Longzang

Chapter 1213 Such Great Kindness
"...In various parts of Ganzhou, fields are often left uncultivated; villagers are busy building temples and chanting scriptures. A county magistrate submitted a memorial, saying that the people are living in harmony, thievery has disappeared, and doors are left unlocked at night, which is a good story..."

Amidst the bustling world, Wei Yuan reviewed the reports, all of which were largely similar. The Pure Land Buddhism currently popular in Ganzhou emphasized precepts, asceticism, suffering, chanting scriptures, and cultivating the next life. Among these, suffering, asceticism, chanting scriptures, building temples, and expanding the Buddhist land were all considered important parts of cultivating the next life.

Therefore, in the places where people have been converted, they build temples and chant scriptures, but no one farms or produces crops. If they were arrested, firstly, there would be no reason for it, and secondly, it would make them think that they are suffering, which would greatly excite them.

Wei Yuan then sifted through another batch of reports, all of which were similar in content. They were all petitions from county magistrates in various places, requesting increased grain allocations to alleviate the crisis of freezing and starvation. However, not everyone could clearly explain the cause of the freezing and starvation, and many were even vague in their explanations.

In the past, Qingming had considerable trust in the officials he dispatched, and applications for funds and grain under the guise of disaster relief were quickly approved. The main reason was that Qingming had a large amount of grain reserves.

Secondly, Wei Yuan had an extremely low tolerance for famine and disaster, and severely punished officials who neglected their duties, with the lightest punishment being dismissal. As a result, when sudden natural disasters occurred, many county magistrates and their officials would rather their own families go hungry than let ordinary people starve to death.

However, when considered in the context of the broader environment, these reports revealed problems. Furthermore, with Wei Yuan sending aliases on a private investigation, it became clear that this was actually a way to use the Azure Netherworld's provisions to fulfill their own beliefs.

Wei Yuan just sneered, thinking that he was really easy to manipulate.

However, Wei Yuan did not make any major moves. He simply accelerated the construction of the floating road. At the same time, as the floating road extended, a large number of Qingming soldiers slowly advanced, encroaching on the surrounding territory of Qingming.

Wei Yuan estimated that the Pure Land wouldn't have only these methods; there would definitely be more to come. To convert tens of millions of people in one fell swoop—such methods were rare even within the entire Pure Land. Having already invested so much, it would be unreasonable not to press on and kill Wei Yuan in one fell swoop.

So Wei Yuan waited patiently, waiting for Pure Land to reveal its trump card. So far in this round, Wei Yuan had only suffered losses, not serious injuries. As long as Pure Land revealed its trump card first, Wei Yuan could then strike back and win the battle in one fell swoop.

After careful consideration, Wei Yuan issued only one order, requiring local officials to ensure the cultivation of farmland and prohibiting large-scale abandonment of fields. At the same time, he dispatched a large number of military officers and colonels from Qingming to inspect the surrounding areas, especially the converted regions, checking each county one by one. Wei Yuan's requirement was that they must visit every single village.

In this way, as long as the officials weren't completely corrupted, even if they were just going through the motions, they would still have to send people to the fields to make a show of it, and then the summer grain harvest could be saved.

As for those who still put up a stubborn resistance, the Azure Nether Army is not just for show.

Over the next month, as autumn approached, Wei Yuan had dispatched several thousand officers to traverse every village in Ganzhou. Meanwhile, several elite units remained on standby on floating boats; wherever there was disobedience, the floating boats would take to the air, and the main army would arrive within half a day.

There were dozens of small, sporadic disturbances, but one major disturbance occurred in Lanyang County. This was the very county that Wei Yuan, in his disguise, had once passed through, and the captain he sent to inspect it was ambushed and killed in the countryside! None of the dozens of soldiers who accompanied him survived.

Immediately, the magistrate of Lanyang County issued a proclamation, declaring Wei Yuan's order a rebellious one, which Lanyang County would not comply with. Following this, believers from across Lanyang County gathered, with wealthy households contributing men and grain, amassing tens of thousands of people to demand self-governance.

When the matter was reported to Wei Yuan, he immediately ordered: "Suppress and annihilate them!"

When several large floating boats, each hundreds of feet long, appeared over Lanyang County, only half a day had passed since the county magistrate issued his decree. The army then marched into the city, where the roads were already filled with fanatical believers.

Qingming deployed its renowned heavy armored warriors, wielding heavy shields, advancing in ranks. When the two sides were several dozen paces apart, the followers shouted and charged forward.

With a shout, the Azure Nether Heavy Soldiers surged forward, their military spirit rising. The front ranks, shields raised, charged forward, slamming into the onrushing believers! With deafening crashes, countless believers were sent flying high into the air!

The heavily armored shieldbearers continued their charge, each charge knocking down a group of them with a single blow, followed by another slash with their shields, felling yet another large number of them.

Although those believers are fanatical and brave, the Buddha-land in the next life cannot give them the fighting power they have in this life.

In the blink of an eye, the long street was littered with believers, writhing and groaning. The armored soldiers that followed would kick the fallen believers to both sides of the road, otherwise, as the army passed by, they would be trampled into mincemeat.

The suppression was brutal but not bloody; the Qingming army used shields to strike, injuring countless people but killing few. In the blink of an eye, the army had broken through the county town and stormed the county government office.

The magistrate stood guard at the inner hall's main entrance, sword in hand, surrounded by a dozen loyal servants and a bald-headed sorcerer. Immediately, dozens of armored soldiers flew out from the Azure Nether Army, wielding massive shields and heavy hammers—all Dao Foundation Establishments cultivators. The magistrate and two Dao Foundation Establishment sorcerers, fighting three against fifty, were quickly defeated. The two sorcerers died on the spot, while the magistrate, preferring death to surrender, continued to hurl insults at Wei Yuan, listing seventy of Wei Yuan's grave crimes.

The leader, a Golden Core cultivator, personally knocked out all of the magistrate's teeth, but the magistrate continued to curse until he was finally beheaded on the spot.

The rebellion in Lanyang County was thus quelled. The suppression of the rebellion took two hours, while the entire turmoil lasted for ten hours. At this moment, Qingming had more than two hundred floating boats waiting in the air and on the ground.

The report on the turmoil arrived on Wei Yuan's desk an hour after the operation was completed. After reading it, Wei Yuan's gaze lingered for a moment on the numbers of two hundred dead and over six thousand wounded, and he frowned, saying, "That's still a bit too much."

After a moment's thought, he pulled up another file and examined it closely. This file was full of new weapons designed for fanatical but weak targets like believers; they were incredibly diverse and bizarre.

For example, there is a type of toxic fumes that, when inhaled, will cause uncontrollable tearing, swollen and red eyes, and impaired vision in ordinary people. However, with a few days of rest, they can gradually recover.

In addition to the poisonous fog, Wei Yuan also chose a weapon called the Sunflower Water Thunder Whip. This whip is ten and a half feet long and can generate subtle thunder power. Ordinary people who touch it will fall down and be unable to get up for half a day, but it will not kill them.

The template designer for this whip even added a special explanation, stating that before using this whip, one can first spray salt water on the enemy, which will have an excellent effect, and one lash can bring down dozens of mortals.

Wei Yuan then selected another 5,000 third-line troops, equipped them with thunder whips, and assigned them to suppress the unrest among believers.

Starting from this point, Wei Yuan began to issue a large number of tasks to study the behavior of Buddhist believers and how to deal with it.

……

Deep within the Pure Land, in a radiant, crystal-clear world, several colossal golden figures appeared, then ascended the mountain ranges on either side, standing motionless. Compared to these golden figures, even the towering mountains seemed sparse. Where the golden figures stood, lotus thrones spontaneously arose.

Once all the golden figures were assembled, a great sun slowly rose from the horizon. This sun connected the earth and the sky, its light illuminating half the heavens! After a moment, when the sun was fully risen, it became clear that it was actually a Buddha's head.

This space could no longer contain its golden body; it could only manifest as a Buddha's head.

A golden Arhat then said, "Today's matter is to discuss Wei Yuan's background. Some time ago, his disciples Jingru and Jinghai sacrificed themselves to feed the demon, converting tens of millions of people in the Western Jin Dynasty. This is an immeasurable act of merit. However..."

He hesitated, then another golden statue continued, "There's nothing wrong with saying that. Jingru has great wisdom; he sacrificed himself to convert people. Logically, the seven northern prefectures of Ganzhou should all have been transformed into Buddhist lands, and all those walking on the ground should be believers. But now, only thirty percent have been converted."

With my discerning eye, I see that most of the people in the various prefectures of Ganzhou are entangled in demonic energy, their wisdom already corrupted. To convert them now would be extremely difficult.

"Where does the demon come from?" a golden statue asked.

"Those in Wei Yuan's teachings become literate and illiterate, and then they are indoctrinated with fallacies and heresies. Over time, their wisdom is corrupted and their affinity with Buddhism is severed. Later, when my Pure Land disciples expound the wonderful Dharma, everyone joyfully follows it. But these people who have fallen into demonic possession will often ask 'why' a few times, and once they ask a few more questions, their heart toward Buddhism will be gone forever."

A golden statue holding a bowl slowly said, "Now the population of Qingming is large, but the number of believers in my Pure Land is very small. This must be the reason. The path that Wei Yuan is following is seemingly right but actually wrong. If this continues, it will eventually lead to a great disaster."

Another golden figure with four arms, each holding a magical implement, said, "It seems necessary to sacrifice some precious artifacts and drive him onto a dead-end road."

All the golden statues clasped their hands in prayer and exclaimed in unison, "Such great kindness!"

From beginning to end, the Buddha's head, which resembled a blazing sun in the sky, remained completely still.

(End of this chapter)