The villagers played and played, and under the leadership of the Taoist priest, invited the Lord of the Land into the temple.
Wang Xu stood by the bridge and watched, and saw a red light rising into the sky the moment the statue was placed into the temple.
A faint mist of light spread, covering a ten-mile radius, and the fertility of the land instantly improved significantly.
"Look, the God of the Earth has appeared. Under the protection of the God of the Earth, the land production in Xiaozaozhuang will increase by 30%. You only need to come to offer incense on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, and the God of the Earth will protect you forever."
The Taoist priest raised his arms and shouted: "With the protection of the Earth God, your Xiaozao Village will not be afraid of demons. Everyone, please kowtow to the Earth God."
The villagers knelt down in droves and kowtowed to the earth god in the temple.
Wang Xu raised his eyes and saw that the statue of the earth god who had received the incense seemed to be smiling.
"The Earth God, the lowest god in Taoism, is responsible for harvest, disasters, and population. In my opinion, the Earth Temple was erected in Xiaozao Village. Even if the grain output of Xiaozao Village cannot be increased by 30%, there is still 20%. This It’s already an exaggeration.”
Looking at the villagers who kept kneeling and worshiping, Wang Xu was thoughtful.
Scholars with literary qualities and the protection of literary qualities can also increase food production and avoid disasters. Scholars of different qualities have the same increase effect but different area.
Taking a child's life as an example, it is enough to protect a ten-mile radius and increase the production of the land within ten miles.
This increase in production is about 30% to 50%, which is more powerful than that of the Land God.
However, although Tong Sheng has the lowest status among scholars, it is not easy to achieve.
Many times, a village may not be able to produce even one child. As a result, a village like Xiaozaozhuang cannot be protected by culture.
The appearance of the Earth God has filled this gap very well. In addition, with the presence of the Earth Temple, ordinary little monsters do not dare to act recklessly. This is a benefit that the common people can see.
It doesn’t take much, as long as the land temple can drive away the first-level demons, it is enough to make the villagers overjoyed.
After all, it is not common to see monsters that have reached higher levels. Most of them are little monsters that have swallowed the essence of the sun and moon and initially awakened their spirituality.
This kind of small monster cannot be dealt with by three or five strong men. If the village encounters it, it will be a disaster. This is the monster that is passed down by word of mouth, like the big monster that carries mountains and seas and swallows up a city in one go, let alone the villagers. , local county annals may not have recorded it.
Even if there is one, it is the kind of monster that is silent and has its tail between its legs, otherwise it would be easy to be surrounded and suppressed by the imperial court.
The little demon is different. After swallowing the imperial fluid, once it reaches enlightenment, it is possible for it to turn into a spirit monster.
These spirits are not powerful, but they are the largest in number. Many of the people's concepts of monsters come from them.
"Taoism implements a god-making plan and uses small gods such as mountain gods and earth gods to protect the countryside. This is a good thing for the people, but not necessarily for Confucianism." After thinking about it from the perspective of the common people, Wang Xu stood again from the perspective of Confucianism. I thought about the angle.
The countryside is protected by the land god and reduces its dependence on scholars. On the surface, it benefits the countryside, but in fact it shakes the legitimacy of Confucianism in the countryside.
Throughout the ages, if a village can produce a scholar, it must be a major event that the whole village is eagerly looking forward to, because as long as the child is admitted, it can increase food production, which is a real benefit.
Nowadays, there is a Tutui Temple that is more beautiful than before. Whether or not a child is born is not so important.
Even if you get out, your status will not be comparable to before, and it will be impossible for you to dominate.
Fortunately, the Wu Dynasty promoted the idea that imperial power should not go to the countryside. Affected by this, Confucianism concentrated its main control in prefectures and counties.
Losing the foundation of the countryside will not break the bones. Basically, when it comes to a unit in the town, it is the squire and the gentry who have the final say.
"With the countryside as the foundation, the countryside surrounds the city, avoiding affecting the prefectures and counties, and touching the sensitive nerves of Confucianism. Taoism plays this trick very well!" Wang Xu watched coldly, then got on his horse after watching for a while, and continued to go south.
.
Along the way, he saw a lot of earth temples like this one. These temples were obviously very new and were obviously only implemented in recent years.
In addition to the Tutu Temple, Wang Xu also saw the City God Temple.
There is no doubt that this must be the work of Buddhism.
Some monks came out of the temple and walked through the streets dragging their golden bowls to educate the villagers about the concept of past and present lives.
The concept of past and present lives has always existed in Buddhism and has also been spread among the people.
But today, with the rise of the City God's Temple, Buddhism has settled in the underworld, mastered the six paths of reincarnation, and established the kingdom of the dead, the legend is gradually coming into reality.
When Buddhism perfects the six paths of reincarnation, death is no longer like a lamp going out, but there are new choices. How can Buddhism not flourish?
"Taoism, Buddhism, Heaven, Earth, Earth and the Three Realms of Humanity, huh, that's a bit interesting!"
Wang Xu walked and looked all the way. The more he looked, the more he discovered that the world was changing.
In the past, there were no ghosts in the Confucian world, because the six paths of reincarnation existed between heaven and earth, and people were taken away directly after death.
The current six-path cycle of reincarnation has gradually come under the control of Buddhism. It has changed from the law of heaven to the land of human beings. Affected by this, the six-path cycle of reincarnation has finally ceased to be perfect, and has begun to give birth to a kind of being who should have died, like a lamp extinguished, but is waiting to stay in the world.
Existence, this existence is called ghost by Buddhism and Taoism.
The appearance of ghosts caused a certain amount of panic among the people.
This kind of panic is an opportunity for both Buddhism and Taoism. First, Buddhism introduced the theory of salvation, and then Taoism introduced the theory of funeral.
After the salvation of Buddhism and Taoism, people will no longer become ghosts after death, but will directly enter reincarnation.
The Confucians looked on with cold eyes and did not take any action, appearing calm and calm.
Wang Xu didn't know what Confucianism meant secretly, nor what Confucianism's plan was.
He only knew that the world in front of him was changing, and on the bright side, Confucianism seemed to have done nothing, or that its achievements were deep down and could not be seen at all on the surface.
The text conveys the truth
This is the Confucian plan that Wang Xu heard from Fahai.
To this day, he still doesn’t know what the plan was. Even if he won the top prize, no one would tell him about it.
The more secretly it is hidden, the more curious Wang Xu becomes.
Perhaps the Confucians were able to remain unmoved because they were very confident in this plan.
So what kind of plan can make Confucians confident in facing Taoism's creation of gods and Buddhism's six paths of reincarnation?
Wang Xu thought about it, this plan must be great, so great that even if the heavens are established, the underworld is established, Confucianism can remain undefeated or even take the lead.
Going all the way south, when we arrived at the border between Jizhou and Yangzhou, the first snow fell in the sky this year.
Wang Xu was riding on a horse, holding a wine flask beside the saddle, dressed as a wild man in a bohemian way.
On this day, he was slightly drunk and allowed the wind and snow to bless him as he passed by a fork in the road.
"There's a fire, there's a fire!"
There is a tea shed next to Sanchakou, and from a distance, it can be seen that the fire is shooting into the sky.
An old man, who seemed to be the owner of the tea shed, was leading two young men to put out the fire.
Beside the three of them, there was a dwarf with a black umbrella, helping to put out the fire.
The fire was getting stronger and stronger, and everything that could put out the fire was inside, so the four of them didn't dare to rush in.
Soon, the tea shed was completely burned. The old man was furious, grabbing the collar of the black umbrella dwarf, and said angrily: "It's all you, you broomstick, we started a fire as soon as we came. This fire is
Didn't you put it there?"
"Brother, I was helping you put out the fire. How could I set a fire? Don't you be ignorant of good people's hearts!" The black umbrella dwarf is only about one meter tall. He is very conspicuous with a black umbrella that is as tall as himself.
"You still dare to quibble, you must be the one who set the fire!"
The old man and his two sons pushed the dwarf with the black umbrella to the ground and took away the silver coins he was carrying.
The black umbrella dwarf who was pushed to the ground was not angry. He got up from the ground, holding the black umbrella under his arm, patting the snow stains on his body, and sighed: "The world is really going downhill, and it's hard to be a good person."
Wang Xu rode a horse and passed by the Sanchakou, and glanced at the dwarf with a sigh on his face.
The dwarf also noticed him, waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Brother, brother, can you make it easier for me? My money was taken away by them. I think you are going to Yangzhou, can you give me a ride?"
Wang Xu sat on the horse and looked down at the dwarf's black umbrella. The umbrella was as black as ink. If you look closely, you will see that it is not black, but red.
This is a big umbrella that is red and black, as black as ink, and does not look like a vulgar object.
Looking at the smiling dwarf again, Wang Xu tilted his head and was silent for a moment, then smiled and said: "Okay!"