Pawn Crossing the River

Borneo, Fenglin Continent, and Dongposu Continent each have a great master Pingzhang and a first-grade spiritual official in charge. In a sense, the territory of the Taoist sect is larger than that of the imperial court, just like the Taoist government in the Western Regions. The control area is even larger than that of Xizhou. In name, these places are vassal states of the Central Plains court. They pay tribute to the Celestial Empire, and the Celestial Empire will not directly interfere with its internal affairs.

However, Fenglinzhou is an exception. The situation in this place is very complicated and extremely xenophobic. It is not a vassal state of the Celestial Dynasty, and it still retains the title of "Emperor".

This is something that cannot be helped. Take Borneo as an example. It is a land of one continent, with more than a dozen small countries, large and small, scattered all over the place. Fenglin Island is also a land of one continent, but there is only one country, and its strength is comparable. It is conceivable that just asking the regent Guan Bai to surrender has already caused civil strife. If his title of emperor is deposed, the so-called "respecting the king and fighting the Tao" will become even more crazy.

The Taoist sect has a high status in Fenglinzhou, but it is not reliable.

There are two major sects in Fenglinzhou, one is Tianmen, which is native to Fenglinzhou, and the other is Buddhism from outside.

Speaking of Buddhism, its spread is actually far greater than that of Taoism. Everywhere Buddhism goes, it integrates local customs and culture, and it is divided into many branches, and the differences are huge.

For example, in the Chinese Buddhism, also known as "Zen", the first founder was a foreigner, but the second founder was an orthodox Central Plains person, and his biological father was the master of Wanxiang Academy. Therefore, the second ancestor learned Confucianism and Taoism at a young age. Especially good at mystical principles. When the first ancestor founded Buddhism in China, the second ancestor came to the temple to ask for help. The first ancestor saw that what he had learned was mixed and mixed, and his preconceptions were very profound. He relied on his own intelligence and found it difficult to understand Zen principles, so he refused to accept it at the moment. The Second Patriarch prayed for a long time, but never got the door, so he immediately raised his sword and cut off his arm to clarify his intention. Seeing his sincerity, the first ancestor accepted him as his disciple and taught him the Vajra Dharma. The second ancestor finally inherited the mantle of the first ancestor, followed the first ancestor to learn Buddhism, and understood the mind and nature according to the Diamond Sutra. As the saying goes, if the body is healthy, the mind is healthy, and the mind is easy to understand. After the death of the first ancestor, the second ancestor studied hard and studied the wonderful meanings of Buddhism. There were many doubts and no clear explanations. So the second ancestor left the Buddhist temple and traveled to famous mountains to visit eminent monks, great Confucianists and real people to find out the wonderful meanings, and gradually understood them.

This is just a microcosm of Buddhism in China. Four hundred years after the overthrow of hundreds of schools of thought that only respected Confucianism, Confucianism, which had ruled the world for four hundred years, lost power for the first time. The scholar-officials' cumbersome study style of Confucian classics and the weird and superficial understanding of prophecy and wei theology , and were generally tired of the clichés of the Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Five Constant Beings, so they turned to look for a new place to settle down, and metaphysics began to flourish.

Alchemy and metaphysics are both based on the Taoist theory of nature. Taoists work from the heart and reap the rewards in nature. Whether it is a heavenly person who is not separated from the sect, or a perfect person or a god who is not separated from the essence or the truth, they all work hard to achieve emptiness and tranquility from the heart. From then on, the Xuan Ming Kungfu of emptiness, tranquility and purification is carried out, and then one reaches the realm of heaven and man, supreme man, and god. Taoism can transform it into the art of immortality through the theory of immortality. Achieving immortality and becoming an immortal through cultivation is the Taoism that comes from the Taoist school.

That is to say, Taoism gradually changed from Taoism, one of the hundreds of schools of thought, to Taoism, one of the three religions.

The profound metaphysics of Lao and Zhuang was supposed to be a sign of the rise of Taoism, but in the end, Buddhism from the West took over first. Because metaphysics is similar to prajna science, monks at that time also talked about metaphysics. At that time, Buddhism was very powerful, masters from the Western Regions came one after another, and the monastery gradually took shape. The study of Prajna is great, and the discussion of mysteries is wonderful.

The most commendable ones are Luo Shi's coming from the east, Fa Xian's traveling to the west, Dao'an's leaders Qun Lun, and Luo Shi's great translation work. There were ten philosophers and four sages under his sect, all of whom were the first-class scholars who studied Laozi and Zhuangzhuang intensively at that time. At that time, there was chaos in the north, and Dao'an disciple Hui Yuan lived in seclusion in Kuanglu, studying Prajna, Bi Tan, and advocating the Pure Land of Amitabha. At that time, there was a large gathering of famous sages, and he became an important center of Buddhism in the south of the Yangtze River. Later, there were translations of the True Truth called Consciousness-Only Treatises, and Luo Shifaxian and others also translated the ten verses, five points, and four points.

As a result, metaphysics and Buddhism influenced each other. Buddhist scholars talked about metaphysics, and metaphysicians discussed Buddhism, which became a temporary fashion. To say that their convergence was indeed the general trend of development at that time. After this, metaphysics and Buddhism gradually merged and were replaced by Buddhism. This is the predecessor of Zen Buddhism in China.

Therefore, Buddhism in the Middle Kingdom actually pioneered the unification of the three religions, and has many connections and similarities with Taoism and Confucianism. The Cihang lineage that exists within Taoism is the Middle-earth Buddhism.

Later, Buddhism and Taoism fought, and Taoism and Confucianism joined forces to destroy Buddhism in China. A large number of Buddhist monks either became Taoist priests or Confucian scholars. Anyway, the integration of the three religions is the general trend. Many principles are interlinked. There is not much difference. It is just a matter of exchange. The matter of clothes really comes and goes easily. As early as the Lin Lingsu era, there was a precedent for the Buddhist sect in the Middle Earth to surrender. Now that the Taoist sect is powerful and unable to defeat it, and there are precedents and retreats, the Buddhist sect in the Middle Earth will naturally not fight to the end. This is also the reason why the Buddhist sect in the Middle Earth collapsed at the first touch. location.

The Buddhism that competes with Taoism today actually refers to Buddhism in the Western Regions.

If we say that Buddhism in the Middle Kingdom absorbed the best of Confucianism and Taoism and changed from Hinayana to Mahayana, it would always have an air of immortality and poetry. Then Buddhism in the Western Regions has absorbed the strengths of shamanism, which is characterized by cruelty. All kinds of human skin and human bone magic weapons emerge in an endless stream, and are filled with a very strong atmosphere of barbaric blood.

There is also Buddhism in Borneo, which is influenced by witchcraft. Buddhism in Borneo was influenced by Borneoism. They all worship Buddha, but their teachings are completely different.

The same is naturally true for Buddhism in Fenglinzhou. Influenced by local sects in Fenglinzhou, Buddhism in Fenglinzhou is similar but not similar to Buddhism in China. Looking back to the origin, Buddhism in Fenglinzhou and Buddhism in China are in the same line. It can be found in the Buddhist scriptures The interpretation and inheritance of precepts are very different. For example, Buddhist disciples in Middle-earth must eat vegetarian food and become a monk, but Buddhist disciples in Fenglinzhou can eat meat and start a family. Moreover, the Buddhist forces in Fenglinzhou have not experienced repeated attempts to "exterminate the Buddha." The suppression is extremely powerful, just like a vassal town, and the monk soldiers must not be underestimated.

They are quite hostile to the Taoist sect, but they are afraid of the Taoist sect's strength and are submissive on the surface.

Then there is Tianmen, the local sect in Fenglinzhou. At the earliest, Tianmen had no official name until Buddhism was introduced to Fenglinzhou and gradually spread in Fenglinzhou at that time. In order to compete with Buddhism, the term Tianmen came into being. It was distinguished by the inherent Tianmen of Fenglinzhou. Buddhism from outside the territory.

Tianmen is also known as the Shinto Gate of Heaven or Shintoism, which comes from the Book of Changes in the Central Plains: "The grand view is above, and the sun is down, and the Zhongzheng is used to view the world. View, wash but not recommend, there is Fu Yongruo, and it will transform when viewed down. Also. The divine way of observing the sky, but the four seasons are not the same, the sage teaches the divine way, and the world obeys."

Later, the Taoist sect became so powerful that in order to distinguish it from the Taoist sect and avoid being misunderstood as a branch of the Taoist sect, the Shinto sect was simply removed, and it became the Tianmen.

In the earliest days, Tianmen was no match for Buddhism and became a vassal of Buddhism. The gods in Tianmen also became the protectors of Buddhism. Until the rise of Confucianism.

Taoism changed from Taoism to Taoism because of metaphysics, and Confucianism changed from Confucianism to Confucianism because of Neo-Confucianism. Neo-Confucianism emphasizes the principles of heaven and makes the principles of heaven the supreme god of Confucianism. The emperor in the world is the spokesperson of heaven's principles in the world. He is the son of the emperor and the father of all peoples. Zhang Yuelu once criticized Neo-Confucianism at the conference of the three religions. But we have to admit that Neo-Confucianism was supported by the emperor, which was indeed a powerful weapon against Buddhism. Not only did the Neo-Confucian sage become one of the four sages of Confucianism, but it also pushed Confucianism to the top of the three religions.

After Neo-Confucianism was spread to Fenglinzhou, Tianmen combined with Neo-Confucianism, emphasizing respecting the emperor and being loyal to the king, making Tianmen independent from the control of Buddhism. This is the origin of today's "Zunwang". Later, the regent Guan Bai tried to ignore the emperor, which was naturally against the concept of loyalty to the emperor. Therefore, no matter whether the Taoist sect entered Fenglin Island or not, there were many people who opposed the regent Guan Bai, ranging from high officials to down-and-out warriors.

Later, Tianmen absorbed the teachings of the Holy Court and began to advocate Fenglinzhou as the center of the world, gradually becoming the state religion of Fenglinzhou. Emperor Fenglinzhou was not only the monarch supported by the lords from all over the world, but also the leader of Tianmen.

This is similar to how Emperor Daxuan became the supreme master of the Taoist sect, except that the Taoist sect had an additional great leader, and power was not concentrated in one person.

Because of this, Daomen's entry into Fenglinzhou naturally aroused strong resistance from Tianmen, but Tianmen's strength was far inferior to that of Daomen. After the defeat, at the request of Daomen, Tianmen announced the separation of politics and religion, and the Emperor of Fenglinzhou issued an edict declaring that he was a human being. Instead of God, Tianmen’s status as a state religion was abolished.

However, people who believe in Tianmen still account for the majority. Daomen's move will naturally arouse public outrage. Tianmen's experience of becoming a vassal of Buddhism makes them feel that Tianmen will become a vassal of Daomen again. Those who oppose Daomen and those who oppose the regent Guan Bai form a The trend of confluence, so the "fighting way" also comes from this.

In recent years, the so-called "respecting the king and fighting the Tao" has emerged one after another. Tianmen, like Buddhism and Shamanism in the Western Regions, has become a serious problem for Taoism, which has prevented Taoism from actually controlling Fenglin Continent.

In fact, the Taoist Sect has only one starting point in Fenglin Continent, and that is Regent Guan Bai and his family. Now that the Regent Guanbai is fighting among themselves, the Taoist Sect did not intervene quickly and missed the best time to calm down the situation, which was really a mistake.

It's not that the big shots in the Taoist sect didn't see this, it was just that they were too weak to do what they wanted. The Yusan family is constantly fighting among themselves for the position of regent Guan Bai, how can the Taoist sect be better? The three branches of Taoism are also fighting among themselves for the position of Grand Master. How can they still have the energy to manage Fenglinzhou, which is thousands of miles away.

Having said that, perhaps it was the vassals in Fenglin Continent who saw the internal fighting among the Taoist sects, and then raised the banner of "Respect the King and Fight the Taoist" after forbearing for many years, intending to drive the Taoist sect out of Fenglin Continent while the Taoist sect was too busy to take care of itself.

The Taoist sect itself will not give up on Fenglinzhou easily. This newspaper is proof that it is already blowing the news in advance.

If Qi Xuansu's prediction is correct, it won't be long before the Taoist sect will mobilize elite troops from various Taoist governments to put down the rebellion.