Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

Buddhism revised its teachings to declare that only after all people have served the emperor and endured all the sufferings of the world can they finally ascend to the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Not only that, Buddhism will also claim that His Majesty the Emperor from the East is Dongtu Guangming Buddha. He is one of the most intelligent Buddhas under the Buddha. .

To put it simply, although His Majesty the Emperor is not a Buddha, he is also a spokesman for the Buddha.

Zhao Kuo is quite understandable about this point. After all, Zhao Kuo is not from the South Asian subcontinent. If a conqueror from another place is suddenly allowed to become a Buddha, these Living Buddhas probably have no way to communicate with their believers. explain this kind of thing.

At the same time, Zhao Kuo also announced one thing to these monks, that is, all monks must pay taxes, and all temples must pay taxes. Any temple can no longer accept land donations from believers, nor Ability to buy land by any means.

Of course, in order to prevent these great monks from starving to death outside of chanting scriptures, Zhao Kuo allowed believers to donate in cash or materials.

All in all, Zhao Kuo's attitude boils down to one sentence, since you have chosen to become a monk, you should choose the simple life of a Qingdeng ancient Buddha, instead of engaging in drunken dreams or becoming a rich man.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties in history, that is, when Buddhism spread most widely in China, many believers at that time would donate a large amount of land to the temple in order to show their filial piety to the Buddha, and the temple did not pay taxes at that time , which led to the temple becoming the largest landowner in the entire country.

A landlord who does not pay taxes can imagine how much damage it will cause to the country's finances.

If this is the case, it’s fine. Later, some fanatical Buddhist emperors even announced that they would become monks in temples, and then asked ministers and the treasury to redeem themselves with huge sums of money before returning to vulgarity.

Behind all these farces is actually the huge destructiveness of Buddhism to the country's finances and the country's land system. This is of course intolerable to Zhao Kuo, and he must cut it off from the source.

And doing so is actually beneficial to Buddhism. Although Buddhism was so prosperous in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was precisely because Buddhism occupied too much land and wealth that the later Chinese rulers immediately carried out extermination of Buddhism. Movement, dealt a very cruel blow to the spread of Buddhism in the Central Plains.

So Buddhism, which flourished for a while later, eventually became unknown. Although there are still many people in China who are familiar with many Buddhas because of Journey to the West, you want to find a few Buddhists in China later. Well, that's actually a very difficult thing to do.

Sometimes leaving a way out for others is actually leaving a way out for yourself.

Everyone, in return for these living Buddhas modifying the transaction, Zhao Kuo personally canonized them in the name of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Country, making them living Buddhas of the Han Kingdom in this South Asian province, and they can freely travel in all areas of South Asia. Missions can be carried out in local areas, and they can also go to the Central Plains to preach, but if they go to the Central Plains, they must report to the government for the record.

Generally speaking, things are still under Zhao Kuo's control, and Zhao Kuo is quite satisfied with the final result.

Not only that, secretly Zhao Kuo also instructed Mao Sui to use this religious reform committee as the intelligence department's eyes and ears in the South Asian province.

As we all know, believers are quite fanatical, and sometimes some people will use this fanaticism to carry out some behaviors and actions that are not good for the country.

If the Ministry of Intelligence can send people into these places in advance, it can learn about this behavior in advance and stop them.

Not only that, because many believers are willing to tell the truth when facing monks, so the intelligence department can also obtain some information that cannot be obtained from normal channels through this thread.

In this regard, Mao Sui immediately arranged for several of his most capable officials to start taking action in this place, trying to establish a network that can cover the entire South Asian province as quickly as possible.

Zhao Kuo rested in Fahrenheit City for several days.

Buddhists have a very important feature, that is, they like gold very much. Throughout history, all Buddhist temples and famous buildings are basically inseparable from gold.

In fact, these countries on the South Asian subcontinent have been the most important gold consumers in the world until modern times.

So this time, Zhao Kuo also seized a large amount of loot gold, which was packed into more than 1000 carriages, which shocked Zhao Kuo after eating it.

Li Mu, who just met Zhao Kuo, couldn't help but complain.

"Wouldn't it be better if the gold from these more than 1000 carriages was used to recruit the army and improve the lives of ordinary people?"

Zhao Kuo said to Li Mu with a smile: "That is indeed better for this country, but, in fact, we can't escape the ending of being defeated by us, and most importantly, we won't have so many spoils in this way Did you know?"

After listening to Zhao Kuo's words, Li Mu was speechless for a while.

Although Zhao Kuo's words were indeed fallacious, Li Mu really couldn't fault Zhao Kuo.

Zhao Kuo smiled and said to Li Mu, "Are you really planning to stay here for a while?"

Although it is said that this place has just been conquered, it does not mean that everything is fine.

Zhao Kuo will leave 8 troops stationed here, suppressing all possible rebellions and dissatisfaction.

Originally, Zhao Kuo had arranged for someone else to be the commander in chief, but after Li Mu found out about this, he actively took the position over.

Li Mu laughed when he heard Zhao Kuo's question, and said to Zhao Kuo: "Your Majesty should also know that my favorite thing is to fight. If I go back to the Central Plains now, I don't know when I will start fighting." Chance.

It's better to just stay here, at least there will be some small-scale rebellion here, which can make me warm up.

In the future, Your Majesty, if you want to go west, just take me with you. "

After Zhao Kuo heard Li Mu's words, he couldn't help laughing, and said to Li Mu: "You kid is thinking too much, you are the prime minister of our Han country, how could you stay here for several days? In a few years, the new governor will come here at most next year, and after you hand over him, you will go back to me immediately and be your prime minister in the imperial capital."

After hearing these words, Li Mu sighed helplessly, put on a bitter face and said, "Your Majesty, if I knew it earlier, I wouldn't be the prime minister."

After hearing Li Mu's words, Zhao Kuo also laughed out loud.

This pair of monarchs and ministers had known each other when Zhao Kuo was just rising, and 20 years have passed in a flash.

20 years is definitely not a short time for any person. This couple of monarchs and ministers have known each other and believed in each other for 20 years, and they have worked together to help the Han Kingdom come to the present.

So Zhao Kuo might be worried if other people are sent here to sit here, but for Li Mu, Zhao Kuo is definitely the most at ease.

The next day, Zhao Kuo led the triumphant army, and countless trophies, captives and slaves left in a mighty way.

Still going north, the first stop is the Kaibor Pass.

In fact, it was only two or three months before Zhao Kuo left this mountain pass, but in such a short period of time, Zhao Kuo wiped out the entire Maurya Dynasty.

This is the crushing of technology and society, and this is the ruthlessness of hot weapons to cold weapons.

Why in history the Qing Dynasty had so many territories and so many populations were still ruthlessly beaten by Britain and France? It was because the technology was too far apart. After experiencing so many wars, Zhao Kuo was more concerned about this. understanding.

This is why people often say that science and technology are primary productive forces.

Thinking of this, Zhao Kuo couldn't help turning his head and glanced at King Ashoka beside him.

As the highest-level person captured by the Han Dynasty in this war, King Ashoka certainly could not continue to stay in the South Asian province. He had to take his family and follow Zhao Kuo to the Imperial City. Living under residential surveillance, but can have a carefree and wealthy life for a lifetime.

Zhao Kuo said to King Ashoka: "Next you will be able to see what our real Han country looks like. Do you have any expectations for this in your heart?"

Ashoka may have carried out a wave of psychological construction these days, but in short, the mental outlook of the whole person still looks quite good.

After hearing Zhao Kuo's inquiry, Ashoka also answered with a smile.

"I'm really curious, because I want to know what kind of country can defeat me, Ashoka, who was in his heyday, does it mean that you only have strong force, or do you have other deeper forces? stuff in there."

Of course Zhao Kuo could understand the meaning of Ashoka. The so-called other deeper things are actually a country and a nation, and its civilization.

So here comes the question, if we really want to talk about the background of civilization, can the other three civilizations in the world that have been cut off be compared with the Chinese nation that has never cut off civilization?

Therefore, after Zhao Kuo heard Ashoka's answer, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart.

Zhao Kuo smiled and said to Ashoka: "This world should be open and connected.

Everyone should be enjoying a happy and prosperous life. Of course, our Dahan Kingdom has not achieved this yet, but we are already making great strides towards this goal.

I believe that when you see our Great Han Kingdom, you will fully understand why your decades of construction are far inferior to mine, which has only been established for a few years, because we are really using Wisdom is what makes up this kingdom, and we use technology instead of ethereal gods to lead our people.

If we use Buddha to control our people, then indeed our rule can be stabilized for a while, but the people will wake up one day, you know?

When they wake up, all the Buddhas will be overthrown, not only that, as the spokesperson of the Buddha, the emperor will also be overthrown.

And because the emperor has been preaching the price of gods like Buddha for so many years, when the people overthrow the emperor, their reaction will be more intense, and they will return ten times and a hundred times the suffering they have suffered for so many years. The result that an emperor hoped to see. "

Of course Ashoka knew that what Zhao Kuo said was meant for him, so he was also lost in thought.

I have to admit that Zhao Kuo's remarks are indeed very logical and flawless, and it can even be said that this is almost an inevitable history.

After thinking for a long time, Ashoka said: "I heard that you also accepted the title of the Eastern Bright Buddha from those living Buddhas, and you also want to be the spokesperson of the Buddha as the emperor, so don't you worry about it?" Did something like this happen?"

Zhao Kuo laughed haha, and said to King Ashoka very seriously: "That's why you don't understand, do you understand?

For me, the so-called Eastern Bright Buddha is actually just an opportunity for our Chinese civilization to have a chance to intervene in this place.

In a maximum of 10 or 20 years, this place will be quickly assimilated by China. At that time, the people here will open their blindfolded eyes and know that all Buddhas cannot save them, only they Your own intelligence can.

At that time, not only will they not blame us, but they will thank me, the emperor, because it is my government that brought them the real way. "

Looking at Zhao Kuo who was extremely confident when he spoke, Ashoka nodded slowly.

"Maybe you're right, but I wouldn't agree with you until I saw that happen."

Zhao Kuo laughed out loud.

"Then you have to live well, remember to live as long as possible, because in this way, you can witness that scene with your own eyes!"

Chapter 1279 The Great Han Kingdom Is So Strong Ashoka Was Shocked

After crossing the Khyber Pass, the first thing to cross is the Hindu Kush Mountains, where the advancing speed of the army is actually relatively slow.

After crossing the Hindu Kush Mountains, it entered the valley in the river.

The fox in the river is a very rich place. In later generations, it belongs to three of the five Central Asian countries, and Uzbekistan, the most populous of the five Central Asian countries, has concentrated most of its population here.

This place is also the most fertile and most suitable for agricultural development in Central Asia. In history, there were many nomadic peoples who transformed into farming peoples after occupying this place.

This is also the second place where the Great Han Kingdom has vigorously developed after the Yili Valley.

When Zhao Kuo arrived here, he saw a very huge city and countless farmers farming.

A large part of these farmers are immigrants from the Central Plains. Apart from these farmers, there are many slaves working hard in many fields.

Ashoka stared at the situation in front of him, and seemed to be thinking for a while. After a while, he said to Zhao Kuo beside him: "It seems that you are also a country that attaches great importance to agriculture."

These days, Zhao Kuo was basically traveling in the same carriage as King Ashoka, and he was actually very interested in this emperor who was known as the most talented and bold emperor in India in history.

And considering that King Ashoka was already an old man, Zhao Kuo certainly wasn't worried that King Ashoka would threaten Zhao Kuo personally, not to mention that Mao Sui stood by Zhao Kuo's side every step of the way.

After hearing Ashoka's words, Zhao Kuo also laughed and said: "Of course, if any country in this world does not pay attention to agriculture, then it will definitely perish."

Ashoka looked at the countless fertile fields in front of him, and said slowly: "Actually, you don't know, one of the things I have always wanted to do is to conquer this area, but the Seleucids resolutely resisted, let me It’s impossible, how did you do it?”

Zhao Kuo said: "In fact, the government here is also a relatively simple matter. It only needs to discharge my musketeers and explosives."

These words made Ashoka silent for a long time.

After moving on, we soon came to a city.

Zhao Kuo introduced to Ashoka who was beside him: "This is the capital of our entire Central Asian Governor's District, and his name is Sarmahan City."

Ashoka looked at Zhao Kuo with some doubts, and said, "Does this word have any special meaning?"

Zhao Kuo smiled and said, "This city is not built by us, but by a race called the Lite people, so the name is also based on their name."

Ashoka nodded, and then said: "If it were me, I might consider choosing a name that is more in line with my country's style."

Zhao Kuo said with a smile: "Actually, I thought so too, and I also chose a very Chinese-style name.

It's just that you may not know that the people here really like this name very much, they can even mobilize tens of thousands of people, and then ask the officials for orders. "

Ashoka looked at Zhao Kuo strangely and said, "Could it be that you changed your original name just because of the tens of thousands of people in this area?"

Zhao Kuo nodded with a smile and said: "You are right, tens of thousands of people, although it sounds like a small number, are actually the majority of the population in this city. Become my people, but I know very well that it will be a matter of time before they assimilate into my country.

If Jingjing can make them my subjects by changing the name of a city, then I think this business is not a loss at all. "

After listening to Zhao Kuo's words, Ashoka sighed and said: "The Buddha said that we need tolerance and compassion when dealing with people. From this point of view, it seems that you have indeed achieved it."

Zhao Kuo looked at the city of Sarmahan in front of him, and said with a smile: "Actually, you have misunderstood. When dealing with the enemy, my methods are also extremely cruel, but, because my people are not enemies after all, , so of course I have to treat them better."

Ashoka nodded, expressing his approval of Zhao Kuo's words.

On the second day, the army left the city again and continued to advance northeastward.

Why is it northeast?

The main reason is that Zhao Kuo wanted to go to Yili to have a look.

The city of Yili has a special feeling, because it is an extremely rare area in the entire Xinjiang region, which is very suitable for agriculture, and it is also the best piece of land in the northwest of the Huaxia Kingdom in later generations.

Zhao Kuo must let everyone know that this area must be taken seriously.

Yili City has undergone earth-shaking changes.

It has now become a city with a permanent population of more than 20. In this era, a city of this size can definitely belong to the ranks of first-class cities.

It happened to be noon when Zhao Kuo arrived here, which was also the hottest time of the day.

But even so, there are still people coming and going outside Yili City, and countless traders ride camels and carriages, bustling through the city gate.

Ashoka stared at the merchants' carriages full of goods on the road with some curiosity, and asked Zhao Kuo, "Is this the famous big city in your country?

I didn't expect that your country is still very close to us. "

Zhao Kuo also laughed after hearing Ashoka's words, and said to Ashoka very affirmatively: "You are wrong, this is not a big city in our country, in fact this city is our previous city. It was built just a few years ago, and it belongs to a relatively remote and relatively new city in our country."

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, Ashoka's face clearly showed a suspicious expression.

For King Ashoka, this city was almost comparable to Fahrenheit City. According to Zhao Kuo, is such a big city just a newly built remote city?

But Ashoka didn't speak either, he just observed silently.

After passing through Yili, it officially entered the Junggar Basin, which is the northern Xinjiang region.