My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 373 Fog

"Thank you, sir!"

I heard Liu Zhen’s instructions in front of me.

The young man named Ta Shi was overjoyed and kowtowed to the ground.

Mr. Zhao on the side didn't seem surprised by the scene in front of him.

He even looked at the tea cup in his hand leisurely.

"...If you can recruit enough Jurchen tribes to serve the vassal state, I will recommend them to the court..."

Wait until Liu Zhen clearly issued an invitation to the young Jurchen noble in front of him.

Mr. Zhao placed the tea cup in his hand on the table beside him.

A servant cautiously poked his head out of the door and signaled to Mr. Zhao.

"What happened?"

Mr. Zhao, who was in a good mood just now because he left behind the hot potato of the Jurchens, saw the behavior of the servants in gray clothes outside, and the smile on his face faded slightly.

Couldn't help but frown.

But this man was a warrior who had served in the family since his father was still alive, and was deeply trusted by everyone in the Zhao family. Mr. Zhao knew that nothing was wrong and that he would not disturb him suddenly, so he still summoned him.

"Dara——"

That was also a Jurchen warrior, but compared to Ta Shi, who was born in a small chief's family and was still underage, the man in front of him was strong and strong. The exposed skin on the cuffs was full of scars from swords. The only remaining left eye was sharp. Like an eagle.

Even an old farmer with the least military experience will understand at the first glance that he is facing a barbarian warrior who has experienced hundreds of battles.

"Something is not right in the mourning hall..."

Hearing the warrior whispering softly in his ear, Mr. Zhao's pupils shrank suddenly.

The body of his father, Mr. Zhao, is still there.

What will happen in the mourning hall?

Is it true that as the crazy Taoist said, there have been funerals one after another in the homes of these wealthy families in the town recently.

Not a coincidence?

It’s a warning from God!

Thinking of this, the expression on Mr. Zhao's face changed.

He stood up, but a moment later, when he heard the crying coming from the mourning hall, he felt something was wrong again.

"Zen Master Yuancheng and many disciples are in the back hall, and there has been no movement for half an hour——"

Indeed, this is very wrong.

After all, the mourning ceremony is about to be prepared, to summon the souls of the deceased and to liberate them.

It stands to reason that the monks of the Pure Land Sect should have started playing.

Start building momentum and setting up corresponding ritual formations.

But until now, the only sounds coming from the mourning hall are the cries of women.

Although it stands to reason that Mr. Zhao should be one of those crying.

But on the one hand, it is to entertain Liu Zhen, which is very beneficial to the family's future career.

After all, they are not like other Liaodong wealthy families who can maintain their status by force.

The imperial examination was their only way out.

On the other hand, regarding Buddhism's ritual of passing the dead, Prince Zhao, as a Confucian scholar with a high reputation, naturally knew very well what it means to send the soul of the deceased into the paradise world.

In order to survive after losing power, Buddhism and Taoism describe the afterlife of human beings in a very fantasy way.

This is so that they can obtain support from the public.

Confucianism is very straightforward about what happens after death.

Confucianism does not oppose the existence of ghosts and gods. If not, they would not be able to unite most of the wealthy families to maintain the rule of the empire with the entire power system of Confucianism's "respect for heaven and ancestors".

But Confucianism scorns the so-called idea that human souls reincarnate after death and enter the paradise world.

As stated in Fan Zhen's "The Theory of Divine Destruction".

"The quality is as sharp as the blade, and the form is as useful as the blade. The name of sharpness is not the blade, and the name of the blade is not sharp. However, relics have no edge, and relics have no edge, and the sword is not heard. Li Cun, how can it be tolerated that the body is dead while the God is there?"

Confucianism is very clear in this regard. After all, they do not need to rely on this thing to extract money from the people. They have completely taken control of the country's political power through a power struggle. If they want money, they can just increase taxes from level to level.

Reincarnation? Resurrecting a dead body? In this world, it will always be the preserve of only a few people.

Mr. Zhao knew very well that his family could not reach this level.

The human body dies and the soul disperses in seven days.

The purpose of Buddhist salvation is to speed up the process of soul being scattered.

Directly turn his soul into pieces to avoid attracting some evil monsters that feed on humans and cause trouble to the living.

Now it seems that there is a problem in this area.

"Take it with you to the nursing home, and let's go see Zen Master Yuancheng together—"

Mr. Zhao thought for a moment and said in a deep voice.

The Jurchen warrior on the side nodded with a heavy face when he heard this.

Jintai Temple is quite famous for hundreds of miles around.

Master Yuancheng is one of the most eminent monks in Liaodong.

If even he had an accident silently.

Then how terrible must be the things happening at the Zhao family’s home——

The two simply couldn't even think about it.

"My subordinates are going to summon the guards now, and they will protect the young master to the death—"

For dictators, sometimes foreign soldiers are more loyal than Han soldiers.

Just like the Turkic warriors who serve as guards beside Li Shimin, and the Mongolian soldiers beside Zhu Di.

After all, they will not take advantage of the chaos to stab you like those powerful families from the same clan who take advantage of the transfer of power.

Mr. Zhao turned around, looked at Liu Zhen, and said slightly apologetically.

"I'm sorry for the poor hospitality——"

"I'll go with you. I have the protection of the imperial court and a strong sense of righteousness in my chest. No demon can harm me."

Liu Zhen interrupted Mr. Zhao's words.

And not just for this reason.

Liu Zhen turned around and looked at the Jurchen warrior who came here secretly to report the news, as if something had been touched.

The air suddenly became extremely humid.

Liu Zhen could even feel the condensation of water stains, slowly moving across his face, causing waves of numbness.

Outside the door, a thin layer of mist lingered around the Zhao family's ancestral house at noon when the sun was high in the sky.

It even enveloped the entire Niumao Town.

It was as if an invisible hand descended from the sky and enveloped the entire town.

Just like that cold and humid afternoon many years ago.

Along with the increasingly pitiful and shrill cries of women in the mourning hall, the fog outside the door became thicker and thicker. Suddenly, a thunder appeared out of thin air in the open space outside the door, and the violent white light spread. Liu Zhen suddenly understood, as if from the scene in front of him. In the mist, I saw the familiar dilapidated Taoist temple from many years ago.

At that time, in order to pay for my trip to Beijing to take the exam, I had not been able to eat for three days. I was so hungry that I was dizzy. I took the only egg-laying hen in my family and prepared to go to the market to sell it.

The cost of traveling to take the exam is an astronomical sum for most ordinary scholars.

Most people tend to only get one or two chances.

If you are not careful, your whole family will be in debt and your family will be ruined.

That was the period of time when I was most frightened.

And that thing seemed to sense my fear, and suddenly appeared in front of me, and gave me complete guidance.

(End of this chapter)