On October 28th, Zhao Ran came to Hongyuan, which he had not entered after passing through the city gate twice. This time, he was finally going to enter the city.
Hongyuan County was rebuilt on the basis of the original Qiongxi Town. It turned out that the town did not have a city wall. After it was upgraded to the Hongyuan County seat, the construction of the city wall began with the efforts of Yuan Hao, the Supervisor of Baimayuan.
However, after two and a half years of construction from the beginning to now, an earthen wall with a circumference of more than two miles and no more than chest height has been built. However, the foundation of this earthen wall is very thick, more than ten feet thick.
It can accommodate five horses running in parallel.
Zhao Ran tried to hit it with his hand and found that it was very solid. It can be seen that Yuan Hao's idea was to repair slowly. He did not need to pursue the progress of the project, but worked hard to ensure the quality. This person was relatively stable in his work.
After briefly looking at the condition of the city wall, Zhao Ran came to the east gate. Yuan Hao and a large group of Taoist priests from Baima Court were already waiting here. When he saw Zhao Ran, he quickly clasped his fists and bowed, saying in unison: "Welcome Abbot Zhao!"
Zhao Ran quickly put his hands on his hands and said repeatedly: "Everyone, please get up, everyone, please get up, we are all in the same way, why are we so polite."
All the Taoist priests stood up and looked at Zhao Ran carefully. They all said in their hearts: "The rumors are indeed true. This Taoist priest is really young."
Others are thinking: "I heard that this is the immortal master in the pavilion. I wonder what it will be like to host my sermon in Hongyuan County."
The leader, Yuan Hao, was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was originally a staff member of the Governor-General's Mansion in Western Sichuan. He was born in an elite family and was able to sit in the position of the Supervisor of the White Horse Court and preside over the government affairs of Hongyuan. This was all due to his outstanding performance in the Battle of White Horse Mountain.
, was recommended by the then governor Zhou Gao without any effort.
Baimayuan is a system that combines Taoist temples and government agencies. Half of the Taoist priests come from the government and half from Taoist sects. This was the strategy that Zhao Ran presented when he discussed affairs at Ye Xueguan. It is also different from other Taoist temples in the Songfan area. Throughout the
The Ming Dynasty was the first one, so Du Tenghui said that this place is special among the special.
Hear Yuan Hao say: "I have heard that Taoist Master Zhao is coming to Baima Courtyard. We are all excited. Today we finally have Taoist Master Zhao here. It is really a blessing for White Horse Courtyard and a blessing for Hongyuan!"
Zhao Ran quickly thanked him: "How dare you take what Yuan Supervisor said? The affairs of Baima Yuan depend on the great help of Yuan Supervisor Yuan and all of you colleagues."
Yuan Hao said with a smile: "Taoist Zhao's reputation is well-known in our Sichuan Province. In just a few years, he built Junshan Temple from scratch and built it into the most trustworthy temple in the province. After presiding over the sermon at Wujiyuan, he also built roads and water canals.
Cherish the farmers and protect the people, suppress the bandits, make the people rich, and bring peace to the county. Guyang County can be called a great governance!"
This is what the second-in-command must do for the newly-appointed first-in-command. Zhao Ran immediately said that he was "ashamed to be appointed" and said: "Yuan Jianyuan can call Pindao 'Zhiran' from now on, which is more cordial."
Yuan Hao introduced Zhao Ran to the group of people accompanying him: "This is my comrade from Baima Courtyard. Let me introduce it to the abbot." He still refused to call Zhao Ran "Zhiran" and insisted on calling him "abbot".
, to show respect.
First there was an old Taoist priest in his fifties, with an unimpressive appearance, named Gu Tengfeng, who was in charge of the White Horse Courtyard. Zhao Ran looked a little familiar, and he seemed to have seen it in Xuanyuan in his memory.
Back then, Zhao Ran went to Xuanyuan Temple to build connections in order to be promoted to a Taoist rank. He met with Song Zhiyuan, who was then the patrol inspector of Xuanyuan Temple, and had a quick meeting with this veteran Taoist in Song Zhiyuan's office.
After listening to Yuan Hao's words, this person was indeed from Xuanyuan Temple, and was originally the Tico Taoist priest of Xuanyuan Temple's patrol room and water room.
Tico Taoist priests are generally awarded the title of certain senior Taoist priests in the provincial or general view. These Taoist priests were born as Taoist boys in the scripture hall. They did not receive specific Taoist positions in the eight deacons' rooms, but they were responsible for certain duties and positions.
Below the Five Lords and Eighteen Heads, he is also higher than the ordinary Taoist boy in the sutra hall.
Gu Tengfeng has been working in Xuanyuan Temple for decades and has never been able to get into a Taoist position. Compared with Zhao Zhixing, both his family background and his personal talents are far behind him. Now that he has been transferred to Baima Court as the governor, he has been promoted to one level.
level, but if he were twenty years younger, he might be seen as having a bright future, but now, I'm afraid he was kicked out to provide for his retirement.
Zhao Ran greeted with a smile: "Guan Guan is a high-ranking person who has learned from the province. He has a broad vision and broad knowledge. I hope Guan Guan will give you more guidance in the future."
Gu Tengfeng said solemnly: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say, but how dare you, how dare you."
After Gu Tengfeng, there was Lei Shan, the chef of Baimayuan, but this person came from the government, was also a juren, and was the former county magistrate of Pingwu County.
Yuan Hao said again: "Nie Dujiao and Fan Gaogong are not in the county. Abbot Zeng took up his post in Yongzhen and held a Taoist ceremony in Yongzhen. He specially appointed them to give lectures to the Taoist priests of Lingsheyuan in Yongzhen. Well.
, it should have ended the day before yesterday. When the two of them left, they said that they didn't know if they could come back to greet the abbot. If it was too late, I would like to apologize. However, they would definitely come back before the public recommendation and would not miss the abbot's enthronement ceremony.
"
Zhao Ran smiled and nodded: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."
The remaining seven deacons were all present. Li Zhike, Lu Fangzhu, and Zuo Xunzhao were all from Daomen, Luo Dianzao, Shen Yingbin, Tieku, and Long Accountant were from the government.
Behind these Taoist priests of Baimayuan are more than a dozen "celebrities" from Hongyuan. However, Hongyuan was a territory that had just been wrested from Xixia. There were no gentry or wealthy people. There were only tribal leaders, businessmen and rural elders.
.
No one from the Hongyuan Tribe, Longbai Tribe, Chama Tribe, Qionghe Tribe, Longbai and Chama Tribe came. Only two leaders from the Qionghe Tribe, the weakest among the three tribes, came to Zhao Ran.
Bow and salute.
Zhao Ran helped them up one by one, comforted them with many kind words, and promised them to visit their village in a while. Then he waved to the rest of the people and expressed his gratitude to everyone for coming out of the city to welcome them.
Then he followed Yuan Hao into Hongyuan.
Hongyuan is really too simple. There is only one main street less than 100 feet long. The houses on the main street are somewhat decent. Several restaurants, tea shops, cloth shops, grain shops, and medicine shops are all wooden buildings. The rest are wooden buildings.
Stone houses, as for the rest of the houses behind the street, at first glance they are basically all earth houses.
The best building in the city is undoubtedly the White Horse Courtyard. Yuan Hao introduced that it was originally the Wanxiang Temple built by Buddhists. It can be seen that the former Abbot Zeng really put a lot of thought into the reconstruction. Although the Taoist Temple is small, it is very clean and tidy.
, the stone and wood used are also sufficient.
That night, Yuan Hao invited Zhao Ran to a restaurant opposite the Taoist temple for dinner. All seven deacons were present, and the meal was naturally roasted whole lamb.
Zhao Ran didn't talk to them about political affairs or his own plans. He only talked about gossip that everyone was very interested in. For example, the scene of Zhang Da's ascension, the excitement of the Nirvana Dharma Ceremony in Tianlongyuan, etc. He told stories
There is no need to mention his level. His words made everyone nervous, excited, happy, and in tears. Inadvertently, they naturally developed great respect for his status as a monk.
In just one meal, Zhao Ran initially established an image that was both awe-inspiring and friendly.