Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 34: Japanese monks are really a group of talents!

Yuanye didn't expect that Old Monk Haixin was not looking for him to see a doctor. It seemed that he was trying to steal his medicine and do business with him.

This was a bit beyond his expectations, but he glanced at Zhiru who was sitting in meditation on the side, and thought that since the young monk could say "Amitabha, the mushrooms are delicious", it was not surprising that the old monk had this style - when he heard the word Zen before coming here, he thought it was a high-level monk, but it turned out that he had no experience at all and was completely wrong.

It should be that the Dharma was spread from China to Japan, but Japan's feng shui is not good, so Zen Buddhism went astray.

All the witty Buddhist verses he recalled along the way were in vain, but that didn't matter. Let's just talk business.

He immediately followed the old monk's words and said, "Master, what you said is very true. It is of course good to save all living beings. But I am powerless and cannot sell the medicine far away."

Old Monk Hai Xin immediately clasped his hands together, bowed his head and said, "Namo Amitabha, our temple can sell it on your behalf."

"Agency sales?" Everyone in the wilderness was embarrassed, their expressions slightly distorted. They really couldn't understand how the word "Namo Amitabha" was connected with "agency sales".

"There are temples of our sect in all eight counties of Owari, and many merchants in the towns and cities also receive kanho from our sect." The compassionate look on the face of the old monk Hai Xin was almost gone, and his eyes were shining with gold. "Our sect also has some industries in Sakai Town and Kyoto. It won't be a problem to sell them everywhere."

Yuanye didn't quite understand. If he had known, he would have dragged Aman here. He still lacked common sense in this era, but he could guess the general meaning and understand it to some extent - Guanyin Temple seemed to be a chain enterprise, setting up branches in various places to attract believers, and selling medicine by the way, and it can also sell it through merchants in various places. If the merchants don't agree, it won't work. It seems that the merchants' "business licenses" are issued by monks, and they must obey!

But how can monks issue "business licenses", isn't that right?

Yuan Ye was about to turn around and ask someone, but he temporarily suppressed his doubts and focused on the present. After a moment's hesitation, he shook his head and said, "If I sell it on consignment, I can't make so many medicines... The medicine you are talking about, Master, is it the anthelmintic pills?"

He had never imagined that such a small anthelmintic pill would be taken so seriously. It seemed that the parasite problem was quite serious in medieval Japan.

But this is not surprising, as Japan is now a severely affected area by parasitic diseases and is already very dirty.

"It's anthelmintic pills!" As the old monk Hai Xin spoke, he actually took out a few pills from his sleeve. They were the dried plum pills and cypress bark pills made by Yuanye himself. It seems that there are believers of Guanyin Temple in Hibitsu Village as well, and their sensitivity to information is not inferior to that of Arakiko Castle.

"I can't do so much." Yuanye repeated. He didn't really want to change his job to become a pharmaceutical worker and grind pills at home every day. Moreover, he had already set the price for the medicine and it didn't make much money, so he didn't want to spend that effort.

"Is that so..." Old Monk Hai Xin seemed a little disappointed, but he was very resilient and had not given up yet. "Then if Master Ye Yuan has time on weekdays, can you make some medicine for my humble temple?"

"A small amount?"

“A small amount is fine!”

"That's no problem." Yuanye agreed. It was just some ordinary medicine, and it didn't matter who he sold it to. If he had free time, it would be okay to make some medicine for the monks. At least it wouldn't take up too much of his time.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Nohara." Old Monk Hai Xin clasped his hands together to express his gratitude. He felt very happy as he had achieved a small part of his goal.

He really appreciated this medicine. Two small pills were enough to drive away parasites at a very low price. It might not be as effective as the large pot of herbs boiled by Monk Lu Zong, but it was much stronger.

The only pity is that the quantity is too small, but it doesn't matter. He can purchase it and process it, roll it in honey, and then send it to a distant place and sell it as a precious medicine at a high price to wealthy merchants and wealthy families in various places, which is still very profitable.

Or you can simply give it as a precious social gift, which is both economical and quite presentable.

Yuanye could also guess what Master Haixin wanted to do. If he couldn't distribute the goods at a low price, he would most likely want to sell them at a high price. However, he didn't take it to heart - modern society is also like this, and manufacturers often cannot make as much money as retailers.

Besides, since he chose to be a doctor, his personal safety was guaranteed and he received various preferential treatments, there would be gains and losses, and similar things were inevitable.

If you are useless to others and bring no benefits to others, why should others respect you? Why should they be polite to you?
Unless he is very powerful and can force others to kowtow, he has only been here for more than a month and is still in trouble, so he cannot become strong.

So, let others earn the money they deserve!

If you want to eat alone, you can talk about it later!
When it comes to doing business, monks are much more concerned than the noble samurai. Yuanye agreed, and the old monk Haixin even showed some concern for his medical skills, and suggested that he develop some new medicines, such as aphrodisiacs, which would surely sell well, as there was a huge demand in Kaimachi and Kyoto. He was really full of business tips.

After chatting for a while, Yuanye probably had nothing else to do, and he didn't want to drink tea, appreciate the plum blossoms, and talk business with this greedy old monk anymore. But he didn't want to just leave after coming all the way here, so he suggested walking around the temple and taking a look around.

Old monk Xinhai didn't mind. He actually had a very high status in Owari Province, higher than Maeda Toshiharu. He specially invited Harano to come this time because he wanted to establish a good relationship with him. Otherwise, with his status, there would be no need for him to personally meet a wandering samurai from another place.

He immediately instructed his young apprentice: "Zhiru, you accompany Donor Nohara to tour the temple. You must entertain him well and don't neglect him!"

He was practicing sitting meditation, and had to sit without moving, so he could only send his young disciple to accompany him, as a way of expressing his respect, just like sending the young disciple to invite people before. Ordinary believers did not have this treatment - although Zhiru was young, he was of high seniority and was considered a respectable figure in Huangzi Guanyin Temple.

Yuanye said a few polite words and then said goodbye and left.

When he came out of the meditation room, he looked back and saw that Old Monk Hai Xin had closed his eyes and started meditating again. His eyebrows and beard were white, the golden light had disappeared, and his demeanor was serious again.

Yuan Ye was a little impressed by the Japanese monk. He could meditate on Zen and think about business at the same time. He even signed an order for a batch of goods. He couldn't help but be impressed. He just didn't know what kind of Zen this old monk was practicing! It was amazing that he could do two things at once. He thought he had to practice it when he got back!
"Where would you like to go first?" The young monk Zhiru was too young to notice that Yuanye was complaining about his master in his mind, so he asked him attentively where he wanted to go.

Yuan Ye came back to his senses and asked, "What do you think, Master Zhiru?"

"Of course it's the Duobao Pagoda!"

"Then let's go to Duobao Pagoda first!" Yuanye had no objection. He just wanted to have some fun and there was nothing important to do.

"Let's go!" Zhiru immediately led the way to the west side of the temple, where the Duobao Pagoda was.

There are more ordinary monks here, and Yuanye has met several groups of them in succession. Zhiru's status is indeed very high. Some adult monks even call him "Junior Uncle Master". And only then did Yuanye realize that the Huangzi Guanyin Temple is very large, and it seems to be even larger than Huangzi City.

He just rushed through the sights, and did not kneel down or burn incense when passing by a Buddhist temple. He just looked at it from afar. People like him who did not believe in gods and Buddhas had little interest in these things. However, the Duobao Pagoda was indeed well built, with a strong Tang Dynasty style and was very impressive.

The Duobao Pagoda is divided into three floors, or rather two floors.

The first floor is a pedestal with a railing, on which there are steps leading to the second floor. The second floor has an entrance, where you can enter the tower for sightseeing. Outside, there is a cloister with brackets and many mullioned windows, which are very delicate. The third floor is a circular cloister with a terrace where you can enjoy the scenery and look into the distance.

From an overall perspective, the two-story eaves of the Duobao Pagoda are spread outward, and the tall spire formed by the bowl body and topped with a Buddhist bead is quite aesthetically valuable.

Ah Qing had never been to a temple before, and she was a little dazed by the exquisite building. After walking around the tower, she recalled some TV programs she had watched before. The engineering problem came back, and when she saw that she didn't understand, she pointed and explained to her: "The design of this tower is quite ingenious. Look! That's the moon beam, which supports the double eaves and flying eaves; those are the four pillars, which are used for auxiliary support and bear the force reasonably; that is the one-bucket-three-liter wood, which is more decorative, but also has some wonderful uses; that is the tail hanging wood..."

He kept talking non-stop, analyzing a long series of load-bearing structures. Ah Qing didn't understand at all, tilted his head and looked at him coldly, then looked back at the Duobao Pagoda - Yuanye didn't know anything about common sense, but he could talk about strange things clearly. It was indeed like Ah Man said, he was a weird person.

Zhiru could understand half of what he said. His cultural level was much higher than Aqing's. He couldn't help but exclaimed: "Donor Nohara is really a bosom friend of Donor Okabe! He said this is his most proud work and he really put a lot of effort into it. He must be very happy to hear that Donor Nohara likes it so much!"

Yuan Ye turned around and asked with interest, "Okabe? Is he the designer of this Duobao Pagoda?"

"Yes! Donor Okabe Mataemon Igen, he led the construction of this Pagoda. He also built many houses, including the Eight Swords Palace at Atsuta Jingu."

Master of Architecture, the one who will build the Azuchi Castle in the future, is his name Okabe Ikeno? You can pay attention to this person. If you need to build a house in the future, you can ask him to help you look at the blueprints, so as to avoid it collapsing halfway through.

Yuanye became more and more interested and asked Zhiru, "Do you know where he is now?"

Zhiru was still young and didn't care much about these things. He scratched his bald head and said hesitantly, "It seems that he is working for Oda Danjotadadono now. He is the master craftsman of Oda Danjotada's family."

"Well, it's a samurai from the Oda family!" Yuanye pondered for a moment and felt that it was not difficult to find.

"He doesn't seem to be a samurai of the Oda family." Zhiru scratched his bald head again, "He seems to be working for the Oda Danjotada family and is an official of Danjotadaden (generally refers to people who are employed and do not need to be loyal, different from retainers)."

But to Yuanye, all officials and retainers are the same!

When he was about to turn around and talk to Maeda Toshiie about this person, he thought Maeda Toshiie should know him. As he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a muffled "bang" sound, as if something was hit hard, followed by the faint sound of splashing water.

He looked in the direction of the sound and asked curiously, "What happened? What's going on?"

Zhiru was not surprised at all, and without even glancing at it, he said, "Is it the dyeing factory that is changing the water?"

"dye house?"

“It’s where the cloth is dyed.”

"A place where cloth is dyed?" Yuan Ye was even more puzzled. "You dye the cloth yourself?"

Zhiru was a little surprised as to why he was so surprised. He scratched his bald head in confusion and said, "Yes, the temple has always been dyeing cloth! Not only dyeing cloth, but also weaving cloth, making paper, printing books, brewing wine, making bean paste... Anyway, there are many jobs to do."

Yuan Ye was even more surprised and couldn't help asking, "Can I go over and take a look?"

"Of course you can!" This was not something shameful, all temples in the world were doing this, just on different scales. Zhiru did not even hesitate and led the two of them to the back mountain, and in order to make it easier for him to watch, he led him to a higher place.

Yuanye stood on the hillside and was numbed at the sight of the person, speechless for a moment.

A Japanese monk opened a factory in the temple. No, it was several factories. There were piles of people working there, and countless water wheels, pools, and large wooden barrels. It looked like they were working on an assembly line, engaging in crazy large-scale production!

Japanese monks are really a group of talented people!

(End of this chapter)