"My thoughts are different from those of you dear ones."
Yun said: "I think these White Lotus cultists are still useful. Therefore, as long as all the White Lotus cultists are willing to surrender to the imperial court, I will not issue a decree to impose the death penalty."
Afterwards, before the ministers present spoke, Yun asked again: "My dear friends, do you know the origin of the White Lotus Sect?"
"Your Majesty, I know a little about the origins of Mingjiao. I have read some records about the history of Mingjiao that were seized by the imperial court." Qitai said: "Mingjiao was born in Persia, a country in the west. Around the Three Kingdoms period, there was a
A man named Mani founded the sect. The sect was called Manichaeism after the founder at that time. People in the sect called its founder Mani as Mingshi, and the god he believed in was called Mingzun. During the Yuanhe period of Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty
, the religion was introduced to the Central Plains, and the people in the Central Plains also called it Manichaeism."
"This religion believes that all people, things, and things in the world have good and evil. Good is light, evil is darkness, and light will definitely defeat darkness. If human beings follow the truth of this religion and the aspirations of God, they will eventually move towards light and bliss.
The world; since the beginning of time, light and darkness have intersected, and demons have always been in the dark world, causing endless chaos. The world today is still confused between good and evil. Therefore, people should work hard to do good to create a bright world. Because of its teachings, the followers of this sect later called it this world.
The religion is Mingjiao. However, since the late Tang Dynasty, this religion has often been in conflict with Buddhism, so Buddhists often call it the Demonic Sect."
"During the Song Dynasty, the religion was popular in Huainan, Zhejiang, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian and other places. During the Huizong period of the Song Dynasty, due to the Song Dynasty's forced conquest of Huashi Gang in the south of the Yangtze River, many people were ruined and reduced to abject poverty, which made the Song Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River
The people were extremely angry. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fang La, the leader of Mingjiao in Jiangnan, rebelled and attempted to overthrow the Song court, but was wiped out. Mingjiao was also strictly prohibited by the Song court. However, Gaozong later moved south and lifted the ban."
"After that, the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty. After that, many people from the Ming religion rebelled at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. By this dynasty, the late emperor issued an edict to strictly prohibit the White Lotus Society and the Ming religion, and wrote the ban on "Left Taoist magic" into the eleventh chapter of the "Da Ming Code" "Ritual Code"
". Since then, most of the Ming sect has been renamed the White Lotus sect, or the Maitreya sect." Qitai finally said.
Finally, Qi Tai introduced the period from the Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty very briefly, mainly because Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have been a Ming Dynasty believer at the beginning, but later strictly prohibited the Ming Dynasty, so he did not dare to introduce it too clearly. However, there were many officials present during this period of history.
You know, there is really no need to introduce it in too much detail.
"Qi Qing is right. The White Lotus Sect was originally born in Persia and spread to the Central Plains during the Tang Dynasty. However, this sect not only spread in the Central Plains, but also spread to the east and west since Mani founded the sect. It was also a believer from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty.
There are many religions that spread over a wide range of areas.”
"But in the West, more than two hundred years before the founding of the White Lotus Sect, a man named Jesus founded the Cross Sect. When the White Lotus Sect spread to the west, the Cross Sect already had many believers in Fu and other places. Later, even the most powerful
One emperor also believed in Christianity and strictly prohibited other religions, and the White Lotus religion disappeared from the world."
"Later in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, someone in Tianfang established the Tianfang Sect and established the Dashi Kingdom. With the help of the state, other religions were also eliminated. So now the White Lotus Sect has disappeared without a trace in Tianfang, including Persia and other places."
"But in the East, the rulers of various countries did not use the power of the state to strictly prohibit other religions like the Western countries, and allowed the spread of various religions. Therefore, the White Lotus Religion in the Central Plains and India is still passed down. Although the White Lotus Religion has been strictly prohibited since the former emperor became emperor.
, but after all, time is still short, and the Ming Dynasty did not only respect one religion. The White Lotus Sect can superficially change its appearance and continue to spread with the help of Buddhism and Taoism, so this religion is still spread."
"In India, although most nobles and common people believe in Brahmanism, the White Lotus religion is not strictly prohibited, so it is still spreading. It's just like Buddhism, there are fewer believers." Yun introduced the White Lotus religion around the world.
circulating history.
"Your Majesty means to let the White Lotus followers go to India?" Lian Zining said hesitantly.
"Aiqing really guessed what I was thinking," Yun said with a smile. He expected that Lian Zining would be the first to guess this meaning. Lian Zining, Hongwu, had been serving as an official of the East Palace beside him for twenty-five years.
It has been more than twenty years now, and he is very smart, so he should be able to guess it.
However, when Yun spoke with a smile, the corner of his eye slightly glanced at Qin Song. Qin Song had been an official with him since almost the 28th year of Hongwu. He was also very smart, and because he was in charge of Jin Yiwei, he knew his policies better and could guess what he was doing.
Come out. It's just that Qin Song doesn't like to be in the limelight, and his official position as commander of the Jinyi Guards is not suitable for the limelight, so he won't say it out.
"Your Majesty, even so, I think it is inappropriate." Huang Huai said again: "The White Lotus Sect has been banned by the imperial court for many years. Even if the imperial court pardons their capital crime and exiles them to India, they may not be grateful to the imperial court. No, I
I thought that they would definitely not be grateful to the imperial court. In this way, if the number of White Lotus believers exiled to India was small, it would be fine. If the number was large, they would probably not obey the orders of Duke Lu, and would even conspire with the local White Lotus believers to deal with Lu.
Duke. Therefore, I think this matter is inappropriate."
"Your Majesty, I agree with Huang Shangshu's opinion." Jian Yi also said: "Even if Your Majesty wants to use the White Lotus Sect, he should execute all its leading figures and disperse the followers, rather than randomly exile the White Lotus followers to India. They have arrived.
India will definitely not obey the orders of Duke Lu, but will still obey the orders of the leading figures in the original religion."
"When did I say that I would freely exile them to India?" Yun suddenly retorted.
"Isn't that what Your Majesty meant just now?" Huang Huai asked doubtfully.
"Of course not." Yun said with a smile: "Of course I don't think that just pardoning their death penalty will make the White Lotus believers obey the imperial court wholeheartedly. What I mean is that we can look back on the history of the early Ming Dynasty, unravel the deception that the late emperor suffered, and
The White Lotus Sect is no longer considered a heretical witchcraft, and except for those who have committed crimes and rebelled before, all other White Lotus sects are not guilty."
"This!" Lian Zining couldn't help but shout out in surprise. Although he guessed the first meaning of Yun, which was to exile the White Lotus followers to India, he couldn't guess the second meaning. And this second meaning
The meaning was completely beyond his expectation. Not only him, but everyone present, including Qin Song, did not guess what Yun meant. But after Qi Tai was surprised, he showed a thoughtful expression.
"Your Majesty, the White Lotus Sect is a deviant witchcraft that was decreed by the late emperor. How can it be abolished at will?" Jian Yi was surprised and said immediately. Although Yun had already changed many of the systems established by Zhu Yuanzhang, most of them were through roundabout ways and obtained imperial approval.
It will only be implemented after the support of the majority of people in the court; and the abolition of the status of the White Lotus Sect's heretical practices may not have many supporters in the court, and the royal family may not support it because this is what Zhu Yuanzhang explicitly decided. In this way,
There will be a lot of pressure to abolish this article. And in their opinion, the gain outweighs the loss: the White Lotus Sect can be broken up and sent to many overseas lands, instead of letting them continue to stick together.
"I remember that it was Li Shanchang who advised the late emperor that the White Lotus Sect was a heretical witchcraft, and the late emperor had just incorporated it into the "Da Ming Code". All the laws and regulations in the "Da Ming Code" must be stamped with a jade seal and issued in plain text, but even though the late emperor was very diligent,
As for political affairs, it is still impossible to decide all the details of the government affairs personally. Most of the late emperors did not think about this in detail. At that time, they trusted Li Shanchang very much, so they were included in the "Da Ming Code". Not all the late emperors agreed. "
Yun Xian argued for a few words and then hurriedly said: "And why did the late emperor agree to identify the White Lotus Sect as a heretical witchcraft? It was because the White Lotus Sect still opposed the Ming Dynasty after the first emperor became emperor; but why did the White Lotus Sect still oppose the Ming Dynasty after the first emperor became emperor?
Opposing the Ming Dynasty? It was because the late emperor had once again neglected. After the late emperor succeeded to the throne, he immediately ordered the revision of the "History of the Yuan Dynasty" and regarded the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty as the orthodox history of China. However, the White Lotus Sect regarded the Meng Yuan Dynasty as the Dalu and did not regard it as the orthodox history of China.
It was because of his opposition to the imperial court that the late emperor banned the White Lotus Sect."
"However, it is actually an oversight by the late emperor to regard the Meng Yuan as the official trace of China. Although the Meng Yuan claimed that entering China will lead to China, and the country's name also comes from the Book of Changes, most of its emperors only had a rough understanding of Chinese, and their styles were still the same as those of the emperor.
It turns out that the majority of officials are selected and appointed by Mongolians. It is even easier for the Semu people from the West to become officials than the Han people. The status of the Mongolian people is a hundred times that of the Han people. How can such a country be the right trace of China?"
"Therefore, it is right for the White Lotus Sect to oppose the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty for China's rectification. On the contrary, it was the late emperor's omissions at the beginning. Since the White Lotus Sect opposed the imperial court, the reason why the late emperor ordered the ban on the White Lotus Sect was due to the late emperor's omissions. I have also changed it, so why can't I change it?
Is the White Lotus Sect removed from the leftist evil arts?" Yun finally said.
After hearing these words, the officials present who wanted to continue to remonstrate suddenly fell silent and stopped talking. For a while, the entire palace was very quiet, and there was no sound.
Of course there is a problem with what Yun said. There were many reasons why Zhu Yuanzhang banned the White Lotus Sect in the first place, because whether Meng Yuan was a Zhengdong of China was just one of the trivial reasons. But when Yun singled out this reason, or even as the main reason, they
It is difficult to refute, or rather unwilling to refute.
First of all, it is politically correct for all courtiers to belittle the Mongolian Yuan. As Yun said, the emperors of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty discriminated against Han people in selecting officials. The number of Han people was dozens of times that of Mongolians, but there were more Han people serving as officials than Mongolians.
There are still few people, even less than the Semu people. The Han people and gentry hate Meng Yuan to the core. They will never say anything good to Meng Yuan. They are very happy to exclude Meng Yuan from China's official traces. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang will Mongolia Yuan.
When the Yuan Dynasty was regarded as the official date of China, many civil servants opposed it. Historically, the late Ming Dynasty really denied the orthodox status of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.