Chapter 67 Master Xuan Jing (Part 2) Update
"I dare not!"
Cui Ming kowtowed again, but after rising, his words were resolute: "But even though you are the crown prince, you cannot ignore the importance placed on you by the Emperor and his father! I may be dull, but I am the Deputy Envoy appointed by the Emperor. I only wish to assist you and fulfill your command! Please grant me your blessing!"
Crown Prince Liu Ziling is the heir apparent to the throne, but everyone in the court and the country can see that the emperor is wary of the crown prince's power.
Liu Jian nominally handed the task of building the Liang Palace to the crown prince, letting him bear the stigma of large-scale construction and excessive labor expenditure. However, he arranged for Cui Ming to take over the actual affairs of building the palace.
As the crown prince, he is just a scapegoat without any real power.
The emperor decided on the construction and design of the palace, Cui Ming mobilized civilians to organize its construction, and the emperor issued an edict allocating funds.
However, the construction of such a large palace in the mountains would require more than hundreds of millions of gold and silver.
The emperor had asked the Ministry of Revenue to find a way to allocate funds, but when it came time to pay, they couldn't come up with any money, both real and fake! Only then would he, the crown prince, be pushed out to make plans and raise funds from all sides.
The prince does all the dirty work.
However, once the money was deposited into the account, it disappeared without a trace. However, with the support of Emperor Liu Jian, he, the one who sent the money, was severely blocked from even checking the account expenditures.
For Cui Ming, the prince's routine inspection was just a routine performance.
He thought that the respect he had given to the prince was more than enough.
As for the rest, the prince should not and is not suitable to get too deeply involved.
"very good."
Liu Ziling nodded. Years of heavy repression finally made him completely calm down when he saw this man brazenly provoking him in person.
He looked up at the golden forest shrouded in mist and said, "But you should also know that I am also the emperor's appointed envoy. Isn't this my mission to fulfill the emperor's orders?"
The Cui family has always stood firmly behind Liu Jian since before he ascended the throne.
Liu Ziling knew that Chi Zhan and his men were firmly resisting Liu Jian's proposal to disband the local central army and county troops, which made him extremely irritable and dissatisfied.
He temporarily compromised with Chi Zhan's forces, but the depression in his heart had to be vented.
This is how we have the towering Dongwang Mountain and the cool palace in the mountains that stretches for miles.
In order to protect Chi Zhan and the generals of the central army left behind by Emperor Shengzu, Liu Ziling was prepared to accept the emperor's wrath.
But……
Father!
You shouldn't use the Liu royal family's foundation to vent your anger!
He didn't need to look to know what Cui Ming was hiding right under his nose.
When a palace is built, the foundation will be laid with the bones of thousands of men!!
Of the funds Cui Ming received, how much could he actually use to build this majestic palace? Could even a hundredth, or even a thousandth, of it be used to sustain the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians?
The people are the foundation of the country. Cui Ming is guilty of shaking the foundation of the country!
He had intended to continue to endure, to wait until the day when he could personally rebuild his country...
Liu Ziling smiled and called out, "Captain Chi."
Chi Mu stepped out from the imperial guards and said, "Your Majesty is here."
"Let's go back. I want to inspect Master Cui once again and carefully to see how he accomplished his life."
“Here!”
After he finished speaking, Chi Mu waved his hand, and more than a thousand guards lined up to escort the prince back to the mountain path.
As the Imperial Guards approached, Cui Ming, who was blocking the way, scrambled to his feet and hid to the side in a panic. He watched the Crown Prince's resolute back as he left, and he had a clear premonition of his impending fate, and his eyes gradually turned resentful.
·
In the Xiguanhou Mansion, Du Hui was explaining the origins of Master Xuanjing to Liu Ziye.
Du Hui: "Although the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty never explicitly established Buddhism or Taoism as the state religion, Confucianism seemed to be the most respected and valued by the upper class, serving as a stepping stone for scholars seeking official positions. However, Confucianism was not accessible or accessible to the common people. Whether it was literacy, reading, attending school, or even taking the imperial examinations, it all required sufficient financial resources. Therefore, it could be said that Confucianism was the province of the nobility."
When Liu Ziye heard this, he thought it made a lot of sense.
Living in the new century, compulsory education has long been universal. Liu Ziye recalled that over the past six months, he had been busy traveling around Xiguan County and had rarely seen a school.
In the process of dealing with border residents, the literacy rate of ordinary people is only two or three out of ten.
The literacy of these two or three people was also quite limited, let alone studying the Confucian classics that they had included in the list. For ordinary people like them, this knowledge was both expensive and impractical.
She nodded slightly.
Du Hui continued, "On the contrary, Buddhism and Taoism, which are mainly spread through word of mouth, have a very broad foundation among the people."
"That makes sense." Liu Ziye nodded.
"For years, Buddhism and Taoism have been engaged in a back-and-forth exchange, with Buddhism sometimes gaining the upper hand, and Taoism sometimes taking the top position. Conflicts between the two sects often lead to debates, large and small. Buddhism has generally won more of these debates, but there are always wins and losses."
It is common sense that one thing grows while the other shrinks.
Du Hui said, "However, since the fifth year of Tianxi, the Taoist sect has never won the annual debate between Buddhism and Taoism. The key to this lies in this great master Xuan Jing."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ziye couldn't help but ask, "Is it really that powerful?"
According to Liu Ziye's understanding, to achieve such an effect, this Xuanjing Grandmaster must at least have a cliff-like lead, creating a gap that can be used to strike at a dimensionality reduction. This shows the unparalleled level of attainment of this core Xuanjing Grandmaster.
Du Hui nodded solemnly: "It is no exaggeration to call him a Buddha or Bodhisattva who appears once in a hundred years."
Liu Ziye suddenly thought: "Then why would such a highly regarded Buddhist Bodhisattva come to our Xiguan County and specifically ask to see me?"
Isn't this obviously a way to attract fire to yourself?
The Buddhist disciple, whom even the Yanjing royal family couldn't ask for, ran to this desolate place of Xiguan and asked to see him. The old emperor didn't dare to do anything to the Buddhist disciple, but it would be easy for him to teach him a lesson!
"That's fine. I've confirmed that Master Xuan Jing's whereabouts have long been unknown. No one knew his intentions when he entered Xiguan County this time."
"All right."
In fact, after saying so much, although Liu Ziye knew that this Master Xuan Jing probably had a great influence among the people, if he could control Xuan Jing, it would be of great help to his own people's hearts and minds, and it would allow the most difficult to increase the emperor's morality value to achieve a breakthrough.
However, as a staunch socialist successor and Marxist believer, she finds it difficult to agree with this method of winning over the hearts and minds of the people.
Of course there is freedom of belief!
She may not understand, but she will respect.
Finally, she said, "Mr. Yi, what do you think I should do to visit and seek an audience with the great Master Xuan Jing? You know, I have no knowledge of Buddhism, let alone my attainments. I am a complete blank!"
However, Liu Ziye couldn't imagine a newbie like her going head-to-head with a master at the top of the pyramid.
Du Hui said, "It's alright, young marquis, there's no need to worry. Since Master Xuan Jing has taken the initiative to express his wish to see you, you can just meet him as usual."
"Okay. Let's rest for a bit tonight. Tomorrow morning, I'll have to trouble you, sir, to accompany me to Yanyun Temple."
Liu Ziye had seen the Yanyun Temple in Xiguan County before when he was scouting the city.
Firstly, as a person from the later generations, she never believed in gods and Buddhas. She just glanced at such a small temple and treated it as a background.
Besides, this temple is too inconspicuous. Later, the renovation activity of dismantling and replacing the beams and roof was hosted by Du Hui in Yucheng, so Liu Ziye has never set foot in this temple until now.
She was in Yucheng, and this time she came to visit the Buddhist disciple with a sincere heart. Apart from Du Hui, she was only accompanied by Xia Wu, the deputy captain of the Marquis's private guard.
After listening to Du Hui's advice, Liu Ziye changed into a more low-key outfit, went to the dilapidated wooden door of Yanyun Temple, and gently knocked on the copper ring on the door.
A moment later, someone came to answer the door.
The wooden door opened and a little monk stood at the door, looking at the person knocking in surprise.
This temple was usually deserted, with even the incense offerings being extremely rare. The abbot and his disciple rarely walked around the streets of Yucheng on weekdays.
But for someone like the Young Marquis of Xiguan, no one in the entire Yucheng, or even Xiguan County, would recognize him at first sight, no matter how sedentary they were!
The little monk cried out in surprise and quickly covered his mouth with his hands.
"Little Marquis...!"
Liu Ziye calmly bowed to him and said, "Young Master, is Master Xuan Jing in the temple?"
The little monk nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes."
After he finished speaking, as if it had suddenly occurred to him, he hurriedly opened the temple gate, held up a Buddhist offering in one hand, and bowed to invite him, "Young Marquis Xiguan is visiting our temple. Please come in quickly."
After Liu Ziye returned the greeting and led Du Hui and Xia Wu into the temple, the young monk stammered again, "Don't blame me, benefactor. I, this little monk, will go ahead and inform the master and the Dharma Master."
Liu Ziye smiled and nodded: "Thank you, little master."
Jingchen felt even more embarrassed and jumped to the back hall. Liu Ziye, Du Hui and the others heard him clearly shouting towards the temple: "Master! Master! Please get up quickly! The young Marquis of Xiguan is here!"
When Liu Ziye walked to the steps of the main hall of the temple, the master mentioned by the little monk, Du Yan, the abbot of Yanyun Temple, also came out jogging from the back hall.
As soon as he saw Liu Ziye, he immediately put his palms together and saluted: "Greetings, benefactor."
"Greetings from the Abbot." Liu Ziye replied.
Presumably Jingchen had already told him the purpose of Liu Ziye's visit. Du Yan once again made a single-handed Buddhist gesture and said, "Master Xuanjing once said that if the young marquis of Xiguan comes to visit, he can invite him directly to the meditation room to meet him."
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