Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 46: Buddha and Taoism (4k, please read later)

When Su Dao returned to Su Ze's house in the early morning, he took off his dog skin and took out a lot of treasures from the waist bag on his abdomen. Su Ze was also shocked.

A small steward of the Qinghe Palace took advantage of a chance to be selected to grab so much treasure.

This clearly shows the corruption of the entire Northern Wei upper class.

Su Ze looked at the treasures scattered all over the ground, picked out the golden Buddha statue presented by Wang Hui, and said to Su Dao:

"Can these stolen goods be sold?"

Su Dao smiled and said, "Of course you can, but you have to go to the ghost market outside Luoyang City."

"Ghost market?"

Su Dao nodded and said, "There is a ghost market outside Luoyang City. It opens every new moon. Anything can be sold and anything can be bought."

"Anything?"

Su Dao nodded and said, "Anything."

"Where is the ghost market?"

"The ghost market is naturally in Beimang Mountain."

As Su Dao finished speaking, a new map appeared in the Beimang Mountain in the north of Luoyang City on the system map.

This map is different from other open maps. It is shrouded in a layer of translucent black fog, [Ghost Market (not open, unavailable)].

Su Ze also summarized the function of a system. These followers with "professions" summoned by the system, in addition to their own skills, also possess the knowledge of their "professions".

For example, Su Bai possesses all the abilities of an envoy of Bailu Cao. He also understands Bailu Cao's rules of doing things and Bailu Cao's secret base in Luoyang City. Except that he does not have a number in Bailu Cao, he is even more competent than most of Bailu Cao's envoys.

The same is true for Su Dao. Not only does he possess the skills of a dog thief, he also understands the various rules of the Luoyang underground world and is familiar with various underground facilities.

It seems that this stand-alone system is more powerful than imagined.

"When the new moon comes, take these things to the ghost market and sell them."

Su Dao lazily agreed, carried his things back to his room and continued drinking.

Su Ze opened the system and found several new prompts.

[Su Bai, the envoy of Bai Lu Cao, is carrying out the mission "Tracing clues (Monk Fa Zong)", and has found clues about Monk Fa Zong, and is currently tracking them down in Longhua Temple! ]

[Su Bai, the envoy of Bai Lu Cao, carries out the mission "Tracing the clues (the monk Fa Zong)", and discovers the Mahayana stronghold in Longhua Temple! Obtained the relevant information "Mahayana Teachings"! ]

[Su Bai, the envoy of Bai Lu Cao, carries out the mission "Tracing the clues (the monk Fa Zong)" and discovers the Mahayana stronghold in Longhua Temple! Obtain "Mahayana stronghold intelligence"! ]

Mahayana teachings?
Su Ze frowned and opened the Mahayana teachings collected by Su Bai.

After a long period of development since Buddhism was introduced to the East, Buddhism in the Northern Wei Dynasty had become very prosperous, but at that time there was no concept of sects as in the Tang Dynasty.

For example, the Buddha statue presented by Wang Hui was enshrined in the royal Buddhist temple. Bodhiruci brought the Sanskrit classic "Dashabhumika Sutra" from India. Based on the translation of this classic, the "Dashabhumika School" that occupied the dominant position in Buddhism in the Northern Wei Dynasty emerged.

Nowadays, the Buddhist temples in Luoyang all adhere to the Buddhist foundation of the "Earth Theory School".

The "Earth Theory School" advocated the three emptinesses, namely, "emptiness of the self and the person", "emptiness of the cause and effect", and "emptiness of the true nature of Buddha". Not many people, let alone ordinary people, could understand the true meaning of this theory, even the high-ranking officials of the Northern Wei Dynasty who believed in Buddhism.

This was in Luoyang, the sacred capital city with the highest literary level and literacy rate in the entire north. One can imagine how much worse the situation was in other areas of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Therefore, at the local level, a large number of religious sects combined with the original secret societies to form various local religious sects.

These sects could be the Yellow Turban Sect in the late Han Dynasty, the Five Pecks of Rice Sect in the Jin Dynasty, or various Buddhist sects in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Mahayana Buddhism is one of them, and it is the kind that has left its name in history.

Su Ze recalled the history he knew. Mahayana Buddhism was a widely spread sect in the North China region near Yecheng. It advocated the use of "killing" to achieve Buddhahood. Killing one person would achieve the status of a one-holding Bodhisattva, and killing a hundred people would achieve the status of a hundred-holding Bodhisattva.

They also regard Maitreya Buddha as the future Buddha, put forward the slogan of the birth of a new Buddha, and call on believers to devote themselves and occupy a place in the world of the new Buddha.

This is similar to the slogan "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven should be established", said the old Yellow Turban.

This approach has been proven to be effective even in later generations. There are so-called "end-time sects" and "new world sects" all over the world, which use this theory to recruit believers.

In history, Faqing, the leader of the Mahayana sect, launched a Mahayana rebellion in the north. Although this rebellion was eventually put down, the Northern Wei court was severely damaged. Later, when the Six Garrisons Rebellion broke out again, the Northern Wei court was no longer able to suppress it with the power of the imperial guards, and could only rely on local chiefs and warlords like Erzhu Rong.

Judging from the time, Faqing's Mahayana rebellion is about to begin, so it is normal to send believers to infiltrate Luoyang to cause trouble.

It is normal that the shadow of Mahayana Buddhism was present in the assassination of Empress Dowager Hu.

Su Ze gradually connected the clues together, and felt that the assassination of the empress dowager was too complicated.

However, Su Ze had not expected that this group of Mahayana believers would occupy Longhua Temple.

Longhua Temple is very close to Jianyangli, and is also a temple dedicated to the Yulin Huben. Su Ze's neighbors and even Su Yuyao would go to Longhua Temple to burn incense and pray during festivals. The fact that this group of people were hiding in Longhua Temple made Su Ze feel uneasy.

What if they really cause trouble in Longhua Temple and cause unrest in Jianyangli?
Su Ze opened the "Mahayana Stronghold Intelligence". Su Bai's professional ability was truly outstanding. He had already dug out information about the backbones of the Mahayana sect hidden in Longhua Temple.

"The Mahayana leader Hui Hui is hiding in Longhua Temple. He has ten core members and thirty peripheral members. The Mahayana has also established a secret base in Luoyang City, preparing to cooperate with Faqing in the uprising."

"News about the Mahayana sect's base in Luoyang City: None at the moment."

As expected, there is going to be trouble. From the moment the golden bottle fell from the top of the wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple, the tranquility of the entire Luoyang city was broken. Countless undercurrents were surging from the court to the people, and now the Mahayana sect is trying to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble.

However, there were not many people in the Longhua Temple stronghold. Su Ze was thinking about whether to destroy this stronghold to prevent their disturbance from affecting Jianyangli.

But looking at the cards in his hand, the combatants were only Su Bai, the envoy of Bailu Cao, and Su Lin, the archer of Yulin. With himself added, it seemed that they were not capable of destroying the Mahayana stronghold of Longhua Temple.

After Su Ze picked up Su Bai's chess piece and entrusted him to continue monitoring the dynamics of the Mahayana sect in Longhua Temple, he decided to develop some power of his own.

The team that guarded Princess Chenliu with him last time all received rewards. With the help of Princess Chenliu, they all remembered Su Ze's kindness. These people can all fight for it.

Especially Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang, who he rescued from the Yongning Temple wooden pagoda last time. They and Su Ze were old acquaintances in the army, and he saved their lives. These people can be regarded as confidants. Although he can't raise 3,000 dead soldiers in Luoyang like Sima Yi, he can still win over some low-level Han Yulin soldiers, which is also to accumulate self-protection power in the future troubled times.

After confirming this, we will go to the southern wilderness to practice horse riding and archery tomorrow, and also invite Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang to come along?
In Luoyang city, in the Qinghe Palace, Liu Gui's cousin Liu Bozhi quietly came out of the courtyard where the white-clothed scholar lived and sneaked into a hidden courtyard in the palace.

The courtyard was heavily guarded, but Liu Bozhi had already explored it carefully. He found a gap where the guards were changing shifts and climbed over a low wall.

He quickly came to the base of the wall of the house in the courtyard and shouted into the house, "Tianshi!"

An old man's voice came from inside the house, saying, "I am no longer a Heavenly Master of the Heavenly Master Dao. I am just a pure monk in the Qinghe Palace."

Liu Bozhi lowered his head and said, "Old Heavenly Master, the matter of Yongning Pagoda has been resolved, and Prince Qinghe is safe."

The old man said calmly, "The medicinal gold I refined back then was not only used in Yongning Temple. How can this matter be resolved? Although the theory of cause and effect that Hu Jiao talked about is absurd, all things are connected under the guidance of Tao. When I helped King Qinghe refine the medicinal gold, I had already encountered the dilemma today."

Liu Bozhi lowered his head, and the old man continued:

"You want to use the King of Qinghe to revive our Tianshi Dao, just like my master wanted to rely on Emperor Taiwu to revive the national religion."

Liu Bozhi raised his head and said, "Didn't Master Kou do something wrong? If it weren't for Master Kou's reorganization of the Northern Heavenly Master Dao, which was established as a national religion by Emperor Taiwu and flourished, we wouldn't have the momentum of the Northern Heavenly Master Dao today."

"If the previous emperor had not worshipped Buddhism, our Tianshi Dao would still be the state religion of the Great Wei!"

The old man said leisurely: "The first master reorganized the Tianshi Dao, removed the three false laws, abolished the private appointment of Tianshi Dao officials, and abolished the five-dou rice system of rent and tax. He then combined it with Confucianism and Buddhism, proposed 'retribution for good and evil' and used Confucian etiquette to persuade believers, which was appreciated by Emperor Taiwu."

"But if we do this, our Tianshi Dao will have no priests to organize believers, nor will we have five dou of rice to support the believers, which will make our Tianshi Dao a sect that can only survive by relying on the powerful."

"After my master was involved in Cui Hao's national history case, Emperor Taiwu was wary of the Tianshi Dao. At that time, the Tianshi Dao had already declined, so what did it have to do with the Hu Sect?"

Liu Bozhi remained silent. The old man said, "I thought the same as you did before. As long as my Tianshi Dao can be favored by the royal family, it can return to the status of the state religion and restore the glory of my master when he was alive."

"But now I have figured it out. From the moment my master reorganized the Tianshi Dao, the Tianshi Dao will never be able to recover."

Liu Bozhi still kowtowed and said, "Old Heavenly Master!"

"Don't come here again. I have passed the position of Heavenly Master to my disciple. I am now just an ordinary cultivator."

The guards outside the door were almost done changing shifts, and it was too late to leave. Liu Bozhi could only grit his teeth and climb over the wall to leave the courtyard.

The next morning, which was the last day of the holiday, Su Ze took Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang, and took Su Lin and Ma to the southern wilderness.

When Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang heard that Su Ze wanted to take them to practice archery, they were very happy and followed Su Ze with their bows.

Although the Yulin Army is not as elite as when it was first formed twenty years ago, the policies personally formulated by Emperor Xiaowen at that time are still in place.

"Those who are good at archery in the Yulin Army can be recruited as military officers and given an additional two hu of grain per month."

The material officer is also considered a grassroots military position in the Yulin Army, and the treatment he enjoys is better than that of ordinary Yulin. So when Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang heard that Su Ze was willing to teach them archery, they also actively followed him to the southern wilderness.

Su Lin corrected the problems of Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang in shooting just like last time. The two received Su Lin's hands-on guidance and felt that they benefited a lot.

After practicing archery for a while, Su Ze left the two of them to continue shooting willows by the river.

Su Ze asked Su Lin to ride on his horse to another open space by the river to learn the techniques of horse riding and archery from him.

Su Lin came to the river. He dismounted and made a haystack with the dead grass on the ground. Then he said to Su Ze:
"My Lord, there is no need to shoot at the willows when you are riding and shooting. Your target is this haystack."

Su Ze mounted his horse. After mastering the "follow-the-wave method", he became more flexible on horseback and his cooperation with Ben Xiao became more coordinated.

He used the skills he had learned in the Yulin Army, drew his bow and shot an arrow on horseback, and hit the haystack from a distance.

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang, who were not far away, couldn't help but applaud and cheer when they saw Su Ze hit the target with his first shot.

Su Ze was a little proud. He rode to Su Lin's side and dismounted, but heard Su Lin say:

"My Lord, it is wrong for you to ride and shoot like this."

"what?"

Su Lin didn't say anything else. He walked to the haystack and pulled out the arrow shot by Su Ze. He saw that the arrow had only penetrated a short distance into the haystack and could be pulled out with just a little force.

Su Lin jumped on his horse and rushed towards the haystack from a distance.

Su Lin was seen with his feet on the stirrups, his legs firmly on the horse's back, and the bow pulled as tight as a full moon, but he did not shoot.

When the horse got close to the haystack, Su Lin released the bowstring. There was a sound of arrow breaking through the air. Su Lin's arrow hit the haystack. The power of the bow and arrow penetrated the entire haystack, and the haystack exploded the moment the arrow passed through.

"this."

Everyone was shocked by the power of Su Lin's riding and archery.

Su Lin dismounted and said:

"My lord, archery on horseback is different from archery on foot. The key to archery on horseback is not to shoot from a distance, but to kill with one shot at close range!"

"When shooting from a horse, the bow is drawn like the moon in your arms, and there is no one you cannot kill."

"To achieve this effect, the arrow rack in your hand is like a weight suspended on a string. Hold the bow in your left hand and draw the bow to your chest with your right hand. After drawing the bow to the full, you must hold back and wait until you are close to the target. Then release the arrow with your arm and forearm at the same time to achieve this kind of power."

Su Ze was dumbfounded. Is this the strength of the elite cavalry and archery in ancient times?

With this kind of archery on horseback, even if you are wearing armor, you can't withstand an arrow from close range, right?

If hundreds or thousands of cavalrymen charged and shot together, how powerful would that be?

Su Ze finally understood why there were so many cavalry battles in the Northern and Southern Dynasties where they won with fewer troops and even had exaggerated casualty ratios.

This elite cavalry is really strong!

Su Ze said respectfully: "Please teach me the essentials of riding and shooting."

(End of this chapter)