Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Westward Plan Meeting with the Living Buddha

When the Mongolian Great Living Buddha arrived at Yaogang, he lived in a separate courtyard behind Puzhao Temple, and the Great Living Buddha expressed his gratitude to Master Yuan, who came to greet him. Although the Great Living Buddha brought his own cooks and other entourage, the Great Living Buddha asked them to follow the precepts of Zen Buddhism and not to eat meat here.

After arriving at the kiln for two days, Zhang Zhimu, who he wanted to see, never showed up, which made the Great Living Buddha feel a little uneasy. At first, he thought that Zhang Zhimu deliberately snubbed him, but then he thought about it, a person who can do such a big career with such a big ability will not use these little tricks, and Zhang Zhimu must have a reason why he didn't see him. Therefore, the Great Living Buddha put his mind down and waited for Zhang Zhimu, he knew that fate had come to nature and everything had arrived.

After Zhang Zhimu and the others listened to Li Kui's general report on his westward trip, they asked Liu Yun and them to sort it out in further detail. Several giants in Yaogang already have a general idea of the next step to develop westward.

The task of the westward march was that after Jiang Pai and his troops occupied the Ural Mountains, they would open the passage from Hami to the Irtysh River and supply Jiang Pai and their army through the Irtysh River Valley. At the same time, the railway from Hami to the Irtysh River should be built as soon as possible. To the west, the northern route of the Silk Road was reopened, and the passage to the Caspian Sea was opened. The army that entered the Caspian Sea could solve the food problem on the spot, but ammunition, gasoline and diesel and other supplies had to be replenished from the kiln post.

A shipyard was built in Loulan in Lop Nur, and after the ships were built, they developed westward along the Tarim River by land and water. However, some sections of the Tarim River are affected by seasonality, and the channel needs to be dredged, and Ningde promised to solve this problem by them.

In order to develop on the Australian side, Ouyang He suggested that Lu Qi in Sulu be recruited back, and asked him to collect the situation on the Australian side as much as possible.

After the general policy has been formulated, the rest is for Ouyang He and Liu Yun to implement the detailed plan.

Regarding what to say when you see the living Buddha, everyone also agreed on it.

Zhang Zhimu met the Mongolian Living Buddha in the small reception room of the Yaogang Office Building, and met the Living Buddha with Chen Yufeng, Ouyang He, Li Zhi and Master Yuan. It was Li Jing who went to invite the living Buddha.

Although the living Buddha's residence was not far from the Yaogang office building, in order to show his attention, Li Jing still took a long convoy to pick up the living Buddha.

Zhang Zhimu personally greeted the living Buddha in front of the office building. As soon as the car in front of the office building was parked, Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng, Ouyang He, and Li Zhi stepped forward, and Li Jing personally opened the door for the living Buddha and asked the living Buddha to get out of the car. Zhang Zhimu said to the Living Buddha, "Welcome to the Living Buddha!" ”

The Living Buddha also said together: "Disturb Zhang Dong's family!" ”

Zhang Zhimu turned around and introduced Chen Yufeng, Ouyang He, and Li Zhi again, and then asked the Living Buddha to go upstairs.

came to the small living room, after everyone sat down, Yang Yulin instructed everyone to quit after serving tea.

Zhang Zhimu said: "There is something going on here in the kiln in the past two days, and I have been slow to treat the living Buddha, please forgive the living Buddha!" ”

"Where to say! In the past two days, I have just been quiet, and I am getting older! "The Living Buddha is also very polite.

"Yes! The living Buddha traveled thousands of miles from Mobei to Yaogang, which was really hard! Zhang Zhimu was also polite.

The Living Buddha didn't talk much nonsense, and said directly: "Zhang Dongjia, I came to Yaogang, first, I also want to see Yaogang, a place that is said to be like a paradise, and second, I also ask Zhang Dongjia to reduce killing!" ”

"The kiln has developed and changed rapidly over the years, and the living Buddha can take a look at it slowly!" Zhang Zhimu said, "However, I don't know what the Living Buddha means by reducing killings? ”

The Living Buddha was not polite, "Zhang Dongjia's hundreds of thousands of troops have marched into Mobei, and there has been a bloody storm on the grassland!" I just want to ask Zhang Dongjia to reduce the killing! ”

"Oh! That's what the Living Buddha said," Zhang Zhimu said, "Actually, the last thing I want to see is these killings." But the nomads of the northern steppes and the farming people there have been killing each other for thousands of years, and we want to solve this problem once and for all. Presumably, the Living Buddha also saw it along the way, in order to prevent looting in the north, we built the Great Wall, which was used for defense, but these Great Walls did not block the invasion of the north again and again. This time, we are going to take the initiative and solve this problem once and for all. ”

"You attacked, causing many Mongols to lose their steppes, and many young men were killed and wounded. This time, I just want to persuade Zhang Dongjia to do more good deeds and reduce killings! The Living Buddha said very stubbornly.

"I know the kindness of the Living Buddha," Zhang Zhimu said, "I know that the Living Buddha has been reincarnated for several lifetimes. I don't know, when Genghis Khan swept through Europe and Asia, the Living Buddha persuaded him to kill less, and your Mongolian heroes killed tens of millions of Han people. Why didn't he listen to the Buddha? ”

The Living Buddha listened to Zhang Zhimu's words, and his heart was also moved, these words were similar to what Zhou Yuji said, and he couldn't answer, so he had to say: "That's all calamity!" ”

"What is happening on the grassland now is also a catastrophe!" Zhang Zhimu said, "We don't want to repay wrongs, but we must eliminate the hidden dangers of war, and only war can eliminate war." Moreover, we did not adopt a policy of genocide on the grasslands, otherwise the Mobei matter would have been easier and more thorough to solve. We hope that in the future, all ethnic groups will live together peacefully, no longer have a vendetta against each other, and live a prosperous and happy life together. I think the Living Buddha also wants the people to live a good life, right? ”

"We Buddhism are compassionate, and we hope that all living beings can be peaceful and happy!" The Living Buddha said, "I came this time just to ask Zhang Dongjia how to arrange the affairs of our Mobei Mongols?" ”

"The Mongols in Mobei and all the Mongols are all members of our big family, just like the people of all ethnic groups, and they all want to live a prosperous and good life, this is our true thought. Now the Ordos people have lived very well, and they have made an example for people in other places. The Living Buddha has time to learn about the situation of the Ordos people. ”

"I heard some of them in Mobei, and I knew it in naturalization, you have distributed the pastures of the Mongolian princes to the herdsmen, so what should those princes do, they are the masters of the grassland. Their steppe pastures were given to them by Genghis Khan. You can't take it away! ”

"We are to correct your Genghis Khan's mistakes," Zhang Zhimu said politely, "Genghis Khan just wants a few of his relatives to live a good life, and we really want to let the living people live a good life." Is what we do more in line with the Dharma? ”

"We Mongolians have to do our own business. You can't break our rules! The Living Buddha insisted.

"You Mongols didn't do a good job, so we went to help them do it." Zhang Zhimu said, "The Mongols attacked us several times, but if we don't fight out, we still can't stop this." The Living Buddha did not stop this. We just had to go. If you are here on behalf of the Mongols, then I tell you, we are going to solve this problem once and for all until there is no resistance. Of course, we also understand that the Mongols want to govern themselves. When the conditions are ripe, we will also let the Mongols govern themselves. ”

The Living Buddha didn't expect that the polite Zhang Zhimu would be so tough, and asked rhetorically: "What conditions are ripe for you to say?" ”

"This condition is that the Mongols can act according to the laws we have made, do not do what those robbers do, know how to live in peace with the people of all nationalities, and can effectively govern themselves. As for those princes and nobles who still want to treat the herdsmen as their slaves, they should no longer dream of the prince. In the future, Mongolian self-government will also be led by the Mongolians themselves electing people who can do things for everyone. I think the Buddha also hopes that everyone will have a good life, not that some people can't eat and drink, and some people can't finish eating and drinking. ”

"The Zhang Dong family was able to spend so much money to build the Puzhao Temple, because of good fate. I want to know, what does the Zhang Dongjia think of Buddhism on our grassland? The Living Buddha couldn't continue what he wanted to say, so he changed the subject.

"Our approach, I think General Zhou Yuji must have also introduced it to the Living Buddha. We advocate that everyone of all ethnic groups, including us Han Chinese, has freedom of belief. But we strictly demand that religions stay away from politics, and that clergy cannot hold public office. What we want to practice is the separation of church and state. Otherwise, if the clergy are officials, it is easy for them to do things that exclude other religions. It's not fair to everyone else. ”

"Zhang Dongjia, I heard General Zhou Yuji say that your army will still march westward. I sincerely hope that there will be no more killing on the steppe! The Living Buddha pulled the words back again.

"We would have preferred this, but our army's goal this time to the west is to enter the Ula Mountains as the first step. If the Living Buddha can send someone to persuade the Mongol compatriots over there to surrender, we are more willing. We are the last willing to kill. Originally, the west and north were sparsely populated, and there were fewer people killing and killing. ”

"I can send my disciples away and persuade the Mongols not to fight."

This is exactly what Zhang Zhimu was waiting for, "We are very willing for the Living Buddha to do this." It can reduce killing, which is also a great merit! We send troops to war, and the use of swords is only a means, not an end. However, there are those who cannot be persuaded to do good. We met some Cossacks sent by Russia in the Nuergan region, who burned and killed people everywhere, raped and robbed, and ate human flesh. ”

I heard about the Cossacks eating human flesh, and the Living Buddha and the Venerable Master all recited the Buddha together, and they couldn't stand it.

Zhang Zhimu said again: "Living Buddha, we have indeed seen you in the past two days. We sent a delegation of emissaries and caravans to the west, and returned the day before yesterday. In the past two days, I have listened to their reports. It just so happens that Master Yuan is also here, and there is one thing I want to discuss with you. ”

Master Yuan and the Living Buddha are all together, and they don't know what Zhang Zhimu is going to say.

"That's right, we all knew about Master Xuanzang's journey to the west to learn scriptures, and at that time, the entire Western Regions was a world of Buddhism. But now there are not many people who can still believe in Buddhism, and in fact, we should not interfere with what religion the people are willing to believe. However, there are some religions that have a planned and purposeful infiltration on our side, and we must be vigilant. In particular, some religions engage in political activities in the name of religion. They consider even those who do not believe in their religion to be infidels, and they want to kill. Dedication is required of the faithful. Tell the believers that if you die for your religion, you will soon ascend to heaven. Shouldn't we manage such a religion? ”

"Magic and Buddhism have always been incompatible!" Master Yuan said.

"My thought is, should we Buddhism also go west to preach the Dharma?" Zhang Zhimu looked at the Living Buddha and Master Liyuan and asked.

"Of course!"

"Of course!"

The Living Buddha and Venerable Liyuan said almost at the same time.

"In this way, we have also discussed it in the past two days. We all know that Buddhism exhorts people to do good. We want to support you in spreading the Dharma to the Western Regions, and we will not only give you material support, but we will also send troops to protect you in the West to spread the Dharma. I think the light of the Dharma will shine on the sons and daughters of the Western Regions. Zhang Zhimu said.

The Living Buddha said, "If this is the case, when you go west, my disciples can go west with whomever you want!" ”

Venerable Liyuan said, "I'll go back and discuss, we want to try to send a high-ranking monk to the west to preach the Dharma!" ”

Zhang Zhimu told the Living Buddha that in order to thank the Living Buddha for his merits in persuading many tribes in Mobei to stop fighting, he decided to give them some silver, and promised to give them some silver every year. Zhang Zhimu knows that most of the offerings to the living Buddha are worshiped by those princes and thousands of nobles, and now that these people have gone, the worship of the living Buddha has become a problem, and there are too few people who rely on these poor people to worship. So Zhang Zhimu decided to spend some silver.

The Living Buddha was very satisfied, he wanted to stay in the kiln for a few more days, wanted to take a good look at the kiln, and also wanted to go to Ordos to see it with his own eyes. Zhang Zhimu agreed, of course, and promised that everything would be arranged.

Just as Zhang Zhimu and the others had just sent away the Living Buddha, Yang Yulin immediately came over and handed a telegram to Zhang Zhimu.

After reading the telegram, Zhang Zhimu immediately handed it to Chen Yufeng beside him, Chen Yufeng read it again, and then handed it to Ouyang He. After reading it, Ouyang He smiled and said, "Let's go into the house and talk!" ”

It turned out that the telegram was sent by Fan Chengkun, saying that the ships going south from Yaogang were besieged by warships from Hongmaofan (Netherlands), Francos (Spain), Portugal and other countries.

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New progress in "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty": the Battle of Yashan, the defeat of the Yuan army, the counterattack of the Song army, and the landing in Fuzhou.