Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 203 0198 [Amulets and Taoists]

Late at night, Huangtang.

Although this is the office of the magistrate, it already belongs to the back house of the state government, and there is a private guard of the back house.

Yang Pu, the chicken-crowding dog thief who was picked up halfway, became the security guard of the back house.He followed Zhu Ming's instructions, as long as no one entered the living area of ​​the back house, he would turn a blind eye and ignore it.

Even, Yang Pu snored deliberately so that the infiltrator could do things with peace of mind.

"Why did you come in? Go watch the wind!"

"Sleeping soundly, snoring all the time, I'm here to help you."

"This piece of paper is for you. You must use a bamboo pen. The brush is not easy to copy and draw lines."

"What's all this? Why can't I understand?"

"I heard that Zhizhou's father was a well-known Taoist priest, and he was also a co-prefect of Daolu Academy. He wore a purple Taoist robe. Zhizhou's family has a long history, and he must be able to depict talismans."

"What is he doing in the prefectural office?"

"How do I know? It may be a technique of disgust."

"I'm tired... I'm tired of winning... We'll be fine, right?"

"No, no, copy it down."

"..."

The two clerks finished copying a few charts, put them carefully in their arms, then blew out the candles, and tiptoed away.

When closing the door, hemp rope is also used as a mechanism to automatically lock the door latch from the inside.

The next day, Li Xiaozhong, head of the Li family in Puzhou, stared at the charts in confusion: "For how many days in a row, Zhizhou has been drawing these things?"

The official said: "The father of Zhizhou is a Taoist man in purple clothes, so he must also be able to draw talismans. I guess, these may be talismans against victory, or they may be evil-suppressing talismans. Put this talisman in the Yellow Hall to suppress evil spirits."

"Bullshit!"

Li Xiaozhong pointed to the annotation on the chart and said: "These places are written with words such as thieves, thieves for thieves, the alliance of Chanyuan, and the reform of Xining. How could they be evil-suppressing talismans?"

"It may also be used as a talisman to suppress thieves." The official guessed.

Li Xiaozhong waved his hand and said: "You get some money, go back to the state office first."

The clerk bowed and retreated: "I will take my leave."

When the clerk went to collect the reward, Li Xiaozhong called his son and the steward again.

The housekeeper only glanced at it, and said: "Don't doubt it, Alang, this is a simple number, from "Zhu's Mathematical Classics". Gouzi is studying mathematics, and I found it strange, so I also learned "Zhu's Mathematical Classics". These forms , read from left to right. Where simplified numbers are involved, read from left to right.”

The butler picked up a pen and translated everything into Chinese characters and numbers.

Li Xiaozhong took his son to study for a long time, and suddenly sighed: "If there is a natural or man-made disaster, there will be thieves in Puzhou again. Hui Zhan!"

"The baby is here!" Li Qing replied with care.

Li Xiaozhong said: "In the manors in the countryside, the Baojia soldiers practice more diligently. The courtyard walls of our house should be higher and thicker, and we should raise a few more guard yards, and all kinds of weapons must be ready."

Li Qing said: "Father is making a fuss out of a molehill."

"What do you know?" Li Xiaozhong said, "In the past hundred years, the Li family in Puzhou has never been thieves. It is because the ancestors accumulated virtues and gained such a good reputation that even the thieves admire them. But now, If there are thieves in Juancheng County, once the thieves become big, my family will be the first to be robbed!"

Li Qinggu could only say: "I will do as I please."

Li Xiaozhong looked at those charts repeatedly, and every time he looked at and thought about it, he would have new insights.

In particular, Ju Ming used major national and local events to annotate the key data. With the combination of the two, the causes of many phenomena can be found out.

After realizing it for a long time, Li Xiaozhong couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Ju Ming has a lot of things in his belly. If he was born 50 years earlier, he would be a famous official of the generation. It's a pity, it's a pity that he was born at an untimely time. In this world, even my Li family can't be a virtuous person." I can only cling to that treacherous party. If you can choose, who would like to tarnish the reputation of your ancestors?"

Li Qing said: "Father, my son heard that the county magistrate is investigating the land of Qian and Sun's family at Lei Ze's side. Is the person surnamed Zhu also Fang Tian in Juancheng?"

Li Xiaozhong sneered: "The magistrate of Juancheng has been changed, and Prime Minister Cai sent people to fight against him. Without the cooperation of the magistrate, how could he be in Fangtian in this county?"

"That's right." Li Qinggu thought it made sense.

……

Huang Guinian's wife's surname is not Feng, and she doesn't have a photographic memory.

His family really came from a poor family. Their ancestral home was in Fengcheng, Jiangxi, and they migrated to Luling, Jiangxi.Huang Guinian was born in Luling, and migrated to Yongfu (Yongtai County), Fujian Province with his father when he was young.

He didn't buy any property in Fujian, so his father died.Relying on the only savings in the family, the mother still had to do odd jobs, brought him and his younger brother up through hardships, and was even so poor that he gave up the imperial examination to work to support the family.

Fortunately, he met Bole. Li Chaojing, the captain of Yongfu County, cherished his talents and learning. He not only subsidized Huang Guinian to continue his studies, but also betrothed his daughter to him as his wife.

This prospective father-in-law was also unlucky, Han Chuang studied hard for more than ten years, and died of illness while serving as a county lieutenant before he could become a high-ranking official.Moreover, he was considered an upright official. His wife and daughter returned home with their coffins for burial, and had already spent most of the family's money.Because the distance was too far, the fiancée never saw Huang Guinian again, and only sent a letter every year.

Years have been wasting away, Huang Guinian is 23 years old, and Li's daughter is 21 years old, both of them have become older unmarried youths.

Huang Guinian was named on the Gold List, and his son-in-law was caught under the list. His fellow villagers persuaded him to marry another rich and noble woman. Anyway, he only had a marriage contract and was not yet married.

Huang Guinian sternly refused, spent a year saving money, and finally took his fiancée to his side.

"This is the Li family of Zhuojing, whose name is Mujun." Huang Guinian introduced.

The boudoir name was not mentioned, but was named after the marriage.

Zhu Ming also introduced Zheng Yuanyi, whose identity was ambiguous, neither saying that he was a wife nor a concubine.

The four of them sat in the pavilion drinking tea, and the black tea that Ju Ming was carrying was not much, and they were almost finished.

Huang Guinian also brought a little boy, and Zhu Ming waved to him: "What's your name?"

"The boy's name is Huang Heng." The little kid looked very smart.

Zhu Ming smiled and asked, "How old are you?"

"Seven years old this year." Huang Heng said.

Zhu Ming asked again: "How many characters can you recognize?"

With a proud face, Huang Heng held his head high and said, "I'm a fast learner and know a lot of words."

"Hahahaha!"

The adults were amused and laughed, and the childish words of the children were always so cute.

Zhu Ming was faintly disappointed, why doesn't Lao Huang have a daughter named Huang Rong?
There were several plates of snacks on the stone table, including steamed cakes, fried beans, etc. Everyone chatted over black tea and snacks.

After waiting for more than half an hour, Tian Ruyong finally came with his family.His wife's surname is Zhong, and they have one son and two daughters.

The four little kids got together, and Tian's eldest son was 13 years old, so he naturally became the king of kids.But he felt that he had grown up, and thought that children were too naive, so he returned to adults after playing for a while.

Mrs. Zhong also brought a gift: "This is rouge bought in Hangzhou, and I don't know what spices were added."

Zheng Yuanyi opened it and smelled it, then smiled and said, "It smells so good!"

Li Mujun also got a copy, after sniffing it carefully, he said: "It seems to smell like gardenia, but it's mixed with something else."

"If the two younger sisters really like it, I'll send someone to come over from Hangzhou." Zhong is not short of money, and her husband is a corrupt official.

Li Mujun felt a bit shabby, although she also brought gifts, but they were only two boxes of pastries made by herself.

Zhong was very flattering, after taking out the gift, he praised Zheng Yuanyi for her good skin and asked her what cosmetics she usually used.Then he also praised the beautiful scenery of the backyard of the state government office, saying that Zheng Yuanyi was very lucky to be able to live in such a courtyard at a young age.

A flattering shot sent Zheng Yuanyi flying into the clouds.

Li Mujun is much dumber and less flattering, so he laughs along with him the whole time, occasionally interjecting a sentence.

After chatting about the courtyard, Zhong said: "Nowadays, officials go to Taoist temples when they pray to Taoism. In the eastern suburbs of Puzhou City, there is a Huangting Temple, and the presiding officer is a disciple of Wang Shenxian. I heard that it is very effective there. To seek a son, one only needs to burn incense for three years and it will be accomplished."

"Which Immortal King?" Zhu Ming asked suddenly.

Tian Ruyong said: "Wang Laozhi, who used to live in the south garden of Cai Jing's home, was too arrogant and displeased Cai Jing, so he got sick and returned to his hometown. His home is in Linpu County. Last year, he practiced a Taoist temple. Puzhou also allocated [-] guan. This guy thought it was too little, so he went to the official’s house, and the court allocated another [-] guan, and asked Puzhou to add another [-] guan. This guy still felt that it was not enough, so he asked the gentry and merchants of the prefectures and counties to donate. Barely made up more than [-] guan."

Zhu Ming asked: "Is there any act of disabled people?"

Huang Guinian couldn't help but said: "There are countless disabled people, but the government can't do anything about it. Because the government ordered to practice Taoism, and even allocated the nearby land to him as temple land."

"Forcibly expropriating land?" Zhu Ming asked.

"Even the common people on the land are assigned to Wang Laozhi as customers," Huang Guinian said angrily, "According to what the prefect said, the proportion of customers will increase again this year. Only those assigned to Wang Laozhi's customers will have More than 200 households."

This fool!
Tian Ruyong complained: "Wang Laozhi was arrogant in Tokyo, and even Cai Jing couldn't stand it. After returning to his hometown, this person became more aggressive and showed no respect for local officials. This year, the Spring Society invited him to Puzhou to worship the gods. This fellow actually occupied the dominant position, making Zhizhou turn blue with anger at that time."

Huang Guinian also said: "Now the abbots of all Taoist temples in the four counties of Puzhou have been replaced by Wang Laozhi's disciples. Even if they don't change, the abbots will worship Wang Laozhi as their teacher. Even Buddhist temples have become Taoist temples. , The monks grew their hair and became Taoist priests. With the support of Wang Laozhi, Taoist temples invaded the land of the people in large numbers. The government did not dare to control it, and the people dared not speak out."

Zhu Ming said with a gloomy face, "The Li family is not easy to move, but Taoist priests can't move? Just from the one in the eastern suburbs of Zhoucheng..."

"Huang Ting Guan." Zhong reminded.

Zhu Ming said: "The investigation started from Huang Tingguan. All the Taoist priests who violated the law were arrested, and all the people who invaded the land were returned!"

Tian Ruyong hurriedly dissuaded him: "Prefect, our enemy is the Cai party, the Li family, the most prominent family in Puzhou. Why should we make troubles? The officials are advocating Taoism, and they condone Taoist priests. If these Taoist priests in Puzhou are moved, Mr. Wang Zhishang Shu impeachment, I am afraid that the officials will not like it."

"Snapped!"

Zhu Ming slapped the stone table with a slap: "I don't care if the Li family is still a Taoist priest. As long as he harms the people, he will be punished together. So what if Wang Laozhi files a complaint with the government? If he commits a crime, he will be arrested together. Don't worry, both of you." , you just need to do it, and I will take care of it if something goes wrong!"

Tian Ruyong hesitated to speak, and completely regarded Zhu Ming as a stunned young man.

But Huang Guinian was respectful, cupped his hands and said: "The prefect is dedicated to serving the people, I admire you so much!"

(End of this chapter)