The four generations of the Great Masters have said a very philosophical and politically wise sentence: "You have me, I have you, and everything in the world is bad here." ”

Of course, Ran Hegui must not have the knowledge to quote scriptures, and he didn't learn this sentence from any ancient classic.

He learned it from a book.

Although the book he read was criticized by the director of Qingping Bookstore to the point of being incomplete, saying that this author has no depth, but he likes to mix some miscellaneous preaching in the story, how to do Taoism at every turn, or how to be a high-grade Taoist, and even how to the Great Dao, the way of heaven, and the world.

But there are also other authors who come out and say a few fair words, thinking that if those boring sermons are removed, and then the large introductions and repetitive content are deleted, it is still worth a look, at least the writing skills are deep and can be used to pass the time.

Ran Hegui didn't have the critical eye of the director of Qingping Bookstore, he thought it was very good, so he put it on the bedside, and took it out from time to time to look at it, and sometimes he felt that he could really learn some practical things from it.

For example, the current situation in Haidong County, he thinks it is very suitable to be summed up by the sentence "You have me, I have you".

The former regent Sekihaku came from the Toyotomi family, and the "Gosan" family controlled the three kingdoms of Toe, Owari and Omi, and although the four Toyotomi families fought to the death over the inheritance of the regent, their retainers did not put their eggs in the same basket.

Just as when the Three Kingdoms competed for power, the family of the prime minister of Shu invested in those monarchs, no matter which country there are people in their families, so that no matter who dominates the world in the future, this family can retain part of its strength in the newly established regime and continue the incense, which is the real way to be invincible in troubled times.

There is nothing new under the sun, no one is a fool, if you can do this, we retainers of the Toyotomi family can't do it?

Therefore, among the retainers of the Toyotomi family and the "Imperial Three Families", many of them are actually from the same family, of course, they will do their best to assist their own family heads, and even attack the people of the same clan for the benefit of the family heads, but their first task is definitely to ensure the continuation of the family, so that no matter who the regent Guan Bai falls into the hands of the future in the future, the families of those retainers who bet on many parties can continue to grow and survive the bloodline.

Of course, the parents know the minds of their subordinates, but the families of these retainers do have considerable strength, and some of them are even the "ministers of the dragon" who helped the first generation of the Toyotomi family Guan Bai to pacify the world, so naturally they don't dare to rectify it, and they are forced to be urgent, maybe they will raise the strength of the whole clan to help the opponent, which is really worth the loss.

After a long time, the relationship between the Toyotomi family and the retainers and strategists in the "Imperial Three Family" is complicated, which can be described as constantly cutting, rational and chaotic, just like the Yin and Yang of Daomen Pisces.

And this situation has brought convenience to Ran Hegui's actions - Katagiri Nobuyo, the lord of Haidong County, is such a retainer.

Katagiri Nobuyo was born in the Owari Toyotomi family, but his elder brother was a retainer of the Toyotomi family, and under the persuasion and pleading of his brother, Katagiri Nobuyei agreed to secretly help the Domon investigation.

The "bad" things in the world are "bad" here.

Without his help, Ran Hegui and the others probably wouldn't even be able to climb up to the seaside beach in Owari Province, let alone spy on the information of Atsuta Shrine.

Heading east from Kaito County, passing Oshikiri-gun, and following the northwest-southeast trail in the county, you will arrive at Atsuta-gun, where Atsuta Jingu is located.

Zheng Yi and his entourage of eleven people were walking on this path.

Walking in the middle of the procession, Ran Hegui carefully observed the situation of the road, although this road is called a "small road", but the road is wide and the road surface is in good condition, and it can be used to transport small groups of troops.

Although this is unlikely, if Atsuta Jingu really transported soldiers to the palace or outside the palace, it will also have an impact on their actions.

Fortunately, there were no traces of troop transport on this trail.

Ran Hegui withdrew his gaze from the ground and continued to observe the situation on both sides of the path, only to see that there was an endless stream of pedestrians on the road, and their group of people was not very conspicuous among the farmers and townspeople.

Because of the existence of Atsuta Shrine, Atsuta County has developed rapidly, and not only the villages and commercial markets in the county have been fully developed, but also the various land areas in the county have been rationally developed. The common people lived in abundance, and even in the vicinity of the Atsuta Jingu complex there was a merchant town similar to a small town, in which the number of merchants and craftsmen living in it, and the abundance of building facilities, were not much inferior to the castle town of Nakono Castle.

"Joshita-cho" is a settlement unique to the prefecture of Hoscale, and is a town town formed around the castle. It also refers to the residents who live in the town, mainly the industrialists and merchants who serve the samurai in the castle.

After the unification of the prefecture, the feudal lords in each region developed into cities of different sizes, and towns also appeared around the ports and large temples, and commerce and handicrafts also developed, and the machito class also rose.

Ran Hegui carefully observed the state of these farmers and townspeople, and found that many of them had vegetables on their faces, and they were still affected by the civil strife. However, his spirit is not so decadent, and it seems that he still believes in his own feudal lord that he will win and end the war as soon as possible.

But to put it bluntly, who wins the post of regent Guan Bai and what does it have to do with them? The only difference may be whether you can save money and drink a few more glasses of sake.

Feeling Ran Hegui's eyes, those farmers and townspeople didn't even dare to look at him, and they all bowed their heads and quickened their pace, hoping to get away from this "unkind" samurai as soon as possible.

This is not because Ran Hegui has the aura of a king, these people are afraid of the samurai costume on his body and the sword, knife and ribbed difference hanging from his waist.

They were afraid of the samurai.

During the reign of Sekihaku, the first generation of the Toyotomi family, in order to continue Nobunaga's policy of "separating soldiers and peasants", two policies were implemented: the "Land Inspection Order" and the "Sword Hunting Order" - the "Land Inspection Order" abolished the exploitative relations of the Fenglu Prefecture Imperial Court since ancient times, established a three-tier exploitation system of "central-daimyo-peasant", and clearly distinguished between agricultural and non-agricultural population; The "Sword Hunting Order" further separated the peasants from the soldiers by confiscating their weapons and ensuring that only the samurai could keep their weapons.

Later, he issued a decree that artificially forbade the free movement of various professions, so that samurai families could only be samurai, peasant families could only be farmers, and industrial and commercial families could only be industrial and commercial families.

After the death of the first Guan Bai, his successor ascended to the throne, inherited and gradually developed this policy to the peak of the extreme, using feudal morality and patriarchal concepts to establish a hierarchical status hierarchy of "Shinong and Gonggong", and established a "four people's system" society.

Under this hierarchy of status, the samurai class was at the top of the pyramid and became a purely parasitic class, belonging to the ruling group, a feudal military aristocracy and enjoying privileges. The peasant class was tightly bound to the land and was in a state of complete powerlessness. Merchants and craftsmen were at the bottom of the "Four People's System" and were oppressed and exploited by feudal lords and samurai.

Under this difference in status, if the samurai wanted to test their swordsmanship and the sharpness of their swords, they could even use their swords to kill peasants and townspeople on the road without any punishment, which was called "sword test".

These farmers and townspeople were afraid that they would be used to test their knives.

Ran Hegui suddenly felt a little melancholy.

He didn't want to fight this battle, but the decision was not in his hands.

If this war is compared to a chess game, then Daomen and the Fengliang Prefecture Imperial Court, Tianmen and the local feudal lords are the chess players on both sides; The high-grade Taoist priests in the Fenglan Prefecture Provincial Government and the Daomen Expeditionary Army, and the high-ranking warriors in the hands of the Fenglan Prefecture Prime Minister's Mansion and the feudal lord are regarded as slightly powerful chariots and horses on the chessboard; Low-grade Taoist priests and low-level warriors like them who work the front line can barely be regarded as pawns; The people of Fenglu Prefecture are not even chess pieces, they are just pure victims.

Now the "horse" of the Daomen army is about to cross the "Chu River" of the East China Sea under the leadership of the real person in charge of the army, and fall on the opponent's chessboard fiercely, giving a powerful blow to the chaotic chess game.

Now on the chessboard, the chess piece of "horse" has been raised, but where it can land depends on the performance of their "pawns".

"We're here." Zheng Yi's voice interrupted Ran Hegui's train of thought, and he looked in the direction where the voice came from, only to see Zheng Yizhan fixed on the path, his gaze falling into the distance.

Ran Hegui followed his gaze to the northwest, and a small complex surrounded by many trees appeared in his sight, like an "oasis" in the forest.

The surrounding trees of the building complex are luxuriant, and the community is also full of ancient trees, presenting a quiet and solemn atmosphere as a whole, revealing a sense of freshness and a sense of isolation from the world in the greenery. Huge torii gates are interspersed to form an irregular dividing line, dividing the entire complex into three distinct areas. The wide ground is surrounded by lush greenery, and narrow streams flow through it, and the large and small shrines are scattered in a patchwork of different sizes, and the characteristic architecture of the gods makes the shrines stand out among the trees.

That was the destination of their trip, Atsuta Jingu.

Ran Hegui hesitated, leaned over to Zheng Yi's side, and said softly, "Chief, I have something to report to you......"

……

In a tearoom in the main shrine of Atsuta Jingu.

Chiaki sat on his knees on the tatami mat, his back straight, his expression serious, while the handsome and richly dressed young man kneeling across from him watched his movements lazily.

I saw Chiaki Bihiko gently scoop out a spoonful of tea powder in the tea pot with a teaspoon, put it firmly into the tea bowl, put in three spoons of tea powder before stopping, and then picked up the handle of the spoon and scooped out the hot water from the tea kettle and poured it into the tea bowl, then held the tea bowl with his left hand, held the tea whisk with his right hand, and slowly stirred the tea powder and hot water along the wall of the bowl.

When the tea soup took on a beautiful emerald green color, Chiaki Bihiko stopped his movements, put the tea whisk upside down, and raised the tea bowl with both hands with a smile to signal the guest to taste it.

The whole process is both rhythmic and elegant, and it is so accurate that it is impossible to imagine that an old man with a sixtieth birthday can have such exquisite tea ceremony techniques.

The young man, too, took the bowl with both hands, turned it in a circle—meant to be viewing, to show recognition of the owner's taste—and then took a sip of the tea soup and narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

"The tea soup is very delicious, and I am really sorry to go to the heart of the lawsuit to perform such a wonderful tea ceremony for me every time." With that, the young man took another sip of tea.

Chiaki Beihiko said with a kind face: "Does the lord of Takenaka Castle know what 'one period and one meeting' is? ”

The young man named "Takenaka" put down the tea bowl and replied with the same smile and a smile: "In the tea ceremony, the person who performs the tea ceremony will sincerely greet every guest who comes to taste tea in front of him with the feeling of 'rare side, the world should cherish it.'" The meaning of this sentence says: 'People may only be able to meet each other once in their lives, so they should treat each other in the best way', I wonder what Qianqiu lawsuit means? ”

Chiaki Bihiko approvingly: "The lord of Takenaka Castle really has a deep insight into the tea ceremony, and in the tea ceremony, the host and guest may meet many times, and there may be no time to meet again, so as the host, you should treat the guests with all your heart and not be sloppy." As a guest, you should also pay attention to the host's heart, and should keep a piece of the host's heart in your heart, so the host and guest should treat each other with sincerity - this is 'one period, one meeting'. ”

The young man held the tea bowl in both hands, began to sip the emerald green tea soup again, and showed a strange smile: "What does it mean to say this kind of thing to me at such a time, Qianqiu lawsuit?" Curse me that after I go to war, I will never come back alive to drink tea? ”

The smile on Chiaki Beihiko's face was still kind: "I just want to remind the city lord that everything has to be careful, I have seen a lot of old men who capsized in the gutter." Don't play eagle for a lifetime, but in the end you are pecked blind by the eagle, and that is the face of your family. ”

Mitsutoshi Takenaka, the youngest jodai in Owari Kuni, who was only twenty-four years old, finally finished drinking the matcha from the tea bowl, gently placed it on the tatami mat, stretched out the tip of his tongue and licked the corners of his mouth, his eyes as bright as a torch.

"The 'guests' have all come to the door, doesn't it seem that I, the host, am very rude if I don't entertain them?"