After the cavalry of the Han army easily broke through the lines of the Shimabara clan rebels, the entire army began to move forward along the road opened by the cavalry. Because it had been plowed by the cavalry plows, these feudal armies did not encounter the previous

Such fierce resistance directly penetrated deep into the territory of Shimabara Domain and hit the feudal castle.

Along the way, they saw corpses all over the ground, which were all the results left by the cavalry when they chased the scattered enemy troops. These Catholic people were all farmers before. Although a small number of them were ronin warriors, the vast majority of them

They have never received any military training, but gathered together to resist the brutal rule because of their deep-seated hatred.

This anger can arouse their morale, allowing them to muster up the courage to fight against the coalition forces of each vassal, and enter into a stalemate with those vassal armies whose combat skills are not good enough. However, when the Han army is far superior to them in all aspects,

When I came to fight against them in person, even with their desperate morale, they still couldn't resist.

After all, the human spirit has its limits. When they encounter an opponent they cannot resist, their courage slowly disappears, and the instinct deep in their hearts takes over. Everyone runs away in despair, regardless of the reality of such an escape.

This will make you even less protective in front of the cavalry.

Zhou Pu and others were not disappointed. The Han army faithfully implemented the plan formulated by the counselors. After the cavalry pursued all the way to the city, they did not want to fight anymore. They slowly gathered the troops again, reorganized and then returned to the army.

In the array.

They and their horses were all covered in blood. Their originally bright military uniforms turned dark red and were stained with some mud. However, their mood was very high because they were finally at the end of the Kyushu Conquest War.

He rushed to the scene and made great achievements.

Although this was the last small-scale battle, and although these Catholic civilians could not compare with the infantry's previous enemies, they still gained a meritorious service.

And when they returned to camp, they were greeted by the fearful and reverent eyes of the soldiers in the allied armies of each vassal. When these vassal troops saw the Han army sweeping away fallen leaves like a strong wind, they defeated all the enemies they had been unable to defeat before.

, almost all of them are full of fear of the big man.

The Japanese have always been afraid of subduing the strong. In addition, these vassal soldiers have no national concept in their hearts. Therefore, when the big Han shows his strength, they will be convinced and take it as a matter of course that they join the big Han in marching together.

thing.

The same goes for these feudal lords. After the big man once again demonstrated his powerful force in front of them, the threat from the shogun in Nagasaki became more powerful. They all showed their loyalty and bravery in front of Zhou Pu, fearing that because of Zhou Pu

Pu Yi was unhappy and was punished by the Han Dynasty.

Zhou Pu was also happy to take advantage of their fear to further reorganize the army, strengthen his control over this army, and bring these vassal armies together slightly instead of fighting separately.

Under the deliberate urging of the lords of each vassal, the vassal army, which had encountered little resistance, attacked all the way. They directly killed the parishioners they encountered along the way. The method was very cruel. They all hated the Catholic Church, and the resistance of the Catholic people before was also reduced.

This aroused their ferocity, so they acted particularly cruelly.

Under the iron hooves of the army, the Shimabara clan was devastated all the way, with ruined villages and corpses everywhere.

Zhou Pu had no intention of stopping the cruel actions of these people at first. To him, these Catholic people were just enemies and not worth cherishing. As long as the soldiers under his command could complete the military orders, it didn't matter even if they did something extraordinary, but

Soon during the killings, the army also showed signs of loosening up in various villages, so in order to maintain military discipline, he had to order the vassal troops below not to kill indiscriminately.

After arriving at the gates of Shimabara Castle, the army stopped their march and waited for the final attack. There are now a large number of Catholics gathered in this feudal city, and they all broke into the city from all over because they were all

Knowing that there is nowhere to retreat and no one will forgive them, they are determined to die and are ready to sacrifice their last lives for God.

The Shimabara Domain Castle was built with great care by two generations, Matsukura Shigemasa and Matsukura Katsuie, father and son. Matsukura Shigemasa was a famous castle-building expert during the Warring States Period. Under their decades of hard work, the feudal castle was built very solidly.

, and has strong defensive capabilities.

It stands to reason that the best way to attack such a city is to besiege it, use hunger as your ally, and consume all the enemy forces in the city. However, the Han army does not have so much time now, and does not intend to slowly besiege them, so they decided

Attack as soon as possible.

However, according to the plan of Huang Changguo and other councilors, in order to avoid casualties, the Han army will not directly participate in the battle to attack the feudal city. It will only use artillery to provide auxiliary support, and the navy will also be sent to provide support. The real

The vassal troops were responsible for the siege. Although there would be many casualties during the siege, Zhou Pu and his counselors did not care.

After a day or two of waiting, the artillery of the Han army was brought to the front line, and on the sea outside Shimabara Castle, some vague figures of Han naval warships appeared in the gray sea fog.

These feudal armies are also gearing up under the city, waiting for the opportunity to show themselves in front of the Han angels - with the support of Han's cannons and battleships, no one doubts that the Shimabara clan city will not be captured by them as soon as possible, and they also need to use these

The blood of the church members wiped out the previous shame and won back his status in the hearts of the Han generals.

Zhou Pu has been inspecting the army in various places in the past few days, and has received a warm welcome everywhere he goes. In this way, he also subtly establishes his authority and prepares for the subsequent war north to Kyoto.

And beside him, in addition to the Han councilors and the feudal lords of each feudal clan, there was also a group of special characters.

These people were wearing monk's robes and had bald heads. They were clearly Buddhist monks.

And they are not just ordinary monks. They are the abbots of various Buddhist temples on Kyushu Island. They were specially called here by Zhou Pu to boost the morale of the feudal army. It is precisely because of the encouragement of these monks that the feudal army

It also became particularly cruel when killing people everywhere.

Logically speaking, with the Shimabara Domain's brutal oppression, riots within the territory should have been a normal thing. However, the originally normal riots and suppression were given the color of a religious war because of the identity of these rioters as Catholics.

Japanese Buddhism is divided into many sects, and many sects have been divided into many small sects over thousands of years. Then these complex temples began to fight with each other for believers and resources.

Among the temples on Kyushu Island, the Shingon sect occupies a very important position. Tochoji Temple in Fukuoka is the main temple of the Shingon sect in Kyushu. The mountain name is Nandake Mountain. It also enshrines the largest wooden Buddha statue in Japan, so its abbot, Hoko Daishi

He has become the most illustrious person among these monks, and is highly respected by other Shingon sect temples.

However, outside the Shingon sect, he is not so respected, especially in Fukuoka, near Nagasaki, which belongs to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, Chongfukuji Temple, and Kofukuji Temple, also in Nagasaki. Due to geographical differences,

The advantage is that they were the first to come into contact with the Han army, and they both regard themselves as the earliest and most authentic Tang temple in Japan. Therefore, the abbots of the two temples are just at odds with Fa Xing and want to defend their temple in front of the Han angels.

Strive for more benefits.

Zhou Pu had previously devoted himself to the imperial examination and was taught by a private school. He was more or less a scholar, but he basically knew nothing about religion and Buddhism. He had only read a few Buddhist scriptures for entertainment. But when communicating with these abbots, these

The abbots all deliberately praised him, and his casual words were regarded as elaborating on subtle meanings, as if Zhou Pu was praised as a great writer and layman who was proficient in Buddhism.

After Buddhism has been spread for thousands of years, it has always tried every means to follow the route of the upper class, and tried every means to cater to the nobles in order to seek their protection and enshrinement. This is true in China and also in Japan. The upper class monks are

Very proficient in this.

It has to be said that under their deliberate flattery, even though he knew that they did not mean what they said, Zhou Pu could not help but feel a little elated and respected these monks even more.

In fact, these monks had ulterior motives in pursuing Zhou Pu so much.

They are all abbots of the temple, and they do not have much national interests in their hearts. Instead, they consider the inheritance and promotion of the temple, hoping to prevent the temple from being devoured by war. Today, when the Han Dynasty marches all the way and sings triumphant songs, they all believe that the shogunate is in Kyushu

The defeat has become a foregone conclusion. From now on, people like myself must look up to the big man and must not show any disgust towards the big man.

As an envoy sent by the Han Dynasty, Zhou Pu was naturally worthy of their pursuit, and they all hoped to get some benefits from this envoy of the Han Dynasty.

In the past Heian Period and Warring States Period, monks and temples were very powerful and owned huge amounts of wealth and land. However, since the end of the Warring States Period, lords from all over the country began to seize the land and wealth of temples. After the Tokugawa Shogunate was established,

The power of the temple community was even more severely restricted.

These abbots all hoped to get some benefits from the Han envoys and restore some vitality.

At the same time, they were also very satisfied with the actions of the Han leaders in suppressing the Catholic people.

As the leaders of Buddhist temples, whether out of religious motives or out of hatred for believers being competed for, they all hate the spread of Catholicism on Kyushu Island and want to take advantage of this opportunity to eradicate the influence of Catholicism.

Because of their requests and encouragement, the methods used by various lords in Kyushu to suppress the Catholic people became particularly cruel.

After the invasion of the Han Dynasty, the ruling order of each vassal suddenly became chaotic, and the Catholic people in each vassal also took the opportunity to cause chaos. Because there were so many Catholic people left, for a while, there were signs of starting a prairie fire.

This sign also triggered their general fear - compared with the invasion of the Han Dynasty, they were more afraid of the Catholic people gaining power in Jiuzhou. After all, they would still have a place to stay when the Han invaded. If the Catholic people gained power, they would die without burial.

land.

They were afraid that the Han would take advantage of the anti-shogunate sentiments of these Catholics and use them as helpers.

However, in the face of the chaos of the Catholic people, the Han Dynasty quickly expressed a resolute attitude of suppression, and immediately ordered the various lords who had taken refuge with the Han Dynasty to suppress it. This also made these abbots feel relieved and supported the Han Dynasty even more.

Although the war was not going smoothly due to the weakness of the vassal armies, with the addition of the Han army, the riots of the Catholic people began to be contained everywhere, just like the ice melted away when the snow hit the blazing sun.

Although they talk about mercy all the time, these abbots have no tolerance for the Catholic people. They repeatedly tell the vassal soldiers that these Catholic people are the karma of the devil, and they must be treated in the most cruel way before they can seek revenge.

If you win the favor of the Buddha, you will be more likely to be reborn in bliss in the future. If you are merciful to them, you will definitely fall into the Avici Hell in the future.

The more brutal the feudal army's suppression was, the better it was in their eyes.

"Everyone, now these Catholics have no place except this city." Standing under Shimabara Castle, Zhou Pu seemed to show off and remind. "Hey, I really didn't expect these Catholics to be like this.

You are so stubborn, if the Han army hadn't suffered a personal end, I really don't know how long they would have continued to cause chaos!"

He was hinting to these abbots that only the Han Dynasty could eliminate the influence of Catholicism on Kyushu Island.

"These rebellious people have believed in the evil cult of the Southern Barbarians and have already become evil obstacles. They rely on evil power to carry out their evil deeds. Fortunately, thanks to the power of the great Han Dynasty, Kyushu will not be devastated." Before anyone else could speak, the abbot of Dongchang Temple, Fa

Master Xing took over the topic and said, "If it weren't for the big man, I don't know how long these evil obstacles will continue to be cruel and how many innocent creatures will be harmed! On behalf of all the people of Jiuzhou, I would like to thank you for your great kindness!"

"I, a big man, and Japan share the same spirit and respect Buddhism together. It is what we should do to reject evil cults and uphold Buddhism. Why should the abbot say thank you?" Zhou Pu nodded with a smile, obviously in a good mood.

Seeing that he had snatched the jackpot, the others secretly cursed him for what he said was shameless, and at the same time envied him for being the first to please the envoy of the Han Dynasty.

"What the angel said is absolutely true. These chaotic people have deceitful intentions and took advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. They were actually bewitched by evil spirits." Master Derong of Xingfu Temple clasped his hands together and recited a Buddhist chant, "It seems like this,

Heretics are really terrible and must be banned. The shogunate was too lenient in the past, so it was only possible to stop cholera today! Fortunately, a big man set things right, so that these evil obstacles could not show their power..."

In fact, the reason why these Catholics resisted the riots was more because of the cruel exploitation by the shogunate and the various vassals. It was not so much to protect the religion as to resist the exploitation. Furthermore, the shogunate's attitude towards the Catholic people was already very harsh. Several times

A ban on Christianity was promulgated and many religious people were killed. However, now that the big man was in power, it was naturally necessary to demote the shogunate and support the big man.

"Although I am a compassionate Buddha, I also have an angry-eyed Vajra. We need compassion for all living beings, but we should eradicate these evil demons and evil obstacles. We must not be compassionate. The young monk sincerely asks the angels to cleanse these evil obstacles after conquering Shimabara Castle."

The abbot of Chongfu Temple immediately joined his hands and saluted, and took over the conversation, "You are the right person. If these evil obstacles remain, there will definitely be turmoil in the future. It is rare to have such a good opportunity today.

We must not let them escape again!"

After he finished speaking, the abbots of other monasteries immediately expressed their agreement. Among these monks who were full of compassion, they could no longer see the serenity they usually had when preaching. Instead, they were somewhat murderous.

Do you want me to order the massacre of the city?
To be continued...