Are the people afraid of Dong Zhuo?
Cao Rui snorted coldly: "Dong Zhuo has been dead for forty years! What is there to be afraid of?"
"Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu, who was then killed by Emperor Wu. Death is like the extinguishing of a lamp. The dead are gone forever. Why do we have so many stories about ghosts and gods?"
“Bo Yue,” Cao Rui waved his hand towards Jiang Wei, “Lead the troops to clear the area first. I want to go there myself and see what this Dong Zhuo Temple looks like!”
"As you command." Jiang Wei bowed while sitting on his horse, then turned around and whispered, "Let the three dubos, Chen, Liu, and Shi, lead their troops to follow me, and Sima Feng will be here to protect them."
In just a moment, three hundred riders emerged from the cavalry behind the emperor, following Jiang Wei's horse and galloping towards the crowded place in the distance.
The people were frightened by the sound of the cavalry's horses' hooves and began to run southward, as panicked as if they had encountered bandits.
Jiang Wei gave orders expressionlessly, ordering people to block the road. He ignored the people who had already fled, and those who did not flee were all blocked in this "Dong Zhuo Temple".
As many as thirty or forty people were blocked in the "Dong Zhuo Temple". No matter how they shouted and pushed, the cavalrymen would not let them out.
It was not until the cavalrymen in the front row drew their ring-handled swords from their waists that the crowd, a mixture of Qiang people and locals, gradually calmed down under the threat of the swords.
The common people who had run not far away, seeing that the cavalry did not hurt anyone, swarmed back to watch the excitement, stretching their necks, standing on tiptoe, and looking inside.
This kind of strange thing has not been seen for many years.
Jiang Weichi returned to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please move forward. The area has been cleared."
"Yeah." Cao Rui nodded, pointed in the direction of 'Dong Zhuo Temple', and gently shook the reins.
There were still 700 cavalrymen left here. Under the command of Jiang Wei, 200 cavalrymen were deployed around the "Dong Zhuo Temple" to impose martial law, and 500 cavalrymen were divided into two groups, facing east and west on the official road, and lined up on the spot waiting.
The Dong Zhuo Temple is not big, but it is very popular.
The temple is fifty steps long and wide. Although the courtyard wall is made of mud, the gate is brand new and looks like it was newly built this year.
Two houses were built in the courtyard, the front one was the hall for sacrifices, and the back one was the house where the temple priest lived.
Some obscene sacrifices actually look like the real thing.
"Governor Yang! Ask them why they want to offer sacrifices to Dong Zhuo?"
Yang Fu heard the dissatisfaction in the emperor's words and stepped forward to question him in detail.
More than 30 civilians were surrounded by the cavalry. Seeing that the cavalry had good military discipline, they were not afraid. Instead, they started questioning Yang Fu and asked him why he interrupted the sacrifice.
Sima Yi said helplessly: "Your Majesty, they are just fools from the countryside. They are not afraid of the might of the army. Don't get angry with them."
Cao Rui said: "I am not angry. I just want to understand why Dong Zhuo is being worshipped here! I can understand worshipping a mountain god or a river god. But how can a man like Dong Zhuo who committed such heinous crimes be placed in a temple!"
As Yang Fu asked, Cao Rui behind him also dismounted, put his hands behind his back, and walked into the hall of Dong Zhuo's temple, surrounded by the tiger guards.
The clay sculpture of Dong Zhuo is slightly taller than the real person, with a black face, fangs, and wide-open eyes. He wears a helmet and armor and holds a flail, with an expression full of anger and fear.
Cao Rui raised his head slightly, met Dong Zhuo's gaze for a few moments, and then looked away.
On the side stood two statues of the same height as young children, also wearing armor but with much calmer faces. One held a spear and the other held an iron whip, like attendants.
Cao Rui took a closer look and saw that the two tablets were named Li Zhiran and Guo Aduo. Obviously, these were Li Jue and Guo Si.
In front of the statue of Dong Zhuo, the incense in the incense burner was still burning. Due to the limited supplies, the local people did not offer any meat, but instead placed some wheat, millet and seasonal fruits.
"Why are it Li Jue and Guo Si?" Cao Rui asked.
Sima Yi replied: "Perhaps after Dong Zhuo's death, Li and Guo were the first to offer sacrifices to him in Chang'an, so they were able to be worshipped together."
Sima Yi indeed understood this aspect better.
After all, when his elder brother Sima Lang was in Chang'an, he was the same age as Dong Zhuo's deceased son and was reported for trying to escape, but he was forgiven by Dong Zhuo.
The history of that time is not far from now, and we can always find some witnesses.
Just as Cao Rui and Sima Yi were talking about Wang Yun and Lu Bu back then, Yang Fu finished his questioning and walked in from outside.
Yang Fu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have already inquired about the cause and effect of this 'Dong Zhuo Temple'. The people regard Dong Zhuo as the god of plague because they are afraid of the plague."
"Plague?" Cao Rui frowned.
"It is the plague." Yang Fu replied: "During the Jian'an period, there were many plagues. Some fools said that it was caused by evil spirits such as Dong Zhuo."
"After the great plague in the 22nd year of Jian'an, the Dong Zhuo Temple began to gradually become popular. It has been about ten years since then."
Cao Rui nodded: "So, the people are worshipping ghosts instead of gods, and they are more afraid than respecting them?"
"Your Majesty is wise. Offering sacrifices to Dong Zhuo to pray for blessings and ward off disasters is actually because you are afraid of the plague." Yang Fu replied. Cao Rui, with his hands behind his back, paced in the hall and stopped after a long while.
"Sikong," Cao Rui looked at Sima Yi and said, "You are the three ministers who govern the country and balance yin and yang. What do you think about this matter?"
Sima Yi bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, I think this temple should be destroyed and the worship of Dong Zhuo should be banned in order to rectify the customs of the Wei Dynasty."
"Not enough." Cao Rui shook his head.
Sima Yi was slightly stunned, and then said again: "The Shangshutai should be ordered to issue an order to each state, county, and county to formulate official sacrificial rites. All sacrifices to gods and ghosts other than those in the sacrificial rites should be destroyed."
"That's half right." Cao Rui stopped, glanced at the black-faced statue of Dong Zhuo that looked like an angry ghost, and said, "But there are still some shortcomings."
Sima Yi has a habit of having a bad habit.
When giving the emperor a plan, first give a simple and easy-to-implement one, that is, one that meets the target. When the emperor asks further, then give a fundamental solution.
No matter what effect the emperor wanted to achieve, there was a solution.
But the method Sima Yi just mentioned is enough to cure the root cause. If it is still not enough, what else can be done? Teach the people to read the Five Classics?
Sima Yi blurted out: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being slow, but may I ask if Your Majesty has any ideas?"
Cao Rui thought for a few moments and sighed, "Prince Kong just said that the people here are all fools. There is nothing we can do about it."
"If we want to make the people not stupid, to make them understand education, etiquette, and respect Confucianism, we have to wait until everyone can have enough food and clothing, and their granaries are full."
"Look," Cao Rui waved at the few people, motioning them to come closer: "Since the common people don't know Confucianism, they always have to worship something. If they don't worship, they won't feel at ease."
"After the incident of 'no stream god' in General Wei's house last time, I looked through the stories and found that there were also sacrifices to copper coins, plum trees, and abalone. In short, there are all kinds of gods and monsters, all of which are nonsense."
"According to the court's decree, all other sacrifices except for the gods in the rituals are considered obscene."
Cao Rui looked at the three people again and asked, "I was wondering if we could come up with something official, popular with the people, and harmless to the court, so that the people can worship it in their spare time or when they encounter problems and feel at ease?"
Xin Pi said directly: "It would be better to build more Confucius temples! Instead of letting the people worship these ghosts and gods, it is better to worship Confucius directly, so as to understand the teachings and etiquette."
Cao Rui shook his head: "Confucius is a man, not a god. I don't want to elevate him to the altar. If Confucius becomes a god, how will the court treat scholars and students in the future? Children of gods?"
Yang Fu said, "This is Chencang, where people usually worship the Blue Emperor Taihao. Why not let the people here worship Taihao? Each state can worship one emperor, and all other obscene worships can be abolished?"
Cao Rui looked up at Yang Fu. What he said made sense. But the Five Emperors had always been worshipped by the imperial court and never by the people. Wasn't that a bit out of line?
Besides, the Five Emperors lived too far back in time and their status was too high, so they were really out of touch with reality...
Is there any god that is both humane and deified, popular and resilient, and beneficial to the court?
Thinking of this, Cao Rui shook his head with a slightly bitter smile.
Sima Yi, Xin Pi and Yang Fu looked at each other, all of them puzzled.
The reason why Cao Rui smiled bitterly was that he thought of Guan Yu.
Isn’t the Guandi worship in later generations just such a kind of belief that is full of vitality, blesses all people, and encourages people to be good?
Whether this belief belongs to Taoism or Buddhism is a secondary matter.
If we say that it has vitality, the worship of Guandi in later generations has spread all over the world. Guandi worship can be found in Southeast Asia, South America, and Europe.
Guandi is the god of war, the embodiment of loyalty, the god of wealth, and can destroy evil spirits. He has all the attributes perfect.
Guan Yu went from being a human to a ghost, from a ghost to a god, and from a god to a saint... It took him hundreds of years to complete the transformation from a human to a god. From being a ghost worshipped by the people, he became a legitimate god worshipped by the imperial court.
But the key is that Guan Yu does not belong to the Wei Dynasty!
Cao Rui sighed and said, "I will discuss this matter after returning to Luoyang."
Turning back and pointing at the tall statue of Dong Zhuo in the hall, Cao Rui said: "But since I have seen him today, this Dong Zhuo temple should not be preserved, just destroy it!"
Yang Fu was the first to reply, "As ordered! Your Majesty, please lend me two hundred cavalrymen. Your Majesty, go ahead and I will follow."
"can."
Cao Rui walked out slowly and said to Jiang Wei, "Bo Yue stays here and helps Yang Qing deal with it!"
"According to the order." Jiang Wei replied immediately.
While the onlookers were confused, Cao Rui had already ridden his horse and led the crowd out.
Yang Fu stood in the courtyard and shouted, "I am Yang Yishan, the governor of Yongzhou!"
"Dong Zhuo is a national criminal and a lewd worshipper. Today, I am ordered to destroy this temple. All the talk of good and bad fortune will be on me alone and has nothing to do with the people!"
The people realized that Yang Fu was going to destroy the temple, and took the initiative to take the blame. Facing such a high official, the people complained, saying that the villagers had raised so much money to build this temple...
Yang Fu ignored all this and took the lead in drawing his sword from his waist and slashing at the lintel of the gate of Dong Zhuo Temple.
Everyone inside and outside the courtyard exclaimed. (End of this chapter)
