Female Swordsman Training Dojo

Therefore, she could only gamble on winning the war! The public opinion surrounding the war's benefits could suppress Harunobu's propaganda; the existence of the war's benefits could ensure that most of Japan's social classes were well-fed; and the territory expanded by the war could also win over more gods to submit to her and become her apostles and saints.

According to the bet, Harunobu would naturally lose.

Unfortunately, Amaterasu was one step behind; she hadn't expected her beloved granddaughter to have already sold her out. Her perfect plan was now completely under Harunobu's surveillance, teetering on the brink of collapse.

However, she doesn't have time to think about this issue right now, because there are more problems waiting for her to consider.

Westerners did not wage war against Japan, although they were willing to pay tens of millions of taels of silver in reparations at the negotiating table, but Amaterasu wouldn't give them any. However, while the government didn't intervene, the Christian Church couldn't resist sending large numbers of priests and nuns to Japan for various missionary activities—and to steal Zanpakuto (swords).

Amaterasu couldn't kill them all, nor did she want to completely sever ties with the Westerners. She could only let things take their course and forbade the issuance of Zanpakuto to them. Fortunately, Zanpakuto are bound upon activation; even killing the wielder doesn't guarantee obtaining the Zanpakuto. After Amaterasu executed over thirty Westerners who failed to steal the Zanpakuto, the situation stabilized.

Then, Buddhism did something really big for Amaterasu – they rebelled.

"I never imagined that I'd still see the Ikko-ikki in 1913." Harunobu sat on the sofa, holding the warm-bodied Artoria, and muttered, "It's as absurd as seeing someone say they want to rebuild Rome and hang the Doge of Venice!"

The Celtic-born Red Dragon Queen rolled her eyes and silenced Harunobu's mouth with her soft, voluptuous breasts: "What did Rome do to you? Aren't they better than those barbarians from Onsa?"

You're right.

After licking the grapes for a while, Harunobu spat them out, took the large meat bun that Izanami offered, chewed it twice, and said, "So, what does Amaterasu plan to do now?"

Izanagi glanced at Harunobu and picked up...

Chapter 541

The newspaper at hand began to condense the nonsense in Harunobu's head: "It says the government is preparing to mobilize two armies, one from Sendai and one from Osaka, to go to Nara to quell the rebellion."

Harunobu was speechless: "Suppress the rebellion? Has Amaterasu lost her mind because of her faith?"

The so-called "Ikkyu" was essentially a peasant uprising in Japan. However, because Japan is a country that truly values ​​bloodline, it often had to rely on the name of religion to unite its members, thus becoming the Ikko-ikki. The "Ikko" here refers to the Ikko sect of Japanese Buddhism, which is also the Buddhist sect most prone to rebellion.

Izanami put down her newspaper, wiped the grease from Harunobu's lips, and chuckled, "If she weren't stupid, why would she still be stubbornly refusing to ask us for help?"

Harunobu shook his head and asked, "Do you know why these monks suddenly rebelled? It can't be that Sachiko forced them into a desperate situation, can it?"

"If Sachiko hears you say that, she won't be able to sleep with us this month." Izanami teased, picking up a glass of milk and handing it to Harunobu. "It was Amaterasu's doing, and the monks' own wicked intentions, but we can also say we were partly to blame."

Izanami picked up the information summarized by Aozorakan herself from beside the newspaper and handed it to Harunobu. Harunobu, while drinking milk, began to read through it and soon understood the situation.

In short, Amaterasu bears the biggest blame for this rebellion. Because her grand strategy of conquering Korea required the preparation of supplies, and the Japanese bureaucrats' methods of allocating resources are well-known, the result was that the lower classes were burdened with exorbitant taxes, and their already hungry stomachs were now on the verge of starvation.

In fact, if it weren't for Qingxin's Qingkong Group having entered the grain market beforehand and continuously stabilizing prices, this rebellion might have happened even earlier.

Then it was the monks' fault. After discovering this situation, instead of trying to punish evil and promote good, or reporting it directly to the Qingkong Pavilion or the imperial court, they directly promoted the Buddhist kingdom on earth and began their grand performance.

Finally, there's Harunobu's fault. It was because of Taira Sachiko's outstanding performance that some monks, unwilling to give up, tried to fight to the death to rebuild the glory of Nara, the city of a thousand temples.

Thus, the Ikko-ikki was successfully launched.

"This is really..." Harunobu was a little saddened that he hadn't expected to be involved in this mess. "Amaterasu is indeed the ancestor of the Emperor. Her methods of exploiting the people are truly remarkable."

Izanami pinched Harunobu's cheek: "You think too highly of your adopted daughter. All she thinks about is becoming stronger and her faith. She'll probably just give orders and have her subordinates do them. And the methods of these Japanese bureaucrats and powerful families..."

Qingxin disagreed: "That was her order, she can't get away with it... No, I have to go find her, otherwise, given her personality, she'll definitely kill all those rebellious civilians."

War is one thing, peasant uprising is another. Although Harunobu wanted to cause trouble for Amaterasu, he did not want to do it in this way.

Izanami shook her head helplessly, pressed down on Artoria's waist and helped her quickly shake her penis, sending her to orgasm before pushing her aside. She then bent down to clean Harunobu up and change her clothes, instructing her, "Don't let a few sweet words from your adopted daughter trick you into working hard, or I'll laugh at you."

Qingxin rolled her eyes and pulled the little vixen who had recently started to act like a virtuous wife into her arms: "You talk as if you're not going. You'll know you're wrong when I get trapped by magic and can't get out."

Izanami embraced Harunobu, her fragrant lips leaving a deep mark on his face before transforming into a cloud of black mist that enveloped him. Still savoring the afterglow, Artoria reached out, allowing Harunobu to lift her up.

Chapter 502: Rice's Disturbance

Harunobu pulled Artoria along, easily crossing the royal palace's barrier and entering its interior. Of course, his rough handling triggered the barrier's alarm, but the surrounding royal guards and guardian spirits only dared to stand by and watch, none of them daring to make a move.

Harunobu, with Artoria in his arms, waved to the onlookers: "I'm here to see Amaterasu. This is none of your business. Go play somewhere else."

"Okay, all right."

Hoshino, a pink-haired ninja with two tails hanging down her buttocks, turned to leave, only to be struck in the face by a golden light and immediately collapsed to the ground, her two trembling tails indicating that she was still alive.

Harunobu shook his head, saying, "Amaterasu, you've gone too far! Such an adorable pink fox, how could you be so cruel?"

"Hira Harunobu." The golden light solidified into the form of Amaterasu, looking down at Harunobu and Artoria. "Are you here to die?"

"It's not certain who will win if we fight." Harunobu manipulated the air currents to roll the pink fox to a softer spot. "I'm here about the Ikko-ikki. I heard you're planning to send troops to suppress them directly?"

Amaterasu hovered in the air and said coldly, "What does that have to do with you? Or are those monks really acting under your orders?"

"That's slander, Amaterasu." Harunobu glanced at the tense onlookers around him and shook his head. "Can't we go somewhere else? Surely your Imperial Palace, which is this big, doesn't lack a place to have tea?"

Amaterasu's face was icy cold, and her heavy aura could almost scare someone to death. But after exchanging a glance with Harunobu for a moment, she turned around and transformed into a stream of light, flying into a palace: "Hoshino, bring the three of them here."

"Three?" The pink-haired fox peeked out, and then saw black mist twisting and taking shape on Qingxin's shoulder, revealing a charming and alluring face that smiled at her.

The poor two-tailed fox shivered: "Greetings, Lady Izanami."

Izanami looked at Hoshino with great interest: "Little fox, would you be interested in being my little sister—"

Harunobu tugged at Izanami, interrupting her pimping, and hurried towards the palace where Amaterasu had fallen. The pink-haired fox Hoshino's eyes darted around, and she quietly slipped into the shadows, heading towards Misuruhime's location—it wasn't far from where Amaterasu was going anyway, so leading the way a hundred meters away was the same as leading the way!

The distance of several hundred meters passed in an instant. Harunobu entered the magnificent palace and immediately saw Amaterasu sitting at the head of the table. Today, she was still wearing her golden robe, making one wonder if she never changed her clothes. However, her long hair, which was usually styled in an elaborate updo, was completely loose today, falling naturally and giving her a gentler appearance. Well, if you ignored her cold expression.

"Excuse me~" Harunobu said politely, then walked to the opposite side of Amaterasu and sat down cross-legged: "What do you plan to do about the Nara uprising?"

Amaterasu's eye twitched, and she said coldly, "What else can we do? A bunch of traitors and scoundrels, they should be killed!"

Harunobu took the teapot from Amaterasu's side and poured himself and Artoria a cup of tea: "I think you're going a bit too far, Amaterasu. Killing won't solve anything."

Amaterasu looked at Harunobu with the same look she gave someone an idiot, the meaning of which was quite clear—you dare to say such a thing?

Qingxin pretended not to notice and continued, "I wholeheartedly agree to kill those wicked monks and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas behind them, and I'm even willing to help; but what about the ordinary farmers and workers? They rebelled simply because they couldn't afford to eat and were misled. What good will it do you to kill them all?"

“If traitors can go unpunished, what’s the point of laws?” Amaterasu said coldly. “Besides, I don’t need your help. If you want to win people’s hearts, go and organize your own festivals and events.”

Amaterasu was truly furious! She was furious at the sudden rebellion, furious at Harunobu's disrespectful intrusion into the Imperial Palace, furious at the unexpected events that kept happening to the war plans, and even more furious at the useless bureaucrats under her command who were more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything.

If she weren't unsure whether she could defeat Hiraharu, she would have already made her move to show him what it meant for the Great Sun Goddess to be unassailable!

Qingxin poured himself a drink and laughed, "Well, rebellion depends on the situation. If officials force the people to rebel, can you blame them? Why don't you deal with some of those trashy bureaucrats and Chinese under your command first?"

"You don't need this."

Chapter 542

"Don't worry about it!" Amaterasu firmly refused. While she did want to deal with those useless people, it wouldn't be because of Harunobu's request. Moreover, even if she were to deal with them, it would be those who were incompetent, not those who harbored the same intense malice towards the Huazu as Harunobu.

Ultimately, Amaterasu existed during the ancient Japanese era, and her nature is inherently biased towards the rule of a small elite and aristocratic families. This is evident in her style of doing things; she prefers to use a small elite to oppress and exploit the majority, much like her war plans.

Harunobu looked regretfully at the stubbornness on Amaterasu's head and put the empty teacup back on the table: "Then let's see if your army can fight, or my disciples and subordinates can?"

The disciple in charge of the Aozorakan in Nara is Taira Yukiko, who remains the undisputed number one disciple of the Aozorakan to this day. With her Zanpakuto, she could easily take down one or two demon kings or gods. In addition, given the unpredictable swordsmanship of the Aozorakan, even bringing out cannons might not be very effective, let alone the protection of the Womb Realm Mandala.

Moreover, Hirako currently has more than a dozen "loyal" gods following her. It would be difficult for her to wipe out an entire army by herself. The main problem is that the army won't be stupid enough to keep coming to their deaths, and physical strength is also an issue.

After all, Hirako was not a beast like Harunobu; although her physical strength was not weak, it was still within the normal range.

Amaterasu squinted as steam rose from the untouched teacup in front of her, a sign that the warm tea had been reboiled and evaporated.

Izanami, who was enveloping Harunobu, appeared behind him. Artoria, whose ability to generate high temperatures was no less than that of Amaterasu, turned her eyes into vertical pupils and stared intently at Amaterasu's head, exhaling sparks of fire with each breath.

The battle is about to break out.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps sounded, along with Misuruhime's panicked voice: "Ancestral God! Calm down! This matter is not as simple as it seems!"

Harunobu held Artoria down and smiled at Amaterasu: "Looks like there's some new information. Shall we listen to it first?"

Amaterasu picked up her teacup and drank it all in one gulp. As she put the empty teacup back on the table, Misuruhime rushed over and handed Amaterasu a stack of documents.

Harunobu nodded to his nominal fiancée, then looked with interest at the pink-furred fox cowering in the shadows. He wondered why the fox had been avoiding him; apparently, it was using this opportunity to call for backup… no, to deliver intelligence?

After all, Princess Misuru is currently under house arrest at the Imperial Palace and cannot go out to gather intelligence on her own.

While Harunobu was slacking off, Amaterasu had already quickly reviewed the documents sent by Misuru-hime, her expression growing increasingly grim: "A bunch of damned traitors!"

"Oh ho?" Harunobu perked up. "More people have rebelled? Let me see?"

Despite her reluctance, Amaterasu obediently tossed the document into Harunobu's outstretched hand, her teeth chattering loudly. This startled the pink-haired fox, who curled up even tighter, as if she wanted to just roll away.

Harunobu picked up the document and skimmed through it, his expression turning somewhat strange. The document didn't use any particularly obscure language; it simply described a situation that shouldn't be underestimated: according to the investigations of the Shiranui ninja and the Special Higher Police, signs of an impending uprising had appeared in many cities throughout Japan!

The main reason for this was that a large number of merchants were hoarding grain, driving up grain prices, and they were doing so under the guise of supplying the imperial court and the army. This made it impossible for many people to buy rice even if they had money, or they had to spend most of their savings to buy a few kilograms; as for those who were already barely making ends meet, they naturally started to eat dirt.

—The rice mentioned here refers not only to white rice and refined rice, but also to other miscellaneous grains and coarse grains.

Of course, this situation is still relatively rare at present, but the seed has been planted and once it is ignited... Harunobu recalled some interesting stories about Japan from his previous life, including news that as late as 2024, there were still reports of people rioting in Japan because high rice prices made it impossible for them to afford food.

Japan even has a specific term to describe this kind of incident—the rice disturbance.

Chapter 503: Color Revolution

Speaking of rice riots, Harunobu recalled many other things. For example, the first rice riot in Japan seemed to have occurred during the Taisho era. It was said that the Japanese government and unscrupulous merchants preferred to ship grain to the West and sell it at high prices to Westerners who were engaged in a world war, rather than sell it to the starving Japanese, which triggered the riots.

This is mainly because Japan was not only too feudal, but also too urbanized. Industrialization led to a decline in the number of farmers; the oppression of feudal rule further lowered the status of farmers, and they could not obtain enough profits, so they could provide less and less food, to the point that they could not even be self-sufficient.

The end result was the classic Great Famine – Britain also suffered from it!

Japan in this world is similar, but fortunately, due to the influence of supernatural forces, the decline in agriculture doesn't seem to be as rapid. Furthermore, the Blue Sky Group has intervened to regulate the market, importing grain to stabilize prices. While this can't completely eliminate the invisible hand of power, it has at least had some positive effect, managing to prolong the situation for a few more seconds.

In other words, theoretically speaking, Japan was not yet at the point of experiencing a rice riot. Even if Amaterasu launched a covert war mobilization, it would only affect those areas that had been severely impacted and could not withstand the onslaught. As for the Japanese civilians, they have always been very resilient; as long as they can survive, they can hold on to their grievances.

Therefore, initially, both Seishun and Amaterasu regarded the Ikko-ikki uprising in Nara as an independent and rare special event. They considered it a special act by ambitious individuals who seized an opportunity, and the greatest responsibility should be borne by the Ikko-ikki monks and the Buddha and Bodhisattvas behind them.

However, the new information provided by Misuruhime indicates that this is not the case at all; the Ikko-kyo sect is no longer capable of rallying the entire nation with a single call. It would be more likely to be the Aozora-kan sect doing that.

“Osaka, Kyoto, Shizuoka, Hakone, even Kagoshima…” Harunobu rolled up the intelligence report and clapped his hands. “Looks like this isn’t an isolated incident. Your bunch of good-for-nothings are really good at making a mess of things—want me to kill them all for you?”

Amaterasu's face was ashen, her golden robes billowing even without wind. The scorching heat even affected Misuru-hime, causing her to sweat profusely. Harunobu glanced at Misuru-hime, who was almost drenched in sweat, and sent a cool breeze towards her before tapping the table: "Calm down, Amaterasu; although it's not surprising that your bunch of good-for-nothings would do anything, I don't think it's gotten to that point yet. At least the new batch that Misuru-hime replaced them with isn't going to cause such a big fuss."

After Qingxin finished speaking, he muttered to himself, it was really rare for him to speak up for a bureaucrat.

Amaterasu took a deep breath, suppressing the violent power that had been rising in her anger. She glanced at Misuru-hime, who was surrounded by a gentle breeze, and said with her usual sarcasm, "You certainly know how to be chivalrous, but what exactly do you want to say?"

Harunobu spread out the intelligence report, pointed to a section of it, and read it aloud: "...All the people and households are concerned with freedom and equality, and they have clearly seen traces of practicing with guns and armor when discussing the enlightened constitutionalism of Western monarchs."

This means that the peasants who were preparing to stage a rice riot and rebellion were all talking about freedom and equality, saying that Western monarchies were better and more enlightened, and there were obvious signs of them conducting military training.

For people of this era, the biggest problem seems to be the last part about training in firearms and armor—how dare these lowly commoners conduct military training! These are no ordinary commoners! A heavy blow must be dealt!

But in Harunobu's view, who has memories of his past life, the key point is clearly the words mentioned earlier—isn't this just the color revolution that Westerners like the second most!

A group of wicked people with ulterior motives use slogans of freedom and democracy to bewitch a group of pitiful or foolish people, and then force normal people to conform to and accept their ideas.

Of course, that was Harunobu's previous life.

Chapter 543

The color revolutions of my memory, the riots of this era—from Harunobu's perspective, they were actually quite reasonable. If you can't survive, who cares about the Yamato people, the Great Japanese Empire? Hunting samurai—that's part of Japan's traditional arts!

Therefore, he is even more determined to sabotage this old-fashioned color revolution. It's one thing to say that idiots deserve to be killed, but it's a bit much to let starving farmers be killed for the same reason.

"So, what's wrong?" Amaterasu frowned as she looked at Harunobu, who paused after reading aloud. "Are you saying that someone is directing them from behind?"

Harunobu glanced at Amaterasu in surprise: "Oh, you actually figured it out?"

Amaterasu tolerated Harunobu's somewhat irritating remark and coldly said, "How could a farmer have guns and armor? It's obvious that someone is funding him from behind."

Qingxin nodded: "That's right, but guess who's funding it—let me make it clear, it's not me. If I were to do it, I'd do it myself."

Amaterasu looked coldly at Harunobu, as if to say, "Don't continue this boring Q&A session."

Haruno shrugged: "Okay, you're really boring—the answer is Westerners. They love this kind of thing the most. The Americans were able to transform from a group of exiled criminals into an independent country thanks to this trick, even though they still use black slaves now."

"Also, although the two of us don't need to worry, you'd better tell Misuru to be wary of the Westerners' favorite tactic—a mentally unstable gunman—I don't want to see my fiancée's imagination run wild."

Especially since Princess Misuru is currently the Prime Minister of Japan, she would rather not associate with figures like Nikaku So.

Harunobu's words were not difficult to understand. The death of the legendary abolitionist president, Lincoln, was known throughout the world, and Japan had certainly heard of it. Furthermore, this practice of instigating internal rebellions and mobilizing the masses to fight each other is something that has existed since ancient times, from Celts to Native Americans, from whites to blacks—no one has escaped it, and they even frequently use it within their own borders.

So Amaterasu quickly understood the situation with the help of Misuru-hime: "So, those Westerners, seeing that they can't defeat us head-on, are preparing to use these underhanded methods to undermine the people's faith and trust in me, and to separate the unity of the nation; so as to create opportunities and excuses for them to spread their faith and interfere in national affairs, is that right?"

"That's about it. You can discuss the details with Misuru-hime later." Harunobu picked up a strawberry daifuku and put it in his mouth, chewing as he spoke. "But in the end, this is still your doing, this is the result of your militarism. Even the Japanese farmers, who are so easy to manage in this era, could be incited to rebel. I think you can't escape responsibility either."

Amaterasu's face was still grim, her anger clearly not yet appeased, but her focus had shifted away from Harunobu and the unfortunate farmers.

Harunobu continued to point fingers without any politeness: "In short, we certainly can't kill all the rebels as you think, not to mention any other losses—Amaterasu, you don't want the Westerners' conspiracy to succeed, do you?"

Amaterasu certainly didn't want this; when had she ever been so humiliated! This was no longer a matter of profit, but a matter of face! Even if it meant Hiraharunobu making a killing, she didn't want the Westerners to benefit from her success!

Taking the opportunity, Qingxin said, "In that case, why don't you stay out of this and leave it all to me?"