Chapter 188: Aspirations (4000 words)
A thousand-year-old capital,

Luoyang.

In the Royal Study Room of the Imperial Palace.

Wang Ming sat cross-legged on the soft couch, concentrating on moving his internal energy.

After being in this world for so long, Wang Ming can finally calm down and practice well.

It's so damn unlucky. When I first came to this world, I had to be on guard against being killed by Yu Wenzhi, the regicide.

Fierce fighting continued in Siming Mountain. If Wang Ming had not traveled through many worlds and learned many tricks, he would have died in Siming Mountain.

That battle,
The beating was so painful, it was a double torture both physically and mentally.

But it's all worth it.

The original fate of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty should have been that he was killed by the rebels led by Yu Wenzhi after the Jiangdu Rebellion.

But Wang Ming changed this fate.

Luoyang did not become the base for Wang Shichong's separatist rule.

Wang Ming himself no longer has to live his life hiding like a rat in a stinky ditch.

He practiced martial arts every day, and all kinds of medicinal herbs with excellent medicinal effects were sent to him for him to make.

It can be said,
Siming Mountain is worth the effort.

Now that I have calmed down, I should start solving my own problems.

Whether it is the true qi before the sacrifice of [The Method of Ascension] or the true qi at this moment, there are actually great hidden dangers.

The true energy from others is not as good as imagined.

The true Qi that is not cultivated by oneself can easily go wrong at critical moments and affect the flow in the body.

In a duel between masters, a single mistake could be life-threatening.

The next thing is that these true qi must be purified and transformed into the true qi of [The Only One in the Eight Desolations and Six Directions].

These true qi are too messy and are not pure [Northern Sea True Qi].

Otherwise, the Xiaoyao Sect's ability to prolong life would disappear.

So at this moment Wang Ming was doing his best to purify the chaotic true qi in his body.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Guande Hall,
Sitting on the dragon throne was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old.

This man has a handsome and delicate appearance, but there is a hint of majesty and domineering between his brows.

He was Yang You, the grandson of Yang Guang and the third emperor of the Sui Dynasty.

People from the royal family are rarely ugly.

Each emperor selected the most beautiful women from all over the country and brought them into the palace, and then gave birth to children by them.

How ugly can it be?

After several generations of genetic fusion, the basic appearance will not be too different.

At this time, Yang You, looking quite mature despite his young age, sat right at the top of the court.

Now the civil and military officials below will discuss the affairs of state.

Don’t be fooled by Yang You’s calm and serious expression at this moment.

in fact,

At this moment, Yang You's mental activities were very active.

I was so excited, so thrilled, I wanted to shout for joy.

Because he sat on the throne.

His royal grandfather personally said that he was allowed to sit here, which was equivalent to completely recognizing him. The throne basically belonged to him.

This was not the first time that Yang You served as regent.

But it was the first time for him to sit on the throne.

In the past, they would have a small desk and a chair downstairs to discuss government affairs with civil and military officials.

As for sitting on the chair, he didn't have the courage to do so, or he was not stupid enough to do so.

Yang You stroked the armrest of the dragon throne and suddenly thought to himself, "This time, the regent may not be simple!"

His hand continued to touch the table where the imperial seal and memorials were placed, and his eyes stared into the distance outside the gate of Guande Hall.

I analyzed in my mind: "It's possible that this is a test from Grandpa Emperor. If I do well..."

His eyes sparkled with brilliance as he thought about the answer in his heart—passing on the throne early.
Yang You clenched his fists and made up his mind, "I must perform well and not let Grandpa Huang down."

in fact,

Yang You's adopted grandfather, Wang Ming, was just lazy.

Just a tool.

Of course, if Yang You performs well, it is not impossible to give him the throne.

Wang Mingyou didn't like the imperial power. No matter how well he sat as emperor in this world, he would still die in the next world if he was beaten to death by someone else's punch.

Therefore, as long as Wang Ming continues to be provided with resources for cultivation, he doesn't care whether the throne is in his hands or not.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

At this time, a short and skinny old man in his fifties suddenly said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince (I don't know if this is the right name, just use it!), I have arranged to do what Your Majesty ordered."

This person was none other than Dugu Sheng. His words interrupted the young man Yang You's trance.

Yang You covered up his gaffe and said seriously, "Well done! You must complete the tasks ordered by Grandpa Emperor seriously."

Then they started discussing other things.

The household affairs of a family are often very complicated and troublesome, let alone those of a country?
Of course, at this time there was only one Luoyang City and surrounding cities.

But it’s not that simple.

It is very energy-consuming.

After dealing with some things, Yang You suddenly felt that this was not going to work.

How can Yang You's excellence be highlighted by just handling these simple things?

Yang You was distracted in front of everyone!

The ministers below naturally noticed it, but didn't say anything. They continued to act like blind people, completely unaware that Yang You didn't hear them.

In the minds of these ministers, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Yang You was just distracted. What's the big deal?
His father is even more excessive.

That's pretty good.

Yang You couldn't help thinking in his heart: "The problem facing us now is that rebels are everywhere in the world. If we can solve these problems, it will definitely show how powerful I am."

Just do it,

Yang You came out of his trance and suddenly said, "How do you think we can deal with this group of rebellious thieves?"

Many officials were also stunned when they heard this. They did not expect that Crown Prince Yang You would suddenly mention this matter.

After a brief moment of shock, they also held a meeting to think about this issue.

Dugu Sheng stood up and said loudly: "Your Highness, it will take time to wipe out the bandits in the current situation. Moreover, launching a campaign will easily lead to the bandits, who are acting independently, to form an alliance, which will cause greater trouble."

The officials who were listening to the discussion couldn't help but nod their heads, agreeing with Dugu Sheng's statement.

Dugu Sheng continued, "Your Majesty, the best strategy is to abandon those areas that cannot be defended, withdraw the defense line to allow the court to avoid unnecessary losses, and let those rebels fight among themselves." Dugu Sheng was not a talented or wise man, but at such an old age, how could he not guess what Yang You was thinking.

So I came out to remind Yang You.

The ties between the Sui Dynasty court and the Dugu clan were too severe. The court's loss was their loss, so Dugu Sheng naturally didn't want him to mess around.

Upon hearing this, Yang You had to nod in agreement even though this was not the opinion he wanted.

Yang You is no fool and knows what the current situation in the court is.

Yang Guang ordered all peripheral forces to retreat to the vicinity of Luoyang, which invisibly strengthened the cohesion and strength of the court.

In terms of strength at this moment, it is definitely one of the most powerful ones.

But it is absolutely impossible to recover the lost territories and restore the world.

Yang You couldn't help but sigh, thinking that he was too impatient, and decided to give up this fantasy.

Sudden.

A fat official with narrow eyes, a wide face, a red nose and a treacherous look came out to fight.

Censor Fei Yun!

Pei Yun was also a favorite minister of Emperor Yang of Sui.

Pei Yun stepped out and made a solemn speech, "Your Highness, we have ways to wipe out these rebels."

Yang You perked up immediately after hearing that, and his previous depressed mood immediately disappeared.

The other ministers who were watching couldn't help but wonder, isn't Pei Yun best at flattery?

What's happening today?
Yang You immediately smiled happily and urged, "Master Pei, please speak quickly."

Pei Yun did not hesitate and said confidently: "As long as the power of the imperial court becomes stronger, it will be fine."

As soon as these words came out, Pei Yun immediately received a series of mocking looks.

What kind of solution is this? Who doesn’t know this?

The main purpose is to become stronger, so how can you agree?
If you want to develop money, food, population, economy, and military, it is not a matter of one day or one night, it is a long and arduous process.

Yang You couldn't help but reveal a disappointed expression, thinking to himself, "I thought this close minister of the Emperor, Pei Yun, would have some good ideas! I was so happy for nothing."

suddenly,

Pei Yun continued, "There are still four forces in the world today. As long as the court gets their help, it will surely be able to wipe out the dissatisfaction in all directions and restore the country."

Most people were interested in this.

Dugu Sheng's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and something suddenly popped up in his mind. Before he could think about it, Pei Yunjiu said it out loud himself.

Pei Yun said confidently: "The four forces are Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Demonism."

When everyone heard this, it was as if a bolt from the blue suddenly struck their heads.

Pei Yun began to give instructions in the imperial hall: "Although these four families are not aristocratic families, their foundation is no worse than that of aristocratic families. As long as we can get the help of these four major forces, even if only one of them can make the court invincible."

Everyone couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

They had to admit that Pei Yun, a guy who was uneducated and only knew how to flatter, had come up with a solution that was really feasible.

As long as there is one family willing to help the court with all its strength, the Sui Dynasty will definitely be able to overcome this difficulty.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Confucianism,

Since Dong Zhongshu wrote to Emperor Wu of Han to "abolished all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone," after countless years of accumulation, Confucianism has become the uncrowned king of the world. It has deeply penetrated the entire dynasty and the entire world.

In order to become an official and gain fame, he was not allowed to read Confucian classics.

Confucianism emphasizes respecting the Way.
Therefore, all scholars in the world must give face to the Confucian leaders. If they do not, they will easily be expelled from the scholar group.

Those who can read are basically not common people, but children of aristocratic families.

This force gathered together is absolutely terrifying.

Buddhism,

Although monks begging for alms do the same thing as beggars, you shouldn't really think of them as beggars.

Monks own temples, temples own land, their land does not have to be taxed, and they also have a large number of tenant farmers.

There are also countless believers who donated gold and silver to gild the Buddha statue.

Temples basically train a lot of monks.

Especially in this era, Buddhism is extremely powerful.

There is a poem in later times: "There are four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, and many pavilions are in the mist and rain."

One can imagine how prosperous Buddhism was during this era.

The current spokespersons for Buddhism are Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Zen Temple.

Daomen,

He is very low-key, but his power is no less than that of Buddhism.

If most Buddhist believers are ordinary people, then Taoist believers are the upper class.

Seeking the truth, refining elixirs and looking for immortality is not something that poor people can afford.

Demon Gate,

The Demonic Sect is an extremely special existence.

This mysterious sect has a long history and produced many talented people.

The so-called Demonic Sect is just a name given to them by the world; they themselves call themselves the "Holy Sect."

The Holy Gate is an alliance of some sects that have not yet been wiped out.

Originally, they were all suppressed by the orthodox school and even arrested by the authorities because they opposed the Confucian teachings of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, and denounced them as hypocritical and foolish. In order to survive and to pass on their ideas, they had to unite and rely on various means to survive. However, as Confucianism spread more and more widely and its orthodox status became more and more stable, the ideas of the sages became increasingly difficult to be accepted by people, and in the eyes of the world, they became increasingly unorthodox and unreasonable.

So in the eyes of ordinary people who don't know the truth, they are basically bad people.

They were just frustrated people who had great ambitions but could not realize them and who had grievances but could not redress them. In fact, their ideas were mostly born out of the desire to save people from disaster.

The Demon Sect is now divided into two factions and six paths.

It can be said that there are all kinds of talents in this demon sect, as well as all kinds of scum.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yang You was also thinking at this time.

He knew about these four forces. Basically, everyone with a certain status knew how terrifying these four forces were.

Yang Guang actually wanted to move against these four forces, but the aristocratic families stood in his way. It would be difficult to take action against these four religions without dealing with the four aristocratic families.

Yang You had to admit that Pei Yun's suggestion was indeed feasible.

As long as we can get the help of one of these four forces, we will definitely be invincible in this battle.

Yang You was also very confident and felt that he could win over at least two of the four companies.

After all, since the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, there has not been much friction with these four sects.

Confucianism accepted the reward from the Sui Dynasty. Confucianism, which emphasizes benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, could not just ignore the royal family's request for help, right?
It also has connections with Buddhism, Taoism and the Demonic Sect. Even if your luck is bad, you should be able to get one.

Yang You couldn't help but look forward to it in his heart: "As long as one of these four major forces is convinced by me, I will definitely win the praise of Grandpa Emperor."

(End of this chapter)