The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Xiamen City, Mingli Academy of Trinity Church.

Early in the morning, Wang Zai, the dean of Mingli Academy, respectfully offered incense to the founder Lin Zhaoen in the ancestral hall of the academy. He walked in the courtyard in front of the hall and recited the Dharma. After breaking out in a thin sweat, he washed up and slowly walked to the ancestral hall. Have breakfast in the dining hall at the back.

Although the disciples of the Trinity Sect are vegetarians, as their power grows, the level of enjoyment of Mingli Academy has also increased. The Suzhai master here was specially invited from Quanzhou, and his craftsmanship is quite good.

Wang Zai held a white porcelain bowl and slowly ate the plain bird's nest with the small white porcelain spoon. A disciple came forward and said: "Dean, that Yao Yuan guest doesn't eat soft and hard food. Go to Dayu Island to ask us." The disciples in the hall didn’t tell me, but they brought people to our hall the day before yesterday and took away the account books.”

Wang Zai said with a disdainful smile: "Let him check, what are you afraid of? There are more than a dozen villages on Dayuan Island that were opened by our brothers who traveled through mountains and rivers. We left more than fifty villages just because of malaria." Brother, will the church not protect us? What's the point of doing some smuggling business with foreigners? We are on an isolated island. If we don't make some extra money, the brothers will starve to death. We won't show any mercy to the people below. There's no way to explain it, right? The elders all know this. How can an outsider stir up trouble in our church? What if he, like Yao Yuanke, comes here?"

"What the dean said makes sense," his disciple said worriedly, "but now the people in Fujian are frightened by the Dutch, and people in the official circles have a change of heart when talking about the Dutch. And Wang Wenlong is often in the newspapers now. He scolded some traitors for their actions, and he has a good relationship with the four elders..."

Wang Zai laughed when he heard this and said: "Wang Jianyang and the four elders are all from his own country, and he is also a Fujianese, born overseas, and has joined a Taoist sect. If he is a foreigner, who can get through him? Mr. Jianyang can't. It’s difficult for us.”

Wang Zai said he was confident because his connections were strong enough. The Mingli Academy where he worked was under the command of Zhang Hongduzhong, the fourth elder of the Trinity Sect.

Zhang Hongdu's original achievements among the four brothers were not considered to be the highest, but as a theoretician of the Trinity Sect's northern transmission, many of his disciples were from Jiangnan and were wealthy.

Having money is a huge advantage when reclaiming Dayuan Island. Zhang Hongdu actively supported the reclamation and sent his apprentices to Jiangnan to absorb a large amount of investment. Under Zhang Hongdu's education, his disciples were also particularly attentive to the reclamation of the island. , all the elites come out.

For example, Wang Zai, although he is only a dean and a middle- and high-level manager in the Trinity Church, his subordinates support twelve immigrant villages, and some of the hall masters and incense masters are better than the other three elders. The power is still great.

Being able to feed so many villages, Wang Zai's men were also very bold in doing things. It was a normal operation to engage in smuggling business with the Japanese and the Dutch.

In addition to being the dean of the courtyard, Wang Zai is also the younger brother of Wang Xing, Zhang Hongdu's closest disciple. The two of them have followed Zhang Hongdu to preach together since they were young. Zhang Hongdu treats them like nephews.

With so many connections, Wang Zai was full of confidence. Even when the Dutch invaded Penghu, he allowed his village to sell intelligence to the Dutch and took in Dutch navy supplies. Wang Zai did not believe that Zhang Hong would be willing to give him away. Push it out.

After dinner, Wang Zai took a few disciples with him to the main hall of the Trinity Church in Xiamen City. He only took a few close disciples with him because there were many big bosses of the Trinity Church in Xiamen City, and Wang Zai couldn't behave well. He was too arrogant. If he were on Dajuan Island, he would be surrounded by at least a dozen people when he went out. He also arranged a special sea boat for himself, and all the enjoyment on board was provided by the teacher.

Naturally, a lot of this money was obtained through doing business with the Japanese and the Dutch, but Wang Zai felt that he had done the right thing, because apart from keeping part of the money he earned, more than half of it was handed over to his master. Even the part he left behind did not hide anything private. The boats he used were not in his own name but were the property of Mingli Academy. Wang Zai even felt that he was selfless.

Arriving at the main hall of the Trinity Church in Xiamen City, Wang Zaixian saluted and asked his disciples, "Junior brother, Master Zhang is here."

The believer returned the greeting and said: "Master Zhang has not arrived yet, senior brother, please go inside and wait."

Wang Zai nodded: "These are the gifts I brought to the main hall. Please find a junior brother to collect them."

"Thank you, senior brother."

Wang Zai entered the main hall and found that no one in the side hall had arrived yet, so he consciously found a seat at the bottom and sat down to rest. Not long after he sat down, he saw his trusted disciple running away in a hurry. Came in: "Master, the official is here to take someone?" Wang Zai didn't take the matter personally at all, and curiously asked: "The official? Who are you going to take?"

The disciple said anxiously: "Yao Brigade came with official messengers, and Master Chen Biao and Chen also followed."

Wang Zai was stunned for a moment, then he realized what he was doing and said quickly: "Quickly bring your brothers and sisters to stop them! As long as I go out, they will be unable to do anything to you!"

"Yes," the disciple nodded and ran out. Wang Zai quickly got up and ran to the back hall.

"Senior Brother Wang, stop! We are all brothers in the same religion, don't make it difficult for me to wait!"

Wang Zai originally followed his master to preach in the north, and he had a good physical condition. However, over the past year, he gradually became more and more pampered, but he unknowingly became obese. After running two steps, he saw a man holding a stick chasing after him. In desperation, he The soles of his feet were mixed with garlic, and he was immediately thrown to the ground by this group of people.

These are all martial arts members under the elder Zhu Fangdan, and they all have martial arts skills. Wang Zai can't beat them at all.

Wang Zai felt uncomfortable being suppressed. He turned around with a red face and shouted: "You can't arrest me. Do you know who I am? How many things have I done for the church?"

After knocking the person down, Yao Lu arrived with the police. He walked up to Wang Zai with a sneer and said: "No matter how big the Trinity Religion is, it cannot follow the laws of the country. If you violate the laws of the country, what is there to say about arresting you?"

Chen Biao, the head teacher of Fuzhou of Trinity Church who came from the General Assembly, also walked out from behind Yao Lu with an indifferent expression. He opened a proclamation in his hand and said: "Now, in the handwriting of your teacher, Elder Zhang, Trinity Church is loyal to the king and serves the country. The king of disciples The imperial court investigated the case and brought it to justice, and reported it to the imperial court for a formal punishment. "

Wang Zai's face turned pale, and he felt extremely regretful. When Yao Lu found out that he was from Mingli Academy, he didn't care at all, and thought that the sect would protect him, but now even his master Zhang Hong was not willing to do so. Save him.

Wang Zai was still struggling: "Chen Biao, you are lying. I followed my master to the south of the Yangtze River to preach when I was thirteen years old. There is no way he would not want me! Reclamation officer, dozens of people have died in my hall. I am loyal." ! I am meritorious!”

Yao Lu said disdainfully: "A treasonous person has made countless merits, but this alone will never make him stand up again. Are you still not repentant now?"

Before arresting people, Wang Wenlong made a special trip to Putian to find Lu Wenhui from Trinity Church and explained the pros and cons of the situation clearly.

Lu Wenhui knew that the situation was serious, so he went to Fuzhou to find Zhang Hongdu in person. After getting their promises, Wang Wenlong told Xu Xueju the news.

But Xu Xueju only replied with four words: "Don't leave any clues."

The elders of the Trinity Church specially sent Chen Biao, the head priest of the Fuzhou diocese, to Xiamen to deliver the message to avoid any duplication in the arrest of Wang Zai.

(End of this chapter)