Father can be an enemy to the country

The main hall of the Chief Secretary's Yamen.

Seeing that Zhang Tianshi was unwilling to overthrow the donkey, he still wanted to avoid the important and take the easy. He didn't want to lose face, but he didn't want to lose too much.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhen sneered and said: "Isn't this king enough to give you face? Now most of the people involved in the "Ignore the Accounts" case have been arrested, leaving only a few of you who have not been arrested! Isn't this the biggest reward for you? To save face?”

"His Highness's care is of course deeply appreciated by me." Zhang Maocheng smiled and said, "It's just that His Highness may still be young, so I don't know the reason why kings have given preferential treatment to 'South, Zhang and Beikong' since ancient times. It's because of the preferential treatment given to our two families. It means giving preferential treatment to Confucianism and Taoism, which can bring the world back to its heart and help the imperial court educate all people!"

"So, help us keep our dignity, not only for ourselves, but also for the long-term peace and stability of the imperial court." Zhang Maocheng actually put on a face as he spoke. The pride that had been passed down for thousands of years made him temporarily forget his fear, and returned to the way of the Heavenly Master:

"Bei Sage and Nan Tianshi are the faces of the imperial court. How can they slap themselves in the face? Your Highness, isn't that right?"

"It's a fart." King Chu's answer made him stagnant.

"How can His Highness speak like this?" Zhang Maocheng said helplessly: "He represents the imperial court and the emperor."

"Then I, today, will replace my father and take away the throne of the Heavenly Master from you!" But Zhu Zhen sneered and said:

"Master, Heavenly Master, how can there be a master in heaven? My father is only the Son of Heaven, but you dare to call yourself Heavenly Master. Could it be that my old man still wants to call you Master?"

"This..." Zhang Maocheng broke his guard when he saw that Lao Liu was going to tear down his most important sign. He said anxiously: "My position as Heavenly Master has been passed down for more than 1,200 years. How can I be abolished just by His Highness's request?"

"That's right, I can abolish it if I say it!" Zhu Zhen looked at Zhang Maocheng coldly and said in a deep voice: "From today onwards, you are banning the word 'Tianshi', but any violators will be treated as transgressors." Discuss!"

As he spoke, he looked at Zhang Maocheng provocatively and said, "If you don't believe that you are calling yourself a Heavenly Master now, will I put you in a cage and throw you on the street to show off to the public for a month?"

"Why don't I dare?" Zhang Maocheng was so excited that his face turned blue.

"Then you tell me." Zhu Zhen pressed forward step by step.

"I don't..." Considering the three bloody heads and the river of blood outside Zhangjiang Gate, Zhang Maocheng finally gave up.

"Hahaha, it turns out that Master Zhang is also aware of current affairs." Zhu Zhen laughed loudly, and the laughter was full of sarcasm.

"I will appeal to the emperor. Your Highness is so ignorant and disregards the overall situation. I don't believe that the emperor will not be angry." Zhang Maocheng could only use the last resort - to find his parents.

"You still have the nerve to go to my father? My father named you the 'Great Master', but he didn't name you the 'Celestial Master' because you don't want to have another Celestial Master in the world! But you are pretending to be stupid, and behind your back Continue to arrogantly arrogantly!" Zhu Zhen sneered and said again and again:

"Do you think the imperial court doesn't know? Before, you just turned a blind eye. Now if you don't drink the toast and drink as a fine, don't blame the imperial court for opening both eyes!"

"This..." Zhang Maocheng was speechless for a moment.

Zhu Zhen continued to raise his voice and said:

"And since you are going to confront me, there is no need for me to be polite to you!"

"Come here, tell me the king's decree. Make the "No Account Book" public. Seize all the Taoist temples, manors, properties, and all the hidden fields in the "No Account Book" of Zhengyi Road! Arrest all the Taoist priests, family members, and believers of Zhengyi Road. , and all the hidden accounts in the "Regardless of Account Book"!"

"According to the order!" Hu Quan and others responded loudly.

"Wait!" Zhang Maocheng hurriedly called out. Hu Quan, who was preparing to go down to deliver the order, turned to Zhu Zhen and said loudly: "Your Highness, are you serious about coming?"

"What a joke, I have killed thousands of people!" Zhu Zhen looked at Zhang Maocheng with a caring look and said with a ferocious smile: "Why do you idiots who are married to incest relatives think that I am joking?"

"Aren't you afraid of provoking a civil uprising?!" Zhang Maocheng said with a serious look on his face.

"Haha, I like to suppress rebellions!" Zhu Zhen laughed loudly: "I have the army of Jiangxi Dusi and the forbidden army brought by my fourth brother. These elite soldiers and generals who are eager for military success must hope that you can say We’ll do it!”

After saying that, he stood up, pointed at Zhang Maocheng and sneered loudly: "And you, Zhang Maocheng, will become Zhengyiyi's eternal sinner. Because the rebellion you started will make Zhengyiyi become a cult like the White Lotus Society! From now on! There is no such thing as 'Southern Zhang and Northern Confucius'. The eternal foundation of Zhengyiyi has been destroyed in one day!"

"..." Zhang Maocheng was so struck by Lao Liu's verbal quarrel that he collapsed on his chair. He knew very well that Lao Liu was trying to intimidate him, but the thousands of heads rolling to the ground today made him afraid to gamble.

~~

Seeing Zhang Maocheng's embarrassed look, Zhu Zhen knew that he had won the bet.

In fact, Zhang Tianshi's guess was correct. Zhu Zhen really couldn't attack Zheng Yiyi too harshly. Because the old thief did not allow him to confront Zheng Zheng and kill them all together...

Maybe the experience from commoner to emperor is too bizarre, maybe the environment is like this, and Boss Zhu is not an ordinary superstitious person. I always feel that it is not God’s will. How could I, a cowherd boy, become the emperor?

Therefore, although he does not like the existence of heavenly masters in the human world, he is still unwilling to push the long-standing and miraculous way of heavenly masters to a dead end.

Moreover, Tianshi Dao has made great contributions to Boss Zhu’s career.

In the sixth year of Dragon and Phoenix, Boss Zhu already had the idea of ​​proclaiming himself emperor. In order to increase his weight, at Liu Bowen's suggestion, he issued an imperial notice to recruit Zhang Tianshi to appear in court.

At that time, the Heavenly Master Zhang Changshang was also very discerning and immediately presented Zhu Yuanzhang with the talisman of "the destiny will return", endorsing Boss Zhu's rebellion.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang's strength was not the strongest among the princes, and his foundation was very shallow. Being able to get the support of Zhengyi, especially the recognition of Zhang Tianshi, was undoubtedly a great help. This distinguished Zhu Yuanzhang from other military leaders of the "Troubled Times Grass-head King" and gradually developed into a cohesive political group.

In the end, it will cause a dimensionality reduction blow to other princes, and finally have the last laugh.

After seizing the world, faced with a situation where the people were in desperate need of recuperation and devastation, Zhengyi's political philosophy of being quiet and purifying people's hearts was more in line with Zhu Yuanzhang's needs.

So in the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang awarded Zhang Tianshi the title of "the great real person who teaches the right successors, protects the country, explains the ancestors, is sincere, advocates the Tao and promotes virtue", and ordered him to "forever be in charge of Taoist affairs in the world."

This marks Zhang Tianshi's leap from the leader of Jiangnan Taoism to the leader and spiritual leader of all Taoism in the world. This is a height that Zhengyi has never reached in any dynasty.

Boss Zhu really hopes that they can continue to work hard to promote him and consolidate the legitimacy of the Zhu Ming Dynasty. Although it now seems that they have disappointed the emperor.

But Zhengyi led Taoism in the world, and Taoism was an important spiritual pillar for the people of the Ming Dynasty. If they are knocked to the ground with a stick, it will definitely cause a long and strong backlash.

There is a danger of believers causing chaos in a short period of time. In the long run, it will give various cults the opportunity to fill the faith vacuum vacated by Zhengdao. It is very likely that trouble is still to come.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Tianshi in Jiangxi and Kong Shengren in Shandong were all tools used by the Zhu family to reduce the cost of governance.

As long as the damage caused by this tool is less than the benefits it brings, it is better to hold your nose and use it. This is why Zhang Tianshi is so confident.

But the more this happens, the more Zhu Zhen wants to break his fearless mentality. Make him believe that he will really destroy them. Otherwise, how could these bull-nosed people be obedient?

Deterrence is successfully established when the other party does not dare to turn a deaf ear to his threats.