Just when Han Du was tired and didn't want to move, the maid Hongyi hurriedly came to report.
"Master Hou, Master Hou?" Seeing that Master Hou was still lazy and motionless on the bed, Hongyi quickly called out softly.
Han Du reluctantly opened his eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
Hongyi hurriedly replied: "The emperor is going to summon the Marquis into the palace. The people in the palace are already waiting in the front hall. The princess has sent a servant to help the Marquis dress. The Marquis should get up quickly."
Hearing that it was Lao Zhu who summoned him, Han Du reluctantly lifted the quilt and got up from the bed. While getting dressed with Hongyi's help, he said to himself dissatisfiedly: "What on earth are you going to do by sending someone here so early in the morning?"
Hongyi didn't dare to say anything after hearing this. She just smiled and helped the Marquis put on his clothes. The Marquis has a habit of sleeping in, which is known to everyone in the house. If the emperor hadn't summoned him, no one would have thought that the Marquis would get up so early.
...
"Your Majesty, Han Du, pay homage to your Majesty. Long live my Emperor!" Han Du bowed respectfully, knelt on the ground and waited for a moment, but did not hear Lao Zhu's voice asking him to get up.
I suddenly felt very puzzled. Could it be that I had made Lao Zhu unhappy again? But no, I have been doing nothing these days, so how could I displease Lao Zhu?
Han Du quietly raised his head and looked at Lao Zhu. I saw Lao Zhu staring at Han Du with an angry face.
Seeing Han Du raise his head, Lao Zhu threw the book in his hand on the imperial desk with a heavy sound.
"Where did you go yesterday?"
Han Du became more and more strange. Was it wrong for him to go to Tianjie Temple yesterday? But I am going with Anqing, so this is not okay?
"I went to Tianjie Temple yesterday."
"What are you going to do?" Lao Zhu asked again.
Han Du was about to blurt out the words in his heart, but when he reached his mouth, he suddenly changed and said: "I just accompanied the princess to Tianjie Temple to have fun, and didn't do anything."
I must not let the Emperor know that I asked Monk Zong Lai to stand up and persuade the Emperor at the critical moment. Otherwise, I'm afraid there will be twists and turns again.
"Then have you met Zong Long?" Lao Zhu narrowed his eyes and asked in a calm tone.
Han Du nodded subconsciously, "See you."
Then he said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I am also familiar with Master Zongli. It would be a bit bad if I don't pay a visit to Tianjie Temple. Moreover, Anqing also wants to visit Master Zongli."
Lao Zhu lowered his eyes, satisfied with Han Du's answer. After a moment of pause, he said: "Get on your feet."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Han Du stood up from the ground, bowed slightly and stood there with his hands hanging down.
Lao Zhu sighed and said: "Zong Lai came today. He first proposed that he wanted to go overseas to promote Buddhism. Does this matter have anything to do with you?"
Han Du immediately lowered his head and said sheepishly: "Probably, it seems, it has something to do with the minister..."
Lao Zhu showed an expression that was as expected, leaned back on the dragon chair, folded his hands in front of him, and said calmly: "Tell me, what is going on?"
Han Du did not dare to neglect and said quickly: "That's it..."
After listening to Han Du's statement, Lao Zhu didn't think there was anything wrong. Then he asked a question similar to An Qing's, "Why do you want so hard to let Buddhism go out to spread Buddhism?"
Han Du bowed his hands and said: "It's because I learned about the internal situation of the Japanese country this time in Goryeo and found that the Buddhist sect of the Japanese country has a very great influence on the Japanese people..."
Before Han Du finished speaking, Lao Zhu said to the old eunuch: "Please sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Han Du bowed to Lao Zhu before sitting down on the Jindun.
He straightened his back, faced Lao Zhu, and said sternly: "I discovered that if you want to completely conquer the Japanese country, in addition to weakening the Japanese country to the extreme and then overwhelming the country with a large army, there is actually a simpler way, and that is to use their Belief."
Han Du held a hand deep in his hand and made a fist gesture. "If the Ming Dynasty can control the Buddhism of the Japanese country and let them tell all the Japanese people that it is God's will to submit to the Ming Dynasty, then it will inevitably greatly weaken the Japanese people's will to resist and make it much easier for the Ming Dynasty to conquer the Japanese country."
"This is the truth, but why does Buddhism not only go to the Japanese country, but also to Nanyang and even Tianfang?" Lao Zhu is proficient in leading troops in combat, and naturally knows the key role of morale in the outcome of a war.
The will of the people of a country is actually very similar to morale. If the Japanese people work together and have high will, then even if the Ming Dynasty is far more powerful than the Japanese country, it will not be easy to conquer the Japanese country. But if the Japanese had no will to resist at all, then it would be much easier to conquer them.
However, Han Du's reason is reasonable for the Japanese country, but there is no foreign country in Nanyang, and the natives do not even have a unified will. What is the use of Buddhism?
Han Du smiled and nodded, "Your Majesty, I found out when I followed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on a tour of the world last time. The natives and slaves in Nanyang have no good impression of the Ming Dynasty, and even occasionally rebels break out. A few of them make trouble. In the Governor's Mansion, just suppressing the rebellion of the natives and slaves consumes most of their energy every year."
Lao Zhu frowned slightly. Several governors complained about these matters every year, hoping that the court could come up with a way to help them solve this problem. However, is this rebellion of natives and slaves so easy to solve?
The Governor's Mansion is to collect wealth for the country. Where does the wealth come from? Isn't it just by harvesting from these natives and slaves? The natives and slaves were severely oppressed, which naturally aroused their dissatisfaction and resistance, and rebellion naturally followed.
Reducing the oppression of natives and slaves, the dissatisfaction and resistance of natives and slaves will naturally weaken. But no one in the entire Ming court proposed this method that everyone knew.
If the oppression of the natives and slaves is really reduced, these natives and slaves will naturally not resist, but where will the benefits of the Governor's Mansion come from?
Therefore, although many governors submitted petitions every year, they never received a positive answer every year. Perhaps these governors did not want a reply from the court from the beginning. They just took this as a condition and hoped that when discussing their merits, they could be mentioned in front of them because of their difficulty.
"I believe that the reason why these natives and slaves rebelled is not only because they were oppressed, but also because they have no spiritual sustenance."
"Spiritual sustenance?" Lao Zhu couldn't help but ask when he heard a strange new word popping out of Han Du's mouth.
Han Du smiled and said: "Well, it's like the people of Ming Dynasty like to worship Buddha. They regard Buddha or some Buddhist theories as their spiritual sustenance. For example, people who are kind to others will accumulate blessings, even in this life It will not be repaid to the people, it will be repaid to them in the next life."
"Does the Emperor think that the people of the Ming Dynasty are not dissatisfied? This is impossible. Even today, the people of the Ming Dynasty are still dissatisfied. But why do the people's dissatisfaction not break out and cause rebellion like the natives and slaves? I think This is precisely because of the huge role of Buddhism.”
After listening to this, Lao Zhu remained silent, pondered for a while, raised his head and asked, "You mean, this is all because Buddhism encourages people to do good?"
Han Du nodded and said: "It's not just about persuading people to do good. Buddhism advocates retribution, reincarnation, and tolerance. These things are subtly becoming the spiritual sustenance of the people. With these people, even if their lives are a little tiring, At least, there is hope of continuing to live. Unlike those natives and slaves, as long as they live a little more hardship and tiredness, they will think of resistance and change. If it weren't for the previous bloody suppression, those natives of the Governor's Mansion would I’m afraid the people and slaves have rebelled long ago.”
"I think that if I want the natives and slaves to be able to accept the changes and let Buddhism promote Buddhism, converting these people to Buddhism will have unexpected benefits."
Lao Zhu pondered for a long time before letting out a long sigh and said: "Buddhism is not about production, and it also confuses people's hearts. After I established the country, the reason why I established the Senglu Department was to strictly manage the Buddhist sects in the world and prevent them from being unscrupulous. expansion."
"If I agree with Buddhism to go abroad to promote Buddhism now, how will we deal with it in the future when Buddhism becomes stronger?"
It turns out that Lao Zhu had this concern. No wonder he didn't look good on himself at first. I'm afraid that in Lao Zhu's mind at that time, his act of guiding Buddhism to spread Buddhism abroad seemed to Lao Zhu to be shooting himself in the foot!
"If the emperor is worried that Buddhism will become stronger in the future, then he will strictly decree that they can only promote Buddhism overseas, and things can continue as usual within the Ming Dynasty."
Lao Zhu listened, but was not satisfied at all. He shook his head with a sneer, pointed at Han Du and said: "You think too simply! I can indeed ban the expansion of Buddhism in the Ming Dynasty, but can I also prohibit overseas people from returning to the Ming Dynasty? Now every year, people who go to sea and come back I don’t know how many there are, but if they convert to Buddhism overseas and return to the Ming Dynasty, what should they do?”
Han Du was speechless immediately, yes, just as Lao Zhu said. Although Buddhism can be prohibited from promoting Buddhism within the Ming Dynasty, Buddhism's promotion of Buddhism overseas can still affect the interior of the Ming Dynasty.
Nowadays, there are countless merchants who go to sea every year. The daily sails at the capital port cover the Yangtze River. Now, in addition to the capital port, Ming Dynasty also has three seaports: Quanzhou, Ningbo, and Guangzhou. Moreover, there are also many Ming people living in the Nanyang Islands, and many of them often return to the Ming Dynasty.
If Buddhism's strength increases sharply due to going to sea, then Han Du really cannot guarantee that Buddhism will still be as harmless to humans and animals as it is now. After all, in history, when Buddhism was at its peak, it was true that it did not do anything to rule the world.
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