It is true that Cao Pi and Cai Ji have already been engaged, but being in the same small space with Cai Ji at the moment still makes him a little uncomfortable. Especially since there was another obnoxious guy sitting in the car. Compared with Cao Pi's restraint, Sun Quan's every move is down-to-earth and generous, and he has a bit of uninhibited celebrity style. However, Sun Quan's behavior was extremely frivolous in Cao Pi's eyes, which made him have an urge to kick the other party out of the car. It's a pity that this place is not Xudu, even if Cao Pi's teeth itch, he can only watch Sun Quan pretend beside him.

As the maid outside the car lowered the curtain, the carriage completely turned into an enclosed space. Cai Ji leaned on the support table and carefully looked at the two teenagers in front of him. The young Cao Pi is introverted and submissive, and his childish face has not yet faded, only a pair of Danfeng eyes with Cao family characteristics are sharp and alert. And Sun Yafu, who is between a teenager and a young man, has his eyebrows flying into his temples, his eyes are peach blossoms, and he is very confident.

However, Cai Ji recruited the two of them to get into the car at this time, not just for the sake of eye-catching. As the ox cart creaked, Cai Ji changed his sitting posture and asked Cao Pi and Sun Quan, "I wonder what the two of you think of Sanskrit?" ＂

"The stones of other mountains can be used to attack jade. Sanskrit is very exquisite, and Sanskrit is like fairy music. Sun Quan replied first.

Sanskrit is Buddhist music, because of its exotic style, it was quite popular with the upper class in the late Han Dynasty. In history, Cao Pi's younger brother Cao Zhi was swimming in Yushan when he heard the sound of flowing water in the valley, which was clear and mournful. After listening carefully for a long time, Cao Zhi had a deep understanding, and copied its syllables, wrote it as Sanskrit according to the "Rui Ying Ben Qi Sutra", wrote the text and made the sound, and passed it on as the later style. This song "Yushan Fan" was introduced to Japan and Korea during the Tang Dynasty, and Cao Zhi was also regarded as the ancestor of Fanbei by East Asian countries.

Of course, Cao Zhi is only ten years old at the moment. And Cao Pi, as his elder brother, even if he has a good impression of Fanbai, in order to deal with the "shameless people" at this time, he has to sing the opposite tune, "Sanskrit is inherently unique." However, its monks worked in vain to make manpower in civil engineering, and took advantage of the ornament of Jinbao, and in the long run, it was easy to wither material resources. Customs. Therefore, Pi thought that the wind of worshipping Buddha could not rise. ＂

"Cao Gongzi is too worried. It's just some foolish men and foolish women, who sacrifice magic in the name of the Buddha, and what does it have to do with Sanskrit. Sun Quan smiled disapprovingly. In his opinion, since Cai Ji was willing to fund Zhiqian's translation of Buddhist scriptures, he must have a good impression of Sanskrit.

However, I saw Cai Ji reprimanding Cao Pi of the Xuannu Temple. He was far clearer than Sun Quan about the attitude of the Marquis of Qi towards religion. But seeing that he refuted it in a righteous and stern manner, "If there is something good at the top, it will be very bad at the bottom!" In the past, Xuzhou Mu Tao Gong ancestor good Buddha, the small officials under its account Rong Rong will be a big Futu Temple, with gold to cast the statue of the slaughter, coercing the believers more than 10,000 people. After the death of Kyojo. Zhen Rong led his followers to kill officials and rebel, and Xu Yang and the two states were destroyed by the officials and troops for several years. Such a lesson from the past, how can we not guard against it! ＂

Cao Pi's cautious attitude towards Buddhism. Cai Ji was very satisfied. It's one thing to introduce Buddhism. Governing religion is another matter. Overall, Cao Pi's remarks represent the mainstream view of Buddhism in the Han Dynasty. In Han Confucianism's view, the identity of the Buddha and the teachings of not knowing the righteousness of the prince and the love of father and son are things to be strictly guarded against. Therefore, although Buddhism has been introduced to the Central Plains for more than a hundred years, it has never flourished in the Han Dynasty.

Cai Ji's attitude towards Buddhism is of course also cautious. Because the Buddhism of this era was not the Han Buddhism that had been integrated with the Chinese civilization in later generations. Buddhism, which was introduced to the Central Plains in the early days, was not only aggressive, but also extremely powerful. In addition to taking advantage of the piety of their followers, the monks also coerced public opinion and even raised monks. Intended to get their hands on the throne. The destruction of the Buddha by the three martial arts and one sect in later generations can be regarded as the four great confrontations between the imperial power and the divine power in the Central Plains. The result of the confrontation was naturally a complete victory for the imperial power, and the defeated divine power was domesticated as a tool of imperial rule.

Whether it is believing in Buddhism or destroying Buddhism, Buddhism will eventually permeate the entire land of China in the next 500 years. As the saying goes, blocking is better than sparse, and in Cai Ji's opinion, trying to tame Buddhism and use it for himself is what he should ponder.

Thinking of this, Cai Ji glanced up at the two young men in front of him, and asked happily, "Why are those two Hu people so keen to promote Buddhism in Middle-earth?" ＂

Xu is Cai Ji's question was too jumpy, so that Cao Pi and Sun Quan, who were still arguing about the merits of Sanskrit a moment ago, were coincidentally on the spot. Cai Ji didn't care about the reaction of the two, and continued to say to himself, "The world is knowledgeable, and there are no more than three branches, and most of the people who come to the Central Plains to promote Buddhism are from the Yue family. Do you know why? ＂

"Yue's family lived in Dunhuang, Qilian. Later, it was broken by the Huns, and the king of the west was attacked. The king of Sai migrated south, and the Yue clan lived in his place. In the first year of Emperor Wu's Yuanshuo, the Han envoy Zhang Qian came to his country, and the two countries gradually became closer. It is reported that the Yueshi is divided into five divisions: Xiumi, Shuangmi, Guishuang, Fat Dun, and Dumi, with the strongest in Guishuang. In the second year of Yongyuan, King Guishan was rejected by Ban Chao because of his request for the Han princess, and sent his deputy Wang Xie to lead an army of 70,000 to attack Chao, but he was defeated by Chao and asked for peace. Ban Chao never knew the name of his king, so he only called him the king of the Yue clan. Cao Pi sorted out his understanding of the Yue family, and said eloquently, "Pi thinks that the Yue people came to the Central Plains to promote Buddhism, but they admired the power of my great man." ＂

"If this is the case, the people of the Yue clan should have come to the Central Plains to study, not to teach in the Central Plains as they are now. Sun Quan hit the nail on the head to catch the flaw in Cao Pi's conclusion. In terms of knowledge, he may not be as good as the young Cao Pi, but Sun Quan is much more sensitive than Cao Ergongzi in politics.

Sure enough, Sun Quan's judgment was exchanged for Cai Ji with a smile of approval, "Sun Langjun is reasonable, the Yue Clan is by no means an ordinary small country. As far as Gu knows, after the Yue clan destroyed Great Xia, it was honored as the Kushan Empire by the countries of the Western Regions. ＂

Yes, the country of the Yueshi people is not a small tribal state described by Cao Pi, but the Kushan Empire, which was called the four great powers of Europe and Asia in this era along with the Han Dynasty, Rome, and Anxi in later generations. In 162 B.C., the old Xiongnu Shangdan attacked the Dayue clan in the west, and cut off the head of the king of the Yue clan and brought it back to the Xiongnu for use as a cup. The defeated Yueshi tribe moved westward to Sogdia, the valley of the Zeravshan River valley between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers in what would become Central Asia, and submitted to the local kingdom of Bactria.

Bactria is referred to as Bactria in the Chronicles, a Hellenistic state that split off from the Seleucid dynasty. The origins of the Seleucid dynasty can be traced back to the empire of Alexander, founded by Alexander the Great, king of Macedon. However, the long history has not been able to save Bactria's national fortunes. At the end of the 40s AD, Qiu Yi, the leader of the Kushan tribe of the Yue clan, took advantage of the illness of the king of Bactria and the great decline of the country's power to raise troops to destroy Bactria and establish the Kushan Kingdom in the local area. As the founding monarch, he was honored as Gadfisses I. Later, the Kushan kingdom fought all the way to the north and south, and its territory stretched from Tajikistan to the Caspian Sea, Afghanistan, and the Indus Valley, with a population of one million at its peak. With more than 200,000 soldiers, it is a veritable Central Asian power. Even the "King of the Yue Clan", who was defeated by Ban Chao like a dragon and didn't even leave his name in the Chinese history books, is still honored as Sotel in Central Asia. Mags. i.e. "the great savior".

At this moment, Cai Ji felt that it was necessary to let the two teenagers in front of him understand the world outside the Celestial Empire, so he followed up and explained, "According to the merchants of the Western Regions, the Guishan Kingdom has a stronghold of thousands of miles. Dingkou is one million, with 100,000 armor, it is a large country in the Western Regions. The successive lords of the Kushan Kingdom believed in Buddhism. It is said that the lord of the country, Kasserga, once invited 500 monks to raise Buddhist scriptures in the national capital of Fulousha (Peshawar, Pakistan). In its country, there are many temples and towers, and there are even floating statues that are more than ten zhang high. The golden-faced blue shirt is lifelike. ＂

Cai Ji sat down on the introduction of the Kushan Kingdom. Cao Pi and Sun Quan listened to it with relish. Although the national strength of 100,000 armor with thousands of miles based on the Kushan country is far inferior to that of the Han in its heyday. But in the current Central Plains, it can be regarded as a great prince. And the big Buddha that is more than ten feet high made the two of them dumbfounded. It is no wonder, after all, even 1,800 years later, Bamiyan's "Eastern Buddha" is still a world-class wonder and a representative work of Greek Buddhism. It's a pity that before Cai Ji crossed over to the Eastern Han Dynasty, this spectacle had been blown up by the Taliban.

However, the two teenagers in front of them did not know that the Buddha would suffer after a thousand years. Seeing Sun Quan sigh in a heartfelt tone, "The Guishan Kingdom has built such a large number of buildings for Futu, and it will definitely attract all the countries of the Buddhist Kingdom in the Western Regions to come to the court." ＂

At this time, Cao Pi also had a reminiscence. muttered to himself, "Could it be that the Guishan Kingdom wants to touch the Central Plains with the floating slaughter?" ＂

Cai Ji smiled noncommittally when he heard this. During the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, more than half of the foreign monks in the Central Plains came from the Kushan territory, and this time was the heyday of the Kushan Empire. It's hard to believe that the two don't matter. Just like the Age of Discovery, the great powers of Europe have always pioneered new frontiers with missionaries. Approximately this is called "soft power".

It's just that history has proved that no matter how brilliant soft power is, it still needs to be supported by strong hard power after all. Thinking of the final fate of the Kushan Empire, Cai Ji shook his head mockingly and said, "The Lord of the Kushan Country, Gashi Sega, may have this intention, but his national strength is limited, and I am afraid that he will not be able to support such a big scene." ＂

"Why did Qi Hou say this? Sun Quan asked curiously.

Cai Ji glanced back at Cao Pi, who was thinking on the ground, and said word by word, "Labor is in the work of civil engineering, and it is beneficial to the ornament of Jinbao." ＂

Cao Pi raised his head suddenly, "Prosperity and decline." ＂

"Exactly. Cai Ji nodded in satisfaction. As Cao Pi said, the Kushan Empire reached its peak at the hands of Kasega I, and at the same time went into decline at the same time. Whether Kasserga I was really obsessed with Buddhism, or wanted to use Buddhism to help the Kushan Empire expand outward. Kasserga I's devotion to Buddhism had surpassed the limits of the Kushan Empire. Not to mention that it is also located in the area of Afghanistan, which was later called the "graveyard of empires", and once the national strength shows fatigue, the surrounding nomadic tribes will inevitably take advantage of it.

In fact, just two years before Cai Ji traveled to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the last monarch of the Kushan Empire, Vesudeva, had already ascended the throne. If history had not changed, the Kushan Empire would have split into several smaller states at the hands of this monarch. Therefore, Cai Ji is not worried that foreign forces will use Buddhism to get involved in the Central Plains. On the contrary, she also had the idea of collecting ancient Indian and ancient Greek documents from Central Asia during the turmoil of the Kushan Kingdom. Even the Tang Dynasty, which learned from later generations, used Buddhism to control the Western Regions and thousands of miles of Buddhism.

Before Cai Ji could say what he thought in his heart, Sun Quan had already taken the lead and clapped his leg and shouted, "Guishan can use the Buddha to order Zhuhu, and the Great Han can also use the Buddha to rule the Western Regions." ＂

"The lessons of Guishan are in front of us, how can the Han family repeat the mistakes of the past. Cao Pi argued. However, he didn't want to be honest with Sun Quan, but he really felt that it was really worth the loss to use the method of slapping a swollen face and becoming a fat man to induce Wanbang to come to the court.

Sun Quan is naturally not to be outdone. Wu Di would occasionally appear as foreign monks at this time, but the Sun brothers had always regarded these monks as foreign monks and did not pay attention to them. Of course, this is also related to the dark skin and strange appearance of the monks in Wudi. In contrast, the Yueshi people, who have a deep relationship with the Central Plains, are more in line with the aesthetics of the Han people in terms of appearance, and they are more easily accepted by the nobles of the Han Dynasty. However, after listening to Cai Ji's introduction at this moment, Sun Quan was shocked to find that his mouth suddenly opened, and he had a new understanding of Buddhism in his heart. At least Sun Quan had heard a merchant in Soochow say that the overseas countries of Linyi (present-day south-central Vietnam) and Funan (present-day Cambodia) all believed in Buddhism, and it would be a good thing if Buddhism could attract small overseas countries to join them. It is true that Sun Quan is not the lord of Eastern Wu at the moment, but the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks this plan is very good, so much so that he confidently waved his hand and said, "Just do what you can." ＂

"How do you do what you can? The dead lord of the past generations is not extravagant to lose the country! Cao Pi sneered. In his opinion, Sun Quan's thoughts in front of him were really a bit taken for granted.

Cao Pi's stubbornness immediately provoked Sun Quan to snort coldly, "Keep the old ways!" ＂

Not to be outdone, Cao Pi replied, "Be stubborn and self-serving!" ＂

Cai Ji watched Cao Pi and Sun Yafu arguing like two little roosters about how to use Buddhism, and his face couldn't help but be filled with a smile of relief. In her view, the introduction of foreign doctrines and religions is a gradual process, and it is neither conservative nor self-serving, but it is worthwhile to let the two teenagers in front of her broaden their horizons today.

Compared with Cao Pi and Sun Quan, who had already set their sights on outside the border under the guidance of Cai Ji, most of the princes of the Central Plains in the same era were still limited to one acre and three points of land in front of them. No, when Cai Ji was guiding Cao Pi and Sun Quan. The princes of Guanzhong were busy fighting each other, but they were afraid of Cao Cao in Yecheng; Cao Cao of Yecheng was keeping a close eye on Liu Xie in Xu Capital; Liu Xie of Xudu received the envoy from Jingzhou with great interest; Liu Biao of Jingzhou was annoyed by Liu Bei and Sun Ce who were peeking at Changsha; Liu Bei and Sun Ce, who were already approaching Changsha, accused each other of taking advantage of others. Cai Ji laughed here and saw that Central Asia was about to fall apart, but the Central Plains in the sixth year of Jian'an was not like this.

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Note: The description of Sun Quan's blue eyes and purple hair seems to have only appeared in the romance, so let's let Quan Tsai see people with a normal face.