Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

After Lin Lingsu came to the capital, he lived in Taiyi Palace with hundreds of other Taoist priests and waited for the exam.

Huang Shang's side was extremely short of manpower and was recruiting temporary workers from various temples in the capital.

There is no salary, only food is provided, but one hour a day is allowed for temporary workers to read the Taoist scriptures.

There were only a handful of people who signed up, and they could have had free food and accommodation.

Lin Lingsu signed up quickly because he wanted to read a book!

This gentleman was born in a poor family when he was young, so he was thrown into a temple and worked as a novice monk for many years. Unable to bear the abuse of the old monk, he escaped from the temple and became a Taoist priest. But he was just a wild man who didn't have an ultimatum. He usually traveled around the world and learned some magic tricks.

He said that he was a disciple of Shushan Taoist Zhao Sheng. Anyone with a right mind would know that he was talking nonsense.

Because Zhao Sheng is a character in "The Legend of Immortals", Zhang Daoling's last disciple in the human world, and he ascended to heaven with Zhang Daoling and became an immortal!

Lin Lingsu hated the monk very much. After he became successful in illusion, he traveled between the Huaihe and Huaihe areas. As soon as he ran out of money, he would go to the temple to eat and drink for free, and he would use illusions to keep the monks from doing anything.

With more than ten years of experience in the world, and having been a monk when he was young, Lin Lingsu is very familiar with Buddhist and Taoist rituals.

His religious practice has reached full marks, but he only lacks a solid theoretical foundation.

The main reason is that Taoist books are hard to find. Unlike in the Internet era, you can read them easily with just a mouse and keyboard.

Lin Lingsu didn't even have a master, and all he had access to were ordinary Taoist scriptures on the market. He just thought about it on his own, and then went to find a serious Taoist priest to discuss the scriptures, and accumulated Taoist knowledge bit by bit.

Therefore, Taoist priests who had contact with Lin Lingsu felt that he was misinterpreting the scriptures.

"You can organize this room of scriptures into categories," Huang Shang said to a few temporary Taoist priests. "You can read it by yourself every day at the time of application, but you are not allowed to take the Taoist scriptures out."

Lin Lingsu's eyes were shining as he looked at the room full of Taoist books. This is what he lacked!

After Huang Shang left, several temporary Taoist priests immediately rushed in to sort out the scriptures.

They had an idea with Lin Lingsu and wanted to get some precious Taoist scriptures to read.

So while sorting out the books, I looked for what I wanted and put it aside for reading.

Finally, a servant came to remind: "The time of application has arrived."

The Taoist priests immediately picked up the Taoist scriptures and read through them. Lin Lingsu chose a seat by the window and crazily enriched her theoretical knowledge.

This guy is really smart and has a very good memory.

I also take reading notes every day, and make adjustments to some of the shortcomings of Taoism based on my more than 20 years of experience.

For example, Lin Lingsu felt that Taoist rituals were not perfect enough. We can learn from Confucian sacrifices and Buddhist rituals, and integrate them into Taoism to make Taoist rituals more solemn, solemn, mysterious and majestic.

"There's another quarrel next door!" said a temporary Taoist priest.

"Come and watch the excitement."

Lin Lingsu also followed, and the room next door was already noisy.

Those were all serious Taoist officials, and their number had increased a lot, with a total of twenty people at Huang Shang's disposal.

The content of their quarrel was "Journey to the West". The Neidan sect liked it very much and planned to donate it to the emperor. The Waidan sect likes novels and stories, but hates Buddhism. They believe that this book is not suitable for external circulation. Ordinary people cannot understand the connotation. They only know that Tang Monk's study of scriptures will increase the influence of Buddhism.

There are also some Taoist priests who believe that this book can be presented to the emperor, but it must be extensively revised.

They argued and argued, but to no avail. "Journey to the West" just lay there eating ashes.

Lin Lingsu looked disdainful, "What's the fuss about a book based on Buddhist scriptures?" When he became prosperous, he asked the Buddha to change his title as well.

While other temporary workers were still listening to the quarrel, Lin Lingsu had returned to the room and continued to study Taoist theory.

With many Taoist treasures as nutrients, Lin Lingsu's knowledge has been advancing rapidly. He learned more in a few days than he could in one or two years among the people. However, because he relied entirely on self-study, his understanding of the Taoist scriptures was different from others in many aspects.

Lin Lingsu must have the ability to get out among the thousands of Taoist priests in the capital.

He knows weather, magic, and medicine.

The most important thing is that he can understand people's hearts by dealing with all kinds of people all year round!

Once he got the chance to meet the emperor and Song Huizong stuck his butt out, Lin Lingsu knew what he was going to do.

…

But it was said that Lin Lingsu was practicing Taoist theory in Tokyo, while Xue Daoguang was traveling westward with his luggage on his back.

Taoist books are all secrets that have not been passed down, and it is difficult for ordinary people to see them. However, the Taoist poems of today's masters have appeared in large numbers in novels.

Xue Daoguang is going to see which senior brother wrote "Journey to the West".

He had a formal Taoist certificate on him, and the emperor believed in Taoism. When Xue Daoguang encountered a post station on the way, he could not only eat and live for free, but also use transportation for free as long as he took out the ultimatum.

In more than a month, he traveled from Kaifeng to Hanzhong.

And he was in high spirits and showed no sign of fatigue.

When I arrived outside Xingyuanfu City, I saw large tracts of unknown crops growing in the fields on the outskirts.

There are also a few archers patrolling the area. When they see someone approaching, they yell: "This is overseas fairy food, and you can see it? Get away quickly and don't disturb the fairy energy!"

Immortal food?

Xue Daoguang heard this and walked over and asked, "Where did you get the fairy food?"

He wore a Taoist bun and Taoist clothes. The archer did not dare to neglect, and said with his hands, "These are the seeds Zhu Chenggong, a scholar from the Eighth Route Army, got from overseas immortals by his father. He invited some to be planted in his field." .”

Xue Daoguang learned from Wang Qi that the authors of "Journey to the West" were Zhu Guoxiang and Ju Ming and his son, and that Zhu Ming was Zhu Chenggong, the son of the Eighth Route Army Scholar.

Is it possible that Zhu Guoxiang is really his junior brother and has also visited immortals overseas?

Xue Daoguang asked again: "What is the name of this fairy grain?"

The archer said: "It's called corn, and the yield per acre is several stones. As the saying goes, fairy grain has fairy energy, which mortals can't bear. After this year's harvest, only some seeds will be rewarded to the blessed and virtuous gentry. If the common people dare to steal the seeds, all Take him to jail!"

"The yield per mu is several stones..." Xue Daoguang understood somewhat and nodded in approval, "But he is a good official."

The less people are allowed to breed, the more people will breed!

People come to take a peek at those cornfields every day, and they are already attracting a lot of attention.

The archer pointed to the sweet potatoes between the rows: "These are fairy potatoes, and they also have fairy energy."

Xue Daoguang left with a smile, more interested in his junior brother.

Taking the ultimatum, he went to the inn to get a boat, sailed down the river, and arrived outside Yangzhou City the next day.

As the official ship docked, Xue Daoguang clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for seeing me off. Goodbye!"

The boatman didn't give a good look. In the past, the station only entertained officials, but now it even entertained Taoist priests. They worked for a long time without any extra pay.

Xue Daoguang smiled and threw out a silver coin.

The boatman quickly caught it and found that it was not made of iron or copper. He immediately smiled and said: "Master Tao, go slow."

Xue Daoguang had money, although it was not much, he was generous.

He doesn't take money seriously and just earns it after spending it all.

He didn't go to the inn to be looked down upon again, and walked into a restaurant outside the pier: "Two bowls of rice, one plate of fried meat, and two liang of wine."

"Okay!" the store clerk greeted enthusiastically.

Although the Jindan Nan Sect of Taoism was later classified as Quanzhen Taoism, they did not avoid meat and wine at this time.

Especially the five founders of the sect, each of them "knows the three teachings personally and the nine streams of learning." They can enter and leave the residences of princes, generals, and ministers, hang out with people at the bottom of society, discuss Zen with monks, and talk about poetry with Confucian scholars.

You can also drink wine and stab someone with a knife!

"Mr. Lang, I bought it, I bought it!" A servant rushed into the store.

A young man was having a drink in the shop. When the servant rushed over, he asked quickly: "But what about the gentleman's tea?"

The servant picked up the things in his hands: "It's all first-class gentleman's tea."

The young man smiled and said: "This is appropriate."

Some of the tea leaves bought by the servants were packed in wooden tubes and painted with a layer of paint to prevent moisture. There are plum blossoms carved on the surface of the cylinder, and the words "Gentleman Tea", "Zhengjun", "How can you get the fragrance of plum blossoms without a cold to the bone" are engraved on it.

There are also many in bulk, wrapped in oil paper.

The Zheng family sells it very expensively. First-class green tea costs less than 90 Wen, but the price in Yangzhou reaches 300 Wen.

It doesn’t seem too luxurious, but this is Yangzhou, where tea is produced!

Of course, the Zheng family also has costs for selling tea. Not to mention store tax and loose tea tax, transportation and marketing are the big ones.

Send gifts to the magistrate, the magistrate, the county magistrate, and even the officials in Xingyuan Prefecture. I don’t ask for anything else, just that the officials can entertain guests with green tea, and the green tea is also given away for free.

Some officials don't accept it, some officials accept it but don't look at it, and some officials can't even meet in person.

The process is a bit tortuous, but the results are already showing.

The transfer envoy thought that green tea was not bad and easy to drink, so he served several guests with green tea.

The news quickly spread throughout the Transportation Department, then to the Xingyuan Prefecture Government Office, and then to the Nanzheng County Government Office. The officials who did not take green tea seriously hurriedly searched for the gifts sent by the Zheng family and followed the trend of using green tea to entertain guests.

After going back and forth, the wealthy businessmen in Xingyuan Prefecture inquired about the source of the tea. In addition to drinking it themselves, they also want to buy it as gifts!

It spreads so quickly that it cannot be done purely through speculation. The main thing is that the green tea itself must be excellent.

The young man opened the oil-paper bag and smelled it: "The fragrance is not stuffy, it is quiet and high-spirited, it is indeed good stuff. The Zheng family is in great trouble. If they have good tea that is not sold in Xingyuan Mansion, we have to come to Yangzhou."

The servant said: "Lang Jun, all the tea, wine and vinegar in Xingyuan Mansion have been bought by the Wu family, Huang family and Chen family. The Zheng family cannot open a shop there."

"That's right, we have to wait for those three companies to purchase the goods." The young man nodded and said.

The young man twisted the tea leaves in his hands and muttered: "Gentleman's tea, gentleman's tea, but I haven't drunk it yet, so I don't know how it tastes. Go and ask the store to boil a pot of water!"

Boiled water is ready, and the store clerk came over quickly with a kettle.

The young man was just making tea when someone came into the shop carrying a sack.

The shopkeeper was very happy when he saw it. He hung up the water sign with the word "Gentleman's Tea" on it and shouted at the top of his voice: "This shop serves gentleman's tea. It costs five cents a bowl. You can add water to brew it many times. This gentleman's tea is not It's simple, it was made by Zhu Zhengjun, a scholar from the Eighth Route Army. The princes in the government like to drink it, and the scholars in the state also like to drink it..."

Is it available in restaurants?

Only five cents a bowl?

The young man suddenly felt that the gentleman's tea in the bowl was no longer fragrant.

"How long is the tea in this shop?" the young man asked.

The shopkeeper replied: "Third class."

The young man muttered: "It's not just a matter of waiting."

"Make me a bowl," said a diner. "I've heard of Junzi Tea before, but I haven't tried it yet. I want to try it today."

The store clerk came over quickly, grabbed a handful from the sack, threw it into a bowl and poured boiling water.

"That's it?"

"Gentleman's tea is very expensive. It only costs five cents."

The diner didn't know what to say. He had already finished his meal and couldn't wait to taste it when the boiling water cooled down a little.

Noticing that the neighboring tables were looking at him, the diners immediately praised: "Good tea, not astringent, very refreshing."

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "All the princes in the government like to drink it, so it is naturally good tea."

If it was just spread from top to bottom, it would never be possible to spread so quickly. The Zheng family also made up stories and hired people to tell them everywhere. He didn't talk about anything else, just that the nobles loved to drink green tea, which made the common people have various speculations.

Another diner who was not short of money said, "I'll have a bowl too!"

Xue Daoguang finished two bowls of rice, listened to the discussion in the store, and became more curious about the "junior brother".

Why are there traces of their father and son everywhere from Xingyuan Mansion to Yangzhou?

It has even spread to Kaifeng, so the reputation is so great!

"Give me a bowl too," Xue Daoguang shouted, "Don't put too little tea, just the right amount. It'll cost you a lot."

The store clerk then threw in more: "Seven Wen."

Xue Daoguang looked at the tea leaves that were gradually brewing. The green color made people like it, and it was much more natural than Tuancha.

After waiting for a while, Xue Daoguang tasted it carefully, nodded and said: "This tea is suitable for those who practice Taoism. What kind of gentleman's tea is it? It is clearly Taoist tea, and it must be made by my junior disciple."