Longzhou, like Shuzhou, is a border state and is located due west of Daning.
It borders Yuanzhou to the north, Lingzhou to the south, Anzhou to the south, and then Shuzhou.
Judging from its geographical location and climate conditions, Longzhou should not be very wealthy.
And this is indeed the case. If the thirty-six states of Daning were ranked by GDP, Longzhou would definitely be at the bottom. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a remote area.
However, it is such an extremely poor state and county that is the only pure land left by Buddhism in Daning.
Contrary to Daning's overall religious policy of "valuing Taoism over Buddhism", the people of Longzhou are more inclined to believe in Buddhism, and most warriors practice Buddhism.
As for the reason...
It is said that "Taoism cultivates this life, Buddhism cultivates the next life."
Perhaps the poorer a person is, the more they can only place all their good hopes in the next life.
...
The carriage drove all the way out of Longzhou City, followed the bumpy official road for more than ten miles, and arrived at Lingkai Mountain, the "Jerusalem" of Daning Buddhism, in less than half an hour.
Fulian Temple is hidden on Lingkai Mountain. Neat and flat stone steps rise from the foot of the mountain and lead directly to the temple gate.
Tsk tsk tsk, I guess Longzhou Yamen doesn’t even have such a high-end class.
As expected, no matter how hard it is, the children cannot be miserable, and no matter how poor, the monk cannot be poor...
Wei Changtian muttered in his heart, climbed up the stairs with Qin Zhengqiu and You Jia, and soon saw a magnificent and solemn temple.
Mixing in the endless stream of pilgrims, we walked to the temple gate. The three doorways, one large, two small, and small, which symbolized "wisdom", "compassion" and "convenience", were all painted with bright red paint, and there was a couplet engraved on both sides.
.
Above: The great road is selfless, but if it can be empty of form and color, why don’t you ask for help from the South China Sea?
Next: If the maze and Guangji are restored, this place will be the Western Heaven.
Well, I really didn’t understand it, but anyway, I feel that the last sentence is quite unlucky.
So do you really have no connection with Buddhism?
Wei Changtian shook his head without thinking much, stepped across the threshold, and casually grabbed a young monk who was sweeping the floor.
"Little Master, can Abbot Hui'an be in the temple?"
"ah?"
The young monk was stunned for a moment, holding a broom in one hand and making a one-palm salute with the other.
"Amitabha, the abbot is indeed in the temple now, but I don't know what the responsibilities of the donors are?"
"I have something important to discuss with him."
Strictly speaking, he has no conflict with Fulian Temple, so Wei Changtian's tone was quite polite: "Please ask the young master to lead the way."
"this......"
The young monk hesitated for a while and then asked in a low voice: "Several donors, can you please go and report them first?"
"This is natural. Young Master only needs to tell Abbot Hui'an that we are here for the Pure Circle."
"Jingyuan?"
The little monk was stunned.
Starting with the word "Jing", it should be his senior uncle.
But there is no master uncle named Jingyuan in the temple?
He looked at Wei Changtian with some confusion. Seeing that the latter had no intention of explaining, the young monk had no choice but to say "I understand, young monk" and turned around to leave.
Only then did Wei Changtian look away and casually glanced at the surroundings.
The place they are currently in is the Shanmen Hall, which is the place where the "Second General Heng Ha" is enshrined.
Compared with the Buddhas enshrined in the Heavenly King Hall and the Mahavira Hall at the back, the two generals of Hengha are undoubtedly inferior.
However, there are still a dozen men and women in ragged clothes kneeling in front of the hall, holding incense and kowtowing.
Unlike many temples in the past that did not allow tourists to bring private incense, in ancient times there was not only no such "capitalization" rule, but Buddhist incense was even placed in front of the incense burner, and pilgrims could just take it themselves.
To put it bluntly, it is provided for free.
However, although there is an opportunity to worship Buddha "for free", in fact, no pilgrim will actually come empty-handed. After offering incense, no matter rich or poor, they will basically put some incense money into the merit box.
Even though they might be hungry for days.
For example, now.
"Mom, we haven't had a full meal in several days..."
A little boy wearing a patched cotton-padded jacket gently pulled the corner of a woman's clothes and begged in a low voice: "I, I want to eat steamed buns..."
"I, how about we use these copper coins to buy steamed buns..."
"Danglang~"
Although the little boy's plea was very pitiful, the woman in tattered clothes was not moved by it and still threw a few copper coins in her hand into the merit box placed in front of the Buddha statue.
"Please, two King Kongs, protect us, the orphans and the widowed mother..."
"We only need to have one full meal a day. Please bless Vajra, bless Vajra..."
"..."
The devout prayers were not loud, but Wei Changtian and the others had reached the fifth level of "sight and hearing", so they could still hear them vaguely.
Use the money you spend to make offerings to the Bodhisattva, just hoping that you can have enough to eat...
Wei Changtian complained in his mind about the magic of this scene, but Qin Zhengqiu didn't care at all.
Only Youjia hesitated for a moment, then shook out a small piece of broken silver from his sleeve, only about two or three coins.
She obviously knew that the mother and son could not be protected if she gave too much, so she chose an amount that was neither too much nor too little.
"Whoosh!"
A flash of silver light flashed, and the broken silver fell right into the bamboo basket used to hold Buddhist incense in the woman's hand. After shaking a few times, it rolled down along the gap to the bottom of the bamboo basket.
Upon noticing this scene, Wei Changtian turned his head and glanced at You Jia.
The latter did not explain anything, but hesitated for a moment and asked softly:
"Can I also go and burn incense?"
"..."
"Ask me what I want to do and go if you want."
Wei Changtian was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile, but felt a little strange in his heart.
You Jia follows the Taoist path, so why should she worship the Buddhist Vajra?
Although there is no rule against "worshiping God when you see it", the exclusivity of belief should be very strong...
Wei Changtian didn't understand and didn't ask. He just watched You Jia walk up to the angry-looking Second General Heng Ha, took three sticks of incense and lit them, then knelt down on the golden futon and bowed three times seriously.
You Jia didn't speak, so Wei Changtian didn't know what she was begging for, so he turned his attention to the young monk who came back from a distance.
But if he could hear Yu Jia's thoughts... then his expression might not be as calm as it is now.
"My little girl knows that her sins are serious and she doesn't seek a good ending in this life and the next..."
"But if the two Vajras have spirits, please bless Mr. Wei with peace and joy in this life, the next life, and from generation to generation..."
"..."
The fragrance of Buddha is ethereal, and the sound of wooden fish and chanting of sutras are intertwined in the distance.
The fragrant flowers on the sutra pillars cover the pagoda containing the Buddha's bones and relics, and the curls of incense are full of solemnity and sanctity.
You Jia bowed for the last time and knelt for a long time. When she looked up again, she found that Qin Zhengqiu was the only one left there.
Wei Changtian didn't know when he had followed the young monk and walked far away.
...
ps: I would like to ask for your opinions here. Basically every character in this book has a complete story line, but if it is written out, it may squeeze the frequency of Wei Changtian's appearances. So everyone thinks that the story of the supporting characters should be more complete.