It was the middle of August of the first year of Eiroku, and Ishiyama Honganji Temple. About 60 years ago, the 8th Honganji monk Renuru suddenly dreamed that the Buddha had left a footprint on the earth, and opened a dedicated ashram Ishiyama Honganji in this flowery place. Because of the footprints left by the Buddha, the local ruler at that time had to reverently dedicate the land as far as his eyes could see to the holy monk Renna, and a large number of believers in Honganji Temple gathered here.

The pilgrims who came to worship were in an endless stream, reciting the Buddha's name, and the believers donated a large amount of money left over from their lives to the temple, and the development of the town of Terauchi, which was attached to the Ichijo Temple, gradually matured and brought a lot of money to Honganji, and the town of Terauchi was established in the area of Settsu and Kawachi near the Ichijo Temple, and was the center of the local agricultural and commercial material distribution, and most of the residents were disciples of the Ichishuo sect, so that Honganji could directly control part of the prefecture and town, and make a profit by selling the market and selling business rights.

At the same time, a large number of fortresses built by the disciples living in the town of the land to defend their own safety have also become the checkpoints to protect the main mountain of Ishiyama Honganji Temple in disguise, and in addition, Ishiyama Honganji Temple is located in Kyoto, Nara, and the transportation point leading to the western region, so the area and population continue to rise, and at the same time, the moats and bunkers that protect the castle have been added, and at the time of the reign of the emperor, Ishiyama Honganji Temple has become an astonishing giant city with an area of dozens of square kilometers with eight towns, and the temple can be used for port trade and trade.

The current owner of the palace is Renru's great-grandson Xianru, who lives in this sturdy palace. If you call the shots here, it will be a country within a country. Tonight, the moon is dark and the wind is high, and the lights and shadows in the Ishiyama Honganji Temple in Nambatsu are swaying. The interior of Honganji Temple is filled with the fragrance of blue paste. The Wa country does not produce orchid paste. Most of them come from imports. It is an extremely luxurious aromatic product, and if you use orchid paste to light the fire, you can imagine how luxurious the owner's life is.

Ordinary people can only use moonlight for lighting, and those with a little money can only use candles for lighting, and the composition of candles contains a lot of resin, and it smells like burning resin when burned. After the orchid paste is ignited, it will fill the room with a fragrant fragrance, where can ordinary people afford to use the grandeur of Honganji.

Monks who went to Shodanaka to collect faith at Ishiyama Honganji Temple were attacked by unknown people. Then there was an attack on the samurai of the Miyoshi family by the believers, and a series of events showed that Miyoshi Chokei had become more and more domineering since he defeated Rokkaku Yoshiken.

In response to the threat of an outbreak at the entrance of Ishiyama Honganji Temple in Settsu, a meeting is being held in the main hall of Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which Ishiyama Honganji believes is a matter of survival. Presiding over this meeting was the famous Honganji Xianru, who was only 18 years old and had inherited the 11th generation of Honganji for seven years, and with his ability and the help of a large number of owners, he had formed an irreplaceable position in the main mountain of Honganji.

The Honganji family is a very religious Warring States daimyo, and its so-called fang officials are actually more like the old generals of the samurai family, each commanding an elite army of monks and a large number of disciples. Honganji Temple is able to rank among the world's heroes with a weak crown. It's not in vain, he married the adopted daughter of Hosokawa Harumoto last year. He entered into a marriage relationship with Takeda Shingen, strengthened his relationship with the Eastern Kingdom, and at the same time paid 20,000 and 10,000 yuan to the imperial court and the shogunate, respectively, in order to increase the political influence of the Honganji family.

The imperial court, which had no source of funds, was able to obtain such a huge amount of funds, of course, it was ecstatic, and in order to repay his contributions, the imperial court rewarded him with the official position of "right monk". And with the position of monk, you can appoint subordinates as monks, which is actually an affirmation of the status of the daimyo of the Honganji family.

The leader of the younger generation of Honganji, Suzuki Shigehide, a close confidant who was specially promoted by Honganji Xianru, Suzuki Shigehide is also an important leader of the Kii mercenary corps of the Ichizanji sect, he was the first to speak: "Master, I just got the information, the Miyoshi family has begun to mobilize a large army to gather in Akutagawa Mountain Castle in Settsu Province a few years ago, and now the number of troops is as high as 30,000, so many people need a lot of food, although they have obtained the production area of Izumi and other places, but the food is obviously far from enough. ”

Shigehide Suzuki was originally the leader of Kii's mercenary group Sakaga, he was a first-class iron cannon master, and he also had some roots, and a large part of them were Iga, and their ability to detect intelligence was not to be said. His meaning was obvious, Miyoshi Chokei had gathered a large army in Settsu, and he needed to levy food from the Shoda of Ishiyama Honganji Temple to supplement his military supplies.

Honganji Xianru's face was dull when he heard this, he did not speak, and like the previous generations of Dharma masters, he usually did not speak easily, but just glanced at the crowd and wanted to listen to the thoughts of the audience so that he could make a decision that best suited the opinions of the crowd.

Shimoma Yoriren, another important figure in Ishiyama Honganji, the Shimoma clan is the largest family in the Ichijo sect in addition to Honganji, and there were many people from the Shinma family in the Kaga party back then, and he is also a rare figure of wisdom and courage in the Shimoma family, characterized by outstanding strategy and sober mind in addition to bravery.

Lai Lian lifted the Buddha beads in his hand and said: "Dharma Master, the situation is critical now, once you take a wrong step, you will take a wrong step, don't forget, Miyoshi Changqing is now as strong as 30,000 people in the country of Settsu, once the stimulation is too much, I am afraid that it will immediately usher in the wave of the army to suppress the territory." ”

Shimoma Yoriren paused for a moment, looking at everyone's expressions, obviously disagreeing with his words, the long-term dominance of the king has made the people of Ishiyama Honganji Temple have long lost the humility and peace of the monks, and in their eyes it seems that everything should belong to them. If Kaga was able to establish an earthly Buddha kingdom, why couldn't Settsu Province, when Rennura built the Ishiyama Imperial Hall in Nambatsu, the original intention was to echo Kaga Haruka, and then challenge traditional Buddhism, develop believers, and then meet on Mt. Hiei.

The Shimoma clan controls more than half of the military power, and Shimoma Yoriyo, as an important figure in the Shimoma clan, naturally has no objection to starting a war, and once a war is waged, he will be able to gain more power from it. If according to the art of war. Sanhao Changqing is now based on Li Yiqiu and has become the new general of Zhengyi. On the one hand, an army of 30,000 or 40,000 was deployed in Settsu. ”

Seeing that everyone was thoughtful, Shimoma Yoriren said: "Ashikaga Yoshiaki is the younger brother of the fourteenth shogun of the shogunate, and according to the custom of the Ashikaga shogun's family, the sons of the shoguns who have not obtained the status of heirs must be ordained, so they were sent to Buddhism, and entered the Nara Kofukuji Temple Ichishuin to become a monk, named Kakukei, and worshiped the door trace Kakugaku as a teacher. Jueyu held a high-ranking official position in the capital of the young monks at Xingfuji Temple. He is an important figure in Kofukuji Temple. ”

The words of Yoriyoshi Shimoma are not finished, and everyone still does not understand, what he means is that Miyoshi Chokei has reached an alliance with Kofukuji Temple, one of the seven great temples of the Southern Capital, and perhaps has also formed a secret alliance with Enryakuji Temple in Mt. Hiei, which is the last thing Ishiyama Honganji wants to see.

It dawned on him, he clenched his fists, smacked the case, and said, "Damn bastard, he actually wants to defeat us in one fell swoop, since that's the case." Taking advantage of the fact that Ashikaga Yoshiaki had not yet inherited the Shogun of Seiyi, he did not wait for them to make the alliance public. Master, let's go to war with him! ”

Saying lightly that it is not advisable to start a war, Honganji Xianru shook his head, but still maintained a certain sanity, he looked at Lai Lian in the lower room, and said, "Lai Lian, what is your specific opinion?" His words were equivalent to authority, and Shimoma Ryan suddenly felt that the eyes of everyone looking at him had become different.

Shioma Lai Lian pondered for a moment and said: "Dharma Master, the situation is quite critical now, now there are a total of 12,000 troops and 116,000 believers in the stone mountain, and there is enough food for these people to hold on for five months, if our army takes the initiative to fight, it will definitely be beaten by the Takashima army who is waiting for the rabbit, maybe this is what he thinks, let us take the initiative to fight, and then he will have the righteous name to attack us." "Although Shimoma Lai Lian is the main battle faction, he still maintains a certain amount of sanity and does not talk about the war lightly.

Shigehide Suzuki shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that his expropriation of Mido's manor is the first step, and he wants to see our reaction." If we don't react, or if we don't react in time, he will definitely test our bottom line further, after all, he has always regarded us as a thorn in the side, and it is better to fight late than early. ”

Yoruma of Chaokatsuji suddenly spoke: "There is no Amitabha Buddha in the south, and the poor monk agrees with Suzuki's opinion, but we can't launch a fight in Settsu, we need room for relaxation, and we also need to show our strength to the Miyoshi family, and at the same time, we must be ready to fight back." ”

The words of Yoruma of Chaosheng Temple immediately resonated with everyone, no one wants to see themselves being bullied, and at the same time, they don't want to see their luxurious life broken, and if it is launched in other regions, it is a good opinion to lead Miyoshi Chokei to other places.

Shimoma Yorisho and Shimoma Yoriyoshi are both members of the Shimoma family, he nodded and said: "Yori's words are reasonable, the situation in Ishiyama Honganji Temple is quite dangerous now, and it is not a wise decision to start a war in the short term, but it is not advisable to let the Miyoshi family act recklessly, the poor monk agrees with Yoruma's opinion, Izumi Province is located in the middle of Settsu Province and Kii Province, Okayama Gobo is the second only to Ishiyama Honganji Temple in Kinai, and at the same time, the Nerai people will also become our allies, and Sakai Town will provide some financial support, Once a campaign can be mobilized to mobilize tens of thousands of believers, the siege of Kishiwada Castle is likely to be successful. ”

Shimoma Yorisho's words expressed the opinion of the Shimoma family, and Shimoma Yoriren had to listen, and at the same time there was no reason to refute the war in Izumi. Shimoma Yoriren still put forward some supplementary opinions, and said: "Dharma Master, we also have to guard against the Miyoshi family ignoring Wazumi Kunishi Wada Castle and taking the Ishiyama Honganji Temple, and at the same time renew the contract with the Date family, and at the same time ask them to send a naval army to block the passage of the Awaji naval army, and it is best to provide us with a certain naval force." ”

The fact that Honganji Xianru had made a covenant with the Date family when he first ascended the throne did not attract enough attention at first, and it was only because it was Zhengru who died at that time, and Xianru ascended the throne as a young man, and the first person to come was the envoy of the Date family, so the covenant was signed. With the development of the Date family, it became a Warring States daimyo who unified the western country and was up to 3 million stones, which naturally attracted the attention of Ishiyama Honganji, and the exchanges between the two families were much closer at the same time.

The next room Lai Lian mentioned it, and everyone was right to think about it, once the Izumi broke out, Miyoshi Changqing would inevitably send troops to suppress it, and once it was not well controlled, there would be a large-scale outbreak of Ichichi in the country, and even the holy monk Lian Ru was helpless, which shows that it is very difficult to control the Ichishi in a certain area. In the event of a major riot, Ishiyama Honganji will inevitably be attacked by the Awaji water army and fall into many crises, and it is an urgent request of the Date family to ask for the assistance of the water army.

At the same time, Ishiyama Honganji is not willing to fight alone, once the Date family is dragged into the water, Miyoshi Chokei also needs to weigh whether to continue the fight with Ishiyama Honganji, and after the war, it will be important to be able to sign an agreement in favor of Ishiyama Honganji.

After seeing that everyone had reached an agreement, Honganji opened his mouth and gave the final order: "Shimoma Yorisho, on behalf of Ishiyama Honganji, you go to Okayama Gobo to direct the siege of Kishiwada Castle, Suzuki Shigehide, you go to Neraiji Temple to ask them to fulfill their covenant." Shima, you go to Okayama Castle, contact Dazai Daibi, make an alliance, and ask him to send a navy to deal with the Awaji navy. Honganji issued a series of orders, the most important feature of which was to deal with a larger riot that might be extended.

The riot came as scheduled, and since it was to protect Buddhism, then the entire Hequan Yizong believers were bound to respond to it. At the same time, the followers of the Settsu, Hanoi, Kii and other places were inevitably implicated. Not only that, but most of the retainers of the Miyoshi family in the local area are always sect believers, not to mention the young people, and the old people have no choice but to think hard and make a choice in the face of this situation. At the same time, Harumoto Hosokawa, the cheap father-in-law of Honganji Xianru, also began to contact the old people who were hesitant.

As a result, within a few days, more and more people decided to follow the Buddha, and the rioters hung the Buddhist scriptures on their spears and shouted, "Defeat the enemies of the Buddha." Those who enter will be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss, and those who retreat will fall into the Infernal Hell! The slogan flocked to the local city where the Miyoshi family refused to give in.

Honganji Shōru did not believe that the followers of the Ichizanji sect would be so large that he would succeed in establishing the earthly Buddha kingdom in Kinai in one fell swoop, and he would be above the emperor. At the same time, a large number of ships of the Awaji Navy appeared at the mouth of the Nambatsu River. (To be continued......)