Chapter 870: The Aztecs and the Mountains of Gold and Silver

Monk Yanshou was a formidable character.

It is said that in years past, before he renounced the world to enter the monastic life, he had served in the state of Wuyue as the Huating Town Suppression Commissioner, responsible for overseeing military supplies.

This Huating was not the Huating of later ages in Shanghai's Jiading District, but rather today's Songjiang District of Shanghai, which at the time was the chief county of Songzhou, where Shanghai was located.

This place was one of the front lines contested between Wuyue and the Southern Tang, and the Qian clan's placing him there to oversee military supplies shows how deeply they trusted him.

But what did Monk Yanshou do? He took the military supplies from the storehouses that he was supposed to oversee, and used them to buy fish, shrimp, crabs, wild ducks, wild geese, and the like that had been caught by local fishermen and hunters, and then released them.

What is this somewhat like? It is somewhat like those deranged extreme white-left animal-rights activists of later ages, who for the compassion and pity they believed in, would dare to do anything at all!

But at the same time, Yanshou was a little different from them. The extreme animal-rights activists and white-leftists harmed the rights and interests of normal people for the sake of animals, but Yanshou was not like that; he treated all living beings equally.

The matter of embezzling the government storehouses to release living creatures, he did it. Ruining his own family to relieve the poor, and governing a region without ever lightly taking human life, he did that too.

Then, as was inevitable, the matter came to light, and Monk Yanshou was discovered and reported up to the palace of the Great King of Wuyue.

Qian Yuanguan was furious and directly sentenced him to death, but Yanshou was not the least bit afraid. On the contrary, he was very happy, believing that he had spent only a few hundred strings of cash, and with his one death had saved tens of thousands of living beings, which was very much worth it.

At that time, Monk Yanshou already had considerable renown. This was natural, for in the Five Dynasties, a society where people literally ate people, the appearance of a person who so cherished human life, and who was moreover an official of some rank, would of course be sought after and admired.

When Qian Yuanguan heard of this, he interrogated him personally. Monk Yanshou poured forth great principles in an endless torrent, one set after another, until Qian Yuanguan could no longer hold his ground. Taking into account Monk Yanshou's renown, and the fact that he had embezzled only two hundred strings' worth of goods and had not used them for himself,

he pardoned Monk Yanshou on the spot, but ordered him to become a monk at Longce Temple on Siming Mountain.

Historically, after Yanshou became a monk, he practiced both Chan and Pure Land, and quickly became a great master of his generation.

In particular, he played an enormous role in spreading the Pure Land school among the middle and lower classes, and was revered by believers as the Sixth Patriarch of the Pure Land school and the Third Patriarch of the Fayan school.

The Pure Land school emphasizes the combination of inner causes and outer conditions to guide practitioners to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, placing relatively more emphasis on subjectivity and practicality. The Fayan school, on the other hand, is known for speculative reasoning and sharp Chan repartee, which happened to be exactly Monk Yanshou's strengths.

Historically, Monk Yanshou advanced with astonishing speed along the path of cultivation precisely because he had chosen the right track, and was able to combine the scriptural teachings well with his own experiences and character.

But in this time and space, he encountered the greatest enemy of his life: the Six Dharma Sect, which claimed to be Buddhist but practiced a monotheistic faith.

Within the Six Dharma Sect, the six Great Dharma Kings were all incarnations of the Supreme Heaven, while the rest of the bodhisattvas, divine buddhas, and guardian deities had all been demoted in divine status, becoming beings between the divine buddhas and the eminent monks and great worthies of the mundane world.

At the same time, the Six Dharma Sect emphasized practice but liked to engage in physical persuasion. When they could not win the battle of sharp Chan repartee, they would fight with sharp blades; there was always one move that could make you submit. They called it preaching the faith, but it was more like Confucian indoctrination.

This approach, which to a certain degree resonated with Monk Yanshou's thinking but differed greatly in practice, made Monk Yanshou extremely uncomfortable.

The closeness in thought and the sense of rupture from reality made him resolve that he must pierce through the false mask of the Six Dharma Sect.

As long as he could prove that the Eastern Body Continent and the supreme treasure that relieves hunger did not exist, then he could cast aside his inner demons and defeat the Six Dharma Sect in doctrine and scriptural interpretation.

But Yanshou did not expect that this greatest flaw of the Six Dharma Sect, which Zhang Zhao had deliberately dangled before him, was in fact the sect's most solid fortress.

Monk Yanshou charged at it with great enthusiasm, and then rammed into it until he was dizzy and dazed.

However, this man's mind was indeed resolute. Even when Master Cixian and the others had arrived, and he had obtained the corn and sweet potatoes, he still refused to admit it.

It was only after Zhao Hutou, who had been prompted by Zhang Zhao regarding the Records of the Flora, Fauna, and Peoples of the Eastern Body Continent, quickly identified the corn, sweet potatoes, and chili peppers that Yanshou accepted reality, and brought up the matter of the enemy of Buddhism.

Speaking of this man Yanshou, if he were not so obsessed with the Dharma, he would absolutely have been a capable official in governing a region.

Look at how much he has accomplished here in two years: establishing a political system and a system of folk ethics and morality, opening up wasteland, building water conservancy works, constructing city walls and houses, developing shipbuilding, fishing, and handicrafts.

A small indigenous tribe of thirty thousand people was managed by him into a thriving community, and in the early stage of a slave society it could actually produce a large surplus of grain. All of this was the achievement of Monk Yanshou.

But at the same time, his shortcomings were also very obvious. Monk Yanshou excelled at speculative reasoning in religion, had a heart so compassionate it bordered on saintly, and also possessed a resolute and stout heart, but he was far too inept at building religious structures and at power struggles.

This was also a problem that Master Cixian had discovered, because since they had arrived at Mountain-Sea Fort, they had only seen barbarian students, monks, and farmers, and had very rarely seen guards.

Even for a person of Monk Yanshou's status, there were no warrior-monks guarding him, and when people saw Yanshou they showed only reverence, without the slightest trace of fear.

But Master Cixian did not say anything, because he still needed to judge whether Yanshou's heart had truly been won over.

If it had not, then Yanshou was a local power who had been here for two and a half years, while they were travelers from afar, exhausted and famished to the extreme. Before they had much ability to protect themselves, it was best not to poke at this problem.

But now, Monk Yanshou had been thoroughly won over, and the matter surfaced because he himself brought it up.

Who the so-called enemy of Buddhism was, and where he came from, was actually not complicated: it was the chieftain of this tribe who had saved Monk Yanshou.

In those years, after Monk Yanshou and the others had been rescued and brought ashore, this tribe of thirty thousand people, although basically the same in language and customs, had not been unified.

It was Monk Yanshou who brought advanced productive forces and an advanced religion, which allowed the small tribe among the thirty thousand that had rescued them, living on these islands, to begin to rise.

Its leader was named Tirante, and he had a Chinese Dharma name, Fabian. He was the first disciple that Yanshou formally accepted after arriving at the Eastern Body Continent.

Monk Yanshou carefully assisted him, and in two and a half years not only made him the leader of this tribe of thirty thousand, but also expanded the tribe to a scale of sixty thousand people.

But after Fabian grasped power, he began to deliberately and consciously elevate Monk Yanshou to a lofty but powerless position, not allowing him to participate in actual governance, and even less allowing him any contact with military affairs.

The indigenous peoples of the Americas were, after all, still in the early stage of a slave society, and admiring the strong was a very normal phenomenon, and an extremely intense one.

They still could not understand the crucial importance of productive forces. What they worshipped most was still the chosen of the Blood God, who held power and bloodshed.

Moreover, this tribe had a tradition of worshipping a war god, so very quickly, the people who held military power and the tribespeople who worshipped blood and strength quickly broke away, or at least greatly weakened, the influence of the religion Yanshou had brought, and began to become independent.

And this caused Yanshou's position to become precarious. It was estimated that once these people had fully mastered the skills that Yanshou had brought, Monk Yanshou would most likely be finished.

The establishment of a religion must always be connected with armed force first. Only with the support of persuasion by material force can a religion's position be stable.

Or one might say, religion is a deceptive, relatively gentle continuation of military force.

Monk Yanshou simply did not understand this, which was why he established a theocracy with no ability whatsoever to protect itself, and then easily had its authority taken away.

From this point of view, he was far inferior to the European missionaries of later ages.

"Mountain-Sea Fort." Monk Yanshou gave a bitter laugh. "It would be better to call it a prison. After Fabian gathered together all the fierce and ruthless men on the island, he crossed the sea to the continent opposite to conquer other tribes.

And I am trapped here. My position appears lofty, but I cannot move a single step.

Because Fabian took away all the warriors. The common people left here are mostly docile and have no weapons, and I cannot bear to drive them to fight to the death against the brave and battle-hardened Fabian."

"Hmph!" Zhao Hutou snorted coldly. "The Master cannot bear to see these barbarians bleed, yet he is not afraid to see our kin from the Central Plains bleed. To use the Sage's words, there must be something wrong with your brain."

These words were heavy, and gave no face at all.

In the past, in the Central Lands, Yanshou would certainly have used his endless torrent of eloquence to make Zhao Hutou so ashamed he would wish to crawl into a hole.

But at this moment, Yanshou suddenly felt that Zhao Hutou was right. He had indeed treated these fellow countrymen from the distant Central Plains as the same as the natives outside.

As they were talking, more than a dozen more people came up to the Buddha-Viewing Platform. Zhao Siwan and Helian Hailong each arrived with their trusted followers, along with several of Zhao Hutou's former comrades.

"The Eastern Body Continent is rich in resources. Not only does it have the Four Treasures of the Buddhist Gate, it also has countless mountains of gold and mountains of silver.

The Supreme Heaven has said that this is the promised land that the Buddha, the sole origin of this universe, inspired Laozi of the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism to grant to us, the noble descendants of the Central Plains Huaxia."

The Yin people — after King Wu's campaign against King Zhou, those who migrated east sank into barbarism, and today their descendants here have become utter savages.

Among them, those who still know where their ancestral homeland lies can yet be saved.

As for the obstinate and the self-degraded, there is only one road left for them — to become slaves."

Zhao Hutou shouted fervently at Zhao Siwan and Helian Hailong, then turned his head to look at Monk Yanshou.

"Master, you should know that the Supreme Heaven is the true Lord of Gods. The noble descendants of Huaxia who support and worship him cannot possibly stand as equals with the savages outside — because they are unworthy!"

After a long pause, Monk Yanshou nodded. "People distinguish near kin from distant, and even beasts know love and hate. Yanshou understands this clearly. Though all living beings are equal, the obstinate must naturally be disciplined so that they may repent."

With that, Monk Yanshou gave a violent tug and tore apart the string of beads he always wore on his chest. The beads pattered to the ground, and his disciples quickly gathered them up.

Then Monk Yanshou restrung the recovered beads on a cord, bowed three times to the west, and handed the string to Zhao Hutou.

Zhao Hutou understood Yanshou's meaning. He too bowed three times to the west, then rose and hung the beads around Monk Yanshou's neck.

"At the time of departure, the Supreme Heaven said he believed the Master could reach the Eastern Videha Continent, because the Master possesses great wisdom and great perseverance.

But the Supreme Heaven hopes the Master will understand that whether it is the Pure Land school or the Fayan school, they and the Six Dharma school merely have different affinities — in the end, they are one family.

The one thing the Master must always remember is where he was born, and where his soul must ultimately return.

In conduct and in spreading the Dharma, consider whether it benefits the place of birth and the soul's return. Do more of what benefits it, and less — or none — of what does not."

Monk Yanshou nodded devoutly, then pressed his palms together. "This child Yanshou will reverently remember the teaching, and dare not forget it!"

In truth, for the Six Dharma school alone, absorbing someone like Monk Yanshou was an extremely dangerous matter — to say nothing of a great worthy like Master Cixian.

But for the civilization of the Central Lands as a whole, it was highly beneficial.

Because a thing like the Six Dharma school could never originally have appeared within the civilization of the Central Lands. That civilization could neither produce nor tolerate a religion like the Six Dharma school.

It was like an extra hand suddenly sprouting from a normal person's body — for the body, this is a bug, a deformity.

Yet this extra hand unexpectedly and enormously increased the body's combat power. It was very useful, and so it was not removed.

Though it is indispensable at this stage, it will certainly need some handling in the future.

Zhang Zhao was not skilled at constructing religious theoretical systems. The Six Dharma school's current status was already the limit of what he could envision. By now, he could not even tell whether some of the Six Dharma school's rules were good or bad.

Therefore, bringing in eminent monks who were simply won over by the miracles he brought, but inwardly did not approve of certain Six Dharma school practices — monks who were believers of Zhang Zhao alone and not of the Six Dharma school — was a patch Zhang Zhao was applying for his descendants.

He could not foresee what the Six Dharma school would become, but he could at least exercise a little control, to keep it from charging full-speed down the road of divine power surpassing royal power, of divine power hijacking royal power.

But at this moment, no one yet understood Zhang Zhao's worry — even Monk Yanshou himself thought Zhang Zhao's purpose was to convert him.

And having decided to truly convert, Monk Yanshou's thinking opened up as well. He spoke on his own initiative:

"Fabian controls over a thousand warriors, and always keeps two or three hundred men close at hand. He does not easily come to Shanhai Fort."

"But he knows how important Shanhai Fort is to him, so at certain times, he will still choose to make a trip, is that right?"

Master Cixian asked directly before Monk Yanshou could finish. He was quite clear on these matters.

Monk Yanshou nodded. "Of course. Shanhai Fort has over seventy thousand mu of fine farmland, and its monthly catch of fish amounts to several thousand jin. It is the source of wealth for the entire tribe.

Judging by the time Fabian and his men set out this time, he will soon be coming to Shanhai Fort to collect the next batch of supplies. But at the same time, he will bring back several hundred warriors."

As expected of a man who had been a military supply supervisor before taking monastic vows — Monk Yanshou had the accounts worked out perfectly clearly.

But he was, after all, only a supply officer. He actually thought a savage like Fabian, with a few hundred so-called warriors carrying bronze weapons, could stand against the yabing guards and yabing officers of the Central Plains, or even the armored soldiers of Hanshan.

"That is not for you to worry about, Master. In my view, this Buddha-Viewing Terrace is a fine choice — it even saves us the trouble of burying the dead."

Helian Hailong chuckled. Clearly he did not consider Fabian and his monks worth a single dish.

Zhao Hutou snorted coldly. "A mere frontier barbarian dares to imitate his betters. Only blood can wash away his sins."

In a sense, Fabian's hollowing-out of Yanshou's authority really did resemble Zhang Zhao's own hollowing-out of the Buddha — which was why Zhao Hutou was so displeased.

"Warriors? I hope he's a real warrior. I've been needing a warrior's gallbladder to steep in wine." Zhao Siwan was still the same — the moment he heard "warrior," his first thought was eating the man's gallbladder.

And this was something he would never have dared say in the Central Plains. But out here beyond the frontier, wasn't it a case of "when the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king"?

Fabian Tilante had returned. He wore battle garb made of gray wolfskin, a wolf-head hat on his head, and his face was painted all over with gaudy patterns in various pigments.

The guards following behind him were dressed much the same, except they could not wear the same wolf-head hat as his.

Compared to the lean, wiry frames of most savages, these men were mostly quite burly, their expressions full of defiance and resentment, looking very arrogant.

If a later scholar versed in the history of the Indians were present, he would quickly guess from their customs, totems, and living area that these people were the Aztecs, so famous in later history.

Historically, the Aztecs originated on islands off the west coast of Mexico. Around sixty or seventy years after this time — that is, around 1020 — they began expanding toward the center of the Mexican mainland, then grew steadily over several centuries.

But in this timeline, they had encountered Monk Yanshou and his companions, who had been washed ashore, far earlier, and in a short time had achieved rapid breakthroughs in political systems and agricultural technology.

Thus the dream of marching into the mainland, which would have taken until Tilante's great-grandson to accomplish, was realized early here under Fabian Tilante.

Fabian glanced at the Buddha-Viewing Terrace, built at great cost in manpower and resources, and devoutly pressed his palms together, chanting a Buddha's name.

He had not actually betrayed the Buddha. He simply did not want someone like Yanshou, whom he found utterly pedantic, to keep ordering him around.

He felt that he could now completely replace Monk Yanshou as the executor of the Buddha's will.

A divine envoy like Yanshou, sent by the Buddha, had completed his task of making the Tenoch people powerful, and ought now to return to the heavens.

"The Moon God blesses you, my elder brother. Another group of the divine envoy's kinsmen has come from the depths of the sea to Shanhai Fort. They are gathered on the Buddha-Viewing Terrace. Envoy Yanshou has asked me to invite you up."

The Aztecs, now called the Tenoch, actually had their own faith as well. They worshipped the Sun God, the Moon God, and the War God.

In this primitive belief, they were sheltered by the Sun God by day, protected by the Moon God by night, and shielded by the War God in battle.

Fabian's expression shifted slightly, and he quickly asked, "Are they all on the Buddha-Viewing Terrace?"

"Of course not. I arranged for the rest in the town. Apart from Envoy Yanshou, there are only twenty divine envoys on the Buddha-Viewing Terrace."

Fabian nodded and clapped the shoulder of the clansman he had left at Shanhai Fort to watch Yanshou, in approval.

"You did well. But remember — from now on, call her the Moon Bodhisattva, because the Sun Bodhisattva and the Moon Bodhisattva are both second-rank gods under the Buddha."

The clansman nodded like a chick pecking grain and said obsequiously, "Then elder brother is the third god under the Buddha — the War God Bodhisattva!"

"Hahahaha!" Fabian laughed loudly. "That's right. I am the War God Bodhisattva of the Tenoch people."

Having said this, Fabian looked at the guard commanders behind him and said, "Pick two hundred of the War God Bodhisattva's most devout warriors, and bring the sharpest weapons in the world.

Let us go see whether Envoy Yanshou's kinsmen are all as clever as he is. If so, the Tenoch people will once again have more grain than they can eat."

Fabian still hadn't realized that the divine envoys weren't merely clever — they also had a side that killed without blinking.

Zhao Hutou stood at the highest point, watching the Tenochtitlan warriors swarming ashore below, and slowly shook his head at the corn Yan Shou had given him.

"With these people's skills, they couldn't possibly cultivate a crop with a yield comparable to Champa rice.

It seems Monk Yanshou wasn't lying. On the continent to the east, in the place the Sage calls Shengzhou, there must be a fairly advanced civilization, roughly equal to the Xia dynasty!"

Helian Hailong nodded in agreement, his breathing quickening. "The remaining Buddhist treasures and mountains of gold and silver must be in the hands of this great nation of Shengzhou."

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