The Great Arcanist Who Traveled Through the World of American Variety Shows.

Chapter 416: Monks Join Forces
Guo Rong's anti-Buddhist movement was in full swing. A large number of fake monks failed the assessment and were directly eliminated, while those who passed were issued ordination certificates.

From now on, any monk without a certificate of ordination who is discovered will be arrested and forced to perform forced labor.

The content of the assessment is very simple. One is required to memorize several Buddhist scriptures. A scripture is not that long, only tens of thousands of words. Secondly, one is required to give a simple explanation of the scriptures. Thirdly, one is required to screen according to the Buddhist rules and regulations. Any monk who violates the rules and regulations will be dismissed.

In this era, being a monk is a good career. There is no need to perform labor service, pay taxes, and eat well every day. Therefore, many people become monks, but not many monks can actually meet the assessment requirements.

After three months of assessment, only 2,000 monks from the Zhou Kingdom were able to pass the assessment, more than 150,000 monks returned to secular life, and thousands of bandits were captured.

In the end, the number of temples left in the Zhou Dynasty was reduced from tens of thousands to a few hundred. Many temples were converted into workshops or distributed to ordinary people as housing.

Guo Rong even obtained a large amount of money, food, land and population by destroying Buddhism.

This also allowed the Zhou Kingdom, which was originally in financial difficulties, to immediately restore its finances and fill its treasury. At the same time, the people Guo Rong sent to experiment with the salt-drying method also reported back that the salt-drying method was a great success.

The salt production revenue of the salt field increased by more than ten times. Upon hearing that so much salt had been obtained, Guo Rong immediately began to reform the salt law. All salt fields were nationalized, and salt merchants from all regions needed salt permits to buy salt from the salt fields.

To obtain salt permits, one had to help the government transport food to the front. For a time, many salt merchants began to organize people to transport food. The logistical transportation pressure at the border of the imperial court was greatly reduced.

Next, Guo Rong began to use salt to exchange for war horses from the Dangxiang and Tubo.

With money and food supplies and war horses, the strength of the Zhou army began to increase rapidly. Seeing this, Guo Rong finally began to prepare for another northern expedition.

In the six years since Guo Rong ascended the throne, after defeating Hou Shu and Southern Tang, he finally had time to prepare to retake the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were too important to the Central Plains dynasty. By controlling the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Central Plains agricultural civilization would have the initiative on the grassland. The Yanshan Mountains blocked the nomadic peoples in the north.

This is the barrier of the Central Plains Dynasty.

If the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are lost, the northern nomadic peoples will be able to march straight into Youzhou, and the vast North China Plain will be unobstructed, allowing the Hu cavalry to come and go as they please.

It’s just that people can come as they please and leave as they please.

After obtaining the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Khitans obtained a large number of craftsmen, Jizhou produced iron, Youzhou produced grain, and the north produced horses. With this combination, the strength of the Khitans can be said to have increased linearly.

Although the Khitans were numerous, most of them were unarmored, so they could only harass the Jiedushis from various places and their strength was very weak. Now the situation is almost reversed.

After preparing a large amount of money, food and supplies, and selecting the imperial guards, Guo Rong once again prepared to launch the Northern Expedition.

Guo Rong's Buddhist rectification behavior has caused great damage to the once prosperous Buddhism. For those true Buddhists and Buddhist monks, the current Buddhism is the Pure Land of Buddhism. The previous Buddhism was full of filth and was not Buddhism at all.

However, there are still a large number of Buddhists who hate this. In their view, Guo Rong is an enemy of Buddhism, harvesting its wealth under the banner of rectifying Buddhism.

"Master Chenghui, the Emperor of Zhou is trying to destroy the foundation of our Buddhism. We must not admit defeat and must resist!"

"Yes, we must resist! This man is the enemy of Buddha!"

"Even though the Three Wu Emperors destroyed Buddhism, Buddhism still flourished. Guo Rong is just a local lord, yet he dares to destroy my followers!"

"We must punish him, otherwise how can we demonstrate the boundless power of Buddha's Dharma?"

Several great monks spoke one after another. In the center of the crowd sat a great monk with a dignified appearance. This man had a full forehead, ears that drooped to his shoulders, and a dignified appearance that made people involuntarily want to worship him.

"My fellow disciples, please wait a moment." Master Chenghui, who was sitting in the first seat, spoke.

"The Emperor of Zhou is now in great fortune. We can only avoid the sharp edge for the time being. Fighting now will only lead to our death! If we are not careful, a hundred years of hard work will go to waste."

"But if we don't fight back, how will we ever be able to get out of this situation?" said one of the monks.

"Let's observe his whereabouts first. I think the Emperor of Zhou has great ambitions. He is definitely not someone who would settle for a corner of the country. He must want to unify the world!"

"You must know that the battlefield changes rapidly. As long as you seize the opportunity, there is a way to deal with him even if he is lucky!" Cheng Hui said lightly.

"Brother, do you mean that we should unite with the Khitans to deal with the Emperor of Zhou?" a monk nearby asked.

Upon hearing this, several monks around thought that this plan was feasible.

"This plan is feasible. Besides, the Khitan royal family believes in Buddhism. If we help the Khitan royal family to establish their rule in the Central Plains, we will naturally benefit from it!"

"If we can help Long Ting, we will have the hope of achieving the status of Arhat or Bodhisattva and ascend to the Western Paradise!"

The more they talked, the more they felt that the plan was feasible. They became excited and quickly assigned tasks. Some people went to contact the Khitans in the north, others went south to contact the Southern Tang and Wuyue, and some went to Kaifeng to keep an eye on the Zhou Kingdom.

After assigning their respective tasks, the monks began to carry out the plan. Cheng Hui, the strongest among them, took action at the critical moment.

Richard didn't know what these monks were planning, but he knew very well that someone would definitely try to stop them this time.

You know, historically, Guo Rong's death was very short. At that time, Guo Rong led the army to the north, won victory after victory, and had recovered three states. Guo Rong wanted to take advantage of the situation to capture Youzhou. As long as he occupied Youzhou, the Khitans would have to retreat to the north of Yanshan Mountain.

As a result, at this critical moment, Guo Rong suddenly fell ill and was very ill. The army had to stop the Northern Expedition and return to Kaifeng overnight. After returning to Kaifeng, he died of illness within half a month.

You know, Guo Rong was only 39 years old at that time, full of energy and strong, at the prime of his life. But he died of an illness, and the famous doctors in Kaifeng were helpless.

In this world with immortals and Buddhas, Richard didn't believe it was normal to get sick for no reason.

So from the beginning, Richard was ready to fight with these people. And where is the best opportunity for these people to take action? It's simple, when leading the army to go to war.

Although he had a large army guarding him at this time, the True Dragon of Luck could not provide complete protection after leaving the capital. In addition, the battlefield was extremely dangerous and there were too many opportunities to take action.

Those people wanted to take action only after the army set out, so Richard decided to go with them.

After hearing that Guo Rong was going to lead his army to the Northern Expedition, Richard met with Guo Rong and expressed his willingness to accompany him to the Northern Expedition. Guo Rong was very happy to hear that Richard was willing to join the Northern Expedition.

In his opinion, Richard was a great talent of the time, and with him going with him, the Northern Expedition would be a sure success.

The army marched north, and food, fodder and military equipment were transported to the front line because of the opening of the Sino-French Treaty. Guo Rong personally led the army to the north.

After hearing the news of Zhou's northern expedition, Khitan immediately mobilized. At this time, Khitan was at its peak, with no less than 300,000 soldiers. Not only did they occupy the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, but they also took in a puppet emperor, Northern Han. They were strong in both military and military power.

Although Guo Rong had led a northern expedition a few years ago and lost some soldiers, he had not suffered any serious losses, so he was not afraid of Guo Rong's northern expedition. At the same time, several monks quietly came to the Khitan Shangjing City. Soon these monks were invited to Fengguo Temple.

"Greetings, Master Benyuan." Several monks bowed respectfully.

"My fellow disciples, what brings us to Fengguo Temple?" Benyuan said calmly.

The monk Cheng Fei, who was in the lead, looked around and said, "Brother, please ask them to leave!"

Benyuan glanced at Monk Chengfei, then waved his hand and said, "Take it off first!"

The monks around immediately bowed and left the room. Soon, only Monk Chengfei and three other monks and Abbot Benyuan were left in the room.

After seeing that there was no one else, Monk Chengfei spoke up, "Brother Benyuan, I am here on behalf of my brother Chenghui to discuss important matters with you."

"Big news? Why can't you stay in the Central Plains anymore and want to come to the grassland?" Master Benyuan said lightly.

"That's not the case!" Monk Chengfei shook his head and said, "Brother, our Buddhist sect has now reached a critical moment of life and death. If we cannot unite, I am afraid that today's Central Plains Buddhist sect will be like you tomorrow!"

"Haha, you are talking nonsense!" said Master Benyuan with a sneer.

"Although Zhou has a wise leader, Khitan is also strong in military and horses. It will not be easy for Zhou to unify the world!"

"What's more, the Khitan Kingdom has the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in its hands. It can attack or defend. The Zhou Kingdom can only run around in a hurry. The Khitan Kingdom has a higher chance of unifying the world!"

Benyuan was not moved at all by Chengfei's intimidation. He now saw clearly that the Khitan had already become powerful and was not afraid of the Central Plains at all. At this time, the Central Plains was still in chaos and turmoil. As long as they were given the opportunity, the army would march south and establish their rule in the Central Plains.

"Brother, you are wrong!" Cheng Fei shook his head and said, "The last time the Khitan Emperor, Yelu Deguang, led his army south and occupied the Central Plains, what was the result?"

"But after only half a year, they had to retreat in disgrace. Even he himself died of illness and was turned into an imperial pet!"

At that time, Yelu Deguang was full of vigor and vitality. He held on to the chaos of the Later Jin Dynasty and went south to the Central Plains. He destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty in one fell swoop and captured the city of Kaifeng. He was about to unify the Central Plains, then go south across the river to unify the world.

As a result, Yelu Deguang himself was unable to control his troops. The Khitans burned, killed and looted, which directly led to the rebellion of the people of Kaifeng. Then the military governors of various places also attacked. Yelu Deguang's army could not resist and had to retreat in embarrassment.

On the way of retreat, Yelu Deguang died of illness and was then made into a mummy and taken back to the grassland.

It can be said that this incident was the pain point of Khitan. It was also the time when Khitan was closest to unifying the world, but it ended up in a mess. At that time, Master Benyuan planned to use Fulongting to achieve enlightenment, achieve the status of a Bodhisattva, and ascend to the Western Paradise.

As a result, he was kicked back when he was about to succeed. Not only did he fail, but he was attacked by the luck of the Central Plains and vomited blood. If he hadn't had profound skills, he would have died on the spot.

Now that Cheng Fei had said this, even Ben Yuan, who had mastered the art of cultivating his Qi, could not help but take action.

Seeing Benyuan getting angry, Monk Chengfei knew the time had come and hurriedly said, "Brother Benyuan, we are here to help you reenter the Central Plains!"

Hearing this, Benyuan's original anger disappeared instantly, his eyes moved slightly, and he instantly understood what they meant.

He immediately chanted the Buddha's name.

"Amitabha, I almost got angry. Thank you for your enlightenment!"

"Brother, you have done great deeds and will be blessed by the Buddha!" ​​Monk Chengfei complimented.

"What does Monk Chenghui want to talk about?" Benyuan regained his composure and asked.

Cheng Fei continued, "This time the Emperor of Zhou is going north to fight. This is our chance. We have already sent people to contact Southern Tang. When Zhou goes north to fight, Southern Tang will also take the opportunity to attack Huainan and take it back in one fell swoop."

"The Khitan army needs to fight the Zhou army. If the Zhou receives the news of the battle in Huainan, it will certainly withdraw its troops. At this time, we will ask the Khitan army to move out."

"When the Zhou army withdraws, there will inevitably be some chaos. We should take advantage of this opportunity to attack the Zhou emperor!"

"If we attack the leader of a certain vassal state, our luck will backfire and none of us will survive!" Monk Benyuan said coldly.

"Hehe, of course we are not the ones to do it!" Monk Chengfei said with a smile.

"We can use magic to infect some Khitan soldiers with diseases, and use this opportunity to get close to the Zhou emperor. If the Zhou emperor dies of the disease, what does it have to do with us?"

"What do you want?" Benyuan thought to himself that this plan was very feasible and worth a try.

"After the success, the Khitan will move into the Central Plains. We must also obtain the support of the Khitan royal family and gain the luck to practice!" Monk Chengfei said.

"Yes!" Benyuan agreed directly.

The two sides then began to discuss the specific plan of action and the distribution of benefits after success.

It took more than an hour before the argument ended and the two sides reached a result that satisfied both parties.

Cheng Fei and the other two were sent to live in a guest house. After everyone else left, a small door behind the screen opened and another big monk in a cassock walked out.

"Brother, do you really want to agree to them? Share your luck with them?"

"Haha, how is that possible!" Benyuan chuckled.

"We have been cultivating here for hundreds of years. Why should they do that?"

"We are just borrowing their power now. When the Zhou emperor dies and the country is leaderless, we will march south and establish our rule in the Central Plains. Won't we have the final say then?"

"Monk Chenghui's desire to use his luck to cultivate is just a daydream!"

"If they know when to advance and retreat, I will give them a state to develop. If they don't, I will let them learn from my Buddhist teachings!"

"Brother, I heard that Monk Chenghui has extraordinary means. How about giving them some benefits?"

"Extraordinary means? Once the army enters the Central Plains, I will be able to advance to the status of a bodhisattva. How can he fight me?"

(End of this chapter)