Chapter 1097
Proverbs
Chapter 1097 Proverbs
Like all sorcerers in history, the Imperial Preceptor loved gold and silver treasures;
But unlike all the sorcerers in history, the Imperial Preceptor liked to do good deeds, and they were all basic good deeds.
They care for the young and elderly, help the weak and disabled, and are passionate about running schools, especially community schools. They are committed to ensuring that every child of school age can enroll and develop their intelligence, and to discover talents to serve the country, regardless of their identity or gender.
At first, she would use the name of the Imperial Preceptor to do good deeds, which was suspected of winning people's hearts. Later, she simply used the names of the Emperor and Empress, the Imperial Court, Taoism, Sanqing Mountain, and the Academy, doing whatever she wanted.
If this good deed is attributed to the emperor, the next good deed will surely be attributed to the empress; if this one is done in the name of Sanqing Mountain, the next one will be done in the name of the academy…
It can be said that he treats everyone equally, even better than an emperor at being able to treat everyone fairly.
But perhaps because she had too many men to favor, she eventually became completely unruly.
For example, she had just cheated Chen Xun out of money for the Ministry of Works last month, and she probably felt very guilty. When she went to see the completion of the Yellow River project, she took the opportunity to perform a ritual for a local village to find out the reason why the village was having difficulty conceiving—there was a problem with the water in the village.
At that moment, she casually remarked, "If you want to thank someone, thank Minister Chen of the Ministry of Revenue."
If Chen Xun hadn't been constantly looking down on him, she wouldn't have come out to see the Yellow River Grand Project, and she wouldn't have discovered that this village was actually using human sacrifices to the Dragon King in order to increase fertility.
Pan Yun was furious about this.
As the Imperial Preceptor, isn't it irresponsible of her to fail to properly guide the people when the common people of the Ming Dynasty engage in these deviant and evil rituals?
Therefore, Pan Yun launched a large-scale propaganda campaign from top to bottom, claiming that all the gods in the world must be officially recognized and certified by the Celestial Master's Mansion. These are the true gods, and all gods who are not worshipped by the Celestial Master's Mansion are considered wandering immortals. Wild gods are prone to causing evil spirits, and the common people are not allowed to worship or believe in them.
As for Buddhism, there are also distinctions between righteous and heretical Buddhas, which must be determined by Da Long Shan Hu Guo Temple.
Coincidentally, this temple also produced a "national teacher," namely Yao Guangxiao, a predecessor of Pan Yun.
However, he was involved in politics in a proper way, serving as an official during the day and returning to be a monk at night. He was privately respected as the "National Preceptor" but did not have the official title of National Preceptor.
In short, Pan Yun's aim was to guide the people to believe in legitimate gods and Buddhas.
To this end, she wrote a lengthy book titled "Tracing the Origins," which can be summarized in just four sentences at the end.
"Gods and Buddhas love people. If they invite living people to be sacrificed, they must be evil gods and Buddhas, and doing so will backfire."
If one invites gods, Buddhas, or benevolent people to reciprocate with lavish gifts, it will be considered greed for gods and Buddhas, and such actions will backfire.
If gods, Buddhas, and wise men act contrary to common sense, they will surely be false gods and Buddhas, and their actions will be rejected by gods and Buddhas.
All gods and Buddhas in the world originate from humankind. If you have a conscience and your actions align with your beliefs, you yourself are a god.
This book contains 38,888 characters, but only these 88 characters have truly spread throughout the world and been memorized by the people.
Upon the publication of this book, the world fell silent; the civil officials remained silent and focused solely on promoting it.
Some county magistrates even paid out of their own pockets to have these four lines composed into a folk song, which they then had children sing throughout the streets and alleys.
As a result, evil rituals across the land were reduced by 80% in just three months, and county magistrates no longer had to worry about vicious human sacrifice incidents due to sudden natural disasters.
Pan Yun's trip to the grasslands to perform religious rites is also related to this matter.
After the beginning of spring this year, the grasslands were hit by a sudden blizzard, causing heavy losses to cattle and sheep. The imperial court prepared a large amount of grain and medicine to support the grasslands, and the disaster relief work is proceeding in an orderly manner. However, rumors are circulating among the tribes in private.
The noble lords of the various tribes on the grasslands were incompetent and handed the grasslands over to the Zhu family. Therefore, the Eternal Heaven was furious and refused to protect the grasslands anymore, allowing the wind and snow to rage. If the chaos is not rectified, the Eternal Heaven will completely abandon the grasslands, and the souls of these people will have nowhere to go after they die.
So, in order to communicate with the Eternal Heaven, several tribes united and planned to offer ninety-nine young boys and girls as a sacrifice. Some even learned methods of communicating with the heavens from Tibetan Buddhism, and selected eighteen fair-skinned and beautiful virgins to be skinned and made into "Sister Drums," which would then serve as the medium for communicating with the Eternal Heaven. In the past, this matter might have been completed without the capital even knowing about it, but now, due to the establishment of telegraphs, the opening of trade routes, and the large-scale migration of Han Chinese to the grasslands to develop mineral resources, information flowed freely. While they were collecting young boys and girls and the "Sisters" for the Sister Drums, several tribes erupted in fierce resistance and strange events.
The introduction is Pan Yun's eighty-eight-character motto.
Most herders do not object to sacrificing young boys and girls to the heavens, as long as they are not their own children;
Most herders do not object to the use of the Sister Drum to communicate with the Eternal Heaven, as long as it is not their own sisters or daughters.
But the lama chose their child.
Therefore, they were dissatisfied and felt disgusted.
They began to carefully search for loopholes in the matter, and thus they obtained the eighty-eight-character maxim of the Imperial Advisor.
The clever herders directly converted to the faith of the national teacher and spread the teachings to their relatives, friends, and neighbors.
Thus, the uprising broke out.
Just as the lama had chosen a young girl to perform a ritual for her soul and send her to serve the Eternal Heaven.
When Pan Jun arrived, the lama had already been torn to pieces, and several nobles were leading their private soldiers to surround the rebellious herdsmen and set them on fire.
Pan Jun slapped the nobles off their horses, ordered her soldiers to capture them, then appeased the private soldiers the nobles had brought, released the besieged herdsmen, and finally gave a five-day lecture in these tribes, spreading the Daoist teachings.
Of course, considering that the grassland tribes believe more in Buddhism, although Tibetan Buddhism and the Mahayana Buddhism popular in the Central Plains are different, there are always commonalities in Buddhism, and they share a common name.
So, while preaching and expounding the Dharma, Pan Yun sent people back to recruit monks and nuns, and put those eminent monks and nuns on the stage.
She said, "Your Mahayana Buddhism can rival Taoism in the Central Plains, don't make me look down on you!"
So the monks and nuns walked proudly up to the high platform to preach Buddhism, talk to them about life, the afterlife, and the truth of heaven and earth. Pan Yun listened and benefited greatly. Even she, with her firm faith, almost converted to Buddhism, not to mention the many grassland people who were already devout Buddhists.
However, perhaps Pan Yun's appearance was too timely, or perhaps her five days of Taoist practice had deeply impressed people, and a considerable number of herders now have more faith in Taoist teachings.
Especially the group of herdsmen who were almost burned to death, they knelt directly at Pan Yun's feet and piously asked her to accept them as her disciples.
She can't take on disciples, but she can spread her teachings and take the opportunity to promote her views.
Either you believe in legitimate gods and Buddhas, or you only believe in yourselves.
After heated discussions, the herders decided to worship the national teacher.
Pan Yun said with a divine expression, "This humble Taoist comes from the seat of Pan Gong, the mountain god of Sanqing Mountain."
The herders immediately understood, and upon returning home, they enshrined the statue of the God of Sanqing Mountain, and even carved a wooden figure of Pan Yun next to it.
Since we're going to carve it anyway, it's just a matter of carving one more.
(End of this chapter)