At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Meishan County, which is now the area of ​​Leshan City, Sichuan, is located in the south of Shu County (Chengdu). Lingyun Temple is located on Lingyun Mountain in Meishan County. It is a newly built Buddhist temple.

In addition, Gao Bufan left Miao soldiers and newly recruited soldiers and horses to station outside Ba County, led by A Qing and Meng Zi, while he himself only brought Gao Dahe and Miao Yu with him, with Zhong Laoliu as his guide. The boat left Ba County, and went up the Yangtze River to Meishan County.

Since there is Zhong Laoliu, an old horse who knows the way, as a guide, there is no need to worry about going the wrong way. Along the way, Gao Bufan carefully observed the trends of the mountains and rivers on both sides of the strait, and took out maps from time to time to compare, so as to determine the secret treasures of Buddhism. location.

Miao Yu, Gao Dahe and Zhong Laoliu were all curious, but Gao Bufan didn't say it clearly, and they didn't ask any questions.

From Ba County to Meishan County, it is about [-] miles by water, and it takes ten or eight days to travel against the current. However, the opening ceremony of Lingyun Temple will be held on the eighth day of the next lunar month, and there are still more than ten days, so the time Still enough.

On this day, the boat finally arrived in Bodao County, which is now Yibin, Sichuan. This is the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Minjiang River. Zhong Laoliu introduced: "Look, King Qi, this is the Minshui River. Follow the Minshui River. Going upstream, you can reach Lingyun Temple in at most three days."

At this moment, Gao Bufan has confirmed that the so-called Buddhist secret storehouse is in Meishan County, nodded and said: "Lao Liu has worked hard, it will be late, let's stay here for one night, and then start tomorrow."

"Okay!" Zhong Laoliu drove the boat into the wharf near Bodao County with ease.

When Gao Bufan and others were staying in Bodao County, Li Xiaogong also led a dozen cavalry into the county seat of Ziyang County. He traveled by land and rode the whole way, so he was much faster than Gao Bufan. He came later, but he arrived first, and he was still a day and a half away from arriving at Lingyun Temple.

Although Li Xiaogong also couldn't figure out what kind of medicine was sold in Xiao Yu's gourd, but his intuition told him that after the opening ceremony of Lingyun Temple, Xiao Yu would finally decide to join Li Tang or Gao Qi, so this The opening ceremony of the temple is very important, he must be there to participate, and he also sent a fast horse to notify Li Xiyu and invite him to go with him.

Li Xiyu, nicknamed Maoshi, was born in Ankang, Jinzhou, and one of the wealthy families in Shannan. After Li Yuan entered Chang'an, the Ankang Li family took refuge in Li Tang. Appointed as the recruiting envoy of the Shuhan Road, and together with Li Xiaogong, Li Xiaogong was mainly responsible for recruiting the counties of Badi, while Li Xiyu was responsible for recruiting the counties of Shu.

Li Xiaogong's progress is very smooth. Except for Bajun and Banan, the rest of Badi's other ten counties have surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and Li Xiyu's progress is not bad. Since entering Shu, he has recruited ten counties. , is currently doing its best to recruit the prefect of Shu County.

Shu County (Chengdu) and Ba County (Chongqing) are the two major economic and cultural centers of Bashu, with the largest population. As long as these two counties are taken, Bashu is basically in the pocket. Coincidentally, Li Xiaogong has not yet He won Bajun, and Li Xiyu hadn't taken Shujun yet, so he was only about to tremble at the last moment. As long as these two places are settled, even if Gao Bufan gets the support of the Miao people in Banan, he won't be able to cause any disturbances. …

In addition, after Li Xiaogong entered the county government of Ziyang County, he immediately revealed his identity and called on the prefect of Ziyang County, but he was rejected. It turned out that the prefect of Ziyang County was not in the mansion at all. Went to Lingyun Temple to attend the temple opening ceremony.

Li Xiaogong couldn't help being moved in his heart, the influence of Buddhism in the area of ​​Bashu is very huge, this time, through the opening ceremony of Lingyun Temple, Xiao Yu, the prefect of Bajun, and Hou Ning, the sun of Ziyang County, were all invited. Invitation, what is Fomen planning to do?Is it a coincidence?Or is there another attempt?

The more Li Xiaogong thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. There are many followers of Buddhism and Taoism, and their influence should not be underestimated. Now the disputes in the world have begun to emerge, among which Gao Qi and Li Tang are the most vocal. At this time, no matter whether the Buddhism is falling That side will undoubtedly further break the balance of power.

Well, Buddhism is using this Lingyun Temple opening ceremony to invite local magistrates to participate, is it to show its own influence, or has it already made a decision on which side to fall?

Thinking of this, Li Xiaogong's expression suddenly became extremely dignified. If Buddhism chose Li Tang, it would be great, but if Buddhism chose Gao Qi, what should we do?Do you want to use a large army to destroy the Buddha at once, and wipe out the monks in the Bashu area in one fell swoop?In this way, even if he could do it himself, Li Tang would completely lose the support of the people in the Bashu area. After all, most of the people here believed in Buddhism.

Li Xiaogong didn't sleep all night, and immediately set off for Meishan County the next day, as he expected, when he passed Longshan County, he went to pay a visit to the prefect of Longshan County, but the prefect of Longshan County was not there, he had already gone to Lingyun Temple.

In this way, Li Xiaogong became more certain of his guess. The Buddhist sect really intends to use the opening ceremony of Lingyun Temple to "make trouble". No matter which of these two companies is dominant, it is not a good thing.

Besides, Gao Bufan and his party rested for one night in Bodao County, and continued to sail upstream along the Minjiang River on the second day, and finally entered Meishan County on the morning of the third day.

Under the rising sun, you can see thousands of golden snakes dancing on the river, and there is a mountain rising from the ground on the east bank. Although it is not high, it is very imposing, because this mountain is located at the intersection of three rivers, and the waters of the three rivers are rushing down. Straight to the mountain wall, set off billowing waves, the water is quite turbulent and dangerous, but the mountain peak remained motionless under the impact of the stormy waves, which made Gao Bufan couldn't help but think of a sentence: let him be strong, let the wind blow the mountain post.Let him do whatever he wants, and the bright moon shines on the river.

"Everyone, sit still. The water here is very fast. Countless ships have capsized here over the years. It is the famous gate of ghosts." Zhong Laoliu reminded loudly with a solemn expression, while holding the oars tightly and rowing vigorously, but the current was too fast. After a while, he was so tired that he was out of breath.

Miao Yu and Gao Dahe hurriedly picked up the oars and pennies to help. With everyone's concerted efforts, they finally passed the most urgent part of the water.

Zhong Laoliu's serious expression also slowed down, and while continuing to row, he introduced: "This is Lingyun Mountain, and Lingyun Temple is on the top of the mountain. Climb the mountain.”…

Gao Dahe frowned and said: "Those monks don't know what they are thinking. They built the Buddhist temple in such a dangerous place, so how can the believers worship the Buddha? Do we have to go to the ghost gate first to worship the Buddha?"

Zhong Laoliu smiled and said: "It's just that this waterway is dangerous. There is a land route up the mountain on the east bank, but it's more troublesome on the west bank. You can cross the river from the upstream or downstream first, and then take the land route, like us going upstream rare."

Gao Dahe lost his voice: "We are all fools."

Gao Bufan couldn't help laughing and said: "At least we can appreciate the magnificent scenery of the upstream of the river, and it's quite exciting."

Miao Yu and Gao Dahe were speechless, Zhong Laoliu smiled and said: "His Royal Highness Qi Wang is an extraordinary person, so naturally he has to do extraordinary things."

Gao Bufan laughed and said: "To each other, you, the sixth son, are also bold and talented."

Miao Yu couldn't help but said: "Stop complimenting each other, look, the pier is coming."

Everyone looked around, and sure enough, they saw the pier not far ahead. This pier seemed to be newly built. There was a mountain path leading directly to the top of the mountain, and cigarette smoke could be seen faintly. It should be the location of Lingyun Temple.

Zhong Laoliu hurriedly drove the boat to the pier, and introduced: "Lingyun Mountain is the confluence of Min River, Qingyi River and Dadu River. Every summer flood season, the river water is more urgent. It goes straight to the mountain wall, and the boats coming down It often runs out of control and hits the mountain wall, and there are several accidents of shipwreck and death every year. It is said that a Lingyun Temple was built here to reduce the water potential and eliminate disasters. However, there is another folk legend ,"

Gao Bufan's heart moved, and he quickly asked, "What legend?"

Zhong Laoliu whispered secretively, "We'll talk about it when we go ashore."

Gao Bufan and the others were immediately aroused when they heard the words, and jumped ashore quickly. When Zhong Lao Liu was tying the cable, Gao Dahe couldn't help urging: "Lao Liu, don't play tricks on others, hurry up!" Tell me, what is the legend?"

Zhong Laoliu hissed lightly, and gestured for everyone to get some distance away from the water's edge, and then said mysteriously: "It is said that there is an evil dragon under the river, and Lingyun Temple was built here to suppress this evil dragon. "

Gao Bufan was speechless, but Gao Dahe and Miao Yu suddenly changed their expressions, and the latter asked: "Why do you know?"

Zhong Laoliu said in a low voice: "Just now we passed a cliff at the place where the water is most urgent, did you all see it?"

Gao Dahe nodded and said, "I see."

"That cliff is called Longyin Cliff. Every time a shipwreck occurs under this cliff, it is said that whenever there is a moon in the middle of the night, there will be a sound of dragon chant under the cliff, which is made by that evil dragon, and the ship Most of the accidents here are caused by this evil dragon, and after capsizing the boat, it eats and kills the people on board.”

Gao Dahe and Auntie couldn't help but shuddered when they heard the words, and said in unison: "Is it true?"

Zhong Laoliu nodded and said in horror, "Of course it's true. I've heard the dragon cry with my own ears, and it's scary."

The faces of Gao Dahe and Auntie couldn't help turning pale, and Gao Bufan asked thoughtfully: "Lao Liu, have you really heard it?"

Zhong Laoliu said earnestly: "I have heard that it is impossible for Lao Liu to deceive anyone by favoring you, King Qi."

There was an imperceptible gleam in Gao Bufan's eyes!

Zhong Laoliu glanced at the river, and said in a low voice: "Stop talking, let's go up the mountain quickly, so as not to be heard by that evil dragon. It would be bad if we were caught by it."

As soon as this remark came out, Gao Dahe and Miao Yu couldn't help but shudder, and when they looked at the torrential river again, they seemed to be staring at themselves with a pair of terrifying eyes.