There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 299 The Three Mountains of Taoism
Zhang Peiyuan did not stay in Dongxiang County for long. He soon boarded a Han army official boat, traveled along the Sangang River to the Ru River, and then headed north to Nanchang Prefecture.

Although Fuzhou Prefecture was not yet under the control of the Han army at this time, it did not boldly obstruct the Han military ships heading north from Dongxiang County. Instead, the prefect of Fuzhou personally sent people to replenish some food and supplies.

Jiangxi has been decided.

Zhang Peiyuan watched the whole thing and was even more grateful that Longhu Mountain had made the decision to take sides in time. If they had followed the government and the imperial court, the entire lineage of Longhu Mountain would probably have been wiped out.

Zhang Peiyuan spent two and a half days drifting on the Gan River and finally arrived in Nanchang at the end of January.

At first glance, the Chinese character dragon flag hanging on the top of the city gate tower is swaying in the wind, baring its claws and looking quite imposing.

"Ok?"

Zhang Peiyuan's gaze shifted downwards, and he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be two things hanging on the side of the city wall.

Upon closer inspection, there were actually two people!
Zhang Peiyuan was greatly alarmed and subconsciously asked the Han army general who had led them into the city, "Why are there still two people hanging on the city wall?"

The Han general grinned: "Who are they? I don't see them. Oh, so you're talking about those two Qing dogs, Taoist priest! One of them is the puppet Qing's Jiangxi Provincial Treasurer, a corrupt official from the Manchu Eight Banners. When our army attacked the city, he was shouting that he would rather die than surrender, but in the end, when the city fell, this corrupt official didn't dare to commit suicide. As for the other one, he's the puppet Qing's Jiangxi Governor, also a corrupt official and traitor. We couldn't find this guy when we captured Linjiang Prefecture, and we don't know how he escaped back to Nanchang."

The Han army general who led the way spoke a few casual words that instantly made Zhang Peiyuan's back drenched in sweat.

The prepared speech I had prepared beforehand was completely forgotten in my nervousness, and I was led into Nanchang City with a blank expression.

Then they arrived at the Nanchang Prefectural Government Office.

Zhang Peiyuan didn't have to wait long before Yang Fang came to meet him in person.

Unfortunately, Zhang Peiyuan arrived at the wrong time. Nanchang Prefecture had only recently fallen, and the new prefect of Nanchang and the governor of Jiangxi had not yet arrived. Jiangxi was not yet completely pacified, and many prefectures had not yet changed their allegiance. Therefore, Nanchang Prefecture was still under military control for the time being.

Chen Younian didn't want to deal with Taoist priests, and besides, although this guy knew some common characters, he was still uncultured in the end.

This is different from someone like Yang Fang, who studied literature for twenty years, failed the imperial examinations, and then abandoned literature for martial arts, only to suddenly become a fierce general.

As soon as Yang Fang entered, she said with a smile, "If you had come any later, it wouldn't be you coming to see me now, but rather I would have led my troops up Longhu Mountain to invite you down the mountain for a chat."

They immediately put on a show of force, even though they were smiling at him, they still gave Zhang Peiyuan a feeling of authority without anger.

Is this the greatest warrior of the Han Dynasty (rumored from Jiangxi)?

Really awesome!

Zhang Peiyuan had completely lost the confidence he had when he came, believing that as long as Longhu Mountain submitted, it would receive the Han King's courtesy.

Zhang Peiyuan, with a respectful expression, took out a letter from his bosom: "This is a memorial from Zhang Zhenren, the fifty-ninth Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, to the Prince of Han."

Yang Fang was very accommodating. She got up, took the letter, and then put it aside without paying any more attention to it.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, but Zhang Peiyuan, lacking composure, couldn't help but ask, "May I be so bold as to ask the general when the Han army will be able to advance on Guangxin Prefecture, so that my Longhu Mountain can cooperate?"

Yang Fang didn't keep them in suspense and answered with a smile, "According to the current plans in Jingzhou, a messenger from the Ministry of Rites should arrive in early February to persuade Guangxin Prefecture to surrender. If the prefect of Guangxin insists on refusing to surrender, then General Chen's Third Division will immediately send troops to take Guangxin Prefecture."

Having received Yang Fang's accurate reply, Zhang Peiyuan felt reassured and was about to subtly inquire about the big man's attitude towards Longhu Mountain.

Yang Fang continued, “Guangxin Prefecture can be taken at any time, but since Longhu Mountain has already submitted, I will send a few land distribution officials to your Celestial Master’s Mansion to oversee the land distribution. Master Zhang, please also send a few Taoist priests to write a letter back, saying that the land distribution officials of our Great Han have arrived, and that the Celestial Master’s Mansion should prepare the land registers and accounts in order to prevent any unsavory incidents such as hidden land being scattered.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Peiyuan was immediately bewildered and surprised.

He represented the Celestial Master's Mansion and, as the head of all Taoist sects in the world, voluntarily surrendered to the Han Dynasty. How come the Han Dynasty wants to divide their land?
Zhang Peiyuan snapped out of his daze and quickly said, "General, please wait. Can we postpone this land distribution matter until our Celestial Master's Mansion sends its petition to Jingzhou, and then discuss it further?"

Yang Fang shook his head: "I will deliver the memorial to you, and even Master Zhang can go to Jingzhou with you, but the land distribution cannot be stopped. Not only must the land be distributed, but all the slaves and servants kept by the Celestial Master's Mansion must also return their indentures. From now on, all slaves and servants will be converted to short-term employment contracts. Those who do not wish to continue as slaves must be allowed to leave, and they must not be forcibly detained or obstructed."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Peiyuan assumed that the Han dynasty was trying to put pressure on the Celestial Master's Mansion.

Zhang Peiyuan said urgently, "General, can't you wait a moment? I can write a letter to Zhang Tianshi of my Tianshi Mansion immediately and ask him to set off for Jingzhou to meet the King of Han."

Yang Fang smiled: "The distribution of the fields of Longhu Mountain was also ordered by the King of Han himself. If the fields cannot be distributed, the servants cannot be released, and the Heavenly Master's Mansion will have no reason to go to Jingzhou to pay homage to the King of Han. Moreover, to be honest with you, Daoist, if you wish to go to Jingzhou, please do so as soon as possible. Daoist Fuyang of Gezao Mountain has already set off yesterday." The second half of the sentence is the real problem.

Taoism has the "Three Mountains Talismans", namely Longhu Mountain, Maoshan Mountain, and Gezao Mountain.

Longhu Mountain was designated as the head of all Taoist traditions in the world by imperial decree, but this does not mean that Longhu Mountain truly has a monopoly.

If given the opportunity, both the Maoshan and Gezaoshan factions would act decisively and wouldn't sit idly by and watch Longhushan continue to grow stronger.

The strategic direction of the Han Dynasty was correct. First, take Jiangxi. Jiangxi is not only a place where cultural heritage is gathered, but also one of the three Taoist mountains. Longhu Mountain is located in Shangqing Town, Guangxin Prefecture, while Gezao Mountain is located in Zhangshu Town, Linjiang Prefecture.

Only Maoshan is relatively far away, and the Taoist priests of the Maoshan sect are all in Jiangsu, so it is not possible for them to come to Jingzhou to pay homage to the King of Han for the time being.

Nie Yu didn't know much about the Lingbao Sect Taoists of Gezao Mountain, nor was he particularly interested in them, but that didn't matter, interest could be cultivated.

The Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain can be subdued, but it certainly cannot continue to be allowed to control all Taoist sects in the world. The abbot of Gezao Mountain, Daoist Fuyang, is less going to pay homage to the King of Han and more going to Jingzhou to meet him in response to a summons.

The Taoist community is currently stagnant. Only with competitive pressure can Longhu Mountain and Gezao Mountain benefit the country and prevent Taoism from decaying and rotting.

When Zhang Peiyuan heard Yang Fang mention that Fuyangzi of Gezao Mountain had already gone to Jingzhou, he felt a great sense of crisis and almost understood the intentions of the King of Han.

Understanding this was useless; he was neither the current Celestial Master nor the Celestial Master's Mansion, and Zhang Peiyuan was indeed powerless to resist.

If you can't resist, you can only go along with it.

He only stayed in Nanchang for three days, leaving two uncles from the Zhengyi Temple to guide the land distribution officials of the Han Dynasty, and at the same time wrote several personal letters to advise the old man.

Zhang Peiyuan, filled with worry, boarded a fast boat bound for Jingzhou Prefecture.

On the day the ship set sail, Zhang Peiyuan was still standing on the deck, watching as they boarded a ship in the same direction, but in the completely opposite direction. That ship carried the Han land distribution officials who were going to distribute tens of thousands of acres of fertile land and servants to their Celestial Master's Mansion.

The Celestial Master's Mansion had calculated everything, but it hadn't anticipated that the Han Dynasty wouldn't give them any face and would still distribute the land as it was due.

The tens of thousands of acres of fertile land under the name of the Celestial Master's Mansion were all bestowed by emperors of successive dynasties, plus donations from wealthy households and believers, which is how the current assets were accumulated.

Now that so much land is going to be divided up, according to the detailed rules for land distribution that Yang Fang showed him, with the current number of legitimate Taoist priests in the Celestial Master's Mansion, the land that can be left behind will not exceed 5,000 mu at most.

This was all thanks to Emperor Qianlong; with the bureaucracy in disarray, even the control over ordination certificates for monks and Taoist priests had become lax.

This allowed the Celestial Master's Mansion to legally possess thousands of ordination certificates for its disciples.

However, it can't really be considered a leak of information if Yang Fang gave it to them in advance; this is what the King of Han meant.

There are too many Taoist priests in the Celestial Master's Mansion. The Prince of Han does not need to dismiss them, but from now on these Taoist priests must support themselves. Moreover, the Celestial Master's Mansion must allocate half of its Taoist priests to go to Jingzhou for further study.

What kind of further studies?
Of course, it's math, physics, and chemistry.

Although Nie Yu created these subjects and provided accompanying textbooks, there were still too few students willing to learn them. Even though they were initially linked to the imperial examinations, the initial proportion was certainly not high, and scholars did not pay much attention to them.

Moreover, even if they value math, physics, and chemistry, it would be too difficult to learn them from scratch, and very few people would actually succeed.

These things all need to be cultivated slowly from scratch. It's unlikely that the early unification and mid-term expansion of the Han Dynasty could be relied upon by them.

These physics, chemistry, and mathematics talents, cultivated over a great deal of time, can only serve as the foundation for the future industrial and scientific revolution of the Han Dynasty.

Nie Yu is now having Taoist priests emerge from Longhu Mountain, which is also based on making use of waste. The Taoist priests are either good at alchemy, or alchemy is just chemistry.

The same was true of Gezao Mountain. The Taoist priests there not only practiced alchemy but also enjoyed studying medicine. Because of Gezao Mountain, the medicine of Zhangshu Town became very famous, but Gezao Mountain also became impoverished as a result. At its poorest, it couldn't even afford to build a Taoist temple.

The greatest achievement of the current abbot, Fuyang Daoren, was assisting the magistrate of Qingjiang County in disaster relief efforts. Later, with the support of wealthy merchants and government officials, he rebuilt the Gezaoshan Taoist Temple.

(End of this chapter)