The large Buddhist hall of Saigyouji Temple and the large courtyard outside the Buddhist hall were lined with monks.
As the only tantric temple in the area, there are a lot of monks here, more than any other temple in Zhangye.
"Start memorizing the scriptures."
Fang Chongyong stood on one side of the Buddhist hall and said expressionlessly.
However, his words seemed to be of no use. Abbot Facheng, who was presiding over the assessment, looked helplessly at the smiling Niu Xianke.
Although the governor was very powerful in the local area, he was still not as powerful as the Minister of Industry sent by the imperial court! What's more, Niu Xianke has been an official in Hexi for decades, and he is an old acquaintance with the little bosses of these local forces!
When Fang Chongyong brought Niu Xianke from Liangzhou to Ganzhou, this place was no longer the only place in his government office.
Although there is only one "brother" named Yongge in Ganzhou, there is a "Master Niu" called Niu Xianke in Hexi!
In the Ganzhou government office, Niu Xianke's words were more effective than his.
In other places in Hexi, Niu Xianke's words are still more effective than his.
To a certain extent, people here in Hexi would rather believe what Niu Xianke said than Brother Ji, let alone Fang Chongyong, the governor.
Whether they are close or not, it’s the feeling of hometown; whether it hurts or not, it’s the people from my hometown. Of course people here in Ganzhou will naturally trust Niu Xianke, who has been an official in Hexi for decades.
Fang Chongyong was helpless and understanding.
The rural party complex cannot be replaced by his own wisdom as an "outsider".
"Hey, don't ask me, these are all Fang Shijun's powers. I didn't come to Ganzhou for the monk assessment. Fang Shijun has the final say here."
Niu Xianke waved his hand and said, clearly supporting Fang Chongyong.
Rather than tearing things apart.
Hearing this, Facheng had no choice but to look at Fang Chongyong and asked: "Fang Shijun, can we start now?"
"Then let's get started."
Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and said.
The monks in the temple formed a group of five and came forward to draw lots.
In the box containing the signs, there are five kinds of signs: "upper, upper, middle, lower, lower and lower".
The corresponding assessment method is only memorizing scriptures, but the number of scriptures that people who win different lots have to recite are different. Well, it can even be said that the difference is very big.
In the past, the "Buddhist qualification assessment" was adopted in many states and counties in the form of "sitting meditation and answering questions."
It is somewhat similar to the Gulong-style dialogue that Fang Chongyong watched in his previous life.
The questioner asked: "Where is the knife?"
The examinee replied: "The knife is in the heart."
After several rounds of similar answers, you will be considered passed.
In Fang Chongyong's view, this horse riding was simply child's play. If you are a monk, you have to be tough on yourself. How can you pass the test by relying on this opportunistic method?
So Fang Chongyong directly restored it to the rules of the early Kaiyuan years. There was no test, just to see who could memorize the book well!
With such unified standards, everyone is convinced. As for why the lot was drawn, it was purely because Fang Chongyong believed that he was "favored" by the Buddha, and it was also a criterion for whether he could become a monk.
As the saying goes, "Luck is also a part of strength."
The "Diamond Sutra" has only one volume, with a total of thirty-two "pieces". Each of these "grades" is recorded on a separate scroll book.
If the monk who accepts the assessment draws "Shang Shang", he will need to recite two hundred similar scrolls in full to pass the test!
On the surface, this seems difficult.
But considering that these monks are not engaged in childbirth, they "serve" the Buddha in the temple all day long. One year to memorize these scriptures is actually very relaxing!
A scroll of books can contain at least a hundred words or as many as hundreds of words. Is it difficult to memorize it in a year?
For a true monk, it is not difficult at all. But for those fake monks who spend three days fishing and two days drying nets, it is even more difficult!
"Those who draw the 'Shang Shang' lottery will memorize two hundred volumes of scriptures. The rest will memorize an additional twenty volumes each time they move down the level!"
Fang Chongyong put his hands behind his back and declared loudly with no expression on his face.
"Your Majesty, what's going on..."
Facheng's face turned green!
Isn't that what I said before? Didn't it mean that the person who got the lottery could pass by just memorizing fifty volumes?
Fang Chongyong remained silent, as if he didn't hear him. Facheng looked at Niu Xianke again. As a result, the minister of the Ministry of Industry and the Hexi Observation and Disposal Envoy sent by the imperial court warmly comforted: "Master Facheng just looked at it. This time it is Fang Shijun who is exercising his authority and... Nothing is impossible and nothing exceeds the regulations and requirements of the imperial court.”
"well!"
Fucheng sighed and stepped aside.
Not only was Facheng's face turned green, but the expressions on the faces of the five monks who participated in the assessment were similar to those of their dead parents. They certainly couldn't recite that much, but they didn't dare to disobey Fang Chongyong, the governor of Ganzhou.
So these people stood still like wooden stakes, neither endorsing nor leaving. It seems that he is waiting for Fang Chongyong to lower his requirements!
However, they were disappointed. Fang Chongyong was still there, as if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.
"If you can't recite it, you can retreat and wait for the Ganzhou government office to deal with it.
What are you doing there? Why don't you back down? "
Yan Zhuang, who was standing next to Fang Chongyong, shouted at the five people!
The five people who participated in the assessment retired, and then the next group of five people continued to draw lots.
Niu Xianke was still watching the excitement without saying a single unnecessary word.
The farce is still going on. Only a few people can pass the initial test of memorizing two hundred volumes of scriptures. In one morning, in the temple with more than 100 people, less than ten people passed.
The passing rate is not even one tenth!
Since the Kaiyuan period, the Buddhist practitioner qualification assessment has become increasingly lazy. There is a mixed bag of good and bad people in the temple, and everything is available. The quality is much lower than when the assessment was just implemented.
This is the case in Chang'an, let alone remote border towns like Hexi. It is normal for temples to harbor dirt and evil, and no house is clean.
It is not unusual to find several bandits who have robbed homes in the temple here.
Finally, the Buddhist Qualification Examination at Xihang Temple ended. Except for one person who had just arrived a few days ago and failed the exam, all the other monks failed. Fang Chongyong failed the exam.
"The Son is here."
"Is he the blind man?"
"How many days has he been here? Can he memorize two hundred volumes of scripture?"
"Hey, how about calling him the Holy Son?"
At this moment, there were whispers in the Buddhist hall, which sounded sarcastic.
Everyone saw Fang Laique with his eyes closed, being supported by a monk and walking to the place where lots were drawn. In the entire Xilai Temple, he was the only one who did not participate in the assessment.
“Since the abbot said you are the Holy Son, then you can just place your lot.
My Buddha is merciful. If I don't go to hell, who will go to hell? The Holy Son is a person who is favored by my Buddha. Naturally, he is not afraid of hardships and obstacles.
The Son can begin. "
Fang Chongyong pretended not to recognize Fang Laique and said loudly in a cold tone.
Hearing what Fang Chongyong said, everyone in the Buddhist hall looked at Fang Laique.
On weekdays, Fang Lai looked crazy and crazy, and even when Fang Chongyong went out to make soy sauce, he was worried that he would get into trouble. But Fang Laique at least looked reliable today.
After hearing Fang Chongyong's words, Fang Laique looked calm and began to recite the Diamond Sutra.
There are three major volumes of Tantric scriptures:
The first part is called the Three External Vehicles of Gathering and Recruiting, also known as the Three Parts of Explicit Teaching.
That is to say: the three vehicles of the Shravakayana, the Sutra-Enlightenment Vehicle and the Bodhisattva Vehicle.
The second part of the tantric classics is called the three inner vehicles of asceticism, enlightenment and enlightenment, also known as the three outer vehicles. That is to say: the matter vehicle, the action vehicle and the yoga vehicle.
The third part of the Tantric classics is called the Three Inner Vehicles of Deep Esoteric Convenience, also known as the Three Inner Vehicles. That is to say: Yogayana, Sutra Yogayana and Supreme Yogayana or Supreme Yogayana.
This last three vehicles are also the Great Perfection of the Mahayana Tantric classics.
Fang Chongyong didn't understand anything about these things, and he didn't understand what Fang Laique was reciting at all.
Fang Laique himself didn't know what he was reciting, but he remembered it clearly, word for word! Even if Facheng mispronounced a few words when he first taught, he would recite the typos intact.
But no one heard it.
Unknowingly, Fang Laique had memorized three hundred volumes of scriptures. Just as the monk taking notes was about to signal the end of the assessment, Fang Chongyong waved his hand towards him, signaling him not to interfere with Fang Laique's pretense.
Three hundred volumes, four hundred volumes, five hundred volumes... The monk who recorded the number of volumes was sweating profusely.
This "blind man" had only been in the temple for a few days. Regardless of whether he was pretending to be blind or not, it was not something that ordinary people could do to memorize the scriptures in the temple in such a short time!
This kind of "mechanical memory" tests people's memory ability and is much more difficult than comprehensible memory.
"That's enough. As expected of the Holy Son, these scriptures were indeed told to you directly by the Buddha."
When Fang Laique memorized the six hundredth volume, Fang Chongyong suddenly interrupted him and said.
His goal has been achieved, so there is no need to continue doing boring things.
"Monks who fail to meet the assessment standards should not leave the temple for the time being and wait for notification from the Ganzhou Prefecture. The assessment of Xihang Temple has ended. The assessment of Xianzong Temple will begin tomorrow. All irrelevant personnel should disperse."
Yan Zhuang received Fang Chongyong's signal and announced loudly.
No one paid attention to him, everyone's eyes were on Fang Laique, who had just shown his talent.
Today, Fang Laique's unique skill of hand-endorsing can be described as "one battle to become a god", directly giving himself the title of "Hexi Endorsement King".
Walking out of Xihang Temple, Niu Xianke smiled at the other party Zhongyong and teased:
"I have accompanied you in this play, so it's time for you to tell me your plans. You wrote letters home to the soldiers in Hexi, and they all called you the Governor of Family Letters. I feel very comforted."
From what he heard, he knew that Niu Xianke came across Hexi to help Fang Chongyong and had no intention of looking for trouble.
"Please tell me in the yamen study room of Shangshu Niu's mansion. I happen to have something important to say."
Fang Chongyong bowed respectfully to Niu Xianke with his hands crossed.
…
"After receiving the sage's edict in Shuofang, I rushed to Hexi without stopping. There were some things I couldn't say on the way. Can you tell me whether you made a mistake in order to exempt Ganzhou from miscellaneous taxes? Big lie?”
As soon as he entered the study room where the governor of Ganzhou worked in the government office, Niu Xianke asked straight to the point.
He is most afraid of these idiots. It is easy to lie but very difficult to tell lies.
He knew the situation in Hexi very well and there were no conditions for smelting. If there was, he would have done it a long time ago. Why did he have no achievements here for decades as an official?
Precisely because he is familiar with the local people in Hexi, Niu Xianke is very cautious.
Fang Chongyong's method of playing is not unfamiliar to Niu Xianke, but the method of operation is still slightly different.
In the past, local officials on the Hexi side complained to the central government, or said they had found auspiciousness or something. After donating to Chang'an, they would most likely be able to get a certain degree of tax relief.
No one always implements the central government's orders to the end.
However, this was the first time Niu Xianke had seen a pattern like Fang Chongyong's, who mainly turned against customers and demanded money from behind.
"That's not the case. There is iron in the mountains to the north of Shandan County; there is coal in the plains to the south of Shandan County. I have heard someone talk about it before, but the specific location is not clear."
Fang Chongyong said with certainty.
The mountain range dominated by Longshou Mountain to the north of Shandan County is an iron ore vein, not far from Zhangye City. This mineral belt is very long, almost extending from the boundary of Shandan County to the boundary of Zhangye County.
The only question is: where is the exposed iron mine?
This is a known piece of information and an unknown problem.
In his previous life, he had watched a documentary. Some villagers discovered a very dense stone somewhere on the mountain north of Shandan, which the locals called "heavy stone."
After testing, it was found that the iron content of this stone exceeded 45%! Based on this clue, the exploration team found the iron ore.
However, Fang Chongyong had no idea where this stone was picked up or the specific location of the exploration. He can only confirm that there are indeed many mining sites in the north of Shandan County.
This information cannot be too specific to Niu Xianke.
The coal mines south of Shandan County were discovered by the Xixia people before the Ming Dynasty, and probably during the Song Dynasty. I believe that mining is not difficult, but this is not Fang Chongyong's focus.
As expected, Niu Xianke sighed with emotion:
"Herdsmen near the racecourse south of Shandan do occasionally pick up black flammable coal. This is not groundless. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you in secret now.
There are craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry who have developed something called dry charcoal, which is processed from charcoal and can be used to smelt iron ore, which is why I came here.
That person set out from Chang'an and will probably arrive in a few days. Ganzhou Prefecture can send someone to lead him around to search for places where coal is found, and he may not be able to find it.
However, it won’t work if there is coal but no iron. Can you tell me where the iron is in Ganzhou?
What I am most concerned about now is whether I can find iron ore. "
Niu Xianke was very pragmatic in his work. After receiving Li Longji's decree, he sorted everything out. He felt that the crucibles and other objects unearthed from the Heishui Kingdom site provided by Fang Chongyong were indeed not nonsense. The reason why I asked just now was just to confirm my thoughts.
He had been an official in Hexi for decades, and he had occasionally heard similar "strange stories", but he was not sure and didn't want to cause trouble, so he didn't think about it in that regard.
If this were not the case, Niu Xianke would not come to Ganzhou in person. With his status, it is perfectly possible for him to send a few subordinates over.
“Iron ore is not easy to find, but it’s not impossible to find.
Niu Shangshu can first reply to the court that Ganzhou's smelting business has great potential, and at the same time send people to find coal.
I've already made arrangements for finding iron ore, so that's pretty much it. "
Fang Zhongyong said confidently.
Niu Xianke was doubtful, but when he thought that if Hexi could be smelted, it would greatly change the local people's livelihood and strategic position, benefiting the local area, he still nodded slightly, which seemed to agree with Fang Chongyong's statement.
"Part of the Chishui Army has already set up camp to fight and pull out the valley. If the Tibetan army comes to invade, they will be beaten to a bloody head."
Niu Xianke told Fang Chongyong good news.
More than ten years ago, the Tubo army forcibly broke through Dadou Bago, then wandered around Ganzhou and then retreated. Brother Ji ordered a unit of the Chishui Army to be dispatched to Dadou to pull out the valley. In fact, it was considered as a lesson learned from the past.
There is nothing wrong with Brother Ji's arrangement.
"In this way, I feel at ease. There are not many soldiers and horses in Ganzhou, and it really cannot withstand the torment of the Tubo people."
Fang Chongyong said with a sigh of relief.
Niu Xianke added: "Liangzhou has promised to mobilize four thousand people to Zhangye City to train Guo Ziyi. All expenses will be allocated by Liangzhou Prefecture. Of course, Liangzhou is the transfer center. In fact, these funds were provided by the central government, 200,000 pieces of silk.
Recruit the other two thousand people from the local city in Ganzhou, and the money will be provided by the central government. "
Isn't this...impossible?
Fang Chongyong was also frightened by Brother Ji's generosity.
"Thank you saint for your love."
Fang Chongyong said flattered.
“Don’t be too busy thanking me for now.
I just want to tell you that the saint gave you everything you should give. If you can't do what the saint wants to do, I think you know what the consequences will be. "
Niu Xianke said in a serious tone and patted Fang Chongyong on the shoulder.
Fang Chongyong didn't know what to say.
Seeing his embarrassment, Niu Xianke couldn't help teasing:
"In my opinion, the saint seems to have a plan to lure the Tibetan army into Dadou Bugu and encircle and annihilate them. He is using Ganzhou as a bait. I am afraid that the Tubo people already know that Ganzhou can smelt iron ore. .
So whether this is a blessing or a curse, it’s really hard to say. "
Hearing this, Fang Chongyong suddenly realized that he seemed to have been careless.
Although he occasionally does nothing to others, Brother Ji is a real dog!
How can you expect this ruthless scumbag to follow his own routine?
(End of chapter)
