The colleague on the opposite boat obviously also noticed the boat coming behind him. He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked his men to temporarily stop boarding the boat.
When Xu He saw this, he couldn't help but become more curious. Looking at the look on his fellow friend, it was obvious that he was not sure about the coming ship.
At this time, the incoming ship was already approaching. Sure enough, not far from Cao Jiangjun, the incoming ship dropped anchor and walked out of the cabin...a bald-headed monk.
…
How come there were monks coming out of the official ship? This scene immediately stunned Xu He and that fellow scholar.
The great monk stood on the bow of the boat, clasped his hands, and recited the Buddha's name: "Who is the donor Xu He and Xu? The poor monk is Zhenke, the abbot of Tianning Temple in Yangzhou. I am here to welcome the donor Xu to my Yangzhou!"
Xu He was stupid, really? Who? I don’t know him at all.
But he lived in Yangzhou in later generations and was very familiar with Tianning Temple.
There are many ancient temples in Yangzhou, including the Daming Temple, which was built in the Southern Dynasties and is still popular today; the Chanzhi Temple and Shanguang Temple, which were regarded as good tomb sites by the poet Zhang Hu in the Tang Dynasty; and the Mulan Temple, where the story of Prime Minister Wang broadcasting the "after-dinner bell" .
But speaking of Tianning Temple, as the first of the eight famous temples in Yangzhou, it naturally has its own story.
There is a legend that Tianning Temple has the saying that "Xie An's house is a temple", so it is also called Xie Sikong Temple.
In fact, this is a misunderstanding, just spreading rumors.
The more reliable time when the temple was built is probably the first year of Wu Zetian's Zhengsheng reign. It was named after the year and was originally named "Zhengsheng Temple".
Later, it was burned down due to war, and the rebuilt temple named by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was named "Fuci Tianning Zen Temple".
Thinking of this, Xu He suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his heart. Although he still didn't know who invited the abbot of Tianning Temple, he could guess this person's good intentions.
As the first Zen forest in Huainan, Tianning Temple is very famous in Yangzhou. The abbot here also serves as the chief monk of the Yangzhou Senglu Department.
In other words, the other party not only has the identity of the abbot of a famous temple, but also has the official identity of [Sengzheng].
Let him greet him, so that the other party can take into account Mako's identity without attracting too much attention.
Sure enough, someone beside Tongzhi whispered a few words in his ear, and Tongzhi's face turned livid.
Xu He stood on the bow of the ship and said loudly: "Master Zhenke, I am going to the sea to bury Xu He!"
The great monk Zhenke was a little put on because of his age. He held his belly with one hand and stroked his beard with the other and laughed like an old escort: "Great, I finally meet Mr. Xu!"
After that, he set up a plank and prepared to board Xu He's boat.
Upon seeing this, the colleague who was in command of Jiang Jun shouted: "Old monk, are you sure you want to interfere with our work in charge of Jiang Jun?"
Hearing this, Zhenke pretended to be shocked and said: "Hey, are you fighting the Jiang army? Why did you come to the inland river?"
The veins on Tongzhi's forehead were pulsing wildly, and he sneered: "I have my own destiny, so please stay away."
At this time, the river, which was not wide, was blocked by three official boats, and all the boats passing by were unable to move.
The people who were eating melon just now heard that Qiu Ba was disrespectful to the great monk of Tianning Temple in Yangzhou, and there was a lot of curses around him.
In addition, the river had been blocked for a while, and more and more boats were piling up. The curses spread on the river, and obscene words were thrown at Cao Jiangjun's boat. Everyone on the boat looked at each other, wondering why they suddenly became The target of public criticism.
The great monk Zhenke smiled and said: "Sir, the young monk heard that water bandits are rampant on the Yangtze River. Many people in Yangzhou who are making a living on the water are drowning on the river. Yesterday, some family members of the deceased came to our temple to pray for the salvation of the deceased. What do you think? You, the Jiang army, did not go to exterminate the water bandits, but came to this inland river to show off your power, are you really overstepping your bounds?"
But these words immediately resonated with everyone. The water bandits in the Yangtze River have become outrageous.
There were groups of three, groups of five, and even large water bandit groups that gathered in tributaries and robbed water transport ships.
These Cao Jiang troops did not go to exterminate the thieves, but deliberately made things difficult for a Japanese ship.
In the eyes of the common people, these gangs of Jiangjun soldiers just do not do business and meddle in other things.
Seeing this, Xu He pulled Chu Yuan and others who had already left the cabin onto the bow of the boat, and then said to the people on the boat around him: "The five of us are scholars going to take the government examination, and we all have floats issued by the county government. , everyone commented that this group of people wanted to board the ship to search for no reason, saying that there were thieves here, I just want to ask, can the thieves sit on the government ship openly? "
Hearing this, the big guys looked at Xu He and the other five scholars, and saw that all of them were pale-faced, weak, and unable to restrain a chicken. They looked nothing like thieves who were robbing homes.
One of the fisherman men said loudly: "Guaiguai Longdi Dong, these scholars can't even take care of a chicken, and they are bandits? Don't be ridiculous!"
After everyone heard this, they all burst into laughter.
At this time, Xu He said again: "Fellow military lords of Caojiang Yushi Yamen, if you are worried about the bandits hiding on our ships, why not do this? We invite Master Zhenke from Tianning Temple and a dozen ordinary people to come to us. You also send people over to inspect this ship together."
"First check the five of us who took the government examination. This is the most reliable thing. If there are three generations of criminals in the family, they are not allowed to take the scientific examination. If the five of us have the floating tickets, then it must be no problem, no problem. If so, we won’t sit on this Japanese-made boat anymore, we’ll ask Master Zhenke to give us a ride, and the rest of you can go check it out on your own!”
The people around him nodded their heads after hearing this, saying that the scholar's method was good.
Now that he has proved his innocence, he will not delay the search for thieves in Jiangjun's Yamen. Now, the people who run Jiangjun will not have any objections, right?
When the colleague on the big ship heard this, he was so miserable that he couldn't express his sorrow.
He knew in his heart who he was targeting this time, and invited so many people to board the ship for inspection. This person named Xu He used the legendary conspiracy, and he also used the other's spear and the other's shield.
Didn't you say there was a problem on our ship?
Okay, everyone has their eyes on, we have no problem, let’s go first, and you can check as you please.
Xu He ran away, so what the hell was wrong.
It was such a good thing, but he didn't expect it to be turned into such a bad situation. The colleague really wanted to run into the bow of the boat and die, so as not to go back and be called a waste.
Seeing him in a dilemma, Xu He sneered in his heart and said loudly: "My lord, I have some good words for you... Your salary is your salary, the people are fat and the people are anointed. The people below are easy to abuse, but the heaven is hard to bully."
"The imperial court's salary supports you so that you can go to the Yangtze River to suppress bandits and destroy Japanese pirates, not to come to the inland rivers to show off your power!"
"Okay, okay!"
"This scholar said it so well!"
"That's right, which one of these officials is not supported by the taxes I pay on fishing and farming? Just like this, they still bully people like us."
When the great monk Zhenke heard these four sentences from Xu He's mouth, he nodded slightly and smiled. When the river wind blew, his clothes fluttered, like a Maitreya Buddha!
