Chapter 696: Different Beliefs in God
Zhao Yulin nodded, thinking that Li Liang's brain was quite useful.
He believed that no matter what religion it was, it should promote social harmony and the well-being of the people. However, he did not advocate that the court should issue an imperial decree, as that would change the nature of the matter. The Ministry of Rites would convene a meeting of religious associations, and after reaching a consensus, ask the various religious associations to take the initiative.
He said: Black sheep are everywhere. Religion and temples are not places outside the law. We still need to supervise them strictly and never allow those beastly people to harm others under the guise of doing good deeds.
Li Liang nodded continuously, and immediately went to do his job after receiving his instructions.
Soon, tablets with the words "The foundation of the country is forever solid, and the people are well-off" were erected in the main places of major temples and Taoist temples in the New Song Dynasty, and common people rushed to kowtow, burn incense and pray for blessings. But that’s a story for later.
In Tehran, Hubli was also discussing state affairs with his ministers.
After Hubli's Western Yuan Empire moved here, it finally settled down. The Shenwei Army no longer launched large-scale attacks, allowing him to have a good rest for more than half a year. After completely controlling the rebels in the country, he is gradually recovering.
However, new problems arose.
After the grassland people entered these areas in large numbers, conflicts often arose because they believed in different gods. Xi Yuan's army believed in Manchuria and unilaterally killed pagans who wore long robes and veils.
This caused serious confrontation and resistance among local believers , and uprisings continued one after another, which had a great impact on the restoration of local order and economic development.
What's worse, those pagans even tried every possible means to sneak into the territory of the New Song Dynasty.
Hubili cursed in his heart, saying that he had such a bad conscience.
Prime Minister Yao reported to him that Xiyuan should also allow different religious sects to coexist like the New Song Dynasty. As long as one loves the country, loves the family, and abides by the laws of Xiyuan, it is a good religion.
At that time, his younger brother Xu Liewu came here during the Western Expedition. For the sake of stability, he had converted to Islam and naturally did not want to see the unprovoked killing. Xu Liewu told him that the people here have been wearing long gowns and veils for hundreds of years, and most of them believe in Islam. It is impossible to kill them all. If all the pagans were really killed, there would be no one left to work for the emperor.
Hubili nodded with a smile, but he did not completely agree with the opinions of Yao Zaifu and Xu Liewu.
Because he believes in Shamanism and his brother Xu Liewu believes in Islam, he must not let his brother get away with it. Islam must be suppressed and Shamanism must be supported.
On the one hand, he ordered a ban on the indiscriminate killing of pagans, and on the other hand, he issued an imperial decree requiring all believers to write a letter of guarantee, promising to support Emperor Hubili, support him as the Heavenly Khan, and guarantee loyalty to the Western Yuan Empire.
Anyone who dares not to write will be arrested and beheaded. Everyone must pass this test.
At the same time, Hubili issued an edict to promote Shamanism in his country and respect it as the state religion. All those who did not join a sect had to believe in Shamanism, and those who took the initiative to join would have their taxes reduced by 10%.
It is also stipulated that the first thing to be done at the newborn's hundred-day party in the future is to add shaman.
Hubili wants to solve the problem of people's religious belief once and for all.
His elder brother Dong Zaifu, a personal guard, proposed a plan, which was to recruit those pagans to march west and attack the Golden Horde. Because Badu was dead, the Golden Horde was leaderless, and the princes were fighting for the Khanate. The Yuan Dynasty sent troops at this time to defeat them one by one, and at the same time used this war to eliminate the disobedient pagans.
Wulianghe agreed immediately and called it a great idea.
Right now the empire is strong in military power, but the pagans are causing chaos. We can make a promise to the pagans, grant them religious freedom after they have made military achievements, form a separate pagan legion to give them the opportunity to make meritorious services, and when the war is over in the future, arrange for them to live in independent castles.
Hubili was delighted and said loudly: Great, that's a great idea, let's do it.
Hubili received a letter from his mother Suluhenidi.
His mother told him that Yulin treated her very well and did not accept the surrender with humiliating words or rituals. Hulan became the pacification envoy of Lingbei Road, and the new Song Dynasty allocated a large amount of money and materials to help the slaves around the royal court survive the winter. The grassland was undergoing earth-shaking changes.
This guy looked like he had overturned a bottle of five flavors, and he felt very unhappy. When they were there, they treated the tribesmen as slaves, and for dozens or hundreds of years they were treated like cattle and horses, and fought everywhere like animals.
After the Shenwei Army occupied Mobei, they liberated the slaves and everyone had their own cattle and sheep. The cattle, sheep and horses were sold to the government at market price in exchange for daily necessities.
His mother said in the letter that Hulan was distributing iron pots, kitchen knives and other ironware. Those who didn't have silver could buy on credit and hand in horses to pay back the money. The court guaranteed that every household could use iron pots. Some tribes had more horses, cattle and sheep, and the people exchanged them for silver after they were distributed, and they all drank Qinfeng Qiongjiang and Jinhua Fuzhuan tea.
This change is really huge.
You know, in the past, only the nobles could enjoy Qinfeng Qiongjiang. The leaders of ordinary tribes would only open a jar of good wine when distinguished guests came to visit. Not to mention the new Jinhua Fuzhuan tea from Shaanxi. That good thing was regarded as the top tribute of the East in his palace. It was transported to him by merchants who went through untold hardships and risked their lives.
How could the slaves on the Mobei grasslands eat these rare goods so easily?
It must be a losing deal that Zhao Yulin did in order to win over our grassland people.
The New Song Kingdom also distributed iron tools to herdsmen. The common people could use iron pots, kitchen knives and iron shovels, and they absolutely worshipped his sister.
Moreover, his mother said that the New Song Dynasty did not restrict or exclude the gods in their hearts. The New Song Dynasty advocated freedom of religion, love for the country and family, and only needed to abide by the law.
Zhao Yulin's tactics are powerful. They not only do not interfere with the freedom of the people, but also help them improve their living conditions. The people of the grassland will certainly be at ease to accept Hulan's governance.
After reading his mother's letter, Hubili reflected on himself and wondered if he had gone too far with the pagans. He could have issued an edict, as long as he loved his country and his family.
However, when he thought that strength determines success or failure, he immediately gave up the idea. The current task was to expand the territory, so he had to be the strongest.
He shook his head violently and focused on the huge military map in the hall.
Hubli certainly didn't understand these things because he couldn't see them with his own eyes.
Because of years of war, all the steel had to be used for war and was not enough for consumption. Of course, he knew the importance of iron and that it should not be easily used to make iron pots and shovels for the people's daily lives.
But the new Song Dynasty had iron. Not only that, but because there was no war in Hebei and the iron-producing areas were stable, a large number of new smelting blast furnaces were built, greatly improving the iron-producing capacity. The production capacity of ironware was already far greater than before, so it was easy to supply the ironware demand on the grassland.
As for the Jinhua Fuzhuan Tea, the supply and marketing cooperative in Jingyang, Shaanxi has fully mastered the production technology, and the ever-expanding tea production in the Jinghu tea-producing area has provided sufficient raw materials for Fuzhuan tea production, and the output of Jinhua Fuzhuan Tea has increased.
The merchants had good goods, and the grassland people had silver from selling their cattle and sheep, so naturally they would go wherever there was money to be made to do business. Moreover, the new Song Dynasty had been building roads and bridges on a large scale in the northern desert, making transportation much more convenient, so traveling merchants were of course willing to go there to sell goods.
On the other hand, the Western Regions were difficult. First, the journey was long and transportation was inconvenient. Second, life safety could not be guaranteed. Along the way to Samarkand, there were not only bandits, but also Hubili's army and officials who forced people to buy goods. Every time they transported goods, they worked with their heads hanging on their belts. How many people were willing to take the risk?
In Chengdu, Hulan accompanied her mother Sulu Henidi home.
I knew about Zhao Yulin as soon as I boarded the official ship from Jintang, so I came to the dock early to greet him and greeted his mother-in-law warmly.
Sulu Henidi was delighted to see that Zhao Yulin was handsome and respectful, and did not feel the slightest bit of oppression from the Heavenly Khan. She got off the boat with a smile on her face to take a closer look.
As soon as Hu Lan got ashore, she handed the foal to Zhao Yulin and asked him to hold it. She said to her mother with a smile: We will live together in the future, so there will be plenty of time to see it. Let's go back first and let our mother have a good look at it after we enter the yard.
Her mother was amused by Hu Lan and wondered what the little girl was talking about.
Zhao Yulin smiled as he helped the old and the child get on the carriage, picked up his son and got on the carriage at the back and went directly to Huaxi Village at the west gate for dinner.
The carriage that Sulu Henidi rode through the streets of Chengdu was like wandering in a sea of cars and people, with shops on both sides doing booming business. She looked around in amazement, exclaiming, "This is truly a big city."
Hulan proudly told her: It's a big city with a population of three million. Brother Yulin said it's the largest city on earth.
Sulu Henidi said to her enviously: You are so proud, you always call me Brother Yulin. It's like you have changed your face after returning to Chengdu, with flowers all over your face.
The little girl pouted her little lips proudly towards her mother.
The group arrived at the entrance of Huaxi Village and took a sightseeing horse carriage to travel on a country road under the grape trellis. Half-ripe grapes were above their heads. Her mother looked up happily and asked who came up with the idea, saying it was really a brilliant idea.
Hu Lan was even more proud, patting his chest and saying: Look here, this is my masterpiece. He took all the credit for himself.
Zhao Yulin got off the car in front of Huaxi Villa, asked Hulan to accompany her mother for the tour, and went in to talk to the old emperor.
The Queen was standing at the gate watching a nanny buying fresh vegetables. When she saw him approaching, she joyfully went up to take him and told the maid to inform him quickly.
He called out "Mother," told her not to worry, and supported the queen as she walked inside.
When the old emperor got the news, he and his son Shi came out quickly to greet him and invited him to have tea under the flower corridor.
Shi's son told him happily: Mr. Zhao has gained a lot from the Huangling sacrifice this time. It has only been a few years, and the new Song Dynasty has changed so much that it is not an exaggeration to say that it is changing with each passing day.
The old emperor said with great emotion that it was great that the New Song Dynasty was a country where all the people lived in harmony and worked together.
The imperial concubine told him: The common people remember the kindness of our Zhao family. Common people burn incense and worship at our ancestral tombs in Kaifeng and Luoyang, and there are special people to maintain them. The emperor is very happy.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: History cannot be forgotten. We must know how we came here so that we can go further.
