Chapter 813

Chapter 813: Reverse Preaching

Year 7730 of the Blue Star Xia Calendar, Huaxia

Lin Jiang looked at the report about Buddhist preaching before him. The so-called Buddhist preaching was arranged by them, mixing elites with regular folks, all for a long-term plan.

The elites would truly preach, trying to promote the good side of Buddhism. Later, the regular folks would mess things up and ruin their reputation.

"Don’t look at it too much; there are still many fools in this world. Even if it’s one in ten thousand, with four billion people, that’s a million. However, this reverse strategy is really good; at least some moderates see what Buddhism is all about."

Cao Ying said beside him that the world never lacks fools. It doesn’t matter how good the education in Blue Star is; there will always be a chance of one in ten thousand, so after ten years of actively promoting Buddhism, they really gained quite a few followers.

"Fools don’t really matter; at the social level, they can’t hold power. What they’re trying for are the middle and upper classes. Any large force is hard to completely defeat by outside enemies; the real fear is being torn apart from within."

"So you still don’t plan to stop?"

"Yes, there is no rush. Let’s continue to expand and expose those people, and deal with them all at once."

Lin Jiang said that Blue Star has indeed reached a time of internal and external troubles. The internal issues with the demon race have been resolved, but there are still many problems.

The human race and the demon race fought too fiercely before, with both sides continuously killing each other, creating deep-seated hatred. Even though Lin Jiang and the high-ranking members have reached a great peace with the demon race, many people are still unwilling to accept it, because their ancestors died at the hands of the demon race. Moreover, Lin Jiang has instilled a culture in Blue Star that emphasizes the importance of revenge for grievances spanning ten generations.

Additionally, the strength of the new generation of cultivators is continuously growing, including those powerful figures in the government. The increase in their strength can lead to an inflated sense of power, and they may have their own ideas.

For them, whether Buddhist cultivation is good or bad doesn’t matter; what is important is whether it can be used to their advantage. So this time, Lin Jiang’s fishing isn’t just for Buddhist cultivators; he is after many other things.

"Be careful, don’t mess it up."

"I’m confident. Blue Star is still under our control; everything can be discussed. By the way, has the deal with Ying Continent been confirmed?"

"They are willing to cooperate, but they are demanding a very high price."

"Do they also want a planet?"

"You guessed it right, our agreement with the demon race is actually not hard to guess. The Ying Continent now also wants equal terms with the demon race. They are probably scared of us and want to distance themselves from us. Isn’t there a saying in the Ying Continent: ‘The Ying Continent is too far from heaven and too close to Huaxia’?"

Cao Ying said, "If we really go to interstellar war, the power of the Ying Continent must unite. With five Tao Achievers and a population of billions, that is a very strong force."

"Hehe, Li Qing still doesn’t understand. What conditions does she have to stand on equal ground with the demon race?"

"Then just refuse her?"

"Why refuse her? Agree to her."

"You don’t want to play tricks, do you? Don’t let Puxiang be confused."

"Tch, am I that kind of person? If I had a planet, I would really give it to them. But don’t forget, with the current technology and strength of the Ying Continent, they can’t even leave the solar system. How can they reach planets dozens or even hundreds of light-years away? If they want to go, the means are in our hands. If we want to play them, we won’t run out of ways."

Lin Jiang laughed and said, "Without strength, what good does it do to give you something? Think about Jiang Star; how much investment did Huaxia put into it? After hundreds of years, they haven’t even recovered one ten-thousandth of the cost. How can the Ying Continent get a planet without paying Huaxia dozens or hundreds of times the cost?"

"It seems Li Qing will truly never have a chance to get away from you in this life."

"There is no chance left; it is her misfortune for not being on the right team. Let’s not mention him. Long ago, Cao Wang launched an unmanned exploration spaceship to the west, discovering many resource planets and wanting to explore the resources inside. Meanwhile, I am still worried about not having enough money."

Lin Jiang said that Buddhist cultivators have appeared several times from the west. Scientists from Blue Star have speculated that Lingjing Star is to their west. This has been confirmed from various sources, and the distance may be hundreds of light-years. Blue Star has launched an exploration spaceship, and if they can find Lingjing Star, they might be able to launch a counterattack. Lin Jiang is not the kind of person who just takes a hit without fighting back.

"The development of resource planets can take a break; too much development is useless and has exceeded our absorption capacity. I remember an expert warned you about this. Didn’t you see it?"

"I saw it, which is why there is a conflict."

Lin Jiang said that he has read the suggestions from those experts. Resource planets are mainly based on minerals, and some minerals are indeed very valuable, but Blue Star’s market cannot absorb them.

Even though Blue Star has four billion people, the market does not work that way. Many things are too expensive for ordinary people to afford. The market is saturated, but if we do not explore, many technologies will be wasted. Space technology is still a key investment for Huaxia.

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Qingyun, Yangjiang City

Since Chengzang discovered five years ago that someone else was promoting Buddhist teachings, he has been very focused on this matter and can say he constantly pays attention to these news.

After several years, Chengzang still held back from exploring and only observed, but in his observations, he discovered many problems.

According to Chengzang’s Buddhist theory, he clearly saw that the process of preaching was fraught with pitfalls, and when they erupted, it could endanger the entire Buddhist community.

Chengzang was very worried about this. He wanted to change the situation but didn’t know how to start. The Buddhist community on Lingjing Star was too united, and Chengzang was a new generation of Buddhist cultivators who had not experienced harsh struggles, so he was not familiar with these tricks.

"Master, are you still troubled by the preaching issues?"

A young man approached Chengzang and said. He was the son of the head of the Shu family. He had previously studied at Qingyun Jingdu University and returned after graduating, and Chengzang took him as a disciple.

"Shu Yun, what do you think we should do? If this continues, our Buddhist community’s reputation will be ruined. These thieves are too hateful! Our Buddhist community aims to encourage goodness; why are we treated this way?"

"Master, the world does not know the true Buddha, and their material desires blind their eyes. If a virtuous person like you personally teaches the Dharma, perhaps the situation could be changed."

"But I should not reveal myself; I am still too weak."

"Master, it is not right for us to just hide. Nowadays, the faithful followers of the Buddhist community are only my Shu family and the thousands under them. We should let the disciples below preach…"

Shu Yun persuaded Chengzang, saying he had been practicing Buddhist teachings for several years. After changing his path, he was progressing a bit faster than before, but it was still not enough; he felt it was too slow.

So, he hoped Chengzang could spread the teachings widely. With enough followers, he could gain more spiritual power. In Buddhism, spiritual power is a wonderful thing that can help him speed up his practice.

Besides his own concerns, he also thought about the Shu family. The Shu family was closely linked to Chengzang and had gained wealth that did not match their family’s strength, which made them very worried. They were eager for the Shu family to grow quickly.

Of course, Shu Yun was also unaware of some things. For instance, he thought they were in Qingyun, wondering how Huaxia could control them. Perhaps they were already strong enough to oppose Qingyun and Huaxia.

Chengzang listened to Shu Yun and silently shook his head. Shu Yun was already the best among the Shu family, but to him, that was not enough. He still faced a big problem: the lack of capable people.

Among the thousands of followers Chengzang had gathered, most were from the lower class. Only the Shu family could barely be considered middle class, but to Chengzang, they were still not good enough.

"Martial Uncle Lingjing and the senior brothers, when will you arrive?"

Chengzang sighed to himself. He missed those senior brothers and Martial Uncle even more; they were all talented. If he had dozens of senior brothers to support him, he wouldn’t be struggling so much.

"Master…"

Seeing that Chengzang was a bit distracted, Shu Yun carefully reminded him.

"Yes, I understand. Large-scale preaching won’t work, but we still need to gain some followers. The Shu family is the most prominent in Yangjiang City. You can host a banquet and invite the upper class of Yangjiang to dinner. I will personally preach to them then…"

Chengzang nodded. Large-scale preaching was not possible; they did not have that strength. However, they could not remain stagnant, so Chengzang planned to approach the upper class of Yangjiang. At that time, he could gain thousands of new followers and also acquire a lot of wealth.

Preaching requires money. Those at the bottom won’t believe you just from a few words; you need to give them some help regularly to win their hearts. Plus, their cultivation requires a lot of resources, so money and resources are very important to them.