Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2138
There are many Dragon Mother Temples in Wuzhou. There are Dragon Mother Temples on the banks of the East and West Rivers in the city, the Xunjiang River on Changzhou Island, and the Guijiang River in the north of the city. It was first built in the Xianping period of the Northern Song Dynasty - so He Dongli led him to the north of the city.

Wuzhou's economy relies on water transportation. The city outside the city has always been prosperous, and there are many docks along the river.The north of the city is the later famous "Northern Guangxi Wharf". Originally, there were many shops and businesses here, and there were many merchants, and there were many porters, boatmen, and rowers who depended on water for water... But now there are only ruins.The fortifications built by the Ming army outside the north gate are being dismantled, and labor teams in twos and threes are cleaning up the ruins.

The Longmu Temple is just to the east of the Guijiang River, opposite the famous Guibei Wharf.It is not far from Dayun Gate in the north.Opposite is the famous North Guibei Wharf.The temple is intact and undamaged—the Ming army abandoned this area directly outside the city, so it was not poisoned by the flames of war.

According to the standards of the old time and space, the Longmu Temple is not big, but in the 17th century, it was already "magnificent and magnificent". The temple faces south and is surrounded by mountains and rivers.

When the priests and Taoists in the temple heard that the "prefect of the Song Dynasty" had come to offer incense, they rushed to the door to greet him.Because the neighbors have long heard that the "Australian magistrate" will come to the Longmu Temple to offer incense, so there are many idle people gathered at the gate of the temple to watch the excitement.The servants of the Cangwu County Yamen yelled to maintain order.

Xie Erren climbed up the steps, hugged by the front and back, and entered from the mountain gate until he reached the front hall.

Although the Longmu Temple has not been looted by the war, it has accommodated many refugees who suffered from disasters outside the city. At this moment, the strong men have teamed up to work, and the old and weak women and children gather under the eaves on both sides.Before Xie Erren came, there was a notice from the yamen servants in the temple, and the yamen servants in the temple drove the refugees to squat on both sides, and they were not allowed to whisper.It's just that the ground was not cleaned up, and the broken bowls were thrown all over the ground.

In the temple where Xie Erren entered, seeing the refugees under the corridor, he couldn't help being startled: Unexpectedly, there are so many of them here!Judging from their clothes, some refugees should be from well-off or even wealthy families, but now they are reduced to squatting under the temple porches and relying on porridge for a living.There are also children and old people who were frightened by the wind and cold, and now they are lying on the ground with no medicine or bed, and they lie on the wall under the verandah moaning and crying.He couldn't help but secretly lamented: No wonder people say that they would rather be a dog of peace than people in a troubled world. This Wuzhou has only fought for a few days, and the people have been tortured like this!

However, he has no way to improve the living conditions of the refugees. Right now, he can only temporarily guarantee the food supply.

The size of the front hall is small, and there are four seal characters inscribed on the plaque, which Xie Erren didn't recognize, but He Dongli explained that these are the four characters "Lize Tianxia".

There is a statue of the Dragon Mother enshrined in the middle, and there are five little dragons coiled under the altar.Miao Zhu prepared the incense wax long ago, and Xie Youren took it—he only planned to act as a show, but the tragic situation of people's livelihood along the way made him involuntarily burn incense and pray, praying that this "Water God of the West River" can protect Wuzhou Safety.

The belief in Dragon Mother is deeply rooted in Wuzhou and other Xijiang River basins. Although scholars like He Dongli mostly have an attitude of "keeping it aside" or "sacred to teach" towards gods, folk beliefs will also affect them to some extent. The "prefect of the Great Song Dynasty" from overseas is so devout to Longmu, not only He Dongli, but also the people watching inside and outside the temple also have a good impression of him.

After offering incense, Xie Youren walked around the temple under the leadership of Miao Zhu and He Dongli. The Dragon Mother Temple here is not small. Starting from the mountain gate, there are front hall, back hall, left and right corridors, corners Pavilion... According to He Dongli, this temple was first built in the Northern Song Dynasty and rebuilt in Wanli.It is the largest among the local Longmu temples, and the incense is also the most prosperous.

"On the first day of May every year, it is the Dragon Mother's Birthday, which is the most lively," said He Dongli. "The boats sailing on the river will sail within three miles of the Dragon Mother's Temple on the day of the Dragon Mother's birthday, day and night. , you have to sound the flute and beat the gong, pay homage to the front of the temple, sail to the river in front of the temple, stop the boat and go ashore to visit the temple, offer incense and candles."

He said that the visit to Dragon Mother’s Birthday started on the first day of May and ended on the fifteenth day of May. During the two days and nights of the seventh and eighth day of May and the daytime of the ninth day, the climax was three days and two nights. Entertainment groups from all over come here to catch up with the show, and people from the villages and towns of the local and neighboring counties also come here to perform festivals and competitions, which is very lively.

Xie Youren immediately thought that this was a great opportunity to "set up a stage for festivals and competitions, and perform economic performances". At the very least, it could also promote economic exchanges between urban and rural areas. good interest.

The foundation of doing a good job in the economy is to have a peaceful environment.Xie Youren suddenly had a deep understanding of this sentence.

While sighing, the guard leading the guards whispered: "Chief, there are a lot of people gathered outside, and there are not many yamen servants to suppress, so it is difficult to ensure safety—let's go out through the small door next to it."

Xie Youren didn't take it seriously, "We have no grievances with the people of Wuzhou, so what safety issues can there be? This is also an opportunity to connect with the masses. Don't let everything become a soldier."

Coming out of the Longmu Temple, I saw a lot of people watching the fun gathered outside. Xie Erren waved to the crowd with a smile on the stone steps to show "being close to the people".Seeing that he had no official pretensions, the common people all wanted to take a good look at what the "Australian magistrate" looked like, so they rushed forward one after another.The guard of the guard urged Xie Erren to leave quickly.

Xie Erren was not in a hurry, he enjoyed the feeling of "having fun with the people", he took square steps, walked down the steps slowly, and waved along the way.Just walking to the last level, suddenly a woman squeezed out from the crowd and shouted:
"Kun thief! Die!"

While shouting, there was already a gleaming knife in his hand, and he rushed towards Xie Erren.

This sudden drink made Xie Erren stunned for a moment, and the guard, with sharp eyesight and quick hands, pushed him violently, directly crushed him to the ground, and spread his limbs to cover him.

With this push and pressure, Xie Youren's eyes stared like gold stars, and he almost couldn't breathe.

The guarding soldiers had rifles on their backs, and there was no time to react in a hurry.The yamen servant at the side was still nimble, and he swung out the long whip used for suppression in his hand, and hit the woman's calf with a whip, and dragged her to the ground with a quick roll.

The yamen servants on the side rushed up and pinned down the woman with all their hands. Someone grabbed her wrist and snatched the sharp knife from her hand.

The soldiers quickly formed a circle and surrounded Xie Erren.Xie Youren got up from the ground, only to feel that his body was in a cold sweat, and he was speechless for a while.Seeing that the place where the woman fell was less than two or three meters away from him, if it wasn't for the quick response of the guards and the quick action of the government servants, he would be doomed at this moment: even if he didn't die on the spot, he would be killed in a place far away from the Senate and without senior officials. With a punctured belly, the chance of survival is very slim.

It was the first time that his life was threatened at such a close range, and he burst out with great anger at the same time of extreme fear. "The power.However, it is inconvenient to get angry in public at this moment. Being pushed to the ground by the guards just now is considered "disrespectful", and now it is even more obvious that he has no "city".So I just coughed, pretending to be calm and said:
"First... push... down, slowly... interrogate..."

"Yes!"

The yamen servants carried ropes with them, and tied the woman up in a few strokes.Only then did everyone see clearly that the assassin was a young woman, wearing a blue cloth short jacket, a moon white trousers, a child skirt, and a white velvet flower on her temple—she was a filial widow.

"What a pretty woman!"

"Why does this little widow want to murder Australians?"

"Could it be the wife of the fallen soldier?"

"It's a pity for a good woman! This is a suicide attempt!"

"Look at her deeds are very strong, she is really a strange woman."

...Whispering among the surrounding onlookers.Xie Erren originally wanted to say a few words, but the guards urged him to leave quickly—maybe there is a second or third assassin hiding.

At this time, Xie Youren was feeling a little overwhelmed. He originally felt that "the world is in his hands", but now he felt that "they are all enemy countries", and he had no intention of expressing himself anymore, so he nodded and said, "Let's go back!"

The woman who was being taken down suddenly stopped, bowed her head and bit the yamen servant beside her violently, while the yamen servant let go of her hand in pain, she struggled to break away from the yamen servant beside her, turned her head and shouted: "If you want to be killed or cut, it's up to you! I was born a Daming man and died a Daming ghost, and I will never bend my knees to become a thief!"

The yamen servant turned pale with fright, rushed forward and pushed her to kneel on the ground again, the woman was still cursing herself endlessly:
"We are descendants of China, we have been educated for a long time, you are a thief who has no king and no father, and all living beings are thieves and soldiers. Why don't you bow down when you see me!
"Although the soldiers and horses in front of the Kun Bandit Hall are mighty, their violence and tactics are the same as those of the Eastern captives! The rats still have skin, but the Kun people have no manners. Humans have no manners, so why not die!
"The mothers of the Kun people are all servants; the fathers of the Kun people are all slaves! The bones of you thieves will fall into the hands of the officers and soldiers in the future, and you will be smashed to pieces."

The sharp voice echoed on the stone steps in front of the Dragon Mother Temple. An old government servant hurried over and took off her chin, and the series of cursing became indistinct.

Xie Erren was extremely annoyed that what was supposed to be a good "people-friendly embroidery" was ruined by this woman.He could tell from the expressions of the surrounding people that they somewhat sympathized with this woman—since ancient times, the people would always involuntarily worship those of the same kind who resisted the power—he couldn't help but secretly sighed in his heart: I really don't know what to do!
He collected himself, pretended to be casual and said to the people around him: "Take her back, watch out, don't let her die."

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Next update: Volume 343 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter [-]

　The simplified version of the physical book "Lingao Qiming" is already on the market, and this time it will be released at the same time through Weidian and Taobao channels.

　　Taobao link: tb.am/qvjvu or directly search for "Lingao Qiming Volume [-]", store name: Bairencheng Special Supply Store
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(End of this chapter)