"Your Highness, there is a priest outside the door asking to see you!"

"Fangshi!?"

Sima Shu was a little puzzled, and he didn't know who the priest was asking to see. Since the announcement of the recruitment order, although various talents have visited his door every day, this is the first time he has met Fang Shi to see. However, Sima Shu did not dare to slack off at will, because he was familiar with the history of the Jin Dynasty and knew that the Jin Dynasty could be said to be a period of great development of China's native religion, and many famous Taoists were produced during this period.

"How old is the person who came? Did he give his name? ”

"Back to His Highness, the people who came couldn't tell how old they were, but they looked like they had white hair, at least a jiazi. In addition, he said that his name was Zheng Yin! ”

"What!? Zheng Yin! ”

Sima Shu was taken aback, if Zheng Yin was mentioned in later generations, there might still be people who knew too much, but if Ge Hong's words were mentioned, then the listener would feel like thunder. This Ge Hong was a close disciple of Zheng Yin, who was a Confucian scholar when he was young, and later studied under Ge Hong's grandfather Ge Xuan.

Zheng Yin received "Zhengyi French", "Jiuding Danjing", "Jinye Danjing" and "Taiqing Danjing" from Ge Xuan, and was proficient in smelting Jindan. When he was 80 years old, he was still full of energy and walked like a fly.

Moreover, Zheng Yin has a very rich collection, including Taoist scriptures, notes, symbols, pictures, texts, seals, laws, rituals, laws, words, etc., a total of 1,298 volumes.

In the first year of Emperor Tai'an of Jin Hui (302), Zheng Yin predicted that there would be a military disaster, and led several disciples to live in seclusion in Huoshan (now Huozhou City, Shanxi Province), and then did not know what to do (what a living immortal). It wasn't until Ge Hong was born and carried forward the Lingbao Sect that everyone learned about Zheng Yin's deeds.

"Come on, bathe and change clothes for Lonely, and the palace will personally welcome the arrival of the immortal!"

Outside the Chang'an Prince's Mansion, an old man with a burly body and a silver beard and raised eyebrows led a few young people to stand quietly at the door and wait.

"Teacher, are we running all this way just to see the prince?" A thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy stood behind the old man and asked.

"Hong'er, for the teacher, I once calculated a hexagram for this dynasty, and in a few years, there will be a disaster in this world. Millions of Jin subjects are about to fall into the hands of the Hu people, and I originally thought that this catastrophe would not be able to escape from my Jin Dynasty no matter what. But recently, as a teacher, I found that God really has the virtue of a good life, and it still gives the people a glimmer of life, and the key to this should be the prince. ”

After speaking, the old man looked up at the sky, and there was a hint of awe in his eyes. And the young man behind him was also shocked when he heard this, he didn't expect the prince to take on such an important responsibility.

The two waited for less than a quarter of an hour, and the crown prince Sima Shu walked out of the mansion in full costume, and then respectfully welcomed Zheng Yin's master and apprentice into the mansion.

"Today, the visit of the immortal Weng has made the house full of brilliance!"

Sima Shu was very excited, he didn't expect to meet the two great masters of the Lingbao Sect today, because he had always wanted to improve his religion, but he had never had a suitable candidate.

The reason why Sima Shu wanted to reform religion was that he was very aware of the power of religion in later generations. It was during this period that Western Christianity flourished, and in order to counter cultural aggression from other religions, it needed to rely on the power of religion.

At the same time, religious power will be needed in the future to assimilate the Hu people and confront the powerful clan forces in China. In Chinese history, there are very few dynasties that can extend their dominance to the corners below, and it is generally good that the dominance of a dynasty can affect the county level.

However, Sima Shu wanted to change this situation, and the huge pressure from the family was also the main reason why he wanted to use the power of religion.

Why is the family strong, in addition to the huge wealth and personnel they control, they also control the power of public opinion in the imperial court, if they can replace the influence of the family with religious power, it will definitely greatly weaken the influence of the family on the government.

"Your Highness is polite, the old man is just a useless person, and he deserves such praise from His Highness!"

In the next few days, Sima Shu spent the whole day with Zheng Yin's master and apprentice discussing philosophical issues.

What are people made of? What are you born for? Who was I born? Do people have a past life and an afterlife? Where do you go after death? Sima Shu first asked a series of questions about the origin of life, and immediately made the Taoist master Zheng Yin dizzy.

As the xth generation descendant of the Taoist Lingbao sect, Zheng Yin can be said to be well-read and knowledgeable. He was not only familiar with Taoist scriptures, but also familiar with Confucian books, and he was also involved in Buddhist classics from the West. But he was asked by Sima Shu, the true meaning of life that he had been searching for before.

Zheng Yin tried to answer these questions with his previous knowledge, but was refuted by Sima Shu using the "basic principles of modern philosophy". Zheng Yin had no choice but to "deign" to ask the prince for advice, and as a result, he was slowly instilled with a relevant worldview and outlook on life.

When Zheng Yin seemed to understand whether he understood or not, Sima Shu asked again whether people have souls? If there is no soul, how can one feel the world and how can one feel others? If there is a soul, where does it come from and where does it go?

Zheng Yin still has some experience in answering these questions one by one, but he was criticized by Sima Shu with idealism plus materialism and dialectics. Looking at Zheng Yin, who was stunned and bloodless, Sima Shu was secretly proud on the side.

In order to prevent the course of philosophy from hanging up, Lao Tzu spent a lot of effort studying textbooks, and also read many books on philosophy and religion. If it weren't for your age, I would have killed you by vomiting blood.

Sima Shu didn't let go of Zheng Yin and continued to ask, is the surname good or evil? How did the world start? Where will it go? Where did humans come from? How did it come to be about thousands of cultures?

After listening to Sima Shu's question, Zheng Yin was completely crazy, and he hid in the study and desperately flipped through the books to find the true meaning.

Sima Shu didn't care about him, just asked people to take care of his body, and then continued to pull the future Taoist master Ge Hong, and continued to dig out the temptation of his mind. As a result, Ge Hong also followed in the footsteps of his master, and was speechless when asked by Sima Shu.

After a few days, Zheng Yin suddenly walked out of the study, and his appearance suddenly startled everyone. I saw that his face suddenly became thin and his body was in a trance. Seeing Zheng Yin like this, Ge Hong's face changed greatly, he was shocked and ashamed, he grabbed the sleeve of his master's coat, and he didn't know what to say, but he burst into tears.

And Sima Shu was also taken aback, there was still a little bit of fairy wind and bones, and the whole thing looked like a down-and-out beggar. Is truth really so magical? Tortured an old fairy-like figure like this alive?

However, Sima Shu still admires Zheng Yin's spirit of seeking knowledge, this is the person he likes to wake up to the world, otherwise how can he be worthy of the heavy responsibility that Sima Shu will let him shoulder?

I saw Zheng Yin walking up to Sima Shu and respectfully bending down and bowing his hand: "Please also ask Mr. to teach me!" ”

Sima Shu hurriedly stepped sideways, picked up Master Zheng Yin, looked at his eyes eager for true knowledge, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: What a spiritual mentor in the new era, the faith enlightenment of the big guy will fall into your hands in the future!

Sima Shu didn't dare to hold it up any longer, and hurriedly took out a booklet. This is a great record of Sima Shu's thoughts on this world and life in recent years, and a large record of the "spark of thought" full of "modern philosophy", and more importantly, Sima Shu's review and summary of the monotheistic religious teachings of his time, all of which were compiled into one volume by Sima Shu.

Then he said meaningfully: "Our ancient legend has tens of millions of years from Pangu to the Yellow Emperor, can't we create our own monotheistic religion?" ”

Sima Shu deliberately tortured Zheng Yin to the point that he had serious doubts about his past beliefs and thoughts before pulling out the book. Its intentions are really "sinister"! Now is the time when Zheng Yin is "most shaken" and "most confused", and it is also the best time to brainwash him.

Zheng Yin took a cursory look at this booklet, and immediately indulged in it, regardless of the call of his apprentice, he went back to the study directly and continued to "I will go up and down and seek".

Sima Shu saw Ge Hong standing at the door of the study with a worried look on his face, and immediately stepped forward to comfort him: "Zhichuan doesn't have to worry about your teacher, he is thinking about some very important issues, and with the wisdom of the immortal, it only takes some time to figure it out." ”

In the next few days, Zheng Yin was studying the pamphlet given to him by Sima Shu wholeheartedly, and Sima Shu didn't bother him, just asked people to take care of his body.

Since receiving the holy decree, Sima Shu has been preparing to return to Beijing. This time when he returned to Beijing, the imperial court specially ordered the crossbow general Meng Guan to lead 10,000 Su guards to return to the capital with the prince, but instead refuted the prince's request to let Donggong return to Beijing at the third rate. This made Zu Ti and the others very dissatisfied, if they could not mobilize some of their henchmen and soldiers to return to Beijing with the prince, they would never let go of their hearts.

Just when Sima Shu and others had nothing to do, Meng Guan, the general of the crossbow, suddenly came to visit secretly, and in the past year, Meng Guan, as the confidant and favorite general of Empress Jia, has been sitting in Guanzhong and has 10,000 guards responsible for monitoring the prince.

It's just that in the past year, he has witnessed the prince in Guanzhong to collect the homeless, punish corrupt officials, eradicate the strong, and gradually restore part of the people's strength in some dilapidated Guanzhong, and now Guanzhong is full of vitality, he believes that as long as the measures are implemented in accordance with the prince's measures, at most in another five years, Guanzhong will definitely become a new tax and money and grain center for the imperial court.

Meng Guan, who was born in a poor family, admired the prince's measures to support the Shu clan very much, so although he was responsible for monitoring the prince, he never slandered Empress Jia, but covered up a lot of things for the prince.

This time, he was ordered to protect the prince from entering Beijing, knowing that the prince was worried about his own safety, so he offered to replace half of the guards with the prince's own army in order to protect the prince's safety.

After receiving the news, Sima Shu was overjoyed, he took Meng Guan's hand, and said again and again: "The general is said to be a great favor today, and he will be rewarded if he is alone!" Meng Guan's move greatly won the hearts of Sima Shu's subordinates, and it was from this time that they began to regard Meng Guan as their own.

"Your Highness is gracious!"

After several days of preparation, Sima Shu, accompanied by Meng Guan, Zhang Bin, Li Te, Sima Ya and others, took 10,000 guards and 300 guards (musketeers) to the capital.