He Nan left Wei Kui at home, but he returned to Shuihan alone. Everything was business as usual.
Wait, just wait now.
It has been more than a month since I left Shuihan County, but it was a different scene when I returned to my hometown.
The closer you get to the county town, the more lively you can see many civilians driving carriages, transporting stones, or moving wood. It would be fine if it was just like this in one place, but He Nan happened to see such incidents several times along the way. He couldn't help but feel curious, so he asked people about it.
Seeing a middle-aged man wrapped in cotton-padded clothes sitting on a carriage to rest, He Nan approached him and asked him what he was doing. The middle-aged man rubbed his rough hands and took a few sips into his palms. He was so angry that he replied: "A few days ago, the village leader told us that these temples would be demolished. Men from several nearby villages came out to demolish the temples."
He Nan looked at the uncle whose skin was red and swollen from the cold, and couldn't help asking: "It's such a cold weather, aren't you getting cold when you come out like this?"
Unexpectedly, the uncle waved his hand and didn't mind at all: "Why don't you suffer from the cold? Muramasa said that each person should be given twenty cents per day... Little brother, I can tell by your attire that you come from a wealthy family. , Twenty cents may not be a big deal to you, but for us laborers, earning twenty cents a day is already not a small amount!"
Hearing this, He Nan couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He was not a rich man, but he was treated like this. It seemed that his clothing expenses were too extravagant.
But to be fair, He Nan doesn't need to be ashamed of this, because the most valuable thing he has on him is the cloak given by his master. He doesn't have much money, and the bulk of it is the silver reward given by the fifth prince. All of them were donated by him to the people at the foot of Xiaoshan Mountain.
"By the way, uncle, didn't your village chief tell you why these ancestral temples were demolished?" He Nan asked the reason again. It was probably the government's intention to demolish ancestral temples on such a large scale, but he didn't know the reason.
"Hey, we are the ones responsible for contributing. Who knows why they were dismantled? But I think these things should have been dismantled a long time ago - you said that we provide services to Bodhisattvas and gods, and the weather is not guaranteed, and there are quite a lot of famines - —And the money to build these ancestral temples comes from our pockets?" Although he said this, the middle-aged uncle was still more in awe of ghosts and gods, and lowered his voice as he spoke.
He Nan nodded slightly, he was deeply touched by this - there is almost one ancestral hall in ten miles and one temple in one hundred miles in Shengguo. This does not include the small single-family shrines. There are Buddhists and Taoists in several villages. Two sects and a dozen gods compete for territory. What's the use of worshiping gods? It was a time of famine and war. Rivers of blood flowed from the fields to death from starvation. Countless people knelt to death at the feet of the statues, and no gods were seen jumping out to appear.
"Uncle, where are you going? Let me give you a ride!" He Nan patted his horse. The horse pulled by the middle-aged uncle was old and thin, and its hooves were already soft after pulling the goods for so many days. The uncle also stopped to let the horse rest, so He Nan offered to help the uncle. Pull up some distance.
The middle-aged uncle lived in a nearby village, which was less than ten miles away. It only took two-quarters of an hour to pull the cart. When he arrived at the village, He Nan discovered that a lot of wood and wood had been accumulated here. stone.
"What are you doing?" He Nan was a little confused.
"The government has an order that the remaining demolition materials do not need to be transported to the city. They are all left for us to use." The uncle jumped off the carriage and patted the dust on his body: "Young man, you are going to the county town, right? It’s not too late to go to my house for a drink before leaving.”
He Nan was also a little thirsty, so he followed his uncle home. This place is called Aojiazhuang, and it is considered a relatively large village, but the uncle's home is a little cramped.
The middle-aged uncle fetched a bucket of water from the water tank in the courtyard and took it to the stove to boil. He Nan waved his hands repeatedly: "No need to bother, I will just drink some cold water." After that, he took it off. The big gourd hanging by the water tank scooped up half the water and swallowed it.
The weather was cold, and although the water tank had a cover, it couldn't block the cool air coming through the cracks. A gulp of cold water made He Nanji shiver.
The uncle smiled honestly and said to He Nan: "Little brother, you still have a long way to go to the county town, otherwise you can have a hot meal here before going on your way. The two of us can also continue chatting. .”
This uncle spoke with a thick accent, which was quite interesting. He Nan couldn't help laughing several times along the way. If he hadn't been in a hurry to go back to see his senior brother, he would probably have chatted with him more: "Forget it for today, I have something to go to the city. I will come and chat with you again if I have the opportunity in the future.”
Seeing that He Nan was in a hurry to leave, the middle-aged uncle didn't stay with him much, but forced him to stuff two pieces of dry food into his hand so that he could have some food on the way.
The road from Aojiazhuang to the county town was not very close, so He Nan worked hard and finally got back to the county town before sunset.
Villages and towns all over the country were already busy with this matter, and the county and city were even more busy with traffic. He Nan opened the west gate and entered, and had to wait in line for two sticks of incense before entering the city.
In the yamen, Zhou Xi was personally in charge, and the yamen servants led groups of people to report the progress to Zhou Xi. The progress of the demolition was gratifying, but Zhou Xi still frowned.
"Senior brother..." He Nan approached Zhou Yu and whispered: "I saw such a scene along the way, but I didn't expect it to be your arrangement."
Zhou Li nodded lightly: "It's been going on since the end of the year. You came back at the right time. There are a lot of things you have to do."
"Why should it be demolished?" This was a question that troubled He Nan along the way. He couldn't figure it out even after thinking about it for hundreds of miles.
Zhou Li took a breath, patted He Nan on the shoulder, and motioned for him to follow him towards the inner hall.
"Want to know the reason?" Zhou Li asked as he walked.
He Nangqian laughed twice: "I want to know the purpose even more."
"What do you think the function of these ancestral halls and temples is?" Zhou Xi asked a question.
The answer to this question seems obvious. What are the functions of ancestral halls and temples besides worshiping gods and Buddhas? But He Nan knew it would never be that simple.
"Please give me some advice, senior brother." He Nan humbly asked for advice.
"Ever since the incident of the Thousand Faces Cult, I have paid more attention to these so-called ghosts and gods. After a closer look, I found it shocking." Zhou Xi smiled bitterly: "I didn't expect that there are such bad things in the soil of our prosperous country. thing."
He Nan frowned: "You mean... there are evil spirits like the Thousand Faces Cult causing trouble?"
Zhou Li shook his head: "The only thing that can do more evil than ghosts and ghosts is... humans."
The two brothers in Shanhe Prefecture punished the corrupt Hou Ruming, punished the favoritistic Wang Wei, and punished countless unclean officials like them, but this was just the tip of the iceberg.
The root of Shuihan County's evil... has not yet been completely eliminated.
Because of the Thousand-faced Immortal in Kui County, Zhou Xiu kept secret about ghosts and gods. He planned to get rid of all the evil spirits in Shuihan County who were causing trouble in the name of ghosts and gods. However, after in-depth investigation, he discovered something amazing. There are many ancestral halls and temples in Shuihan County, and sacrifices are held every festival, and the people responsible for organizing the sacrifices are the local tyrants and evil gentry.
Zhou Xi, who was born in Shanhe Prefecture, could naturally smell something unusual in them. After following the clues, he discovered that these ancestral halls and temples were built by local tyrants and evil gentry in counties and counties in collaboration with officials. As the saying goes, "wool comes from the sheep." These corrupt officials and gentry colluded to collect and levy taxes. The people paid for the construction, but they enriched their own pockets. And every festival, they had to levy a large amount of money and grain again in the name of sacrifices. . In addition, not only these temples, but also the ancestral halls they built for their own families, actually have the nerve to ask others to pay for their ancestors. It is really ridiculous! And after years of evolution, this method has become a three-way ax for them to squeeze and exploit the people - countless Buddhist temples and shrines of unknown immortals have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
Where did the common people get the blessings from the gods? It is obvious that he has been oppressed by these living evil ghosts!
Although many evil officials have been dealt with, the ancestral temples built by the squires long ago are still there. On the one hand, the people are miserable, and on the other hand, they are also praying for the birth of Bodhisattva. Unfortunately, they have never realized that it is precisely Because the false gods set up by these evil gentry defrauded them of the real money.
After listening to what senior brother said, He Nan sighed: "Senior brother, do you mean to have a two-pronged approach?"
The so-called two-pronged approach means that on the one hand, we should immediately dismantle these places that suck blood all the time, and on the other hand, we should suppress these evil gentry.
"Junior brother, you understand my brother's thoughts..." Zhou Liu showed an approving smile.
"In that case...then let me do my part!" He Nan was as concerned about this matter as ever, and then he remembered something: "By the way, senior brother, the workers who helped to dismantle the temple are all entitled to salary. Is this also your arrangement?"
Zhou Xun nodded: "It is not easy for people to make a living, especially now that the cold winter has not passed half yet. I have allocated a sum of money from the treasury, and each person has a daily allowance of 200 yuan."
"Two hundred coins?" He Nan was stunned for a moment, and then thought of something: "Senior brother... someone is playing a trick under your nose!"
Zhou Xun chewed this sentence carefully, and then understood what He Nan meant: "You mean, someone has deducted even this money?"
He Nan shrugged and explained to his senior brother what he had seen and heard these days, especially what happened today.
"Twenty cents?" Zhou Li frowned and clenched his fists: "These moths actually stole 90% of it!"
He Nan clicked his tongue and said slowly: "I'm afraid that 90% of this is not corruption by one person, but peeling off layers, plucking hair... Why don't you do it for me?"
Zhou Xi thought for a moment, then nodded: "It's fine to leave it to you...but what are you going to do?"
He Nan tapped his forehead with his knuckles and chuckled: "First intimidate those who are weak, and then attack those who are strong. As for those who are neither strong nor weak... they will naturally be convinced."
