Chapter 761 How can you not save such a character?
Hearing Xiao Tang's words and questions, the strongman leader who looked exactly like Tian Hu smiled coldly, and secretly said in his heart: It's just murder and arson, and this life can be regarded as a happy life. Now I am leading Xiao Tang here, just for the sake of it. The instructors thought that he had fled to the Wutai Mountains, so that my father could escape from the arrest of the army according to the plan he had set... At least, he was repaying his love for giving birth to me and raising me.
After thinking about it in his mind, he sneered at Xiao Tang and said, "Xiao Renxia, aren't you a great person? But you also fell into my father's trap! You killed my second uncle and captured my cousin Tian Shi. You also vowed to capture my father and ask for merit from the imperial court! My Tian family and you are deeply grudged. Do you still think that I, Tian Ding, will be afraid of you!?"
Xiao Tang was stunned when he heard this. It turned out that this guy was Tian Ding, the son of Tian Hu. Now he did not commit suicide like in the original work when Tian Hu was gone. Instead, he used the banner of his father to deliberately attract people's attention.
, so that Tian Hu can avoid being hunted by the army.
However, Tian Hu actually used his own son as bait. Who would be willing to sacrifice his life for him in the future? Xiao Tang shook his head and said to Tian Ding: "It is said that tigers are poisonous and do not eat their children, but Tian Hu just wanted to survive for a while. , I will use you as a scapegoat! If you don’t care about family affection so much, you are willing to die for him."
The expression on Tian Ding's face was quite calm, and he said: "Xiao Renxia, you don't need to sow discord at this time! The rebellion is a heinous crime against the Yi people. No matter how you capture it, we, uncles and brothers of the Tian family will all Being chopped alive by Ling Chi, if my father could escape, he would have more hope. Besides, everyone has their own masters. I am here for my biological parents, but you are here to be loyal to the official family of the Song Dynasty. What else can you say? of?"
Ru Tingqi, who was on the side, couldn't bear to hear this, and he immediately shouted: "My dear nephew, there is no need to waste words with Xiao Tang! When I arrived, I heard that Elder Zhizhen of Wenshu Monastery in Wutai Mountain, Xin, was waiting for people from far and near the military state. Everyone praises him as the living Buddha of the world, but no matter whether he is an eminent Buddhist monk or an ordinary commoner, we have made a lot of money from killing people since your father's uprising. They all say that if there are too many lice, they won't bite them, and we don't care if we kill more of them. A temple of bald donkeys!”
After Ru Tingqi said that, he turned to look at Xiao Tang and the others. The neck of the monk who was holding the temple had been cut by a sharp steel knife, and a wisp of blood slowly flowed from the wound. Hearing Ru Tingqi say something again He laughed ferociously and said: "Xiao, since you are determined not to let us go, I will drag these monks from Wenshu Monastery to be buried with you! On the Huangquan Road, there are a group of monks from Elder Zhizhen accompanying me, so there is no need to ask for help from the ascetics. The monks recite sutras for our brothers to achieve salvation and perform meritorious deeds. If you don't care about the life and death of the monks in the temple, you can also teach people in the world to see your face!"
The rest of the thieves in Hedong heard Ru Tingqi's order, and they also hung their weapons on the necks of the monks of Wenshu Monastery who were kneeling on the ground! The monk who was held hostage by Ru Tingqi turned pale. , had he not been strangled tightly by the strong leader behind him, his legs would have weakened, and he would have fallen to the ground. Seeing that this group of brutal thieves was about to take action, the monk in charge of the temple immediately cried to Xiao Tang. : "This general, you military lords! Please don't push these heroes to take action! If you show mercy and save the life of the young monk, it is also a meritorious deed, which is better than making Luotian Dajiao!"
"Disciple is confused! Eighty-four thousand Dharma doors all originate from one mind. If the mind is as pure as the void, it means that it is free from the origin of the eighty-four thousand afflictions and diseases of the body and mind. Ordinary people should be worried about death in life, and when faced with satiety and hunger,
They are all called great confusions. We, the Buddhists, recite sutras and meditate on them, just to solve the confusions and gain enlightenment. What is death? All living beings are destined to die eventually. Troubles are Bodhi, and life and death are Nirvana. We monks take refuge in the Buddha and receive the Ten Precepts.
If you practice Buddhism, why should you fear death?"
At this time, Elder Zhizhen, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke up. He immediately looked at Xiao Tang and said: "It turns out that this is layman Xiao Tang. Although the poor monk is isolated and ignorant, pilgrims often come here in the past.
I have also talked about world affairs, and I have a disciple... I once said that I have a connection with Master Xiao. I have heard for a long time that Master Xiao is doing justice for heaven and has a deep sense of loyalty. Now what is Master Xiao doing when he leads his troops to the east of Hedong?
It is also for the good deeds of the happiness of all people, the peace and prosperity of the country and the people, the prosperity of the three religions, and the tranquility of the four directions.
The lifelong practice of those in our Buddhist sect is to achieve the perfection of all virtues, the cessation of all evils, the practice of life and death, and the sudden enlightenment and elimination of troubles... Therefore, lay people should do whatever they want without any worries. This is the end.
At this time, the physical body will be extinguished. The poor monk also wishes to pray for the physical and mental well-being of the layman Xiao, and that his life will be prolonged. He will subdue the four demons and do more good deeds for the suffering people in the world, and accumulate merits. He only hopes that the layman Xiao can eliminate his sins and achieve good results as soon as possible.
"
Hearing this, Ru Tingqi's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he shouted to Elder Zhizhen in a ferocious voice: "Old bald man, you really think your life is too long! I will operate on you right now!"
Elder Zhizhen smiled slightly when he heard the words and said calmly: "The time in this world is limited, the sea of suffering is boundless, the six roots cannot be purified, and I have been bound by worldly worries for a long time. Only when I escape to Buddhism and practice can I know that all sentient beings in the Jambudvipa world have the origin of all good deeds."
This is an illusion, creating all kinds of bad karma is also an illusion. The body is like foam and the heart is like wind. The illusion has no roots and no reality... There is no birth in origin, and there is no death in destruction. This is to abandon a skin here.
, but so what?”
Although Elder Zhizhen is just a thin and old monk, at this time he was calm and magnanimous, and his Dharma appearance was solemn. Not only everyone in Wenshu Monastery fell to their knees, but most of the trembling monks seemed to understand after hearing the words of the abbot of the temple.
, lowered his head and said nothing, even Shi Xiu, Hua Rong, Shi Jin and other confidants beside Xiao Tang couldn't help but admire this seemingly powerless Buddhist elder.
But Ru Tingqi saw that his threats were useless, and because he was desperate and became more ferocious, his heart became even more violent. He laughed fiercely twice and said: "Good nephew! Cut off this bald man's arm first.
Let’s see how long his old bones can stay strong!?”
Tian Ding frowned when he heard this, but after only a moment, he winked at the little boss next to him. When the little boss saw it, he immediately pulled out the steel knife from his waist and slashed at Elder Zhizhen's right arm!
"Wait a minute! You guys are using the monks in Wenshu Temple as a threat, don't you just want us to throw a rat weapon? Don't you still have the plan to escape from here? All the important roads in Mount Wutai are now guarded by our military troops. If something bad happens right now,
If you take the life of Director Zhizhen, do you still think there is any chance of escaping from here?"
Xiao Tang suddenly opened his mouth and shouted to stop the little bandit leader who wanted to attack Elder Zhizhen. He secretly thought that not only the enlightened monk in front of him should not have been killed by a group of evil thieves here, but he attacked this Zhizhen.
Regarding the relationship between the true elder and Lu Zhishen, Xiao Tang cannot just watch him die here.
Although Lu Zhishen did not abide by the rules of Wenshu Monastery in Wutai Mountain at that time and repeatedly caused chaos here, Elder Zhizhen was still very tolerant of him. The monks in the Zhijiao Temple ridiculed him behind his back as "such an ignorant elder."
, "What a conscientious host", but this lean and easy-going Buddhist elder is by no means a good old man who is afraid of trouble and avoids disaster.
Lu Zhishen has a bold and unruly temperament. Even if Wu Song in the original work could not persuade him, Shi Jin could not persuade him, and Song Jiang could not persuade him, but when Lu Zhishen followed the Liangshan Army who had been recruited, he returned to Mount Wutai to visit Elder Zhizhen.
At that time, Elder Zhizhen could silence Lu Zhishen by simply saying, "It's not easy to kill people and set fires after a disciple has been gone for several years." How could Lu Zhishen, who always wanted to eradicate injustice and kill the disciples he wanted to punish, care about others?
The only person who could teach Lu Zhishen to admire him with his words was Elder Zhizhen, a highly respected figure in the Western Army such as Mr. Xianggong. But the only person who could make Lu Zhishen, an upright and magnanimous monk, feel guilty with one word was probably Elder Zhizhen.
.
What's more, although Lu Zhishen repeatedly caused trouble in Wenshu Monastery and seemed not to be bound by any rules and regulations, even after his death, Lu Zhishen very respectfully followed the verses spoken to him by Elder Zhizhen. Therefore, no matter the relationship between him and Lu Zhishen
, or in terms of Elder Zhizhen’s personality charm, from the first time Xiao Tang saw him in the temple, he already had a plan in mind:
Such a Buddhist master is determined not to let his life be ruined by this thief in front of my eyes.
----------------------------------------
Note: Although Lingchi and other torture methods continued until the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, they were still commonly used methods to punish rebel leaders. However, in the third year of the Taiping Xingguo period (978) in the early Song Dynasty, Li Feixiong of Longzhou, Qin Dynasty, was arrested for rebelling by robbing the guards and occupying the city.
After being sentenced to severe punishments by "the three tribes of Yi and Qi", the punishment of Yi tribe is almost no longer used. However, the method of jointly punishing people who have a certain relationship with the criminal and being punished is still widely practiced. All relatives and clan members of the criminal are included in the punishment.
There is a big difference between the punishment of exterminating the Yi tribe and the punishment of continuous killing.
In the original work, when he was conquering Tian Hu, there was such a saying as "If you want to destroy the Tian Hu tribe, you must use Qiong's arrowhead". After Wang Qing's rebellion, the article also stated that his father, ex-wife, father-in-law and other relatives were all rounded up and executed.
To be more precise, the barbarians were completely wiped out, which is slightly different from the official punishment during the Song Huizong period. For the sake of precision, the barbarians mentioned by Tian Ding in the article are just a customary term. I would like to explain...