The Self-Cultivation of Warring States Warriors

Page 12

Continuing westward for about half an hour, we came to a small, frozen pond, next to which was "Qingshui Village".

The village appears to have far less farmland than Kubo and Takeda villages, but the houses seem to be fairly sturdy. The villagers walking outside are also dressed quite warmly.

Old Man Jin Bingwei explained, "The village's resident is named 'Hachirozu,' and he's very clever. He's cultivated a lot of land in the remote mountain valleys, and outsiders have no idea where it is. In addition, every time he leads the villagers to participate in military service, they always manage to plunder a lot of things after a victory, so they can live quite well. It's just a pity that this Hachirozu is a gambler, and over the years he's lost a lot of money."

Shinzaburo asked, "The Naito family doesn't seem to fight often, does it? At least they don't conscript soldiers every year."

Jin Bingwei's father squinted and said, "When there is no war, the people in their village sometimes go in groups, carrying knives, guns and clubs, to the main road outside the mountains to ask caravans along the way for tolls."

"Good heavens, isn't this highway robbery?" Shinzaburo exclaimed in surprise, then teased, "Won't we get robbed on our way to Shimizu Village?"

Jinbingwei's father rolled his eyes in annoyance: "Don't worry, in this area of ​​Funai County, Tanba Province, no village dares to offend Kōfukuji."

Oi Shigeie, who was standing nearby, suddenly interjected, "These mere villagers dare to set up a roadblock and collect money! Impressive! The Naito family has failed in their duty!"

Shinzaburo said helplessly, "We Tanba people are known for our fierce and tough nature. I hope you'll forgive us."

“No, no, no!” Oi Shigeie shook his head and said, “What I meant was that villagers who can do such things must have some skills. In our eastern country, they would have been granted a family name by the daimyo and brought under his control long ago. When I said the Naito family was derelict in their duty, I meant it here.”

Shinzaburo was speechless.

I never expected that the samurai of the East would think this way.

……

Upon arrival, Old Man Jinbing went straight to Shimizu Village and approached Otome Hachirozo without beating around the bush. He immediately said with a grin, "I have a way. Kofukuji Temple can help us borrow money to cover the loan for next spring's expenses. No interest will be charged for a year. You'll be doing me a favor!"

Shimizu Village's Otome Hachiro, who had been squinting drunkenly, perked up immediately upon hearing this: "No interest? Such a good deal? Although our Shimizu Village isn't short of those few coins, if there's money without interest, why not take it? But could there be any problems? The monks of Kōfuku-ji Temple are not easy to deal with."

Old Man Jinbingwei looked disdainful and arrogantly said, "Anyway, it's written in black and white by Kōfuku-ji that no interest will be charged within a year, so our Kubo Village will definitely not let this benefit pass us by. If you're worried about problems, then we won't take you!"

"No way!" Upon hearing this, Ottohachiro from Shimizu Village darted around in his eyes, quickly waved his hand, and grinned as he said, "Who cares about the problems later? Money is always real! With such a great deal, we have to take advantage of it. Brother Kinbei, you must count me in!"

Old Man Jinbingwei shook his head and said, "No need to thank me. This great deal was obtained by my son, Shinzaburo, from the new abbot of Kōfuku-ji Temple."

Upon hearing this, Otohachiro from Shimizu Village narrowed his eyes warily for a moment, then burst into laughter, saying, "That's truly a blessing! I'm quite envious of your son's competence. My son, on the other hand, is a good-for-nothing; I might have to rely on your family for support in the future!"

Shinzaburo pretended not to hear what the other party said, stepped forward, bowed, and said: "According to Master Meishu of Kofukuji Temple, all we need to do is send a letter from Shimizu Village requesting assistance."

Kim Bing-wei's father added, "Remember to visit Gwangbok-ji Temple to pray to Buddha more often next year."

“No problem!” Shimizu Village Otome Hachiro nodded nonchalantly and said, “Every year, the villagers, young and old, always have to go to a temple to pray before they feel at ease. Next year, I’ll tell them to just go to Kofukuji Temple.”

"This has to be settled." Old Man Jinbingwei leaned forward and said in an emphasizing tone, "If someone dares not to be grateful after receiving the high monk's favor... even a Bodhisattva is not only compassionate, but can also be wrathful."

"Absolutely, absolutely!" Shimizu Village's Otome Hachiro nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice, patting his chest and promising, "From now on, I'll tell the villagers that they should treat the high monks of Kōfuku-ji Temple with even more respect than they would their own fathers!"

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, they said goodbye and left.

After walking a distance, Old Man Jin Bingwei laughed again: "I think that fellow Hachiro will definitely try to keep it a secret from everyone, collect the money from each household as usual, and then embezzle it to gamble!"

Shinzaburo frowned upon hearing this and said, "Kōfukuji Temple only said that they would help pay the money and would not charge interest for a year, but they did not say that the money would not need to be repaid! If this Shimizu Village Otina Hachirō embezzles the money, how will he explain to the villagers when Kōfukuji Temple urges him to repay it?"

Jin Bingwei's father shook his head indifferently: "He has his own plans, why should I worry? Don't be fooled by his jovial appearance, he's actually a very capable person. If he weren't a gambler, I would be calling him 'Big Brother,' instead of him calling me 'Big Brother.' Isn't it fine as it is now?"

Shinzaburo explained, "Gamblers always get what they deserve, and it's not good to drag others down with them."

Old Man Jinbing glanced over and said, "It's not easy for us to take care of our own people in Kubo Village. Besides, almost every household in Shimizu Village has followed that Hachiro Sasa and gone out to do business without capital. They're not exactly good people."

Shinzaburo nodded and sighed, "I forgot about that. There's really nothing to sympathize with about a village that robs people on the road."

At this moment, "pig-slaying hero" Oi Shigeie quietly came over and whispered to Shinzaburo, "You are a decent person, but your father is different."

Shinzaburo could only laugh awkwardly and pretend he hadn't heard.

022 A dark and windy night

In one day, led by Jin Bingwei's father, the group visited six nearby villages and obtained six letters requesting assistance. However, some were signed by the entire village, filling an entire sheet of paper with dense writing, while others were much sparser, bearing only the signatures of one villager and a few village representatives.

This is because the "political habits" of each village are different.

Including Kubomura himself, there are already seven documents, enough to report to Master Myoshu, the new abbot of Kofuku-ji Temple.

Jin Bingwei's father said there were five or six other villages he was familiar with that he could try contacting, but the relationships with them were relatively ordinary, and he wasn't confident he could persuade them to "petition" together.

Shinzaburo suggested that since that was the case, they should also prepare the documents for their own village and report to Kofuku-ji Temple with the results from seven villages. If Master Meishu wanted to add more results, they would think of another way.

In the past, decisions in Kubo Village were made solely by the village elder, Kinbei, without any precedent for extensive village-wide consultation. However, this time, Shinzaburo believed that collecting more signatures would create a more visually appealing effect, so he specifically mobilized the entire village, young and old, to sign.

The scene did indeed turn out to be a complete mess.

Led by the sallow-faced and thin Xiongji and the dark-faced and short Qiaozhu, a few "lackeys" called the villagers over to sign, but many of them did not know what they were signing.

Someone asked, "What kind of document is this?"

Xiong Ji scolded him, "Just sign when Brother Jin Bingwei tells you to. Why are you asking so many questions?"

Someone else said, "We should let Lord Otome decide everything in Kubo Village. Why should everyone sign our names?"

Qiaozhu's response was: "That shows that our whole village is united!"

Shinzaburo, unable to bear watching any longer, went over and read the contents of the "plea for help" aloud, which finally made the villagers understand the whole story.

Then a young man scratched his head, puzzled, and said, "Our Jiubao Village should be able to afford the spring harvest fees and building fees, right? Why ask others to help us pay them? It's so much better to live on our own. Even if there's no interest, it still feels uncomfortable to owe money to others..."

Before he could finish speaking, the young man was silenced by a barrage of glares from the village elders.

There aren't many "ambitious young people" like this. Most villagers believe that since there is money that doesn't charge interest, it's always right to take it, regardless of whether they have enough money or not.

Thus, the signatures of all the members of Kubo Village were successfully collected.

……

The next day, Shinzaburo, along with "Pig-Slaying Hero" Oi Shigeie and three other monks, returned to Kofuku-ji Temple to report back.

Master Mingzhou was fairly satisfied when he saw the seven letters requesting assistance. He immediately ordered the young novice monks to prepare writing materials and had the temple's scholarly monks write the seven replies.

The letter contained nothing particularly noteworthy; it simply stated that the request for assistance had been received, and considering the unbearable cold of this winter and the village's deep reverence for Buddhism, the temple would advance the spring tax payment. Further matters would be handled by the temple itself, and if the Naito family samurai came to collect taxes next year, this letter should be presented to them.

What is truly important is the signature, seal, and stamp of Master Mingzhou, the abbot of Guangfu Temple.

After completing these procedures, Master Mingzhou smiled at Shinzaburo while holding his prayer beads and said, "Lord Matsunaga Nagayori seems to believe that he can smoothly take over Yagi Castle without the assistance of our temple. But as his friend and relative, how can I truly not lend a helping hand?"

These words blatantly reveal that he is single-mindedly focused on manipulating the Naito family's succession issue to enhance the Kofukuji Temple's presence. He is even willing to slightly offend his so-called "relatives and friends" for this purpose.

Shinzaburo dared not respond, still feeling uneasy, unsure if he would be caught in the power struggle between monks and laypeople. However, at this moment, he had no choice but to cling to the old monk's coattails; what room was there for criticism?

Fortunately, Master Mingzhou is relatively easy to persuade and not too stubborn. For now, we can only try to guide him and avoid any overly intense conflicts.

In the end, the Sanyo school and the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism are still staunch allies. As long as things don't get too ugly, they shouldn't have to break off relations.

……

That night, we stayed in a guest room at Kōfuku-ji Temple.

The next morning, he would embark on his return journey as an envoy to deliver the reply slips to the various villages.

Considering security concerns, Master Mingzhou still dispatched Oi Shigeie with several monks as guards.

First, they returned to Kubo Village, and then, with the help of Old Man Jinbingwei, they went to places like Takeda Village and Shimizu Village to distribute receipts and spread the word about the "great kindness and virtue" of Kōfuku-ji Temple.

That day, they encountered a heavy snowfall, making the mountain roads extremely difficult to traverse. What should have been a two- or three-hour journey took them more than five hours, and by the time they reached Jiubao Village, it was almost dark.

The "pig-slaying hero" Oi Shigeie still had some strength left, but old man Kinbei and the other villagers were almost out of breath. Shinzaburo was also exhausted and went home to sleep immediately.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was woken up by someone pushing me.

I groggily looked out the window and saw that the sky was still pitch black, only slightly bright because of the reflection of the snow on the ground. It was clearly not daytime yet.

Looking back, he saw Shigeie Oi raise a finger with a serious expression and say softly, "There's something suspicious. It seems like a thief has come to the village!"

Shinzaburo was startled awake and quickly turned over to the window to look carefully. Sure enough, he saw several unidentified figures moving around in the village.

After a moment's thought, he decided to trust Ooi Shigeie, this "professional" with ample battlefield experience, and humbly asked for his advice: "What should we do? Please give me some ideas!"

Ooi Shigeie did not refuse and immediately ordered everyone in the family to get up. Shingoro, the young boy, and Ari, the little girl, hid in the cellar, while the others took their equipment and moved quietly together.

Just then, a suspicious person appeared outside the door, looking around and muttering something.

Upon closer inspection, the man was dressed as a wild samurai, wearing a mud-covered leather hat, a blood-stained tunic, and wielding a rather large katana.

Ooi Shigeie held his breath, bent his knees to gather strength, then suddenly pushed open the door, leaped up, and thrust forward with a flash of cold light from his large spear.

Caught off guard in the chaos, the samurai reacted swiftly, immediately throwing away his weapon and rolling on the ground to dodge the attack.

Unexpectedly, Ooi Shigeie had deliberately held back his strength. Now, he accelerated and took two steps forward, quickly switching hands and turning the spear tip in a different direction, plunging it straight into the unprotected armpit of the samurai.

The samurai let out a bloodcurdling scream, struggled a few times, and then fell silent.

This cry of pain shattered the tranquility of the village.

Several other "suspicious individuals" nearby, upon hearing the commotion, did not seem to intend to flee; instead, they gathered around with their weapons.

Ooi Shigeie's expression was grim as he whispered, "That guy's martial arts are quite formidable. If it weren't for the sneak attack, I might not have been able to take him down in one move. If all our accomplices are this strong, we must be careful. Everyone, quickly form a back-to-back formation!"

Everyone followed the plan.

In an instant, those "suspicious people" gradually approached, each of them looking like a seasoned samurai, their intentions clearly hostile!

One of the men, who appeared to be the leader, saw the villagers standing close together with their weapons and waved his hand, giving an order.

Then several samurai put away their swords and spears and took out their bows and arrows to shoot.

Several whooshing sounds were heard, and soon two people were injured.

Shinzaburo's family had a Maruki bow, but it was made of the cheapest material. The warrior monks also carried bows.

So everyone instinctively took out their weapons and started shooting at each other.

Shinzaburo had played with a bow a little in his previous life, and he had practiced it for a while in this life as well. His archery skills were passable. He was lucky enough to hit a samurai in the chest and abdomen, but it only made the other party stagger in pain.

All the monk soldiers missed their shots, their aim was wildly off target, and they seemed completely unreliable.

Only Oi Shigeie took out a lacquered rattan bow from his bow sack and shot down one man.

By this time, many villagers had been awakened and realized what had happened, and a few boldly went out carrying makeshift weapons.

The leader of the samurai cursed, "What bad luck!" and then turned and ran with the rest of the samurai.

Ooi Shigeie looked around, pondered for a moment, and then took off to give chase.

Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen villagers followed after them, shouting menacingly.

Shinzaburo was also caught up in the heat of the moment, but for some reason he was unusually calm. He first confirmed that the two samurai who had been defeated by Oi Shigeie were indeed dead, then reminded the villagers who had chased after them to take the left path to block the samurai's retreat, and then quickly called for people to take care of the wounded.

There were only two wounded in total.

One of the monk soldiers suffered a minor arm injury, but it wasn't serious.

But the arrow that struck Kim Bing-e's father in the thigh was a real problem.

Where could they find a doctor in the town at that moment? They had no choice but to ask an elderly villager with some medical knowledge to perform a makeshift arrow-removal surgery using scissors, feathers, and silk thread, and then stop the bleeding with wood ash.

Fortunately, the arrow didn't have barbs, so it didn't cause secondary damage.

Although Shinzaburo is a time traveler, he lacks surgical medical knowledge and can only offer suggestions on disinfection with alcohol and salt water, without much other assistance.

023 Suddenly it stopped again.

Less than half an hour later, "pig-hunting hero" Ooi Shigeie, along with two uninjured monks and a group of villagers, returned, saying that they had split into two groups and intercepted three fleeing samurai. However, the group was extremely vicious and refused to surrender, so they had to kill them all.

The process seemed somewhat dangerous. Although it was a group of more than ten people ganging up on three, and with the "professional team" led by Shigeie Oi in charge, five people still suffered serious injuries and needed to be treated as soon as they returned.

Shinzaburo then arranged for the villagers to thoroughly search the area around Kubo Village. They discovered two corpses, an old man and a young boy, both villagers. It was estimated that they had gotten up in the middle of the night in the early morning and were bumped into by a samurai, losing their lives before they could make a sound.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the old man who had said, "My belly is full of pork soup, so even if I die right now, I will have no regrets," when they had eaten wild boar meat a few days ago, and the little boy next to him who was imitating him saying "I will have no regrets in dying."

It was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The elderly man was over sixty years old, and his family was not particularly saddened when they collected his body.

The child was not even ten years old. The mother cried her eyes out, and the father sighed repeatedly.

Since his transmigration, Shinzaburo had been rationally aware that he had arrived in the chaotic Warring States period, but he had never faced life and death up close. Today, facing a brutal battle for the first time and witnessing the murder of his fellow villagers, he was overwhelmed with emotion, mourning the deaths of an old man and a child, and worrying about the injuries sustained by his father, Kinbei.

The villagers then searched the bodies of the five samurai and found that they had almost nothing on them except for weapons and equipment, only a dozen or so bad coins and a little bit of leftover rations.

Moreover, the bodies all appeared to be empty inside.

Based on this, it can be inferred that these people had been living in the countryside for some time, but could not survive the cold winter, so they attacked the village at night.

The reason I chose Kubo Village is probably because I saw people eating wild boar meat there a couple of days ago, and I thought the standard of living there was high, making it a suitable target for robbery.

The villagers didn't know much about samurai and couldn't find any other clues.

Fortunately, there was a man named Oi Shigeya. He spent some time examining the weapons used by the five samurai and determined that more than half of them were originally high-quality items, but they had not been repaired for at least two months and were now severely worn.

Then, on the clothes worn by the leader of the wild samurai, they found a pattern that was probably a family crest, but they couldn't recognize it.