Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4736 The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism
The villagers stood on both sides with great interest, waiting for Fang Jun to expose the old monk's fraud so that they could rush over and beat him up. However, after hearing the old monk's words, they felt that what the old monk said made some sense...

Fang Junze asked directly: "May I ask the master's Dharma name?"

"I am Yibao. I studied the Avatamsaka Sutra with a teacher in Suzhou. Later, I went to the Great Charity Temple in Beijing and worshipped under Xuanzang, helping him translate the Indian Buddhist scriptures."

Fang Jun was speechless. What level was Xuanzang? Since he brought back Buddhist scriptures from India, the prestige of Buddhism has grown and completely suppressed Taoism. He was also granted the title of abbot of Da Ci'en Temple by Emperor Taizong. He was then regarded as the "No. 1 in Buddhism" by monks all over the world, and no matter which Buddhist faction he belonged to, there was no objection.

To be accepted as a disciple by Xuanzang and allowed to help him translate Buddhist scriptures, he must have a high status in Buddhism. Although this old monk is old enough to be Xuanzang's father, he doesn't look like Xuanzang's nominal disciple at all...

It is absolutely impossible for such a great Buddhist monk to appear in Lishan Farm by chance.

"The countryside is simple and the villagers are ignorant. They can neither recognize the profound Buddhist teachings nor believe in the Buddha wholeheartedly. But I wonder what the great monk is doing here?"

It is obviously impossible for a monk of Yibao's level to spread Buddhism to these country folk. It is obvious that Yibao came for him.

As expected, Yi Bao smiled broadly and clasped his hands together in greeting, "Duke Yue is a man of great talent and talent. If you can write a few poems that are beneficial to the spread of Buddhism during the Buddhist Yulan Festival, they will surely spread throughout the world, allowing more people to believe in the Buddhist profound meaning of saving all living beings, benefiting the world and the people. This will be recorded in Buddhist scriptures and passed down for generations."

This is a negotiation of conditions. It only said that there would be rewards for merit, but did not say how to punish.

Fang Jun smiled and asked, "Master, you are a great Buddhist. Not only is your knowledge of Buddhism profound, you must also be full of wisdom. I think you should understand that poetry is about inspiration. The so-called 'articles are born naturally, and they are obtained by a master's hand' is also the 'sudden enlightenment' of Buddhism, or 'the law of fate'. It is not that you can do it just by thinking about it. It would be best if you can do it, but if you fail to achieve sudden enlightenment and lack the law of fate, I don't know what to do?"

If you succeed, you will be rewarded and gain support from the entire Buddhist community. But if you fail, I don’t know how to be punished?

Yi Bao smiled so hard that every wrinkle on his face bloomed, his face was filled with a sincere and joyful expression: "Duke Yue is indeed a man of deep wisdom and affinity with Buddha. He has never practiced Buddhism, but he can speak so well and has such a profound understanding of Buddhism. It is truly convincing. Since Duke Yue can explain the essence of 'sudden enlightenment' so simply and easily, he must also understand the principle of knowing what you know and not knowing what you don't know. Some things cannot be forced."

Fang Jun was obviously relieved. "To be honest, Buddhism is now extremely powerful because of the monk Xuanzang. Master, you have personally come to this remote place to invite me. I am under a lot of pressure. If I can write good poems and lyrics, everyone will be happy. I will feel at ease to take the benefits of Buddhism. But if I can't write, I will definitely not be able to resist the suppression or revenge of Buddhism... Since Master said that it doesn't matter if I can't write, then I will say it directly. I haven't written poems for many years. I put down my books and delved into the study of farming. I really can't help you."

The Ullambana Festival is not a very important festival in Buddhism, but it moved a high monk of Yi Bao's level to come and invite him personally, and asked him to write poems and lyrics. It was obvious that he had some ulterior motive, and Fang Jun did not intend to get involved.

Even though he was rejected, Yi Bao still smiled: "Duke Yue's reason is a bit far-fetched. Perhaps... you don't want to get involved in the affairs of the sect?"

Fang Jun thought about it and nodded. This was a good reason. Perhaps it could be a reason to reject Buddhism, and it could also be a reason to reject others.

Yi Bao clasped his hands together again and bowed: "In that case, I will not be a bad guest. Before I came here, my master asked me to bring you a message. The task of translating Buddhist scriptures has been very heavy recently. I have been busy with paperwork. Only when I have tea and chat with Duke Yue can I feel a little relaxed. I hope Duke Yue will go to Da Ci'en Temple to visit his old friend in his spare time."

Fang Jun returned the greeting: "I have missed you for a long time, but I heard that you were so busy deciphering Buddhist scriptures that you forgot to eat and sleep, so I didn't dare to disturb you rashly. Since you have invited me, I will definitely go when I am free."

"In this case, my mission has been completed. I will say goodbye now."

"Walk slowly, don't send."

Yi Bao turned around and walked away slowly, but the villagers and farmhands on both sides were in an uproar.

"Erlang is confused. There are countless Buddhists now. If you can go and participate in their important festivals, you will definitely benefit a lot. How can you refuse?"

"Who says it's not true? Such a good opportunity is wasted, and it may even offend the Buddhist sect!"

"Alas! Erlang, although you are a good man, you are still impulsive. You got into trouble without Fang Xiang watching you!"

"However, Erlang and Master Xuanzang are very close. Why not go to Da Ci'en Temple now to explain the situation to Master Xuanzang and sincerely apologize? Perhaps we can still salvage the relationship."

……

Everyone gave Fang Jun advice. People who could read had a broader vision and felt that they could judge people and make decisions. They all thought that Fang Jun was unwise to reject Buddhism and should change his mind in time. No one was afraid of Fang Jun, the de facto "owner". Instead, they treated him as their own son or nephew. Now that they saw that Fang Jun was probably in a bad mood again, they either tried to persuade him politely or criticized him directly. Each method expressed Fang Jun's love.

After all, Buddhism is now enjoying a prosperous reputation and is at its peak. Even the most ordinary and uninformed farmers know that the consequences of rashly offending Buddhism are very serious, let alone these farmhands who only know a few words and call themselves "scholars"?

Fang Junze was furious. He kicked the two sturdy farmhands several times and cursed, "Damn it, you two have only learned to read for a few days? Do you still need to teach your father how to do things? Go home and eat, and then go to work in the fields. If you can't pay the rent this year, your father will break your legs!"

Everyone was laughing, and the two people who were kicked didn't care.

Someone shouted, "Erlang said that if you give birth to a child, the rent and taxes for that year will be exempted. I wonder if this is still true?"

"Bullshit! Aye's spit is a nail, how can his words not count?"

Fang Jun cursed, looked the person who was talking up and down, pointed at him and continued to curse: "Damn it! You can't be that 'God San', right? You are simply a beast. You have a child every year. If you have children like this and are exempt from rent and taxes, I will be poor to death. You should take it easy. Even if you don't feel bad about the rent and taxes, you should feel bad for your wife. She is a human being, not a pig. If you keep giving birth like this, what will happen!"

The farmhands around laughed: "Gou San, you are now famous. Even Erlang knows that you have not had enough children."

"Gou San" blushed, and the sturdy man acted shyly, and said with a grunt: "What can I do? There is nothing to do after the sun goes down. It's just a little thing to do on the kang. I have a good appearance and I have children one after another. There is nothing I can do."

Everyone laughed.

After the turmoil at the end of the year, the population of Guanzhong dropped by more than half, especially the loss of young and strong people, so since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, production has been encouraged. Under the management of Fang Jun, Lishan Farm has given childbirth an unparalleled status and formulated many reward systems. Not only are the rent and taxes of the family exempted in the year of childbirth, but the children can also go to school for free when they grow up, or study classics, history, or arithmetic and physics. In short, every effort was made to increase the population.

In recent years, the country has been peaceful and the people have been safe, the weather has been good, and the shipping routes to Southeast Asia have become more stable. Every year, a steady supply of food is shipped into the country. As long as there is enough food, people will naturally have children. Throughout history, one of the most important indicators for measuring a country's strength and development potential is its population size.

After driving away the farmhands, Fang Jun returned to the farm along the village path with his personal guards, hands behind his back. When they arrived at the gate of the farm, they saw a servant waiting there, informing them that there were guests coming to visit and were waiting in the main hall.

Being able to easily enter the main hall of Zhuangzi, it was obvious that he was an old friend. When Fang Jun simply washed up and came to the hall, he found that the person who came to visit was Yuan Tiangang...

Fang Jun was very surprised. After asking the servant to serve tea, he asked with a smile, "I thought it was Brother Li Chunfeng who came, but I didn't expect it was Taoist Yuan who came. It seems that the Taoists have been forced into a desperate situation by the Buddhists this time."

Yuan Tiangang, who always had the demeanor of a sage and a hermit, now had a sad face. He drank a sip of tea, shook his head and sighed, "Buddhism is shameless. They are a foreign sect. When they first arrived, they were inevitably not used to the local climate. There were very few ways to spread Buddhism. Their doctrine of following fate in this life and enjoying happiness in the next life was sneered at by people all over the world. For a long time, they were unstable and had difficulty in taking steps, just like a flame in a strong wind, which could be completely extinguished at any time. Then they began to plagiarize shamelessly, changing the Taoist doctrine into the Buddhist doctrine, and claiming it as their own, and finally gained a firm foothold. The 'Zhongyuan Festival' that has been passed down by Taoism for thousands of years was modified by them and turned into the so-called 'Yulanpen Festival', which was clearly competing with Taoism. Especially since Xuanzang brought back the Buddhist scriptures from Tianzhu, the prestige of Buddhism has skyrocketed. We Taoist disciples have been struggling to support it and can't even breathe."

Fang Jun smiled and said, "Buddhism has indeed tampered with many of the essences of Taoism and claimed them as its own, but Taoism also uses the same method to give back to others. You are in me and I am in you. Now I am afraid it is difficult to distinguish the entanglement. What's the point of talking about this?"

In this matter, it was indeed the Buddhism that was wrong first, but the Taoism followed closely and used their own spear to attack their own shield. The right and wrong have long been impossible to distinguish. What's the point of talking about it?