Since the beginning of December, there have been inexplicable rumors in the territory of the temple, but Master Nakajima and the others have not paid much attention. When they returned to the territory, all their energy was focused on the movement of the Red Leaf Army. Akihei Rain is mobilizing the Momiji Army to conduct large-scale military exercises around Saga Castle. The people of Kii were seen as being immobilized in the barracks outside the city. For this reason, Master Nakajima and many Honganji owners have gathered monks and soldiers in the temple, and it is best to prepare for battle at any time.

However, the situation of the believers in the territory immediately slipped into the unpredictable abyss, and by the time Master Nakajima and the others reacted and wanted to take action, it was too late.

It is said that in the early part of this month, a group of Pure Land Shinshu monks claiming to be from Nishito Daimei appeared in villages all over Kii, led by a monk named Mamachi Shikatoku. They distributed relief food to the people, and at the same time propagated unfavorable remarks against Honganji: as long as you believe in the Buddha in your heart, you don't need to go through Honganji at all, and you can let the Buddha know about it and get the Buddha's salvation. Believers don't have to do anything, don't donate money and land, don't have to respond to the call of Honganji to fight the lord, as long as they sit at home and believe in Buddhism, they can be reborn in the Pure Land.

The monks insisted that this was the true doctrine of the Pure Land Shinshu, and it is said that they had taken out some Pure Land Shinshu scriptures written in Sanskrit in many villages. However, the people did not know what was written on it, but the monks said that this was the doctrine of the Pure Land Shinshu. They are the birthplace of the Pure Land True Sect, and all the Pure Land True Sect followers do this.

For people who don't have clear values or worldviews, it's easy to get them to change their minds – especially those that sound simpler and more beneficial. There is no doubt that the new ideas put forward by these monks are very marketable - if you can go to the Pure Land without donating money and land, and without following the owner to initiate a campaign, then who wants to bother?

Especially during this time, due to the war between the Yuqiu family and Kii, the monks of the temple requisitioned a lot of food and forced labor, which caused a lot of complaints among the people, and gave this wonderful new doctrine a breeding ground. At one time, many people in Kii's village were skeptical of the new doctrine, and many people (many of whom were encouraged by the ninja insiders of the Raven) even converted to the new doctrine. And that Mamachi Lude also became a legendary celebrity in the streets and alleys for a while.

Before the monks and abbots of Honganji Temple could find a way to pacify the riot, the Momiji Army's Naruto and Hosoyanagi began to act. They rallied in the direction of Kii's main temple territory and released a message stating that they had no intention of making enemies of the people, but only wanted to talk to the monks in the temple. At the same time, Yu Qiuping also publicly stated in Saga Castle that he himself believed in Buddhism, loved the Pure Land Shinshu very much, and would not force the believers of Kii to change their faith - but as a Ming country, he believed in the true Pure Land religion of the Ming country. Therefore, he did not approve of the Pure Land Shinshu followers who had always followed the owner's initiation.

When the temple shrine of Honganji Temple saw the arrival of the army of the Red Leaves, they were immediately frightened, and hurriedly called on the people in the territory to take up arms and join the army to defend the temple and the territory. The people were also asked to contribute food as military rations. However, their actions happened to hit the muzzle of the gun - the people had just learned about the "true teachings" of the Pure Land Shinshu and had a desire for a better life, and they were asked to contribute money and land as before, and they were naturally reluctant.

As a result, there were protests in many temple territories. Under the appeal of some enthusiastic leaders who appeared inexplicably (in fact, they were all crows' insiders), many people refused the request of the owners of Honganji Temple on the grounds of true teachings. They believe in "righteousness by faith" and insist that as long as they have the Buddha in their hearts, they can be reborn in the Pure Land, and they do not need to respond to the call of the owners to fight against Yu Qiuping, who also believes in Buddhism.

At the same time, as an opportunity, malicious rumors against Honganji Temple also arose in Kii. The crow's plainclothes went around announcing the extravagant life of the owners and monks of Honganji, such as the big fish and meat, the three wives and four concubines, and so on, and pointed the finger at the monks and owners of Honganji. Many people, encouraged by them, questioned the motives of these monks, whether they demanded money and land from the people in order to enrich their own pockets, and then called for a break in order to protect their own property.

In response to these malicious rumors, Master Nakajima and others hurriedly sent people to refute them, and took out the scriptures of the Pure Land Shinshu to prove that their teachings were correct, and the emerging teachings were all nonsense. However, the leader of the people (the crow's plainclothes) showed that he did not believe in this and debated with the monks of Honganji in front of the people. Their debates and logic were all taught by Yu Qiuping, and the monks of Honganji Temple could not speak of them at all.

"Isn't the Buddha powerful and omnipotent?"

"Are all beings equal in front of the gods and Buddhas?"

"Then why did the people have to let the Buddha know their minds through you monks?"

"How could the Buddha have taken a fancy to such mundane things as money and land? How could the Buddha advocate killing? ”

"And what are you Honganji people here for?"

In the face of such logic, the monks of Honganji Temple, who usually command the chanting of scriptures, were defeated one after another. Occasionally, a well-spoken monk would appear, and Omachi Rotoku would appear in the village and refute him. As a result, public opinion was raging throughout the village of Kii, and the necessity of the existence of the owners and monks of Honganji Temple was questioned. More and more people embraced the new doctrine and refused to pay for food, food, and land, and refused to respond to Honganji's call to launch a rebellion.

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Only then did Master Nakajima and many of the owners and monks of Honganji realize that they had encountered strange enemies that they had never seen before, and they did not play according to the usual routines of the samurai lords. If you think about it with your feet, you can know that behind this series of sports must be the shadow of Yu Qiuping.

In the past, there were many samurai lords who were enemies of Honganji and wanted to dismantle Honganji. However, their usual approach is to attack the Pure Land Shinshu and the sacred Lord Honganji Shōru himself, attack the Pure Land Shinshu faith, and threaten to deprive the Honganji and its followers of their territory, which will undoubtedly offend the majority of believers and infringe on their interests. At this time, as long as the owners and monks raise their arms, they can mobilize their thousands of disgruntled believers to launch a campaign.

However, Yu Qiuping's routine this time is very weird. Instead of denying the Pure Land Sect and the Dharma Master, he regarded them as gods. Instead, they pointed the finger at the mid-level clergy of Honganji, believing that they had deceived their subordinates and concealed their superiors and filled their pockets, and that they had rebelled against the gods and Buddhas and oppressed the people—which was undoubtedly easily recognized by the people. At the same time, they also introduced a tempting new doctrine: justification by faith. As long as you believe in Buddhism in your heart and don't want to do anything, you can be reborn in the Pure Land. Far from infringing on the interests of the people, this made their path of cultivation more convenient and deeply loved by the people. As a result, this doctrine immediately spread among the people.

At this time, it was difficult for the owners and monks of Honganji Temple to incite it again. First of all, the people did not suffer at all, but liked this more comfortable new doctrine. Secondly, Yu Qiuping did not attack the Pure Land True Sect and the Dharma Master, so that the people did not even have the slightest anger. On the contrary, it was the owner and the monk themselves who were accused of enriching their own pockets, and they couldn't wash it anymore.

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"It's just a scum of Buddhism!"

After clarifying what Yu Qiuping wanted to do, Master Nakajima angrily scolded, "If this continues, how can Buddhism still have the slightest dignity at all?" ”

"Justification by faith, justification by faith! If the Pure Land of Rebirth is really as simple as that guy said, you don't have to do anything while sitting at home, and you don't need to go to the temple to recite scriptures, you can be reborn in the Pure Land, then what's the point of believing in Buddhism? Everyone in the world says in their hearts that they believe in Buddhism, can they all go to the Pure Land? ”

Master Nakajima blushed and scolded fiercely, and he was a little out of breath as he got older, and he slowed down for a long time before continuing, "How can there be a reason to be reborn in the Pure Land without practicing? It's really a scum of Buddhism! Those people are the most ignorant, and the more simple the doctrine and the more beneficial the sect, the more they believe, and when they see that there is such a good thing, they can go to the Pure Land without doing anything, and naturally they will flock to believe! If the rain and autumn and red leaves do this, wouldn't it be that the simpler the doctrine, the more believers the sect will have! In the end, isn't the whole world full of Buddhist believers, and then the doctrine is that as long as you say that you are a believer, you can be reborn in the Pure Land? ”

However, Master Nakajima scolded and scolded, only to find that the other monks sitting around were all embarrassed, and no one matched his remarks. His speech slowed down, and as he spoke, he realized that there was something wrong with his words—he seemed to be scolding himself, scolding Honganji.

Isn't that how Honganji Temple was first built?

In the past, the teachings of the entire Buddhist school were cumbersome and complex. Believers are required to shave their homes, cut off their dust, eat fasting and chant sutras, and practice day after day, year after year, in order to be reborn in the Pure Land. Such a request is difficult for many people to fulfill.

At this moment, the Pure Land Shinshu was born. Their teachings are very simple - they do not need to shave their hair, cut off their karma, eat fasting and chant sutras, even if they eat meat with their hair, marry a wife and have children, they can be reborn in the Pure Land. Such an easy-to-understand doctrine immediately swept the country, and was embraced by the poor people who wanted to live a life but were afraid of trouble, and a large number of believers flocked to the Pure Land Shinshu.

And now, Yu Qiuping is to use his own way to govern his body, and take out a simpler doctrine to give the Pure Land True Sect a hard blow.

However, this kind of competition between different Buddhist sects is actually a vicious circle. It's like merchants in the market who cut prices to attract customers to each other in order to defeat their competitors. If the malicious competition does not stop, the final result is that both sides will reduce the price to almost negligible, and lose all their money. The vicious competition in the teachings of Buddhist sects is actually that whoever has a simple doctrine can win the support of more people. If this competition is not stopped, the end result is that all the Buddhist teachings are so simple that you can be reborn in the Pure Land without doing anything. If it really comes to such a point, then the existence of Buddhism will be meaningless, and the entire Buddhist sect in the world will lose everything.

However, Yu Qiuping can not care about this. Anyway, he is not from the Buddhist sect, what does the Buddhist sect have to do with him? He's an atheist, and there's no pressure to do something like this.