Chapter 711: The Divine Monk's New Journey to the West
The head woman said with a cheerful smile: That's not like practicing and begging for alms, it's more like a great official going on a tour.
Zhao Yulin said that the Western Regions were vast and sparsely populated, the journey was long and dangerous, and Guangchen still had to go to India, so he was worried and required a garrison escort once he left Lanzhou.
The head woman was delighted. She said goodbye to them and disappeared into the night.
Three days later, Zhao Yulin personally saw off the monks who were traveling to the West. Led by Master Kongchen of Duolin Temple, more than one hundred eminent monks from major temples such as Tianlong Temple in Yunnan set out on their journey to the West. There were three official ships outside the South Gate. They left the dock to the sound of Amitabha chanting by monks on the shore and headed west for their journey.
The people in the city have something to talk about again.
Some people say: Wow, look, monks are traveling on official ships, so cool. I also want to shave my head and burn incense to become a monk.
Some said, "Didn't you see it clearly? Monks from Duolin Temple, Tianlong Temple and Mount Wutai were all here, and there were dozens of martial monks holding sticks behind them. They were all famous large temples with plaques bestowed by the imperial court."
Some said they knew nothing. The imperial court wanted those monks to promote Buddhism in the New Song Dynasty and spread authentic Chinese culture.
Otherwise, why would they be allowed to board the official ship?
Haha, the official ship of the monks on Journey to the West had long disappeared from sight.
Although Zhao Guangchen had been practicing in seclusion in Duolin Temple for nearly twenty years, he was still very excited. He did not expect that the masters would push him to take charge, and he felt a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, thinking about how to lead this position well.
In the city of Lhasa on the Tubo Road, Yangjin was just crossing the city from Zhemengxiong's provincial capital, and she was hosting a banquet for her officials in the banquet hall of the Second Government of the Tubo Road, which she had built herself .
When the woman saw that Defense Envoy Cao Yong was about to arrive, she summoned deputy envoys from all over the country to come to Shannan for vacation, waiting for Cao Yong's arrival.
In the past two years, Zhemengxiongzhou has received her strong support, and the city construction has been extremely fast.
Officials and craftsmen from the Chengdu Ministry of Works helped plan the city and the roads in and out of the provincial capital. The appearance of Gangdu's city changed rapidly. Not only did new styles of housing construction introduce new ones, but road construction also made great strides.
The key is that the master craftsmen and advanced machines sent by the empire manufactured two god-level construction materials, steel bars and earth cement, which changed the past mode of bridge construction. By using formwork, adding steel bars and earth cement, the required bridge can be easily built, which completely changed the past way of building houses and bridges, and the surrounding buildings are undergoing rapid changes.
Cao Yong rushed all the way and was surprised to find that he couldn't identify the direction when he entered Gangdu City. He wondered if he had gone to the wrong place. If it weren't for the garrison brothers leading the way, he would have suspected that he had taken the wrong road.
Yangjin and Wang Youling took him with a smile and asked the defense envoy to explain in detail the essence of the Imperial Pacifiers' Conference to all the ministers.
Cao Yong took out the notes taught them thoroughly for three days, and it finally ended today.
Yangjin was very happy and held a banquet to entertain all the ministers.
After everyone dispersed and started their journey home, Cao Yong said that the purpose of his trip was to fulfill the military advisor's last wish, which was to take back every inch of the Tibetan territory in Shannan and guard it well.
Yangjin asked him excitedly, "Brother Yulin, have you told us where we should go before we can gain a foothold?"
Is the Huan River the boundary?
How can we distinguish them and keep them?
Yangjin asked questions one after another, which made Cao Yong laugh. He said that the young master had not given any specific instructions and asked him to listen to the instructions of the pacification envoy.
Yangjin said that the Indians were getting more and more aggressive and were the most difficult to deal with, so we should temporarily use the Huan River as the boundary. The river is wide enough to clearly distinguish the border between the two countries.
Besides, India is now in pieces, like a pile of loose sand. It is a good opportunity for us to take it down and occupy more territory, thus solving the problem once and for all for our future generations.
Cao Yong did not expect that Yang Jin's tone of voice when discussing Tianzhu was exactly the same as Zhao Yulin's. They were both filled with righteous indignation, wishing to knock the Tianzhu people to the ground with a hammer and then step on them so that they would never stand up again. Geng immediately said that he would obey the order, and his subordinates would first send Madam Wang to Alimali to discuss with Marshal Gao and Brother Hanchen before making any plans.
Wang Youling was delighted and said that she had wanted to go to the Western Regions to find Han officials for a long time.
Yangjin looked unhappy and blamed Wang Youling for leaving her alone in Tubo.
The two women's bickering made Cao Yong uncomfortable, so he quickly said that he had military affairs and asked the two ladies to chat slowly. Then he stood up and left. But Yangjin stopped him and told him: I have decided to use the Huan River as the boundary, and the army will press forward to the southernmost tributary of the Huan River to defend it. In the future, if you want to ask the Indians for water, you must ask for permission from me.
How could Cao Yong dare to neglect him? He smiled and said that he had it all in his mind. He would first go to General Hanchen to ask for soldiers, and then come back to do the work for the envoy.
Wang Youling was happy. Although Wang Hanchen went to the distant Hamarhan, it was heard that the climate there was much more comfortable than here .
Yangjin said with envy that she was about to reunite with her husband, and she was still alone here.
Wang Youling told her to wait patiently, maybe the third young master would come to Tubo to accompany his sister.
Then he said something incredible. If the Shenwei Army marches southwards and fights all the way to the Huan River, how much land will it occupy? It will all belong to the Tibetan Road. My sister’s Tibetan Road will become the largest road in the New Song Dynasty.
Yangjin rolled her eyes at her and said it was useless. The Lingbei Road in Hulan's hands in the north was much bigger, so big that the North Pole of the earth belonged to her. What was this little piece of land of mine?
Wang Youling was thinking about leaving, so she took Yangjin back to pack her luggage.
The next day, Cao Yong assembled a thousand soldiers and escorted Wang Youling and her son to Hamarhan.
Yangjin was even more anxious than Cao Yong. She had already finished her business in Shannan, so she immediately called together the officials of the road administration to discuss matters and ordered merchants to go to the Huan River to do business under the escort of the garrison and treat these places as their own territory. She encouraged monks to bathe in the holy water of the Huan River and go to the holy city for pilgrimage and debate.
These two strategies were extremely attractive, and Tibetan merchants and monks immediately took action.
Silver, merchants all want to make more money, and it’s so good to do business with soldiers protecting them, why not go? They all shouted: Let’s go.
Traveling around and begging for alms is the dream of many monks. Who wants to meditate facing a green lamp for a lifetime? Especially if you can go to the Huan River to bathe in the holy water and worship the holy city, it will be a wonderful journey.
In the Potala Palace on the Mabu Ri Mountain in Lhasa City, Master Ba Si and his disciples became excited again when they received instructions from the Grand Administrator Yangjin, asking the monastery to strengthen the construction of temples in the south of the mountain.
Amitabha, is this the blessing of Guanyin Bodhisattva or the appearance of Sakyamuni Buddha?
In recent years, their religion has spread rapidly, the number of monks and believers has increased significantly, and their prestige is at its peak. All of this is due to the blessings that Yangjin Grand Administrator brought to Lhasa City.
The two eminent monks were overjoyed and drank butter tea to celebrate, and planned to go to Shannan to build a temple.
Ba Si said confidently: This is easy to do. We don't need to build too many temples. The key is to have big temples. The chief steward said that if there are too many temples, the offerings will decrease. There are only so many people now. The best way is to send abbots to the influential temples in Shannan and establish a temple management committee.
The master understood the logic behind this very well and nodded repeatedly, saying that this was a brilliant trick.
The master and disciple continued to discuss in a low voice.
In Jinguan City, Chengdu, it is already the end of the year and snowflakes are falling all over the city.
At this time, the envoys from the island country of Japan also requested an audience. Zhao Yulin was unhappy and suspected that these were spies and spies sent by Fujiwara to the imperial capital to gather information. After a brief meeting and a cup of tea, he asked these envoys to go and discuss in detail with the Ministry of Rites.
He presided over the New Year's sacrificial ceremony, visited poor households, let Hua Yue govern the country, and took his family back to Yibin for vacation. When he got on the boat, he saw Cao Ying and Ma Ling'er sitting together and chatting with laughter.
He said: Why should I suffer on the boat trip instead of staying at home with my parents?
Cao Ying raised her lips and said: She likes it and wants to celebrate the New Year with her brother.
Zhao Yulin was afraid of being exposed, so he stopped talking and went to the next cabin to lie down and rest. The little girl had kept him awake all night last night, and now he was actually feeling sleepy.
Ma Ling'er had a heated discussion with her sisters in the front cabin. This year, she was in charge of the Zhao family's livelihood. After vigorously expanding the business, the income showed explosive growth. She planned to hand over the Dujiangyan Scenic Area to the Water Department for operation.
Cao Ying immediately praised her sister for being so amazing and capable.
Ma Linger said with a smile that she was as sweet-mouthed as a bee.
The women were laughing so hard that they were rolling on the ground.
Shunzhidi said to Ma Ling'er: The Dujiangyan Scenic Area was created by Wu Jing. You should go back and ask this girl what she thinks first, as she is still in confinement after giving birth.
Fire Phoenix nodded and said to Ma Ling'er: Wu Jing is Yuqi's sweetheart, we as mothers have to think carefully and not let Yuqi think that we are mistreating the eldest princess.
Ma Linger responded with a grunt and told them that she just wanted to discuss it.
Shunzhidi believed that even if it was to be handed over, it should be handed over to the Ministry of Rites for unified management. The reason was that the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project was a historical and cultural heritage left by our ancestors, a model of tourism and water conservancy education, and should be managed by the departments under the Ministry of Rites.
Ma Linger looked at Shunzhidi with admiration. Oh my, it has only been a short time and he dares to refute the opinion of her as the eldest sister, and it sounds pretty good.
The woman nodded and said: It's rare for the sisters to get together, and she felt that the matter was important, so she brought it up for discussion first. Then she would ask Sister Zhidi to find out what Wu Jing had to say.
Zhidi will definitely agree.
She said: Brother Yulin had said before that we would hand it over to the court after we recovered the capital, and then she would report the accounts to Wu Jing.
At this time, Zhao Yulin took a nap and came out to sit down.
Ma Linger told him: A piece of news came from the streets of Chengdu. A commoner man from Jianwei picked out grain to sell, but he waited for a whole day without getting a suitable price. When he was carrying his grain back from the market, something went wrong.
The mountain path was winding, and the man was exhausted from walking back and forth with the heavy load. His feet slipped, and the load of good millet was scattered all over the ground. The hostess cleaned up carefully, but still a large basket was missing.
The hostess of the house was very frugal. Seeing that she had not bought the best grain and had lost more than half of it, she regretted that she had missed the opportunity to sell it by waiting for a higher price. The next day, she put a rope around her neck and hanged herself on the beam and walked away.
Oh, how should the family celebrate the eight festivals during the New Year?
