The bell of Chinese New Year's Eve is getting closer and closer, and the atmosphere of the festival in the capital is becoming more and more enthusiastic.

This year, I have survived the disaster, and I have seen the continuous snowfall after the winter, so I don't have to worry about the drought in the spring, and the people in the capital have also resumed the old habit of spending lavishly.

At the end of the lunar month, there are only two days left for the five times a month in Daxiangguo Temple. At this time, in addition to the New Year's Festival and the birthday of the eighth Buddha in early April, the most noisy time of the year in Daxiangguo Temple - if you compare the liveliness of the market in the Sanmen Square in front of the hall, even if it is the New Year's Festival and the Buddha's birthday, it is far from comparable.

Walk under the archway of the Great Xiangguo Temple inscribed by Emperor Taizong, and after the gate is the area where birds, cats, dogs, rare birds and beasts are sold. Passing through here, at the second and third gates, there are daily necessities, military weapons and snacks, such as puhe, mats, screens, washing, saddle bridles, bows and swords, shiguo, preserved wax and so on.

On one side are the believers who want to come in to burn incense, and on the other side are the customers who want to buy New Year's goods and specialties. It is not uncommon to step on shoes and squeeze out hats.

As a handsome minister all the way, Guo Kui has to enter Beijing at least once a year, and has lived here for many years in the past, and the prosperity of Tokyo City is not unfamiliar, and the bustle of Daxiangguo Temple when it comes to the wax moon is even clearer. But as a military general, he has no calculation for killing people all his life, and he inevitably has to rely on worshipping gods and Buddhas to feel at ease, and every time he enters Beijing, he will come to Daxiangguo Temple.

Guo Kui came to Daxiangguo Temple today to burn incense and worship the Buddha, just to avoid the main entrance and come in through the back door. Although the back door is also full of people, but they are all stalls selling calligraphy and paintings, treasures, and some stalls are selling local products from the local government that have been dismissed from Zhulu and brought back to Beijing from the local area - Guo Kui has always liked the art of goods breeding, and he also brought back some local products when he entered Beijing this time, but these trivial matters are in charge of his own family, and Guo Kui only needs to look at the cash at home - so after all, there are still not as many customers as at the main entrance.

Guo Kui took his son Guo Zhongxiao to incense in the Daxiong Treasure Palace, and donated a batch of gold silk sesame oil as an offering, so he wandered around the palaces and pavilions in the temple very boringly.

If Yu Shi, who has ears like rabbits, hears that he has obviously accepted the king's order, but instead of going to Taiyuan Mansion to take office, he will come to hang out in Daxiangguo Temple, he will definitely play a book, but Guo Kui doesn't care. It is a good thing to be impeached for some minor mistakes.

His appointment to Taiyuan Mansion has also been confirmed, and his entry into Beijing is just a formality. When I saw the Son of Heaven, I didn't have anything superfluous to say. It's just that the post of Xuanhui envoy, which was stripped off for some reason, was returned to him. What kind of reward is this? But Guo Kui still made an attitude of great joy to the past to accept this appointment. His current status is too high, and if he is not restrained, it is not surprising that he will fall into the fate of Di Qing and Cao Xuan.

Slowly walked all the way to the second hall of the Heavenly King Hall. On the veranda of the Tianwang Hall, there is a mural of the blazing light Buddha descending nine ghosts and a hundred plays, which is the handwriting of the Hanlin Academy of Renzong Dynasty, the blazing light Buddha body is shining brightly, mighty and unrestrained, and the nine ghosts who are suppressed are different in appearance, or timid, or hideous, or howling, and the posture is different. It is the most famous Buddha map in the Great Xiangguo Temple.

However, in front of the mural, there is a group of people at this time. Two of them were officials, one in a red robe and one in a green robe, and the rest were dressed in a manner that did not resemble the Chinese, and Guo Kui could not recognize where they were, gathering together to look at the murals on the wall, pointing at them.

Guo Kui snorted at them, and a companion stepped forward to inquire knowingly. After a while, he turned back and said, "It's Kim Liangjian, the envoy of Goryeo." I heard that today I came to Daxiangguo Temple to worship the Buddha. ”

Guo Kui heard that it was a Goryeo envoy, so he turned around and walked around the front hall of the Luohan Hall. Such foreign envoys, as courtiers, cannot be touched at all. In addition to the embassy envoys specially designated by the imperial court to accompany him, it would be a big trouble for the civil and military ministers to be involved in the suspicion of melon fields and plums.

Walking to the Luohan Hall, and then there is a square full of stalls at the three gates, Guo Kui didn't like to be noisy, and he didn't step out of the hall, so he turned his head and prepared to admire the five hundred golden Arhats in the hall.

Just at a glance, Guo Kui unexpectedly found a familiar figure outside the palace gate. Dressed in a green cloth shirt, he stands in front of a stall selling lanterns, holding a Kong Ming lantern in his hand [Note 1].

"Han Gang?!"

……………………

The outer layer is made of extremely thin bamboo paper, while the inner skeleton is held up by extremely thin bamboo strips. Inside is a finger-long red candle painted with delicate floral motifs on all sides. Such a beautifully made Kong Ming lantern is now in the hands of the young officials standing in front of the lantern stall.

To be able to set up a stall in Daxiangguo Temple, the stall owner himself has to have some ability, and his eyes have long been sharpened.

The young official in front of him, just looking at his outfit, looks like a young showman. But the fabric of the shirt he wore did not look like it was made of silk and linen. Looking at him again, he was followed by a few powerful companions, and he looked like the children of a rich and noble family, but his expression and attitude were not at all ordinary Yanei, just a casual stop, he was in a high position.

Although his appearance is not the white-faced scholar who is popular with his sister at this time, he looks like he is both civil and military, coupled with his height and fitness, he has an attractive bearing. Half of the ten women who came to the incense around looked at him.

Maybe you can make a big deal. Thinking of this, the stall owner's heart warmed up.

"How much does this lamp cost?" Han Gang looked at the Kong Ming lantern in his hand for a while, and finally raised his head and asked the price.

The stall owner heard the question, and hurriedly replied: "Official, this set of 25 broken branch lanterns is only sold as a whole, not just for sale." ”

"A set of twenty-five?"

Han Gang looked up and down at this paper lamp with flowers painted on all sides, there was an acacia, a gardenia, and two I didn't know it, but the workmanship was exquisite, and the painting was also good, but I didn't expect it to be a suit.

Seeing that Han Gang seemed to be a little interested, the stall owner who sold the lamp became more attentive: "The officials don't know that this set of Kong Ming lanterns, painted with folded branches and hundreds of flowers, is made by the famous lantern Zhang in Beijing, and the drawing is also made by a famous teacher, and it is a personal disciple of Chen Zhizhao." Only the villain's stall has it, and other stores can't find it at all."

While selling the lantern, he pointed to the corner of the lantern and showed it to Han Gang, and he could indeed see the bright red mark.

"The ordinary Kong Ming lantern is a paper bag, which is set up with coarsely chopped bamboo strips, and a ball of coarse cloth soaked in oil is placed in the center. If it is lit, it can only float in the sky for half an hour. The villain's broken branch and flower lantern is made of silk from the best Xihe bamboo, as well as the bamboo paper of Jingyutang, which is placed with high-grade candles, which will not fall to the ground if it is lit and flies for half an hour. Such a set is only three pieces of money, where can I find it in the city of Tokyo? ”

Han Gang doesn't care if it's expensive or cheap, as long as he can fly. Although a set of twenty-five lamps is a little more, it is not bad to take it back and put it at home. didn't even bargain, and directly signaled to the accompanying companion to pay. After paying the bill, he asked the stall owner again: "Who is this lantern Zhang?" ”

The stall owner hurriedly said: "It is the name of the villain's family, and now it is used by the father of the villain." ”

Han Gang smiled and handed back the paper lantern in his hand to the lantern stall owner surnamed Zhang, "More than 20 lamps are too cumbersome to carry, and they will be sent to the Hanshe family in Changle Fang after the market closes." ”

"Hanshe?" The stall owner's mouth opened wide when he heard this, he had heard of this one.

Han Gang had already paced away, and the stall owner's surprise was answered by his companion, "Now there is only one resident with the surname Han in the DPRK and China!" ”

After buying the Kong Ming lantern, Han Gang was ready to take a stroll in the temple again. Today, he is mainly here to see the wisdom of the monk who has just been promoted to the main monk of Zuojie and has become the highest monk in the country. I went shopping in person, but I was in the mood for a while.

"But Brother Yukun?"

A faintly heard voice sounded behind him. Han Gang looked back, first stunned, and then recognized that it was Guo Zhongxiao, the son of Guo Kui, whom he hadn't met for a long time, "How is it Brother Li?" ”

"Come with the family's strict worship of the Buddha and the vows." Guo Zhongxiao smiled and asked, "Brother Yukun is also here to burn incense?" ”

There are many officials who come to Daxiangguo Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, but there are almost no markets in front of the temple. Especially an official of Han Gang's status is even rarer. They all want to respect their own identities, and they are also afraid of Yu Shi's mouths. Even if there were, it was just a few shops in front of the Buddha hall - the pen of the Zhao family and the ink of the Pan family, which were the most popular study utensils in Beijing. Like the two corridors, the female red and other ornaments that the nunnery masters and aunts come to sell, there will never be an official who has the face to squeeze among the female relatives to buy.

"Come to see an old friend, and by the way, I'm going to buy a boat to go home." Han Gang said something that was incomprehensible, and his eyes swept in the direction where Guo Zhongxiao had come, and he found Guo Kui standing in the Luohan Hall with his hands in his hands.

Listening to Han Gang's words, Guo Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment, "Boat? ”

Han Gang didn't explain much, and walked over to Luohan Hall to greet Guo Kui, "Han Gang meets Xuanhui." ”

Guo Kui returned the salute: "Yukun, it's been a long time." ”

Guo Kui is older than he was back then, but his spirit is still the same, and he is still the leading general in the Great Song Army. Seeing that the idlers around him were looking at them, Guo Kui frowned, "Let's take a walk with the old man." ”

Han Gang followed Guo Kui, half a step away. Listening to Guo Kui say in front: "I am guarding Taiyuan today, I originally wanted to worship my Buddha and ask for peace of mind." I didn't expect to see Yukun. ”

Han Gang said with a smile: "The north is arrogant, Xuanhui is not allowed to sit at the north gate, how can the Son of Heaven sleep in peace?" ”

Note 1: The records of Kong Ming lanterns in the Northern Song Dynasty have not been found for a while, but Fan Chengda of the Southern Song Dynasty has the sentence "throwing candles to take off the air and stabilize" in Fan Chengda's "Thirty-two Rhymes of Hai Harmonic Bodies in Wuzhong in the Upper Yuan Era". However, for the sake of convenience, the article is still named Kong Ming Lantern.