Chapter 200 Jiang Li's Disloyalty
Chapter 200 Jiang Li's Disloyalty
"Fire, fire!"
"Escape, escape!"
There were constant cries of surprise and the people were fleeing in panic.
More and more people poured out of Tianjie Temple and headed towards Yingtian.
This made Lu Yunyi and Liu Heiying, who were standing quietly in place, particularly noticeable.
Liu Heiying's pupils shook violently, his brows knitted tightly, and he felt a sense of panic in his heart for no reason.
The old monk’s words are still vivid in my mind, and a hollow voice seems to be echoing in my ears.
He turned his head to look at Brother Yuner who was standing beside him.
I noticed that his face was still calm, but his fist was clenched tightly at his side. I'm sure he wasn't as calm as he appeared to be.
Liu Heiying blinked his eyes, and thought of something for no reason, and asked in the same slightly hollow voice:
"Brother Yun'er, what do you think? The Zuo Guanyin Temple has been burned down. Will our incense still work?"
Lu Yunyi did not answer, but looked at the Tianjie Temple.
The originally calm lake of my heart was now filled with ripples and was no longer calm.
At this moment, he was also thinking back to what the old monk said.
He couldn't help but narrow his eyes and purse his lips. He never believed in gods and ghosts.
Well, since the old monk has said that Tianjie Temple is going to encounter a disaster, and it is an unexpected disaster and someone is implicated, then he must know something.
Lu Yunyi frowned and thought carefully about the two interpretations made by the old monk.
The unexpected disaster must have been the fire, but who was implicated?
Lu Yunyi's brows furrowed tighter and tighter, his thoughts scattered.
The fatigue from not sleeping all night just came up at this moment, making his brain feel dizzy.
Although the speed of thoughts slowed down, they did not stop.
Soon, Lu Yunyi raised his eyebrows, and a hint of shock flashed in his eyes.
Yesterday Liu Hei Ying told him about the grassland criminal.
In the old Yuan Dynasty and the grassland royal court, successive generations of monarchs more or less relied on Tantric Buddhism to control the grassland people.
this.
Lu Yunyi's pupils suddenly contracted. This might be one of the reasons why Tianjie Temple was burned down.
Tianjie Temple has a very high status in Ming Dynasty.
Now that the court has eliminated its external enemies, it can focus on domestic affairs.
Perhaps it was not only the court officials and military commanders who suffered from the disaster.
There are also secular forces that do not participate in court affairs but have a huge influence on the Ming Dynasty court.
After figuring this out, some of the doubts in Lu Yunyi's heart quietly dissipated.
The old monk's mysterious words might be a reflection of the fact that Tianjie Temple has some influence in the court.
After all, he should have known that Tianjie Temple was about to suffer a disaster.
At this moment, Liu Heiying on the side hesitated for a moment, walked closer, and asked in a deep voice:
"Brother Yun'er, should we go put out the fire?"
Lu Yunyi came back to his senses, glanced at him, pulled him over, and said in a low voice:
"What fire are you trying to put out? Go away. This is not something we can get involved in."
Hearing this, Liu Heiying was surprised and his eyes widened slightly.
What he was thinking about was not the political affairs of the court, but the stories of immortals and gods, which frightened him so much that he ran away quickly.
The two of them quickly left the Tianjie Temple.
As he walked, Lu Yunyi looked around and searched quickly among the crowd.
Soon he found some people who were behaving in a rather strange manner.
They neither ran nor climbed the mountain,
Instead, he just stood there quietly, coldly looking at the fleeing people.
There were not many people, only about twenty or so.
But the aura they exuded was very familiar to Lu Yunyi.
The Jinyiwei, which was affiliated with the Twelve Guards of Shangzhi, did not hide at all this time, unlike the day when they pretended to cover up in front of Puzikou City.
Gradually, Liu Heiying also realized something was wrong, and quietly moved closer, lowering his voice and saying:
"Brother Yun'er, I saw the Jinyiwei."
Lu Yunyi did not reply immediately, but looked towards the sky. The sun had set and the ferry had stopped operating.
"Don't look around, respond to the sky first and find a place to stay."
"it is good!"
Yingtian City, in the Central Army Commander's Office,
The great general, Duke of Liang, Lan Yu, was sitting in the main hall.
A pile of military newspapers and documents half a person high was piled up on the table, all of which were documents from Yunnan concerning the affairs of Luchuan.
He frowned at the moment, reading each letter one by one, and the more he read, the more anxious he became.
The speed at which troops were stationed in Luchuan was beyond the imagination of the imperial court, and some indigenous tribes in the southwest were also restless.
In April, Dongchuan and other tribes rebelled against the Ming Dynasty. In August, reports came in that Azi of Yuezhou was also somewhat restless.
At this time, heavy footsteps sounded from outside the hall, and Shi Zhengyu, dressed in armor, hurried over.
He stood in front of the leader, his face solemn:
"Reporting to the general, the Tianjie Temple in Nancheng suddenly caught fire!"
Lan Yu's eyes narrowed, and he immediately stopped reading the military newspaper, frowning slightly:
"How's the fire?"
"Reporting to the general, there are fires everywhere, very large."
Just then, there were footsteps again.
An old general with a gray beard came hurriedly, looking anxious.
The man was Sima Xu, the deputy governor of the Central Military Governor's Office, with a courtesy name of Congzheng. He was from Yangzhou and was adopted as an adopted son by Zhu Yuanzhang when he was nine years old during a war.
"General, there is a fire in Tianjie Temple. The palace has sent an order for us to put out the fire quickly. This is the document from the Ministry of War to mobilize troops."
Sima Xu's voice was loud, echoing in the hall. As he spoke, he stepped forward and handed over the document in his hand.
Lan Yu's face was solemn. After a quick glance, he said in a deep voice:
“Dispatch the Yingtian Guard and Guangyang Guard of the Central Military Governor’s Office, the Henghai Guard and Yingyang Guard of the Rear Military Governor’s Office, and the Right Marine Guard and Wude Guard of the Right Military Governor’s Office to put out the fire!
He ordered Jingzhao Prefecture to recruit drivers and porters from the people to help put out the fire.
"Yes!" Sima Xu's eyes focused and he left quickly.
After he left, Lan Yu sat quietly at the head of the table, his eyes deep and full of thoughts.
After a long time, he looked at Shi Zhengyu who was standing below him and asked:
“Is it possible to put out the fire?”
Shi Zhengyu's face condensed and he said in a deep voice:
"Reporting to the general, I came from Jubao Gate.
When I came here, I could already see that the main halls of Tianjie Temple were engulfed in flames. It seemed that it was impossible to put out the fire.
It may be too late to mobilize the six guards now."
Lan Yu's face was calm, and he waved his hand gently:
"Understood, let's go down."
"Yes!"
Shi Zhengyu bowed slightly, with a somewhat puzzled and strange look on his face, and slowly left the hall.
After he left, Lan Yu asked in a deep voice:
"There is a ceremony going on at Tianjie Temple today. Is there any unusual movement?"
Faint footsteps sounded from the back hall, and a figure walked out, bowed slightly, and said in a deep voice:
"Reporting to the general, there are more Jinyiwei around Jubao Gate, three times the usual number.
In the past, Tianjie Temple had to summon monks from outside the temple half a month in advance to perform rituals, and the scale of the ceremony was grand, so the people would know about it long in advance.
But today's ritual was full of weirdness.
The news only came out yesterday afternoon, so the people in Beijing don't know much about it today.
The monks who were away from home were not called back, and the rituals in the morning were carried out in a very sloppy manner.
There was only one senior monk present, he was the abbot’s senior brother Guangzhi.
The abbot went to the palace to preach and is still in the imperial city."
Lan Yu's expression was no longer solemn, but rather a bit playful. He leaned back slightly, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and then sneered:
"How many letters did Jiang Li send back while in the army? Has there been any investigation?"
"Reporting to the superiors, we have verified 76 letters, all of which were sent through the military newspaper channel."
"When the northern expeditionary army attacked the Kharajhang camp, was there also a return mission?"
Lan Yu looked surprised, with a bit of gloom in his eyes, and continued:
"After the Princess of the Northern Yuan Dynasty ordered the grassland criminals to attack the Kharajang camp."
The man looked thoughtful, and after two breaths he spoke in a deep voice:
"Reporting to the superior, yes."
Hearing this, Lan Yu sneered, thinking of what he had said to Jiang Li that day, and asked:
"Is Tianjie Temple releasing money from tiger skins?"
The man was stunned, then bowed even more and said in a deep voice:
"Reporting to the general, there are rumors among the people that there are indeed monks in the Tianjie Temple who are lending tiger skin money, with an annual profit of 100%.
But we still don’t know whether it is true or not, and we need to find out more carefully.”
"No need, it's true, this is what Jiang Li said."
Hearing this, the calm face of the man finally showed some emotion.
Startled, he walked closer and asked in a low voice:
"Sir, do you mean that the burning of Tianjie Temple is related to Jiang Lin's letter?"
Lan Yu looked playful and said calmly:
"Burn? It was a fire. Be careful what you say."
The man's face darkened and he bowed quickly:
"I was just imagining things, please forgive me, my lord."
Lan Yu did not mean to blame him, but sat there in silence.
From what Jiang Li said about the dangers of Tantric Buddhism that day, and the fire in Tianjie Temple today,
He was almost certain that Jiang Li had another master and was not loyal to the prince.
And this could not have been done by the prince, otherwise he would not be unaware of the whole story.
Time passed by little by little, the sky outside became darker and darker, and the house gradually became darker.
I don't know how long it took before Lan Yu spoke calmly:
"Go down, investigate the people around you carefully, and record everything they say and do. Some things are not obvious on weekdays.
But who knows how long it will take before we can see some clues.”
"Yes"
In the darkness, the faint footsteps gradually faded away.
The lobby of the Central Military Governor's Mansion became quiet and dark again.
I do not know how long it has been,
The oil lamp was just lit, the dim candlelight flickered little by little, and hurried footsteps sounded from outside.
Xu Sima, the assistant commander of the Central Military Command, hurried back.
At this moment he looked a little disheveled, with black dust on his body and some burnt gray hair on his head.
"General, the Tianjie Temple has burned down. The fire was so big that when I led the soldiers there, the entire Tianjie Temple had turned into a sea of fire." Lan Yu sat quietly at the head of the temple and sighed softly:
"The Buddhist culture and culture was destroyed in one day. Are the monks and people in the temple safe?"
Sima Xu's face became more serious, and he said in a deep voice:
"Reporting to the general, since the flood occurred in the evening, the Tianjie Temple was already closed.
The common people have been leaving the temple one after another and nothing serious has happened, but few monks in the temple have escaped."
At this point, Sima Xu shook his head and sighed, a trace of regret flashed across his face:
"The abbot is still in the palace. I went to listen to his sutras this morning. What he said made sense. I didn't expect that he was fine, but the temple was flooded."
Speaking of this, Lan Yu also showed a trace of regret:
"Your Majesty has devoted himself to Buddhism. I don't know how sad you should be when you hear this news."
"Yes, General, how about we go to the palace to meet His Majesty?" Sima Xu asked tentatively.
Lan Yu shook his head slowly:
"You go ahead. The fire at Tianjie Temple has disturbed me and I have not yet processed today's military report."
"Okay, I'll go then."
The sky gradually brightened, and the fire in Tianjie Temple gradually went out after a long night of struggle, leaving only a desolate silence in the morning light.
The morning mist was lingering, intertwined with the smoke that had not yet dissipated, like a layer of white gauze appearing in the sky.
The pungent smell of burnt wood mixed with the faint smell of incense.
Although the fire is out, the warmth still remains.
Occasionally, among the broken walls, you can see scattered flames flickering in the breeze.
Countless people have gathered on the huge open space outside the Jubao Gate.
There were soldiers from various garrisons, officials from Jingzhao Prefecture, and civilians who were conscripted.
They were covered in mud, their faces were dark,
They leaned against each other and sat on the ground, a little confused.
On one side, there were various firefighting items and carts carrying supplies arranged in a chaotic manner.
Li Wu sat on his cart.
He was in a particularly bad state at the moment, and his brand new clothes were scorched by sparks in several places.
His face was covered with stains of soot and sweat, and his hair was matted to his scalp.
His eyes were full of fatigue, and his hands and legs were trembling slightly from running around all night.
Last night he tried his best to carry buckets and sandbags to and from the city countless times.
With him were many chariot drivers, trying to put out the raging flames.
Unfortunately, although the fire was put out, it still burned everything.
He looked at the cart under him with some heartache.
It is already pitch black, far from being as clean as it was during the day.
He sighed softly, then looked up ahead.
That was a temporary disaster relief site set up by the government.
The fire was put out, and now the place was bustling with people.
The people lined up in long queues, waiting to receive money and supplies.
Due to the urgency of the matter, Jingzhao Prefecture promised to pay half a penny to the common people and drivers when they were recruited.
Only in this way can we gather so many carts and people in a short time.
Li Wu sighed, locked his cart, slowly stood up, and staggered over there.
His steps were somewhat unsteady, his physical strength had been exhausted to the extreme.
Just like that day in the military camp, he ran as hard as he could, using up his last bit of strength.
He was in the back, the team moved little by little, and soon it was Li Wu's turn.
He walked up to the official and tried to keep his voice steady:
"Sir, I am Li Wu. I live on Tongren Street in the middle of the city. I am a conscripted rickshaw driver. My rickshaw has been burned."
Li Wu showed some uneasiness on his face and looked at the clerk tentatively.
The clerk had no expression on his face and quickly wrote down his name and address.
At the same time, he handed over the half-dollar bill and said coldly:
"Take it."
Seeing the silver, Li Wu was not happy at all. Instead, he became more anxious and said quickly:
"Adult, little man's car"
The clerk stopped writing, looked up at him with an impatient expression:
"Why are you in such a hurry? The court will be short of a car for you."
As he said this, he tore off the note he had just written and slapped it on the table:
"Take it and go to the official warehouse to exchange it for a new car. Remember, it's a replacement, not a receipt!!"
Li Wu turned from sadness to joy, holding the note in ecstasy, nodding and bowing repeatedly:
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"
"Alright, alright, get out of the way, next one!!"
Li Wu walked away excitedly with half a string of banknotes, his hands trembling slightly, the excitement in his heart had reached its peak.
After working hard all night, not only can you earn half a string of cash, but you can also buy a new car. It's such a good thing in the world.
Li Wuxing unlocked the door in a hurry and drove his dark car towards the city.
He wanted to go early to see if he could pick out a good car.
On the way back, Li Wu's steps seemed to be much lighter.
He had no feelings at all about the burning of Tianjie Temple.
It costs money to worship Buddha, but he has no money, so he has never worshipped Buddha and does not expect Buddha to bless him.
Soon, he arrived at the Jubao Gate and was stunned.
Li Wu immediately spotted the monk in the red cassock.
He was walking slowly towards the outside of the city, bowing every three steps.
There were soldiers and officials guarding around, as well as several monks.
Soon, Li Wu learned from the conversations of the people around him,
Knowing that the red-robed monk was the abbot of Tianjie Temple, he couldn't help but take a closer look at him, muttering to himself:
"Hurry up, old monk! You're blocking the city gate."
After nearly half an hour, the old monk finally left the city gate, and the people were finally able to enter and leave the city.
Li Wu rushed into the city and came to the treasury of Jingzhao Prefecture in the middle of the city.
He happily bought a new car and pushed it back home.
After working all night and earning half a string of money, Li Wu decided to go home and rest.
His home is at No. 2, Qingshui Lane, Tongren Street.
He walked through almost all the alleys in Midtown before he chose this one.
As for why I chose this place, it is also very simple.
There are no tall houses nearby, and the sun shines every day.
And the alley is much wider than other alleys.
His car can drive through it and he can park in the alley.
But the car was his treasure, and he always parked it in the yard.
Even though the children and their wives always complained that the small yard was taken up by the car, Li Wu never changed his mind.
Today was the same, he opened the door and pushed the car in.
In the courtyard, a woman in her thirties was sewing insoles in the sun. Her name was Cuihua, and she was Li Wu's wife.
When Cuihua saw him coming back, her eyes lit up with joy:
"Boss, you are finally back."
She soon saw the brand new cart, her face suddenly became serious, she quickly closed the door and shouted in a low voice:
"Boss, didn't you say you wouldn't waste money? Why did you change the car today?
I have to listen to the general. Thirty strings of cash may seem like a lot, but it is not worth spending.
We have to live prudently. We have bought the car now, but we must not spend money recklessly in the future."
Li Wu raised his chin, said nothing, and took out another half string of money from his pocket:
"Hey, how about that? The government gave us a reward for putting out the fire, and even gave us a new car."
"Changed? Really?"
Cuihua's eyes sparkled with dazzling light as she stared at the brand new cart.
He couldn't stop the smile on his face anymore and he started laughing.
She threw herself into Li Wu's arms and whispered:
"Boss, you are really lucky. In the early years, you met a noble man who bought you a car, and you met General Lu who made you money.
Now the government has bought you a new car, and our life is getting better and better.
Why don't we wait until our son is older and send him to school so that he can study. Then we will have a scholar in our family."
After hearing this, Li Wu's eyes flashed with longing, and his breathing became faster. He asked:
"How's the insole thing going?"
"I bought three more pairs earlier. Together with the ones from my neighbors, there should be about twenty pairs in total."
As she spoke, Cuihua looked a little strange:
"I'm a general, can I have your insole?"
"It's a thoughtful gesture, but the outer insole is too thin and hurts my feet.
It’s better for us to knit it ourselves. I’ll send the insoles over after I’ve cleaned it up.”
Li Wu patted his wife's shoulder as he spoke, thinking about the good days in the future.
"That's fine. If General Lu gives you money, you must not accept it. We have received such a great favor, we can't refuse it."
Li Wu smiled and said:
"Don't worry, I'll ask someone else to pass it on. I won't go in. He's an important person, how can we waste his time?"
"Okay, clean up quickly and I'll pack the insoles."
Jiang Li and Lan Yu's words are in the last thousand words of Chapter 116
(End of this chapter)