Chapter 295 Thirteen soldiers return to Yumen
This Eastern Han Dynasty envoy was also very powerful. No wonder later generations remembered him and called him a "strong man".
From now on, the envoys of Great Qin should do the same and spread the power of Great Qin to all directions.
Being ruthless at home does not count as being ruthless to others.
But the Xiongnu are still alive. They have existed since the Qin Dynasty, and it has been around three hundred years since the Liuzhuang Dynasty in the Eastern Han Dynasty. They can still become a serious frontier trouble in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The First Emperor couldn't help but think of the young man Mao Dun again. This boy died well!
A strong man has a profound influence on a country and a nation. Donghu and Yuezhi were both more powerful than the Xiongnu. Unfortunately, they did not have a ruthless man like Maodun, and were eventually surpassed by the Xiongnu and even destroyed.
On the other hand, the Xiongnu, after being shaped by a ruthless man like Mao Dun, still had the strength to compete with the Eastern Han Dynasty three hundred years later.
Li Nian did not continue to talk about Ban Dingyuan's deeds, but returned to Liu Zhuang.
"In addition to these, Liu Zhuang also did a lot of things that affected future generations. For example, he restored the imperial uniform system that was abolished by Your Majesty, and fixed and finalized the Hanfu. Hanfu lovers in later generations should be grateful to Liu Zhuang."
"But the most far-reaching impact among these things is that I believe it introduced Buddhism to China, giving this religion the opportunity to take root in China and develop and grow."
"Of course, even if Liu Zhuang does not introduce it, Buddhism will be introduced to China through other channels."
Li Nian mentioned Buddhism earlier, but did not explain in detail how Buddhism was introduced, where it came from, and what its specific teachings were.
The First Emperor asked: "What is Buddhism? Where does it come from?"
Li Niandao: "Buddhism originated in Yangzhou (India), that magical place where the caste system was implemented. It is a religious sect and the god it believes in is called 'Buddha' or 'Buddha', and it is one of the three major religions in later generations."< br>
“I don’t know much about Buddhist thought, and Buddhism has been constantly developing and changing, and its early doctrines and thoughts are also different from those later.”
"Especially after the arrival of the Chinese Buddhism, it absorbed and integrated Confucianism, Taoism and other theoretical thoughts. It is no longer the Buddhism of Yangzhou, and it is even harder to say clearly."
The First Emperor nodded, and the same was true for later Confucianism and Taoism. The three schools all integrated some things into each other.
Li Nian continued: "Although I don't know much about Buddhism, I still know certain things. We must pay enough attention to this sect."
Hearing Li Nian's serious tone, the First Emperor and the other three also knew that the influence of Buddhism was probably really great, affecting the rise and fall of a country and the strength of a clan.
Li Nian explained some of the Buddhist thoughts he understood to the First Emperor and the other three, and then turned back to Liu Zhuang.
"The reason why Liu Zhuang introduced Buddhism is recorded in history because one day he dreamed of a tall golden man, with white light emitting from his head and descending on his palace. Just as Liu Zhuang was about to ask, the golden man soared into the sky again, heading towards Fly to the west ”
"After waking up from the dream, Liu Zhuang couldn't explain the dream. At the court meeting the next day, he described what he saw in the dream to the officials in detail. Most people didn't know the reason. A doctor named Fu Yi said that it might be the Buddha from the Western Regions."
"After listening to Fu Yi's words, Liu Zhuang sent eighteen people including doctor Cai Min and doctor Qin Jing to Tianzhu, which was Yangzhou at that time, to seek Buddhism."
“In the end, not only did they bring back Buddhism, but they also brought back monks from India such as Shemo Teng and Zhu Falan.”
"In the eleventh year of Yongping, the first Buddhist temple in China, the White Horse Temple, was built in Luoyang."
"Liu Zhuang's dream just fits the characteristics of Buddhism: Firstly, the Buddhist Buddha often has a golden body, which is exactly opposite to the golden man in his dream; secondly, the golden man flies towards the west, and Tianzhu can be considered to be located to the west of the Han Dynasty .”
Such a coincidence happened to Liu Zhuang and the Eastern Han Dynasty, not to mention that the ancients were superstitious about ghosts and gods, so they had to believe it even more.
Even if Liu Zhuang, as an emperor, doesn't believe so much, he will definitely believe that it doesn't matter. If this thing is true, he will make a lot of money.
"From the analysis of later generations, Liu Zhuang's dream was not that magical. It was probably the same as Emperor Wu's dream of a wooden man hitting him with a stick. It was just a normal phenomenon that he thought about it day by day and dreamed about it at night."
"But Liu Zhuang didn't know this, and as an emperor, he often thought that his dreams had special meanings, which led to this incident."
"Because of that dream, and because Liu Zhuang misses his father Liu Xiu and his mother Yin Lihua a lot, and Buddhist teachings can cater to Liu Zhuang's psychology in some aspects, after Buddhism was introduced, in order to promote Buddhism, Liuzhuang built the Qiyun Pagoda and held the event of "burning lanterns to show the Buddha"
"The day of 'burning lanterns to show Buddha' is on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which is the same day as the Lantern Festival. Later, 'burning lanterns to show Buddha' was no longer popular, but the lighting of lanterns during the Lantern Festival remained. In later generations, many places will hold it on the Lantern Festival. Lantern Festival.”
"But because Buddhism is a foreign religion, and in Liu Zhuang's view, it is a foreign religion, so he issued a ban on Buddhism, prohibiting Han people from becoming monks, and strictly restricting the development of Buddhism."
"This did restrict the development of Buddhism in China to a certain extent. If Liu Zhuang could realize the problems existing in Buddhism, or the hidden dangers Buddhism will cause in the future, I am afraid it would not be banned. Buddhism will eventually develop and prosper in China .”
"The Buddha founded Buddhism with the intention of leading people to do good, but the Buddha could not avoid that some people would use it as a disaster and do evil."
Li Nian has no prejudice against Buddhism, just like Confucianism. Although he thinks some things in Confucianism are bad and does not want Confucianism to have a huge influence in the Qin Dynasty, he does not think that all Confucianism is bad.
Buddhism has both good and bad aspects. For example, during the Anti-Japanese War, some temple monks did not see the suffering of all sentient beings and took care of themselves. However, there were also monks who took the initiative to go down the mountain to participate in the Anti-Japanese War and killed the enemy in blood.
"Later on, there were several exterminations of Buddhism in history. The biggest problem with Buddhism was that it did not engage in production, but instead accumulated a large amount of wealth, hid the population, and did not pay taxes. Even during the Song Dynasty, monks began to lend money to the people."< br>
"Buddhist disciples who originally wanted to save the world but saved the common people have become loan sharks. The Buddha probably wanted to save them with a slap in the face."
After listening to what Li Nian said, the first emperor had an idea in his mind. He could not allow any religion to develop unchecked in the land of Qin or China. It must be strictly managed. Religion could even be used to influence other countries and create a country based on the people of Qin. Central religion?
The caste system in Nayangzhou can be used as a reference. Da Qin is the most powerful country in the world, and Da Qin people are the best nation in the world, but people from other ethnic groups can also become Da Qin people in some ways...
The First Emperor thought in his heart, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was feasible.
I don’t know about other places, but it is definitely possible in the magical place of Yangzhou. The people there can even tolerate the outrageous caste system, and they must also be able to tolerate the sect he wants to create.
The First Emperor asked: "What happened to Buddhism in Yangzhou?"
He just asked casually, and the answer should be very clear. Buddhism is one of the three major religions of later generations. It originated in Yangzhou and must have developed well in Yangzhou.
Unexpectedly, Li Nian's answer was: "Your Majesty, Buddhism has declined in Yangzhou!" "It is said that there are many reasons. I don't know much about it, and it may not be accurate: Buddhism gained popularity during the Mauryan Dynasty due to the support of the kings and nobles. It prospered, but after the demise of the Mauryan Dynasty, it naturally declined, and other sects competed with it. ”
"Yangzhou has a caste system, and the caste system is beneficial to the kings and nobles. Under the caste system, one needs status to join the religion, but Buddhism is open to everyone. It is not attractive to the later kings and nobles. Of course, it is not attractive to the lower castes. The people still have it.”
"However, with the rise of Hinduism in Yangzhou, which is similar to Buddhism, its appeal to low-caste people has gradually become less attractive. In order to attract believers, it has absorbed and integrated Hindu teachings, and eventually became more and more similar to Hinduism. On the contrary, Accommodated by Hinduism ”
"Moreover, Buddhism itself has also emerged with more problems during its development. In later generations, there was a saying that 'Buddha did not help the poor.' This situation also occurred in Yangzhou Buddhism."
"Originally, in Buddhism, one has to rely on one's own hard work and good deeds to accumulate merit in order to achieve transcendence. But later it became a matter of donating money and materials to gain merit. That is, as long as the donation is more money, the merit from the Buddha will be more."
"No money? What kind of merit do you want if you don't have money? The Buddha will not accept poor people!"
The First Emperor asked again: "What do you think if a sect can be established and spread to Yangzhou?"
Li Nian thought about it and felt that it was feasible.
A certain unspeakable religion, Buddhism, and Hinduism can all arise in Yangzhou. Da Qin concocted a religion to go to Yangzhou. There is no guarantee that it will actually come true, as long as it can meet the local conditions of Yangzhou.
What's more, the Unspeakable Sect has not yet existed, and Hinduism has disappeared. The sect created by Da Qin has come to Yangzhou, and there are really not many competitors.
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"I think it is feasible, but this matter must be based on a good livelihood and cannot be done rashly. It is best to make a decision after the mission to Yangzhou brings back the Yangzhou information. And the most important point is that this sect must be beneficial to Great Qin , can’t be a disaster.”
Da Qin is already planning to arrange a mission to Yangzhou. It is difficult to cross the Himalayas. Da Qin will plan to enter Yangzhou from the southwest.
This was the reason why Tu Sui, Zhao Tuo and others were sent to establish diplomatic relations with the Baiyue tribes. They wanted to learn from the Baiyue people their experience in surviving and crossing in the dense forest, so as to make their way forward smoothly.
After receiving Li Nian's answer, the First Emperor asked: "What happened to Liu Zhuang later? Who is Ban Chao? Why is it only mentioned that he went to the Western Regions as an envoy and no further information is heard about it?"
Li Nian explained: "Ban Chao was sent as an envoy to the Western Regions on Liu Zhuang's order, but what happened later was not during the Liu Zhuang period, but during the period of Liu Zhuang's son Liu Jin."
"Liu Zhuang passed away in the 18th year of Yongping at the age of 48. He reigned for 18 years. His temple name was Xianzong, and his posthumous title was Emperor Xiaoming."
"Liu Zhuang made great achievements in his life without many flaws. He was the second emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who was worthy of his temple title. After his death, his fifth son Liu Jin came to the throne."
"Liu Jin was only nineteen years old when he came to the throne. He was very young, but he was quite experienced in governing."
"In terms of internal governance, compared with his father Liu Zhuang, he was not as strict. He also relaxed criminal laws and abolished many torture laws. He was deeply loved by the officials and people at that time."
"He restored the policy of salt and iron official management and evenly distributed losses. In order to promote population fertility, he issued an order to support the fetus, 'To those who are pregnant today, give three dendrobiums to those who have the fetus to support the grain, and restore their husbands. Do not count them as one year old. With this order, the population of the Eastern Han Dynasty increased by nearly ten million during his reign."
"Culturally, it promoted the unification of Confucian classics. Your Majesty also knows that Confucianism originated from Confucius and Mencius, but after all, Confucius and Mencius have passed away and cannot come out in person to explain their original meaning to later Confucian disciples."
"As a result, later generations of Confucian disciples will have various understandings of their doctrines. With some understandings, even if Confucius and Mencius were resurrected, I'm afraid they would be dumbfounded: they really didn't mean that, but they couldn't stand future generations' understanding."
"In order to unify Confucian understanding, Liu Jin convened a White Tiger View meeting to allow various Confucian schools to express their opinions and discuss commonalities and differences."
"As for the external affairs, in hindsight, it has both merits and demerits. The merit lies in the fact that it did not abandon the besieged Han soldiers, but instead sent troops to rescue them, leaving behind the good story of 'Thirteen soldiers returned to Yumen'."
Yingjiang's "Rescuing Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down" don't matter. Such stories have existed in China since ancient times, but now some people are praising Yingjiang's story to the sky, and they don't know that they also have it.
"In the 17th year of Yongping, the Eastern Han Dynasty established the Protectorate in the Western Regions, and appointed Chen Mu, Geng Gong and Guan Chong as the Protectorate of the Western Regions as Wuji Colonels."
"The following year, the year Liu Zhuang died, Yanqi and Qiuci captured Chen Mu. The Huns sent troops to attack Che Division, killed the queen of Che Division, and then attacked Geng Gong's camp and surrounded him in the city."< br>
"Because Liu Zhuang died at that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty had no time to send troops, and reinforcements did not arrive. The chariot division was controlled by the Huns, and they joined forces with the Huns to attack. Geng Gong and others were in danger."
"During the siege, Geng Gong and others ran out of food and supplies, but still refused to surrender. They cooked their crossbows and ate their sinews and hides. The Huns sent envoys to recruit them, but Geng Gong killed them and ate them. Its meat.”
"In the later Song Dynasty, Yue Wumu wrote in his "Man Jiang Hong" that "the ambitious people eat the meat of Huns when they are hungry, and they laugh and drink the blood of Huns when they are thirsty."
"Of course, during the Song Dynasty, the Huns had long since declined, and the Song Dynasty was not a Han Dynasty. If Yue Wumu was born in a Han Dynasty, how could he have ended up like that?"
Yue Wumu's biggest mistake may be that he was born in the wrong era. If he had met the Ming masters of the Han Dynasty during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, especially during the Han Dynasty, his achievements would have been even greater.
After listening to Li Nian's words, the First Emperor sighed: "'Aspirations eat the meat of Huns when they are hungry, and they laugh and drink the blood of Huns when they are thirsty.' This Yue Wumu is a man, as are Geng Gong, Guan Chong and others. Although they are in danger, they still If the ambition does not change, the spirit will remain!”
Although I don’t know who this Yue Wumu is, he must be an indomitable military commander who can make such words and sentences. Unfortunately, I heard that Li Nian said that the Song Dynasty was also called the "Great Coward", and it would definitely not end well.
Meng Tian and Meng Yi also recited this sentence silently in their hearts. As generals, they had a deeper feeling. They also asked themselves if they were in the same situation as Geng Gong and others, could they achieve the same situation?
"When Liu Jin came to the throne, the court situation stabilized. After learning about the Western Regions, he sent General Geng Bing to garrison in Jiuquan, and sent Duan Peng, the prefect of Jiuquan, to rescue Geng Gong and others."
"When Duan Peng defeated Cha Shi and frightened the Northern Huns into fleeing, when they came to the city guarded by Geng Gong and others, there were only twenty-six people left in the city."
The hall fell into silence, and only twenty-six people were beaten. It was so brutal, but they were still unwilling to surrender when they were running out of ammunition and food. How could the soldiers of Great Qin do this?
In addition, if he were in Liu Jin's position, would he order the rescue of this team of soldiers guarding the city?
The big man must have done some analysis before he sent out the army, and judged that the city there was probably broken, and the soldiers there might either surrender or die in battle...
For some emperors, they will consider whether there is still value in rescue!
However, Liu Jin chose to rescue. Of course, he may not have really gone to rescue the remnant army defending the city, but he got a good result and created a good story that has been passed down to later generations: You can't fight to the death. If you fail the country, the country will not let you down!
Li Niandao said: "When the Han army with the rescue returned to Yumen Pass, there were only thirteen people left in the Han army guarding the city. Everyone was haggard and withered, and their clothes were in tatters."
"Therefore, this incident is also known as 'The Thirteen Soldiers Returned to Yumen'. They finally returned to the homeland of the Han Dynasty alive!"
(End of chapter)