Chapter 0016 I Learned

Xiao Rong was silent for two seconds, then he sat up and looked at Qu Yunmie: "Please think twice, Your Majesty. There are really many benefits to doing this. Besides, we don't need to invite too many people, just one will do."

Qu Yunmie paused, he seemed to have heard something from Xiao Rong's words. He folded his hands over his shoulders, leaned back slightly, and then looked up and down at Xiao Rong's expression.

"So you already have a candidate in mind."

Xiao Rong thought this was a softening signal from Qu Yunmie, and quickly smiled, "Yes, I wonder if the king has heard of the Buddhist disciple Mi Jing? Eight years ago, the Buddhist disciple saw the suffering of all living beings, but he himself was powerless. He held the scriptures and could save the dead, but not the living. He bid farewell to his teacher and went to Tianzhu alone to make a pilgrimage, praying to find another way out for the people of the world. It has been eight years, and his pilgrimage has ended. Before I set out to look for the king and the Zhenbei Army, I heard that he had already set out on his journey home. Counting the days, he will return to the Central Plains at the earliest this month and at the latest next month."

Whatever you heard is nonsense. Mi Jing left in despair and hasn't sent back a letter in eight years. If no merchants had seen him, everyone would have thought he was dead.

Mi Jing was a genius in Buddhism. He received minor ordination at the age of twelve and major ordination at the age of sixteen. Normally monks could receive major ordination at the age of twenty, but Mi Jing received it four years earlier because he was so talented that no one could defeat him in preaching and debating, so an exception was made for him.

The teaching of Buddhism is to save all sentient beings. From the day when Mahayana Buddhism was introduced, Hinayana Buddhism, which focused on saving oneself, was replaced. For Mi Jing to be called a son of Buddha, in addition to his extraordinary talent and tenacious character, it is also indispensable.

Ten years ago, Mi Jing had just received the great precepts and had not yet begun to display his compassion and ambitions when the Hu people invaded. Emperor Guangjia fled in a hurry with his concubine and gold and silver, followed by officials and noble families. The common people who could run also ran, and those who could not run had to stay and wait to die.

Yanmen Pass was the first stop of the Hu invasion. The bloodbath at Yanmen Pass was horrific, but it was not just Yanmen Pass that suffered at that time. Chang'an, as the capital of the Yong Dynasty, became the best point for the Hu people to vent their anger. At that time, Chang'an was a river of blood and flames shot into the sky. The only relatively safe place was the Buddhist temple.

Because the Hu people were led by the Xianbei, who had been learning the Central Plains culture, they knew how important Buddhism and Taoism were to the people of the Central Plains. At that time, the Xianbei also wanted to control the north of the Huai River, so they hypocritically issued an order not to kill monks and Taoists and not to touch Buddhist temples and Taoist temples.

With this order, Mi Jing took in 20,000 Chang'an residents, and he always withstood the pressure from the Hu people and never backed down. In that era when everyone only cared about their own life and death, to use an inappropriate metaphor, Mi Jing's holy light truly illuminated the entire Central Plains.

It can be said that even if ten thousand monks were put together, none of them could convince the people more than Mi Jing.

The people always remember Mi Jing's kindness, but Mi Jing himself became completely confused eight years ago.

Eight years ago, that is, in the second year of Kaiyun, Emperor Guangjia was bedridden, Sun Renluan took power, Qu Yunmie defected from Nanyong, proclaimed himself General Mie Lu, and began his road to revenge. Shanshan secretly surrendered to the enemy, Rouran chose to withdraw, the Hu people's alliance was broken, and the Xianbei emperor's dream of occupying the Central Plains was also shattered.

Since they have no chance to control this land again, why pretend to be upright gentlemen? They kill, rob and burn. They smash all Buddhist temples and Taoist temples. They kill all monks and take the gold foil off the Buddha statues and take it back to their own territory.

No one knows how Mi Jing survived the second massacre, but not long after, he went south to Jiaozhou and followed the caravan to India by boat.

He went there by boat, but historical records show that he returned by land.

And what a coincidence, he followed in the footsteps of his ancestors, retraced his journey through the Western Regions, crossed the Kunlun Mountains, passed through the desert, and finally entered the Central Plains from Dunhuang.

In other words, his route was to the north first. As long as Qu Yunmie sent people to guard the official road, he would definitely be able to catch this fat rabbit. …

In Xiao Rong's view, this was simply a godsend opportunity. You know, after Mi Jing came back, he finally chose to be the imperial teacher for the little emperor. Because of his presence, many people cried and shouted to move to Jinling. It would have been fine if they didn't know, but now that they knew, how could he let him get away?

He looked at Qu Yunmie expectantly, but Qu Yunmie's face was gradually turning cold.

Gao Xunzhi's heart skipped a beat. He just stood up, but before he could open his mouth to smooth things over, Qu Yunmie had already spoken.

"So you already have a plan in mind, sir. Why are you asking me?"

Xiao Rong was stunned. Realizing that his attitude was different from what he thought, Xiao Rong also stood up. He looked at Qu Yunmie cautiously: "As an aide, I should serve the king and share his worries. I just--"

Qu Yunmie was impatient to hear him finish: "I will only say this once, regardless of Buddhism or Taoism, there must not be such people who can shake the morale of the army in the Zhenbei Army! Can reciting a few verses of the sutras be as if assisted by gods? I'm afraid it's as if assisted by ghosts! Going into battle and killing the enemy depends on a pair of bloody hands, not these monks who dare not go out even in summer!"

Xiao Rong: “…”

He tried to reason with Qu Yunmie: "Of course, the king has the final say on military matters, but the reason we invited the Buddhist disciples here is not to win or lose on the battlefield, but to protect the rear, so that the king will no longer have to worry about every time he goes out to fight. Has the king ever thought about how much food and grass will be left after defeating the Xianbei? Previously, these food and grass were robbed by the king in his wars. When the Xianbei are gone, who else can he rob? Without the people working diligently in the back, is it possible that the whole army will starve in the future?"

Qu Yunmie narrowed his eyes: "You are blaming me for not being capable."

Xiao Rong lowered his head: "I dare not, I just want the king to see the long-term."