Chapter 680 26. The Prosperity of Shishan City

Different from the common impression that Ishiyama Honganji is located on the seashore, the real Ishiyama Honganji is located on an island (tidal flat) a distance upstream from the mouth of the Kizu River.

Surrounded by rivers and bays, it is indeed a very dangerous place in the world!

Rather than calling it Ishiyama Honganji or Ishiyama Gobo, it is more straightforward to call it Ishiyama Castle. Dharma Master Xianyu naturally lived in the temple, but his temple is no less than a castle.

In addition to the Sutra Hall, the towering stone walls and wide moats are eye-catching. The complex mountain gate is more solid than the turret gate of an ordinary castle.

As for the city, it is the most famous gate town in the world—Ishiyama Town!

The settled population is at least more than 40,000, and a large number of handicrafts and commercial populations gather, connecting the waterway of the Kizu River and the Seto Inland Sea for extensive trade. In addition, as the head temple of the Ikko sect, it is a holy place for all Ikko sect believers in the world. The huge flow of pilgrims made the town more prosperous, so much so that people felt shoulder to shoulder.

Compared with the mountain military castle of Yamanouchi Fuchu Castle with only more than 30,000 people, and Hamamatsu, which has only been opened for a few years and has not yet been fully developed, Ishiyama is really a prosperous place.

Got it!

What exactly is Oda Nobunaga envying!

He is envious of this Ishiyama Town!

There is no hatred without reason, nor is there love without reason. The huge amount of money that Ishiyama Honganji obediently handed over when Nobunaga went to Kyoto did not satisfy Oda Nobunaga's greed. On the contrary, because of the huge amount of money, Oda Nobunaga, the hero, recognized the wealth of Ishiyama and wanted to get it as soon as possible.

Xianru Shangren is such a person, he is also a person of deep wisdom. He must have seen that Oda Nobunaga's desire is not just a few thousand kan of money, he is eyeing the entire Ishiyama Town.

Cut off someone's wealth and kill their parents!

The Ikko sect in Kinai does not occupy too much substantial territory, but is densely distributed in the form of peace talks. In other words, in addition to the offerings from believers all over the world, the biggest source of income for Master Kenjo is this magnificent gate town that "does not import or export".

Relying on the extremely rich income of Ishiyama, the prosperity of the mountain gate can be maintained. And hiring monks, supporting monks, purchasing iron cannons and weapons, independent of secular struggles, and having a transcendent status.

It is not that Honganji is born to oppose Oda Nobunaga, but because Master Kenjo knows that if Oda Nobunaga, who slandered Ishiyama Town, is not killed, with Oda Nobunaga's power, Ishiyama will sooner or later fall into Nobunaga's belly.

At that time, the so-called Master Kenjo could only recite sutras and eat vegetarian food in the mountain gate, and lost the once powerful power that was once heard by hundreds of people!

Just like Nobunaga wanted to fight Asakura, it was still for money!

It's just that Honganji dared to fight to the death to defend its wealth. Even when Asakura was facing foreign enemies, those internal families would not fight.

Useless things!

"Let's go ashore and find a place to rest first. The cannons will be put on the boat for the time being. I'm afraid it won't be able to enter the city!" Xiao Pingtai called everyone to prepare to dock and disembark.

This time, only two dead children and Honda Masashige and Sakakibara Nagamasa were brought with them. Instruct Omura Masuji to keep an eye on the boat for the time being. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Previously, Sukezaemon had lent a young man to Xiao Pingtai. Although their Naya was doing business in Sakai, it was still a little competitive with Ishiyama Town to some extent. But the people who knew Ishiyama Town must be businessmen like them. Having an acquaintance leading the way could save Xiao Pingtai a lot of time.

It is estimated that the large group of people in Yamanouchi are still walking slowly in Mino, so Xiao Pingtai is not in a hurry to visit Master Xianyu in Honganji. Why not take a walk around and see what the Ishiyama Castle, which has resisted Oda for ten years, looks like.

This is also Kobayata's habit. He has been a general for many years and is cautious in using troops. He always observes the terrain before fighting.

"Did you see the direction of the Kizu River before you came?" He turned around and asked the two foot soldiers of the sister Xiaolu clan.

"I saw it clearly!" The two said in unison.

"The river is densely covered with mudflats. Although the water flow is gentle, there don't seem to be many waterways suitable for large ships. If you want to attack this Ishiyama, I'm afraid you will need several times more soldiers!"

"There is no bridge on the west side of the entire river. If there is a powerful navy in Ishiyama Castle, even a hundred thousand troops can't surround this strong city!" Honda Masashige took the lead.

"Not only that, just on this road, although there are many pedestrians, there are also many monks wearing Amitabha's body! Loose on the outside and tight on the inside!" Sakakibara Nagamasa is also a veteran.

"If we just cross the Kizu River and step onto this Monzen-machi, the attackers will probably suffer many casualties!" Kobayata also agreed.

Because they were all his retainers, Kobayata didn't shy away from anything. At first, they didn't know that the Yamanouchi clan might turn against the Oda clan in the future, and they thought that after Yamanouchi Taro succeeded to the throne, he would prepare to flatten the powerful clan forces in the world, so they came to Ishiyama for investigation.

"Sir, this is an inn that our Naya is familiar with!" As the few people were discussing, the young man in the Naya spoke.

"Are we there? Okay, thank you for your help." Following the young man's instructions, the few people entered the inn.

Since they were introduced by the Naya, the inn owner didn't ask any more questions. It was natural to think that they were Naya's customers who just came to Ishiyama to make money, which really saved a lot of trouble.

After the group settled down, Xiao Pingtai was not an overly strict boss. After instructing them not to have conflicts with others, his subordinates went out for a rare walk, so they naturally wanted to see the world and buy some local specialties to bring back to the mountains.

Although the two dead kids were young, they had no wives and no expenses. They received salaries, but they ate and lived at Xiao Pingtai's house. Instead, they were rich people. After finally returning to the big city, they finally showed some dead kids' appearance. They were full of curiosity about the things sold on the street.

They all ran out as soon as they had fun!

After walking, it was still the most comfortable to lie down. Xiao Pingtai felt that his body was indeed not as good as when he was in his early twenties. He could carry 100 or 200 kilograms without any problem. Now he felt a little weak after walking a few steps.

He fell asleep unexpectedly when he lay down. When he woke up again, it was dark. Thinking about why the few people who went out had not returned yet, he got up and prepared to go to the store to ask.

As a result, just as Xiao Pingtai got up, he seemed to hear a sound outside the door, so he asked softly; "Is the drum up?"

When he heard the voice of Honda Masashige, Xiao Pingtai thought it was just right, he was back, and he didn't need to look for him again.

"It's up, it's getting dark, let's prepare dinner!"

As he was talking, the door was gently opened, and Honda Masashige and another man in his thirties were sitting in the corridor, and they seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

"Who is this?" Xiao Pingtai was a little confused, how could there be a stranger.

"This is my elder brother, Honda Yahachiro Masanobu!"