Now that the policies are nearly complete, the emperor continued to supplent the regulations. He said:
"We also need to prohibit those who will participate in the battlefield on the eastern continent from using force on other continents. I worry that they will get too accustod to resolving everything with violence and will continue this habit even outside the eastern continent."
The officials all nodded in agreent, saying:
"I agree."
"I agree."
"I also concur with this opinion."
.....
In the past, officials would not dare to critique the emperor’s opinions, but after being berated by Xia Ni for a while, their belief that the emperor’s word was always right had changed.’
It wasn’t that they couldn’t distinguish right from wrong, but in the old days, opposing the emperor could result in punishnt or worse, death. However, now the emperor no longer had the capacity to act so arbitrarily, if he wanted to kill an official, the council would intervene to assess the situation.
"I also agree. If we allow fighting everywhere, the entire human civilization will descend into chaos." Jun Wu Xiao nodded and said.
"Good, then we can consider the issues of weaponry and enhancing humanity’s combat power as resolved. Are there any other matters?" the emperor said.
With the important matters concluded, it was ti to address less critical issues. One such issue was the worship by so people seeking blessings, sothing they couldn’t even secure for themselves.
"I have one more matter to discuss. On my way here, I encountered tens of thousands of people worshipping Dao San Qian. But their thod of worship was very peculiar, they exploited Dao San Qian’s image to make money. The common folk believe that as long as they offer money and show enough piety, their lives will be blessed by Dao San Qian and they will experience all good things. They don’t even believe in the cultivation manual I wrote. How do you think we should handle this?" Jun Wu Xiao said.
Hearing this, both the emperor and the officials furrowed their brows. In the capital, there were indeed places where statues of the Guardian Gods were worshipped. However, these worshippers did so with culture and gratitude, rely expressing thanks to the gods for saving them without any excessive behavior.
"Did anyone know this was happening?" the emperor asked.
The officials shook their heads. They primarily worked within the capital and rarely went outside, so they were unaware of such minor issues.
After all, tens of thousands of people might sound like a lot, but the population they governed numbered in the hundreds of millions, making it impossible to pay attention to every individual.
Ultimately, leaders were only human. No matter how talented, they were not gods. True gods were not people like Jun Wu Xiao, who was far too weak by true god standards.
The emperor didn’t know the best way to handle this, as the issue directly involved the Guardian Gods. Clearly, their opinion was the most important.
"You are the most affected by this. After all, the ones being worshipped are you and your companions. What are your thoughts?" the emperor asked.
Jun Wu Xiao was taken aback. He thought:
"What? I wanted to leave this to you to handle, but now you want to co up with a solution. Well, you’re not wrong. The central figures in this matter are my friends and . Our thoughts are quite similar, so deciding for them shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
He suddenly rembered being scolded by Yue Guang and shook his head, continuing to think:
"No, no. I can’t decide for them. I need to co up with a temporary solution. What should it be?"
After racking his brain for a while, Jun Wu Xiao finally ca up with a solution he thought was suitable. He said:
"Let them continue their worship, but absolutely prohibit the use of money or valuable items during rituals or ceremonies. If I can be their spiritual support, that’s fine, but no one is allowed to use money or high value item to show respect to the gods. I’m certain about this because we spend all our ti cultivating and have no use for money. As for explaining this to the people, we can say that using money or high value item to show piety is an insult to the gods. Maybe that will make them stop."
The emperor and the officials pondered for a mont. Freedom of belief is a fundantal human right. People, in varying degrees, have faith in sothing, soone, or so deity. The emperor nodded and said:
"We should not prohibit worship. After all, freedom of belief is a human right. It’s normal for people to believe in sothing, soone, or a deity. Belief should co from the heart. As long as the heart continues to believe, faith remains. Faith is not material, it’s not sothing that can be expressed through material ans.
If there is no belief in the heart, all other actions to show piety are aningless, self-deceptive, and can be exploited by others. Religion is founded on faith, once faith disappears, the religion also vanishes. I think we should ban other religions from using money for worship. The basic costs for constructing statues or temples will be covered by the court."
Everyone in the eting room nodded. Most of them had so form of faith themselves. Spiritual support significantly improves life, but one should not beco overly dependent. If one day that faith collapses, the consequences would be severe.
Jun Wu Xiao also had his own belief: belief in himself. He trusted that one day he could achieve his desires.
However, this type of belief had its drawbacks. He would bear all burdens alone, with no one to share the ntal fatigue. But this ntal fatigue was sothing he never had, so it wasn’t a weakness. Fundantally, neither he nor his companions could be described as rely human.
The matter of faith for Jun Wu Xiao and his friends is a bit different from people. After all, they are respected by everyone as gods, so it is not strange for them to believe in themselves. After all, if you don’t believe in yourself, it doesn’t an much for others to believe in you.
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