Chapter 26 helpless lover

Empress Wu herself falsely claimed that Maitreya Buddha was reincarnated, and falsely claimed that she was a descendant of King Wu of Zhou.She adopted the calendar of the Zhou Dynasty and built the Mingtang, all in order to show that there were levies in ancient times, so as to please the people.It's like going to the temple to sing an opera. Although it is not real and useful, it is also relaxed and lively, enough to create a novel and carefree atmosphere.She used various Buddhist rituals to play a few sets of tricks, but she also looked magnificent, but in the end, she was burned clean in a fire that reached the sky.In this scene, Empress Wu's lover, the great monk Feng Xiaobao, is worthy of being a buffoon. Among the beauties of empresses of all dynasties, he can be regarded as the one who spent the most money on the state.

Great monk Feng Xiaobao is crazy, it is true.He fantasizes and is obsessed with grandeur and splendor.And Empress Wu also committed this problem, and the result was naturally that everything was magnificent.In the first year of Empress Wu's Tianshou, Empress Wu created twelve new characters to explain "heaven", "earth", "wind", "jun" and "people".He also created a new character for his name, the upper part is "Ming" and the lower part is "Kong", which means the same as "Zhao".It means that the sun and the moon shine toward the universe below.She compares herself by shining on the space below from such a height.But this is too inappropriate, because there is no woman in the world who calls out with the huge "empty space" below her.Luckily she was ignorant of the bawdy jokes that went around in teahouses and taverns—who was going to fill the huge void?certainly.A monk's bald head is the perfect joke.

However, under the light of Buddha in her superstition, Empress Wu believed that when she and the great monk went hand in hand, their achievements were infinite.The great monk once supervised the construction of the Vientiane Shrine and built a heaven, and he also created the great myth in the "Da Yun Jing" - Empress Wu is the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha.It sounds easy and fun.No one takes this claim seriously, and no one really questions it.Empress Wu is now strongly advocating Buddhism, because she herself is a Buddha.In the second year of Empress Wu Tianshou, Empress Wu decreed that monks and nuns must be in front of Taoist priests in the marching ranks.In April of the following year, before massacring three hundred women and children on the banks of the Canton River, Empress Wu issued a famous Buddhist prohibition—the ban on killing pigs.

Feng Xiaobao, Wu Chengsi, and Empress Wu's daughter Princess Taiping are now trying their best to prove that Empress Wu is a true Buddha.So many words describing Buddha were added to Empress Wu's title.Wu Chengsi is always the leader.Once, he presented the signatures of 26,000 people and asked Empress Wu to add the title of Zunshang to her name, most of which are commonly used in Buddhist names.Empress Wu was originally the "Holy Mother God Emperor"; later, after creating a new dynasty "Zhou", she was renamed "Holy God Emperor"; when she lived for two years, she was renamed "Golden Wheel Holy God Emperor", which was when the Vientiane Shrine was being completed; In May of the first year of Yanzai, Empress Wu, the honorary title was changed to "Yuegu Jinlun Holy God Emperor"; in November of the same year, the honorific title was added as "Cishi Yuegu Jinlun Holy God Emperor". Empress Wu was very happy with these honorific titles. tirelessly.

Empress Wu's fanaticism for religion continued until Feng Xiaobao moved on to her.Feng Xiaobao finally got tired of Empress Wu.Although Empress Wu is good at makeup, she is already seventy-two years old.Maitreya's big belly is not as magical as it used to be.The Great Monk Feng Xiaobao, now rich and noble, lying in the White Horse Temple, has another way of seeking pleasure.Empress Wu repeatedly called him into the palace, but he refused to go with excuses.Empress Wu was furious, and Feng Xiaobao actually coerced Empress Wu to let him do whatever he wanted.Empress Wu is not clear about what Feng Xiaobao is doing now.Feng Xiaobao has ordained hundreds of strong men as monks, some of them boxers and wrestlers, all doing what Feng Xiaobao used to do.Feng Xiaobao raised these people in the temple, and the residence was extremely exquisite, and they were all "monks".

Empress Wu could not stop this.Feng Xiaobao was the only person Empress Wu was afraid of.Empress Wu also had another lover, Shen Nanqiu, an imperial physician.When Feng Xiaobao heard about this, he was furious, so he became more arrogant and rude to Empress Wu, and sometimes he just reluctantly went to see Empress Wu.Empress Wu has lost her allure to him.Of course Feng Xiaobao knew Empress Wu better than anyone else.He regarded Empress Wu as an abandoned woman.Feng Xiaobao seems to be really crazy, but he is not really crazy, he knows that he is silent and alienated to Empress Wu, and the most poisonous way that Empress Wu treats him is just to ignore him and let things happen naturally.

Empress Wu had no choice but to order Feng Xiaobao to be the general manager of the Shuofang Road march, and attacked the Turks in the north.This will keep him away from Kyoto.At this time, Feng Xiaobao's authority was second to none, and no one among the ministers could match him.Feng Xiaobao can be regarded as a thriving thief star. When the army arrived, the Turks stopped the invasion due to internal strife and discord, and led their troops away.After Feng Xiaobao set up a stele with "gong", he returned to Beijing triumphantly. Now the New Year is here, from the first day to the fifteenth day of the lunar new year is always a festive season.As usual, all faithful men and women come to the temple to burn incense.At this time, the Vientiane Shrine is open, and colorful lights are hung, resplendent and resplendent.Feng Xiaobao has already reported his "military exploits" to Empress Wu, and told Empress Wu that he will celebrate with great events.He fully thought that after returning triumphantly, Empress Wu would definitely reward him greatly.Unexpectedly, there was no movement other than Empress Wu expressing her relief.

Feng Xiaobao then celebrated his military exploits.A twenty-foot-tall Buddha statue painted on cloth hangs outside the palace gate.During the Shangyuan Festival, lanterns and festoons are hung everywhere, and the alleys are really empty and crowded.Thousands of heads gathered in front of the imperial officials, Feng Xiaobao ordered to throw money to the audience. The great monk Xue Huaiyi thought that Empress Wu would come to watch as before.He once specially prepared a program for Empress Wu, and regarded Empress Wu as a living Buddha to show his respect.He once told people that Empress Wu would come to watch, and everyone should wait for Empress Wu to come.He thought that when Empress Wu came, his face was particularly radiant, so it could show that he had not fallen out of favor.He waited and waited, but Empress Wu didn't come, she was having fun with her new lover Shen Nanqiu!Feng Xiaobao was furious and determined to take revenge.

That night, his embarrassment turned into anger, and he set fire to the paradise that cost the country countless money to build.The giant Buddha in heaven is about two hundred and fifty feet high. It is made of hemp on the inside and lime on the outside. When it meets fire, it burns up. It really looks like a golden god. The whole temple is in a ball of fire. .Under the support of the north wind, the fire burned the Vientiane Shrine in front.In the blink of an eye, the Vientiane Shrine also became a sea of ​​flames.The area around the Tianjin Bridge in front of the palace is shining like daylight.The fire was raging above the two main halls, it was really magnificent, and the tourists who looked at the lights everywhere were watching from a distance, the fire was four or five hundred feet high.At this time, the twenty-foot-tall Buddha statue had been torn into pieces, sparks flew over and caught fire.The audience watching the fire shouted: "The Buddha's nose is on fire!" The fire burned the Buddha's big nose piece by piece, and the crowd enjoyed watching it.The smell of burning paint and blood mingled with the smell of burning palaces.Some sparks flew as far as Beishi.A mile-high red light in the sky could be seen throughout the city.

In the early morning of the next day, the huge log and hardwood carving fires were not extinguished, still smoking in some places, cracking in others, and still burning.Only the gold-plated iron phoenix on the roof of the temple is still there, but it is charred black, twisted and bent to one side, which looks very strange. This is a famous fire on the night of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.Xue Huaiyi, the great monk, used this to warn Empress Wu that he was not dedicated to him.In his wild fantasies, the conflagration looked like a red ghost, and it looked quite pleasing to the eye, which made people very comfortable.

Does Empress Wu want to punish him?Feng Xiaobao knew that Empress Wu would not dare.After this happened, Empress Wu felt ashamed, but there was nothing she could do.She knew who set it on fire and what it was for.She told the courtiers that it was only because of the negligence of the workers that a pile of hemp caught fire.She ordered the rebuilding of the hall (originally called Vientiane Shrine).Feng Xiaobao was also used to supervise the repair.Although Empress Wu felt embarrassed, she still did not want to offend the great abbot.She knew that she was cautious about everything, if she couldn't bear it for a while, Feng Xiaobao was annoyed, and if Feng Xiaobao made up his mind to spread obscene stories about Empress Wu everywhere, wouldn't it be unbeautiful at that time. Empress Wu now deeply hates being entangled with such rough people, such hooligans, and such liars.Of course he cannot be interrogated by citing the law, that would make everyone laugh.If this crazy monk was interrogated in public, anything would happen on the spot, and everyone would definitely listen to such obscene stories.Will not the scandal of her fornication spread throughout the country.The result is still at a disadvantage.Maybe it will be like Hao Xiangxian's depiction of Empress Wu's adultery and scandal on the execution ground (see Chapter 31).What's more, Feng Xiaobao knows more than Hao Xiangxian; if he tells all the scandals, Wu Zetian will become the first adulteress in history.Since Feng Xiaobao was being interrogated, he couldn't gag him with things, so it was better to simply kill him to save trouble. Zhou Ju, the censor, impeached Feng Xiaobao.It is said that Feng Xiaobao recruited a thousand strong men and bandits without authorization, hid them in the White Horse Temple, and pretended to be monks, it was really a conspiracy.Zhou Ju asked Empress Wu to hand over Feng Xiaobao, the abbot, to justice.Empress Wu didn't want to be serious. Empress Wu said: "I don't think so." Empress Wu seemed to have concerns. Zhou Ju replied: "I firmly believe that Abbot Xue must have conspiracy. I have many things to ask him." Zhou Ju was quite insistent. Empress Wu thought for a while and said, "Okay. You go down. I'll send him to you right away." Zhou Ju had no choice but to go back, not believing that Empress Wu would send Xue Huaiyi there.Not long after he arrived home, to his surprise, the abbot also arrived.The abbot tied the horse outside the door, and strode proudly into the official office of Zhou Ju, the imperial servant.The stout monk sat on a long chair with his feet on the chair as soon as he sat down, and laughed for a while. Zhou Ju asked Feng Xiaobao to go and be interrogated.The great abbot suddenly jumped up from the bench, strode out of the house, mounted his horse and rode away. Feng Xiaobao is so rude, Zhou Juzhi knew Empress Wu.Eighty percent of it was taught by Empress Wu to pretend to be crazy to Feng Xiaobao. Empress Wu said to Zhou Ju: "The Great Monk is crazy. Such a madman is not worth punishing. You have to deal with other cases in the White Horse Temple." Go and do it, and you can deal with it as you see fit. " Zhou Ju had no choice but to follow suit.He interrogated the remaining monks and sent them all to faraway places. Princess Taiping has always been clear about everything, and now she came to see Empress Wu.She was as worried as Empress Wu, she was afraid that a joke would be made, and the scandal would be publicized, and she would be entangled in it.She was also very slutty herself, and when she was sixteen, she liked men's clothing. Princess Taiping said to Empress Wu: "Why did you let that bald head make such a fuss in Beijing? You have to stop it quickly. How can this go on?" Empress Wu smiled bitterly and said, "It's not easy. What can I do?" Princess Taiping said: "Leave it to me. I'll deal with him. Who can endure this kind of thing!" Empress Wu knew in her heart: "Okay, but be careful." Princess Taiping sent a letter to Feng Xiaobao, saying that Empress Wu had something to discuss with him in order to rebuild the Mingtang.Then I found more than 20 strong women, all holding ropes, poles, and broomsticks, and told them how to do things.When the time came, she and those healthy women went to the Yaoguang Hall, which was the only way Feng Xiaobao had to go to see Empress Wu.Princess Taiping also told Wu Youning to choose some guards from the Yulin Army to hide and prepare for action. After everything was arranged properly, Princess Taiping stood under the corridor and waited for Feng Xiaobao.Feng Xiaobao usually came on horseback with his servants.After the monks in the White Horse Temple were exiled, and now he received this letter from Princess Taiping, the abbot Feng Xiaobao was a little hesitant.Later, he recalled that Empress Wu had managed to save him from interrogation, and that Empress Wu had recently saved him by telling the censor, Zhou Ju, to let him go.So he cautiously entered the north gate of the palace and looked around.There is an imperial garden between the palace gate and the residence in the palace.Bypassing a pond, he walked to the back of the palace residence, and there was a corridor between the pond and the residence.He carefully looked around, left, right, back and forth, there was nothing else, only some ordinary court ladies.Princess Taiping stood under the corridor and greeted him with a smile.Feng Xiaobao got off his horse and tied the horse to a tree.Suddenly, many healthy women rushed out and put many ropes on him, so that he tripped him to the ground, like a fish caught in a net, and then the healthy women threw wooden bars and broomsticks on him. Scramble down.Feng Xiaobao yelled loudly, his own servants had already run away.At this time, the guards also ran out from the hiding place and swarmed up.Princess Taiping ordered Feng Xiaobao to be executed on the spot, and the body was sent back to the White Horse Temple for burning. This matter was done neatly, and Empress Wu praised Princess Taiping very much.Like a mother, like a daughter. This episode of the great monk Xue Huaiyi ended just like that, only one month after he burned the hall.Because Empress Wu hated the great monk Feng Xiaobao very much, she also became indifferent to Buddhism.Thirteen days after Feng Xiaobao's death, Empress Wu announced that "Ci Shi" and "Yue Gu" would be deleted from her long list of honorary titles.She seemed to be awakened by magic. Because the new lover Shen Nanqiu was a Confucian doctor, Empress Wu also worshiped Confucianism.In September of that year, the year name was changed to "Long Live Tianchu", and in the first month of the following year it was changed to "Long Live Tongtian".This is because "Heaven" is "God" in Confucianism.After Xinming Hall was completed, it was renamed "Tongtian Palace".