Chapter 375 Moral Saint
…………
Yang Yi strode out of the door, without any imperial edict or other tokens. As the Grand Marshal of the Army and the most trusted person of the Emperor, he was equivalent to the will of His Majesty the Emperor.
The Imperial Guards outside the city.
Since ancient times, the Imperial Guards have been synonymous with lax discipline, because most of the soldiers in the Imperial Guards are children of the rich and powerful, and they usually come to gild themselves, not to suffer.
But the Imperial Guards under Yang Yi's charge are not like this. Whether they are good family boys or children of the rich and powerful, they are trained like steel.
There was no noise in the camp, and the guards guarding the camp were neat and tidy, as if they were carved out of the same mold.
Yang Yi appeared in the camp.
"I pay my respects to the general!!"
The soldiers quickly gathered, roaring in the mountains and forests, and everyone looked at Yang Yi with fanatical admiration.
They were trained by Yang Yi, and in their eyes, Yang Yi was a perfect saint.
"Xiaowu, notify the three armies to come here for inspection immediately!" Yang Yi took out the tiger talisman from his arms while speaking.
"Yes!"
The personal soldiers took the tiger talisman down.
Soon, a huge army of 30,000 people gathered.
"Meet the Grand Marshal!!" The blood rushed to the sky, forming a white tiger with bared fangs and claws. The iron-blooded strong army is like this.
A truly strong army is never built by killing alone.
Instead, it eats and lives with the soldiers and respects subordinates. Yang Yi is such a person. Maybe in Yang Xiao's eyes, Yang Yi is a ruthless and ungrateful father, but in the eyes of these soldiers, Yang Yi is closer than their father.
Yang Yi can almost call out the names of the 30,000 people in front of him; just imagine that a high-ranking official, a Duke of Wei, can easily call out the name of an insignificant soldier. This is so exciting that it is enough to make people willing to die for it.
"Let's go!!"
Yang Yi rode on the dragon blood horse and rode away.
The army set out along the official road. People stopped to watch along the way. Some wanted to flee, but when they saw the flag of the Duke of Wei, they were no longer afraid.
"The flag of the Duke of Wei!!"
"It's the Duke of Wei!!"
The people cheered.
In the eyes of the people, Yang Yi was a god-like figure. He could govern the country with his literary skills and pacify the world with his military skills.
In the army, he was a god of war with great martial arts and invincible battles; in the folks, he was a moral saint. He stipulated the folk etiquette system and laid the foundation for the principles of monarch, minister, father, son and husband and wife. He was the book and the Tao.
The army rushed to the border.
In a house somewhere in the city, a woman's screams came from inside.
A man in the room was seen holding a wooden stick and beating his wife.
"You are so brave. You dare to talk to a man. If it weren't on the street, you two would be hugging each other?" The man was furious.
"No... That's my cousin!!" The woman's face was black and blue, and she was unwilling to refute.
"How dare you talk back? Your Lin family claims to be a family of scholars. Haven't you learned what Saint Yang said about the husband being the backbone of the wife?"
After the woman said this, she was beaten even harder by her husband.
The man was a scholar and admired Yang Yi very much. In his eyes, Yang Yi was a saint.
Dong, Dong, Dong! !
In the alleys in the north of the city, a team beat gongs and drums and carried a big red sedan.
This is not a marriage, but a suicide for love.
Da Li advocated chastity, which was originally a part of the marital code. It was just that the wife was chaste for the husband. Later, it was gradually increased by the people below, and it became a widow's chastity. In serious cases, it was even suicide for love. Those who committed suicide for love were regarded as local moral models, and their reputations were passed down for generations, and their families were proud of them.
A haggard woman walked out of the sedan.
The woman was not old, probably less than 20 years old, and her husband died less than a year after she got married.
The woman pinched the corner of her clothes, her fingers were so tight that they turned white. She didn't want to die, but everyone wanted her to die, including her parents.
She couldn't resist or run away, or she would be despised by everyone.
"I hate you!!" She walked to the wellhead step by step, and jumped down under the expectant eyes of officials, neighbors, relatives, and family members.
Suddenly, gongs and drums were noisy, and the county magistrate personally presented a plaque of chastity, and the girl's parents cried with joy.
In such a big city, parents controlled their children, husbands beat their wives and daughters, and bureaucrats oppressed their subordinates. In the officialdom, the title of "adult" came from this.
Some people were despised or even died for violating etiquette.
This is the great world brought by the saint Yang Yi.
Yang Yi's etiquette regulated the folk order. On the one hand, it also guided people to be good, but on the other hand, it also produced many drawbacks, causing people to be rigid in thought and corrupt in thinking, like a pool of stagnant water and mud.
But for the court, the emergence of etiquette also greatly strengthened the control over the people.
Southwest border.
Here is another scene.
"The Taoists are treating patients for free! People from the Taoists are here to treat patients!!"
In the morning, the village chief beat gongs and drums, and the doors of the houses in the village opened one after another, and men, women, and children came out.
"Here they come!"
"Don't rush!"
Accompanied by the laughter of children, people lined up in a long line at the entrance of the village.
Soon, several people dressed as Taoist priests came here with large and small bags of things, and treated the villagers one by one.
After the treatment, they inspected the crops and water conservancy under the leadership of the village chief, left some seeds and left, and continued to the next place.
This is the territory controlled by the Taoist sect. Compared with the oppressive Dali, it is more relaxed and cheerful.
The largest city in the mountains and forests is called Xiacheng.
Xiacheng is built on the mountain, magnificent and tall.
In the highest city lord's mansion, Yang Xiao stood by the window and looked down at all living beings.
"Yang Yi, you are wrong. When the granary is full, you know the etiquette and when you have enough food and clothing, you know honor and disgrace. Let the people eat first is the kingly way."
Yang Yi took the way of eliminating desire, advocating the preservation of heaven and eliminating human desire; regardless of rich or poor, old or young, male or female, he promoted the so-called principles and ethics, as if he thought that as long as people understand etiquette, everything will get better.
Such promotion of principles and ethics will eventually become a tool for the powerful to oppress the poor.
Yang Xiao was different. He had lived a hard life since childhood and knew what it felt like to be hungry. When people's eyes glowed green with hunger and their bodies shivered with cold, they had no so-called moral principles in their hearts. At that time, people were like beasts, and they would devour people when they were terrified.
So he wanted to start with eating. Only when people were full could they get rid of the material desires of beasts, and it would be easier to educate them at this time.
Based on this concept, Yang Xiao asked the Taoist master for a thousand kilograms of seeds.
"It is obvious that my concept has succeeded, Yang Yi. One day, I will make you bow your head and admit your mistakes, and understand who is right. Reveal your true face to the world." Yang Xiao's eyes burned with hatred.
Yang Yi was nominally his father, but the moment he learned the truth, the role of father was dead.
If he met Yang Yi in the future, he would definitely use the most cruel means to avenge his mother and give her justice.
Yang Xiao returned to the house and wrote an order.
"Send another 10,000 people to the mountains to defeat all the tribes of the savages."
Once the mountains in the southwest are unified, they will have the capital to attack or defend.
Attack or defend, wait for the right time and seize the initiative.
This is Yang Xiao's current strategy.
Of course, the most important thing is the decision made by Fenghua and Xuanji. In fact, Yang Xiao's original idea was more radical. Yang Xiao originally wanted to win quickly. He advocated the theory of quick victory and thought that quick victory was the most important. Otherwise, if it dragged on, the opponent would become stronger and stronger by relying on the foundation of controlling the land of Shenzhou.
When the Taoist army came, it would also suffer great losses.
Of course, there were personal grudges, which is unknown.
Maybe Yang Xiao just wanted to prove himself in front of Yang Yi as soon as possible. In any case, he had no way to refute the decision made by the two great powers.
However, Yang Xiao believed that one day, he would grow to be on par with Fenghua Xuanji and even the Taoist master.
…
There are small towns dotted among the mountains, and most of the cities are connected by only one or two narrow mountain roads. The terrain disadvantages of the southwest mountains are like this. It is difficult to attack and difficult to govern. It takes huge manpower and material resources to connect them. A little disturbance may even cut off the connection between the cities.
Once a big force forcibly integrates the southwest mountains, it can also be a good army with the experience of the struggle between people and nature here.
As the power of Taoism grows, its power gradually spreads to the rural towns outside the mountains.
In the city, Taoist Taiyi tablets are worshipped in various places. The three elders lead the villagers to establish a unique village organization of Taoism, which is responsible for the distribution of thousands of kilograms of rice, water conservancy dredging, poverty relief, and adjustment of relations between villages.
Life is getting better and better, and many people are inclined to Taoism.
This change is also reflected in the nearby Qingshan City.
In the city, the village organization organizes people to build porridge stalls, free medical treatment, free teaching, etc.
One day, a man came outside the city.
This man had a weather-beaten face, a shirt that was washed white, and he looked like a shabby scholar who was penniless and alone in middle age.
The scholar was dressed in shabby clothes, his expression was calm, and he seemed to have great ambitions.
There was a group of people queuing not far away. The scholar came forward and asked the old man next to him: "Old man, what are you doing?"
"Drinking porridge, otherwise why would you queue up." The old man smiled kindly.
"Oh? Which shop has such good business?" The scholar asked in surprise.
"It's free. This is given away for free by a great Taoist. Anyone can drink it." Speaking of Taoism, the old man gave a thumbs up and praised it repeatedly.
"Those free clinics and free schools next to us are also from the Taoist sect? They don't charge any money? They don't even charge tuition?"
"Nothing."
The scholar pondered for a long time and asked, "What does the Taoist sect want?"
"What do I have to complain about? They just see that we are living in poverty and the Taoist masters are kind-hearted. Besides, what do we have that is worth their greed?"
The scholar left without saying a word, and his calm expression showed a slight fluctuation.
"What a weird person." The old man muttered and then ignored him.
The scholar observed the scenery of the town along the way. The people here looked different from those in the border towns. Most of the people in the border towns had yellow faces and dull expressions, which were usually caused by hardship.
Unlike those places, the people here were in high spirits, ruddy complexions, and did not have so many intrigues. They were polite and sensible.
As the ruling class of the empire, he was not happy about the changes in the people, but worried.
All this was not caused by the ethics and morals, but by the so-called Taoism.
The people nearby obviously agreed with Taoism.
With doubts, the scholar walked to the Taoist lecture hall.
The Taoist priests, who were neatly dressed and looked very attractive, kept talking about the Taoist philosophy, and the scholar listened attentively for a while.
Taoism is different from other sects. They do not force people to believe in a certain god, but only explain the principles of the world and the usual etiquette for people to understand. There are also some father-son ethics, but the upper class such as the monarch and father also have more obligations, unlike Yang Yi's theory, the monarch and father have absolute authority.
The scholar was Yang Yi. When he suddenly heard this evil theory, his calm expression finally broke down. He blushed and muttered to himself: "Evil, Yang Xiao, you beast, I should have killed you earlier."
Yang Yi felt that his philosophy had been challenged unprecedentedly, which was extremely terrifying.
At this time, a person appeared quietly beside Yang Yi.
"Sir, how to deal with the people in this city?" asked the guard.
"They have been bewitched by the evil way and can't turn back. Kill them all." Yang Yi's face was solemn, even with a hint of madness, without the moral demeanor of a saint.
"Yes!" The guard left quietly.
He admitted that Yang Xiao and the Taoist sect were indeed the strongest enemies he had ever encountered in his life.
The reason why they were life and death enemies was not determined by the realm. No matter how strong the enemy was, Yang Yi had the confidence to defeat them.
The Taoist sect conflicted with him in terms of philosophy, and was even completely opposite. This was the most important point.
The reason for slaughtering the people here is that they have been brainwashed by the Taoist sect. In order to prevent the spread of the Taoist sect's evil and crooked ideas, they can only be eradicated.
"Not only you, but also other places outside the city must be eradicated. For the sake of the people of the world, you can only be sacrificed."
Yang Yi's murderous intent suddenly rose.
Before, he thought of attacking the old nest directly, but now he changed his mind.
Once the Taoist sect is strengthened, it will be a spark that will set the prairie on fire. It is necessary to be decisive and not be soft-hearted. This is the most appropriate way.
Dong Dong Dong! !
The dull drumbeats came from the sky and the earth. The drumbeats seemed to move the hearts of the people and ignite the blood in the body.
Dong Dong Dong...
The drumbeats were getting closer and closer, and the discomfort of the boiling blood was getting stronger and stronger. Many people with weak constitutions fainted on the ground.
At this moment, the people in the city stopped and looked up at the sky, because the drumbeats came from all directions, and they could only look at the sky.
"This is the imperial court's Kui drum! Don't panic!"
The knowledgeable people knew what it was and told the people around them. A series of voices passed and everyone finally calmed down.
Soon, the gate guards saw that it was the imperial court's imperial guards and opened the gates under their orders.
"Kill!"
The first thing the imperial guards did when they came in was to draw their swords and kill people.
"Mother!"
"Husband!"
For a while, there were screams, and wherever the iron cavalry went, blood flowed like a river, and families were broken up.
The Li Dynasty army attacked their people, and they didn't understand why they were killed until they died.
Maybe someone will know in the future, and they will probably wonder why they were killed just for eating some Taoist food?
The prosperous streets were flowing with blood.
Yang Yi walked among them, and the blood paved the way for him, paving a path for the supreme moral saint. (End of this chapter)