Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

This army is of course the vanguard army sent by Zhao Kuo.

The vanguard army quickly took control of all the sites in the city, and the palace was the first place they entered. After discovering King Ashoka who was still here, the general of the vanguard army was obviously taken aback.

Ashoka originally thought that he would be captured as a prisoner immediately, brought all kinds of strange instruments of torture, and suffered extreme torture, but he did not expect that none of this happened.

In fact, although the Han army controlled the entire city, they still treated Ashoka with courtesy. They just put Ashoka under house arrest and prevented Ashoka from leaving the palace.

This situation lasted for more than a day, until the afternoon of the second day when the vanguard army entered the city, Zhao Kuo finally came.

Zhao Kuo had already heard the news in advance, so he said that as soon as he entered the city, he immediately came to the palace and met King Ashoka.

King Ashoka raised his head and looked at Zhao Kuo. Although the king never knew Zhao Kuo's appearance, he could easily judge that the person standing in front of him should be the emperor of the Han Dynasty who was personally conquered by the emperor.

Ashoka smiled and said a few words to Zhao Kuo, and then Zhao Kuo found that he couldn't understand.

Fortunately, Zhao Kuo knew about this situation a long time ago, and of course arranged an interpreter early.

What Ashoka said was actually very simple, congratulations to Zhao Kuo, and hoped that Zhao Kuo would not kill too much.

Zhao Kuo nodded towards King Ashoka, and said with a smile: "Frankly speaking, I actually have a good impression of Buddhism, because the people taught by this religion are very humble and obedient.

It is impossible for any ruler to reject such a people, isn't it? "

After hearing Zhao Kuo's answer, Ashoka breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Then, the winner, how will you deal with me as a loser?"

Zhao Kuo had obviously already made a draft of this, and said: "I will build a grand Buddhist temple in my capital, where you will live in seclusion as an unknown monk, and you can continue to communicate with your Buddha to discuss, I wonder if this is in line with your wish?"

Ashoka was a little surprised and looked at Zhao Kuo: "Are you actually going to spare my life?"

Zhao Kuo laughed loudly, and said to King Ashoka very seriously: "You may not know that most of the kings I defeated are still alive and well."

After hearing these words, King Ashoka had a rather complicated expression, and after a long while, he let out a long sigh.

"It must be admitted that I have actually begun to regret it now. Letting my children leave with the army and the people, perhaps surrendering directly is the best choice for them."

Zhao Kuo smiled slightly, and said to Ashoka: "You don't need to worry about these anymore, everyone has his own destiny, doesn't he?"

Ashoka smiled and stood up.

"You are right, the victor from a foreign land, this is your land from now on."

Chapter 1274 Obedient Buddhists

The conversation between Ashoka and Zhao Kuo was actually quite pleasant in terms of the overall atmosphere.

This kind of happiness actually surprised both parties involved in the talks.

After Zhao Kuo left this palace, he also expressed emotion.

"Sure enough, people who believe in Buddhism really want to be more peaceful."

This is mainly related to the teachings of Buddhism. After all, Buddhism itself is still in the stage of Hinayana Buddhism at this time. In other words, its teachings require believers to cross themselves to the other side.

How exactly do we cross the other shore?

Simply put, it is to endure the suffering in the world.

Just like what is advertised in Journey to the West, after going through ninety-nine and 81 hardships, you will finally arrive at the Paradise of Paradise, where you can live your whole life without any worries.

Now that there is the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss as a support after death, it is not so unacceptable to endure hardships during life.

This is why many religions in the world often promise that they will get some kind of benefits after death. The purpose is very simple, that is to control these believers while they are alive.

As for whether these believers will really get these things after they die, frankly speaking, these emperors in reality don't care too much.

After Zhao Kuo conquered Huashi City, he continued to send troops to sweep other cities in the Maurya Dynasty.

Among them, Zhao Kuo led [-] Musketeers and [-] servants, all the way south.

The south is where the third prince fled, and Zhao Kuo made up his mind to solve it himself, only the third prince.

The third prince's expression was quite calm. He sat quietly in the camp and stared at the map in front of him, thoughtfully.

Hanging on this map is the entire territory of the Maurya Dynasty, but now this territory is divided by a very obvious red line.

To the north of the red line is the territory occupied by the Great Han Kingdom today, and Huashi City, the capital of the Peacock Dynasty, has been included in this red line.

Now this red line is rapidly extending to the south and spreading in all directions. It can be seen that the strategy of the Han Dynasty is very clear, which is to occupy the major cities of the Maurya Dynasty in the shortest possible time. "

A guard came in and said to the third prince, "Your Majesty, there are a few people outside who want to see you."

The third prince nodded slightly and said: "It's those people again, right?

Let them all in. "

After a while, several ministers and generals of the Maurya Dynasty walked into the tent.

As soon as they sat down, someone couldn't wait to speak.

"Your Majesty, we can't continue running away like this, otherwise our people will all run away."

This is a troubling fact.

In the process of fleeing, many soldiers and civilians of the Maurya Dynasty had great doubts about whether the Maurya Dynasty could continue to survive, so they took the initiative to leave the team of the Maurya Dynasty and went to find a way out by themselves.

This incident undoubtedly made the remaining ministers of the Maurya Dynasty very disturbed, because they knew that only the army was their only hope, but now the number of the army is getting smaller and smaller, what should we do?

They didn't know what to do, so they pinned their hopes on the third prince.

The third prince said lightly: "Let them go, there is no need to stop them."

After hearing this sentence, several ministers became anxious immediately, and one of them couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, we can't let them escape like this, the morale of the troops is already very low, and it will only get worse if it goes on like this. "

The third prince glanced at the person who spoke, and said: "Don't let them escape, isn't the morale of the army not low?

Can you ensure that when the soldiers and horses of the Han Dynasty come after them, they will be able to fight against the enemy loyally? "

The third prince's rhetorical question left everyone speechless.

Facts are always hard to refute.

A minister said helplessly: "Should we just watch all this happen?"

The third prince's cheeks twitched slightly, obviously his heart was not at peace.

Finally, he said: "This is the test given to us by the Buddha. Those who are loyal will be promoted to the Paradise after victory. As for those who are not loyal, they will be punished by the Buddha after death and fall into hell. Let them go."

Just when the third prince was still having a lot of headaches because of the desertion, Zhao Kuo stared at a city with its gates wide open in front of him, with a subtle expression on his face.

"These South Asians are really obedient..." As King Ashoka said, when they discovered the arrival of Zhao Kuo's army, the first action of these South Asians was not to resist, but to open the city. Door.

Mao Sui, who was standing beside Zhao Kuo, said, "Buddhism is a very magical religion, Your Majesty.

These people are convinced that enduring pain will allow them to go to the paradise after death, so they are willing to submit to any ruler. "

Zhao Kuo sighed and said, "Yes, for most rulers in this world, this is a very good religion.

But this is not the case for me and the Han Kingdom. "

This approach is, in essence, fooling the people.

Use the way of promoting the gods to imprison the heads of the common people and become puppets squeezed by the rulers.

Zhao Kuo does not allow any Chinese people to become such puppets, because when most of the people in a nation become puppets without thinking and manipulated by others, this nation is destined to be unable to become strong and unable to rule the world of.

Only a clear-headed, intelligent and pioneering nation can truly reach the top of the world and maintain it for a long time.

As Zhao Kuo's confidant for many years, Mao Sui immediately understood Zhao Kuo's meaning and said softly: "If Your Majesty is willing, we can completely destroy this religion."

Force has always been the best means to solve everything.

Zhao Kuo laughed, shook his head and said, "That's not necessary, the common people just want to seek some spiritual comfort, so that they can gain some hope in their extremely difficult life, what's wrong with that?

If we choose to eliminate Buddhism, it will be equivalent to taking away the last bit of hope in the hearts of these ordinary people. Tell me, will they still be so obedient by then?

Will not.

After all hope disappeared, there must be only one thing they did, and that was desperate. "

Zhao Kuo doesn't want to see this South Asian subcontinent full of people who want to fight Han Guo desperately. That would greatly increase the cost of Han Guo's war this time.

As an emperor, he also needs to be careful and careful, even more so than most people in this world, so that the country's machinery can run well.

Mao Sui was a little puzzled, and said: "I dare to ask, if this is the case, what does your majesty plan to do to reduce the influence of this Buddhism?"

At this moment, a general from the Han Kingdom came to Zhao Kuo: "Your Majesty, there is a man in the city who claims to be a Living Buddha and wants to see you."

Zhao Kuo glanced at Mao Sui.

Mao Sui immediately said, "There is indeed a Living Buddha in this city. His name is Ma Xingde, and he is the ninth son of King Ashoka."

Zhao Kuo snorted, obviously a little surprised: "Ashoka's son... interesting, let him come to see me."

Ma Xingde is very young, he looks about 20 years old.

As a living Buddha, Zhao Kuo originally thought that Ma Xingde should be a more dignified person, but he did not expect that it was just a rather ordinary-looking monk who appeared in front of him.

Ma Xingde turned to Zhao Kuoji and said, "Ma Xingde, a poor monk, has seen His Majesty the Great Han."

Of course, this conversation was conducted through an interpreter.

Zhao Kuo looked at the name with some curiosity, which sounded like the living Buddha of the Peacock Dynasty in China: "So, you made the decision to sacrifice the city and surrender to us?"

Ma Xingde said calmly: "It is the will of the Buddha for us, what the Buddha pays attention to is crossing, and what he talks about is peace and joy.

War will not bring peace and joy, nor will it save anyone from the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss. "

Zhao Kuo was noncommittal.

Ma Xingde continued: "The poor monk came here to hope that His Majesty would be merciful and give people in this land some way of life.

It wasn't long before they settled down after my father's conquest.

If His Majesty brought about merciless killing, the Buddha would not be able to bear it in the Western Paradise. "

Zhao Kuo said, "What can kindness bring me?"

Ma Xingde seemed to have already thought of Zhao Kuo's question, and said, "Kindness can make all people the most obedient subjects of His Majesty."

Zhao Kuo chuckled, and suddenly asked, "What if I don't need people who are as obedient as a dog?"

Ma Xingde was stunned.

This is the first time Ma Xingde has lost his composure since the dialogue between the two sides has reached the present position.

Zhao Kuo said calmly: "For your father, he actually just wants to control Buddhism so that his people obey his rule obediently, right?

So you take it for granted that I will do the same, and I would like to see this.

But you are wrong.

What I hope to see is that all the people of the Han Kingdom have enough wisdom to judge what is right and what is wrong.

This kind of people is the people I really like, and it is also the scene I want to see.

A lifeless puppet?

No, I actually don't like it at all.

Because they seem to be alive, but in fact they are no different from dead people. "

After listening to Zhao Kuo's words, Ma Xingde was silent for a long time.

Finally, Ma Xingde spoke again: "The poor monk is dull, I don't know what your majesty means..." Zhao Kuo said slowly: "My meaning is very simple, of course I will accept your surrender, and except for some people, Most of the people at the bottom will not be killed or harassed, they just need to obediently obey the rule of our Great Han Kingdom.

But from another point of view, you living Buddha should think carefully about what you people are going to do in order to obtain a place for your own survival in the new Great Han Kingdom. "

Everyone knows that religion has a powerful motivator, so who is the most motivator among Buddhism?

Of course, living Buddhas and monks like Ma Xingde.

Ma Xingde raised his head and said to Zhao Kuo, "So, what does His Majesty want us monks to do?"

Zhao Kuo said lightly: "Buddhism can continue, but from now on, the affairs of the Buddha will be decided by the Buddha, and the affairs of this world will be decided by the emperor."

Ma Xingde's body trembled.

After a while, Ma Xingde said: "There will be many people who are unwilling."

Zhao Kuo said: "Then let them die and let those who are willing replace them."

Ma Xingde took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhao Kuo said: "Actually, you don't understand, or you don't understand enough.

How about this, you will live in the army and watch how my army conquers your continent.