Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Although the general policy was formulated, Zhu Youjian did not discuss the specific status of the gods.

After all, as the Son of Heaven, he still had to consider his status. He couldn't speak without thinking, making people doubt whether he could communicate with the gods of heaven and earth.

Therefore, the matter of defining the system of gods and immortals was still handled by officials from the Taichang Temple.

Zhu Youjian sent eunuchs such as Gao Shiming and Wei Xueyan who were proficient in Taoist scriptures to participate in this matter.

Although Taoism decided to submit, they really did not want to separate the heaven and earth pantheon from Taoism.

When discussing with the Taichang Temple, he constantly quoted Taoist scriptures to explain that the gods of heaven and earth belonged to the Taoist pantheon.

Cao Sicheng, the Junior Minister of the Imperial Household, was in charge of establishing the immortal system. He was a remnant of the eunuch party and was completely subservient to the current emperor.

Facing the resistance of Taoism, Cao Sicheng looked solemn and asked expressionlessly:
"It's not a bad idea for the gods of heaven and earth to remain in Taoism, but can you make the people believe in Taoism?"

“Many of the illegal religions involved in this rebellion were spread in the name of Buddhism and Taoism.”

“Where were you when they gathered the faithful?”

These words left all the Taoists speechless, and at the same time they understood why the imperial court wanted to incorporate the divine system of heaven and earth.

It was the chaos in folk religions that made the imperial court unable to sit still, and they wanted to support the belief in Heaven and Earth and suppress folk religions.

If they cannot make such guarantees, the imperial court will certainly dig out the divine system of heaven and earth, set up institutions such as the City God Division, and personally preach the gospel.

Zhang Jiugong has been in charge of Taoism for many years and is most sensitive to this and understands the court's intentions.

He was happy about this, but at the same time he complained:
"It's not that we don't want to preach, it's just that there are too few Taoists in the world, and even fewer who can preach."

"Please ask the court to issue more certificates of ordination and allow more Taoist temples to be built."

Cao Sicheng sneered upon hearing this and said:
"Before we see any results, we need a certificate from the Taoist temple."

"Your plan is good, but how can the court be assured?"

"According to my opinion, the City God Division should be expanded into the Heaven and Earth Division, which will be responsible for the worship of the gods of heaven and earth."

"You Taoists should just believe in the Three Pure Ones!"

When these words were spoken, the Taoist priests who heard them were all shocked.

The City God's Office has already absorbed quite a few Taoists. If it is expanded into the Heaven and Earth Office, even more people will be attracted over there.

How many people can Taoism retain based solely on the belief in the Three Pure Ones?
Aren’t most of the followers of folk Taoism attracted by the gods of heaven and earth?
Taoism relied on this to survive in the past, so how could it accept that the system of gods of heaven and earth was dug out?
They all requested the court to show mercy.

Cao Sicheng just sneered and ignored them.

As a Confucian scholar, he would like to see the heaven and earth pantheon become independent from Taoism.

Because the belief in Heaven and Earth is advocated by Confucianism.

What's more, the gods of heaven and earth are not taken seriously in Taoism and are instead targets of suppression.

Many Buddhist and Taoist gods raised their status by suppressing the gods of heaven and earth.

If the emperor felt that Confucianism was less effective in preaching, he really wanted to establish the Tiandi Division and use the Taichang Temple to spread the belief in Tiandi.

Gao Shiming knew the emperor's thoughts and had also received instructions.

Seeing that the officials from the Taichang Temple and the Taoist priests were getting a little awkward, he came out to smooth things over and said with a smile:
"There is no need to set up the Department of Heaven and Earth. How can the imperial court control the gods of heaven and earth?"

"In my opinion, it is better for the Heaven and Earth God system to remain in the Taoist God system, but the status should be more special." "Your Majesty once said that the gods of heaven and earth are the true gods, and the Taoist gods include heavenly gods, earthly gods, and scattered gods. They should be separated in the future."

"The most honorable gods are the gods of heaven and earth, and the supreme gods are the emperor of heaven and earth."

Cao Sicheng could accept this statement.

In his opinion, as he once worked in the Ministry of Personnel, the so-called gods of heaven and earth were equivalent to officials serving in the imperial court.

Taoist gods who depend on heaven and hell can be called celestial immortals or earthly immortals, while those who only care about their own freedom are called wandering immortals, just like those wanderers who do not want to be officials.

Taoist priests could also accept it, because if they did not accept it, the imperial court would have to establish the Heaven and Earth Department to take over the Heaven and Earth system.

They were unwilling to bear the consequences and could only accept it with a pinch of their nose.

Once we reach this consensus, the rest will be easy.

Cao Sicheng asked Taoism to hand over the temples that worshipped the gods of heaven and earth, and the temples would be managed by the City God Department in the future.

He still hasn't given up the idea of ​​establishing the Tiandi Division, wanting to gain the leading role in spreading the Tiandi faith.

Taoism was of course unwilling, and finally, under the mediation of Gao Shiming, it was determined that these temples still belonged to Taoism, but they also had to accept the supervision of the City God Department. Matters involving the gods of heaven and earth needed to be reported to the City God Department.

The Chenghuangsi system also has a name in Taoism, which is called Chenghuang Dao.

In the future, the earth god system will be mainly under the charge of the City God Dao, with assistance from other Taoist sects.

As for the functions of the City God's Office, such as sending the dead to the afterlife, they were naturally determined. From now on, all Taoist priests who wanted to take on such rituals had to go through the City God's Office.

The same applies to monks, priests, etc., who are not allowed to perform such rituals privately.

It can be said that the imperial court completely deprived the city of funeral affairs, and used Taoist priests, monks and other religious figures to supplement the shortage of City God's Office personnel.

Taoism is naturally unwilling to accept this, because rituals for the salvation of the dead can be said to be the most lucrative, and are something that no one can avoid.

However, under the pressure of the court, they could only admit this reluctantly. In their hearts, they comforted themselves that the Taoist priests of Chenghuang Dao were also Taoist priests, at least different from monks.

Cao Sicheng and other officials of the Taichang Temple also proposed many specific regulations of this kind, which completely brought Taoism under supervision and no longer left it alone as before.

Zhu Youjian had long realized that it would be impossible to spread the faith widely and suppress folk religions by relying solely on the Taoists who were obsessed with cultivating immortals.

But if you don’t occupy the position of faith, someone else will. If Taoism does not actively spread the teachings, various folk religions will emerge.

Moreover, these religions are very disguised, and even look very much like early Taoism. The so-called "Red Yang is over, White Yang will be born" of Hongyang Sect is similar to the "Blue Heaven is dead, Yellow Heaven will be established" of Taiping Dao.

These religions were very harmful. After careful consideration, Zhu Youjian decided to use the belief in City God as the core to consolidate the scattered Taoist beliefs and suppress the space for the spread of folk religions.

Moreover, the City God's function of sending people to the afterlife means that everyone must deal with him.

Even if the City God's staff do not actively spread their beliefs, they can still establish a solid influence among the people.

Japanese Buddhism has always had a stable influence because of its control over funerals. Even if it declines occasionally, it will not completely disappear.

This was the approach Zhu Youjian chose for the City God Division, and he even gave the court's responsibility for managing funerals to the City God Division.

In the future, the so-called Chenghuang Dao will become stronger and stronger, and may even become one of the core sects of Taoism.

The court's influence on Taoism will also become stronger. Officials with Confucian backgrounds will actually master the pantheon of heaven and earth, and merge it with the Taoist pantheon to consolidate folk beliefs. (End of this chapter)