Chapter 431: Buddhism and Taoism Spread to the Western Regions

Taoism seems very gentle now. Many Taoists practice alchemy and do not care about foreign affairs. However, if you really want to regard Taoism as a little white flower that is harmless to humans and animals, it would be a big mistake.

It is said that the White Lotus Sect is a troublemaker and has been a professional rebel since its emergence. The Zoroastrian Sect also had the Fang La Rebellion. But in front of Daomen, these two are both younger brothers.

How many people did their uprising last? How much impact will it have? Just like the White Lotus Sect, which rebelled for so many years and failed to capture even a single province, the Fang La Uprising spread to a wider area, but was still quickly put down.

What about Taoism? The Yellow Turban Uprising directly affected the eight states of the Eastern Han Dynasty, swept millions of people, and formed thirty-six parties in the world, directly leading to the rapid demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Later, Hanzhong was controlled by the Five Dou Rice Cult, and Zhang Lu directly became a prince.

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sun En, the Five Pecks of Rice Cult, even swept through Kuaiji, swept across Sanwu, and besieged Jianye, if he hadn't encountered Liuwei Dihuang Pill Liu Yu. Maybe the grass-roots team of the Eastern Jin Dynasty will be overthrown.

It was also Taoism's repeated rebellions that caused Taoism to be attacked by those in power since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Then Taoist leaders began religious reforms and gave up armed uprisings. In order to suppress Taoism, those in power began to vigorously support Buddhism.

Later, Buddhism grew bigger and bigger, and then there was the incident of the three martial arts and one sect exterminating Buddhism. After Buddhism was taught a lesson several times, it began to converge, and then the two religions of Buddhism and Taoism were gradually formed.

Now a big food sect suddenly appears, directly saying that except for it, all are evil gods. How could the Taoist sect tolerate them? They have to show these barbarians what it means to destroy mountains and cut down temples!

"The imperial court is going to conquer the Western Regions?" Lu Dongbin asked.

"Well, the army has been resting in Hexi for two years. It has stocked up a lot of supplies and all kinds of camels are ready. It will go on an expedition soon!" Richard said.

"Old Taoist, go back now and train those little boys in their skills, so that they don't get rusty in their skills when they get there!" Lu Dongbin said immediately.

"Wait a minute, fellow Taoist!" Richard said with a smile: "This time it is a matter of human nature, but if some magic or witchcraft is used against him, please help fellow Taoist."

"You don't need to do anything with fellow Taoists, you just need to break their spells and witchcraft!"

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say. If those Mao Shen cult dares to interfere, Lao Dao's flying sword will definitely give them some color!" Lu Dongbin said unceremoniously.

Hearing Lu Dongbin's words, Richard couldn't help but mourn for those people. Now Lu Dongbin can be said to be the strongest in the world. He is the best in the world in the art of sword cultivation and attack. Even if the true god descends to earth, he is no match for him.

"But fellow Taoist, you have to help me!" At this moment, Lu Dongbin suddenly said.

"What do you want from me, fellow Taoist?" Richard asked.

"There are not many promising disciples in the Taoist sect now. The old Taoist knows that Taoists are friendly to their disciples, and I would like to ask fellow Taoists to stay and teach them!" Just as Richard was about to speak, Lu Dongbin quickly said: "You don't need fellow Taoists to teach them how to practice. You just need to teach them how to practice." They are just stronger.”

"I've heard that my fellow Taoist has a panacea that can increase wisdom, so don't be stingy! If your fellow Taoist doesn't agree, then I won't leave and will bother you every day!"

"Okay, okay, poor Taoist will never be stingy!" Richard smiled helplessly and said: "When the time comes, fellow Taoists can just take those disciples to the Taoist temple outside the city, and I will prepare the elixir!"

"But there is a limit to the effect of this elixir. If it fails, don't blame me!"

"Of course!" Lu Dongbin nodded immediately. After saying that, he drank the tea on the table in one gulp, asked Richard for a large gourd of spiritual wine brewed by the Well of Eternity, and then left with great satisfaction.

Richard smiled slightly and put away the spirit gourd in his hand. The spirit gourd he got from Shuten Doji was very useful. It could gather spiritual power and turn ordinary water into fine wine with some spiritual power.

Richard poured some water from the Well of Eternity, and the spirit wine brewed was extremely extraordinary. The last time he invited Lu Dongbin to drink it, he was attracted by him. This time he took advantage of the opportunity and directly ordered a large amount. gourd.

This kind of spirit wine is full of spiritual power and can quickly restore mana. When used for the first time, it can directly increase a lot of mana. It also has the effect of cutting hair and cleansing marrow.

After Lu Dongbin left, Richard took out various materials and made a batch of potions. The purpose of these potions was to enhance intelligence. This is the magic potion Lu Dongbin wants. At the same time, some spiritual wine was added, which had the effect of cutting hair and washing marrow.

Intelligence is very important to those Taoist priests, as it allows them to practice better, and cutting hair and marrow can directly improve their qualifications, and even help them advance to the first level of guidance.

Because they have to destroy mountains and cut down temples, this time the Taoist priests naturally need a large number of Taoists to protect the Taoism. When great virtues practice and preach, they naturally need to be protected and followed by their disciples.

If those people don't understand the teachings of the great practitioners, then let them have a taste of the fists and kicks of the disciples' guards.

Taoism is a method, and boxing method is also a method.

Soon, more than a month later, a large number of monks and Taoist priests came to Kaifeng City. Guo Rong personally ordered Buddhist and Taoist monks and great virtues to enter the palace to give lectures. Dozens of great monks and Taoists met Guo Rong in the palace.

Just when these monks thought that being invited here this time meant that the emperor had changed his mind and wanted to expand the Dharma, they were all eager to try it. However, when they came, the emperor did not mean to discuss the Dharma with them at all, but asked : "Dear gentlemen, the imperial court is planning to open up the Western Region. Are any of the great gentlemen and eminent monks willing to go there to propagate the Dharma?"

Hearing this, several monks were slightly stunned. They had not thought about this problem at all, and the Taoist priests next to them had been reminded by Richard, and they bowed and said: "It is our duty to spread the Dharma!"

"We are willing to break mountains and temples for your majesty and eliminate evil!"

At this time, the Buddhist monks who reacted said: "Your Majesty, we are also willing to serve the court and spread the Dharma, and we will never fall behind!"

"Your Majesty, the Dharma is boundless, and we are willing to save those foreigners!"

Seeing the attitude of the crowd, Guo Rong was very happy and said immediately: "Okay, you are all the pillars of the country, then it's up to you to spread the Dharma in the Western Regions!"

Guo Rong immediately waved his hand, and a team of palace people sent ten sets of brocade cassocks and ten sets of Taoist gold silk purple robes, which were given to the Buddhists and Taoists respectively, and they were given the titles of real people and masters. All the honors that should be given were given.

Then these monks and great virtues were sent out of the palace.

Next, Buddhism and Taoism immediately began to prepare. Although Buddhism and Taoism had declined somewhat after the reorganization, it was not difficult to select a thousand monks. Moreover, the court specially issued a thousand certificates of ordination, and stated that after these monks and Taoists went west to spread the Dharma, the court would issue another thousand certificates of ordination.

This was good news for both Buddhism and Taoism.

You know, since the last reorganization, there were less than three thousand monks with certificates of ordination in Buddhism, and the same was true for Taoism. Now there are two thousand monks at once, although one thousand of them must go west, which also made Buddhism and Taoism excited.

After the reorganization of Buddhism, although a large number of monks returned to secular life, even after returning to secular life, there were still many monks who still believed in Buddhism. With the contact of these monks, a large number of martial monks were soon gathered.

Almost all large temples have their own martial monk teams, with as few as forty or fifty people and as many as hundreds of people. These monks do not work, but sharpen their muscles and bones all day long. One by one, they put on armor and weapons, and they will be good soldiers after training.

Now they were recalled and trained again, and immediately became Buddhist monks. Guo Rong even prepared leather armor and weapons for the Buddhist monks. Even bows and arrows were available.

It can be said that although these people's military strength is not as good as the elite, ordinary armies are nothing in front of them.

Richard also prepared the magic potion according to the agreement with Lu Dongbin. For this reason, he named these magic potions Jindan Yuye. Because after adding spiritual wine, these magic potions look like a beautiful jade color, and there is a faint golden light on them.

When the Taoists drank these Jindan Yuye, the effect was immediate, their wisdom increased, and they learned things quickly. The hair removal and marrow washing made these Taoists' guiding skills advanced one after another.

It can be said that the strength of these Taoists has all been improved by a level.

These Taoists and monks stayed in Kaifeng for more than a month, and then took the imperial edict given to them by the court and set off for the Western Regions.

These imperial edicts clearly stated that the emperor of the Great Zhou ordered them to go to the Western Regions to preach. If they encountered obstacles, they could ask the army for help.

Each monk had a wooden stick, and the two ends of the stick were covered with copper. Although it was made of wood, a stick could knock open the top of the head and open a window for those evil demons.

The weapons of the Taoists were a bit messy. Some had eight-sided Han swords, some had Tang swords, and some used the same weapons and equipment as the monks.

Two thousand people went to the Western Regions in a mighty manner and soon arrived at the Western Expedition Army’s camp. At this time, the Western Expedition was almost ready. As soon as Guo Rong’s imperial edict arrived here, the Western Expedition Army announced its oath to march to the West.

The army set off in a mighty manner. After two years of rest, the Western Expedition Army had adapted to the climate and environment here. At the same time, the Western Expedition Army was also collecting a lot of information about the Western Regions during the period of rest and hoarding food and grass.

After recovering Hexi, the imperial court began to send some merchants to the Western Regions to try to open up the Silk Road. At the beginning, the Silk Road was relatively smooth, and the countries in the Western Regions did not block the caravans.

It can be said that these Western Regions basically became rich and prosperous because of commerce. Commerce is very important in these countries, so the caravans sent by the Zhou Kingdom were not blocked and were even welcomed.

However, after crossing the Pamir Mountains and entering the Near West, the situation changed a little. The road to Tianzhu was okay. Although it was a little difficult, it was safe and passable. However, it was different to continue to the west.

At this time, Central Asia was still in war, and many places directly demanded that the goods be sold to them, and merchants were not allowed to go west again.

There were even some people who killed the caravans and robbed the goods.

Faced with this situation, Guo Rong was very angry and wanted to kill all those people, but this place was almost more than ten thousand miles away from the Central Plains, and it was difficult to supply. There were also a large number of Western Regions countries. Even if he wanted to attack with a large army, he couldn't do it in a short time, so he could only endure it first.

After the Western Regions Protectorate is re-established, we will show those countries what we can do.

The army did not set out with 30,000 troops on the Western Expedition. In fact, from Dunhuang to the west is the desert Gobi. Although there are many oases in this desert, these oases can only accommodate a few thousand troops at a time.

So the Western Expedition Army began to pass through the Hanhai in batches. This section of the Hanhai Desert stretches for thousands of miles. Fortunately, after the desert is Yizhou. There is abundant water and grass here. The Western Expedition Army can be said to be unstoppable all the way.

At this time, the Western Regions were weak, and the Western Regions Huihe was no match for the Zhou army, and the Kingdom of Khotan had already secretly submitted to the Zhou Kingdom. With the help of the Kingdom of Khotan, the Gaochang Huihe was no match.

The arrival of the imperial army quickly reminded these small Western Regions of the memories of the Western Regions being ruled by the Tang Dynasty.

The army marched westward wave after wave, and the Western Regions could not resist it. After the surrender of the Gaochang Huihe, the Western Expedition Army encountered the Karakhanid Khanate.

At this time, the strength of the Karakhanid Khanate had not reached its peak in history. The rise of the Karakhanid Khanate was also based on the so-called holy war call. With the continuous support of a large number of fanatical believers and craftsmen from the Arab Empire, the weapons and equipment of the Karakhanid Khanate were rapidly improved.

Even so, it took the Karakhanid Khanate more than ten years to unify the Western Regions, and now it is no match for the more powerful Zhou Kingdom.

The crossbow formations and powerful elite cavalry of the Zhou Kingdom made the Karakhanid Khanate unable to resist.

The Karakhanid Khanate began to shift its beliefs and believed in the Dashi religion, which directly led to the dissatisfaction of the people who originally believed in other sects in the country. In particular, the exclusivity of the Dashi religion made the Karakhanid Khanate unstable.

If the Karakhanid Khanate was given another ten years, after it stabilized its internal situation, its strength would increase rapidly.

A large number of jihadists who believed in the Dashi religion came and eventually defeated the Gaochang Huihe, Khotan, and Guiyi Army. In the end, Gaochang Huihe and Khotan were annexed, and the Guiyi Army took the opportunity to be annexed by the Western Xia.

After that, there was a war between the Western Xia and the Karakhanid Khanate. The Western Xia defeated the Karakhanid Khanate, but due to the pressure from the Song Dynasty, it was unable to move westward. The Karakhanid Khanate was hurt by the war and did not dare to move eastward.

Now with Richard, history has changed dramatically. The Zhou Dynasty army marched into the Western Regions in a mighty manner. The Karakhanid Khanate was completely unable to resist and lost a large amount of land. In addition, some other believers who were dissatisfied with the Dashi religion made trouble, so the Karakhanid Khanate could only retreat to the northwest.

After successfully gaining a foothold in the Western Regions, Buddhism and Taoism also began to preach here officially.

Originally, the Western Regions believed in Buddhism, and the spread of Buddhism was very smooth, while Taoism was a little worse, but with the support of the army, the development of Taoism was also rapid.

Even Taoism began to use a lot of "Taoism techniques" to attract believers. These methods immediately opened up the situation for Taoism and began to spread in the Western Regions.