Chapter 462 Great Qin State Religion

Great Qin, Chang'an.

This city can almost be regarded as the largest city in the entire practice world.

There are three floors inside and outside, and the outermost layer is where ordinary people live. It is divided into hundreds of urban areas, and tens of millions of people live there.

The inner layer is divided into more than 20 urban areas, almost all of which are monks living in it.

And in the most core place, known as the 'city above the clouds', from a distance, it really looks like a real fairy palace.

The spiritual veins of Chang'an City, no matter the concentration or the scale, are the best in the entire cultivation world.

What is worth mentioning is that the Daqin Imperial Palace is not located in the city above the clouds, but at the foot of the city above the clouds. Although this position is also a very core position in the inner city, it is obviously not comparable to the high and lofty city above the clouds in terms of status.

It's really not on one level.

In the Great Qin Dynasty, the emperor is of course also the highest ruler of this country. However, this is only secular kingship. In Qin State, there is another characteristic that is rare in other countries.

State religion.

The state religion of Daqin is the spiritual pillar of the whole Daqin society. Theoretically, everyone from ordinary people who have no practice experience to emperors who have reached the peak of Dharma are all believers in the state religion.

It is conceivable how important the authority of this so-called state religion is.

Of course, as the leader of the regime, the Great Qin Emperor was not without authority. The administrative power and the army of the dynasty are still firmly held by the emperor.

In the earliest days, the influence of the Great Qin state religion on the country was not so strong. Even, at the very beginning, they didn't have the title of 'State Religion'. From the outside world's point of view, it was just a religion that could train monks.

With the development of time, they became bigger and bigger, with more and more believers, and they penetrated into the lives of Qin people. Both monks and people were influenced very carefully, and finally became the so-called state religion.

But even when they first became the state religion, their influence was roughly limited to being a tool for the emperor and government of Qin to rule the country.

This situation has lasted for a long time, but after the reigning Great Qin Emperor, Qin Shang succeeded to the throne, some changes slowly began to occur.

On the eve of Qin Shang's ascension to the throne, he was only a monk at the Nascent Soul level. In the powerful Great Qin Dynasty, even the purest bloodline prince, if he only has such strength, it is absolutely impossible to compete for the throne of the emperor.

Daqin, since the founding of the country, has really never had an emperor below the level of Faxiang.

At that time, Qin Shang had an older sister and a younger brother, both of whom were strong at the Faxiang level. Logically speaking, the throne had nothing to do with him.

Even though at that time he had the support of the state religion, which was already very influential in Qin, but according to the tradition of Qin, it was still unlikely that he would be able to take over the position of emperor.

However, next, a miraculous thing happened: in just two years, Qin Shang directly broke through from the Nascent Soul level, who was not qualified to compete for imperial power, to the Faxiang stage.

But in fact, even so, it is difficult for him who has become Dharma Prime Minister to compare with his sister and younger brother.

The main reason is one point: his older sister and younger brother are both aged and have entered the middle stage. And the battle for imperial power is imminent. Even if Qin Shang has become a monk at the Dharma level, how can he compete with others for the new Dharma who have just broken through?

However, the truth is so surprising.

Qin Shang won, and in the suppression of his sister's rebellion, with an absolute advantage, crushed and killed the opponent on the spot. As for his younger brother, he chose to surrender very wisely, and in the future, he quickly became a member of the state religion.

After becoming a believer, Qin Shang's younger brother also became a very loyal courtier of the entire empire,

And listen to him at any time, completely different from the character when he competed for the throne with him before.

How he broke through to the Dharma level quickly, and how he was able to easily eliminate his rivals for the throne when he just broke through to the Dharma level, this point may have something to do with the state religion.

People with a little knowledge and normal brains can easily realize this.

It is precisely because of this that the state religion really began to come to the fore.

People of Qin, before this, although many, many people were true believers of the state religion, there were not so many true fanatics who were willing to throw their heads and blood for the state religion. State religion, in the political life of Qin people, is more like a spiritual supplement, not even a pillar.

However, after the state religion successfully supported Qin Shang to the position of emperor of the empire, everything changed a lot.

And in the future, since the state religion can help Qin Shang to the throne, they naturally have their own demands.

After Qin Shang came to power, the atmosphere of the entire Great Qin Dynasty began to undergo rapid changes.

The most concentrated manifestation of these changes is that the authority of the state religion has been strengthened step by step.

Although, the management of the entire empire, from local administration, to the cultivation of monks, to the army of monks in the empire, is still decided by the court and the emperor, and the state religion has shown little interest in getting involved in this part of power.

Where they really control, however, is the spirit of the people.

A large number of people have truly become believers in the state religion, a very firm one.

Although, on weekdays, people's work and development are mainly based on the orders of the imperial court and various local forces, but in the minds of most Qin people, a religious concept has gradually emerged-the state religion. Status is paramount.

And the belief of the state religion is also packaged very well. They did not have a single concept of God.

If it's just a 'god', it's not popular in the world of practice. The monks all possess powerful extraordinary power. As long as they go up step by step, although it is difficult, as long as they can go up, they will be able to obtain the ability to move mountains and fill seas. In such a world, it is unrealistic for people to have too much worship of 'gods'.

For the vast majority of monks with normal minds, even if there is such a thing as a god, the monks usually recognize it as a stronger monk, and it is difficult to think that this is an omniscient and omnipotent god.

The interesting thing about the packaging of the state religion is that they packaged the entire teaching as a kind of 'Tao'.

This 'Tao' is a concept, a value. The core concept is 'order'.

The state religion doesn't talk about good and evil, and they don't care about good or evil people. What they care more about is 'order' itself.

Under the impetus of the state religion, the laws of the entire Great Qin Kingdom have gradually become more detailed and strict over the years. Moreover, when it is implemented, it does not talk about any human touch at all, and strictly follows the law.

And from the monks to the general public, the recognition of order is getting deeper and deeper as the belief in the state religion continues to expand outward.

Of course, human nature, no matter whether it is an ordinary person or a monk, it is impossible to completely obey the order. There are always those who want to be free, or the wicked. Some of them naturally dislike such uncomfortable restraints, and some are even dissatisfied with some evil laws enacted by Qin State.

However, such people, regardless of their status, were brutally suppressed by the state religion.

In this regard, the state religion has always dealt with a set of methods - first expulsion, and then the government declared it a crime, and then dealt with it according to the strictest rules.

Under this treatment, a large number of people died.

After getting a lot of information about Qin, Lu Qing always had a very strange feeling.

It is certainly not wrong to value order. A high degree of order means that the entire society has a high degree of organization and a high mobilization ability, and the entire society can concentrate on major tasks.

However, everything has a degree.

Strict enforcement of the law is not a problem in itself, but is the law itself necessarily good? In Lu Qing's understanding, the law itself has been formulated, and of course it needs to be enforced. However, when laws are formulated, it may be because of the lack of consideration of the law makers, or the interests of the law makers, or simply because of the changes of the times and society, some laws that were originally good have become less suitable.

In this case, in addition to enforcing the law, there should also be corresponding policies that allow people to discover and adjust those untimely orders.

However, Qin State did not have such a mechanism.

Some laws, in Lu Qing's view, are simply evil laws, but these laws are still strictly enforced. Not to mention breaking the law, even if you don't break the law, you will still be persecuted if you just express your dissatisfaction with the law.

Moreover, when the law is enforced, it is done in full accordance with the provisions, without any consideration of the matter itself, which is of course also a manifestation of evil.

The combination of these two makes the atmosphere of the entire Great Qin Kingdom very depressing and terrifying.

But I have to say that the power of order is still very terrifying.

Under a strong order, Qin's power can be concentrated very well. The mobilization ability of the society is very strong, and the army is highly organized, so it is difficult for spies to operate in the environment of Qin State. Various means of monitoring the people and monks are everywhere, but these excessive powers will breed corruption...

In short, this is a country that makes Lu Qing feel a little uncomfortable.

But back to Qin itself.

In the Great Qin Palace, the current Great Qin Emperor, Qin Shang, put on a uniform.

This is the most solemn attire for an emperor. Not only the state of Qin, but almost all countries have similar attires. Because it is troublesome to wear and very uncomfortable to wear, most emperors don't like it very much. Unless it is on some very formal occasions where it is impossible to wear nothing, the emperors do not like to wear such a troublesome set of things in ordinary times and in private.

The same is true for Qin Shang.

But today, the Great Qin Kingdom doesn't have any big court gatherings, big sacrifices and other activities, and the emperor doesn't seem to need to do so.

However, Qin Shang, who was full of solemnity at the moment, seemed to be about to announce some very important decision.

And in the empty Great Qin Palace where he was, there was only one person by his side.

Great Qin State Teacher, Fang Ziliang.

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you one last thing. If you take this step, you cannot turn back."

"I know." Qin Shang said with a serious face, "However, if not, how would we deal with Yan?"

"Stop, is it really necessary?"

This is Fang Ziliang's biggest question.

Before he became a national teacher, he was Qin Shang's personal teacher, and also Qin Shang's most important adviser. Whether it was before or after Qin Shangcheng became the emperor, he was Qin Shang's most trusted person.

It is precisely this identity that allows Fang Ziliang to see Qin Shang's step-by-step changes over the long years.

He can understand the great talent and strategy in Qin Shang's heart. But is state religion a good thing? Back then, Fang Ziliang knew better than anyone what price Qin Shang paid to become the Great Qin Emperor.

Abandoning all emotions such as joy, disgust, and anger, with the help of the state religion, Qin Shang became a monk at the level of Dharma and became the emperor of Qin.

But without these, is he still a person?

Too ruthless... Order is above all else... Fang Ziliang always has doubts about these things.

He didn't know if this path was really the right one.

However, this really helped Qin Shang become the emperor, and it also really made the national power of Daqin stronger day by day. At the beginning, Fang Ziliang was just suspicious, but he couldn't object. After all, this was an agreement Qin Shang made with the state religion in order to become emperor.

But in the end, as the state religion became more and more influential, as the Great Qin State Teacher, he felt more and more that something was wrong, but when he wanted to do something, it was already too late.

Many things, after that step has been taken, there is no way to recover.

It's not that he doesn't understand that Qin State wants to go further and become stronger and continue to expand outward. However, is it really necessary for Daqin to unify the entire cultivation world? Is it really necessary to go to the east and compete for hegemony with the flamboyant Yan Kingdom?

Even if it is fighting for hegemony, do you really have to pay these prices?

Qin Shang, as the Great Qin Emperor, has grown rapidly over the years and has become a cultivator at the peak level of Faxiang. He wanted to go one step further and enter the level of the Divine Sea that only existed in legends and that no one had seen with his own eyes for a long, long time. But last time, Qin Shang had already sacrificed all human emotions in exchange for everything he has now, but what about this time? What else does Qin Shang need to pay?

Fang Ziliang didn't know, but he didn't believe that the National Church had such good intentions.

He knew the high-level members of the state religion, and in his opinion, they were all emotionless machines, not human at all, more like pure clay sculptures.