Tome of Troubled Times Chapter 700: Another battlefield without smoke

Chapter 700 Another battlefield without smoke

In Xiangyang at night, when viewed from the air, it looks like thousands of lights. It looks more prosperous than the capital at the moment. Due to the curfew in the capital these days, the lights are dark at night, and there are not many places to light up.

Xiangyang was not severely damaged during the Maitreya Rebellion. Although Lu Shiheng's fooling around almost delayed farming, he was stopped in time and got back on track. At this time, Xiangyang could be called a blessed land, more stable than most places in the world.

Especially in the south of the city, the lights are most concentrated. There are lanterns everywhere and there are a lot of people. From a distance, it looks like there is some kind of garden activity.

Zhao Changhe rode his horse over in surprise, landed in the woods in the distance, hid the horse, and strolled out to see the park.

People's laughter can be heard far away, and the girl's silver bell-like voice echoes in the night. It's really not easy. In such a chaotic world, there is such a scene. It is like Su Yang before Maitreya's rebellion. Just looking at it makes people miss the Xiaoxiang Pavilion at that time.

Well, this is Xiaoxiang.

Zhao Changhe strolled over and soon saw that this turned out to be a temple fair in front of a temple. The temple was quite grand, and the square in front of the temple was so huge that it almost caught up with the big square outside the palace... Having experienced the Maitreya Rebellion, Zhao Changhe instinctively felt wary of temples. Why did such a magnificent temple appear when everything was deserted?

I was planning to ask a passerby when my eyes wandered and I suddenly saw an acquaintance.

A young man was sitting near the lanterns setting up a stall. The stall was full of fragrant braised duck: "Hey, this girl, not only sell duck legs, but at least cut them into half."

"I am a girl..."

"Miss, if you lie down on this car, you can crush me to death, so don't worry about the child."

"If you don't know how to speak, how can you do business like this!"

"I cut a leg for you, how can I sell this duck? Are you going back?"

"How could there be a gangster like you before the temple!"

"I'm just a duck seller, whether I want to buy or not."

The customer drove away angrily. The man leaned lazily against the tree behind him, his eyes looking around. He didn't know whether he was looking at the girl from the temple fair or something else.

A big face suddenly appeared in front of him: "Brother Zhou, are you a duck?"

Da Zhou was stunned for a moment, his eyes filled with ecstasy: "Could it be some kind of illusion? How could you be here suddenly?"

Zhao Changhe shushed: "There are so many people, so can we change places?"

Da Zhou immediately grabbed the oilcloth spread in front of him, carried all the ducks away at once, and ran away quickly: "Here, let me buy you a drink."

A customer from behind shouted: "Hey, hey, duck seller?"

Da Zhou didn’t even look back: “I was packed away by everyone, including the boss!”

…………

"Could it be that the Chief has received our message? It's strange, we didn't hurry up. The road is difficult in the snow, and the messenger may not have arrived in Beijing at this time." The Zhenmo Division's secret station, Da Zhou warmly smiled While drinking wine, he cut a duck leg and handed it to Zhao Changhe: "Anyway, we have a backbone now that we are here. This time we feel at ease."

Zhao Changhe took the duck leg and gnawed on it: "How can you confirm that it's not an illusion?"

"Paradox? I accept that this illusion can come true." Da Zhou said: "How can any stupid bird ask me to be a duck when we meet?"

Zhao Changhe: "...Hey, shouldn't I be the King of Zhao and the Crown Prince in the court hierarchy now? Are you having fun scolding me?"

"Ah? Do you like to be treated with respect?" Da Zhou looked at him curiously: "I have never seen a prince ride a horse all over the world and fight for his life."

Zhao Changhe clapped his hands and laughed: "Okay, okay."

Da Zhou poured hot wine and said with a smile: "If I like being an official, I won't be a spy for the rest of my life. I'm just too lazy to entertain the officials. Don't do this with me."

"Then why are you a spy?"

"In order to see things that are invisible on the official surface, in order to make the monsters and monsters have no place to hide."

"Okay, okay." Zhao Changhe raised his bowl and had a bowl with him, and said with a smile: "What's going on? Since it said that a messenger has been sent to Beijing, it means there is indeed something wrong. Am I not overly concerned?"

"Well...there is indeed a problem, and of course it's not up to the wartime emergency standard. I don't know if the first officer has received the news."

"I haven't received it. Even if I have received it, since you don't have an expedited sign, you will probably be left behind. She has too many things to do now. It's okay. Just tell me when I'm here."

"This temple didn't appear out of thin air to be so big. You know that a long time ago, Buddhism was relatively prosperous in the world, but it fell into ruin after the former emperor destroyed Buddhism. The rise of Maitreya sect's underground missionary work is also related to this background. Related."

"Hmm...so this temple existed in the early years?"

"Yes, it was just abandoned for a long time. But after the demise of Maitreya, traditional Buddhism showed signs of revival. Before, it didn't dare to make too much of a fuss. But once the emperor died, it no longer had any scruples and flourished. "Da Zhou drank the hot wine and sighed: "Look, it didn't take long for the late emperor to pass away. How about two months? This temple has been renovated. Believers are donating money and materials in full swing, and various temple fairs are full of people. "

Zhao Changhe said: "There is no festival or celebration, how can there be a temple fair?"

"Yes, it's Laba today. Laba is a Buddhist festival that no one has celebrated before, but it's starting now."

"Well..."

"The new prefect believes in this, and it opens the door to convenience. Theoretically speaking, the current prosperity and wealth bring peace of mind, which can be regarded as an educational achievement. We don't know if there is any problem with this situation... Instinct I feel that being able to win over people and gather people to do something is not necessarily a good thing, so I reported it. To be honest, Your Majesty did not cancel the order to destroy the Buddha. Isn’t it a bit wrong to just treat it as if it didn’t happen? "

Zhao Changhe nodded. The sensitivity of these agents of the Demon Suppression Division is high enough. Most people would never think so much.

It can only be said that in such troubled times, people's hearts are in great need of sustenance, and the teachings of the Four Symbols Sect are naturally not so suitable. It will take a long time to change the flavor of gods coming to the world to rule everything to gods coming to the world to let everyone transcend bliss. It takes time to publicize.

At the moment, they are definitely unable to compete with Buddhism and Taoism. Their accumulated propaganda and cognition have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. This is why Guichen so calmly "returned to Mount Tai". He already had a sufficient foundation in Taoism, and the Four Symbols Sect and the They fight over each other.

Originally, there is nothing wrong with this... But being bitten by a snake in one move, being afraid of well ropes for ten years, and being messed with by the Maitreya Cult, even those with some sensitivity are afraid of this kind of association and gathering of people. If it goes wrong, it will be... Another Maitreya Rebellion. Therefore, Dazhou and other spies watched as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and even reported it to the capital.

"The main reason is that we feel that their resurgence is too fast, and it feels like they are pushing people." Da Zhou looked solemn: "If nothing else is mentioned, just because the prefect allowed them to be exempted from tax, it caused farmers to donate their land. , coupled with the exemption from corvee for becoming a monk, it has led to a large number of civilians being ordained. If this continues, it will be strange if there are no problems."

Zhao Changhe nodded, which happened to come at a time when the imperial court was really unable to take care of these matters. Once this became the norm everywhere, it would be a big problem.

Da Zhou was muttering: "Why did the late emperor destroy Buddha in the early years? I was young at the time and didn't know. Now it seems that if it develops for another ten or eight years, your majesty may have to do this once."

Zhao Changhe thought for a while and asked: "Is there anything about bullying men and dominating women?"

Da Zhou said: "We have been watching, and we haven't found anything famous so far. We haven't seen any tricks like the Maitreya Cult in the past. There are no flaws. Everything is fair and aboveboard. But there have been cases where people were disrespectful to the Buddha and were fanatical. At that time, some brothers from the Blood God Sect were extremely dissatisfied with this incident and almost got into a fight, but the **** calmed both sides down. In fact, the brothers from the Blood God Sect and the Buddhist believers just couldn't stand each other. If you are used to conflicts, something will happen sooner or later. I don’t think the **** can suppress it, so you will be safe.”

Zhao Changhe looked back and looked in the direction of the temple fair in the south of the city.

The art of gazing was faintly activated, as if one could see the vortex of the power of faith gathering in the sky, and then merged into an unknown place.

Da Zhou's voice echoed in his ears word by word: "I think... this is the milder version of Maitreya Cult. There is not much difference in essence... Of course, the Blood God Cult is not a good thing either. It’s just a group of firecrackers that explode at one click..."

Zhao Changhe pondered for a long time and suddenly asked: "The Taoists are here and there is no sound at all?"

"Yes. But it seems that someone is suppressing them. They keep a low profile and mainly stay in Taoist temples outside the mountains... In fact, the late emperor has not destroyed Taoism in the past. Taoism has always been very powerful, but it has never been arrogant. I don’t know if it’s a habit or if I’m hiding something.”

Zhao Changhe thought for a while and suddenly asked: "Who is the abbot of the Buddhist temple here? Why does the prefect trust him so much?"

Da Zhou said: "This also has something to do with you. This abbot is Master Yuancheng who was once dragged to fight Maitreya by you. Although they did not use your name to do anything, they naturally have this halo in the eyes of officials everywhere. ”

Zhao Changhe suddenly remembered the leftover tea on the table in Tang Buqi's courtyard, and laughed: "I know, then there's no need to sit here and think about it. I'll go explore the temple and talk to Master Yuan Cheng. ."