Ghostly Tomb

Chapter 1532
Chen Zhi's original plan was to go back and ask people to find information in some isolated notebooks. It is estimated that the secret history of this kind of emperor should be recorded in some special isolated notebooks, which is not so easy to find.

However, what he didn't expect was that after a random search on the Internet, this matter had already surfaced!

It turns out that this strange incident about Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty has been in the conversation among the people since then. Although there is no actual basis, it has been passed down to the present as a legendary story after more than 1000 years.

Even in the most original Journey to the West novel, there is such a record:
Chapters 10 and 11 of "Journey to the West" tell a story about Tang Taizong's death and resurrection.

The origin of the story is that when a dragon made a bet with a fortune teller, he violated the rules of heaven and was executed. The executioner of the heavenly court was a minister under Emperor Taizong.

So the dragon pleaded with Tang Taizong to stop the execution.

Tang Taizong promised to save the dragon's life, but the dragon was still beheaded, so the dragon's unjust soul haunted Emperor Taizong every day to claim his life, and eventually Tang Taizong died and reported to the Hall of Yama.

After the death of Emperor Tang Taizong, he went to the underworld, saw King Yama, and then received a thrilling "threat".

The first thing he met was his old father Li Yuan, as well as his elder brother Li Jiancheng and younger brother Li Yuanji.

After seeing Taizong, these ghosts who had already died rushed over immediately, grabbed his face with their hands, and shouted loudly:
"The people of the world are coming, the people of the world are coming!

We can take revenge..."

It turned out that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were Taizhong's biological brothers, and they were killed by Taizong during the Xuanwumen Incident.

Taizong's father, Li Yuan, was also imprisoned by Taizong during the Xuanwumen Incident, and died in pain.

When these people saw Taizong coming, they came up and beat him to death. They were extremely vicious.

Taizong couldn't dodge in time, and was held back by them. Fortunately, the judge called a ghost with green face and fangs, and shouted them away, so Taizong was able to get away.

Afterwards, King Taizong of the Ten Palaces tried Tang Taizong and listed his many crimes, including murder, treachery, and massacre of living beings.

The most serious of these is that he killed his father and brother and usurped the throne. This is a serious crime of disobedience. After death, he will go to hell and will not be reborn forever.

Taizong was shocked and begged bitterly, but found that the power in the world was useless here. He was picked up by ghost messengers and went to hell.

Arriving at the [-]th floor of hell in the underworld, there are screams of mourning and monsters everywhere. The evil kings of all dynasties and generations in the past were tied tightly to the iron pillars one by one.

The red-haired ghost and the black-faced ghost held spears and daggers, while the bull-headed ghost and the horse-faced ghost held iron sticks and copper hammers, beating them bloody and crying.

Taizong was terrified when he saw it, his majesty was gone, he just knelt down and yelled for mercy.

Then suddenly a ghost messenger called Taizong back, saying that King Hades still had something to say.

When I got to the hall, I saw Hades saying:

"Taizong's name is doomed for 33 years, and there are still 20 years of Yangshou. Now that the case is clear, please return to the original!"

Only then did the ghost messenger send Emperor Taizong back to life and return to the underworld.

After Tang Taizong came back from the dead, his character changed drastically, he was compassionate and humble to others, he gave kind thoughts all day long, and ruled the world with benevolence and virtue.

After Xuanzang took the Western Scriptures and returned to the East, Emperor Taizong received Xuanzang as a monarch and treated him with state courtesy.

Promote Buddhism in major events in the country, build Buddhist statues in Buddhist temples, spread Buddhist teachings, teach the people to be tolerant, benevolent, believe in karma, and do more good deeds.

At that time, Tang Taizong relied most heavily on the national teacher, named Yuan Tiangang.

When Chen Zhi saw the name Yuan Tiangang, Chen Zhi had an intuitive feeling again.

Yuan Tiangang is a legendary figure in history. Like Qiu Chuji in later generations, he was passed down as a god by people.

According to legend, Yuan Tiangang is an immortal who has lived for hundreds of years. He has a good understanding of the principles of heaven and humanities, and can predict good and bad times, as well as major national events. He wrote the famous Chinese prophecy "Tui Bei Tu".

It is said that he is good at "wind learning", that is, he can judge good or bad according to the sound of the wind and the direction of the wind.

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty heard of his reputation and ordered him to be admitted into the court as a think tank, honoring him as a national teacher.

According to the "New Book of Tang Dynasty", Yuan Tiangang has been acquainted with countless people in his life, and he has never missed a single one. The most famous one is Wu Zetian's acquaintance.

At that time, Wu Zetian was still a baby. Yuan Tiangang happened to pass by her door and happened to meet Wu Zetian's mother, Yang.

Yang heard that Yuan Tiangang was a fortune teller, so he asked him to calculate the future and fate of Wu Zetian in his arms. Originally, Yuan Tiangang planned to refuse, but he couldn't stand Yang's soft words, and finally compromised.

When he saw Empress Wu Zetian, he was shocked and said: "Dragon eyes and phoenix neck are extremely expensive! If you are a woman, you will be the emperor!"

People at the time thought Yuan Tiangang's prediction was extremely absurd, but decades later, this prediction proved to be a reality.

And the death of this Yuan Tiangang was also very mysterious, as if he suddenly disappeared from the world.

He had no children, no legacy, and no one has found fragments of records about his cemetery until now. It is only known that he died when he returned home, and the reason is unknown.

Since Qiu Chuji's incident, Chen Zhi's behavior towards Jiang Ziya has a certain context.

Jiang Ziya's purpose is very vague. He may have lived for a long time, but he did not use the same name. Or, his body may have died long ago, but he just survived in another form.

There is a possibility that his name in the Tang Dynasty may be this Yuan Tiangang!
This kind of ancient thing without evidence is difficult to estimate now. Since the Sogdian script calls him a god, let's call this leader a white-clothed god for the time being.

Obviously, this white-clothed deity dominated all of this, leading Buddhism into the Central Plains.

Looking closely at the development of religion in history, in fact, since then, the religious beliefs in this land of China have undergone earth-shaking changes.

The beliefs of the past made people too utilitarian, indulged their own desires too much, and focused on tangible power, making it easy for the world to fall into chaos and strife.

But since Buddhism was introduced to the East, the people on this land have learned to be patient.

The concept of reward for good and evil makes people have scruples when doing evil.

Just like the Tang Dynasty that opened countless flowers, from then on, people learned humility and obedience, began to believe in cause and effect, and believed that everything they did had to pay a price.

The atmosphere of the entire China has been reversed. This is a process of replacing a national belief, a core religion, being replaced...

　There will be another chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)