After the cavalry of the Han army easily broke through the front of the rebellious people of the Shimabara domain, the entire army also began to move along the path opened by the cavalry. Because www.biquge.info had already been plowed by the cavalry before the iron plow, these feudal armies did not encounter the fierce resistance of the previous ones, and directly penetrated into the territory of the Shimabara Domain and fought under the castle.

Along the way, they saw corpses all over the ground, the results of the cavalry's pursuit of the scattered enemy army, these Catholics were former peasants, and although a few were ronin samurai, the vast majority of them had never undergone any military training, and had only gathered to resist the brutal rule because of bitter hatred.

This anger can boost their morale and make them muster up the courage to fight against the allied forces of the various feudal domains, and fight against the feudal armies that are not good enough to fight, but when the Han army, which is far superior to them in all aspects, comes to fight them in person, even if they have the morale to fight hard, they still have no way to resist.

After all, there is a limit to the human spirit, and when they encounter an opponent who cannot resist, their courage slowly disappears, and the instinct hidden in the heart takes over, and everyone runs away in despair, ignoring that such an escape will actually make themselves even more defenseless in front of the cavalry.

Not to disappoint Zhou Pu and others, the Han army faithfully carried out the plan formulated by the senators, and after these cavalry pursued all the way to the city, they did not fight again, and slowly regathered their troops, reorganized and then returned to the military formation of the army.

They and their horses were covered in blood, and their uniforms had turned dark red and stained with some mud, but their spirits were very high, because they had finally caught up with the end of the Kyushu Conquest and had made a meritorious achievement.

Although this was the last skirmish, the Catholics were not on par with the previous enemies of the infantry, but they were rewarded with a meritorious service.

And when they returned to the camp, they were greeted by the fearful and reverent gazes of the soldiers of the allied armies. When these feudal armies saw that the Han army was like a wind sweeping away leaves, crushing all the enemies they had been unable to defeat before, almost every one of them was full of fear of the Han in their hearts.

The Japanese have always been afraid of subduing the strong, and there is no national concept in the hearts of these feudal armies, so when the Han shows their strength, they will be convinced, and it is a matter of course that they will attach themselves to the Han and march together.

The same is true of these feudal lords, when the Han once again showed their strong force in front of them, the threat of the generals in Nagasaki became even more powerful, and they showed their loyalty and bravery in front of Zhou Pu, for fear that they would be punished by the Han because Zhou Pu was unhappy.

Zhou Pu was also happy to take advantage of their fears to further reorganize the army, strengthen his control over this army, and also pinch these feudal armies together a little, rather than fighting separately.

At the urging of the feudal lords, the feudal army, which had not encountered much resistance, attacked all the way, and killed the people they encountered along the way, which was very cruel. They all hated Catholicism very much, and the resistance of the Catholics had also aroused their ferocity, so they were particularly cruel.

Under the iron heel of the army, the Shimabara clan mourned all the way, and the villages were ruined and the corpses were everywhere.

Zhou Pu didn't intend to stop the cruel actions of these people at first, for him these Catholics are just enemies, not worth pity, as long as the soldiers under his command can complete the military orders, even if they do something out of the ordinary, it doesn't matter, but soon in the killing, the army also showed signs of loosening up in various villages, so in order to maintain military discipline, he had to order the feudal army below not to kill indiscriminately.

After reaching the castle of the Shimabara Domain, the army halted its march and waited for the final attack. The city is now home to a large number of Catholics, all of whom have scattered into the city from all over the world, knowing that there is no place to go and no one will come to forgive them, so they are ready to die and die for God with their last lives.

The Shimabara Castle was built by two generations, Matsukura Shigemasa and Matsukura Katsuie, who were also famous castle building experts during the Warring States period.

It stands to reason that the best way to attack such a city is to besiege it, use hunger as its own ally, and consume the enemy troops in the city, but the Han army does not have so much time now, and does not plan to slowly besiege them, so it decided to attack as soon as possible.

However, according to the plan of Huang Changguo and other senators, in order to avoid casualties, the Han army will not directly participate in the battle of attacking the feudal city, but will only use artillery to provide auxiliary support, and the navy will also be sent over to support, and it is the feudal army that is really responsible for the siege, although there will be many casualties in the siege, but Zhou Pu and his senators do not care.

After a day or two of waiting, the artillery of the Han army pulled to the front line, and on the sea outside the Shimabara Domain, some vague figures of the Han Navy warships appeared in the gray sea fog.

These feudal armies are also gearing up under the castle, waiting for the opportunity to show themselves in front of the Han angels - with the support of the Han's cannons and warships, no one doubts that the Shimabara Domain will not be captured by them as soon as possible, and they also need to use the blood of these parishioners to avenge their previous shame and win back their position in the hearts of the Han generals.

Zhou Pu has been inspecting the army everywhere in the past few days, and has been warmly welcomed everywhere he goes, and he has also used this way to subtly establish his authority and prepare for the war in Kyoto in the future.

And beside him, in addition to the Han senators and the lords of various domains, there are also a group of special people.

These people are dressed in monk's robes and have bald heads, and they are Buddhist monks.

And they are not ordinary monks, they are the heads of various Buddhist monasteries on Kyushu Island, and they were specially called here by Zhou Pu to boost the morale of the feudal army. It was precisely because of the encouragement of these monks that the feudal army became extremely cruel when killing everywhere.

It stands to reason that with such cruel oppression by the Shimabara Domain, riots in the territory should have been commonplace, but the ordinary riots and suppression, because of the identity of these rioters and Catholics, were overshadowed by a layer of religious wars.

Buddhism in Japan was divided into many sects, many of which were divided into smaller sects over thousands of years, and then these complicated temples began to fight each other for believers and resources.

Among the temples of Kyushu Island, Shingon Buddhism occupies a very important position, and Tochoji Temple in Fukuoka is the main temple of Shingon Buddhism in Kyushu, the mountain name is Nandake Mountain, and it also houses the largest wooden Buddha statue in Japan, so its abbot Hoko Daishi has faintly become the most prominent of these monks, and is revered by other Shingon temples.

However, outside of the mountain gate of Shingon Buddhism, he is not so respected, especially in Fukuoka near Nagasaki, Chongfukuji Temple, which belongs to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, and Kofukuji Temple, which is also in Nagasaki, because of the geographical advantages, they are the first to come into contact with the Han army, and they both regard themselves as the earliest and most authentic Tang Temple in Japan, so the abbots of the two temples are only at odds with the Fa Xing, and they want to strive for more benefits for the temple in front of the Han angels.

Zhou Pu used to take the imperial examination with his heart, and he was taught by a private school, so he was more or less a scholar, but he basically didn't know anything about religion and Buddhism, and he just read a few Buddhist scriptures as a pastime. But when communicating with these abbots, these abbots were interested in praising him, and his casual words were regarded as expounding the meaning of small words, as if Zhou Pu was praised as a great writer and lay man who was proficient in Buddhism.

After thousands of years of Buddhism, Buddhism has always tried to follow the path of the upper class, and tried to cater to the nobles in order to seek their protection and worship, and this is also the case in China, and the same is true in Japan, where the upper class monks are very proficient in this way.

I have to say that under their deliberate praise, even if he knew that they were insincere, Zhou Pu couldn't help but feel a little fluttering and respected these monks even more.

And these monks are so sought after Zhou Pu, in fact, they have ulterior motives.

They are all abbots of the temple, and they do not have much national righteousness in their hearts, but more consider the inheritance and development of the temple, hoping to avoid the temple being swallowed up by the fire. Today, when the Han Dynasty marched all the way to the triumphant song, they all thought that the defeat of the shogunate in Kyushu had become a foregone conclusion, and in the future, they must rely on the snort of the Han Dynasty and must not show their disgust with the Han Dynasty.

As an envoy sent by the Han Dynasty, Zhou Pu was naturally worthy of their pursuit, and they all hoped to get some benefits from this Han envoy.

In the Heian period and the Warring States period, the power of the temple was very large, with huge wealth and land, but since the end of the Warring States period, the lords of various places began to encroach on the land and wealth of the temple, and after the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the power of the temple was even more severely limited.

These abbots all hoped to get some benefits from the Han envoys and restore some vitality.

At the same time, they were very satisfied with the Han Dynasty's efforts to suppress the Catholics.

As the leaders of Buddhist monasteries, whether out of religious motives or out of hatred of the adherents being contested, they hated the spread of Catholicism on the island of Kyushu, and they were bent on taking advantage of the situation to eradicate the influence of Catholicism.

After the invasion of the Han Dynasty, the ruling order of the feudal domains suddenly became chaotic, and the Catholics in the feudal domains also took advantage of the turmoil. Because of the large number of Catholics remaining, for a time, there were signs of a spark on fire.

This sign also aroused their general fear - more than the invasion of the Han Dynasty, they were more afraid of the Catholics gaining power in Kyushu, after all, the Han Dynasty had a place for them to fight, and if the Catholics were in power, they would die without a place to bury.

They were afraid that the Han would take advantage of the anti-shogunate sentiment of these parishioners and use them as helpers.

However, in the face of the turmoil of the Catholics, the Han quickly showed a resolute attitude of suppression, and immediately ordered the feudal lords who had defected to the Han to suppress it, which also relieved these abbots and supported the Han even more.

Although the war was not going well because of the weakness of the feudal army, with the addition of the Han army, the riots of the Catholics began to be contained everywhere, as if the snow met the blazing sun, and the ice dissipated.

Although they always spoke of compassion, these abbots were not tolerant of the Catholics, and they repeatedly told the feudal army that these people were demonic karma, and that they would only be able to please the Buddha and be able to live in bliss in the future, and that if they were merciful, they would surely fall into the hell of Abi.

The more brutal the repression of the feudal army, the better it seemed to them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is no place for these parishioners except this city." Standing under Shimahara Castle, Zhou Pu is both like a show off and a reminder. "Hey, I really didn't expect these sectarians to be so stubborn, if it weren't for the Han army in person, I really don't know how long they would be in trouble!"

He was implying to these abbots that only the Great Han could eliminate the influence of Catholicism on the island of Kyushu.

"These chaotic people believe in the cult of the Southern Barbarians, and they have already become evil obstacles, relying on evil power to commit murder, but fortunately with the heavenly power of the Han Dynasty, Kyushu will not be ruined." Before anyone else could speak, Master Faxing, the abbot of Dongchang Temple, grabbed the conversation, "If there is no great Han, I don't know how long these evil obstacles will continue to be murdered, and how many innocent beings will suffer!" The little monk represents the people of Kyushu, and is grateful for the great grace of ****! ”

"I, the Han and Japan, are in the same spirit and revere Buddhism together. Rejecting cults and upholding Buddhism is what should be done, so why should the abbot say thank you? Zhou Pu nodded with a smile, obviously in a good mood.

Seeing that he had robbed the jackpot, the others secretly scolded him for being very shameless, and at the same time envied him for preemptively currying favor with the envoys of the Han Dynasty.

"The angel said very well, these rebellious people are deceitful and take advantage of the gap to cause chaos, and it is really the result of the evil devil's demagoguery." Master Derong of Kofukuji Temple clasped his hands together and recited the Dharma name, "In this way, the cult is really terrible, and it must be banned, the shogunate was too lenient before, so that cholera can be stopped today!" Fortunately, there are big men who have set things right, so that these evil obstacles cannot be threatened......"

In fact, these parishioners rebelled against the riots, more because of the brutal exploitation of the shogunate and the feudal domains, not so much to protect the religion as to resist exploitation, and besides, the shogunate's attitude towards the Catholics was already very strict, prohibiting Christianity several times, and killing many parishioners. However, now that the Great Han is gaining power, it is naturally necessary to belittle the Shogunate and praise the Great Han.

"Although my Buddha is compassionate, but there is also a angry eye Vajra, we need compassion for all sentient beings, but these evil demons and obstacles should be cut to the roots, and we must not be merciful, the little monk sincerely asks the angel to clean up these evil obstacles after breaking through the island original city." The abbot of Chongfu Temple immediately bowed and took over the conversation, "There is a way to ********, if these evil obstacles are stayed, they will definitely be vivid and chaotic in the future, it is rare to have such a good opportunity today, and they must not be allowed to run away again!" ”

After he finished speaking, the abbots of the other monasteries immediately agreed, and among this group of compassionate monks, they could no longer see the serenity of their usual teachings, but were a little murderous.

Do you want me to order the slaughter of the city?

These monks, their mouths are full of compassion, but they vigorously instigate him to order the slaughter of the city, where is there any mercy from the eminent monks? It seems that after Buddhism came to Japan, it became strange. These monks must not be taken lightly. Zhou Pu thought to himself.

The Han army fought fiercely, sweeping the border everywhere, but the slaughter of the city, the killing of the old and young women and children has not been done, Zhou Pu secretly thought that although he is a **** envoy, but he can't set this precedent, otherwise it will be transmitted back to the court at that time, and his own reputation will also be hindered.

However, these feudal soldiers and monks were so passionate that Zhou Pu felt that if he didn't express it at all, he might not be able to appease the people.

"These rebels believe in cults and gather all living beings to cause chaos, which is really hateful, and they should be severely punished! After the defeat of Shimabara Castle, all the main culprits of rumor-mongering and incitement, and all the high-ranking members of the sect, must be killed as a warning and punishment! In the end, Zhou Pu issued an order, "As for those rebellious people, Ding Zhuang will be sent to Nagasaki to do hard labor, and all the women and children will be rewarded to the meritorious people to boost the morale of the officers and soldiers!" ”

Although they were a little disappointed that Zhou Pu did not order the slaughter of the city after the city was broken, none of the monks dared to question his decision, but they only greeted him vigorously, saying that he would definitely be blessed by the Buddha to eradicate the cult and the people.

Under Zhou Pu's order, the Han roared under the castle and the artillery fire at sea, and soon blasted open the walls of Shimabara Castle, and then the feudal army that had already prepared rushed up and rushed into Shimabara Castle.

Heavy artillery fire took a heavy toll and shrouded the city in thick smoke.

Because he had no illusions about his fate, the resistance in the city was fierce, and the killings broke out in almost every place, and the corpses and blood stains were everywhere, and almost the entire city was dyed red.

Almost the next morning, the fighting in the city came to an end, and it fell into the hands of the Great Han. The remaining inhabitants of the city, even if they are lucky enough to escape the slaughter of the feudal army, will face a very tragic fate.

And it was here that Zhou Pu also issued a general decree to give 10,000 stone of land from the current conquest of the Fukuoka Domain to Tochoji, Chongfukuji, Kofukuji and other large temples, and other temples also had their own rewards, in order to express the Han Dynasty's respect for the temples.

At this time, the Japanese imperial family fled south to the south, and issued an edict calling on all the feudal clans in the world to rise up and overthrow, and the news also reached Zhou Pu.

"It's still ......," Zhou Pu sighed with a smile.