Chapter 253: The Absurd Golden Wheel Dharma King

Spring passed and summer came; by the fifth month, even India had grown hot. Zhang Zhao had a rare stretch of leisure and had been recuperating in Kanyakubja for nearly two months.

Last month, Queen Avachi had reluctantly departed. If she had stayed any longer, the paper could no longer have wrapped the fire.

Perhaps it already could not, because Queen Avachi's younger brother had received three vishaya fiefs from Zhang Zhao's hands — and the richest kind of vishaya at that. In any case, when the do-nothing King Pala learned of it, his face went black as the bottom of a pot.

The eminent master Baotongzi was so pained by this that his face twisted into the shape of a fried dough twist, because those three vishayas had originally all been prepared to be assigned to Buddhist monasteries.

But Baotongzi could not blame anyone else, because at this moment, Zhang Zhao and the Indian Buddhist establishment were still locked in mutual maneuvering, their terms not yet settled.

This tug-of-war had dragged on for a full two months and still had produced no result.

And the reason it had been stuck so long, with both sides at an impasse, came down to a single title.

As for the demands Zhang Zhao had put forward — the handwritten copy of the Yogacarabhumi-sastra by Xuanzang, the Mahavairocana Sutra and Vajrasekhara Sutra said to have been handwritten by King Prasenajit, the life-size seated statue of Sakyamuni Buddha and the life-size standing statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, as well as the Seven-Jewel Stupa of King Ashoka — both sides had reached agreement on all of them.

Because for a Buddhist establishment whose believers were sharply dwindling, these things could all be completely given up, so long as they could obtain the lands of a few rashtras around Kanyakubja.

Moreover, Nalanda Monastery alone possessed more than three thousand volumes of such canonical collections and over a hundred life-size statues of various kinds. Zhang Zhao was only demanding five hundred volumes of canonical collections, one thousand scrolls of sutras, and thirty life-size statues — they could fully supply them.

But on the title, the gap between the two sides was enormous. The entire Buddhist establishment was willing to grant Zhang Zhao only the title of Dharmapala, the Earth-Protecting King, whereas what Zhang Zhao wanted was the title of Golden Wheel Dharma King, which King Ashoka had once received.

The Golden Wheel Dharma King, also called the Wheel-Turning Sage King, was originally a religious term of Hinduism, later absorbed by Buddhism as well.

According to the myths of the Indian subcontinent, when a monarch who unifies the world appears, a spinning golden wheel will appear in the heavens as proof of his ruling authority.

The one who possesses this spinning golden wheel will become the ruler of this world and of the entire universe. He will govern this world with supreme compassion and wisdom, and inaugurate a Wheel-Turning Sage Dynasty.

The term "wheel-turning," literally translated, means "the noble one whose wheel turns"; the implied meaning is that the wheels of his war chariot will crush all who resist — used to praise a monarch's might and authority.

In Buddhist legend, the Wheel-Turning Sage King is held to possess the sacred thirty-two marks and is divided into four grades: gold, silver, copper, and iron.

One who rules only one continent is called an Iron Wheel Dharma King; one who rules two continents is called a Copper Wheel Dharma King; one who rules three continents is called a Silver Wheel Dharma King; and one who rules the four great continents is called a Golden Wheel Dharma King.

In the entire history of Buddhism, only one Wheel-Turning Sage King, one Golden Wheel Dharma King, has ever appeared — King Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty, whose contributions to Buddhism were second only to Sakyamuni's.

Even in the later republic, there remained many Ashoka stupas and temples. Zhang Zhao remembered that when the gilded Seven-Jewel Ashoka Stupa was unearthed at the Grand Bao'en Temple in Nanjing in 2008, it caused a nationwide sensation — Buddhism's standing was very high indeed.

And so, no matter what means Zhang Zhao employed, the Indian Buddhist establishment, led by Nalanda Monastery and Vikramashila Monastery, still refused to agree, insisting on granting Zhang Zhao only the title of Earth-Protecting King.

From this one can see just how utterly absurd that Golden Wheel Dharma King in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils really was.

What Tibetan tantric monk would dare call himself Golden Wheel Dharma King? Is he not afraid of being hacked to death by his Tibetan compatriots and fed to the fish?

"Fuck your blockheaded thinking! Don't you know the principle of asking an outrageous price and settling on the ground? And you still play at religion — with blockheads like you, it'd be a miracle if you could outplay those Brahmins!"

Zhang Zhao, who was at that moment making donations at a temple and had organized several Dharma assemblies to build up his own image, looked at the great crowd of shaven heads in the distance and cursed viciously under his breath.

Of course he knew how outrageous the demand for Wheel-Turning Sage King, for Golden Wheel Dharma King, was — but damn it, come and bargain with me! What's the meaning of only offering Earth-Protecting King? Treating me like a beggar?

If you won't give Golden Wheel Dharma King, at least give Wheel-Turning King or Silver Wheel Dharma King. If it really comes down to it, I, Great King Zhang, could even accept Copper Wheel Dharma King — but they just won't come.

Still, Zhang Zhao knew he had to keep his composure at this moment. You won't come, is it? I have ways to deal with you.

On one hand, Zhang Zhao granted some of the land he had promised to divide among the Buddhist establishment to Queen Avachi's younger brother.

On the other, he was making eyes at the Brahmin priests, because according to doctrine, Wheel-Turning Sage King, Golden Wheel Dharma King, and the like belonged to the Brahmins.

Although the Brahmin version of the Wheel-Turning Sage King was of no damn use to Zhang Zhao — because he needed the titles of Wheel-Turning Sage King and Golden Wheel Dharma King to brainwash that bunch of monks along the Hexi Corridor.

But the Indian Buddhist establishment did not know that, and Zhang Zhao was using exactly this to pressure them in return.

Of course, apart from doing these things, Zhang Zhao had over these two months transformed himself into a true Buddhist.

Fortunately, this body had originally been a devout Buddhist, so there was no need to put on an act at all. As long as he awakened the memories of the past, he could be as devout as devout could be.

Making donations at temples and holding grand Dharma assemblies were mere child's play. Zhang Zhao even went in person to the Bamboo Grove Monastery, where Sakyamuni Buddha had preached, to expound the Dharma.

He went to the Vulture Peak, to the grotto on the Vulture Peak where Sakyamuni had once stayed, to seek enlightenment, and went to Nalanda Monastery to organize people to translate Buddhist sutras.

He also personally copied Chinese-language editions of the Mahavairocana Sutra, the Sutra of the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and other classics, and presented them to Nalanda Monastery for its collection.

In addition, Kanyakubja originally had three temples. Under Zhang Zhao's "cordial exchanges," he bought them at great expense from the Brahmin priests, restored them to their original appearance as Buddhist temples, and personally invited some eminent monks of the Pala dynasty to take up residence and serve as abbots.

This not only showed that he was a true and devout believer in the Buddha, but also told Nalanda Monastery and the other great monasteries: if it really comes down to it, this old man will find replacements.

At the end of the fifth month, Zhang Zhao put out word that he was preparing to hand Kanyakubja over to the Lord of Zhenyuan, Zhang Bingzhong, and then return north.

At last, seeing that everything was about to slip away, the Indian Buddhist establishment finally sent people to negotiate with him.

But now it was Zhang Zhao's turn to put on airs. Great King Zhang spent several days in a row presiding over Dharma assemblies outside the city, and in the end even made a special trip to Zhenyuan City to welcome the first group of traveling merchants from Dunhuang.

The leader of the traveling merchants was an old acquaintance — Wu Da'er, elder brother of Wu Yuan'er, the adjutant of the Merit and Military Sections, and a Captain of the Guiyi Army.

Back when Zhang Zhao had gone from Dunhuang to Khotan, Wu Da'er had been the head of that Guiyi Army delegation.

On the way, in the battle at Puchang Lake, after Zhang Zhao saved Wu Yuan'er's life, Wu Yuan'er had followed Zhang Zhao.

Wu Da'er, for his part, had gone to Gaochang to help Zhang Zhao retrieve the ransom of Diluodagan Pugu Cheng, and had also, by the way, stirred up the grudge between Chen Jia, the defender of Yizhou in Gaochang, and Pugu Cheng until it could never be resolved.

In Zhenyuan City, within the royal palace, the overjoyed Zhang Zhao was receiving Wu Da'er.

Wu Da'er was also deeply moved. Looking at his younger brother, who had once accomplished nothing, now holding real power over the Merit and Military Sections under Zhang Zhao, having taken two young Hu beauties as wives and received rewards amounting to over a thousand strings of cash, he felt both gratified and an indescribable mix of emotions.

"Young Lord Erlang — no! Your servant now changes his form of address to Great King!

Who would have thought it! Truly, who would have thought it! Back when the Great King led a hundred-odd men westward, your servant could never have dreamed, even in his dreams, that the Great King would carve out such a vast domain in Anxi and Transoxiana — and now even India is within the Great King's grasp!"

"Hahaha! Before an old friend, I won't be modest! If I were to ask the Suo family uncle now, he would surely say I take after the Grand Guardian, and not my father, the White-Clad Son of Heaven!"

There was a saying of the Hegemon-King of Chu that Zhang Zhao found very reasonable: to return home without wealth and rank is like walking in brocade robes at night. This kind of satisfaction, of course, is most satisfying before familiar faces from one's hometown.

Not to mention that back when he had led one hundred and seven men westward to Anxi, apart from Cao Yijin and Lady Cao Sanniang, who believed to some degree that he could succeed, everyone else had treated it as a joke.

If he returned to Dunhuang now, it would have rather the air of "do not scorn a poor youth," of returning home with success achieved to show off and slap faces.

"Lady Sanniang... how has she been lately? Is her health still good?" After the great laughter, Zhang Zhao fell into small talk with Wu Da'er.

The first person he wanted to know about was, of course, Lady Cao Sanniang, whom he had not seen for nearly four years.

If one had to name a woman Zhang Zhao could not forget, Queen Cao Yanmian of Satuq counted as half, and Lady Cao Sanniang counted as a whole one.

Whether in breadth of vision, temperament, or ambition, Lady Cao Sanniang, Cao Yannai, was the one who fit him best — although between the two of them, there had never been any further development in their relationship.

"After the Great King went west, Lady Sanniang has become even more spirited!" Wu Da'er could not help smiling when he spoke of Lady Cao Sanniang.

"Especially after the Great King made such a great name for himself in Anxi, Lady Sanniang, with the consent of Prefect Murong, has basically taken over the household affairs of the Murong family of Guazhou."

Murong Silang, the younger half-brother of the late Guazhou Investigating Official Murong Changdao, was stirred up by someone or other and actually wanted to take Lady Sanniang as a second wife. In the end, Lady Sanniang walked straight up to him and clawed his face to ribbons!"

"Hahaha! Now that is the Cao Sanniang I, Zhang Erlang, admire." Zhang Zhao burst out laughing at this, but after the laughter, his expression darkened.

"It seems that within the Guiyi Army, there must be people who are afraid, isn't that right?"

"Afraid is putting it lightly! Some of them can no longer eat or sleep, and are even preparing coffins for themselves!" Wu Da'er sneered.

"Most of those who forced the Great King's father, the White-Clad Son of Heaven, to abdicate back then, and left the White-Clad Son of Heaven to die of despair, are still alive. Now that the Great King's might shakes Anxi and the lands beyond the river, how could they not fear?"

"Ah!" Zhang Zhao let out a long sigh as well. Zhang Chengfeng's downfall had been half his own lack of self-awareness, and half the result of infighting within the Guiyi Army.

To say they bore no grudge against Zhang Zhao — the Zhang family's Guiyi Army had been brought down by them, his father had died of despair, and his elder brother had died of illness; all of it was more or less connected to them.

But to say he bore a grudge against them — Zhang Chengfeng had led the Guiyi Army to such a state at the time, and the coup faction hadn't done anything to him either; they had merely stripped him of his power.

Compared to the previous coups in the Guiyi Army, which had often ended in rivers of blood, this could be called a bloodless coup that left him enormous face.

His elder brother Zhang Geng's death was also hard to pin on them. Zhang Geng had contracted acute dysentery, which had resisted treatment long before the coup; he had merely been clinging to a last breath. The chaos of the coup had only hastened the process.

Wu Da'er looked at Zhang Zhao with burning eyes, clearly wanting to see what Zhang Zhao's view was on the matter of Zhang Chengfeng.

Even an outsider like him worried that Zhang Zhao would carry out massive reprisals after returning to Dunhuang, to say nothing of the inner thoughts of those who had been involved back then, and of the three brothers Cao Yuande, Cao Yuanshen, and Cao Yuanzhong, who wanted to preserve the Cao family's Guiyi Army.

If he could, Zhang Zhao truly would have liked to purge the lot of them.

But he could not. In Anxi and the lands beyond the river, he had scraped together only some ten thousand sons of Tang in total. If he were to purge the sons of Tang in Dunhuang as well, what would he use to deal with the Ganzhou Uyghurs?

Those were people who, with a population of only a little over three hundred thousand, could muster more than ten thousand veteran soldiers, and had held out for decades against the Liao kingdom and Western Xia's repeated blows — a truly formidable lot.

"Captain Wu may go back and tell certain people that I, Zhang Erlang, do not wish to see the Guiyi Army slaughter its own again. But the Guiyi Army was originally the foundation of my Zhang family, and there is absolutely no reason for it to remain in the hands of another surname."

Wu Da'er sighed inwardly as well. He had originally thought that since the young lord Zhang Erlang had built such a great foundation, he might not return to Dunhuang after all. But now it seemed that returning east was not the young lord joking around.

"Then the young lord had best prepare to set out, because His Excellency the Great King has not much time left. Every day he is propped up by medicines, and he has already passed out several times!"

Zhang Zhao's heart gave a thump. He had to leave, because he remembered that in history, Cao Yijin had died around the year 935.

In truth, Zhang Zhao did not know that Cao Yijin had long been unable to hold on — except that he had seen hope in Zhang Zhao, especially when Zhang Zhao had displayed his might in Anxi, which had strengthened Cao Yijin's conviction that he could achieve the grand spectacle of the Yellow River's nine bends returning to Han. With his heart set on meeting Zhang Zhao once, he had kept himself going.

"Wu Bingcao, take good care of your elder brother and the former traveling merchants — arrange plenty of wine, meat, and young Hu dancing girls!"

Zhang Zhao first instructed Wu Yuan'er to look after Wu Da'er and the others, then turned back to Wu Da'er.

"Captain Wu, why not serve as a Secretary under me as well? As for how this trade route should operate, and how to promote tea, I must ask you to devote yourself to it. I need to return to the City of Qu'nü for a time!"

"Many thanks, Great King! I could not ask for more!" Wu Da'er quickly agreed. He had come to India precisely to do this.

As for Zhang Zhao, he needed to hurry back and finish negotiating with the Buddhist establishment. The return east had to begin immediately.

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