In a blink of an eye, the autumn colors have darkened, the grass and trees are gradually withering, and Zhao Tong's days of confinement have ended.
But he did not go to court. After all, there was no special military force and he did not have to attend the court meeting. Moreover, not even half of the three months' vacation given by Emperor Daojun had passed.
The house was very lively that day, especially the East Kitchen area, which was very noisy because the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has been around since ancient times and is celebrated on August 15th. However, it was Taizu of this dynasty who officially established this festival.
For people in the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was a big day, and it was just short of the New Year's Eve. Even the Dragon Boat Festival couldn't compare with it.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, convenience stores in various places in Tokyo begin to be decorated. All main stores sell new wines, re-organize their facades with colorful decorations, and people in the city rush to come and drink.
And Chao Shang will also have a holiday, not an ordinary holiday, but a regular holiday.
At this time there will be a banquet in the palace.
Wealthy people would build a high platform in their mansion, or rest in a high place, where they could drink, enjoy the moon, and listen to plays for fun.
Ordinary people's families would also go up to the small platform in the courtyard to arrange family gatherings and reunite their children. The more prosperous people would go to restaurants to grab seats and enjoy luxury.
In the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to reciting poems and lyrics under the moon, there are also many other romantic things, such as flower appreciation, garden tours, river lanterns, boat viewing and so on.
On this night, the business in Tokyo will continue until the fifth watch, and tourists will admire the moon and dance in the city without stopping all night long.
The east chef in the palace is busy preparing Mid-Autumn Festival snacks.
Desserts are baked moon cakes, also called Mid-Autumn Festival cakes, which are probably the predecessor of moon cakes.
Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and glutinous rice in them. They are a seasonal food during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
For this reason, Zhao Tong specially sent people to Yihefang to recruit two cooks. Yihefang is the most famous place in the city for making moon cakes, but the tastes are all fixed and none of them are what he likes.
The two cooks spent a lot of money, and the chef in the house only made cakes on weekdays and seasonal snacks on holidays.
At this time, the aroma of scones from the east kitchen was already wafting out, and my mother was busy there. Zhao Tong felt that he should find something for her to do. Since he liked these things before, he would leave the snack making to her. .
As for what kind of food Zhao Tong liked to eat, he told Jin'er to take the order, and then she studied the recipe and arranged it with the two cooks.
At noon, the first batch of moon cakes came out, and Jin'er trotted to the study with an oily wood plate in her arms.
Zhao Tong doesn't like to eat soft mooncakes, but prefers ones with a slightly crispy outer skin. As for the fillings, they don't care about the most genuine nuts, they are mostly candied fruits.
After the afternoon, as more and more small cakes were baked, they were rewarded one after another. The oven was not closed until the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
After Zhao Tong finished eating the cake, he sat in the study and drank tea. Luo Jinshui came to the house and presented a drawing, which was the residence of the Mingjiao people he had explored these days.
At this moment, Fang La had not rebelled. The court did not know much about the Mingjiao organization, nor did it know that it had been widely spread among the people. Therefore, there was no explicit ban on it, or it was regarded as a scourge.
Therefore, Mingjiao is not so secretive in its work, and if you want to preach, you have to communicate with each other, so it is impossible to be unaware of it.
Tokyo is different from other places. After all, under the emperor's feet, the people's life is pretty good. Since the Song Dynasty, Buddhism and Taoism have been prosperous. In recent years, the Taojun and Emperor have been tossing the Shenxiao Sect, and the people are not surprised by this.
Therefore, Mingjiao's missionary work is not smooth, and once it becomes blatant, it is more likely to be noticed by others.
In addition to the addresses of the two envoys on the drawing, there is also a special place marked by Luo Jinshui. It should be the residence of a higher-level envoy, because the mark on the door is much higher than that of the envoy.
But Luo Jinshui has never seen the people inside, and he doesn't know what level of Mingjiao he is. After all, he can't compare to the group of dirty clothes led by Zhu Xiaoyi, who can monitor them day and night.
Luo Jinshui said: "Your Majesty, the two guides have become more and more arrogant in recent days. They dare to preach directly in the market."
Zhao Tong nodded, he must be a little anxious, but even so, it is estimated that the court will not say anything, because there are too many teachings and sermons in the capital, and there are countless branches and schools of Buddhism and Taoism.
At the beginning, Mingjiao was under the guise of Buddhism, and it was mixed with local Persian sayings. Then it was mixed with some things from the Western Regions in the Uighurs. Now it has entered the Central Plains, and some Taoist sayings are also mixed in.
Therefore, judging from the appearance, there is really nothing to tell about this thing, so it is so bold that it is directly announced in the market.
Zhao Tong carefully looked at the markings on the drawing. Most of them were ordinary believers. It would be easy to deal with these people. At worst, he would take over or eliminate the missionary leaders and leave them alone. After a long time, no one would take charge. Naturally, It faded away.
He understands the teachings of Mingjiao. In fact, this kind of thing is not as attractive to people who live and work in peace and contentment as Buddhism.
The temptation is only great for those who don't have enough to eat, or who are brave and have nowhere to vent their strength.
Therefore, this thing has always been popular in poor places, and it is not easy to develop in Gyeonggi.
He picked up the sheep's hair and circled a few places on the drawing, including the two residences of the envoys and the residence of the higher-level envoy. There were also two points. According to Luo Jinshui, It is a place for secret gatherings, so circle these two.
Zhao Tong knew that this gathering place was actually a place for explaining the scriptures and meanings. This kind of place must be spacious, and ordinary houses cannot accommodate so many people.
First, remove these five places, and then interrogate them to see if there is anyone else who is taking the lead. Then we will finish them off together.
Then he summoned Tan Zhen, and this was probably done in Tan Zhen's name. Since he was at home on vacation, he would not interfere in name.
When you go to arrest, you need to bring a few masters with you. After all, the people of the Ming Cult are all good at martial arts, so there might be some masters hiding in the city.
Now that Huang Gu and Ouyang Bei were not in official positions, it was best for people from the palace not to come forward, so he asked Tan Zhen to call Lu Junyi, Xu Ning, Zhang Xian, and Shen Fei to pick out a few members of the regiment who were good at martial arts. Go to the table together.
As for the Broken Jade Tower, it was not used. After all, it was considered an official intervention, and it would be a bad thing to involve the world.
After everything was arranged, Luo Jinshui quietly watched over there, just waiting for night to come before starting to take action.
Although there are five places, there is no need to mobilize troops. Zhao Yu’s plan is to sweep from the big to the small. The higher-level envoys mentioned by Luo Jinshui will come first, followed by the two envoys, and then the gathering place. .
After dinner, the sky was getting darker. At this time, someone was delivering a letter outside. Zhao Tong took it and took a look. It turned out that the two receptionists had gone out and rushed to the meeting place. It seemed that they were going to explain the Bible tonight. righteous.
Zhao Tong thought about it for a moment, and realized that it would be even simpler this way. The five places would become three directly. All he had to do was send someone to watch over the gathering place, and everything would be served in one go.
Looking at the time, he felt it was about the same, so he took Shen Fei out.
Shen Fei selected a total of ten teenagers in the group, most of whom were the ones who went to Lanxia Town with him when he returned to Tokyo. They were all very skilled in martial arts.
After leaving the old Cao Gate on the east side of the inner city, we arrived at the outer city. In front of us was the Zhujiaqiao tiles, and then we walked through Xiejie. This place was very lively, with prosperous business and brothels and restaurants, and there was a strong tendency to catch up with Zhouqiao.
The group went east to Niuxing Street and arrived in front of Niulou Hotel. The special place Luo Jinshui mentioned was nearby.
Niuxing Street is the largest street in the east of the outer city. It is prosperous, but the traffic of people is complicated, and the public security history is not good. There is no curfew in the Song Dynasty, so things happen every day, which always gives Kaifeng Mansion a headache. Incessantly.
Zhao Tong took out the drawing drawn by Luo Jinshui and took a look at it. It was located in the southeast of Niulou Hotel. There was a residential area there. Although it was outside the city, most of them were merchants, so they were well built and spacious enough.
After leading the search, he saw Xu Ning coming to pick him up not too far away. It turned out that Tan Zhen had already surrounded the place like a net, and everyone who came in or out could not be seen.
Zhao Tong went over and saw that Tan Zhen and Lu Junyi were pretending to be drunkards and arguing in front of a house, while Zhang Xian and Yanqing were pretending to be their own servants. The masters were quarreling, and they were glaring at each other.
He couldn't help but laugh. This flaw was too obvious. If people from the Ming Cult didn't feel that Tokyo was not dangerous and their hearts were relaxed, they would have noticed even the slightest vigilance.
Tan Zhen saw Zhao Tan coming and was about to say hello when Zhao Tan winked and Tan Zhen stopped, then Yan Qing next to him walked straight towards the door of the house.
This has been planned for a long time. There is no need to sneak over the wall, just go through the main entrance.
Yan Qing knocked on the door, but there was no movement for a long time. Yan Qing shouted: "Pedestrians passing by, drunk and thirsty, begging for a bowl of water."
He shouted several times, but there was still no answer. Tan Zhen frowned and stepped forward and shouted: "Is anyone there... Sir, I'm thirsty. I'll get a bowl of water to drink, but I won't drink it for free for you."
There was still no one talking inside. Tan Zhen pretended to be drunk and said angrily: "If you don't open the door, don't you look down on the officials? Do you know my name in this Niu Market Street? If you don't open the door, I will kick you in and get water!"
As he spoke, he kicked his foot up, and suddenly a female voice came from inside: "Where did this bastard come from, he actually broke into my aunt's house!"
As he spoke, footsteps sounded, and when he reached the door, he heard a "clunk" of the wooden bolt being pulled, and then the two doors opened to the left and right, revealing the figure of a woman.
I saw that this woman was very tall and sturdy, with two messy eyebrows and a dark face. If she were not wearing women's clothes, she would definitely be mistaken for a man.
Tan Zhen was a little dumbfounded when he saw this woman's appearance. He was a well-informed man. He had never seen such a woman in the prosperous capital city, but this was the first time he saw something like a black tower in front of him.
The woman was also a little stunned. She didn't expect that there were so many people outside. She couldn't help but frown and said, "Where did you come from... What are you doing here?"
Tan Zhen threw away his arms and said playfully: "I told the official that he wanted to drink water, why didn't he drink it for a long time? Now that the official is thirsty, how can you compensate me?"
Seeing his rude words, the woman's face immediately showed anger, and she said coldly: "You are so naughty, and you actually blackmailed me to the door of my aunt's house!"
Tan Zhen didn't care about this, he shouted: "The ugly woman didn't go to the market to ask what would happen if she dared to offend my great official, why don't you quickly pay for it with money?"
He said and walked towards the door. The woman was so angry that she stretched out her hand to close the two doors. Tan Zhen pushed it with his arm. The door, which had been decayed for many years, made a "click" sound, along the wooden axes on both sides. Fold down.
The woman immediately took a step back, then glared at Tan Zhen: "You're such a bastard, you're looking for death!"
Tan Zhen laughed loudly and said to the back: "Come in and take a look. If there is anything valuable, we can move it away. It will be considered as compensation to the officials for the money I lost due to thirst."
The woman's face was livid with anger, she clenched a fist the size of a bowl and gritted her teeth as she looked at Tan Zhen.
At this time, people outside the hospital came in with a "hoo!" and shouted in conjunction with Tan Zhen: "Pay up, pay up, pay up quickly!"
When the woman saw that there were so many people, and none of them looked easy to mess with, she took a few steps back, then turned around and ran inside.
How could Zhao Tong let her run away? He shouted: "Thief wife, don't even think about defaulting on your debt. Don't leave without taking money."
Lu Junyi stepped forward in two steps. The woman seemed to be touching the weapon, but Lu Junyi was not as quick as Lu Junyi. Chunyan cut water from behind, twisting her arms together.
The woman was shocked and struggled desperately. Who knew Yu Qilin's tricks? Lu Junyi lifted and pulled her arms, causing them to dislocate. Then he shouted: "Be honest, I will let you go after taking the money."
The woman was in pain and yelled angrily: "You gangsters, how dare you break into the house and rob me?"
Tan Zhen chuckled and said: "Why are you robbing me? I've been knocking on the door for a long time and no one has opened the door. It's all your family's fault for being rude. I must compensate the officer for my rudeness."
"Rogue, aren't you afraid of the government?" the woman cursed.
"Government?" Tan Zhen heard this and laughed loudly: "Are you talking about Kaifeng Mansion?"
The woman was pushed to the door. She looked a little panicked, but she still shouted: "I'm going to Kaifeng Mansion to sue you scoundrels!"
Tan Zhen said hehely: "My brother-in-law is working as an errand in Kaifeng Mansion. Let's see if he believes you or me!"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at the door in front of him, with a puzzled look in his eyes. Logically speaking, the courtyard was already so busy, and if there were people in the house, they would still make some noise even if they didn't come out to see. But at this moment, in that house But there was no movement.
He glanced at a few Forbidden Soldiers wearing ordinary clothes next to him, and these Forbidden Soldiers immediately stepped forward and kicked the door open.
There were many candles lit in the main hall of the room, but there was no one there. After several forbidden soldiers rushed in, they went to check the rooms on both sides, but there was still no one there.
At this time, a forbidden soldier suddenly said inside: "What kind of Buddha is this offering? How come I have never seen it before?"
After hearing the words, everyone walked over to take a look, and saw a stone Buddha enshrined in the house there, with lights carved around his body. His expression was both majestic and solemn, but also kind and compassionate, with completely different attitudes appearing on the same face.
Except for Zhao Tao, no one present recognized this stone Buddha, and they all frowned and showed doubts.
Zhao Tong's face darkened at this time. This was clearly the Mani Light Buddha worshiped by the Ming Sect, also known as Ming Zun.
He turned his head to look at the woman and said coldly: "Come here, interrogate this woman carefully!"
(End of chapter)
