Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1017 True Nature, Noble Families, Buddhist Light

"What could be the reason?" Li Ke frowned in thought.

Then, he remembered!

It was his father, the emperor, who sent him to fight for it!

Moreover, Li Chengqian was right beside him when his father asked him to compete for it!
That's right, it was Li Shimin who instructed Li Ke to compete for the position of crown prince in front of Li Chengqian!
From the very beginning, this struggle for the crown prince was just a show, a setup!

This move is aimed at none other than those forces that have the power to shake the crown prince's position—namely, those powerful families!

From the time of Emperor Guangwu of Han onwards, the existence of aristocratic families gradually evolved into a chronic disease among the human race—they relentlessly eroded the foundation of the human race, yet were unwilling to take any responsibility for it.

Driven by the enormous interests they represent, powerful families and the imperial court collude with each other, ultimately squeezing the common people at the bottom of society into dust!
The Yellow Turban Rebellion was exactly like that.

That stance was on the side of humanity, always standing by humanity's side, resisting the erosion of humanity by the immortals and gods, resisting the spread of the immortals' and gods' influence to the mortal realm—when they saw the immortals and gods, the aristocratic families and the imperial court colluding, and saw countless people reduced to weeds and ants...

The Yellow Heaven Daoists, who had always kept their eyes fixed on the celestial beings, were shocked to discover, when they happened to look down upon the mortal realm, that the world they were protecting had become a hell of flesh and blood.

And so, boundless rage engulfed everything!
No one other than government officials or prominent families is allowed to provide disaster relief.

no problem.

What was offered in the bowl was not thin porridge, but talismanic water.

Scatter a handful of beans, and the desperate people will follow you in raising an army to rebel against Heaven.

—This is the most powerful supernatural ability in the human world: turning beans into soldiers.

A handful of beans can conjure up an endless army!
Beneath that boundless rage, the Yellow Heaven, which should have manifested at the highest point of the sky to replace the Azure Heaven, appeared instead in the yellow earth of this human world.

The yellow sky, the yellow earth, and the emaciated people are all interconnected, and thus, the merciless and vast sky acquires its own spirit.

The Great Luo - Yellow Heaven - Great Sage and Good Teacher was born from this!
The moment it was born, all the gods and immortals who had intervened in the human world suffered annihilation.

That overwhelming momentum was not only going to overthrow the human dynasty and the high and mighty families, but also the Heavenly Court, which was indifferent to the suffering of the human world!
In the end, Da Luo Huang Tian was killed.

The people of Huangtian, who wore yellow turbans, were also all slaughtered.

The Yellow Heaven Way, which had been active between heaven and earth since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, was destroyed in an instant!
Later, with the help of the Dragon Clan, Liu Bei rebuilt the Han Dynasty three times.

Having learned from the lessons of the Han dynasty under Emperor Guangwu, the three-dynasty Han dynasty was extremely wary of immortals and gods.

Even so, the three-fold Yan Han still collapsed in the end.

Later generations, upon examining historical records, were astonished to discover that while the collapse of the Han Dynasty was partly due to divine influence, the more significant cause lay with powerful clans!

Those aristocratic families that grew and prospered during the reign of Emperor Guangwu, and then parasitized the people and the dynasty!

Since Emperor Guangwu, every emperor has been quite wary of the existence of immortals and gods, and extremely disgusted by their encroachment on the human world. Under the cover of human morality, it has become increasingly difficult for immortals and gods to manifest their divine power in the human world.

However, the dynasty feared the existence of immortals and gods and prevented them from influencing the human world.

But they couldn't stop the powerful families from actively courting the immortals and gods, meeting them, and becoming their own people!

Under those strict heavenly rules, only a minority of immortals and gods are willing to collude with the mortal world—most immortals and gods are actually actively guided by aristocratic families to intervene in the affairs of the mortal world.

Then, with the support of the aristocratic family generation after generation, either the immortal or the deity truly became one of the family's own, or someone within the family replaced the immortal or the deity.

Ultimately, the combined power of the gods and the powerful families completely crushed the common people—that was the time of dynastic change.

However, even the later human kings knew the harm caused by aristocratic families, but by then, these families had already gained power and taken root in the human world, making them impossible to eradicate.

What did they say again?

A dynasty that lasts for ten thousand years, a family that lasts for ten thousand years!

When the feudal lords vying for power began to raise their armies, they had the support of powerful families!
Once the powerful families turn their backs, the feudal lords will not be far from defeat and death.

The power of those aristocratic families was so immense—so immense that even emperors were powerless against them.

As the emperor, Li Shimin had no way to restrict the powerful clans—because the civil and military officials under his command either came from powerful clans or were becoming new powerful clans!

In such despair, one day, when Li Shimin dreamt of returning to Xuanwu Gate, he suddenly discovered something!

Although the imperial power is difficult to eradicate powerful families, once it gains 'legal authority,' these families become exceptionally vulnerable before the imperial power!

Among the 'pretexts' used by the imperial power to purge aristocratic families, what was the best pretext?

Of course, it's the struggle for the imperial throne!
If a powerful family supports a prince in his quest for the throne, and that prince is defeated and killed, and the family has also caused considerable harm to the prince's rivals, then it is only natural for the new emperor to settle scores with the powerful family after he ascends the throne!

However, powerful families have always liked to hedge their bets, making it extremely difficult to find an opportunity to settle scores with them.

The last time such an opportunity arose was at Xuanwu Gate.

Before Xuanwu Gate, Emperor Emeritus Li Yuan and Crown Prince Li Jiancheng had already gained considerable power. The numerous powerful families then surrounded them, gradually eliminating Li Shimin's strength and stripping him of his wings.

Under such circumstances, many of Li Shimin's subordinates had grudges against the aristocratic families, and Li Shimin himself was also seriously offended by them—even the aristocratic families themselves thought so.

Thus, after the desperate struggle at Xuanwu Gate, Li Shimin naturally eliminated a portion of the powerful clans.

Although the top-ranking powerful families remained unscathed, many of the smaller families below them were wiped out.

Therefore, Li Shimin made a decision.

The Xuanwu Gate incident could easily be reenacted!
His two sons.

Prince Li Chengqian.

King Li Ke of Wu.

—The title of Crown Prince has already been established.

When Prince Li Ke of Wu launched his struggle for the throne, those who were willing to support Li Ke had already openly offended Li Chengqian.

After Li Chengqian ascended the throne, it was only natural for him to purge the "Wu King's Party".

At that time, both Li Chengqian and Li Ke were puzzled:
How could the struggle for the throne be avoided by powerful families placing their bets separately?

And what did Li Shimin say?
What we want is for the established families to place their bets separately!

As long as the struggle for the throne is fierce enough, even if the heads of the families are separated, they will still become mortal enemies!
Thus, the struggle for the throne ends, and the aristocratic families that were involved, even if their lineage remains, will still have half of their power wiped out!

This is an even more vicious scheme than the previous Edict of Grace!

To paraphrase Li Shimin, killing is always faster than promotion!
In the Tang Dynasty, the throne was contested in every generation, and after each succession struggle, the power of the aristocratic families was partially purged. Thus, within a few generations, these families were completely defeated and could never again reach the point of being "too big to fail."

Of course, this move will inevitably affect the fate of the Tang Dynasty and the succession of the Li family.

But for Li Shimin, who had already become the emperor, he could use the cost of one dynasty to eradicate the existence of aristocratic families, so that countless dynasties afterward would no longer be puppets of aristocratic families, and the whole world could be freed from the hands of aristocratic families.

That would be absolutely worth it!
So Li Chengqian and Li Ke both nodded.

At the beginning of this struggle for the throne, the two brothers were able to barely control the situation.

But as time went by, the two brothers, who were once able to confide in each other and control the situation, gradually drifted apart. In the end, they were held hostage by power and could no longer control the situation.

—And this is exactly what Li Shimin wanted!
How can the great fire of a culinary family be ignited if the situation is not chaotic enough?

Now, the firewood piled up in the fire is getting bigger and bigger—how can Li Ke retreat now?

“Master, I cannot back down.” Li Ke looked at Xuanzang before him with utter calm.

Xuanzang said that his pursuit of worldly power was meaningless, and the outcome of this struggle for the throne was also meaningless.

But in reality, for him, the process of vying for the throne was the meaning itself!

He, or Li Chengqian.

One of them will inevitably become a sacrifice to humankind.

As they become sacrifices, the malignant tumor called 'aristocratic families' that parasitizes humanity, expanding infinitely and uncontrollably, will also be brought under control and eventually eradicated.

The Human Emperor is a being who cares about the entire human race and the entire human world—and it is only natural that he and Li Chengqian, as the Human Emperor's offspring, would become sacrifices for the sake of this human world!

"Amitabha." Looking at Li Ke's incredibly calm gaze, Master Xuanzang felt a surge of emotion.

He could understand that look.

That was the gaze of someone who had achieved 'enlightenment'—in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of Buddhism, enlightenment is an incredibly magical thing, full of countless mysteries.

In reality, enlightenment is just a very simple thing.

—Know who you are, know what you want to do, and know what you are doing.

This is enlightenment.

This is the enlightened one.

At this moment, there is no doubt that Li Ke in front of him is an enlightened being who has already attained enlightenment.

Such an enlightened being cannot be persuaded.

"Excellent, excellent." Xuanzang bowed his head and clasped his hands together.

However, while Xuanzang was about to give up, another person in the Great Hall of the Buddha was unwilling to do so.

The abbot of Yinshan Temple is an incarnation of a Bodhisattva.

When Li Ke sought his help, the bodhisattva's incarnation was undecided and contacted its true form.

The Bodhisattva's true form was also undecided, so the Silver Flower Bodhisattva contacted the Buddha she served.

The Buddha's gaze then fell upon Yinshan Temple, and upon the Great Buddha Hall.

The shaving of the head of a prince, and later, the shaving of the head of an emperor.

Unsurprisingly, the words spoken by Li Ke moved the Buddha.

Li Ke's intention was to let Xuanzang see the inevitable demise of Buddhism caused by its reckless and audacious actions.

But what the Buddha saw was only the glory of the Buddha forcibly converting the emperor!

Buddhism and Taoism are often mentioned together. In the history of Taoism, the Yellow Heaven Change is an evolution that no one can avoid. The history represented by that evolution is not glorious, but it is like the colorful robe on Taoism, attracting much attention.

This is one aspect where Buddhism can never catch up with Taoism.

However, at this moment, the Buddha saw the possibility of emulating the Yellow Heaven—admittedly, Buddhism could not recreate the Yellow Heaven, but it could convert kings.

If Buddhism can convert a monarch, then the Buddha is naturally more venerable than the monarch!

As for the so-called consequences...

With the protection of a sage and the presence of a powerful deity in Buddhism... what consequences could they not bear?
Therefore, when the Buddha, who had lowered his gaze, saw that Xuanzang was about to give up this rare opportunity, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

At present, Buddhism is experiencing a period of great prosperity. With the blessing of this heavenly power, although Buddhism has not yet reached its peak, it is able to do many things that would be difficult to do after reaching its peak.

In other words, if something is taboo to do during such a prosperous period, it will be even more difficult to do after the peak of prosperity or even after the decline.

Just like now, this opportunity to force the princes and feudal lords across the river is like this.

Once this opportunity is missed, Buddhism will never have a second chance!
With this thought in mind, the incarnation of the Buddha stepped into the human world.

"Amitabha." The tall Buddha statue descended from the high platform of the hall, its footsteps making the entire Mahavira Hall sway precariously.

Outside the hall, the abbot, who was the incarnation of the Bodhisattva, and the Buddhist disciples were all prostrating themselves on the ground, worshipping the true face of the Buddha.

"Li Ke, why haven't you converted yet?"

Above Yinshan Temple, the aura of humanity surged forth, threatening to reduce the entire temple to dust, crush the Buddha's incarnation, and drive the Buddha back to Mount Ling.

Under the pressure of that humane authority, the Buddha's incarnation calmly and respectfully clasped his hands together in prayer.

"I, the Buddha, have come to eliminate hidden dangers in the human world. Why should humanity stand in my way?"

After those words, the oppressive force of humanity, after its initial surge, fell silent once more.

Inside the main hall, Li Ke's gaze gradually became unfocused.

Even if he has realized his true nature, how can his true nature compare to the Buddha's light of a great dharma incarnation?
Under the great Buddha's light, Li Ke's true nature, which he had just come to understand, was gradually distorted.

Across from Li Ke, Xuanzang also raised his hand and took out his razor, intending to continue the tonsure he had already abandoned—at this moment, the will of the great master had completely dominated Xuanzang's actions.

Similarly, at that very moment, a golden stick swept across with a roar.

"Monster, take this stick from me!"

(End of this chapter)