Zhu Meng left, and was picked up by a middle-aged Taoist who was not very old. Zhao Ran listened to the prison and others calling him Master Liang, and knew that this was Liang Tengxian, the Taoist of Huayun Pavilion, whom Yumo said in his letter.

In Yumo's letters, Zhao Ran knew that cultivators were divided into nine grades according to their high mana, the first grade of Taoism, the second rank of Yushi, the third rank of Huangguan, the fourth grade of the mage, the fifth grade ** master, the sixth grade refiner, the seventh grade of the great refiner, the eighth rank of the real person, and the ninth rank of the heavenly master - Quanzhen is also known as the great real person. How to distinguish the grade from the low, Yumo didn't say, and Zhao Ran didn't ask. According to this calculation, this Master Liang Tengxian should be the fourth grade, and the Chuyang City Great Refiner who introduced himself into the Wuji Academy would be the seventh grade. As for Yumo herself, she said that she had just entered the Yushi level.

Master Liang did not come in the clouds, but in an extremely ordinary carriage, and Zhu Meng simply followed, carrying only a silk cloth burden on his shoulders. Before leaving, he seemed to want to say something to Zhao Ran, but he didn't say it in the end.

Zhao Ran's heart was full of envy, jealousy and hatred, but he had an advantage, that is, he was willing to lower his head and accept his fate when he was beyond his strength, since he didn't have that life, it was better to put aside his distracting thoughts, fight in the jungle of the ten directions in a down-to-earth manner, and strive to climb up, so that his life would be a little better.

As the first month of the new year approached, the entire Wuji Courtyard was busy again.

The squatter Taoists and fire dwellers began to sweep the courtyard, wipe the temple, and paint the statues of the gods; the treasury and the account room took inventory; the number room counted the income and payment of the manor, shop, and forest field; and the fang tang transferred all the inspectors sent to Guyang County to maintain order inside and outside Wuji Mountain.

The ceremonial room of the ministry will discuss with the guest hall and the scripture hall for many days, and prepare a series of sacrificial ceremonies before and after the New Year, starting from the winter solstice until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, including the first Tianzun Christmas, the day of the Stove Jun Shangtian Dynasty, the day of Tianla, the Jade Emperor Christmas, the Lingbao Tianzun Christmas and many other celebrations and sacrifices. These ceremonies are to open the mountain gate and welcome the incense people from all directions, so it is very cumbersome to prepare.

In addition to ceremonies, the Sanqing Hall and the Tianshi Hall are open to receive pilgrims during this period, especially on Chinese New Year's Eve and Zhengdan. According to the customary calculation of the incense burners on Chinese New Year's Eve, a total of hundreds of households applied to go up the mountain to burn incense, among which the incense money of the head pillar incense has been quoted at a high price of 60 taels. According to the situation in previous years, this is not the highest, and the highest price of the night is likely to exceed 100 taels!

In December's annual examination, Zhao Ran once again ranked first. As a Taoist boy in the Jingtang, especially an excellent Taoist boy who has never been ranked in the first class in the monthly and annual examinations, Zhao Ran has taken on more tasks during this period, and in the words of the world before crossing over, it is a burden on his shoulders.

In addition to playing a major role in the worship ceremonies held in Wuji Temple, he also went down the mountain many times to participate in the Jiao ceremony of Guyang County officials, gentry, and large households. Because of the large number of households who applied to Wuji Academy to hold the Jiao Festival, Jiang Gaogong was already lacking in skills, and Liu Jingzhu and Chen Jingzhu began to lead the team down the mountain to preside over the Jiao Festival, even so, they were still very busy.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, in the afternoon, just after returning from the mountain with Liu Jingzhu, Zhao Ran was sent to the scripture hall to listen to the dispatch. In addition to Jiang Gaogong, Liu Jingzhu, Chen Jingzhu and others in the scripture hall, the five chanting Taoist children who ranked first in the annual examination were all present, including Ma Zhili and Fang Zhihe.

I only heard Jiang Gaogong say: "Tomorrow is the Christmas of the Jade Emperor God, the county and other county officials of this county and the county will go up to the mountain to watch the ceremony and pray for blessings, in addition, there are more than 500 gentry and incense believers, not only the abbot and the prison will attend, but I and most of the disciples of the Jingtang must participate." However, the fasting and Jiao at the foot of the mountain cannot be stopped, otherwise it will hurt the hearts of the believers and it will be a big mistake. Therefore, I have consulted with the prison and the three capitals, and the teachers and disciples of the hall will be divided into several ways tomorrow, and each one should be sent, and those who guard the mountain should be diligent and do their work, and those who go down the mountain should not be arrogant and slack. Do you hear me?"

All the Taoist children responded in unison, and then Liu Jingzhu assigned the personnel from all walks of life.

"Dongfeng Mountain Zhang ancestral hall clan sacrifice, I will go in person, Senior Brother Zheng will go with me to ......"

"The Jingcun Zhao clan learns from Xinli, worships the first master and the first saint, and the senior brother Ma and the senior brother Lu go, and the senior brother Ma presides over the altar ......"

"Wutang Luo's youngest grandson died young, Senior Brother Fang and Senior Brother Zhao went, and Senior Brother Fang presided over the altar ......"

When the transfer was made, Liu Jingzhu specially told Ma, Lu, Fang, and Zhao who went to Jingcun and Wutang a few words, and there was no professor to preside over these two roads, and he was slightly uneasy.

That night, Fang Zhihe came to the door at night, Zhao Ran originally thought that he was going to discuss tomorrow's legal arrangements with him, but he didn't expect that he would come to take leave.

"Senior Brother Zhao, Senior Brother, I have a reluctant request, and I hope that Senior Brother will help me. ”

"Senior Brother Fang, although he said, Senior Brother will definitely do his best. ”

"Senior brother, I have been suffering from a stubborn disease since I was a child, and I often feel inexplicable headaches, and I have been doing it again for the past two days, and I can't sleep properly every night. I wanted to take the time to go down the mountain tomorrow for diagnosis and treatment, but I didn't expect to go to Wutang for such an errand......"

"Then the senior brother must be careful, the body is, uh, the cost of whatever, you can't be sloppy. Why don't I go to Jiang Gaogong and Liu Jingzhu to make it clear, and tomorrow I will change a senior brother and I to go to Wutang. ”

But that's not right...... Well, I have taken leave from Jiang Gaogong many times for this stubborn illness, and I am really embarrassed to speak again. Moreover, if I take another leave of absence tomorrow when I am so busy, even if Gao Gong and the professors are approved, it will inevitably cause the teachers and brothers to feel unhappy. Senior brother, I want to come and go, so I can only ask for junior brother, tomorrow you and I will go down the mountain together, and then act separately, I will go to the city for diagnosis and treatment, you go to Wutang to set up an altar, I wonder if Senior Brother Zhao can help Senior Brother with this?"

As soon as Zhao Ran heard it, he understood what kind of headache this guy was, and he obviously wanted to take the opportunity to go down the mountain for a day. Zhao Ran is not a high meritorious, nor is he a professor, he can't care so much, Fang Zhihe is usually kind to him, and he is also willing to be an adult, so he agreed: "That's okay, although the senior brother goes to Yan Medical Clinic for diagnosis and treatment, it's just that the junior brother and I are presiding over the Dharma altar for the first time, but I don't know if I can take on the heavy responsibility......

Fang Zhihe was overjoyed: "I can afford it, I can afford it!" Senior Brother Zhao has excellent homework, where can there be a saying that he can't afford it? Besides, even if there are occasional flaws, then Luo Yuan can't tell the difference, even if he can tell clearly, can he still sue to the mountain?"

"But I don't know what the foundation of this Luo Yuanwai is?"

Zhao Ran agreed to Fang Zhihe's request, and Fang Zhihe naturally spared no effort to introduce him: "Luo Yuanwai was originally from a poor background, but he read books well. Later, a county in Anhui Province was released, which can be regarded as a classic example of a grass chicken turning over. It's just that he came from the grassroots, and he didn't have any strong backers, and the official was fifty years old, and he only stopped at the first government. Later, he saw that he had no hope of promotion, so he simply returned to his hometown, returned to Wutang, and set up a Zhuangzi to live for the rest of his life. Three days ago, his young grandson died, and he begged to come to the mountain to have a Jiao ......."

Fang Zhihe saw that Zhao Ran listened carefully, and the gossip was fun again, and he couldn't help but spread the gossip: "Senior brother, do you know how much the book and instrument Luo Yuanwai presents?"

Zhao Ran shook his head to show that he didn't know, Fang Zhihe stretched out a finger, and Zhao Ran said, "One hundred taels?"

Fang Zhihe sneered: "One hundred taels? Even if this old man dies, don't think of this number of Zhaijiao for himself, let alone a young grandson who is a concubine! I went to inquire, and it's only ten taels! Hehe!"

In fact, if it is placed in an ordinary family, it is already a lot to hold a Jiao ceremony for ten taels of silver, but in the eyes of the well-informed Wuji Yuan Taoist, this amount is indeed a bit insufficient.

I only heard Fang Zhihe continue: "If someone else comes to ask, the courtyard will never agree, ten taels of silver, it is enough for them to go to the small temple to ask for help, or find a wild Taoist priest to deal with it." But Luo Yuanwai not only reads well at home, but also has a lot of teaching skills. His two sons are taught by their own families, and they have both been admitted to the exam, and now they are waiting for the exam in Beijing, and they are about to spread the good story of 'father and son three jinshi'. Therefore, the courtyard also pinched his nose and admitted it, even if he didn't give him a book, we had to help him do it. ”

Thanks to Yangzhigang and Brother Nine Lives for the reward.

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