Xiao Ying understood Yang Ji's dirty words about "I have no choice but to devote my whole life to the people tonight", she rolled her eyes at him, and said coquettishly: "You are not serious when you talk about it."
Yang Ji was full of a soft smile, but he deliberately said seriously: "My wife has done a great job, but you are not my subordinate, so you will definitely not be rewarded in public.", and we are a couple, if there is an additional reward , that’s too outrageous, I have no choice but to reward you with a child.”
"I won't listen to you, you're glib." Xiao Ying blushed with embarrassment, but there was a strong sense of expectation in her heart. For her, the most important thing in this life is to have a beloved man. She gave birth to children for this beloved man. Now that she has a beloved man, if she gives birth to another child for him, then she will have no regrets in her life.
Yang Ji laughed, skipped the topic, and said back to the topic: "You just said you have several ideas, and war and blackmailing the grassland ministries is just one of them, what else is there next?"
"I know there is a place that is quite rich and has quite a lot of food. If Langjun takes it for national use, Liangzhou's food difficulties will disappear without warning." Xiao Ying's eyes sparkled, and her expression was exactly the same as that of her mother, Dugu Min, as if she was a girl. A cunning little fox.
Yang Ji frowned and asked, "Is the place powerful?"
Although there are not many powerful families in Liangzhou, there are many powerful people in the area known as the county. For example, Guazhou has six surnames: Zhang, Suo, Si, Yin, Song, and Linghu. For example, Guazhou Dunhuang Gao, Although the influence of these six major families, including Chen and Yuwen, is limited to the state, they are all powerful local tycoons.
These families have flocks of cattle and sheep, over 10,000 war horses, and numerous servants. They own a large number of pastures and shepherds, and indirectly also a large number of troops. They are simply the emperors of the country in Guazhou.
If Yang Ji kills them, he can indeed get a lot of money, land, people, and livestock to relieve Liangzhou's food shortage. But these days, the emperor is far away from the big families, and the court has always used both kindness and power. Therefore, even in the Sui Dynasty, these families belonged to the upper class and enjoyed a certain political status. Moreover, when the previous policies were implemented, these people also They are indeed more cooperative. How could he go after these more popular families for no reason?
Of course, these families have been kings and hegemons in the local area for countless years. It would be easy for Yang Ji to catch evidence of their crimes, but the problem is that Liangzhou cannot withstand the trouble at this stage. If the old order was destroyed and overthrown now, he would not have the energy to cope with the pressure from the court, local powerful people, foreign enemies, and people's livelihood.
"It's not a local tycoon!" Xiao Ying bit her lip, her eyes drooped slightly, and she seemed to be hesitant.
"What is that?" Yang Ji was very curious and asked with a smile: "Except for the local tycoons in Liangzhou, I really can't think of anyone who is so rich, so don't show off."
"I remember that there are many Buddhist temples in Liangzhou." Xiao Ying said softly: "These Buddhist temples have been making money in the name of Buddha for hundreds of years, and all of them are extremely rich. For these Buddhist temples that occupy a lot of fertile land and have huge amounts of money, Temples, Buddhists, even aristocratic families and local powerful people dare not reach out, because everyone is afraid of retribution. Moreover, aristocratic families donate a large amount of money, food, and land every year in order to have peace of mind. As for ordinary people, as long as they enter the temple, the temple The monk there started talking about how bad and dangerous he and his family were, and then changed the topic and said that as long as he worshiped a certain Buddha for a long time, he could change his destiny against the will of heaven. If he didn't worship, there would be a bloody disaster... …There are some people who believe deeply in what the Buddhists say, and then hand over all their belongings; those who don’t believe it have passed the test in their hearts, so they obediently hand over countless amounts of money.”
"In the prosperous times, Buddhism used the pretense of transcending the secular world to make money desperately; in troubled times, it used the theory of retribution to scare people, and even local rebels did not dare to touch them. In addition, they also used the idea of reincarnation to deceive the people. Money, because some Buddhists were bewitched by Buddhists and donated all their labor income to the so-called Buddha, they ended up being hungry and cold, and their families were ruined. However, at this time, there was never a Buddha or a monk to save them. .”
Xiao Ying focused her eyes on her husband's face and said in a faint tone: "Our family was quite wealthy in the Sui Dynasty, very rich and wealthy, but we are not the same as the long-standing White Horse Temple, Daxingshan Temple, Compared with Jingju Temple and other temples, they are at most half as large as those of other temples."
"..." Yang Ji was stunned when he heard this. He originally thought that his family's wealth had reached the top of the Sui Dynasty, but when he heard Xiao Ying say this, he realized that there is a world outside the world, and there are people outside the world, and he, the prince and the son of the richest woman, He is not as good as the heir of a sect. Poverty really limits his imagination.
But Yang Ji had no doubts about Xiao Ying's words of boosting other people's ambitions and destroying her own prestige.
For example, the Daxingshan Temple in the capital was built in the second year of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty. When Daxing City was built, the temple also took the opportunity to expand, occupying the entire Jingshanfang; while the slightly inferior Qinglong Temple and Longhuani Temple , Bingming Temple, Chongsheng Temple, Chongji Temple, and Dayunjing Temple each occupy half a square, and they are all located in the north of Daxing City. The value of the land alone is an astonishing figure.
Each of these temples is bigger and more luxurious than the last. The main halls of these top-ranked temples are extremely luxurious, with so much gold, jade and jewelry and exquisite carvings that they are even far away from the three main halls of Daxing Palace. Far worse.
During the Han Dynasty, because Buddhism was not introduced for a long time and spread in limited areas, there were relatively few Buddhist believers. Later, as a large number of Buddhist scriptures were translated, Buddhism spread more and more widely. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many temples and grottoes were built. Buddhism became the largest religion in the world and developed many high-ranking and loyal followers, including Xiao Ying's ancestor, Emperor Liang Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan suffered successive blows in his later years, and he began to become superstitious about Buddhism. Not only did he build nearly a thousand temples in the capital, but he also evaded his position as a monk many times. In order to redeem himself from the non-existent "Buddha", Xiao Yan's ministers The emperor paid a large amount of wealth to the "Buddha's envoy" who acted on behalf of the "Buddha" in the world. As the saying goes, what is good above will be effective below, Xiao Yan's actions also made Buddhism extremely prosperous in the Southern Dynasties.
The royal nobles of the Northern Dynasty were even better than those of the Southern Dynasty. The Northern Wei Dynasty often built Buddhist temples and carved Buddhist caves, and required that the level of luxury must exceed that of the Southern Dynasty, in order to show that they believed in Buddhism more than the Southern Dynasty and hoped that "Buddha" Be more biased towards yourself.
The main reason why Buddhism has achieved such glory is that Buddhist thought caters to the people's thinking of passively escaping from the world in troubled times. Moreover, the emperors of the Northern and Southern Dynasties not only wanted to exploit more wealth from the people to support military supplies, but also feared that the people would rebel. This was very necessary. To make the exploited people submit, the emperors of the two dynasties unanimously chose Buddhism, which was good at confusing people and had countless Buddhists.
Of course, the rapid growth of Buddhism is also related to policies, because monks do not have to pay taxes, so the working people who are exploited by heavy taxes and high pressure have fled to Samana. Moreover, in the Sui Dynasty, monks have always been at large, and criminals once committed crimes For serious crimes, as long as you hide in a temple, you will not be punished by law. This is the so-called laying down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha immediately.
When Buddhists face law enforcement officials who come to visit them, they often insist very arrogantly that as long as they commit crimes and become a monk, they are Buddhists, and secular laws have no effect on them. In this way, Buddhism in this era has become a place of high status, transcendence and lawlessness. They control a large number of people and land but never have to pay taxes. They accept offerings from believers all over the world every day and swallow up a large amount of people's hard-earned money.
Believers who became paupers because of their offerings to Buddha also became factors of social unrest, putting great pressure on the court's security. The crazy expansion of Buddhism became one of the most unstable factors in society during the Northern Zhou Dynasty. , finally annoyed Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty Yuwen Yong, who was also a Buddhist believer, and prompted him to issue an edict in the third year of Jiande: "End Buddhism and Taoism, destroy all scriptures and statues, banish monks and Taoist priests, and order them to be returned to the people. And banned all Any obscene sacrifices and things that are not included in the rituals will be eliminated.”
It was precisely because of Emperor Wu of the Zhou Dynasty Yuwen Yong's very successful operation to exterminate Buddhism that the national power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty greatly increased and laid a solid foundation of human, military and financial resources for the Northern Zhou Dynasty to destroy the Northern Qi Dynasty. After the Northern Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Northern Qi Dynasty, it immediately destroyed 40,000 temples in the Northern Qi Dynasty and forced three million monks and nuns to return to secular life. This was of great significance to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which was in urgent need of troops and financial resources.
It is a pity that Yu Wenyong died young and his descendants were mediocre and incompetent, so that all his efforts and achievements were in vain for the thief "Yang Jie" who stole the country.
Buddhism in the Sui Dynasty was no less impressive than that in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Daxing City alone had nearly a thousand temples. According to statistics from Zongzheng Temple, the total number of monks and nuns from all over the Sui Dynasty grew to about four million, accounting for about one-fourth of the total population. If you include folk believers, there will be even more. . Buddhism has had so many people working as free labor and being supported by so many people for a long time. How can it not be rich?
Although the wealth of Buddhism is distributed among various temples, large temples such as Baima Temple and Daxingshan Temple can be called the gatekeepers of large families in the Buddhist world. They still have wealth that ordinary people cannot imagine.
Although Liangzhou is poor and barren, there are many monasteries in various places, especially Dunhuang. The number of monasteries is ridiculous. The reason why the people of Liangzhou have become impoverished is also because they place their hopes on the ethereal Buddha and give the fruits of their labor to Donating to the temple has a great relationship. And monasteries everywhere are like parasites, devouring the blood of millions of people to strengthen themselves, living a life that is superior to the court and the government, but dumping the mummy-like people to the court and the government.
If Yang Ji followed Xiao Ying's suggestion and stabbed the big fat pig called Buddhism, the Liangzhou General Manager's Office would be able to get a windfall out of thin air, and it would be able to get through the difficulties smoothly with almost no help from the court or blackmail from the grassland ministries.
Thinking of this, Yang Ji suddenly thought of another thing and said to Xiao Ying: "The Xiao family seems to believe in Buddhism, but my wife gave me such an idea. Don't you believe in Buddhism?"
"Actually, I believe a little bit. But I believe in Mr. Lang more. As long as everything goes well for Mr. Lang, I will be very satisfied." When Xiao Ying said this, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Yang Ji nervously: "If the Buddha descends I'll take the blame for it."
Yang Ji looked at her pitiful expression and couldn't help but feel a little funny, but at the same time he was deeply moved.
People these days are limited by knowledge and blame all the mysteries in nature on the gods and ghosts. Everyone believes in the myths of gods and ghosts. Once a person becomes superstitious about religion, he will become extremely persistent. To eradicate his beliefs and superstitions would be no less difficult than killing him. Xiao Ying not only comes from a family that believes in Buddhism, but she also believes in Buddhism herself. However, when she encountered difficulties, she taught herself to deal with the sect she believed in. If she didn't care about herself, why would she tell her this method? If he had not truly believed in Buddhism, how could he have become so anxious and uneasy after telling him this method?
Yang Ji felt a burst of tenderness in his heart and comforted him: "Silly girl, most monks and nuns are liars and criminals who have escaped from the law. If the government eradicates these scum, it will also safeguard the reputation of the gods and Buddhas. And you uphold justice and make this suggestion. For the sake of the gods and Buddhas, it’s too late for the gods and Buddhas to reward you in the future, so how can they punish you?”
Xiao Ying looked at Yang Ji and asked as if asking for help: "Isn't it really weird?"
"Of course it's true." Yang Ji believed a little in the ethereal gods and ghosts for his own sake, but among the millions of monks and nuns living in the Sui Dynasty, absolutely no one he believed in.
"That's good!" Xiao Ying actually knew that most of the monks and nuns were fake, but she couldn't resist her own inner demons. When her husband said this, her anxious heart suddenly calmed down, and she thought to herself: "I teach Mr. Destroying false Buddhas and helping people in the world is in line with the concept of gods and Buddhas saving all sentient beings. How could gods and Buddhas blame me and Mr. Lang?"
The couple chatted for a while, and then Yang Ji separated from his beloved wife. He walked to the study, and then asked people to call Song Zhengben, Hao Yuan, Wei Zheng, Ling Jing, Xue Ju, and Yuchi Gong to discuss matters.
The idea of war blackmail between the Eastern Turks/Northern and Southern Turks is good, but the army going north has to cross the territory of the Great Lakes Region, Eastern Turks, and Xueyantuo. Therefore, before taking action, we must consider the various tribes in the Great Lakes Region, Eastern Turks, and Xueyantuo. Will they attack this lone army?
Although Yang Ji believed that the possibility of a war breaking out was unlikely, he did not dare to be blindly optimistic when it was related to the life and death of a large army.
As for the idea of destroying false Buddhism and helping the world, there is nothing to hesitate, because Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Yuwen Yong, Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty, have proven with practical actions that it is a move that benefits the country and the people. However, this kind of action not only touches the interests of Buddhism, but also affects the faith of the majority of Buddhists. If it is not considered carefully and handled carelessly, a war between theocracy and legal principles may break out, and the terror of the believer army is also affected by Zhang Jiao and Hong Xiuquan. It has been proven, so this idea cannot be careless.
Moreover, as Yang Ji is the leader of Liangzhou, every decision he makes is closely related to millions of people. If he is too arbitrary, even if he does not make a mistake, it will take away the opportunity for his subordinates to display their talents and dampen everyone's enthusiasm for doing things. and positivity. As a superior, only by gathering the wisdom of everyone and using it for one's own use is the only way to defeat the enemy and benefit others and oneself.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yang Ji's personal staff all lived in the Yang Mansion. Upon hearing Yang Ji's call, the six of them quickly came to the study together and saluted Yang Ji together: "See you, Master!"
"Sit down!" Yang Ji and other six close associates took their seats, and then told Liangzhou's food shortage problem, Xiao Ying's war blackmail, and the solution to destroy false Buddhism and help the world, and finally said: "What do you think? Can two methods work? If you have any ideas, you might as well speak up and discuss them with everyone."
"Sir, let me first express my opinion on the first idea." Song Zhengben said with a cupped hand.
"Okay!" Yang Ji set his sights on Song Zhengben. Song Zhengben, Hao Yuan, and Xue Ju had been with him from the beginning. They were involved in all his actions. Compared with Wei Zheng and Ling The three latecomers, Jing Jing and Yuchi Gong, had a huge advantage. They not only understood Liangzhou's policies and everything around Liangzhou, but also understood the deep intention of every step and decision they made.
"All the ministries in the Great Lakes region have gathered under the command of Murong Bei, and it has become an independent country. In the east is Qimin Khan, in the northeast is Ashina Huaide, in the northwest is Xue Yantuo, and in the south is our Sui Dynasty." Song Zhengben introduced this, The analysis said: "Qimin Khan and Ashina Huaide regarded them as rebels and always wanted to annex them for their own use. Xue Yantuo also wanted to take over the fertile Great Lakes area. If he were to become an enemy of the Sui Dynasty in the south, Then Murong Bei will have no choice but to die. I think that instead of attacking our Sui army, he actually wished that our Sui army would stay longer to help him drive away the other three forces. So this enemy can be completely eliminated. "
"As for Qimin Khan, once he became an enemy of the Sui Dynasty, he would be trapped in the dilemma of the south and north attacks by the Southern Sui Dynasty and the Northern Ashina Huaide. Therefore, our Sui army was invincible in the world. I understand that he did not fight against our Sui Dynasty. The courage of the enemy."
Yang Ji nodded when he heard this. Song Zhengben's analysis coincided with his and Xiao Ying's guesses.
"The only unstable one is Xue Yantuo." Song Zhengben said again.
Yang Ji asked: "What's the reason?"
"I have been on a mission to Xue Yantuo, and through various understandings, I found that Yi Shubo is a very ambitious person." Song Zhengben smiled coldly and said: "When I persuaded him to attack the Great Lakes region from the north, he resisted and resisted. Although he sent out troops later, he always stood by and watched. It was not until the young master defeated Ashina Huade that he attacked Tanhan Khan with all his strength. Preserving strength is certainly one of them, but I feel... his hostility towards me, the Great Sui Dynasty, is far more than that of others. power."
Yang Ji thought for a while and said, "You mean if our army goes north, Yi Shubo might join forces with Ashina Huaide to attack our army and take the opportunity to kill Murong Bei?"
Song Zhengben nodded, "When I was on my mission to Xue Yantuo, Yinan, the grandson of Yishubao, was with me all the way. He inadvertently revealed Xue Yantuo's long-term goal: roughly speaking, 'Yishubao is trying to escape from the circle of right and wrong in Western Turks. Go to the rich Great Lakes area to rest and recuperate, then sit and watch the Shekui Khan, Chuluo Khan, and Qibi Ge Leng fight, and wait until the three parties are fighting fiercely, and then try to take advantage of each other. At that time, I was thinking, Yi lost Bo has already plotted the Great Lakes Region, and even if we don’t take the initiative to invite him, he will plot the Great Lakes Region when the Young Master is fighting Bujia Khan.”
"Song Lord Bo is right. When we were on an expedition to the Great Lakes region, Yi Shibo was considering stabbing us in the back. When we were fighting Ashina Huaide at Wusanghetlin Pass, he was there. The north stood still and prepared to send the shaman army of Tan Khan Khan to the south to fight us decisively. After we defeated Ashina Huaide, Yishubao desperately attacked Tanhan Khan. It can be seen that Yishubo is a If we go north with the lone army, this person will most likely stab us in the back and then blame other forces. And our Sui Dynasty fighting with the cadres from the north and south of the East/Turks is also in line with what he implemented in the West Turks It’s a tactic that works both ways.” After Hao Yuan said this, he cupped his hands and said, “Sir, you must be on guard against others!”
"We must be on guard, but we can't do without the benefits." Yang Ji is more tolerant. After all, people live in this world, and if they don't count others, how can they live well? Besides, aren't they plotting against people too? And Yang Ji is not worried about enemies. What he is worried about is this extremely unreliable relationship of being like an enemy but not an enemy, like a friend but not a friend. Since everyone defines Yi Shubo as a relationship where the enemy is greater than the friend, then everything will be fine. Done.
After Xue Ju heard what Yang Ji said, he thought for a moment and asked, "Do you plan to let Li Cishi and Yao Sima restrain Xue Yantuo from Tingzhou?"
"There is also Yizhou." Yang Ji said: "We can ask Wang Wei to leave two thousand state soldiers to maintain law and order. I will take the remaining troops and sit in the north of Puleihai; while Li Jing will sit in the Xianquan military town next door. , to intimidate Xue Yantuo from the south, and closely monitor Xue Yantuo’s every move.”
This was an internal negotiation within the palace. Yang Ji would have to explain the situation to the officials of the general manager's office tomorrow, so he only stated his strategic thinking and did not give any direct orders.
"It's doable!" Song Zhengben nodded, and then asked: "But I don't know who will be the leader of the troops heading north to the grassland? How many troops will they have?"
"I am the commander-in-chief. The total strength is 20,000 troops!" Yang Ji thought for a moment and said, "The main force is the troops I borrowed from the capital. In addition, I asked Zhang Xutuo to bring down 5,000 troops from the Qilian Mountains. The difference is from Soldiers from Ganzhou and Liangzhou are drawn."
Song Zhengben frowned and said: "Young master is a man of great wealth, so he should not be easily involved in danger. I think General Zhang will be the chief general, General Xue Ju will be the deputy general, and Hao Canjun will be the marching commander. It will be enough for the three of them to go north."
Hao Yuan smiled slightly: "Song Lord Bo, I think the young master must take action in this matter personally."
"Hao Canjun, how could you do this? Isn't this putting the young master in danger?" Song Zhengben said to Hao Yuan with a straight face and displeasure.
"The analysis has been made clearly and clearly just now, so the danger is not there!" Hao Yuan slowly explained: "This trip is not only about reaping benefits, but also leading the army to represent the Sui Dynasty and Qimin. The Khan and Ashina Huaide were interviewed, and besides the young master, who else in Liangzhou is qualified for this important task? If it were someone else, how could anyone believe what they said? "
"This..." Song Zhengben turned off the engine immediately.
Hao Yuan continued: "In addition, we are discussing the 'peace' matter with Tuyuhun. The young master left Liangzhou at this time, and General Zhang withdrew his troops from the key point of the confrontation, which just had the effect of paralyzing the enemy, thus providing opportunities for General Manager Xue and General Manager Mai , General Qian creates opportunities for victory."
"The matter has been settled." Seeing that Song Zhengben had nothing to say, Yang Ji smiled and said: "Qimin Khan and Ashina Huaide are not that important. I mainly want to meet Qimin Khan for a while. A few sons may have unexpected benefits.”
"Yes!" Song Zhengben sighed helplessly and said nothing. Although he didn't know what Yang Ji wanted to see Qimin Khan's son, he could guess with a little thought that it was to sow discord.
After thinking about it, Song Zhengben finally said: "However, this matter is of great importance. It would be better for the young master to inform and request the court first."
"Natural!" Yang Ji deeply agreed.
"As for the matter of destroying the false Buddha and helping the world, we need to consider it in the long term." Song Zhengben pondered for a while and suggested: "There are many criminals hiding in temples. We can collect evidence first and then make their crimes public. That's it." It can make people see the true face of the false Buddha, and then it will be a matter of course to arrest him."
"That's fine!" Yang Ji looked at Wei Zheng. According to legend, this guy can behead dragons in his dreams. He should be able to deal with Buddhists who only want to cheat and deceive. So he said: "Xuancheng, you and Li Daliang are responsible for this matter. .”
"Here." Wei Zheng is not only an orthodox Confucian scholar, but also a Confucian scholar who respects the rule of law. He has long hated the evil-doing Buddhism and impunity, so Yang Ji's appointment made him very excited.
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