The prefect of Wenzhang picked up the pen, and then a gust of autumn wind blew in from the window, making the prefect of Wenzhang stretch comfortably. After hesitating for a moment, Wen Zhang simply put down the pen in his hand and got up and sat on the recliner.

When a ten-member contingent of officials appeared in front of the landlord's door, and when the landlords' families who dared to attack the government personnel were tied up in ropes and paraded through the streets of various villages, those landlords who refused to pay their fines quickly gave in. Most of the landowners who have delayed their work have chosen to pay fines, and only a few have chosen to sell their rotten land.

The submission of the landlords did not mean that the government could rest easy, and the government needed to set up grain collection points in various places. The new tax system only collects land tax on private land and exempts it from taxes in kind. The people had to sell their grain for money to pay the land tax.

Closing his eyes and relaxing his body for a while, Wen Zhang hoped that things would go as smoothly as they did now. Collecting taxes is just one of the jobs of the Jiangning government, and there is still a lot to be done. For example, the entire irrigation system of the Qinhuai River has been completed. The days will get colder and colder, and the water level will drop across the board as the dry season comes. It is a big deal to organize manpower to complete the deep excavation of the river.

Just when the prefect of Wenzhang was thinking about the labor problem, Zhao Jiaren and Zhao Guanjia were also thinking about the problem that Wenzhang was facing. It would naturally be best if we could organize a local water conservancy battle of 10,000 people, but this kind of water conservancy battle requires a strong social organization ability. For the time being, places like Jiangning do not have such capabilities, so they can only rely on more professional engineering teams.

Zhao Jiaren didn't delay after thinking of this, he called Xiong Sheng and asked the Ministry of Rites to contact Zhao Naruto of the Wa Kingdom. Let's see how much labor the Iyo Navy will be able to provide this winter.

"Official, Shikoku's Iyo Navy is at war with the shogunate." Xiong replied.

"I know, that's why I'm asking them how many people they can pull out this winter. You can tell them that if they can't muster the manpower, forget it. Or do they take precedence over their own preservation. ”

Zhao Jiaren is very satisfied with pearl farming in the Seto Inland Sea, where the diameter of pearls was 6 mm at first, but now the diameter has reached nearly 8 mm, and occasionally large beads of 9 mm or even 10 mm can be seen. The pearl industry has the so-called 'seven treasures and eight treasures', which is different from the seven treasures and eight treasures of Buddhism, and the pearl industry refers to weight. In ancient times, one cent was equivalent to 0.3 grams now, and a pearl weighing seven points was called "Seven Treasures", and a single pearl weighing 2.4 grams (about 9 mm) was "Eight Treasures", so it was no longer called a pearl but a pearl.

Pearls and pearls were fully circulated in the luxury goods market of the Great Song Dynasty, which really made Zhao Jiaren earn a lot of money and made the Great Song Dynasty economy much more active. After all, the top three industries that Zhao Guanjia likes to invest in are manufacturing, education, and infrastructure.

Zhao Jiaren didn't know that Zhao Naruto had paid tribute to the king of the Wa Kingdom two months ago with thirty-six horse beads with a diameter of 8 mm. In the previous time, Zhao Naruto said that he was only going to pay tribute to the 7mm Walking Horse Bead. When it was time to pay tribute, Naruto Zhao secretly changed his mind, so the Kamakura shogunate's army now landed in the plains north of Shikoku Island, preparing to attack the pirates.

There were more than 1,000 troops, mainly from the Imperial family of the Kamakura shogunate, and I heard that they could get half of the spoils of this war, and this time the leader was Ise Guardian Kono-dori. The guardian took a small fan in his hand and jumped out of the boat, looking triumphantly at the mountains in the distance. Before the destruction of the Anda family, the proceeds of the war were taken away by the inner family and the Hojo family. The guards everywhere have been holding no real spoils for many years. Now attacking those who are not even the people of the Iyo Navy, but there are a lot of pearls to take, Kono feels as if a fire is burning in his heart.

On Shikoku Island, it barely looks like a dumbbell, with large ends and narrow middle. The trend is northeast to southwest. In the northeast corner are Kagawa and Tokushima, and the terrain in this area is relatively flat, and the Iyo naval forces did not capture this area. Kono-dori's troops landed in the northeastern part of the country first.

The troops landed one after another, and even two great monks disembarked with the army. In this year's Wa Kingdom, monks are by no means a group of people who only eat fasting and chant Buddha, or monks are not such a role. Monks who only eat fasting and chant Buddha have existed in a very small number of Buddhas in the long history of Buddhism.

The monks of the Wa Kingdom had land, monks, and weapons workshops for forging weapons. It used to be an existence that could compete with local daimyos. Although the two great monks who came with Ise Guardian were not particularly tall, they had sturdy bodies and looked very different from ordinary people.

The robes of the two bald heads were embroidered with the verses of the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and in addition to holding a tin staff, the great monk had a katana stuck in his waist. In this day and age, it's not uncommon to dress up like this. No matter how busy the army was, the great monk would recite scriptures and walk around the army. Seeing the master and hearing the chanting of the scriptures, the warriors and soldiers of the army felt some relief.

Shikoku Island is an island full of mountains, and it is basically considered a desolate place where birds do not lay eggs. In addition, Shikoku Island is also shrouded in another layer of fog, and there are legends of ghost islands and ghost caves. The ghosts live in those places. When it comes to evil spirits, these people feel uncomfortable in their hearts.

Staying in a town near Tokushima, Kono began to prepare for the next battle. At this point, the best way to do this is to take the water route and go straight to the lair of the Iyo Naval Army. However, the name of the Iyo Water Army's 'Water Army' made Kono Tong very worried in his heart. In the unlikely event that the Iyo Navy is encountered at sea, the Ise Army may not be able to defeat it.

The night was spent under mosquito bites, and the Ise soldiers slept restlessly. The next day, the Ise-army set off for Kagawa in the west. When I arrived in Kagawa, I was closer to the Iyo Naval Army.

The Ise soldiers who had traveled dozens of miles of mountain roads were very tired and did not make it to Kagawa that night. The eighth month of the Song calendar is probably the end of September in the Western calendar, and the insects after the autumn know that the death period has arrived, so they are particularly crazy. The Ise Army struggled with the little bugs almost all night, and as soon as the morning dawned, the Ise Army, which had not slept well all night, continued to go listlessly. Before he reached Kagawa, he suddenly heard a few arrows, and then the armored enemy swarmed out of the nearby mountain col, raised his hook and sickle, and killed him.

Just looking at the equipment of these people, even the Ise army is much inferior. Kono Tong also felt that this was a mistake by the guardian armies of other regions, and hurriedly asked people to come forward to explain. But I didn't know that the other party didn't listen to the explanation at all, and rushed over to stab people when they saw them. The Ise army had to resist, but they didn't know that the hook and sickle was so sharp that it was stabbed by the tip of the spear and was instantly destroyed.

Straight stabs aren't all there is to opposing attacks, and the Hook Scythe also has a barb function. The scythe is extremely sharp, and as long as it is hooked, it will immediately be a huge bloody hole. Blood spurted wildly, and at worst, death was immediate.

In the blink of an eye, the Ise army was slaughtered. Just as they were about to escape, a new army suddenly appeared on the road behind them. Looking at the outfit, it is no different from these armies that have been killed before. After a further battle, only a few of the Ise army who fled desperately into the mountains survived, and the rest were already dead on the spot.

The two great monks carried a tin staff in their left hand and a katana in their right hand, back-to-back defense. Some soldiers surrounded them, but there was no intention of attacking. Then I saw a man in black armor come out of the crowd and asked loudly, "Two masters, if you don't mind, how about helping to recite sutras to these people?" ”

The monk had no intention of sending him to death, and although he looked extremely nervous, he finally put away his weapon, took the tin staff and asked, "Are you the Iyo Naval Army?" ”

"Why, doesn't it look like it?" The black-armored warrior asked proudly.

The monk's gaze swept over the armor with a strange dark blue-black sheen, and then landed on the katana at the man's waist.

The black-armored samurai of the Iyo Navy showed himself off, but he didn't wait for a response, and his heart was unhappy, so he shouted: "You two monks, let you recite the scriptures, but you don't recite them, but you keep looking at my sword." Are you false monks? I spared your life, just to see that you are monks and know how to recite scriptures. If it's a fake monk, then don't blame us for being rude. ”

After hearing this, the two monks asked, "But I don't know if Your Excellency's saber is the legendary black cut." ”

"Oh? You've also heard the name of the black cut? The black-armored samurai said happily. But he didn't rejoice for long, he immediately frowned, "My Hei Che came from the Great Song Dynasty, and it didn't take long. Where did you hear about it? Honestly, where did you come from? ”

"Although we are monks, we know how to forge knives. To tell you the truth, we also heard that there is such a famous knife here, so we came here. Otherwise, if there is a war, your life is likely to be lost. ”

"Where did you hear about Heche?"

"I heard it from a guy named Lujiu."

"It turned out to be Lu Jiu...... Wait, you are monks and know how to forge swords, are you monks of Yamato? The black-armored samurai was thoughtful at first, but then suddenly became excited.

"Let's finish reading the scriptures first, and then we'll talk about it in detail." The monk finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

After carefully reciting the excessive scriptures, the monk did not feel very well. They were from Ise, and although they didn't have any blood relatives, they were also villagers. It was just that when they met the black-armored samurai again, and when they saw the katana at his waist, the hearts of the two monks became hot again.

After that, the samurai showed the black cut to the two monks, and he himself showed the monk's sword.

"Good knives!"

"What a knife!"

Exclamations erupted almost simultaneously on both sides. The monk picked up the knife and looked at it carefully, but saw that the blade was smooth and there was no inscription at all. The black-armored samurai saw the words 'Myoho Muramasa' inscribed on the blade near the hilt. For those who don't know how to use knives, they don't know until they are good or not. For those who know how to use knives, just by holding it in your hand, you can feel the level of the knife maker from the weight distribution of the blade. A good sword itself has a very good weight layout and is easy to wield and easy to wield.

Of course, if it is a more skilled warrior, they will choose the weapon that suits them. There are subtle differences in the distribution of weapons, but for the kind of master who sees the truth in the slightest, the slightest difference is enough to make the difference between life and death.

"You're really not a monk of Yamato?" The black-armored warrior asked puzzled.

"If you look at the sword, your sword looks like it was forged by a monk of Yamato. How could the one who forged the knife not engrave an inscription on the knife? The monk said he disagreed with the black-armored samurai. The swords of Yamato were cast by monks for the purpose of being used by monks and soldiers rather than for sale, so there are few inscriptions in the inscriptions, and sword inscriptions are rarely added. The sword of the Ise Army's accompanying monks bears the name 'Myoho Muramasa', which is a favorite phrase used by the Nichiren sect.

But the great monk didn't explain much, saying too much for fear of angering the black-armored warrior, and the monk also had some disdain to talk to the uninformed poor stick.

The two sides began to look at the sword again, and the black-armored samurai was amazed by the great monk's sword, and the great monk also felt that the extremely sharp Great Song knife boasted by the traitors of the Iyo Water Army was really a little inexplicable.

The katana of the Wa Kingdom is very sharp, and it also needs to be carefully maintained because it rusts easily. The black cut in front of me is an indescribable technique to create a layer of black on the outside, and it looks a little dirty, as if it will fall off when touched. In fact, this black layer is extremely dense and attached to the outside of the knife. Rubbing it with your hands is useless.

In addition, there are many points of skill in the casting of katana in the Wa Kingdom, and there are also many recognized points of expression, such as the katana (note: the straight blade is the main blade, but the thin line burned next to the straight blade is called the bloom), the return (note: the same bloom, but in the shape of a crescent), the food violation (note: the blade is faulty), the sand flow changes, and the hat burn pattern. The ground blade is cold, and the feeling of boiling.

On this katana from the Great Song Dynasty, it is all very vague, or even completely non-existent. This sword is just the same as the katana in appearance, and the weight distribution is very reasonable, and the others are not comparable to the katana at all. The monk looked at it for a while, but he couldn't see what was going on.

"Hey! Monk, I originally wanted to let you go. Looking at your knives, I changed my mind. I'm going to take you to our headquarters. The black-armored warrior shouted to the two monks.

"Can you let us meet the man who forged the sword?" The monk asked.

"This won't work. The knives were all shipped directly from the Song Kingdom, and we don't know who forged them. The black-armored warrior replied.

Just when the monk was disappointed, the black-armored warrior said, "I can introduce you to the people from the Song Kingdom, they probably know who forged these swords." ”

Half a month later, two katanas inscribed with the words 'Myoho Masamune' were delivered to Zhao Jiaren as a gift from the Iyo Naval Army, and Qin Mingxuan, who had finally returned to his hometown, introduced the situation of the Wa Kingdom to his uncle Zhao Jiaren. At present, the internal stability of the Wa Kingdom is quite stable, but the population is increasing, and it can only be described by a poor word. As for the Iyo Naval Army, they said that they could send 8,000 people to join the labor first. But Zhao Naruto hoped that Zhao Jiaren could give him more support. After conquering the central and southern parts of Shikoku Island, Naruto Zhao was really unwilling to collect taxes on these people. Even as a pirate, Zhao Naruto also felt that those people were a little sympathetic.

"That's not going to work." Zhao Jiaren couldn't help but say. After finishing speaking, he felt that it was pointless to tell Qin Mingxuan about this, Qin Mingxuan had already said that he would stay in Hangzhou and never go to the four countries where birds don't lay eggs again. If it is exile, it can still be exiled in the Great Song Dynasty. Everything around is the world of civilized people, and in Shikoku, where birds don't lay eggs, it's more terrible than exile.

"Why not?" Qin Mingxuan couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Jiaren didn't bother to talk nonsense, and explained directly: "I know what Zhao Naruto meant, he wants the people to feel that life is better. But he didn't understand that this tax had to be collected. The collection of taxes proves that Zhao Naruto is the ruler of Shikoku. He can give a lot of rewards to those who follow him, so that they know that there is a future for following the Iyo Water Army. But not collecting taxes means that those Japanese people feel that there is a way out if they don't follow the Iyo Naval Army. That's not good. ”

After hearing this, Qin Mingxuan couldn't help but nod silently. But Zhao Jiaren didn't care about this, he asked the navy to quickly prepare the fleet and go to Shikoku to transport people. These are valuable labor, and nothing can happen. In addition to these, Zhao Jiaren sent the arsenal where the sword and bayonet were cast, and asked them to bring the stove and the master to the four councils of the two katana forgers.

When he first brought someone here, although the master was extremely in awe of the Zhao official family, he couldn't help but ask: "Although the knife in that place in the country is good, it is just like that." With our new steel and heat treatment technology, their knives don't have any advantages. ”

"Then look at these two knives." Zhao Jiaren asked the secretary to take out the knife and show it to the masters.

After watching it for less than five minutes, the masters said, "We are willing to go to the Japanese country." ”

"Such an ordinary iron can make such a knife, I really need to make friends."

The masters did not need to wait for the navy, they directly brought equipment on board. The ship carried a large amount of needlework, soap, grain and other small hardware, which were the most needed products of the Japanese people. The ship also carried more than 10,000 catties of coke to set off, and the furnace of the Great Song Dynasty did not burn coal, nor a lot of charcoal, but burned the coke obtained after dry distillation. This thing is very low in sulfur and phosphorus, and with the disposal of the furnace, it can produce a very stable carbon monoxide flame. Together with the temperature control, it is possible to heat the metal parts very well.

The monks of Ise had no idea that their request would come to fruition so quickly, and they felt that they probably had no chance to leave, so they began to advertise the Nichiren sect's deal in the Iyo Suijun. Maybe it's the word 'lotus' in the world. The White Lotus Sect says that the world has entered the Dark Ages, so the White Lotus Holy Mother came down and destroyed the dark world.

At that time, the country was in an era of internal and external troubles, natural and man-made disasters, years of grain failure, plague epidemics, and human suffering. On July 16, 1260, Nichiren Daiseon presented the "Doctrine of the Establishment of the Shogunate" to Hojo Tokiyori, the supreme authority of the Kamakura shogunate, arguing that the cause of all this misfortune was a false religion. He debunked the erroneous sectarians of the time, and went on to predict that if the people remained obsessed, Japan would be invaded by other countries and the shogunate would be in civil strife.

The White Lotus Sect was exterminated, and the Nichiren Sect was also greatly hit. For these people on the island of Shikoku, Nichiren Buddhism is a religion that is extremely palatable to their taste. These Iyo sailors are the lowest level of society, not the bottom of society. If it is the bottom of society, it is better to have a bottom identity, as the lowest level, there is not even a minimum identity. For these people at the bottom, this world is not theirs, and they have no other way than to fight.

When the two great monks began to preach, they found that this was really a fertile ground for mission. At the heart of the Nichiren sect is the belief that the most essential part of the Lotus Sutra, an eight-volume, twenty-eight quality Lotus Sutra, is its title, "Myoho-renge-kyo," which is called the "heart of the heart." Because the Lotus Sutra is the "king" of all sutras, the title of this sutra is also the heart of all sutras, and it is "the Dharma that is above all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, two vehicles, heavens, humans, asuras, dragon gods, and so on."

The Iyo naval army of Shikoku was all at the bottom, and except for the distant Great Song Dynasty, no one had ever come to promote culture to these people. And although Da Song is their master, they don't understand what they promote. Now that there is finally a great monk from the Japanese country who has come to popularize culture, what the great monk says, they are naturally inclined to be convinced.

However, the missionary model of the Nichiren sect was quite different. This sect believes that Shakyamuni's two dharmas, the 'Myoho-renge-kyo', are sufficient. When we receive these five words, we will naturally give them the merit of cause and effect.

This means that it is difficult for ordinary people to understand the three thousand dharmas of the "rational tools" of the Tiantai sect, and naturally they cannot achieve liberation by comprehending reality through sitting meditation and contemplating the mind. However, this is not a problem, and anyone, including all the wise and foolish, the good and the wicked, can unconsciously receive the supreme Dharma by chanting the five characters of the "Myoho-renge-kyo" and become a Buddha by chanting this sutra.

To put it more bluntly, the Nichiren sect is not opposed to studying the advanced content of Buddhism, but the Nichiren sect believes that even if you don't understand these things, it is not a problem, and as long as you can recite the five words of the Myoho-renge-kyo and recite it when you have nothing to do, you can achieve liberation.

It was very difficult for the Iyo Suijun, who could not read or write, to get them to read and write, but it was very easy to learn to recite the five characters of the Myoho-renge-kyo. If there is a method that is so easy to get liberation for free, it will not cost you anything to try it.

In just over a month, the Nichiren sect soon made great progress. Let the two great monks feel that this is simply the intention of the special Buddha beads. If it weren't for the knife, if it weren't for the knife and being taken away, the two of them wouldn't have come to these pariahs of the Iyo Naval Army anyway. If it weren't for the Buddha's will, they would have been killed by the Iyo Naval Army, instead of becoming enlightened monks who were approved by the Iyo Imperial Army.

In such joy, the two great monks were even more surprised to meet the master sent by the official family of the Great Song Dynasty to communicate. After looking at the weapon samples brought by Master Song first, the two great monks thought it was amazing. Everyone is a craftsman, and there is no nonsense, and after debugging the furnace, the demonstration begins. When Master Song showed a method of casting a knife, the two great monks felt that they were almost vomiting blood. The last two didn't know how to express themselves in words, so they could only work their Chinese skills and write down the word 'iron rod' as an evaluation.