Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The Chan school has five houses and seven sects, and the Tiantai school has the Mountain School and various other schools.

They are fighting amongst themselves and are completely unable to unite against external forces.

Other Buddhist sects just sit on the sidelines and watch the show every day.

The Huayan school could barely participate; this school was revived in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty.

A high-ranking monk named Jingyuan traveled throughout the country, collecting, organizing, and annotating the Huayan School scriptures, making the Huayan School the third largest Buddhist school in the Song Dynasty.

The Huayan school absorbed the teachings of the Chan school and also had frequent exchanges with the Tiantai school.

Currently, the center of the Buddhist debate conference has been completely moved to the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng.

The area there is large enough, and there are enough monks' quarters.

On this day, it was the turn of the Tiantai sect to have an internal conflict. In addition to the eminent monks from various sects serving as spectators, countless devout men and women came to listen.

The eminent monks of the Mountain School spoke eloquently, engaging in a heated debate with the eminent monks of the Outer School behind the mountain.

The former was considered orthodox and received strong support from the Northern Song court.

The latter is more secular and incorporates a large amount of Zen Buddhist theory, and even incorporates ideas from Confucianism and Taoism.

Just as the debate reached its most intense moment, an imperial entourage from Luoyang arrived at Xiangguo Temple with a group of officials from the Buddhist Registry.

The debate came to an abrupt end, and both monks and laypeople stood up to listen to the imperial edict.

The emperor's attendant stood with his hands behind his back, smiling, and said, "What's the point of you arguing here? Why don't you go to the Western Regions and spread Buddhism?"

The monks were puzzled and hurriedly asked him what he meant.

The emperor's attendant said, "Yelü Dashi, a member of the Liao imperial family, founded the Western Liao Kingdom in the Western Regions."

“The place is full of people of different races and religions. The people are not enlightened by the teachings of the sages, and they do not know what Buddha or Bodhisattva is.”

"Yelü Dashi sent people to ask for eminent monks and Buddhist scriptures. As long as you go, he will build temples for you to spread the Dharma and even let orphans from other ethnic groups become your disciples."

A high-ranking monk asked, "How large was the territory of the Western Liao Kingdom?"

The emperor and his entourage were not quite sure either, so they just said offhand, "The territory of the Western Liao is vast, about half the size of the Ming Dynasty."

"If you go and spread Buddhism, you can guide tens of millions of sentient beings and turn this foreign land, equivalent to half of the Ming Dynasty, into a Buddhist kingdom!"

Upon hearing this, many eminent monks were moved.

Chapter 3684 Monks, hurry up and go!

This is a great act of merit!

The Zen Master Huiyuan, who was only in his thirties, was the first to stand up and say, "This humble monk is willing to go to the Western Regions!"

Historically, Zen Master Huiyuan took in a disciple in his later years, who was later revered as Ji Gong.

He also took on a Japanese disciple, which led to the great flourishing of Zen Buddhism in Japan.

Master Miaoguan of the Huayan School said, "I am old and frail and can no longer travel far."

“Shihui, go to the Western Regions and spread the Huayan Dharma there.”

A monk in his thirties put his palms together and said, "This disciple will certainly live up to your expectations!"

Each sect has successively determined its main candidates, and the next step is to select accompanying monks.

The monks in charge of the Buddhist Registry smiled and said, "Gentlemen, do not worry about your homeland. You can always come back after you go to Western Liao."

"Furthermore, you must also teach the students of other ethnic groups the classics in Western Liao."

The higher the status of the monk, the less likely he is to refuse this request.

Nearly a hundred monks were selected, most of whom were under forty years old, as older monks could not withstand the strain.

Temples in Luoyang, Kaifeng, and the surrounding areas that possessed woodblock printing plates began printing Buddhist scriptures at an alarming rate.

The following spring, the monks set off with the envoys from the Western Liao Dynasty.

They carried over four thousand volumes of Buddhist scriptures and over five thousand volumes of Confucian books, packed them in large wooden crates, and sailed away.

The monks believed that the Western Regions were in Gaochang and had no idea that they were about to travel to Central Asia.

When they passed through Gaochang, the monks from Turpan and Hami learned that they had brought four thousand volumes of Buddhist scriptures. They all asked the monks to stay a while so that they could copy some scriptures that they had never seen before.

When they arrived at Husi Ordos (within Kyrgyzstan), they learned that Yelü Dashi had led his troops to fight.

To divert attention from domestic conflicts, Yelü Dashi personally led an expedition against the Western Karakhanid Khanate!

In early summer, the two countries clashed in a decisive battle in Khujand (within Tajikistan).

At this time, the king of the Western Karakhanid Khanate was the nephew of the Seljuk Sultan, namely Mahmud II.

The Western Liao Dynasty achieved a great victory.

Mahmud II, with his remaining troops, fled back to Samarkand in a panic and frantically recruited soldiers in an attempt to defend the capital to the death.

Yelü Dashi did not continue the pursuit, but chose to stop while he was ahead.

He established a prefecture in the Fergana Valley, stationed his trusted confidants with troops in Khujand, and rewarded the foreign generals.

After this battle, the Western Karakhanid Khanate was decimated, with nearly half of its territory annexed by Yelü Dashi.

The Fergana Basin, in particular, was a major granary, and was firmly controlled by Yelü Dashi.

Mahmud II was naturally unwilling to accept defeat, so he quickly wrote a letter to his father... no, to his uncle Sanjar.

He begged his uncle to come and help quickly, because if the Seljuks didn't send reinforcements soon, his country would be doomed sooner or later.

What is Seljuk Sultan Sanjar doing?

He was involved in his daily work of suppressing rebellions.

His most trusted general, the Khwarazmian king Ajaz, rebelled.

Ajisi and Yelü Dashi have reached a private cooperation agreement.

In other words, Yelü Dashi sent troops to the Western Karakhanid Khanate, preventing Mahmud II from sending troops to help Sanjar.

Meanwhile, the vassal states to the south of the Western Karakhanid Khanate were also blocked from their shortest marching routes, making it impossible for them to send troops to support the Seljuk rebellion—which was actually giving those vassal states an excuse not to send troops.

Meanwhile, the rebellion of Ajis also attracted firepower, preventing the Seljuk army from rescuing Mahmud II.

The collaboration between the two was mutually beneficial, and they ended up causing great harm to the Seljuk Sultan.

Because several vassal states were unable to participate in the war, the Seljuk army found it difficult to achieve a quick victory.

The Western Liao have already occupied the Fergana Basin, while Sanjar is still suppressing the rebellion in Khwarezm. This rebellion war is estimated to last for one or two years.

Upon learning that nearly a hundred eminent monks had arrived, Yelü Dashi hurriedly returned to Husiwoer.

Xiao Chala Abu immediately led him to the library, pointing to the nearly ten thousand volumes of books and saying, "Your Majesty, I have brought four thousand volumes of Buddhist scriptures and five thousand volumes of books by sages from the Ming Dynasty."

Yelü Dashi exclaimed in surprise, "The Zhao Emperor is actually so generous?"

Xiao Chala Abu said, "Emperor Zhao is very generous and praised Your Majesty highly, saying that a hero is a hero no matter where he goes."

"Did he really say that?" Yelü Dashi asked.

“It is absolutely true,” Xiao Chala Abu said. “Emperor Zhao also acknowledged that the Liao Dynasty was descended from the Yanhuang people and was the legitimate successor of the Chinese nation.”

"They...they are still compiling the History of Liao, making the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty the legitimate dynasties."

Yelü Dashi was both delighted and furious: "The Liao Dynasty still exists, so what right does he have to compile the 'History of Liao'? And why isn't it the 'Book of Liao'?"

Xiao Chala Abu explained, "There was a book called 'Song Shu' during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, so the Ming Dynasty named the history book of the Song Dynasty 'Song Shi'."

"Furthermore, Emperor Zhao said that from now on, the orthodox history will be recorded, while the separatist history will be recorded."

"For example, the history books of the Jin Dynasty were named the Jin Book. The Ming Dynasty's rulers and ministers implicitly referred to us as the Western Liao."

"Forget it, let them call it whatever they want. Who told us to lose the homeland of the Liao Dynasty?"

Yelü Dashi sighed, "I don't know when we'll be able to fight our way back."

Xiao Chala Abu said, "Your Majesty, I have been observing carefully in the Ming Kingdom."

"We found that the ruler and his ministers lived in harmony, the government was efficient and the people were peaceful. Even though the country had just suffered a major disaster, we did not see groups of refugees begging for food."

Chapter 3685 The Three-Way Standoff of Mongolia

"In Shaanxi and Henan, the starving people returned to their hometowns after the disaster, and were exempted from taxes for the year. The government is also distributing seeds to the starving people."

"Such a large country is not easy to conquer, and Emperor Zhao is extremely popular with the people."

Yelü Dashi remained silent for a long time, then sighed, "The Zhao Emperor is so magnanimous that he is willing to give me ten thousand volumes of books. How can I repay kindness with enmity?"

"With such a wise ruler in China, the only hope for our Liao Dynasty to recover our lost territories is that it will have to be placed on the descendants."

Xiao Chala Abu also said, "The Western Xia also suffered a severe drought last year. Due to ineffective relief efforts, many starving people fled to the Ming Dynasty."

"This spring, I passed through Western Xia and found that the rural population was sparse and many nobles lacked slaves."

"Some slaves escaped, and some slaves died."

"This is not only because of the great disaster, but also because of the excessive mistreatment of slaves."

“In the past, when Western Xia slaves died, they could plunder the borders of the Song Dynasty to replenish their numbers.”

"But after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the Western Xia people dared not plunder anymore, resulting in fewer and fewer slaves."

The Iron Falcons of Western Xia were indeed formidable, but their true foundation lay in the Capturing Army and the Crashing Prince.

The Capture-the-Life Army was the basic military unit of the Western Xia Dynasty, and at its peak, it numbered 100,000.

They abducted people from the border regions of Song and enslaved them. From among the obedient slaves, they selected the strongest men to form the "Bumping Princes" unit.

Although the young man was cannon fodder, he was quite brave in battle and always charged ahead in every fight.

Now, the Western Xia has been unable to plunder Han people into slavery for ten years, and naturally cannot select cannon fodder from among the slaves.

Without Han Chinese cannon fodder to lead the charge, the only option was for the captured soldiers to hold the front.

Would the Capture the Life Army be willing?

Those soldiers who captured the prisoners were very cunning, and came from various tribes of Western Xia.

If they suffer heavy losses, their pastures or farmland will be encroached upon by neighboring areas.

Under these circumstances, the capture-the-living army would prioritize preserving its strength and would absolutely not fight to the death.

If the two countries go to war, the Western Xia army will probably collapse very quickly!

……

The Ming Dynasty revived China in its fifth year.

The fourth year of the Kangguo reign of the Western Liao Dynasty. 1137 AD.

Yelü Dashi established the Imperial Academy, selecting aristocratic sons to be taught Confucianism.

The noble lords of the former Karakhanid Khanate were also required to send one of their sons to study at the Imperial Academy.

This did not provoke any resistance; everyone assumed it was a selection of hostages, and that there was no need to convert to religion while at the Imperial College.

High-ranking monks from China served as their teachers.

To avoid resistance from students of different ethnicities, eminent monks were required to wear Confucian hats and robes when teaching at the Imperial Academy and were not allowed to dress as monks.

At the same time, several Buddhist temples were also built in the capital, Husi Ordos.

War orphans from all over Central Asia, and even young children from slavery, were arranged to be ordained as disciples by high-ranking monks.

These orphans from other ethnic groups will first learn Chinese language and characters. In addition to practicing Buddhism and chanting scriptures, they will also learn some Confucianism in the future.

If they perform exceptionally well, they may be recommended to study at the Imperial Academy, and later become officials in the Western Liao Dynasty.

Yelü Dashi was deeply concerned about this and desperately hoped that the orphans would grow up as soon as possible.

Because the newly conquered Fergana Valley has already seen several tribal rebellions, all due to sectarian disputes.

The two Karakhanid Khanates, East and West, belonged to the same religion.

But the country was divided in two because of sectarian conflict.

Now, the officials appointed by Yelü Dashi are suppressing local religious sects in the Fergana Basin, which has forced four tribes to rebel.

Suppression is the only option!