Asukakyo, Yamadaji Temple.
The sun has set behind the tall pagoda. As a symbol of the advanced culture coming from the mainland at that time, the entire temple of Yamada Temple is symmetrical from east to west with the north-south direction as the central axis. The central axis from south to north is the south gate, the middle gate, and the pagoda. , golden hall, lecture hall, cloister surrounding the tower and golden hall. If you look down from the pagoda, you will find that the tiled roof of Yamadaji Temple is surrounded by the thatched roofs of the nobles and the imperial palace, making it particularly conspicuous.
"Ming Gong!" Cui Hongdu followed Wang Wenzuo and lowered his voice: "Have you noticed that this Yamada Temple looks so familiar!"
"Do you think it is similar to Dinglin Temple?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, it is exactly the same model as Dinglin Temple, but it is much smaller in scale!"
"It's normal!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Buddhism was originally introduced to the Japanese from the Baekje people. These temples and the Buddha statues inside were also built by Baekje craftsmen for the Japanese. Didn't Liu Chongguang say that his ancestors came to the Japanese country to build them? Have you ever been to a Buddhist temple? Maybe this Yamada Temple is a tribute to his ancestors!"
"No wonder!" Cui Hongdu lowered his voice: "Why did Saitama move here?"
"Her Amaterasu Shrine was burned down, and it will take time to build a new palace! A tiled house is better than a thatched roof. If I were her, the new palace would use tiles!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile.
"Yes, the room with thatched roof is too dark. Even in broad daylight, there is always no light in the room!" Cui Hongdu nodded in agreement, but his next sentence jumped thousands of miles away: "Sanlang, what do you think she is doing? We were suddenly summoned, and the prince, the eldest brother, called us?"
"It's possible!" Wang Wenzuo's accent was a little vague. His eyes swept over the exquisite portraits on the walls of the corridor. The exquisite craftsmanship of Baekje craftsmen made him involuntarily exclaim: "It's really good, what a pity!"
"What a pity? What's a pity?"
"If nothing goes wrong with these murals, this place will soon become a battlefield, and these portraits that have condensed the blood of countless people will probably be burned to the ground!"
"Didn't you say that if Prince Nakadai breaks in, Princess Saitama's army will fall apart?" Cui Hongdu asked: "Prince Nakadai will send people to protect these temples, right? After all, this is his wealth!"
"Hongdu, the test of Prince Zhong's eldest brother only started after he captured Asuka Kyo!" Wang Wenzuo said: "The soldiers promoted him to the throne, and now it's his turn to pay the reward. As a king, this You can owe debts to anyone in the world, but you cannot owe debts to soldiers!"
Ahead was the end of the corridor. Wang Wenzuo and Cui Hongdu stopped talking. The Priestess guarding the door curtsied to Wang Wenzuo and whispered: "Minister, Your Majesty is waiting for you!"
Wang Wenzuo nodded. He followed Priestess into the lecture hall. Cui Hongdu was waiting at the door. This place was regarded as Saitama's temporary bedroom. The furnishings inside were surprisingly simple: a bed, several tables filled with books and letterheads, and a bookshelf next to it. Oil lamps, incense burners, braziers, the only thing that can be related to luxury is the precious wood and gorgeous reliefs used on the floor and walls.
"Your Majesty, I'm here!" Wang Wenzuo stopped and bowed to Saitama, who was a few steps behind. Saitama raised her head, a smile appeared on her pale cheeks, and she said to the Priestess: "Step aside first. Don't let anyone else bother us!"
"Yes!" Priestess's feet moved silently on the smooth wooden floor. Then Wang Wenzuo heard the sound of the door being closed behind him. He and Qiyu were the only two people left in Nuo Da's sutra hall, and he couldn't help but feel a feeling in his heart. A strange feeling.
"What happened?" Wang Wenzuo laughed.
"What happened?" Saitama repeated Wang Wenzuo's question, and the words of anger gushed out like spring water: "Can you imagine? Katsuragi's army has crossed the Kasagi Mountains. The terrain there is very rugged. With you, The people of the Tang Dynasty said that chariots cannot square track and horses cannot bridle. There are six rock villages and mountain fortresses on the road he passed. I sent a total of 3,000 people to guard them, but they did not even try to resist once. Traitors and cowards, Calling them worms is an insult to worms, I should really replace them with a group of women, at least it won't increase Katsuragi's military strength!"
"In the face of the general trend, few people dare to stand up!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "But it doesn't matter.
Well, at least we didn’t suffer much loss! "
"Not much loss?" Saitama's gaze reminded Wang Wenzuo of the she-wolf: "The forward of Katsuragi's army is only three days away from here. My people are rushing to surrender to him. We are finished, he has won! "
"He won the first game, and the game has just begun!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "From my perspective, the worst is almost over!"
"Langjun!" Like a drowning man grabbing a straw, Qiyu grabbed Wang Wenzuo's hand tightly: "You have asked Datang for reinforcements? When will they arrive and how many troops will there be?"
"Yes, I have already written a letter!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "But the key to victory or defeat is not the Tang army, but who can answer the questions correctly!"
"Correct question? What question?" Saitama asked confused.
"When Prince Nakadai-nii escaped from Asukakyo, there probably weren't many people around him. He was able to sweep across Omi so quickly and then lead tens of thousands of people into the Nara Basin. How did he do it?" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: " Why is this?"
"I don't know either!" Saitama shook his head, with a look of confusion on his face: "Really, I didn't expect such a thing to happen at all. If you hadn't asked me to build a city in Nambazu first, I wouldn't have a way out now. None! By the way, you should have expected this, right? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"How could I, a foreigner, expect this!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Letting you build a city in Namba is just because we have fought too many battles and suffered too much, so I think there is no harm in preparing for the worst first! Nambajin is located at a strategic location, guarding the waterway from various countries to the capital. As long as we control it, we can not only control the food route to the capital, but also contact reinforcements from Baekje, so I chose that place!"
"That's true!" Saitama's eyes flashed with excitement: "You are indeed much more thoughtful than I thought. So what do you think we should do next?"
"Next? How much food is left in Asuka Kyo? How long will it be enough to feed the local residents?"
"There are less than 150,000 shi of grain stored in the granary controlled by the imperial court! It's probably enough to last until next summer's grain harvest!"
"Very good, let's open the warehouse first and let the people of the capital take whatever they want. The rest will be burned if they can't be taken away!"
"I understand that the purpose of burning food is not to leave it to Katsuragi, so why do you need to open a warehouse to release food?" Saitama asked in confusion: "If the people in the capital have food, doesn't it lighten Katsuragi's burden? Why not just put it in the warehouse?" What if the granary is burned down and not a grain of food is left to Katsuragi?"
"Your Majesty!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Opening warehouses to release grain can kill two birds with one stone. First, it can win the hearts and minds of the people. Asukajing is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea on one side. A considerable part of the residents' food comes from the county, and most of it comes from the sea. Once the war breaks out, the sea route will be cut off. And after Brother Zhong brings tens of thousands of people into Asuka Beijing, there will definitely be no food for sale on the market and the price of food will skyrocket. At this time, people in the capital will only resent Brother Zhong, and I won’t resent you!”
"What's the use of human hearts?" Saitama sneered: "It's better to burn them all with a fire. Then there will be a famine in Asukakyo before spring, and Katsuragi can only retreat to the Omi area. If you follow your approach, Katsuragi will be completely He can collect food from the people to feed his army through the winter!"
"On the contrary!" Wang Wenzuo said: "If you use your method, Katsuragi will indeed withdraw his troops to Omi, and all you will get is a resentful Asuka Kyo. How confident are you that you can defeat Katsuragi who controls Omi? As for what you said Is there anything that can cause more resentment among the people than this? Isn’t that a great opportunity for your Majesty? Don’t forget, Asuka has gathered a large number of nobles and Buddhist temples, and they are not easy to bully!”
"It sounds like what you said makes more sense!" Qiyu rolled her eyes, and her shoulders were already leaning on Wang Wenzuo's chest: "Then what? What else do I need to do?"
"Burn the excess ships and shipyards, and if possible, bring the shipbuilding craftsmen to Nambazu. This will be very useful for us next!"
"This is a good suggestion!" Saitama nodded: "We can do it right away! Is there anything else?"
"There are only so many now!" Wang Wenzuo replied: "Actually, the most important thing is the question I asked at the beginning, why so many people voted for it?
Under the banner of the eldest brother, this is the key point! The key to victory or defeat depends on who finds the "Tao" first! "
The smile on the woman's face disappeared, and she looked at Wang Wenzuo coldly: "The right person will get a lot of help, but the wrong person will get little help. So, do you think I am an unjust person?"
"Looking at it now, yes!" Wang Wenzuo said bluntly.
Saitama felt something in his eyes, stinging and blurring his vision. She couldn't cry, especially not in front of this man. She raised her head proudly and stood up: "Minister, you can go out!"
Wang Wenzuo didn't move, as if he didn't hear Saitama's voice. The woman bit her lips and forced herself not to cry: "Get out, Minister of the Interior!"
Wang Wenzuo stood up, looked into Saitama's eyes, and bowed to him: "I originally thought you knew what a king is, but now it seems I was wrong!"
"It's not too late!" The woman's voice was cold to the bone: "Katsugi's forward is very close. If you join him, he will be very happy!"
"If I had been on his side from the beginning, you would have been dead!" Wang Wenzuo sneered, "I will write everything that happened here into a memorial to apologize to the emperor!"
"Didn't you say that Katsuragi is the one who has achieved enlightenment? Why don't you help him?"
"Four years ago, I was a captain of the Tang Army, with twelve men under my command." Wang Wenzuo said solemnly: "We just captured the royal capital of Baekje under the command of General Su. According to the rules, we need to capture the capital of Baekje. Guard for a year, and then you can return to your hometown, disarm and return to the fields, and live a peaceful life. Everyone drinks and shoots, thinking about how long it will be before they can go home." At this point, Wang Wenzuo paused for a moment: "But Onimuro Fukunobu raised an army. He asked for help from his elder brother, the prince, and made Yu Fengzhang king, so we fought for three years. During these three years, I went through hundreds of battles and experienced hardships, and the number of people who died around me was countless. Do you think Will I help him?"
Qiyu opened her mouth and found that the original anger in her chest had disappeared. She reached out and grabbed Wang Wenzuo's sleeve: "I'm sorry, I didn't know these things, otherwise I wouldn't have said those words!"
Wang Wenzuo snorted coldly: "That's all, Your Majesty, you were born into an imperial family, so it's hard for you to understand the thoughts of warriors like us!"
"That's not necessarily the case!" Qiyu rolled his eyes, hugged Wang Wenzuo's right arm, dragged him to the table, and forced him to sit down: "You just have to tell me whether I listen or not!"
"Are you listening? Are you talking about these past events at this time? Katsuragi's army has already crossed Mount Kasagi!"
"Don't be afraid. I will immediately write the suggestion you just made into a decree and let my subordinates implement it!" Saitama wrote quickly. In three strokes, he wrote down the things about opening the warehouse to release grain and burning down the shipyard, and stamped it with his own seal. He sealed it, called the female official to pass it on, then returned to the case and said with a smile: "Now that the matter is over, you can talk about those past events!"
Wang Wenzuo hesitated for a while, but finally decided to do it. He thought for a while and said: "Okay, then I will tell the story of my several Baekje subordinates. The first one is called Sancho. He was the first to follow me. He was originally a Sanchi. Han Mu Nu..."
"This is Wang Peng's story." He didn't know how long he had been telling it. Wang Wenzuo felt his mouth was dry. He picked up the water glass next to him and found it was empty. He forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, it's getting late. Today Are you here?"
"That Wang Peng is still alive now? How is his fourth brother now?" Qiyu refused to let go. He was so excited that he refused to let go: "And that Yuan Fei, can he really be as agile as a monkey? You Why don’t you bring them here so that I can see them?”
"I didn't expect you to be interested in this!" Wang Wenzuo, who was tortured by the woman's curiosity, smiled bitterly: "Next time, next time I will definitely let them come and let you see me!"
"It's a deal!" Saitama smiled, and she suddenly slapped her knee: "I understand why Katsuragi was able to gather so many people at once!"
"How to say?"
"It's very simple! He must have promised to give official positions and land to those who defected to him! In this way, there must be many people who will defect to him and work for him!"
Wang Wenzuo inquired carefully and found out that Japan at that time was still an era of bureaucracy, that is, the land belonged to the chief nobles headed by the emperor.
, the tribesmen themselves do not have land ownership. The reform that imitated the mainland regime starting from Prince Shotoku also changed the tribesman system into the ownership of the emperor's state. Ordinary people still have no land ownership. But in fact, there are many small wealthy families like Akami Akatsuki in various Japanese territories. They either cultivate privately themselves or act as agents for the estates of big nobles headed by the emperor. They have accumulated a considerable amount of wealth and have a considerable amount of manpower, but what these people do is The land ownership they own is illegal and is not recognized by the emperor and the state. They may be deprived of their land and property by local government officials at any time and become lower-class farmers. These local tyrants have great motivation to change the status quo.
