"Then please, I think it's time."
Yue Guanchao listened to the fish lady's words and thought to himself that she was probably referring to the fish lady's choice of Hua Yuxiu. Several people followed the old lady through the corridor to the backyard.
This location basically belongs to the private residence of the temple guardian. Ordinary people would not come here. When they walked into the courtyard, they could see that the courtyard was quite clean. Several gray tile houses surrounded the square courtyard, and there was a huge old locust tree in the middle. The trunk is rough and knotted, and its neck is crooked to form a strange arc.
At this time, it is the turn of spring and summer. The canopy of the tree is swollen like a canopy. Among the lush branches and leaves, you can see the scent of Sophora japonica!
However, besides the scent of locust flowers, there was a faint medicinal smell that was covered up and could not be smelled easily.
The old lady asked them to sit under the locust tree, and after serving herbal tea, she looked at Yue Guanchao and the others: "You must be curious why Mrs. Yu chose her, right?" Mrs. Yu sat next to her and said in a tone of voice. Mysterious asked.
"Actually, it was not the fish lady who chose her, but she chose the fish lady."
The old lady's words made them curious. Sun Daqiao also felt a little confused and continued to ask: "Old lady, Boss Hua was obviously chosen by Yu Po. How did she choose Yu Po?"
"You must think it's all in the clouds, but I won't talk nonsense about Yu Gu. This matter is also related to Boss Hua's life experience."
"My life experience?" A hint of doubt spread in Hua Yuxiu's eyes under the bamboo hat.
"Am I not an orphan? Ever since I can remember, I have grown up eating hundreds of meals."
Hua Yuxiu was particularly convinced of this. Ever since she could remember, she had always been taken care of by a beggar woman. When she was eight or nine years old, the beggar woman disappeared, and she had no choice but to work as an apprentice under the stage while also working as a prostitute. Eat enough to keep her from starving to death.
Now, when he suddenly heard that Fish Girl knew about her life experience, he was surprised and angry at the same time. He was surprised because he finally knew where he came from, and angry because he waited until he was almost forty years old before Fish Girl was willing to show up. , somewhat too late.
"Then where are my parents now?"
In the first twenty-five years of Hua Yuxiu's life, her grandma did not love her uncle, her parents died, and her relatives were not close to her. She wanted to know who her parents were.
"These things started 40 years ago, and they have a lot to do with the construction of the Fish Temple."
There was a rare trace of warmth on Yugu's withered face, and she explained her life and fate: "This fish temple is the largest fish temple on the riverside after the merger of the three towns of Jianghan. It is also higher than any other fish temple in terms of hierarchy. Gao, they chose a muddy beach area when building, and there are many aquatic species in the river, so it is inevitable that they will encounter some strange things."
"That's not right. Boss Hua said that after the fish temple stakes were driven down, the tidal flats would stabilize no matter whether the water rose or fell."
Hearing this, the fish woman sighed and shook her head: "Do you also believe this? Nowadays, it is widely rumored that the water will no longer rise and fall after driving a pile, and it is blessed by the fish god. These nonsense are just used to make a scene. Picture It’s just an auspicious sign. When we were building the fish temple, we encountered a lot of strange things..."
The tidal flat in the center of the river is formed by accumulation of mud and there are few trees on it, which has also caused serious water and soil erosion. In fact, the river bank was washed away by the river in the afternoon just after the river bank was repaired in the morning. I don’t know how much effort was expended.
Sometimes, I saw that all the materials moved to the island disappeared, either the tiles disappeared or the beams disappeared. The piles driven the day before were still pushed out and floating in the sand the next day, even if they were four or five meters into the sand. on the water.
Some craftsmen thought there was some kind of coward and stole these materials to exchange for money. They stayed overnight at night and saw no one sneaking onto the island. When they woke up the next day, the things were gone again.
This situation is as if there is something in the sand that prevents anyone from driving piles to build the temple. When this happens frequently, the craftsmen who built the fish temple have realized that something is wrong and suspect that something strange has happened.
These situations have indeed occurred in the past, especially in forested and mountainous areas. If someone wants to build a house here, in addition to recruiting craftsmen, they must also take care of the nearby wild gods.
Some mountains and forests seem quiet, but there are many things living in places that no one can see. There are even some wild gods who do not sit in temples. They are the masters of the mountains and forests. If people rush in, they will be killed. That would be a confrontation with these wild gods.
When the wild god is angry, it is easy for others to cause trouble!
For example, when digging piles, you deliberately prevent people from driving in, and even if they are driven in, they will be driven crookedly. Another example is when you deliberately mess up the beams, and the ropes break halfway up, or the wall collapses, or after the house is completed. It will catch fire for no apparent reason.
Although such a bad trick cannot kill anyone, it can make people sick to death, and even make them suffer unspeakably.
It’s no surprise that the Tao is polite to many people. The master who knows the Tao and practices didn’t wait for the wild gods to cause trouble, so he first bought a banquet and six animals, and hurriedly placed them in an open place in the forest before starting construction. Then, he asked the craftsman who knew the curse to say a few words. A kind word to let the surrounding wild gods know that they are troublesome when building houses here. If there is any offense, the banquet will accept it. In the future, please protect the home and the courtyard, and there will definitely be a lot of incense offerings.
After saying such good things, the craftsman can light the incense on the stove and leave. If the incense burns out the next day, it means that the surrounding wild gods have accepted the tribute and incense and have agreed to let people settle here. From now on, It can't be done worse.
At this time, the owner will let the craftsmen dig the foundation and build the house on the spot.
If the incense sticks in the furnace have not been burned out, or are not burned at all, it means that the surrounding wild gods are not satisfied. The craftsman will often ask the owner to choose another location to worship the gods again to avoid accidents.
From ancient times to the present, this custom is not only to worship the wild gods, but also to entertain the master craftsmen with a cooked banquet and braised meat before starting work. As long as the incense sticks are burned, you will feel more confident.
Whether it is to worship God or to have peace of mind, such a ceremony can be regarded as a tacit understanding between humans and the surrounding creatures when they intervene in the primitive natural environment.
Ordinary houses only require banquets, livestock, and even a few chickens and ducks. If it involves more advanced palaces and temples, then the things to be sacrificed can be much more serious. Sometimes, even human lives have to be sacrificed. This kind of use The custom of using human life to fill the building is called driving piles!
What is driving piles!
According to legend, when Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall, he ordered the responsible officials to avoid being punished. In order to pursue quality, he detailed the construction of the Great Wall to the laborers who built the wall. Even a brick must be marked with the master who cast it and the laborer who built the wall. If there is a problem with these things in the future, you can find the person involved according to the picture.
When faced with a corvee that went awry, they would chop off the hands and feet at the least, or bury a person alive in the wall. In other words, they would bury a person alive in the wall.
This is where the history of pile driving began!
In the following years, the construction of piles was misunderstood and spread by craftsmen, and the meaning of punishment was twisted into worshiping gods and blessings. They believed that huge buildings needed some spirits to guard them. Without the guarding of spirits, the building would easily collapse, and it would not be stable without the death of a few people. At the same time, many wild gods will come to cause trouble during the construction process.
More and more craftsmen think this way, and driving piles has become a common practice. But for any big project like a temple or a temple, the owner must find some poor people from poor families or who are seriously ill, and help them Pour it alive under the ground to ensure that the construction work will be smooth sailing after driving the piles.
At that time, Jiang Zuo noticed something strange and immediately informed the Jianghan government office. He euphemistically told the government about the strange things in Jiangxin Island, which meant that he wanted the government office to find someone to lay a stake.
Faced with these demands of the craftsmen, the Jianghan government was reluctant at first. Although the pile-driving ceremony has existed since ancient times, it only saw six animals being piled. When it comes to living people, it is inevitably a bit cruel. Of course, they are not kind-hearted in saying this. , I just don’t want to get a bad reputation for driving piles.
Behind his back, the official had already approached the construction company that was building the fish temple, asking them to find someone to drive the piles so that they could continue to build the fish temple. This company went around and set its sights on the construction company that came to Jianghan to seek refuge. Refugees from the North.
As mentioned earlier, forty or fifty years ago, the North was in chaos like a pot of porridge. The people had long been unable to survive. Even if they were lucky enough to escape, everyone was impoverished and their life was not easy. Some refugees would like to be grateful if they could find a job. .
The construction company found the refugees and only told them that they had jobs for them to do. These people didn't know what they were doing, and they waited for half a month before telling them that they were going to drive piles.
No matter how stupid these refugees are, they still know that driving life piles means sending them to death. Of course they don't want to die. If they really want to die, they can just stay in the north and starve to death. They just want to have a way to survive when they escape. Why go to the place of life? Raw stakes were driven into unfamiliar areas.
Among these refugees, the ones who really wanted to be staked were a middle-aged couple.
They had become extremely ill on the way to escape, and no one wanted to use such sick rice even if they wanted to work. Since they fled, the two of them have been forced to beg for a living. Seeing that they can no longer take care of their children, they want to find a last resort for their children. Road.
According to these construction companies, as long as they are willing to drive piles, their families can get one hundred taels of silver. With these taels of silver, they will no longer have to wander around and beg. They can even buy a house for a farmer outside the city. Have a peaceful life.
In this way, the couple voluntarily signed a life-and-death contract and sold their bodies to a construction company. After their bodies were sent to the sandy ground, the Jiangxin Oasis stabilized and the foundation piles were successfully laid to build the temple.
After the fish temple was built and the surrounding area was planted with trees by temple residents, the island in the center of the river became more stable and no more sediment was lost.
However, the funeral arrangements that the couple had planned for their only daughter changed after that. The construction company did not want to recognize the life and death contract at all. Not long after the couple laid the stake, their daughter was driven to the street. Soon he became a little beggar.
