Chapter 429: The Future Missionary Monastic Order

The funeral of Zhang Li and the wedding of Zhe Deyuan were held almost at the same time, which kept Zhang Zhao extremely busy.

As the only blood relative he had previously had left in the world, the death of Zhang Li — the elder sister of his grandfather Zhang Huaiding — was a major event for both Zhang Zhao and the entire Guiyi Army, and Zhang Zhao had to preside over it.

Zhe Deyuan's wedding, meanwhile, had long been arranged. Zhe Congyuan and Yang Hongxin of Fu and Lin Prefectures had probably already passed Yanzhou by now, so it could not be put off any longer.

Zhang Zhao therefore had to split himself in two: first remain in Dunhuang to lay Zhang Li to rest, then race by horse to Liangzhou to preside over Zhe Deyuan's wedding.

In between, he also had to deal with this group of quite resentful people from the Shazhou Zhang clan and the Cao family.

The one thing that could give him a little pleasant surprise was that this imperial examination held in the Qingyuan Palace had yielded a small harvest.

To Zhang Zhao's surprise, although he had thought the Cao family and the Zhang family were all mud that could not be plastered onto a wall, a few talented people had actually been picked out from that mud.

In terms of martial ability, after all, before Zhang Zhao's rise, the Guiyi Army had been in a land beset by enemies on all sides, its survival uncertain at any moment.

So these people did have some understanding of military affairs, not as poor as Zhang Zhao had imagined.

And the place that gave him a pleasant surprise was their understanding of Buddhist learning.

At this time, Han-transmitted Esoteric Buddhism, commonly known as Tang Esotericism, had already declined. In fact, apart from Hexi, it was no longer popular anywhere else.

The Chan and Fayan schools popular in the Central Plains, meanwhile, were in fact rapidly merging with traditional Chinese concepts such as Confucian learning — or one might call it mutual borrowing.

And that kind of Buddhism was certainly not suited to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the lands north of the Altai Mountains, or the entire Transoxiana region.

Certain ideas of the Pure Land school were quite suitable, but Zhang Zhao did not dare use them at all.

If that thing got even slightly out of control, it would produce secret societies like the White Lotus Sect — terrifying offshoots that used utopian egalitarianism to stir up spirits and ghosts.

He was a ruler, after all; that sort of thing was what he feared most.

Yet for Zhang Zhao, although he held the titles of Silver Wheel Dharma King and the Supreme Great Compassion Dharma King of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, his actual understanding of Buddhism was not very deep.

Or one could say that the current Zhang Zhao basically did not understand Buddhism; all the Buddhism he understood came from the former owner of this body.

So he could make broad revisions to Buddhism — for example, bringing it closer to Chinese culture and giving it a stronger attribute of preaching abroad — but when it came to the details, he was powerless.

And after examining most of the Zhang and Cao family members, Zhang Zhao was pleasantly surprised to discover

that among these people there were at least fifteen to twenty or so who had a deep understanding of, and their own views on, the Tang Esotericism still prevalent in the Hexi region.

At the same time, they actually identified strongly with Zhang Zhao's two titles of Silver Wheel Dharma King and Supreme Great Compassion Dharma King.

Judging from what they wrote and from their manner in earlier conversations with Zhang Zhao, quite a few of them believed that he, Zhang Zhao, truly was a Dharma King descended into the world, and took pride in their family having produced a Dharma King of the Buddhist gate.

Then this would be easy to work with!

If his own closest kin believed he was the reincarnation of a Dharma King and at the same time had a deep understanding of Buddhism, then would it not be perfect to train them up as missionary monks to spread Han-transmitted Esoteric Buddhism?

Moreover, after Zhang Zhao's thunderous methods, although they had originally harbored resentment and indeed felt discontent under the influence of their elders, in reality they had now been frightened out of their wits — exactly the moment to take them into his service.

And so, in this examination involving Zhang Zhao's closest kin, more than thirty people passed on the spot.

They would follow Zhang Zhao to Liangzhou, and after rigorous training, they would work with the monastic order under Zhang Zhao, along with the monk Huixing and others, to perfect Han-transmitted Esoteric Buddhism.

In the end, their mission would be to spread this reformed Han-transmitted Esoteric Buddhism to the Qingtang Plateau, Anxi and Beiting, and the lands north of the Altai Mountains.

As for most of the rest who did not pass, Zhang Zhao would also bring them back to Liangzhou. Was not Liu Tao's father, Liu Na, currently setting up the Imperial Academy for Zhang Zhao?

At least these relatives of his could read and write. Throw them all to Liu Tao to discipline, and after graduating from the Imperial Academy, they could at least become minor officials.

In this era, relatives were the sort of thing you could beat and scold, but you could not ignore.

The basic social logic was: if you will not even look after your own kin, will you look after others? Can you be considered a good and virtuous lord?

So Zhang Zhao had previously been influenced by the indifferent clan concepts of later ages and had forgotten the character of this era.

Now he had come to understand it a little better: kin still had to be used.

"What? You mean that fellow Saktu has come running back again, and he wants to form a marriage alliance with the Pugu family of the Gaochang Uyghurs?"

Zhang Zhao could not help being somewhat dumbfounded. As the first troublesome opponent he had encountered since arriving in this era, Saktu was a man who could be said to grow tougher with every battle.

After all these years, repeatedly smashed by Zhang Zhao and Li Shengtian, he still always found an opportunity to rise again.

Now he had very likely gathered quite a few people again; otherwise Jieli Pijia would not want to form a marriage alliance with him, nor be in such a hurry that he would marry off even a daughter of only a few years old.

However, a playful smile appeared on Great King Zhang's face. He patted the head of Zhang Xianyu, who had recently been following at his side.

"Boy, do you want a Uyghur princess for a bride?"

Zhang Xianyu, having spent a long time around Zhang Zhao, was no longer so afraid of him.

And Zhang Zhao had also discovered this second son's good points. Although he was a bit simple-minded and slow at everything, he was very kind.

Not the kindness of a spineless goody-goody, of course, but a compassionate spirit that came from somewhere unknown within him.

A son like this, if sent out to open new territory, would surely be ruined, because he simply could not survive in an environment surrounded by wolves and tigers.

But it seemed quite possible that he could inherit Zhang Zhao's titles of Silver Wheel Dharma King and Supreme Great Compassion Dharma King.

As a symbolic religious leader, he was very likely suited.

"A Uyghur princess? Can she recite the Great Compassion Demon-Subduing True Scripture?"

Zhang Xianyu was holding a Buddhist sutra, reading it carefully and laboriously. Hearing his father speak, he tilted his head and asked.

Zhang Zhao walked over and took the Great Compassion Demon-Subduing True Scripture from his hands.

This sutra had been worked out by his monastic order and the eminent monks of Dayun Temple; it was something that displayed Zhang Zhao's Buddha-nature after he obtained the title of Supreme Great Compassion Dharma King.

"You don't need to read this sutra right now, because it is for the believers to read. You are the child of the Supreme Great Compassion Dharma King, so you don't need to look at these things yet."

"But Mother told me I must memorize this sutra thoroughly. If I can't read it, she will be unhappy," Zhang Xianyu answered somewhat blankly.

Zhang Zhao frowned almost imperceptibly. It was as if he had found the source of that cautious, timid emotion in Zhang Xianyu.

As a young widow who had nearly been left behind by Zhang Zhao in Ningyuan to care for the Empress Dowager of Fengtian, Zhang Xianyu's mother must have been extremely lacking in a sense of security.

It seemed necessary to go and "comfort" her more often in daily life.

"All right! Then you may read it. If there's anything you don't understand, come and ask your father. And the Uyghur princess won't know how to read the Great Compassion Demon-Subduing True Scripture, so you can teach her!"

At the thought of this, Zhang Zhao grew excited again. Hmm, he had snatched Saktu's former queen, and now he would let his son snatch Saktu's next queen.

Heh heh! That would certainly be amusing.

"Good! Then let the Uyghur princess be my bride. If she's very stupid, I'll teach her!" Hearing his father say this, Zhang Xianyu nodded and agreed.

This kid — you'd think the Uyghur princess marrying him was some great loss to him.

Zhang Zhao patted his head and laughed heartily. "Say what you will about my son, his bearing is truly not bad!"

After teasing Zhang Xianyu a while longer, Zhang Zhao had a maidservant lead him out, then looked at Guo Tiance and spoke.

"That student of yours, Wang Jiulang, shows his edge a little too much, but he is a genuine talent. Once Murong Xinzhang has made contact with the Jin ruler Shi Chonggui in the Eastern Capital, send him over to gain some experience. Let him suffer a little hardship — he'll be of great use later!"

Guo Tiance nodded. If anyone understood Zhang Zhao best, no one could match Guo Tiance.

"Great King, you feel that since our Great Liang has not yet unified the realm, Wang Jiulang's style of conduct — that of the mighty Han and flourishing Tang — is somewhat unsuitable, is that right?"

But Zhang Zhao shook his head. "There's nothing unsuitable about it. It's just that a man like that has talent, but his ability to stir up trouble is also too strong.

Polish him a little, and he'll be easier to use — and his future achievements will be even greater."

Guo Tiance nodded to show he understood. Zhang Zhao immediately tossed him a jade pendant — one of several Zhang Zhao carried on his person, with special significance.

"I must return to Liangzhou to preside over Zhe Deyuan's wedding. The people of Fulin's two prefectures should all have arrived by now, and I certainly can't attend to matters here in Dunhuang. You'll stay in Dunhuang for a while. There are mainly two matters.

First, send some of the elders of the Zhang and Cao families to Liangzhou in batches to settle them there. We cannot let them all gather in Dunhuang.

The second matter is to begin stockpiling supplies in Dunhuang immediately. Since Jieli Pijia is marrying into Saktu's family, the sooner we attack the Gaochang Uyghurs, the better."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhao, already about to walk out of the room, stopped in his tracks again.

"After I leave, go privately to see Li Shaozong. Have him shorten Cun Hui'er's mourning period a little. Xinzhang has gone to the Eastern Capital, and we cannot attack the Gaochang Uyghurs without Cun Hui either."

After all, Lady Zhang née Li was Zhang Zhao's own paternal grand-aunt, so this matter of shortening the mourning period was not something Zhang Zhao should handle personally. He could only let Guo Tiance take care of it.

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