Chapter 1097

Like all sorcerer advisors in history, the State Advisor loved gold, silver, and treasures;

but unlike all sorcerer advisors in history, the State Advisor loved doing good deeds—and simple ones at that.

She cared for orphans, supported the elderly, aided the weak and disabled, and promoted opening schools, especially village schools, determined to ensure every school-age child received education and enlightenment, seeking talent for the state regardless of status or gender.

At first she used her title as State Advisor to perform good deeds, raising suspicions of buying favor; later she simply credited the Emperor and Empress, the imperial court, Daoism, Mount Sanqing, and the Imperial Academy, acting entirely as she pleased.

One good deed was pinned on the Emperor, the next was blamed on the Empress; one carried the name of Mount Sanqing, the next bore the banner of the Imperial Academy…

She distributed blessings evenly, more balanced than the Emperor himself.

But perhaps because she favored too many, she eventually went completely wild.

For instance, last month she had tricked the Ministry of Works into paying Chen Xun a sum of money, perhaps feeling guilty, she happened to perform a ritual for a village during her inspection of the Yellow River's grand completion and discovered the reason for their low birthrate—their water was tainted.

She casually said at the time: "If you want to thank someone, thank Minister Chen of the Ministry of Revenue."

If Chen Xun hadn't constantly glared at her with disdain, she wouldn't have gone to inspect the Yellow River's completion, and thus wouldn't have discovered that this village was sacrificing living humans to the Dragon King to boost fertility.

Pan Yun flew into a furious rage over this matter.

As State Advisor, if the people of Great Ming engaged in such heretical sacrifices, wasn't that proof of her failure—her failure to properly guide the people?

So Pan Yun launched a nationwide campaign: all deities must be officially registered and certified by the Celestial Masters' Bureau to be recognized as true gods; all deities not sanctioned by the Celestial Masters' Bureau were mere wandering immortals—wild spirits prone to corruption, forbidden to be worshipped by the people;

and as for Buddhas, there were also true Buddhas and false Buddhas, to be determined by the Great Long Shanhu Guardian Temple.

Coincidentally, this temple had once produced a "State Advisor"—Pan Yun's predecessor, Yao Guangxiao.

But he genuinely participated in state affairs: by day he served as an official, by night he returned to his monastic life, and though privately revered as "State Advisor," he never held the official title.

In short, Pan Yun's principle was to guide the people toward worship of legitimate gods and Buddhas.

To this end, she wrote an extensive book titled "Correcting the Source and Tracing the Origin," which could ultimately be summarized in just four sentences.

"Gods and Buddhas love humanity; if they demand human sacrifice, they are false gods and false Buddhas—practicing such rites invites retribution;

Gods and Buddhas are benevolent; if they demand lavish offerings, they are greedy gods and greedy Buddhas—practicing such rites invites retribution;

Gods and Buddhas are wise; if their ways defy common sense, they are fake gods and fake Buddhas—practicing such rites causes abandonment by gods and Buddhas;

All gods and Buddhas in the world originate from humanity; if you possess conscience and align knowledge with action, you yourself are a god."

The book contained thirty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight characters, but only these eighty-eight characters were truly spread across the land and memorized by the people.

Once this book was published, the realm fell silent; civil officials said nothing, but tirelessly promoted it.

Some county magistrates even paid out of pocket to have these four lines turned into folk songs, hiring children to sing them in every alley and street.

As a result, heretical sacrifices across the realm dropped by eighty percent within three months; county magistrates no longer feared outbreaks of violent human sacrifices following sudden natural disasters.

Pan Yun's journey to the steppe to perform rituals was connected to this matter.

After the spring began this year, the steppe was struck by a sudden blizzard, causing catastrophic losses of cattle and sheep; the imperial court prepared vast quantities of grain and medicine to aid the steppe, and relief efforts proceeded in orderly fashion, yet rumors secretly spread among the tribes.

The tribal nobles were incompetent, having surrendered the steppe to the Zhu family, so Changsheng Tian grew enraged and refused to protect the steppe any longer, allowing snow and wind to rage unchecked; unless corrected, if Changsheng Tian utterly abandoned the steppe, their souls after death would have no place to return.

Thus, to communicate with Changsheng Tian, several tribes united and planned to sacrifice ninety-nine boys and girls to heaven, while others learned from Tibetan Buddhism methods to commune with heaven, selecting eighteen fair-skinned, beautiful virgins to be skinned alive and turned into Ajie Drums, using the drums as intermediaries to speak with Changsheng Tian.