Chapter 57 Land
It is good that the army has established a certain scale and has manpower.
While the city was repairing, several orders were issued to the three counties of Kuacan, Songyang and Linhai, demanding that they surrender immediately. After all, the county seat had fallen, and the county seats' resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Yongjia County is the seat of Yongjia Prefecture. It was named as such in the 9th year of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. The word "Yongjia" means long and beautiful water. It is famous for its beautiful water, strange rocks, many waterfalls, ancient villages, and beautiful beaches and forests.
The Sima of the county, represented by Gao Boxiu, and a group of officials of high rank who were demoted, numbered more than 20 people, and there were hundreds of minor officials. Practically speaking, these demoted officials solved big problems. After all, they had prestige in the local area. In addition, the Political Affairs Hall was already in operation. As long as they controlled the military power and the county lieutenants and county lieutenants came from their own ranks, it would be much easier to arrange for them.
After the order was issued, Zhang Xuanning, Chen Changlin, Li Chunfeng, Gao Boxiu and others actually had time to travel. Three hundred riders rode out on horseback. The river along the way was pure and clear, with the bottom visible. The two banks were lined with green peaks and lush forests, which was a refreshing sight.
After walking for dozens of miles, we arrived at a mountain.
"My lord, is this Furong Mountain?" Gao Boxiu stepped forward and pointed, saying, "There is a Taoist temple on the mountain."
At this time, at dusk, the endless undulating hills ahead are bathed in the golden light of dusk, exuding an indescribable natural beauty that makes people yearn for it.
Furong Mountain is a branch of the Snow Mountain, stretching for hundreds of miles. When you arrive at Xunchang, you will see nine peaks rising from the ground, surrounded by clouds and mist, and the mountains are undulating, like lotus flowers, and even more like hibiscus plants, so it is named after this.
The mountains are high and the forests are dense, the water is gurgling, and there are often white cranes singing and yellow orioles chirping. Zhang Xuanning rode forward and couldn't help but sigh that the scenery was completely intact at this time. It was really a good place for tourism and summer vacation.
During the climb, the sky was clear and the air was bright, and the houses and farmland below the mountain were in full view. The mountain was full of strange rocks and lush trees, and when we reached the top of the mountain, we saw a Taoist temple.
When we got to the Taoist temple, we saw a man in feathered robes and a star crown coming out. He bowed slightly and said, "Dear guest, please come in. I am Kong Daomao, and I am honored to meet the chief steward."
Kong Daomao? Even if Zhang Xuanning read a lot, it would be difficult to have heard of him. However, this person was originally from Kuaiji. Li Bo specially sent a letter to him, saying that Jian'an Song Yuquan, Kuaiji Kong Daomao, Danyang Wang Yuanzhi and others were all outstanding figures in Taoism at that time. They were able to fast on their own and feed themselves with pine and water. They were respected by the gods and were valued by Emperor Yang of Sui.
In other words, these three people are some of the leaders of Taoism in the south. Zhang Xuanning sneered secretly. He was originally from Kuaiji, and he did not see him coming when he was in Kuaiji. But after he captured Yongjia County, he came here to meet him.
The soldiers outside had their own accommodation, and they could go inside. Chen Changlin and Gao Boxiu stayed outside, but Li Chunfeng followed them in. When they got inside, they saw a quiet room. This quiet room was only a few feet square, but it was extremely quiet and elegant. There was a bookcase on the south side, which was full of alchemy scriptures and Taoist scrolls, and a few jade flutes were hung on it. There was a small table on the west side, with a green porcelain on it, and a few unknown wild flowers were inserted, sparsely scattered, and had bloomed and not yet bloomed, which was elegant and pleasant.
Another young girl came forward and served tea. This girl had bright eyes and white teeth, and was about seventeen or eighteen years old. She wore a straw hairpin and a plain dress, and had long hair that was easily tied up. But when she came closer, Zhang Xuanning was shocked, feeling that this girl had inner essence, skin as white as snow, and beauty to the bone.
Seeing Zhang Xuanning staring at her, she smiled, generous and lovely, her natural beauty could no longer be concealed.
"This girl is not bad. I'll ask the Taoist priest to let her serve as my concubine." Zhang Xuanning thought so, but he picked up the tea and took a sip. Then, after the girl left, he said directly, "Kong Daomao, do you want to open a Taoist temple?"
"That's right. Please allow me, Mr. General." Kong Daomao said calmly.
"Then what are the Taoist temples you see built on?"
"You can calculate it based on the True Spirit Position Chart."
"Hmph, you preach Taoism but not the Dharma, you preach the Dharma but not the Taoism, and then you preach religion but not the Dharma, you preach the Dharma but not the religion. Not only does it not meet my needs, it will also make it difficult to revitalize Taoism and suppress the Hu religion. Do you think that creating more gods will be better?" Zhang Xuanning said with a sneer.
The first mistake at that time was the rampant creation of gods. Countless gods were created, which resulted in believers being at a loss as to what to do.
"Please give your comments, Mr. General." Kong Daomao was not angry, he just said.
"The first point is that there is no distinction between Taoists and laymen. Humph, in the True Spirit Position Chart, Confucius is the third left Taiji Shangzhen Gong, Yan Hui is Mingshichen Shilang, Qin Shihuang is Dubeidi Shangxiang, Cao Cao is Taifu, Zhou Gong is Ximing Gong Bi Shaochuan, and King Wu of Zhou is Guiguan Beijun. This is so absurd that it is hard to distinguish and will cause great disasters. Do you know?" Zhang Xuanning sneered and said, "In history, emperors and sages are all ranked in the list of gods and immortals. Do you think this will make emperors and generals feel honored? It is a humiliation to Confucianism and emperors, and it also makes the sages in the world very dissatisfied. How can any emperor or sage be inferior to them?"
“But the Tao is supreme.”
"It is true that the Great Dao is supreme, but are gods the Great Dao? Or are your Taoist priests on earth equal to the Great Dao? That is not the way to seek disaster. Do you think that just because you have the name of a Taoist priest, the Great Dao is your pet? Or the authority of your family? You must remember that the Great Dao is the Great Dao, the gods are the gods, and the emperor is the emperor. Only when you understand this can you spread it widely in the world." Zhang Xuanning said slowly: "Otherwise, this book would not have been burned in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. This is not only because of the Hu religion, but also because your Taoism thinks it is supreme and interferes with the order of gods and the order of the world."
"The sun did not set because of Jie and Zhou, and it did not rise because of Yao and Shun. If you don't understand this common sense, how can you talk about the great way? Are you seeking the way, seeking immortality, or seeking enlightenment?"
"How about seeking the Tao, seeking immortality, and seeking guidance?" Kong Daomao asked.
“To seek the Tao, there is no other god except the Tao. This sentence is enough. This is the sect that seeks the Tao. Since there is no other god except the Tao, building a Taoist temple is nothing more than a means of practicing. Why bother to recruit pilgrims and spread the Tao to all directions? As for those who seek wealth, land, Dharma, and a companion, the rich one is the one.” At this point, Zhang Xuanning remembered what he had learned in his previous life. That the real Taoist practice sect was passed down secretly within the family.
"If you seek immortality or gods, the Tianshi Sect and the Yellow Turban Sect were the first to establish a respected position, grant heavenly officials, and use talismans to gain power. In other words, you are just using your desire to be king and dominate the world in the heavens, in order to seek eternal wealth and honor. However, you may enjoy it, but it may not meet the needs of believers in the world, and it is even more feared by the emperor. If the fate of the emperor is born from you, then your ancestors are kings and officials in heaven. Will your descendants on earth also surpass the emperor and be called the emperor? Therefore, it can only be passed on to one side, and it cannot flourish."
This statement was so sharp that Kong Daomao immediately broke out in a cold sweat. The "True Spirit Position Chart" occupies the main position of honor for Taoist immortals, and lists the emperors, generals, saints and celebrities in the world as subordinates, so it is inevitable that it will be slandered by the world. What is more terrible is that the author deliberately wants to compare the position levels of the human world with the ideas and concepts of the gods in the fairy world, which has led to its complete vulgarization as a religion from the beginning, and also caused the decline of Chinese Taoism from the beginning, making it difficult to have a foundation to become the mainstream thought.
"How about seeking advice?"
"Why can a great religion flourish? First, it is for worldly needs, such as happiness, longevity, and freedom from disasters and diseases. Second, it is for the soul to rest in peace after death. Third, it is for cultivation and promotion. This does not need to be popularized now. Fourth, it is to meet the needs of me as a general manager, a king, and an emperor to govern the people."
"This is too much content. If you want to spread the Dharma in my territory, I have a few requirements."
"First, the Great Dao is supreme. This can be said in the classics, but how can the Great Dao be a god? To be a god means to be supreme, to have thoughts, ideas and power. Gods and humans are separate. How can you seek the Dao, prove the Dao and practice the Dao? This is a big mistake. The Great Dao has no gods. Only then is there the source of your practice and proof of the Dao. If you don't know this, what are you still practicing? You might as well just crash to death. Do you dare to publicly prove the Dao?"
The Great Dao has gods, which becomes the model of the omnipotent God of Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam. Seeking the Dao and proving the Dao is to become God. How can such a model be tolerated in the same system? It is essentially a sharp contradiction.
"Secondly, those who are directly based on Taoism, such as Yuanshi Tianzun, and the Five Spirits and Seven Bright Dao Lords, can all be abolished. Who are you ? How dare you establish gods for the universe? What do these beings have to do with ordinary believers? What do they have to do with you? What is the purpose of having them in your religion? Do you want to be above us and want the power of the gods to be higher than the power of the emperor?"
"There are too many of these. In addition, the True Spirit Position Chart lists the founder of the Shangqing School in the second divine rank, while the founder of the Lingbao School is in the third divine rank, and the founder of the Tianshi Dao is in the fourth divine rank. This reflects the position of Tao Hongjing, a Taoist priest of the Shangqing School. Think about it yourself, what's the benefit of this? I will only say three things. First, there is no god in the Great Dao. Second, gods are gods, and immortals are immortals. Gods have great teachings, and immortals do not seek outside help, so why do they need teachings? If you want to preach, separate the gods and immortals first. Third, don't regard your Taoist predecessors as the gods and emperors, and override everything. Don't think that your ancestors were the emperors of heaven, and therefore should have divine authority, which will anger the king."
"You need to figure out the relationship between heaven and Tao, between gods and immortals, and between heaven and gods and immortals first. But for now, if you are willing, please help me establish the land first."
"Land?"
"That's right. To establish a religion, you must first establish the foundation. You should first establish the land. The land carries all things and gives birth to all things. People come from the land and return to the land. Therefore, the sacrifices are clearly stated in the Book of Rites. From the officials down to the common people, they live in groups. When there are more than 100 families, they can establish a community. The land is vast and cannot be worshipped everywhere. Therefore, the land is sealed as a community and worshiped to repay the merits. The land of a county is regarded as the main god of the land. A temple is built to bless the people and protect the area. If you have a method, you can use more great spirits to perform it, so that you can feel the response."
"I now have eight counties. You should first build eight land temples and assign people to manage them. I will give them teaching discs. You should use them to educate the people first."
"Every year on the second day of the second lunar month, I will organize local officials and people to go to the land temple to burn incense and worship."
"In the county city, build a city god to observe the good and evil of the people and decide whether they are blessed or cursed, so that the living and the dead will not be spared. His power is similar to that of the land god, but greater. When offering sacrifices, only the city god of a certain county is called, and the city god temple cannot worship other gods. I now have two counties, you can build one."
"In the future, when people are born, they will go to the land god or the city god to register their underworld, and then go to the government to register their yang book. After death, they will go to the government to register their yang book, and then go to the land god or the city god to register their underworld again. They will burn incense and enter the underworld. When they get married or buried, they should also send priests from the temple to preside over the ceremony. This will help to promote the religion."
"The spirits of the heroes who died in battle are worshipped in the local county god's side temple, or in the hometown god's side temple. They are placed in groups of ten on incense tablets with their names engraved on them. You can call them that. After they die, they become the land ghost soldiers and protect the hometown together, so that the dead in battle can be worshipped forever."
"You cultivators can therefore usually preside over the sacrifices at the land or city god temples, bless the place and gain good karma, and also receive incense offerings. I think you will naturally have no worries about food and clothing and concentrate on cultivation. This is also a blessed land. In this way, you can have land, wealth, Dharma, and companions. However, you cannot cast spells lightly, or you will be punished."
"There are thousands of counties in the world. If I gain control of the world, I can also build thousands of land temples. Each temple has a chief priest, two deputy priests, and five assistant priests. Each of them has a teaching disc. I can also support 10,000 beginners of your Taoism, and be close to the villages. If there are disciples to be chosen in the world, I can find out at the first time. How do you think?"
Kong Daomao was immediately moved when he heard this. He thought for a moment and said , "This is a very important matter. Please give me more consideration."
"Well, think about it. When you're ready, give me an answer."
Most of the Taoists of this era were actually unwilling to be lonely. Fortunately, Taoism was not formed long ago at that time and was still in its primitive state. It was not like later when it would become difficult to reverse the situation and had complicated roots. It could be cleared up directly at the source.
Since monotheism is not an option, polytheism may not be inferior. The key is to combine land worship, ancestor worship, and underworld worship to form a deep-rooted culture. The country's major events are sacrifices or wars. Later, Confucianism separated them into rituals. However, "sacrifice and war" are the foundation of a nation.
Whether a nation is polite or not is not the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is whether a nation has a martial spirit and whether its national beliefs are stable. This is the core of civilization. If a nation loses its martial spirit and its beliefs, what is left of it?
Since he had arrived in this world, he naturally had to do great things, great rituals, and great victories. Zhang Xuanning had no hesitation about this.
Of course, in the near future, he also absorbed the support of some Taoist believers, and upheld local beliefs, and implemented a policy of consolidating the original force of China to resist the invasion of Hujiao. As for Hujiao, he did not want to wipe it out, but he would never allow it to usurp the destiny of Chinese artifacts and cause China to suffer many disasters, and he would not allow it to set up its own gods to disrupt the destiny of heaven.
The original intention of Sakyamuni was not to worship gods, but to find a way to liberation, so returning to the origin is the right way.
Thinking of this era, there were thousands of temples and hundreds of thousands of monks, his scalp tingled. This kind of power was really too terrifying. If Kong Daomao didn't allow it, he would naturally find someone else. When he saw that the conversation was over, he came out on his own, causing Li Chunfeng and Kong Daomao in the room to smile bitterly at each other.
"No matter what, offering sacrifices to the land god and the city god is the right way. People in the world all live on the land. If my sect can control the land and form a large scale, it will naturally prosper." Li Chunfeng said after waiting for a while.
Indeed, worshiping the land has been around since ancient times, and it is an ancient sacrifice. No one can say anything about it. It is okay to start from this, but Kong Daomao sighed quietly and said nothing. He wanted to show some magical powers, some freedom, and talk about Taoism to convince this young steward and promote the great religion. But now it seems that the other person does not want to listen to any mysterious principles. He is full of domineering and tells what he is going to do one by one. He doesn't even want to listen to other words.
This kind of mentality makes people develop some taboos.
The great Dao is like an abyss and is not something that can be resolved by words. Zhang Xuanning is very clear about this. Moreover, as for other matters, Li Chunfeng, who is also a Taoist, will naturally be there to persuade him.
After leaving the Taoist temple, Li Chunfeng followed him out not long after: "My Lord!"
"Well, you see, there seems to be a rumor going around recently that whoever gets the Heshi Bi can rule the world. What do you think?" He asked this question without talking about the conversation inside.
Li Chunfeng concentrated his thoughts: "Since Zulong, the Heshi Bi has indeed been the seal of the emperors of all dynasties. As our ancestors said, it is indeed imbued with the aura of the emperor, and its origin is unfathomable. Therefore, whoever can obtain it will certainly double his appeal and greatly strengthen his capital for competing for hegemony in the world. This cannot be ignored, but it will also become a thorn in the eyes of everyone, so those with less power will be doomed."
Zhang Xuanning said, "Do you think that this rumor came from Cihang Jingzhai? Was it deliberately spread to build momentum for the future master they chose ?"
Li Chunfeng was shocked and said, "My Lord, this may be the possibility."
"Well, the emperor has moved south, and the north is empty. Those means of building momentum should also surface." Zhang Xuan stared at the fields below the mountain and showed a cold smile: "A bunch of monsters and ghosts, monkeys in human form, and barbarians and barbarians are also going to perform on the stage."
