Chapter 437 Lessons from the Past
The banquet ended in a bad mood. After the brothers Zhang Lu and Zhang Wei left, Yan Pu returned.

Fa Zheng led Yan Pu back up the stairs. Fa Zheng looked calm and didn't care whether the Zhang brothers had a falling out or not.

On the second floor of the gatehouse, the black bear had stopped eating and was sitting in front of the southwest railing, looking at the migrating team.

In his hand he held a jade pot that fit his palm, and from time to time he took a sip of the warm tea from his mouth.

The wealth of Shuzhong was not only Shu brocade, gold, armor, equipment, population and products, but also many luxury goods and rare treasures accumulated by Liu Zhang and his son.

Fa Zheng bowed to the black bear's back and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Yan wishes to see you."

The black bear then turned around and said to the two people who were bowing, "Are you here for Master Zhang?"

"Exactly."

Yan Pu bowed again and looked up at Black Bear: "Grand Marshal, Master Zhang offered 120,000 households in Hanzhong, which was a great help. Only then could you sweep across Bashu and conquer the southwest in one battle. From a public and private point of view, forcing Master Zhang to lead his troops deep into the barren land will inevitably make people all over the world feel disappointed."

"You have a point."

Black Bear stretched out his arms to signal the two to sit down, but Yan Pu got angry and stood there with his neck stiffened. Fa Zheng moved to get the square stool, which was a folding stool that was very convenient to carry with the army.

Now knights in the army must carry it, which is sturdier than a stool and tall enough.

If it has a backrest structure, such a folding chair may be more bulky, but for the soldiers wearing armor, sitting on such a folding chair is a very comfortable thing that can relax the body and mind and restore physical strength.

Fa Zheng was also very observant. He brought a chair over but did not see Yan Pu sit down. He then turned around to get the sheepskin map.

Black Bear handed the jade pot to Fa Zheng, took the sheepskin scroll from Fa Zheng and shook it, without a smile on his face: "In public and private, emotionally and rationally, I have failed Master Zhang in this small Kyushu. But in the vast world outside of the small Kyushu, if heaven gives it to you, it would be a crime not to take it."

Seeing that the black bear was angry, Yan Pu couldn't help but stand still and grit his teeth.

Seeing this, Black Bear continued, "Everyone must die, so a real man should not die in mediocrity. Tianshi Zhang is from Lu, and is my hometown. The Central Plains is so small, and it has experienced turbulent times, with all industries declining and no one living for thousands of miles. What is there to be nostalgic about? It is better to go out and explore, conquer a big country, establish a Taoist country, and practice the great cause of a peaceful and happy land. This is the dream of many predecessors. I really didn't expect that Master Zhang was just superficial and had forgotten the great wish of Taoism."

"Fu Tu Dao Yuan himself is poisonous, yet he has traveled thousands of miles to preach to our Middle Earth. Doesn't Master Zhang know what they want to do?"

"Outside this small Kyushu, there is not only the Buddhist Dao, but also the Hu Tian Dao and so on. Today, the Tianshi Dao has proven in Hanzhong that it can expand outward. If we don't expand outward now, do we have to wait for the evil sects to surround the Central Plains? In such a chaotic world, the destruction of a country is not a big deal. Haven't you seen that the descendants of those who destroyed their country are rarely extinct?"

Black Bear looked at Yan Pu with a cold gaze: "As for the princes of various parties, Master Zhang is my fellow Taoist. I hope he can think carefully about whether he wants to undertake this great goal. If he insists on returning home, or is obsessed with the wealth of the Central Plains, I can tolerate him, but the Tianshi Dao must be changed and merged into my Taiping Dao."

"The Grand Marshal has lofty ambitions, but the 100,000 mountains outside of Nanzhong are also what the Grand Marshal said. I know that the road is difficult and dangerous, and it is really difficult to open up."

Yan Pu bowed again and said, "I beg the Grand Marshal to point out a new direction, such as crossing the sea from Jiaozhou to the Sea of ​​Sindhu. In this way, Master will be more receptive."

At this time, Fa Zheng also stepped forward to advise: "Your Majesty, the Hundred Thousand Mountains cannot be opened up at the moment. I think it will not be too late to go to the South after the Shu Road is opened up."

He also knew clearly what Li Feng, the governor of Yizhou, wanted to do. He wanted to establish a large administrative region, under which various secondary administrative regions at the county level would be divided. He would then organize and arm believers. It was one thing to check and balance the big families in Shu, but in Li Feng's eyes, it was meaningful to use such fanatical armed forces to destroy mountains and temples.

The luxury of Shuzhong is also reflected in various sacrificial activities.

In the next period of time, what Li Feng has to do is to eradicate the worship of ghosts, river gods, mountain gods or demon gods, reduce the frequency of sacrifices, ban extravagant sacrifices, and reduce the living burden for the general public.

Local sacrifices are a very money-making activity.

This was the reason why the Taiping Dao initially swept across the country. The people were already poor and could not support the intensive sacrificial levies in the villages and counties.

The Taiping Dao, which did not emphasize sacrifices and even forbade blood sacrifices, was immediately welcomed by the poor people.

However, many professional priests who made a living were at risk of losing their jobs, so they took the initiative to bring their believers to join the Taiping Dao.

At first, these people could be restrained, but with the demise of the Yellow Turban Army, the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army in various places returned to their true nature, engaging in bloody sacrifices and indulging in extravagance.

But at this moment, Black Bear frowned slightly and squinted at Yan Pu: "If you go to Jiaozhou, will Master Zhang preach to the Rinnan area, or to the Shanyue and Ouyue in the north? It's not that I'm suspicious, but Master Zhang took refuge so easily, so I can't help but think more."

Yan Pu was silent. Jiaozhou was actually very large. During Zhang Lu's generation, he could not even digest Jiaozhou. The locals in Jiaozhou had their own beliefs and could not be easily suppressed.

To the northeast of Jiaozhou are the relatively mature Shanyue and Ouyue. People in Central China can accuse Ouyue and Shanyue of being barbarians; in fact, compared with the Nanyue people in Jiaozhou and those people who are difficult to communicate with, Ouyue and Shanyue are mostly mature and can be dealt with.

Naturally, there was less resistance to preaching to the Shanyue and Ouyue tribes.

Seeing Yan Pu's expression, Black Bear said, "I can allow Master Zhang to change his direction, but I will only allow the Heavenly Master Dao to establish a Daoist country in Shentu. You can preach in other places, but you cannot cause trouble for the government."

"Yes, I understand. I will report this to you, Master."

Yan Pu bowed solemnly, and Fa Zheng stuffed the sheepskin map into Yan Pu's hands.

After Fa Zheng saw him off and returned, he asked, "Your Majesty, will the Heavenly Master spread the teachings to Sindhu as ordered?"

"Tianshi Dao, I don't know whether the Zhang family wants to be the emperor's teacher or to follow the way of heaven. But in terms of ambition, Tianshi Dao is far inferior to Taiping Dao."

Black Bear went to get the teapot himself, brought it to his lips and took a sip: "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom... Zhang Lu's ambition in this life was to become the King of Han Ning and the Heavenly Master of the Han Dynasty. His success in Hanzhong was just a coincidence as the mountain people suffered from the obscene worship."

The most crucial thing is that without the suppression from the county and prefecture levels of Hanzhong, this force would have been defeated, suppressed and integrated long ago with the support of Liu Yan.

There was no joint suppression from nearby counties and prefectures, otherwise it would have been difficult for the Tianshi Dao to gain a foothold in the beginning.

Especially with Liu Yan by his side, the big families and powerful people in Hanzhong did not dare to cause sabotage openly; Zhang Lu could even occasionally use the name of the county government. With the overlap of these many factors, the reputation of the Hanzhong Tianshi Dao, which was able to destroy mountains and temples, was revealed.

After all, it was the intersection of various factors that eliminated the heavy burden of the poor people and mountain people, liberated their spirits on a small scale, and stimulated their enthusiasm for production.

Then this group of people burst out with a brilliant power, achieved incredible results in destroying mountains and temples, and cleared out the surrounding evil sacrifices in one fell swoop.

It was this successful military action that enabled Zhang Lu to suppress the powerful families and wealthy people in Hanzhong.

After a long period of contact, the two sides quickly merged.

The higher the depth of fusion... the smaller the brilliant power that the followers of Tianshidao can unleash.

If we want to maintain this indescribable glorious power, we must continue to achieve effective results in external wars.

With the continuous motivation of positive feedback, Tianshidao also has the probability of snowballing.

However, Zhang Lu himself stopped and thought about becoming the King of Hanning, which poured cold water on the internal Tianshi Dao. How could the powerful families support him to become the King of Hanning?

The powerful families would not do that, and the followers of Tianshidao would certainly not do that... In their eyes, the master should not be bound by the throne.

It was Zhang Lu himself who destroyed the pioneering spirit of Tianshi Dao.

And isn’t the Tianshi Dao also a lesson for ourselves?
While Black Bear was sighing, he drank tea and pondered over the abdication and imperial robe he would face after returning to Guanzhong.

Fa Zheng was very smart and guessed some clues immediately.

During this period of contact, he has realized that Taishi Wengong is not a serious person, but there is nothing to be afraid of.

As for suppressing the powerful and wealthy, or even destroying the group in front of him, it was just a simple matter for Fa Zheng.

It is really an unnecessary mess. Even if this batch is disintegrated, another batch can be reorganized in the future.

He was from a poor family, and having fallen to this point, he could not be considered a powerful or wealthy family.

Perhaps if everything was broken and everyone started accumulating family prestige again, he would actually gain an advantage.

(End of this chapter)