Xianju is very close to Taizhou and not far from the sea, only a hundred miles or so.
Although Lu Shinang is the leader of Mingjiao, he does not have a close relationship with the sect. Before joining Mingjiao, he had many people. After responding to Fang La's uprising, he even called himself General Chongtian. He followed Huang Chao's example and had little contact with the Holy Army. .
After being defeated by Tong Guan's troops, he led dozens of soldiers and fled into the vast sea without trace...
It's midsummer now, not the warm season of early spring when the grass is growing and the orioles are flying. The heat is unbearable and the sun is scorching. It's hard for Zhao and his team to walk.
We have to look for traces of Fang La everywhere, and we also have to clear out some bandits who are not known to be Fang La's army or Lu Shinang's army, which is quite hard.
When they arrived outside Xianju City, the county magistrate and the military and horse supervisors all got the news and went out of the city to greet him.
Xianju was lost before, the county magistrate was killed, and the chief registrar died. After Tong Guan recovered, the county magistrate was temporarily in charge of county affairs, waiting for the arrival of a new magistrate appointed by the court.
Crowded all the way in, Zhao Yu looked at the cultural scenery.
Xianju is an ancient city, but it is just a county seat. It cannot be said that the city is tall, vast and has strict fortifications, but it has many scenic spots. Although some of them were destroyed during the war, many remain.
Xianju is the place where allusions such as "One person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven", "Visible seas and mulberry fields", and "Everyone talks about something" happen.
The place is full of ancient charm and mellow ancient customs, and the scenery inside and outside the city is beautiful in all directions, and the scenery is as charming as a scroll.
Zhao Tong settled in Xianju County Government Office and asked the county magistrate and the military supervisor about the current war situation and whether there was peace at present.
The two of them were obedient and sang nice songs to praise each other. Zhao Tong got bored and waved the two away.
Then he pondered and found Fang La on the road. As Zhao Kai said, this method of searching is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack. It may have some effect on ordinary people, but it has no effect on people like Fang La.
As for Lu Shinang, after his defeat, he never came back with his remaining troops. After all, the situation was over and it was extremely difficult to regain his weapons. He could only find a place to become a mountain king and a small pirate, robbing families and homes.
But now that he's here, he can't leave easily. The scenery in Xianju is so good that Zhao Tong plans to stay longer and wait for news from Tong Guan.
Zhao Kai didn't need to count on it, and he thought carefully that Fang La was unlikely to go to Tian Hu's place.
Although the two were old acquaintances, Fang La was proclaimed emperor after all. How could Tian Hu accommodate him, the Holy Emperor?
So even if Fang La did look for an escape route according to the map, it would probably be Guizhou and Dongting Lake.
After resting for a night, Zhao Tong changed his appearance the next day, put on a brown face, and then called Du Bo, Wu Song, and the three brothers of the Bai family to go out.
As for the Scarlet Pioneer Regiment, Shen Fei was asked to take it with him and the three thousand cavalry left the city to inspect the six towns and eight townships below Xianju, interrogating suspicious persons.
After visiting several places of interest in the city, Zhao Tong led his people to have a vegetarian meal at Daxing Temple. Daxing Temple is a thousand-year-old temple. It was established in the first year of Xingping in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was first named Shitou Temple. It was only renamed Daxing Temple during the Kaibao Period of this Dynasty.
At this time, the war was over, and the front of Daxing Temple was very lively. There were all kinds of people setting up stalls selling sundries, carrying burdens and selling fresh fruits, and people casting fortunes and fortune telling. Pedestrians were also men, women, old and young, rubbing shoulders and bustling.
After eating, Bai Ao said: "Young Master, yesterday I went ahead of the army and horses to explore the road. I saw a large bamboo forest outside the east city of Xianju, and there were vaguely temple flags and other objects inside. If you are interested, you can go there to relieve your boredom."
Zhao Tong nodded, and the group went straight to the east. Not far after leaving the city gate, they saw a large green bamboo forest, I don't know how many miles away. There were wine flags sloping along the road, a small gray-tiled building in the forest, and a Taoist temple with white walls. , there is a different world.
Walking over, I saw that the restaurant was very majestic. In front of the blue brick house, a bamboo and wooden wine canopy spread out into the forest. There were more than a dozen tables and nearly a hundred guests. At the moment, there were people drinking in twos and threes, but it was not noisy. It was very Poetic.
Zhao Tong couldn't help but praise: "It's really a great place, worthy of the word "Xianju".
Several people walked under the "Drunken Dream" wine flag fluttering in the wind. Zhao Tong suddenly stopped and looked at the thick-armed flagpole with a thoughtful expression.
Just in an inconspicuous position on the flagpole, like graffiti, there is a small symbol.
This symbol is not big, so if you don’t look carefully, or you are not even familiar with the symbol, you will not notice it at all.
It was a ball of white fireworks, green bamboo skin, carved in white, lifelike.
Zhao Tong squinted his eyes. He recognized this as the contact signal of the Ming Cult. He wondered if this "Drunken Dream" restaurant was a remaining stronghold of the Ming Cult?
Now that Fangla was destroyed, Lu Shinang was defeated, the main altar of Bangyuan Mingjiao was completely destroyed, and the branch altars in various places were no longer in existence. It stands to reason that Jiangnan Mingjiao should be disbanded.
Even if there are still some remnants running outside, they are scattered and scattered, and it is too late to evade the search by the officers and soldiers. How can they make contact? If no one organizes such a thing, there will definitely be no such gathering.
The symbols on the flagpole don't look old. Judging from the marks on the knife edge, they are newly engraved. That means someone is really secretly involved.
But what puzzles Zhao Tong is that the level of this white firework symbol is not low. It cannot be used by low-level messengers such as ordinary believers or guides. Using white fireworks as a contact symbol must be at the level of a flag bearer.
He glanced at the surrounding drinkers, but no one paid attention to this symbol. For ordinary people, even if they saw the white fireworks, they didn't recognize it, so they wouldn't take it seriously.
Zhao Tong thought about it for a moment. It would be too arbitrary to say that the Drunken Dream Restaurant is a dark spot of the Ming Cult. After all, the flagpole is standing outside the door, and the restaurant will not take care of it if the guests scratch it a few times. The bamboo flagpole is not valuable. , are everywhere, and you can take whatever you want.
"Go and have a look in the forest." Zhao Tong ignored the symbol and asked a few people to walk deeper into the forest along the bamboo leaf path.
Not long after they left, a man came out of the liquor store, dressed as a cashier, holding an iron abacus in his hand. He glanced at the symbols on the flagpole, and then at the retreating figures of Zhao Tong and others with a meaningful expression.
This bamboo forest is vast and contains many antique buildings.
There are some small temples of gods and the like in front, all of which have temple blessing hosts, and there is no shortage of incense. People come in small groups to offer incense and worship the gods.
Continuing to walk inside, you will see a Taoist temple. This Taoist temple is huge, covers a wide area, and is surrounded by green bamboos and flowers. It feels like a paradise.
Before the group came to the gate, Zhao Tong looked up and saw three official script horizontal lines of "Shenxian Guan" written on the plaque.
Wu Erlang was a man of few words. He was silent all the way, but at this moment he couldn't help but said: "What a loud tone, how dare you call me such a name!"
Du Bo next to him smiled and said: "What does this mean? There is a Taoist temple in my hometown. Its radius is less than half that of this place, and the scenery is indescribable. What name did Erlang guess?"
Wu Song shook his head and said nothing, and Du Bo said: "It's called the Temple of Climbing Immortals. The incense is extremely popular. It is said that as long as you worship sincerely, you will definitely ascend to heaven and become an immortal."
Wu Song wondered: "What does it mean to worship sincerely?"
Du Bo said: "It is a large donation of gold and silver, which is as meritorious as the donation from the monks and temples."
Wu Song sneered and said: "My sword can be used to send people to immortality, but there is no need to donate it."
When everyone heard this, they immediately laughed and went inside the temple.
At this time, a little Taoist priest came out, let everyone go, but stood in front of Wu Song. After singing "Immeasurable Heavenly Lord" in a crisp voice, he said: "Please stay here, this donor."
Everyone looked at it, and Wu Song wondered: "Why are you blocking my path alone?"
The little Taoist priest said: "The donor is a disciple of the Buddhist family, and his original view is Taoism. It is better for the donor not to enter."
It turned out that after Wu Song put on Jiang Ning's Toutuo monk's robe, he felt it was spacious and comfortable, so he never changed it. Instead, he put a crescent gold hoop on his head, feeling free and easy, and he looked like a Buddhist practitioner.
He was angry when he heard this: "Which rule says that the clothes of the Sa family are not acceptable for viewing?"
The little Taoist priest raised his chin and said, "Don't get angry, Tutu. Even if we go to the temple, we won't be allowed to enter. Where did you receive the ordination? Which master did you worship? Don't you even know this?"
Wu Song suddenly felt guilty. He was a fake practitioner. How could he receive the ordination and become a disciple? He couldn't help but reached out and touched the golden hoop on his hair and said, "The Sa family has neither had their heads rubbed nor been ordained?"
The little Taoist priest smiled and said: "It turns out to be a wild tutuo, but you can't enter if you wear this kind of clothes. You'd better wait outside."
Wu Erlang was so angry that his teeth itched, but it was unreasonable to say such things, and it was difficult to get rid of his robe. It was hot today and there were not many clothes underneath, so it would be inappropriate to enter the temple bare-chested.
Zhao Tong opened the gold-painted folding fan beside him and shook it a few times. He smiled and said, "Little Taoist Priest, can you make some changes?"
The little Taoist took a look and said: "This official, I can see that Toutuo is the official's personal attendant. This is the rule in Guangzhou. I can't say anything. The master of the temple has the right to make the decision."
Zhao Tong thought to himself, this is actually a smart person, and said: "I'll go in here, and the little Taoist priest will go over there and explain to the temple owner."
The little Taoist priest's eyes flickered. He looked at Zhao Tong and did not refuse directly. Instead, he said to Ai: "This..."
Zhao Tong winked at Bai Ao beside him, and Bai Ao immediately stepped forward and took out two large silver coins: "My young master donated the merit to the temple, and even bothered the Taoist priest to go to the temple master to explain the accommodation."
The little Taoist priest immediately smiled, reached out to take the silver, slapped his head, and changed his title: "The believer is very sincere. The Taoist priest is willing to go to the temple to explain it to the master. Please come in and have a swim."
Zhao Tong nodded, and the little Taoist priest saluted again, then turned and left. Du Bu pulled Wu Song into the door. Wu Song looked at the little Taoist priest's retreating figure and said bitterly: "What are the rules? I think the rule of bronze smell is the biggest! "
Zhao Tong said: "You can't say that. After all, monks also need to eat and live. What's more, the scenery here is beautiful. Although it is not a real residence of gods, it is rare in the world. Spend money to visit and buy peace of mind."
The group of people walked inside and entered the Sanqing Hall first. They saw that this view was indeed different from ordinary temples. There were dozens of gods accompanying Sanqing on both sides. It was difficult for everyone to recognize them all. Even Zhao Tao was a little confused. .
"There is something about this view!" Du Bo couldn't help but sigh.
Zhao Tong nodded. Some of these statues of gods were gilt, some were pastel, and they had lifelike expressions. They were not the dull clay sculptures in small Taoist temples.
After walking a few steps forward, there were devotees on the futon kneeling down and kowtowing, muttering something, nothing more than praying for peace and wealth.
Zhao Tong looked around half a circle, and wanted to lead people out from the back of the palace, but was suddenly startled when he saw a small symbol scratched on the inside of the large cloud-patterned pillar.
Zhao Tong touched his chin. Different from the fireworks symbol he had seen on the flagpole of the restaurant before, this was a solar talisman, which was also the contact symbol of the Ming Cult.
Interesting... Zhao Tong pondered slightly. The restaurant outside may be taking the blame for the Ming Cult, but there is definitely a big problem with this Taoist temple.
This place is full of luxury and emphasis on faith, and it can be seen that countless amounts of money have been collected at a glance. But this kind of place was not destroyed during the few months that Lu Shinang occupied the Immortal Residence?
Lu Shinang's army is not as good as Fang La's army. Before joining the Mingjiao, they were bandits and bandits who only shared the stolen goods. How could they let such a wealthy Taoist temple go without robbing?
Although the Daxing Temple in the city is currently prosperous, many temples inside are burned down and destroyed. When Zhao Tong and others went to eat vegetarian food, they saw the ruins and asked why they didn't find someone to repair it.
The great monk replied that all the money for the incense offerings had been taken away by thieves, and it would cost a lot to rebuild the temple, which would probably take two years.
But the Immortal Temple in front of me... showed no signs of being destroyed or robbed, which was a bit unreasonable.
Wu Song and others did not recognize the symbol, so they just followed Zhao Tuo and went out of the back door to several halls. Everyone marveled at the generosity and said that it was really worth it to come here. They had never seen such a luxurious Taoist temple. The Shenxiao Palace in the cities of various states is probably incomparable.
After arriving at the temple for a long time, I saw a big tree between the two halls. This tree was towering to the sky, with lush branches and leaves, and jasper-like makeup. The tree had to be hugged by three people.
Wu Song was surprised and said: "What kind of tree is so big that I have never seen before?"
Bai Ao said: "Erlang doesn't know it, but this is Chu wood. It is rare in the world. If it is not struck by lightning, it can grow indefinitely and cannot be destroyed by drought, floods and insects."
Zhao Tong also looked up and saw that the crown of the tree was like a huge umbrella canopy, covering the sky and the sun, like green clouds. He thought to himself that it was so tall that sooner or later it would be hard to escape thunder.
He had Mingjiao in his mind, so he walked around the tree and looked around. Sure enough, he also found a symbol on the trunk. The symbol was vague. He identified it. After recognizing the meaning, he called everyone and walked into the back hall.
This is a hall dedicated to Taiyi, the Lord of Suffering. Zhao Tong wandered around inside and saw another symbol on a pillar, which was a moonlight talisman.
There were some miscellaneous talismans under the moonlight talisman. Zhao Tong took a closer look and smiled at the corner of his mouth.
There is indeed a big problem with this Immortal Temple. This is a Mingjiao stronghold, and the miscellaneous symbols under the moonlight symbol represent the meaning of the third watch.
At the third watch of the night, Taiyi saves Ku Tianzun in the main hall, and you can contact us.
But this was obviously not prepared for Zhao Tong. As for who he would contact, Zhao Tong couldn't guess for a moment.
After all, the Ming Cult has been disbanded, and no branch in Jiangnan still exists. This level of contact should not exist, but looking at the contact symbols and the scale of the Immortal Temple, it is not like the ordinary remaining believers below who are colluding with each other.
The White Flame Talisman is not something that ordinary believers can draw, as well as the Sunlight Talisman and the Moonlight Talisman. Only flag bearers are qualified to stay at least. But at the level of flag bearer, not to mention almost all of them will die. They all hid themselves to avoid trouble. How could they be so bold as to communicate privately when the limelight was so intense at the moment?
"Let's go, let's talk after we get out!" Zhao Tong said calmly.
Everyone left the Immortal Temple together, and then walked around other temples in the bamboo forest. By this time, the sun had already set.
After leaving the bamboo forest and arriving in front of the "Drunken Dream" restaurant outside, Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes slightly. At this moment, there were more guests under the bamboo canopy than before.
Bai Ao asked doubtfully: "It's getting late, and there's no place to stay outside the city. Where do these drunkards come from? If we can't enter the city then, where can we stay?"
Zhao Tong pondered slightly, then smiled and said, "Let's go over and sit too."
(End of chapter)
