Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 1029 Mengdu Temple

Xu Cai looked at the big river in front of him and said to Chen Yun: "After crossing the Luo River, we will reach Chuantou Village. There is a ferry in front of us, let's get there quickly."

When we got to the ferry, we saw a ferry boat below. Xu Cai came up and said, "We are officials from the Cai Feng Yuan. We are here to inspect Meng Hujun's tomb and see how Meng Hujun's family is living. Father, please take us across the river."

Lu Shilang, the captain of the ferry, said: "At this hour, the ferry goes back and forth twice every hour. It's not a holiday."

Xu Cai said: "We have our fate at stake, the sooner we get there, the better."

Lu Silang said: "No matter how urgent it is, we have to wait two hours for the ferry to arrive. It will not be easy for me to go there."

Xu Cai had no choice but to return to the shore and look at the river with Chen Yun.

The Luo River in Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province is also called the North Luo River, which is not the same river as the Luo River near Luoyang. The river rushes down from the northern Shaanxi Plateau. When it reaches this area, it twists and turns, the river slows down and the river surface becomes open.

Looking from the shore, a yellow dragon is rushing towards us, but when it comes to the front, it becomes tame and winds down.

A young couple came from behind, making love to each other not far from Xu Cai and Chen Yun. After a while, the young man came up and asked, "Excuse me, you two, are you also going to cross the Luo River? What do you want to do on the other side?"

Xu Cai said: "The two of us are officials from the Cai Feng Yuan. We came to see Meng Hujun's tomb and later his family."

When the boy heard this, he jumped up excitedly. Said: "So you are officials, here to see Meng Hujun's tomb! How lucky I am to meet you two!"

He hurriedly went back and called his wife to come over and meet him together.

The young man said: "My name is Liang Silang, and this is my wife's Qing'er, known as Sister Chang San. We are newlyweds, so we must first pay homage to Meng Hujun."

Xu Cai felt strange after hearing this: "Why go to Meng Hujun? There is only one Meng Hujun temple opposite, do you just go there to worship?"

Liang Silang said: "The poor people here now come to pay homage to Meng Hujun before they get married. According to the old man, Meng Hujun was not a very well-off person when he was young, but later he became a protector. Pay homage to Meng Hujun. Worship the temple of the Guardian, and know that when you get married, you are an adult and you have to live a good life."

Xu Cai thought for a long time. There seemed to be no relationship between the two. How did these villagers connect the two things together.

Lu Silang, who was on the ferry, suddenly shouted: "The boat is leaving!"

The voice was loud and clear, and the sound could not be dispersed in the mountains for a long time.

Xu Cai, Liang Silang and others hurriedly got off the river bank and boarded the ferry. When they reached the other side of the river, Liang Silang said to Xu Cai: "My Hun's family and I have to go to my aunt's house first. You can go first. This candy is the wedding candy for my Hun's family and I. Please accept it."

Xu Cai accepted the candy and congratulated Liang Silang repeatedly.

The sugar is caramel, there are twenty or thirty pieces, packed in a paper bag. There was a word "囍" printed on the paper package, which was surprising.

Xu Cai handed the candies to Chen Yun and said, "This bag of candies costs dozens of pennies. It doesn't cost two newcomers, so I'm not stingy."

As soon as we landed on the shore, we saw a large temple standing at the head of the village. It was surrounded by cigarettes and looked like a good source of incense.

As they walked forward, they saw two large signs erected at the entrance to the temple. They were written in red ink: "Don't do evil, and a hundred ghosts will ward off evil!" Looking at the signs, Xu Cai and Chen Yun paused for a long time. Finally, he shook his head: "These two sentences are not wrong, but writing them here always feels weird."

The temple in Mengdu has no walls, it is just three big houses behind the square. In the middle room is a statue of Mengdu, holding a spear, stepping on a horse-mounting stone with one foot, and looking far away. Neither Xu Cai nor Chen Yun had seen Mengdu before his death, so they didn't know whether he looked similar. But looking at the statue, the situation is extraordinary.

The doors to the left and right rooms are locked, and there is nothing else in the temple.

After leaving the temple, Xu Cai looked at a row of four houses under the big ginkgo tree next to him, which looked like they were inhabited.

The two walked to four houses and were about to open the door when a forty-year-old member of the police came out.

Xu Cai said: "Everyone is well. The two of us are officials from Caifeng Yuan. We are here to see Meng Hujun's tomb and see his family."

The officer looked at the two of them several times and said, "I am Mengdu's father. I am entrusted by the imperial court to look after the temple here. Since you are officials, please come in and sit down."

After that, let the two people into the house. Invite the two of them to sit down and pick up boiling water to make tea.

After inviting tea, Father Meng asked: "May I ask these two officials, what kind of yamen is this Cai Feng Yuan?"

For a moment, Xu Cai really didn't know how to answer. After thinking for a while, he said: "The imperial court wanted to know the affairs of the people, so we set up the Feng Caiyuan. Specifically, we Cafeng officials traveled among the people to know what the people were thinking, and wrote official documents and submitted them to the government."

"Oh——" Father Meng nodded repeatedly. But from the look on his face, he probably didn't understand.

Xu Cai asked: "Dad Meng, how has the temple been doing since it was built? Are there many people coming to worship? Do the people around you still respect it?"

Father Meng said: "After my son's temple was erected, the incense became very popular, and people from all over the country came to worship. At first, the people didn't think anything of it. Later, they saw that the government was particularly interested. My son has supernatural powers and came to worship. There are more and more people!”

Xu Cai said: "Do the people around you still respect me?"

Father Meng said: "My son is a god, a god! In the face of gods, how can the people around him not respect him!"

When Meng Meng talks about his son's temple, he talks eloquently.

After Father Meng finished speaking, Xu Cai asked: "Since the people believe in it, it's good to have incense. Why is it so deserted here?"

Father Meng said: "Why is it deserted? A few days ago, a market was formed here. I thought, my son is a god, how can he allow so many people to disturb him under his eyes? After thinking of many ways, I finally put it The market was driven away.”

Xu Cai couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this. I didn't expect that it was this father who was guarding his son's temple and driving people away.

After thinking about it, Xu Cai asked, "Dad, I'm here to look after the temple. Shouldn't the court pay me?"

Father Meng said: "The imperial court gives me ten guan of money every month, which is enough."

Xu Cai looked at the temple and then at Meng Meng's residence, and knew that the imperial court wanted Meng Meng to make the temple more lively by giving him ten guan of money every month. Otherwise, why would you pay ten guan every month? Xu Cai's salary was less than ten thousand dollars a month.

After thinking about it, Xu Cai said to Father Meng: "Dad, maybe the gods want their place to be more lively? Fireworks smoke, fireworks smoke, where would the fireworks smoke come from if there are no people? There are only more people gathering, Only then will there be fireworks. And God likes fireworks the most."

(End of this chapter)