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Text Chapter 558: Improved Brahmins

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    In Tianzhu in the seventh century AD, Buddhism has gradually declined. In fact, it cannot be said that it has declined, because although Tianzhu is the birthplace of Buddhism, except for a period of prosperity during the time of King Asoka in BC, it was suppressed by Brahmanism at other times.  Down below, some teachings were even absorbed by Brahmanism and became part of later Hinduism.

    Speaking of Brahmanism, this religion, which is older than Buddhism, is the true ruler of religion in Tianzhu. The entire Tianzhu continent is influenced by Brahmanism in both spiritual and material life. Later Hinduism is also called New Brahmanism.  , because it is a new religion based on Brahmanism and absorbing various teachings. However, in Li Min's time, Brahmanism was weak and Hinduism had not yet formed. It can be said that it was in the alternation stage between old and new religions.  .

    Brahmanism is a polytheistic religion, claiming to have more than 30 million gods, but most believers only believe in a certain god.  Moreover, the teachings within the religion are complex and some are contradictory, but these are not important. What is important is that Brahmanism has made an important norm for Tianzhu's social structure, and that is the caste system.

    The origin of the caste system is very early, almost at the same time as Brahmanism. It divides all Brahmans into four types, namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras. Among them, Brahmins are the sacrificial nobles, and Kshatriyas are military and military personnel.  Administrative nobles, Vaishyas as farmers and merchants, and finally Shudras as slaves.

    The four classes have strict regulations on status, rights, occupations, obligations, etc., and they are passed down from father to son. Generally speaking, only people of the same class can intermarry. In particular, low-class men are prohibited from marrying high-class women. Vice versa, there is no problem. In addition,  The lowest Shudras cannot participate in religious life and can only serve the first two classes for life.  They do not have any legal rights. It can be said that the caste system is the most typical and strictest hierarchical system in the world.

    In contrast, although Li Min also divided the foreign races into four levels, this was mainly to promote the promotion of Chineseization, and each level was not fixed. Generally, as long as you work hard, you can gradually improve your level. Finally,  Until they are completely integrated into the Han people, this is qualitatively different from the caste system.

    Li Zhen and Li Yun landed on the Tianzhu continent.  After defeating a small kingdom called Chola, what they placed in front of them was such a social structure strictly divided by the caste system. The people they defeated at the beginning were actually only the Kshatriyas among the four levels.  profit.  And as they settled in, the Brahman religion of the Chola Kingdom actually contacted them, hoping that Li Zhen and Li Yun could believe in Brahmanism, and then the religion would make them new Kshatriya nobles and help them rule the local area.

    Before Li Zhen and Li Yun came to Tianzhu, they naturally knew something about Brahmanism and were also very clear about the four caste system.  And they also know that according to doctrine, the status of Brahmin is nobler than that of Kshatriya, as the prince of the Tang Dynasty.  It was simply an insult for the Brahmins to let them take second place, the Kshatriyas, so they would not even pay attention to this suggestion, even if they did not know that the Brahmins had huge influence among the people.  They might destroy the Brahmin temples in the Chola kingdom.

    But after ignoring Brahmin¡¯s suggestion, Li Zhen and Li Yun soon discovered.  Although they can conquer the Chola Kingdom by force, if they want to truly rule here, they must rely on the power of Brahmans, because after thousands of years of development, the influence of Brahmanism has penetrated into all aspects of the Tianzhu people, regardless of their thoughts.  Be it behavior, all are influenced by Brahmanical teachings.

    Faced with this situation, Li Zhen and Li Yun thought of three ways. The first was to implement high-pressure rule. Regardless of the influence of Brahmanism, they would all be solved with violence.  However, this will definitely encounter resistance from the local people, and they may be driven out one day.  The second was to accept the Brahmins' suggestion, replace the original Kshatriya nobles, and recognize the transcendent status of the Brahmins.

    However, the above two methods were not what Li Zhen and Li Yun wanted to see, so after they gathered everyone, everyone thought hard for a long time, and even wrote to Li Min for advice. In the end, with the joint efforts of everyone,  Next, they finally made a great decision, which was to transform Brahmanism so that it would be more conducive to their rule in Tianzhu without touching the interests of the majority of believers.

    This was not a decision made by Li Zhen and Li Yun arbitrarily, but based on the intelligence provided by Li Min before, coupled with their collection after landing in Tianzhu, they discovered that the Brahman religion in Tianzhu continent has now fallen into a period of decline.  For example, take the most powerful Harsha dynasty in the north as an example. Although Harsha believes in Brahmanic God Shiva, he also supports other religions for the purpose of ruling. Especially in recent years, he has even added  This increased support for Buddhism and built thousands of pagodas on both sides of the Ganges. This behavior made the declining Buddhism show signs of resurgence.

    &nbspThe Harsha Dynasty was just one of the representatives. In other parts of Tianzhu, Brahmanism also encountered the same situation, and its influence was no longer as strong as before.  If without the intervention of Li Zhen and Li Yun, if this situation is allowed to continue, then in a few decades, Brahmanism will absorb the teachings of some religions such as Buddhism, thus giving birth to New Brahmanism, which will become popular in later generations.  Hinduism.

    Although Li Min, Li Zhen, and Li Yun were not aware of the religious changes in Tianzhu, they were sensitive to the fact that Brahmanism was not willing to lose its influence. Many Brahmans were looking for new religious outlets, which undoubtedly gave  Li Zhen and Li Yun were given an opportunity. As long as they could promote the improved Brahmanism and enhance the influence of the new Brahmanism, a considerable number of Brahmins would definitely welcome their arrival, and with these Brahminism  With support, they can go further in Tianzhu in the future.

    It was based on the above idea that Li Zhen and Li Yun first used money to buy off some local Brahmin nobles. This was actually a very simple matter, because the local Brahmin nobles lived a degenerate life and advocated pleasure. In addition,  With the threat of force, a group of Brahmin nobles were soon controlled by Li Zhen and Li Yun, and then they improved the current Brahmin teachings according to their needs.

    However, after Li Min heard about this very 'interesting' incident, he personally wrote a letter to Li Zhen and Li Yun, reminding them that the new Brahmins must pay more attention to the newly rising cannibal Islam, and  Roman Catholicism and other religious models strive to achieve the unity of politics and religion in Islam. Only in this way can we truly be above religion and not be bound by religion.

    Li Zhen and Li Yun naturally attached great importance to Li Min's solemn suggestion. Dashi was not far from Tianzhu. Businessmen from Dashi and Rome often came to Tianzhu by boat, so it was easy for them to find some people who believed in Islam.  They then learned about the religious situation of Cathay and Rome through them, and then provided it to the Brahmin nobles. As a result, a new religion with Brahmin as the main body and with reference to Islam and Catholicism emerged.

    In order to win the support of Brahmins, this new religion named the religion New Brahmin. It also believed in the three main gods of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and also supported the caste system. However, on this basis, the new religion  The Brahmans propagate that Li Yun is the reincarnation of Vishnu, the god of protection, and Li Zhen is the reincarnation of Shiva, the god of destruction. They jointly serve as the pope of the new Brahman religion, but one is the emperor of protection, and the other is the emperor of destruction.

    After confirming the religious status of Li Zhen and Li Yun, the new Brahmans publicized the mission of the pope who came from afar: sensing that the Brahman religion in various parts of Tianzhu was weak, the two main gods reincarnated in the east, and then  He led the divine army to Tianzhu in order to cleanse the pagans who did not believe in Brahman and let the glory of God shine on the land of Tianzhu again.

    Of course, in order to cooperate with the propaganda of the new Brahmanism and to increase the divinity of the two popes Li Zhen and Li Yun, the new Brahmin nobles who took refuge in them fabricated many myths and legends about them, such as how the two men appeared in the sky and appeared in the sky.  Visions, gods entrusted dreams to their father Li Shimin, cutting snakes at the age of seven and slaying dragons at the age of eight. Anyway, these things are all ready-made, just borrow them from the myths of the Central Plains and use them.

    In addition, in order to make this kind of political and religious regime more stable, Li Zhen and Li Yun also made changes to the political system in their hands, dividing all officials into two categories, namely military and political officials and religious officials. The first category has nothing to say.  , the reference is the administrative structure of Datang and Taiwan, but the details have been modified.  As for the establishment of religious officials, it was a major reform, because he represented that the secular political power finally overcame religion. Only through the appointment of Li Zhen and Li Yun did the Brahmin nobles have legal missionary power.

    After the establishment of the new Brahmanism, Li Zhen and Li Yun immediately began to preach in the ruling area. They started with the Brahmans, mainly those Brahman nobles who had been bribed, and then supplemented them with the threat of force to conquer all the Brahmans as quickly as possible.  Brahmin temples were in their hands, and then they began to spread new doctrines around these temples, as well as promote the deeds of the two popes Li Zhen and Li Yun, increasing the number of believers.

    This top-down reform is very fast, and for the believers, except for the addition of two reincarnated popes, there are not many other changes.  Moreover, in Brahman religion, the main god often reincarnates into other gods, humans, and even beasts to complete some missions, so there is nothing unacceptable about the reincarnation of the two main gods, Li Zhen and Li Yun.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that no one, including the two instigators, Li Zhen and Li Yun, did not expect what kind of changes this new religion, which is still very weak, would bring to the Tianzhu continent?
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