Chinese dining table

Chapter 1260 The Beauty of Falling Autumn Leaves
For Yun Chu and his gang, the cannon is like a bait. After it is thrown out, no matter who bites the bait, they will eventually be harvested by the fisherman Li Zhi.

What Yun Chu wanted was time, time when he could still keep his word. He wanted to do as many things as he could and wanted to do during this stage.

After all, human life is limited. Being able to do what you want to do in a limited life and die without regrets is the most wonderful way to die for any person in power with lofty ideals.

Victory is just around the corner, and Yun Chu doesn't want to give up halfway.

After getting up early in the morning, Yun Chu looked at the pigeons flying around the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and felt a little lonely.

Although my old friend, who I used to spend every day with, now lives in Luoyang, a city not far away, it seems like we are separated by thousands of mountains and rivers. At this moment, I can’t even write to him too many times.

Once a force becomes huge, it must be divided. Otherwise, like the monopoly enterprises in later generations, it will be held accountable by the state. This principle is not only understood by Yun Chu, but also by Wenrou and Di Renjie. However, their way of understanding this matter is slightly different from Yun Chu's. There are too many such examples in history books that can be used as reference.

Chang'an is a huge dye vat for the officials and people of the Tang Dynasty. As long as they come to Chang'an, they will be enveloped by the various atmospheres and culture of Chang'an, and eventually, after being pickled in the pickle jar of Chang'an, they will become the flavor of Chang'an.

It is hard to say how authentic the flavor of Chang'an is. This is a city that allows diversity, a city that allows good people, bad people, honest officials, and corrupt officials to coexist.

However, their way of doing things will undergo a drastic change, and they may even become people who put profit above all else. In Chang'an, they will do anything that is conducive to economic development and improving people's living standards.

It is only because interests are paramount that people rack their brains to figure out new ways forward.

Sustainable development is important.

Yun Luan appeared in front of his father in high spirits. After bowing, he prepared to go to the second workshop to study his microscope.

"Are there many people going to the Second Workshop these days?"

Yun Luan said, "Five days ago, Taiping took the waist badge and took Prince Yong to see the cannon. Three days ago, the Wu brothers took the waist badge to see the cannon. Yesterday, several North Gate scholars from Luoyang also went to see the cannon. It is estimated that more people will enter the second workshop to see the cannon today."

Yun Chu hesitated for a moment and said, "Is there no one looking at the telescopes, microscopes, muskets, and those steam-connected devices?"

Yun Luan laughed and said, "Those people only look at the artillery and have no interest in anything else."

Yun Chu sighed and said, "Look, these people are so ridiculous. They are in a mountain of treasures, but they only look at the most humble stones and birds. They even ignore the airships that can fly into the sky?"

Yunluan said, "On the day when Prince Yong went there, the airship workshop specially flew up an airship. Taiping was curious, but Prince Yong said it was just a Kongming lantern from Jinchangfang, nothing special."

Yun Chu said: "When the wind blows from Liaodong every year, it only takes six days to get from Liaodong to Chang'an. When the west wind blows every year, it only takes four days to get from the plateau to Chang'an. The same is true when the north wind blows or the south wind blows. This is the use of airships in the natural wind period. Once the airships have power, the vast territory of our Tang Dynasty will no longer be an obstacle to our rule. The vast territory will only become our wealth.

Everything in the Second Workshop is of great significance to the development of the Tang Dynasty...Alas, these self-righteous people..."

Yun Chu sighed and let Yun Luan go on her mission.

He was also very busy today. The debate at Louguantai had finally come to an end. It was a foregone conclusion that Buddhism and Taoism would officially establish their mountain gates in Chang'an.

This time, Buddhism placed a heavy bet on Chang'an. In addition to the existing sixty-one temples, it planned to build another fifty temples around Chang'an.

Taoism also attached great importance to Chang'an. They were determined to move many Taoist temples out of the deep mountains and forests, and planned to establish the Taoist headquarters in Chang'an with Zhang Tianshi's clan as the sect.

Other religions such as Islam, Nestorianism, Manichaeism, and Zoroastrianism also seem to be actively preparing to expand their temples and extend their influence.

Yun Chu very much welcomed these sects to settle in Chang'an.

Anyway, when Chang'an became a religious arena, it meant that Chang'an, or the Tang Dynasty, had a natural interest in the birthplaces of these religions, or in other words, had natural jurisdiction over them.

In the Tang Dynasty, divine right of kings was a universal understanding. In other places, the king's right was generally granted by God, or politics and religion were combined. As long as the Tang Dynasty was strong enough, it could be considered that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was the most powerful god in the world.

The Tang Dynasty court has already taken action on this. Li Zhi, the former Son of Heaven, has become the current Emperor, and Wu Mei, the former Queen, has become the Empress. These are the preparations made by the Tang Dynasty officials for ruling religion.

In the ninth year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan reign, the Nestorian Bishop A Luoben came to Chang'an. The Emperor gave him good treatment, allowed him to preach, and built a temple for him. This was probably his consideration.

Now, the Tang Dynasty is far more powerful than during the Zhenguan period, and is more open to religion. As long as it is not a cult, it can settle in certain cities, such as Chang'an, Luoyang, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou.

The more prosperous the city, the richer and more civilized the people are. Their thinking will be clearer and they will know exactly what they want. In this case, the more difficult it is to spread religion.

When people believe in religion, they basically do not devote themselves wholeheartedly. They are restrained and selective, for example - which family has the best vegetarian food, or which family gives more eggs.

If religion were to go to the countryside, it would be a disaster... Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, the only religions that could truly flourish everywhere were Buddhism and Taoism, while the rest were limited to local development.

Yun Chu hoped that all religions entering Chang'an must be under the absolute jurisdiction of the Tang government and must preach or accept believers within the scope permitted by Tang law.

In the long run, Yun Chu believed that after Chang'an lost its status as a political center, it could still use religion to strengthen its position in the Tang Dynasty.

Chang'an's status as a religious center is like a thick defensive armor. If one day the emperor prepares to take back the entire Chang'an, he must first eliminate the thriving religion. This will leave Chang'an with enough time to react.

When the religious leaders entered Chang'an, although Yun Chu was the one staying in Chang'an, he had very little say in the matter, or it could be said that Yun Chu simply did not want to show that he welcomed the entry of religion into Chang'an.

Therefore, in the team welcoming the religious leaders, Yun Chu stood in the second row. The first row was composed of members of the Li royal family and officials from the Chongsheng Office, a specialized department of the imperial Ministry of Rites that oversaw religion.

The Wu brothers stood obediently behind Yun Chu. They felt somewhat jealous when they saw the Li royal family represented by Prince Yongxian and Princess Taiping actively interacting with the religious leaders.

The Queen worships Buddhism!

Unfortunately, Yun Chu was unwilling to show enthusiasm, and the brothers could do nothing about it.

Yun Jin did not stand on the side of the Chang'an officials. On the contrary, he stood behind the religious leaders together with Wen Huan and Li Chengxiu, observing the etiquette of a disciple. He did not have any interaction with Prince Yong, Princess Taiping and their entourage. In other words, the religious leaders did not put them on the table as core members.

Wu Chengsi looked at the silent Yun Chu, and then at the marginalized Yun Jin, Wen Huan, Li Chengxiu and others, and could not help but take a step back. It was this step that made the brothers seem less close to the Chang'an officials.

The relationship between Buddhism and Taoism that Yun had previously cited as the basis seemed to be collapsing during this debate at Louguantai.

First of all, although Master Xuanzang was still the leader of Buddhism from then on, he no longer cared about worldly affairs. He devoted himself to meditation in the Da Ci'en Temple and took pleasure in writing Buddhist scriptures.

Furthermore, Master Sun is no longer an indispensable figure in Taoism. Ever since Master Sun became obsessed with medicine, Taoism has not been able to get any real help from him in the past twenty years. As a result, the originally powerful Taoism has seen its strength greatly reduced after many great immortals passed away. If it weren't for Master Sun's high reputation, these people would even hope to expel him from Taoism.

The Wu brothers saw many truths that they could not see in normal days just from the grand welcoming ceremony. They did not intend to tell the queen about these truths.

It's not that they have any opinion about the Queen, but Yun Chu is too cunning. Although the Wu brothers think that what they saw is the truth, they have no intention of being the Queen's pawn until Yun Chu's head falls to the ground or he is truly defeated.

After those religious leaders moved into their respective temples, Yun Chu left the Wannian County Government accompanied by his only guard Yin Erhu. Although he still looked aloof and cold, Wu Chengsi felt that the steps of the black horse under Yun Chu's crotch seemed very heavy today.

When a general rides a horse, he becomes one with the warhorse. Although the warhorse is carrying the general, in order to save horsepower, the general will definitely cooperate with the warhorse's movements and try to reduce the horse's physical consumption as much as possible.

This is an instinct for the generals. Yun Chu is a top general, but today, he had no intention of cooperating with the warhorse. He was like a walking corpse, letting the warhorse carry him home.

Wu Chengsi returned to the official residence and poured himself a cup of tea. He took a sip and heard Wu Sansi whisper, "The Yun family is already showing signs of defeat."

Wu Chengsi shook his head and said, "It's too early. Yunchu is still favored by the emperor. His Majesty still favors him. The crown prince also thinks highly of the Yun family. Chang'an is now thriving and has not shown any signs of failure. It's too early to say that the Yun family has begun to decline."

Wu Sansi said: "A rat hole has appeared on the dam, and a rock has collapsed from the cliff. Even if the lamp burns the iron chain, the dog licks the flour mountain, and the chicken pecks the rice hill, the damage is already apparent."

Wu Chengsi nodded and said, "That makes sense, but this is limited to us brothers and cannot be spread to others."

Wu Sansi said, "If we can gain control of the second workshop from Yunchu... what do you think, brother?"

Wu Chengsi said with a smile: "Yun Chu has always been stubborn and arrogant. Now he is starting to go wrong. We brothers must follow you closely and be loyal to you."

Wu Sansi said: "King Yong is wise, I am afraid that peace will become the biggest obstacle for us brothers."

Wu Chengsi drank the tea in the cup as it gradually cooled down and said, "First, I need to endure the loneliness now."

Wu Sansi agreed with this.

(End of this chapter)