Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 925 0920 [The Way Out for the Poor Family in Goryeo]

Tianwang Temple, Luoyang.

After the Ming Dynasty moved its capital, Zhu Ming specially transferred Dahui Zonggao to be the abbot.

When Zhu Ming captured Chengdu, he met Dahui Zonggao and his teacher Yuanwu Keqin.

Last year, Yuanwu Keqin passed away.

Dahui Zonggao's fame was growing day by day, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that his name was known throughout the world.

Such an eminent monk naturally had to stay in the capital to facilitate the court's management.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Zen Buddhism developed rapidly due to the support of scholars. They exchanged poems with local officials and naturally received more support than other Buddhist sects.

Among Zen Buddhism, the Linji school has the greatest influence.

Within the Linji Sect, it is further subdivided into the Yangqi School and the Huanglong School.

The Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng has always been controlled by the Huanglong Sect.

Over the years, celebrities who have had close contacts with the Huanglong School include Zhou Dunyi, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zeng Gong, Huang Tingjian, Wang Anshi, Zhang Shangying, etc. For example, Su Shi and Huang Tingjian were simply lay Buddhists of the Huanglong School.

Even the Zen Buddhism of Japan and Goryeo currently belongs to the Hwanglong School.

Zhu Ming thought that letting a hundred flowers bloom was the best thing, so he supported the Yangqi School, and Dahui Zonggao was the key figure.

"Abbot, an imperial decree has arrived!"

"Why panic? Just follow me to receive the order."

Dahui Zonggao went out calmly, washed his hands and tidied his clothes. The monk in charge of reception had already set up the incense table.

The Director of the Buddhist Affairs Bureau also came and stood next to the emperor.

After all the monks were in place, the traveler opened the imperial edict and read out: "The Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty decreed: There is now a country called Sri Lanka, formerly the Lion Country of Buddhist scriptures. The king of the country offered the Three Treasures of Buddhism, one of which is the tooth of Sakyamuni. Order the Tianwang Temple in Luoyang to build a pagoda for the tooth of the Buddha to enshrine it and spread Buddhism in the imperial capital..."

Before the imperial edict was read out, all the monks looked at the thing in the hands of the monk registrar.

The teeth of Sakyamuni?
"I accept the order!" Dahui Zonggao took the imperial edict with both hands.

Si Zheng also handed over the box containing the Buddha's tooth and said with a smile: "The two Buddha's teeth mentioned in Buddhist scriptures of various countries are now gathered in Daming. Your Majesty has ordered the recall of the Buddha's tooth from Shandong and re-enshrined it in the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng. From now on, Luoyang and Kaifeng will each enshrine one, and the two Buddha's teeth will forever guard the two capitals of the east and west."

Even though Dahui Zonggao was well versed in Buddhism, he was excited at this moment: "This is a great event in Buddhism! Your Majesty has been chosen by heaven to gather the Buddha's tooth."

Si Zheng took out another short scroll and said, "This is your Majesty's imperial calligraphy. When the Tooth Relic Pagoda in Tianwang Temple is built, have the craftsmen carve the imperial calligraphy on a stele next to the pagoda."

Dahui Zonggao took the short scroll with both hands, opened it and saw four words: "Forever Guard the Two Capitals!"

The official who delivered the imperial edict left quickly, and the monks gathered around him.

Dahui Zonggao opened the box. Although the Buddha's tooth did not show any unusual sight, it still made everyone exclaim in amazement.

The Buddhist relics and bowls brought back from Ceylon were sent to Mount Wutai in Shanxi.

The monks from many temples in Mount Wutai persisted in resisting the Jin for several years. All the temples were burned down, and they fled to the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare. They suffered heavy casualties due to lack of food and clothing, and finally cooperated with the Ming soldiers to fight back.

In the same year that Zhu Ming recovered Wutai County, he ordered the allocation of funds to build the Huguo Temple on Mount Wutai, and designated the temple as a ten-direction monastery.

The monks from various temples in Mount Wutai all practiced in the Huguo Temple, and 500 certificates of ordination were issued at one time.

Of course, taxes must be paid according to the law!
……

Luoyang Tianwang Temple is still recruiting workers to build the Buddha Tooth Relic Pagoda and will soon welcome the first batch of guests.

They were envoys from various states, all of whom came to watch the fun. In addition to the Nanyang circle, envoys from Xixia, Goryeo, Japan, and Dali also came.

"Please don't get too close. Please keep three feet away from the Buddha's tooth," the monk reminded.

Many messengers lined up and walked forward, clasping their hands together and chanting Buddhist names, their eyes fixed on the Buddha's tooth without moving.

The Goryeo envoy Jin Yungui murmured to himself: "Is it true that the Ming Dynasty is blessed by Buddha?"

He left quietly after the service, feeling extremely heavy-hearted.

Although Wang Gou, the King of Goryeo, eliminated the powerful ministers for the third time and regained his freedom from house arrest, he still could not completely control the government.

Wang Gou used the excuse of revitalizing the country and imitated the Ming Dynasty to implement the cabinet and six ministries, hoping to regain power by establishing the cabinet and six ministries. However, the positions of cabinet ministers and ministers were divided among the major families.

All the king could do was to promote a few officials from humble backgrounds to serve in the Tongzhengyuan and the Supervisory Yuan.

They only barely obtained some powers of government and supervision.

Gradually, these officials from humble backgrounds were secretly won over by the powerful families.

The only people the King of Goryeo could really trust were a group of eunuchs...

In order to consolidate their power, the aristocratic families jointly proposed to ban marriages between royal relatives. The reason was simple: it was not in line with Confucian ethics.

"Where is the Goryeo envoy?" An official from the Honglu Temple ran into the Tianwang Temple and shouted.

Jin Yungui quickly agreed: "Here."

The official from the Honglu Temple said, "You will be in the palace to see the emperor tomorrow, so you should prepare yourself well."

The next afternoon, Kim Yun-kyu was brought into the palace by officials and finally met the emperor after a long wait.

After paying their respects, Zhu Ming asked, "Are you here to demarcate the border between the two countries?"

Jin Yungui said: "Our country and Ming Dynasty have not yet drawn a border, and the territory is difficult to define. There are many lawless people who travel between the borders of the two countries to commit crimes. I implore Your Majesty to send officials to demarcate the border."

In the past few years, Goryeo ministers were still clamoring to recover lost territory, and envoys had been asking the Ming Dynasty to return Pyongyang.

Now they were too lazy to even shout slogans, they just wanted to draw the boundary as soon as possible so that they could live in peace. Zhu Ming asked, "How do you want to draw the boundary?"

Kim Yun-gyu said: "The west is bounded by the main stream of the Taedong River, and the east is bounded by the mouth of the Gwodeung River (30 miles south of Hamhung). From the mouth of the Gwodeung River, follow the ups and downs of the mountains to the Taedong River."

Zhu Ming didn't quite understand either and looked at Zheng Zhichang who was sitting in the hall.

Zheng Zhichang said: "The Taedong River has several tributaries, and the middle branch should be used as the border between the two countries."

Jin Yungui was furious and pointed at Zheng Zhichang and said, "You were born in Pyongyang and served as an official in Goryeo. Even if you are an official of Ming Dynasty now, how can you sell out the territory of your motherland?"

Zheng Zhichang smiled and said, "Pyongyang has been the land of Jizi's Korea since ancient times, and Jizi is the ancestor of our Chinese people. I was born a Chinese, but I have temporarily become a foreigner. Now, Pyongyang and I have both returned to our ancestral country. What relationship do I have with you, Goryeo?"

"How can this be possible? How can this be possible!" Jin Yungui was very angry.

Zheng Zhichang said: "If you want to draw a line, do as I say. Otherwise, the worst that can happen is another fight."

After hearing this, Jin Yungui dared not speak anymore.

Zhu Ming said: "Zheng Qing."

"I'm here!" Zheng Zhichang stood with his hands clasped.

Zhu Ming said: "I appoint you as the boundary demarcation envoy to go to Pyongyang to contact Goryeo and draw a detailed demarcation of the border between Ming and Goryeo."

Zheng Zhichang said excitedly: "I will not fail in my mission and will fight for every inch of Ming territory."

He was in charge of Goryeo affairs in the Honglu Temple, and occasionally also took charge of diplomatic affairs with Japan.

Zheng Zhichang was still somewhat polite when facing the Japanese envoy.

However, when facing the Goryeo envoys, Zheng Zhichang was always aggressive and petty, fearing that others would think he still had old feelings for his motherland.

After returning home after demarcating the borders this time, he will surely be rewarded with merit and promotion.

Even if one's official position does not rise, one's official rank will rise by one level. If one has accumulated enough experience, promotion will be smoother in the future.

Jin Yungui left the palace in a daze, and he didn't know how to report back to the country.

Although most of the territories demarcated according to Zheng Zhichang's method are now under the actual control of the Ming Dynasty, there is still a small part of the territory that will be cut off by the Ming Dynasty.

Jin Yungui will definitely take the blame for this!
Even the responsibility for the loss of Pyongyang was put on Kim Yun-kyu.

Because Pyongyang was "borrowed" by the Ming Dynasty, Goryeo never recognized it. It was only after Kim Yun-kyu's diplomatic mission that it was confirmed that Pyongyang belonged to the Ming Dynasty.

So what if I disagree?
Can we defeat the Ming Dynasty?

All the aristocratic families in Goryeo relied on the Ming Dynasty to do business and make money.

In particular, the crazy influx of cheap cloth from the Ming Dynasty caused Goryeo's economic system to completely collapse.

The Chinese used it as a currency for trading, which was used by the Chinese people to wear mourning clothes. As a result, better quality cloth was continuously imported from Ming Dynasty, and the Goryeo market soon became a mess.

The Koreans, who had power, vision and wealth, bought Ming cloth from the coastal areas and took it to inland cities to defraud and make money.

Merchants from inland cities took Ming cloth and went to surrounding villages to make money.

Countless Goryeo people were deceived and suffered from ecstasy.

There were many lower-class Goryeo people whose savings of several generations were cheated away by just a few dozen pieces of coarse linen.

However, the aristocratic families of Goryeo took the opportunity to amass countless wealth.

Now in Goryeo, only Ming copper coins are recognized, and cloth has only the most basic practical value.

The wealthy Goryeo nobles gradually began to enjoy the luxury goods from the Ming Dynasty.

Especially in the capital Kaizhou and several coastal cities, more and more wealthy Goryeo people wore silk. Some even bought glass mirrors and clocks, which were extremely expensive and cost the people a lot of money.

They are exploiting the people even more severely!
Famine continued to occur in many rural areas of Goryeo, but there were still merchants selling grain to the Ming Dynasty.

For two consecutive years, peasant uprisings occurred in Goryeo, but they were quickly suppressed by the aristocratic families.

Kim Yun-kyu was born into a poor family in a small Goryeo family.

With the economic invasion of the Ming Dynasty, this small family became more difficult. Their family savings were mostly stored in the form of cloth, but now cloth is worthless!

Shandong had many large water-powered spinning wheels that could spin linen in large quantities, and the cost was countless times lower than that of Goryeo. (This type of water-powered spinning wheel appeared in the Yuan Dynasty, causing the price of linen to fall. But it could not be used to spin cotton yarn because cotton fibers are shorter and easier to break.)
After returning to Sifangguan, Jin Yungui felt more and more lost.

The country is facing internal and external troubles.

The family is gradually declining.

An individual was thrown in to draw the line and take the blame.

He really couldn't see any bright future, and felt that there was only a bottomless hell ahead.

The king is wise, and those aristocratic families are the root of the trouble!
Jin Yungui suddenly realized the truth in Sifang Pavilion in Luoyang. He planned to contact more scholars from humble backgrounds after returning to China to overthrow the rule of the aristocratic families.

But the aristocratic families hold all kinds of power from the court to the local areas.

How could the poor family possibly overthrow it?

After tossing and turning in bed all night, Jin Yungui suddenly thought of Zheng Zhichang.

Zheng Zhichang already holds a high position in the Ming Dynasty, why can't I?
He returned to China to contact poor scholars with no future, and spread the idea that wealthy and powerful families were bringing disaster to the country and the people.

Make the situation chaotic, then lure the Ming army southward, and from now on we will all be citizens of the Ming Dynasty!

Anyway, I'm already in this terrible state. Maybe if the Ming Dynasty annexes Goryeo, life will become better for our small family.

(End of this chapter)