In the second lunar month of the eighth year of Yonglu (the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, 1565 AD), the early spring is steep and cold.

The morning mist filled the mountain trail, the willow trees on the side of the road pulled out tender yellow buds, Shimazu Yoshihiro led the way in front of the head, Lu Yunlong and Guo Guoqiang urged the horse to follow, Wen Jing and Liuguan rode a horse together, and walked side by side with Xu Ling'er.

Lin Liuguan, who had a sallow face, peeked at Xu Ling'er from time to time, and silently recited a sentence of "Bodhisattva bless" in his heart.

Everyone traveled cautiously along the way, and after more than three hours of trekking, they finally arrived at Ishiyama Honganji Temple.

In the main hall of Ishiyama Honganji Temple, a young monk dressed in a yellow-brown robe, with a bronze complexion-colored national face, is sitting cross-legged on a puff mat with his eyes slightly closed.

There are two people sitting across from him, one of whom is in his thirties, wearing a samurai bowl turban, wearing a haori, thick eyebrows, small eyes, and a mustache, this person is Asakura Yoshikage, the lord of Echizen Province.

Another half-bald moon generation leader, a tiger-backed samurai is about fifty years old, with short eyebrows and broad eyes, a beard, and a big mouth is talking about it, this is the famous "God of War" Takeda Shingen.

At this moment, I listened to Shin Xuan's preaching: "You know, Matsunaga Xiu was very strict along the way, and the two of us dressed up in disguise and followed the path to Ishiyama Honganji Temple. Obviously, now that you are an adult, as the saying goes, fight tigers and brothers, and go into battle as father and son. The three brothers are a family, and it is rare for us to get together in normal times, so there are many things that need to be discussed. ”

Xianru raised his thick eyebrows, showed his double eyelids, opened a pair of big eyes, lowered his head and replied: "What my brother-in-law said is that the poor monk is very unhappy. After the New Year, it should have been a poor monk to visit the two brothers-in-law, but bothered you to go to Honganji Temple to see me, it is really embarrassing, since you are here, please also ask the two brothers-in-law to teach more. ”

Asakura Yoshikage shook his head and said: "Lord Harumoto is still imprisoned in Pumen Temple by the traitor Miyoshi Chokei, back then, Chokei was a retainer of the Hosokawa family, and now, Namatsu Nagahide is also learning from him, and they are plotting to usurp the power of the shogun, obviously, once there is a change in Kyoto, please find a way to protect the bloodline of the shogun's family." ”

(Harumoto Hosokawa, the head of the Ashikaga Yoshiteru family, the shogun of Muromachi, is the father-in-law of these three people)

"The poor monk succeeded to the throne at the age of eleven, and he walked on thin ice until he was nineteen years old before he fought for the first time, assisting Shingen-sama to launch a battle in Echizen, Kaga and other places, defeating the dragon of Echigo, Uesugi Kenshin. Now, I am twenty-two years old, and I have the position of a powerful monk, and I am also a famous person in the Settsu country, and there are always sect believers in various places who obey my orders, as long as the two brothers-in-law say a word, the poor monk will do his best. Xianru replied.

(The Emperor canonized the official position to Xianru and was approved by the Shogun)

Takeda Shingen nodded, pulled the pu mat to the front of the two, grabbed the two brothers-in-law with both hands, and said seriously: "Okay! I propose that the three of us form an alliance and form a strong alliance against our enemies. ”

"I completely agree with Shingen-sama's proposal, as long as the three of us form an alliance, it will be enough to deal with all enemies, but ......" Asakura Yoshikage's voice became louder as he said this.

"Yijing, what's wrong with you?" Takeda Shingen hurriedly asked.

Yoshikage Asakura wiped his tears and replied, "Every day when I return home, my wife cries to me, and now, my father-in-law is still suffering in the temple......

It turned out that only Asakura Yoshikage's main room was Hosokawa Harumoto's own daughter, Takeda Shingen's main room was his second daughter, and Xianru married his third daughter, both of whom were Hosokawa's adopted daughters.

Hearing this, Takeda Shingen was not polite, took out the style of the eldest brother-in-law, and said, "Yes, we have to find a way to rescue my father-in-law." Obviously, the year before last, when you were in Echizen, you said that Yan Shifan, the squire of the Ming Dynasty, was the son of Guan Bai in the Ming Dynasty, and because he converted to the Yixiang sect, he sent you a lot of rare treasures every year, and you took some out of them to buy the samurai of the Settsu Kingdom. ”

"That's great!" Asakura Yoshikage praised loudly, "Quan Monk, money is something outside the body, no matter what, we can't watch my father-in-law suffer, and we all turn a deaf ear. ”

At this time, Asakura Yoshikyo stopped crying, while Xianru fell into deep thought, and after a while, he squeezed out a few tears.

Takeda Shingen asked, "Xianru, what's wrong with you?" ”

Xianru replied helplessly: "The two brothers-in-law should know that this official position of a powerful monk was bought from His Majesty the Emperor for 20,000 taels of silver; In order to get the approval of the shogun, he spent more than 10,000 taels on the shogun Yoshiki. Nowadays, the survival of Honganji mainly depends on the believers to raise donations, as for the Ming Dynasty Ministry of Labor Lang Yan Shifan, he has come to many letters, in the letters repeatedly said how much and how much money was donated to me, but the poor monk did not even receive a single one. The poor monk guessed that either the Ming Kingdom was far away and had not yet been delivered, or it was detained by the escort, or that Yan Shifan was just talking, alas, if I really needed to pay for it, then I had to sell the land of Honganji. ”

Hearing this, Asakura Yoshikage obviously didn't believe it, and immediately shook his head at Takeda Shingen.

"A person as prominent as Yan Shifan has no need to speak, even if the Ming Dynasty is far away, now that three years have passed, there will always be some to be shipped. I suspect that it must have been detained by the escort, so, did Yan Shifan say that who is the escort? Shingen Takeda asked.

"Yan Shifan's letter was forwarded through a merchant in Sakai Town, and the letter said that he entrusted Luo Wenlong, a student of the Daming Hanlin Academy, and Hong Zhenjin, a Taoist priest, to transport the property to Satsuma Kawabe Prefecture first, and hand it over to Hayashi Yiguan, a follower of the Ichijo sect entrenched in Akimeura, and then he transferred it to Ishiyama Honganji." Apparently replied.

"Have you seen Luo Wenlong and Lin Yiguan?" Shingen Takeda asked again.

"Although they are all believers in the sect, they will not leave their mouths when they see that I am 'Nan Wu Amitabha Buddha', but they never obey me, even if Yan Shifan has the heart to donate the treasure to Honganji, if the pirate leader Lin Yiguan does not transfer those belongings to me, the poor monk has no way at all." Apparently replied.

"In this way, you must have been detained by Lin Yiguan, a bastard, good boy, I want you to know the stakes of Takeda Shingen!"

At this moment, a small novice came to report, and Yoshihiro Shimazu of Satsuma came to ask for an audience.

As soon as he talked about Satsuma's Hayashi Ichiguan, Shimazu Yoshihiro came, and Asakura Yoshikei and Takeda Shingen tacitly smiled at each other, and then set their eyes on Xianru.

"Then let's invite Yoshihiro Shimazu in."

"Wait." Asakura Yoshikage stopped Xianru and asked, "May I ask why Shimazu Yoshihiro came from?" ”

After pondering for a moment, he replied, "There are many Christians in Satsuma Prefecture, who are constantly in conflict with the Ichikosu, burning down our temples and slaughtering our believers, and I suspect that Shimazu Yoshihiro is here for this. ”

Asakura Yoshikyo smiled slightly, and said seriously: "In other words, the Shimazu family may not know that Lin Yiguan has a huge treasure in his hands, so you must be cautious later, and you must not disclose this news to him." ”

At this time, Takeda Shingen stood up and said, "Yijing, let's avoid it for a while. ”

"Hehe, let's go and hide behind the statue in the main hall first." Obviously, he wanted to hear the conversation between Xianru and Shimazu Yoshihiro.

Xianru greeted the Daxiong Treasure Hall, greeted everyone, and invited the six of them in.

A few more mats were added, and the six of them sat on the ground opposite Xianru, facing Takeda Shingen and Asakura Yoshikei who were hiding behind the statues.

Asakura Yoshijing pointed at Lu Yunlong and asked in a low voice, "Do you think that person will be an official of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Takeda Shingen looked at Lu Yunlong carefully and replied, "I think this person is a nobleman of the emperor, or a samurai of the Muromachi shogunate's family, and his strength is extraordinary. ”

"You see, there is another person who was crippled, I guess this person is Lin Yiguan, it may be that the Shimazu family discovered his secret and captured him to Honganji Temple to confront Xianru, you listen, Shimazu Yoshihiro said how good, and praised Xianru really like a Buddha." Asakura Yoshikage spoke confidently.

Takeda Shingen listened attentively, and at this time, Shimazu Yoshihiro and Guo Guoqiang were singing and harmonizing, flattering Xianru, and praising him a little embarrassed.

As soon as the two of them finished speaking, Xianru suddenly asked, "May I ask if you know Lin Yiguan from Qiumepu?" ”

Shimazu Yoshihiro and Guo Guoqiang glanced at each other and replied in unison: "I'm here for this." ”

Hearing this, Asakura Yoshikage jumped up with excitement and was stopped by Takeda Shingen.

At this moment, he only heard Xianru ask in surprise: "So, where is Lin Yiguan now?" ”

Shimazu Yoshihiro replied unhurriedly: "Quan Monkmasa, something has happened recently in Akimeura, and it is very likely that the pirate leader Lin Yiguan will defect to Ishiyama Honganji." ”

"Why did Lin Yiguan come from?" Unclear Xianru hurriedly asked.

"Among the pirates, there are many sect believers, Lin Yiguan will ask you to help him give orders, and set off a single attack in Satsuma, please don't be fooled." Yoshihiro Shimazu replied earnestly.

Speaking of this, Shimazu Yoshihiro suddenly found that Xianru's eyes were stunned, something was not quite right, and he hurriedly asked: "Master Quan Seng Zheng, will you help Lin Yiguan?" ”

asked three times in a row, but Xianru stared at Xu Ling'er intently without answering, which made Shimazu Yoshihiro very annoyed.

After a moment of silence, Shimazu Yoshihiro suddenly stood up and shouted: "If Ichizong dares to rebel in Satsuma, watch me burn your stone mountain Honganji Temple and kill all of you ......"

Without waiting for Shimazu Yoshihiro to finish speaking, Xu Ling'er also stood up and scolded sharply: "Shimazu Yoshihiro, the Dharma King is our friend, please be respectful!" ”

Shimazu Yoshihiro didn't expect Xu Ling'er to speak to him like this, his face immediately turned red, and he quarreled with her:

"There's no room for you to talk here, get me out!"

"Shimazu Yoshihiro, please be clear, we didn't come together in the first place, naturally you said yours, I said mine, you disrespect the King of Law so much, what's the difference between that pirate Lin Yiguan?"

"How can you compare the pirate Lin Yiguan to me? I'm so! ”

At this moment, Shimazu Yoshihiro was annoyed and angry, and he wanted to beat her, but he knew that he was not Lu Yunlong's opponent, and he was unwilling to lose face so much, so he stomped his foot fiercely, and roared angrily.