Chen Zhi's original plan was to go back and ask people to search for information in some orphan books. It is estimated that this kind of emperor's secret history should be recorded in some special orphan books, and it is not so easy to find.
However, what he didn't expect was that after a random search on the Internet, this matter had already surfaced!
It turns out that this strange incident about Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty has been in the conversation among the people since then. Although there is no actual basis, it has been passed down as a legendary story to this day after more than 1,000 years.
Even in the original Journey to the West novel, there is such a record:
Chapters 10 and 11 of "Journey to the West" tell a story about Tang Taizong's resurrection from the dead.
The origin of the story is that when a dragon made a bet with a fortune teller, it violated the laws of heaven and deserved to be executed. The executioner in heaven was a minister under Emperor Taizong.
So the dragon begged Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to stop the execution.
Tang Taizong promised to save the dragon's life, but the dragon was killed anyway, so the dragon's ghost haunted Emperor Taizong every day and demanded his life. Eventually, Tang Taizong died and reported to the Hall of Hell.
After the death of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, he went to the underworld and met King Yama, and then received a thrilling "threat".
The first person he met was his old father Li Yuan, as well as his elder brother Li Jiancheng and younger brother Li Yuanji.
When these long-dead ghosts saw Taizong, they immediately rushed towards him, scratched his face with their hands, and shouted:
“The people of the world are coming, the people of the world are coming!
We can take revenge..."
It turns out that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were Taizhong's biological brothers, and they were killed by Taizong during the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
Taizong's father, Li Yuan, was also imprisoned by Taizong during the Xuanwu Gate Incident and died in pain.
When these people saw Taizong coming, they came up and beat him to death. They were extremely vicious.
Taizong was unable to dodge and was grabbed by them. Fortunately, the judge summoned a green-faced fanged ghost to scare them away, and Taizong was able to escape.
Subsequently, the Tenth Hall of Hell put Emperor Taizong on trial and listed his many crimes, including murder, betrayal, and massacre of living beings.
The most serious one was that he killed his father and brother and usurped power. This was a major crime of disobedience. After death, he would go to hell and never be reincarnated.
Taizong was shocked and begged, but found that the power in the world was useless here. He was picked up by ghosts and sent to hell.
When we arrived at the eighteenth level of hell in the underworld, there were mournful cries and evil monsters frightening our hearts everywhere. The kings who had usurped the throne and committed evil deeds in the past were tied to iron pillars one by one.
The red-haired ghost and the black-faced ghost were armed with spears and short swords, while the bull-headed ghost and the horse-faced ghost were armed with iron sticks and copper hammers, beating them until they were bloody and crying.
Taizong was frightened and frightened when he saw this. His dignity as a king was gone, and he just knelt down and shouted for mercy.
Then suddenly a ghost messenger called Taizong back and said that the King of Hell still had something to say.
When they arrived at the hall, they saw the King of Hell saying:
"Taizong's name is destined to be thirty-three years, and there are still twenty years of Yang life. Now that the case is clear, please return the original and Yang!"
Only then did the ghost mission send Emperor Taizong back to life and return to the earth.
After Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty came back from the dead, his personality changed drastically. He was compassionate and humble towards others, he showed kindness all day long, and governed the world with benevolence and virtue.
After Xuanzang took the Western Scriptures and returned to the Eastern Land, Taizong received Xuanzang as a king and treated him with state courtesy.
Major events in the country promote Buddhism, build Buddhist statues in Buddhist temples, spread Buddhism, teach people to be tolerant, believe in karma and retribution, and do more good deeds.
The most trusted imperial advisor by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty at that time was named Yuan Tiangang.
When he saw the name Yuan Tiangang, Chen Zhi once again had an intuitive feeling.
Yuan Tiangang is a legendary figure in history. Like Qiu Chuji in later generations, he is said to be a god.
According to legend, Yuan Tiangang is an immortal who has lived for hundreds of years. He understands heavenly principles and humanities. He can predict good and bad fortunes and national events. He wrote the famous Chinese prophecy book "Tui Bei Tu".
Legend has it that he is good at "wind reading", that is, he can judge good and bad luck based on the sound and direction of the wind, and he is also proficient in facial features, the Six Ren and the Five Elements, etc., so he is quite famous in the local area.
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty heard about his reputation and ordered him to be admitted to the court as a think tank, and he was honored as a national advisor.
According to the "New Book of Tang Dynasty", Yuan Tiangang read countless fortune tellers in his life, and he never made a mistake. The most famous one is reading fortune tellers for Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian was still a baby at that time. Yuan Tiangang happened to pass by her door and met Wu Zetian's mother, Mrs. Yang.
When Yang heard that Yuan Tiangang was a divine fortune teller, he asked him to calculate the future and destiny of Wu Zetian in his arms. Yuan Tiangang originally planned to refuse, but could not withstand Yang's hard work and finally compromised.
When he saw Empress Wu Zetian, he was immediately shocked and said: "Dragon eyes and phoenix neck are extremely precious! If she is a woman, she will be treated as the emperor!"
People at the time thought Yuan Tiangang's prediction was extremely ridiculous, but decades later, this prediction was confirmed to have become a reality.
And the death of Yuan Tiangang was also very mysterious, as if he suddenly disappeared from the world.
He had no children, no legacy left behind, and no one has found any fragmentary records about his cemetery. We only know that he returned home and died for unknown reasons.
Ever since Qiu Chuji's incident, Chen Zhi's actions towards Jiang Ziya have already formed a certain pattern.
The purpose of Jiang Ziya is very vague. He may have really lived for a long time, but he did not use the same name. Or maybe, his body may have died long ago and he just survived in another form.
There is a possibility that his name during the Tang Dynasty might be Yuan Tiangang!
This kind of ancient thing without evidence is difficult to estimate now. Since the Sogdian text calls him a god, let's temporarily call this leader the White God.
Obviously, this white-clothed god led all of this and led the introduction of Buddhism into the Central Plains.
A closer look at the development of religion in history reveals that since that time, religious beliefs in this land of China have undergone earth-shaking changes.
The beliefs of the past made people too utilitarian, indulged their own desires too much, and focused on tangible power, making it easy for the world to fall into chaos and struggle.
But since Buddhism was introduced to the East, people on this land have learned to tolerate it.
The concept of good deeds and evil deeds makes people scruple when doing evil.
Just like the Tang Dynasty that opened countless flowers, from that time on, people learned to be humble and respectful, began to believe in cause and effect, and believed that everything they did had to pay a price.
The entire trend of China has been reversed. This is the replacement of a national belief, a core religion, a process of being replaced...