Chapter 082: Dreaming of the White Lotus in childhood, the spring mind is the supreme

Mei Zhenyi remembered that Master Xingyun was also a practitioner, so she simply asked the two girls to ask Master Xingyun for advice. As long as they did not become monks and nuns, it would not matter if they learned the practice of practice. Master Xingyun often came to Qiyun Temple to guide Mr. Mei's studies on his studies. He had a very good impression of Gu'er and Sui'er. He did not refuse when he heard Mei Zhenyi's request.

As the saying goes, "One person can attain enlightenment, and the chicken and dog can ascend to heaven." It is not without reason. If it weren't for Mei Zhenyi, like Gu'er, Sui'er, the six brothers of Mei, who would have the opportunity to teach the world's practice? Even if they have good qualifications, they may not have encountered such an opportunity in their lifetime.

During this period of the Yongchun period of the Tang Dynasty, Mei Zhenyi, who survived the disaster, lived a very leisurely life, and she really had a taste of being a god. But not long after the good days, there was a change soon in the court far away in Luoyang.

The previous article mentioned that the governor Jiang Hua jointly signed the elders of Wuzhou to express their congratulations. After the congratulations were completed, they had to give them up for the time being. Because the emperor passed away after the Chinese New Year, the whole country mourned.

Crown Prince Li Zhe ascended the throne (known in history as Emperor Zhongzong of Tang), Empress Wu became the empress dowager and issued an edict to pardon the world. It was from this time that the rift between the two prime ministers of the dynasty, Mei Xiaolang and Pei Yan, became deeper and deeper.

Li Zhe was the seventh son of Li Zhi and the third son of Empress Wu. His original name was Li Xian. He was first named King of Zhou and later changed his title to King Ying. His brother Li Xian was deposed and appointed him as the crown prince. Li Zhe was appointed Empress Wu. He was mediocre and gentle. As an emperor, he was not wise enough and could not even be considered smart. After he ascended the throne, he respected the Empress Wu family and ruled all his affairs according to the Wu family. The ministers in the court included Liu Rengui, Mei Xiaolang, Pei Yan, Liu Jingxian and others.

The emperor Li Zhe is already twenty-eight years old, and the Empress Dowager Wu is still in power. Mei Xiaolang remembered the words his son sent, and may feel something in his heart. It seems that the Empress Dowager's mind is not just as simple as autocracy. Therefore, Mei Xiaolang no longer talks about the royal affairs in the court. He doesn't want to interfere, but Pei Yan wants to interfere. Pei Yan observes the words and looks at the emperor. Seeing that the Empress Dowager has a lot of dissatisfaction with the emperor, he also secretly becomes thoughtful.

Pei Yan had a deep friendship with the fourth son of Empress Wu, Li Dan, King of Yu. Li Dan's real name was Li Xulun, and later changed his name to Li Xu and changed his name to Li Dan. These are the meanings of Empress Wu. Empress Wu had a big hobby to change his name to others.

The Emperor of Wu was dictatorship, the Emperor was mediocre and the Secretary of the Central Committee ordered Pei Yan to have a good relationship with King Yu. However, it caused another person's dissatisfaction, that is, the wife of Li Zhe, Empress Wei. Throughout the life of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, he could summarize it in four words - "Yin is strong and Yang is weak", or simply say "female disaster". Li Zhe was not only afraid of his mother in the court, but also in the palace, and obeyed everything.

When Wei was the crown princess, he saw how Wu Empress was tyrannical and rewarded the children of the Wu family. When she became the queen herself, she followed suit and promoted the Wei family relatives. Wu Shihu, the father of Wu Empress, was a founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, and there were many well-known figures in the family. Unfortunately, Wei's family was born and had no great contributions to the country, so there were really no characters available.

Empress Wei has greater ambitions than Wu Zetian, but in terms of political talents and means, she is more than 100,800 miles worse than her mother-in-law. A woman can learn from Wu Zetian with ambition and status, and only one of them has been born in the past.

As soon as Li Zhe ascended the throne was unstable, and the power was in the hands of the empress dowager, Empress Wei couldn't wait to get the power, and the emperor also gave her the nanny Bai Ding's son a fifth-rank official, which aroused great dissatisfaction among the court officials. Think about it, for example, Mei Xiaolang, the Duke of Southern Lu. He made so much contribution to the land. The eldest son Mei Zhenyi had just been awarded the fifth-rank official. How could Empress Wei's nanny compare?

Even more dissatisfaction is still to come. In order to make Empress Wei happy, the emperor first promoted Empress Wei's father Wei Xuanzhen from a small ninth-rank Puzhou army to the governor of Yuzhou. Then he issued an edict to promote Wei Xuanzhen to the rank of Shizhong and to the prime minister in the court. This is too much! Empress Wu has been in power for so many years, and during Li Zhi's lifetime, he had never promoted the Wu family to the position of prime minister. As soon as Li Zhe ascended the throne, Empress Wei had to do this.

Pei Yan had just been transferred from the Shizhong to serve as the Minister of the Secretariat. Unexpectedly, Wei Xuanzhen soared into the sky, and another inexplicable prime minister came to the court. The government order was issued by the Minister of the Secretariat, so Pei Yan naturally would not agree. At the same time, he thought that Empress Wu would not agree, so he went to the palace to meet the emperor and argued with reason.

Pei Yan reported: "Wei Xuanzhen has no achievements in the country, because he is the father of the queen, and has been promoted from the army to the governor. Now he has been promoted to Shizhong, which is the position of prime minister. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, have he ever had no achievements or precepts? This promotion is unreasonable and incompatible with etiquette and law!"

The emperor was asked without hesitation and said angrily, "I am the emperor, even if I give the world to Wei Xuanzhen, it is absolutely necessary, let alone a mere servant?"

As the emperor, he actually said such a confused word. On the one hand, Li Zhe was really brainless, and on the other hand, he was suppressed by the Empress Wu for too long and felt resentful. Pei Yan felt a move in his heart and immediately made a conspiracy. After he sued, he immediately reported all this to the Queen Mother.

Empress Wu's face was slightly cold when she heard this. Her son was in vain and the ministers were distracted. However, she remembered a past incident in her childhood. Yuan Tiangang, a native of Western Shu, was good at physiognomy. The warrior once invited him to his home. At that time, Wu Meiniang was still young and was carried to the hall by a nanny. She told Yuan Tiangang that this was a boy and asked him to show it.

After seeing it, Yuan Tiangang said, "It's a pity that it's a boy. If it were a woman, it would be unspeakable."

Samurai asked with a smile: "If you are really a woman, what if you think you are? Can you still be a queen?"

Yuan Tiangang shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not over yet!"

What does this mean? Is it the female emperor? How is this possible! These words cannot be considered a rebellious word, but can only be used as a joke, because of course women cannot become emperors. Wu later heard from the nanny mention it. When Wu was a teenager, she was extremely intelligent and could not forget everything she saw and could understand everything she could. When she was seven years old, she had a special dream.

In her dream, a Bodhisattva said to her: "Xuanzang returned from his journey to the west and had already developed the Mahayana in the Middle Land. However, the Tang Dynasty recognized Lao Dan as his ancestor and respected the Tao as the Emperor of Humanity. All sentient beings are likely to mistakenly recognize that the national artifacts on earth are taught by Taoism, which is actually not divided. How can the two be mixed together? In this world, the blessings of the Emperor of Humanity should be divided into heaven and man, and the people of the Tang Dynasty should be corrected to respect my Buddha. Now you will pass on the great Dharma of the White Lotus Platform, and you will practice the incarnation of the twelve-grade Maitreya Lotus Platform in the future and guide all sentient beings to cross the Pure Land."

What does this mean? At first glance, modern people seem to be a certain Bodhisattva who is jealous. Because "Laozi's surname is Li". The practitioners in the Tang Dynasty have a high status, but in the secular world, which one has a high status is not as good as Taoism. No matter which school of practitioners, they cannot say what Taoism is wrong in the world, because the ancestor of Taoism Lao Dan was posthumously named the Human Emperor.

The Bodhisattva's words sound like jealous, but when you think about it carefully, there is some truth. It should not be confused between "the national weapon on earth" and "the Taoist preached". Although it makes sense, it is not without selfishness, because it comes from a Bodhisattva who tells Wu that the blessings of the emperor will be given to the future, and that the divine will be divided into heaven and man, and the Taoist tradition of the human emperor. In my dream, I passed on the practice of the Pure Land Sect of Wu's Buddhist Buddhism, and there is a hint that she will change her throne in the future and usurp the throne and honor the Dharma.

Wu was young at that time and did not understand these words very well, but the great practices taught by the Bodhisattva's dreams were real. After waking up from the dream, Wu was skeptical and tried to practice according to the law. All kinds of realms were confirmed one by one, but they were like they did in the previous life and were recalled in this life. If you had natural supernatural powers, you would have reached the realm of enlightenment after the age of thirty. When Emperor Gaozong's later years, you would have the twelve-grade lotus platform transformation.

The current Empress Wu, who has the highest level of cultivation in the human world, and is different from ordinary practitioners, except for the dream she had when she was a child, she had no experience of being a disciple and taking the ordination. She was so supernatural! Moreover, her supernatural powers are not only so supernatural, but she doesn’t know what other mystery is, except for her own.

When I was a child, I was puzzled. When I grew up, I gradually understood what the unknown Bodhisattva said in my dream. But Wu was still very confused. After Li Shimin passed away, Wu Meiniang went to Baima Temple to become a nun, so she had the opportunity to secretly travel to Chen Cang with Li Zhi to return to the court, and she was even more sure that she had a Buddhist connection in this life.

Wu once saw a statue of Maitreya in White Horse Temple. She had a graceful body and beautiful faces, but she looked exactly the same as herself! She was also secretly shocked - could it be that Maitreya Bodhisattva preached the Dharma in her dream, or that she was the incarnation of Maitreya on earth?

Maitreya Bodhisattva is what the Buddhist says, after Sakyamuni, the future Buddha in the world, and leads sentient beings to the Pure Land. According to the common understanding of the common people, Maitreya is the successor of the Buddha. According to the Buddhists’ own words, there is no Buddha in the world after the Buddha’s silence, and the Buddhas are all in the Pure Land of the heavens. If there is a Buddha born in the world, he can only be Maitreya.

In this way, there is really a mystery. The royal family of the Tang Dynasty worshipped Lao Dan as Emperor Xuanyuan. There is nothing comparable to Buddhism. No matter how you agree, you can't tell what the relationship between the Buddha and the ancestors of the Tang Dynasty. But if Wu was the incarnation of the future Buddha and ascended the throne himself, the situation would be very different!

With Wu's intelligence and proficient in power and tactics, how could he not think of this? She vaguely felt that this was the purpose of having a god to help her! So after she took power, she also worshipped Buddhism.

Today, when Pei Yan came to report to the emperor, Empress Wu had a desire to depose and establish a new power. He was in control of the Buddha's order, and he could ascend the throne to become the female emperor by himself? Pei Yan also had his own intentions. If Li Zhe was deposed, then there was no need to think about it. Li Dan must have ascended the throne. Among the four sons of Empress Wu, only one Li Dan was not deposed, and he was no longer deposed. Then Li Dan was not a persuasive person. When he took power in the future, wouldn't the court be controlled by himself?

Empress Wu and Pei Yan had their own ideas, so they decided to depose the emperor. The empress dowager issued a secret order, and Pei Yan went to handle it. On February 5, the first year of Sisheng (684 AD), General Cheng Wuting of Yulin led his army to the palace. Empress Wu suddenly came to the court to recruit all officials in Qianyuan Hall. When the emperor heard the news, he was about to take the imperial throne. Pei Yan stood in front of him to read out the imperial decree and deposed the emperor as King Luling, and immediately ordered Cheng Wuting to support King Luling out of the hall.

Li Zhe was shocked and asked the Empress Dowager: "What's my fault?" Empress Wu shouted: "As the emperor, I joked that I would give the world to Wei Xuanzhen, but still said that I was innocent?" Li Zhe was speechless and could only glar at Pei Yan, and then was taken out.

This palace coup came too suddenly and absurdly. What’s even more absurd is that the empress dowager issued an order to abolish the emperor. Who is appointed as the new emperor? There have been many similar coups since ancient times, but such unusual details have never been found. The emperor was gone on the throne, and the empress dowager asked the ministers again: "The emperor has lost his virtue and has been abolished. The country cannot be without a king for a day. Who should the throne belong to?"

Isn't this nonsense? Only King Yu Li Dan was left among the sons of Empress Wu. Can he still establish others? However, Mei Xiaolang was secretly shocked when he heard it below - there is no nonsense in such an occasion. If the Empress Dowager really wanted to establish King Yu, she would have established her directly in the imperial edict just now, why wait until now to ask?

When the Empress Wu asked, the phoenix had sharp eyes and seemed to be paying attention to the reactions of all officials. Many of the ministers bowed their heads and dared not speak, but as the prime minister, he had to speak. Mei Xiaolang went out to report: "Who will succeed the throne of the emperor? You should choose virtuous and talented. In the royal family, please ask the empress dowager to take it."

The superficial meaning of this sentence is to ask the empress dowager to choose an emperor himself. The ministers said nothing. As for the other profound meanings, many people in the court did not understand. As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Yan stepped forward and said loudly: "The son of the late emperor and the queen. If you talk about virtue, you should establish King Yu!"

It was natural for him to say this, and only King Yu can be established at present. When the ministers saw Pei Yan speak, they saw that he had just come forward to read the edict of the deposed emperor. They thought that Queen Wu had already signaled and said, "The King Yu should be established!" The court said in unison.

Empress Wu glanced at the civil and military officials, as if remembering everyone's reaction just now, and sighed in her heart that the time for her to ascend to the base was not yet ripe. Most of the ministers in the palace were loyal to the Li family because of their former dynasty. She could take it and let it go, and immediately agreed to retreat. The next day, the palace issued an order to make King Yu the emperor (known in history as the temple name of Emperor Ruizong of Tang).

This time, Empress Wu was not without gains. She took this opportunity to openly represent the dynasty and declare the system. She let the emperor live in another hall, and all the national affairs were not allowed to be heard, and it didn't even matter whether he went to court. From then on, Empress Wu's behavior was no different from that of the emperor. It was just that she was the Queen Mother's identity.

Pei Yan was somewhat depressed. He finally pushed King Yu to the throne, but Li Dan was not even as good as Li Zhe. He was a complete puppet, not only living in other halls, but also not allowed to participate in political affairs. The new emperor Li Dan was even more depressed. He was over 22 years old and was over the age of being able to rule, but he had no authority in his hands.

Li Dan had met Pei Yan many times in private and begged him to contact important officials in the court, and advise the empress dowager together, asking the empress dowager to return the power to the emperor. Even if it is not a complete handover of power, it is appropriate to let the emperor participate in the government as soon as possible for the sake of the future!

Of course Pei Yan had to discuss with Mei Xiaolang, hoping that Mei Xiaolang would call on all the ministers with him to speak to the Empress Dowager. Unexpectedly, Mei Xiaolang advised: "This is the family affairs of the emperor. I don't want to say too much. I don't have to say too much. I will be prime minister in the court and do my best to assist the government. We will seek peace and governance in the world and not seek the personal interests of the emperor."

Mei Xiaolang did not cooperate, and the joint comments were not successful. Pei Yan was quite dissatisfied with his son-in-law Mei Xiaolang and privately called him an ungrateful wolf. Thinking about Pei Yan marrying his daughter to Mei Xiaolang and having more support in the court, Mei Xiaolang can only have the status of today. Now that he has become an official and is on par with Pei Yan, Mei Xiaolang doesn't take him seriously! In this way, the father-in-law and son-in-law are openly disconnected, and many ministers in the court have heard of it.

The deposed emperor was very involved. The empress dowager began to value the trust of the Wu family in the court, and many of the former ministers of the Li family were excluded. The British Duke Li Jingye was close to Li Zhe and was demoted to the Sima of Liuzhou and was far away from Lingnan. Li Jingye, the grandson of Li Ji, the founding general of the Tang Dynasty, inherited the British Duke. His ancestor Li Ji's original surname was Xu, and the famous Xu Maogong in the storytelling "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" was given the surname Li by the royal family to show his favor.

There were a large number of civil and military officials in the court who were demoted to the south, with Li Jingye's highest title. The group visited Yangzhou on the way south. They heard that the British Duke also passed by Yangzhou and came to pay their respects, gathered together and sighed, and scolded Wu in private. At this moment, a "patriarch" came to visit with a woman and had a long chat with Li Jingye and others for a night.

The next day, Li Jingye did not continue to go south, but stayed in Yangzhou and began to conspire with Tang Zhiqi, Du Qiuren, Luo Binwang, Wei Siwen and others.

Who is that paradise? It is the "old friend" Zuo Youxian in Mei Zhenyi. What else can he find to Li Jingye? What else can he do? Rebellion! This Zuo Supreme has been running around for so many years, but his tricks have never changed. As for the woman he brought, it was Princess Yuzhen, the daughter of the deposed prince Li Xian. This princess, like Mei Zhenyi, was also held hostage by Zuo Youxian and handed over to Li Jingye.

Empress Wu's second son Li Xian was deposed as the crown prince more than three years ago and demoted to Bazhou. In addition, he wrote a poem: "When planting melons and yellow seeds are ripe, the melons are separated. Once you pick them to make them good, then pick them to make them dilute. Three picks can still be picked, and four picks can be brought back to the vines." A discerning person can see that he is alluding to the relationship between Empress Wu and her four sons.

When Empress Wu heard the news, she knew that Li Xian was resentful and ordered General Qiu Shenji to go to Bazhou to question him. Li Xian committed suicide because of this. Later, Empress Wu also regretted and posthumously named Li Xianyong's old title and named Li Xian's daughter Princess Yuzhen. Princess Yuzhen lived in Bazhou, but she did not expect that she was held hostage by Zuo Youxian to Yangzhou, as a chess piece for Li Jingye to rebel and raise an army.
Chapter completed!