Chapter 700 Another Battlefield without Gun Smoke

Xiangyang at night, when viewed from the air, looks like thousands of lights. It looks even more prosperous than the capital at the moment. Due to the curfew in the capital these days, the lights are dark at night, and there are not many places to light up the lights.

Xiangyang was not severely damaged during the Maitreya Rebellion. Although Lu Shiheng's fooling around almost delayed farming, he was stopped in time and got back on track. At this time, Xiangyang could be called a blessed land, more stable than most places in the world.

Especially in the south of the city, the lights are most concentrated. There are lanterns everywhere and there are a lot of people. From a distance, it looks like there is some kind of garden activity.

Zhao Changhe rode his horse over in surprise and landed in the woods in the distance. He hid the horse and strolled out to see the park.

People's laughter can be heard far away, and the girl's silver bell-like voice echoes in the night. It's really not easy. In such a chaotic world, there is such a scene. It is like Su Yang before Maitreya's rebellion. Just looking at it makes people miss the Xiaoxiang Pavilion at that time.

Well, this is Xiaoxiang.

Zhao Changhe strolled over and soon saw that this turned out to be a temple fair in front of a temple. The temple was quite grand, and the square in front of the temple was so huge that it was almost as big as the square outside the palace... Having experienced the Maitreya Rebellion, Zhao Changhe instinctively The earth is somewhat wary of temples. Why did such a magnificent temple appear when everything was deserted?

Just as he was planning to ask a passerby, his eyes wandered and he suddenly saw an acquaintance.

A young man was sitting near the lanterns setting up a stall. The stall was full of fragrant braised duck: "Hey, this girl, not only do we sell duck legs, but we also cut them into half at least."

"I'm a girl..."

"Miss, if you lie down on this car, you can crush me to death, so don't worry about the child."

"If you don't know how to speak, how can you do business like this!"

"I cut off a leg for you, how can I sell this duck? If you buy another duck, will you just cut off the middle leg and take it back?"

"How could there be a gangster like you before the temple!"

"I'm just a duck seller. I like to buy or not."

The customer drove away angrily, and the man leaned lazily against the tree behind him. His eyes looked around, and he didn't know whether he was looking at the girl from the temple fair or something else.

Suddenly a big face appeared in front of him: "Brother Zhou, are you going to be a duck?"

Da Zhou was stunned for a moment, with a look of ecstasy in his eyes: "Could it be some kind of illusion? How could you be here suddenly?"

Zhao Changhe hissed: "There are so many people here, why don't we change places?"

Da Zhou immediately grabbed the oilcloth spread in front of him, carried all the ducks away at once, and ran away quickly: "Here, let me buy you a drink."

A customer from behind shouted: "Hey, hey, you're selling ducks?"

Da Zhou didn't even look back: "I was packed away by everyone, including the boss!"

…………

"Could it be that the Chief has received our message? It's strange that we didn't hurry up. The road is difficult in this snowy weather, and the messenger may not have arrived in Beijing at this time." At the secret station of the Zhenmo Division, Da Zhou happily warmed his wine. At the same time, he cut a duck leg and handed it to Zhao Changhe: "Anyway, we have a backbone now that we are here. This time we feel at ease."

Zhao Changhe took the duck leg and gnawed on it: "How can you confirm that it's not an illusion?"

"Hey, I accept that this illusion can really work like this." Da Zhou said: "How can any stupid bird ask me to be a duck when we meet?"

Zhao Changhe: "...Hey, shouldn't I be the King of Zhao and the Crown Prince in the court hierarchy now? Are you quite happy scolding me?"

"Ah? Do you like to be treated with respect?" Da Zhou looked at him curiously: "I have never seen a prince riding a horse all over the world to fight for his life."

Zhao Changhe put his hands on his hands and laughed: "Okay, okay."

Da Zhou poured hot wine and said with a smile: "If I like being an official, I won't be a spy for the rest of my life. I'm just too lazy to entertain the officials. Don't do this with me."

"Then why are you a spy?"

"In order to see things that are invisible on the official surface, in order to make the monsters and monsters invisible."

"Okay, okay." Zhao Changhe raised the bowl and had a bowl with him, and said with a smile: "What's the situation? Since it said that a messenger has been sent to Beijing, it means that there is indeed something wrong. Am I not overly worried?"

"Well...there is indeed a problem, and of course it's not up to the wartime emergency standard. I don't know if the leader has received the news."

"I haven't received it. Even if I received it, since you don't have an urgent sign, you will probably be put in the back. She has too many things to do now. It's okay. Just tell me when I'm here."

"This temple didn't appear out of thin air. You know that a long time ago, Buddhism was still relatively prosperous in the world. However, it fell into ruin after the former emperor destroyed Buddhism. The rise of Maitreya religion's underground preaching is also related to this background."

"Hmm...so this temple existed in the early years?"

"Yes, it was just abandoned for a long time. But after the demise of Maitreya, traditional Buddhism showed signs of revival. Before, it didn't dare to make too much of a fuss. But once the former emperor died, it no longer had any scruples and flourished." Dazhou Drinking hot wine and sighing: "Look, the late emperor actually died not too long ago, two months at a time? This temple has been renovated. Believers are busy donating money and materials, and various temple fairs are crowded with people."

Zhao Changhe said: "There is no festival or celebration, how come there is a temple fair?"

"Yes, it's Laba today. Laba is a Buddhist festival. No one has celebrated it before, but now it's started."

"Well..."

"The new prefect believes in this, and it opens the door to convenience. Theoretically speaking, the current prosperity and wealth bring peace of mind, which can be regarded as an educational achievement. We don't know if there is any problem with this situation... Instinctively, we feel that it can Winning people's hearts and gathering people to do something is not necessarily a good thing, so report it. To be honest, Your Majesty did not cancel the order to destroy the Buddha. Isn't it a bit wrong to just treat it as if it doesn't happen? "

Zhao Changhe nodded. The sensitivity of these agents of the Demon Suppression Division was high enough. Most people would never think so much.

It can only be said that in such troubled times, people's hearts are in great need of sustenance, and the teachings of the Four Symbols Sect are naturally not so suitable. To change the flavor of gods coming to the world to rule everything to gods coming to the world to let everyone transcend bliss, it will take a long time of publicity. Just fine.

They definitely can’t compete with Buddhism and Taoism at the moment. Their accumulated propaganda and knowledge have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. This is why Guichen calmly “retires to Mount Tai” so calmly. His Taoism already has enough foundation. The Four Symbols Sect can compete with them. fart.

There is nothing wrong with this at first... But if you get bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of well ropes for ten years, and you will be fucked by the Maitreya Cult. Even those with some sensitivity are afraid of this kind of association and gathering. If it goes wrong, it will be another Maitreya incident. chaos. Therefore, Dazhou and other spies watched as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and even reported it to the capital.

"The main reason is that we feel that their resurgence is too fast, and it feels like they are pushing people." Da Zhou looked solemn: "If nothing else is mentioned, just because the prefect allowed them to be tax-free, it caused farmers to donate their land. In addition, Being a monk is exempted from corvee, which leads to a large number of civilians being tonsured. If this continues, it will be strange if there are no problems. "

Zhao Changhe nodded. This happened to come at a time when the imperial court was really unable to take care of these matters. Once this became the norm everywhere, it would be a big problem.

Da Zhou was muttering: "Why did the late emperor destroy the Buddha in the early years? I was young at the time and didn't know. Now it seems that after ten or eight years of development, your majesty may have to do this once."

Zhao Changhe thought for a while and asked: "Is there anything about bullying men and dominating women?"

Da Zhou said: "We have been watching, and we haven't found anything famous so far. We haven't seen any scams like the Maitreya Cult in the past. There are no flaws. Everything is fair and aboveboard. But there have been cases where someone was disrespectful to the Buddha and was beaten by fanatical believers. At that time, some brothers from the Blood God Sect were extremely dissatisfied with this incident and almost got into a fight, but the eunuch calmed both parties down. In fact, it was just a conflict that the Blood God Sect brothers and Buddhist believers could not tolerate. , something will happen sooner or later, I don’t think the eunuch can hold it down, just come and you’ll be safe.”

Zhao Changhe looked back and looked in the direction of the temple fair in the south of the city.

The art of gazing was faintly activated, and it seemed as if one could see the vortex of the power of faith gathering in the sky, and then merged into an unknown place.

Da Zhou's voice echoed in his ears word by word: "I think... this is the milder version of Maitreya Cult. There is not much difference in essence... Of course, the Blood God Cult is not a good thing, it is just a group of firecrackers. , it will explode at one point..."

Zhao Changhe pondered for a long time and suddenly asked: "The Taoists are here and there is no sound at all?"

"Yes. But it seems that someone is suppressing them. They keep a low profile and mainly stay in Taoist temples outside the mountains... In fact, the late emperor has never destroyed Taoism in the past. Taoism has always been very powerful, but it has never been public. I don't know if it is a habit. Even so, he is still hiding something.”

Zhao Changhe thought for a while and suddenly asked: "Who is the abbot of the Buddhist temple here? Why does the prefect trust him so much?"

Da Zhou said: "This is also related to you. This abbot is Master Yuancheng who was once dragged by you to fight Maitreya. Although they did not use your name to do anything, they naturally have this halo in the eyes of officials everywhere."

Zhao Changhe suddenly remembered the leftover tea on the table in Tang Buqi's court, and laughed: "I know, then there is no need to sit here and think about it. I will go explore the temple and talk to Master Yuancheng."