"Taoist Master, please give me a piece of green incense." A white-haired old man gently placed a tael of silver on the altar table and said respectfully to a kind middle-aged Taoist priest inside.
"My father-in-law, take your incense. There is a saying in the immortal family: If you have kind thoughts in your heart, God will fulfill your wishes. Be kind, diligent and thrifty, and your life will be long. If you respect the words of immortals on weekdays, you will live a long life."
The middle-aged Taoist man collected the silver and put it casually into the box at his feet. The square wooden box was mostly filled with white silver. Then he turned around and took a piece of green incense that the little Taoist priest brought from the incense room at the back, handed it to the old man with a smile and said.
"Thank you, Taoist priest." The old man took the green incense with both hands and thanked him respectfully.
The old man held the green incense high and squeezed out of the chaotic crowd, being careful not to break the green incense in his hand. This two-foot stick of green incense cost one tael of silver, which was saved by being thrifty and diligent.
"Dad, this way." A bronze-colored young man stood outside the hall. Seeing the old man squeeze out of the crowd, he waved and shouted.
"Xing'er, don't shout loudly in Daomen Blessed Land." The old man came closer and scolded in a low voice.
"I know, dad." The young man touched his head and said awkwardly.
The two people walked quickly towards the huge double-eared unicorn incense burner. There was a thick circle of people surrounding the incense burner. They waited for a while before they found an empty seat in the queue.
The old man gently threw the two feet of green incense in his hand into the incense burner. The green incense rotated automatically, floated straight in the incense burner from top to bottom, floated to an open space on the burner, fell straight down, and was inserted into the incense burner. middle. Then something more magical happened. The green incense ignited spontaneously without fire, and the head of the incense glowed red and began to smoke.
The old man and the young man put their hands together and raised their heads above their heads, half-bent down to worship the furnace, with pious expressions. They worshiped nine times in a row before stopping. The people around them were also burning incense and worshiping like the two of them.
The old man's name is Lu Yong, and he is an old fisherman living next to Fusha Lake. The bronze man's name is Lu Pingxing, the youngest son of Lu Yong. When Lu Yong was nearly fifty years old, his mother-in-law became pregnant and gave birth to Lu Pingxing. She had a son in his later years, so she naturally doted on him.
The huge double-eared unicorn incense burner is filled with high incense, of different heights and sizes, divided into three types.
A kind of high incense has a green surface, is two feet high and about one finger wide, and is commonly known as green incense. For a green incense plant, you need to pay one or two silver incense money to the Taoist temple. Most common people will pay a green incense plant when they come to the temple to worship.
Another kind of Gaoxiang has a red surface, is five feet tall and about three fingers wide, and is commonly known as Xixiang. A stick of happy incense requires a hundred taels of silver to be offered to the Taoist temple. Only wealthy people who come to worship in the temple will be offered a stick of red incense.
The last type of Gaoxiang is purple in appearance, one foot high, shaped like a sea bowl, very huge, and is commonly known as longevity incense. A piece of longevity incense requires a donation of ten thousand taels of silver to the Taoist temple. Only the wealthy and prominent families who come to the temple to worship will be given a piece of longevity incense.
At this time, in the middle of the double-eared unicorn incense burner, three longevity incense sticks stand side by side, standing proudly among the incense sticks. Thousands of red joy incense sticks are inserted around it, hugging each other, guarding three longevity incense sticks. Green incense plants were planted in all directions around the stove. They were densely packed and burning rapidly. The whole double-eared unicorn incense burner is surrounded by green smoke and the incense is in full bloom.
The double-eared unicorn incense burner is an exquisite magic weapon, non-offensive, and a auxiliary functional magic weapon. It can automatically ignite the incense in the furnace and control the burning time of the incense according to the amount of incense in the furnace.
When an auspicious day arrives in the temple, there are huge crowds of tourists, the incense burners are filled with incense and they line up in a long line to worship.
At this time, the Taoist in the observation will speed up the burning speed of the high incense in the furnace. A green incense can burn out in the fastest few breaths, which is visible to the naked eye, which is very miraculous. If there are too many pilgrims in the temple, the incense of happiness and longevity in the furnace will burn faster.
"Little Taoist Priest, my child has reached the age to receive the Jian Yue Lingpei. Please take me to the back hall to receive it." Lu Yong stopped a young Taoist priest with a delicate face, pointed at Lu Pingxing and said respectfully.
"My father-in-law, I cannot be called a Taoist priest. I am just a little Taoist priest. Just call me Qingyun." The little Taoist priest replied quickly.
"Brother, come with Xiaodao! Let's go to Xiangyuan Hall at the back." Little Taoist Priest Qingyun said with a smile.
"Okay." Lu Pingxing responded nervously.
"Dad, I'm going, please wait for me outside." Lu Pingxing said to Lu Yong, and then followed the little Taoist priest who walked towards the back of the hall.
On weekdays, only the Gaoyang Hall and the front yard are open to the Gaoyang Temple. On special auspicious days, tourists can enter other palaces behind the Gaoyang Hall. Lu Pingxing could not go to Xiangyuan Hall because he had to receive the Jian Yue Lingpei. His father Lu Yong could only stay in the front yard and wait.
The two walked out of the back door of Gaoyang Hall and walked towards the antique Xiangyuan Hall on the left. Xiangyuan Hall is half smaller than Gaoyang Hall, and it is not as carved with beams and embroidered columns as Gaoyang Hall. It exudes a simple and refined atmosphere.
"Brother Lu, please sit here for now. A senior brother will call you after a while." Qingyun, a young Taoist, led Lu Pingxing to the hall of Xiangyuan Hall and pointed to a row of benches.
"Thank you, little Taoist priest." Lu Ping thanked him and walked to an empty seat on the bench to sit down.
After seeing Lu Pingxing sit down, the young Taoist priest Qingyun turned around and went back to Gaoyang Hall. He also wanted to help greet other pilgrims, but he didn't dare to be lazy.
The hall of Xiangyuan Hall is lined with rows of wooden benches, which can accommodate hundreds of people waiting at the same time. Because it was early in the morning, there were not many people waiting in the hall. There were only about ten people, all of whom were young people. They were very reserved and did not dare to talk to each other. They seemed extremely quiet.
While Lu Pingxing was waiting, he saw young Taoist priests in the temple from time to time, calling those who had arrived before him to go to several side rooms on both sides.
"Brother, please follow the Taoist priest." Half an hour later, a young Taoist priest came to Lu Pingxing and said.
"Please sit down, this benefactor. What should I call you? My surname is Meng, just call me Meng Daoren." Meng Shengming smiled and said to Lu Pingxing who came in, and raised his hand to signal Lu Pingxing to sit on the wooden chair opposite.
"My name is Lu Pingxing, and I have met Taoist Meng." Lu Pingxing greeted respectfully after sitting down.
"Brother Lu, are you here to receive the Jian Yue Ling Pendant? Can you show me the government ID card? I want to confirm it." Meng Shengming asked according to the procedure.
"Taoist Priest, please take a look." Lu Pingxing took out the official and civilian cards that he had prepared and handed them to Meng Shengming with both hands.
"A villager from Hongyan Village, Fusha Lake, Gaoyang City, Gaoyang Prefecture, Lu Pingxing was born in the 32nd year of Zhengshi"
Meng Shengming took the small rectangular iron plate that was handed over. The front of the iron plate was engraved with the above words, and the reverse was engraved with the official seal of the four directions of Gaoyang City. After confirming that it was correct, Meng Shengming returned the iron plate to Lu Pingxing.
Citizens of Gaocang Kingdom must apply for a citizen license from the local government when they reach the age of fifteen. If there is no reason to shirk and fail to apply for a civil license in time after reaching the age, once investigated, he will be convicted of a felony and sentenced to ten years of hard labor.
Lu Pingxing was born in the 32nd year of Zhengshi, and this year is the 52nd year of Zhengshi. Zhengshi is the year name, so he is exactly twenty years old and meets the criteria for receiving the Jianyue Lingpei. At the same time, another condition for receiving the Jian Yue Ling Pei is met, which is that he must be from Gaoyang City.
For example, the civilians of Yannan City are also under the jurisdiction of Gaoyang Mansion, but they cannot go to the temple to receive the Jian Yue Lingpei. The conditions were extremely strict and could not be understood by ordinary people. People in the other five cities of Gaoyang Prefecture complained a lot.
Every once in a while, some emerging prominent families in the five cities will jointly write to the Governor of Gaoyang, requesting Gaoyang Guan to abandon this extremely unfair condition and issue the Jian Yue Lingpei to the people in the other five cities. But every time I submit a letter, there is no news, no response.
