A few days later, a large mountain stood in front of us. It was bigger than the small hills along the way. It was at least dozens of kilometers in radius. From a distance, it was lush and green, with dozens of peaks, large and small.
This mountain is familiar to Chang Yu. The last time he went south to Baiwang, he passed through this place, which later became the Fengyang Mountain National Geopark. Yes, it reached the boundary of Fengyang Prefecture.
A few dozen miles to the north of the mountain is Fengyang Fucheng. Chang Yu has no plans to enter the city, nor will he go to Lao Zhu's private prison for a stroll, but there is one place he must go, that is, this mountain and Fengyang Fucheng.
The Ming Emperor’s Mausoleum.
This is a rule, a rule stipulated by Emperor Zhu Di. Any official passing by the Ming Emperor's Mausoleum must go to pay homage. Although Chang Yu was not a serious official, he had to go because of his special status.
I went south last time, and I have to go north this time, unless you go around.
Yes, but not necessary!
Chang Yu didn't plan to go directly over the mountains. Although there were villages in the mountains, the mountain roads were narrow and steep and difficult to pass. There were even many dead ends. Walking, he reached the edge of the cliff. There was no mountain road that led directly from north to south. Instead of walking around in the mountains,
It would be faster to go directly around the mountain.
After everyone discussed it, they decided to go around from the east. The terrain was relatively flat, with few rivers and no hills, so it would be less troublesome to run wildly on horseback. It happened that we could also purchase some sacrificial supplies through Dingyuan City, but we couldn't go to the imperial mausoleum to plant grass for incense.
Dingyuan is a small town, close to the southeast corner of the mountain range. Chang Yu did not plan to enter the city, so he asked Kuang Ren to send a few men into the city to purchase goods. The rest of the troops rested in the woods at the foot of the mountain.
There are many villages at the foot of the mountain with sporadic pools of water, some dry and some abundant. The soldiers rested, fed the horses, and splashed in the water. Chang Yu wanted to climb the small mountain peak in front of him. This was his
Hobby, traveling and enjoying mountains and rivers.
The nameless mountain peak is not high, only a few dozen meters. There is a land temple on the top. Judging from the ashes in the incense burner, the incense here should be pretty good, and I actually met a few pilgrims, all of whom were villagers near the foot of the mountain.
Chang Yu stood under the shade of a tree on the top of the mountain and looked at Dingyuan County in the distance with an indifferent expression. Wuzhong came over and muttered: "Is the cow's nose dizzy because of the heat? Go burn incense for the monk's gods."
Chang Yu was surprised and looked back. Li Muxian got a few sticks of incense from somewhere and was mumbling in front of the incense burner: "Who said this belongs to the monk in Tutu Temple?"
"The Earth Temple, the Earth Temple, the temple belongs to the monk's family. Have you ever heard of the Land View?" Wuzhong took it for granted; "Since it is a temple, the Earth God is a Buddhist deity. He, a Taoist priest, worships a Buddhist deity...
…”
Chang Yu looked stunned: "You are so fucking educated."
Mr. Wu shrugged: "It's not bad. I've read some books recently. Besides, these are all common sense..."
"You need some face," Chang Yu couldn't help but yelled: "You don't even know Zhang Xiaoquan's "little", and you have read some books. What books are you reading? Jin Pinmei's illustrations."
Wuzhong lowered his head and wiped his nose in embarrassment, still not convinced: "Although I don't know a few words, it is correct to say that the God of Earth belongs to a monk's family."
Bah, Chang Yu spat at him: "We don't even divide the temples, but we still have the confidence to separate the houses for the gods."
Next to him, Ji Jike couldn't help laughing when he saw Wu Zhong's embarrassment. Wu Zhongzheng had no place to say: "You are so ridiculous, as if you can tell the difference... Hey, I can also tell the difference clearly. This temple belongs to the monks."
"The view belongs to Taoists."
"I didn't ask you who owns the Taoist temple. I asked you how to divide the temples." Chang Yu rolled his eyes.
"A temple is a temple. How can we tell where the monks live?" Wuzhong looked confused. Chang Yu sighed and asked Ji Jike: "Do you know?"
"I know a little bit." Ji Jike cleared her throat: "The temple was originally a government office, such as the Honglu Temple in the previous dynasty, which is our current Huitong Pavilion. When the Buddha entered China, the monks were arranged to live in the temple. Over time, the monks lived in the temple.
The places where places are now are called temples, so now we see places where monks practice are called XX Temple, Shaolin Temple, and White Horse Temple, but there is no such thing as a temple."
Chang Yu nodded: "What about the temple?"
"Temple is a place to worship ancestors and gods. It is said that our ancestors first respected their ancestors and did not believe in ghosts and gods, except for natural gods. Therefore, places that worship natural gods are called temples, such as the Earth Temple, the River Temple, the City God Temple, and the Guanyin Temple.
That all came about after Buddhism came in. Taoism respects ancestors and gods, so the place where Taoist priests live and practice is called a temple." Ji Jike answered calmly, but Wuzhong became anxious: "Then why is it called a Taoist temple and not a Taoist temple?"
Ji Ji was ridiculous: "Guan is a kind of building. It did not refer to Taoist buildings at first, but a platform on which Taoist priests meditate and practice. Moreover, Guan is a realm and a kind of cultivation in Taoism. "
"Wen" said: "Guan means looking closely.". "Book of Changes Xici": "Looking up, one observes the phenomena in the sky, and looking down, one observes the laws on the earth. Therefore, it is right for the place where Taoist priests live and practice to be called Taoist temple, and it is called a temple.
It's also correct. Ordinary people call Taoist temples, but the Taoist priests in the temple always call them temples. If you don't believe me, ask Taoist Master Li.
"You see, being able to quote scriptures is called culture and knowledge?" Chang Yu rolled his eyes at Wuzhong: "You think you are knowledgeable just by looking at a few pornographic pictures?"
Wuzhong's face was red and he was a little unconvinced, so he asked Ji Jike: "Then do you think the Earth Temple is a Buddhist or a Taoist god?" Chang Yu couldn't help but knock him: "You idiot, you said that
The temple is a Taoist place."
"Then why is there an earth god among the monks?" Wuzhong was dissatisfied.
Chang Yu sighed: "The land gods, those mountain gods, and the river gods belong to the gods of nature. They are the earliest natural gods worshiped by humans. When they appeared, there was no Guanyin Bodhisattva Tathagata Buddha. Even Emperor Zhenwu and the Patriarch of the Sanqing Dynasty did not exist.
No, so it is not surprising that both Buddhism and Taoism worship them as gods, but if you have to ask whose family they belong to, it is naturally Taoist."
"Why?" Wu Zhong snorted.
"Just because Taoism is older than Buddhism, Buddhism follows the local customs and follows Taoism's example, you stupid ass" Tu Yuan, who was watching the excitement on the side, couldn't help it!
The imperial mausoleum is fourteen miles due south of Fengyang Fucheng. It was almost midnight when Chang Yu and his party arrived. It was several hours later than originally planned. This was mainly because there was a big river a few miles south of the imperial mausoleum and it was delayed for people and horses to cross the river.
for a long time.
It is not necessary to pay homage to the imperial mausoleum at night, it must be done in the morning.
So we camped at the Imperial Tomb tonight. This was the first time Chang Yu camped during a march in his history. In the past, there were many places to stay in the wild, such as woods and riverbanks with graves, but this was definitely the first time for the emperor. Of course, the entire Ming Dynasty
The only boundary of the land is this imperial mausoleum.
The imperial mausoleum occupies a large area, but is very dilapidated and desolate, with ruins and overgrown weeds. As mentioned before, the imperial mausoleum, which was already in disrepair, was completely burned when Zhang Xianzhong attacked Fengyang in the eighth year of Chongzhen.
The palaces were all in ruins, which was the reason why Emperor Chongzhen would kill Zhang Xianzhong even if he could spare Li Zicheng.
It was late at night, the mosquitoes and the roar of animals made Chang Yu sleepless. He walked out of the tent and stretched his body to look up at the starry sky. There was still light coming from the carriage next to him, which was Su Jing inside.
He walked around with his hands behind his back and looked into the distance to see the tall mausoleums. Chang Yu couldn't help but shake his head and laugh as he looked at it, because he thought of another royal mausoleum more than a hundred miles away, the Mingzu Mausoleum!