The little monk bowed his head and left the main hall, leaving only Yue Guanchao alone in the hall.
When he saw Jingkong walking away, Zen Master Gu Ming put down the wooden fish, fiddled with the Buddhist beads on his sleeves, lowered his compassionate eyes, and said slowly: "Do you know why I am the only one in the temple."
"This is probably an abandoned temple by monks. You came here to stay decades ago." Yue Guanchao could only guess this.
"Wrong, these monks did not disappear, but all died thirty years ago."
"All of them died thirty years ago. There was a major disaster or man-made disaster here."
A large number of people died in a place, either due to natural disasters such as plague, floods and droughts, or due to man-made disasters such as banditry and civil unrest.
"You are half right. It is indeed a plague. However, this plague is entirely caused by man-made disasters and has affected the people of Anyuan County."
Then, Zen Master Gu Ming's tone became urgent and he quickly fiddled with the beads, hoping to suppress the fear in his heart and tell everything about what happened thirty years ago.
Thirty years ago, in the 21st year of Emperor Xu of the former dynasty, during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the former dynasty moved its defenses, and all the garrison troops inside and outside the pass moved to the Bohai Bay to fight. There was already a void in the defense within the pass, and the world was gradually in chaos.
At this time, the previous dynasty was as dead as a centipede, but it was already a dilapidated giant ship. It could only barely maintain the stability of the world, and major disasters and minor chaos began to occur in various places.
Anyuan County is located in the southeast of Shengjing, very close to the coastline of the sea battle. Many coastal disaster victims were displaced and flocked to the provinces outside the Guan. At the same time as the people in the Guan went north to seek survival and crossed the Guandong, the victims and refugees flocked to the northeast.
These disaster victims are homeless, lack of clothes and clothing. They are willing to do anything to survive. If they can beg safely, the people of Anyuan County will tighten their belts and be happy to give them food. Unfortunately, these disaster victims The pain caused by the disaster has long been blinded by lard.
Disaster victims are just a general term. Among them are homeless beggars and vagrants, farmers and craftsmen who cannot survive, and even martial artists, jugglers, and all kinds of people. An individual has ten identities.
Since the identities and backgrounds are different, it is impossible to predict their behavior. While some victims are begging peacefully, another group of random people have the idea of rich wealthy gentry~
The rich are not guilty, but the rich are guilty, which is a big piece of fat.
These people have been accumulated by their families for several generations. They have as little as a hundred acres of land and several houses, and as many as tens of thousands of acres of fields and houses. They can be said to be extremely rich and well-fed. If they can be extorted for a sum of money, it will be enough for those poor people. Beggars eat for life.
These rebels did have a clever plan, but it was quite difficult to implement it because the landlords in the Northeast were completely different from those in Guan Nei.
There has been no peace here since the previous dynasty entered the pass. Whenever there was a plague, flood or drought in the pass, many people would rush to the east of the pass to escape and survive.
Leaving aside the distant past, since the Dingwu Qi famine, more and more refugees have come from the pass. In addition to cultivating fertile farmland through their own efforts, some of these people have directly become bandits, gangsters, and rioters.
It can be said that the history of landlords in the Northeast resisting bandits has been as long as 20 to 30 years. In addition, since the Dingwu Qi famine, major disasters have continued. The rich and powerful gentry also know that disasters are prone to chaos, and everyone has already been in danger. The purpose of building high walls, hoarding grain, and training servants is to prevent bandits from causing trouble.
They had already protected the high-walled courtyards where they lived. Some gentry even dug deep holes along the courtyards, diverted water into canals to form trenches to protect the houses, and then built watchtowers and fortresses. The insurrectionists were still two miles away. Everybody can see clearly.
It can be said that as long as the gangsters dare to go there and come to rob things, they can only be beaten into briquettes.
The landlords are so difficult to deal with, so these people are in trouble, because they are all refugees in the customs. They shake their bodies several times and only see fleas but no money. If you want to rob the rich, you can recruit soldiers, buy horses, guns and knives. You only expect to be stinky. Meat can withstand a few bullets.
They could only put down the plan for the time being. Later, these rebels discovered that when wealthy households in the Northeast celebrated their birthdays, they often invited opera troupes to hold temple fairs near their manors. Once the news of the temple fairs was spread, the people in eight villages in the ten miles away would have to bring their families with them. join in the fun.
Opportunities arise when there are many people and they disguise themselves as beggars asking for money from criminals, holding broken bowls and blending into the crowd, begging for money while looking for candidates.
The children of ordinary people are completely different from the children of wealthy landlords.
Baixin's child lacked clothes, was rickety and thin, and looked like a sick chicken.
Not only are the children of wealthy families chubby and plump, they are also covered in silk and satin. It would be easier to identify them if there is a wet nurse around them.
As long as they see a child from a wealthy family, they will gather around the nannies and sing "Shu Laibao" or something like that. If these women are willing to give money, they will reward them with a few copper coins. If they don't want to reward them, they will be scolded. The poor beggar goes away.
No matter what these women do to these people, they are not angry. The purpose of these beggars is to hold back these adults so that the children will notice them. When the maids and women are busy dealing with the bandits, the chubby young master has nothing to do. As I had something to do, I noticed the little donkey not far from the beggars.
This little donkey is no taller than an adult's waist. It has black fur, thin hooves and big teeth. It walks with a clattering sound. If you add some hydrangea dolls and a rattle, it will look very funny and will be most popular with children.
As long as the little donkey brays, it will surely attract children to chase it.
Where to run, of course, to the fields and woods where there are few people!
