On the first day of November in the fifth year of Chongzhen, Qin Feng led a team to inspect Tongzhou City and found that local officials, large and small, were fulfilling their duties and no one had embezzled money or food for disaster relief.
On the eighth day of November, I inspected Pucheng County and found that the officials were fulfilling their duties and no one was corrupt.
On November 15th, I inspected Baishui County and found that the officials were fulfilling their duties and no one was corrupt.
…
Have all the officials in the northwest region become fair, honest and clean?
No.
The officials have not changed, but are afraid.
The news that Qin Feng was responsible for inspecting the disaster and going on a killing spree in Huazhou quickly spread throughout the northwest like a whirlwind. After the officials, big and small, learned about it, they were all so frightened that they had nightmares all night long. Brain dream!
As a result, those who were about to embezzle money and food for disaster relief immediately retracted their claws, and those who had already embezzled spit it out, for fear of following the footsteps of Ding Buqun, the governor of Huazhou.
At the same time, the nickname "Jade Faced Man Slaughter" became even louder, and almost everyone knew about it!
Even so, Qin Feng was still worried, so he divided his soldiers into pieces, put on the clothes of ordinary people, disguised themselves as various professions, and dispersed them to various prefectures, states, and counties to monitor every move of officials of all sizes.
Once you find that an official has embezzled money or food, or is not fulfilling his or her duties, you should immediately investigate in person. If it is true, you will be severely punished!
In addition, Qin Feng gave an order to the soldiers: collect orphans without fathers, mothers, and no one to rely on in various states and counties, and then send them all to Lantian County-Tianwei Army Camp for resettlement.
These orphans will be of great use in the future!
…
November 22nd, sunny.
At dusk, Qin Feng led more than fifty soldiers, disguised as ordinary traveling caravans, to the vicinity of Jinsu Mountain in Yaozhou-Fuping County.
Seeing that it was getting late, the team was ready to stop and rest.
At the end of November, the weather is already very cold. It would be too painful to camp in the wild. It is best to find an inn to stay.
However, the Jinsu Mountain area is relatively remote and there are no inns at all. They only found a small village with a population of less than fifty households. The houses in the village were limited and not enough to accommodate Qin Feng and his party.
"Dear guests, there is a Chongyang Temple at the foot of Jinsu Mountain. There are many houses and a large area, which is enough for you to rest."
"Double Ninth Festival?"
"That's right, the master of the temple is called Taoist Priest Qing Xuzi. He is a good man. Apart from the ineffective fortune-telling, there is nothing else to say. He will definitely accept you and your group."
"Thank you so much!"
…
Under the guidance of enthusiastic villagers, Qin Feng and his party quickly found the Chongyang Temple.
The Chongyang Temple covers a large area, with the mountain gate, Zhenwu Hall, Dharma Protector Hall, Laojun Pavilion, and Sutra Collection Room... everything is available. However, the buildings are seriously aging, and the walls in many places have fallen off, giving it a scene of decline.
Knocking on the door knocker, an old Taoist priest soon came out. He was about fifty years old, with a medium build and gray beard. He was wearing a worn dark blue Bagua Taoist robe with small patches piled high with large patches, but it was washed very clean.
"Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, poor Taoist Qing Xuzi, what do you have to do with your benefactors?"
"Thank you, Taoist Master. We are businessmen on foot. We are going to Fuping County. We are passing by Guibao Land. It is already getting late. We would like to stay overnight. Is it convenient?"
"Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, since Taoists make it convenient for others, it is also convenient for themselves. If you don't mind that Xiaoguan is old and shabby, it is no problem to stay for one night. However, Xiaoguan is really poor and cannot afford to arrange meals for all the donors. Please excuse me!"
"We bring rice and dry food, so we can solve the problem of eating by ourselves without having to worry about the Taoist priest!"
"In this case, all donors, please follow Pindao through the door!"
…
Sure enough, as the villagers said, Qing Xuzi was a hospitable and good man. He immediately agreed to stay overnight and led the group into the Taoist temple and arranged to live in the Protector Hall, Cihang Hall, and Sanguan Hall on the east side. among.
While arranging accommodation, Qin Feng discovered
There were more than twenty thin, ragged children in the Taoist temple, sitting in front of the Zhenwu Hall and eating hungrily.
The food was very shabby, consisting of only dark mixed flour pancakes and wild vegetable soup, and the quantity was not large enough for the children to eat enough.
"Taoist Priest, who are these children?"
"Hey, they are all orphans who have no father, no mother, no one to rely on, and are forced to wander around. The poor Taoist saw that they were pitiful, so he adopted them in the Taoist temple. Unfortunately, the poor Taoist was incompetent and could not even provide a full meal. The children are suffering!"
"The Taoist Priest's kindness is very admirable... Come here, light a fire and cook, cook more, and let these children eat with them. Make sure they are full!"
"promise!"
The team brought a lot of grain, bacon, and vegetables. The soldiers worked together and quickly prepared a delicious meal. They then invited Qing Xuzi and the children to enjoy it together, and the latter thanked him repeatedly.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to have dinner together, Qin Feng chatted with Taoist Priest Qing Xuzi and found out the reasons for the decline of Chongyang Temple.
It turns out that Qingxuzi's master is called Chunyangzi, and he is the previous master of the Chongyang Temple. He has been practicing for many years and has a profound Taoist practice. He is proficient in alchemy, drawing talismans, exorcising evil spirits, fortune-telling, reading Feng Shui...everything is masterful and masterful!
People from within a hundred miles around come to the Double Ninth Festival to offer incense and fortune-telling. It is very popular and has a lot of money for incense.
Later, Taoist Master Chunyangzi became an immortal and Qingxuzi took over as the master of the temple. The situation changed.
Qing Xuzi became a monk at the age of six and practiced hard with his master for decades. He read countless divination books, but for some reason, his fortune telling was inaccurate.
The nearby villagers were getting married and asked Qing Xuzi to choose an auspicious day. As a result, there was thunder and lightning and heavy rain on that day, turning the newlyweds and their guests into soaked rats!
The villagers asked Qing Xuzi to choose an auspicious day when building a house and raising beams. However, the beam failed and fell down, injuring several people.
When the villagers encountered a problem, they asked Qing Xuzi to do a divination to gauge good or bad luck. The result was that nine out of ten divination didn't work, and they were trying to trick people and their families.
…
All these are countless!
Over time, the nearby villagers stopped coming to tell fortunes. If they didn't tell fortunes, they would have no money for incense. Coupled with famines and wars, the Chongyang Temple soon declined. Other Taoist priests could not endure the hard days and looked for other ways of life. Only Qing was left. Kyoshi is alone.
Fortunately, Qingxuzi was more industrious. He cultivated more than ten acres of mountain land near the Taoist temple and planted crops and vegetables. He was self-sufficient and happy to live in poverty.
………
After listening to Qing Xuzi's story, Qin Feng suddenly became interested. After finishing the meal, he asked the former to tell his fortune to see if it was really not working.
"Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, my poor fortune-telling never works, how dare you tell the fortune of the benefactor!"
"You have nothing to do, so why not do some fortune-telling!"
"You must not do it. The poor man is full of bad luck. If the donor is implicated, it will be a big sin!"
…
Qing Xuzi refused to tell fortunes, so in desperation, Qin Feng decided to change his approach and play a small game.
A gold coin escaped from the purse. It was more than twice the size of an ordinary coin. It was bright yellow, with four seal characters "The world is unified" engraved on the front, and a coiled dragon pattern on the back.
This is a gold coin specially cast by the craftsmen after Qin Shihuang unified the world. It is used to worship heaven and earth. The quantity is very small, and even fewer have been handed down.
The Tianwei army entered the capital to capture the king, and when they fought with the Jurchens, they seized a lot of trophies, including this gold coin of the world, which was accidentally discovered by Qin Feng, so he kept it.
Qin Feng was slightly interested in metaphysics. Sometimes when he got interested, he would use this gold coin to do fortune-telling, but the result was that nine out of ten times it didn't work.
Now, what will happen if a Taoist priest whose fortune-telling is inaccurate and a gold coin whose fortune-telling is inaccurate are added together?
The game is very simple. Qin Feng is responsible for tossing gold coins, and Qing Xuzi is responsible for guessing heads and tails.
"Whoosh...pop...front or back?"
"front!"
"Wrong, it's tails...guess again, heads or tails?"
"Well, the other way around?"
"Haha, wrong again, this time it's the front!"
Qin Feng tossed it twelve times, Qing Xuzi guessed twelve times and was wrong twelve times.
Such a result is really incredible.
When a gold coin is thrown into the air, the chance of landing heads and tails is 50%, and the chance of guessing it right or wrong is also 50%.
However, Qing Xuzi never guessed correctly. It can only be said that he is really riddled with bad luck and his divination doesn't work. No wonder the villagers don't ask him for fortune telling!
…
A night of silence.
The next morning, Qin Feng and his party washed up and had breakfast, then got up and left Chongyang Temple, heading for Fuping County.
Qing Xuzi sent him out of the mountain gate and then came back to clean up. On the table of Cihang Hall where Qin Feng rested last night, he saw eight large silver ingots, all weighing fifty taels, totaling four hundred taels.
There are eight words on the desk: Donate incense and express your feelings!
"Infinite Heavenly Lord... Infinite Heavenly Lord... Good man, great good man!!"
Qing Xuzi was stunned for a moment, then put away the eight gold ingots, and kept chanting in the direction where Qin Feng and others left, while thinking of a past event.
I remember that when I was a child, my master Chunyangzi took a look at my face and approved my birth date. The result was that I had no main bone in my forehead, no eyesight, no bridge in my nose, no sky root in my feet, no three armors on my back, and no belly. Without Sanren, you will have constant bad luck throughout your life and everything will not go your way.
However, although my appearance is not good, there is a turning point in my birth date. It is said that after the age of fifty, I will have a chance to become rich and famous in the world. The prerequisite is to meet a noble person!
Indescribably expensive!
I am just fifty years old this year. Could it be that by a stroke of luck, I am going to be rich and wealthy, and the young man I stayed with last night is my destiny?
It's hard to say, hard to say.
However, with these four hundred taels of silver, it is enough to support myself and my children for a long time. Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, your merits are immeasurable!
