The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 978 The Queen Visited the Sui Dynasty, Accompanied by Xuanzang

In the Ganlu Hall of Taiji Palace, Li Yuan was walking back and forth with his hands behind his back, his face was very calm. Although he didn't lose his temper, Li Shunhai, the great eunuch who reported the news of the chaos to him, was sweating profusely and trembling with fear.He is an old man in the palace who has served Li Yuan for many years. He is shrewd and meticulous. He has a more thorough and in-depth understanding of Li Yuan than Concubine Yin De and Zhang Jieyu. He didn't say a word, especially his eyes were not peaceful after losing power, but a trace of viciousness, just like the moment when a poisonous snake is about to attack.

"Hahahaha!" Suddenly, Li Yuan, who was thinking about the source of the chaos in Ming City, let out a burst of laughter: "Li Shimin, Li Shimin, do you think that others will believe you if you blame the Sui Dynasty? You're dead, hahahaha..."

It is not important that the Chen family was destroyed. Although Chen Shuda is the younger brother of the Southern Chen empress, but after the country was destroyed and became a Sui minister, the former officials and friends of the Chen family were afraid that they would be implicated, so they avoided the Chen family like a poisonous snake. After decades of neglect, the Chen family has declined to the extreme. Although its influence is not zero, it has reached a negligible level. In this way, the powerful families such as Wei Quanbi, Yin Ashu, etc. are even more unimportant.

However, Chai Shao's Chai family was also included among the many powerful families who were slaughtered. Chai Shao was not only Ma Sanbao's old master, but also a benefactor who supported him all the way to become a general. After Chai Shao's death, Ma Sanbao, In order to protect the blood of the old lord from being bullied, he still considered his adopted son. Now the only blood of the old lord and benefactor, as well as his adopted son, were killed by Li Shimin, and the last blood of the Chai family was killed. How could a righteous man not be angry?
This time, as long as Li Shentong goes to make a move, this general who has always maintained a neutral attitude will definitely stand by his side without hesitation. It will be his younger brother Qu Tuquan again, as long as Ma Sanbao can be persuaded, then the Qu Tu brothers can be persuaded, and then the Jiafu Gate will be opened, allowing him to kill Li Shimin, a traitor!

"Your Majesty, the King of Huai'an is here..." At this moment, an eunuch appeared at the door, and Li Shentong, who was behind him, stepped in happily.

"Your Majesty, Ma Sanbao has agreed." Li Shentong knew that these people in front of him were Li Yuan's confidantes, and they were also in charge of contacting key people, so he did not shy away from speaking.

"Really?" Li Yuan was delighted for a while, and then asked: "Ma Sanbao is clever and cunning, will he lie to you?"

"Your Majesty, don't worry about my work. Ma Sanbao is definitely willing to fight side by side with us." In order to strengthen his persuasion, Li Shentong said: "When I went to his house, he also heard that the Chai family had suffered a disaster. I haven't recovered from the blow yet, and my eyes are bloodshot from crying. And he also told me directly that this riot was definitely done by Li Shimin. Stabilize food prices and relieve disaster victims.”

Li Yuan's eyes showed joy: "Heroes see the same thing!"

"Your Majesty!" Li Shentong hesitated for a while, and then said: "Although he agreed to obey His Majesty's call, but I heard a meaning from his words, he has conditions."

"Come on, what are the conditions?" Hearing that Ma Sanbao had conditions, Li Yuan was not angry, but believed that Ma Sanbao was really willing to obey his orders. If there were no conditions, he would be really worried.

"I want to serve as the general of the country and the title of the Duke of the country."

"What is this? Go and tell him, and I will agree to him." In order to regain his dignity and glory, and to personally execute Li Shimin, a rebellious son, Li Yuan, let alone a mere general and Duke of the state, is the political affairs hall. Xiangguo, chief officials of the three provinces, and county princes are all willing to trade.He wrote a letter of appointment with a brush and stamped his personal seal, "This is my canonization for Ma Sanbao according to Ma Sanbao's request. After the matter is completed, I will make him the first county king with a different surname in the Tang Dynasty." .”

"Here." Li Shentong responded, and asked again: "When is your Majesty going to do it?"

"In a few days, it will be Jiujiu Chongyang, and all officials will enter the palace to meet..." Li Yuan's eyes flashed a trace of resentment and resentment, and he continued: "However, since that rebellious son rebelled, the court meeting has been changed to the East Palace, presumably on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival That’s right. If we act at that time, we can control all civil and military officials... At that time, let Ma Sanbao mobilize 1 people to enter the Taiji Palace, and I will personally lead [-] soldiers and horses into the imperial city. You will follow all these Ma Sanbao tell me."

"This, will it be too urgent?"

"I also know that I'm in a hurry, but time waits for no one." Li Yuan glanced at Li Shentong who was a little confused, and expressed his worries: "I am worried that we will not be able to calm Nizi quickly, but instead give Yang Tong a chance. .”

Li Shentong clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have actually been paying attention to Yang Tong's son. According to the report from the spies, Yang Tong's son went to visit Dujiangyan and Qingcheng Mountain with great fanfare the day before yesterday."

"That would be great!" Li Yuan estimated the time to return from Qingcheng Mountain to Luoxian County and to Chengdu City, and finally made a decision: "To avoid long nights and dreams, let's make it the day after tomorrow."

"Here!"

. . . . . . . . .

Qingcheng Mountain is named Qingcheng Mountain because of its verdant forests, which are evergreen all the year round and surrounded by peaks that look like the outline of a city.Surrounded by undulating peaks and verdant forests, it enjoys the reputation of "Qingcheng, a secluded city under heaven".

Qingcheng Mountain has a long history. According to legend, there was Ning Fengzi in Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor, who came to Qingcheng Mountain to practice Taoism. Mountain, and build Guanzhang Renguan commemoration.But it was Zhang Daoling of the Eastern Han Dynasty who really established Qingcheng Mountain as a famous Taoist mountain.

During the period of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling came to Qingcheng Mountain to preach Taoism after writing the 24 scriptures, and founded the local religion—Taoism.

The famous Laojun Pavilion is located on the top of the first peak in Qingcheng, Gaotai Mountain. The echoing pavilion above it takes the meaning of "ascending a height, all mountains will respond".There are nine floors in total, the bottom is round and the top is round, and there are octagons on the floor, which symbolizes the roundness of the sky and the earth, and the eight trigrams of Taiji.Inside the pavilion is hollow, and stands a majestic and tall bronze statue of the Supreme Lord sitting on a lotus. The outdoor terrace outside the pavilion is sealed and built with white marble.On a sunny day, you can see the beautiful scenery and scenery of Minqiong Qing'e and Chengdu Plain hundreds of miles away, which can be said to be the most spectacular in the world.

On the stage, Yang Tong was wearing a black brocade light robe inlaid with gold trim, a nine-dragon jade belt around his waist, and a treasured sword exposed on his hips.

Yin Mingyue, Li Xiuning, and Yang Qinfang, who were pointing at the mountains and rivers, were wearing Luo brocade short gowns with lapels and narrow sleeves, leather belts around their waists, small buckskin boots, and swords on their backs, looking nimble and heroic.

The war in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was actually planned as early as when Li Yuan imitated the Sui Dynasty to implement the equal distribution of land, the land military merit system, and the tax system of apportionment into the mu. This war seemed to be rushed because of the Xuanwu Gate. The preparations were well prepared, so the progress of the war was very successful. The dangerous Guanshan Mountain that Li Yuan and his son relied on as a barrier hardly caused much hindrance to the Sui Dynasty. Li Jing blocked Gao Shilian in Badong before, in fact, it was more of a strategic deception. Li Shimin, who had just taken over the military and political power of Li Tang, mistakenly thought that Guanshan in Yizhou could be protected by the Sui Dynasty, and then put his energy on rectifying the internal affairs. When he turned his eyes back to the interior, Yang Tong suddenly had the most dangerous, who Unexpectedly, Zitong Pass, Jiameng Pass, and Baishui Pass launched a swift and fierce offensive, causing Li Tang to be cut in half.

At this point in the battle, there is almost no suspense, and the reason why Yang Tong stays here is to declare the belonging of the world, and it is important to say that this battle is more than just a military conquest. It is related to the issue of people's support.

Although the Sui Dynasty used various channels to instill some Great Sui governance concepts and publicize various policies of the Great Sui to the closed Yizhou in recent years, but because these systems are too beautiful, and the actual cases are too far away from the people of Yizhou, so The people in Yizhou didn't think it was true, thinking that it was just a kind of win-win for them by the Sui Dynasty. On the contrary, it was Li Yuan's system of evenly dividing the land and sharing the per-mu tax, which gave them real benefits. Because the folks are hostile to the founders of these systems, and the common people seek stability, unless they can't survive, no one will do such things as welcoming Yang Tong at this time; They were severely suppressed by Li Yuan, but they still had a little bit of benefit left by following the Tang Dynasty. If they followed the Sui Dynasty, not only would they not get it, but their lives would also be difficult to protect, so no matter it was for Li Tang or for themselves, it was impossible. Say good things for the Sui Dynasty among the people.

Therefore, the important point of this battle is not to destroy Li Tang, but to appease him after the war.

Only Yang Tong, who is the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, is suitable for appeasing the people of a state, and only he can do it best and well; other people can't do it well, or even dare not do it.That's why he stayed here all the time.

He came to Qingcheng Mountain to appease the hundreds of thousands of refugees resettled at the foot of the mountain. Those refugees ate the hundreds of thousands of shi of grain that Yin Ashu and Li Shentong wanted to donate to Li Shimin. The granaries were built in some villages outside the city, but when they were forced by Xiao Yu to donate them, they were snatched away by the Sui army who turned into "disorderly people", and then transported to Qingcheng Mountain, where Yang Tong Relief in the name of the Sui Dynasty.

Weeping with joy, thanking the saints, and cursing the refugees of Li Yuan and his son, they didn't know that they were extremely grateful and prepared to set up longevity cards to worship the "reborn parents" and "sage kings" who were the creators and culprits of the food shortage that swept across the Chengdu Plain. Evil chief.

The enthusiasm and gratitude of the people made Yang Yu, who was not very knowledgeable, feel embarrassed, so he rushed to Laojun Pavilion.

Yang Tong looked away from the mountains under the layers of white clouds, smiled and said to Luo Shixin beside him: "Xiao Luo, there is a mystery that has puzzled me for many years, until today, I finally understand it."

"What's the matter?" Luo Shixin, who was looking left and right, with an unknown and handsome demeanor, asked after hearing the sound.

"At the end of the Warring States period, Yingzheng fought the survivors of the sixth generation, swallowed the princes for two weeks, and unified the divided world. Yingzheng believed that he was "virtuous and three emperors, and his merits were inferior to the five emperors", so he adopted the "emperor" of the three emperors, The "emperor" of the five emperors constitutes the title of "emperor". He is the first monarch in history to use the title of "emperor", so he is the "first emperor". During his reign, he implemented the Sangong Jiuqing in the center to manage state affairs; The system of enfeoffment was replaced by the system of prefectures and counties that has prevailed to this day; internally, policies that are conducive to unification, such as the same text of books, the same track of cars, and the same pronunciation, unified currency, weights and measures, etc. were promoted. Externally attacked the Xiongnu in the north, conquered Baiyue in the south, and built the Great Wall Everything he did established the basic structure of the political system that continues to this day, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is one emperor through the ages." Having said that, Yang Tong asked, "Do you think he is harmful?"

Luo Shixin quickly replied: "The Holy Majesty said that he is the first emperor through the ages, so he must be very powerful."

Yang Tong froze for a moment, then shook his head and smiled wryly, feeling that he had said so much, but from Luo Shixin, only "Qin Shihuang is the eternal emperor" was useful, and everything else was nonsense.He asked again: "Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty destroyed the Xiongnu, expanded the territory, established the basic scope of the Central Plains dynasty, and opened the Silk Road for the first time. Isn't it amazing?"

"It's too far behind Qin Shihuang, and he doesn't even have the qualifications to be compared." Luo Shixin commented, and then said: "But for the sake of destroying the Xiongnu, it's good that he is great."

Yang Tong asked again: "Liangwu Emperor Xiao Yan paid attention to government affairs and corrected the bad governance of Song and Qi. During his reign, he was one of the most promising emperors of the four southern dynasties to unify the world. Is it considered powerful?"

Luo Shixin asked without answering, "Are you the ancestor of the Empress Dowager?"

Yang Tong gave Luo Shixin a strange look, but still replied, "Of course."

Luo Shixin said as a matter of course: "Then he is great!"

Yang Tong was speechless: "Here, I don't want you to count by relationship, but by his personal ability."

"I'm also counting on my personal ability."

"Oh? Tell me." Yang Tong actually made Luo Shixin curious.

Luo Shixin said: "Emperor Liang Wu is the ancestor of the Empress Dowager, and the grandmother of the Empress Dowager, that is to say, if there is no Emperor Wu of Liang, there will be no Empress Dowager, and then, it seems, there should be no Holy Empress... If this is the case, everyone It seems that the Sui Dynasty would not have the prosperous scene of the ten thousand dynasties coming to worship today... So, I say that Emperor Wu of Liang is powerful, and he is the ancestor who gave birth to the empress dowager."

"Your reason is very strong!" Yang Tong said dumbfoundingly: "Then my Emperor Wenwu of the Sui Dynasty is very powerful, right?"

"Excellent." Luo Shixin didn't bother to explain, and said directly: "The reason is the same as above."

"puff"

"puff"

"puff"

"..."

Yin Mingyue, Li Xiuning, and Yang Qinfang next to her all laughed.

"Your reason is really sweet!" Yang Tong laughed and said, "The Second Emperor Wenwu of the Sui Dynasty and Emperor Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty, and Emperor Wudi of Liang have one thing in common, that is, they believe in religious sects. Let alone our Emperor Wenwu , because the two of them advocated Buddhism out of the need for ruling, not because of true belief. However, Qin Shihuang, Han Wudi, and Liang Wudi were devout alchemists and Buddhist believers in their later years. Do you know why these three powerful emperors are so devout? ?”

The problem returns to the crux at once.

"Because they are afraid of death, they pursue the illusory and non-existent immortality." It was not Luo Shixin who answered, but Du Ruhui. In the latter words, he was worried that Yang Tong would be influenced by the "immortal traces" of Qingcheng Mountain, and he would have the heart of cultivating immortals and worshiping Buddha, so he rushed to answer, especially when he mentioned the word "does not exist", his voice was a little higher
"Keming is right."

"Keming is right." Fang Xuanling and Ling Jing agreed unanimously.

"What Keming said is one of them, but it's not the crux of the problem." Yang Tong said.

"Then what is the crux of the problem?" Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Ling Jing became interested at this moment.

Emperor Wu of Liang was a devout Buddhist from beginning to end, not to mention.However, Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi themselves were decisive emperors. It was not until later in life that they embarked on a journey of seeking immortality.

In particular, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty’s journey of seeking immortals was even more exaggerated. He listened to the temptation of some alchemists who said that "the mountains of the gods in Penglai will be available", and that "Naifu east to the sea" means that the "Penglai" fairy mountains that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty hoped to see I didn't meet them at the seaside of Shandong, so I went along the seaside to Jieshi Mountain, which is famous as "Shenyue", to worship the gods and pray for immortals.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's trip to Jieshi revived the activities of seeking immortality in the coastal areas after a hundred years.And his pursuit of immortality activities is much more lively than that of Qin Shihuang, such as summoning ghosts and gods, making alchemy sand, waiting for gods, etc. There are countless tricks, and he goes to the sea to seek "Penglai" at every turn, and refers to the mountain to say Zen.Moreover, every time he travels to seek immortals, there are tens of thousands of attendants, which make people waste money and live in poverty. His journey of seeking immortals is much more absurd than Yang Guang's three trips to the river. Regardless of the scale of political asylum, his original intentions are relatively legitimate.

But no matter what, Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of the Han sought immortality. There are some shocking words, so everyone waits eagerly, for fear of missing any key theories.

However, Yang Tong's theories are overwhelming, and he said lightly: "Because they did a lot of immoral things when they were young, so they feel guilty in their later years, and they are afraid that the evil they sow will harm their children, grandchildren, and the country." On the body, this is the only way I hope to get the grace of the gods in person. And I, when facing hundreds of thousands of refugees, I was quite guilty at first, but after paying homage to the Supreme Lord, oh ho, the guilt is gone, and my heart is at ease. It's also comfortable..."

"..." Everyone was speechless.

But thinking about it carefully, it seems that I am also like this, and I was quite guilty at first, but after worshiping the Supreme Lord, the guilt is gone, and the whole person is relaxed.

Could it be that there are really gods?Otherwise why?
Fang Xuanling felt a little bit of a headache and couldn't figure it out.

Du Ruhui trembled a few times, racking his brains to refute, but found that he was also speechless!

Are there any fairies?

Certainly not!Otherwise why everyone said no?Some wise and powerful emperors searched for immortals and built temples and Taoist temples in their later years, which led to the exhaustion of the country's finances and the loss of people's hearts.

But now hearing what Yang Tong said, coupled with his own personal experience, it seems that there are gods, otherwise why did he suddenly change his mind?
Is this what is going on?
All of a sudden, the three great Sui Shangshus with clever and shrewd minds were completely insane.

"There are no gods in the world. It should, it should be a matter of self-salvation mentality!" After Yang Tong finished speaking, his head was confused: What's wrong with him?
"Yes, yes, mentality problem."

"Yes, yes, it is definitely a mentality problem..."

"..."

Yang Tong chuckled, and didn't bother with the issue of gods anymore, but thought about the second thing to be dealt with on this trip, that is, there were two countries in the Sui Dynasty that accepted Buddhism as the state religion, and they sent envoys to the Sui Dynasty .It's just that Yang Tong was not in Luoyang, the capital, nor was he in Daxing, the accompanying capital, so they were sent directly from Daxing to Shu County.

The first is Dongnüguo, commonly known as the daughter country. It is a country with a long history established by the ancient Qiang people. There is no specific standard for its borders. It only needs cavalry to walk for nine days from east to west, and horseback to go from south to north. In 22 days, there are more than 4 large and small cities, with a population of more than 30 households. If each household has five people, the daughter country should have about [-] to [-] people.

The biggest cultural characteristic of Dongnvguo is that it values ​​women and despises men.In this country, women generally serve as kings and officials, and men can only serve in the military at most.If the queen needs to convey her will, it is usually conveyed outside the palace through the female officer.

In addition to the queen, the Eastern Nu Country also has a vice queen, and these three high-ranking and powerful kings are usually elected by talented people within the ethnic group. After the queen dies, the throne of power is usually inherited by the vice queen. The royal family has elected a new vice queen; ordinary families are also dominated by women, who are in charge of everything in the country and family.Because of this, the Central Plains Dynasty prefers to call it the daughter country.

Daughter Kingdom often paid tribute to Central Plains dynasties. For example, there are clear records in the Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, and Sui Dynasties. After Yang Guang reopened the Silk Road, the exchanges between the two countries became closer. The same, they all joined the Silk Road Alliance, and they all respected the Great Sui Dynasty, and they were regarded as the vassal state of the Great Sui Dynasty.

The former male deputy king of Daughter Kingdom was an accident. He was able to become king because the former queen was too old. Not long after his death, the deputy king who was older than her also died after being the king for a few months. Well, the Daughter Kingdom was in a predicament for a while, with the queen dead and the vice queen not yet in place, so this more prestigious male king was selected as the "acting deputy queen" to perform the mission of the king. He is an alternative existence in the Daughter Kingdom, so At the beginning of the year, the grown-up Vice Queen succeeded to the throne. Her ascension also meant that the career of the 'Acting Vice Queen' had come to an end, but after all, he had been king for more than ten years and had cultivated his own power. Can you be willing to become a vassal with nothing and a low position?Therefore, he became an opponent of the queen and daughter country system, and was supported by a group of restless 'little' men.

The daughter country envoys that came to the Great Sui Dynasty this time were headed by the new queen; her purpose was very simple, that is, to be canonized by Yang Yu, who was notorious, so as to have the effect of pretending to be a tiger, and to protect the daughter country from The bitterness of the civil war.

As for the other mission, it was from Tianzhu. This was the first time in history that country sent an official mission to the Central Plains. It probably also wanted to establish diplomatic relations with the Sui Dynasty.

The name Tianzhu first appeared in "Historical Records Dawan Biography", and it was called Shendu at that time. "Hanshu" records: "From the southeast of the country of poisoning, you can travel thousands of miles to get the city of Jiaren in Shu."

The Great Sui Dynasty was also called Tianzhu, but the current Tianzhu Peninsula is not a complete country, but a fragmented land, with countless large and small states, except for the Jieri Empire in the north of the Tianzhu Peninsula and Magadha in the south. No country has a large territory except the country of East Chalouqi, West Chalouqi, and the slightly larger Palawas.Some countries even have only one city. If the enemy country destroys this city, it means that the country is destroyed. The current situation of the Tianzhu Peninsula is somewhat similar to that of Western Europe in the Middle Ages.However, the Sui side did not know much about the Tianzhu Peninsula, so it is customary to confuse Tianzhu with the Tianzhu Peninsula.

The envoy of the Great Sui Dynasty who came this time was the country of Magadha, which was ravaged by the Jieri Empire, that is, Zhongtianzhu, which Xuanzang learned from in his history.

In order to achieve the goal of earning a lot of war dividends and weakening neighboring allies, the current foreign policy is to restrain the strong and help the weak, and encourage foreign races to engage in civil war. Therefore, the envoys from Zhongtianzhu came to seek diplomatic support and let the Sui slightly restrain Yang Tong was not only happy to get rid of the Japanese Empire, but also let the Four Kingdoms of Tubo and the Ten Banners go to the Jieri Empire to have fun;

But no matter whether it is the daughter country or Zhongtianzhu, they all have a common characteristic, that is, respecting the Buddha and taking Buddha as the state religion.

Yang Tong, who had learned about these two countries, specially appointed Master Xuanzang, who is proficient in Sanskrit, to accompany the missions of the Daughter Kingdom throughout the whole process in order to receive the two Buddhist envoys well.

Of course, proficiency in Sanskrit is not important, because the Ministry of Rites now has translators in this area.The important thing is that Yang Tong has a strong desire to realize his dream, hoping that he can realize the dream of the king of the daughter country "I only wish that the sky will last forever, and that I will be closely with the 'Brother Yu', love Liai Yi, love Lian Yi, and hope that I will always be with you in this life".

After returning from the Tubo battlefield, Master Xuanzang not only became the abbot of Baima Temple in Luoyang in a daze, but also tricked Yang Tong into taking a job in the Religious Department of Zongzheng Temple. Yuan Tiangang was in charge of Zuo Ling, and Master Xuanzang was in charge of Buddhism in You Ling. However, the two did not participate in the management of specific affairs. They were mainly responsible for picketing, impeaching Taoist priests and monks, and rectifying the religious atmosphere. That is to say, if Zuo Ling Yuan Tiangang sees a monk breaking the law, he can report it immediately. On the contrary, You Ling Xuanzang can also report thieves and Taoists.

No matter how you look at it, it’s a bit like encouraging the two factions to go to war, but if the two factions go to war, Buddhism will definitely suffer a big disadvantage. This is not to say that Yang Tong is specifically targeting Buddhism, but that the current "Religious Law" is the two factions. Based on teachings.

When Buddhism entered the Central Plains, in order to survive in the gap between Confucianism and Taoism and attract the attention of the world, it made rules such as monks not eating meat, asking for wives, making money, spending extravagance, and breaking precepts, etc., to show their holiness and nobility. After hundreds of years of development, people in the world feel that monks should be so detached and free from vulgarity, empty of all four elements.Now you can't enjoy tax exemption, you can't occupy the mountain as king, you can't be uneducated, and you have to be supervised by the state and sanctioned by the law... So many teachings and clauses have now become the "Religious Law". How many people are there in the world? Individuals can do it?
Compared with Buddhism, Taoism is much more unrestrained. They respect the way of nature. Marrying a wife is the way of nature, drinking and eating meat is the way of nature... except that they must not be uneducated, they are no different from ordinary people, as long as they abide by the laws of the country That's it.But "naturally" also means that they are relatively loose, unable to form all Taoist priests into a powerful force.

(End of this chapter)