Europe, which was addicted to the war, once again ushered in the climax. The first wave of shocking attacks in the Battle of Verdun was not over. The Germans launched a large-scale corps battle in the north of Paris, with a scale of more than the east. The ultra-long-range cannons were put into use again. Inexplicable intermittent explosions sounded in the night of July 16. The continuous explosions of the intervals of neither long nor short made the whole of Paris uneasy. The city defense forces quickly determined that this was the result of cannon bombardment, but looking through the map, they could not find any area around Paris within the range of the cannons had been occupied by the German army.

The long-range artillery fire attacks suffered by Verdun were determined to be ultra-high-speed cannons with a range of about 60 to 80 kilometers, with a range of more than 300 millimeters. However, the German army closest to Paris on the map was also ninety kilometers away, and no commander was stupid enough to deploy long-range cannons to the front end of the front line. This made the French depressed. They suspected that the German army might have mastered the manufacturing technology of longer-range cannons, and there was another possibility that a new aircraft would drop the bombs down. The air defense forces of the city defense obviously had some malfeasance.

The air-to-air listener used for air defense early warning did not capture any roar of the plane. Apart from the sharp whistling sound, there was no strange sound in the whole sky.

The whole of Paris spent the second half of the night in such chaos. In the early morning, the explosion finally stopped. After checking more than 30 explosion points, the city defense forces determined their initial judgment, that is, this was indeed an explosion caused by artillery bombardment. The caliber was about 200 millimeters and the artillery distance should be about 100 kilometers. Of course, such a distance was not accurate, so this indiscriminate artillery operation caused particularly anger among French soldiers.

But a bigger tragedy happened in the afternoon. The Cathedral of San Gerva was unfortunately hit by a shell this afternoon, with 91 people killed and more than 100 injured. The city defense forces were increasingly unable to explain to the citizens, and even the entire French command had to promise the citizens that the German army would relieve the safety of the citizens of Paris as soon as possible.

On the battlefield where trenches intersect each other, it was not easy to threaten the cannons more than ten kilometers behind the enemy's frontier positions. After launching several infantry attacks in vain, the French army used an aircraft to detect the location of the enemy's cannons. This detection made them find that the range of cannons last night reached 120 kilometers. Three long cannons as tall as ten floors stood tall, and they could easily be found from the air. The pilot returned after dropping a few bombs in a panic, but handed the problem to the French Supreme Command.

When the German Air Force's deportation plane arrived roaring, the French had already run away. While annoyed, the Germans also decided to use cannons as bait to annihilate the enemy's living forces.

In Berlin, Army Secretary Falkenhein announced to the propaganda machines with a bold spirit: "We must squeeze the last drop of France's blood dry."

The upcoming Somme battle planned by the British and French almost overlapped with the Germans' plans to cooperate with the attack on both sides. Both sides were almost brewing the hottest time in August and the time when the other side was most likely to slack off and exhaust, and launched a decisive attack.

Most of the British's 44 divisions have been assembled in northwestern France. Continuous training and pre-war mobilization will give them the ability to win and hate their enemies. In this era, an army with these two things can create almost all miracles.

The advantages of the Germans lie in their superior equipment and military qualities. The soldiers' obedience and execution of orders are far higher than their opponents. The advantages on the battlefield and the anger accumulated by long-term blockade and suppression by Britain also support them to maintain high morale and the belief of winning during the stalemate.

Zhang Zuolin's troops on the Eastern Front were also allowed to form a field observation team to go to the front line as the heavy Sino-German relations continued to heat up. Some of them were temporarily staying in the direction of the Paris defense line on the front of the German Second Army, while the other part went to Verdun. The performance of the German artillery troops immediately conquered them. An intuitive article of artillery tactics delivered from the French front to East Prussia and forwarded back to the domestic artillery tactics and some simple thoughtful words totaling tens of thousands of words were immediately forwarded by the General Staff to four artillery academies distributed in Taiyuan, Nanjing, Chengdu and Guangzhou, and used as reference materials for teaching.

The German army's tactics and war examples were also spread nationwide through newspapers and some literary and artistic forms in a nationwide atmosphere of being pro-Germany, and the atmosphere of the whole nation's martial arts was even more intense.

In conjunction with the various military exercises that are about to show their strength to the visiting US President Taft, the entire Beijing Kinki was filled with an almost fanatical atmosphere. I was also calmly observing this atmosphere. Sometimes it was too hot and it was prone to accidents, especially in this midsummer.

But in a large mansion in Beijing, there is a solemn and dignified atmosphere. This is the residence of the Prime Minister and Deputy Minister of the Cabinet, the Grand Secretary of the Academy of the Liberation Academy, the Grand Secretary of the Prince Shaobao, the Grand Secretary of the Tiren Pavilion, and the second-class Zhongwu Bo Yuan Shikai. A inconspicuous Buddhist temple that was behind was a private place for worshiping Buddhas in his family, but today it looks like a place to meet guests.

The two sides of the court were all ministers with several seats. The head on the right was the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, the Minister of the Ministry of Construction, the Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, the Third-class Zhongxiang Bo Dai Hongci, and Yuan Shikai was with him. Below him, he was the newly appointed deputy minister of the cabinet, Qu Hongji, the leader of the Labor Party, and the leader of the North Korean governor who came to Beijing to report his duties. Tang Shaoyi, the governor of the South Korean province, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, Jiang Shaoquan, the eldest son of the Yuan family, and the head of the Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department of the Empire, Yuan Keding, etc., are all backbone figures in the important departments of the cabinet.

The people sitting opposite them were the second son of the emperor, Prince Yi Puying, Emperor Shunshu and Princess Shunshu and Princess Shunshu and other Manchu relatives with relatives and nobles as the core. This way of sitting seems to be divided into high and low, and the order of the seating fully proves this.

If these people were having a meeting, they would definitely hold a remarkable meeting. Except for Zaifeng, who had no real job, all of these people held high power or royal family members, and in short, all of them were important figures in the capital. In addition to Yuan Shikai's face, the thin and short old monk with white beard and white eyebrows in the center of the Buddhist temple.

The old monk was invited by Yuan Shikai to Beijing to preach the Dharma for three days. Every day, Yuan’s mansion is full of visitors, which fully demonstrates that after the royal family but favors Confucianism, Buddhism still has great vitality in the officialdom and the people.

Traditional China takes Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism as the three major religious schools. On the basis of the previous generations, the empire once again greatly strengthened its worship of Confucianism, and posthumously named Confucius as the Emperor of Wenxuan. In addition, with the improvement of the wisdom of the whole people and the increase in secular temptations, Buddhism and Taoism have both shrunk to varying degrees. Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Tibetan Buddhism have basically become the main body of the legal religion that the court can currently accept, and the semi-official, more organized, and Confucianism, which has transcended the scale of traditional religions, has become the general belief of the whole people.

Of course, Buddhism can still enjoy a status of honor and is inseparable from the high degree of integration between Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism. During the Jin Dynasty and the subsequent Five Barbarians and the subsequent Five Barbarians of China, Buddhism gradually spread to China in the early stages, and it was not until it was combined with metaphysics and then Confucianism that it gradually became a religious form with the local Chinese characteristics. This also allowed this religion to gain a foothold with the local Chinese religion Taoism in the past dynasties. It also made them not suffer a fundamental impact after they repeatedly respected Confucianism in the Chinese Empire. This shows some clues from the extraordinary courtesy received by the Taoist master of the Xiaojiuhua Mountain Temple in Pingwang, Wujiang and his highly praised young disciple, Monk Taixu, in Beijing.

Of course, in the eyes of Buddhist masters like Taoist masters, Buddhism has reached the critical moment of life and death. In fact, this is also a major reason for him to come to Beijing. He hopes to do his best to save China's Buddhism. Since the Changmao disaster in the entire southern half of China, most of them have worshipped God, Confucius Temple, Jade Emperor Temple, Buddhist Temple, etc., which of course directly led to his later defeat. However, they have brought great damage to Southern China after all. For example, the Confucius Temple in Nanjing was destroyed, the Tianshi Mansion of the Heihan, the Shidakai tribe of Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi was destroyed by Shidakai tribe, and some people were repaired. Zeng Guofan rebuilt the Jiangnan Gongyuan and the Academy in Nanjing. Later, various places built the Confucius Temple during the period of popularization of education. Zhang Tianshi Mansion was built on the wealth accumulated by the old Zhang family, but the level of recovery of Buddhism can only be compared with Taoism.

Moreover, the Chinese have had a sense of world view and responsibility since ancient times. In Buddhism, they also have a sense of responsibility for India, the origin of Buddhism. The British invaded India, and the Buddha's origin was all in the hands of the British. In the past, we had no choice, but now we have seen that we have the ability, and beat the British in the south, beat the French, and argue with the Americans. Of course, we also think that as long as the Long Live Lord in the Forbidden City in Beijing, he could liberate India and restore the Buddha's purity. It is not easy to meet the emperor directly. The Xiaojiuhua Mountain Temple in Wujiang is not a famous temple in the world. Since it cannot affect the emperor, it can indirectly influence the country's decision-making through the ministers. Otherwise, wouldn't the Indian be in the hands of the British forever?

What a good person Yuan Shikai was? After a brief talk at the reception banquet on the first day of the first visit, he could understand something. He agreed to the Taoist Master to hold a Buddhist ceremony for him in Beijing. The civil and military ministers and even the princes and relatives in Beijing were also believers of Buddhism. After all, they all knew this news, it also made the Yuan Mansion crowd in the past two days.

"If you say something disrespectful, please don't blame me-" After the Taoist priest's rituals, Yuan Keding, who was sitting respectfully, stroked his short beard and looked up and asked, "Since the Buddha saved all living beings, why can you let the British watch over the British occupying the Indians? Is it a punishment for the Indians to believe in Hinduism and not enter my Buddhism?"

Before he finished speaking, Yuan Shikai scolded, "Ignorance and ruthlessness, how could the Buddha be as petty as you? It's ridiculous. This kind of question is also asked, and I'll just make a joke to the master and all the princes. I won't give up yet!"

"Donor Yuan——" The old master of Daojie smiled and stopped and said, "Although the young master has a shallow Taoist practice, the world is bustling. Are there many shallow people and many Hong? Since I am determined to further acclaim the Buddhist teachings in this life, I will not be able to learn from Hongqian, and they will all be able to enlighten the Tao." As he said, he smiled and looked at Yuan Shikai's expression, and paused.

Yuan Shikai interrupted, "The master said very well, Shikai has received teachings." He turned to Yuan Keding and said, "Since the master has something to say, you should listen to the teachings." He nodded to all the officials present and apologized: "The son is ignorant, and he teaches the prince, and the adults laughed."

Several royal nobles smiled and nodded to express their understanding, but Pu Ying seemed to have a thoughtful face and did not speak.

The old master of Daojie then withdrew his gaze and continued, "The Buddha is compassionate and helps the world. From this point of view, what Mr. Yuan sees is not bad. However, the creatures in the world will eventually have good fortune. The people of the Indians have had their good fortune before, and now they have their good fortune now, and everything has karma. In the past, they were driven by the British, perhaps it was their karma. However, if our China has risen, can't we say that their karma has passed and will have good results?"

"What the master said is very mysterious." Pu Ying smiled and said with a smile: "Yong Sui also often said that some nations must be truly grown after they have received some education. Perhaps as the master said, after the karma is over, they will eventually get good results. Haha, this time there are 70,000 to 80,000 people in India were captured by General Cao's troops. I hope they can get good results after the karma is over. The master said that they were driven by the British, so I am afraid that this is what they said?"

The Taoist priest sang a loud promise, proclaimed the Buddha's name as an answer, lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Zaifeng continued the conversation. After experiencing a huge setback and personal encounter, his temperament was a little repetitive. He suddenly laughed frivolously and said, "Maybe they are now driven by the British and Yi Yi. After being domesticated by China OnePlus, they can become humane." Everyone looked at each other with a look. Many people were already frowning, but because of his awkward identity, they didn't have to say much. But Zaifeng said with unsatisfactory words: "Zi doesn't speak strange powers and gods. Zaifeng heard a lot today and didn't dare to listen anymore, so he took his leave..." After saying that, he got up and left the table, leaving, completely ignoring the face of Prince Puying, who was around him, had already turned ashen.

The faces of several cabinet officials were even more ugly. Zaifeng accused them of ceremonies as a disciple of Confucius for ceremonies, but he did not dare to listen to them anymore. Even the people present even swept in, and what they were talking about was beyond the scope they should have been talking about.

The scene suddenly formed a deadlock. At this time, the young monk Taixu said in one word and asked respectfully to his master: "Master has said that it is time for me to reform in Middle-earth Buddhism. I have been thinking for a long time but I still cannot understand it. Can Master enlighten me one or two more disciples? All the princes and the adults are also good teachers. Please teach me the disciples."

The faces of the people were only about twenty years old, and the disciple was so clear and quick that he could see the opportunity, he was much better than his peers. Several of them also frequently praised him.

Then the topic got rid of the embarrassment left by Zaifeng, and instead talked about how Chinese Buddhism adapted to the innovation of the new era. The old monk Daojie also explained his views that Buddhism must make innovations in the three aspects of doctrine, teaching system, and teaching production, otherwise it will be gradually eliminated by society. The so-called Buddhist principles are fundamental general scriptures, such as the Christian Bible and the Islamic Quran. Buddhism lacks such a summary of Buddhist principles. The teaching system is a reflection on the low organization of Chinese Buddhism, and teaching production is a connection between secular society in the religious world. Management issues are a big problem. Whether the temple industry is official or religious, it is also worth their exploration. Finally, the old monk proposed his central idea, that is, to implement the reformed new Buddhism that is attached to ordinary people and modern society life, which is called life Buddhism.

Master Taixu proposed that education must be promoted in the Buddhist community to improve the quality of monks and unify the basic understanding of Buddhism in life. All of these require official support to be realized. In the end, of course, the help of these princes and ministers is inevitable.

Later, I was reviewing the special book in the small study in Yangxin Palace. I had already learned from several people that the storm that happened in Yuan Shikai's mansion that day was not considered a major event, but just continued to focus on Puxia who was heading south.

Chengbeile Puxia will preside over the prisoner-of-war deportation ceremony with Watson Lawyer on July 20. Today I have received a secret letter from him who has just arrived in Guangzhou to transfer to a naval ship. In his description, the situation in the south was quite expected, but he thought the degree of military fanaticism was too high and showed a little concern. When the war in the established strategy had basically stopped, he suggested that I should make some public actions to adjust the overheated war atmosphere in the south. In his description, every soldier of the Second Front Army he saw was enthusiastic and full of slogans, and

Many people were not ready to put down their guns and go home. Some soldiers even thought that Puxia came to the south to present awards to them on behalf of the royal family and encouraged them to fight the next stage of the war. This made Puxia seriously dissatisfied with the education and propaganda departments in the south, and directly expressed it in the secret letter. He directly impeached Song Jiaoren and Hu Hanmin, and swept in with Cao Kun, believing that the three of them had actually committed dereliction of duty in conveying the intentions of the court. If they were allowed to make trouble, once the imperial edict of the court's ceasefire came, a big problem might arise.

His concern also made me wary. The commendation orders for the completion of phased war tasks for the Supreme Command and Educational Organization of the Second Front Army had been issued long ago, and they were just ordered to announce it to the entire army after the prisoner of war problem was resolved. It is reasonable that they did not convey it to the following now, but in any case, they should take some transitional measures at this time. Why do they still keep the troops in such a strong atmosphere of war?

Has the strong military group I cultivated have begun to learn to act without my will?

The religious community kept causing trouble for me. Buddhists went to Beijing to lobby ministers. Zhang Yuanxu, the governor of Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi, also submitted a memorial by Jiangxi Governor. He wanted to give me a letter to praise him for ten years of successor to the seal of the Heavenly Master. I also understood what he had planned. His Heavenly Master Dao was no longer as good as Quanzhen Dao, and Quanzhen Dao's nest was in Baiyun Temple in Beijing. He was so familiar with the dignitaries in Beijing that he could no longer be familiar with him. He wanted to take this opportunity to use my gift to boost the Heavenly Master Dao and suppress Quanzhen Dao.

I directly approved the Jiangxi Governor Feng Ruyi's words "What you ask for is absurd, no," and sent them away. However, the religious community has already revealed some dissatisfaction with my vigorous promotion of Confucianism in the past few years. In this regard, Kang Youwei needs to put more thought into it.

My energy is limited and my power is more and more. It seems that everything is still under my control.

That night, the Buddhist worship meeting in Yuan’s mansion had already dispersed, and those who should go home went home, but some people went to the Army Department to turn around after returning home. The lights of the Army Department were always on at night, and many officers were busy inside.

"Long live the army has no intention of using troops in India. This is a certain thing. Don't forget that the word "royal" is in front of the army. And

——"The voice of his speech was a little old, and there was also a feeling of seeing all the vicissitudes of life: "Although we are the Army Department, you know where the command is. Maybe you should go to Xu Gong."

"Master--" After a laugh, a very generous voice continued: "I also said casually. Today I will just hear the old master give some feelings to the Buddha."

The handsome man laughed dryly, and then continued after a while, "You have just come and you should be here when you should do something in the future. Otherwise, if the young people below will look at it, it will be bad. When Prince Yi talked about you last time, I asked me to take care of you. By the way, you have that idea and you can write a memorandum to present it-"

While he was talking, he remembered the phone number in the office. Dashuai picked up the receiver with his hand and said, "Hello, Prince--" After listening for a while, he handed over the phone and said, "The one who is looking for you is Prince Yi."
Chapter completed!