Zhumeng left and was picked up by a middle-aged Taoist priest who was not very old. Zhao Ran heard the prison guards and others calling him Master Liang, and knew that this was the Taoist Liang Tengxian of Huayun Pavilion mentioned by Yu Mo in his letter.
.
In Yumo's letter, Zhao Ran knew that Taoist cultivators are divided into nine levels according to their magic power: first-level Taoist priests, second-level Taoist priests, third-level Huang Guan, fourth-level mage, fifth-level master, sixth-level refiner, and seventh-level master.
The first-grade great refiner, the eighth-grade real person, and the ninth-grade heavenly master - Quanzhen is also called the great real person. Yu Mo did not explain how to distinguish the high and low grades, and Zhao Ran did not ask. According to this calculation, Master Liang Tengxian is the
She is the fourth grade, and the Chuyang City Great Master who introduced her to Wuji Academy is the seventh grade. As for Yumo herself, she said that she had just entered the rank of Taoist priest.
Master Liang did not come in the clouds and fog, but took a very ordinary carriage. Zhu Meng simply followed, carrying only a silk bag on his shoulder. Before leaving, he seemed to want to say something to Zhao Ran, but in the end
Didn't say it out loud.
Zhao Ran was full of envy, jealousy and hatred in his heart, but he had one advantage, which was that he was willing to lower his head and accept his fate when he was unable to do anything. Since he did not have that fate, it was better to put aside distracting thoughts and hang out in the jungles of the ten directions.
, work hard to climb up and make your life easier.
As the first month of the lunar month approaches day by day, everyone in Wujiyuan becomes busy again.
The Taoists and Huoju in the dormitory began to sweep the Taoist courtyard, wipe the temples, and paint the statues; the warehouse took inventory and the accounting room took inventory; the number room counted the income and payments of the manor, shops, and forest fields; the Fangtang sent all to
All patrols from Guyang County were transferred back to maintain order inside and outside Wuji Mountain.
The ceremonial Dian Zaofang, together with the living room and the sutra hall, discussed for many days and made intensive preparations for a series of sacrificial ceremonies before and after the New Year, starting from the winter solstice to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, including the Christmas of Yuanshi Tianzun, and the memorial ceremony of Zao Lord in heaven.
, the day of the twelfth lunar month, the Jade Emperor’s Christmas, the Lingbao Tianzun’s Christmas and many other celebrations and sacrifices. These ceremonies require the gates of the mountain to be widely opened to welcome people from all directions, so the preparations are very cumbersome.
In addition to rituals, Sanqing Hall and Tianshi Hall will be open to receive pilgrims during this period, especially New Year's Eve and Zhengdan. According to the usual practice, Dian Zaofang counts those who burn incense on New Year's Eve, and there are a total of
Hundreds of households have applied to burn incense on the mountain, and the incense price for the first incense stick has been quoted as high as 60 taels. According to the situation in previous years, this is not the highest, and the highest price that night is likely to exceed 100 taels!
In the annual examination in December, Zhao Ran once again ranked first. As a Taoist boy in the scripture hall, especially in the monthly examination, Zhao Ran's annual examination results have never been lower than the first class. During this period, Zhao Ran ranked first.
I have taken on more tasks. In the words of the world before I traveled, it means there is an added burden on my shoulders.
In addition to playing the main role in the worship ceremonies held by Wuji Yuan, he also went down the mountain many times to participate in the fasting rituals of Guyang County officials, gentry, and wealthy households. Because there were many households applying to Wujiyuan to hold fasting rituals, Jiang Gaogong was already busy
Not being able to do anything, Liu Jingzhu and Chen Jingzhu both began to lead the team down the mountain to host the fasting ceremony. Even so, they were still very busy.
In the afternoon on the eighth day of the first lunar month, Zhao Ran had just returned from the mountain with Liu Jingzhu, and Zhao Ran was sent to the Sutra Hall to wait for dispatch. In addition to Jiang Gaogong, Liu Jingzhu, Chen Jingzhu and others, there were five sutra chanting Taoist boys who ranked first in the annual examination.
All were present, including Ma Zhili and Fang Zhihe.
I only heard Jiang Gaogong say: "Tomorrow is the Jade Emperor's Christmas. All the county officials, including the county magistrate and the county magistrate, will go to the mountain to observe the ceremony and pray for blessings. In addition, there are also large gentry families and more than 500 believers in Xiang. Not only the abbot, but also the prison guards."
Everyone must attend, and I and most of the disciples in the Sutra Hall must participate. However, the fasting ceremony at the foot of the mountain cannot be stopped, otherwise it will hurt the believers' desire to seek Taoism, which will be a big mistake. Therefore, I discussed with the prison and the three capitals
, all the junior disciples in the Sutra Hall will be divided into several groups tomorrow, and each one will be dispatched. Those who are guarding the mountain should work diligently, and those who are descending the mountain should not be arrogant and slack. Can you hear me clearly?"
All the Taoist boys responded in unison, and then Lord Liu Jing distributed the people on each road.
"I will go to the Zhang Clan Ancestral Hall in Dongfeng Mountain in person, and Junior Brother Zheng will go with me..."
"The Zhao clan in Jingcun established a new school to worship their ancestors and saints. Junior Brother Ma and Junior Brother Lu went there, and Junior Brother Ma presided over the altar..."
"Wutang Luo's grandson died in infancy, Junior Brother Fang and Junior Brother Zhao went there, and Junior Brother Fang presided over the altar..."
After the arrangements were made, Liu Jingzhu specifically gave Ma, Lu, Fang, and Zhao a few words to the four people who were going to Jingcun and Wutang. There was no professor to preside over these two routes, so he was a little worried.
That night, Fang Zhihe came to visit at night. Zhao Ran originally thought that he was going to discuss with him tomorrow's religious arrangements, but he didn't expect that he was here to ask for leave.
"Junior Brother Zhao, Senior Brother, I have a heartfelt request, and I hope that Junior Brother can help me."
"Senior Brother Fang, no matter what you say, Junior Brother will definitely try his best."
"Senior brother, I have been suffering from a stubborn disease since I was a child. I often suffer from inexplicable headaches. It has happened again in the past two days. I can't sleep well every night. I wanted to take the time to go down the mountain for diagnosis and treatment tomorrow, but unexpectedly I have to go to Wutang again..."
"Senior brother, you must be careful. Speaking of which, the body is, uh, the capital of that, so don't be careless. Why don't I go tell Jiang Gaogong and Liu Jingzhu, and another senior brother will go to Wutang with me tomorrow?"
"This is not appropriate... Well, I have asked for leave from Jiang Gaogong many times because of this stubborn problem. I am really embarrassed to ask for leave again. Besides, tomorrow is so busy. If I ask for leave again, even if Gao Gong and the professors are right,
But it will inevitably make the brothers feel unhappy. Brother, after much thought, I can only ask you to come here. Tomorrow you and I will go down the mountain together, and then we will work separately. I will go to the city for diagnosis and treatment, and you will go to Wutang to set up an altar. I wonder if Brother Zhao can do it.
Can you help me with this?"
Zhao Ran understood as soon as he heard what the headache was. He clearly wanted to take the opportunity to go down the mountain and have a relaxing day. Zhao Ran was not a high-level scholar or a professor, so he couldn't care about that much. Fang Zhiping was usually kind to him, and he also
He wanted to be a beautiful man, so he agreed: "That's okay, senior brother, just go to Yanyi Medical Center for diagnosis and treatment. It's just my first time to host the altar, but I don't know if I can take on the important task..."
Fang Zhihe was overjoyed: "I can afford it, I can afford it! Junior Brother Zhao is very good at his studies, how can he say that he can't afford it? Furthermore, even if there are occasional flaws, Luo Yuanwai can't tell them clearly. Even if he can tell them clearly,
Can he still complain to the mountain?"
"But I don't know what the background of Luo Yuanwai is?"
Zhao Ran agreed to Fang Zhihe's request, and Fang Zhihe naturally spared no effort to introduce him: "Luo Yuanwai was born in a poor family, but he was good at reading. He even passed the college examination, the provincial examination, and the general examination.
He was born as a Jinshi in the same year. Later, he was released as the county magistrate of a certain county in Anhui Province, which can be regarded as a typical example of a grassroots turnaround. However, he started from the grassroots and did not have a strong backer. He reached the age of fifty, and only reached the age of one.
The government judge stopped. Later, when he saw that he had no hope of promotion, he simply resigned and returned to his hometown. He returned to Wutang and built a village to take care of himself. Three days ago, his young grandson died in infancy, so he came to the mountain to ask for help.
Zhai Jiao..."
Fang Zhihe saw that Zhao Ran was listening carefully, and his interest in gossip broke out again, so he couldn't help but spread the gossip: "Junior brother, do you know how much the book of gifts presented by Luo Yuanwai is?"
Zhao Ran shook his head to show his ignorance, Fang Zhihe stretched out a finger, and Zhao Ran said: "One hundred taels?"
Fang Zhihe sneered: "One hundred taels? Even if this old man dies, he wouldn't think of this amount for a Zhaijiao ceremony for himself, let alone a grandson of a concubine! I went to inquire, and it's only ten taels! Hehe!"
In fact, if put to ordinary people, ten taels of silver would be quite a lot to hold a fasting ceremony, but in the eyes of the well-informed Taoist priests of Wujiyuan, this amount is indeed a bit insufficient.
Just listen to Fang Zhihe continue: "If others come to ask for help, the courtyard will never agree. Ten taels of silver is enough for them to go to a small temple to ask for help, or find a wild Taoist priest to deal with it."
But Luo Yuanwai is not only good at studying at home, he is also good at teaching. Both of his sons were educated at home, and both of them were admitted to the Juren Examination. Now they are waiting for the National Examination in Beijing.
There is a good story about 'a father and a son who were three Jinshi'. Therefore, the people in the courtyard recognized him with their noses. Even if he didn't book the ceremony, we still had to help him organize the fasting ceremony."
Thanks to yangzhigang and Brother Jiumingxuanmao for the reward.