Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Master Huizhao never thought that he would go to the mountain to become a saint.

Obviously there is a palace, so why live in a mountain?Could it be that Shao Sheng has seen through the vanity of the world and wants to convert to my Buddha?This - not yet.

There was an autumn rain last night, and the mountain road was rough and slippery.Master Huizhao and the monks in Khotan finally arrived at the place where the yellow canopy stood.

"People from other places pay homage to the emperor of the great country." Master Huizhao proclaimed the Buddha's name and bowed in salute.

All the monks saluted together.

"Give me a seat and tea." Shao Shude ordered.

He carefully observed the monks in Khotan, and found that they were typical Tocharians, similar to Sogdians.

They are all Fans, but Fans are different from Fans.

The Fan people in the Northeast are not much different from the Han people in appearance.

Some of the Fan people in the northern grasslands look like them, and some don't.For example, Uighurs, typical yellow people, although they will move westward, their appearance will change after mixing with the locals.

The Yinshan Tatars are very complicated. After all, there is a White Tatar group.

Most of the grasslands in the Northwest are characterized by Caucasians.

But generally speaking, "white" in the northwest, "yellow" in the northeast, both white and yellow in the north, and yellow is the mainstream.After all, the large-scale eastward migration of the Tocharians in history was hindered by the Huns.

"I have studied the Tubo language for many years..." Shao Shude suddenly said, "On the way back from the Bohai class teacher, I had nothing to do, so I read the "Yuezangjing"."

Master Huizhao was startled.The emperor of the Central Plains also learned foreign languages?

"It's a pity that my knowledge is limited, so I don't understand half of it. I only understand the outline of the story of Dharma Extinction in the book." Shao Shude continued: "Master, do you think this will come true?"

Shao Shude was proficient in Dangxiang language in his early years, but this language has no written characters.

Later, he learned Tubo, but his energy was limited, his learning was not deep enough, and his level was average.

I also learned Uyghur, but gave up halfway, and only knew part of the conversation and a little writing.As I get older, my memory declines, and I have given up learning any foreign language.

He probably understands the story about Dharma Extinction in the "Yue Zang Jing": King Yepona (referring to the Greeks), King Shiku (referring to the Cypriots), and King Polo (referring to the Parthians) are three. An evil king, taking advantage of the weakening of Buddhism, each led an army of 12 to attack the country of Jushanmi in Tianzhu.After [-] years of fighting in Kusemmi Kingdom, the invading enemies were wiped out. In order to eliminate the crime of massacring soldiers, the king invited all the Sanghas in the world to Jushenmi Kingdom.

After all the monks arrived, the uposa puja was held.At the meeting, the monks had disputes and killed each other. After dawn, all the monks were dead, and the Buddhadharma was completely extinct.

The story is quite nonsense. Considering the time of writing (no later than the 2nd century) and the location of writing (somewhere in northwest India), it should be made up by Indians because of the invasion of these three populations.

"Your Majesty, the demise of the Dharma is not only fulfilled in Tianzhu." Master Huizhao said with a sad face, "There is actually a preface to the events recorded in the "Yue Zang Jing", which the Tibetans have not translated."

"Let's hear it." Shao Shude asked with interest.

"At some point in the future, monks will not abide by the precepts and enter the world to make profits. The world will not believe in the true teachings and dislike Buddhist monks, so the Buddha's teachings will decline and the Buddha's country will weaken, attracting foreign enemies to invade." Master Huizhao said.

"So that's how it is." Shao Shude sighed, "It's not just aimless."

He knew that the Buddhist monks in the Western Regions had unimaginable privileges for the Central Plains people.Taking Khotan as an example, the king is accompanied by fifty monks who practice martial arts all the year round. The influence of Buddhist temples and monks spreads all over the society.

Think about it, when Shao Shude dealt with the Sanjie Temple in Suizhou, the monks had various assets, such as shops, mills, farmland, orchards, etc., and they also lent usury. Tied back and tortured.

The monks in the Central Plains are so arrogant, what is the Buddhist kingdom in the Western Regions like?To put it bluntly, taxes are not easy to collect.

The king wants to support the bureaucracy and the army, and the tax he receives from Buddhist temples is limited, so he can only exploit the people.What can the people do?Take refuge in Buddhist temples.

Coupled with the arrogance of the monks, who competed with the nobles for their interests, they are already disgusted with Buddhism from top to bottom.

"Will the Kingdom of Khotan be destroyed?" Shao Shude asked.

Venerable Master Huizhao looked up to the sky and sighed, saying: "The monks have entered the world for profit and corrupted the Buddhadharma. It may not be long."

Shao Shude was silent.

This coincides with the history of later generations.The Green Sect was founded much later than Buddhism. It is only two hundred years old, and it is on the rise. Various interest groups have not yet become as decadent as Buddhism in the Western Regions, and have aroused resentment from all walks of life.It is almost inevitable that they will win in the end, just as the emerging victory over the decadent is almost inevitable.

The cycle of rise and fall in the world has its own time.Country, nation, religion, nothing more.

If the countries of the Western Regions do not have external assistance, even if they can survive this time, they will fall sooner or later.

"The Kingdom of Khotan was a vassal of the former Tang Dynasty, but it has never been canonized by the Great Xia." Shao Shude said: "The mage and his party consisted of hundreds of people, and they presented more gifts than ordinary court tributes, but they did not carry the letter of state. I don't understand it either. Now, what is the ruler of Khotan thinking?"

The mission of the Khotan Kingdom—let’s call it the mission—has several hundred people, not a lot of people. In addition to monks, there are also noble children and businessmen from the Khotan Kingdom.But one has no credential, and the other has no serving officials. In terms of status, he belongs to the standard folk "cultural exchange group?" "Business exchange group?" "Tourist group?"

The gifts they presented included: a jade belt inlaid with exquisite jade, three large jade clusters from Donghe River, ten jade clusters from Kunlun Mountains, fifty jade clusters from Donghe River, and one hundred autumn jade bridles, which were quite valuable. .

There are also dié cloth (fine cotton cloth woven from Khotan cotton), yak tail, red salt, turmeric, arbor, Mipeng sand (borax), musical instruments, knives and other things.

Khotan is rich in beautiful jade, and its utensils and clothing are mostly decorated with jade. The king's seal is also made of jade.Tuan is a unit of measurement for Khotan jade, but it does not represent weight.

Among the gifts that Captain Chi Suluo gave to Cao Yuanzhong, the Jiedu envoy of Guiyi Army, there was a ball of big jade, weighing 80 jin; a ball of medium jade, weighing 42 jin; a ball of pure jade, weighing 10 jin; Weighs 8.5 catties.

这次于阗国进献大夏的东河大玉多在80-100斤，昆仑山玉则为40-60斤，东河玉则都在20斤以内。

The Kingdom of Khotan often used jade to trade with its neighbors.They once exchanged 30 catties of jade for 200 bolts of silk from the Guiyi Army. To be honest, with this exchange ratio, the profit of the poor man will skyrocket.

Their jade resources seem to be endless, and even the surrounding forces have a lot of jade in their hands.

In 932, the Guiyi Army sent the 36th Jade Regiment to the court of the Later Tang Dynasty.

In 940, the Ganzhou Uighurs sent 100 regiments of tribute jade to the Jin Dynasty.

In 942, the Ganzhou Uighurs once again entered the 100th Regiment of Xianyu.

In 948, Ganzhou Uighurs paid tribute to the 73rd Jade Regiment to the Later Han Dynasty.

In 951, the Gaochang Uighurs paid tribute to the Later Zhou Dynasty with 6 regiments of jade and 77 regiments of Manichaeism.

……

It is no wonder that the resources of Hetian jade in later generations are close to exhaustion. It is really too hard these years.

"The lord of the country is old and it is inconvenient to travel far, so he asked the poor Taoist to go out to see what year Fang is going down today." Master Huizhao said.

"Have you seen it all the way since Dunhuang?" Shao Shude asked.

"Pindao enters Lingzhou through Hexi, then goes south, passes through Guanzhong and enters Henan, and then goes north from Huazhou, all the way to Beiping." Master Huizhao replied: "I heard that the Central Plains have not been peaceful in recent decades, and the wars have continued for years. It is unspeakably miserable. Now, along the way, the wounds are gradually recovering, the people are at peace, and there are occasional minor disturbances, which will soon subside. Looking at the counties, villages and villages, they don’t look like ten houses and nine empty houses. The poor can only say, big Xia Shengren is a person with great wisdom, courage, and perseverance."

"How is it compared to Tang before?" Shao Shude asked.

"In terms of strength, it should not be inferior to the early years of the Tang Dynasty." Master Huizhao replied.

"The mage has a clear understanding of the Central Plains." Shao Shude said with a smile: "From what the mage said, it seems to be worse than before Tang Chunian?"

"Your Majesty has inherent great wisdom, but now you need to do something with great courage."

"What is a matter of great courage?"

"In the former Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin traveled thousands of miles to destroy the Gaochang country. Now there are Gaochang Uighurs occupying their old land, killing merchants and plundering other countries. Why don't your majesty send troops to fight against it?"

"If I go out as a teacher, will the Kingdom of Khotan be willing to help?"

"A solid wish."

"It's a pity that the mage is not an envoy." Shao Shude sighed, and said, "I want to send a mission to visit Khotan, what does the mage think?"

"The Lord of Khotan will definitely welcome you," said Master Huizhao.

"But I always feel that the Lord of Khotan has misunderstood me."

"As soon as the messenger arrives, the misunderstanding may be cleared up."

"If the envoy arrives with a book, will the Lord of Khotan welcome it?"

"Buddhism is in the world, and it cannot be separated from the world. Seeking Bodhi is like seeking the horns of a rabbit."

Shao Shude choked.His uncle, he talked to me again.

"Forget it, the mage will return after a while. I will send a mission to accompany me with books. The king of Khotan can take care of himself." Shao Shude said.

After all, I chatted with Master Huizhao about the customs of Khotan, and asked about the situation in Gaochang. I learned that the monks in Gaochang also enjoy huge economic privileges, and manors attached to temples are scattered all over the oases.

No need to think about it, the Uyghurs who turned against Pu Gujun and fled westward to the opposite side of Congling, probably had the same situation in their country.

When faced with the powerful enemy of the Green Sect, are the monks still so philanthropic?I don't know how to transfer part of the benefits to support the secular nobles to organize the army and fight against powerful enemies?If the secular aristocrats are defeated, they can still convert to the Green Sect. Don't you know what will happen to the monks if they lose?
After the chat, he let Master Huizhao and his party leave.

Issue several commands simultaneously:

Hexi Road confiscated common people and herdsmen to repair Daqi Road.

Shazhou built a large warehouse city to prepare for material hoarding.

Hexi and Longyou two Daozhou military and soil regiments strengthened their training, commanded envoys to conduct spot checks at any time, and the Privy Council sent people to inspect regularly.

Si Nongsi checks the number of livestock on each ranch, focusing on the number of horses.

The chieftains of the various tribes in Helong were called to Beijing to have an audience.

……

War will not start immediately, but preparations still need to be made in advance.