March 1, the twelfth year of Tenmon (1543), Setsu Province, Ishiyama Gobo Castle Town.
Under the secret protection of ninjas such as Tsuchi Atomsune, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo swaggered to the Ishiyama Gobo. They also came with Takeda Harunobu, who wanted to survey the terrain and military appearance of various places.
When talking about Ishiyama Gobo, we have to mention the most alternative characteristic Buddhism of Japan's Warring States Period - Jodo Shinshu, also known as Honganji Temple and Ichigo Buddhism. It arose during the Muromachi Shogunate period and is famous for its approachable precepts - no tonsure, no fasting, drinking alcohol and eating meat, marrying a wife and having children, as long as you say "Amitabha", you can be reborn in the Pure Land. Because this commandment is simple and easy to implement, it is much more attractive to poor people with no education and conditions than those orthodox sects with strict commandments. Therefore, Jodo Shinshu has also attracted a large number of believers across the country.
Japan has always had a tradition of supporting soldiers in temples. Since the Heian period, monk soldiers have been a headache for the court and samurai - so much so that Emperor Shirakawa once lamented: "There are three things that are unsatisfactory in the world, the water of the Kamogawa River and the backlog games." Sizi and Shan Master (i.e. monk soldiers)." Although Jodo Shinshu completely abandoned the precepts of traditional Japanese Buddhism, it carried forward the issue of military support - the military strength it maintained far exceeded the scope of ordinary Buddhist temples, and even exceeded that of ordinary daimyo The number of mobilizations.
Although the number of monks in Honganji Temple itself is not large, it has an astronomical number of believers. Whenever a war is needed, the Buddhist leader or boss will issue a mobilization order, and the believers who receive the order will pick up hoes and poles, gather into a mighty army, and gather at the Jodo Shinshu temple to fight for the Honganji Temple. Submerge the enemy in the ocean. Believers believe in the propaganda of the doctrine: as long as they die fighting for the Pure Land Shinshu, they can be reborn in the Pure Land. This kind of mobilization and tactics is also known as "always and always" by the world.
Relying on its consistent power and the appeal of Jodo Shinshu, Honganji established spheres of influence independent of traditional samurai in places such as Kaga's Oyama Palace, Settsu's Ishiyama Palace, and Owari's Nagashima Castle. The people levied taxes and enjoyed administrative and judicial powers - as if they were transformed from a religious power into a daimyo.
Such behavior was naturally not tolerated by the Japanese samurai at first, and daimyo from all over the world launched conquests against it, but were defeated time and time again by the overwhelming sea of people. Not to mention the frontal battlefield, if the abbot of Honganji Temple raises his voice, even the believers in the daimyo territory will immediately launch a riot, causing you to be in trouble. Countless famous generals have been defeated one after another, and many samurai at the guardian level have even died in battle at the hands of Ichigori. This has made the world look at them with suspicion and dare not use force against Honganji Temple rashly again.
As the capital city of Honganji Temple in Japan, Ishiyama Gobo is also the place where the head of Honganji Temple, Honganji Temple, is located. It is also a holy place in the eyes of believers all over the world. In the castle town of Ishiyama Gobo and the surrounding temples and villages, nearly 100,000 Jodo Shinshu believers gathered, ready to sacrifice themselves for the Dharma Master. Therefore, even though Ishiyama Gobo strangled Kinki's important outlet to the sea, and even though Ishiyama Gobo's geographical location was extremely critical, the daimyo of Kinki did not dare to operate on it. The Hosokawa family, the Hosokawa family's retainers the Kizawa family, and the Miyoshi family are all afraid of getting into trouble and repeating the mistake of Miyoshi Gencho who was forced to death by Ichiki Kazuo.
Under several influences, Settsu's Ishiyama Gobo became a veritable "foreign country" in Kinki where the power of public and samurai families was complex, breeding a completely different culture and customs - the kind that Imagawa Yoshimoto hated.
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"Amitabha, I'm starting! Cheers!"
In the temple next to the castle town, Imagawa Yoshimoto and three others were resting and having a meal. And just under the corridor not far from them, eight monks from the Yixiang Sect in the temple were sitting around. Three of them had shaved their heads, two had shaved heads, and the remaining three had no trace of being shaved at all. They sat around eating together, mixing Buddhist names and honorifics into unrelated slogans, clinking glasses to celebrate - yes, wine glasses, full of wine. It seems that today is some kind of local festival, so they took out the good food that they have been reluctant to eat all year long, and planned to have a feast.
In addition to pickles, pickled fish and rice, the good things on their tables also include meat——
beef.
beef.
beef.
Imagawa Yoshimoto felt uncomfortable all over and had to turn his head away from the window, keeping his eyes out of sight - it was best not to smell the smell of beef with his nose. This is no longer just as simple as a monk breaking the precepts and eating meat, right? This is a meat ban! The first among cows, horses, dogs, monkeys and roosters - cows!
What are you doing? - Imagawa Yoshimoto's whole person was in confusion, and he couldn't stop shouting quietly in his heart: No, don't do that kind of thing!
"Yeah, there's beef here?" Ginkgo noticed that Yoshimoto Imagawa's picky eating habit had relapsed, and he deliberately said in an artificial tone to the novice monk who was serving the dish.
"It's a festival. It happened that an old cow slipped and fell to death yesterday, so I killed it and ate it!" The black-haired novice monk replied with a smile, "Would you like some, too, for the three guests?"
"No! Definitely don't!" "Okay!" "Go ahead, go ahead!"
Imagawa Yoshimoto, Ginkgo, and Takeda Harunobu replied in unison.
"Please!" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at Takeda Harunobu and Ginkgo with begging eyes - the two people who were familiar with Imagawa Yoshimoto knew that Imagawa Yoshimoto was really about to admit defeat at this moment. Takeda Harunobu, a murderous and hard-hearted man, was momentarily moved by Imagawa Yoshimoto's pitiful eyes. He wanted to give up for a moment, but Ginkgo said reluctantly: "Young master, you can come, we have enough money!"
"Okay!" After hearing this, the little novice monk immediately ran back to the kitchen with a smile, leaving behind Yoshimoto Imagawa with black lines on his face, Ginkgo with a smile, and Harunobu Takeda, the Tiger of Kai, sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight.
"No!" Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his hand, blocked it in front of his and Ginkgo's faces very resolutely, and said in a deep voice: "I really don't know how to eat. I won't eat even if I kill you. What kind of game are you playing?" I don’t even know how to eat it. Chicken is already my limit! The limit of sin that I don’t want to look back on! But this is beef! Why don’t I just eat human flesh!”
"Sir, if you eat it, I will accompany you in that position when I get back." Ginkgo then smiled charmingly and tried to seduce Imagawa Yoshimoto into submission with her beauty.
"No!" But this time Imagawa Yoshimoto refused extremely decisively, and quickly made an "X" with his hands in front of him.
"Oh? You don't want any of this?" Ginkgo was also in trouble, but she didn't expect that this condition would be rejected - that was the position that Imagawa Yoshimoto had dreamed of but was rejected by Ginkgo many times.
"Actually, there's nothing wrong with beef. Just eat it." Takeda Harunobu is still keen on doing Imagawa Yoshimoto's ideological work. "It tastes good, but it's a bit old and hard to chew. And you'll grow taller after eating it. One meal is the best." Dayton. On weekdays, cows are taken to the fields, so how can they be killed for you to eat? It’s a rare encounter, why don’t you cherish it?”
"I won't eat it even if I die." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked sideways at Takeda Harunobu with determination - which made Takeda Harunobu feel a chilling murderous aura.
"Aren't all those masters eating? I didn't see anyone dead." Ginkgo pointed at the monks of the Yixiang Sect in the corridor who were eating beef and their mouths were full of oil. "Believers are not counted. Look at the three ordained monks. Don’t masters who are monks also eat well?”
"Those are cheap believers who haven't practiced well. How can a master of the Tao who really cultivates eat it? Even a member of the Jodo Shinsect cannot eat the beef that is the first in the meat ban!" Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head vigorously. Just one glance at the dining table over there made me feel so disgusted that I quickly turned my head back.
At this moment, the melodious sound of conch sounds sounded from the door of the temple. The believers who were sitting and eating meat were stunned for a moment, then stood up one after another, crowded towards the door, and then burst into violent cheers:
"Lord Dharma Master!"
"It's the Dharma Master here!"
"Master Dharma, rejoice with us!"
"Master? The master of Honganji Temple?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked up at the door with some doubts. He accidentally saw the bowl of beef again and quickly looked away. "As a master, you actually come to this unknown place in person. Come to the small temple?”
"This is the reason why Honganji Temple has been able to rise at the speed of light in the past few decades and gain millions of believers." Takeda Harunobu was not careless at all, but focused on the movement at the door, "Their monks, too, Abbots, or even high-ranking Dharma masters, are willing to personally come to the dilapidated countryside, walk on the muddy field ridges, and teach Buddhism to every poor person. As for those orthodox sects' "masters of enlightenment" in your mind, Wulang , but will only sit and discuss the Tao in a spotless Buddhist hall."
After the heads of the mixed crowd at the door (some with bald heads, some with hair) moved around for a while, a young man in an earthy yellow cassock slowly walked in. He was holding the simplest wooden rosary in his hand, and the cassock on his body looked cheap, and the wooden shoes on his feet were also shoddily made - in Suruga, even the abbots of small temples would wear better clothes. But the believers who surrounded him did not look down on him because of his simplicity. Instead, they were full of admiration and smiles, and they were busy sharing recent anecdotes. The young man would listen patiently and nod in response.
"The proof is as good as the master." Takeda Harunobu narrowed his eyes and focused on him. "A great person with great appeal. There are rumors that all the people he personally persuaded to become religious converts without exception. No one can resist the teachings of the Ichiko clan. There are also rumors that the ministers in the court will become staunch supporters of the Ichiko clan whenever they meet him, paving the way for the development of the Ichiko clan in Kinki. There are even I heard that there was a mortal enemy of the Yixiang Sect, a highly enlightened monk in the Lotus Sect. After a discussion with Master Zheng Ru, he voluntarily quit the Lotus Sect and joined the Yixiang Sect. He passed away not long after."
"So young." Ginkgo also sighed with emotion.
"Finally I met a serious master." Imagawa Yoshimoto breathed a sigh of relief, "He is definitely not the kind of person who eats beef and his mouth is full of oil."
Honganji Temple was walking, and as expected, he found the bowl of beef on the table of the believers. He turned around in surprise and asked: "The spring plowing has just stopped, how can we kill the cattle? What will we do next year? Even if it is The old scalper who can no longer work should remember his hard work in the past and send him to live a long life, right?"
"To the Master, this is a cow that fell and died. We couldn't bear to let it go to waste, so we just killed it and ate it." The young novice in charge of serving food was carrying a plate of beef to Imagawa Yoshimoto's table when he happened to meet Honganji Temple. Zhengru, quickly explained.
"Amitabha." The Buddhist monk of Honganji Temple chanted the Buddha's name with some regret.
"This is a monk with a compassionate heart. He is completely different from those wine-meat monks who even eat beef!" Imagawa Yoshimoto praised, and then watched the little novice with great vigilance as he brought the bowl of beef to his On the table, he quickly pinched his nose with his hands and looked at Ginkgo with vigilance: "Don't let me eat it! I will never let you succeed! If Ginkgo eats this dirty beef, I won't touch it for half a month." you!"
"Hmph, how could anyone use this matter to make things difficult for a woman?" Ginkgo turned away and scolded, "I'm afraid that the husband can't hold it in himself."
"After eating this meat, the taste in your mouth will make you sick, how can you still be interested?" Imagawa Yoshimoto protested reluctantly: "You know how to bully me, if you have the ability, go and let that person eat meat." Do you want to eat beef? If he eats it, I will eat it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the conversation between Zhengru and the monks of Honganji Temple could be heard from the side:
"Master, this beef is cooked deliciously. Would you like to take a bite?"
"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders." Honganji Nobuyoshi accepted it readily, picked up the meat with chopsticks, and put the beef into his mouth in front of the stunned Imagawa Yoshimoto.
