Pillars of the Wu family

Xiao Banxinzhen has a good habit of asking questions when he doesn't understand. When he sees something novel, he always breaks the casserole and asks the bottom line. He greeted the little boy who was setting ducks in the distance: "The kid over there comes here!"

"Oh!" The child timidly leaned over for fear that the two strange warriors who stepped over would do evil. Nagano Yegu looked amused, and comforted the little boy: "Don't worry, we are not bad people. What is a row of ditches for? Why are there fish fry in it?"

The little boy was about seven or eight years old, with a healthy rosy face, neat bangs on his forehead, and new clothes made during the Chinese New Year. The most surprising thing was the small cloth shoes on his feet, which surprised Nagano Gu can't help but lament the prosperity of Echigo. Even wealthy farmers have the money to buy linen to make shoe soles. This is something that has never happened in ancient times.

"That is the fish raised in our rice fields. Last year, the masters taught us how to raise fish in the rice fields. This method is very good. We can farm and fish in the fields. The fresh fish raised are big and fat. The merchants in the town have long been Order fresh fish from my family, because my family raised the best fish last year. Instead, we raised half-stone grass carp. This year, the village has withdrawn the implementation of crop rotation. Grandpa asked him to watch the seedlings and fish fry in his field and raise ducks by the way. "

"Half-stone grass carp was bred out of the way? Isn't this a lie? Half-grass carp has to be sold for three Yongle money?"

"I won't lie! Master Xinchuan of our village said that the master from Kyoto told us to tell the truth, and he also told the story about the arrival of monsters. Children who don't tell the truth will be punished by gods and Buddhas!" Little The boy retorted unconvinced: "If you don't believe me, go ask me if Shengji's family in Xinchuanzhuang is a good fish farmer. Although our family's rice is not the best in the village, it is not as good as that of other nearby villages. !"

"I've heard of the allusion you said. A child came to the village to call out demons because he had nothing to do. The whole village was so frightened that they picked up their hoes and beat the demons. It turned out that the child was lying. The kind villagers Forgive him for his youth and ignorance, but this child will never change and lied to everyone again. The angry villagers decided to forgive him, but they no longer believed his words. The third time the monster really came, no one believed it. No one came out to help him, and the child was eaten by the demon."

Xiao Banxinzhen said in amazement: "This story tells us that we must be honest. Otherwise, we will be eaten by demons! Wuweidian's methods are really powerful!"

"Persuading people to be good is a dignified and righteous way. This story is very good. Martial Palace is an amazing person." Nagano Yegu casually praised, and then asked the little boy: "How do you all feed the fry?"

"Small fish like to eat small earthworms and duckweed. When the small fish grow up, some seedlings will grow very tall. Small fish don't like to eat grass seedlings, so they will eat aquatic plants, snails, small insects, etc. in the paddy field, etc. When the fish grow up, they only eat aquatic plants in the paddy fields, so we also sprinkled some loaches in the river ditches, they like to eat small insects in the river water. Earthworms, locust pupae, snails and so on are very fond of eating.” The little boy turned He counted his own ducklings seriously.Counting several times was wrong, and I was sweating profusely.

"There are 43 ducklings in total. You didn't see the naughty one hiding there! The waterwheel over there also belongs to your family?" Nagano Yegu pointed to a tall waterwheel beside the embankment. Next to the embankment is a mill, and if you listen carefully, you can hear the buzzing sound inside.

"Thank you for counting the ducklings for me. If I lose the ducklings, I won't have dinner tonight!" The little boy made a face at Nobuya Kohata, who was touching his bangs, and then replied, "That mill is not our home. Yes, it is the common property of the village. There are more than 800 households in our village. There are many lands that need to be irrigated by waterwheels. There are five more waterwheels like this. It is transported to our fields through ditches and water gates."

Seeing the child making funny faces at him, Xiao Ban Xinzhen didn't think it was disobedient, but was surprised: "How do you know so much? You can't be a child of the servant's family?"

"It is said that my ancestors were also samurai! Because many people died in the defeat, they fled to Echigo and became farmers incognito. There is still a tachi in the family that has been passed down for more than ten generations. The old man in the village is also very polite to my family. My elder brother is here. My family is farming, and my sister-in-law has already added a little niece to my family. The second and third brothers were called into the preparation team by the elders in Kyoto to eat the food and rice from the official family! Especially my third brother passed the selection of horse warriors! They are in the large teaching ground at the foot of Chunri Mountain, where there are Cuju competitions to watch every afternoon." The little boy was quirky and clever, and when he smiled, his teeth were exposed, which was cute.

"Do you also want to be a samurai in the future?" Nagano Yegu said with a smile: "Since you are so smart at such a young age, it must be no problem to be a samurai."

"That's right! Master Feng Xing said the same thing last time, and he also said that he would recommend me to participate in the selection of the crowd in May this year! I will also do a job in the future, and do my part for the elders in my hometown!" The little boy Show a determined expression.

The two, one and one, stood in the field and chatted endlessly. Unknowingly, the whole afternoon passed, and the pleasant chatting journey was not over until the little boy's brother came to him. On the way back, Nagano Yegu was still reminiscing about today's events. After seeing and hearing, it took a long time before he said to Nobusada Kobata: "Have you noticed that Echigo has a unique temperament?"

"You mean people in Echigo are happier and prouder? I've already noticed it? Don't take me for a fool, I'm very smart!" Kobata Nobuya seemed dissatisfied with her companion's questioning, and tapped herself on the forehead a few times It means that there is material in the head.

"How many things have to be done to make these farmers so happy? You see that the pedestrians on the street are far more smiling than frowning, and ruddy are far more than yellow and thin. How can this be done? Why can they do it? Here How many things are there that we don't know?" Nagano Yegu habitually asked a lot of questions to think about.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't know why, probably only if you become a retainer of the Kira family will you know why?"

"Yes! Be Kira's vassal! Why didn't I think of this!" Nagano Yegu's eyes lit up, he grabbed Xiaobata Nobusada's arm and shouted: "I want to be Kira's vassal!"

Xiao Banxinzhen broke free from his pull, and said sharply: "Aren't you crazy? Let Nagano Taka stay in the castle and not be the lord of the castle. Be a retainer of the Kira family? Do you want to piss your brother to death? Don't forget us The crisis facing Nagano has not been resolved. We will go back after all!"

"... I was reckless!" Nagano Yegu's fiery brain seemed to be poured with cold water.Shivering from the cold inside and out: "The burden of family business and survival is still on our heads, and the foundation of our father and brother cannot be destroyed in our hands. We should find a way to meet Wuweidian once, for the sake of the farmers in Ueno Kingdom who are waiting to be fed. There's that thing."

"We'll talk about that later."

……

Inside the Myogakuji Temple in Naoetsu Town, the aroma was wafting and the Sanskrit singing was wafting. After finishing today's evening class, the abbot of the temple, Toraya Zongyi, returned to his meditation room and took out a diary with a simple binding.Record what you have learned over the past few days.

This habit was not created by him alone. Since ancient times, monks have had the habit of taking notes, just like the princes love to write notes. The eminent monks hope to use their notes to leave a valuable cultural wealth for future generations. Of course, leaving a name in history is It could not be better.

Toranoya Souichi recorded not only the Buddhist understanding and daily records of his practice for 20 years, but also his experiences in Kyoto and Echigo, including every bit of change from Kira’s house passing through Mino and passing Shangluo. .

Since he came to Echigo, his recording work has become more arduous, from writing a little every day to summarizing and embellishing it every few days, the length of the notes is getting longer and more details.This is a process of in-depth understanding, the more you know about Echi's innovation.The more he has many thoughts to jot down.

"Is Zen Master Zongyi here? You can get something after traveling around recently!" Before the voice fell, Chaoshan Nichiyone slammed the door and entered, followed by the little novice with a painful expression on his face, as if the big It looks like the monk has committed some serious crime.

"Zong An retreat first."

"Yes!" The little novice named Zong An obediently closed the door, and before leaving, he did not forget to give the fat-headed Monk Hua a look.

"Hi! The newly-opened noodle shop's craftsmanship is beyond words, and the spicy chicken shredded noodles are really unique, making the poor monk's belly round!" Chaoshan Nichijo patted his swollen belly with a relaxed expression.

Compared with what he looked like a year ago, Asayama Hijo has gained a lot of weight, which is a bit of a horizontal development trend. Tiger Zai Zongyi is still lean, and smelling a smell of meat, he frowned and said: "The criminal who eats meat broke the commandments!"

"As long as there is a Buddha in your heart, why bother to stick to the rules and regulations? I have always said that if you have a Buddha in your heart, if your six sense organs are not clean, you will also have a good relationship. If you don't have a heart for the Buddha, it is useless to follow the rules and regulations."

"Master Richeng still likes sophistry!" Huzai Zongyi gave up his plan to continue questioning. This Chaoshan Richeng can only be regarded as a monk who has an order, and he never takes up the rations of the temple on weekdays. When the sun comes out, he walks around with a Zen staff and bowl , He didn't come back until dark, and he lived a good life every day, so he, the abbot, was not easy to control.

"Does Zen Master Zongyi think that the poor monk is just wandering around? Like Zen Master Zongyi, the poor monk has also traveled all over the mountains, rivers and deep valleys of Echigo. These few days, the poor monk has been teaching the Dharma at the new resettlement site. He just finished teaching the "Diamond Sutra" The first interpretation of ... Of course, this is not the point, the point is that I found an interesting place."

Asayama Nichijo thought he would ask a question, but after waiting for a long time, he realized that Torazai Zongyi was lowering his head to take notes, and he wrote a large piece of Wu Ya in a short while. Seeing that he kept ignoring himself, he could only cough A voice: "Actually, I found that several resettlement sites are farmers from Yuezhong. They seem to be very united. No matter what the adherents ask, they are unwilling to separate from each other. They even wanted to make trouble at one point. In the end, the adherents chose to retreat as a last resort."

"..." Huzai Zongyi was still taking notes with his head down.

"The most important thing is that the poor monk went there to explain the "Lianhua Sutra" and "Diamond Sutra" and was bombarded. Fortunately, the poor monk had some knowledge, and soon found that they were all believers of the Yixiang sect, so he changed his clothes and called himself Only monks from the Zengzong sect got in."

"Oh?" Huzai Zongyi stopped his brush, raised his head and asked, "How did you... get in?"

"Isn't it the "Buddha Says the Sutra of Infinite Life"? Poor monks can do it too! It's impossible to pretend to be an eminent monk, but it's still very easy to read a few lines and focus on the Buddha of Infinite Life!" Zhao Shan Ri rode his body straight and put out one hand Prostrate to the Buddha: "Namo Amitabha Buddha!" ​​(to be continued...)