The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 209: It Ends Just as It Begins

Last time, we talked about Zhang Hongchen finally becoming the boss of Shura Palace, and ordered to go to Lilao in three days. So what will the battle of Lilao look like? Let's take a look together.

The Asura Palace had assembled, and the Buddhist and Confucian sects were not idle either! Master Bodhidharma held a Dharma Assembly at Lingyin Temple and debated with the Liang State Master Chonglu. Chonglu naturally lost. However, this move aroused the dissatisfaction of Emperor Xiao Yongming of Liang.

Xiao Yongming has always regarded himself as a great master of Buddhism, but when he learned that Bodhidharma was holding a Dharma Assembly and not only did he not invite him, but he also won the National Master Chonglu, he could not sit still. So Xiao Yongming went to Lingyin Temple in person to debate with Bodhidharma.

Master Bodhi didn't want to see him again, firstly because he was afraid of trouble and secondly because he was afraid of disrupting Li Yi's plan, so he ran away very promptly. When Xiao Yongming's guards chased him, they only saw Bodhiduoluo stepping on a reed and escaping eastward along the Qiantang River.

The guards did not give up and immediately drove their boats to chase after them. They mobilized the air to push the boats faster, but Bodhitara waved his hand and the white waves on the river rolled over and pushed the guards' boats back more than ten miles.

When Xiao Yongming learned about this, he was furious, and proclaimed himself the Emperor Bodhisattva. Taking advantage of the fact that the monks of the Southern Dynasty had not left, he gave a lecture at the Lingyin Temple. First, he re-arranged the order of the Southern Dynasty Buddhist temples according to the incense income, and then he forcibly classified the abbots of each temple as peers, and discussed brothers according to the time they had been monks.

Xiao Yongming's move was tantamount to asking the monks to change their sects. Who could agree to this? So all the monks stood up to oppose it. The atmosphere in Lingyin Temple was extremely tense, and bloodshed could break out at any time!

It was not a solution to continue like this, so Kongwen and Shuyi discussed it and sent someone to find Li Yi. As a result, Li Yi gave them an idea of ​​non-violent non-cooperation. The monks in Lingyin Temple went into seclusion at the same time, refusing to eat or drink, all in silent protest.

Two days later, Li Yi pretended to know about this and hurried to Lingyin Temple to pay respect to Xiao Bodhisattva: "Your Majesty, what are you doing? Why are so many monks on a hunger strike together?"

Xiao Yongming closed his eyes and said coldly: "I have long guessed that Bodhidharma's holding of this Dharma Assembly is related to you! Li Yi, I want to ask you, what exactly do you want to do!"

Li Yi said awkwardly, "I just want to gather the power of Buddhism to help Your Majesty destroy the Shura Palace! Your Majesty is reluctant to leave those Yanjia soldiers, but the Shura Palace must be destroyed. In order to share your worries, I can only unite Buddhism and Confucianism to act together!"

Xiao Yongming put down the rosary in his hand, looked at Li Yi with a squint and asked, "Buddhism and Confucianism? You can unite the two religions with your own strength?"

Li Yi could clearly sense Xiao Yongming's murderous intent, and immediately knelt on the ground and said aggrievedly: "Your Majesty, I really want to share your worries! The Shura Palace wants to release the Shura clan from hell, so we have to get rid of them! So I came up with this method, which can not only suppress the Zhu Xi school, but also clean up those monks who do not respect the king."

Xiao Yongming frowned and said, "Who said I want to suppress Zhu Xi's school of thought? How can there be monks who do not respect the king? Li Yi, you are slandering me and the monks of Daliang!"

Li Yi saluted and said, "Your Majesty! Although the disciples of Zhu Xi's school do not hold high positions in Beijing, they are mostly in charge of local affairs. They even dare to find various reasons to delay your Majesty's decrees, which ultimately led to the implementation being blocked and nothing being done! Therefore, this Zhu Xi school must be guarded against!"

Seeing Xiao Yongming's frown slightly relaxed, Li Yi continued, "As for these monks, Your Majesty only asked them to treat each other as peers, and they united to go on a hunger strike to resist. Isn't this disrespecting the king's rule? Your Majesty is kind-hearted. If the Northern Wei emperor encountered such monks who did not obey the king's orders, he would have killed them long ago! It's not like Tuoba Tao has never done anything to destroy Buddhism before!"

Xiao Yongming chuckled and said, "Go on."

Li Yi leaned forward and continued, "Your Majesty, you should know that the Northern Wei Dynasty promulgated the "Policy for Governing Monks". To tell you the truth, this "Policy for Governing Monks" was my idea! The Northern Wei Dynasty is not like our Daliang, with a prosperous population and strong people. We must not allow Buddhism to develop freely, so I came up with this way to restrict Buddhism."

As he spoke, Li Yi leaned forward again and continued, "Although Xiuyuan is an outer disciple of Buddhism, he is first a Confucianist and a Taoist! So he knows the difference between inside and outside, and knows that the Tathagata Buddha in the West is not as close to His Majesty as the emperor who is close to him! What's more, you are an emperor who combines the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in one person, so you should not be called a Bodhisattva, but a Buddha!"

Xiao Yongming's brows relaxed and he said with a smile: "Humph, you are really good at talking, then tell me how to end this now."

Li Yi thought for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, why not let me persuade those stubborn people to obey your Majesty's will? We are all of the same generation, and the elder brother should be considered according to the time he became a monk. Of course, even if they agree, they will not accept it in their hearts.

So your majesty issued a decree to let me lead them and the Zhuzi School to fight against the evil cultivators of the Shura Palace. This would not only avenge Lingyin Temple and establish your majesty's prestige in protecting Buddhism, but also clean up the Shura Palace, which would be a great merit. The most important thing is that it would greatly weaken the Zhuzi School! All three parties were defeated, and only your majesty would reap the benefits. "

Xiao Yongming laughed when he heard this, pointed at Li Yi and cursed: "You are such a cunning little fox, go ahead and give it a try. If you can convince those monks, we will do as you wish!"

Li Yi kowtowed and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is wise! Just wait and see! With Xiuyuan's clever words, he can even beat Zhu Zi, let alone these stupid people!"

Xiao Yongming scolded: "You can't be rude when cultivating your relationship! Those are all great monks in my Buddhist sect!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, whether a monk is great or not should be decided by your Majesty. In a fight, none of them can match Xiu Yuan. How can he be great? It's because you said he is great, so he is talented! As the saying goes, if you say you can do it, then you can do it, even if you can't! If you say you can't do it, then you can't do it, even if you can! You can't refuse to accept it!"

Xiao Yongming waved his hand and said with a smile: "Slippery tongue, get out!"

"Alright! I'll get out of here right now!"

So Li Yi rolled out of Xiao Yongming's meditation room and went straight to the main hall where Kongwen, Shuyi and others were practicing in seclusion. What is non-violent non-cooperation? What is hunger strike? That is just a cover. Who are the people who come to Lingyin Temple? They are all great monks, who meditate and practice Zen, and do not eat, drink or sleep for days and nights. That is basic skills!

So when Li Yi came to the main hall, the monks stood up and saluted, after all, Li Yi's seniority in Buddhism was not small. But when the monks heard that Li Yi asked them to agree to Xiao Yongming's re-arrangement of seniority, they united and accused Li Yi of being a traitor.

However, Li Yi gave them an excuse that they could not refuse. He said: "The Buddhist temples of the Southern Dynasties were full of filth and foul smells. Don't you abbots have any responsibility? Isn't it because your hearts are not firm in cultivating Buddhism, your hearts are not respectful in worshipping Buddha, and your hearts are not clear in the secular world?

If Master Bodhitara had not come here from the East to preach the Dharma, calm the hearts of the monks, respect the Buddha properly, and purify worldly thoughts, you would still be muddle-headed like before, wasting your time!

You should know that Master Bodhidharma is the heir of the Buddha, so Xiuyuan believes that this time the seniority should be re-arranged, and all monks should regard Master Bodhidharma as the founder, and all of you here are disciples, and we will consider brothers based on who became a monk earlier or later. "

After hearing this, the monks were silent for a long time. Master Kongwen suddenly stood up and bowed, saying: "Amitabha, what Xiuyuan said is very reasonable. I think it is right to do so." Shuyi stood up and agreed. The monks also stood up. The matter discussed by their peers was settled in this way.

When Li Yi told the Emperor Bodhisattva the result, Xiao Yongming looked at him with a playful look and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to be such an all-rounder, knowing the destiny, understanding the dragon energy, and controlling the destiny of the country; you are also good at both literature and martial arts, eloquent, and can make money! Now I don't know what kind of official position I should let you be."

Li Yi said awkwardly, "Your Majesty, I am not as good as you say. I just talked a lot. As for what kind of official position, to be honest, I am not interested in being an official. I get a headache just thinking about getting up early to attend court. So if Your Majesty is conferring an official position, please don't let me be an official who has to attend court!"

Xiao Yongming stroked his beard and smiled, "You are not greedy for money and power, well, the only thing is lust. Well, if you are really a perfect person, I really dare not use you, but with this one thing, I can rest assured and save trouble."

Li Yi grinned, and Xiao Yongming said, "Okay, I've thought about it. We can't rely on Buddhism and Confucianism alone to wipe out the Shura Palace. Otherwise, my imperial decree will become a dead letter. So take this and go find the second brother and ask him to cooperate with you!"

Xiao Yongming casually threw a military token to Li Yi. It was a new military tiger token specially made by Liu Hong. Li Yi was surprised and asked, "Your Majesty, how could you give the military token to me?"

Xiao Yongming waved his hand and said with a smile: "Trust a man when you employ him, and don't employ a man you don't trust. I trust you, so go and do your job!"

Li Yi, filled with gratitude, bowed deeply and said: "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will do my best to reduce the losses of the Yanjia Army and live up to your expectations." Xiao Yongming nodded, then closed his eyes and recited scriptures.

With the Buddhist side being taken care of, Li Yi left Lingyin Temple and went to Linjiang Prefecture to find the county governor He Changzhi to inquire about the situation of Confucianism and Taoism. Because the emperor was coming, He Changzhi was definitely unable to spare time, so the work on Confucianism and Taoism was handed over to Zhen Dexiu.

This true Confucian was also very clear. In addition to Zhu Xi's school, he also summoned several great Confucian and Taoist scholars to Linjiang. Thus, the union of the three religions was accomplished. The Confucian and Taoist side was headed by Ding Yuancai and Zhen Dexiu; the Buddhist side was headed by Master Kongwen and Master Shuyi; and the Taoist side was commanded by Yiling and Liu Hong.

Led by Zhang Hongchen, Shura Hall marched towards Li Lao. They formulated a strategy of harassing the enemy at multiple points day and night to tire them out. Youling Hall was the leader, Jifa Hall and Xuanji Hall were the deputies, and Guiren Hall was supervising the battle. If anyone was found escaping, they could be killed directly!

Without a doubt, this was a task that Li Yi had specially assigned to Xu Li. The apparent reason was that there were too few people in Ghost Blade Hall, and if a few more people died, they would be gone. In fact, it was just to help Xu Li continue playing his game of robbing thieves. Li Yi was still very caring towards Xu Li.

Besides this, Li Yi also warned everyone in Shura Palace that the righteous path had been prepared, and Li Lao had the new Yanjia army guarding it, so they must not be careless. They must retreat when the enemy advances and pursue when the enemy retreats, fight a good guerrilla war, and consume as much of the enemy's energy as possible, so that he can take advantage of the opportunity.

On the other hand, Li Yi has handed over the information of the Shura Palace's personnel, skills, team configuration, etc. to the leaders of the three religions. The three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have also gathered, waiting to start a battle between good and evil with the Shura Palace in Li Lao.

It should be explained here that these three families cannot merge. Once they get together, they will fight! So they are independent and each family guards an area. This is also what Li Yi planned in advance. Some people may ask how the Confucian and Taoist people can defend against the attack of Shura Palace with their little fighting power. Don't forget that this is in Nanliang. There are many people who practice both Confucianism and martial arts. Warriors with righteousness still have certain advantages.

Li Yi, who thought he had arranged everything, went to Li Lao in advance to find Yi Ling, ah, to find the second prince Xiao Zongji, so that he could lead the Yanjia Army to cooperate with the three religions.

When Li Yi appeared in front of the second prince Xiao Zongji and the military supervisor Liu Hong with the military token, their jaws dropped! After listening to Li Yi's words about Xiao Yongming's intentions and explaining the combat mission, he stopped worrying about it and went to play with Yi Ling.

However, Yi Ling had no intention of playing with him. With the war imminent, she was not like Li Yi who wanted to be lazy and avoid idleness. Therefore, the idle Li Yi could only practice by himself to stabilize the remnant soul of Miaoyin Bodhisattva that he had just obtained. Li Yi discovered that these remnant souls were actually human souls.

This raises a question: why are the souls of the Bodhisattva Miaoyin that the funeral mortician found and left in the world of Possa all human souls? The pit was dug first and then filled in slowly, but it would take until the trip to Xichu to completely fill it in.

Two nights later, as the evil ghosts committed crimes in the north of Li Lao, the battle officially began. In the first three days, Shura Palace fought a small battle and fled after the fight; then it upgraded its tactics and made a big move, gathering a large group of wandering ghosts to play a feint attack for three consecutive days, while the main force attacked one place fiercely.