Xuanzang slowly walked out of Tai Chi Hall.
The excitement has not passed yet, and I am very excited.
His piety cannot be faked. It has always been his wish to go to Tianzhu, the birthplace of Buddhism. When he was in the temple, he did not tell lies.
When Buddhism spread to the Central Plains, he felt that Buddhism had changed beyond recognition, that is, it had become localized. Many Buddhist ideas looked like things from Confucianism and Taoism, but they were regarded as norms by Buddhists. He felt that doing so... was not wrong, it was just
It is far away from the original intention of Buddha to teach the world.
So he has always wanted to go to Tianzhu, the hometown of Buddha, to see how people there have different understandings of Buddhism.
To this end, he also studied the boring and difficult Sanskrit and did a lot of research on the translations written by several monks from Tianzhu at that time, which was a lot of effort.
If he hadn't met the Holy Master in Luoyang, he originally planned to visit his home first and then help Zen Master Huizhen rebuild the White Horse Temple. Once everything was settled, he would set off to the west.
As Li Po said, he believed that since the eminent monks from Tianzhu could come to the Central Plains to teach the Dharma, why couldn't he go to Tianzhu and have a visit?
He is not afraid of difficult roads or encountering any dangers. If he can reach Tianzhu safely, it will be the blessing of Buddha. If he cannot go, it can only be said that the opportunity has not arrived.
As for life and death, for him, he has already understood it thoroughly through his practice.
Now, I suddenly got the promise from His Majesty the Emperor, which is really an unexpected joy...
Thinking about the emperor's last warning, the intention behind it is really thought-provoking. Why has Buddhism become so chaotic in the Central Plains?
If it weren't for the people in power to act recklessly and harm the people, how could the monks who were indifferent to the world suffer for no reason?
Of course, there are indeed some scum among monks who do not worship the Buddha sincerely, but strive for power and gain like secular people. These people will surely fall into hell and suffer eternal suffering.
But what does this have to do with Buddhism?
In the end, he came to the conclusion that His Majesty the Emperor had deep prejudices against monks and that he was not sufficiently cultivated to be able to use Buddhism to influence the stubborn ones. He should indeed go to Tianzhu to meditate on the true scriptures and meet the Emperor when he came back. Then the light of Buddha would shine everywhere.
, the emperor will naturally be able to take refuge in our Buddha.
What Li Po said was in vain. For Qianxin, how could there be any fame or fortune? How could there be any difference between people of Tang Dynasty and people of Tianzhu?
In their eyes, the dignitaries only did good deeds in the previous life, so the Buddha only rewarded them. If they did evil, they would suffer in the next life.
Well, the Western Paradise is exclusively for monks, and believers can only spin around in reincarnation. It’s an interesting hierarchy, isn’t it?
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After the Hajj, the officials finally returned to their normal schedule. They went to work when they should go to work, took turns when they should take turns, and the Umrah meeting had to wait until after the first month.
Mainly because before the year before, most of the things that should be done this year have been discussed and decided, and they are waiting to be implemented this year.
In the second half of the first month, Li Po could still relax for a while.
On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, the weather was fine and the north wind subsided.
Li Po took the people out of the palace and went for a walk around the outskirts of Chang'an. They spent most of the winter in the palace. As soon as they left the palace, every breath of cold air seemed to carry a sense of freedom.
….On this trip, I only took my escorts and Queen Kinderman of Silla with me, and headed straight to the old site of Chang’an first…
Of course, this time he reported to Li Bi first.
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The old site of Chang'an is actually the old capital of the Western Han Dynasty, located on the Guanzhong Plain on the south bank of the Weishui River. In the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang built the Changle Palace on the basis of the Xingle Palace of the former Qin Dynasty. It was still a palace at the time.
In the same year, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, moved his capital here from Yueyang. In the seventh year of the emperor's reign, he built the Weiyang Palace, and the prototype of the city took shape. It was named Chang'an, which means long-lasting peace and stability.
It's just that Liu Bang was not the first person to establish his capital here. This was also the place where King Wen of Zhou established his capital. It was previously named Fengjing. After King Wu succeeded to the throne, it was Haojing, collectively called Fenghao. It was the first capital in Chinese history.
The city named after it.
It can be said that it has a very long history. It has only become the real political, economic and cultural center of the Central Plains since the Western Han Dynasty, and it has been more than 800 years.
Now Jingzhao Yin and Chang'an County government offices are here.
Of course, this place can't be called a historical site now. There are still 20,000 to 30,000 people living in this old city. Last year, taking advantage of the rise of infrastructure projects, someone suggested that old Chang'an should be renovated.
This proposal was ultimately rejected by the province because it was very troublesome to build the old Chang'an site. Yang Jian's original intention of building Daxing City was that the living facilities in the old Chang'an were too backward, especially the problem of groundwater pollution that could not be solved.
The cost was also measured at that time, and the cost-effectiveness of building a new city was significantly higher than repairing the old city.
In fact, the reason why old Chang'an declined to this point was basically due to the invasion of the Central Plains by the Hu people. For hundreds of years, the Hu people who were in charge only knew how to conquer and had no idea what construction was.
For example, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the northern government did nothing but build palaces and pagodas. After the former Sui Dynasty unified the world, the reason why Emperor Wen Yang Jian began to carry out large-scale construction was actually because most of the infrastructure was left over from the Qin and Han Dynasties.
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From the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, after hundreds of years, there was almost nothing worthy of praise left.
As a result, foundation projects were launched one after another in the pre-Sui period, which was a rare period of large-scale construction in the history of the Central Plains and laid a certain foundation for the later prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.
For example, now, after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, starting from the fifth year of Yuanzhen, infrastructure construction has been gradually carried out. However, because the work was done very well in the former Sui Dynasty, all the Tang Dynasty needs to do is to repair it. There is no need to do as before.
The Sui Dynasty started anew.
The manpower and material resources spent are not that great.
In addition, Li Po made great efforts to capture outsiders from various places to carry out various constructions, which greatly saved Datang's expenses.
In fact, after all, the reason why the DPRK and the Central Government are unwilling to repair Old Chang'an is not only due to cost-effectiveness, but also the historical status of Old Chang'an.
After all, it is the old capital of the Western Han Dynasty, and there is a lot of history there. The new city is still young and cannot be compared with the old city in this regard. You have built the old city too well, so where will you place the capital of the Tang Dynasty?
Moreover, the two cities are so close to each other, can they still be regarded as twin brothers?
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Li Po took the people for a walk around the outside of the city first. The city walls of old Chang'an were already extremely mottled. In the summer, many places would probably be covered with vines. The damage to the city walls was obvious.
.... But no one cares about it now. Old Chang'an is like an old woman, standing on the bank of the Wei River, quietly waiting for its end.
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"This is Han Chang'an. You Silla people should know that the emperor of the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains made his capital here, and dozens of emperors lived here later.
It was destroyed once in the late Western Han Dynasty, and then repaired again, which took hundreds of years. When you arrived, the new capital city had only been built for a few decades..."
Li Po and Kinderman walked side by side. Li Po briefly introduced the history of the ancient city of Chang'an to Kinderman. In fact, he didn't know much about it, but it was enough to explain to Kinderman.
Kinderman seemed to be in great spirits. Being able to travel with His Majesty the Emperor or even talk in private was something she had been looking forward to for the past few months.
As she walked around the old site of Chang'an, she would utter exclamations of exclamation from time to time.
It's not that she's pretending, it's that even though this old capital of the Central Plains is a little dilapidated, in her eyes it's still so majestic that people from overseas can't match it.
More than 800 years ago, the people of the Central Plains were able to build such a majestic city. To outsiders, it was like an architectural wonder.
Later, people often referred to Chang'an and Rome together. In fact, there is no comparison at all. The ruins of the Roman city that were later full of forged traces could not be compared with Chang'an, a large city with hundreds of thousands of people.
"How come such a big city is no longer in use? What a pity."
"There are too many people, it's too crowded, it's like... it's like living in an old house is inconvenient, so it's natural to build a new house. Nothing stays the same, and the same is true for these big cities in the Central Plains.
You should have seen it when you passed by Luoyang. That city is newer than Chang'an. It is the largest building complex in the Central Plains today, and it is a bit more luxurious than Chang'an.
You haven't seen the old Luoyang City, it's not that small... Yang Jian and his son left behind two great cities, and now they are all mine, you think it's funny or not."
So Kinderman smiled like a flower. Naturally, she couldn't understand what Li Po meant. It was understandable that Yang Jian built Daxing City. Why did Yang Guang build Luoyang?
There are various explanations later. In fact, the most reliable one is that the son just wants to surpass me, and there are not many other reasons.
Yang Guang has lived well since he was a child and has never experienced any setbacks or hardships. Just like many prodigal sons who are smart by nature, they do not understand the difficulties of starting a business, so they do not know how to control their squandering. This is the case for many rich second generations later. Needless to say
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This is Li Po's daily operation, taunting Yang Guang to make himself happy.
While they were talking, the group of people had arrived at the Qingming Gate of the old Chang'an East City. The walkway into the city was still wide and flat, and the snow had been cleared away long ago.
Jingzhao Yin Yuanlang, together with the magistrate of Chang'an County and others, greeted him at the roadside. When they saw that the emperor's honor guard had finally arrived, everyone who was freezing and sniffling paid homage to him one after another.
Li Po did not dismount, but only gave a slight signal: "Let's all get back on our feet, let's go into the city."
So everyone got on their horses and followed him.
The corridor of the city wall is a standard eight-lane road, which is not the same concept as the later eight-lane road. At this time, it is a galloping road that can accommodate eight carriages traveling side by side.
The Royal Road in old Chang'an is similar to Zhuque Street, with an eye-popping 22 lanes of traffic.
After passing through the corridor, the eyes suddenly opened up, and row upon row of street markets appeared in front of everyone. There were no collapsed houses or sewage flowing across the street. It was just like a layer of dust covering it, allowing people to clearly appreciate the decay and obsolescence.
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Riverside Grass reminds you: Remember to collect after reading this
This chapter has been completed!