Chapter 26: Take root and establish a foothold
Standing on the bow of the ship, watching Jianzhen display his power on the sea, Yun Canghai secretly sighed: Strength, everything is due to strength! Without strength, Jianzhen would be just an ordinary old monk. How could he be worshiped by so many people? Without strength, he might have died in the process of subduing demons. How could he have been worshiped by so many people in his actions? His reputation grew so great that he finally became a famous eminent monk in the Tang Dynasty?
Yun Canghai's eyes turned to the dragon attached to Jianzhen's cassock. He had no strength and encountered a more powerful enemy. His fate would be just like this dragon, subdued and allowed to be driven by others, or even worse. The soul is scattered, the soul is destroyed. Thinking of this, Yun Canghai's eyes became firm. Only with strength can he be able to gain greater freedom and realize his ideals!
It seems that after arriving in Japan, I need to speed up the development of my own power. With subordinates who can do things, I don't have to worry about everything, so that I can free up my hands to practice. In less than a month, I will do the second one. After a thousand years of transformation, he will evolve into a horned dragon. Who knows how far his strength will progress?
Thinking of this, Yun Canghai also felt that Japan is a really good place. Why? Because some time ago, he had secretly explored the entire Japanese island with his spiritual thoughts. It can be said that the current Japan is just right for what he wants to do. The population here is relatively dense for its small area, but it is barbaric and backward, and monsters are rampant, but most of them are little monsters that are out of place and pose no threat to him.
In most cities, withered grass and black fog shrouded the city, and the fishy wind and hot dust beat on the vermilion towers, making a rustling sound. Incense was smoked, cypress fans were waved, and the nobles tried their best to practice elegance. However, the red plum blossom clothes and the bright brocade cannot hide the lament of the dry bones. Ghosts, gods, demons, and resentful souls exist in the world and reside in everyone's heart. The society is a scene of demons dancing around and living in a state of intoxication.
Japan is now in the Heian Era, an era that once faced the Tang Empire across the sea. It gave birth to an extremely gorgeous and splendid culture that will amaze future generations, but it also hides many unknown darknesses.
Starting from the move of Kyoto, Japan from Nagato to Heian, the Heian era of more than 400 years of rule over the world slowly began. But the safe capital of the capital is not a paradise. There are ghosts and ghosts everywhere. Demons and monsters do not stay in distant forests or mountains, but live breathlessly with humans in the capital, even under the same roof. Heianjing was eroded by monsters and became a lair for monsters and monsters. It also became a stage for monks, slayers, and onmyojis to be active in the future.
In such a chaotic and turbulent era, intervening in it, comforting the people, clearing away the evil atmosphere, and restoring peace to one side can gain great merit; founding a sect and passing down the Taoism, even if the cultivation community here is weak, can also bring peace to the area. Carrying forward one's own theories and orthodoxy is simply killing two birds with one stone.
It can be said that Jianzhen and his party arrived at just the right time. Due to the miraculous scene at the dock and Akashi Yutoku's strong admiration for Jianzhen and Yun Canghai, after Jianzhen and Yun Canghai arrived in Japan, they were welcomed by Emperor Xiaoqian and Emperor Shomu. grand courtesy.
On February 1, 754, the important minister Fujiwara Nakamaro personally welcomed him at Hanoi Prefecture. On February 4, Jianzhen and his party arrived in Nara, and together with another local Huayan sect monk "Shaosengdu" Ryoben took charge of Japanese Buddhist affairs, and they were titled "Transmitting Lights" Archmage".
Yun Canghai, on the other hand, said that he had a "loose temperament and was not used to restraint" and rejected the emperor's request for him to serve as a full-time mage for the royal family. Finally, because "the people were repeatedly harassed by demons and evil spirits were rampant in the world", he expressed his willingness to do something for the people and Japan. The power is to "subdue demons and eliminate demons, and restore purity to the world."
Since this was also in the interests of Japan and the royal family, the Japanese royal family also expressed understanding and regret for his remarks, and awarded Yun Canghai the title of "Demon Exorcist" and assigned Akashi Yutoku to lead a group of people to do it. His subordinates also selected children with outstanding qualifications to teach Yin and Yang techniques. Yun Canghai did not refuse and started doing it with great interest.
What kind of person is Yun Canghai? It is not difficult for him to train some people with relatively good qualifications to learn Yin Yang. After all, he has the memory of future generations in his soul and knows more reasonable and effective management and education methods. Using spells that deepened memory functions and formations and elixirs that changed physical properties, I spent a lot of effort to train a group of junior onmyojis in a short period of time, and then appointed Akashi Yutoku as the chief onmyoji. He led this group of Onmyoji to eliminate demons, and the results were actually good, and he gained a lot.
The Emperor was overjoyed and decreed a large reward for Yun Canghai and Akashi's virtues, and increased his support for Onmyoji. As a result, the new profession of Onmyoji flourished, and Yun Canghai was also honored as the "Yin Yang God" ".
Yun Canghai also took advantage of the situation to establish the Yin Yang Sect, and appointed himself as the leader. Akashi Youde was the great elder, and his subordinates were divided into elders, protectors, deacons, and members. After the establishment of the Yin Yang Sect, due to the support of the imperial court and the strong support of Yun Canghai, and all they did were to subjugate demons and seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, their reputation continued to increase, and in just fifteen years it became Japan's largest sect.
However, in the sixteenth year, Yun Canghai suddenly announced his retirement and passed the position of leader to a young man named Anbei Qingming. He then lived in seclusion overseas and practiced in seclusion. He only occasionally came out to search for medicinal and spiritual materials among the people. Being seen by others can be said to be the beginning of the dragon but not the tail. People say that the god is protecting the people overseas from the invasion of some big demons and monsters. Therefore, although Yun Canghai has not shown his face for decades, his reputation is getting stronger and stronger. Sublime.
Compared with the smooth sailing of Yun Canghai's career, the path of Jianzhen, promotion of Buddhism and salvation of all sentient beings is more tortuous. After Jian arrived in Japan, he discovered that it was not that simple to save the world, especially worldly matters, which could not be solved by your magic power alone.
According to the wishes of Shengwu and Xiaoqian, Jianzhen, as a senior monk of the Vinaya sect, should take the responsibility of regulating Japanese monks and put an end to the phenomenon of taking refuge in Buddhism to avoid labor and taxes that was common in Japanese society at that time. Therefore, Xiaoqian issued an edict: " From now on, if you teach the precepts, you will be a monk."
However, this aroused opposition from Japan's own "self-sworn ordination" faction, especially Xian Jing and others from Xinghua Temple, who fiercely opposed it. Therefore, Jianzhen decided to have a public debate at Xingfu Temple. During the debate, Jianzhen made concessions and admitted that "self-sworn ordination" can still exist, but as a formally recognized full ordination, it must have three masters and seven certifications. As a result, Xianjing They were all convinced and gave up their old precepts.
Jianzhen then set up an altar in Todaiji Temple and ordained about 500 people from the royal family and monks under Shengwu, the Empress Dowager Guangming, and Xiaoqian. In 756, Jianzhen was named the "Great Monk Capital", commanding all monks and nuns in Japan, and established a formal monastic system in Japan.
However, in 758, Emperor Koken, the main supporter of Jianzhen, lost power in the court struggle and was forced to pass the throne to Emperor Junhito. Correspondingly, Jianzhen was also marginalized. In 758, Emperor Junnin issued an edict to remove Jianzhen from the post of "Grand Monk Capital" in the name of "being agitated by political affairs and not daring to work in old age", and gave the official residence of the former crown prince Dozu, who was defeated in the court struggle, to Authenticate. The following year, Jianzhen's disciples built a temple in the official residence. Chunren named it "Tang Zhaoti Temple", and Jianzhen moved here from Dongdai Temple. Chunren also decreed that Japanese monks must go to Tangzhaoti Temple to study before being ordained, making Tangzhaoti Temple the highest institution of learning for Japanese Buddhists at that time.
Since Jianzhen did not care about worldly power, he was not disappointed when his position as "Master Monk City" was dismissed. Instead, he was excited because he could standardize Japan's ordination system and promote Buddhism in Japan, so he has always been very motivated.
Although his many years of worldly experience in Japan did not improve his cultivation of Jianzhen, it did give him a pair of eyes that can see through the world and people's hearts. He does not have to rely on "other minds" to understand other people's hearts like before. Active. This brought him closer to understanding the essence of Buddhism. He understood the principle that "form is emptiness, emptiness is color, form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from color." His Taoism and realm were improved.
Buddhism originally emphasized "seeing through everything, seeing through everything, and transcending everything." Jianzhen finally understood that Yun Canghai had told him before he founded the Yin Yang Sect to "see with your heart, think with your heart, and don't use your magic power at every turn. There are things in the world of mortals." An opportunity for enlightenment." Then he understood the way of the world with his heart, studied Buddhism, and reformed the Japanese Buddhist system, making the Buddhist order in Japan unprecedentedly stable and standardized'
Jianzhen also expanded the influence of Buddhism through the popularization of knowledge and the establishment of a poor farm to provide relief to the common people. He also founded the Vinaya sect, one of the six southern sects of Japanese Buddhism, and continued his career in promoting Buddhism. Tangshodai Temple soon became a sacred place for Japanese Buddhism. Since Buddhism has a great influence in Japan, it has in turn affected all strata of society and purified the social system. Moreover, due to the development and growth of the Onmyoji religion founded by Yun Canghai, many demons entrenched in the place have been cleared away, creating a peaceful environment for farmers and farmers. Landowners and nobles freed up large tracts of arable land.
With the increase in cultivated land, food production has naturally increased significantly. In addition, these emperors are all shogunate kings with a peaceful temperament and do not like to fight. However, the major vassals and nobles in the country are concerned about the Onmyoji and Ryu Sect. Of course, it is more accurate. It is said that Yun Canghai and Jianzhen are the deterrents, and they dare not bully the people too much and raise troops to cause chaos. Therefore, domestic peace and stability have entered an era of unprecedented prosperity. People from all walks of life in Japan call this era the "Heian Era", and one of the heroes who created this era - Jianzhen's influence in Japan even surpasses the emperor.
In 780, Jianzhen declined the court's request to stay and resigned from the title of "Yamato Shang". In the same year, he resigned from the position of abbot and passed the throne to Kukai, who was only six years old. Because Jianzhen had outstanding prestige, no one opposed this decision. , and then Jianzhen lived in seclusion in Tangzhaoti Temple.
After decades of hard work, Jianzhen and Yun Canghai finally established their own power, took root in Japan, had their own territory, and became the largest power in Japan.
