China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 34

Only then did Wei Zheng clarify the reason for his visit, and said: "The emperor wants to seize the girl for his own, is this something a good king can do?" Li Shimin quickly admitted his mistake, blamed himself, and immediately An edict was issued to cross out that girl's name from the list of concubines.

From then on, Li Shimin trusted Wei Zheng more and more, and Wei Zheng's opinions not only became more and more sharp, but also became more and more sharp.

Once, just after going to court, Wei Zheng debated with Li Shimin about one matter.The monarchs and ministers each said their own reasons, and they refused to give in to each other, and they fought until their faces were red.Li Shimin was furious, and really wanted to give an order to drive Wei Zheng out of the palace, but he was afraid that he would lose his good reputation of being good at accepting advice in front of the ministers, so he tried his best to hold down his anger.After retreating back to the palace, Li Shimin was still furious, and said angrily: "One day, I will kill this country bumpkin!" Empress Changsun didn't understand why Li Shimin was so angry, so she asked, "Your Majesty wants to kill him?" Who?" Li Shimin yelled: "Kill who? I want to kill Wei Zheng! This country bumpkin is too rampant, always embarrassing me in front of everyone, I am at his mercy!" Changsun Fuhou listened He walked into the inner room without saying a word, changed into a formal attire for meeting the emperor, came to Li Shimin, and knelt down respectfully.Li Shimin was confused.I only heard Empress Changsun say: "Congratulations to the emperor, congratulations to the emperor. I heard that only wise emperors have upright ministers. Now that Wei Zheng has violated Yan Zhizhi and is upright, it shows that the emperor is wise. So I congratulate the emperor."

After hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly realized, and all the anger in his heart disappeared.From then on, Li Shimin not only did not resent Wei Zheng, but often praised him in front of the ministers: "People say that Wei Zheng has a violent attitude and rude behavior. I think that is precisely his charming and lovely place!"

Wei Zheng didn't care whether Li Shimin was angry, praised him, or gave Li Shimin his opinion.In just over ten years, Wei Zheng gave Li Shimin more than 200 criticisms and suggestions, large and small.The reason why he dared to speak out and persuade him was that he knew that Li Shimin had one of the greatest fears, which was the fear of subjugation.Therefore, Wei Zheng often cited the example of the Sui Dynasty to persuade Li Shimin. Li Shimin also knew that Wei Zheng was a loyal minister who helped him avoid the disaster of subjugation, so he could accept the advice.

In 643 AD, Wei Zheng fell seriously ill.Li Shimin sent people to visit him every day to express his greetings, hoping that he could offer some advice for himself.When he was critically ill, Li Shimin came to Wei Zheng's bed in person, looked at Wei Zheng, shed tears with sadness, and asked Wei Zheng: "What else does my beloved minister want?" Wei Zheng replied slowly: "I don't want anything anymore, I only worry about the future of the country!" Li Shimin held Wei Zheng's hand tightly, unable to say anything.

Soon, Wei Zheng passed away, and Li Shimin rushed to offer his condolences in person.In front of Wei Zheng's coffin, Li Shimin remembered Wei Zheng's past events of serving the country loyally and admonishing Yan Yan, and wept again sadly.Due to being too sad, Li Shimin did not go to court for 5 days.Li Shimin also issued an imperial edict ordering all civil and military officials to mourn Wei Zheng and attend Wei Zheng's funeral.

After Li Shimin held a grand funeral for Wei Zheng, as soon as he went to court to discuss matters, he sighed to all the officials: "Using copper as a mirror, you can see whether the clothes and hats are properly worn; using history as a mirror, you can see the reasons for the rise and fall of a country." "Using people as a mirror, you can find out whether you are doing right or wrong. Now that Wei Zheng has passed away, I have lost a mirror to clearly see my gains and losses."

●Princess Tang Wencheng enters Tibet
The Tubo people are the ancestors of the Tibetan people. They lived on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and lived a farming and nomadic life. They were brave and good at fighting.The leader of the Tubo people is called "Zanpu", which means a majestic and powerful man.

Zanpu Songtsan Gampo of Tubo was very envious of the culture of the Tang Dynasty. In 640 AD, he sent the prime minister (equivalent to the prime minister) Lu Dongzan to Chang'an to propose marriage with 5000 taels of gold and hundreds of treasures. The princess married him.

Princess Wencheng was born in the royal family, smart, beautiful, read a lot, and very talented.Li Shimin prepared a generous dowry for her, including various daily utensils, jewelry, silk, clothes and so on.In 641 AD, Li Shimin sent Minister of Rites and Jiangxia King Li Daozong (Princess Wencheng's father) to escort Princess Wencheng to Tibet. Songtsan Gampo personally led a team to welcome her.

When Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, she brought many historical and literary books, scriptures, Buddhist scriptures, and books on medicine, production, and crafts, as well as a large amount of grain, vegetable seeds, and production tools.She also helped the Tibetans implement the calendar and taught Tibetan women weaving and embroidery.The water mill she brought was well received by the Tubo people, enabling them to learn to use water resources.Princess Wencheng believed in Buddhism. Under her influence, Songtsan Gampo advocated Buddhism and built the Jokhang Temple.The band brought by Princess Wencheng has greatly enriched Tibetan music.At that time, Songtsan Gampo continued to send noble children to Chang'an to study, and many learned people from the Tang Dynasty were also hired to take charge of documents in Tubo.The Tang Dynasty also sent silkworm seeds to Tubo and dispatched craftsmen to raise silkworms, make wine, make mills, and make paper and ink.The advanced Han culture was introduced into Tubo, which greatly promoted the development of production and culture in Tubo.

Princess Wencheng died in 680 AD, and she lived in Tubo for 40 years.Princess Wencheng contributed to the friendship between the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups, and has always been deeply missed and loved by the Tibetan people.

●Tang Sanzang to learn Buddhist scriptures from the West
Tang Sanzang is Xuanzang.Xuanzang was a famous Buddhist master, translator and explorer in the Tang Dynasty, and Xuan Prize was his dharma name in Buddhism.Because Xuanlei devoted himself to studying the Sutras, Vinaya and Lunzang in Buddhism, people also called him Tang Sanzang.Tang Sanzang was influenced by his father who was a devout Buddhist and his brother who became a monk in Luoyang Jingtu Temple since he was a child. At the age of 13, he also became a monk.Since then, Tang Sanzang has studied Buddhist scriptures with his elder brother.Tang Sanzang was very clever and studied the classics very hard.By the time he was 15 years old, he could not only recite the "Nesang Sutra", but also explain it.At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, many eminent monks who intensively studied Buddhist scriptures were concentrated in Chengdu, Sichuan.Tang Sanzang and his elder brother went to Konghui Temple in Chengdu and asked eminent monks for advice, and their knowledge of Buddhism improved greatly.

Later, Tang Sanzang was determined to continue his studies. He resolutely left his elder brother and traveled eastward along the Yangtze River alone. He arrived in Jingzhou and studied classics with monks at Tianhuang Temple. Theories of various schools.The deeper Tang Sanzang delved into Buddhism, the more confused he became. He found that there were many errors in the translations of the existing translations of Buddhist scriptures in China.In order to explore the true meaning of the classics and pursue the highest realm of Buddhism, he decided to go to the "Holy Land" of Buddhism to find out.So Tang Sanzang came to Chang'an again to learn Tianzhu language from foreigners, raise funds, and prepare for a long journey.

At that time, the western part of China was under the control of the Turks. If people wanted to go abroad, they had to be approved by the government and had to pass (passport) before they could travel.Although Tang Sanzang has submitted an application, it has not yet been approved.In 627 A.D., Tang Sanzang set out from Chang'an with some merchants and embarked on the road to the west.When they were about to reach Yumen Pass (the last pass on the border of the Tang Dynasty), Tang Sanzang's mount died, and the two young monks who followed him all ran away, but the government servants also caught up.Tang Sanzang hid in the inn, and he really didn't know what to do.Li Chang, the governor of Guazhou, came in with the arrest document and asked, "You are Master Xuanli, right?" Tang Sanzang pondered for a moment, but did not answer.Li Chang said: "Master, if you tell the truth, I can help you find a way." Seeing Li Chang's sincerity, Tang Sanzang said, "Yes, the poor monk is Xuanzang." Li Chang said: "Master sincerely went to Tianzhu to study Buddhism. I will do my best to help you." After speaking, he tore up the hunting documents and said, "Master, hurry up, if you are late, you will not be able to get out of the pass." Tang Sanzang was overjoyed after hearing this, and hurried out of Yumen Pass.

In Guazhou, Tang Sanzang got acquainted with Shi Liangtuo of the Western Regions, and asked him to be a guide, and an old man from Guazhou gave him a skinny horse.Although this horse is skinny, it has traveled to and from Tianzhu more than ten times and is familiar with the roads.

Tang Sanzang set off from Guazhou, walked more than 50 miles, and passed Yumen Pass.At noon one day, we came to a beacon tower.He was resting beside the horse, when suddenly an arrow flew towards him, although he missed, he was quite surprised.Still in shock, another arrow shot at him.Tang Sanzang hurriedly shouted to the beacon tower: "I am a monk from Chang'an. I want to go to Tianzhu to learn Buddhist scriptures. Please stop shooting arrows." tower.In this way, until the fourth beacon tower, the guard on the platform left him to rest overnight, prepared dry food and clean water for him, and introduced: "The guard of the next beacon tower is very bad. It's hard to say what's going on, Master, please avoid that one!"

After bypassing the Beacon Tower, Tang Sanzang rushed to Yema Spring and entered Moheyan Qi.At this time the guide ran away. In this vast and boundless desert, there were no birds in the sky and no animals on the ground. Tang Sanzang walked alone in the silent desert.Two days passed, and Tang Sanzang lost his way in the vast desert and couldn't find the Yema Spring. He was extremely anxious and his body was even more tired.He picked up the skin bag to drink water, but accidentally spilled all the water in the desert, which was an irreparable mistake.He walked tenaciously in the desert for five days and four nights without taking a drop of water. For the first two days, he only felt dry mouth and tongue.At this time, even the horse could not walk, and finally the man and the horse fell in the desert together, and passed out.At night, Tang Sanzang was awakened by a gust of cool wind in a coma, and gradually regained his energy, and the horse stood up.Tang Sanzang walked a few miles supporting his weak body, and suddenly saw a lush green grassland in front of him, and when he got there, he found that there was still clear spring water.Tang Sanzang rested there for a day, packed enough water, and continued walking for two more days before he walked out of the desert and arrived at the border of Yiwu.

Tang Sanzang lived in Yiwu country for more than ten days, and then came to Gaochang.King Gaochang was originally a Han Chinese, but also a Buddhist. He ordered his concubine and ministers to visit Tang Sanzang and ask him to give lectures.King Gaochang respected Tang Sanzang very much, promised to give him generous treatment, and hoped that he would stay and speak.Tang Sanzang said: "I traveled in order to seek Buddha. Now I am being kept by His Majesty. His Majesty can keep my body, but he can't keep my determination to seek Buddhism." But King Gaochang still didn't let him go. Don't drink or eat for three days.On the fourth day, the deeply moved King Gaochang finally agreed to send him westward, and prepared clothes, dry food, porters and 30 horses for him, and sent letters to the countries along the way, asking them to protect this eminent monk who pursued Buddhism together.

After that, Tang Sanzang crossed mountains and mountains after leaving Gaochang. It took a whole year to reach Tianzhu in the summer of 628 AD.In Tianzhu, he saw many tall ostriches, 1000-foot-high Buddha statues and [-]-foot-long stone reclining Buddha statues, and saw many elephants transporting them back and forth.He crossed the Ganges several times, looking for monuments in the history of Buddhism.He went to the city of Gaya, where there was a five-foot-high Bodhi tree, under which Sakyamuni, the ancestor of Buddhism, once practiced penance; Ruins of the saying.These on-the-spot investigation activities have enabled Tang Sanzang to have a deeper understanding of Buddhism.

Tang Sanzang came to Nalanda Temple in Magadha.Nalanda Temple is the largest temple in Tianzhu, and the highest institution of Buddhism in Tianzhu is also located here. It has a history of more than 700 years and more than 1 monks live there all year round.The abbot of this monastery was Master Jiexian, who was more than 100 years old at that time, and was a highly respected university student in Tianzhu at that time.On the day Tang Sanzang arrived at the Nalanda Monastery, more than 1000 monks welcomed the guests from faraway China with incense and flowers.Master Jiexian, who is over a hundred years old, has long stopped accepting apprentices to give lectures. In order to show his friendship to China, the master specially accepted Tang Sanzang as a disciple and re-entered the forum. It took more than a year to teach Xuanzang the most difficult The "Yoga Sutra".Tang Sanzang studied in the monastery for 5 years, read all kinds of scriptures and treatises in the monastery, and humbly and sincerely questioned Master Jiexian and eminent monks in the monastery, and understood the true meaning of the sutras and treatises.Tang Sanzang was still not satisfied with the knowledge he had learned, so he bid farewell to Master Jiexian and traveled to South India to visit his master and learn Buddhism.

Tang Sanzang spent another six years traveling all over India to increase his knowledge and broaden his horizons.After that, Tang Sanzang returned to Nalanda Temple.Master Jiexian ordered Xuanzang to go to the altar to proclaim the Dharma, and taught the "Mahayana Theory" to the monks in the temple.At that time, there was a Brahmin (a monk and nobleman in ancient India who held religious power and monopolized knowledge) wrote more than ten theories and hung them at the gate of Nalanda Temple, and arrogantly declared: "If someone refutes me, I would rather cut off my head." Come down and admit your mistake." After a long time, no one could come out to refute him.Tang Sanzang asked Master Jiexian and others to testify and debate with that Boloman.After the debate, the Brahmin had no choice but to bow his head and admit defeat, requesting to admit his mistake as promised.Tang Sanzang said: "The Buddha does not kill, so you can be my servant."

Tang Sanzang should teach Mahayana theory in India, which has a huge influence on all parts of India.Because of their admiration for Tang Sanzang, King Jieri and King Kumara sent envoys to hire Xuan Lei, and in the name of the kings of the two countries, notified the large and small countries in India at that time to hold an All-India Buddhist Conference in Qunu City, and respectfully invited Tang Sanzang to give lectures.In 642 A.D., the conference was officially held. The kings of 18 countries in India at that time, more than 2000 eminent monks who specialized in Mahayana, more than 2000 monks from Nalanda Temple, and more than [-] heretics such as Brahmins participated in the conference.This Buddhist conference was the first in India's history, and almost all celebrities from all walks of life in India came.

The main content of Tang Sanzang's speech at the conference was "Mahayana Theory". At the same time, he wrote "Destroying Evil Views", which was hung in the venue and expressed his views to the participants. After the publication of "Destroying Evil Opinions", no one stood up to debate until the end of the meeting.The conference lasted for 18 days. Everyone listened to Tang Sanzang's speech, and no one raised any different opinions.At the end of the meeting, the kings of various countries donated a lot of money to Tang Sanzang.Tang Sanzang didn't take any cents, but gave it all to the poor people.Since then, the Indian Buddhist community has recognized Tang Sanzang as the master of Buddhist scholarship, and his name is known everywhere in India.

King Jieri earnestly persuaded Xuanzang to stay in India again and again.One king even expressed that if Tang Sanzang was willing to stay, he would piously build a hundred monasteries for him.However, during the many years that Tang Sanzang studied and studied Buddhism in India, there was not a day when he did not miss his motherland, and he decided to return to his country.On the day of his departure, King Jie Ri and his local Indian friends reluctantly saw him off with tears.

At the beginning of 645 AD, Tang Sanzang traveled through the Western Regions with a collection of more than 650 Buddhist books and returned to Chang'an, the capital of the motherland.Tang Sanzang went to Tianzhu secretly in violation of the prohibition. Li Shimin knew all about him and admired his strong spirit. He specially ordered the prime minister Fang Xuanling and others to meet him. The people of Chang'an held a welcome meeting on Zhuque Street.People lined the road to welcome Tang Sanzang's return. Incense tables and flowers were set up on both sides of the road. Tens of thousands of monks, nuns and believers from Chang'an lined up to escort and welcome the Buddhist scriptures brought back by Tang Sanzang to Hongfu Temple.

Li Shimin met Tang Sanzang in Luoyang, and listened to the customs and customs of the countries of Tianzhu in the Western Regions that Tang Sanzang had seen and heard during his journey.Li Shimin listened attentively, and wanted Tang Sanzang to return to vulgarity and assist him in governing the country.In this regard, Tang Sanzang politely declined.Therefore, translating Buddhist scriptures became Tang Sanzang's main task.Tang Sanzang worked day and night, forgetting to eat and sleep for 19 years, and translated a total of 74 Buddhist scriptures, 1335 volumes, totaling more than 1300 million words.Tang Sanzang's translation is not only faithful to the original classics, but also has a fluent Chinese language and beautiful writing.The translated names of some proper nouns, such as "India", were determined by Tang Sanzang at that time.

The long-term and arduous translation work seriously damaged Tang Sanzang's body. This great Buddhist scholar and outstanding translator passed away in 664 AD (the Buddhist term for the death of monks and nuns) at Yuhua Temple outside Chang'an.

During his lifetime, Tang Sanzang and the monk Bianji who participated in the translation of Buddhist scriptures compiled "The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". Urban transportation and folk customs, etc. "Da Tang Western Regions" has been translated into many foreign languages ​​and has become a world famous work, and it is an important reference material for the study of the history and geography of these regions.

●Sun Simiao, King of Sui and Tang Medicine
Sun Sixao was a famous medical scientist during the Sui and Tang Dynasties in my country. He was born in 581 AD, the year when the Sui Dynasty was established, and died in 683 AD, spanning two dynasties.

Sun Siyuan's hometown is playing in Jingzhaohua (in today's Shaanxi).When Sun Simiao was a child, he often saw many poor people get sick, or because they had no money for medical treatment, or the treatment was not good, and they were killed by the disease at a young age.Seeing people crying and crying, a thought came to Sun Simiao's mind: "How important it is to save a human life! Although gold is expensive, it can be bought with money, but human life cannot be bought with more money. From then on, Sun Simiao set up a grand ambition in his young mind: I want to be a good doctor, relieve the pain of thousands of people, and relieve the pain of their relatives.

(End of this chapter)