On the fifth day of the eighth month, it was close to noon.

The scorching sun slanted down from the blue sky, and there was silence in the small courtyard on this side, and suddenly, with a "bang", broke the silence in the small courtyard.

A porcelain cup as thin as jade fell to the ground, and the porcelain pieces splashed, rolling a few times in the open space where the monks were sitting, and stopped.

The Zhiling monk sitting in the first place couldn't care about the demeanor of the senior monk at this moment, clenched his fist and hammered it angrily on the desk next to the chair, roaring like thunder: "Heh, hahahaha-haha-I beat geese all day long, but unexpectedly, today I called the geese to peck out my eyes!" Zu Ting...... Hu Lu Xiaoqing ......, these old horsemen, they can't debate as much as us, so they will make black hands, which is really shameless! ”

In the wing room of this small courtyard, the atmosphere was a little solemn for a while, and at the same time, a slightly noisy sound came from the courtyard next door, and many Confucians and Taoists had already gone there, pushing the cup and changing the lamp, as if they had won the battle.

The faces of these monks present became more and more pale, and a trace of confusion flashed in their hearts.

Things were completely out of the control of these monks, or rather, the balance and rhythm that they had been trying so hard to maintain, and on this day, it was completely disrupted.

…… Externally, it is said that Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are debated by the three schools, in fact, what is the situation, everyone knows in their hearts, this is initiated by the emperor, a battle of encirclement and suppression of Buddhism, Confucianism is the main attack, Taoism is just the emperor in order to look good and put there to add head, it does not play a role, perhaps, after the fall of Buddhism, the emperor will let the Taoists fill some gaps in Buddhism, let these Taoists gnaw on the bones.

After all, the Buddhism of Daqi is too big and too big, and if the emperor wants to deal with them, he will definitely think about the consequences, impacts, etc., and will never act rashly.

By this time, the monks had already made some plans for the development of the situation.

In their opinion, their Buddhism is a big piece of fat, not only the emperor, but also the Taoists, Confucianists, Haoqiang, and families, all want to get a piece of the pie. Now their situation is clear, and the obvious wall is pushed by everyone.

The rumors that are circulating outside today are really not very good for them. Some monks have already left the temple in panic, and this situation is still expanding...... Their plan was to bow to the emperor while trying to keep the Buddhist gate, and cede a large part of the benefits out, so that the emperor got what he wanted, and presumably he would no longer be aggressive.

After all, the power of Buddhism is not to be underestimated, there are more than 2 million monks in Daqi, and there are tens of thousands of monks and soldiers, although they are all some role in guarding the house, but it is not fun to make a fuss, the emperor is afraid of everyone's criticism, and he will not be willing to kill them all, right?

Of course, there is a premise for this, in order for their plan to be carried out safely, and in order to give both sides a step - so that both the emperor and the Buddha have a decent and satisfactory stage, they must first pass the current hurdle and win this debate.

It is really not easy to win this debate, they have no scruples, those are just some charlatans who can't hold much ink in their stomachs, how can people who have no ink in their chests compare with them in terms of reasoning?

After Buddhism entered the Central Plains, it also actively absorbed China's culture, and the cultural level of many monks was not much lower than that of some great Confucians, not to mention, after Buddhism was introduced into the Central Plains, the thought has been improved to adapt to the local culture and customs.

Today, whether it is a theoretical system or a speculative philosophical thought, it is impeccable.

Even the Confucians, who pretend to be the masters of a hundred schools, may not be able to gain the upper hand, as long as they can drag out this debate a little longer, raise their strength and momentum a little more, and steadily overwhelm these two forces besieging Buddhism, and then push the boat down the river to give in to the emperor and cede the vast majority of the assets, it may not be impossible for His Majesty the Emperor to change his mind and achieve the perfect situation they expected.

That's what many eminent monks think, and a series of developments are proceeding as they expected.

Daomen is still mud can not support the wall, by the monks left and right words to toss tired of parrying, Confucianism is calm, the questions raised are often to the point, and the Confucians are more good at quoting scriptures, not only Lao Zhuang, even the Buddhist scriptures they can also take out the argument at the time of dialectic, integrate Confucian views, extremely sharp in the debate, but fortunately, the cultivation of the monks is not placed there to look good, after a defense, often can also justify themselves, barely blocked. Sometimes it can even turn defense into offense, which makes the great Confucians frown.

The situation was advancing in the direction they wanted, until Zu Ting, the blind man, reached the emperor with a notebook, and the scandals about Buddhism were placed in front of the people of the world one by one.

Just this morning, when the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism were arguing fiercely, someone passed in a piece of paper.

They will never forget the malicious smile on the corner of her lips when she looked at the paperwork......

He waved his hand to signal the people who were arguing to stop, and raised a piece of paper in his hand.

"Leave the war for now, I think this debate can actually end early......"

In the stunned gaze of everyone, the thin piece of paper was passed down in turn, and they saw with their own eyes that the face of the first person who saw it first turned white for a moment, and his body involuntarily sat up straight, and then a burst of almost irrepressible ecstasy erupted in his throat...... The monks sat blankly in place, as if their hearts had been hit by a heavy hammer, and they felt out of breath for a long time.

They wanted to snatch it over and see what it was, but for some reason, their legs were powerless.

And at this time, no one can take care of their thoughts, these great Confucians opposite them, who are dignified and solemn on weekdays, have been out of order at this time, they are almost coaxing this paper document, and there are also Taoists who are involved in it, and they are surrounded by water.

Some of the people who had already finished reading sat back in place, occasionally whispering a few words to each other, and their glances as if they were looking at a group of dead people.

The monks had never been moved in the face of the torture for most of the month, but now they began to panic.

"Hahahaha, after doing so many things that are out of discipline and bad law, these bald asses are doomed!"

The last Taoist to see it was overjoyed with the paper and handed it to the monks.

The cicadas seemed to be gone, and in their ears, all the noise disappeared.

Abbot Zhiling fought calmly, took it, more than a dozen monks stood around him, poked their heads out, stared at the content of the paper, after a while, several monks could not support it, fainted on the spot, fell to the ground and did not wake up, a voice of exclamation sounded behind him...... Zhiling and others stared straight at the cloud of ink in front of them, and their minds were like a muffled thunder.

"How so...... How can it be so ......, how can it be ...... So? ”

Zhiling's hand trembled slightly, and his whole body seemed to fall backwards, and he was supported by a group of monks.

Someone on the other side walked over happily, "Master Zhiling, there is no need to continue this debate, you ...... It's better to admit defeat, admit your mistakes and give in to Your Majesty as soon as possible, and Your Majesty may not be able to leave some roots and seedlings for your Buddhism......"

“…… Yes, yes, most of the masters present have an old relationship with me, and I don't want to watch you fall deeper and deeper on this wrong path, so it's better to get out as soon as possible......" There is no lack of sincerity in the persuasion of these people.

There are also people who ridiculed, "On the surface, it looks serious, but it turns out to be sanctimonious, and I don't know how many dirty and dirty things are tolerated behind the scenes, and the temple turned out to be like this...... Oh, these things have been verified, and you can't rely on them! You'd better hurry up and sing a few more verses for yourselves first, and overtake yourself in advance......! ”

"Dying, why talk nonsense with them."

Such remarks poured in, and the monks could no longer listen to a word, and before they came to their senses, all kinds of miserable endings kept flashing in their minds, and some old monks pursed their lips and muttered in defense:

"Not really...... No, there are so many disciples of Buddhism, it is inevitable that one or two scum will appear......"

These words were drowned in the words and words of the people, and the monks were like a reef in the sea, and they were about to be drowned, and the argument was only halfway over, and before it was over, they were already defeated. In the end, it was Zhiling who saw that the sun was passing in the middle of the day, so he found an excuse to stop today's debate, and now everyone is sitting together, but they are panicked like a lost dog.

After venting their anger, the monks sat in place, thinking hard about the next countermeasures, without a clue, their minds were still blank, for a long time, someone proposed weakly, "Or, let's ask the emperor for guilt......

The hearts of all the monks moved, and they all raised their heads to look at the man, he leaned back unnaturally, changed to a posture that gave people a more sense of security, and said, "It may be too late to admit defeat now." Although His Majesty has released something and said so, after all, there are a wide range of people to be implicated, and it is not impossible to deal with it as appropriate...... It is better for us to bear the responsibility for our sins than to destroy the whole temple. ”

"............" The monks glanced at each other, and it was obvious that they were already a little moved.

"yes, yes...... Hurry up and give in to the softness is the right thing. ”

"They have already designed it, and we can't win ...... if it's calculated"

"Bastard, what about the foundation of our temple? Do you think these are the winds blowing? ”

"Bang-" Zhiling thumped the table and stood up.

"Shut up!"

Monk Zhiling stood up with a hammer on the table, he was not tall, and his appearance was mediocre, but when he was angry, he gave people a great sense of oppression, the beard under his chin was spread like a hedgehog, and his left hand was pounded on the table, clattering.

"The emperor has long said, 'Don't say that I don't predict', don't say I don't predict, what do you mean?

"If we enter the game, we can only win, otherwise we will die! …… You idiots, you still haven't figured it out! ”

He waved his arms and roared angrily: "The current situation is no longer a matter that can be settled by how many fields and how many people we send, and now we are facing a full house of beheading!" Do you understand, yes - full! Door! Copy! Chop!

"We have no conditions to talk to the emperor here, we have already disobeyed the emperor's will once, do you think the emperor will let us live? He pinched our handle, if we can't win, the end is death, there is no negotiation! ”

Everyone was gloomy, and after a while, someone said: "How do you carry it?" Now...... The current situation ......"

The Zhiling monk sat back heavily, although he still sat upright, trying his best to maintain the dignity of the monk, to maintain his majesty and composure, but his eyes were already a little wrong, and the afternoon sun was slanting through the window screen, shining on half of his body, but he only felt an unprecedented cold.

After a long time, he sat there and said indifferently: "It's not completely hopeless......