"I see!" Liu Cheng smiled: "I just visited your temple with my friends, because I didn't want to be disturbed by idlers, so I let my subordinates aside, but I didn't want to be like this." Speaking of this, he turned to the leader of the soldiers and scolded: "We are saying that we can't let idlers come over, these people are the owners of this temple, we are just guests, how can we stop them?" I don't apologize to a few masters yet! “

"No, no!" That Xuan Ci hurriedly excused himself and said with a smile: "This Chongfu Temple is the land of the Buddha, I am just using this place to practice, and the disciples of Shamen are not their own stinky skins, how can they talk about the host and guests?" It's just that there are many temples in this temple, and the wrong roads are vertical and horizontal, so I'm afraid that you will get lost and want to be a guide! ”

Liu Cheng saw that the Xuanci monk said something good, but there was almost a greedy word in his eyes, how could he not know the other party's thoughts, but anyway, the main purpose of today has been achieved, and he has nothing to do to listen to his nonsense, and finally give a little silver taels.

"In that case, I'm bothering the master!"

The monk Xuanci saw Liu Cheng nodding, he couldn't help but feel refreshed, and hurriedly stepped forward to lead Liu Cheng to visit the famous places in the temple. Not long in a group has arrived in front of the Daxiong Treasure Palace, there is a cast iron incense burner more than one person high in front of the hall, and there is a pool made of blue bricks in the open space in front of the incense burner, Liu Cheng looked at the pool, his face showed a puzzled look, the Xuanci monk saw it, and hurriedly explained: "Donor, this incense burner and pool are for good men and women to burn incense watches!" ”

"Incineration of incense?" Liu Cheng looked at the incense burner, then at the brick pool, and couldn't help sighing: "It's such a big pool, and I don't know how many incense watches it takes to use it!" “

"That's nature!" Xuan Ci's face showed a smug look: "This temple is one of the best jungles in Beijing, if it is in the peaceful year, on the fifteenth day of the first month of each month, just the good men and women who come to worship can be lined up to the mountain gate, and this incense burner and brick pond will be cleaned up in less than an hour or two, so as not to overflow." There are four or five senior brothers and disciples who specialize in receiving alms in the second gate, and when they can't receive five or six thousand taels of silver in a day, where is it as deserted as now! “

"There is so much charity!" Liu Cheng looked at the lonely appearance in front of the treasure hall: "Why is it so deserted now?" “

"Not a Tartar yet!" Xuan Ci replied hatefully: "Since the Tartar broke in the second year of Chongzhen, he fought a war in Beizhili and Shandong provinces for almost a year, burning, killing and looting everything, plus all kinds of Qinwang army, the whole land has been stripped of a layer, most of the pilgrims in this temple are from Beizhili and Shandong provinces, such a world, who else will pay tribute to the Bodhisattva?" Not only did he not make any progress, but he also had to take out money and rice to help the victims who fled to Beijing, creating evil! At this, he couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

Liu Cheng heard his complaint, and his heart couldn't help but move, and he pretended to be casual and asked: "I heard that the imperial court is dispatching troops and preparing to go out of the customs to fight against the Tartars, and I think I will definitely be able to avenge the last time!" “

"Donor, you're from the south!" Xuan Ci's face flashed with a hint of the arrogance and contempt that the Jingshi people often showed to outsiders: "Since the battle of Sarhu in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, the imperial court has fought with the Eastern Emperor, which time has it taken advantage?" Either the soldiers were lost or the city was abandoned, and the Tartars also came out of the old forests in Liaodong and hit the city of Beijing, but the taxes on the people became heavier and heavier. There are also those Qinwang army, who said that they were Qinwang, but they didn't dare to fight with the Tartars, but instead took out their anger at the people, robbed and burned them, and cut off the heads of the good people as the head leaders of the Tartars-" The more the monk spoke, the more energetic he became, but he didn't notice that the faces of several guards behind Liu Cheng were getting more and more ugly, it turned out that these people were all from Du Ruhu's old department, when they set off from Shaanxi to King Qin, the hardships and hardships along the way seemed to be still in front of them, but they were scolded by the monk and drenched with blood. One of the hottest tempered could no longer bear it any longer, and stepped forward and shouted, "Bah! Monk Shut up! “

Xuan Ci was talking energetically, when he heard this sound of drinking, he couldn't help but be startled, and then he remembered what Fang just said, and couldn't help but secretly regret that he only cared about what he said happily, but he forgot that there were many eyes and ears in the Jingshi, and if he had just said something that people reported to Jinyiwei or the factory guard, he would be imprisoned at least and lose his own head. He hurriedly smiled and said: "The poor monk is just talking nonsense, please forgive the donor for the offense!" ”

Seeing this, Liu Cheng didn't know the other party's intentions, so he smiled and said: "It's okay, just chat a few words, the great monk doesn't have to take it seriously." Come, take fifty taels of silver and give it to him, and it will be my charity today. ”

"Thank you, donor!" Xuan Ci was overjoyed when he heard this, if it was okay in the past, it would be a considerable amount of income now. He hurriedly took out a book from his arms, turned a few pages and said with a smile: "Dare to ask the name of the donor, and the poor monk should write it down and enshrine it in front of my Buddha to be blessed!" ”

"That's it, you can remember it as a stranger, the Buddha can know everything in the world, and naturally knows where I came from!"

Liu Cheng returned to his residence, and as soon as he changed his clothes, he saw Lama Chesang coming in from the outside, and hurriedly stood up: "Master, how are they doing with Mother and Son?" ”

"It's all right, Dle Gedler inquired about Abnay's situation and asked me to bring a few clothes and accessories for him." Chessan laughed.

"Mother and son are close to each other, and it is indeed impossible to fake!" Liu Cheng nodded: "Then you can help her bring it!" ”

"Yes, sir!" Chessan's expression changed: "It's just that Ezhe is becoming more and more gloomy, when he sees me, he just bows his head and is silent, and when he occasionally looks up, his eyes are full of hatred, it seems that this son regards me and the adult as the enemy who killed his father!" ”

"It's no wonder he is!" Liu Cheng laughed nonchalantly: "If it weren't for me defeating Lin Dan Khan, he would still be the heir of the Mongolian Great Khan, the proud son of the sky, how could he be a prisoner here!" ”

"How can you ever be so comfortable with a prisoner!" Chesang sneered: "If he hadn't met an adult, he would have been trampled to death by ten thousand horses wrapped in felt, but he didn't know what to do." Your Excellency, do you want someone to send it—" At this point, Chesan made a downward gesture.

"Why bother? He's just a caged bird here, and even a Dapeng bird can use some skills! Liu Cheng said with a smile: "If you kill him, you will cause a lot of trouble, just raise an idler, maybe you will need it in the future!" ”

Chesang thought for a moment and said with a smile: "My lord's foresight is beyond my reach. By the way, how did the Lord just meet with the Duke of Hu? “

"It's okay, we talked about the affairs of the DPRK and China!" Liu Cheng casually recounted the things he talked about with Hu Kejian today, but he just hid the matter of worshipping him and did not mention it. Chesang heard Liu Cheng say that he would set up a monument tree tower in front of the Minzhong Pavilion to commemorate the dead soldiers, and couldn't help but high-five and praised: "This is a good way, after the soldiers learned about it, they will definitely go to the worries and fight to the death, but why not build it in the Silver Buddha Temple, save thousands of miles, and it is very troublesome!" ”

"It doesn't matter if the Mongol tribes are there, but the Han soldiers don't believe in your Gelug sect, isn't it okay to build it there?"

"That's okay, I don't think you Han people seem to have those taboos, burn incense when you meet the gods, kowtow when you meet the temple, and besides, in front of the Buddha, all living beings are equal, what kind of Gelug sect and Huayan sect are divided?"

"There is some truth in what you say, then build one in the Silver Buddha Temple, build one here, and only build an inscription here, and don't bury the ashes!"

Che Sang saw that Liu Cheng agreed to himself, he couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart, as a monk, he is much more sensitive to sacrifice and belief than Liu Cheng, the ancients said: "The major affairs of the country, in the worship and Rong", like this kind of worship for the country sacrifice of soldiers, from ancient times to the present, for any country, is an extremely important authority, to be able to open a hole in this regard, is undoubtedly a huge breakthrough. Qiesang suppressed the joy in his heart, and rehashed what Liu Chengfang had just said, and suddenly asked, "My lord, I think it's best for you to visit Yang Sichang as soon as possible." “

"Yang Sichang? Are you talking about the matter of transferring troops to the Central Plains to quell thieves? “

"Not bad!"

"But this is just a setback, and I heard Gonggong Hu say that several ministers in the cabinet disagreed!"

"My lord, this is not negligent, if the Son of Heaven is really accurate, your previous hard work will be in vain!" When Lama Chesang said this, he lowered his voice and said, "And in the past few days/I have heard some gossip about this Lord Yang in the Jingshi. ”

"Yang Sichang's gossip?" Liu Cheng was aroused by Chesang's interest and asked, "What did you say?" ”

"It is said that this Lord Yang dares to do anything, and he is quite favored, and he is going to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister one day!"

"Hehehe!" Liu Cheng couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "How can it be so simple for me to enter the cabinet in the Ming Dynasty, it is not enough to have a holy family, but also to be listed by the Ministry of Officials, and then the ministers will push it, and finally it will be the turn of the saint to choose." This Lord Yang has always been known for knowing soldiers, and he should have entered the cabinet with the secretary of the military department, he has climbed too fast in the past few years, and now he should be slow. ”

"My lord, it's a little early to go to the pavilion to pay respects, but I heard that the saint is a British lord today!"

"Lord?" Liu Cheng couldn't help but be a little stunned when he heard this, as a traveler from later generations, he naturally had a bad impression of Chongzhen, but after the crossing, he found that people at that time had a high evaluation of Chongzhen, and basically thought that this was the lord of Yingmai, and this contrast made him feel inexplicable many times.

"At the beginning of the succession to the throne, he eradicated Wei Eunuch, personally ruled the country's affairs, diligent and listened to the government, and ate food and clothing, how could he not be the British lord?"

"That's not bad!" Liu Cheng nodded, to talk about diligence Chongzhen is indeed one of the best among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, but the evaluation of an emperor should be mainly based on his political performance, after all, he is not an employee who clocks in at work, but the chairman of the board of directors with unlimited power.

Che Sang didn't see Liu Cheng's slander, so he continued: "Maybe Lord Yang won't be able to enter the cabinet in a short time, but now he is in a hurry to seek treatment, so he must prefer young people who dare to do things!" Even if Lord Yang is rejected this time, he will always leave an impression in the mind of the saint, next time-"

"I understand what you mean, you prepare a gift, and I'll go to Yang Sichang's house in the evening!" Hearing this, Liu Cheng already understood what Chesang meant, as he said, Yang Sichang's performance this time was rejected, but according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, his recital will be kept as a file, and the next time the thieves make a big fuss, someone will definitely bring up the old things - "Look at you don't listen to me, if Liu Cheng's Mongolian cavalry was transferred to the Central Plains according to what I said, these thieves would have been leveled long ago!" "Anyway, as long as the thief is not finished, he can continue to mention it infinitely, and every defeat against the thief will become his argument, and the final victory will always belong to him. Liu Cheng knew in his heart that the problem of thieves in the late Ming Dynasty was rooted in the large number of landless peasants caused by the feudal land system at that time, which could not be solved by military means alone. Liu Cheng was simply not willing to devote what little strength he had to a pointless, hopeless quagmire war with the thieves. If the East Asian continent in the thirties of the seventeenth century is compared to the beginning of a game of Go, then the Central Plains is a grass belly, the four corners are gold, and the four sides are silver. Because the Central Plains is the heart of the empire, the center will never allow the existence of a secession party, so no matter how many victories are won, as long as the center has not collapsed, the victor will not be able to cash the victory into his own strength. And once the center of the empire collapses, the separatist forces that have already reconciled the resources of the frontier will not give you time to reorganize the resources and turn them into military forces. Therefore, whether it was the strategy of Mongolia or the communication between Zhao Youcai and the Spaniards, Liu Chengdu carefully avoided the henchmen of the empire, and he did not want to be pulled into this bottomless swamp prematurely and become the funeral object of the empire.

In late spring, the sky is dark very early, just to the scene of Mao, the sky has become royal blue, the sky can already see a round of crescent moon, the rich and noble people in the capital have lit lamps and candles, from the sky down, the stars are dotted, a picture of the world's weather.

"Master, it's time to hold the lamp!" Yang Sichang rubbed his eyes, raised his head from a note that was being written, and the servant carefully took the fire medium, stepped forward and lit the oil lamp, and the room suddenly lit up. Yang Sichang stood up, twisted his neck, felt a little sour, and decided to go to the yard to move his muscles and bones first, and then continue after dinner.

Yang Sichang was a native of Wuling, Hunan, and compared with the traditional imperial examination provinces of Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi, Hunan was still a rather wild and backward region at that time. Therefore, he did not fall into the common habits of scholars at that time, who did not learn and did not know how to learn, who liked empty words, and who did not understand practice. Due to the influence of his father Yang He, he was also a very good poet, and he was very rare among the bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty at that time. (To be continued.) )