Chapter 306: The Black Lotus Descends, Xu Qing's Test
Chapter 306: The Black Lotus Descends, Xu Qing's Test
Suddenly, the tranquil underground seemed to be stirred by a mysterious and powerful force, and the underworld spring began to boil without warning.
Hot bubbles continuously rise from the bottom of the spring, making a gurgling sound when they burst. Billowing hot steam spreads out, carrying a pungent smell of sulfur, making the surrounding air hot and sticky.
On the inky black, turbulent water surface, a third-grade black lotus slowly blossomed.
Each petal of the black lotus is extremely large, and is densely covered with inverted Sanskrit words of the Diamond Sutra.
The Sanskrit words flickered with an eerie glow, as if telling a distorted version of Buddhist principles. It blended with the surrounding darkness, yet exuded a chilling, evil aura.
The Black Mountain Old Demon was barefoot, with a stern face, and he walked slowly towards us on the lotus step by step.
His three thousand silver hairs fell like a waterfall, and every strand of hair was sparkling with cold light, as if they were made of ice and snow.
As his footsteps moved, the withered datura flowers seemed to be injected with evil vitality and were instantly reborn.
However, the reborn Mandragora flowers were no longer delicate and beautiful, but turned into eerie skull-like Buddha lamps.
These Buddha lamps emitted ghostly green fire, swaying and flickering in the night wind, illuminating the grim face of the Black Mountain Demon and the world shrouded in darkness behind him.
In the night sky, the originally quiet Mars suddenly became unusually bright as if it had been summoned by some powerful force.
The dazzling red light, like blood, spilled onto the earth, casting an ominous hue over everything in the world.
The Black Mountain Demon looked up at Mars and slowly raised his hand, as if he was trying to hold the entire sky in his hand. As he moved, the shadow of a collapsed ancient temple slowly emerged in his palm.
I saw the broken plaque of "Da Leiyin Temple" hanging obliquely above the door lintel, crumbling as if it would fall down at the next moment.
Inside the temple, the golden bodies of the five hundred arhats have long lost their former majesty. They are all covered with mottled green rust and appear dilapidated.
And between their eyebrows, there was an inverted swastika nail made of iron from the Mars meteorite, which emitted a cold light and symbolized the end of the Dharma.
"This thing should have died along with the Sakyamuni in nirvana," the Black Mountain Demon said coldly.
His fingertips tapped lightly on the void, and each tap seemed to ring the bell of doom.
As he moved, a third-grade black lotus suddenly rose slowly in the temple. The petals of this black lotus were made of Mars Black Iron, extremely hard, and each petal was engraved with a tampered version of the Prajna Sutra: "Form is emptiness, emptiness is evil."
The twisted scriptures looked even more bizarre under the blood-red light of Mars.
The black lotus seemed to have found its home and quickly fell into the living Buddha's chest.
At this moment, the Nine Heavens Star River seemed to lose control and suddenly poured down. The light of countless stars intertwined together to form a dazzling waterfall of light, rushing towards the Living Buddha.
The blood-red light cast by Mars was like a sharp blade, shining on the lotus petals, reflecting three horrifying pictures of purgatory.
On the first-grade lotus, a tragic scene of Asuras slaughtering the celestial beings appeared. The Asuras were tall, with their fangs bared and claws swaying, and bloodthirsty light flashing in their eyes. They brandished all kinds of strange weapons and rushed towards the celestial beings frantically, killing them without leaving a single piece of armor. The Buddha's blood splattered everywhere, dyeing the surrounding sky red and soaking the lotus patterns, making the Sanskrit on the lotus patterns seem to be twisted in pain.
On the second lotus, a scene of Kinnara strangling a monk to death with the strings of his harp appeared. Kinnara had a strange smile on his face, and the strings in his hands were like a deadly weapon, tightly strangling the monk's neck. The monk's eyes were filled with fear and despair, and his hands struggled in vain, but he could not break free from the fatal bondage. The devilish sound came from the strings, like an invisible force, etching the Sanskrit and making it blurry.
The scene on the third-grade lotus was even more shocking, reflecting the scene of the Black Mountain Demon tearing apart the Buddha statue in the Great Leiyin Temple. The Black Mountain Demon was seen tearing the body of the Buddha statue with both hands, and the fragments of the Buddha statue fell one after another. In this violent tearing, the Buddha's finger turned into a lotus core, emitting a faint light, as if telling the past glory and the present sorrow.
The living Buddha's golden body was instantly ignited by the surging sparks, and the flames burned fiercely, enveloping him. In the flames, a strange image of three heads and six arms slowly emerged from behind him.
On the left is the Wrathful Vajra King, with a ferocious face and eyes wide open, the weapon in his hand flashing cold light, as if ready to attack the enemy at any time; on the right is the Black Mountain Demon, emitting an evil aura, as if he is a demon from hell, with a sneer on the corner of his mouth, as if he is mocking everything in the world; and in the middle is his own young Dharma image, with a childish face and a hint of confusion and struggle in his eyes.
The black lotus was like a greedy monster, madly devouring the power of Mars and pouring the three poisons of "greed, anger and ignorance" that had been cut off by Taoist Sakyamuni in the past back then back into his body.
"Master, do you recognize this prisoner in the lotus?" The voice of the Black Mountain Old Demon suddenly sounded.
He crushed the lotus platform fiercely, and with a crisp cracking sound, three Vajra skeletons pierced by iron chains fell to the ground. These three skeletons were the Vajra who guarded the Great Leiyin Temple in the past. Their bodies were once so tall and mighty, but now only these dilapidated skeletons were left.
The Living Buddha's pupils shrank sharply when he saw this. There were sharp bone spurs on the backs of the heads of these skeletons, emitting a strange aura.
The three poisons of greed, anger and ignorance entered the skeleton, and a new Dharma protector Vajra was born.
And there are four of them!
The first angry Vajra slowly stood up from the boiling lava, holding a steel fork in his hand. The steel fork was made from the spine of an arhat. There was still blood on the steel fork, emitting a strong smell of blood. The angry Vajra's eyes were burning with anger. He waved the steel fork and roared, as if he wanted to destroy everything in the world.
The second Greedy Vajra slowly emerged, stepping on the red lotus of karmic fire. Each lotus petal was embedded with corroded Buddhist treasures. These Buddhist treasures were once the symbol of Buddhism, but now they have become dim under the erosion of evil forces. Greedy Vajra had a greedy smile on his face, and his eyes searched around, as if looking for the next target to plunder.
The third foolish Vajra slowly walked over, reciting the Diamond Sutra in a wrong tone. His voice was low and hoarse, and the characters of the sutra that came out of his mouth turned into cannibalistic prayer flags. These prayer flags fluttered in the wind, emitting a nauseating smell, as if summoning death.
The fourth Arrogant Vajra was directly transformed from the third-grade black lotus. There was a vertical eye on his forehead, which was the projection of the body of Mars. This vertical eye flashed with a strange light, as if it could see through everything in the world. Arrogant Vajra had an incomparable arrogance on his face. He looked down at everything from a high place, as if everything in the world was under his feet.
Seeing this, the Black Mountain Demon smiled with satisfaction. He cut his wrist and spilled his demon blood. The demon blood dripped into the sparks and quickly condensed into the phantom of the fourth-grade lotus platform. "When you refine the four phases into one, this Yinghuo Black Lotus will be perfect."
His voice echoed in the air.
...
...
Half a month later.
The Living Buddha sat upright on the black lotus with a stern expression. His fingertips lightly tapped the void. The movement seemed gentle, but it seemed to contain endless power.
The bloody light cast by Mars swept through the refugee camp like an invisible net. On the originally haggard faces of the starving people, an inverted swastika mark suddenly appeared. The mark emitted a dark red light, as if it was branded deep in the soul by an evil force. Their pupils gradually turned dark red, and their eyes became empty and lifeless, as if they had lost their self-awareness.
They walked mechanically towards the phantom of the Buddha's kingdom, their steps heavy and slow, and with every step, the ground beneath their feet seemed to tremble.
As they moved forward, their flesh and blood faded a little, and the original fresh breath of life gradually dissipated, eventually turning into translucent souls, kneeling at the feet of the three Vajra statues of greed, anger and ignorance.
These souls had expressions of pain and fear on their faces, but they were unable to break free from the invisible restraints.
“This is great compassion.”
The Living Buddha's voice was cold and hollow. He stroked the skull lamp on the edge of the lotus platform. The oil in the lamp was actually the fear of the refugees who had been taken away.
These fearful emotions surged in the lamp oil, as if telling their tragic fate.
In the newly built rice fields in the Buddha's country, when the souls bent down to plant rice seedlings, the roots of the seedlings actually pierced their transparent ankles.
Each root was like a greedy blood-sucking worm, constantly sucking their soul power. These people were using their life force to nourish the Mars Black Lotus, and under this nourishment, the Black Lotus became more and more evil and powerful.
...
...
Nanzhili, Yingtian Prefecture. The morning light was dim, and the soft light shone through the carved window lattices, shining on the slightly old but solemn desk of the temporary cabinet. Letters of intelligence from the north, like a group of silent messengers, lay there quietly, but exuded a disturbing atmosphere.
Huo Jing, the chief minister of the cabinet, is a veteran who has worked in official circles for many years. He usually looks calm and has seen all kinds of ups and downs in the world. Even in his heart, he has long regarded the victims as insignificant.
However, when his eyes swept over the contents of the intelligence, a hint of shock that was difficult to conceal emerged on his usually calm face.
He frowned and pursed his lips, and after a long while he managed to utter a sentence: "Yu... is he crazy?"
Now that high-yield crops have been promoted in the North, the famine should have been greatly alleviated. However, it was unexpected that the masters in the North were so "outstanding" in their cruelty towards the people.
The Single Whip Law was a good idea, but when it was implemented, it became the fuse for many people to go bankrupt and sell their land, pushing countless families into the abyss.
If something like this happened in previous years, there would be refugees everywhere and chaos in the world.
But now, Prince Yu has come up with a "brilliant" idea.
He invited the Living Buddha from the Snowland, joined forces with the people of the Vajra Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, colluded with the powerful and wealthy, and with the help of the power of the northern government, he continued to gather refugees.
He used the living Buddha's kingdom to convert the old, weak, sick and disabled, and threw the strong and healthy people into the workshop. If there was any trouble, he would kill them on the spot. In this way, he solved the problem of refugees easily.
"That's great." Huo Jing was half shocked and half complaining. His tone showed admiration for Prince Yu's methods, but also a bit of sarcasm.
Just tell me whether the problem has been solved or not!
He shook his head, a complicated smile on his face.
"This Prince Yu is well aware of the principle of 'if you can't solve the problem, then solve the person who raised the problem', but..." He slowly turned his head and looked at the Minister of Finance Chen Fu beside him, with a sly look in his eyes, "he solved the problem too thoroughly."
Chen Fu sighed slightly, his face full of worry. He raised his hand and gently adjusted his official hat, saying, "Prime Minister, I carefully calculated yesterday that the number of households in the Northern Region dropped by at least 80,000 last month."
As he spoke, he bent down, dipped his hand in tea, and slowly drew circles on the table. His movements seemed to depict the tragic situation of the sharp decline in the population in the north. "At this rate of conversion, in another three years, the northern Zhili will probably be 'uninhabited for thousands of miles'."
The north and the south will eventually be unified. If there is no one in the north, it will definitely be a huge burden for the court. In the Middle-earth Dynasty, there is a huge difference between the Chinese people and non-Chinese people.
This is not a simple question of whether it is useful or not, but the key to whether it can be used by the court. Putting aside the traditional saying that "those who are not of my race must have different hearts", just from the aspects of education and tax collection, the people of the Celestial Empire are far superior to any other race.
Moreover, in the Great Yu Dynasty, the lower-class people had a unique advantage. Many of the common people's ancestors had fallen from the classes of the powerful and wealthy.
Most of the truly poor people in the pre-Qin period had already died out by the Dayu Dynasty.
Therefore, these lower-class people have inherited a certain amount of family knowledge and have been exposed to the Chinese culture since childhood. They are more likely to accept the teachings of the court and it is easier to cultivate the seeds of reading.
But if we want to teach other indigenous peoples how to farm, read and write, the manpower and material resources consumed will be immeasurable, and even after hundreds of years, it may not be possible to recover the cost.
A large number of educated people can promote the progress of Taoist institutions and screen out more people suitable for practice. These are huge potential advantages for the people of the Celestial Empire.
There is no doubt that what the North is doing now is essentially digging at the foundation of the Immortal Dynasty.
Huo Jing narrowed his eyes slightly, reached out and took off the crystal mirror made by Tiangongyuan, and gently tapped the jade pipe on the Huanghuali table, making a crisp sound. "Immediately inform the Censorate, the Supervisory Office, the Hanlin Academy, and the Six Departments to jointly report the matter of the "Buddhist Kingdom Saving the People" in the north to the court!"
His voice was not loud, but it was filled with an unquestionable majesty. He paused and continued, "Every word must be bleed!"
At 3 p.m. the next day, the lights in the Beijing woodblock workshop were on. The editor of the Imperial Academy sat at his desk, holding a wolf-hair brush, with a focused look on his face. He wrote quickly, "According to the secret report from the Northern Frontier Province Censor, Prince Yu colluded with the foreign monks in the Western Regions and plundered the people under the guise of disaster relief."
The old carver at the side narrowed his eyes, staring at the board, the carving knife in his hand flew up and down, and the jujube wood chips fell one after another. As the carving knife danced, the four words "evil arts to confuse the people" gradually showed their sharpness on the board.
The fifth watch drum sounded, and the messenger boy, carrying the imperial report still scented with ink, jumped on his horse. The horse neighed, raised its four hooves, and galloped towards the Yingtian government office. The sound of its hooves was particularly loud in the quiet street.
In Dongzhou Academy, scholars in blue shirts sat together, passing around urgent documents. The headmaster stood on the podium, stroking his white beard, shaking with anger. Suddenly, he slammed the table and shouted, "This is the proof of the saying in the books of sages that 'a harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger'!" With this roar, the inkstone on the table broke into several pieces.
Upon seeing this, the dean hurriedly took out his private college notes from his bosom. The students gathered around him, their eyes full of anger and determination. They swore an oath of blood and began to copy 200 copies of the "Anti-Rebellion Manifesto" overnight. These manifestoes were secretly hidden in the secret cabin of the canal grain ship, and as the ship sailed, it headed towards the northern border.
The teahouse on Zhuque Street was bustling with people. The storyteller stood on the stage and slammed the gavel in his hand, shaking the tea bowls slightly. "Do you know?" He deliberately raised his voice to attract everyone's attention, "The lotus platform under the monk's seat is actually inlaid with the spine of a boy!" Below the stage, the salt merchants wearing flowered jackets put down their covered bowls, turned their snuff bottles in their palms quickly, and their faces were full of astonishment and anger.
"I've heard that the Northland Workshop uses human bones to make porcelain, but I didn't expect that even souls would be spared!" One person couldn't help but say loudly.
The newsboy of the Ming Daily crouched and nimbly squeezed through the crowd on the street, holding a poster high in his hand. The headline on it was particularly horrifying:
"Shocking disclosure of the disappearance of 100,000 people in Northern Xinjiang"!
Passersby stopped and looked at him in surprise.
The head of the Tongzhengsi held the Tangbao and hurried into the hall. "The latest urgent news!" His voice was trembling, "The northern land distributed steamed bread mixed with incense ash to the refugees, saying that 'eating it can lead to heaven'." He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and added, "As a result, many people died from eating it that day. Now the people call it 'Mengpo bun'."
Huo Jing sat on a chair, slowly fiddling with his jade ring, with a half-smile on his face, and said in a sarcastic tone: "Foolish! This is called 'survival of the fittest' - those who can't resist the Buddha's fate will ascend to heaven early, and those who survive will just be used as coolies."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly clapped his hands in praise, with a strange smile on his face, "Wonderful! If Zhang Tai'a had obtained this method back then, hehe..."
Within ten days, the Ministry of Public Administration received nine impeachment memorials from the Censor-in-Chief. The impassioned "Ode to the Northern Expedition" was published in the Lotus Pond Academy in Baoding, and the Lianghuai salt merchants raised funds to print the "Records of Refugee Oral History"... For a time, the whole of Southern Zhili was in an uproar.
Huo Jing was in the duty room, leisurely playing with a Hetian jade paperweight. He turned around and smiled at Lord He, the current governor of Nanzhili. His smile was full of confidence and pride: "Even if the Jade Prince can silence the people, can he stop the Grand Canal from racing?"
...
...
The series of responses made by the interim cabinet were not reported to the old emperor and Xu Shaobao.
Because Your Majesty is wise, if Your Majesty knew about this kind of thing, it would damage Your Majesty's wisdom.
As for Xu Shaobao, he suddenly said that he would go into seclusion and leave all government affairs to the temporary cabinet. As a shrewd man, Huo Jing must understand the strangeness of this.
This is also a sign that Xu Qing is giving up his secular political power. The performance of the interim cabinet will determine many things in the future.
This time is the test!
(End of this chapter)