At the end of August, Lu County.

Li Baiyao, the infantry captain of the Sishui Yingyang Mansion, arrived at Xiaqiu City, the capital, with his son Li Anqiu and his servants.

Li Baiyao was born in the Hanzhongfang, a super wealthy family in Zhaojun, Shandong. His father, Li Delin, was a scholar-in-law, a famous minister in the Middle East, and a leader of the Shandong aristocratic group. He was well-known in the past. In his later years, he was defeated in the game with the people of Guanlong and died in depression. Li Baiyao inherited his title and was famous for his talent and conduct. He was a contemporary scholar. Unfortunately, he was involved in the dispute over the imperial throne. As one of the important members of the "Crown Prince", his career took a sharp turn, especially after the sage, he was first demoted to the border and then was directly dismissed from office.

In the fifth year of Daye, Pei Shiju made great contributions and was even favored by the holy people. Under his care, Li Baiyao entered the official career again and served as a small infantry captain in Yingyang Prefecture, Sishui, Lu County. At the beginning of last year, because his mother was seriously ill, she took leave and went home. However, during this period, the situation in Lu County deteriorated rapidly and became uneasy, so Li Baiyao was delayed for various reasons.

In July this year, Duan Wencao, the prefect of Lu County, personally wrote to Li Baiyao that the situation in southwestern Shandong was critical and urged him to return to help as soon as possible.

Li Baiyao and his family have already learned bloody lessons and these lessons! The influence has not been eliminated yet, so Li Baiyao certainly has to protect himself. Especially in this situation where the political situation and current situation are becoming increasingly chaotic and there are huge risks in the team, Li Baiyao is even more reluctant to stand out. His identity is destined to be a "successful bird" no matter where he is, so at this moment, he chose to be a turtle without hesitation.

However, if he wants to be a turtle, it does not mean that he can be a turtle.

Li Baiyao's hometown is Anping, Boling County, Hebei Province. Although his branch traces the origin of the Li family in Zhao County, his ancestors had moved to Hebei long ago and were closely related to the three houses of the Li family in Zhao County. Just like the Li family, the origin of the Li family in Zhao County was the Liaodong house, but because his ancestors were officials in Guanlong, their descendants lived in Guanlong for generations, they had basically no connection with the descendants of the Liaodong house. Li Baiyao is an outstanding child of the Li family in Li family, and his influence in the Middle Earth Confucian scholars and politics is extraordinary. Of course, this is related to the Li family in Zhao County and his father Li Delin.

It also has a considerable relationship. Without the support of the giant Li family of Zhao County, and without the deep connections and huge political legacy left by Li Delin, Li Baiyao himself would never have such power. However, because of this, he has become the target of the Guanlong noble group. Although the excuse to attack him has always revolved around his identity as a "princeling party", the east knew that attacking him was actually a blow to Shandong people, and severing his career was actually a curb and weakening the power of the Li family of Zhao County.

Since the unification of Zhongtu, the five super wealthy families in Shandong have been greatly weakened under the overall suppression of the Guanlong aristocratic group, especially the emerging aristocratic groups that rose with military merits. The power has been greatly weakened, and their influence on Zhongtu is not as good as before. This can be seen from the number of bureaucrats owned by various wealthy families. Among the officials of the Han surname in the court today, the Wei family in Guanzhong, the Li family in Longxi, the Pei family in Hedong, the Xue family and the Liu family are the largest, followed by some wealthy families such as the Yuan family in the Lu surname, and they all belong to emerging aristocrats. Although some wealthy families have a history of hundreds or even thousands of years, the aristocrats in the past were low in the ranks and low in the family, and were not comparable to the old nobles in Shandong who had a long history, had many generations and were famous for their generations.

However, what really determines the status and aristocratic rank of wealthy families is not history and glory, but strength, the possession of power and wealth of Middle-earth, and the control of Middle-earth destiny.

The basis of the aristocratic politics is the aristocratic hierarchy, that is, the principle of "shang surname". When aristocrats share power and wealth, they are not based on the contribution, not the level of official positions, but the level of family. In this dynasty, in order to establish a centralized system and abolish the aristocratic political system, the primary goal is to destroy the aristocratic hierarchy and destroy the aristocratic right to distribute power and wealth, but this is too difficult, and in fact it has shaken the king.

The ruling foundation of the dynasty can only be done step by step. The first step is to reform the aristocratic hierarchy system, taking the principle of "respecting surnames" and reforming as the principle of "respecting officials" and determining the rank of the aristocratic hierarchy based on the size of the official position. However, the principle of "respecting officials" is to abolish the "hereditary system" and the "nine-rank Zhongzheng" official selection system that has lasted for hundreds of years. The "hereditary system" and "zhongzheng system" are the first means for aristocrats to control power and wealth in China. The resistance to reform can be imagined.

However, the resistance to this reform mainly comes from the old nobles mainly composed of the five wealthy families in Shandong, because they occupied the most power and wealth in Middle-earth. Those emerging nobles, especially those who rose with military merits, used to be "novas" who were not even aristocrats in the past because of their low aristocrats and even the nobles in the past, were naturally actively supported by this reform because they occupied very little power and wealth. Therefore, these huge number of "local tyrants" immediately became the driving force for promoting this reform. As a result, the "hereditary system" and "Zhongzheng system" were abolished one after another. This is also the reason why the strength of the two major noble groups in Shandong, mainly the two major noble groups in Shandong and Jiangzuo were severely damaged and their power was severely curbed and weakened.

You moved my cheese, took away my food, and endangered my life. Of course I had to fight back, so the old nobles could no longer bear it and finally drew their swords in anger.

Li Baiyao's hometown Anping is very close to the Li family's main hall in Zhaojun, more than 200 miles away. Therefore, since Li Delin's ancestors, their descendants from the Hanzhongfang family, have not only the same interests but their destiny are related to the descendants of the third house of Li family's main hall. At the critical moment, the elders of Li family's main hall found Li Baiyao and revealed two amazing information to him. Li Baiyao was very shocked and immediately packed up his luggage, bid farewell to his mother, wife and children, and rushed to Lu County day and night.

Li Baiyao has a mansion in Xiaqiu, a mansion in Lu County who was a gift for his son to be a disciple of his son. It was a great honor to be worshipped by Mr. Li. Even though this prince's servant and the scholar in the East Palace suffered a lot in his career, his status as a scholar in the Scholars has not diminished but increased, and his influence in the north and south of Henan is still eye-catching. At that time, the Holy Lord demoted him from the capital and directly "exiled" to Guizhou, and Guizhou is today's Guilin, Guangxi, which is very far away from the east. The purpose is to bring him to Central Earth.

The influence of Zhihe Rulin was minimized. Later, due to the reform of the administrative division system, the states and counties were set aside, and the number of bureaucrats decreased. In order to get Li Baiyao back from the barren border, some people in the East took the opportunity to waive Li Baiyao from the barren land of the border. There was no official position and was dismissed from his official career. Of course, Li Baiyao had to go home to farm and teach, so Li Baiyao returned to Shandong. So Li Delin, the disciples and disciples of Li Baiyao and his son, and relatives and old friends came one after another, and the political forces of the Li family gathered together again due to the return of their "leaders".

Soon, Li Baiyao's influence in the Scholars returned to its original state, and his influence in the Scholars was basically the same as his political influence, and it also had a certain amplification effect.

The Confucian scholars in the Middle Earth are the foundation of the Middle Earth aristocratic bureaucracy. The scholars’ academic theories and views complement each other with Middle Earth politics. The two need each other, influence each other, and develop together. This is also the reason why the wealthy families led by Shandong’s five wealthy families and based on academic culture can not only last for thousands of years, but also can always influence and even determine the fate of Middle Earth. It is also the fundamental gap between the emerging aristocrats and lower aristocrats in the Middle Earth and these super wealthy families. At the same time, this is also the most core contradiction and the biggest resistance to reform the centralized system after the unification of Middle Earth.

Since history has been recorded, any political system in Middle-earth needs an academic theory that is appropriate to it. Especially since the Han Dynasty, the complementary achievements of political system and Confucian theory have become an inconsistent law of the law of heaven.

Emperor Wu of Han implemented centralization, respected Confucianism alone, and abolished all schools of thoughts, while Dong Zhongshu's new Confucianism "escorted" the centralization of Emperor Wu of Han with new ideas such as "great unification", "resonance between heaven and man" and "governing the country with virtue". However, since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Middle-earth has been in division and war for more than 400 years, and the dynasty changes have been as rapid as a lantern. The politics of aristocratic families replaced the centralization system, Dong Zhongshu's new Confucianism also lost the "market", and Middle-earth culture entered the period of the three religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Under this political and cultural background, Middle-earth has moved from great division to great unification, which must be the unification of territory, the unification of political systems, or the unification of academic theories that are compatible with the political system.

Now, the late emperor, the saint lord and their like-minded people unified the territory of Middle-earth, and then implemented political system reforms to try to complete the unification of the political system and replace the aristocratic system with centralization. However, according to historical experience, if we want to complete the reform of the centralized system, we must also carry out cultural unification at the same time, that is, rebuilding Confucian academic theory based on "the divine authority of the monarch" and "theory of destiny" that is compatible with the centralization system.

However, today's era is not an era of respecting Confucianism alone, nor is it an era of controversy among all schools of thought, but an era of the three religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. What's more serious is that in the fight between the three religions, foreign Buddhism has a considerable advantage. The two Confucianism and Taoism, which have the same origin and flow, failed to defeat their opponents, but were beaten step by step by step by step by step.

Of course, with the great unification of the Central Plains, with the brightening of the political system, and with the pace of "great unification" reform becoming faster and faster, cultural "great unification" has become an irreversible historical trend. Survival of the fittest, and those who follow the trend will survive. This is the truth and the law of heaven. Therefore, the three religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are all working hard to adapt to the times and adapt to the tide of "great unification" reform.

As an outsider, Buddhism has inherent disadvantages, but the reason why it can flourish in Middle-earth is directly related to the chaotic times in Middle-earth for more than 400 years. Its comprehensive and almost crazy infiltration of Middle-earth politics, economy and culture not only endangers the rise and fall of the dynasty, but also seriously endangers the survival and development of local Confucian culture. Contradictory and conflict are inevitable, so there were two "destroying Buddhism" movements between Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in history. Buddhism learned lessons丨In order to survive and develop, it took the initiative to reform, not only integrate North and South Buddhism internally, actively cooperated with political needs, but also integrated externally. When interpreting the Buddhist scriptures, it absorbed a large number of Confucian and Taoist doctrines, and even tampered with the scriptures at all costs.

Taoism ranks last among the three religions, especially the Northern Buddhism, which is Louguan Tao, which is active in Guanlong, and also suffered a tragic disaster in the "destroying Buddha" movement of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. The "Shangqing School" of the Southern Buddhism has always been supported by the Jiangzuo court and developed rapidly. However, in the face of the new era of "great unification", the northern and southern religions have also begun to integrate with each other, and they also actively absorbed Buddhist teachings, learned from their strengths and weaknesses, and tried their best to compete with Buddhism.

Since Emperor Wu of Han respected Confucianism, its culture has become the orthodox culture of Middle-earth, and its thoughts have become the orthodox thought of Middle-earth, which has penetrated into all aspects of society and profoundly influenced the moral norms and codes of behavior in society. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the dominant modern classics have fallen into a dead end, and ancient classics have risen rapidly and gradually become the foundation of governing the country. Therefore, the biggest obstacle to the development of foreign Buddhism is local Confucianism, and it is mainly a wealthy family from Shandong that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Confucianism is a study of dealing with the world and governing the country, and Buddhism is a teaching that is transcendent and alienated from the world. The two are opposite, but Buddhism encourages people to be compassionate and love to save all living beings, which is basically consistent with the Confucian spirit of benevolence of "giving to the people and helping the people". Therefore, there is a reconciliation between the two. This is also an important reason why the Middle Turkish aristocratic bureaucrats believed and worshiped Buddhism very devoutly while studying Confucianism. It is precisely because a large number of aristocratic bureaucrats supported Buddhism politically and used Buddhism that even though Buddhism suffered two devastating blows, it is the reason why Buddhism still flourished.

In the reform of the "great unification" of Middle-earth culture, the most famous method was the debate between Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.

In the third year of Kaihuang (583 AD), the former emperor summoned the representatives of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism to debate the authenticity of the "Laozi Huahu Jing". The representatives of Confucianism were famous scholars such as Su Wei, Buddhism was the monk Yan Cong, and Taoism was the Taoist priest Zhang Bin.

In the third year of Daye (UU7 AD), another public debate on the three religions was held at Zhizang Temple. This time it was a debate on theory and doctrine. The debate was chaired by Shiping Ling Yang Hong, who was Taoist Yu Yongtong and Buddhism was the monk Huijing.

From these two debates, it can be seen that Confucianism, which mainly focuses on the theory of ancient classics, cooperated with Taoism to maintain its status as the foundation of governing the country, launched "charges" against Buddhism, which seriously threatened the overall interests of Middle-earth and its own interests. It is impossible to integrate Confucianism. The purpose of integrating Confucianism into Confucianism is to survive, while Confucianism absorbs Buddhist teachings is a fundamental and completely destroying Buddhism.

The cultural "great unification" encountered huge resistance, which was far greater than the political "great unification". On the one hand, the source of resistance was because Buddhism flourished and penetrated into all aspects of the politics, economy and culture of China, forming a strong momentum with the Confucian and Taoist religions. On the other hand, the supreme ruler needed the support of Buddhism and Taoism in politics.

The founding of the late emperor was nominally a Zen, but in fact it was usurping the country. In order to be justified, it was necessary to win the support of ordinary people in public opinion and win the righteousness in academic theory. Taoism gave the public opinion support of the late emperor at that time, and Buddhism was later widely promoted. This was very critical for the late emperor and his followers. In comparison, Confucian support was not enough at that time. Shandong people even supported Yuchi Jiong, Sima Xiaonan and Wang Qian rebelled, and almost overthrew the late emperor.

The most important thing for the Holy Lord to win the imperial throne is to have the absolute support of the Jiangzuo Noble Group. The Jiangzuo Noble Group has a very close relationship with the southern Buddhism and Taoism in politics, economy and culture. It can be said that if you want to win the support of the Jiangzuo Noble Group, you must first win the support of southern Buddhism and Taoism. Therefore, during the Jiangzuo Town and Quarter, the Holy Lord actively "public relations" of Buddhism and Taoism, and received the "Bodhisattva precept" in Buddhism and the Dharma name "General Bodhisattva". In Taoism, not only supported Xu Ze, the first immortal of Taoism in the south, but also had close contacts with many famous Taoist priests such as Wang Yuanzhi, the Lord of Taoism in Shangqing. After the Holy Lord ascended the throne, he continued to spare no effort to support the development of the Buddhist and Taoism religions in order to promote reform policies on a large scale in public opinion, and at the same time strive to win more and greater support in politics.

This is the core contradiction in the reform of cultural unification.

Confucianism is the foundation of governing the country, but today's Confucianism, which is mainly based on ancient classical theory, is no longer suitable for the development of the times. In the political "unification" reform dominated by centralization, it not only does not play a helpful role, but instead plays a hindrance. However, Confucianism in Middle-earth is essentially controlled by the wealthy families in the northern region headed by the five major wealthy families in Shandong. The emerging aristocratic group dominated by the Guanlong people is a "shortcoming" in academic thought, and is beyond the reach of the world. For this reason, it has to rely on Shandong people in the Confucian theory needed to govern the country. However, Shandong people are those who lose interests and are deprived of power and wealth in the reform of "unification" and certainly have no motivation for reform.

Since Shandong people do not have the motivation to reform, they will certainly not help the Guanlong people and provide a matching Confucian theory for the unified reform. Confucianism "does not want to be enterprising", does not reform, does not innovate, and cannot promote the progress of reform in public opinion. In turn, it forces Guanlong people to rely on the Buddhist and Taoist religions to control public opinion, especially the supreme rulers and reformists, who lack support for Confucianism in the reform of cultural "unification", which is equivalent to supporting the Buddhist and Taoist religions in disguise, resulting in the increase of resistance to the cultural "unification" reform.

If culture cannot be "unified" and Confucian theory and thought cannot actively cooperate with the reform of the centralized system, then we can imagine how great the resistance to the "unified" reform is, and how serious the contradictions between the Guanlong people and the Shandong people are, and these resistances and contradictions in turn seriously endanger the great cause of unification of Middle-earth.
Chapter completed!