Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 234 Religion
"This is the power of time!"

After sending the three members of the Li family away, Zhu Youjian sighed.

Regardless of how ridiculous the fact that Queen Mother Li was named Nine Lotus Bodhisattva was initially, after more than fifty years of publicity, this matter has been accepted by people.

Most of the people who blocked or laughed secretly back then are already dead. When the new generation comes into contact with Buddhism, they naturally accept the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva.

That's why Zhu Youjian dared to designate Jiulian Bodhisattva as the incarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva, called Jiulian Guanyin Bodhisattva.

In this way, Zhu Youjian, as a descendant of Empress Dowager Li, became the queen of Guanyin Bodhisattva. People who believe in Guanyin Bodhisattva will naturally feel closer to him.

There was also a solid bond between the Ming royal family and Buddhism.

Judging from the situation of Buddhism in the Ming Dynasty, it is very likely that they will accept this. Moreover, the new temples Zhu Youjian ordered the Li family to build overseas were all Nine Lotus Guanyin Bodhisattva temples. With this basic chart, Nine Lotus Guanyin Bodhisattva is likely to become the main image of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

The only thing that makes him doubt is whether the Li family can shoulder this important task and get things done:

“We need to give the Li family some support and let them do this well. 』

“We need to canonize more gods so that people who go to sea can have spiritual sustenance. 』

This idea came about because Zhu Youjian never forgot that when missionaries such as Matteo Ricci brought Western learning, their purpose was to preach. In the process of Western colonial expansion, missionaries also played a significant role.

Zhu Youjian wanted to push Ming Dynasty into the Age of Discovery, so he naturally had to pay attention to the role of religion. Moreover, he did not ask for fanatical missionaries in the Ming Dynasty, as long as he could stabilize his religious beliefs. Lest those who go to sea have no spiritual sustenance and believe in Western religions.

Judging from the fact that Jinshi like Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao were baptized and embraced the religion, Catholic doctrine is still very attractive. Some Confucian scholar-bureaucrats are beginning to accept it.

Zhu Youjian was worried that after the further spread of Catholicism, chaos like the worship of God might occur, and he was extremely vigilant about this:
"The domestication of Taoism has gone through chaos such as the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Sun En Rebellion. 』

"The domestication of Buddhism has gone through events such as the three martial arts and one sect destroying Buddhism. But until now, the White Lotus Sect, a branch of Buddhism, is still among the people and has been committed to rebellion. 』

"If Catholicism spreads on a large scale, troubles during the domestication process are almost inevitable. The current Ming Dynasty cannot withstand the trouble. 』

As part of the ruling tool, Zhu Youjian is relatively at ease with the current Buddhism and Taoism, and does not think that these two religions can cause any big trouble.

But he lacked confidence in the monotheistic religion introduced from the West. These religions were not fully domesticated in later generations of China, and Zhu Youjian was not confident in turning them into tools of his own rule.

Therefore, he chose to stabilize Ming's existing religious beliefs and resist new religious invasions.

The matter of Nine Lotus Guanyin Bodhisattva is part of this attempt.

In the future, people who go to sea, whether at sea or on land, can believe in the Nine Lotus Guanyin Bodhisattva and have a spiritual sustenance.

For those who do not believe in Buddhism, Zhu Youjian also plans to help them find a belief to prevent their ideological position from being occupied by Western religions.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian immediately ordered:
"I have called Cao Sicheng, the young minister of Taichang Temple, to see you. I want to inquire about religious sacrifices."

He ordered the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple and Cao Sicheng, who was in charge of temple affairs, to be summoned to inquire about religious sacrifices.

Cao Sicheng was previously the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Because he was familiar with the imperial official system, when Zhu Youjian was demoted and appointed, he was specially transferred to Taichang Temple to be in charge of the Sacrifice General Administration and determine the temple levels.

This matter has been going on for more than a month now. If Cao Sicheng works hard, there should be some results.

Cao Sicheng was demoted by the emperor because of his rebellion, so he certainly didn't dare to do things carelessly. Otherwise, if someone is labeled as someone who is resentful and careless in doing things, he will be left with nothing to eat.

Upon hearing the emperor's summons, Cao Sicheng did not dare to neglect and immediately entered the palace to meet the emperor.

Zhu Youjian first asked about Taichang Temple. As one of the first yamen to be adjusted, three months have passed since the adjustment of Taichang Temple. Four general administrations, namely the General Administration of Temples and Ceremonies, the General Administration of Sacrifice, the General Administration of Religion and the General Administration of Translation, have been established and are progressing very smoothly. However, Cao Sicheng also had difficulties and complained:

"Now that the four major general offices of Taichang Temple have been newly established, there is only one official in charge of the temple. It is really difficult to support alone."

"Your Majesty, please appoint a young minister for Taichang Temple to take charge of various general administrations."

Li Biao, the minister of Taichang Temple, and Qian Qianyi, the right young minister of Taichang Temple, were both recommended by the court last month and had not yet had time to go to Beijing to take up their posts.

Cao Sicheng, Zuo Shaoqing, can be said to be the only person in charge of Taichang Temple now.

In the past, Taichang Temple was a quiet yamen, and only one young minister could take charge of things. But now Taichang Temple, which has the power of worship, religion, translation and other aspects, cannot be managed by a young minister.

Zhu Youjian listened to Cao Sicheng's complaints and saw that he looked very tired. He knew that he had pushed too hard during this period and put Cao Sicheng under a lot of pressure, so he comforted him:
"Cao Qing managed to hold on for a while, and it will be fine when Li Biao and Qian Qianyi take office."

"Isn't Ni Yuanlu, who presided over the Jiangxi Provincial Examination, returned? According to the previous practice, he was promoted to the position of minister. As the director of Taichang Temple, he acts as the Taichang Temple Prime Minister to assist you in your work."

Added someone to Cao Sicheng to respond to his complaints.

Cao Sicheng knew the name Ni Yuanlu. She was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi and was an editor at the Hanlin Academy before. After Liu Hanru was appointed to the civil service department and was put to great use by the emperor, it was foreseeable that the Jinshi in the same department in the second year of Tianqi would be reused.

Ni Yuanlu must have benefited from this. After being promoted by the emperor to the rank of sixth-rank minister, he also acted as the minister of the fifth-rank temple. She was promoted several levels and was on track to become a high-ranking official.

Cao Sicheng would not envy this opportunity. Because he knew that Ni Yuanlu had another identity besides being a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi——

That is Yuan Keli's disciple, or even his successor. Otherwise, Cao Sicheng would not be idle and would even pay attention to an editor of the Hanlin Academy.

As Yuan Keli's favorite disciple, Ni Yuanlu attracted the attention of many people after returning to the court. Zhu Youjian also valued him very much and put him in the position of Taichang Temple Prime Minister to test his ability.

If he can pass the test, Zhu Youjian will have to consider whether to quickly promote Ni Yuanlu and enhance Yuan Keli's strength. After all, this is the neutral faction that he tried his best to support and is now one of the civil leaders in the court.

Cao Sicheng guessed part of these considerations. Therefore, he had little hope for Ni Yuanlu's ability to do things, and asked again:

"The General Administration of Translation was renamed from Siyi Pavilion."

"According to the old system, the Admiral Siyi Hall has a Taichang Temple Shaoqing admiral."

"Furthermore, the Siyi Guan Yamen is quite far from Taichang Temple. I think we should add a young minister to take charge of the General Administration of Translation."

　"History of Ming Dynasty":
　　Ni Yuanlu, courtesy name Yuru, was born in Shangyu. Father Dong has known the four prefectures of Fuzhou, Huai'an, Jingzhou and Qiongzhou, and he has the title of official.

　　In the second year of Tianqi's reign, Yuan Lu became a Jinshi, changed to a commoner, and was awarded the title of editor. He was entrusted with the title of Defu and returned home after illness. Return to the court and appear in the Jiangxi Provincial Examination.

　　When Ji returned to his throne, Emperor Zhuang Lie was executed, and Wei Zhongxian had already been executed. …

　　In February of the seventeenth year, he was ordered to give lectures to the original official Zhiri. After more than a month, Li Zicheng was trapped in the capital. Yuan Lu dressed up and paid homage to Que. The big book said:
　　"The Southern Capital can still be done. If you die, I will share it with you. Don't hide it with your quilt. It hurts me to expose my corpse and talk about it."

　　Then he sat facing south, took some silk, and hanged himself to death. He was given as a gift to Shaobao, Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and given the posthumous title Wenzheng. This dynasty gave him the posthumous title Wenzheng (Wenzhen).

　　(Ni Yuanlu was a loyal minister at the Wenzheng level, and died in the Jiashen Kingdom.

　　Wen Zheng who was posthumously posthumous in the Southern Ming Dynasty included Fang Xiaoru, Ni Yuanlu and Liu Lishun.

　　The other two Wenzhengs of the Ming Dynasty were Li Dongyang and Xie Qian)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)