"My son, can I still trust you?"
Zhang Hao was sitting on a bed. When he said this, two people were kneeling in front of him.
The commander of the Jinyi Guards, the Marquis of Yecheng, Zhang Liecheng. Zhang Lieming, deputy commander of the Jinyi Guards.
Zhang Lieming put his head on the ground, wishing that he wasn't even there now.
Zhang Liecheng was so frightened that he almost collapsed on the ground. The words "my son" in Zhang Yan's mouth definitely refer to him, not Zhang Lieming.
"My son is guilty of death! But my loyalty to my lord has never changed for a while.
Fourteen years ago, the Lord gave a mouthful of food to the child who was about to starve to death in the desert in the river. From that time on, the child swore that he would serve the Lord with his life. "
After finishing speaking, Zhang Liecheng gave a bitter smile, "A child who can be bullied by everyone has become the adopted son of the world's supreme being. He has enjoyed wealth and honor that he could not even imagine. How could he betray his father?"
Zhang Gao stared at Zhang Liecheng, and Zhang Liecheng faced Zhang Gao's scrutiny calmly.
This is not Zhang Hao being meddlesome, but what happened just now is indeed a bit too shocking for an emperor like him.
Zhang Gao once confidently believed that he was a rare hero in the world and that everyone around him had received great favors from him, so his safety should be foolproof.
But today, the appearance of Master Cixian broke the protective shell that Zhang Gao was proud of.
A monk, or a monk of unknown origin, could actually appear only a few feet away from him without his knowledge.
If this is an assassin with a crossbow, Zhang Yan will explain it today!
When he thought of this, Zhang Hao's inner anger rose like the sky.
I think back then in Honnoji Temple, Oda Nobunaga was so aggrieved that he was killed by others.
Fuck you! If the Central Plains Buddhism hadn't still had expectations for him, Zhang Yan, they would have just carried out a revolution in Xiangji Temple.
The more he thought about it, the more angry he became. Zhang Ji pointed at Zhang Liecheng, "Even now, you are still flaunting your filial piety and loyalty, but your father was almost killed on the spot because of your negligence."
Hearing the word "neglect" uttered by Zhang Hao himself, Zhang Liecheng finally burst into tears, tears welling up in his eyes.
"My lord, please punish me for your capital crime."
How to prevent such a thing from happening again, Zhang Yan thought a lot in his mind when Master Cixian left.
The best way, of course, is to completely drive away all the personal guards other than Han people, leaving only the guards from all ethnic groups in Hexi who believe deeply in the Six Methods Sect.
They regard Zhang Xi as the true god, and their interests are completely consistent with Zhang Xi's, and they will not be infiltrated by Central Plains Buddhism at all.
But Zhang Hao rejected this option with great perseverance.
This step must not be taken any further.
If this continues, those pro-army soldiers in Longyou, Hexi Province who believe deeply in the Six Dharma Sect will really become Yenicherries.
Moreover, the conflict between sects or ideas at this time was still very fierce, especially the cultural conflict between Confucianism and Buddhism with a Tianzhu flavor. It can be said that there is no concession at all.
The fight between the two sides even led to the extermination of Buddhism in Huichang a hundred years ago. This can be seen from the fierce attitude of Han Yu, the Confucian leader who supported the extermination of Buddhism, towards Buddhism.
Zhang Yan has not unified the world yet. If he attaches too many religious elements to his body at this time, he will immediately be at odds with Confucianism, which is full of strange power and chaos. It will severely damage the sage king Ming Dynasty that Zhang Yan is working hard to create. main image.
Zhang Gao heard someone say before that Confucian culture is the choice of all Chinese people, and that the exclusive respect of Confucianism in all dynasties is just to conform to people's hearts.
At that time, Zhang Hao scoffed at this and thought it was complete nonsense, but now it seems that it is not completely unreasonable.
Ever since Buddhism was introduced from Tianzhu at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, religious (philosophical) conflicts in China have become very acute. Throughout the dynasties, there has been no shortage of believers who wanted to establish an earthly Buddhist kingdom to cause trouble.
The reason for this is largely because the original Buddhist thought was completely foreign to India, and was naturally incompatible with China's culture that had been integrated and inherited as early as the Spring and Autumn Period.
So who is resisting Buddhism? It’s not Taoism, it’s not Legalism, it’s not even like Mohism.
It was Confucianism that resisted Buddhism and finally eliminated the waste and retained the essence from the Tianzhu culture brought by Buddhism, taking its essence and discarding its dross.
Only Confucianism, which advocates the unity of nature and man, practices secular government, advocates worship of ancestors, and sets KPIs for gods and Buddhas, can carry this banner.
At this time, it was this critical period of integration, and it was also the reason why after the Three Martial Arts and One Sect destroyed the Buddhist Zhongzhou Shizong, future generations would no longer need to destroy the Buddha.
Because after that, Buddhism was completely integrated into Chinese culture, and the three schools of thought, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, were basically unified in the general direction. There was no major religious conflict in the entire Chinese culture.
Zhang Yan is also a secular person, and he can only follow the choice of history - to promote Confucianism to a high platform and complete the historical mission that was historically undertaken by Zhou Shizong Guo Rong, but now can only be completed by him.
"Saint!" Li Xiaojie walked in quickly from outside.
"Yuhou An Sizhong, the third general of Feihu, the third capital of the left camp of the Right Divine Power Guards, who was on duty last night, suddenly disappeared. Along with him, two other close troops of the Left Divine Power Guards disappeared.
An epidemic broke out in General Feihu's camp, and more than thirty people were unable to get out of bed. "
"Sure enough, it's the Right Divine Power Guards!" Zhang Yan's face turned livid. He thought for a long time. The ones who might have problems among the pro-army would only be the Left and Right Divine Power Guards, which were composed of the former Imperial Guards of the Later Jin Dynasty. The Qianniu Guards, as well as the left and right Leopard Tao Guards composed of Hedong soldiers and Youyun heroes.
Because these are the only soldiers of the Six Guards, were they formed by Zhang Yan after he entered the Central Plains? In addition, the Central Plains, Youyun, and Hedong have always had a great development of Buddhism, so they are most likely to be infiltrated by the Central Plains Buddhism.
Among the three pro-armies who followed him to Xiangji Temple, the Youyu Lin Wei and the Zuo Longxiang Guards were all from Longyou, Hexi.
The middle lieutenant of Lin Wei on the right will be Li Cunhui, and the middle lieutenant of Long Xiang Wei on the left will be Fan Quan. These are Zhang Gao's closest confidants and can never be bribed.
Then only the You Shenwei Guards are left. More than 60% of the soldiers are composed of the former Imperial Guards of the Later Jin Dynasty, and there may be problems.
"Does anyone else know about this?" Zhang Hao asked in a low voice.
Li Xiaojie quickly shook his head, "General of the Right Divine Power Guards and Bo Jiao Jixun, An Yuan Bo, have already blocked the news and are now kneeling outside the door to plead guilty. No one knows about it except An Yuan Bo's personal guards."
Zhang Yan trusted Li Xiaojie very much. He even gained Zhang Yan's trust more than Zhang Liecheng and Zhang Lieming.
Zhang Liecheng has a character flaw and cares too much about power and reputation. Under the current circumstances, he may hide something in order not to lose points in front of Zhang Yan.
Zhang Lieming may be influenced by the Zhang family of Shazhou.
Only Li Xiaojie was born in Dangxiang, Yuanzhou. His grandfather Li Zhongchao and father Li Siyi were the first batch of old people to follow Zhang Yan into the pass.
Although they were coerced to follow the Guiyi Army into Guanzhong to quell the rebellion, Li Zhongchao and his son completely surrendered after the war.
Now the party members of Li Zhongchao's tribe have moved to the luxuriant water and grass area of Lingzhou. There are more than 20 officers in the tribe who are above the general Yuhou. They all believe in the Six Methods Sect and are deeply bound to Zhang Gao.
Li Xiaojie himself was brought to Liangzhou by Zhang Yan when he was eleven years old. He has been living with Zhang Yan and raised in the palace longer than Yang Jiye.
Therefore, at this time, Li Xiaojie is the most reliable.
"Call the imperial physician and order Zhao Jinfang to come and ask him to personally lead people to find out what's going on with the disease in You Shenwei Guards. As for Jiao Jixun..."
Zhang Hao was a little undecided, because he now didn't trust the Youshen Weiwei. Who knew if Jiao Jixun was involved in anything.
"Uncle! You must immediately summon Uncle Anzhou to comfort you. Maybe their intention is not to test your attitude towards Buddhism, but to punish you!"
Zhang Lieming, who had been keeping his head on the floor tiles, saw Zhang Hao hesitate and immediately lowered his voice and shouted.
Zhang Hao glared at him angrily, "What is your identity? Do you know what killing the heart is?"
Zhang Lieming was so frightened that cold sweat fell from his face, but he still said to Zhang Hao tremblingly: "How can a general be attached to him without skin? My nephew's surname is Zhang!"
Zhang Yan withdrew his gaze from Zhang Lieming, closed his eyes and thought for a moment.
"Zhang Liecheng immediately returned to Tokyo to sort out those among the Jinyi guards who had connections with Buddhism. Those who believed in Buddhism must also be found, but they must be done in secret and not to alert others.
Zhang Lieming, go to Chang'an City to find Luo Yu'er and ask him to bring Changguo Town.
Xiao Jie went to inform Jiao Jixun to come in, and then asked someone to inform Li Gu and Zhao Pu. "
Jiao Jixun felt as if his feet weighed ten thousand kilograms. Li Xiaojie didn't know An Sizhong's background yet, but he knew very well.
Just based on the surname An, we know that An Sizhong must be from Shatuo, but he is just a fake Shatuo among the three tribes of Daibei.
The four generations of An Si Chong's ancestors were all warriors. His great-grandfather was also a personal attendant of Li Jinwang's father, Li Guochang.
Now that such a big thing has happened, the relationship between the saint and the warriors of Daibei and Hedong is a bit delicate. If this matter involves all the pro-army and forbidden troops who come from the martial classes in Daibei and Hedong, then there will be real trouble.
Jiao Jixun, whose mind was in turmoil, followed several royal guards into the inner hall, and soon saw the emperor standing in the room. The emperor was talking to Li Gu and Zhao Pu.
As soon as Jiao Jixun came in, the emperor saw him. There was no thunderous anger. Of course, he didn't immediately ask someone to take him down. He didn't even blame him.
"The results are here! Don't be nervous. I know this matter has nothing to do with you. Someone is here to drive a wedge between you and me. Sit down and tell me, where did An Sizhong come from? I am not kind to him."
When Jiao Jixun heard this, he burst into tears. What a wonderful emperor! Even though she was in such a big danger, she didn't even blame him, and she could still be so kind.
You know, Zhang Shengren is not a king with little power like Shi Chonggui.
To put it bluntly, even if Shi Chonggui encountered this kind of thing, a lot of people would definitely die, let alone a massacre.
"I, Jiao Jixun, am ashamed of my faith in the saint and deserve death! But I must say that in the army, Pao Zeduo has great respect for the saint. It is rare to see someone like An Sizhong who harbors evil intentions."
"You!" Zhang Hao couldn't help but reach out and click on Jiao Jixun a few times.
This famous official who was known as a Confucian general in history and who made great achievements many times has always been treated as a tool. It is probably related to his temper.
Is this what you, a sin-stricken person, can say? You personally said that it is rare, but you have to take responsibility. If An Sizhong really comes out again, Zhang Yan can behead Jiao Jixun reasonably and legally based on these words.
But such a capable general who dares to die is exactly what Zhang Gao wants.
Moreover, Zhang Yan also thought clearly after receiving Zhang Lieming's reminder.
He realized that Buddhism alone certainly did not have such great energy. At least when it was punished by Chai Rong in history, they did not have such a resistance ability.
And as both Zhang Lieming and Jiao Jixun realized, these people used every move to poke fun at the two sensitive words Hedong and Daibei. I am afraid they really wanted to arouse Zhang Yan's concern for the non-Hexi Longyou pro-army and the imperial army. of alertness.
Therefore, although he was very angry in his heart, and indeed a little worried and distrustful, Zhang Yan still suppressed it all.
He sighed helplessly and continued to say to Jiao Jixun: "Don't be so arbitrary when you speak in the future. Do you know that just these two sentences you just said will probably make you lose your head in the future."
Jiao Jixun also realized that what he just said was not what he should say.
But after hearing Zhang Yan's words of not treating him as an outsider, he was immediately moved and couldn't help himself. The concerns that had just arisen in his heart were immediately forgotten by him.
“With the Holy Emperor on the throne, there will naturally be outspoken ministers like me.
Although An Sizhong was born in Daibei, starting from his father, few members of the family could achieve high positions.
Now that he is rebelling alone, he cannot be equated with the warriors from Daibei and Hedong. This is a plot set by traitors. Please see it clearly. "
"Hmph!" Zhang Hao snorted coldly, "If I hadn't noticed better, I would have ordered the killing of you Jiao Zhi right now, and the purge in the army would have started long ago.
Tell me, what does the decline of the An Sizhong family have to do with me?
As soon as he was surrendered, I rescued him from the Khitans and promoted him to the position of general Yuhou. Why did he do this? "
As Zhang Yan spoke, he pulled Jiao Jixun up with his own hands, and Jiao Jixun quickly said: "An Sizhong's family is actually a descendant of the nine surnames of Zhaowu. They believe in Buddhism most of all. It is said that An's mother cut off her right arm to give alms five years ago."
"Sick!" Zhang Zhan cursed angrily with a livid face.
There is a very disgusting trend in Buddhism at this time, that is, believers like to use self-mutilation to show their devotion to Buddhism.
They usually use hot oil to scald their face, burn their face and hands with fire, or even cut off their arms or even thighs. The more cruel the method, the more pious it is.
Temples often encourage this practice. Even when a believer cuts off his hands and feet to give alms, the temple will give him medicine and food to raise him, thinking that he has Buddha nature. Some temples will also compete with each other to compare the piety of who donates the body. There are more believers.
And this approach further stimulates comparisons among believers.
There are even some who are not believers and risk self-harm simply for the sake of food provided by the temple.
Although An Sichong's family has declined, he is still a member of the Daibei and Hedong warriors.
Even if Zhang Zhou is not the traditional Shatuo regime in Hedong, Zhang Zhou's close general Yuhou, although he cannot be said to be rich and powerful, is by no means an ordinary family.
In this kind of family, An's mother even cut off her right arm to give alms. It can be seen that this is true piety.
It is not surprising that a son educated by such a crazy believer mother would be bribed by Buddhism.
"Sage, I learned through investigation that An Sizhong's family once had a large estate in Daizhou, Hedong. After the imperial court regained Daizhou, An Sizhong wanted to take back the property, but he could not provide any evidence, and in the end he only took back a piece of property. With more than a hundred acres, An Sizhong often complained." This time it was Li Xiaojie who spoke.
Zhang Hao nodded. If there were religious reasons and economic reasons, then they would all work together.
"This is all your dereliction of duty. Marquis Yu, who is always by my side as a bodyguard and a close military general, not only has such strange things happening in his family, but also often complains. No one takes him seriously, hum!"
Zhang Gao was still angry, so he stepped forward and kicked Zhang Liecheng, knocking him to the ground while he was kneeling on the ground.
"Zhang Lie was demoted to be the Marquis of Yecheng and was given the title of Uncle Yecheng. He was fined one year's salary. Zhang Lieming and Li Xiaojie were also fined one year each."
With that said, Zhang Yan looked at Jiao Jixun. Jiao Jixun immediately knelt down on the ground and said, "I would like to deprive you of my title and resign from the post of Lieutenant General of the Right Shenwei Guard."
"You have resigned, and I am left to do everything by myself? What will it look like if you run away whenever something happens?
Jiao Jixun was removed from the post of Zhonglang General of the Right Divine Wei Guard, and ordered to command the envoys with the title of Zhonglang General, and deprived of all ranks and honors.
Take good care of the right divine guard for me, and don't let anything go wrong again. If something goes wrong again, I won't be able to do anything about it.
As for what you are worried about, you can rest assured that I will not be fooled by those people. This matter ends with An Sizhong and I will never expand it. "
