The festive atmosphere brought by the Olympic athletes came to an abrupt end in Chongqing.
It was already mid-September, and the sun was still scorching hot. Not only was the ground scorching hot, but even the water in the Yangtze River was steaming up.
At the busy Chaotianmen Main Wharf, all cargo ships were pulling over at the moment. A five-meter-high Dragon King's Palace was built on the wharf, and it was surrounded by people praying to God for rain.
"Ding dong ding dong choking!"
On the steep pier slope, a Taoist priest holds Buddha dust in his hand, followed by several monks, nuns and immortals. They lead the way, followed by two groups of gongs and drums behind them, with flags, umbrellas and fans, and flags and shadows waving, just like a wealthy family.
Send off for funeral.
Twenty shirtless men each carried five dragon king chariots and went down the stairs along the broken road. In front of each dragon king chariot, there were written rain-praying documents written by local celebrities, and there were several wooden signs with the words "It will rain heavily today".
etc. words.
The five dragon emperors were sent to the dragon tent to return to their thrones. People burned incense and candles in the dragon tent. The fairies and fairies swayed their whole bodies, recited incantations and danced to pray for rain.
The Taoist priest took out the mahogany sword from his waist, lit the talisman and recited something: "Taiyuan Hao master's thunder and fire essence, combine yin and gather yang to guard the thunder city. Guan Bo's beacon fire ascends to the courtyard, and the style and electricity raise ghosts. The guests of Taihua order, God has
The order is to go quickly. The sun will collect and the rain will fall instantly. The dragon will be driven out and the lightning will come out of Xuanhong. I am here to go hastily according to the curse. This is the name of the Jade Emperor. Anyone who dares to refuse will be punished. Hurry is like the law!"
The Taoist priest walked with strange and rhythmic steps, and suddenly took out another talisman and put it on the tip of the sword. The talisman ignited without fire. The Taoist priest raised his sword with his halberd finger and drew it towards the Dragon King, shouting: "Five emperors and five dragons, descend the light and move the wind."
. Spreading zeal and nourishment widely, assisting Thunder Lord... urgently as the law dictates!"
The monks and nuns sat on the futon with their palms clasped together and recited the Dragon King's mantra for rain: "Om Duo Suo Suo Luo Sili Sili, Sulu Sulu, Naganan, Jha Po Jha Po... Because of the power of the Buddha,
Great Dragon King and others, come here quickly. Inside Jambudvipa, it rains heavily on the trees, covering them with trees, covering them, making them profitable. Zhulu, Zhulu, Sapoha."
More than thirty local squires knelt in front of the Five Dragon Emperors. One of them took the lead and said: "Sichuan is suffering from drought and the Yangtze River has dried up. We and the common people are here to pray. I hope that the Dragon King will send down the rain soon to relieve people's livelihood."
Hanging upside down, I will worship you every day, make offerings every month, and express my gratitude every year... Lord Dragon, just drop a few raindrops!"
More than thirty squires knelt down together, pressing their hands on the stone slabs with a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius, and shouted and begged the Dragon King for rain.
"Lord Dragon, just drop a few raindrops!"
Thousands of onlookers, including boatmen and fishermen on the river, all knelt down and kowtowed, shouting loudly.
The scene of praying for rain, which originally seemed a bit funny, suddenly became extremely solemn and solemn. If the heavens were affectionate, it would be time for rain to fall.
The river ship Zhou Hexuan was riding was floating on the river at this time, waiting for the rain praying ceremony to end before it docked to unload the passengers. Passengers walked onto the deck to watch the ceremony.
Zhou Hexuan was also on the deck at this time, watching everything in front of him silently, with extremely complicated emotions.
Chongqing suffered from severe floods last summer, but this summer it became a severe drought.
When Zhou Hexuan first moved to Chongqing, it had not rained for two months. Unexpectedly, when he returned from a trip to Europe, there was still no large-scale rainfall in Chongqing.
This year, there is almost no summer rice harvest in eastern Sichuan. There have been two consecutive years of floods and droughts, and there will definitely be another famine in winter and spring.
According to historical records, from the end of 1936 to the beginning of 1937, an average of 500 people starved to death in Chongqing every month. Starvation was everywhere, and mourning was everywhere. The victims ate all the tree roots and bananas, and dug white mud to feed themselves. One after another, they died of intestinal congestion, and even "
The human tragedy of starving people fighting to eat human corpses.
At that time, there were so many corpses that they filled up the Chongqing Cemetery. The Sichuan Disaster Relief Society had to build two (some say four) crematoriums and dig tunnels to cremate the corpses and store their ashes in the tunnels.
By April next year, the severe drought in eastern Sichuan was still continuing, and Liu Xiang, the "King of Sichuan", had to personally come forward and ask Liu Shenxian, who was already wanted by him and was on the run, to go out to pray for rain. However, it was useless, and Liu Xiang was furious.
The immortal fled to Shanghai in fear.
A professor from Sichuan University discovered an ancient prescription for relieving drought from Dong Zhongshu's "Spring and Autumn Dew" and dedicated it to Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang immediately ordered all localities to protect all folk rain prayer activities, and gods and demons from all walks of life appeared one after another, and wasted a lot of money.
Has no effect.
In fact, Liu Xiang also allocated money for disaster relief. Mr. Yin Zhong, the chairman of the Sichuan Relief Association, cried and knelt down to the relief workers, urging and pleading that the funds must be distributed to the victims and not to be embezzled without conscience. But even if all the money was
Even if the funds are fully distributed and distributed to more than 120 counties in eastern Sichuan, it is nothing more than a drop in the bucket. On average, each disaster victim can only receive 4 cents.
Liu Xiang was so anxious that he got no response at all from asking the central government for help. He banged the table and cursed: "Oh my God, Bald Chiang wants to unify Sichuan, but he doesn't care when Sichuan is in trouble... unification is a fucking shovel!"
Those who come after us should not forget that the Sichuan people supported the Anti-Japanese War against the backdrop of three consecutive years of major disasters.
The rain praying ceremony on the pier has ended. Thousands of people are facing the scorching sun and looking up at the sky... cloudless.
"Woooooooooo..." I don't know who started crying first, causing more people to cry.
A squire's palms had been blistered by the slate. He beat his chest and raised his feet and asked the sky: "Oh my God, you are going to drive all the people in eastern Sichuan to death. Please open your eyes and see how miserable the folks here are! Please."
You, let it rain a little, just sprinkle a few and you will get it. Let it rain a little, rain a little..."
"God, please make it rain!" people shouted.
If God didn't respond, it would have been blind a long time ago.
The crowd dispersed silently, and only the temporary rain-praying dragon shed still stood at Chaotianmen Pier.
The dock workers sweated and dismantled the dragon sheds, and cargo ships and passenger ships docked one after another. Chaotianmen Wharf has returned to its former prosperity.
Zhou Hexuan walked up the stairs along the pier slope and went straight to the telegraph office in the city. He told the operator the address: "The American transoceanic telegram said: There is a severe drought in Sichuan. Please ask Hongmen to raise relief food, at least 500,000 yuan."
tons, Zhou Hexuan pays the full amount."
The dispatcher was stunned. After sending the English telegram, he suddenly stood up and bowed: "Mr. Zhou, on behalf of the fellow Sichuan folks, I would like to thank you!"
Zhou Hexuan nodded slightly and accepted the thanks. He walked out of the telegraph office and said to Sun Yongzhen: "Buy a train ticket to Chengdu. I'll go home and check it out first. I'll set off tonight."
"Okay, sir." Sun Yongzhen ran towards the station.
"etc!"
Zhou Hexuan stopped Sun Yongzhen again. He just remembered that there was no train connection between Chengdu and Chongqing, and he had to transfer to a bus on the way. It was better to take a bus directly along the Chengdu-Chongqing Highway. Zhou Hexuan handed Sun Yongzhen a business card and asked: "You go
I went to Chongqing Mayor Li Hongkun and asked me to borrow his car."