Chapter 70: The Treasure Hall of Xingfu Temple

  The southern part of Yamato Province, consisting of Uji, Yoshino and Uda counties, is called the Southern Three Counties. It has traditionally been a place where the influence of the Kōfuku-ji school is relatively weak. Uji County is the residence of the descendants of Minamoto no Tsunemoto's son, the Chikanaga clan. Yoshino County is home to a small rural party formed by the Maki family. In Uda County, there are three powerful families: the Sawa, Akiyama and Yoshino families, who are known as the "Uda San-shō" or "Kazusa Uda San-nin-shū".

  The Akiyama family was the head of the Kōtō Shrine in Uda District, Yamato Province, and also served as an official of Ise Grand Shrine. The Sawa family was from Sawa Village, Uda District, and is said to have descended from the noble Fujiwara clan. The Yoshino family was from Yoshino Village, Uda District, and was also a vassal of Kōfuku-ji Temple, as recorded in the "Festival Records" by Spring Day Wakamiya Shrine's chief priest Sukenori at the end of the Kamakura period: "Ten horsemen with flowing manes, two from Yoshino".

  However, the Uda Sanmi were not willing to follow the orders of Kōfuku-ji Temple. They secretly established a close relationship with the Kitabatake family in Ise Province. In "Shoshi Shika", it is recorded that "Uda Sanmi" was a powerful vassal of the Northern Kitabatake family, who were the governors of Ise Province. It seems that they were like some daimyos' vassals from other provinces, currying favor with both sides.

  Later, they belonged to the Nancho faction and were very active. In the "Taihei-ki" (Chronicle of Great Peace), it is recorded that the Handa-shi, Kusunoki-shi, Makino-shi, Sawa-shi, and Akiyama-shi families all belonged to the Kusunoki side in the Minami-Hatori battle. At the same time, there are also records of the Yoshino-shi family. From this, it can be seen that within the Yamato Province, there was a group of samurai families who did not submit to the shogunate and did not respect the authority of Kofuku-ji Temple. These three families later declined with the failure of the Eikyo War in Yamato Province, and they were another group of countrymen who were not very close to the temple officials of Kofuku-ji.

  "This spring, the national master Tsuboi-denka went out to conquer Uda's three generals, but on the way, smallpox recurred and retreated back to the mansion, so..."

  "Alright, that's enough!" Yamagata Zenjirō cut off the old man's long speech with a hint of annoyance, turned his horse around and returned to the group, sneering: "The Totsuka family claims to be the ruler of the country? How ridiculous!"

  Shima Ukon and Takigawa Keijirō rode together on one horse, holding his head high and saying: "Totsuka-dono was originally the ruler of the country! It was Totsuka-dono who yielded the position of ruler to Totsuka-dono! You don't know not to talk nonsense! Be careful or you'll get your head chopped off by the people of the country."

  Taki Kawanosuke urged his horse on, laughing and shouting: "No head, no head!"

  Yamagata Zenzirou stared at the two people's mounts, which quickly merged into the group like rabbits, gritting his teeth and saying: "These little rascals! They're really too detestable! Not a bit of respect for their seniors! Too detestable!"

  Sō District is the core area of the Tsutsui family, and to the east is Sō District, which is actually the core area of Kōfuku-ji Temple. Because Kōfuku-ji Temple is also known as Nandō, the seven villages within the district are also known as the Seven Villages of Nandō. They include: Nan-daimon Village to the south of Kōfuku-ji Temple, Hokumon Village to the north, Tōmon Village to the east, Saigūmori Village to the west, and Ankokujimura Village to the southwest, as well as Shin'yakushiji Village to the southeast.

  Kōfuku-ji also controlled Kasuga Shrine, whose shrine priests were monks from the temple. The four deities enshrined at Kasuga Taisha are also the tutelary deities of the Fujiwara family, and Kasuga Taisha is actually a family shrine for the Fujiwaras. Kōfuku-ji was also built by Fujiwara no Kamatari as his bodaiji (family temple), so it's not surprising that the two were once indistinguishable from each other.

  In medieval Japan, it was also a tradition for temple monks to serve as Shinto priests, which is the legendary fusion of Shinto and Buddhism. Japanese deities are quite interesting, with gods and humans on an equal footing. The multitude of deities also sought to escape suffering just like ordinary people, so they begged the Buddha for enlightenment to attain liberation.

  In the early Nara period, the Kibi Great God was entrusted to the monk Gyoki and a temple was built. Later, Mankei Zen Master also established temples within and outside the shrine precincts of Kashima Shrine, Hikawa Shrine, Ise Grand Shrine, etc., and even the Shinto deity Hachiman Daibosatsu of the samurai's tutelary god Hachiman Shrine was transformed into a Buddhist figure. Therefore, it is not unusual to see a group of shaved heads in shrines. Shrines built near temples almost became subsidiary institutions of the temples.

  Yamato Province has the saying of "Kami no Kuni", not only because it was once the location of Kyoto for two generations, but also because there are many shrines inside. In the Tenuki County under the jurisdiction of Kōfuku-ji Temple alone, there are 9 large shrines and 28 small shrines recorded in "Engishiki Jinmyocho". Among the top 22 shrines, Yamato Province occupies seven seats, including one upper seven shrines, five middle seven shrines, and one lower eight shrines. In terms of influence, it is much stronger than several small shrines in distant countries that are competing for Ichinomiya.

  Spent two days strolling around Heijokyo in Nara, experiencing the scenery of Nanto Heijokyo, and stayed for a few days at Monzen-machi in front of Kofuku-ji Temple. Visited this ancient temple to worship Shakyamuni Buddha, and it is said that this ancient Buddha was enshrined by Fujiwara no Kamatari when he made a vow, and it has been the treasure of Kofuku-ji Temple for its spiritual power.

  To find the powerful monk as soon as possible, Kirishima's samurai changed into casual clothes and entered Kofuku-ji Temple. Yamagata Zentaro directly asked a young guide monk: "Where is Hozo-in Inno Daishi?" The other was stunned for a long time and couldn't remember where Hozo-in was, but vaguely pointed to the east and said: "Maybe he's over there."

  "What does this mean? The monks of Hōkō-ji Temple don't even know the name of the temple?" Not only did Yamagaki Zentarō think he was talking nonsense, but also Kira Yoshinaka shook his head. It wasn't until the group of twenty or so people entered that they realized the scale of Hōkō-ji Temple was enormous, and there were too many monks whose names couldn't be called out. Compared to Ichijoin and Daijoin, which had such prestigious names, Hōkō-ji Temple was somewhat unknown.

  He repeatedly stopped several monks, all of whom claimed not to know the Treasure Hall, and instead recommended that they could visit the Zhongjintang, Dajiangtang, Wuchongta, Dongjintang, Nanyuantang, Xijintang, Beiyuantang, and Sancongta one by one. If you want to have a meal, remember to go to the cafeteria. If you get lost, just ask for directions from passing monks.

  They ran around but couldn't find the treasure hall, Yamagishi Zentarō complained: "This is absurd! A temple as big as this can't even find a branch? What do the monks here eat?"

  It seems that searching this way isn't going to work, so the warriors of the Kijiragi family immediately split up and search in different directions. The road to find Hōzōin is very winding, but finally, near the South Gate, they meet a monk who tells them that there is indeed a Hōzōin nearby, only its full name seems to be slightly different, called Kōfuku-ji Tōchū Hōzōin. After searching half of the temple grounds, they finally find Hōzōin in an inconspicuous corner.

  Hōzōin Inei, full name Hōzōin Kakuzenbō Inei, was the chief priest of Hōzōin in Kofuku-ji Temple in Yamato Province. Because they didn't know his full name and the distinction within the tower, they had him running around for a long time, almost to the point of exhaustion.

  Hōzōin Taneyoshi was born in 1521, the second son of Hōzōin Taneyoshi... Yes! You didn't misread! He and his father had exactly the same name, following the ancient naming convention of the Middle Ages. Hōzōin Taneyoshi's childhood name was Matsurōmaru, but within the temple he was generally called Kakuzenbō Taneyoshi, only referred to as Hōzōin Taneyoshi when dealing with outsiders.

  After growing up, he inherited his father's name and became the leader of the Baozangyuan monk army group. Among the many monk armies in Xingfusi Temple, he was also a top-notch figure. Unfortunately, these armed monks usually don't run around in the temple, and the ones active in the temple are just ordinary monks. It's really exhausting to chase after them, it's their own fault.