Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 494 Put down the butcher knife
The rain was still falling, and the rain poured on the eaves of the Xiangji Temple bell tower and flowed down along the dripping tiles.

The woods in the distance looked even greener in the rain, and the mountains were hazy. If the rebels were not still stationed here and making fires and barbecuing meat, Xiangji Temple seemed to have returned to its former tranquility.

"Report! Marshal, the Tang army has sent an envoy."

After hearing the report, Cui Qianyou raised his head. His pair of bloodshot eyes looked very empty, having lost their former sharpness.

He had originally wanted to fight to the death, but the weather did not go as he wished, and a heavy rain delayed the opportunity to fight. In the past few days, the soldiers either fled or defected, and now the army is in disarray and may collapse at any time.

Facts have proven that even the most vicious person may compromise when they are cornered. Cui Qianyou tilted his head and said, "Bring him to the Heavenly King Palace to see me."

In the Hall of Heavenly Kings, a Maitreya Buddha is sitting in the middle with a smile on his face, and the Eight Vajras are standing on both sides with their eyes glaring at him.

When Cui Qianyou walked into the hall, he saw a middle-aged official in a red official robe burning three incense sticks and worshiping Buddha.

"Is worshipping Buddha useful?" Cui Qianyou asked sarcastically.

"If you believe it, you have it; if you don't believe it, you don't have it."

The middle-aged official calmly lit the incense, turned around, and saluted meticulously with his hands crossed, saying, "I am Yuan Zai, the Chief Censor of the Tang Dynasty, the Doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, the Deputy Envoy of the Ministry of Finance, and the Transport Envoy of the Capital Province. What a pleasure to meet you."

As they were talking, some rebel soldiers brought in two tables, set them up inside the Buddhist temple, and served wine and meat.

Cui Qianyou sat down in the main seat and laughed, "Central Minister Yuan, please come in!"

"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders."

Yuan Zai felt embarrassed, but still sat down. He looked and saw two pieces of half-roasted meat on the plate with blood on them, and bright red wine in the glass.

Cui Qianyou grabbed the meat with his hands and ate it, his lips stained with blood. Afterwards, seeing that Yuan Zai did not eat, he wiped his mouth and looked back, and asked: "But you dare not eat meat in front of the Buddha?"

Yuan Zai looked friendly and said, "I have good news that I would like to tell General Cui first."

"I know a great monk who has attained enlightenment." Cui Qianyou said to himself, "His Buddhist name is Juehuai. He told me a story about his master persuading a butcher to become a Buddha. Have you heard of it?"

"In the second year of Emperor Gaozong's Yonglong reign, Master Shandao of Xiangji Temple persuaded the people of Chang'an to eat vegetarian food. At that time, a butcher named Jing saw that it was becoming increasingly difficult to sell meat. He became angry and rushed to Xiangji Temple with a knife, intending to kill Master Shandao."

"Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing his parents." Cui Qianyou sighed.

Yuan Zai stood up and stood still in the hall, saying, "In the Heavenly King Hall where you and I are right now, Jing Tu came in, raised his knife and was about to kill Zen Master Shandao. He looked up suddenly and saw a compassionate and solemn appearance that was breathtaking. Jing Tu's heart was suddenly shaken, and his murderous heart was like ice meeting the sun. The knife in his hand fell to the ground, and he knelt down to pay homage. Zen Master Shandao raised his hand and pointed to the west, and the scene of the Pure Land of Bliss appeared in the sky. He told Jing Tu that he had sold meat and killed countless lives for many years, and had committed countless sins. After death, he would fall into hell, and only by reciting the Buddha's name could he be reborn in the Pure Land."

He turned around and pointed to a tall willow tree outside the temple, saying, "The butcher in the capital felt extremely ashamed and vowed to be reborn in the Pure Land. He climbed up the tree, put his hands together, chanted the Buddha's name loudly, and fell to the ground and was reborn. This incident later became a famous story of 'putting down the butcher knife and becoming a Buddha right away.'"

“Hahahaha.” Cui Qianyou clapped his hands and laughed, saying, “Yuan Zhongcheng is very good at telling stories. You tell the same story much more vividly than Jue Huai. Will you stay in my army and entertain me from now on?”

Yuan Zai immediately gave a bitter smile and dared not respond.

Cui Qianyou wanted to scare him, but seeing him embarrassed, he smiled smugly and said, "Just kidding with you, sit down, drink some wine and eat some meat."

Yuan Zai had no choice but to sit down again, picked up the wine glass and took a sip. He unexpectedly found that the wine was not bad.

He then picked up a piece of meat and said, "The court knows that General Cui was forced to follow An Lushan, and it was helpless, so we plan to pardon the general."

"Jue Huai also advised me the same thing." Cui Qianyou said, "He said that if the war continued, many lives would be lost. It would be better to surrender to the court, lay down the butcher knife, and become a Buddha right away. He wanted me to die like the butcher in Beijing."

Yuan Zai hurriedly said, "Different."

"Then ask Monk Juehuai." Cui Qianyou said, "Do you know where he is?"

Yuan Zai asked: "Where?"

Cui Qianyou raised his hand and pointed at the piece of meat in his hand, grinning and saying, "Isn't it right next to your mouth?"

Yuan Zai was shocked, and the meat in his hand fell onto the table. His face turned pale, and he quickly clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, Amitabha."

At this point, Cui Qianyou's momentum completely overwhelmed Yuan Zai, and a look of madness appeared on his face.

"Hahaha, Yuan Zhongcheng, may I ask if there is anything else you want to say to me?!"

This means that Juehuai, who tried to persuade Cui Qianyou last time, has become a dish. If Yuan Zai dares to continue persuading him, Cui Qianyou will roast him as half-cooked as Juehuai.

"Your Highness will soon ascend the throne." Yuan Zai lowered his head and said in a trembling voice: "General Cui, don't you want to be a minister of Yuan?"

In fact, he pretended to be scared on purpose. He had heard that the rebels were eating monks recently. Because of this, Li Guangbi even punished a general who spoke nonsense. However, it can be seen from this that the rebels have run out of food and are more likely to be persuaded.

"Ascension to the throne?"

Cui Qianyou was a little surprised. Li Cong's ascension to the throne meant a break with Li Longji, so in the short term he would have to rely on Cui Qianyou to deal with Li Longji and Li Heng. So they would definitely not take action against him and would give him certain powers.

Yuan Zai said: "General Cui, guess who asked me to be a lobbyist?"

"Isn't it Li's long-lost grandson?"

"Nominally, the King of Beiping sent me here," Yuan Zai said, "but in reality, Your Highness has a secret message for General Cui."

Cui Qianyou's eyes lit up and he finally became interested. He took the secret letter handed to him by Yuan Zai, took a look at it, and pondered.

Li Cong said in the letter that he wanted to make him the King of Guiyi and station him in Fanyang. Unfortunately, Li Cong had no real power at present and had to rely on Xue Bai for the time being. He hoped that he could surrender to him so that he could first attack Li Heng and then get rid of Xue Bai, and in the future the monarch and his subjects could share the wealth and honor.

Cui Qianyou also noticed that Li Cong addressed her as "Xue Bai" instead of "Li Qian" in the letter.

"General Cui." Yuan Zai glanced outside the palace anxiously and said, "We must not let the King of Beiping know about this."

Cui Qianyou sneered, put the letter into the wine, crushed it with his fingers, tilted his head back and swallowed it in one gulp, saying, "I agree to this condition."

Yuan Zai was embarrassed and said thoughtfully: "Your Highness's promise will definitely be fulfilled, but... the conditions of the King of Beiping are a bit harsh."

"is it?"

"He wants General Cui to be under his command after he surrenders."

Cui Qianyou showed anger on his face and said, "If you had said so earlier, it would have been in my stomach by now."

"If General Cui is willing to talk, how about meeting with the King of Beiping at Taoxi in Fanchuan tomorrow?"

Yuan Zai said, and then quickly added: "Don't worry, the King of Beiping will not bring too many people. And he will definitely not dare to attack the general, otherwise the soldiers of Fanyang will think that he has no sincerity to surrender."

Cui Qianyou was not afraid of Xue Bai and said, "Then let's meet him."

Yuan Zai was overjoyed and bowed before leaving. Tian Chengsi came down from the bell tower and personally saw him off.

~~
Taoxi is located in the middle of Fanchuan, on the north bank of the Qishui River, southeast of Duqu Town, with peach orchards stretching across the land and beautiful scenery. Now is summer, not to mention peach blossoms, even the wild flowers nearby have been knocked down after days of heavy rain.

Cui Qianyou sent scouts to investigate and confirmed that Xue Bai had not set an ambush in Taoxi, so he went there in person to keep the appointment.

He had made up his mind that he could submit to Li Cong, but he could never submit to Xue Bai. Today, he could not be crowned king for the time being, but at least he had to lead an army on his own. This was the bottom line, and it was also the premise for him to become a vassal state in the future and not be bound by the court. No concessions would be allowed.

The heavy rain affected the vision, and only when we got closer could we see Xue Bai leading a few people waiting in front of a village house.

Taoxi used to have a beautiful village, but now it is deserted because all the villagers were killed by the rebels. After a heavy rain, the remaining blood and bones were carried away by the stream along with the fallen flowers.

"After the battle of Tongguan, I wanted to meet with the King of Beiping! Unexpectedly, the King of Beiping abandoned Luoyang and left without us ever fighting. It's a pity!"

Following this arrogant voice, Cui Qianyou arrived in front of Xue Bai, dismounted from his horse, and walked towards him with big strides, looking quite heroic.

Xue Bai said: "Below the city of Chang'an, you and I have fought each other before."

"Not enough." Cui Qianyou laughed and said, "The winner has not been decided yet."

"If the general retreats, doesn't that mean he thinks he has been defeated?"

"If you think so, why don't you set up a battle at Xiangji Temple and have a good fight?!"

Cui Qianyou was certain that Xue Bai wanted to surrender him.

In his opinion, Yuan Zai thought he was smart, but in fact he had revealed the unfavorable situation of the Tang army, that is, the contradictions within the royal family, which became his bargaining chip to seize the initiative in the negotiation. Would Xue Bai dare to fight a decisive battle? Even if he could win, how many troops would he have to deal with Li Longji and Li Heng?
However, Xue Bai did not greet him with a smile as he expected, but said in a deep voice: "Cui Qianyou, I will give you one last chance!"

"what?"

"If you sincerely repent, bow down before me and obey my orders, I will forgive your past sins!"

"Another idiot who only knows how to talk."

Cui Qianyou turned his face without hesitation and looked at Yuan Zai behind Xue Bai. Yuan Zai and Li Cong still had a secret in his stomach, and he could kill Yuan Zai as soon as he opened his mouth. Therefore, Yuan Zai must be the one who was most afraid of the breakdown of the talks, and he should rush out to say good things.

However, Yuan Zai seemed distracted and did not hear it. He stood there leisurely with his hands in his sleeves.

Cui Qianyou was displeased and scolded: "Show us your terms. If you are not sincere in your offer, we will fight you."

Xue Bai said: "I have already stated the conditions. Hand over the military power and obey orders."

Cui Qianyou suddenly felt a strong murderous intent.

He squinted his eyes and scanned the area in the heavy rain. He saw no more ambushes, only people standing at the windows of several cottages. It was obvious that Xue Bai was not trustworthy and wanted to ambush and kill him.

But it didn't matter. He had already inquired beforehand that the Tang army could not have more cavalry. With his bravery, no one could stop him. On the other hand, he was very sure to kill Xue Bai. He brought more than 20 cavalrymen, and everyone was wearing armor and holding sharp weapons. What could he not accomplish?

"kill him!"

Cui Qianyou immediately kicked the horse's belly, drove the horse forward, raised his sword, and his personal soldiers and cavalry also rushed forward in the rain.

There was no need to use bows and arrows in the heavy rain, and he was too lazy to shoot Xue Bai, so he simply moved forward, not afraid of the crossbowmen of the Tang army.

"kill!"

Xue Bai gave the order, retreated and took refuge in the village.

Several Tang army generals immediately blocked the door, holding up several heavy long tubes, and a general with a scar on his face shouted incessantly.

"Zhao Yuliang, the thief leader!"

"Huang Dinghuo, left one!"

"..."

Cui Qianyou did not understand the meaning of those orders. He rushed forward very quickly and was only ten steps away from the Tang army, while they were still fiddling with the heavy long tubes, lighting them and blowing the fuse.

For a moment, Cui Qianyou thought, is Xue Bai going to use explosives again? So he immediately pulled the warhorse.

No, Xue Bai is in that room, how could he not be afraid of being blown to death? He should kill him decisively.

"boom."

There was a noise, and Cui Qianyou could clearly see a fire and a cloud of smoke rising in the dark cylinder, but it seemed like nothing had happened.

After that, there were several more noises. Cui Qianyou looked down and saw that something had penetrated his sturdy armor, and blood was flowing from the cracks in the armor. The Tang army must have put explosives in the iron cylinder, so that the iron pieces would not hurt the people behind, but only the people in front. It was really smart.

This thought flashed through his mind, and he became furious. He slapped the frightened warhorse that wanted to escape with great force and rushed towards Xue Bai.

At worst, one life for another.

"Qiao Erwa, kill him!"

A Tang general rolled on the ground, raised his Mo Dao with both hands, and cut off Cui Qianyou's horse's legs. Cui Qianyou immediately fell to the ground, but got up and continued fighting.

Within five steps, he was stabbed more than ten times, but he still refused to retreat and kept cursing.

"You unfaithful villain! If you dare to kill me today, the soldiers of Dayan will chop you into pulp tomorrow!"

No matter how Cui Qianyou scolded him, Xue Bai just stood there calmly, his peaceful eyes seemed to contain a cold murderous intent.

Finally, Cui Qianyou arrived in front of Xue Bai.

"puff."

Jiang Hai swung his Mo Dao down and cut Cui Qianyou's neck, trapping his body there and preventing him from getting close to Xue Bai.

Cui Qianyou's knife was still several inches away from Xue Bai, but it was already falling down powerlessly. He was so angry that he could only stare at Xue Bai with his eyes wide open with his last breath.

"How dare you..."

How dare Xue Bai kill him? How could he pacify tens of thousands of Yan troops if he was so dishonest and insincere?

"Boom."

In the distance, a bell sounded. It was the Buddhist bell.

"The Buddhist bell at Xiangji Temple has a name, called 'Netherworld Bell'."

The speaker was Yuan Zai. He walked up to Cui Qianyou and told another vivid story.

"Zen Master Shandao said that people with serious sins will suffer immensely after falling into hell. Only when they hear the Buddhist bell can the pain be temporarily relieved. The longer the bell rings, the longer the pain stops. Hence, it is called the 'Netherworld Bell'."

At this point, Yuan Zai approached Cui Qianyou and asked, "Do you think you will go to hell after you die?"

"what!"

Cui Qianyou was furious and opened his bloody mouth to bite Yuan Zai.

Yuan Zai raised his head slightly, and the mad Cui Qianyou in front of him looked like a sculpture of the devil. He was dead... and had fallen into hell.

Fortunately, he won't be in too much pain for the time being because the bells of Xiangji Temple are still ringing.

"Boom."

"..."

"Boom."

Under the bell tower, an old monk was speaking to a group of rebel generals.

"The butcher in Beijing made a wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, so he climbed up a willow tree, chanted the Buddha's name loudly, and fell to the ground and was reborn. This is what is meant by 'putting down the butcher knife and becoming a Buddha right away.'"

"Amitabha."

For a moment, several rebel generals chanted Buddhist scriptures at the same time.

This is a ridiculous story. At first, a butcher in the army was going to kill the abbot of Xiangji Temple, Master Juehuai. But when he raised his knife and saw the compassionate and solemn face, he suddenly couldn't bear it, so he hid Juehuai in the stable. Anyway, Juehuai was skinny and didn't have much meat.

After surviving, Zen Master Juehuai did not just think about saving his life, but also enlightened several horsemen. In fact, many generals in the rebel army felt pain because of eating human flesh, and after listening to some very reasonable Buddhist words from the horsemen, they actually became followers of Zen Master Juehuai.

However, the incident was accidentally discovered by Tian Chengsi the day before yesterday. Just when everyone thought they were dead, unexpectedly, Tian Chengsi did not kill them. Instead, he said something strange.

"This is God's will. If so, let the Zen master say 'instant enlightenment'."

At this time when the rebels were wreaking havoc, in this mountain temple, Buddhist culture was able to slightly defeat the brutal violence.

At this time, the bells in Xiangji Temple rang out, and the old monk's appearance was solemn and breathtaking. Many rebel generals cried loudly under this baptism, releasing the psychological pressure they had been under for these days.

Afterwards, Tian Chengsi announced loudly: "Cui Qianyou has gone to negotiate with the court, we can prepare to surrender!"

The generals were overjoyed and expressed their gratitude to the old monk.

Suddenly, a horse galloped over and shouted, "Marshal Cui has attained Buddhahood on the spot! Marshal Cui has attained Buddhahood on the spot!"

"what happened?!"

"Marshal Cui met the King of Beiping and agreed to surrender. He then burst into tears and said that he had killed too many people. Since arriving at Xiangji Temple, he had been in great pain. Today, he handed over all the generals to them. He immediately made a vow to be reborn in the Pure Land in the West... Then he climbed up the high plateau and fell to the ground and passed away!"

"Amitabha." Zen Master Juehuai clasped his hands together and chanted, "Good, good."

He seemed to have expected it.

Seeing how calm and profound he was, the soldiers around him became more convinced. Perhaps what they believed in was not the Dharma, but a reason to forgive themselves. If they started doing good deeds now, they could still avoid falling into hell after death.

"Amitabha."

Of course, there were many people who did not hear clearly, so the people in the front told them about it, and this strange thing quickly spread throughout the Yan army.

Everyone had heard the story of the Buddha becoming a Buddha on the spot these days. Some believed it, while others were skeptical. As a result, the skeptical soldiers also believed it and were eager to surrender.

But the unbelievers continued to unbelieve and became furious.

"Are you treating us like fools?!"

Cui Qianyou's trusted general killed the person who dared to tell him the news with a single blow, and immediately summoned his soldiers.

"The Tang court tricked Marshal Cui into going there and killing him, and we don't know how they're going to settle accounts with us afterwards. Rather than waiting to die, we should take this opportunity to break out and return to Fanyang to surrender to Shi Siming."

"Go, grab the horse!"

Hundreds of soldiers set off immediately and arrived at the stable, where they met He Mingyi, a general under Tian Chengsi.

"Where are you going?"

"What does it have to do with you cowards? Get out of here!"

"puff."

He Mingyi had already chopped off the head of the leader of the breakout, ready to present it to the court as a token of his allegiance.

"Kill these crazy people who love human flesh!"

"Kill the traitor!"

The blood quickly spilled into the mud and was washed away by the rain.

The bell had not yet stopped ringing, and the Xiangji Temple and its surroundings had already been plunged into a bloodbath. The most stubborn cannibalistic rebel soldiers fell one by one and became corpses on the ground.

At the same time, Xue Bai and Li Guangbi had also arrived with the Tang army and lined up outside the rebel camp, silently watching tens of thousands of people slaughtering each other.

~~
Rain water trickled down the brim of Li Guangbi's helmet.

He stood on his horse, his tall body like the bell tower of Xiangji Temple.

"I still don't understand how the King of Beiping persuaded Tian Chengsi to surrender." Li Guangbi said.

"I did." Xue Bai said, "I asked Yuan Zai to persuade him to surrender."

"What conditions did you promise?" Li Guangbi asked again.

He noticed some changes. After a heavy rain that lasted for several days, Xue Bai returned to the camp and suddenly became determined to surrender the rebels. Something must have happened during this period.

Xue Bai stared at Xiangji Temple, thought about it, and thought that now was actually a good opportunity, so he no longer hid it from Li Guangbi and said, "I will tell Tian Chengsi that His Highness will soon ascend the throne. Ask him if he wants to seize this opportunity to make a contribution to the emperor."

"What?" Li Guangbi asked in surprise, "Your Highness is going to ascend the throne? How come I don't know about such an important event?"

"Because no one told Marshal Li." Xue Bai answered with a nonsense, and then threw out a very important sentence, saying: "On the day of ascending the throne, you will be promoted to Sikong, concurrently Minister of War, and Tongpingzhangshi, and be conferred the title of Duke of Wei. You will still lead the world's deputy marshal of the army and control the affairs of Hedong."

Li Guangbi asked: "Why didn't you tell me in advance?"

"Because the saint was bewitched by the traitor Li Heng again, this time he concluded that we betrayed him." Xue Bai commented without hesitation: "He is old and confused, that's it."

Li Guangbi frowned deeply.

From his heart, he did not want to speculate in the battle for the throne. Therefore, he hoped that the Tang Dynasty would have only one emperor, preferably a wise one. But now, Prince Zhong and Prince Qing had obviously ascended the throne without authorization, which was tantamount to treason... Unfortunately, the saint was old and confused.

This is difficult to do.

Then he thought, what can he do now? Now is the most critical moment to quell the rebellion, tens of thousands of Fanyang cavalry are fighting in front of him, there is a possibility that they will surrender smoothly, or there will be a riot, so should he turn to King Zhong at this time?
"Don't worry." Xue Bai said in a calm tone: "Your Highness is the eldest son of the saint. He is wise and kind. If he ascends the throne, the Tang Dynasty will have a more prosperous future."

After saying that, he drove his horse forward a few steps and observed the changes in the battle situation at Xiangji Temple. As for Li Cong's ascension to the throne, it seemed to be just a matter of course.

Li Guangbi was not a pretentious person, so he withdrew his thoughts and focused on the battlefield.

The Tang army gradually narrowed the encirclement and gradually controlled the rebels who were fighting each other in a bloody battle.

The rain gradually stopped. In the pool of blood, a figure with his hands raised slowly walked out of the gate of Xiangji Temple.

"The guilty minister Tian Chengsi was mistakenly threatened by An Lushan. Now he wants to restore order and return to the Tang Dynasty!"

"..."

"Boom."

The bell rings again.

Nearby, there were corpses everywhere and screams were heard everywhere, but the green mountains in the distance were still silent, showing their beauty after the rain, seemingly ruthless and charming. It was just like the poem by Wang Wei.

“There is no path through the ancient woods, where is the bell in the deep mountains?”

Xue Bai shifted his gaze away from the corpses and looked towards the green mountains.

He had already fought his battle of Xiangji Temple, but the elite border troops of the Tang Dynasty were still there, and the vitality of the Tang Dynasty was still there.

But the confrontation between the Northwest Army and the Northeast Army of the Tang Dynasty seemed to have not been completely avoided. The next time, facing Li Longji and Li Heng, he had no way to avoid it.

(End of this chapter)