I saw that after Cao Yan listened to Zhao Yan's words, he sat there motionless, with a contemplative expression on his face, which made Zhao Yan a little nervous, but in the end, he saw Cao Yan suddenly smiled and said: "Son-in-law, you have such a big appetite, even those of us who are outsiders want to be in the hands of the imperial court!" ”

"Grandfather, any uncontrolled development of religion in the end can only bring huge disasters to itself, such as taking Buddhism as an example, Buddhism has become the first religion within the Central Plains Dynasty several times in history, but if you look at what happened to them, it can only provoke the powerful extermination movement of the people in power again and again, as for the history of Taoism, I am afraid it has also been suppressed many times, right?" Zhao Yan said with a firm expression at the moment, no matter how difficult it is this time, the control of religion must be strengthened.

Hearing Zhao Yan cite the example of destroying the Buddha, the expression on his face was also very serious, which made Cao Yan ponder for a moment, and then he spoke: "Son-in-law, for the fact that the imperial court wants to strengthen the control of various religions, although I am a disciple of the Daomen, I am also a courtier of the Great Song Dynasty, so I agree with this matter very much, but it is not easy to convince other forces in the Daomen!" ”

Zhao Yan also felt relieved when he heard Cao Yan agree to this matter, and then smiled again: "Grandson-in-law also knows that it is not easy to get other people in the Dao Sect to agree to this matter, but as long as your grandfather agrees, with your prestige in the Dao Sect, plus the pressure from the Imperial Court, it is not impossible to get others to agree to this matter!" ”

"I know that you have this idea, but although I have a little name in the Daomen, there are many forces in the Daomen, especially Zhang Sizong of Longhu Mountain and Liu Mingkang of Maoshan Sect, and others, who control more than eighty percent of the forces of the Daomen, and they are all your acquaintances. Now they are still sharing the profits of the glass mirror, but this matter is related to the future of the entire Daomen, so it is definitely not a small profit that can be impressed by the glass mirror. Cao Yan said in a deep voice again.

My grandfather was relieved that although the imperial court wanted to strengthen its control over religion, in the final analysis, it was just to set some rules for each religion, so as not to have any more Manichaean rebellions in the future. As long as the Taoist sect is willing to be supervised by the imperial court, then there will be more benefits in the future, such as you can use the power of the imperial court to preach overseas or newly occupied land, and in addition to receiving some support from the imperial court in the country, etc., these conditions are not low! Zhao Yan said with a smile at this time.

As soon as he heard that after accepting the supervision of the imperial court, he could be supported by the imperial court in proselytizing. This made Cao Tong also happy, because this is simply the treatment of the state religion, after all, although their Buddhism and Taoism are powerful, but when they preached in China before, it was already good to be able to not be suppressed by the imperial court, let alone be supported, and even every time they wanted to build a new temple or Taoist temple, they had to get the approval of the imperial court. Otherwise, even if they are rich, some people will not be able to build Taoist temples or temples.

In contrast, Cao was not very interested in missionaries overseas or in newly occupied areas. After all, in his opinion, although the Great Song Dynasty destroyed the Western Xia and defeated the Liao State before, I am afraid that it will no longer be able to use troops with foreign countries in the future, and the territory will not expand much, and as for overseas, it is even more barbaric. There was no missionary value at all, but he did not know that in the future, those wild places would become the main competition between them and Buddhism.

Next, Cao Yan asked about the specific situation of the imperial court's strengthening of religious control, and Zhao Yan did not hide anything about it, and told all the things he thought of these days. Cao Yan also nodded again and again after hearing this, and even helped Zhao Yan make some additions from time to time, and also put forward some opinions, which Zhao Yan also adopted one by one, until then he felt that although Cao Tong was a person in the Daomen, his heart was still on the side of the court, and when the interests of the court and the Daomen conflicted, he would immediately choose the court without hesitation.

"Grandfather, this is the way it is, can you make an appointment with important people in the Dao Sect such as Zhang Sizong and Liu Mingkang, and let your grandson-in-law talk to them directly?" In the end, Zhao Yan spoke again, since he was able to persuade Cao Yan, he was also full of confidence in convincing other people in the Dao Sect next.

However, what Zhao Yan didn't expect was that Cao Yan heard his words and thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head and said: "Son-in-law, I think you should not come forward in this matter for the time being, it is better for me to meet Zhang Sizong and these people separately, and help you find out what the attitude of these people is, if there are many supporters, I won't say it, but if there are many opponents, then we can also find a way to break them one by one!" ”

"Gao, grandfather, you are really far-sighted, and your grandson-in-law is far behind!" Zhao Yan also slapped Cao Tong on the back when he heard this, in fact, he also thought of letting people test the attitude of some important figures in Buddhism and Taoism, but unfortunately there was no suitable candidate, and now Cao Tong can take the initiative to come forward, it is naturally better.

After chatting about business, Cao Yan asked Zhao Yan about his plans for this time, and then the two of them came to the front hall again, but at this time, the front hall was very lively, Cao Ping and Cao Lu, the two brothers, took the lead in fighting wine, and drove the younger generations of the Cao family who came together.

Seeing the appearance of these children and grandchildren, Cao Yan couldn't help but scold a few words with hatred, but Zhao Yan didn't mind, after all, they were not outsiders here, and then he asked Cao Ping to help them to the guest room to rest, and after a while, a group of female dependents also came out of the inner house, Cao Ying and her mother walked in front, when she learned that her father and uncle were drunk again, she also smiled helplessly, her father has been getting older and older over the years, but he is not knowing moderation when drinking, so she is also very worried about her father's body.

After sending off the Cao clan, Zhao Yan had the opportunity to be alone with Cao Ying, and at the moment he asked about their itinerary along the way, although he had asked some at the reception banquet before, but he only listened to a rough idea, so Cao Ying also talked about their itinerary along the way in detail.

Speaking of Cao Ying, their journey on the way was also very smooth, but when they passed through Hangzhou, they found that the city was full of refugees caused by the Manichaean rebellion, so they deliberately stayed in Hangzhou for three days, spent money to buy a lot of food to distribute to the refugees, but once again added a lot of fame to Zhao Yan.

"By the way, when will the ninth brother and the third sister come back, and the uncle and father asked me today?" At this time, Zhao Yan suddenly thought of Cao Song's matter, so he asked, Speaking of which, after Cao Song and Princess Weiguo got married, he became Zhao Yan's brother-in-law, but from Cao Ying's side, he is also Zhao Yan's brother-in-law, so this is also a confused account, so he simply calls his own.

As soon as Zhao Yan asked about Cao Song and the third sister Princess Weiguo, Cao Ying laughed out loud, and only after a while did she speak: "Originally, Brother Jiu'er had almost handed over the affairs of the city, and he should be able to come back with us, but there was a problem with the third sister, and he had to stay in Guangzhou with the second sister, so it was useless for Brother Jiu'er to persuade him, and the two of them still didn't discuss a result when we came." ”

Hearing Cao Ying say this, Zhao Yan frowned and said: "The second sister didn't come back because Xu Yuan was staying in Guangzhou, but the ninth brother was going back to the capital, otherwise who would take care of the bank, and the third sister would stay in Guangzhou and not come back, wouldn't she want to live separately from the ninth brother, right?" ”

"Giggles, the third sister didn't want to live separately from the ninth brother, after all, both of them already had three children, but the third sister said that she had stayed at home in the past few years and had completed the task of a wife, so she wanted to do something for herself, and it just so happened that the second sister helped Xu Yuan marry the fish girl into the door, and the third sister was still very hostile to the fish girl, but after talking to the fish girl, she found that the other party was not only proficient in the art of war, but also had personally killed people on the battlefield, and immediately changed her attitude, Now she has set up a sailor women's battalion with Yu Niang, and recruited a group of sturdy women as pro-army, saying that she wants to build a women's army of the Great Song Dynasty, and the third sister is even more to compete with the princess of Pingyang in the Tang Dynasty! Cao Ying finished this paragraph with a smile, although it was not clear that Princess Weiguo was messing around, but the expression in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows had already explained everything.

Zhao Yan couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this, he thought that the third sister would take back her heart after getting married, and she had indeed taught her husband and children at home in the past few years, but she didn't expect that in just a few years, the nature of Princess Weiguo would be exposed again, and she was going to engage in a women's camp, and she also let women enter the sailor, which was also too nonsense.

"Alas, forget it, it's up to her to do whatever the third sister wants, anyway, I don't expect her women's battalion to go to the battlefield!" After a while, Zhao Yan spoke, although he did not look down on women as much as the ancients, but whether it is now or in the future, the battlefield has always been a woodland for women, even if women are allowed on the battlefield in later generations, it is only an auxiliary role, isn't there another general who said 'the battlefield makes women go away'.

After chatting about the affairs in Guangzhou for a while, Zhao Yan suddenly thought of the government affairs he had handled during his time as regent, although he was confident in himself, but he usually didn't have anyone to discuss, just today Cao Ying came back, but he could discuss it with her, especially on the matter of strengthening religious control, he wanted to hear Cao Ying's opinion? (To be continued......)