Datang: Li Shimin begged me to rebel

"Master, you said that the vast Dharma can save all living beings. And you said that Master Jiexian is more proficient in Dharma than you, and you may not be able to catch up with him in your whole life. Am I right?" Li Ke looked at him and asked .

"Yes." Xuanzang nodded. This is what he said, and he naturally dared to admit it.

"Then dare to ask Master, this Jieri Dynasty always divides people according to the so-called caste system. Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra divide people into different levels. Buddha pays attention to the equality of all living beings, but in this However, the Jieri Dynasty cannot make all living beings equal, not to mention the untouchable class, Dalits."

"And these people are the most numerous, so I would like to ask, Master Jiexian's Dharma is so profound, why hasn't he saved all sentient beings?" Li Ke asked flatly, "Then even the precepts that are more profound than your Dharma Even a virtuous dharma master can’t achieve the vastness of the Dharma and save all sentient beings. So what’s the point of your actions, master?”

Xuanzang: "..."

He was almost confused by Li Ke's series of rhetorical questions. He had traveled all the way, so he naturally knew how miserable the lives of the most numerous untouchables and the Sudra class were in the society of the Jieri Dynasty.

"Your Highness, different countries have different situations, not to mention that the kings and nobles of the Jieri Dynasty did not believe in Buddhism." Xuanzang said helplessly.

"Oh, but this is the birthplace of Buddhism. The country here once believed in Buddhism. Since Buddhism can save all living beings, it must be that the country is rich and the people are strong. Why does the country perish? As the birthplace of Buddhism, here It used to be that the entire country believed in Buddhism from the king to the people. Does this mean that Buddhism is useless? It is harmful to the country and the people if all the people believe in Buddhism?" Li Ke asked curiously.

Xuanzang: "..."

"Your Highness's words are wrong. After all, we don't know what happened in the past dynasty, but if the poor monk works hard to spread the Buddhadharma, it will naturally save all sentient beings." Xuanzang took a deep breath and said.

"Then what if my father and I order the extermination of Buddha? It's like the extermination of Buddha in the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties." Li Ke asked while looking at him indifferently.

Xuanzang: "..." He pursed his lips for a while and didn't know how to answer this question, because the person opposite him was not someone else, but King Qin of the Tang Dynasty, a prince. If he dared to say that, he might be Really, how does that make him answer?

"I believe that since His Highness saw me, it would be impossible for him to act like this." Xuanzang took a deep breath.

"That's not sure, whether the Buddha will be destroyed in the Tang Dynasty depends on whether Buddhism is useful to the Tang Dynasty. In other words, whether Buddhism is useful to the rule of the Tang royal family. If the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, then the Buddha must be destroyed. Yes." Li Ke was discussing the matter, "So, even if you are proficient in Buddhism, master, it will be useless to the Tang Dynasty in the end, I still want to destroy Buddha, dare to ask master, how do you save all living beings?"

Xuanzang was silent because...it didn't seem to be based on manpower, "Then what His Highness said, how can we not destroy the Buddha?" Xuanzang took a deep breath, his heart was not shaken, but he felt that he could not be His Royal Highness Qin Wang continued to ask, if he continued to ask, he felt that he was not well.

So he has to take the initiative to attack.

"Of course Buddhism is useful to Datang. For example, Datang is constantly expanding. In Nanyang, Datang has added a lot of territories. In these lands, many believers believe in Buddhism. If we cooperate with the government of Datang Propaganda, let them gradually identify with Datang and integrate into Datang, then of course the Datang government will not destroy Buddhism, but even so, Buddhism will still be under the official management of Datang." Li Ke said with a smile.

"This is not a Buddha." Xuanzang spat out four words.

"Well, that's right, this is not a Buddha, at least not the ideal Buddha described in your Buddhist scriptures, but this can make Buddhism survive, make you more believers, and make you influential. It can make more people Free from military disasters, free from harm, and under the rule of the Tang government, live and work in peace and contentment, the people are peaceful, and no longer wanton rebellion and disputes. Then save the people from the fire and water." Li Ke cracked his mouth and smiled.

"This is not a Buddha, it is a tool, a tool of the ruler. This is not the Buddha in my heart. I study Buddhism and study Buddhist scriptures, not for this." Xuanzang said with a frown, he probably understood that King Qin came here Why? It turned out that Buddhism became a tool of the ruling class.

"Yes, I know. Didn't you say that studying Buddhism is for the salvation of all living beings? Since it is for the salvation of all living beings, following in the footsteps of the ruler, you can save all the people from the fire and water, and you can save all living beings. Maybe with the passage of time , subsequent rulers can also believe in Buddhism."

"But if you don't do this, it's useless for you to study Buddhism, and you can't save sentient beings. Isn't your ultimate goal to save sentient beings? If you can't save sentient beings, you can't broaden the Dharma. What is the use of studying this Buddhist scriptures?" Use? Satisfy yourself? If it’s just to satisfy yourself, for yourself, then I have nothing to say, it’s a personal choice.” Li Ke nodded his head as a matter of course.

Xuanzang: "..."

It was an objection, an objection he could not answer.

"I don't know whether it will be successful or not, but this is my pursuit and vision. Whether it can be realized or not, if I do it, it is possible to achieve it, but if I don't do it, it will never be realized." Xuanzang looked calm, and he From the beginning to the end, I didn't talk about Buddhism, Buddhist scriptures, or Buddhist gatha with Li Ke.

Because he knew that His Royal Highness the King of Qin in front of him had never understood Buddhist scriptures, so it was useless for you to tell him these things.

He knew a little bit about His Royal Highness King Qin's character, and he had heard a lot about his recklessness on the way to Tianzhu.

"Look, the topic has come back again. If you work in the Tang Dynasty, you can influence the emperor, influence the emperor, save the people, save the people, save all living beings, and save the people from the fire and water, although they may not be in the fire and water. But if you study Buddhism here, the result is that you can’t do anything, and you may be doing useless work all your life.”

"Master, isn't the great Dharma aimed at saving all living beings? Now that you can save all living beings, what's the point of being broad and not great? If you insist on sticking to the great Dharma instead of saving all living beings, isn't it putting the cart before the horse and violating Buddhism? What about the five precepts? Presumably the Buddha is not like this, right?" Li Ke looked at him and said.

Xuanzang looked at Li Ke, he didn't even know what His Highness was going to do.

But I have to say, these words of His Highness really made Xuanzang's mind no longer calm.