Too much fruit

Chapter 754: Great Lack of Virtue
The ghost-faced man's real body escaped, leaving only an illusory body here.

But Manjusri seemed to be furious at his slander against the enlightened one, and his sword energy was still chasing him from hundreds of miles away, as if he was determined to kill the slanderer with his sword.

It seems that this great Buddha really respects the enlightened one and will not tolerate any slander. If Manjusri had not spoken so loudly before...

Now everyone knows that the faces of Karma Tathagata and the Awakened One may be exactly the same, and the Awakened One even wants to purge those who disobey and kill all the people left in the Buddha Kingdom by the Jiang family. Although Manjusri showed a gesture of complete disbelief, the words he said had already planted a seed in the hearts of others.

"Oh, why do people always not believe the truth? My life motto is to be honest with others and never lie."

The ghost-faced man's phantom opened his eyes and lied, while secretly observing everyone around him. He had a hunch that a guy who liked to claim to be "sincere to others" must have also arrived nearby, and the news that the Awakened One and the Karma Tathagata had the same face was most likely spread by this guy.

Others may have the intention to muddy the waters, but they definitely do not know the secrets of the Awakened One and Karma Tathagata. And the only one who knows the secret and can be so wicked is that good brother.

When he first went to Yongzhou, his good brother got in touch with Jue Zhe. He even met Jue Zhe for a while at that time. He knew everything about the collusion between the two of them, not to mention the back of his hand.

Unfortunately, someone also discovered the identity of the Fourth King of the Fire House Buddha Hell and had been on guard for a long time. Even when the ghost-faced man suddenly said "treat others with sincerity", he was not able to catch Jiang off guard.

"That's enough. I have said all I can. If you don't believe me, you can just wait for news from the Buddha Kingdom."

Unable to find the location of his good brother, the ghost-faced man looked helpless as if he had been wronged, and said leisurely: "Go and rest, go and rest."

This phantom body gradually faded, and in just two or three breaths, it completely disappeared.

At the same time, there was no trace of his real body in Tan Wuwei's sight.

"They've gone far away." Tan Wuwei said.

Manjusri, however, still looked angry, and said coldly to the monks inside and outside the city: "The evil obstacles in the Buddha's prison have bad intentions and are trying to slander the abbot. Monks must not listen to the slander, and must not discuss it with each other. If anyone violates this rule, I will not forgive them lightly."

Having said that, those who know that Manjushri has decided not to return to the Buddha's kingdom do understand that Manjushri just wants people to doubt that this is an order from the enlightened one.

Just like the face of Karma Tathagata before, Manjushri wanted to put the blame on the enlightened one.

Only in this way can he stay abroad with a legitimate reason and not return to the Buddha's kingdom.

As for the death of the Jiang family's main family member, Wenshu was certainly angry, but to say how sad he was would be too hypocritical. Maybe Wenshu still cared about the Jiang family, but his feelings for the main family members had long faded.

Compared to the overall situation, that little bit of anger is simply not worth mentioning.

"Manjusri still doesn't know that the Awakened One is happy to see the monks not return," Jiang Li watched this exchange and saw clearly what Manjusri was thinking. "What the ghost-faced man said is indeed the truth. The Awakened One really wants to cleanse. If Manjusri returns to the Buddha's kingdom, the Awakened One will be in trouble."

While thinking, Jiang Li was also observing Jiang Liuguang.

The third-rank official of the Jiang family had a cold expression on his face, but he had no objection to Manjusri's behavior, and obviously agreed to use it to throw dirty water on the enlightened one.

The positions of the Jiang family and Manjusri are closely tied together. If the Buddhist troops go back, the Jiang family, which has already returned to China, will be in trouble.

The two third-rank officials from the Jiang family seemed the most angry, but they were also the most ruthless. Since the family members were dead, they would make full use of their surplus value to help the situation.

After issuing the ban and laying the groundwork for the enlightened one, Manjusri led everyone to the governor's mansion in the city.

Along the way, you can see monks from the Buddhist kingdom coming and going, eliminating some soldiers or practitioners who are still resisting, and destroying temples in the city.

Eighty percent of the temples in Jiuzhou are dedicated to Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang. Although Yongzhou is the hardest hit area by the rebels in Dazhou, it also worships the two first ancestors of human civilization. Especially since Daxing City is the capital of a state, there will be fewer temples for the two ancestors in other places, but not here.

The monks moved the statue of Huangdi out of the temple, while the statue of Yandi remained in the temple, but was also moved away from the throne and replaced by the statue of Vairocana that had been prepared long ago.

They had actually already made the Buddha statue and placed it in a storage device, and immediately replaced it after they captured Daxing City.

Even other statues of Bodhisattvas and Arhats were taken out one by one and placed in order in various temples.

Compared with the governor's mansion, converting the temple into a Buddhist temple is the top priority.

On the way, Manjusri smiled at Jiang Li and said, "Buddhist friend Wuzhiqi, after the salvation of Yongzhou, your Buddha statue should be erected, and then these incense offerings will also be shared by Buddhist friends."

Although theoretically speaking, since the Dao Fruits of the two Daos of God and Buddha are not included, practicing the Gou Zhao method will be half the result with twice the effort, but only by practicing the Gou Zhao method can one be a true fellow Daoist. The speed of practicing the Gou Zhao method is not the problem, but whether or not to practice it is the problem.

When Manjusri said this, it was obvious that he wanted to label Wuzhiqi as a faction member.

Jiang Li pretended to be uninterested and just nodded as a sign of agreement.

The group walked to the governor's mansion. There were monks lined up along the way, and even the sound of conch shells could be heard. It was a very grand occasion.

Just like that, he arrived at the governor's mansion, and saw Lord Shen waiting with an old man and a middle-aged man.

The older one was a man with a long beard, and was an acquaintance of Jiang Li. He was Xiao Xiya, the former governor of Liangzhou and now a traitor to the Great Zhou.

When the Taiping Sect's troops were at the gates of the city, Xiao Xiya opened the city gates to surrender, withdrew from the divine realm to welcome the enemy, and saved his status and life. However, because of this, he became a traitor and rebel after the Taiping Sect's defeat.

Given the intensity of the court's search at that time, Xiao Xiya would die whether he stayed in Liangzhou or left Liangzhou. If he stayed in Liangzhou, his Earthly Dao Fruit would be powerless against the imperial seal; if he left Liangzhou, all his strength would disappear, leaving only his physical strength.

Both of them meant death, so when Lord Shen came to him, Xiao Xiya decisively surrendered again and followed Lord Shen to leave Liangzhou.

The other middle-aged man, wearing brocade clothes, must be Hong Haogu, the governor of Yongzhou.

This person had performed poorly before and after the drought in Yongzhou, and should have been dismissed, but because of the tense situation, it was not appropriate to change, so the dismissal was changed to a salary penalty. This time, the court and the Buddhist country clashed, and Hong Haogu also supported with the divine domain, and cooperated with Kui drum to suppress the Buddhist country, but because the divine whip broke the divine domain, he was pale at this time, obviously seriously injured.

Perhaps because he saw that he was powerless to resist, or perhaps because he saw Xiao Xiya, Hong Haogu also surrendered.

"Three great masters, the elder of Liuguang family."

Shen Hou greeted the third rank officials first, then greeted the fourth rank officials, and then introduced them: "These two are the governors of Yongzhou and Liangzhou respectively. Now they have been called by Buddhism and are willing to join the Buddhist kingdom. With their help, we can stabilize Yongzhou and Liangzhou as quickly as possible."

Hong Haogu supported his injured body, saluted to everyone, and then continued: "This official... Although I have the Dao fruit and can govern a state, when facing the royal seal, I have no choice but to accept it. Moreover, if the emperor issues an edict to abolish my position as governor, my Dao fruit will also be abolished."

There have always been rumors that the emperor is the biggest earth god. The emperor is called a human being, but he is actually a god. The entire Kyushu is the emperor's divine domain. Although many earth gods are in charge of a place, they are essentially working for the emperor. It is unknown whether this rumor is true or not, but from what Hong Haogu said today, the relationship between officials from all over the country and the emperor is really like that.

"In other words, as long as the emperor doesn't depose you from your position, it'll be fine."

Manjusri smiled slightly and said, "I don't need Mr. Hong to become an enemy of the royal family. As long as Mr. Hong calms the people and promotes Buddhism, everything else will be left to the Buddha Kingdom."

Now that the emperor has passed away, how can Hong Haogu be deposed from his position?

Not to mention Hong Haogu, even Xiao Xiya was still the deity of Liangzhou at this time. As long as he returned to Liangzhou, he could still govern the land of the state. Now the new governor of Liangzhou only had an official title, but he was not actually a deity and could not control the land of Liangzhou.

This is the reason why Wenshu sent Shen Hou to pick up Xiao Xiya.

'That is to say, after Yongzhou, it is Liangzhou.'

When Jiang Li saw Xiao Xiya, he immediately understood Manjusri's next strategy.

Rely on the Marquis of Shen to break the divine domains of the local gods, quickly gather the state domains, and then rely on the governor to integrate the land of a state. This is the case with Yongzhou, and it will also be the case with Liangzhou.

Zhang Zhixuan of the Taiping Sect destroyed the Daxing Mountains that separated Yongzhou and Liangzhou before the last battle, allowing the climates of the two places to communicate and making it easier to travel between the two places. The next step for the Buddhist Kingdom is to directly pass through the Daxing Mountains and march into Liangzhou.

As expected, Manjusri continued, "I have sent the believers who were rescued back home. They were originally from Liangzhou. Now that they have returned, they can directly integrate into the community and lay the foundation for the spread of Buddhism. After Yongzhou is settled, it will be Liangzhou."

This sentence was obviously directed to Xiao Xiya, indicating that you will be the next one.

"Thank you, Master." Xiao Xiya expressed his gratitude.

When Liangzhou was hit by floods, the Buddhist Kingdom took the opportunity to recruit many believers. Now, in order to arrange the Liangzhou strategy, these believers are allowed to return to Liangzhou. They are originally from Liangzhou, so it is natural for them to return to their hometown and take root in Buddhism.

Once Yongzhou is taken, it will be a natural process for the Buddhist Kingdom to take Liangzhou and occupy both states at the same time.

If Yongzhou cannot stop the Buddhist Kingdom, Liangzhou will also be unable to stop it.

"This time, the imperial court's troops withdrew with human race bags, and those three did not fight us head-on," Guanyin heard this and said in a concentrated voice, "If we want to take Yongzhou, we must first defeat Guangcheng and Momen Juzi Mo Xuankong and others."

"The third rank is still too difficult to deal with, but as long as we wipe out their troops and gather the lands of various places in Yongzhou, they will be helpless no matter how unwilling they are."

Manjusri smiled and said, "This place still needs human rule. Unless they are willing to take the risk of attacking the converts, otherwise Buddhism will take root, and we will absorb the incense and become stronger and stronger."

Even though he has the upper hand now, Manjusri doesn't dare to say that he can annihilate all three levels of the enemy.

Killing a third-grade warrior is much more difficult than defeating one. The third-grade warriors on our side do not have an absolute advantage. If the other party wants to leave, there is really no way to stop them. However, if the person leaves, the place will be left behind.

Once a state is occupied by the Buddhist kingdom, faith can be rapidly developed and managed into an ironclad entity, allowing the external forms of Manjusri and others to grow rapidly and their powers to improve.

Unless the other party wants to attack ordinary people, you can only watch your side grow stronger.

As for killing ordinary people, not to mention that the characters of Guangcheng, Mo Xuankong and others destined them not to kill indiscriminately, even the position of the court itself determined that they would not massacre the people in the captured areas.

Those were originally the people of the Great Zhou. Wouldn't slaughtering them be giving the enemy a pretext for acting in the name of justice?

"not necessarily."

Tan Wuwei had a different idea, and shook his head and said, "Others may be limited by various reasons, but Jiang Sikong certainly won't. His state of mind is like the state of forgetfulness of the Xuanmen Taishang. Tao is ruthless but also affectionate, Tao is affectionate and ruthless. It seems that his behavior is moderate, but if necessary, he is not taboo-free."

It was Tan Wuwei who personally gave the Grandmaster Zhuang Zhou Dao Fruit to Jiang Li. Tan Wuwei knew the promotion ceremony of Zhuang Zhou Dao Fruit, and he also knew how terrible the state of mind of the person who could hold this Dao Fruit would be.

Although the person has good thoughts, good thoughts cannot limit his mind, and the same is true for bad thoughts.

When Wenshu heard this, his pupils slightly fluctuated, and he was obviously persuaded by Tan Wuwei. He also believed that Jiang Li might do the same.

After all, before this, Jiang Li had personally slaughtered tens of thousands of Taiping Sect followers, and countless others had died indirectly at his hands.

"This fellow of mine is indeed worthy of our fear. We must take Yongzhou before he returns."

Manjusri made the decision and said, "The monks will rest here, and Wusheng Buddha will stay in Daxing, while we will go straight to Qishan."

The Jiang family's ancestral land is in Qishan, so if the other party wants to retreat, they must retreat to the Jiang family's ancestral land. And this time, the other party must not retreat again.

If all the ancestral lands of the Jiang family were taken over, Jiang Li’s reputation as an orthodox clan would be challenged.

Now Jiang Li can dominate the court together with the princess because he is victorious in every battle, as brilliant as the sun in the sky. Zhang Zhixuan died at the hands of Jiang Li, setting a precedent for a fourth-rank official to kill a third-rank official. Tu Bo was also frustrated and surrendered his household registration in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

All these factors have contributed to Jiang Li's current status.

Such are the benefits of fame.

But if this great sun loses its glory one day, it will be challenged from all sides.

Manjusri's move can be said to have hit the nail on the head.

but······
'I'm a little anxious.'

Jiang Li was beside Wenshu, listening to him plotting how to deal with him, and thinking, "Wenshu's move is a bit hasty. But considering that the enlightened one has come out of retreat, he has to be hasty."

No matter how much one opposes the Awakened One, one has to admit that the Awakened One is powerful. That is to say, the Awakened One and Karma Tathagata have reunited after a long separation and are "having a very pleasant conversation", otherwise Manjusri would never dare to throw dirty water on him so blatantly.

At the same time, there was another person who was quietly listening to their plan.

In a corner outside the governor's mansion, water ripples were faintly rippling, time flowed invisibly, and a figure quietly listened, muttering to himself: "My cheap brother hid himself so well that I couldn't find you. But you should be here, listening to Wenshu's strategy. Facing Wenshu's advance, how long can you hold out?"

He raised his hand lightly, holding a faint sword energy between his fingers. "The sword energy emitted by Wenshu is exactly the same as it was a hundred years ago, both in terms of changes and strength. Has he made no progress in the past hundred years? Or is he hiding something else? Jiang Li, the time for you to receive the Dao Fruit of the Son of Heaven is not far away."

(End of this chapter)