Wentang

Chapter 753
On the fifth day after Yueshan and Xuanzang met, Tang Emperor Li Shimin built the Daci'en Temple in Jinchangfang, Chang'an City, in memory of his parents, and Xuanzang presided over the temple affairs.

This matter was implemented very quickly. The Taishi Bureau selected the location according to Feng Shui on the same day, and produced the design drawings and construction plan on the second day. On the third day, the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry were in place and broke ground.

This incident happened so fast that most people were at a loss as to what the emperor was planning to do.But I didn't think that Li Shimin really missed his parents, so there must be a deep meaning.

Others don't know what the emperor's plan is, but some people know it well, that is Buddhism.

As soon as Yueshan reached an agreement with Xuanzang on the front foot, Li Shimin on the back foot ordered to build a temple for Xuanzang alone.Its purpose is the lice on the bald man's head, obviously.

They who were still hesitating didn't dare to delay any longer, and went to Chang'an to meet Xuanzang one after another.

At this time, Datang's control over monks was very strict, and there must be a valid reason to leave the temple, otherwise they would be sent to prison.

The excuse of these monks is to chant scriptures and pray for the first emperor and his wife, and by the way, pray for the Da Ci'en Temple under construction together.

Li Shimin knew their purpose well, so he pretended not to know and let them come here.

Fifteen days later, the leaders of various branches of the Tang Buddhist School came to Chang'an City one after another.

The gathering of so many great virtues in the capital naturally attracted a lot of attention, and everyone was guessing what these people wanted to do.Especially the academic circles thought that they were going to declare war again, so they all raised their vigilance and prepared for the battle.

Many people even found Yue Shan, hoping that he, the leader of the new school, would come forward to give the Buddhist school a head-on blow.

Yue Shan just told them to be safe and not to be impatient, the Buddhist sect didn't come to make trouble this time, let them do what they should do, and don't care about this matter.

Although everyone didn't know why, they were temporarily relieved seeing what he said with such certainty.

The Buddhist side had a five-day negotiation with Xuanzang, and Yue Shan did not know the specific situation.

But I heard that Xuanzang's tongue-in-cheek battle with the Buddhas left all the Buddhist leaders speechless.He told everyone with practical actions why he was able to walk to Tianzhu and why he retrieved the scriptures from Tianzhu.

Only they knew what agreement was reached within the Buddhist sect, but Xuanzang wrote a letter three days later to ask for the Sakyamuni Buddha to be carried to the Shrine of the Holy Sage, and the leaders of all branches of the Buddhist sect signed their names to support it.

As soon as this news came out, the cultural circles of the Tang Dynasty were reluctant. Why do you, a foreign religion, join my Chinese civilization's sage temple?
They wrote to the imperial court one after another requesting to reject the request of this Buddhist sect, especially the ancient school reacted strongly, and many celebrities even went to the gate of the local temple to yell.

Although there are not many people in this aspect of the New School, there are also many, and many of them ask Yue Shan to stand up and oppose.

This time, Yue Shan was not looking for an excuse to cover up the past, but put out a sentence: Since you think Buddhism is a foreign culture, why not make it a part of the Tang Dynasty?

Become a part of Datang?Everyone was wondering, how did it change?Could it be possible to go back to the past and replace Sakyamuni with a Chinese?

When they wanted to ask more details, Yue Shan had already announced that he would write a book behind closed doors and not ask about foreign affairs.

After he said this, the voice of the new school against Buddhism gradually subsided, and instead began to study the meaning of his words.

It's just that without any prompting, it always misses the point.However, sometimes people just like to dig into the dead end, the more they can't figure it out, the more they want to ponder.

Someone read Yue Shan's life and all the books, and finally everyone agreed that it had something to do with the idea of ​​"Lao Tzu Hua Hu" put forward in "Chinese Civilization".

If the fact that Buddha was a student of Lao Tzu is confirmed, then Buddhist thought can be regarded as a branch of Chinese civilization.

Soon someone put forward a further interpretation, why is Yueshan unwilling to drive Buddhism out?The reason has also been mentioned in his previous works, cultural integration.

Buddhism has been introduced to the Central Plains for hundreds of years, and it has been deeply integrated with Chinese civilization, and it is too expensive to separate it.Rather than that, it's better to absorb it completely.

The more they thought about it, the more they felt it was correct, and finally came to the conclusion that Yue Shan's words meant to let them continue to promote the idea of ​​"Laozi Huahu" and make this matter a reality.

So the new school began to turn its guns and spread the idea of ​​"Lao Tzu Hua Hu".And find many scriptures from Buddhist scriptures that are similar to Lao Tzu's thinking, and analyze the process of Buddha creating this scripture from various angles.

In a word, it is because of the influence of Lao Tzu's thought that the Buddha had similar thoughts.

In the past, some people raised the idea of ​​"Lao Zi Hua Hu". Although Buddhism would not blatantly oppose it, it also resisted it in private.But this time it's as if I didn't hear about Buddhism, so I don't care about it.

This is even more misleading. It is associated with Xuanzang who Yueshan went to meet first, and then the leaders of various branches of Buddhism gathered in Chang'an.

Everyone thought that he beat or subdued Xuanzang, and he also suppressed the entire Buddhist sect by his side.There are even people who made up the process of Yue Shan subduing Xuanzang and Buddhism, which is comparable to the bloody face-slapping and smooth writing in the previous life.

As soon as this rumor came out, the entire new academic circle became more admiring for Yue Shan, and then became more enthusiastic about promoting the idea of ​​"Lao Zi Hua Hu".

Back to the imperial court, the officials also held three attitudes towards the entry of the Buddha into the Sage Temple, some support it, some oppose it, and it doesn't matter whether it is or not.The two sides argued with each other for a while and unexpectedly came to a stalemate, and no one could convince the other.

But some astute people noticed that none of the leaders of Zaifu's department made a statement. You must know that some people said that they wanted to carry the Buddha into the holy shrine, but they all vetoed it outright.

This time, he kept silent and did not object. Could it be that the direction of the court is about to change?
Two days later, the imperial court finally issued a decree to allow the Buddha to enter the Sage Temple as a Buddha.And what's strange is that he didn't rank him, only said he was a saint, and didn't say what rank he was in.

Everyone was even more confused about what the court meant.

At this time, Xuanzang delivered the second memorial on behalf of Buddhism:
For a ten-year period, Buddhism donates 100 million yuan of money and food to the Privy Council every year to open up the territory for the Tang Dynasty, and Buddhism all over the world will provide all conveniences for the army.

As soon as this news came out, the world was shocked, and the Buddhist sect was going crazy.

Didn’t you say that all beings are equal before, didn’t you say that you put down the butcher’s knife and become a Buddha immediately, didn’t you say that you should not kill?Why are you so brave all of a sudden, donating money and effort to support Datang's expansion of territory?

And you support the imperial court in a religious capacity... Well, this kind of thing is not uncommon in history. It is not uncommon for the imperial court to ask rich people to borrow money.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty often did this kind of thing, and even publicly sold his officials.

But there is too much movement in the Buddhist sect. One million yuan of money and food every year is really money, isn't it money?

As for the imperial court, they accepted the money without saying a word, and ordered the Zhengshitang and the Privy Council to jointly set up a department to manage the money.

At this point, no matter how stupid people are, they know that the imperial court has a big plan, but they dare not make such a fuss as before, and they are all waiting to see the further development.

However, others can wait and see, but there is a group of people who cannot sit still, and that is Taoism.

Originally they sat on high and watched Buddhist jokes, but the situation changed in a blink of an eye. The Buddha was enshrined in the Sage Temple, and Buddhism also bleeds to support the imperial court to expand its territory.

This is going to turn the sky upside down.

Let them continue to do this, maybe the Taoists will be overwhelmed by them again.After being suppressed for so many years, Taoism is naturally unwilling to fight back with great difficulty.

No, we have to join forces, we have to do things, and we have to show our loyalty to the court.

Half a month later, Taoism also made donations.But this time they donated to the court, not the Privy Council.It is also 100 million yuan per year for a period of ten years.

Li Shimin was surprised when he saw this memorial, and then accepted this large windfall with a smile.All I paid was to publicly praise Taoism for its country-mindedness, and I am very relieved.

Taoism seems to have taken advantage of it, which is a joy.

After Yue Shan knew about this incident, he also felt dumbfounded. Taoism is really... rushing to send money to the court.

On this day, Li Shimin brought his eldest grandson Wugou and Wu Chang to visit Li Shu and Li Xiang.

Unfortunately, Li Shu went to the medical school accompanied by Li Lizhi. Li Shimin didn't want to disturb too many people, so he didn't go there, but waited for her to come back at home.

But today happened to be the weekend when Li Xiang was at home, so he was arrested to inspect his studies.Needless to say, I can recite the thousand-character prose backwards, and I can add and subtract within ten without breaking my fingers and opening my mouth.

And every move is very polite, just like the little adult, and he is completely different from before.

Changsun Wugou and Wu Chang's jaws almost dropped in surprise, they kept praising Yueshan's disciples for their good manners.Li Shimin was also very satisfied, and he was full of praise for Yue Shan.

Only Yue Shan laughed secretly in his heart, even if your wisdom is as deep as the sea, you have been played by a five-year-old child.

Why do you think?This is a bit long to talk about.

After Yue Shan brought Li Xiang back, he didn't teach Li Xiang personally, but treated him similarly to his father, took a false name and threw him into Longshou Mountain Junior School.

Speaking of a pseudonym, Yue Shan even made a joke: Wu Mingkong.

This guy has completely let go of the sheep since he entered school, and he became a child's head within a few days. He led a group of children to make trouble every day, and became a shit-stirring stick in the eyes of the teacher.

The problem is that he is smart and quickly finds the weak spots of his teachers.

As long as you study well, you won't be punished too severely for making mistakes.If you behave more politely in front of the teacher, you won't even be punished.

Then he was as obedient as he was in front of the teacher, and he couldn't find any faults, and his academic performance improved very fast.

Addition and subtraction within ten, which is impossible to teach in the palace, can be used proficiently in a few days in the academy, and the thousand-character prose can be memorized in a week.

The gentlemen were both loving and angry with him.

Yue Shan naturally saw everything, but he didn't bother, as long as he didn't do bad things, let him go.

Today he used this trick again to fool Li Shimin and the others, and it really succeeded again.

But after all, he was a child. After being quiet for a while, he couldn't sit still, and his eyes began to wander.

Yue Shan naturally wouldn't let him reveal his secrets, and said, "Little Xiang, go and see if your little aunt and the others are back."

"Okay." Li Xiang jumped off the chair and ran away, but because he was too happy, he seemed to forget to salute and leave.

It's just that the three of Li Shimin were immersed in the joy of the child's progress at last, and didn't care about it.

When Li Xiang left, Li Shimin glanced at the eldest grandson Wugou without saying anything, she immediately got up and said to Wu Chang: "Chang'er, let's go to the place where Shu'er and Xiang'er live."

Wu Chang didn't notice it, and thought she was really going to the backyard, plus she couldn't even think about sitting with the emperor, the pressure was too great.Immediately said happily: "Okay."

After the two of them left, Li Shimin asked: "Buddhism is already in the game, how do you think we can capture Tianzhu?"

Yue Shan shook his head and said: "Saint, haste makes waste. Now is not the time to take Tianzhu. Compared with Tianzhu, the Western Turks are the current enemy."

Li Shimin said disdainfully: "Western Turks have long been disintegrated, and in recent years they have been defeated one after another by our Tang cavalry. It's already sunset. How come the words of the enemy?"

Yue Shan said: "The centipede is dead but not stiff. The Turks have been operating in the Western Regions for more than a hundred years. It is not so easy to be wiped out."

"Especially the countries in the Western Regions, who have no ties to the Western Turks. Once our Great Tang reveals a weakness, they will definitely fight back. Therefore, without completely defeating the Western Turks, it is impossible to talk about stabilizing the situation in the Western Regions."

"And even if we defeat the Western Turks, we still have to face another problem. If the battle line is too long, supply will become the most fatal problem."

"If we rely solely on collecting food and grass on the spot, I am afraid that the countries in the Western Regions will be forced to rebel. If they backstab us at a critical moment, the consequences may be very serious."

Even though Li Shimin was very inflated, he still had the strategic vision that he should have. Naturally, he would not naively think that others would not dare to rebel, so his expression became serious.

"Then how do you say we should stabilize the countries in the Western Regions, and how to solve the supply problem?"

Yue Shan already had a draft in mind, and immediately said: "It is very simple to stabilize the countries in the Western Regions. It is nothing more than coercion and temptation. Use a powerful army to frighten them, and then send Buddhist and Taoist masters from China to the Western Regions to preach."

Li Shimin asked in puzzlement, "Why do you let Buddhism and Taoism go?"

Yue Shan said: "Religion is the best at deceiving people's hearts. As long as they add some good words about Datang when they preach, it can affect the attitude of the entire Western Regions toward Datang."

"And saints, don't forget that once we meet them in the future, the Western Regions will become our rear, providing logistical resources for the front-line troops. There must be no problems here."

"We must prevent them from secretly preaching in the Western Regions and using religion to instigate rebellion against the countries in the Western Regions."

"The best way to deal with religion is another religion. We must first use Buddhism and Taoism to master the thoughts of people in the Western Regions. There is a chance that we can even invade the forces in reverse and fundamentally disintegrate them."

Li Shimin nodded and said: "What you said is very reasonable. I will discuss this matter with the ministers when I go back. How about solving the logistics?"

Yue Shan said: "Does the sage still remember the Ningyuan Kingdom?"

Li Shimin said: "I know, it is Dawan in the Han Dynasty, and the bloody BMW is produced here."

Yue Shan said: "The terrain of Ningyuan Kingdom is equivalent to Guanzhong in the Tang Dynasty, and its area is twice that of Guanzhong. Immigrants and farms here can not only solve the supply problem, but also set up a state to send officials when the opportunity is ripe."

"If this step can be achieved, the Western Regions will become the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty, instead of existing as a vassal state as it is now."

The territory of Ningyuan Kingdom is in the Fergana Basin, and the Fergana Basin is the granary of Central Asia. The materials produced here in the previous life have fed less than half of the Central Asian people.

If Datang can occupy this place and immigrate to farmland, and then set up prefectures and counties to send officials, the Western Regions will really become the hinterland, and Central Asia will also become the fat of Datang.

In the future, troops can also be sent from here to attack Tianzhu, which will serve multiple purposes.

(End of this chapter)