Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

When Li Bao asked about the Quanzhou temple, Chen Yuanlao, who had always advocated Buddhism and Taoism, instantly lost his religious belief and even gave Li Bao many suggestions.

"Yanfu Temple belongs to the Shifang Jungle and has grown rapidly in recent decades," said Chen Yuanlao. "It has many believers and many enemies. Those ship owners who travel by sea are most concerned about the trade wind and believe that the trade wind is From the gods. King Tongyuan is the sea god of Quanzhou, a god worshiped by many ship owners, but the temple of Tongyuan King was merged with Yanfu Temple."

Li Bao smiled and said, "Are those ship owners unhappy?"

Chen Yuanlao nodded and said: "Some Buddhist ship owners support Yanfu Temple's annexation of Tongyuan King Temple. But more ship owners are angry, and every time there is a shipwreck, they think it is the monks who desecrated King Tongyuan. The abbot of Yanfu Temple has repeatedly stated that he would use Buddhist ordinations to worship King Tongyuan, and the ship owners became even more complaining. But they did not dare to offend Yanfu Temple, because many ship owners relied on Yanfu Temple for supplies."

Li Bao nodded: "Don't throw away the business of eating."

Chen Yuanlao said: "There is a Lin family witch in Putian next door. It is said that she appeared after death and often saved people's lives in shipwrecks. Some ship owners were dissatisfied with Yanfu Temple and frequently worshiped Lin's daughter in the dark, gradually forming a trend of private sacrifices. And King Tongyuan is an official sacrifice."

Li Bao has no interest in this kind of competition for incense.

Chen Yuanlao added: "It is best not to move the Hu'an Merit Monastery. The monks in this temple all practice martial arts, and its lay disciples are all over Quannan. It is not that the general's heavenly soldiers cannot defeat the monk soldiers of the Hu'an Monastery, but that there is no such thing. Necessary. This temple only covers an area of ​​400 acres, and the temple land is only a few thousand acres. It is mainly maintained by money from incense."

Huan Gongde Temple, also known as Dongchan Zhaoti Temple, is actually the legendary Southern Shaolin!

In various unofficial histories of later generations, this temple can be described as "loyalty and justice" and "full of martial virtue".

When Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, because the King of Fujian relied on Zhu Wen, Southern Shaolin openly raised troops to oppose it. As a result, the King of Fujian destroyed Southern Shaolin.

At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Pu family rebelled against the Song Dynasty, and thousands of monks in Southern Shaolin protested for righteousness. As a result, the Mongolian soldiers slaughtered the monks and destroyed the temple.

The last time was in the Qing Dynasty, when Southern Shaolin participated in the rebellion against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty and was destroyed.

Of course, you have to read these unofficial histories with your head in mind.

The King of Fujian who burned down Southern Shaolin for the first time was a rebel general who came from a poor background. The evaluations in the history books are full of praise, and he was praised as the "Holy King of Fujian" for selecting talents, appointing talents, frivolous corvee and giving little gifts. I am afraid that his attitude towards the temple was not very respectful.

The record of the second time the Mongols destroyed the temple can be read as a Qing Dynasty martial arts novel, with the golden bell cover and iron cloth shirts all included. (The Southern Shaolin War against the Yuan Dynasty is not entirely fake. Many characters and events are consistent with historical facts and should be artistically processed based on folklore.)

However, judging from the name of the temple "Hu'an" in Southern Shaolin and the poetry notes of Song Dynasty literati, it is estimated that this temple really has many martial monks and recruits lay disciples for martial arts training.

Moreover, the gods and Buddhas enshrined in the temple are also very interesting. They are Patriarch Bodhidharma, Thirteen Stick Monks, Eighteen Arhats and Nine Heavenly Mysteries... highlighting the inclusiveness.

Fujian is mountainous and has many bandits.

Maritime trade flourished, and there were also many pirates.

It is necessary to practice martial arts, and there are already prototypes of bodyguards. Many of these "bodyguards" come from Southern Shaolin.

Chen Yuanlao said: "Last time Tong Guan sent troops to collect food, the Quanzhou monk soldiers repulsed them, and the monks from the Hu'an Gongde Academy (Southern Shaolin) put in a lot of effort!"

"Understood." Li Bao nodded.

The scale of Southern Shaolin is small, with only a few thousand acres of land. On average, each monk only has a few acres of land.

There's not much oil and water, it's still hard work, so there's really no need to take action.

Of course, Li Bao will report the truth to the court, and Ju Ming will definitely deal with it.

A monk can practice martial arts and use sticks, but he must hand over all his weapons and armor!

Li Bao wanted to inspect Yanfu Temple because there was enough food there.

Let’s destroy Xin Xingzong first.

Li Bao did not want to wait in Quanzhou, so he took the initiative to go north to Qingxi (Anxi).

…

At this time, Xin Xingzong had just arrived at Qingyang Iron Field. Due to the inconvenience of crossing mountains and ridges, it was difficult to carry a large amount of luggage, so he gave up some food and belongings.

Arriving at Qingyang Iron Field, they immediately searched for ships and robbed the place.

Thousands of victorious troops were already complaining because they could not see the future!

Xin Xingzong said to his soldiers: "Now that there are ships, you can take the ship to Quanzhou. When you arrive in Quanzhou, there are sea ships, and you can go directly to Guangzhou. Guangzhou is rich and has countless women's wealth. You are allowed to plunder Guangzhou for three days!"

The promise of a three-day plunder could no longer boost morale, and many people wanted to return to their hometowns in the north.

Moreover, the Ming army swept across the southeast, and Guangzhou would be captured sooner or later. Where could they escape then?

Seeing that morale was still low, Xin Xingzong said again: "When I go to Guangzhou, I will attach the land of Guangdong and Guangxi to the Prime Minister, and you can all be granted wives and sons in the Great Chu Kingdom!"

Anyone with a slightly smarter mind will know that this is pure nonsense.

The officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty in Guangxi, with the support of the gentry, fought hard against Xiang Zhong's Chu army for two or three years. Will they cooperate with Xin Xingzong to surrender to Chu?

I'm afraid even the local officials in Guangdong will no longer take Xin Xingzong seriously.

Shengjie's army has now become a lost dog. He is despised wherever he goes. He can only rely on force to overwhelm the states and counties.

The soldiers took a boat to Qingxi County and communicated secretly in private.

"From Shaanxi to Kaifeng, then from Kaifeng to Hangzhou, and now I'm being chased in Fujian again. I don't want to run away anymore. I heard that there is a lot of miasma in Lingnan, and if you go to Guangzhou, you will die."

"I want to go back to Longxi. I am a son of a good family in Longxi. I don't know what happened to my family!"

"The (Song Dynasty) court said that Emperor Zhu was cruel and killed many people in Shaanxi. I don't think it is credible. I heard from my brothers in the Western Army that Prince Zhu was very benevolent and righteous. He would release prisoners back home and return them before leaving. Distribute food so that they do not rob the people on the road.”

"Just kill the person named Xin and get a clear flag to join the new dynasty."

"Yes, we are soldiers of the Grand Master (Tong Guan). The Grand Master is already dead, so why should we work for Xin Xingzong?"

"It's not easy to take action here. Let's go to Qingxi. When the time comes to kill Xin Xingzong, we will defend the county seat and wait for the court to send people over to surrender."

"..."

A general who took advantage of Tong Guan's power and fled with a group of northern soldiers recruited by Tong Guan in the rolling mountains of Fujian.

It’s outrageous to think about.

No matter how bad Song Huizong and Tong Guan are, as long as they are still there, they can still stabilize the morale of the army! But the emperor is missing and Tong Guan is dead. What will happen to the morale of the army?

This is not something that can be solved in three days.

If it was a certain death situation, they might still stick together and fight for their lives with Xin Xingzong. But surrendering to the new dynasty will not necessarily lead to death. Even if you are sent to Xihe to reclaim wasteland, at least you will be closer to home than staying in Fujian!

Counting the cousins, there are five people in the Xin family, and now only Xin Xingzong and Xin Yanzong are left.

"Brother, these soldiers don't look kind," Xin Yanzong said in a low voice, "It's fine in the ravine, but now that they're about to get out, a mutiny is very likely to happen."

Xin Xingzong said: "What else can I do? Even your own soldiers and mine have already abandoned their moral compass at this moment."

Xin Yanzong muttered: "It's better to surrender."

Xin Xingzong shook his head: "Tong Taishi is one of the six thieves. You and I have served as generals under him for a long time, and he has carried out many plunders in Zhejiang and Fujian. There are countless civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty and the New Dynasty who want to kill us. Get killed!"

Xin Yanzong thought about it carefully and then said: "I heard from Fujian officials that there are big islands not far across the sea. Some of the islands are called Penghu. Many of the poor people in Zhangquan have moved there. Why don't we lead our troops and go to Penghu by boat? The island may even become a powerful force."

"Penghu Island is too close. I heard that it is coming overnight. Emperor Zhu sent troops to suppress it and there is no way to stop it." Xin Xingzong said.

"Then go to the big island," Xin Yanzong said, "just tell the soldiers that the big island is all indigenous countries, no different in appearance from the Han people. As long as you go there, you can easily wipe out the Ban people and build a country. Brother, come As the king, I will be the prime minister. All the generals can split the soil and become marquises, and the soldiers can allocate the land and become gentry. If you think the women of the Ban tribe are ugly, you can rob the women and make them wives when you pass through Quanzhou."

Xin Xingzong felt that this plan was feasible, but he was afraid that he would not be able to satisfy the soldiers: "Are they really willing to go to the land of Shengfan?"

Xin Yanzong said: "Let's talk about Emperor Zhu's benevolent government and love for the people, and Prince Zhu's selfless face. The soldiers robbed the people and killed many people. Even if they surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, they would be executed. One side is a capital crime, and the other side is a way of life. Let them choose. This is better than going Guangzhou is more accepting. If you go to Guangnan, you will definitely face Emperor Zhu’s conquest."

No matter what, Xin Xingzong could only try.

He found a relatively flat and open place, let the soldiers land on the shore, and then began to lecture: "Who is Emperor Zhu? He claims to be benevolent to the people..."

First, the death threats were made, and then some of the victorious soldiers were really frightened by the fact that Taiwan is full of fertile soil.

Some people also raised questions: "Then Liuqiu Island (Taiwan) is such a good place, why doesn't the imperial court send people to occupy it?"

Xin Xingzong explained: "In the past, it was very desolate, and the people did not know how to farm and weave. But since the founding of the Song Dynasty, many Fujian victims sailed over by boat, and they also brought the Han farming methods with them. The officials were stupid and did not know how to accept their land, but they It's just an advantage for us. As long as we go to Liuqiu, with your excellent soldiers and armor, are you afraid that you can't defeat those barbarian countries? Then grab some women and property from Quanzhou, I will be the king, and the generals will break the earth and seal it Marquis, ordinary soldiers will be rewarded with land and slaves!"

Someone else asked: "If the officials in the new dynasty are not stupid, what will happen if Liu is asked to ask for land in the future? Doesn't Emperor Zhu still have to send troops to conquer?"

"It was different at that time," Xin Xingzong said. "In the eyes of Emperor Zhu, now we are all remnants of the Song Dynasty. If we are caught, we will naturally be punished. But in the future when we build a country in Liuqiu, we will be nobles of the foreign state, and Emperor Zhu will send troops to fight against it." Surrender immediately. Not only is there no crime, but it is also a meritorious service. When the time comes, brothers who want to return to their hometown will also be able to take the opportunity to go back and reunite with their relatives."

This statement made so much sense that the soldiers of the Shengjie Army actually believed it.

Like a drowning man grasping for a life-saving straw, they decided not to engage in mutiny for the time being.

After stabilizing his military morale, Xin Xingzong continued on his way, and soon he could see Qingxi County in the distance.

Due to the shortage of ships, some soldiers walked along the shore with the ships. They were eager to enter the county town and were too lazy to plunder the riverside villages. The villagers even ran away early when they saw them.

Li Bao's soldiers are here, and they are hidden among the folk houses in Fuguo.