Control your ancestors and create an immortal family starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 221 Buddhism Revolts, Pure Land Should Be Established (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The vigorous campaign to eliminate Buddhism officially began in Kyushu.

Actually, if there's time—

Gu Yi doesn't need to be so serious. He can use the Gu family's current influence in Kyushu, including the existence of Yunshao Pavilion, to gradually change the people's perception.

As long as there is enough time.

In fact, achieving this was not too difficult for the Gu family.

When the people have a clear understanding, it will not be so troublesome to carry out the suppression of Buddhism.

Unfortunately, Gu Yi didn't have that much time to waste.

Everything went exactly as he had anticipated.

After the An Lushan Rebellion was completely reversed, the talents of the Gu family descendants were greatly limited, just like those of Gu Chen after he revived the Han Dynasty three times.

Among the twenty-second generation of descendants born in recent years, the highest attribute score is only around sixty points.

Clearly, as time goes on...

The difficulty for the Gu family to make changes is constantly increasing.

This naturally made Gu Yi feel even more pressured.

Although he has no shortage of achievement points, given the mediocre talents of the family's younger members, it would be extremely difficult for him to directly protect the entire family and maintain its peak status with his current abilities.

And this is obviously unrealistic.

Gu Yi can't keep interfering forever; that would only lead the entire family down this crooked path.

Furthermore, controlling the family members will not grant achievement points.

Once he runs out of achievement points, the Gu family will definitely suffer an even heavier price.

This is also the main reason why Gu Yi had to hurry.

Batch after batch of imperial censors set off for various places under the courtyard.

Gu Yi intends to take advantage of the current momentum and sweep away all the conflicts in one fell swoop.

In the third year of the Zhide era, in the eighth month.

Gu Xuan once again beheaded people from three temples in Guanzhong, during which more than 10,000 civilians and believers were killed, and an invisible shadow fell over the entire land of Kyushu.

In the same month——

Gu Xuan was assassinated in Guanzhong.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when Gu Xuan sent out his men, a group of hundreds of Buddhist zealots gathered to block Gu Xuan's carriage, intending to take his life.

Fortunately, the "Gu family study companions" who came from Julu fought desperately.

That's how they managed to stop their attack.

When the news spread, it shocked the world!
This was the first time in hundreds of years that a member of the Gu family had suffered such an obvious assassination attempt.

No, that might be too general.

This should be the first time that the head of the Gu family, the Grand Tutor who held power in the court, has been assassinated by the people.

This kind of news sounds almost like a dream at first glance.

Since the rise of the Gu family, which generation of patriarchs has not been admired by the world after taking power?

Now they've been assassinated!

How can this not be considered a dream?

Even Gu Yi hadn't expected this to happen, but it undoubtedly strengthened his resolve to follow the Gu family's path.

Ignorance is not terrible.

Throughout history, the world has never lacked ignorant people.

This cannot be changed.

What truly concerned Gu Yi was the actions of the Buddhists; these people actually dared to attack the Gu family on the land of Kyushu.

In many ways, this even surpasses that of the current emperor.

—And don't forget, Gu Xuan now represents the Tang Dynasty!

In short, these monks not only disregarded the popular sentiment represented by the Gu family, but also the imperial power and rule over the entire land.

And this is precisely Gu Yi's Achilles' heel!

Perhaps Gu Xuan himself saw the connection, or perhaps he was influenced by Gu Yi.

From that day onward—

His methods became even more ruthless.

He requested an imperial edict from Li Heng in Guanzhong to bestow upon the title of Grand Tutor Gu, the head of the family, and once again proclaimed this to the world to demonstrate his resolute stance.

—A great trend is about to begin.

The influence of the families of ordinary people and scholars also gradually came into play over time.

In addition, Gu Xuan's attitude became increasingly serious.

This gradually formed a powerful trend, spreading to temples all over the world.

It is worth mentioning that--

When scholars gradually discovered that they could gain enough prestige simply by criticizing Buddhism, the impact far exceeded Gu Yi's expectations.

Not to mention the criticisms in writing.

Some scholars even joined forces to target temples in various places, and many scions of prominent families did the same.

This was entirely a voluntary action, but it also indirectly demonstrated the status of Yunshao Pavilion in the world today.

The fact that so many people came together naturally had a tremendous impact on Buddhism as a whole.

But, as I said before...

Who would willingly give up the power they hold?

Especially for the monks in Kyushu today, who have never experienced the persecution of Buddhism, the attitude of the imperial court is unwavering.

In the fourth year of the Zhide era, in the fourth month.

—A monk with the Dharma name "Huinan" joined forces with surrounding temples in Songzhou, Jiannan Road, inciting local believers and some Qiang tribes to gather tens of thousands of people and formally raise the banner of rebellion, calling themselves the "Dharma Protection Army".

They proclaimed: "The defiled world is corrupted; the Buddhist kingdom shall rise! The white lotus purifies the world; all dharmas return to their source!"

The phrase "the defiled land is tainted" refers to the imperial court's recent campaign to suppress Buddhism, and is also a Buddhist term.

The phrase "Buddhist Kingdom should flourish" refers to the goal of establishing a Buddhist kingdom on earth.

The white lotus represents a pure land in Buddhism.

Including the leading monk Huinan, who even came up with the idea that "Maitreya will be born, and the Pure Land will be established!" and created many auspicious omens in the area.

This can be said to have made the most of the prophetic effects.

If it were in another region, it might not have caused such a big reaction, but unfortunately, Jiannan Road was a remote place for the Tang Dynasty.

With the addition of a series of measures, the effect naturally far exceeded what others had imagined.

This seemed to be a signal.

As the news spread, people from temples in various places gradually gathered together.

Don't forget, these monks are not short of money.

Even when facing the most powerful country in the world today, this group of monks, working together, could potentially use the resources they control to resist a nation.

Especially since they already carried the identity of prophetic beings.

Chaos erupted again in an instant.

The land of Kyushu had only just begun to calm down, and the people had not yet recovered from the chaos caused by the rebellion of An Lushan and others. Now, the border was once again facing this event.

For a time, the hearts of people throughout Kyushu were shaken.

This is an inevitable reaction to the series of major upheavals.

There will always be people who wonder if the fate of the Tang Dynasty has truly run its course, and if it will repeat the fate of the late Han Dynasty.

Buddhism, in particular, would not miss this opportunity either, and continued to send people to sway the populace.

With the help of absolute capital.

There will always be people who help them for personal gain, and of course, there will also be families who secretly help these people in order to secure a better future.

These are all key issues that Gu Yi needs to address at present.

Even within the current imperial court, many are already feeling the pressure, and some are even considering persuading Gu Xuan to stop. Don't forget, these are the elite forces that remained after the purge.

Faced with the current situation.

No one can remain completely indifferent and simply believe in Gu Xuan.

But how could Gu Xuan back down?
If we retreat now, Buddhism will seize the opportunity to spread its influence throughout the land, making it difficult to shake our position in the slightest.

He had only one option—to kill!

Just like Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, Tuoba Tao, he suppressed Buddhism to the point that it had no choice but to submit and comply with the laws of the Nine Provinces!
Now that things have come to this point, even if Gu Yi wants to control the scale of the chaos, he has no choice but to be ruthless.

In any case, the Gu family must cut off this path.

Buddhism must either submit—

Alternatively, they can only disappear completely from Kyushu!

In the sixth month of the fourth year of the Zhide era.

Gu Xuan returned to Luoyang and, in court, forcefully explained the advantages and disadvantages to reassure the officials.

Subsequently, he petitioned Emperor Sukjong (Yi Heng) in court to issue an edict prohibiting the presence of monks:
“From princes and dukes down to commoners, anyone who privately supports a Buddhist monk must be sent to the authorities. No one may hide such a monk; those who violate this rule will be punished.”

"Anyone found to be secretly supporting Buddhism—"

"They shall be punished as accomplices in treason!"

This was a tactic devised by Gu Yi based on an edict issued by Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the original historical record, with many modifications made to it.

Gu Yi needs to be ruthless.

While the prestige of the Tang Dynasty still exists and the Gu family's reputation is at its peak, they should make their stance clear.

He wasn't afraid that any powerful family would be foolish enough to do something openly at a time like this.

These people aren't that stupid.

To put it bluntly, this move is a case of being afraid to harm others, making these people hesitant.

Even if there were truly fools among them, Gu Yi wouldn't be afraid at all.

He could directly control the elite troops of the Tang Dynasty, and if such a person truly existed, he could make an example of him.

This is not the former Han Dynasty!
The Gu family is not facing enemies from all sides this time; their target is simply Buddhism.

In addition, Gu Xuan, in the name of the head of the Gu family, held another sacrificial ceremony on the Luo River to commemorate the ancestors of the Gu family.

More than a hundred years later, the head of the Gu family has finally reached this point again.

Just as Gu Xi did when facing natural disasters in the past, this action was used to stabilize the hearts of the people.

In fact, the Luo River sacrifice is no longer just a symbolic act. Over the past few hundred years, it has become a custom for countless people.

This is something passed down from generation to generation.

Gu Yi understood this, which is why he did it this way.

—The point is to use prophecies to counter prophecies!

The news kept spreading.

Following this came a series of auspicious omens. Starting from Luoyang, miracles appeared in various places, causing a great stir throughout the land.

Especially in Hebei, countless people have rallied to support this cause.

No, perhaps it shouldn't be called creating momentum.

They genuinely believed it all.

Where in Kyushu has the fastest purge of Buddhism so far?
—This is the land of Hebei.

The people of Hebei have such a strong faith in the Gu family that it is impossible for anyone else to shake it.

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle over how to generate momentum.

Under these circumstances, Gu Xuan once again stepped out of Luoyang and officially began his journey to quell the rebellion.

—The border armies of the four directions received imperial edicts one after another.

Even the navy in Mingzhou was mobilized by Gu Xuan once again.

Generals such as Guo Ziyi, Gao Xianzhi, and Feng Changqing had no doubts about Gu Xuan's actions and began to prepare troops in various places.

It's still the same as when we attacked Tibet—

Gu Yi did not assign any specific tasks to these people. He trusted the abilities of each general and simply let them quell the rebellion on their own.

Actually, if it weren't for the fact that it was related to prophecy...

Gu Xuan wouldn't even leave Luoyang. Neither his talent nor Gu Yi's abilities were sufficient for direct command on the battlefield.

It would be better to leave it entirely to those generals.

But this was a last resort.

As the Grand Tutor and the head of the Gu family, Gu Xuan had to do what he was supposed to do no matter what.

To reduce the people's dependence on Buddhism.

And to appease the people of the world.

Unrest continues in various regions.

It is worth mentioning that Gu Yi did not allow anyone to damage any Buddhist artifacts, such as Buddhist scriptures and statues.

It's not because he still holds onto his ideas for any particular reason.

Gu Yi simply wanted these things to be passed down as far as possible, since in later generations they could be called the treasures of the Nine Provinces.

Similarly, this act also serves as a message to future generations—

The Gu family's sword this time is aimed solely at the traitors who threaten the nation. Treasures are innocent; the crime lies in the bewitching of people's hearts.

—The war continues.

The followers gathered by these monks were naturally no match for the battle-hardened army.

But these people's will to resist remains very strong.

Most importantly, their followers are not only Han Chinese; in fact, many of them are from other ethnic groups.

Whether they were Qiang people or Xiongnu people who had already been incorporated into the Nine Provinces.

Compared to the Han people, these people are inherently more easily misled.

Moreover, these people are also exceptionally skilled in martial arts.

It is precisely because of the help of these people.

Although the army suppressing the rebellion still held an absolute advantage, these monks also had room to maneuver.

There are always fanatical "believers" who spare no expense to provide them with protection and assistance.

Despite the imperial decree, these people were willing to risk death, even at the cost of their lives.

This undoubtedly severely hampered the Tang army's advance in suppressing the rebellion.

Faced with such a stalemate, Gu Yi had only one option—to stop the chaos with killing!

It has reached such an urgent point.

He could no longer concern himself with the short-term impact. Just like Taiwu's destruction of the laws in the original history, even though it would affect the development of Kyushu in the short term, it could actually eliminate the chronic problems that plagued Kyushu.

As for those so-called criticisms, there's absolutely no need to pay them any attention.

The sound of wailing echoed throughout the entire land of Kyushu.

Gu Yi was truly angry. He was confronted by a group of temples that had put up resistance, even though the monks inside were willing to surrender when the Tang army finally captured them.

Gu Yi did not let them go.

Faced with the cries of despair and pleas for mercy from these people, Gu Xuan simply stood before the assembled officials and the three armies, and coldly declared:

"They are not repentant; they are only afraid of death!"

—A mere ten words, yet they were like a cold blade in the dead of winter, causing all who heard them to change color and feel a chill run down their spines.

Not to mention them, even many people within the Gu family fail to see the far-reaching impact of these actions.

But so what?
As far as Gu Xuan was concerned, he was willing to bear all the blame himself.

As for Gu Yi, there's even less to say.

The foundation that the Gu family has built up over the years cannot be shaken by these alone, and future generations will sooner or later see the profound meaning behind this move!
(P.S.: I'm begging for monthly tickets and recommendations! I'm begging for your support, brothers! I'd be extremely grateful. I took a break yesterday and read the previous chapters; my feelings are complicated. I'll try to recapture that feeling from before.)
(End of this chapter)