In the past several decades, the ninja world was often at war. Many places were chaotic, and there were countless bandits and robbers.
It was precisely these seemingly insignificant temples that became safe havens for many innocent civilians, sheltering them from the suffering of war.
However, as time passed, the Land of Fire had entered a long-awaited period of peace in recent years.
Not only that, but the Land of Fire had also vigorously built wide and flat national roads, and dispatched large numbers of Konoha ninja to patrol and guard various villages.
This series of measures greatly reduced the demand for the security services that temples once provided, and the warrior monks in those temples gradually lost their former importance.
Among them, those temples that had reclaimed land in earlier years could still sustain themselves through self-sufficiency, thanks to the farmland they possessed.
But for those temples that had neither disciples to pass things on to nor land to rely on, the situation became extremely difficult.
For the sake of survival, these temples began turning their attention to the surrounding land, hoping to expand their cultivated area to solve their food and livelihood problems.
As it happened, the nearby villagers had similar thoughts, who wouldn't want to grow crops right outside their own homes? Just like that, the two sides clashed fiercely over land ownership.
In terms of strength, how could ordinary villagers compete with those strong and skilled warrior monks?
It didn't take long before the villagers fell into a disadvantage in the conflict, suffering one loss after another.
Although no lives were lost, there were quite a few injuries.
Since nothing like this had ever happened before, the angry yet helpless villagers could only seek help from nearby Konoha ninja, asking them to step in and mediate.
After roughly flipping through the documents, Rengoku couldn't help frowning slightly, asking in confusion, "Why are all the incidents recorded here things that only happened recently?"
Minato slightly raised his right hand, extending his index finger toward his palm.
Immediately, a mysterious and complex array pattern slowly appeared, flickering with a faint glow.
Minato explained, "Actually, we've been researching the long-distance communication technology you mentioned before."
"But unlike conventional methods, we chose to use array formations as the foundational structure to achieve this."
He paused, then continued, "For this, we also sent many outstanding ninja to various places to search for suitable locations to establish long-distance array communication stations."
"It was during this process that we unexpectedly discovered a series of issues concerning those monks."
At this point, Minato's expression became somewhat serious.
"From what we've learned, most of these temples were originally granted by the daimyo."
"But some of the monks have been building tall and wide temple walls on a large scale, using them to enclose vast areas of land."
"You have to understand, in the past, because these places were remote, the local villagers often feared rampant bandits and could only endure such behavior in silence."
"Even the daimyo chose to turn a blind eye."
"But times have changed. Now our national roads basically run through every corner of the country, and overall public security has improved significantly."
"Because of that, brave villagers have started reporting these matters to us."
After listening, Rengoku thoughtfully reached up and stroked his chin.
After some thinking and analysis, he already understood.
These warrior monks who appeared to be devout practitioners were, in reality, nothing more than mercenaries wearing the cloak of religion.
They took advantage of their special status and people's reverence for religion to seize land and oppress the common folk.
When public security was poor before, they still had some use. Now that security had improved, they had become the biggest cancer.
At present, the officials under the daimyo were basically holed up inside the daimyo's residence, with no time to deal with matters like this at all.
Because of this, the villagers, having nowhere else to turn, sought out the Konoha ninja who happened to be active nearby.
Facing the villagers' plea for help, Minato naturally knew he was fully capable of handling the matter properly.
However, now that Rengoku had returned, out of respect and caution, he felt it was better to discuss it with him first.
After all, after observing for a while, Minato had keenly realized that the temples and these warrior monks would become an issue with significant impact on the future.
In fact, before this, Rengoku had never expected that in this world there would also be the troublesome issue of having too many monks.
This "troublesome" was for ordinary villagers. If Konoha intervened, it naturally wouldn't matter.
But considering that Konoha was currently planning to further expand the scope of its power, then both emotionally and logically, they should lend a hand and help with the villagers' request.
Thus, after careful consideration, Rengoku decisively gave a solution, "First, fully Konoha-ize the land. Formally authorize all the land currently used by these villagers to continue being cultivated and used by them."
"As for the various temples, we'll allocate them a reasonable amount of territory based on their scale, giving them an appropriate amount of land for daily needs."
"As for any excess land, it will all be reclaimed and brought under Konoha's ownership."
"Warrior monks usually eat a lot. Relying on the current output from land of the same size probably won't be enough to keep them fed."
"And whether they'll even choose to farm is still uncertain."
"Send people to check every three months or half a year. If any extra land is found, authorize it to the villagers."
Then he added, "At the same time, let the villagers supervise them. If any warrior monks cause trouble, kill them all."
Rengoku almost didn't hesitate at all as he quickly proposed a series of solutions, as if these plans had long been prepared in his mind.
However, the methods he proposed happened to align perfectly with Minato's own thoughts.
Minato nodded slightly in agreement, then asked, "Then, are we going to take action against the daimyo's side?"
After all, in this world, there was no such thing as land nationalization.
Normally, wherever people lived and built houses, that land naturally belonged to them.
After all, the Land of Fire was vast and sparsely populated, with barren, unclaimed land everywhere.
But as the Land of Fire's economy rapidly developed, issues surrounding land resources would surface sooner or later.
Thus, Rengoku made a decisive decision to directly adopt some advanced concepts and practices from his original world, applying them here to fundamentally solve this problem.
Facing Minato's question, Rengoku gently shook his head, "It's not a question of whether to act. In fact, the daimyo himself is just a 'money bag' responsible for managing our national finances."
"All the policies we formulate and implement ultimately aim to promote the prosperity of the Land of Fire and bring more benefits to the people."
"If he follows orders, then life goes on as usual;"
"But if he has any little schemes, we have every ability to make him disappear in an instant."
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