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

Chapter 222 The Gu Family's Disciples Traverse the Nine Provinces, Li Heng Dies (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Chaos has resurfaced.

Not to mention anyone else, even Gu Yi never imagined that things would develop to this point.

But for him, he had already made up his mind.

At that point, there was no way to retreat.

He could only use his power to reduce the casualties among ordinary people.

Even so, this matter will inevitably attract countless criticisms, especially for a family like the Gu family that has cultivated its reputation for hundreds of years, this matter will have an impact on the entire family.

But still the same sentence.

—The Gu family had no way out but to forge ahead.

Fortunately, the Gu family had already changed its development strategy, and this strategy of deeply cultivating the lives of ordinary people has brought great help to the Gu family at this time.

This definitely relieved a lot of pressure on Gu Xuan.

The cries of agony echoed throughout the land.

In such chaotic times, even with Grand Tutor Gu Xuan leading the charge and officials from the Censorate rushing to all corners of the land, it is difficult to guarantee that military law will be absolutely obeyed by the soldiers.

The world is not inherently black and white; the key factor is the murky nature of humanity.

Under such a large-scale anti-Buddhist movement, it was inevitable that there would be people who coveted merit and those who were greedy for money.

This naturally leads to many wrongful convictions.

This put Gu Xuan under tremendous psychological pressure.

He began to suffer from frequent insomnia.

This is a psychological problem.

Even Gu Yi couldn't interfere with this. The "cure-all" talisman was useless for mental illness, something Gu Yi had already tried long ago.

Gu Xuan could only comfort himself by constantly using the psychological suggestion of "manipulating" this point.

But Gu Yi ultimately underestimated Gu Xuan.

Gu Xuan remained steadfast in his stance on his anti-Buddhist actions; the so-called "mental ailment" was merely a mental hurdle he couldn't overcome.

Jingzhao Mansion.

Night fell, thick clouds obscured the moon, swallowing all light, much like the state of mind of the Gu family members at that moment.

"You may all return to court now." On the throne, Gu Xuan's gaze was unusually firm as he swept over his brothers below. "This matter arose because of me, and it shall also end with me."

"The infamy that will last for posterity."

"It shouldn't be your responsibility in the end."

Inside the hall, the air was stagnant and leaden.

The disciples remained silent, gazing at Gu Xuan in the main seat, their eyes filled with sorrow.

How could they not understand that Gu Xuan wanted to shoulder all the burdens?

How could one not feel sorrow?

Even though most of those present were unable to grasp the profound significance of the matter due to their lack of talent, this did not affect their mood at the moment.

The name "Gu Family" has brought them far too much glory.

This is one of the reasons why the Gu family has never split up.

Seeing Gu Xuan's serious expression, the disciples exchanged glances but said nothing, and none of them left.

Clearly, they wanted to express a certain attitude.

But Gu Xuan didn't give them that chance at all. Seeing that everyone refused, he simply got up and headed out of the hall.

"Brother——"

Immediately, a member of the family spoke up, but was stopped by his brother beside him. Only after Gu Xuan's figure disappeared did he say, "My brother will not agree to this."

"Then what should we do?"

The expressions on everyone's faces grew increasingly complex, a mixture of anxiety and panic.

"Given the current situation, we should return to our true nature." The young man sighed deeply and glanced around at everyone present: "Brothers, are you willing to give up your peaceful lives?"

"For the sake of the Gu family, for the sake of my brother."

"Shall we follow the example of our ancestors and travel across the land of Kyushu once more?"

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed, and everyone immediately understood the meaning of these words.

That is to emulate the ancient Gu family, who rose from humble beginnings to become immortals, and to once again set foot on this land in order to mitigate the impact of this matter.

A brief moment of silence.

A moment later, the expressions of the disciples all turned serious, and they all nodded involuntarily. From beginning to end, no one said a word of nonsense.

Gu Xuan was unaware of the unusual behavior of the Gu family members.

After explaining everything that day, he devoted all his attention to the anti-Buddhist campaign.

In fact, the "rebels" that these monks had recruited were not a serious threat.

Even with the support of outsiders.

However, the gap in combat experience, as well as equipment and other factors, are things they cannot overcome.

If these people had gained momentum at the beginning of the An Lushan Rebellion, it might have been considered a deadly move, but given the current situation, they are ultimately not capable of causing any significant trouble.

The real problem lies with the people they have dragged into it.

No, perhaps none of it can be called coercion.

As this action transformed from "suppressing Buddhism" into suppressing a rebellion, many ordinary people across the country volunteered to die for these monks.

They all shouted, "Let's go to the Pure Land of Bliss!"

They formed human walls with their own lives to protect the monks.

Among them were people who had given everything, even their children, to the temple, and others who had been swindled out of everything by the temple.

But even so, it was still not enough to bring these people to their senses.

These are the people who pose the biggest challenge.

The monks seemed to have realized that a direct attack was no match for the government troops, so they used this method to target Gu Xuan's weaknesses.

They are gambling—

Gambling that Gu Xuan wouldn't dare to commit the act of destroying Buddhism and ruin the Gu family's long-standing reputation, they were ultimately forced to compromise.

For this reason, they even gave up inciting "Buddha's signs to appear".

They then brought up the past of the Gu family's ancestors, praising their achievements while fiercely criticizing Gu Xuan for the "murders he had committed."

As for whether they are genuine or not?

It doesn't matter.

Whether in today's world or in modern times, the truth or falsehood of rumors has never been the key factor; it is enough to make people believe them.

Rumors spread like poisonous miasma, permeating the entire landscape.

But they ultimately underestimated Gu Xuan, and also underestimated the Gu family.

The Gu family members were never so-called "saints".

Gu Kang governs the fields and brings peace to the people, benefiting all living beings. He is also capable of handling the grand plan of the Nine Provinces and the rise and fall of his family. He single-handedly confronts the entire court of officials and strongly supports Gu Sheng's military expedition.

Gu Xisi supported the imperial court and single-handedly protected the country—daring to fight for the sake of the world, using the strength of one family to fight against the bravery of ten thousand men, and making a desperate struggle in the final days of the dynasty.

Gu Chen suppressed an entire generation—during which mountains of corpses and seas of blood flowed freely.

Gu Ye, Gu Yu, Gu Kang, Gu Jing...

These Gu family members who have made their mark in history, which one of them did not sacrifice himself to uphold his principles?

Gu Xuan will indeed experience psychological pressure, but this will not stop him from going down this path. He will try his best to awaken these people, but if they remain obstinate, there is nothing Gu Xuan can do.

He is still in Trit's office.

Wherever he went, he would clearly list the reasons for the execution of the entire temple, including all the sins committed by these temples, which would be proclaimed to the world.

It wasn't for his own so-called peace of mind. He simply wanted to use this action to awaken more people and prevent them from becoming obsessed with Buddhism.

Chongfo Temple——

He owns more than 70,000 mu of farmland, 150,000 strings of cash in the government treasury, and dozens of shops. The monks in his temple have several lives on their hands.

Bianzhou Daxiangguo Temple Branch——

The temple's property encroached on more than 300 hectares of fertile land along both banks of the Bian Canal, causing hundreds of households to lose their land and flee.

The privately established pawnshops charged annual interest rates exceeding 100%, driving more than a dozen borrowing households to their deaths. The monks also secretly possessed bows, crossbows, and armor, and participated in this rebellion.

Yangzhou Daming Temple Branch Temple—

They monopolized the canal wharves and extorted "incense offerings and passage fees," causing immense suffering to merchants and travelers.

The "Longevity Treasury" under his name exploited maritime merchants, swallowed up rare goods, fabricated shipwrecks to smuggle cargo, and had monks practice evil magic called "Five Powers" to rape and humiliate the wives and daughters of believers under the guise of "seeking children," leading several people to commit suicide.

The temple housed thugs who, in their struggle for profits from the salt fields, killed and injured dozens of salt workers.

Each and every one of these cases can be described as a major case.

Even Gu Yi, a modern person, would find many of these things terrifying, but they were still not enough to awaken all the people.

But Gu Xuan didn't care about any of that.

Each of these testimonies strengthened his resolve, and he continued to walk down this path.

He even began to pay attention to the people's conditions.

While overseeing the battles on all sides, he took this opportunity to begin thinking about the future development of the entire Kyushu region.

At the same time, one after another, members of the Gu family were born and went off to different places.

The Gu family of today is no longer the small family it once was.

This was also a very powerful force. They didn't do anything; they just explained the connection to the people.

There's no profound wisdom involved, just the most practical advice.

Tell the people about the sins committed by those temples, and about the innocent monks whom Gu Xuan spared.

Many people never even revealed their identities as members of the Gu family.

Just like Gu Yu in the past, heading towards the whole world.

This is destined to be an extremely long process.

In the original history, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty suppressed Buddhism for a full eight years, and it was not completely successful. If Emperor Taiwu had not died, this suppression of Buddhism would certainly have continued.

And this is even more true now—

What the Gu family wanted to do was not just about Emperor Taiwu.

For the Gu family...

Now that the sword has been drawn, success must be achieved. There will be no time for Buddhism to adjust; they must be made to fully comply with the Kyushu system.

This will naturally take much longer.

However, Gu Yi wouldn't let Gu Xuan focus all his attention on this.

As the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty, Gu Xuan only needs to step forward in this most difficult first step, which is enough!
Time flies by.

July of the sixth year of the Zhide era.

The monk Huinan, who was the first to rebel, eventually had his escape route figured out and was captured and killed by the Tang army in Shu.

If it were any other rebel army, the capture and killing of such a leader would definitely cause great panic.

But this time is different.

Hui Nan, a monk who was able to take the lead in instigating a rebellion, already had considerable prestige and many followers throughout the world.

His death, ironically, caused the believers to lose their minds and led to even greater chaos.

But no matter how much chaos there is, it's all in vain.

When this rebellion failed to cause much of a stir at the beginning, the fate of these people was already sealed.

The current unrest only increases casualties.

However, Gu Xuan still insisted on staying at the forefront of the army, maintaining his habit since the suppression of Buddhism, and publicly proclaiming the crimes of all the monks in the temples to the world.

It wasn't due to Gu Yi's manipulation; it all stemmed from Gu Xuan's true intentions.

Just as he said—

Those who are always facing the sun are not afraid of gossip and rumors.

He is putting his own path into practice.

And it was through this persistence, and the efforts of all the Gu family members, that the winds of change in the world finally began to shift slightly.

At least within the heart of Kyushu, these monks are no longer regarded as honored guests by everyone.

The aristocratic families, who had already sensed Gu Xuan's attitude, needed no further explanation.

It's mainly the ordinary people.

This means that these people have made progress in their understanding and will not be directly deceived by others.

It is worth mentioning that, under Gu Yi's control, Gu Xuan made a special "passage" for the monks who were devoted to Buddhism, which was enough to verify their identities.

In addition, Gu Yi also created a special roster for these people to facilitate future management.

These monks were all devoted to Buddhism.

Gu Yi could not possibly eradicate Buddhism completely. Buddhism had always played a role in stabilizing the people in the Nine Provinces, so it was impossible to completely destroy it.

However, Gu Yi also imposed strict restrictions on them.

The regulations stipulated that a temple could not have more than thirty monks, and that each time a disciple was accepted, it had to be reported to the local government. Temples that had problems would be punished.

This is only a temporary system.

Just like the reform of the recommendation system in the Han Dynasty, only by punishing those who "recommend people without proper knowledge" can the accumulated problems be eliminated and the deep-seated issues cleared up in a short period of time.

It is precisely because of this.

Thanks to the propaganda of countless scholars and common people, the people of Kyushu have now learned how to distinguish between genuine and fake monks.

This stems from progress in cognition.

It is already quite remarkable that this step has been taken in just a few years.

It's important to understand that this represents much more than just some kind of prophecy or divination.

As long as this path of development continues, Gu Yi will be able to plan ahead for scientific development in the future, allowing the entire Kyushu to rise ahead of the rest of the world.

That's the key point.

Everything needs to proceed step by step. Even the Industrial Revolution in the original history was a result of the world's development reaching that stage.

Today's progress is precisely the result of laying the foundation for such a powerful momentum.

Its importance to the entire Kyushu is self-evident!

Even Gu Yi had many thoughts about this, and even considered taking the original plan a step further.

Of course, that's a story for later.

The most urgent task is to thoroughly resolve the issue of the persecution of Buddhism and set the tone for future developments.

This shift in understanding is bound to take a long time.

Gu Yi wouldn't waste his time here.

I thought there wouldn't be any major problems, just that it would take some time.

But what Gu Yi hadn't expected was—

June of the eighth year of the Zhide era.

A fast horse galloped from Luoyang, the eastern capital, into the capital, where a devastating piece of bad news broke.

Emperor Li Heng suddenly died in Luoyang!
(P.S.: I'm begging for monthly votes! I'd be incredibly grateful for your support, brothers.)
(End of this chapter)