Wanshou Zen Temple is adjacent to Wengshan Po. It has magnificent halls and quiet courtyards. It has been a royal temple since the previous dynasty. The monks devote themselves to spiritual practice and do not care about worldly affairs and do not care about incense and money. Even so, there are still people who believe that this temple is psychic and work tirelessly.
Come and donate merit. The first and fifteenth day of every month are the days when believers offer incense and worship Buddha. Temples and nunneries are busier than usual. On the first day of February, a benefactor came from out of town to offer incense.
This man was in his forties, wearing crow-green arrow sleeves, with a palm-sized silver abacus hanging on his waist. He looked like a businessman. He smiled and held hands with the monk who came out and said, "Hello, little master." The monk clasped his hands and returned the gift.
The merchant looked at him and said, "Isn't this young master Huijing?"
Monk Huijing said with a smile: "Yes. The young monk is blind and did not recognize the donor. Please forgive me."
The merchant said: "It's no wonder that the young master didn't recognize me. I never went to the back, but I met the respected master once a few years ago." Naidao said, "So, now it is the young master who is greeting guests outside?
Where is Master Wen Dao?"
Huijing said: "Yes. I heard that Uncle Taoist Master is now in the Sutra Library." The merchant nodded and said nothing, his expression seemed to be more peaceful, and he did not tell Huijing who he was.
This man started to worship Buddha from the Heavenly King Hall. Along the way, he glanced secretly at the monks he saw. He paid homage to Sakyamuni in the Main Hall and went to the side hall, where a monk recorded merits and deeds. The merchant asked with a smile.
: "Why did you hear that Master is here? Where is Master?"
After hearing this, the monk looked at him, clasped his hands and said, "I'm sorry, my uncle has caught a cold and is recovering from illness at the back."
The merchant's brows moved: "Oh. It's not warm yet, so all the masters should pay more attention to their health." After hearing the letter, the merchant stood up and thanked him. The merchant then said that he would donate merit, and after hearing the letter, he opened the merit book. The merchant said
, "Does Master know that none of the donations I made in previous years were written in this merit book?"
He was stunned when he heard the news: "Uncle Master never told this poor monk."
The merchant thought for a moment and said, "Well, let's do it like this." He took out thirty taels of silver and donated merit. After hearing the letter, he put his hands together and thanked him. After donating the merit, the merchant looked outside for a few times and asked, "Master, what's the matter?
I looked at the many faces in your temple, haven’t I seen them in the past?”
Wen Xin said: "Recently, the government is renovating Tianqi Temple, and there is a lot of construction work. We have arranged for many senior brothers and uncles from there to come and stay in our temple for a while."
"That's it." The merchant nodded, turned and left.
As soon as he left, a monk slipped in from the door and asked Wen Xin: "Brother, who is this person?"
Wen Xin said: "The poor monk doesn't recognize him."
"But he recognizes you."
After hearing the letter, he folded his hands and said, "The poor monk doesn't know how he recognizes the poor monk. The poor monk doesn't recognize him."
The monk said "Hmm" and left, going straight to the abbot's courtyard. Liu Xiaoqi was lazily lying on the desk in the wing. The monk came in and called "Seven Masters", and reported the merchant's words and deeds after entering the temple.
They all returned. Liu Xiaoqi thought for a while and asked, "Is anyone following him?"
"Yes." The monk said, "I saw that he was very alert, so I sent an experienced hand."
Liu Xiaoqi nodded and said: "I have re-examined the old monk Yin's house." He thought for a while, "I have examined every strange thing that I would never think of." The monk agreed and walked out. Liu Xiaoqi took the
He put down the teapot again, stood up and said, "I'll go with you."
The two of them then came to Yin's residence. Yin was not a temple supervisor, but an ordinary old monk in charge of merit books. The monk started rummaging through it first. Liu Xiaoqi stood in the house with his hands behind his hands and looked around Huizi.
The monk was looking through the scriptures on his desk and said: "I have already looked through those books last time. Since there is another merit book, I don't think I will read it every day. I think it is hidden somewhere that is not touched much on weekdays."
Then he moved to the monk's bed. Because this room is not big, there are not many things. There is a table, a chair, a cabinet, and a bed. The bed is usually the most difficult place to turn over. Liu Xiaoqi lifted up the bedding. It belongs to the emperor's house.
The temple was rich. The monk's bed was made of wenge wood, and the bed board was made of ordinary elm wood. He picked up a bed board and took a look. The monk looked back and suddenly said: "This bed beam is better than an ordinary bed."
The beam is slightly thicker."
Liu Xiaoqi immediately said: "Seriously?"
The monk said: "In the early years, I worked as a carpenter in the Jin Dynasty and learned the craftsmanship." As he spoke, he walked past the monk's bed, lifted up the bed board and removed a bed beam. "For such a big bed, the bed beam
There’s no need to be so rough.”
The two looked at each other. The monk looked at the bed beam in his hand, and Liu Xiaoqi removed the other bed beam to check. Both of them were veterans, so they looked at the tongue and groove first. The monk could tell with just one glance: the tenon of the bed beam in his hand
There was a small square piece of wood stuffed in the groove, as if the master carpenter had dug deep when digging the mortise, so he put a piece of leftover material on it. Then he stretched the mortise in front of Liu Xiaoqi.
Liu Xiaoqi took the bed beam and took a look, took out a pair of large tweezers from his pocket, and pinched out a small piece of wood while holding his breath. There was a deep groove behind the piece of wood. Liu Xiaoqi put the tweezers in and immediately picked out a small object.
It was a small roll of thin silk, tied with a thin rope on the outside. I tore off the knot and spread out the thin silk, and it turned out that there were three words on it, "Book of Merits". Then I looked at each other and smiled at the monk.
That night, Jia Cong, Liu Xiaoqi and two others came to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment to visit the old monk Chen who presided over Wanshou Temple. Liao Chen sat cross-legged in the cell and meditated. He opened his eyes when he heard someone calling him.
Jia Cong smiled and said, "What did Xiao Wang say?" He raised the fine silk merit book in his hand.
Liao Chen was slumped. After a long moment, he shook his head and said, "God will destroy our Situ family."
"Don't blame everything on Heaven. Heaven is innocent." Jia Cong said, "Everything is man-made."
It turns out that after Jia Cong visited the History Compilation Office of the Sutra Collection Building that day, he returned to the abbot's courtyard with Chen and Liu Xiaoqi. He clasped his fists and said sternly: "Master, I'm sorry. I still have to arrest the monk of your temple tonight."
Liao Chen could only respond by reciting Buddhist scriptures. Jia Cong explained, "I often use this method of disclosing one secret to cover up another secret. Another secret job in your temple is obviously more important, and it is impossible for the master to do so."
Tell me. Master, don't worry, I won't force you to tell me, our people will naturally be able to find it."
Liao Chen said: "The small temple really has no other errands."
Jia Cong said with a smile: "Master is a monk. Monks live in temples for a long time, so they don't notice some things. In fact, the flaws are quite obvious."
Liu Xiaoqi asked from behind: "What's the flaw? I didn't see it!"
Jia Cong pointed to the glass clear oil lamp on the desk: "This."
Liu Xiaoqi and Liao Chen were both at a loss. Liao Chen said, "This is just an ordinary oil lamp." Liu Xiaoqi picked up the lamp and looked at it.
Jia Cong rolled his eyes at him: "Don't look at it, the lamp is an ordinary lamp."
"Then you said this was a flaw." Liu Xiaoqi also rolled her eyes at him.
Jia Cong said: "I say this is a flaw because this thing was only brought to the capital last summer to be fully launched. Do you understand?"
"No."
"I really have no imagination!" Jia Cong twitched the corner of his mouth and explained, "Glass has been around since ancient times. However, the glass industry in our dynasty has been lost for a long time due to ancient recipes, and it has been unable to mass-produce fully transparent glass. Until you, the Regent, I
They sent the great pirate Yang Heng to Venice, kidnapped a group of glass craftsmen and came back. After many years of industrial improvements, they finally got something that could be mass-produced. In order to avoid ostentation, the Taiwan government rarely did transparent glass business in the early years. Until last year,
The products of Chengtianfu No. 1 Glass Factory were sent to the capital and sold out in the blink of an eye. This glass clear oil lamp is one of them." He paused.
Liu Xiaoqi urged: "Stop selling off."
Jia Cong continued: "Their glass oil lamps are very expensive, and the lotus bud-shaped ones on the master's desk are even more expensive. There are also the magnolia-shaped ones in Master Wenkong's house. He actually has four or five of them! Just now we have
In the Sutra Library, I saw these two types of glass oil lamps placed on the desks of the masters who wrote history. From this, we can see that the masters spent their money very generously, and they remained generous even after I, the regent, came to Beijing, and did not worry at all about making ends meet.
I have never, nor do I intend to give you special funds." He smiled and said, "Where do you get so much money? Do you just rely on the incense in your merit book?" Liao Chen's expression suddenly changed.
Liu Xiaoqi said "Oh": "They have other income."
"And it's a large and stable income." Jia Cong said, "I will never be short of money. You can tell with your toes that since Grandpa Taizu has given your temple such an important job, and this job is independent
How can we not give you enough financial support if it is completed outside the imperial court? If you also have to live on money from the treasury, who knows whether you will follow the orders of the emperor and write history randomly like the historians? And this money
Since you can afford all the masters to buy a large number of the latest expensive glass oil lamps without hesitation, it must be a lot. Does writing history require so much money? No. No. Your temple must be more than just the Royal Health Hall and the Contemporary History Editorial Department.
Two functions. There are also other things. For example..." He smiled and said, "When the world is in chaos, secretly choose the right man and give him money and talents."
Liu Xiaoqi whistled: "That's really thoughtful."
Jia Cong said: "Grandfather Taizu is a very careful person. Since he has thought about the unscrupulous descendants who will usurp history in the future, how can he not think of the decline of the dynasty? If the Yanshan bandits are the back-upon of the King of Yan, and the Huashan Taoist priests are the back-upon of the Supreme Emperor,
Then there must be clues about Taizu's backhand in the Wanshou Temple." He then looked at the old monk Chen and said sincerely, "I really can't turn a blind eye to such an important matter. I apologize to all the masters for the moment.
Go to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment and stay for a few days, and I will have your head shaved overnight to pretend to be a monk from your temple. Tomorrow everything will be as usual."
Liu Xiaoqi said with a smile: "I asked you to pretend to be a monk of your temple because you are afraid that if someone comes to contact you, the temple will be closed and the snake will be frightened."
Jia Cong said: "I believe that not all temples in your temple are meticulous. There must be many masters who don't know anything. We will closely unite all the forces that can be united."
After a long while, Liao Chen let out a long sigh and clasped his hands together and said: "Everything has its destiny."
I thought it would take some time to catch fish, but after only seven or eight days, the foreign businessman took the bait.
Because the merit book in the monk's bed beam records that eighteen households of great benefactors donated merit to Wanshou Temple every three years, and nine households donated huge amounts each time. Therefore, excluding those in the merit book outside the temple, they
They can also get six sums of money for incense every year, three of which are large sums. No wonder the monks are so generous. The head of one of the households is named Wu Tianzuo.
A few days later, the brother who was following the businessman from other places sent a telegram back to Beijing: The man was Wu Rui, a great scholar in Cangzhou, whose father was Wu Tianzuo, the dean of Donghai Academy in Cangzhou, and whose uncle was Wu Tianyou, the father of Concubine Wu.
When they received the telegram, Jia Cong and Liu Xiaoqi were sitting in the abbot's courtyard of Wanshou Temple chatting, then looked at each other and smiled. Liu Xiaoqi said: "This Donghai Academy is to reserve literary talents for the new emperor."
"Reserve talents for the imperial court, and release them to assist the emperor in troubled times." Jia Cong said, "The school is actually the most terrifying place. God knows what they teach the students, and God knows where they send the people they teach."
Liu Xiaoqi said: "There is no need to worry about them now. Even though they have great abilities, they can find a wise master to try?"
Jia Cong stretched out and said, "Anyway, this matter is your responsibility."
Liu Xiaoqi stared at the telegram for a moment and said: "The news about Wu Rui is very timely. Counting the days, if someone leaves the capital and goes to Cangzhou to report the news after we take action at Wanshou Temple, he will rush over from there again.
You have to have a fast horse going back and forth to make it in time for the first day of February."
Jia Cong glanced at him: "Isn't this obvious?"
Liu Xiaoqi knocked on the desk: "Speak quickly!"
Jia Cong stood up and said, "I'm going to Wengshan for a walk, will you go?"
Liu Xiaoqi kicked him: "Will you die if you don't show off?"
"I said, your brain has degenerated or something." Jia Cong adjusted his hat, "I won't tell you." Liu Xiaoqi kicked him again and stood up.
The two then walked out of the mountain gate and walked around Wengshan Po Xinma. After running for about two sticks of incense, Jia Cong pointed to a small house by the lake and said, "That house is elegantly built. How about going to harass the owner for tea?"
Liu Xiaoqi snorted, urged the horse over without saying a word, jumped from the horse to the door of the house, raised her hand and knocked on the door.
Not long after, the wooden door creaked open. A scholar in his twenties stood at the door with a haggard face. He looked at Liu Xiaoqi and asked, "May I ask why this brother is knocking on my wooden door?"
Jia Cong also arrived at this moment, jumped off the horse and held his hands with a smile: "Hello, Brother Qiu."
This person was the Qiu Sheng whom Jia Cong met by chance at the gate of Wanshou Temple on the Lantern Festival. Qiu Sheng squinted at Jia Cong for a moment, was slightly startled, and then raised his hands and said, "It turns out to be Brother Zhou. Why is Brother Zhou here?"
?”
"Come to see Brother Qiu." Jia Cong casually threw the reins to the soldiers, "I want to inquire about something with Brother Qiu."
"What's the matter?"
"On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, during the Lantern Festival, there was a young scholar who did not accompany his lover to watch the lanterns or get together with his family, but went to the temple to meet a monk. What was the reason? Did the scholar have to go and recite poems with the monk every day?
Pinwen, who are you checking to see if he is in good health or in a good mood? The scholar's uncle is Imperial Physician Han. Imperial Physician Han has two sisters who are married in Beijing. One of the brothers-in-law is named Qiu. Although he is only a sixth-grade official.
, but the family is well-off and harmonious. It is the eldest son of this family who does not live at home for some reason, but lives alone in a small house by the Wengshan Mountain." Jia Cong said with a smile, "This eldest son Qiu, please give me a visit.
Mr. Niu was his teacher. Mr. Niu was also a second-class Jinshi. Because he was too weak to serve as an official, he only taught a few students at home. By the way, this Mr. Niu was from Cangzhou and studied at Donghai Academy. Qiu
Brother, Wan Sheng’s investigation was correct, right?”