"Look... wow, God Haotian is so powerful. Wuzhishan directly suppresses monkeys."
"What a bullshit, I can't read... Don't block the way, I'm going to the teahouse to hear the scholar talk about Journey to the West."
…
"Have you watched Journey to the West?"
"After looking at it, I measured the catastrophes. There are countless catastrophes. I said that the dreamer's imagination is so rich. How did he come up with it?"
"Yes, yes, I was originally worried about how to write it later. Once the calamity comes out, all the subsequent plots will be ready."
"I've been wondering why it's called Journey to the West, and now I finally know. It's about going to the West to preach to the barbarians and resolve calamities."
…
"Have you watched Journey to the West?"
"Looking at it, Taoism's trick is very deep and cruel."
"Yes, who would have thought that Journey to the West would be such a story."
"This story has spread among the people, and Buddhism cannot stop it even if it wants to."
"The story is so exciting and so contagious."
"The key is the above. The saint told this story in public and he has read it."
"That's why I said Taoism's move is cruel enough. I am destined to descend to earth to resolve the calamity... The saint can't support it even if he doesn't want to."
"Buddhism is in trouble this time."
…
"Come on, let's play some games. Today we will play Havoc in the Sky."
"I want to play God Haotian... I want to play God Haotian."
"Don't you like playing monkey? Why did you change your mind?"
"How powerful God Haotian is... Look at my Wuzhishan Mountain... clatter... the monkeys were suppressed."
"No, you can't be the best every time. This time you'll play the monkey, and we'll play God Haotian."
"Yes, yes, you play the role of monkey, let's play the role of God Haotian."
…
The Moral God, orders you to go down to earth and go to the Western world to preach and perform Dharma to dispel evil spirits and resolve calamities.
…
Listening to the words of the children playing on the roadside, Faline sighed heavily.
Taoism's offensive this time was too fast and violent. The key was that the angle of attack was unprecedented.
They did not attack the teachings of Buddhism, nor did they compete with Buddhism for the right to speak in the imperial court. Instead, they found another way to attack directly from the foundation.
The story "Journey to the West" is so exciting and spreadable. Through the personal perspective of Sun Wukong, it has penetrated deeply into the folk and has become the most widely spread story at present.
It is foreseeable that the influence of this story will exist for a long, long time in the future, even hundreds of years.
As long as there are people gathering together, there will be people talking about Journey to the West. Even children playing games began to imitate the wonderful scenes in Journey to the West.
As a religious person, he is very aware of this subtle effect.
The common people were illiterate and had no chance to come into contact with any profound scriptures. They could only express their faith in a simple sentence or two.
In the past, the words on people's lips were: Amitabha, Buddha bless you.
Now the words on the lips of the people have become: God bless you, may you be blessed with infinite blessings.
When the slogan changes, it means they have made a choice in their beliefs.
The most important thing is not these, but Lao Tzu's Journey to the West, which transformed Hu into a Buddha. Ordinary people don't care whether it is true or false, they only believe what they want to believe.
When thousands of people believe that turning a tiger into a Buddha is real, then it is real. The monks have explained it a thousand times or ten thousand times, but it is not as effective as the journey to the west.
It won't be long before Laozi's transformation into a beard will become a consensus and be recognized by everyone.
The Laozi Transformed Hu Jing, which Taoism has compiled for hundreds of years, will change from a less popular scripture to the most famous and important scripture, and Buddhism will completely become a vassal of Taoism.
Every time she thinks about this future, Faline's heart becomes extremely heavy.
He wanted to change this result, but he couldn't do anything.
Taoism acts as a whole, and the power it can mobilize is very huge, and it also hopes that periodicals such as Yuetan, which sell all over the country, can serve as its mouthpiece.
Every word the other party says can spread throughout the country as quickly as possible, affecting countless people.
As for Buddhism, it is a mess. Even if they can put aside their prejudices and quickly form an offensive and defensive alliance, how can they fight back?
Arguing with Taoism? People can completely ignore it. Bringing a lawsuit before the emperor? Who dares to object to the saying that I have come down to earth to accept the fate of heaven and resolve calamities?
Write another one to compete with Journey to the West?
Forget it, he doesn’t think Buddhism can write a story that surpasses Journey to the West in a short period of time.
But he couldn't do nothing. After returning to Longtian Temple, he did three things.
I wrote a memorial to the emperor and asked for an interview.
2. Write letters to various Buddhist sects again, inviting them to discuss major plans together.
Third, he called his disciple Fang Ming and said, "Go to Zixiao Temple and tell Monarch Sun and Master Chen that I want to visit the two masters tomorrow morning and ask them to take the time to meet you."
Fang Ming said hesitantly: "Master, if you go at this time, I'm afraid you will be humiliated by them."
Fa Lin shook her head and said: "No, neither Guanzhu Sun nor Zhenren Chen are such people. Even if they are enemies, they will not humiliate me as a teacher."
Fang Ming said: "But what if you go? They will definitely not stop."
Fa Lin said: "I don't know, but I have to meet them in person, so that I can know their true thoughts and think of countermeasures."
Fang Ming no longer had any doubts and went to Zixiao Temple to send a greeting card.
…
Chen Jingke was in the audience discussing the next plan with Tian Shiwen and Li Chunfeng.
Tian Shiwen was even more radical, saying: "Journey to the West has become a trend, and we no longer need to deliberately promote it. I suggest that we directly launch an attack on Buddhist teachings next."
Chen Jingke did not answer him, but asked Li Chunfeng: "What do Mr. Li think?"
Li Chunfeng did not object directly, but pointed in the direction of the palace and said: "Now is a troubled time. The higher-ups hope that we can control the situation within a certain range and not affect the reform of the imperial court."
Hearing this, Tian Shiwen knew that there was nothing he could do and sighed: "I'm really not willing to miss such a good opportunity like this."
Chen Jingke reassured: "I have been waiting for hundreds of years, and I am not in a hurry now. Moreover, I don't think attacking Buddhist teachings is a good way."
Tian Shiwen said: "Oh? I would like to hear the details."
Chen Jingke said: "We have been fighting with Buddhism for hundreds of years, and both sides are too familiar with it."
"Even before we make a move, the opponent already knows how we will attack. Similarly, before we make a move, we already know how the opponent will counterattack."
"Under such circumstances, there is no point in continuing to attack Buddhist scriptures. In the end, it can only be reduced to a war of words, with no winner or loser."
"Instead of doing this in vain, it is better to continue to fight in newly opened battlefields and expand the results already achieved."
"When the story of Journey to the West is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and when everyone from the Tang Dynasty to the octogenarians and the babies who are crying for food know the story of Monkey King and Lao Tzu turned the tiger into a Buddha, we will win without a fight."
Tian Shiwen said: "Buddhism will definitely not sit still and wait for death. What if they launch a counterattack?"
Chen Jingke smiled and said: "It's simple, they fight theirs and we fight ours. Buddhism can fight back however they want. We just need to do our best to promote Journey to the West."
Li Chunfeng's eyes lit up and he praised: "Well, they beat theirs, and we beat ours."
"As a result, all Buddhist counterattacks will be in vain. Although we have not directly attacked Buddhism, we have shaken them at their foundation."
"This move is really clever. I support Chen Zhenren's method."
Although Tian Shiwen was unwilling to give in, he also knew that this was the best way when the emperor made it clear that he did not want the situation to escalate, so he could only agree.
Next they began to discuss how to continue to promote Journey to the West.
Due to the constraints of the times, the methods Tian Shiwen and Li Chunfeng could think of were limited. They could only mobilize Taoist priests from all over the country to tell stories to the people, or continue to advertise and sell books.
Another option is to bribe more storytellers and let them tell the story of Journey to the West.
Speaking of storytellers, Li Chunfeng laughed and said: "It is said that as soon as the complete version of Journey to the West was published, many storytellers were too scared to tell stories."
Tian Shiwen also smiled and said: "I have heard about this too, but money attracts people's hearts. Talking about Journey to the West is too profitable, so most of them come back to give lectures."
Li Chunfeng looked at Chen Jingke and said jokingly: "After all, their ancestor said that the dreamer is a real person in our Taoism. It is impossible to deceive the master and destroy the ancestor."
Chen Jingke said with a bit of laughter and tears: "I guess they have begun to regret now, why did they choose the dream teller as their ancestor? It's hard to get off the tiger."
"Haha." Everyone laughed.
The newly born group of storytellers should be the biggest headache right now. I originally thought that they would be embraced by the thighs, but it turned out that the rations given by the thighs were not that delicious, and they had to submit a name certificate.
But they really don't have the guts to offend Buddhism.
But not telling Journey to the West is deceiving the master and destroying the ancestors... This is actually a trivial matter. The worst thing is to change the ancestor. The key is that if you don't tell Journey to the West, the audience won't buy it.
Some people have tried to tell other stories, but they all ended disastrously.
For a masterpiece like Journey to the West, it can be said to be crushed in all aspects when it comes to an era like the early Tang Dynasty when it was still stuck in scripts.
What's more, the story of Journey to the West itself is unique and completely national-level.
In a word, who can resist a monkey named Sun?
In the end, those storytellers either quit the circle or came back to continue telling Journey to the West.
Seeing that the two of them could not come up with anything new, Chen Jingke had to act as a porter again, bringing out comic books, operas and other media.
Comics have more concise images and can be read even by people who have never read books. They are especially popular with children.
Not to mention opera, in this era of lack of entertainment methods, it can be said that it is suitable for all ages.
At this time, the model of opera had almost been finalized, but the concept of "Liyuan" would not be formed until the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.
Moreover, opera at this time was only something that could only be appreciated by high-ranking officials. Chen Jingke directly made it popular among the people by changing its appearance.
We also sell some Journey to the West peripherals, masks, clothes, clay figurines, sculptures of various characters, etc. We can also cooperate with workshops that make porcelain and pottery to produce utensils with Journey to the West characteristics.
In one sentence, Journey to the West should fill every aspect of people's lives and change them subtly.
After hearing Chen Jingke's method, Tian Shiwen and Li Chunfeng were shocked. They really didn't expect that things could still be played like this.
Then of course he readily agreed and said he would start taking action immediately.
…
As soon as they were sent away, Chen Jingke received a greeting card from Fa Lin. He quickly found his master and showed him the greeting card.
Sun Simiao sighed: "Master Fa Lin's purpose is not difficult to guess. He is here to find out what I really think. I don't want to lie to him and I can't tell the truth. I won't show up tomorrow. You can go see him yourself."
Chen Jingke nodded and said: "Okay, I just want to tell some of my thoughts to Buddhism to see if I can reach a consensus with them. I was just wondering how to find them, and Fa Lin came just in time."
After leaving Sun Simiao, Chen Jingke found Wu Shu again. He found that her eyes were moist and she seemed to have just cried, but her expression was very happy, which confused him.
He asked: "Sister Wu, what's wrong with you?"
Wu Shu jumped directly into his arms and said excitedly: "Master, I just vomited."
Chen Jingke said with concern: "You're throwing up? What's wrong with you? Is it a bad stomachache?"
Wu Shu chuckled for a while, then said in a tired voice: "My geraniums didn't come either."
Chen Jingke almost jumped up and said excitedly: "What did you say? Tiankui didn't come and she vomited? Are you pregnant?"
Wu Shu nodded and said: "Well, I guess it's almost the same."
Chen Jingke took a deep breath to calm down and said, "When did this happen?"
Wu Shu replied: "I vomited a few days ago, but I'm not sure. I just thought Tiankui would come in the next few days and waited to see if it would come, but it didn't come."
The absence of geraniums is indeed a very credible signal.
Being a father for the first time in his past life, Chen Jingke was very excited. He picked her up and spun her around a few times and said, "That's great, I want to be a father."
Wu Shu was even happier, hugging him and laughing non-stop.
The couple were happy for a while, then Chen Jingke suddenly thought of his master and said quickly: "Let's go, tell the master the good news quickly, and let him check it out by the way."
Wu Shu nodded and said, "Well, it's time to tell him."
When Sun Simiao heard the news that Wu Shu was suspected of being pregnant, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment given his character and cultivation.
Then his beard trembled with excitement and he said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I'm going to be a grandson. Hurry, hurry up, sit down quickly, the first few months of pregnancy are the most dangerous, don't be tired."
Chen Jingke couldn't help but feel amused and said: "Master, don't worry, this is not confirmed yet, please take the pulse and check."
Sun Simiao quickly said: "It's time to take a closer look. Come to Shu'er and I'll show you."
Sun Simiao's rich medical experience allowed Sun Simiao to accurately measure her pulse even in a relatively excited situation.
The result was no surprise, she was indeed pregnant.
This news quickly spread throughout the Taoist temple, and everyone was naturally very happy. After all, the Taoist temple has a third-generation successor, and everyone's future is guaranteed.
Wu Shu immediately became a national treasure and became the object of everyone's protection.