The Settsu strategy was a joint effort between Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga, and the Miyoshi family was bound to be in bad luck. Ichikumune himself insisted on going to the capital to kill people, which angered Ashikaga Oda.
Now, Master Xianru is in a dilemma when facing the Settsu strategy. He wants to ask Yiyin to intervene, but Yiyin is too lazy to wade into this muddy water.
The Shiba family withdrew from Kyoto to leave the stage to Ashikaga and Oda for performances.
Before Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga got out of their way, Yoshigan was determined to keep a low profile and never stand out.
Xiangzong and the Shiba family have always been economic partners in the Hokurikudo trade route. Yiyin will not change the Shiba family's grand strategy and return to the stage ahead of schedule just to show off the master's request.
Seeing Yiyin's perfunctory attitude, the master was obviously a little unhappy, so she looked at the person accompanying her at the table.
As the master of the Ichikai sect, Honganji Hianru has a lot to say that is inconvenient to say. She is a high-ranking Dharma master, and it is difficult for her to reveal worldly disputes and stinking profits.
The man nodded slightly, took over Master Xianru's words, and bowed to Yiyin with his hands clasped together.
"Lai Lian, a poor nun, has seen Jinduo Hall."
Yiyin smiled at her and nodded.
It turns out that this person is Shishan General Lai Lian, the right-hand man of Master Xian Ru, who is in charge of the specific affairs of Shishan.
Starting from the first generation of the Dharma Master, the Hajian family were followers of the Wu family who followed the Yixiang sect.
After the Ichibuki clan prospered, the Shimoma family controlled the shōguan system and controlled the secular affairs of Honganji Temple.
Lai Lian said respectfully.
"The Dharma Master understands the difficulties in Jinduo Hall. You have become a monk and practiced cultivation and have ignored the affairs of the shogunate.
But for this Settsu strategy, His Majesty Oda came to Sakai Port, so he took the initiative to cooperate with the shogunate. It concerns everyone’s common commercial interests in Hokuriku Road, so please understand our concerns."
Yiyin frowned slightly and said nothing. Lai Lian looked at Yiyin carefully and saw that he remained calm, so he continued.
"The Oda family's territory is far away in the Nobi Plains. Even if they want to expand, they should take over the swing samurai family in North Ise and the Kitahata family in south Ise.
But His Highness Oda came all the way to Settsu Country to help the shogunate avenge their ancestors.
Don't you think this is strange?"
In fact, Yoshihiro also couldn't figure out why Oda Nobunaga, a guy who didn't get up early for any profit, actively cooperated with Ashikaga Yoshiaki to launch the Settsu strategy.
Attacking Miyoshi's family and capturing Settsu Province would be a great thing for Ashikaga Yoshiaki to establish his reputation and expand his prestige.
But for Oda Nobunaga, the price-performance ratio is a bit low. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to the development of the Oda family to take over the wallflowers in North Ise and the Kitahata family in Minami Ise, and swallow up the entire Ise Bay?
I think Lai Lian's words are reasonable, but Yiyin is hard to say.
Miyoshi went to Luo and killed his fiancée. Although the three Miyoshis who were considered the culprits by everyone are dead, the stain on Miyoshi's family is not easy to clean up.
As a good husband who observed the festival for his deceased wife and became a monk to pray for blessings, how could Yoshigan question the justice of the Settsu strategy?
Lai Lian from the lower room said while carefully observing the changes in Yiyin's expression.
"According to the information we have collected, not all the Nanman people who went to Luo died.
There is a Knight of the Nanman Order from Rhodes Island who has joined the Oda family and is training lances, iron cannons and ashigaru for the Oda family."
Yiyin's pupils shrank slightly, Xiang Zong's intelligence channels were very powerful, and they had already found out about this matter.
Oda Nobunaga showed off to Yoshigan that she had blacks and knights donated by the southern barbarians under her command.
It turned out that the knight was not only Spanish, but also a military personnel from the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island, which was a bit troublesome.
The Knights Hospitallers were the first armed forces in Europe to use firearms in large-scale combat, and the Spaniards on the Liberian Peninsula were fanatical believers in the Southern Barbarian religion.
During the military exchanges in support of the Eastern Expedition, the two sides gradually perfected the new Spanish square formation.
Thinking that the Oda family had such a talent and were training the spear ashigaru and the iron gun ashigaru to fight together, Yoshigami felt his teeth aching.
The traditional samurai feudal system and backward mobilization methods could only recruit a small number of off-duty ashigaru, and most of the soldiers had extremely low combat effectiveness.
Oda Nobunaga held the large granary in the Nobi Plain, and while he was separating farmers and soldiers, he was training full-time ashigaru who could skillfully use iron cannons and spears to cooperate in combat. This was a real dimensionality reduction blow in the island country.
Ordinary civilians can develop good combat effectiveness by receiving training with long guns and iron cannons in as little as three months and as long as half a year.
The traditional martial arts family begins to receive education at the age of three and becomes an official in Yuanfu at the age of fifteen. It takes at least ten years to recruit a qualified Ji warrior.
The core of the traditional military strength of the samurai family is the warrior warriors in these reserves. The high-frequency and low-intensity fighting method between the samurai families is also because they cannot afford to sacrifice too many warrior warriors.
Without the warrior Ji, no one will manage the territory, the army will have no backbone, and the traditional samurai regime will collapse.
And Oda Nobunaga wants to bring advanced warfare methods to the island country and reuse the soldiers selected from the civilian population. Even if she only learns a little bit of it, it will be enough to sweep through the bastards of the Sixty-Six Kingdoms.
Seeing Yiyin's eyes becoming serious, Lai Lian was secretly happy and said.
"His Majesty Oda decided to help the shogunate conquer Settsu, and he listened to the advice of this Nanman Princess warrior in an attempt to capture Sakai Port.
Because the Oda family wanted to equip iron cannons on a large scale, it required a large amount of gunpowder and projectiles. The island country lacked saltpeter and lead ore, and had to rely on Nanman trade to obtain large amounts of supplies.
Tsutaden, Sakai Port and Ishiyama are two sides of one body, creating a prosperous business in the coastal area.
Oda-dono is coming fiercely, we can't put the safety of the Hokurikudo trade route on other people's sanity, we must be prepared for a rainy day."
Lai Lian's attitude was sincere, but Yiyin knew that her words were half true and half false.
The Ichiko clan valued the commercial profits of the Hokuriku Road trade route, but in fact, even if they lost this money, it would not shake the foundation of Ishiyama Honganji Temple.
What really makes Master Xianru feel anxious is that once Oda Nobunaga sets his sights on Sakai Port, there is a high probability that he will not let Ishiyama go.
As Shimo Lai Lian said, the Sakai Port Stone Mountain is integrated.
The Miyoshi family had no idea of invading Ishiyama because they did not have the strength to quarrel with the Ichigo clan. They would be satisfied if they could set up a checkpoint at Sakai Port to collect taxes, but Oda Nobunaga was hard to say.
The Nanman Sect has joined the Oda family, so they will not let Ishiyama Honganji pass easily. Today, they can encourage Oda Nobunaga to take Sakai Port, and tomorrow they can induce the Oda family to attack Ishiyama.
The location of Shishan is really important.
In ancient times, the Emperor's court had Namba Kyo located here. The reason why Stone Mountain is called Stone Mountain is because when the Honganji Temple was built, many ancient stone foundations were dug out and used as building materials.
Yiyin thought for a while and said.
"Even if the Oda family gets the management rights of Sakai Port, the shogunate will not allow the Oda family to do whatever they want.
Ishiyama Honganji Temple is the front line for Buddhist sects to resist Nanbarbarism. The Kyoto sects will not just watch the Oda family dig up this wall.
Isn’t it true that your lord is a little too worried?”
Lai Lian shook his head and said.
“The situation at Tsutadoden and Sakai Port is relatively complicated. Since ancient times, this place has been a hub for domestic and foreign trade.
The foreign trade of the island country starts from Hakata Port in Kyushu, disembarks at Sakai Port through the Seto Inland Sea, and is imported to Konka.
Originally, this route only had goods from China, Korea, and Ryukyu. In recent years, the Southern Barbarians came to trade and brought their heresies with them.
The great names of Kyushu have been blinded by business interests and corrupted by heresy. Sakai Port is the next target of the Nanman Sect.
There are few people in the Wu family who are proficient in business. Over the years, Sakai Port has been maintained by ten members of the Sakai Association.
The ten most powerful merchant houses jointly manage Sakai Port, and the samurai lords who occupy this place can enjoy tariffs without any effort.
Sen no Rikyu is the leader of the ten people. It is said that the Sen family has noble blood and has a close relationship with the famous shogunate family in Kyoto.
Imai Munehisa followed Mr. Takada Haruno of the Shiba family, Tsuda Muneki followed the three Miyoshi who died, and Konishi Lonzo, who disappeared last year, was a devout believer in Nanman Cult.
These large merchants monopolized the food, armaments, and medicinal materials in the Sakai Port market and had great influence.
Relying on the huge profits from Nanman trade, the Nanman Sect has bribed a small number of merchants in Sakai Port and lured them to convert.
Once the Oda family enters Sakai Port, even if the shogunate intends to maintain order, there is no guarantee that someone will have evil intentions and deliberately cause trouble.
I am afraid that by then, an unexpected incident will occur in Sakai Port that damages the Hokuriku Road trade route, affecting the interests of all of us, so I implore Tsutado-don to pay attention to this matter."
Yiyin looked at his subordinate Lai Lian talking endlessly, but he sneered in his heart, and the official left half of his words unanswered.
The market in Sakai Port is divided into financial and cargo.
During the war, the most in-demand supplies were food, ordnance, and medicinal materials. These were military supplies, and they were indeed in the hands of the ten members of the Sakai Huizhong Nawu.
But in terms of finance, it is the monastic forces that take the lion's share.
Finance in ancient times was not complicated. The main ones at Sakai Port were ferry money and earth warehouses. The former made money by taking advantage of the exchange price difference of gold, silver and copper, and the latter was simply a matter of collecting money on the ground with compound interest.
Imai Munehisa's business involved ferrying money back and forth between the Celestial Islands and earning some hard money in exchanging copper coins.
The Buddhist nuns in the temple like to make quick money the most. Going out nine times and returning thirteen times is considered a low interest rate for a Bodhisattva. Who dares not to pay back the money owed to the temple?
The Ichiko sect is the strongest sect in the area. When the Hokuriku Trading Road was established, Takada Haruno defrauded the earthen warehouses of these temples... no, borrowed the first pot of gold.
At this moment, the subordinate Lai Lian was pretending to be a poor little white rabbit in front of Yiyin, as if the Nanman people in Sakai Port were using the additional conditions of trade to instigate the merchants to cause trouble and deliberately suppress the Yixiang clan.
No matter how bad the Nanman people are, they are still trading in kind, and the goods can be seen and touched. It is not like the great Bodhisattva who lends money in the temple. He is really a white wolf with empty hands, and he has forced many families to be destroyed.
If only the Buddha girls were more relaxed, the Nanman Sect would not expand so fast.
The characteristic of Nanman religion is that church members help and love each other, which is in line with the character of the island people who stick together to survive.
When the power of the temple makes it difficult for people to survive, entire villages of stupid people will turn around and throw themselves into the arms of the Nanman religion, seeking refuge.
The whole thing between the Yixiang Sect and the Nanman Sect is a dispute of faith, but it turns out to be a conflict of interest. Blocking someone's way of making money is like killing one's parents.
At this moment, Lai Lian was bursting into tears in front of Yiyin, accusing the Nanman Cult of having bad intentions. How could she have the nerve to say it out loud?
The Buddhist ladies are greedy and do not reflect on how much they have deceived others. Instead, they blame the people for being ignorant and being deceived by paganism. They are really thick-skinned.
But speaking of this, Oda Nobunaga's ambitions for Sakai Port did cause Yoshibank to worry.
Because of Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Yoshigan has always been disgusted with the Miyoshi family, and the Miyoshi family is also wary of the Shiba family.
But this does not prevent the two parties from forming a joint venture and using the Hokuriku Road trade route to make money. What hatred can be more important than real money?
Even if Yoshigan Shiba and Yoshitsugu Miyoshi want to fight each other, the samurai group below, who are busy reaping benefits, will try their best to persuade them that peace is the most important thing.
Originally, Yoshigami's idea was very simple. Even if Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Oda Nobunaga reached out through the Settsu Strategy, it would just be a matter of putting two more sets of bowls and chopsticks.
If the Miyoshi family doesn't use it themselves, then just eat a few less bites and leave the extra portion to the Ashikaga and Oda families.
With the mature Hokuriku Road trade route profit sharing system and the huge amount of free benefits, would the Ashikaga and Oda families be willing to part with it?
But now seeing Yi Xiangzong looking like he was facing a formidable enemy, Yiyin was a little unsure.
Religious matters are never rational matters. Faith is an endless gold mine and a life-and-death interest. Yixiang Zong will not compromise on matters of faith just because of huge business profits.
If the religious powder keg that the Nanman Sect and the Ichigo Sect had built up for many years was really blown up by Oda Nobunaga's fuse, the Hokuriku Road trade route would be in trouble.
Sakai Port is the source of the Hokuriku Road trade route, so there must be no problems here.
Yoshihiro just spent a lot of money on Shiba's house. He needs the Shiba Chu Fund to continue to inject blood, and this is inseparable from the prosperity of the Hokuriku Road trade route.
If there is a problem with the Hokuriku Road trade route, Yoshihiro will be ready to die. If Shiba Chu's fund can't make any money, how can he pay annuity dividends and maintain the stability of Shiba's family?
The Ishiyama Honganji Temple next to Sakai Port has always been an important force in maintaining the stability of the Hokuriku Road trade route. On the one hand, it looks at the Miyoshi Checkpoint of Sakai Port, and on the other hand, it suppresses the Hokuriku Road Ichikazu sect.
It seems that the superior asked his subordinate Lai Lian to come forward and asked Yiyin for help with a stern face. It was in his own interests, and Yiyin really couldn't refuse.
He thought for a while and said.
"The Sanhao family has gone against the grain and must pay the price for the evil deeds that were rampant in Shangluo before.
But the people of Sakai Port are innocent, and we cannot just watch the innocent townspeople suffer from the military disaster."
Seeing that Yiyin finally let go, he looked like the master saying "Namo Amitabha", with a look of mourning for the people.
"Jundaden is compassionate and compassionate, and I admire you so much. Jodo Shinshu is willing to help you and protect the peace of this place."
Yiyin smiled.
"The trouble will not reach the point where the Dharma Master needs to take action. The shogunate still has loyal ministers who are sensible.
There is some misunderstanding between Jodo Shinshu and the shogunate. I will write to inform the new leader of the shogunate, Her Highness Hatakeyama Takamasa, and ask her to speak out for Jodo Shinshu in the shogunate's review and safeguard the reputation of the noble sect."