Wudang

Chapter 31

When Zhang Junbao went out, many of Qi Zhicheng's juniors got the news immediately.

They rushed to the main hall of Changchun Palace one after another.

Zhang Junbao was in charge of this matter, so they sent their disciples to watch Zhang Junbao's movements, and when they learned that Zhang Junbao was leaving, how could they sit idly by?

At least Zhang Junbao had to be given momentum, and he couldn't be bullied by the monks in Changchun Palace.

"Uncle Master!" Qi Zhicheng's juniors, headed by Zhang Zhixian, came nine in total, and nearly a hundred disciples followed behind them. It really felt a bit majestic.

Zhang Junbao nodded, but didn't say anything.

After all, it was in Changchun Palace, Qi Zhicheng might not come, but Zhang Zhixian and the others would be fine.

Monk Deyi and dozens of monks were sitting in the main hall. The old monk was in samadhi, with his eyes closed and he was flicking the beads in his hand.

Sensing movement outside, they all opened their eyes.

"Masters have kept you waiting for a long time." Zhang Junbao said as he stepped into the hall.

"It doesn't matter." Monk Deyi stood up and put his hands together, "I can understand your mood."

These words caused the Quanzhen sect to stare angrily.

Monk Deyi continued to say calmly as if he hadn't noticed it: "This is the Taoist apocryphal scriptures that my Buddhist sect believes, please read it through Daoist Zhang."

With that said, Deyi took out a piece of paper and handed it to Zhang Junbao.

After Zhang Junbao took it, he read the content above, and listed nearly a hundred Taoist scriptures eloquently.

After reading it, Zhang Junbao handed the paper to Zhang Zhixian, and everyone circulated it.

The faces of the people on the Quanzhen sect are very ugly, what is the difference between this and burning all the Taoist scriptures in the world?
If we really want to burn nearly a hundred scriptures, how many scriptures will there be left in the Taoist sect?
Zhang Zhixian and others cast their eyes on Zhang Junbao, no matter what Zhang Junbao's seniority is here, he is the head of everything.

The purpose of their presence was just in case. After all, Zhang Junbao was still young, so he was afraid that some things might not be considered carefully.

Once such a thing happens, they can make up for it.

"Master Deyi, isn't your Buddhism too much?" Zhang Junbao said with a deep voice.

"This was decided by the emperor and the masters." Deyi replied.

"If so, my Taoist sect will have to argue with your Buddhist sect again." Zhang Junbao said coldly, he will not give Deyi any good looks now.

Hearing this, Deyi's face changed slightly.

He expected a strong reaction from the Quanzhen Sect, but Zhang Junbao said that he wanted to argue again, but he felt a little disdainful in his heart.

From his point of view, Zhang Junbao is really a bit drifting.

Thought it was cheap last time, can it be the same every time?
"Oh, the poor monk is curious, what is Daoist Zhang trying to argue? Could it be that "Lao Tzu's Hua Hu Jing" and "Lao Tzu's 81 Hua Tu" shouldn't be burned?" Deyi asked.

Regarding these two scriptures, Zhang Junbao really had no way to refute them.

In fact, even if these two scriptures are apocryphal, forged by later generations, apart from Lao Tzu's nonsense, many other scriptures still contain the truth of life.

After all, after several generations of perfection, it has naturally become a Taoist classic.

It is a pity that the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism is involved, and these two parts are destined to be unable to be preserved.

"If Buddhism persists so much, then even if I sue His Majesty, I will fight for a result." Zhang Junbao stared at Deyi and said.

Deyi was silent for a while, relying on the real Huolong as his master, Zhang Junbao really dared to refer the matter to His Majesty.

Moreover, His Majesty will really meet him, which is a little troublesome.

Judging from His Majesty's attitude yesterday, it's not easy for him to force Quanzhen to teach too much.

"This was decided by the emperor and the masters..." After thinking for a while, Deyi said.

"If you can't be the master, then find someone who can." Zhang Junbao said coldly.

"Don't be upset, Daoist Zhang, some scriptures can still be carefully considered." Deyi said hastily.

Those who can be sent to Quanzhen Sect will naturally be able to call the shots.

Regarding this, Zhang Junbao was also aware of it.

It is more clear that the other party is trying to figure out the door.

Isn't there a saying?
He asked for a lot of money and paid back the money on the spot.

Buddhism lists so many scriptures, in fact, it wants to bargain with itself.

Buddhism hopes to burn as many scriptures as possible, and naturally hopes to keep more scriptures.

So the two sides began to argue about the authenticity of the scriptures.

Zhang Junbao stepped aside, and Zhang Zhixian and the others took over.

They are still good at this.

The debate didn't stop until midnight.

Zhang Junbao knocked on the door of Qi Zhicheng's study.

Seeing Qi Zhicheng frowning tightly holding the scriptures listed on the paper, Zhang Junbao couldn't help saying: "Senior brother, I will fight with them again tomorrow, trying to keep a few more scriptures."

Qi Zhicheng put down the paper in his hand, shook his head and said, "Junior brother, it has exceeded my expectations. I thought that this time, seventy or eighty books would not be kept. I didn't expect it to be 56 books."

"What does that brother mean?"

"If there is no objection from the Buddhist sect, let's make it so." Qi Zhicheng sighed, "There were more than 30 scriptures burned last time. This time the results are already very good. I dare not ask for more. Jun Bao Brother, you have worked hard."

"Actually, Zhixian and the others tried their best to fight for it," Zhang Junbao said.

"If it weren't for you, it wouldn't be so easy." Although Qi Zhicheng was not in the main hall, he still understood the situation there.

It has to be said that Zhang Junbao made Kublai Khan change his attitude yesterday, coupled with Huolong Daoist, there is a certain pressure on the Buddhist side.

Deyi was considered an eminent monk, if Zhang Zhixian and the others were alone, they would not be so easy-going and able to keep so many scriptures.

"The scripture engraving?"

"What can we do? Burn it." Qi Zhicheng said with a wry smile, "If it's not in the Changchun Palace, you can send it back to other temples, or let the Buddhist sect and the imperial court send people to supervise the burning. Now that it's done, it's more thorough. Don't be caught by them again."

Zhang Junbao secretly sighed in his heart, these things cannot be changed.

When Li Zhichang was the head teacher, Mengge Khan's attitude was not as supportive as Kublai Khan's, so he could fool around a little bit, but it is absolutely impossible to do so now.

But compared to the burning scriptures in history, this time it was much better.

What else is there to be dissatisfied with?
It is too late, the most important thing is to settle this matter as soon as possible, lest there will be any changes in the future.

On the morning of March [-], Deyi came to the door again.

He brought the instructions from the Buddhist gate and agreed to the opinions drawn up yesterday.

At the same time, a eunuch named Zhu He in the palace also came with him, representing Kublai Khan.

Buddha, Taoism, and the imperial court can be regarded as three parties jointly witnessing the burning of apocryphal scriptures.

A raging flame was ignited in a large bronze tripod outside the main hall of the Changchun Palace, and scriptures and engraving blocks were thrown into it one after another.

Many Taoist disciples around burst into tears.

The flames rose, and the heat wave rolled up the ashes of the burned scriptures and rushed to the sky.

The scriptures were burned quickly, but the woodblocks were not so quickly.

It can be said that one page of scriptures corresponds to one engraving block. There are dozens of pages for few scriptures, and hundreds of pages for many scriptures, so engraving blocks are the most important.

The engraving blocks were piled up next to the bronze tripod, piled up like a mountain.

This is still part of it, and some of them are in other temples, Buddhism and the imperial court will send people to burn them together.

Some Taoist disciples cried until they passed out. In their hearts, these are all Taoist classics, and now they are being burned, what kind of pain?
"Let them all go down." Zhang Junbao said to Zhang Zhixian beside him.

Miserable, for the Taoists, this scene is not much different from the humiliation of Fan Zhiying and the others who were forced to shave their hair and go home.

Zhang Junbao couldn't bear them to be hit like this, it's better to avoid them.

Zhang Zhixian also realized it, and called a few juniors to persuade the surrounding disciples to go back.

These disciples cried and turned their heads three times, and left with heavy steps.

The number of engravings continued to decrease until there were only two piles left.

These two piles are the engravings of "Lao Zi Hua Hu Jing" and "Lao Zi Hua Tu".

"It's a pity, many of these engravings have a history of hundreds of years, right?" the eunuch Zhu He stretched out his hand to touch the engraving.

What he was talking about was the engraving of "Lao Zi Hua Hu Jing".

Since "Lao Zi Hua Hu Jing" was written very early, most of the original engravings were lost, and few of them have been truly passed down to the present.

Later generations continued to improve, and the number of engravings increased accordingly. Therefore, the engraving history of "Lao Zi Hua Hu Jing" can span hundreds of years.

Some engravings are the original original editions, and the latest ones are some scriptures added by Quanzhen Sect recently.

As for the engraving of "Lao Tzu's 81 Huatu", it is completely new, after all, it was just produced by Quanzhen Sect.

After speaking, he felt that the atmosphere was not right, and felt the anger of Zhang Zhixian and the others, he smiled sarcastically and stepped aside.

As the last block was thrown into the copper tripod, Zhang Junbao couldn't help staring at Deyi and said, "Are you satisfied?"

Deyi clasped his hands together and said, "Daoist Zhang, the poor monk is only following orders."

"Me too." Zhu He rubbed his hands together.

It's not a bad day.

He had no backing in the palace and was sent here.

Even if the Quanzhen Sect is in decline, it cannot be underestimated.

Maybe Buddhist Deyi doesn't care, but he has sympathy in his heart. Although he represents His Majesty, in the face of angry Quanzhen sect disciples, anything can happen.

If a Quanzhen Sect disciple beat him up in anger, or even killed him, His Majesty would probably let it go.

"Satisfied!" Zhang Junbao said with a cold voice.

"I hope the Taoist sect can abide by the agreement and stop distributing fake scriptures..." At this point, Deyi felt the chills around him and couldn't help but paused, "The matter is over, and the poor monk will leave."

"Masters, farewell, farewell." Zhu He bowed his hands to Zhang Junbao and the others, and quickly followed Deyi, fearing that the Quanzhen Sect would fight him in anger.

"Master uncle, let's go." Seeing Zhang Junbao standing beside the bronze tripod in a daze, Zhang Zhixian couldn't help stepping forward and said.

Zhang Junbao still felt a sense of uselessness in his heart.

What apocryphal scriptures, most of which are about the great way of heaven and earth, are also cultural treasures in human history.

Now that it has been burned, it will probably be lost in the future.

I can write down the content now, but who will I pass it on to when the time comes?

Do they dare to continue to pass it on?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, Zhang Junbao yelled and kicked on the bronze tripod.

With a bang, the huge copper tripod was kicked over, and the ashes in the tripod poured out, including the burning engraving, and sparks splashed everywhere. Of course, it was beyond recognition, and it was almost burned.

"Uncle Master." Zhang Zhixian wanted to give Zhang Junbao a hand, but it was too hot beside the copper tripod.

"You go back first, let me stay here alone." Zhang Junbao took a step back.

Zhang Zhixian took a look at Zhang Junbao, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with his senior uncle, he probably wanted to be quiet, so he told his juniors to leave first, and he had to report the matter to the elder brother in charge.

The flames in the cauldron were slowly extinguished, only sporadic sparks were flickering, and a strong wind blew, blowing ashes flying everywhere.

"Eh?" Zhang Junbao suddenly saw something faintly golden in the black ashes blown away by the wind, "Is there anything that hasn't been burnt?"

Zhang Junbao stepped forward to push away the ashes, his pupils shrank slightly.

"Gold leaf?" In Zhang Junbao's hand was a hand-sized gold leaf as thin as a cicada's wing. Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be tiny writing on the gold leaf.

(End of this chapter)