next to the stone mountain is Sakai Port. According to Honganji Temple's usual arrogance, the Miyoshi family is not willing to provoke this group of fanatical believers, so Yi Bank's activities in Sakai Port have a layer of insurance.
Sakai Port is located near the mouth of the Yodogawa River where Izumi Province and Settsu Province meet. If I say hello to the Izumi Hosokawa family, they will naturally send troops to supervise it. This is another layer of insurance.
With double insurance, Yiyin takes the elite colleagues to Sakai Port, which is foolproof.
Yoshihiro insisted on going to Sakai Port to see Yukino. His actions were thorough and the security was perfect, so it was hard for the concubines to say anything.
Only Maeda was dissatisfied and curled his lips, while Yoshigan pretended not to see it.
Nizi Shengjiu asked with some doubts.
"Why did Ishiyama Honganji Temple send an invitation letter to its lord?
Even if Master Xianru is interested in communicating Buddhist principles, he would not be so presumptuous as to disturb you, my lord?"
Akechi Mitsuhide smiled and bowed slightly to Yoshie. After receiving permission, she explained to the concubines.
"It seems that the Master is holding a breath in his stomach.
Before the Nanman Sect was established in Kyoto, although it was not recognized by the shogunate, it secretly left a few missionaries behind. They were sheltered by local believers in the castle town of Kyoto and engaged in underground missionary work.
After His Majesty Oda came to Luo, he temporarily lived in Tofukuji Temple.
I don’t know how these missionaries got through the joints, established friendship with His Highness Oda, gained the support of the Oda family, and preached vigorously in the Tofukuji Temple area.
The Buddhist sects originally regarded the Nanman religion as enemy bandits, so how could they tolerate these missionaries being so arrogant in Kyoto and usurping the guests and taking over the host?
But the situation in Beijing had just stabilized, and the Buddhist sects were unwilling to act as villains and offend the shogunate and the Oda family.
The Tofukuji sect of the Rinzai sect wrote to Ishiyama Honganji Temple to encourage Master Xianru to come forward and deal with these missionaries.
Master Xianru was also an honest man, so he sent the Zahe people to kill those missionaries.
The Zahe people caused massacre in the capital, and their actions were so large that they shocked the shogunate and even angered His Highness Oda.
The Buddhist sects in Kyoto felt relieved after seeing that all the Nanman missionaries were dead. The Tiantai Sect came out again to pretend to be good people, appease the generals, and stabilize the shogunate.
For the sake of the smooth passage of Luozhong's legal system, His Highness Oda temporarily tolerated this tone.
The Tiantai Sect also mobilized various sects in Kyoto to speak out, supporting the new general's measures to stabilize Kyoto, and condemned certain sect colleagues who deliberately caused murders. This will not be the case in the future.
The Tendai sect is considered a good person, but the blame is thrown on Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which shows that the master is very unhappy.
Although the current shogun comes from the Shingon sect, he is getting closer to the Hieizan Tendai sect.
Now, the shogun and His Highness Oda are cooperating to conquer Settsu Kingdom. Ishiyama Honganji Temple just offended them, so they will naturally feel uneasy.
It seems that it was a lie that the Master asked the Lord to attend the Buddhist meeting, and that it was true to discuss the status of the Yixiang clan in Settsu country after the Settsu strategy."
After Akechi Mitsuhide finished speaking, he smiled at Yoshigan. Yoshigan looked away, not bothering to look at her face asking for credit.
After retiring from the mansion and returning to his family, the strategy of keeping a low profile and biding his time began to bear fruit. Mitsuhide Akechi's plan indeed gave Yoshiin an advantage.
Ashikaga, Shiba, and Oda were engaged in a three-party game at the center of the shogunate. Shiba withdrew from the whirlpool and gave up the center to Ashikaga and Oda.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga did not intensify their conflicts because of Yoshihiro Saba's withdrawal, but instead cooperated.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki has the title of general, and Oda Nobunaga has sufficient strength. Once the two sides cooperate, the surrounding nearby forces will feel the pressure.
The Miyoshi family and the Ichiko clan successively expressed goodwill to Shiba Yoshigan because they valued Yoshigan's influence on the shogunate. This is the power of neutrality.
As long as there is sufficient strength, neutrality itself is a bargaining chip of sufficient weight. But this is not enough. Hiding one's strength and biding one's time does not mean just sitting back and waiting. You also need to do something.
Yoshigan looked at Ishida Mitsunari and said.
"Ishida Hime, I have temporarily added a dividend annuity from the Shibachu Fund to cause trouble for you."
Ishida Mitsunari kowtowed to the ground and said.
"Your Majesty, Your Excellency, the money and food have been prepared by Mr. Takada Haruno. I am just distributing them according to the order."
Yiyin nodded and said.
"Two hundred thousand dan is enough for several thousand dan, and more than a thousand warriors are produced. Brown rice is given out for more than 2,000 dan at one time, and four to five thousand dan is given out twice a year.
This is not a small number, how are you going to guide this brown rice into Warrior Ji's pocket?"
Ishida Mitsunari was stunned. These days, she just wants to collect the amount of brown rice as soon as possible to ensure that this annuity can be issued smoothly. As for the Lord's guidance, what does it mean?
Seeing Ishida Mitsunari's confusion, Yoshigami shook his head and said.
"In recent years, Sibo has received 200,000 shi, and the four public and six citizens have received 80,000 shi in taxes. Most of these incomes have become the salary of Ji warriors and military supplies reserves.
Less than 10% of the food that can be stored in the government treasury is enough. The 120,000 shi left in the place, excluding the seeds from the next year, are not enough to feed people.
If you throw down four to five thousand dan of grain this year, will the local rice price remain stable?"
Ishida Mitsunari suddenly realized that the master's words hit the nail on the head.
The fixed price of copper coins and brown rice is always two stones. However, the market price is unstable. In disaster years, food is as valuable as gold. It is common for rice prices to go up. Two coins may not be able to exchange for one stone of brown rice.
The Shibachu Fund's pension brown rice is obtained through trade with samurai families from various countries through the Hokuriku Road trade route.
Because brown rice is directly imported into the Shiba family territory, instead of copper coins, Yiyin does not have to worry about a surplus of copper coins and a surge in rice prices in the market.
However, if a large amount of brown rice is imported, there will inevitably be a surplus that will be sold by Warrior Ji on the market. This will cause the price of rice to be suppressed, and the low price of grain will hurt farmers.
Yi Bank wants the Shiba Zhong Fund to become the ballast of the Shiba family territory, but if a large amount of brown rice is imported and causes chaos in the rice market and unrest within the territory, it will be shooting itself in the foot.
Ishida Mitsunari is proficient in internal affairs, and with a little help from Shiba Yoshigan, she understood the key and nodded.
"I'm ashamed that my subordinates didn't think of this."
Yiyin said.
"It's not your fault. After all, no famous person has ever been so stupid as to hand out food. Don't say you're not used to it, I guess everyone is not used to it."
Yiyin's words immediately made all the ladies present feel uncomfortable. They were all high-level martial artists, and four kilograms of brown rice a year was of no concern to them.
The Shibachu Foundation's efforts to win over middle- and lower-level samurai warriors also had a negative impact on the high-level samurai's control over the tribesmen.
The master passed over them and spread food directly below to win people's hearts. Even those who like dog-licking fans like Maeda Yoshie felt uncomfortable.
Yiyin glanced at the scene and continued to talk to Ishida Mitsunari.
"Few of the lower-class Ji warriors have a well-off family. If you put down brown rice once or twice, it will not impact the rice market for the time being.
The food will be eaten by their families, and a little more will be saved for later use.
However, in the future, the number of annuity payments will reach three stones per time, and as the number of payments increases, there will inevitably be a surplus of food in the territory.
So you need to take advantage of these few years, before there is a surplus of food, to help them think of a way.
My idea is to encourage the expansion of beans, radishes and other cash crops, and to grind brown rice into white rice.
I hope that Shiba’s Ji Samurai can always have a few more spoons of white rice, a little white tofu, and a few slices of dried white radish on the table of every household.”
Ishida Mitsunari was dumbfounded when he heard this. According to what the Lord meant, he was encouraging everyone to eat and drink well... Doesn't this encourage luxury?
Nizi Shengjiu was in charge of household affairs and was the most sensitive to this. She frowned, stepped out of the queue and bowed, and said.
"My lord, we are in troubled times now, and all the powerful vassals in the world are expanding their armaments and sharpening their swords.
You have a kind heart. In order to ensure that the Ji warriors who serve as soldiers can support their families, you established the Sibo Zhong Fund, and I admire you very much.
It’s just that everything is too much and too little is too much. You are too lenient towards your subordinates.
There is a saying in the heavens that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go back from luxury to frugality. Should luxury food such as white rice, white radish, and white tofu be considered by the lower-class Ji warriors and their families?
They should live a simple life, sharpen their art of war, and serve their masters loyally. Your generosity may weaken their will and make them no longer look like a Ji warrior.
I beg you to think twice, my lord!"
After Nizi Shengjiu finished speaking, all the Ji warriors came out one after another and bowed together to show their support for Nizi Shengjiu.
Ishida Mitsunari was very embarrassed.
She is the person in charge of the Spozhong Fund, the executor of the annuity plan, and a beneficiary of the Spozhong Fund after it becomes big. Logically speaking, she should give her full support to her lord.
But Nizi Katsuhisa's words were very reasonable, making it difficult for her to object. The support of a group of high-level martial artists made her unwilling to offend her colleagues.
So, Ishida Mitsunari silently kowtowed to the ground and followed the crowd.
Yiyin looked expressionless when he saw all the concubines bowing and pleading.
The group of Spo's retainers was created by Yi Bank. There are admirers, grateful people, and promoters among them. There has never been a scene of a group opposing Yi Bank's decision.
But this time, they are united and hope Yiyin can make concessions.
The annuity payments from the Shiba Zhong Fund have damaged the power of high-level samurai families and weakened the financial resources of the Shiba family. Everyone has been holding their noses and reluctantly endured it.
If extravagant consumption is further encouraged, it will weaken the fighting spirit of the Shiba family's warriors. If extravagance spreads in the Shiba family, the family business will fall into a disadvantageous situation in troubled times.
The master's whims finally made everyone unable to bear it any longer, and they all opposed the master's new policy.
Yiyin knocked on the slip of paper beside him and said.
"In your hearts, what do you think of Warrior Ji? Is he a cannon fodder vying for power? Or is he a slave who is consumed at will?
I have been thinking about a question, how did the Wu family world become like this?
The original samurai family were the lackeys of the emperor and the royal family, the slaves who guarded the manors, and the servants responsible for killing people.
The Hime warriors have been trying to change their destiny. They have tried to marry the Genpei bloodline, the emperor's son, and they have tried to integrate into the public family and become a part of the royal family.
The result? They discovered that the emperor and his ministers, those noble people, had never been on the same page as them, and had never regarded them as one of their own.
The Taira family, who became a member of the public family, were eventually defeated by the Genji. Why? Because they betrayed their own class and their sisters.
Taira Kiyomori thought that as long as he fell in love with the cage and the shackles, the Taira family could become superior people. It's sad, it's sad, they are trapped in a cocoon and don't know it.
The Heike rose to power by stepping on the corpses of the samurai class. The Hime warriors, who were unwilling to remain slaves, raised up the Genji and won the Genpei War.
The samurai world replaced the emperor's court. The warrior warriors went from having nothing to becoming the masters of the world."
Yiyin took a breath, looked at the concubines below, and sighed.
“That time and that moment, exactly this moment.
The lower class Ji warriors worked hard all their lives, but what did they gain? Only hunger and death.
The food in the fields was stored as military supplies, used to buy weapons, and used as military rations for consumption in war after war.
Starting from the Yashiro Shogun Rebellion, the world was in chaos for more than a hundred years. Starting from the Genpei War, the Hime Warriors fought against each other for more than five hundred years.
The Ji warriors have become accustomed to this kind of life, focusing on their family business, constantly fighting, and constantly getting involved, until they die.
The precious food was not willing to be eaten at all, but was used generously in the war.
Why? Tell me, what does this mean? Some people are lucky enough to get on the car, but they forget who is pushing the car they are sitting in.
The Hime Samurai changed from slaves of the Emperor's court to slaves of high-ranking samurai families.
There are many high-level martial arts masters who say that they are Ji warriors and talk about the principles of the martial arts, but in their minds they never take the Ji warriors below seriously.
There are still a lot of dirty things about the emperor and ministers class in his mind, and he has no idea what a Ji warrior is, what the world of the samurai family is, and what the fundamental interests of the samurai family are."
Yiyin straightened his back and said.
"Do you still remember the days when Nizi was victorious for a long time, the mountains were prosperous, Nizi's family fell into decline, and Nizi's party became rogues?"
Nizi Shengjiu and Shanzhong Xingsheng kowtowed to the ground and said.
"I will never forget it!" x2
"Maeda Yoshiko was a wild and unrestrained wanderer in Owari Country.
You who can't see the greedy wars of the Wu family and the ruin of your life, and you who refuse to fight for those injustices, do you still hold on to your original intention?"
Maeda said excitedly.
"I'm still me! Never changed!"
"Gamo clan village, do you still remember your mother holding you in front of me and begging me to take you in because you were affected by the internal fighting in the family?"
There were tears in Pu Sheng's eyes.
"I am willing to follow my lord forever until death."
"Otani Yoshitsugi, do you still remember what happened in Otani Village, your ancestral home? Do you still remember those difficult days?"
Otani Yoshitsugi's face was full of determination.
"Your kindness is like the sea and will never be forgotten!"