Upon learning of Yuan Shao's visit, the third prince, Damoshi, personally went to the gate of the mansion to welcome him inside.
After the guests and host were seated, Damoshi looked at Yuan Shao with a smile and asked, "Brother Benchu, what brings you here today?"
Yuan Shao asked in a deep voice, "Your Highness, I have heard that His Majesty is preparing to negotiate peace with the Xianbei and the Xiongnu?"
Damoh nodded: "That's right, and my father also put me in charge of calming the people to prevent unrest!"
"Doesn't Your Highness think this is your chance to bring down the First Prince and the Second Prince?"
"What do you mean by that, Brother Benchu?"
Upon hearing this, Damoshi's expression shifted, and he looked at Yuan Shao with a look of interest.
Yuan Shao's expression hardened: "Your Highness, please consider this: if the peace talks fail and your army is defeated, will the First Prince and the Second Prince be severely punished by His Majesty?"
Damoshi's eyes lit up: "Brother Benchu, do you mean that I can sabotage the eldest brother's peace talks and then find a way to defeat the second brother?"
"Indeed!" Yuan Shao smiled slightly: "Your Highness need not worry about disrupting the peace talks; I'm sure the Second Prince can handle that!"
All Your Highness needs to do is find a way to defeat the Second Prince!
Damoshi frowned: "But what if our army is defeated, and the Xianbei and Xiongnu march directly south? What should we do then?"
Yuan Shao waved his hand: "No, the Xianbei and Xiongnu, if you add up their entire population, only have a little over 200,000. They will at most plunder, but they will never think of occupying!"
Furthermore, Your Highness could also mobilize the Buddhist sect to call upon monks from various regions to conduct ambushes and guerrilla warfare against the invading Xianbei and Xiongnu.
With nearly 500,000 monks under the Buddhist sect, they could easily use their geographical advantage to deal with the Xianbei and Xiongnu.
In the end, after the Xianbei and Xiongnu withdrew their troops, wouldn't the credit for driving out the barbarians belong entirely to Your Highness?
Upon hearing Yuan Shao's words, Damoshi's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again.
Damoshi sighed helplessly, "Brother Benchu, you may not know this, but recently a new religion has suddenly emerged, and it has been at odds with the Buddhist sect, leaving the Buddhist sect with no time to attend to anything else!"
"Oh? What Protestantism?" Yuan Shao raised an eyebrow and asked, feigning ignorance.
Damoshi said with a bitter expression, "This new religion was founded by three eminent monks from the Buddhist sect who went to the Han Dynasty. I don't know what they learned in the Han Dynasty."
They actually created some new doctrines based on the original teachings of the Buddhist religion, and attracted a large number of believers to follow them.
Moreover, the Buddhist sect had also approached me, hoping that I could step in and suppress the momentum of Protestantism.
At this point, the Buddhist sect probably won't have enough manpower to help me!
Seeing Damoshi's appearance, Yuan Shao frowned: "Your Highness, from what you've said, it seems that the conflict between Protestantism and Buddhism is merely an internal doctrinal dispute. Is it inappropriate for you to intervene?"
"Yes, that's what Xiao Wang was thinking too. After all, they are all members of the Buddhist sect. If I step in to suppress the new sect, it's hard to guarantee that they won't side with my eldest brother or my second brother."
"At that time, I will not only have more enemies, but I may also cause the Buddhist sect to split!"
Damoshi also sighed helplessly. The Floating Pagoda was his greatest reliance, but now it had suddenly become embroiled in internal strife, putting him in a dilemma.
Yuan Shao thought for a moment, then said, "I think you could step in and mediate, so that both factions can choose to support you at the same time?"
"Sigh, Xiao Wang has also thought about it, but now the old and new factions are like oil and water, and it will be very difficult to reconcile them!"
Damoshi sighed and shook his head with a bitter expression.
Yuan Shao spoke up, saying, "I do have an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible!"
"I would appreciate your guidance, Brother Benchu!"
"Your Highness, since ancient times, whether in politics or religion, the struggle between the old and the new has been inevitable. If you want to gain the support of both factions at the same time, you must never let them see your attitude."
Therefore, you can privately summon the leaders of both factions separately to express your support. At the same time, you can also publicly organize several debates between the old and new factions to demonstrate your impartiality.
"Yes, Brother Benchu's idea is good. This way, no matter who wins or loses between the old and new factions, I will not lose anything!"
After listening to Yuan Shao's suggestion, Damoshi nodded in agreement.
All he wanted was the support of the Buddhist sect; he didn't care who would ultimately be in charge.
"Brother Benchu, what do you think I should do to defeat my second brother's army?"
After discussing the Buddhist sect, Damoshi turned his attention to the present situation.
Although Yuan Shao was an envoy sent by the Han Dynasty, Damoshi trusted him greatly.
This is because Damoshi was pro-Han, while the eldest and second princes were hostile to Han.
Therefore, in Damoshi's view, supporting him to the throne would be beneficial to the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, the relationship of interests between him and Yuan Shao was exceptionally strong, and he naturally had no worries that Yuan Shao would betray him.
Yuan Shao smiled and said, "Your Highness, in a war between two armies, it may not be easy to win, but it is not difficult to lose."
Supplies, weaponry, troop deployment, and so on are all crucial to victory or defeat; you only need to focus on these areas!
Damoshi's eyes darted around, and then he said confidently, "I understand what Brother Benchu means. This matter is not difficult!"
After all, with the support of the Nami and Kate families, he could easily pull off some minor tricks.
After Yuan Shao left, Damoshi also sent someone to find Hachi and had a secret conversation with him.
"Venerable Hatch, I have heard of your teachings and the actions of the Protestant Church. I am very supportive of your Protestant Church. Those old-fashioned people are indeed corrupt in their thinking and should be replaced!"
Upon meeting, Damoh immediately expressed his support for Protestantism.
“Your Highness is a friend of the Buddhist sect, and we Protestants are very willing to stand with you!” In return, Hachi immediately responded.
"Haha, very good! Venerable Hachi, rest assured, I will give my full support in the future to help the Floating Pagoda Sect grow even stronger!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
Hachi bowed and thanked him with a happy expression, then said, "By the way, Your Highness, to be honest, both the Second Prince and the First Prince have approached me and offered generous terms, hoping that I would serve them..."
Afterwards, Hachi also told Damoshi without any concealment about the fact that the eldest and second princes had come to him.
Upon hearing this, Damoshi smiled and waved his hand, "It's alright, Venerable Hachi, please feel free to interact with them. This will help the Protestant Church develop faster, won't it?"
Clearly, Hatch's honesty earned him his trust.
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