A samurai who doesn't want to be a daimyo is not a good onmyoji

Chapter 119 Changdao City

According to the route previously planned by Asai Nagamasa, he will first arrive at Nagashima City, then follow the mountains through the Tsutsui family, then the Miyoshi family, the strongest in Kinki, and from there arrive at the boundary town with the largest number of Nanman people.

Speaking of which, Asai Nagamasa still has a letter from Miyabe Tsugujun, which he wrote to his blacksmith friend who is good at forging iron cannons. If there is a chance, Asai Nagamasa can try to make a deal with the other party to help him. His Asai family purchased or ordered some iron cannons.

Although one or two iron cannons have little impact on the battle situation, if hundreds of iron cannons exert their power at the same time, even the three-eyed and eight-faced three-eyed cannon that has been obviously strengthened will be severely damaged. It is absolutely impossible to deal with an ordinary army. Even more powerful, Oda Nobunaga is already far ahead in this step, and he cannot fall too far behind.

In addition to the metallic soul core within the Sanmokuhakahedron, Niwa Nagahide finally presented two items.

The golden one is undoubtedly a spiritual stone, and it is also a purified high-concentration spiritual stone. Even if Asai Nagamasa has gained a lot in successive battles and the upper limit of his mana has been greatly improved, this single spiritual stone can After replenishing his mana twice, there is still plenty left. One can imagine how much energy it contains.

The first moment he took possession of it, both the Bird Guardian Spirit and Qiao Ji in his body expressed desire. Obviously, this spiritual stone was also very attractive to them.

But of course Asai Nagamasa would not just agree to them. Not to mention the usefulness of keeping it, judging from Biyiniao's behavior when he met Ashi in recent times, there was absolutely no way he would give it to it.

As a male biwing bird, he goes into heat as soon as he sees the female biwing bird, and even he, the possessed person, is affected. It's good that he doesn't punish it, but he still wants the spirit stone?Go dreaming!

But at the same time, Asai Nagamasa couldn't help but feel wary. The master who could create such an outstanding spirit stone must be far more powerful than himself now, and he was very familiar with all aspects of the spirit stone's properties. The person behind the scenes The black hand didn't know where the powerful enemy came from.

The second item is a black token. He still can't figure out how to use it and its purpose because it has no relevant records in Abe Seimei's inheritance, and there is no instruction manual for this thing.

However, from the various mysterious magic circles hidden above, as well as the cold, bone-deep Yin Qi that came from time to time, he could more or less judge its effect: it was a sacrifice, and it was basically certain that it was a sacrifice to someone in the underworld of Huangquan. Sacrifice performed by some ghosts and gods.

From this point of view, the mastermind behind giving such a thing to Oda Nobuyuki obviously had no good intentions from the beginning. Once Oda Nobuyuki performs the sacrifice according to his instructions, it is still unknown how Qingsu City will become. But the first one to die was definitely Nobuyuki Oda.

Even an ordinary onmyoji would not dare to communicate with the fierce ghosts and gods of the underworld. How could he, an ordinary person without any magic in his body, still be alive?

In short, this thing was of no use in a short period of time. Asai Nagamasa directly threw it and the spirit stone into the spirit sealing box. When he became stronger in the future, he could simply melt it into materials. , or it would be easier to summon ghosts and gods from the underworld and then forcefully use them.

While thinking about it, Asai Nagamasa was also chatting with Xiaonun, he didn't see it too much before, but now he can confirm that Xiaonun is really a master who can't stop talking.

There was no need for him to ask more, she had already told her almost everything about her origins.

It turns out that she actually comes from the Harima area, which is far away from Owari and further northwest of Kyoto.

The place is occupied by three forces, the Akamatsu clan, the Bessho clan and the Kodera clan. There is plenty of supplies, but the three clans are all roosters, and there are also a group of roosters around them. The only one who can be called a strong one is the one who is separated from them. Three good homes facing each other by water.

Originally, under this situation, their best choice was to develop slowly and form an alliance with each other so that they could jointly fight against the possible invasion of the Sanhao family. After all, the power of the Sanhao family is the strongest in the world. Just look at the power it occupies on the surface. The stone is high in number, and it is undoubtedly the first.

(Shigao system refers to a way of expressing the area of ​​a fiefdom based on the amount of grain harvested instead of the area)
But despite this, these three companies do not seem to have this awareness. If Asai Nagamasa were to evaluate their performance in recent years in four words, it would be that people are addicted to food.

The daimyo of the three families frequently engage in small-scale battles all year round. Although the samurai on the winning side will gain a lot, this makes the lives of the local civilians very difficult. Therefore, Ning Ning's mother worked hard to save her and her sister. , sent to the Owari area a hundred miles away.

That's right, Ningning actually has a little sister named Yaya who was adopted together with her, and she has an engagement with her little brother who wants to change his name to Changzheng.

Ning Ning's adoptive father, Asano Nagakatsu, is actually her biological uncle, but there is actually no blood relationship between the two betrothed babies, because Ning Ning's little brother was also adopted.
Such a complicated relationship almost confused Asai Nagamasa. After he figured it out, he could only sigh again. The Nibon people really have a special obsession with changing their names, giving surnames, and inheriting their bloodline. .

As for how the little kunoichi got the Kind Heart Bai Ling, how she became a ninja and trained to such a strong level, and how she met Kato Danzo and other ninjas with strong ninjutsu, Asai Nagamasa didn't even ask, and no one had any secrets. Woolen cloth?
If she wanted to say it, she would naturally tell herself. If she didn't want to say it, asking rashly would only cause embarrassment to both of them. After all, they had only known each other for a short time.

But the little kunoichi was really familiar with herself. Even though she quickly judged that Axiu was unable to speak, she still kept chattering to herself, which made the journey much more interesting. This was somewhat similar to Tokichiro.

It's just that Tokichiro is trying every possible means to find opportunities to flatter himself. It feels fresh at first, but after hearing it too much or people who are not interested in it, they will also feel bored.

The little kunoichi is different, she talks much more humorously and is not annoying at all.

Of course, Asai Nagamasa also has to admit that this has a lot to do with the extremely different looks between the two.

While chatting and rushing on the road, time passed quickly. When they gradually approached Nagashima City, the sky was gradually getting dark, and Asai Nagamasa also discovered the benefits of taking the little kunoichi on the road.That's because her perception is unexpectedly strong. I don't know if it's the enhancement of her guardian spirit, Cixin Bailing, or the ninjutsu she has practiced hard for many years. In short, every time she meets pedestrians on the road, she She can often detect the opponent in advance. She is really suitable for the profession of ninja.

The closer he got to Nagashima City, the more obvious it became to Asai Nagamasa that the living standards of the residents here were much worse than those under Qingzhou City. They were all sallow and thin, and they obviously didn't even have enough to eat, and even had patches on their clothes. It's obviously much more.

However, most of them seemed to have pretty good spirits. This kind of look was actually not completely unfamiliar to Nagamasa Asai, because he had seen it on the faces of the monks and believers in Miyabe Castle.

Yes, Nagashima Castle is also a city ruled by Buddhism, but unlike Miyabe Tsugujun, who was born in Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei, this Nagashima Castle is affiliated with Ishiyama Honganji Temple, which is the first monk to ascend the temple as a monk. The Jodo Shinshu who ascended the daimyo throne is also called the Ichigo sect.

Speaking of this Yixiang Sect, its ancestors were actually the Tiantai Sect that came from the Cathay Empire next door. In the beginning, they still advocated truth, goodness, and beauty.

However, after they discovered that this method did not work in Nibon, they immediately took advantage of the characteristics of Buddhism, which is to adapt to local conditions and easily change the rules of their own religion in order to survive.

Therefore, after so many years of development, both the belief and nature of its religion have actually undergone earth-shaking changes.

The Yixiang Sect abolished all the previous "clear rules and precepts". Their followers were not only allowed to get married, have children, and do business, but they even openly engaged in loan sharking and even solicited prostitution.

Rather than saying that they are monks, it is better to say that they are fake monks who put on the appearance of monks, fool believers with Buddhist teachings, and then take the opportunity to collect money and realize their various ambitions.

Rennyu Honganji, the head of the Ichiko sect, even once said: "As long as you believe in gods and Buddhas, you are a warrior of the Pure Land Shin Sect. As long as you have faith in the gods and Buddhas, then Shin Sect disciples will be able to be reborn in the Pure Land and achieve bliss."

In addition, there are many famous sayings such as "If you say Amitabha Buddha, you can become a Buddha after death"; "As long as you chant the Lotus Sutra diligently, you can become a Buddha" and many other famous sayings.

All in all, regardless of your origin or character, as long as you believe in Buddhism and are willing to obey the guidance and orders of Honganji Temple, you can become a Buddha. It doesn't even matter whether you read scriptures or not.

Although it sounds absurd and unruly, it is precisely because of this strategy of the Ichigo clan that they quickly attracted a large number of samurai, ronin, bandits, bandits, refugees, etc. in this troubled time.

Due to the long-term war, the people's lives are extremely difficult, and they are unable to change the current situation, so they can only rely on faith and hope for a better future in the next life. This is why Buddhism and other religions can continue to flourish in Nibon. There are even reasons for the gradual expansion.

And what Yi Xiangzong preached was really in line with their expectations.

As a result, the power of Yixiang Sect developed rapidly, and it became the strongest Buddhist power in Nibon.

After becoming a daimyo, although the relative lack of professional samurai resulted in an extreme shortage of mid- and low-level commanders, it could still be regarded as a first-echelon force.

As for Nagashima Castle, the name of the city lord here is Gonjoji Shoe, or Honganji Shoe, because he is the great-grandson of the eighth-generation Buddhist master who said the famous saying.

The eighth generation Buddhist master of Honganji Temple gave birth to nearly thirty children, almost half of whom were sons. He assigned them to various parts of the country to develop their power. One of his sons came to Nagashima in Ise to develop. After 50 years, After many years of development, it was built into the current Changdao City.

In terms of history alone, Nagashima City is actually not much older than the Asai family, but the attitudes of the surrounding daimyo towards the two are completely different.

The ancestor of the Asai family, Asai Ryomasa, was fine when he was alive. Since the current daimyo Asai Hisamasa, who is known for his cowardice and incompetence, succeeded him and continued to show his "extraordinary" abilities, the surrounding daimyo mentioned the Asai family. Sometimes there is only contempt and greed: despising Asai Hisamasa's incompetence and coveting his territory in Kitanomi.

But when it comes to Nagashima Castle, the daimyo often only have deep disgust. It is really because these monks who came from Honganji Temple are too greedy.

They recruited a large number of refugees, occupied land, and even entangled farmers to rebel against local rulers. They refused to pay taxes and instead encouraged believers to donate all their money to them.

If the local ruler is too weak, farmers may even riot collectively, resist the ruler, expel them or even kill them.

Although on the surface Xiangzong does not support this kind of riot, because it will cause their relationship with the local daimyo to become extremely tense, they will not refuse too much, because those lands that have lost their owners will often change in the end. As they have always sect, they can get benefits and at the same time be able to show a little bit of their power.

So now, most Yixiang sects in all parts of Nibon are hated by daimyo from all over the world. Only those daimyo who are devout believers in Buddhism are relatively better off because they can establish a relationship with them and even use some power.

In other words, the reason why most of them choose to believe in Buddhism is just to avoid being too hostile to each other.

(End of this chapter)