The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 273 The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism
Su Ming's handsome and elegant face showed an approving smile, "This tea tastes bitter, but the aftertaste is endless, bitter at first and sweet later. Daoist friend, you can come up with this method, it's unique."

"The fragrance of bamboo and tea blends together without being abrupt. The layers are distinct and in line with nature. In my opinion, Daoist friend must have used the heat of true Qi to dry each leaf and lock in the fragrance of the tea to create tea with such a rich aroma."

When one of the middle-aged Taoist priests heard this, he looked very pleased with himself. "I am Mingyun, haha, you are right, Taoist friend. I picked each leaf of tea myself from the century-old tea tree on the mountain. This tea inherits the essence of the sun and the moon, and it can refresh the mind. It is very different from the way of drinking tea in the world today. You must try it."

The old Taoist priest who just spoke narrowed his eyes slightly, "Old Taoist Fuyun, Taoist friend, please come in."

"please."

Several people sat in the open air on the mountain wall and discussed things while drinking tea.

Another old Taoist priest with wrinkles on his face bowed and asked with a smile, "Old Taoist Fufeng, fellow Taoist, may I ask what is Taoism?"

Su Ming replied softly, "The Tao can be spoken of, but it is not the eternal Tao. The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things without contending, and stays where people hate, so it is close to the Tao."

This statement came from the Tao Te Ching. Several Taoists lived in seclusion here and were naturally familiar with the Tao Te Ching. This answer obviously did not satisfy them, and they did not show any abnormality, but just listened quietly.

Then, Su Ming continued, "The Tao is in the persistence, in me, and in all living beings. I am the Tao, and the Tao is me. My path is the road, and my heart is the heart of the Tao."

Several people smiled and said, "Good."

The old Taoist priest in Fufeng stroked his beard, his forehead wrinkled and mottled, "I wonder why you are here?"

"I came for the future of Taoism!" After saying this, Su Ming put down the bamboo tube in his hand. "The origin of Taoism can be traced back to the Yellow Emperor period. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Laozi attained the Tao and left behind the 5,000-word Tao Te Ching. It was later carried forward by Master Yin. It has been more than a thousand years since then. There is no sect in the world with a longer heritage than Taoism."

"Now in the Central Plains, Buddhism and Demonism are in full swing, while Taoism has declined and its influence has greatly decreased. It is almost bullied by Buddhism. This is why I am here."

Taoist Fuyun remained unmoved, his eyes still narrowed, "Fellow Daoist, you are joking. The Buddhist sect welcomes pilgrims. What does it have to do with us? In this deep mountain forest, can they find us?"

Su Ming's voice was neither sad nor happy, he said quietly, "Qingcheng Mountain may be big, but it cannot accommodate any monk. The world may be big, but it cannot tolerate the insolence of Buddhism. How can foreign monks be the righteous way of the Central Plains? You must know that Buddhism is originally Taoism. The incident of Grandmaster Tao is a lesson not far away."

"Shu is a quiet place, where you can live in peace. Have you ever thought about the future? Your disciples will become Buddhas, put on monk robes, shave their heads, and accompany the ancient Buddha with green lamps. The thousand-year heritage will all be obtained by Buddhism, and the founder of the Taoist temple will also wear a bun like a foreign monk. Haven't you ever thought about these?"

The simple words seemed like a wake-up call, containing a spiritual force that moistened everything silently, causing several people's thoughts to fly. In their minds emerged a scene in which the Taoist temple passed down by their ancestors was occupied by monks, all the disciples and descendants became monks, and the scriptures were tampered with.

Even a clay figure would have some anger; Taoists like peace and quiet, but that doesn't mean they don't care about anything.

Seeing that several people's eyes were spitting fire and they were about to get angry, the old Taoist Fuyun coughed lightly, and the sound was like a long and distant bell, which woke up the others. They came to their senses and looked at Su Ming again, who was already fearful in his eyes. This kind of method was really hard to guard against.

Taoist priest Fufeng had a complicated expression on his face and sighed softly, "Fellow Taoist, you have some tricks!"

"The means are not important. What's important is that what I said is not false!" Su Ming picked up the bamboo tube and took a sip of tea. The bitter taste spread. The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism had been looming since the Five Barbarians Invasion of China.

After the death of Northern Heavenly Master Kou Qianzhi, the Northern Taoist sect never recovered and the heritage he left behind no longer existed. In the Southern Dynasties, Tao Hongjing, the contemporary Taoist master, was forced to become a monk. The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism was almost a life-and-death situation. With two bloody examples in front of them, they had to believe it.

Tao Hongjing, the great master of Taoism, holds a very high status in Taoism. He compiled the first Taoist genealogy of gods and immortals, "The Chart of True Spirits' Karma", and reshaped the Taoist belief system. He is a well-deserved great master of Taoism.

In contrast, the Buddhist beliefs at this time were extremely chaotic, with the gods of India, the Central Plains, and the Hu people all mixed up in one mess.

Tao Hongjing lived through the Song, Qi and Liang dynasties. Even the Buddhist Emperor Wu of Liang was kind to him and he was known as the "Prime Minister in the Mountains".

However, during the Southern Liang period, Zen Buddhism first emerged, Bodhidharma crossed the river and overwhelmed the world, and the Southern Liang almost built a Buddhist country on land. How could Tao Hongjing alone go against the will of the country?

As the leader of the Daoist sect, he had to travel far away. Finally, as the master of Daoist sect, he went to Yan County to worship the Ashoka Pagoda, took vows and took vows, practicing both Buddhism and Daoism. This is how his Maoshan sect avoided the fate of Kou Qianzhi's New Heavenly Master Dao, which perished in one lifetime.

Remember the past and learn from it. When Kou Qianzhi and Tao Hongjing were mentioned, even the Taoists present felt resentful of Buddhism. After all, the reputation of these two predecessors in Taoism was really loud.

After a moment of silence, Taoist Mingyun, who had just come out with tea leaves, snorted coldly, "Fellow Daoist, you are very arrogant. You are not wrong, but how can the Taoist sect fight against the Buddhist sect now? The master and disciple of Cihang Jingzhai are very eloquent, and they have countless followers. The four great monks of Jingnian Zen Temple are masters. Even the Demon Sect can only avoid them temporarily. How can we resist?"

Hearing this, Su Ming became excited. This was exactly what he had been waiting for!

During the Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling, the Heavenly Master, integrated the teachings of Huang-Lao and founded Taoism. At the same time, during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han, Buddhist monks from foreign countries were introduced into the Central Plains, and the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism began from then on.

In the meantime, Taoism first gave rise to the Taiping Dao, and then experienced the rebellion of the Tianshi Dao. As a result, Taoism was feared and suppressed by successive rulers. Buddhism then entered the rulers' sight and was supported to compete with Taoism.

Buddhist ideas were also very beneficial to the rulers. Temples were widely visited, absorbed money from the people, did not pay taxes, annexed land, and had great power. But the problem was that they had no political power and were easily controlled.

In comparison, the Taoist philosophy is quite different. The phrase "The blue sky is dead, and the yellow sky should be established" destroyed the 400-year-long Han Dynasty.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were hundreds of schools of thought, and each school had its own ideas and methods for governing the country.

In the government, it is a struggle for the philosophy of governing the country; in the world, it is a struggle between orthodox factions and heretical factions.

One of the reasons why Buddhism has repeatedly surpassed Taoism and is more favored by rulers is that Buddhism has worked much harder than Taoism in suppressing heretical factions (demonic sects). Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Zen are examples of this.

More importantly, Buddhism did not have its own set of ideas, which implicitly coincided with the strategy of exhausting and weakening the people in Shang Yang's book. How could a sect that was easy to control and could cooperate in ruling the people not be loved by the rulers?

This thing may not be of much use to ordinary people, but to the top class, it is more useful than weapons. Anyway, they are not the ones who suffer, so as long as they themselves don't get fooled, it's fine.

Taoism was too dangerous and had to be abandoned by the rulers of the time. Later, Confucianism took away the dominant position in political thought. The Huang-Lao Dao and Wei-Jin metaphysics were all filled with Taoist ideas of governing the country. Unfortunately, the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China broke everything, and Buddhism cooperated with foreign races to rule the people and became popular. Under such a background, metaphysics gradually declined, and Taoism also took a back seat and completely became a sect.

Today's Taoists stay away from the court and retreat into the deep mountains and forests, seeking immortality and the way to the Tao. They have already laid down their lives. They don't want to practice or not, they don't want Taoist temples or territory, they just hide in the deep mountains and forests and become stay-at-homes. Those in power can't do anything about them.

However, it is impossible for a person to pop out of a stone out of thin air. As long as one is a human being, he or she will have weaknesses, concerns and defects. This is why Su Ming was able to convince them.

Becoming an immortal is illusory, and only by breaking the void can there be a future. But the problem is that the poor in literature are good at martial arts, and if they have no money, what can they use to practice martial arts? As long as they have a desire to break the void, these Taoists cannot escape worldly affairs.

Buddhist and Taoist masters are indeed not easily moved by external things, but this is only because most of the "external things" in the world are not of high enough quality to make them excited. Their goals are completely different from those of ordinary people.

Su Ming glanced at the faces of the Taoists one by one and laughed, "Are you scared by a mere Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Zen Temple? The struggle for the world is urgent, and the struggle for faith is a life-and-death struggle."

"Everyone should take care of the snow in front of their own door, and don't worry about the frost on other people's roofs. Today, other Taoist sects are bullied by Buddhism, and you just stand by and watch. If you are in trouble one day, who will lend you a hand?"

This short sentence silenced several people and made them feel heavy.

"You are from the Taoist sect in Shu. The chaos in the Central Plains means they can't take care of you for now, but once the Buddhist sect settles the situation, how could they give up this peaceful place?"

"As for how to fight against Buddhism, I dare to say this because I have something to rely on. You may as well guess what my confidence comes from?" After saying this, Su Ming drank tea quietly and waited for the next words.

After a long while, the wrinkled old Taoist sighed and bowed to Su Ming, "I am from Qingyang Temple Fufeng. What you said is right. We have no way to retreat."

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Another old Taoist priest with a white hair and beard bowed his head and said, "I am a floating cloud from Qingcheng Mountain. What you said is very touching. You want us to believe you just because you said so. How can we know whether what you said is true or not?"

Qingyang Temple, Qingcheng Mountain, the face of Taoism in Shu!

Su Ming's mind flashed with the information about the two Taoist temples. He knew that the two men had been persuaded by him, but it was not enough, so he directly used drastic measures, "To be honest, I have cooperated with the Lingnan Song clan to help them dominate the world!"

When these words were spoken, several people's eyes widened. The amount of information contained in this sentence was too much.

The Song clan, as one of the four major clans, is participating in the fight for the throne. The overall situation in the world will change in the future. Some people's eyes are flickering, and they are constantly calculating the changes and impacts brought about by the Song clan's fight for the throne.

"It won't be long before Song Que, the leader of the Song clan, will lead his troops to attack Shu. I think no one in Shu can stop him!"

Another sentence, like a bolt from the blue, fell on their hearts, too fast, they did not expect the Song family to act so quickly!

"Fellow Daoist, although the Song clan is strong, there is only one Song Que. How can they stop the Buddhist sect?" Taoist Fuyun thought to himself. He was already tempted, but when he thought of the Song clan, he said, "I heard that when Song Que was young, he traveled to Shu with Fan Qinghui, the master of Cihang Jingzhai. There may be some relationship between them. You should consider it carefully."

At this time, the three middle-aged Taoist priests nearby could no longer get a word in.

Su Ming knew his concerns. "I'm sure both Taoist priests are aware of the Song clan's stance. They support the orthodoxy of the Han people. Whether it's Buddhism or the other four clans, they have a close relationship with the Hu people. Only Taoism is dignified and authentic, and it's also a local sect. It would be beneficial for both sides to cooperate."

"What's more, in front of the whole world, what does a mere woman count for?"

Most of the people in power throughout the ages were heartless. Once they became emperors, they became a different kind of creature. The so-called friendship had to give way to the overall situation, and Song Que happened to be such a person.

But the old Taoist Fuyun still shook his head and said, "It's not enough!" He saw clearly that the future of the Song family depended on Song Que alone. Such a rule was not stable. Once Song Que made a mistake, the entire situation would be ruined.

After all, this is a martial arts world, and it is not impossible for an assassin to behead a core figure.

Su Ming guessed their thoughts clearly. Then, he smiled faintly and said word by word, "If I can get Ning Daoqi's head, are you willing to cooperate with the Song family?"

"Ning Daoqi?"

"Is this true?"

……

Hearing these words suddenly, the five Taoists were all surprised and gnashed their teeth. A man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree. Ning Daoqi is a grandmaster. It is not an easy task to kill him.

In the entire Taoist sect, everyone hated the three words "Ning Daoqi" extremely. The only reason they didn't expel him from the sect was that they were afraid of his powerful martial arts as a grandmaster.

The reason why Ning Daoqi is called a wanderer is because of his situation in the Taoist sect, that is, a wanderer in the mountains, and no Taoist sect with a traditional culture is willing to pay attention to him.

The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism is so serious that his dog brains are about to burst out, but he still sticks to Buddhism. He is no different from the traitors.

Although he is a Taoist, he is willing to be a thug for Buddhism and even use his own reputation to help Cihang Jingzhai. As long as this guy is still a Taoist and a grandmaster, the reputation of Taoism will be inherently weaker than that of Buddhism.

This guy is the shame of Taoism. How can they not hate him? How can they not grit their teeth at him?

Hearing this, Taoist Fufeng stared at Su Ming and said, "Even if it's Song Que, he may not be able to kill Ning Daoqi."

"Why do we need Song Que? I alone am enough to take him down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a powerful sword intent rose into the sky and the air around him was filled with boundless sword energy. The pottery jars in front of the people exploded, but the water inside did not flow out. Instead, it maintained a stable state under the wrapping of the sword energy. In the clear water, green tea leaves floated up and down.

The beards and clothes of several Taoists were blown away, and they felt a chill all over their bodies, as if a disaster would befall them if they moved!
(End of this chapter)