Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

The members of the council in Yanqi City and the four major factions were quickly handed over.

Each faction selected about ten people to attend the meetings held every five days in Beipiao.

Since there was no precedent, Zhou Jun, as a decision-maker, was worried that something might go wrong, so he specially brought Hua Yue to attend the first meeting.

The topic discussed in the first meeting was a very sensitive topic - freedom of religious belief.

In Yanqi City, there are many types of religions, including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Yinglong Religion, Taoism, Sutra Religion and so on.

Some of these sects pursue freedom of belief, that is, believers in the religion can change their beliefs without restriction without being affected.

Other sects take conversions very seriously, even calling them apostasy, and often resort to lynching or even murder.

At the first council meeting, it will be discussed whether laws should be enacted to restrict the freedom of religious belief?

Regarding this issue, the guardian envoy Long Yaoli spoke first: "Believers changing their beliefs are themselves responding to the call of God. This involves the influence of gods, and mortals should not prohibit this behavior."

After hearing this, Mu Sheikh, the elder of the Dashi Order, said: "Believers do have freedom of belief, but the premise is that this change is the believer's heartfelt decision and not the result of coercion and temptation."

Long Yaoli was stunned and asked: "Forcing? Seducing? What does Elder Mu mean by this?"

Mu Sheikh said: "The Buddhist temples in Yanqi City often distribute food to lure residents to go to the Buddhist temples to listen to lectures. After the lectures, they use methods such as lending and mutual assistance to trick people into signing contracts. When the signers are unable to

When repaying the loan, the Buddhist temple requires them to convert to Buddhism, and after they become devout believers, it requires these people to use preaching and labor to offset the loan. I ask you, is this possible?"

Long Yaoli hesitated for a moment and replied: "Maybe there is."

Long Maoyuan, the head of the Long tribe, said: "Religious preaching should use miracles to influence believers. How can we use coercion and inducement to force believers to convert?"

Zhou Jun listened on the sidelines and thought to himself that the issue originally discussed, whether legislation should be enacted to restrict religious conversion, has now become a religious dispute.

Among the Yinmen faction, people such as Fei Weng, Qing Yanzi and others have no imposed requirements on the faith of disciples in the sect, so they support freedom of belief. Therefore, they have little interest in this issue and mostly just sit on the sidelines.

As a result, Mu Xieh and Long Maoyuan challenged Long Yaoli over the religious dispute.

After discussing for a long time, the council finally formed a protocol on the issue of freedom of belief.

First of all, Yanqi City will introduce a "Freedom of Belief Law" to ensure the freedom of belief of every believer, and to prevent and severely punish any lynchings and murders caused by apostasy.

Secondly, Yanqi City will formulate another law at the same time, called the "Yanqi Preaching Law." Whether it is a temple or an individual, it will be illegal to use inducements and threats to force believers to convert.

After the proposal was formed, the members signed it, and the clerk wrote the minutes, which were handed over to Zhou Jun for review in the hall.

Zhou Jun read it carefully and circled the proposal with a red pen, indicating that the proposal was feasible.

After the meeting, Zhou Jun asked Hua Yue: "What did you think of the meeting just now?"

Huayue thought for a while and said: "The law is correct, but the quality of the councilors who participated in the meeting varies."

Zhou Jun: "Among the four factions just now, which one has a higher level of deliberation?"

Hua Yue: "It's not that I favor my fellow villagers, but from a general perspective, the level of the Dashi Cult is superior. When explaining opinions and persuading the other party, Elder Mu has clear logic and quick thinking. It is difficult for others to compare with him."

Zhou Jun: "Yes, Mu Sheikh once served as a royal adviser and served as an imam in the Grand Mosque. He is quite proficient in religion and government affairs. However, Long Yaoli's qualifications are mediocre, and Long Maoyuan is not good at speaking.

, Most of the people in the Hidden Sect are activists, and there are few political and economic talents. Therefore, when comparing the members of the four factions, only Mu Sheikh can be regarded as a real politician."

Huayue: "Politician?"

Zhou Jun: "Yes, people who specialize in deliberation and administration seek benefits for their faction and try every means to persuade and attack dissidents. These are politicians."

Hua Yue: "So, in the future meetings, wouldn't the other three parties suffer a great loss if they join the Dashi Cult?"

Zhou Jun smiled and shook his head and said: "The problems that I can see can naturally be seen by others. In the future meetings of the Yinmen, the Twelve Dragons and the Guards, they will involve debates on issues and propaganda of political opinions.

Specifically search and cultivate talents in this area, and then introduce them to meetings.”

Hua Yue: "These four factions are working on their own affairs. What if in the future, when discussing politics, they only consider the interests of the factions and deviate from the interests of Yanqi City?"

Zhou Jun: "This situation is bound to happen. A qualified politician must first consider his own faction, and finally the collective. The confrontation between factions is the collision between different interest groups. In this kind of struggle

Among them, it is almost impossible for a single faction to monopolize all the benefits. In order to maximize the interests of the faction, politicians must learn to gain and lose. When negotiating with other factions, give up or compromise in exchange for gains.

It is particularly important for the other party to support their own arguments. This process is also called a game."

Huayue was still a little worried and asked: "What if the factions cannot reach an agreement and fight endlessly every day, and cannot formulate a government order at all?"

Zhou Jun was silent for a moment and said: "This situation also exists. If the conflicts between several factions in the council intensify to the point where it is no longer possible to use games to resolve the dispute, then the entire council will fall into chaos and make mistakes one after another.

Decisions will be made, the efficiency of government affairs will be reduced to the minimum, and the country will slowly wither away... Therefore, before establishing the assembly hall, I controlled the final decision-making power of the decree to ensure that this system would not deviate."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Hua Yue nodded gently.

After the two of them finished speaking, Zhou Jun watched Hua Yue leave.

When he walked out of the meeting hall, he found Mu Sheikh, the elder of the Dashi Cult, standing under the wall of the courtyard and never left.

Seeing Zhou Jun step out of the door, Mu Sheikh came over.

Zhou Jun looked at the big food old man, frowned and asked: "Have you been waiting for me?"

Mu Sheikh bowed and said, "I have something I want to say to Zhou Duhu."

Zhou Jun: "Whatever you want to say, just say it directly."

Mu Sheikh looked around and said, "This is not the place to talk. Please find another quiet place."

Zhou Jun was silent for a moment and took Mu Sheikh to a side hall on the second floor of the North Fort.

Seeing Zhou Jun sitting in front of the case, Mu Sheikh saluted first and then said: "In the autumn of the year before last, Abbas captured the palace of Fuda City, and 279 Umayyad royals, including princes and royal descendants,

All members were executed, and their bodies were hung up for public display.”

Zhou Jun was stunned. The Abbasid family massacred the Umayyad royal family. Although it was clearly recorded in history, hearing it from other people still made the former a little emotional.

Mushaykh: "In January last year, the last army of the Umayyad Dynasty was completely wiped out on the banks of the Zab River, a tributary of the upper reaches of the Tigris River, and Caliph Marwan II fled westward."

Zhou Jun: "Did Merwan II survive?"

Mushayh shook his head: "Last August, Marwan II was chased and killed by the Abbasid army in Bushir, Egypt."

Zhou Jun vaguely remembered that there was another prince in the Umayyad Dynasty, a descendant of Merwan II, who later fled to Ceuta, Morocco and established the post-Umayyad Dynasty.

So, he asked Mushaykh: "Is there a descendant of the Umayyad royal family who passed through Egypt and escaped pursuit?"

Mu Sheikh: "Is this what Zhou Duhu is talking about, Mu'awiya? He is the grandson of Caliph X."

Zhou Jun couldn't remember the name either, so he could only nod in agreement.

Mushaikh: "Muawiya had already fled to northern Egypt. He planned to take advantage of the Abbasid army gathering on the river bank, disguise himself, and shoot a false shot. He would first turn back to the north, and then circle around to the west. However, this

We had already used this move when we rescued Jabir and other fugitives. The commander of the Abbasid army was Abu Muslim from the Khorasan Province. He was prepared and went to the north.

They captured Muawiya in the village and executed him."

Zhou Jun was stunned. He did not expect that the original plan to save Jabir and others coincided with Mu'awiya's idea.

Coincidentally, the Abbasid general responsible for hunting him was Abu Muslim who had been in Khorasan Province.

Several coincidences came together, and the result was that the last monarch who originally established the Umayyad dynasty in history died in Egypt.

Thinking of this, Zhou Jun immediately reacted and asked Mu Sheikh: "Wait a moment, according to your opinion, the Umayyad royal family's bloodline in this world is only the last one left?"

Mu Sheikh looked at Zhou Jun with a solemn expression and nodded slowly.