"Hahahaha~" In the vertical arch hall of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, there was a burst of laughter that had not been heard for a long time, although the laughter was a little weak, but it could still be heard that the mood of the laughing person was very happy, which also made the palace maids inside and outside the palace feel relieved, and even the footsteps couldn't help but be a little lighter.

"Ahem, cough~" Zhao Yan's laughter didn't last long, followed by a violent cough, but soon he endured the cough and sat up straight, reached out and patted Zhao Yan's shoulder and said, "Three...... cough~ Third brother, you still have a way, not long after he became the regent for his brother, he put down the Manichaean rebellion, and then the Western Army under Guo Kui can return to the northwest, and then the Western Xia Rebellion over there will naturally not be any chaos. ”

"Big brother is wise, I have ordered someone to send an order to Guo Kui, ordering his Western Army to return to the northwest to guard the place immediately, but Hangzhou has been extremely damaged by Manichaeism, and I am afraid that it will not be able to recover at all in a few years." When Zhao Yan said the end, he couldn't help but sigh.

When Zhao Yan left the capital to go to Guangzhou, and when he led the troops to the north before, he had stopped in Hangzhou for a few days, and the impression that Hangzhou and the surrounding area gave him at that time was no more appropriate to describe it except for the word "rich", but this time according to Guo Kui and Hu Yanping's war report, Zhao Yan found that the originally rich Hangzhou had been in a mess, although the city of Hangzhou was not breached, but the towns outside the city were ten rooms and nine empty, and the city of Hangzhou had long since ceased to be prosperous.

Hearing Zhao Yan mention the losses suffered by Hangzhou in this rebellion, Zhao Yan also sighed helplessly. However, he immediately patted Zhao Yan on the shoulder and said, "Third brother, the government is like this, and it is impossible to be perfect in one thing." There will always be some aspects that cannot be taken care of, not to mention that this rebellion happened so suddenly, there was no time for us to prepare, so it was inevitable to cause such a big loss, and we can only blame Manichaeism for misleading the public! ”

When he said this, Zhao Yan suddenly thought of the question of Manichaeism again, and asked Zhao Yan at the moment, "Third brother." Although the Manichaean rebellion was quelled, Manichaeism did not completely disappear, but still had a large number of followers in the south. Although not everyone supported the rebellion, under the influence of Manichaeism, no one was sure what they would do in the future, so the next step was to ban the spread of Manichaeism. What are you going to do next? ”

Zhao Yan heard Zhao Yan ask about dealing with Manichaeism like this. There was also a distressed expression on his face, because later generations had not been able to find a good way to deal with this kind of religious problem, even if they used strong administrative means to prohibit people from believing in religion, but it was still difficult to ban it in private, not to mention that in an era like the Great Song Dynasty, when the people's education level was not high and the spread of information was not smooth, the people were more likely to be bewitched by some fallacies and heresies.

Of course, Zhao Yan is not completely impossible. I saw that after thinking about it for a moment, he slowly spoke: "Big brother." Religion has always made those in power love and hate, whether it is Buddhism or Taoism, can play a certain positive role in the rule of the country, but if it is not restricted, it will in turn affect the stability of the country in the future, although Shi Fozi and others rebelled with the help of Manichaeism, but we cannot ban the spread of Manichaeism because of this, otherwise it will only backfire! ”

Zhao Yan also paused at the end, he was not untargeted, in fact, in the history of later generations, Fang La also rebelled with the help of Manichaeism, as a result, after the Great Song Dynasty suppressed the rebellion, strictly ordered the people in the country to "eat vegetables and demons", but unfortunately this decree did not have the desired effect, but the more oppressive it was, the more accelerated the development of Manichaeism, and later Manichaeism absorbed some Buddhism and Taoist teachings, and as a result, it developed into the White Lotus Sect known in later generations, and it made the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties of later generations have a headache.

"Third brother, although not all of the Manichaeans participated in the rebellion, but this kind of religion makes the people eat vegetables and make demons, and preaches the evils of the court everywhere, and over time, it is likely to bewitch more people, so if it is not banned, I am afraid it will cause a big disaster in the future, right?" Zhao Ji heard that Zhao Yan was against the ban on Manichaeism, and asked strangely at the moment.

"Big brother, not forbidden does not mean let it go, in fact, in my opinion, Manichaeism is just the first bird in various religions, whether it is Buddhism or Taoism, if it is not controlled, it will cause a catastrophe in the future, which we have foreseen in the Great Song Dynasty, so the Ministry of Rites set up a temple department in charge of Buddhist and Taoist affairs, but the ancestral department is only responsible for the management of the names of monks, nuns, Taoist priests, female crowns, children's walks, etc., as well as the issuance of ordination ordination documents, that is, degrees, etc., which is far from enough in my opinion, Therefore, I am ready to expand the authority of the ancestral hall and bring all the religions of the whole country under the administration of the imperial court! When Zhao Yan said the end, there was also an ambitious expression on his face, although this still could not completely prevent people from making trouble through religion, but it was much better than letting it go.

"Bring all religions under the administration of the imperial court! This...... How can this be managed? Zhao Ji heard Zhao Yan's words so ambitious, but he suddenly showed a shocked expression and said, although the ancestral hall has an ancestral hall that manages the affairs of Buddhism and Taoism, it only manages the name of Buddhism and Taoism, as for the internal affairs of Buddhism and Taoism, it is still impossible to interfere, not to mention that there are many religions in the Great Song Dynasty, in addition to the two largest religions of Buddhism and Taoism, there are also Manichaeism, Tianfang Religion, etc., in addition, there are countless branches within each religion, it can be said that there are countless of them, so many religions want to be completely included in the management of the imperial court, That kind of difficulty is simply more difficult than the change he pushed before.

"Hehe, big brother, don't worry, I said that I want to bring all these religions under the management of the imperial court, but I didn't say that we have to send people to manage them personally, but we have to set rules for these religions, and if these religions want to spread in our Great Song Dynasty, they must abide by these rules, otherwise the imperial court will identify them as evil demons, and even use some administrative and military means to make them unable to survive in the country!" Zhao Yan smiled again and explained.

Hearing Zhao Yan say this, Zhao Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but then he said with some worry: "Third brother, it's easy to set rules for various religions, but how do you ensure that they all abide by them?" Although it is a good idea to use laws or force to deter, if those religions are still spreading in the shadows, it will be difficult for the imperial court to seize their handles. ”

"Hehe, big brother, why did you forget, Buddhism and Taoism are not vegetarians themselves, I have had contact with Taoism, among which Longhu Mountain, Maoshan Sect and other sects have very strong strength, they want to be recognized and supported by the imperial court, and they can't do anything without doing anything, so I am ready to support several larger sects in the country, and deal with religion with religion, if they can't deal with it, they can also provide some information for the imperial court, and for those religions that refuse to surrender, the imperial court must not be soft, As long as one or two religions are destroyed by force, who will dare to secretly oppose the imperial court at that time? ”

When Zhao Yan said at the end, there was a cold light in his eyes, the management of religious matters must not be blindly weak, the Great Song Dynasty did very badly, although the Great Song Dynasty has a special management of Buddhist affairs, but the management is very lax, which also makes the power of Buddhism soar, especially Buddhism is prosperous, as far as he knows, the number of monks and nuns registered in the country has reached an astonishing more than 400,000, these monks and nuns do not produce even if they don't work, but there are still some monasteries and local officials collude, often do some illegal things, For example, in the past, many monasteries lent usury, and it was not until the emergence of banks that the usury business of monasteries was greatly hit, but in some areas where there were no banks, monasteries were still doing the business of issuing usury.

"Religion for religion! This is a good idea, but it may not be easy to get those big sects to obediently obey the arrangements of the imperial court, right? Zhao Ji also sat up half-sat up at this time, and his eyes became a little bright.

"It's not easy, but it's not impossible, and as long as there is a religion willing to obey the orders of the imperial court, then the next thing is much easier." Zhao Yan said with a smile, he already had a goal in mind, as long as he persuaded the other party, then other religions would not be able to obey the orders of the imperial court.

"I understand, the third brother is planning to use Taoism as a breakthrough, as long as Taoism is won, then Buddhism will definitely succumb, after all, if Taoism is supported by the imperial court, it will only make them more passive. And as long as the two largest religions, Buddhism and Taoism, are included in the management of the imperial court, the remaining religions are even less worrying! Zhao Yan also smiled at this time and said, Zhao Yan has an excellent relationship with Taoism, this is a well-known thing, in fact, even the predecessor of his Gewu Academy is still the microcosm of Taoism, plus the relationship between Cao Yan and Zhao Yan, so the possibility of him being able to convince Taoism is still very high.

Zhao Yan also smiled and nodded when he heard this, he did intend to use Taoism as a breakthrough. Next, he discussed some other matters with Zhao Yan, because Zhao Yan was seriously ill, and he felt poor after a while, so Zhao Yan didn't say anything, and persuaded him to rest well, and then returned to the political hall.

Zhao Yan first dealt with the government affairs in his hand, and then called Zeng Gongliang, Lu Huiqing and others over to discuss matters related to strengthening the management of religion, although he didn't like Lu Huiqing very much, but now the Great Song Dynasty needs to maintain stability in all aspects, plus Lu Huiqing is very shrewd, and people can't grasp any handle during this period of conscientiousness, so Zhao Yan can't do anything about him for the time being. (To be continued......)