After the banquet with everyone in Anxi, Zhou Jun left Yisi alone and called Kong You to accompany him.
Compared with ten years ago, the young Buddhist monk who was just a fledgling monk has now shed his youthfulness, leaving only piety and wisdom.
Yi Yi has worked hard for many years, and now Yinglong Church has become the largest religion in Anxi. Although other religions such as Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Dashi Cult, etc. also have followers, they can no longer be compared with Yinglong Church.
Zhou Jun looked at Yisi who was sitting upright and said with a smile: "You and I have not seen each other for many years. I know that you must have many problems when you come to Liangcheng this time."
Yis nodded.
Zhou Jun: "Let's do this. I'll give you a chance and allow you to ask three questions."
Yis was a little surprised. After thinking for a long time, he asked the first question: "Your Majesty, who actually wrote the Yinglong Heavenly Book back then?"
To this day, Zhou Jun doesn't intend to hide it and points to himself with his finger.
Yis opened his eyes wide: "Then every Yinglong Heavenly Book was also given to me by His Majesty?"
Kong You on the side smiled and shook his head: "After Your Majesty has finished writing each Yinglong Heavenly Book, I secretly gave it to you."
Zhou Jun looked at Iss in a daze: "There is one last question left."
Yis was startled, hesitated for a while, and asked: "Is your Majesty really chosen by God to come to this world?"
Faced with this last question, Zhou Jun was silent for a moment, first nodded, and then shook his head.
Iss puzzled.
Zhou Jun: "I don't belong here. You can think of it as a force in the dark that sent me to this world with a certain mission."
Yis: "Your Majesty... I can ask, what was the world before you came here..."
Zhou Jun smiled and said: "Three questions have been used up."
Yis was stunned and nodded in disappointment.
Zhou Jun: "Having finished talking about me, it's time to talk about the Yinglong Sect. Yis, do you still remember that before you left Chang'an, I told you about the purpose of the Yinglong Sect?"
Iss: "The purpose of the Yinglong Religion's existence is, firstly, to help the people of the Central Plains migrate to Anxi to avoid the war; secondly, to suppress Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and other religions, so that monotheism can be popularized in the world and unify the religious tongue; thirdly,
In order to break the theory of destiny, the theological theories that solidified the nobility and the poor were completely abandoned."
Zhou Jun: "Since the Yinglong Sect has developed so far, the first goal has been achieved, and the second goal has been halfway achieved. This time I let you come to Liangcheng to complete the unfinished business."
Yis: "Your Majesty, please tell me how to do it."
Zhou Jun: "After the spring of this year, the imperial court will conduct an inventory of temples all over the world, not only the religious properties of the temples, but also all illegal things related to religion. In the past, temples and Taoist temples often operated shady activities because they had extra-legal religious rights.
This time I plan to use this as an entry point to strip away all the privileges of this group of religious people."
Yis: "Your Majesty plans to investigate the world's sects, so what can the Yinglong Sect do?"
Zhou Jun: "The goal of Yinglong Sect is to take this opportunity to spread monotheism to the people all over the world, thereby weakening the power of religion in the court and among the people, so that it can no longer have an impact on government affairs and people's livelihood."
Yis was a little incredulous: "Your Majesty is the emperor, is it possible that there are still religious forces that dare to resist the imperial court?"
Zhou Jun: "I attack religion not to stabilize the rule, but to adjust people's hearts."
Yis seems to understand but not understand.
Zhou Jun did not intend to elaborate: "In short, the missionary focus of the Yinglong Church will gradually shift from Anxi to the Central Plains. The promotion of doctrine lies in three points, namely the unity of all gods, the equality of all living beings, and the governance of the world by mortals."
Yis nodded to show his understanding.
After talking for a while, Zhou Jun asked Yis to leave first.
Kong You, who had been listening in, asked Zhou Jun: "Your Majesty allowed the Yinglong Sect to return to the Central Plains for three purposes. I understand the first two points. The last point is to break the theory of destiny and solidify the theological theories of the noble and humble classes.
It was completely abandoned... I’m a little confused about this.”
Zhou Jun: "Bohong, do you still remember what our goal is?"
Kong You: "The monarch's arbitrary behavior is not conducive to the continuation of the dynasty. Only by enlightening the people's wisdom and returning power to the people can the country enjoy long-term peace and stability."
Zhou Jun nodded first, and then asked: "Gunpowder was invented by alchemists and has been around since the Han Dynasty. Why didn't the alchemists try to use it as a weapon?"
Kong You was suddenly stunned: "Maybe... no one thought of it."
Zhou Jun shook his head: "Gunpowder can burn violently, and if sealed, can also cause a strong explosion. The alchemists have experimented many times and naturally know these principles. The reason why they did not use gunpowder as a weapon may be because they dare not, or because it is banned.
."
Kong You: "Your Majesty means that the reason why gunpowder was not used as a weapon was because of the intervention of the royal family?"
Zhou Jun: "Crossbow arrows can disable armor, so the imperial court wants to ban crossbows. However, the danger of gunpowder is a hundred times greater than crossbow arrows. After the royal family knew about this item, they would rather never develop it than ban it. The purpose is to prevent it from being used.
This thing is in the hands of the people, which threatens the stability of the country."
"Bo Hong, think about it. Gunpowder is easy to prepare. If an ordinary private workshop keeps the materials for ten days, it can produce enough explosives to blow up a fort. After knowing this, how can the emperor rest assured and let gunpowder spread?
"
"Therefore, it is better to keep the people ignorant or to be left behind than to allow the people to obtain the method of killing. Otherwise, the country will be in turmoil and the royal family will not survive."
Kong You heard this and nodded slowly.
It has been hundreds of years since gunpowder was invented. Why the imperial court has not developed it as a weapon? This question finally has an answer.
Zhou Jun: "Gunpowder is like this, and religion is the same."
"Why can the emperor gain the support of his subjects when he holds great power? It relies on four words - the divine right of kings."
"The emperor's inner being must be deified, so that the dynasty can continue and gain a foundation for inheritance."
"Religion, as the best tool to deify the emperor, has become a spiritual means for the royal family to fool the people, just like gunpowder."
"Therefore, if we want to enlighten the people's wisdom and return power to the people, we must first break the religious logic of divinizing the emperor. Use Yinglong religion as a means, use religion to suppress religion, use myths to break myths, and the final step is to remove the spiritual shackles of the people.
Quick way.”
Kong You frowned when he heard this: "Your Majesty, when you created the Yinglong Sect, you did not promote yourself as a true god, but settled for the next best thing and named yourself the messenger of the true god and the incarnation of Yinglong.
That is, today? Try every means to use the Yinglong Sect to break the emperor’s divine power that has lasted for thousands of years?"
Zhou Jun: "Yes, when I established the Yinglong Sect, my purpose was to cut off the inheritance of divine power and separate the royal family from divinity, so that the people would begin to develop the concept of democratic participation in politics."
Concerning Zhou Jun's actions, Kong You hesitated to speak, and finally turned into a sigh.