In the Zichen Hall, Empress Wu flipped through the memorial in front of her casually.
This was King Nanchang's memorial to confer Buddhism. Empress Wu admitted in her heart that this was indeed a good method. Buddhism had spread in recent years and its influence was expanding day by day.
In the entire city of Chang'an, more than half of the households worship Buddha and Bodhisattva.
The continuous expansion of Buddhist influence was not a good thing for Datang.
Because Buddhism is not as controlled as Taoism.
Taoism, from Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period to Five Pecks of Rice in the late Han Dynasty, has been integrated with the world for countless years.
Even the Taoist ancestor was named Taishang Xuanyuan Emperor by the emperor.
However, the influence of Buddhism is expanding day by day, not to mention Taoism. Even in Empress Wu's view, if Li Tang had not respected Laozi as his ancestor, Buddhism would have surpassed Taoism long ago.
Controlling Buddhism is now an urgent issue for the court.
…
At the beginning of the year, Tubo tried to arouse the anger and desire of the Buddhists, thereby affecting the court's decision-making.
Unfortunately, Tubo miscalculated the influence of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty, and also miscalculated the Tang monks' desire for Tianzhu relics.
Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty was forming a center of its own.
"The Buddha entered the Tang Dynasty, the Buddha of the Tang Dynasty." Empress Wu looked up at Li Zhi and said softly: "Your Majesty, this matter should be done sooner rather than later."
Li Zhi glanced at the memorial, nodded, and said, "If we win this battle, I will be granted the title of Buddha."
Empress Wu hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said: "The Buddhist side is definitely Wuyou. This is the Taoist side. If I can't give a proper explanation, I'm afraid I won't recognize it easily."
"What can't be explained?" Li Zhi looked sideways at Empress Wu and said calmly: "In the late Han Dynasty, Buddhism said that 'Laozi entered the barbarians and became a pagoda', and later there was the "Laozi Transformed Hu Jing". In this case, at that time, , Emperor Xuanzang transformed Hu into a Buddha. Today, I inherit the ancestors and canonize Xuanzang as a Buddha, so why not?"
Empress Wu suddenly smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty said so, the Taoist sect was comforted, but the Buddhist sect is probably going to explode again. The Buddhist sect has always refused to recognize the "Laozi Hua Hu Jing"."
"Mei Niang, you and I are familiar with history books and should know that when Buddhism was introduced to China, it often relied on Huanglao Taoism. Now that Buddhism is at its peak, it is necessary to abandon its original intention. I don't like this kind of behavior." Li Zhi said There was a hint of coldness in his eyes.
Hua Hu's battle.
When Buddhism was introduced to China, it was once regarded as a kind of Huang-Lao magic. Buddhism was also attached to Huangdi and Laozi in an attempt to combine with Chinese beliefs and spread.
During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, Hua Hushu was widely popular.
There is a god in the West, named Buddha.
The theory of gods, Buddhas and immortals is not unfounded.
By the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism had already had a certain influence in China, so some people began to oppose it and even believed that Taoism was inferior to Buddhism.
It was at this time that "Laozi Transformed the Barbarians" appeared, which stated that Laozi left Yangguan in the west, passed through the Western Regions to Tianzhu, transformed the Barbarians into Buddhas, and taught the Barbarians, thus giving rise to Buddhism.
Over the years, disputes between Taoism and Buddhism, and disputes between Yi and Xia, have become commonplace.
In the third year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty, Shamen Yancong wrote a volume of "On Debate of Education" with a total of twenty-five articles, denounced Laozi as nonsense.
In the fifth year of Emperor Xianqing's reign in the Tang Dynasty, the ascetic Jingtai, the Taoist Li Rong, and others were ordered to gather in Luogong to debate the authenticity of the "Laozi's Transformation of Hu Jing". However, various books of the Han, Jin, Five Dynasties, and Sui dynasties all contained the theory of transforming Hu, and the theory of Buddhism was It cannot be accomplished.
Now that the emperor canonize Buddhism, if Daci'en Temple agrees, it will be equivalent to acknowledging Laozi's Transformation of Hu Sutra. From then on, Buddhism has always been inferior to Taoism.
…
"I agree with my twenty-seventh brother that if the Buddha enters the Middle Earth, he will become the Buddha of the Middle Earth. This is what I mean by conferring the title Xuanzang. Everyone can become enlightened and everyone can become a Buddha. In this way, the world will be peaceful." Li Zhi's simple words revealed his intention.
Balance, Taoist balance.
Although Li Zhi has the ambition to become a Buddhist, he still has to settle on the balance between Buddhism and Taoism.
"I always feel that there is something inappropriate about this matter, but I can't figure it out." Empress Wu pushed the memorial in front of Li Zhi and shook her head with a wry smile.
Inexplicably, Empress Wu had a feeling in her heart that if this matter really came to pass, something would be thrown away.
"What else could it be? If it hadn't been for the chaos caused by the King of Nanchang, Taoism and Buddhism would still be peaceful. In the end, great efforts were taken to handle the matter properly, and Buddhism and Taoism would not have changed much. It was all in vain." Li Zhi could see clearly at a glance. The pros and cons of this.
"But the good thing is that your Majesty got it after all." Empress Wu rolled her eyes at Li Zhi angrily.
Li Zhi pursed his lips and chuckled, "Blessed Buddha, it feels good just thinking about it."
At this moment, a burst of footsteps sounded outside the door, and then Wang Fulai came in from the outside and placed a secret book in the center of the imperial case.
Li Zhi nodded towards Empress Wu, who then picked up the memorial and read it carefully. After a moment, Empress Wu said: "Your Majesty, the secret guard reports that the King of Nanchang will go to Da Ci'en Temple today, which was decided five days ago. , Ming Chongyan followed the King of Nanchang to inquire about the details of the construction of Qiuyuan in Tubo; as for Chengsi, someone did see him appearing in Qujiang Pond at six o'clock."
Empress Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now that there was evidence to prove that Wu Chengsi had nothing to do with Shan Wuhui, the suspicion on him could be completely eliminated.
Li Zhi nodded slightly, turned over the memorial, and said softly: "Then this matter is really like what Twenty-seventh Lang said, someone has been staring at him and Chengsi. It's strange, staring at Twenty-seventh Lang is understandable. Yuan, after all, he has often been against Tubo Xi recently, but why is he staring at Chengsi?"
Li Zhi seemed to have thought of something and turned to look at Empress Wu.
Empress Wu sighed softly, shook her head slightly and said, "Perhaps Chengsi has some clues that were discovered by the Tubo people. If the King of Nanchang finds out about this matter, maybe there will be another turmoil."
"I had this feeling about Li Jingye's incident at the beginning. It seemed that someone was plotting against Li Jingye. Now someone is plotting against the heir?" Li Zhi couldn't help but frowned and whispered: "That incident at the beginning was the King of East China Sea's. Handwriting, could this matter be the handiwork of the King of East China Sea again?"
"It's different." Empress Wu shook her head slightly and said: "This time the writing seems to be more direct, and there is not too much grudges, so I guess that there should be a change of people... Strange, there is actually someone with the King of East China Sea People with the same hands and feet.”
"Demon Gate." Li Zhi relaxed suddenly and said with a sneer: "Those rats in the gutter rarely jump out."
Although the Demon Sect is a Tang Shushu, they rarely charge forward directly.
The Tianyin Sect and the King of East China Sea were all flags pushed to the forefront by them.
Li Zhi said calmly: "Let Twenty-seventh Lang handle this matter. Chengsi has been banned anyway, so let Twenty-seventh Lang and the Tubo people struggle. The various ministries continue to carry out their affairs, don't worry about it. "
"Here!"
…
Daci'en Temple.
Li Xuan was walking in the empty courtyard, and Ming Chongyan suddenly said: "If Pindao remembers correctly, there should be another case on the prince's body. Now, can these two cases be merged and handled together?" ?”
Li Xuan looked at Ming Chongyan with some surprise, then shook his head slightly and said: "Master, the previous case was used to spread the news, but the current case was used to cause trouble between the DPRK and the Central Government. Although there are some traces, it is not easy to find the mastermind behind it. If you and I spend too much energy on this case, I am afraid it will lead to the opposite direction. Let Di Renjie be responsible for this case. "
How could Li Xuan not see that this matter was aimed at him and Wu Chengsi.
If he hadn't mentioned the matter of conferring Buddhahood at that time, which delayed the time, then maybe he would be the one who discovered Shan Wuhui's body.
Then Wu Chengsi is found. By then, not to mention Empress Wu, even Li Xuan herself will suspect that she is secretly plotting against Wu Chengsi.
Therefore, Li Xuan had no involvement in finding out anything about this case and left it all to Di Renjie.
"This Di Si Cheng may have caught the eyes of both the Queen of Heaven and His Majesty at the same time." Ming Chongyan stood at the entrance of the courtyard and suddenly spoke.
Li Xuan nodded slightly, and then said: "Di Huaiying was born in Taiyuan, Bingzhou, and he and Tianhou are from the same hometown. Your Majesty was also named King of Jin in his early years. Di Huaiying is a talent who grew up in Your Majesty's fiefdom. Naturally, he needs to take more care of her. The most important thing is that he is capable and loyal, so it is normal for His Majesty and the Queen to like him."
Li Xuan was granted the title of King of Nanchang. If there are talents from Nanchang, he will take care of them.
The same goes for the emperor.
"Then let's see how far this Di Sicheng can investigate the case now, shall we?" Ming Chongyan sighed softly and walked into the guest house.
In the guest house, Di Renjie and his subordinates from Dali Temple were rummaging through boxes and cabinets.
None of us are fools. Since someone is eyeing Wu Chengsi and taking action on Shan Wuhui, it means that this matter is definitely not that simple.
Although Wu Chengsi secretly worshiped his father and uncle, although the Empress was not happy, due to human ethics, Empress Wu did not like it, so it could only be that she was not happy.
You can rebuke and hate Wu Chengsi, but you can't punish him for it.
To express resentment, the emperor must bow his head and acknowledge it.
But now it seems that the emperor has no intention of severely punishing Wu Chengsi.
This matter alone cannot destabilize the current situation between the government and the opposition. The other party has ulterior motives.
Li Xuan stood in the middle of the courtyard, frowning and thinking carefully. The King of Donghai was dead. The Tubo envoy, the Tubo deputy envoy, and everyone in the Tubo envoy were all watching. So who was there? Secretly planned.
Is it someone hiding in the court?
Li Xuan shook his head slightly. Those people in the court, if you ask them to steal something, that's fine, but if you ask them to take the initiative to set up a scheme against Li Xuan and Wu Chengsi, they don't have the courage. After all, the more they do, the more they do. The more exposed they are.
There are people from Tubo and the Demon Cult.
Demonic Cult...
"Found it." Di Renjie called out and called Li Xuan and Ming Chongyan in together.
Then suddenly, a secret pit was dug out in the center of the room.
Inside were some gold bars, copper coins, money orders, a sharp dagger, and a palm-sized notebook.
"Is this Master Shan Wuhui really an eminent monk?" Ming Chongyan looked stunned.
Li Xuan waved her hand and said, "Don't jump to conclusions so hastily. Come here and bring some charcoal."
"Here!" Someone left soon.
Li Xuan took out a piece of silk from her arms, handed over the small book, and then opened the first page, which directly read: "Du Family of Chang'an, Du Yuanding, July of the first year of Shangyuan, three thousand Guan, kill Chang'an Weishi..."
With a "pop" sound, Li Xuan closed the chapter directly and looked at Ming Chongyan with an ugly expression: "Master, what should we do about this matter?"
(End of chapter)
