It is indeed a tradition to sacrifice the living to General Yin Liang. It's just that because of the refutation of the teachings of Buddhism and compassion, and because Minamoto Yinliang is a remnant of the Southern Dynasty, under the suppression of the Muromachi shogunate, the sacrifices gradually became less and less, and the act of human martyrdom also disappeared.

It is no wonder that Gao Shisheng mistakenly thought that the people of Pingshan Village wanted to use people to be martyred and sacrifice ghosts and gods in desperation, which was really a lesson from the past.

The Sannomiya Shrine in Hirayama Township is also a relic that was abandoned after being suppressed by the Muromachi shogunate, and only an empty shelf remains, so Hasegawa's uncle wanted to invite the foreign palace to preside over the sacrifice ceremony.

Gao Shisheng pondered for a moment and said, "You said that the village is not enough to raise money, dare to ask how many pieces of literature are missing?" ”

"The sacrificial items are all readily available in the village, and the main thing is that it costs a lot of money to renovate the shrine,...... Then it is to invite the Taoist palace priest to preside over the cost of the sacrifice, and it is estimated that he will get at least 30 Yongle money. "The village has roughly estimated the amount, and now it is not even half of the money, so it is no wonder that the three village elders are sitting in the house and worrying.

The twenty bad money collected in the village is all minted according to Junfu, and the Yuanzhou fine money that can be exchanged for Yongle money for three to one is only one-third.

Gao Shi said with great heart: "If there is a difference of three or five yuan, I can make up for them, but now there is a difference of more than twenty yuan......" Although he has a hundred yuan of Wanxing under his name, he has never been a vassal. They are all managed by the family, and although they can share dozens of dollars at the end of the year, they are all taken by his mother to worship the temple, and there is not much that they bring with them.

In addition, Jin Xiaoju, who was bribed by Zenko Academy, was only about 30 yuan, so he couldn't spend more than half of it in order to help Pingshan Township.

Gao Shisheng is not stingy with money, but spends the money all at once, what should he do when he encounters things in the future? In all fairness, he didn't believe anything at all, Yin Liangjun, the ghost god, was angry, if he could really bring the Yin soldiers out for revenge, could he still let the shogunate send people to destroy his shrine more than a hundred years ago?

Rather than wasting money on ghosts and gods, such illusory things, he prefers to spend it on the real thing, and the money left in the village is intended to be kept to buy food and renovate the homes of the people.

He looked at the three elders in Pingshan Village, and wanted to stop there, but then thought again: "Since I came to the village, whether it is the two of Hasegawa and Nagata, or the monks, most of my thoughts have been used on Haoqiang, and I have no dealings with ordinary people. Didn't you come here today just to repay your kindness through the flood? Come to think of it...... It's a good opportunity...... And many of the military servants came from Pingshan Village, isn't this also a way to win them over, no matter what happens in the end, I have to be grateful for my favor.

It's just that even if you pay for it, you have to think of ideas to minimize the cost, and the ghosts and gods are illusory, where to send the money and food to the village households one by one, you can get more gratitude.

The monks of Zenko-in, they just happened to ask for themselves, and invited them to preside over the sacrifice, and there was no big difference, anyway, now the gods and Buddhas are studying together, not to mention temporary guest appearances to preside over a sacrifice, that is, the monks manage the shrine, and those who serve as palace blessings also abound.

Thinking of this, he smiled dumbly, he didn't expect that he would be able to use the place of those monks so soon, and said with a smile: "Three village elders, why do you have to invite Gong Zhu?" Isn't it the same with a monk to preside over it? ”

The three village elders shook their heads in unison, expressing their refusal, and the village elder, the youngest of the three, said: "The price of inviting monks is higher, there is no money in the village, how can you bother to move the monks." ”

At first, I wanted to ask the monks to preside over the sacrifice, but later the total cost was more, so I gave up and changed it to the palace priest.

"Hongo's Zenkoin Temple is a disciple of the Pure Land Shin Sect, and he is most willing to help the poor, so why don't you ask the master of Zhenghong Temple for help?" The Pure Land Shinshu has always been keen on this kind of thing that can expand the number of believers, and he is willing to do it if he has no money, Gao Shisheng is very strange, why doesn't the village go to Zenkoin Temple to ask for it.

"This is not a good thing you have done!" Hasegawa Hayato crossed his legs and spoke first.

"What does it have to do with me?" Gao Shisheng frowned slightly, and said, "If it weren't for the three village elders telling each other, I wouldn't know that there was such a thing, how could it have anything to do with me?" ”

"A few days ago, wasn't it the head of Zhuang who led us and copied the Zenko-in? If it weren't for the heavy rain, the monks would have gone back to Sanhe this time, where would we go to invite people, we can't let the master of Zhenghong Yuan come back again for this matter, right? ”

Gao Shisheng suddenly realized, felt a little crying and laughing, it was really his own problem after making trouble for a long time, and said: "I'll take care of the Zenguang Academy, and the master of the Discipline Certificate, Hongyuan, will personally bring someone over to preside over the sacrifice, and there is no need to give a penny of gift money from the village." In this case, how much money is missing? ”

"If this can be the case, it will be enough to have seven or eight Yongle dollars to buy some sacrificial ritual vessels!" When the village elders heard this, they were overjoyed, and the most expensive part of the sacrifice was not to renovate the shrine and buy various ritual utensils and offerings, but to invite someone to preside over the thank-you gift, and half of the 30 yuan was given to the palace and the monks.

You don't see, the Shangchuan family spent hundreds of times and didn't get a result, and finally there was a lawsuit for life.

"I'll make up for you too! …… But I didn't give this money to the village for free. Speaking of this, Gao Shisheng paused, looked at the three village elders, and said solemnly: "Praying for the peace of gods and ghosts is important, but ghosts and gods are just dead things after all, where is it more important to live in the village?" This money is the money I paid for hiring Hasegawa and his gang to help the widows and orphans in the village renovate their houses. ”

After saying that, he asked Beizhuang Manjiro to take the bag of money over, he went to the countryside this time, not only brought two bags of miscellaneous grains, but also brought three thousand Yongle money, I wanted to help the orphans and widows, but I didn't expect to use it here first.

Kitazhuang Manjiro developed a good habit with Aoki Daizen, he did what he said, and the same was true for Gao Shisheng.

In response, he didn't put on his coat again, and went directly to the courtyard to withdraw money in the rain.

Gao Shisheng continued to persuade bitterly: "I am an outsider, and I still come to the village to send food to consolation, the three are the elders of the village, I don't need to talk about the truth, the villagers are not convinced of your virtue, so they are willing to entrust themselves to the three management?" ”

The three village elders knew that he was complaining about the village, overly superstitious about ghosts and gods, and neglecting to help the lonely, widowed, old and weak, and they all felt ashamed, and at the same time, the understanding of the new village head was greatly improved.

On the first day, less than half a day after his tenure, he was arrested and fined money. On the second day, he helped the county judges. Conviction and raiding of homes. I thought it was a cruel and cruel official who was not easy to get along with, but I didn't expect that this was a good deputy who was sympathetic to the people.

In the past, the head of the village who did not use details to extort bribes was rare to see a "good official", and this new head of the village was even willing to pay his own money to the households under his jurisdiction, and he couldn't help but be convinced by what he said, and promised again and again.

Gao Shisheng had nothing to do, and only continued to talk and laugh freely with the three village elders, and the topic was always just the specific situation of the poor households in the village. The three village elders didn't think they belonged, and they couldn't believe what he said, and when they answered, they were always absent-minded, looking at the door with strong eyes.

Until Kitazhuang Manjiro came in with a blanket, hunched over and held his hands in front of the main seat, respectfully put it down, and quietly retreated to his place.

Gao Shisheng untied his jacket, revealing the copper coin inside, and pushed it in front of the other party, and the three of them woke up like a dream, a little incredulous.

Hasegawa Hayato's uncle was afraid to accept it.

Gao Shisheng said with a smile: "This 3,000 yuan is not mine, but the "gift money" given to me by Zhenghong, the head of the Zenko Academy, when I committed the crime on the first day, I didn't want to accept it, and I was afraid that he would misunderstand that I didn't give much, so I could only keep it for the time being. To tell you the truth, I am also a believer in the Pure Land Shinshu, and although I am not virtuous, I would like to use this money in the countryside like a lecturer of the Pure Land Shinshu. Today, on behalf of Shanguang Temple, I will use this money to raise funds for the gods of Pingshan Village! If the rest is insufficient, wait for the village to calculate the number, and then go to the village to find me to get it! ”

Gao Shisheng said that the 3,000 yuan was a gift money, but everyone knew that it was actually a bribe given to him by Zenko-in, but when he said this, it was beyond reproach, it was not that he was greedy to accept bribes, but that he was forced to accept it because of bad habits.

Hasegawa Hayato patted his leg and praised: "Zhuang Tou is worthy of being a believer in the Pure Land True Sect, you are polite, I saw it clearly that day, and he also took the usual amount of "foot money", and the remaining half must be his own." ”

"Money is something outside the body, as long as the people in the village can live and work in peace and contentment, it will not be a waste of these money!" Gao Shisheng waved his hand humbly, but what he thought in his heart was, you are a person who speaks and does things without going out of his mind, where you can understand the dumb riddles between me and Monk Zhenghong.

However, Hasegawa Hayato is not wrong, the copper coins he took out today are all the redemption money of the monks, strictly speaking, they do belong to him personally.

Gao Shisheng's move is both "gracious" and "invited", his secret purpose has been achieved, and on the surface, he seems to be light on wealth and benevolence, don't dare to say that after so many years of training, at least he still has some ability to invite people's hearts.

When the three village elders heard Gao Shisheng say this, it was difficult to excuse themselves.

After accepting the money, he knelt down to bow down and saluted him again, and thanked him in his mouth: "I will not dare to forget the great kindness of the head of the village!" ”

"Where! Where! Gao Shisheng hurriedly went over and helped the three of them up one by one, and for a while, the guests and hosts were happy and happy.

Beizhuang Manjiro knelt on the side, looked at the master next to him, and then looked at the head of the village on the main seat, and said: "Originally, I heard my teacher say that the head of the village must have a plan, but today I saw that it was his old man who had hysteria!" "After all, Kitajo Manjiro is young and quick-witted, but his experience is far less profound than that of his master, and Aoki had vaguely guessed it on the first day of the meal, and he still can't understand the situation.

Gao Shisheng was a little complacent but did not dare to forget, the main purpose of this trip, the flattery and awe of the village elders to him, although it was very enjoyable, but the role of several old people in his ambition was not worth mentioning at all, and the attitude of the military service and young people in the village towards him was really worth valuing.

…………

After a few words of greeting, I asked about the situation of the poor families in the village, and there was no need to continue wasting time here.

The three village elders also belong to the category of the old and weak, and after each of them left three catties of miscellaneous grains, dozens of dollars, they were taken by Hasegawa Hayato to the next family.

As the three village elders said, there are many poor households in the village. Searching all the way, he must enter every house, observe carefully, the villagers are not only poor, they can be called hungry, the family is surrounded by walls, and the stronger ones are stronger, that is, at most the house has not leaked rain, and the clothes on the body are only a few patches, and the children are dirty, the clothes are not covered, and there are not even a few people wearing straw sandals, just as Hokusho Manjiro told him about the dilemma of his family when he was a child.

Three or five catties of miscellaneous grains, dozens of dollars are not worth mentioning to Gao Shisheng, but for the extremely poor villagers, it is no less than life-saving money and food. There are those who kneel and prostrate and give thanks for his kindness; When the whole family gets money and food, there are also those who hug each other and cry; At most, he was speechless, and he couldn't believe that there were such good officials doing such good things.

said goodbye to a poor family that sent him out of the door, and continued to brave the wind and rain, wading into the water to rush to the next family.

He sighed in his heart: "Years of famine, serious land annexation, heavy forced labor in Junfu, and the exploitation of the powerful can be called like a wolf and a tiger, and the people of Qianshou have worked hard for a year, and it is rare to rest day and night, and the income is still not enough to make ends meet." Wealthy and powerful monasteries, thousands of stones of fertile land, and hundreds of tenants; The poor who have no money, the only way to owe the annual tribute is to pawn the land, turn their family into tenants, and if there is a slight change, they have to go to the Haoqiang Monastery to borrow money to live. When the harvest is finished in the coming year, the old coupons will be repaid and the new debts will be borrowed. Day after day, year after year, the profits and profits are endless, and after death, there is nothing left for the children and grandchildren except a house full of simple debt books and vain identities. Such a scene of the people living in poverty, if you don't see it with your own eyes, who can believe it. ”

Gao Shisheng couldn't help but think of the words Aoki Daizen had said to him, and felt even more sad. The little bribe given to him by the Zenkoin Temple, as he said, can help a few poor families, Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty once said: "Don't take the good as small, don't take the evil as small." "It's hard to do good, but it's easy to be evil.

He was born in a martial arts family since he was a child, grew up in Junfu, only need to abide by loyalty and righteousness, serve the minister's day, there is no need to worry about food, clothing, housing and transportation, in the past, he went to the countryside with the public to inspect, but it was only scribbled perfunctory, where has he witnessed such a shocking scene, beyond his imagination, he is secretly glad that he can be reincarnated in a famous martial arts family, not worrying about eating and drinking, otherwise, I am afraid that he may not be able to live to this day.

The people of the three countries of the East China Sea all said: "The women and children of Sanzhou are in tears, and the farmers in Yuanzhou are not allowed to rest, only the minister of Junzhou is so unhappy!" ”。 Satirizing the Imagawa family to force the Samurai of Mikawa to storm the castle of Anse, causing heavy casualties, almost every family in plain white clothes, exploiting the people of Yuanjiang like wolves and tigers, "Junfu taxes, six or seven tenths of them are from Yuanzhou", in order to achieve the purpose of strengthening the cadres and weak branches.