After Changsheng finished speaking, Datou asked casually, "Sir, do you mean that the Wuxiang Temple has declined now?"
"Yes," Changsheng nodded, "It's a long story. Let's find a place to eat first."
There are only two streets in this town, and there are not many restaurants to choose from. The two of them found a relatively clean restaurant and sat down. In restaurants like this in the countryside, there are not many ready-made meals. There were hens waiting to be slaughtered in the chicken coop behind the house, but it took too long to fix them. The two of them had to nail horseshoes later, so they ordered two kinds of braised meat and two bowls of noodles.
There is no tea in a restaurant like this, but Datou left some when he was shopping for gifts and took it with him just to give Changsheng something to drink on the road.
Datou asked the store owner for a kettle to make tea and poured it for Changsheng. "Sir, you are a Taoist priest. What are you doing at the monk's temple?"
Changsheng has a habit of not telling others what he does, so Datou didn't know that he wanted to find Buddhist magical powers for Yu Yi and Shi Xuanming that could subdue demons. Now when Datou asked, he said, "Yu Yihe Although Shi Xuanming has great martial arts skills, they do not have the Buddhist magical power to subjugate demons. I have learned Taoist magic, but I have never been familiar with the drill. There will definitely be many places where we will use magic and magical powers in the future, and we cannot just rely on me. I have to try to get them to dabble in some Buddhist magical powers. I found some clues before I came out. I will stop by these places this time."
"Isn't this Wuxiang Temple in decline? Can there still be anything we want in it?" Datou asked casually.
"It's hard to say," Changsheng shook his head, "Wuxiang Temple is a thousand-year-old temple. Buddhism was introduced to China in the Western Han Dynasty. It's more than a thousand years ago. This Wuxiang Temple was built in the early Eastern Han Dynasty... "
"Sir, is it earlier in the Western Han Dynasty or in the Eastern Han Dynasty?" Da Tou interrupted.
There are many people who don't know about ancient events, and only a few scholars have dabbled in history. But Datou is a man of the world, so he didn't feel surprised to ask such a superficial question, so he patiently explained, "First there was the Western Han Dynasty, and then there was the Western Han Dynasty. The Eastern Han Dynasty was separated by the new dynasty of Wang Mang."
After answering Datou's confusion, Changsheng continued, "To be precise, Buddhism was introduced to China at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. Therefore, the Buddhist temple built in the early Eastern Han Dynasty is considered a very old temple. Since the relics of the Buddha were enshrined in this temple at that time, Therefore, the incense in the temple is very strong. If the incense is strong, the money will naturally be more. It is said that Wuxiang Temple expanded greatly in the later period, covering an area of more than 800 acres. However, during these thousand years, Buddhism experienced three disasters. The first The first was more than five hundred years ago when Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty exterminated Buddhism. The second time was when Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty exterminated Buddhism three hundred years ago. The last time was when Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty exterminated Buddhism fifty years ago. The large-scale movement to exterminate Buddhism has even caught up with the Wuxiang Temple. No matter how large the temple is, it cannot withstand such a torment. With the extermination coming and going, there are probably not many monks left in the Wuxiang Temple now."
"Haha, monks are unlucky enough. By the way, sir, how come the three emperors who destroyed the Buddha were all Emperors of Wu?" Datou asked with a smile.
"It may be a coincidence, or it may be God's will," Changsheng held a cup of tea, "but this is also related to their teachings. They emphasize that the four elements are empty. To put it bluntly, they do nothing, not even give birth to children, and do not raise a father anywhere. Yeah, you are eating for free and not working. What does the court want from you? You see, Tongchen learned to be smart this time. When he saw that the country was in trouble, he immediately led his troops to the mountain."
"I didn't know about the first two times," Datou said, "but I heard that the book about the time when the Buddha was destroyed fifty years ago said that the reason why the monk was unlucky was because the Taoist priest was behind it."
Changsheng smiled and said, "I don't know much about this, but I guess the Taoist priest will not say good things to them."
After Da Tou smiled, he asked, "Sir, have Taoist priests never been destroyed?"
"It has also been destroyed, but unlike the destruction of Buddha, the destruction of Tao mostly occurs in peaceful times," Changsheng said, "However, the teaching of Taoism is to obey nature and respond to people. The so-called "submit to nature and respond to people" simply means not acting against nature and treating ordinary people What is heaven? The court is heaven, so people in the Taoist sect rarely oppose the court, but they don’t want to get too close to the court and always keep a distant distance."
"Why is Tao destroyed when the world is peaceful, and Buddha is destroyed when the world is not peaceful?" Datou asked curiously.
At this time, the two braised dishes were on the table. Changsheng picked up a piece of soy sauce lotus root with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth, "How should I put it? You can think about it the other way around, why the world is peaceful and easy for monks, and the world is not peaceful and Taoist priests are popular. This is also the same as Taoism. It has something to do with the teachings and style of conduct of Buddhism. When the world is peaceful, the court needs the people to behave themselves. People who believe in Buddhism are very honest, but people who believe in Buddhism are not honest. They will not rebel, but they always tell the truth, which sometimes not only offends the people. , and also offended the court. When the world is in chaos, ordinary people's dishonesty means nothing to the court. At this time, what the court needs is people who can stand up and help the court. People who believe in it like to correct mistakes and help the world. Regarding human affairs, Taoist priests have become popular at this time. In the final analysis, there are many monks in peaceful and prosperous times, but Taoists are at the forefront of national disasters."
"Sir, how do you know so much?" Da Tou admired him sincerely.
"My senior brother told me something at first, and later Zhang Mo also told me something," Changsheng said. "Then it came to reading. Uncle Zhang Shan once told me that I must read more, so as soon as I have free time, I Take a few glances.”
After Chang Sheng finished speaking, Da Tou did not answer, but turned to look out the door.
Changsheng turned around and saw the young county magistrate and the accompanying yamen servant standing outside the door, looking awkward and hesitant.
Seeing Chang Sheng turn around, the two walked in bravely.
The reason why the two came here was undoubtedly because they were worried about retaliation afterwards, and wanted to get closer and ease the relationship. Changsheng did not refuse the two of them thousands of miles away, and casually invited them to have dinner together. Naturally, they did not dare to sit with him at the same table. Chang Sheng did not force himself and simply said a few words to the two of them.
He still knows Datou very well. The reason why Datou attacked Wang Xishun before was not only because he hated Wang Xishun for cheating, but also because he could accept others calling him nicknames very calmly, so he especially hated those who deliberately gave himself similar names. A very cool person with a cool name. In addition, the reason why Datou didn't give the young county magistrate good face was because Datou himself didn't like it, and he also knew that he didn't like hypocritical people and hypocritical things.
And what he said to the young county magistrate was also concise and concise. To be an official, you should act like an official. You should have official power and authority, and you should have airs and airs. Don't deliberately act like you are approachable. It would be fine if they were really approachable, but the crux of the problem is that every official has some airs deep down inside. It would be hypocritical to pretend that they don't have airs when they clearly have airs.
To put it bluntly, it’s just one sentence: don’t do things that are inconsistent with your status. If you don’t have time, just farm the land honestly, be a good commoner, and don’t pretend to be a hero. Those who are officials should work honestly in the court, be a good official, and pretend to be a common man.
After being criticized a few times by Chang Sheng, the young county magistrate felt much more at ease, because after being criticized, he would not be retaliated against again. He also truly accepted what Chang Sheng said. After all, Chang Sheng became a minister at a young age, so he must It has its own merits.
The reason why Changsheng told him this was because this person could become an official at a young age and must have some knowledge. If he told this to an impatient business man, not only would the other person not appreciate it and reflect on it, but he would also become bored and resentful. .
After sending away the two county magistrates, Changsheng and Datou ate in a hurry, then returned to the blacksmith shop and asked the blacksmith to reshoe the two horses. In fact, a pair of horseshoes can be used for thousands of miles, but only if it is used normally. He was running like crazy like before.
On the road again, the two horses no longer competed. The black master ran very calmly, and the sweaty horse followed easily. The black master had completely conquered the sweaty horse during the thousands of miles before, and he recognized his master and resigned himself to it. Consort.
Seeing that the sweaty horse has been half a horse behind the black master, Immortal has many feelings. In fact, it is not only horses, but also people. They refuse to admit their mistakes. After all, there are only a few who are messy. Most people can truly admire a person, but The premise is that the opponent must show his true skills, win openly and honestly, and convince himself that he lost. If he doesn't accept it, he will win again. He is an uncivilized barbarian, and he will be convinced after defeating him seven times.
The so-called dissatisfaction is actually not dissatisfaction with the people in high positions, but dissatisfaction with the methods used by those in high positions to get to the top.
The two of them had not yet set off, and entered the territory of Yizhou within two hours. Changsheng knew the general location of Wuxiang Temple, and after making some inquiries along the way, he finally arrived at Wuxiang Temple in the southwest of Yizhou at the second watch.
It gets dark late in the summer, and the night has just been completely covered at the second watch. Wuxiang Temple is located on the mountain in the western suburbs of the old city, not far from the old city. But the problem is that the old city has been abandoned for many years, and now Yizhou City is located due east of the old city. Dozens of miles away, there are no villages or people in sight for dozens of miles around the old city.
The so-called occupancy of eight hundred acres was during the heyday of Wuxiang Temple. Today's Wuxiang Temple is no longer what it used to be. Most of the surrounding buildings have collapsed. Only some mottled and dilapidated palace buildings remain on the hillside area. But as the saying goes, It is said that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even the remaining buildings are much larger than ordinary temples. It is at least two miles in diameter by visual inspection.
At this time, the moon has not yet risen, and the Wuxiang Temple under the cover of night is completely silent. Although the mountain gate is still there, the stone steps up the mountain are mostly damaged, and some trees have even grown out of the gaps in the steps.
"Sir, if there is no light, the monks in the temple should have fallen asleep." Da Tou looked up at Changsheng.
"How did you know there was a monk inside?" Changsheng asked casually.
"If it weren't for the monk watching, the house on the mountain would have been demolished long ago." Datou said.
"No one has walked on this road for a long time." Changsheng pointed to the stone steps going up the mountain.
"You mean there are no more monks in there?" Big Head asked.
Changsheng nodded.
"Without a monk watching over it, how come the house wasn't demolished?" Datou wondered.
"There should be a guard, but not necessarily a monk..."
