Ji Xiang listened to the girl's prayer, and the other woman's tone contained a sadness for her motherland.
Not mourning for the Ming Dynasty, but mourning for the Song Dynasty.
"A military commander from the Song Dynasty?"
For Ji Xiang, although the Wanshou Palace was doing evil, there was an endless stream of people with lofty ideals throughout the Song Dynasty. However, almost all the emperors were unwilling to make progress. In addition, the civil servants were too powerful and the generals could not raise their heads. If a good man did not serve as a soldier, he would be from the Song Dynasty.
Starting rules.
"The scholar-bureaucrats and the emperor jointly ruled the world, so that power gradually became corrupted in the hands of civil servants. In the Song Dynasty, the scholar-bureaucrats were not killed, and their families were not confiscated and their families were exterminated. Since there was no fear of life, people would gradually fall into corruption, and there were more and more officials.
I am also increasingly losing my moral integrity..."
"In the late Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party was very powerful, and it was the same reason."
"The benefit lies in the early stage, adding intellectuals to the country and improving the social environment...The harm will be in later generations...But the power of the generals is too great, and the final result will only be a repeat of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms."
Ji Xiang muttered a few words briefly in his heart, and saw that the girl returned to her statue, and there was no movement again.
"A female general from the Song Dynasty, and one whom people miss most...Mu Guiying?"
The more famous one that Ji Xiang can think of is the female general of the Yang family. Although Mu Guiying herself is a fictional character, a god who has a statue and is born from countless incense through the wishes of the people is a great figure for folk gods.
Very normal situation.
"I remember that when I was in Shuntian Mansion, those who sold storybooks on Tianjie had among the books they had "Zhi Zhuan of the Northern Song Dynasty". This was the biography of the heroes of the previous dynasty that was compiled during the Jiajing period and sold in the early Wanli year.
..."
"It is also the source of Mu Guiying."
Many famous fictional characters in later generations generally appeared during the Ming Dynasty. During this period, a large number of scripts, novels, and operas emerged, creating countless legendary characters in the fictional world, and were widely recognized by the people. In the Qing Dynasty,
At that time, these fictional characters already had many temples and enjoyed the incense of future generations.
.......
When the cock crows for the fifth time, the girl gets down from her own statue and goes to worship in front of the statue of Zhenwu.
"Today, as the world changes, there are evil spirits causing harm in the city, so we must use the law to destroy them."
"Heavenly demons, heretics, ghosts and fairies see me as blood and turn into purple dust!"
She recited a section of the Zhenwu Mantra, then took some broken silver and copper coins from the merit box, but the quantity was not large, and then took away part of the incense on the Zhenwu statue, but only took away part of the surface.
But Ji Xiang was still alarmed and withdrew from practice, just in time to see her going out wearing armor.
"Yesterday when I entered the temple, I wore the ordinary clothes of a man from the Ming Dynasty. When I manifested for the second time, I wore a red robe. Today I went out wearing armor... What kind of armor is this?"
Although Ji Xiang's predecessor was well-read in scriptures, some of the armors of the previous dynasty were beyond the scope of recognition, and this kind of armor was just armor, not some kind of magical weapon or magic weapon that was exerting its power.
There is no manifested name.
The armor was blue-black in color, smooth and translucent and the hair could be seen. It was tied with musk skin straps, making it look soft and tough.
It does not seem to be an armor that ordinary people can wear, but its specific shape is completely different from the famous Shanwen armor from the Song Dynasty.
Not long after the girl left, the door opened and Miao Zhu came in.
In ordinary temples, Miao Zhu stays overnight in the temple. They are usually people who have lost their families or have no homeland. They have no home, so they work in the temple. However, this Miao Zhu seems to have a home to return to, and he does not stay there at night.
In the temple, it seems that they are in awe of the girl's power.
When the sun rose the next day, the temple Zhu discovered that the newly recruited men did not come to the temple on time to work. Many chores were now piled up, and the yard was not cleaned.
Miao Zhu waited for a while and found that the guys he recruited yesterday still hadn't come. He suddenly had an idea in his mind and could only shake his head:
"These people are really greedy for money. They came here in the middle of the night. I'm afraid they will be dead within two days."
When the pilgrims who came to offer incense heard about this incident, they all talked about it. In the past, the temple master appeared and shot a scholar who had no moral integrity. Although most of the pilgrims had not seen it with their own eyes, at least they were bragging to each other.
When talking about it, it was called a person with a nose and eyes.
"I know that the scholar was writing obscene poems in the temple."
"You remember wrongly, that is King Zhou."
"You're also wrong. That's just the plot of "The Romance of the Gods"."
"I have a question, did the Shang Dynasty have the official position of Chief Soldier?"
"Why isn't it? Everyone has written about it, so it must be there!"
"Isn't Li Jing a general of the Tang Dynasty in the Martial Temple? He is the Duke of the Tang Dynasty!"
"Why, the Shang Dynasty couldn't have Li Jing?"
The identities of the pilgrims vary, but those who come here in the early morning are usually rich people. After all, ordinary people get up early and go out to work. Only those who do not have to work will come to the temple to offer incense to show their piety.
Ji Xiang was inside the statue, listening to the group of wealthy and noble pilgrims below discussing the plot of Fengshen Yanyi, and couldn't help but murmur again.
"In the Ming Dynasty, people were really enthusiastic about reading novels. "The Romance of the Gods"... this book seems to have had a huge impact on the people."
Ji Xiang is thinking about important things.
The name of Biyou Palace comes from the Romance of the Gods, and it seems to have been instructed by the founders of the Shangqing Sect. In order to match the content of the story, the Qingping Sword was specially given to the owner of Biyou Palace and asked him to bring out the Shangqing Sect.
.
"What will happen if you name your sect or disciples according to some names in "The Romance of the Gods"?"
"Or is it easier to gather incense and wishes this way?"
My thoughts were racing, and I suddenly thought of what I heard in the Forbidden City, about the magic and ghost techniques used by Japanese pirates on the Korean battlefield.
"The Collection of Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit is also a book that has great influence in Japan..."
"The founders of the Shangqing Sect will not do useless things. They specially built the Biyou Palace to cooperate with "The Romance of the Gods". It must be for some important event."
"The three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, the three religions of interpreting and intercepting people, the Heavenly Master Dragon and Tiger, Shangqing Maoshan, Lingbao Pavilion Zao... the three mountain sects."
Ji Xiang felt that these things were somewhat related, but when he thought about them, they all existed independently, and he didn't have a clear clue.
I still need to get more information.
We also need information that can connect these clues, that is key.
This must be related to the dynasty road planned by those immortals in Lishanhe.
The incense was strong, and the merit box was quickly filled with copper coins and broken silver.
Soon, the old foreman who came to work in the temple told the temple leader that everyone who had been newly recruited two days before the temple ceremony, and those guys who came here to do chores, had big sores on their backs, and the flow of pus had stopped.
As a result, their families are spending a lot of money to hire doctors in the city.
"There are skilled doctors in Qiantang County, but after hearing what they did, people didn't dare to help them heal."
The old foreman sounded very sad. It was a shame that all these young and strong men ended up like this because of their greed.
Miao Zhu snorted: "If you can't control your own hands, you will be in trouble now."
The old foreman smiled and said: "You are still making sarcastic remarks, aren't you afraid that those relatives of the boy's family will come here to make trouble?"
Temple Zhu: "What I say is harsh. If they had money, they would not come here to steal the merit money. Since they have no money, their families are not gifted. They are all coolies who come from poor backgrounds to make money everywhere. They are idle.
They came to me to ask for work, and I took them in to do some errands in the temple. As a result, they offended the gods and were punished. Even if the Qiantang County magistrate is in front of me, I am justified."
Old foreman: "The county magistrate is also afraid of the gods punishing him?"
Miao Zhu: "That's not true. I heard that these officials don't have much respect for the things of gods and ghosts. When I went to the Yamen several times to do business, I could always feel that there was some special aura floating there. I couldn't put it into words.
, it’s like the smell of incense but it’s a little different.”
Miao Zhu doesn't know anything about spiritual practice, but after being exposed to the scent of incense for many years, he has some supernatural powers and can sense the might of the Ming Dynasty. This means that he is no longer a mere mortal.
Ji Xiang listened to their conversation and understood where this place was.
It turned out to be Qiantang County, Hangzhou.
The famous Lingyin Temple is right here. No wonder there are no evil spirits causing trouble here. Instead, it is a prosperous and peaceful scene. With such a large Buddhist temple standing here, the demon kings at the level of earthly immortals dare not approach here at all.
The old foreman was still chatting with Miao Zhu. He looked at the statue of Zhenwu and said:
"By the way, Zhenwu has shown his power."
The temple blessing was strange: "Zhenwu showed his spirit?"
He raised his head and looked at the statue. The old foreman explained: "The guys said that when they took the merit box last night, they were laughing and joking, saying that Lord Zhenwu was a rich man and that there were many Zhenwu temples in the Ming Dynasty with thousands of incense sticks.
, they take a little
No problem, he also said that if Master Zhenwu really cared about these incense, he would take it back! Guess what? At that time, Master Zhenwu's eyes suddenly shot out with light, and they just wheezed, and they turned around and fell to the ground.
Got it!"
Miao Zhu was also surprised: "Really or not? Speaking of which, during the day yesterday, the statue of Zhen Wu Ye was indeed much more powerful than before. There was a lot of incense in the temple..."
The old foreman suddenly understood: "Yesterday, the incense in the temple suddenly became more prosperous. Is this the reason?"
He also looked at the statue of Zhenwu and said with emotion: "After so many years of worship, Master Zhenwu seems to have noticed our small temple. It's a pity that the owner of the temple still doesn't have much incense."
Miao Zhu glared at the old foreman: "Okay, don't say anything nonsense next, stop it, this temple owner is a cautious person, be careful she shoots you with arrows."
The old foreman chuckled: "She saved me by showing up and wouldn't shoot me."
Miao Zhu snorted: "The temple owner protects our small place. Master Zhenwu is in charge of the Ming Dynasty. It is normal for the temple to be prosperous. You can go about your business."
The old foreman responded and left, while the temple minister began to offer three sticks of incense to the statue of the girl.
Green smoke curled up, and the temple worshiper bowed sincerely a few times, then resumed his philistine appearance, attracted pilgrims from all walks of life, and publicized what happened last night.
Sure enough, when the news about Zhenwu's suspected apparition spread yesterday, many more people came to offer incense in front of Zhenwu's statue than the previous day.
There were only a few sticks of incense in the incense burner in front of the statue of the girl, but in front of the statue of Zhenwu where Ji Xiang was, there were long and short incense sticks on it. Many of them could be used as torches to burn. The place was filled with smoke and smoke.
Like big smoke.
"This force is too strong. I just scared those few mortals last night. Unexpectedly, these people immediately started to worship me crazily. In contrast, the temple owner often looks like a saint, but he doesn't
How many people went to worship her... I guess it was because of her habit of shooting people to death with incense arrows that others did not dare to worship her."
"How can we get incense like this? Pilgrims and pilgrims are visitors. The God of Heaven may not care about the loss of a little incense, but as a people's god, his existence depends on incense. With this little incense, even if it has huge magic power, I'm afraid
I can’t even perform half of it.”
"By the way, she said before that she wanted to slay demons... Could it be that she was also responding to the prayers of a pilgrim and adapting to the world?"
Ji Xiang thought about it, but he didn't know what kind of demon this girl was fighting. She went out before dawn and came back in the middle of the night.
Besides, why do pilgrims run to the demons every day without any trouble?
"Don't say that there are monks colluding with demons."