Liu Xiang didn't speak for a long time. When he heard the unprofessional term "cursed puja", he roughly knew what Shen Ruiming was going to say. He had spent so much energy on "not talking about witchcraft" and "not using witchcraft as a crime" before. He was obviously involved in so much anti-feudal superstition work. Why did he bring up such an idea now? Are you trying to dig a hole for me? Liu Xiang couldn't help but fell into deep thought.
It's not that he thinks there's anything wrong with Shen's suggestion, but that as an administrative official, he doesn't want to be regarded as a typical example of "not asking about the people but ghosts and gods". He doesn't want to use religious weapons at all if things can be solved by administrative means. of.
What's more, the new Taoism is at the forefront now. If you do something like this, you will be drowned alive by the saliva of the senior senators in Lingao.
After a while, he finally said: "Xiao Shen, we can discuss whether torture should be carried out, but the government cannot organize such activities on its own!"
"Of course it's not the government that comes forward. You can let the New Taoism come forward - for example, Master Gaozu comes forward..."
Of course, this is also a method, but it still has a bit of a cover-up meaning. Who doesn't know that Gao Ji is the number one lackey of the Senate.
It lacks a bit of "public opinion", yes, it is "public opinion"!
Seeing that Liu Xiang was silent, Shen Ruiming turned his attention to Cui Hantang. He originally thought that the fat man would raise his hands in the air to enthusiastically support his suggestion, but unexpectedly, he saw him leaning against the wall and trying to slip out. He couldn't help but shout:
"Old Cui, where are you going?"
"I can't hold my pee in anymore, I'm going to release some water."
"Damn, you just went there ten minutes ago, and now you go again, you are suffering from kidney failure!"
"It's really a bit complicated. Frequent urination and dirty urine. I have to ask Liu San to check his pulse..." Cui Hantang responded casually and walked out.
"Don't slip away, talk about serious business!"
Seeing that he couldn't escape, Cui Hantang had to come back for the meeting. Seeing that Liu Xiang wanted to "discuss his views", he had no choice but to cough sadly and said:
"After the last public sacrifice, the incense in our Five Immortals Temple has become much more prosperous. Whether they are wealthy gentry or ordinary people, they all come to burn incense when they have nothing to do. Although our new Taoism does not approve of burning incense, we still want it to be auspicious. It is inconvenient to object, and the popularity of our religious activities shows that our religious activities have great potential! Everyone knows the deeds of Taoist Zhang in Shandong, which shows that the expansion of New Taoism has effectively suppressed crime and social stability has increased significantly."
"Okay, let's get down to business, what do you think about this matter?" Liu Xiang asked directly as he was impatient with his remarks.
"Well, our new Taoist sect is an upright Taoist sect. Although we can also practice talismans, we can only subjugate demons - we cannot do this kind of curse spells..."
He rolled his eyes a few times and said: "There is still a way...but it can't be called that..."
Liu Xiang said: "Please tell me and listen."
Cui Hantang knew Liu Xiang's thoughts very well: he wanted to eat mutton but was afraid of causing trouble. Shen Ruiming firmly disagreed with torture, and Liu Xiang wanted to take this opportunity to "educate" the masses, so the ball was kicked to him.
But Cui Hantang himself was not willing to accept one thing. Why? First, his eighteen-day prayer ceremony was so thin that he lost a lot of weight. Two or three pounds, I don’t want to find another errand for myself; secondly, the new Taoism has been criticized wildly since it came to Guangzhou. If this thing goes wrong, it is "promoting feudal superstition."
After much thought, Cui Hantang came up with an idea: after all the death row prisoners were executed, the corpses could be crushed and their ashes used as fertilizer. Then they spread rumors that the place where prisoners were executed was strange, that children were injured or missing, and that there were "evil ghosts harming people" and other theories. Based on the current general understanding of the public, people must be panicked. Then spread rumors that the New Taoism has a lineage of Dharma Assembly, which specializes in suppressing evil spirits, exorcising evil spirits, and can restore those evil things to the original source of heaven and earth. However, killing souls is like killing people, and eliminates the way for these living souls to come and go. , which is contrary to the principle of heaven, earth and noble life, so in the new Taoism, only its methods are taught and its deeds are rarely practiced. When those suffering people heard these words, the crowd was bound to be furious, and they spontaneously went to Cui Hantang to take action and start a fight "according to the general requirements of the people." In the entire process, apart from controlling the direction of public opinion, the government has completely eliminated all other aspects, and everyone is happy.
"...I really don't know how to do any spells or anything like that! Just fool around."
Liu Xiang's eyes lit up. That's right: there is a basis for public opinion! But he immediately thought of the second question: Since there are such legends of monsters and ghosts, as the mayor of Guangzhou, he does not adhere to the principle of materialism and proactively eliminate feudal superstition, but even if the people leave the problem to religious organizations, this It doesn’t seem to make sense…
"I don't think this matter can't be done, but first of all, the nature of private and civil affairs must be defined. Not only can the elders not come forward, but it is also inappropriate to show up to preside over such 'our people'. The most ideal thing is to let the victims come forward." Liu Xiang said.
"Of course the sufferers are happy! Just give them a hint!" Shen Ruiming was very enthusiastic about his idea.
"Well, let's not engage in legends about monsters and ghosts. The key is to stabilize people's hearts right now. People's hearts are at the beginning of their peace now, so there is no need to do anything to make the people uneasy."
Shen Ruiming and Cui Hantang looked at Liu Xiang, wondering what new tricks Mayor Liu had?
Liu Xiang's plan is relatively simple. Basically, the master of suffering will submit documents to the major religions in the city: requesting all religions to jointly curse the condemned prisoners to never be reincarnated, to fall into hell forever, etc...
As a result, not only did it have nothing to do with the city government, but New Taoism became less conspicuous. After all, there are still old-school Taoist sects, Buddhist sects and Catholic schools in the city. And not all of them may be willing to take on this kind of thing.
"Most of the sufferers are ordinary people and don't have a lot of money. Those big temples and temples all have eyes that reach the top of their heads. How can they agree to these things? What's more, this curse technique is not available in ordinary religious sects. …”
"This has nothing to do with us." Liu Xiang said, "Regardless of whether there is a sect to take over, as long as this public opinion is stirred up, the social response will be very powerful - anyway, there is no such thing as a curse."
The next day was the day of the public trial. Zeng Juan got up early as usual and took some dry food to occupy a place outside Zhenhai Gate. When he went there, the city gate had just opened, and Haipi was already crowded with people. Even the wall of Zhenhaimen, which was quite far away from the stage of the public trial, was full of people.
The place where the stage was set up was right in front of the original Maojia Inn. After the shanty town outside Zhenhai Gate was demolished, only the thatched cottage courtyard was left untouched. It is said that it will be burned to comfort the souls after the public trial and the public trial. At this moment, the surrounding area has been blocked by the National Army and prosecutors in a large circle. Outside the circle are the masses three levels inside and three feet outside.
Along the river embankment, there are five or six newly erected long door frame-shaped shelves, each with more than ten rope loops hanging on it - Guangzhou citizens are already familiar with this thing: this is the Australian The "gallows" in which the person who committed a capital crime climbed onto the stage had a noose around his neck. As soon as the trap door below was opened, the person was immediately hanged upright.
The people competed to guess the number of prisoners to be executed today based on the number of gallows. There are also some common people, dressed in mourning, holding ropes and pots - these are those who have a blood feud with the prisoner, and are ready to tear a piece of meat and collect a pot of blood to commemorate their relatives after the sentence...
Zeng Juan arrived early and finally got a good position on a mound, barely able to see what was going on inside the circle.
There are more than 200 people awaiting trial in the circle. Zeng Juan took a look, and found some people he knew, some familiar faces, and some he didn't recognize... He could probably tell that most of these people were "big-boned" people with "heads and faces" among the people of Guandi Temple. All of them are "sitting tigers". There are also many well-known bachelors and scoundrels on the ground and "broken boots" mixed in among them. It is really a nest of snakes and rats. A number of these city foxes and social rats have been killed and arrested during the public security crackdown after entering the city. The remaining ones have some property at home, enough to be called "Master X" by others, because they are well versed in bachelors. Following the golden rule of not fighting against forces, he restrained his minions in time and hibernated in his cave, and was not blown away by the first wave of strong wind. Now, "Gua Man" has been involved in the Maojia Inn case. Many people even cried "unjustly" when they were arrested - many of them really had nothing to do with the Maojia Inn case.
But Zeng Juan knew that there was no good person here. All of them are “gods of plague” that the citizens avoid when walking on the streets. During this period, how many families were ruined, how many people were harmed, and how much money was taken away...it's really countless.
The most famous among them is Gao Lingquan, the only one of the three Gao brothers who was arrested. He has a long, thin face with a pointed lower face. The skin is very white, and he has eyes that are swollen from alcohol. He looks like a young man from a rich family - but he cannot be associated with the word "beggars gang".
These Gaolings were all well-known playboys in Guangzhou - of course they were not "out of the ordinary", because they were rich and had Gao Tianshi as their father, who was always known in the city for their misbehavior and ridiculous behavior. He is known as "Gao Tai Sui".
Zeng Juan's brother-in-law's tea house was also harmed by this high Tai Sui. He didn't know where he got a Mongolian horse. The weather in Guangzhou is actually not suitable for raising horses. When the weather is hot, the horse will become sick and sick. Can't help but feel energetic. One day, Gao Taisui passed by Wan Shenglu on horseback. He led the horse to the shop and asked Zeng Juan's brother-in-law to serve herbal tea to the horse.
Naturally, Gao Taisui didn't dare to offend anyone. He drank more than a hundred bowls, making the shop a mess. Finally, he walked away, not only leaving horse manure all over the floor, but also kicked down and smashed many tea bowls, tables and chairs. No business was done all morning in a row.
Gao Lingquan bullied men and women in the city of Guangzhou and did many bad things. Although Gao Ling had no blood on his hands, he had always been a promiscuous person and had raped and humiliated countless women, causing great indignation among the people.
ps: Official account Lingao Qiming
Lingao Qiming book fans base
The braggart’s message board;
Introduce and sort out important figures and event information;
Showcase the style of the Lingao community and a traveling exhibition of outstanding fan and material works;
Organize online or offline gatherings of elders from time to time;
a word, senat popusque agn
