Kang Laohe left dissatisfied, what Kang Laohe didn't know was that Yang Chong valued the other two scholar clans in Zhangye and the Kang family, the Fuqu clan of the Xiongnu and the Ma clan of the Han nationality; The Fuqu clan controlled the jewelry and jade business, and the Ma clan survived on the army and controlled the smuggling channels.

The Fuqu clan was unfazed by Yang Chong's arrival, and sent two expensive jade artifacts to show their gratitude; Ma Shi has never expressed his position, but Ma and Bai Yu are business partners, and many horse thieves have dealings, after Wei Chixiao led someone to pretend to be a horse thief to contact, Xie Yingdeng's people hit the ground and confiscated a car of Ma's weapons on the spot. In the evening of the same day, Ma Gongyou, the patriarch of the Ma clan, specially sent a housekeeper to send an invitation to invite Yang Chong to the Big Buddha Temple for a gathering the next day.

The Big Buddha Temple is under the high mountain of Shandan Weixi, was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty, is a famous Buddhist temple in Zhangye, and coincidentally the Fuqu family is the biggest incense guest of the Big Buddha Temple. Ling Jing was worried that there was fraud in it, so Yang Chong took Zhang Guolao, Kou Jiuhui, Luo Shixin, Meng Kunpeng, Tianjian and a thousand fine horses; When I go, the wind and scenery are bright, the believers are plugged in the road, the traffic is busy, and the tourists are weaving. Ma Gongyou was in his thirties, eight feet long, with a tiger's back and an ape waist, and a majestic face, he had been waiting at the foot of the mountain for a long time, and when he saw Yang Chong, he immediately greeted him.

In front of the mountain gate is the eighteen steps paved with big bluestone strips, six people with a hundred horsemen, along with Ma Gongyou to pick up the steps, the temple is divided into the front garden, the back yard, the building is simple and elegant, and the staggered are caused. The hall of the great majesty is built of solid wood, the heavy building is seven floors high and ten zhang, the eaves are glazed with tiles, the gold is splendid, the mud of Sakyamuni is realistic, the lines are smooth, lifelike, there is no lack of kindness in the majesty. The incense inside and outside the hall is full of incense, and the sound of chanting is non-stop.

The most lively is still the front and two sides of the Daxiong Treasure Hall are the Five Hundred Arhat Palace. The so-called arhat is the abbreviation of arhat, which refers to the highest attainment achieved by Buddhists. A Buddhist may attain four different levels of attainment, each of which is called a "fruition", and the five hundred arhats are the "first fruits", "second fruits", "third fruits", and "four fruits". The "Four Fruits" are the Arhat Fruit, and those who receive this fruit become Arhats, with complete merits, never reincarnated, and suffer from the "cycle of life and death".

There are a total of 500 Arhats in the east and west halls of the Big Buddha Temple, all of which are carved in clay by skilled craftsmen, each one is less than one meter high, or sit or stand, or think or laugh, or solemn or kind, a thousand postures, lifelike, look carefully, none of them are the same. Going out from the side door of the Luohan Hall on the west side, it is a meditation room built along the mountain, Ma Gongyou is familiar with the door, and he walked to the halfway point of the mountain with everyone, and turned into a pine forest.

On the occasion of autumn, the shandan flowers are red through, they compete in the forest, compete for the odd and fight for the beauty, the pine forest is not deep, you can see a corner of the eaves without walking fifty steps, through the forest, a small courtyard of elegance and tranquility suddenly comes into view, it is a courtyard for the officials and nobles to eat vegetarian seats. Yang Chong and others didn't expect that the vegetarian food of the Big Buddha Temple was so exquisite, and the hundred cavalry guards were under martial law outside the courtyard in the forest, Yang Chong and others went in and sat down in the pavilion, and there were already monks who sent tea soup; The only difference from the restaurants in the city is that you can't order food, you can eat anything, even Yang Chong's identity can't be an exception.

The six main dishes of cold fungus, caviar rubbing, boiled greens, tofu balls, stuffed skin with dogwood, and bamboo shoots, as well as several kinds of wild vegetables unique to the mountains, are all made with color and flavor, and the dishes are all served in the big plates of the green kiln. There is no good banquet, and what is obviously eaten today is style, but what surprised Yang Chong was that Ma Gongyou couldn't see any nervousness, and his demeanor was well controlled, and there was no rudeness.

Ma Gongyou pointed to the rice in the bowl and said, "The most decorated vegetarian here is the last rice. The streams along the Heihe River are dense, the land is fertile, and the rice produced is generally long, crystal clear, the rice fragrance is rich, and the entrance is soft and soft, which is a tribute. In Zhangye, only a few large temples such as the Big Buddha Temple can be eaten. ”

Yang Chongpin said with a bamboo shoot: "Patriarch Ma has something to say. ”

Ma Gongyou glanced at the door and said softly: "At the foot of Yanzhi Mountain, a hundred miles south of Shandan Wei, there is plenty of water, lush pasture, and the horse farm can produce 10,000 horses every year, but not all horses meet the requirements of the army's war horses, so according to convention, there are some eliminated bad horses to deal with every year, and the main thing the Ma family does is this business." The iron mine is at the foot of Qilian Mountain in the south of Zhangye, and the villain is willing to dedicate the business of horses and iron ore to the adults. ”

Yang Chong took a sip of tea and said: "Thank you Patriarch Ma for your kindness, Yang is also a businessman and is interested in business, but I don't understand that when Patriarch Ma invited me to the county guard's mansion, he could directly say why he had to go to the Big Buddha Temple to open the altar." ”

Ma Gongyou saw that Yang Chong was still relatively satisfied, and hurriedly said: "It's Frustrated's idea, he is more cautious, he wants to meet the adult, and he is worried about improper behavior, he is in the front compartment, if the adult agrees, I will call them over, and you will talk to each other." ”

Kou Jiuhui smiled: "It's really so troublesome, since the big guy is here, he should meet him." ”

Among the six people, Kou Jiuhui and Fu Qugu are the most familiar and have met several times; Seeing Yang Chong concentrating on eating the roe, Ma Gongyou had a number in his heart, and stood up to shout frustration. Rubbing fish roe is a kind of pasta, made into an inch long, two-pointed shape, much like a fish, which has been widely spread in Gansu in later generations, Yang Chong eats this snack, a bit back to the modern reverie; However, the fish roe in the Big Buddha Temple is a little salty, like tofu vegetarian fish, glutinous and smooth.

Zhang Guolao and Meng Kunpeng drank the tea soup unhurriedly, and glanced at the scenery outside the carved window by the way; After only a short while, Ma Gongyou and the two came back, more like Han people than Ma Gongyou, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, Confucian dress, and said to Yang Chongshi: "The villain has something to ask the adults for advice, so he took the liberty to give Brother Gongyou a bad idea, and please forgive the adults." ”

Yang Chong motioned for the two of them to sit down and said, "Since we are in this kind of elegant and quiet place, we don't need to be clichés, please talk about it." ”

Fu Qugu sat down and asked, "I heard that Pei Gong, the squire of the Yellow Gate, has gone to Qinghai to assist Liu Quan in restoring Qinghai County, and helped General Yu Zhongwen control Gaochang, I don't know what your lordship will do next?" ”

Yang Chong smiled lazily: "I am the Yiwu County Guard, and now I am waiting for the imperial court to change my life to Zhangye County Guard, and the matter of Qinghai Gaochang has nothing to do with me." ”

Fu Qugu showed a hint of ridicule and said: "The adults have all over the world, passers-by know it, asking for the Zhangye County Guard, it is just a means of fooling, Chang'an knows, Pei Ju Yu Zhongwen knows better, once the Zhangye County Guard is appointed, they will send troops to Yiwu, how should the adults deal with themselves, and where can the property troops in Yiwu be withdrawn?" ”

Yang Chong felt a little interesting, and asked rhetorically: "What does the head of the family think Yang should do?" ”

Frustrated Qugu blurted out: "Yiwu can't lose it." ”

(End of chapter)