Bang bang bang bang bang!
Just when everyone was amazed by the veteran's performance, there was a burst of applause, but it was the child who was sitting on the young woman's seat who was watching the performance enthusiastically. While applauding, she cheered loudly. Seeing this, the woman coughed twice and said, "You are quite capable, but you don't know what kind of skills you just practiced?"
"Report to Madam!" The old Taoist priest said with a smile: "What I just practiced is the art of swallowing and guiding, which can strengthen the lungs and last for a long time. I wonder if it is still worth the sin?"
"The Taoist priest can make this kid applaud, so he can certainly do it!" The young woman looked up and down at the old Taoist in front of her, and her tone suddenly became gentle: "Who is the Taoist priest? The reason for coming to Fan Yang this time is What's the matter?"
"My Taoist name is Chongjing. I am a Taoist from the Maoshan Sect. I came to Fanyang this time because I heard that Haidong has been pacified, so I want to travel around, preach and pray for the people, so as to cultivate merit!"
"It turns out he is the Taoist priest of the Maoshan Sect!" The woman's expression changed slightly, adding a bit of respect. It turns out that since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Taoism in the north and south has achieved great development, among which Kou Qianzhi is the most respected in the north. , which made Tianshi Sect become the state religion of the Northern Wei Dynasty for a period of time; while in the south, Tao Hongjing was respected, and Maoshan Sect was founded by him. Since this old Taoist comes from the Maoshan Sect, he has a background and is not an ordinary wandering Taoist priest.
"Don't dare!" The old Taoist was about to find a reason to leave, so as not to have long nights and dreams, but he heard the woman laughing and said: "So, the Taoist priest went to Haidong this time to spread the Dharma?"
"I don't dare to take it! But the old Taoist heard that Haidong has no Taoism, so he wanted to go and promote it!"
"The Taoist leader, be careful!" the woman said with a smile: "I heard that in the land east of Haidong, everyone from the princes and officials to the common people believe in Buddhism. You two masters and disciples want to go to Haidong." If we propagate the Dharma in the east, we may not be able to achieve great things, and our lives may not be saved!”
Taoist Chongjing sighed. Of course he knew that the woman was not an empty threat. Buddhism and Taoism at that time still maintained the abundant martial virtues of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and were extremely powerful in combat. If Buddhism gains power, Taoism will be destroyed, and if Taoism gains power, Buddhism will be destroyed. If a Taoist priest wants to preach in a territory that has been converted into Buddhism, he is simply tying his head to his belt.
"Of course what Madam said is true, but when it comes to promoting the Dharma, progress is never retreat, and one's own life is nothing!" Taoist Chongjing said.
"The Taoist priest is so courageous!" The woman held up her palms and said with a smile: "I admire you so much, little girl. It is fate that we meet today. Why don't you come home and stay for a few days first, so that I can fulfill my friendship as a landlord!"
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This unexpected episode did not change the itinerary of the convoy. Taoist Chongjing and his disciples each got on a donkey and headed for Fan Yang with the convoy. Seeing that the people around him were no longer paying attention to him, the little Taoist priest lowered his voice and asked: "Master, are we really from the Maoshan Sect? Then why did we live in such misery in the past? I heard that the Maoshan Sect is one of the largest sects in the world! "
"Shut up!" Taoist Chongjing scolded his disciple and lowered his voice: "No matter the name or the sect, they are all external things. We, the Taoist monks, shouldn't care so much!"
"Ah?" Pushan Taoist was startled: "So, master, you are lying to others again? This is no joke. If it is exposed, I'm afraid it won't be resolved with just a few whips!"
"Maoshan Sect is thousands of miles away from here, how could that woman find out!" Taoist Chongjing said proudly: "Besides, Master, I am not incompetent. When it comes to rituals, Qi training, and Taoism, I How are they worse than the Taoist priests in Maoshan? It's just that they have good ancestors, collude with the government and nobles, and are powerful in numbers, but they force true Taoists like me to have no choice but to come to the north!"
It turns out that Taoism has undergone a very far-reaching reform in the hundreds of years since the end of the Han Dynasty. At the end of the Han Dynasty, Taoism was a bottom-up, very well-organized religion. Religious leaders divided believers into several regions based on geography, and then assigned Taoist priests to manage them, hold regular religious activities, collect taxes, and even follow the precepts of the religion. to adjudicate conflicts between believers. The result was a direct conflict between Taoism, a religious organization, and the empire, and the Yellow Turban Movement was a direct result of this. After the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism continued to grow in power, and even directly replaced the original imperial government in some dominant areas, establishing a political and religious regime, such as the Zhang Lu regime in Hanzhong. Even if a political power is not established, the government must make concessions to the local Taoist organizations and transfer a considerable part of the grassroots power to Taoist leaders, otherwise it will not be able to maintain its rule, such as the later Chenghan regime.
But the Sun En Rebellion that occurred at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty changed everything. After this rebellion, the ruling class at that time saw the huge power contained in Taoist organizations, and they realized that they could not continue to indulge such a powerful force beyond their control. So since then, Taoist reformers headed by Tao Hongjing and Kou Qianzhi began to make corresponding reforms to the original Taoist organization: that is, Taoism gave up the organization and taxation of grassroots believers in exchange for support from the upper levels. Taoism becomes part of the country, and Taoist priests can also exchange various benefits from the country for official positions, Taoist temples, etc. Taoist priests have also changed from secular religious activists, reformers, and even revolutionaries to secular practitioners and religious bureaucrats.
Of course, this huge change could not be accomplished overnight. It lasted for hundreds of years and repeated itself repeatedly. It was not until the Song Dynasty that it was gradually completed. These two Taoist disciples were actually opponents of this reform. They had been forced by the reformists such as the Maoshan Sect to survive, so they came to the north to see if they could find a foothold for their own teachings. land.
The motorcade entered Fanyang City. Master and apprentice Chongjing followed the woman into a mansion and were arranged to rest in a side courtyard. As soon as the two sat down, a maid came in from outside and brought two new clothes, shoes and hats. She said respectfully: "You two Taoists, please change your clothes. Someone will take you to the flower hall later. Madam will have a banquet there." Be lenient!”
"I got it!" Chongjing waved his hand: "Just step back first!"
As soon as the maid walked away, Pushan touched the clothes and hat and said happily: "Master, these clothes are really good. They are thick and smooth. They are so comfortable to wear. There are also shoes, leather and rough hemp soles. I I’m a little reluctant to do it! This family is so generous, we made a profit from this trip!”
"What does this mean?" Chongjing snorted coldly, quite disdainful of his disciple's appearance: "I think when your master was still alive, our situation was much better than it is now. Isn't it just a thick silk robe? Even fine silk robes are very common!”
"Really?" Pu Shan looked at the master with suspicious eyes: "The disciple remembers that there were two Taoist robes left by the master in the bottom of the box in the Taoist temple. One was made of coarse cloth, and the other was made of silk. It’s not fine silk either. There’s no such thing as a fine silk Taoist robe, and this robe is also lined with a layer of leather, making it warm and comfortable to wear. Master, how could we have such clothes at that time!”
Chongjing was speechless for a moment by his disciple's words. He was so angry and annoyed that he couldn't speak for a moment. After a while, he said angrily: "If you don't put it on yet, such good clothes can't block it." Shut your mouth!"
After the master and apprentice had changed their clothes, the maid from outside came in and led them out of the courtyard, passed through two courtyards, passed through an alley, passed through a long corridor, and came to a waterside pavilion. The maid asked the two of them to wait outside, then went in to make the announcement. After a while, she came out again and bowed to the two of them: "Two Taoist priests, please, Madam has been waiting for a long time!"
Chongjing took a deep breath and boarded the waterside pavilion. Pushan followed closely behind him. He saw the young woman in the car holding a wine glass and talking to another pretty woman sitting a few seats next door. Seven or eight women in brocade suddenly turned their attention to Master and Disciple Chongjing.
"Taoist Priest Chongjing!" When the young woman saw Chongjing, she quickly raised her hand and said to Cui Yunying on the side: "Sister, this is the capable Taoist Priest I just mentioned!"
"Oh?" Cui Yunying glanced at Chongjing curiously and nodded: "Is this the one? In that case, please sit down first!" As she spoke, she pointed to an empty table on the right.
"Thank you, madam!" Chongjing saw Cui Yunying's behavior and had already guessed the identity of the other party. He quickly saluted Cui Yunying with his hands together, and then sat down next to the table. Pushan did not dare to sit down with him, so he could only sit aside. Stand.
"Just now, I, the Taoist priest, know how to speak from the bottom of his heart, and can suspend more than ten leaves in the air with just one breath! Can the Taoist priest open my eyes to me?" Cui Yunying curiously looked up and down at the old Taoist in front of him. It was obvious that he had just put on new clothes, his hair was messy, and his hands were full of calluses. He was no different from an old farmer in the fields, and he didn't look like a Taoist priest at all.
"Yes!" Chongjing knew that his future lay with this woman. He put his hands together and saluted. Cui Yunying raised his right hand: "Come, go outside and pick some leaves!"
"No need!" Chongjing raised his right hand to stop the maid who was about to go out to collect leaves. He stood up and said with a smile: "It's okay without leaves. Madams, please look at that candle!" He stretched out his hand and pointed at Qiba. Candles on candlestick outside.
"Candle!" The eyes of everyone on the waterside pavilion suddenly focused on the candlestick. They were curious about what kind of medicine this old man was selling in the gourd. They heard him take a deep breath, and his chest swelled high, like a sail in the wind. .
"Who is he?" Cui Yunying asked curiously. Before anyone else could answer, Chongjing suddenly exhaled. Only a soft sound was heard, and the candle on the candlestick was extinguished! Suddenly there was a cry of exclamation.
"Such a breath?" Cui Yunying opened her mouth and looked at the blown out candle in surprise. There was nothing unusual about blowing out the candle. Even an ordinary child could blow it out. But it was unheard of to blow out the candle in one breath like this from seven or eight steps away.
"You, a Taoist priest, shouldn't you be hiding date stones or something like that in your mouth?"
"Yes, check it out!"
"Yes, you must have used a trick, don't expect to deceive us!"
There was a fierce quarrel on the waterside pavilion, which made Pu Shanqi, who was standing behind the case, blush. He wanted to refute, but he didn't dare. He could only stare at the women fiercely, killing his opponent with his eyes.
"Madams!" Chongjing smiled enigmatically: "What's so strange about using date stones to extinguish the candlelight? If you don't believe it, you can ask someone to get a screen to block the candlelight. If If I use something to extinguish the candle flame, it will definitely leave traces!"
"Come here!" Cui Yunying nodded: "Get a screen to block behind the candlestick!" She then said to Chongjing: "Taoist Priest, if you can really extinguish the candlelight with your breath, I must have some thoughts. I offer it to you to pay for the lies we have just spoken!"
Chongjing nodded, and when the maid took out the screen and placed it behind the candlestick, Chongjing took a deep breath and blew it out again. Everyone only heard a soft sound, and the remaining candle on the candlestick swayed. , went out, and there was an exclamation on the waterside pavilion.
"Bring the screen here!" Cui Yunying called the maid to bring the screen over. He stood up and checked one side. As expected, there was no trace of damage on the screen. She walked up to Chongjing, bowed her hands and said, "I've never heard of Taoist Master's magical skills. I've just been rude. Please forgive me!"
"Madam, you don't have to be like this!" Chongjing hurriedly bowed in return: "There are many swindlers in the world, so it's only right for madam to be wary! Besides, such small skills as a poor Taoist are really not worth mentioning!"
"The Taoist Master is too modest!" Cui Yunying gave Chongjing a deep look: "If the Taoist Master is fine, I will stay in my house for a while and allow my body to be worshiped!"
"Then you're bothering Madam!" Chongjing was secretly happy, but pretended to be nonchalant. He bowed to Cui Yunying and returned to his seat.
As soon as Cui Yunying invited him, Chongjing immediately became a favorite in the eyes of the girls on the waterside pavilion. All the girls stood up and apologized to him. Naturally, they did not dare to compete with Cui Yunying, and they only dared to invite master and disciple Chongjing to come to their home to perform rituals, preach scriptures, etc. It was as if this old Taoist who was like a vagabond on the official road a few hours ago was already the current Taoist sect.
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"Master, I really have you!" Pu Shan raised his thumb: "You didn't see the faces of those women just now. They looked down on us so much at first and regarded us as liars, but now they regard you as a treasure. I wish I could do it for you. It’s so funny when we fight!”
"This is all the credit of Mrs. Cui!" Chongjing took a sip of tea and put the tea cup on the table.
"That Mrs. Cui? What do you mean?" Pushan asked puzzledly: "Master, isn't your swallowing and swallowing skills amazing?"
"Haha!" Chongjing smiled: "My skills as a teacher are pretty good, but the women on this waterside pavilion today have all seen the world. No matter how good my skills are, they are just a tool. It's just that people are surprised when they see Tao, and they won't argue like this! But now that Mrs. Cui has spoken, how can they not say anything but not moving? If they don't say nothing, don't they take Mrs. Cui seriously? Where is it?" (End of chapter)
