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Two Hundred and Eight, the tree falls and the money scatters (2)

Two Hundred and Eight, the tree falls and the money scatters (2)

In December of this year, the ancient city of Kyoto was a decadent scene that was extremely decaying.

Dirty streets filled with garbage, crumbling dilapidated wooden houses, sick citizens with pale faces and skinny skin, and empty markets that were quiet to the point of being almost dead.

The cessation of business travel that lasted for nearly half a year put the city in a terrible famine. The vicious plague that spreads wildly destroyed the last trace of life in the city, leaving only a group of dying zombies.

In sharp contrast, there are the aroma of wine and dishes that float all day long from the mansions of nobles and nobles, as well as the melodious and pleasant sound of silk and bamboo. On both sides of the desolate and deserted streets, announcements issued by the court were posted everywhere, promoting the brilliant victory of "Wangzheng's Retro". Each article is concise in wording, neat parallelism, rhyme in tone, gorgeous words... Unfortunately, most people don't have the spirit to take a look.

——The family of the nobles and nobles has witches, Onmyoji and family gods to drive away the disease. There are wine, vegetables, food, and rice that are tributed by the "King and righteous men" from all directions. Naturally, they can enjoy and worry-free and immerse themselves in the glorious dream of Wang Zheng’s retro retro. However, ordinary citizens who have cut off their livelihood can only struggle with hunger and illness.

In most turbulent times, the people at the bottom are innocent and helpless. The ambition and madness of those superiors are the root cause of the war, and the final result is often not as beautiful as originally expected.

Therefore, when the three armies were all destroyed, and the Western ghosts and animals stationed in Osaka, after the news of the fierce eyeing of the princes, the dreams of the ministers were finally shattered. The court, who had barely recovered from the sobering state, looked around in a hurry, but found that the situation had deteriorated to the juncture of life and death.

After receiving the news that the Satsuma clan's military power was instantly destroyed, several foreign soldiers and horses, including Tosa and Saga, who were still stranded in Kyoto, all slipped away quietly and returned to their hometown without even calling. The "King-superiors" who did not go to Tokaidao were so scared that they were weak when they heard the news that they did not dare to resist the strong enemy. So they packed their luggage, rolled up the gold, silver and treasures they had robbed for a while, and quickly broke up and dispersed. They went home to be rich, and asked the imperial envoys who came to summon them to prepare for the war to jumped in a hurry.

As a result, Emperor Renxiao took stock of the troops in the capital, and only two thousand "shock soldiers" of the Changzhou vassal Hitsuki Soichiro, as well as several roninmen who were assigned to him. In addition, the ministers and royal guards raised by the royal family were less than 5,000. Even if he wanted to temporarily recruit strong men, there were no weapons available in the empty treasury, and there were no foreign aids - the Dragon Witch Cult special envoy Akelinn, who once made great contributions to the court's uprising, had already crossed the sea to return to the country with the plundering Tukan cavalry.

Although when he learned that the front line was defeated, Emperor Renxiao sent envoys to the Western Kingdom, Kyushu vassals, and called on the Western princes to raise troops to rescue as soon as possible. On the one hand, it was difficult to save the nearby fires. On the other hand, it was difficult to say how many people would be willing to enter Beijing to participate in the war. Now the plague is spreading in the archipelago. If he set out hastily, he would be afraid that the troops would have been disintegrated by the plague before they even arrived in Kyoto.

For this reason, before we could consider the causes and consequences of all these changes, the court issued an order to take the most effective self-rescue countermeasures...

Of course, according to the court's usual unregulated approach, this countermeasure is naturally the most ridiculous...

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"...I would like to invite you! The gods and demons of the heavens came here, and as soon as the law, we should follow the emperor's imperial pen and worship incense and candles here. We also ask the owner of the Jiuyou Xuanming Land...Oh, run away quickly."

In the palace courtyard, in a simple but clean house, there were first spells and white lights lingering, and then suddenly a red light flashed, and a loud bang came out. The violent tumbling waves of air flew away the windows and a section of walls on the spot, and then rolling smoke surged out from the broken window holes.

Several Onmyoji dressed in white hunting clothes covered their mouths and noses with their sleeves, stumbled out of the room. Then, without caring about the dust, sat on the bluestone slabs in the yard, gasping for breath like a pile of dead dogs.

"...Damn it, I failed again this time. I drew this formation one by one according to the ancient book. I proofread and checked it countless times. There was absolutely no error. Why can't I successfully operate?"

A young Onmyoji brushed the dusty hem of clothes, threw away a half-burned talisman, and complained angrily.

"...Hmph, this formation is something that countless generations have never used. It has become moldy in the library. Who can guarantee that the paintings in the ancient book must be correct? Besides, even if the formation itself is well arranged, the spiritual power of our descendants is far less powerful than that of the ancients of Ping'an Dynasty. If you cannot control the flow of the formation veins, it will still be useless."

Another older Onmyoji stroked the cracked green jade pestle in his hand with heartache, and complained angrily, "...The civil and military officials in the court are really crazy. They actually asked us to summon the Yaqi snake to defend the enemy. Don't you know that the Yin-Yang technique we have passed on from generation to generation is only suitable for eliminating disasters, subduing demons and defending the way, and divination and prophecy, and cannot be used directly for war."

"...That's right, let's not talk about how to summon this ancient evil thing. Even if the Yaki Snake really descends to the mortal world, who can do it? At that time, the people in Kyoto will have been swallowed up by this big snake before they can kill the enemy."

An elderly Onmyoji with a long beard sighed and threw a roll of yellowed ancient silk book on the ground, saying distressedly, "...I think I don't have the ability to collect it as a Shikigami. Who among you can be sure?"

As soon as this question was raised, all the Onmyojis were immediately filled with hearts, and no one had the courage to give it a promise.

There is no way, that is the most famous monster in this country's history, a terrible monster that even the gods of Takahara are afraid of; even the ancient destruction god Susano, second only to Amaterasu's great god, must despicablely get it drunk with wine first, so that you can take the opportunity to kill it - later found that it was actually just a seal - the super monster, Yakio Orochi

The court officials had only a little understanding of Yin-Yang Technique, and only wanted the summoned Shikigami to be powerful and ignored the rest. However, the Onmyoji who had to come to the dangerous situation knew very well how dangerous it was to subdue a Shikigami. In short, it was to summon the gods and demons and have a fair duel. If the Onmyoji wins, it would be taken as Shikigami; if the Onmyoji loses, the spiritual power would be greatly damaged, and the corpse would be gone.

But if you want to fight with Hachiki Orochi... let alone Abe Seimei, even Emperor Shenwu may not be able to do it.

"...Oh, with our current meager magic power, even if we put all the people in the Yin-Yang Door together, we may not be the opponent of Hachiki Orochi - something that Lord Abe Seimei did not do back then. I would be even less capable when I came here... Anyway, the court just wanted to make some powerful monsters fill the scenes. Why not go and find out if there are any talismans and Shikigami left by Lord Abe Seimei back then? How about it?"

An Onmyoji raised his hand and made his suggestion, but it was immediately rejected.

"...This is impossible. The Seimei Shrine was burned out in the summer Kyoto melee. A bridge where Lord Abe Seimei stored the twelve gods was also bombarded by shells. Just yesterday, I had climbed down the bridge and saw it, and found that the sarcophagus where Shikigami had already become broken. I think nothing left..."

The oldest Onmyoji touched his gray beard and sighed, "...I say a thousand words and ten thousand. The court wants us to use Yin-Yang Technique to kill the enemy. It is a big mistake. If Yin-Yang Technique can really drive ghosts and gods to destroy the world and destroy thousands of troops with one blow, why should we serve the mortal kings and nobles so respectfully, and receive a meager salary to be poor? I am afraid that either manipulate the kings behind the scenes like puppets, or divide their own territory, create a country, and become the king of the country, and dominate one side by one. I am not willing to do it, but I can't hear it."

At this point, it is actually a ruthless and heart-killing statement.

However, the Onmyoji have already set up barriers around the Onmyoji, so there is no expectation that the news will be leaked and they will be reported and investigated by those who are good at it. As for the insider's small reports... Almost all the Onmyojis are full of resentment towards the court. Who has never cursed the court?

In fact, although Onmyoji is known to drive ghosts and gods and has endless magic power, his actual status is very pitiful.

Given the sad common sense that the more obedient and honest the more bullied they are, the more they will be bullied, the salary given to the Onmyoji who have been loyal to thousands of years has been quite small, and they often have to rely on outside to take on private work and do short-term work, to drive away evil spirits for warriors, nobles, and wealthy businessmen, and to find tombs to see Feng Shui, so that they can barely make a living. However, the formal work ordered by the court cannot be at all careless, and it is really hard to do so.

Moreover, there are many precepts in the Onmyoji, and if you are not careful, you will damage your spiritual power. Not to mention that there are one or two hundred fasts every year. Even though the Onmyoji are famous, their lives are far less than those of the priests and witches in the shrine who eat money for sesame oil.

But no matter how many complaints the Onmyojis complain, they cannot survive alone from the royal family, because a large part of the spiritual power they possess is relying on their official positions to extract the luck of the court in order to quickly improve their strength. If they are dismissed from office and exiled from Kyoto, their magic power will be lost at least 50% or 60%, and it is even more difficult to practice again, which can be said to be a life-threatening death.

In other words, Onmyoji is actually more similar to a priest, but the object of serving is not the exact god, but the successive emperors and courts. Generally speaking, the priests who are given power by gods naturally cannot seize power from the gods.

Moreover, in order to prevent them from driving gods and demons to harm the world, the profession of Onmyoji has been subject to many restrictions since its birth. Especially, you cannot kill people at will. If you commit too many murderous evils, you will encounter heavenly tribulations such as the five thunderstorm. No matter how capable you are, you cannot avoid it.

Therefore, the Onmyojis were so resistant to the imperial court's will to summon evil monsters like the Yaqi snake, and to fight to protect the court's country - who knows whether this imperial edict can eliminate the heavenly disaster?

Besides, they did not feel that they had the ability to fight alone for thousands of troops, nor did they have the intention to take the initiative to die for the court.

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"... Our Onmyoji was born to rely on the court. If the court is strong, we can also share the country's destiny. If the court declines, we will also decline. The Onmyoji of the Heian Dynasty was so powerful that they still could not stop the fat horse and sword of the Kanto samurai. The weak magic power we have is really different from the ancestors of the Heian Dynasty; and the strong ships and cannons of Western ghosts and animals, and the bows, horses, swords and guns of ancient warriors, are also worlds different from the bows, horses, swords and guns of ancient warriors. Unless the gods of Gaotianyuan came to earth to help fight, there would be no hope in ten thousand."

The old Onmyoji gently stroked his beard and sighed to the young juniors, and the others nodded and said yes.

Due to the severe decline of the imperial court during the Shogunate era and the financial resources gradually exhausted, the remaining Onmyoji in the palace were less and less, from the full 80 people to more than twenty people on the eve of the war. During the war in the past few months, some people unfortunately died one after another. Even if the Yin-Yang birth that had not yet been released, there were only a dozen people left in the Yin-Yang Door at this moment.

People in the world think that Onmyoji is powerful, but they know very well that in front of the swords, guns and cannons of fierce warriors, they are just paper tigers that can be worn with one pierced. Not to mention assisting the emperor in peace, it is not easy to protect themselves on the battlefield.

Just as a group of Onmyoji were sitting in the yard and sighing, several Yin and Yang students walked into the yard and brought them lunch.

The meal was very simple, but rice balls mixed with wheat, without even seaweed wrapped outside. The Yin and Yangsheng who delivered the meal looked even more cold. He was wearing shabby clothes that were not very suitable, and was skinny and thin all over his body due to hunger. Looking at the fragrant rice balls placed in front of the teachers and seniors, they all bit their fingers and drooled, and the sound of "playing intestines" came from their abdomen from time to time.

Since the court launched the fallen war and brought this country into troubled times, for the Onmyoji, the business of the samurai and merchants in the city disappeared immediately, and their livelihoods were greatly affected. After that, although the "king-stricken righteous men" from all sides paid a lot of money to the nobles and the royal family, the Onmyoji could get very little. Until recently, the plague broke out, and there were more nobles who were willing to spend money to get rid of the disease. However, the food in Kyoto had long become priceless and could not be bought even if they wanted to spend money to buy it.

In addition to their own job, there are also Onmyoji who are extra money. Those Yin and Yang students who are still in the learning stage, who have no extra money and have less salary will live even more pitiful, and they cannot even have enough to eat thick bran. To describe it in one word, it is "miserable", and if you add a few more words, it is "miserable"

So, although they frowned at the simple meal, the Onmyoji silently grabbed the rice balls and stuffed them into their mouths and chewed them hard. Unexpectedly, someone almost got knocked their teeth - the rice rice balls used not only smelled moldy, but also covered in sand and were not sifted clean.

Accompanied by painful moans, some Onmyoji covered their mouths and threw the rice balls to Yin and Yangsheng, while more people forced themselves to eat them. In this city where many people starved to death every day, no matter how crude brown rice is, it is very precious.

However, after this painful meal, their resentment towards the court was even greater, and their words naturally became more presumptuous.

"...The current Kyoto is lingering in death, and the hundreds of ghosts are walking at night. No matter how you look, it doesn't look like a scene where there is a wise king in the world."

A Onmyoji complained, "...The current priest, although he is a descendant of Amaterasu's Great God, but in order to raise an army, he has formed an alliance with Amaterasu's Great God's mortal enemy, Tsukiyomi, the god of the Yellow Springs, and promised a lot of benefits that cannot be fulfilled at all. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a scattered master, and he is not afraid of being punished by God... Alas, there are only a few thousand soldiers left in Kyoto City. Although Hiroyuki Soichiro, who commands these people, has also been considered a famous general and has won many beautiful victories in the Changshu vassal, it is hard to cook without rice. With his poor military strength, he has to withstand the attacks of tens of thousands of Western soldiers in Osaka in the Gyeonggi Plain, which is not dangerous to defend, it really makes people feel hopeless."

"...In my opinion, if there were no foreign aid, this battle would probably be very difficult, otherwise we would not force us to summon monsters. The current imperial court is so anxious that it even wants to use the cat's paws."

"...Foreign aid? At present, all kinds of plagues are coming and spreading everywhere. The vassal lords and tyrants from all over the country have been huddled in bunkers to prevent the epidemic. How could they lose their lives and take the initiative to cause epidemics? Originally, the court could fool so many people into participating in the collapse of the curtain because of their own righteousness. Now the Eastern Army has brought out the remnants of the Later Southern Dynasty and established a Kamakura court. The so-called righteousness can be shared with us.

Our Majesty first forcibly respecting the God of the Yellow Springs, Yue Dun, and then he brazenly issued the order to destroy the Buddha, suppressing the Buddhist sects that have been close to the court for thousands of years, causing plagues in the world and no one to treat them, and the order of the gods was also messed up. The shrines in various places that should have obeyed the orders of Amaterasu's descendants, but now they are resentful and will not follow blindly... Such rebellious actions that disregard the will of the people have ruined their image to such an extent. Where can the court seek reinforcements?"

...

Everyone was talking and talking, and the more they spoke, the more excited they became, the more discouraged they became, and the more they talked, and they kept talking to the emperor and the court officials. However, just as everyone was about to squat in the corner to draw circles, a Yin and Yang student suddenly came over quietly and lowered his voice and said to the ancestors and teachers.

"......Seniors, I wonder if I can hear the words of the boy. Since the current emperor is doing something wrong, the court is full of treacherous officials and stupid officials. Seeing that the future is bleak and the luck is about to end, why should we continue to hang ourselves on this tree and not try to save ourselves?"

"...Self-rescue? You have had contact with someone over there and want to persuade us to betray the court, right?"

The oldest Onmyoji looked at him strangely, "... The court treated us so harshly. If there was a way out, who wouldn't want to climb another high? But most of our spiritual power came from the gift of this court's official position. If we give up, our spiritual power would be greatly damaged. If the court issued another punishment order, it would be likely to fall directly into a mortal. What should we do to make a living? Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, I would not leave - of course, if the Kyoto City was really destroyed, in order to save our lives, I would really not care about spiritual power and magic..."

"...Yes, there are not many foolish and loyal people in our Onmyoji. If we could really change jobs at will, we would have been going to join the shogunate or Osaka merchants, or open a small shrine in other places. Who would be willing to squat in this broken place and be driven at will, and be poor and work as a waste of work? But Isn't it impossible to escape unscathed? If we lose our ability to subdue demons and exorcises, even if we leave the court, who would be willing to accept it?"

Another Onmyoji continued, while the Yin-Yang Sheng who made the suggestion just smiled mysteriously.

"... All the seniors are right. Our identity is indeed special. It is difficult to join the martial arts family or the chaebol. In order to preserve this magic power that has been cultivated with great painstaking efforts, we can only serve the royal family diligently and work hard like an old ox... But the problem is that, besides the Emperor Renxiao in Kyoto, isn't there another priest in Kanto now?"

He raised his hand and pointed to the east from afar. Then he suddenly realized the Onmyoji who were shiny with shiny eyes and continued to persuade, "... Since there is a way to ensure that all the magic power is safe, according to the current situation, which court should we Onmyoji be loyal to, and which emperor, should you consider it again?"
Chapter completed!