"Jia Hong, how is it, can you see clearly?"
"Chief Divine! It’s clear, so clear! What an incredible Divine Object! How on earth was this ’Divine Eye Glasses’ made?"
"Hmm? Jia Hong, didn’t I tell you? It’s the mana of the Chief Divine, a divine blessing granted by the Chief Divine!"
"Uh!... Mana... Divine blessing?..."
"What? You don’t believe it? I’m telling you, this was crafted under the direct enlightennt of the Chief Divine, as received by His Majesty’s divine revelation at the Divine Revelation Place!"
"Ah! That legendary and noble Monarch! The embodint of the evening Guardian God, Tsukuyomi?"
"? What evil Moon God? The divinity inherited by His Majesty is that of death and rebirth... Keep a keen eye on the enemy ships!"
"Yes! Yes! I will continue watching!"
The morning sun shone on the coast of Hokkaido. Ten customs ships were stationed amidst this bay, like a pack of wolves drawn and lingering without moving. Along the coastline, six ’ship barriers’ were lined up, connected by dozens of arrow-shielding sheds, resembling a ’fence’ defending against the wolves.
And behind the fence, on a natural mound, Zuwaro was dressed in ordinary Samurai attire, gazing at the ’Japanese Temple Fleet’ on the sea. Beside him, Loshanda and Ali were nowhere to be seen, their whereabouts unknown. anwhile, Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong was holding a ter-long ’Divine Eye Glasses’, peering intently at the Tiantai Fleet on the sea with a face of amazent.
"Ah! Oh my! It feels like it’s right in front of , despite being hundreds of steps away, I can even see the faces... What a wondrous sight, how extraordinarily wondrous!"
"Jia Hong! What do you see? Who is the general opposite us?..."
"Ah! Lord Priest, look! That’s a well-known great warship of the Tiantai Sect, nad ’Miao Fa Lotus’, called ’Lotus Flower Maru’. This ship is about ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, can carry fifty Monk Soldiers, and thirty rowers. The hull is divided into three layers, with the bottom layer as the cabin below the deck, the second is reinforced with thick planks, leaving shooting ports. As for the third layer, it’s a small platform for observation and command..."
"The ship has a square sail mast in the middle, designed very cleverly, with the mast easily installable or removable. The primary navigation relies on the rowers of the faithful on the bottom layer. At the bow and stern, there is a small bed crossbow, requiring at least four people to string, capable of shooting several hundred steps, piercing the Samurai’s Doumaru!..."
"Chief Divine! This ship is high and heavy, with at least two layers of arrow-shielding outer planking. The hull is pitch black, surely coated with more than one layer of fire-resistant lacquer... This is indeed a top-tier warship for water battles, unlike any comrcial Biancai ship! Such warships are usually only in the possession of major powers related to the Shogunate or Daimyo of guardian rank across nations. And for such warships, in our impoverished Kyushu, Martial Families below fifty thousand stones can’t even dream of it!"
Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong spoke with heartfelt admiration, overflowing with envy, praising the customs ship as ’rare in heaven, unparalleled at sea’. The coastal Martial Families of Kyushu, if they all had such warships, what would they fear of the Korea Kingdom’s navy? They could send customs ships over, sending them down to the sea one by one, even breaking Jianghua Island to capture it!
"Haha! Jia Hong, you! You just haven’t traveled much on the sea, this isn’t a good ship at all!..."
Zuwaro chuckled, remarking that such high and heavy warships were prone to wobble greatly. They were only useful along this coast, unlikely to even reach Ice and Snow Island, let alone cross the Divine Initiation Archipelago. Seeing Lord Priest’s expression, Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong quickly smacked his forehead and chuckled.
"Yes! Yes! My limited experience has made Lord Priest laugh at ... Hmm... I did see Great Monk Juehui at the bow of the Lotus Flower Maru. He’s a renowned Monk Master of Omi, qualified to participate in the Monk Judge Team etings of the Miao Courtyard... Yes! Equivalent to an Elder Priest of a temple..."
"Witness of the Chief Divine! In this attack of the Tiantai Fleet, Juehui surely assus the highest position of chief. Behind him are high monks of the Omi lineage, and he himself is a Superior... Hmm, the High Priest’s illegitimate son... As long as we capture him alive, there’s no fear that the great monks of the Tiantai Sect won’t bow, they will definitely send soone to ransom him!"
"However, Ancestor High Priest, it’s sowhat troubleso that I saw Fang Official Shiba Zhenwei beside Great Monk Juehui! He’s a famous general from the Shiba Clan, participated in the Onin War twenty years ago, rich in various battle experiences, especially skilled in water warfare. In recent years, with the decline of the Echizen Shiba Clan, he brought a group of Shiba Clan remnants seeking refuge under the Tiantai Sect, actually considered Tiantai Sect’s strongest general! The routine training of Monk Soldiers is also under his responsibility, when he commands monk soldiers, there would likely be few mistakes..."
Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong observed with a monocle, furrowing his brow. This ti’s ’sneak attack’, Tiantai Sect attaches great importance and Juehui’s background is indeed profound, they even brought out this general!
"Lord Priest! With such an experienced general present, ordinary sches and tricks might all be useless. This battle can only be fought hard and straightforwardly, likely unable to gain any advantage. And the morale of the monk soldiers opposite seems strong, not comparable to ordinary Martial Families, like the cautious Ezo Warriors of the Kaozaki Family..."
"Haha! Chief Divine protection! Jia Hong, to be honest, right now I’m only afraid that he’ll turn around and leave, find a chance later, who knows when he’ll co back to sneak attack again. As for a real hard-fought battle, the warriors of the Kingdom on land have never feared anyone!"
Zuwaro laughed confidently, patting Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong on the shoulder. Then, he stroked his chin, gazing at the Tiantai Fleet that had lingered on the sea for a long while, then glanced at the ’Golden Treasure Tree’ he personally arranged in the camp, a hint of concern still on his face.
"Jia Hong, this Tiantai Fleet suddenly erged, then stopped in the bay, staying for two or three quarters of an hour without moving! Could it be they saw we were prepared and decided to retreat? Last ti, the Kaozaki Family did just that; the mont they saw a major battle brewing, they abandoned the rear soldiers and ran faster than anyone..."
"Hmm... what do you think he will choose? Is the temptation of one thousand jin of gold enough? At the ti, I said if one thousand wasn’t enough, they could add another thousand! Loshanda brought two thousand jin this ti..."
"Chief Divine! Enough, enough! Lord, this is one thousand jin of gold, it’s ten thousand coins! Even if the Great Monk Juehui fights till all his monk soldiers are spent here, as long as he can bring back ten thousand coins and recruit and train a new batch of monk soldiers, it would be effortless, truly effortless! You must know, the Tiantai Temple, unlike the martial families, their greatest reliance is those nobles of the shogunate. As long as the shogunate’s authority remains, and the nobles continue to believe in these monks, even if the monk soldiers are defeated, there won’t be martial families extinguishing their sect..."
Upon hearing Zuwaro Priest’s "golden temptation," Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong’s eyes twitched, and his mouth couldn’t help but move. Even though he had been to the Western Sea Coast and the Kingdom of the Lake, and seen those endless gold mountains... such gold quantity calculated in jin by the Kingdom still made his throat dry and closed his eyes to golden light!
"Chief Divine of the golden light! Calm, calm!"
Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong shook his head with a bitter smile, feeling his Buddhist Law had failed, his ntal strength insufficent. But surely, the "High Monk" on the sea must be little better off than him! At least, through the Divine Eye Glasses, he saw the other side standing dazed at the ship’s bow, staring in the direction of the "Golden Treasure Tree" without moving for a full quarter of an hour...
"Chief Divine blesses! Lord Priest... upon seeing our defenses and the camp well-equipped, if the Tiantai Sect turns to leave and does not partake in this ga, so be it! But now, they linger without action, indicating they’ve been tempted and will soon take part. And once they join, they’re already at the gambling table. For this visibly enticing gamble, as long as there’s a shred of opportunity to win, he’ll gamble increasingly, until everything is wagered!"
"If in such circumstances, the Great Monk Juehui can still resist, he’d truly be a living Buddha, gained profoundly in Buddhist Law unto the heavens! But if he really possesses such Buddhist Law, he shouldn’t have co, nor should he be here at this mont leading the fleet!"
"Moreover, regardless of Great Monk Juehui’s choice... as long as we do not board the ships, we stand in an invincible position! The difference is rely between winning less and winning more! Lord Priest, the tactic of the ’Golden Treasure Tree,’ is truly eye-opening, eye-opening!"
"Haha! Jia Hong, it was your suggestion initially. The Kaozaki Family won’t head north, and Ezo land is also unlikely to suddenly produce a few thousand Japanese troops. Since there’s no threat on land, we just need to firmly guard the camp, without entering the Tiantai Sect’s ’naval confrontation’ prepared here. As long as we don’t enter their ’ga,’ we avoid the risk of a major defeat! Your suggestion is very insightful and really inspired ! Since we don’t enter their ga, why not further, and set a trap to lure them into ours..."
Hearing Ryuzoji Temple Jia Hong’s praise, Zuwaro laughed heartily, reaching out to pat the other’s shoulder. He indeed felt a degree of pride for this strategy and setting up a trap.
"Your Majesty taught at Divine Power University, that war first requires courage, then calculation and asurent! The most cost-efficient and advantageous situation, is to force others into greater loss with a less costly defensive stance, on a battlefield of your choosing and prepared circumstances!"
"Chief Divine bears witness! Since they want gold, I’ll place the gold here, abundantly. Then, we stand behind the line, waiting for them to co crashing in for it, until they bleed and fall!"
"Ah! Praise Chief Divine! Sun Tzu said, ’Thus, the supre military expert makes opponents move while holess.’ Lord Priest’s military tactics, truly the genuine military tactics!"
"Haha! Jia Hong, what are you saying? ’Sun Tzu’? ’Wise Man’?"
"Uh!..."
On the hillock, the two observers chatted freely. With their confident deanor, who knows what further arrangents they made behind the scenes. They were willing to wait patiently, while it’s the Tiantai fleet on the sea that finally could not withstand the impulse.
"Boom!... Woo woo!... Buzz!!"
"Praise to the Buddha! Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, Namu Shakyamuni!..."
"Exorcise and defend truth, uphold True Dharma! Resist Shandan, fight to the death!..."
"Boom!... Woo woo!... Buzz!!"
"Advance! Crossbows ready, head towards the shore, advance! Archery!!..."
"Shush!! Shush shush!..."
The resounding Dharma conch blew across miles of seaside, conveying the irresistible decision driven by greed! Along with two blasts of the conch, fervent praise echoed simultaneously across the ten customs ships.
After a full three quarters of an hour of waiting, the Tiantai Fleet finally began its assault on the coastal camp, accompanied first by a rain of arrows from the sea!
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