Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"The matter has come to this point, it is useless to talk about it!" Zhuge Wen said: "In fact, if this matter is really done, it will be a good thing. Anyway, Mr. Xiaolang is also Ming Gong's younger brother. Don't avoid relatives!"

"Then what do you mean—" Cai Dingshan asked.

"Just follow what Fan Chang'an said. Anyway, even if a big mess is made, Minggong will take the lead. Who else in Jiannan Road is bigger than him?"

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Wa country, Namba Tsu.

In the distance, a faint light pierces the mist of the ocean and shines near the horizon.

"A star?" Cao Wenzong asked.

"No, it's the lights of Nambatsu!" the guide of Waguo laughed.

The captain was shouting orders, and the sailors were climbing up and down the three tall masts, busy with the rigging and the heavy crimson sails.Below, the oarsmen sit at the edge of two long rows of oars and paddle hard.The deck creaked to one side, and the three-masted galleon "Ryukyu" turned to starboard, ready to sail into the bay.

In the light of Nanbajin, Cao Wenzong stood on the side of the ship, holding on to the bulwark with his right hand, trying to recall the scene of his first visit here, the bare breakwater, the chaotic houses, the trestle, and the rows of Japanese boats, and the rest He can't remember clearly, only swords, fire and blood, fighting again and again, and finally Wang Wenzuo drew his sword and killed the white horse, holding the hand of Queen Saitama, holding the newborn baby, and thousands of Japanese warriors Make an oath.I have only been away for a few years, why does it seem like a century has passed?
"I've been wearing a robe for half my life, but I look back and it's been a hundred years!" Cao Wenzong sighed.

The noise on the deck brought Cao Wenzong back to reality. When he turned his head, it was the recruits who were carrying them climbing up the deck and pointing at the distant sea.Although most of them were from Jingkou and Yangzhou, the waves crossing the East China Sea still tortured them terribly. Hearing that the journey was finally coming to an end, these young men climbed onto the deck one after another and looked around.

"Didn't you say it's coming? Why is it still the sea!" A soldier shouted in disappointment.

"That's right, you can't lie to us, right?" The person next to him said.

"It is indeed coming soon!" The Japanese veteran patiently explained: "Look at the color of the sea water, it is no longer the original blue-black, but light green, which means that it is approaching the land. Also, look over there!" He stretched out his right hand and pointed to the northeast: "Did you see clearly? Those two bright spots!"

"Bright spot? Isn't that a star?"

"No, those are not stars, they are two eyes, Buddha is looking at us!"

The Great Buddha in Namba, as long as the tourists who have been to the Japanese country will mention this, the ears of these recruits along the way are full of calluses. He is as high as a mountain, and he can be seen a hundred miles away from Namba. , Whenever there is wind, waves and mist, his eyes will emit light, so that the surrounding ships can see and will not lose their way.

"Buddha? As tall as a mountain?"

"You are not lying to us, are you? There is no such a big Buddha in Tang Dynasty, how can you have such a big Buddha?"

The recruits looked suspiciously at the Japanese veterans who explained. As Tang people at that time, they had a very simple concept: You may not have what the Tang Dynasty has, and you must not have what the Tang Dynasty did not have.

"Forget it if you don't believe it!" The Japanese veteran laughed: "Anyway, you can see it with your own eyes after dawn. This Buddha statue was built according to the order of His Highness the Minister of the Taizheng. Firstly, it was to commemorate His Highness's defeat of the eldest brother and prince among the rebels. To pacify the world; secondly, to commemorate His Royal Highness's deceased wife, Empress Qitama! It is unparalleled in the world! Your visit this time is an eye-opener!"

Everyone looked at the Japanese in doubt, but the Japanese didn't care, and said with a smile: "There are two unparalleled treasures in the Shitennoji Temple in Nanbajin, one is the mountain-like Amitabha statue; the other is the Buddha's golden body relic, there are With these two treasures guarded, our country will be peaceful and peaceful, like a tortoise and a crane, and auspicious for thousands of years!"

As time passed, the two points of light became brighter and the distance between them increased.Now everyone can see that this is not a star.Cao Wenzong also looked towards the light curiously. He had also heard about the order to build a Buddha statue, but when he and Wang Wenzuo left the Wa Kingdom, it was just a blueprint and he had never witnessed it with his own eyes.

"Look, look!" the Japanese guide shouted loudly: "It's over there, do you see it?"

The fog receded in front of him, and the bow of the ship divided the ragged gray curtain.The Ryukyu cleaves through the gray-green water, its sails like billowing crimson wings.Cao Wenzong heard the screams of seabirds above his head.At the point of the guide's finger, a row of rocky ridges suddenly rises from the sea, and the steep slope is covered with pines and cypresses. On the side of the ridge facing the sea, Amitabha Buddha sits here, with shining eyes, a kind expression and a smile on his face.

There was a sound of gasping on the deck, and the recruits even forgot to exclaim. This huge Buddha statue was completely carved out of the mountain, and its entire body was made of stubborn stone. The thumb is pointing to the navel, and the other thumb is pointing to the sky. The lotus throne under the body has not been completely completed, and traces of scaffolding can be seen.Looking at this giant, it is completely unimaginable that it can be built by human power!

"How?" the Japanese veteran said triumphantly to the silent recruits. The performance of these little guys who are always pretentious at this time greatly satisfied his vanity: "Everyone thinks that His Royal Highness It is the gods and Buddhas who protect and protect those who love them. Otherwise, it would be impossible to build such giant statues. People from all over the country, if there are people who are not satisfied, all come to pay homage, offer incense, and beg for the blessings of gods and Buddhas. In fact, it is not only our country, but also People from Silla, Baekje, Goguryeo, and people from far away also came to worship with gifts! It won’t be long before Shitianwangji Temple will become Haidong, no, the largest temple in the world!”

"The largest monastery in the world, this Japanese is really good at bragging!"

"Luoyang, there are many great temples in Chang'an, how could it not be as good as these Four Heavenly Kings Temples!"

"It's just a Buddha statue, and it was blown up into the sky by them!"

"That's right, in the final analysis, it's just a vassal of the Tang Dynasty. There is a Buddha statue like this, shallow, shallow!"

The Tang soldiers on the deck retorted indignantly. It was not uncommon to build cave Buddha statues on the mountain at that time. There are a large number of cave Buddha statues in Longmen Mountain in Luoyang and Yungang Mountain near Yunzhou (Datong), and the level of carving art can be said The statue of Amitabha built under the order of Wang Wenzuo was actually invited from Datang and Baekje even the craftsmen who built this statue.

The only advantage of this Buddha statue at Shitennoji Temple is that it is large enough - it is nearly 50 meters high from the lotus throne to the top of the head.Naturally, more manpower is needed for construction, and Wang Wenzuo has no shortage of manpower at all—he doesn’t need to build the Great Wall, build a mausoleum for his wife, build a capital city, maintain a large standing army to fight civil wars, and agriculture is seasonal. Strong production activities, as long as it is the slack season in the Nara Basin, there will be a lot of idle labor in the Kinki area. Considering the devout Buddhist beliefs of the Japanese people at that time, it is not even necessary to use much coercion to recruit enough labor to repair buddha statue.

And the cost of hiring craftsmen can be earned back—even without considering the effect of Buddha statues on the regime’s prestige, just the large number of pilgrims who come to worship from all directions every year is a very considerable income—the flow of people is logistics, and logistics It is capital flow. Compared with agricultural tax, commercial tax, and loan finance, although the volume is much smaller, the collection cost is also much smaller. What you get is not bulky grain and cloth with high transportation costs, but gold, silver and copper coins. , that would be much more affordable.

The bell interrupted the quarrel on the deck, thousands of seabirds jumped into the air at the same time, the eyes of the people on the deck widened, they saw the Japanese laughing. "He informed the pilot of our arrival," he cried, "you need not be afraid!"

The wind and waves fully drove the crimson sails of the Ryukyu, quickly pushing her to the protruding blade.The double-layer long paddles are rhythmically and smoothly paddled, the sea water is stirred into white foam, and the shadow of the Buddha statue covers the sky and the sun.For an instant it seemed as if the boat would smash to pieces on the rocks beneath his feet.Cao Wenzong stood at the bow of the boat, the sea water splashed on his face, and the taste was salty.He had to hold his head high so that he could see the head of the Buddha statue: "In such a short period of time, Nambatsu has undergone such a big change. Could it be that the Buddha really came here?"

The boat rounded the headland, and the people on the deck immediately felt that the waves became smaller and the wind weakened. The Ryukyu sailed into a huge lagoon. There were many small Japanese boats on the sea, fishing for fish and shellfish. There are many buildings, the most conspicuous of which is the shipyard, the most of which is the kind of long and narrow sailing boat, the painted bow of the dragon protruding from the shed on the shore, like a hound locked in the boathouse , fierce and ferocious, waiting for the command of the master at any time.Cao Wenzong tried to count how many there were, but there were too many. As the coastline snaked inland, there were more piers, sheds and shipyards.

Two rowing boats came forward, like dragonflies gliding on the water, with white paddles flying up and down.Cao Wenzong heard the wounded man shouting at them, and then the captain of the Ryukyu answered loudly. Due to the sea wind, he couldn't hear what he was saying.With a blaring horn, the two oars parted, so close that he could hear the drums beating inside the oak hulls, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, as These two oarboats are living creatures with a living heart beating.

As the Ryukyu continued to move forward, the Buddha statue had been left behind, and in front of it was a vast expanse of turquoise water, like glass with waves.People on the deck can see the rows of houses on the inner side of the headland, and the top of the pagoda inlaid with gold leaf is shining brightly in the sun, and the people on the deck let out a sound of admiration.This is a recruit who suddenly asked loudly: "It's strange, why is there no city wall here?"

"Hahahaha!" the Japanese guide laughed loudly: "Have you forgotten? This is a big island, and the ocean is the best city wall!"

"Blow the horn!" Cao Wenzong said to the captain: "Let all the ships lower their sails, and the team and the soldiers should be dressed. It's time to go ashore!"

The sound of the horn sounded from the poop deck of the Ryukyu, and almost at the same time, all the sails were lowered, and the speed of the ship dropped suddenly.The six ships following behind also slowed down.Under the scolding of officers and veterans, the recruits began to wear armor, and when everything was dressed, they began to distribute burqas—all made of scarlet Shu brocade, under the sunshine, gorgeous Shu brocade, polished nail leaves and metal helmets shone like a crimson sea.

"Very good!" Cao Wenzong swallowed. Although he had already been mentally prepared, seeing it with his own eyes is another matter. If he didn't know the inside story, he might be startled by this empty frame. He took a deep breath In one breath, he shouted with the loudest voice: "Line up, get ready to go ashore!"

With the tension of the cable, the Ryukyu, pulled by the rowboat, approached the trestle on the shore.Standing on the forecastle, Cao Wenzong could clearly see Japanese people standing on the shore full of onlookers, whispering and pointing curiously.Very good, very good, Cao Wenzong thought to himself, everyone here will tell twenty people what they saw, and soon the news of the arrival of the reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty will spread throughout the country of Wa, which is exactly what I hope .Thinking of this, he subconsciously tightened his stomach, straightened his waist, and showed an arrogant expression on his face.

The boat finally landed on the trestle, and the sailors put down the gangplank. Cao Wenzong couldn't help but secretly heaved a sigh of relief when he saw He Bayong's familiar face from the crowd.

"How many people did you bring!" As soon as the springboard was stabilized, He Bayong rushed up. He grabbed Cao Wenzong's arm: "Where is Sanlang? Didn't he come?"

"The imperial court has asked Duke Ming to serve as an envoy to deal with soldiers and horses in Jiannan Branch, and the security of the Southwest is at stake. How could he come!" Cao Wenzong replied.

"Jiannan Zhidu Yingtian disposes of soldiers and horses? Alright!" A look of disappointment flashed across He Bayong's face: "That's really helpless, but what about the Japanese country? His farms, mines, and sugar farms are all gone. Here, if it doesn't work here, the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion can't hold it either!"

"Wongjin can't keep it? How could it be?"

"Gao Kan has moved the administrative office of the Andong Protectorate. There are only a thousand people stationed in Pyongyang, and there are rebels everywhere outside the city. The mountain city of the Silla people has been built to the Datong River, and they can't care about it at all. The Xiongjin Governor's Mansion is here. I have to give Zhou Liucheng [-] guan of money and food every month, otherwise Shen Faseng will not be able to survive at all!"

"How did you get to this point?" Cao Wenzong was anxious when he heard this: "What about the Japanese country? I think Nanbajin is pretty good here!"

"Of course it's fine here!" He Bayong laughed: "It's all thanks to Fujiwara Bubi, thanks to him who built the Shitianwang Temple, there is an endless stream of pilgrims and business travelers, and the monks are also standing by our side. The neighboring states of Nara, Omi, Mino, and Owari have also stabilized, and with the addition of the several leading states in the northwest that believe in the main god of the great country, the foundation is considered to be firmly established!" (End of this chapter)