Chapter 8 Praying for rain by the river

In a time when people depend on the sky for food, if the weather is dry, the earth is cracked, the seedlings are scorched and die, and there is no rain for a long time, it will cause unimaginable famine, and then people will be displaced and starving everywhere. From the lord of the country to the ordinary subjects, they will think of praying for rain to rain down on the heavens to help the people of Li.

However, as the king of a country, all he can do is to reduce the number of times he eats every day, and the flowers and varieties of his meals, and the rest is the same. In order to show that he understands the feelings of the people and shares the suffering with the people, so as to add a few glorious images to his virtuous aura.

Local officials who still have a little conscience will kill pigs and sheep, burn incense and bow down by the big lakes and rivers to seek blessings, but that's all, to show their hearts. lest the people say that they are parents and officials, do not act, do not make decisions for the people, or are known by political enemies, make a big fuss, and threaten them, and then the lord of the country will blame him, which will affect his career and promotion.

If the ruthless officials and lords are determined to show their concern for the people and share the hardships with the common people. will pile up firewood and grass, sit on it by yourself, and threaten God with **, and have the righteous heart of becoming benevolent if you don't succeed, in fact, most of them are just for show.

And the ordinary people, in addition to killing animals and sacrificing animals, are even more full of tricks and do everything.

But on the whole, everyone is respectful to God, for fear of angering him, otherwise there will be a major drought for three years at every turn, which will aggravate more suffering, and the gains outweigh the losses.

It is also the drought season, and in the inner house of the city lord's mansion in Guanping City, Li Tengfei, as the lord of a city, obviously does not have the consciousness of these aspects. At this moment, he is lying on the chair leisurely, drinking tea comfortably, and there are two maids standing on the left and right, fanning him.

This is a quiet and cool place, by the small lake in his inner house, a few dense old willow trees, blocking the scorching sunlight outside, leaving a large area of shade under the trees. Looking at the small lake, the blue waves are rippling, the emerald green lotus leaves are floating on the surface of the lake, and a few pink lotus flowers can be faintly seen between the large top cover leaves and hats, slim and elegant, lonely and not self-appreciative, like a fairy in a beautiful flower, blooming more and more generously out of the dust. Several pairs of dragonflies, sometimes pointing straight up, sometimes chasing each other, frolicking and flying. In the lotus leaf branches and poles, one or two mandarin ducks and waterfowl emerge from time to time, playing and floating in the water, looking for flying insects, fish and shrimp......

This scenery of movement and tranquility made Li Tengfei very satisfied. He thought to himself that he would spend a lot of money to build this viewing lake of nearly 100 acres, otherwise how could he have such a beautiful scenery for himself to enjoy. Moreover, when the weather is hot, this lake is cool and cool, so uncomfortable.

He watched and watched, and when he was about to close his eyes, he took a nap when a noisy sound of water disturbed his sleepiness.

"What's going on?" he frowned, annoyed.

A maid next to him hurriedly got up and answered, saying, "The old man is angry, wait for the slave family to take a look." After speaking, she bowed to Li Tengfei and went straight away.

After a while, the maid returned, and with an old man with gray hair and a servant dressed as a servant, came on foot.

When he arrived, the old servant knelt down in fear, and said in a panic: "My lord is angry, there has been a great drought in recent days, and there has not been half a drop of rain, and the water in this lake is decreasing day by day. I was pouring water into the lake just now, and I never thought that the lord was here to cool off, disturbing the lord's leisure, it was really a sin, I hope the lord will be angry!"

After speaking, he lay on the ground, waiting for Li Tengfei to fall.

"Steward Li, you really have a heart! Get up..."Seeing that this old butler was so well-intentioned, Li Tengfei couldn't blame him no matter how annoyed he was, so he had to send him away.

Just as Steward Li left, another servant walked quickly with a prayer post, bowed down and handed over the prayer post, and said, "Master, Lord Liu, the official of the grain depot, asks to see..."

Li Tengfei's brows furrowed just now, thinking that Liu Hai, the grain market official in charge of the grain and grass warehouse in Guanpingcheng, is usually unknown and rarely does something. Now I come to see me, it must be for official affairs, I don't feel a little bored, I just want to take a nap leisurely, and I have been disturbed repeatedly, it's really hard!

"Bring him over..."Although it was boring, as the lord of the city, it was impossible for him to ignore government affairs, otherwise he would attract verbal opinions.

When the bangs came, he didn't mean to get up, he still half-lay comfortably on the chair, looking at the somewhat unfamiliar subordinate official.

Liu Hai saw that the city lord was leisurely enjoying the coolness, although he was unhappy in his heart, but it was not easy to have a seizure. stepped forward and saluted, arched his hand and said: "My lord, rest and relax, it is really disrespectful for the lower officials to invite you to disturb, I hope your lord will not blame ......"

"Lord Liu is exempt, I have read your post, you said that there is a great drought, the paddy fields are dry, please ask for the people's lives, and pray for rain...... This is a good thing, but you should also know that there are many big and small matters in the city, and the government affairs are busy, so I can't spare time!"

"My lord for the people of the city to work hard, so that the officials admired, but now the drought is urgent, many rivers and lakes outside the city have dried up, not only many people outside the city, the fertile land has no water to irrigate, and even the draft outside the city is about to become a problem..."

Li Tengfei looked at him like that, he didn't feel a little funny, and on his lazy and fat old face, he squeezed out a little smile, and said with a smile: "Since Lord Liu cares about the people, then please go and pray for rain on behalf of the official! But there is one point, there is a shortage of money and grain in the granary of the treasury, which is not suitable for big things, so as not to be extravagant and wasteful, so you can find your own way..."

"This..."Liu Hai wanted to ask the city lord to pray for rain in person, so that he seemed sincere, who would have thought that Li Tengfei was unwilling to go, and let himself go instead of him, not to mention, and did not want to allocate money and food. This is really a reputation for loving the people like a son, but also not wanting to contribute money and efforts, just scheming.

Although there was unhappiness in his heart, he couldn't help it, so Liu Hai had no choice but to say goodbye to Li Tengfei and leave the city lord's mansion.

After returning, he immediately gathered a group of his subordinates to prepare for the rain.

When the people in the city heard that Liu Shiguan was going to replace the city lord and pray for rain for the drought, they all celebrated. Everyone has money to contribute, and they have made powerful contributions, and in less than a few days, they have really put together a lot of things. What is used for sacrificing paper money, incense and candles, killing pigs, sheep, cattle and horses for sacrifices, there are always no less than a thousand kinds of things, and thousands of catties of wine are prepared for the sacrifice of heaven.

On the day of the sacrifice, according to the ritual of the festival, thousands of people were arranged to participate, and there were hundreds of boys and girls among them. Under the leadership of Liu Hai, they came to the east of Guanping City, almost more than a mile away from the Guanping River, sorted out the formation, set up altar tributes, and waited for the auspicious time to come, and began to sacrifice to the sky and ask for rain.

Liu Hai watched everyone busy, and came to the river, looking at the big Guanping River, there was no longer the beautiful shadow of the past. This great river, which once nurtured countless living beings, has dried up to the bottom, and only a narrow stream in the middle is flowing with muddy water. From time to time, you can see fish and shrimp that have died due to lack of water on the dry and cracked teeth, they are dead and blind, the fish eyes are full of terrible black light, and bursts of unpleasant stench and earthy smell are filling the air around the river, which cannot be dispersed for a long time......

When Liu Hai saw it, he couldn't help but sigh and shake his head, feeling the misfortune of natural and man-made disasters.

"I heard that the river didn't dry up so quickly, but half a year ago, a viewing lake was built in the city lord's mansion, and the river water that had been transported from this river for several months was poured in..."

"Stop, you can't talk nonsense, be careful of lawsuits..."

I don't know who is muttering in the distance, making the bangs retract their melancholy. Yes, he knew best about the construction of the viewing lake in the inner house of the city lord's mansion. At that time, he also put forward his opinion, saying that the summer drought was coming, and it was not suitable to build. But the city lord didn't listen or say anything at that time, and gradually alienated himself.

At this point, it's useless to say anything, it's better to start on the important things, which is the right way. He saw that everyone was almost ready, and looked up at the sky again, at this moment the sky was clear, the sun was shining, the heat wave was rolling around, people were already sweating profusely, and many people were enduring the heat, and their expressions were a little trance.

Although the weather is hot and unbearable, it can not hinder the enthusiasm of the people, praying for rain is a grand event, and today there are many people who braved the scorching heat to watch, both inside and outside the city, and the number reached nearly 10,000 people. Most of them are poor people, and most of them hope that rain will fall from heaven in order to open their eyes, otherwise their lives will be poor in the future, and they don't know what to do.

Seeing that the auspicious time had arrived, Liu Hai did not dare to delay, and hurriedly ordered to start worshipping the sky. He personally held the rune of sacrificing to the sky, led a group of people who had been arranged in advance, and began to burn incense and paper, slaughter livestock, and the ceremony was extremely solemn and solemn.

After the ceremony, he led everyone to kneel and worship heaven and earth, the mountains and the sea called, chanted the heavenly prayer together, prayed to the heavens, blessed the earth, poured nectar, and relieved the people's suffering......

The whole ritual lasted several hours. In the process, although some people could not bear the heat and fainted from heat stroke, they would immediately be carried away by the people next to them for treatment, and then other people would fill the vacancy. This is enough to show the sincerity of their hearts and their eagerness to be influenced by Heaven so that they can be freed from suffering.

When nearly 10,000 of them were praying for rain, they were almost a mile away from the top of a high mountain. Two people were looking at them with faint smiles on their faces.

I saw that these two people looked dressed as a monk, but they were born different from ordinary people.

The monk looked to be only a teenager, but he was born a glamorous person. I saw that his face was white and ruddy, his eyebrows were clear, his lips were red and his teeth were white, and he was dressed in a snow-white monk's robe, with his delicate face, which was enough to make thousands of girls sigh to themselves. Although he is bareheaded, there is no half of the troubled green silk, but the temperament makes people feel that it is not suitable at all, as if it should be born like this, so that people can see that it is just the heavenly man who is like a spring breeze and a quiet and pleasant spirit.

And the other person is the same, not very old, he looks less than twenty years old, with green silk and good hair, although his face is not as jealous and beautiful as that of a monk, but he is also handsome. Under the thick eyebrows, the eyes are bright, as if they can illuminate people's minds. What was even more surprising was that he was dressed in a navy blue Taoist robe, without any variegation, like water draped over his body, and in a trance, there were countless black clouds permeating it, making it impossible for people to see it really.

If someone looks at it at this moment, they will be surprised to find it. On this 10,000-foot high mountain, so close to the blazing sun, these two people didn't seem to have the slightest feeling of heat, and they couldn't find a drop of sweat on their faces.

"Master Pure Heart, you see that they are sincere, should the two of us also do something..."

"Chang Daoyou, why do you say this?" the monk was expressionless and quiet.

"Anyway, we can't stay out of the world, and that person needs you and me to help one or two, so let's help by the way this time, what's wrong. ”

"Great goodness, according to what ordinary Taoist friends say..."

After that, this monk disappeared without a trace, as if it had never appeared, strange and inexplicable.

I don't know if it was Liu Hai and tens of thousands of other people who sacrificed to heaven and moved heaven and earth, or if that monk did something together. In the evening, the sky was covered with dark clouds and thunder, which was a sign of impending heavy rain.

This is a long-term drought and a rainstorm, and it is an extremely difficult and festive event, which makes the people who have suffered so much inside and outside the city happy. They celebrated with their families, running around each other and cheering, and even fell to their knees to thank Heaven for their favor, bowing to the heavens and kissing the earth. As for Liu Hai, the grain market official who presided over the sacrifice to the sky, he was really grateful to Dade and admired it.

If it weren't for Liu Hai's strong advice, the common people outside the city would even have erected a monument for him to praise his great virtues.

Compared with the enthusiasm of the people outside the city, some people in the city didn't think so, thinking that his bangs were just luckier, and even the city lord Li Tengfei thought the same.

Afterwards, through this incident, it brought countless troubles to the bangs, so I will press the table first, this is a later story.