Three Kingdoms

The Western Region is huge.

The West Sea is not small either.

The Xihai Conference held on the edge of Xihai City in the Western Region was obviously not small in scale.

All the countries in the Western Regions, large and small, sent envoys to attend the meeting.

The conference was originally supposed to be held in the autumn, but this was decided because of Lu Bu's head. In addition, the organizational and coordination skills of his subordinates were not very strong. Therefore, from sending cavalry to inform everyone, to the sparse arrival of the Western Region countries. , it will inevitably prolong the overall time.

However, fortunately, there was an old camp for city construction here in Xihai, so it was not a big problem to temporarily plan it as a residence. At the same time, most of these envoys coming from all over the Western Regions would bring some cattle, sheep, and other livestock. So the food was okay, but the weather was cold and more coal was consumed.

As Feiqian deepened his development of the Western Regions, the demand for a large amount of minerals brought about the economic development of the Western Regions.

There are mines in the Western Region.

What a mine.

Moreover, most of the minerals in the Western Regions have never been mined before, so most of them are surface minerals that are relatively easy to mine. There is no need to dig deep underground. At the same time, the primary use of coal and oil has made the Western Regions It has also been greatly relieved in terms of heating, reducing damage to native and fragile plants.

Businessmen coming and going took away ore and brought more food and daily necessities.

The howling cold wind and falling snow can only temporarily suppress the desire of merchants to make money. Then when the snow melts, large numbers of caravans will gather from all over the Western Regions to the West Sea, and then from the West Sea to Yumen Pass. Entering the mainland of the Han Dynasty.

For these people from the Western Regions, they are more willing to surrender to the Han, not only because of the force Lu Bu showed before, but more importantly, the Han can bring them more opportunities to make money and improve their lives than the previous Kushan. Can get better. As to whether the emperor of Kushan was more prestigious or the emperor of the Han Dynasty was more powerful, people in the Western Regions didn't really care.

The Western Region is chaotic, but also tolerant because of the chaos.

There are defeated people from various countries here, as well as various criminals who have committed crimes and fled here. It is difficult to survive in this area without force, but relying solely on force will also lead to death very quickly.

No one knows whether the kind-hearted guy at the moment had a human life in his hands before, nor is it clear whether there is a prince in the desert in a small wandering tribe.

Arrogance and arrogance will lead to disaster, not only in the Western Region, but also in many places.

But many people don't know this.

"If heaven does not give birth to Zhongni, eternity will be like a long night." ’ said the Confucian people.

"If heaven had not given birth to me, eternity would be like a long night." ” This is what the disciples of Lao and Zhuang said.

"If the Tathagata were not born in the sky, eternity would be like a long night." ” This is what Buddhist disciples say.

Well, for ordinary people, it’s basically just a “long night”.

Since it is a long night, naturally we need bright lights.

"Loyalty and filial piety finally establish oneself." ” Confucianism believes that loyalty and filial piety are the beacon of light.

"Natural, quiet and inactive." ” Lao Zhuang believes that heaven and earth have their own bright lights.

When a Buddhist comes, he points his finger to the sky and the other to the earth, saying, "I am the light!" Save all sentient beings in the world! 』

Just like the eminent monk Gaba who came from Anxi, his beard and eyebrows are all white, and he still came to the West Sea Assembly with the ambition to save all sentient beings and spread the Dharma.

The eminent monk Gaba is proficient in Buddhism. He is an orphan who grew up with monks and dedicated his whole life to the Buddha. This time I came to the Western Region because I heard that there is a "big devil" in the Western Region, whose hands are full of blood and who kills without any calculation.

So the eminent monk Gabha came.

Then he met the "Great Demon King", Lu Bu.

The eminent monk Gaba prepared to persuade Lu Bu to put down his butcher knife and become a Buddha immediately.

Because this is the supreme merit for the eminent monk Jiaba, and the eminent monk Jiaba believes that this is something that benefits the common people.

The eminent monk Jiaba has seen the suffering of many ordinary people, and knows that despite the prosperity of the Western Region, there are still a large number of ordinary people who are oppressed. Therefore, for the eminent monk Jiaba, less killing means more virtue.

This is actually not wrong.

Because for most ordinary people, from ancient times to later generations, they basically belong to the exploited class. The "long night" is long. Even if you occasionally hang some things on street lamps, they are just street lamps. In the street lamp In places where the light cannot shine, there are still some ghosts moving in the dark.

But the eminent monk Gaba forgot one thing, that is, everything actually has two sides. Wherever you sit, your butt may look like the scenery you see; if your butt is crooked, the scenery may change.

When Buddhism spread to the Western Regions, it was very popular among the people in the Western Regions.

This can be proven by the large-scale grottoes or Buddhist statues and murals of later generations.

Moreover, when Buddhism first spread, those devout monks could indeed do some extraordinary things, such as walking thousands of miles to obtain Buddhist scriptures. People who have strong beliefs and practice them will always Got people's respect.

Under such influence, Lu Bu also became somewhat interested in Buddhism...

Well, it was really just a little bit of interest at first.

If Zheng Xuan stands out in the Qinglong Temple in Chang'an, then here in Xihai City in the Western Regions, it has basically become a Buddhist Purdue Assembly.

Buddhism, like most religions, is quite confusing. Self-justifying religious concepts can explain many natural phenomena that were incomprehensible at the time. The theory of persuading people to do good will also help stabilize society and increase the tolerance of the people. expansion and improvement. Just like expanding the capacity of a small-capacity mobile phone, the unsightly sad photos previously stored in the hard drive were formatted and replaced with a larger and more capable memory space.

People of later generations can naturally look at history and see clearly the context of Buddhism, or the context of most religions, through the filter of technology. However, for people in the Han Dynasty today, they want to know the history of Buddhism. The ins and outs and a clear understanding of Buddhism are basically impossible.

No religion is independent of economics and politics.

Although religion often pays attention to spiritual things, no matter how spiritual a person is, he still needs to eat. Eating naturally requires material things, and economic and political considerations must be taken into consideration.

That's what Buddhism is like. The same goes for other religions.

Why did Buddhism arise in ancient India?

It's not that Buddhism really has such a "Buddha" inspiration, but because Ashoka himself is of Shudra descent, that's why he became a warrior, instead of performing prayers like most Brahmins. Sacrifice official. Therefore, Ashoka was naturally disgusted with Brahmanism. He naturally needed an idea that was opposite to Brahmanism, so he naturally chose Buddhism, which expressed the equality of everyone.

Ashoka resisted Brahmanism and unified India for the first time in an iron-blooded way. Then he popularized Buddhism in India in a very strong way, making Buddhism dominant in ancient India for a while. From this perspective, it is not the self-development of Buddhism. How powerful, but the political demand is such.

Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty vigorously promoted Buddhism, mostly due to political considerations.

Because Liu Xiu died, a generation of brothers and sisters, followed by a generation of powerful men who conquered the world, and many relatives of the emperor were still alive, so the second generation of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty had to deal with these guys in order to stabilize his position. In such a situation Buddhism was introduced under the political circumstances.

Another example is Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty. He was five-eighths of Xianbei blood. Of course, the so-called pure blood theory itself is a huge fallacy, but it does not prevent many Confucian scholars from secretly poking at Li Shimin in dark corners. backbone, and then deliberately devalued its identity. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty founded by Li Shimin also respected Buddhism.

In many times of social turmoil, religion is not necessarily Buddhism. There are also other sects, such as the White Lotus Sect, which will also become greatly popular. It is not that these religions must have a certain amount of divinity, but that these religions can Let the suffering people get some superficial comfort in their souls.

Disciples of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, these people always spare no effort when proclaiming the Buddha, Heavenly Lord, and Saint of their own sect, and they are also very aggressive when defending their religion. It is not that these people really believe in their own religion. , but because these matters involve their own interests.

That's right, whether it is Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or any other religion, all require "consecration." Looking at all the religious sects that have appeared in history, there is only one religion that does not require the payment of offerings or fees. of. This offering does not simply refer to a statue of a god or something, it may be "five measures of rice", it may be "tithe", it may be "zakah" or something like that.

Lu Bu met Gaba.

At first Lu Bu didn't take it seriously.

As soon as the eminent monk Jiaba saw Lu Bu, his eyes shed tears.

Lu Bu was very surprised and asked.

The eminent monk Jiaba said that he saw a soul struggling in the sea of ​​blood...

Lu Bu was stunned, then laughed and left.

But a few days later, Lu Bu came back, bowed before Jiaba, greeted him, and then brought an offering to the Buddha.

The eminent monk Jiaba dismissed the gold and silver money and insisted on not accepting it, saying that he would just let Lu Bu disperse the money to ordinary people. This was also to resolve the karma of the wronged souls in the sea of ​​​​blood on Lu Bu.

"The benefactor is indeed the one who deserves the calamity..." Jiaba said with his hands together, "That day in Dawan, the old monk suddenly saw a bloody gas rising straight into the sky on the mountain. All the creatures around him fell to the ground with extreme fear. In front of the Buddha statue The bells and chimes kept ringing for three days..."

Jiaba looked at Lu Bu calmly, "When the general came, the Buddhist bell brought by the old monk rang on its own again. Only then did the old monk understand that the bloody energy was coming from the donor... 』

The other two monks beside Jiaba also spoke, proving that what Jiaba said was true. They all heard the bells ringing. No one rang the bells, but the bells rang...

In fact, this method still exists in later generations. Nor does it necessarily exist in Buddhism. For example, when a certain black man said that he was the prince of a certain tribe, his wingman immediately fell to his knees and cooperated with the act respectfully, because the wingman knew that if he cooperated, he would get his share, whether it was money or women.

Lu Bu had never seen such a trick before, so he believed it.

It's like people in later generations particularly believed in the Zhuan family during a certain period of time.

That's what the Zhuan family, uh, eminent monk said, can it be false?

The expression on Lu Bu's face didn't change much, but he couldn't help but hold his hand in one place, and the veins on the back of his hand showed.

Jiaba smiled, his gray eyebrows trembling slightly, "The old monk is now in frail health and is about to take refuge under the Buddha. Although I can't say that he can see things in this world thoroughly, at least he can take it lightly." However, there are many people in this world who cannot take it lightly, such as the general. 』

"General, the Buddha was merciful. When he saw King Ashoka struggling in the sea of ​​blood, he gave him guidance. King Ashoka suddenly attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree and became the Great Peacock King. He accepted eternal worship and was immortal in reincarnation..." Gaba had kind eyebrows and kind eyes, "General, You also have the ghosts of the blood sea in your body. These ghosts are the general's karma and will affect the general. The general is often unable to calm down, cannot sleep well, is easily fatigued, sometimes has headaches, and has pain in his arms, legs and feet... That is not a disease, general. It's the ghost in the sea of ​​blood gnawing at the general's body..."

Lu Bu looked at his hands subconsciously, and then moved his waist.

In the past few years, as Lu Bu got older, he gradually felt some inexplicable muscle pain, fatigue, light sleep and insomnia, memory loss, dizziness and headache, depression, weight loss and sexual dysfunction...

Is this an injustice?

Lu Bu was somewhat frightened. After he felt unwell, he consulted a doctor, but most of the doctors just prescribed some warming prescriptions, saying that Lu Bu's Qi and blood were deficient. As a result, Lu Bu's symptoms did not improve after taking the decoction. , it’s really like being a ghost, entangled endlessly.

These symptoms have a special name in later generations, "war syndrome."

Adrenaline is a hormone that is secreted in large quantities under extreme stimulation, especially on the battlefield. It can speed up breathing, accelerate heartbeat and blood flow, dilate pupils, provide more energy for physical activities, and make reactions faster. Thereby protecting the human body from harm and avoiding risks. But it will also bring about various side effects. These side effects often act directly on the nerves of the human body. Once the nerves are damaged, they cannot repair themselves like epidermal trauma.

Not only Lu Bu, but also many generals in history who were on the battlefield would have various problems after leaving the battlefield. Even Huo Qubing's inexplicable illness was probably "war syndrome".

Just like Lu Bu now, sometimes after getting up, he seems to feel that the extremely strong and slightly sweet taste of blood still remains in his mouth, and his breath is turbid and hot, as if something is burning in his body.

Lu Bu never mentioned this to anyone else.

So he couldn't help but be a little frightened.

Symptoms, everything seems to be the same as what the eminent monk said.

"Master, do you think I can become a Buddha?" Lu Bu asked.

"Everyone can become a Buddha. ” Jiaba still spoke unhurriedly, as if he was talking about the simple truth that there is day and night.

"Master, can you elaborate in more detail?" Lu Bu looked at Gaba, with a hint of longing in his eyes.

Gaba nodded, his beard and hair fluttering gently in the wind, and said: "Buddha is a human being, and humans can naturally become Buddhas." 』

Lu Bu said: "I thought the Buddha wanted a certain kind of person..."

Jiaba raised his head and looked at the extremely blue sky in the Western Region. His eyes seemed to reflect incomparable sincerity, "Buddha, also lives under this sky, just like you and me." 』

Lu Bu also looked up at the sky. "In that case, where did Buddha go in the end? 』

"Buddha went into the hearts of the world in order to light up the Buddha's heart in the hearts of the world. "Jiaba said slowly, "Everyone in the world has karmic obstacles. If the karmic obstacles are not eliminated, even if the karmic obstacles are not eliminated, even if one does not see the Buddha's mind, he cannot become a Buddha. If the donor finds the Buddha's heart, he can become a Buddha..."

After leaving the Xicheng Conference, Lu Bu did not feel any enlightenment after listening to Gaba's words, but instead became even more confused. On the one hand, Jiaba indeed spoke of some of Lu Bu's current physical conditions, such as joint pain, inexplicable headaches, etc. On the other hand, Lu Bu could not feel that he had any "Buddha's heart".

Lu Bu felt confused.

Lu Bu's solution to his confusion was to drink.

After drinking, my waist no longer hurts, my head no longer hurts, and the dark things in my heart no longer surface, and everything becomes better.

Coupled with the abundant peach wine produced in the Western Regions...

Lu Bu is often intoxicated and unwilling to wake up.

Envoys from various countries in the Western Regions have arrived at the West Sea Conference one after another. They met with the drunken Lu Bu on the edge of the West Sea, and then presented them with exquisite gold, silver and jade articles. They were awe and delighted to see Lu Bu indulged in the wine country.

On one side are Buddhist monks preaching the Dharma, and on the other side are ordinary people talking about the world.

Everyone looked solemn when they heard the old monk Gaba talking about Buddhism. They also whistled wildly when they saw the fair-skinned bearded girl's skirt fluttering high.

On the one hand, he was talking earnestly about killing less animals and wanting equality for all living beings, while on the other hand, he was pressing the cattle and sheep to the ground, using the white knife in and the red knife out, and throwing large pieces of beef and mutton into the soup pot for cooking.

At the blessing ceremony hosted by Gaba and other eminent monks, countless believers knelt on the ground and the scene was extremely solemn and solemn. After the ceremony, there were also countless people holding meat and bones, their beards and clothes dripping with food.

The Han people actually controlled the Western Regions for a short time, but they left for a long time.

Regardless of whether they are Kushan or Dahan, they are like passers-by to these people from the Western Regions. Those who were born and grew up in the Western Region are the masters of the Western Region for hundreds of years. Although they have been suppressed by the Kushans and now the Han, they are more familiar with the Western Region and know this wasteland. If If they really curl up and carry out guerrilla warfare, no matter whether it is Kushan or the Han, there is actually no better way to deal with them.

The attitudes of these countries in the Western Region have nothing to do with so-called loyalty.

They just care about strength.

They just care about profit.

The Xihai Conference has basically come to an end after the Jiaba Monk Dharma Conference. The missions from various countries have basically completed their missions, or sent people to leave in advance and go back to resume their duties, or arrived in Xihai City. Purchase goods and take them back when you return.

Lu Bu left the eminent monk behind.

He felt that there were still many questions he wanted to ask.

But Lu Bu didn't know. There was a saying in later generations that it is better to seek the Buddha than to seek oneself...

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