For temples in Songjiang Prefecture that deal in opium, the annual gathering was initially held at Longhua Temple.
That place, in the southern suburbs of Songjiang Prefecture, is the largest temple in Songjiang. The Longhua Evening Bell is one of the eight scenic spots in Songjiang. It is a bright place with fragrant melons and fruits, and tea used by opera troupes. Top quality.
But the magistrate thought it was too noisy there, even though the four doors were closed to prevent pilgrims from entering, and the surrounding area was also quite tacky, so he allocated a villa under his name for him and these monks and Taoists every year Get together.
As usual, Dongyue Temple has to get up early in the morning and rush there.
Su Hanshan only took two Taoist priests, Fuxing and Shouquan, out. He did not rent or buy a carriage or horse. He only let Shouquan lead the way and walked away.
During the Qing Dynasty, Guangfu was the only trading port. If foreigners wanted to go ashore, they could only go to Guangfu, which created a prosperous scene of burning oil, flowers and brocade.
Not to mention the big businessmen of the Thirteenth Industry, even a wealthy family in Foshan Town has a food and clothing expenditure that is comparable to that of a minister, and his horizons are even better. He often sees foreigners coming and going for rent.
At that time, if someone saw a foreigner in Songjiang Mansion, they would probably think he was a monster.
In the 18th year of Jiaqing, the Forbidden City fell, the emperor was beheaded, and wars broke out in various places. The foreigners did not care about the rules of the Qing Dynasty. They occupied Songjiang several times and wanted to turn it into an inferior place. Guangfu's Grand Commercial Terminal.
Although the foreigners were repelled later, Guangfu was occupied by Emperor Xu. Of course, tea, raw silk and other bulk goods from other forces refused to be transported to Emperor Xu's territory, and they all moved to Songjiang Prefecture.
Over the years, the migrant population in this area has expanded a hundred times.
Although the road Su Hanshan took was a dirt road, it was also a main road. The widest part could accommodate six carriages traveling in parallel.
You can see all kinds of people on the road. There is an old man sitting in a roadside teahouse, wearing a melon cap, dragging pigtails, shiny face and bragging to others.
A young man with short hair and a tuxedo got off the rickshaw carrying a box.
There are foreigners wearing wigs and curly hair getting out of Western-style carriages.
There are also middle-aged men wearing square scarves and round-collar robes in restaurants, looking like Ming Dynasty scholars.
And the costumes of the common people are even more diverse. Many of them don't shave their heads but still have braids, and many of them just cut their hair short.
After more than a hundred years of Manchu Qing rule, talking about body, hair and skin, being influenced by parents and not cutting hair is naturally a big joke.
After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty's rule, those with a surplus of money chose their attire according to their own preferences, while for the common people, it was based on convenience.
Many young adults who do physical work actually shave their heads directly. After three or four months when the hair has grown longer, they shave it again. After all, shaving your head also costs money.
When Su Hanshan walked to the corner at the end of the road, when a large group of men carrying wooden poles and barrels hurried over on the path, he could see that these people all had half-length hair.
“Give in, give in!!”
The men in the group didn’t wear much. Most of them wore an open-breasted jacket and a pair of coarse trousers that didn’t cover their ankles, but they were fully clothed. It was steaming, shouting and squeezing away pedestrians on the path.
Some people dressed as poor scholars poked their heads out of the roadside shops. When they saw this group of people, they cursed behind their backs: "It's these water tigers again! Hurry up and reincarnate!"
Songjiang Prefecture is now crowded with business travelers, and many people are coming from all over the country. Not only are the houses crowded and shantytowns are standing there, but water has also become a big problem.
Especially after there are more factories and dyeing houses, many rivers in the city are silted up. Even if you boil the scooped water, it will have a strange smell. People with weak bones will have vomiting and diarrhea after eating it, and half of it will be lost. Life goes.
So the drinking water in the city relies on water storage ships moored on the inland rivers, and on the other hand relies on a large number of water carriers who carry water into the city when the tide of the Huangpu River is high.
How much copper these people can get in a day depends on how much water they can carry and deliver it to the cooked water shop.
The time for high tide is limited, and the journey back and forth is not short. These people carry heavy loads and are always in a hurry, running and jogging.
But this group of people did not dare to go to the main road, because if the old and young masters and foreign goods shops on the main road were crowded, it would be a disaster that would lead to bankruptcy.
They circled around on various small roads, crowding out pedestrians, and earned the reputation of "water tigers" in the countryside.
Those cooked water shops that boil water to make tea and sell bath soup are also called tiger stoves. It is said that half of them are because the stoves are shaped like tigers and burn firewood fiercely, and the other half are because of the water carriers. Bad reputation.
Some people were running so fast that water sloshed out of the bucket, and the soles of their feet were slippery, and they would fall if they stumbled.
Taoist Shouguan grabbed him in one step, stretched out one hand, and lifted his pole to help him stand firm.
The man was shocked when he saw that Taoist Shouguan was wearing a robe made of fine silk and satin material, with a big knife slung across his back. He was both happy and frightened. He called to the master repeatedly, stepped back, and hurriedly thanked him.
The group of men next to them were all shocked by this scene. After Taoist Shouguan retreated, they continued on their way.
When Old Taoist Fuxing saw it, he felt a little strange in his heart. When he caught a glimpse of Su Hanshan next to him, he suddenly came to his senses.
Shouquan is such a clever boy!
During these days, Su Hanshan was giving them orders in Dongyue Temple, doing this and that, and letting them see a bit of the new host's temperament.
The ruthlessness is really ruthless, and the ambition is not small. Some of the information they inquired about made Fuxing Lao Dao and the others dare not say anything.
But I don’t know if I was stupid after listening to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and imitating Master Guan’s style of being arrogant but not inferior.
This new abbot has a bodhisattva-like heart towards those people who were sold out of debts in the temple and those ordinary people.
"Hahahaha, what kind of happy event has Brother Shouguan encountered today, and he is actually in the mood to help these coolies?"
A carriage came running on the road behind. A middle-aged man said The scholar opened the curtain and said with a smile, "Senior Fuxing, it's been a long time since we last met, and this one, who is he?"
Su Hanshan turned around and chuckled: "I am Taoist Master Fuxing's distant relative. Relatives.”
Taoist priest Shouguan introduced: "This is the enlightened Taoist priest of Huatuo Temple. At the Buddhist and Taoist Conference in Songjiang Prefecture last year, his family's business did the best, and he was commended by the prefect for his talents."
< br>"Oh."
Su Hanshan took a good look at this young Taoist priest.
The people from Huatuo Temple got a commendation for selling cigarettes. They really learned quickly from their Western counterparts.
A few years ago, Westerners seemed to still claim that smoke was a gift from God to mankind. Without smoke, medicine would be lame.
It was also those half-witches and half-doctors in the West who abused cigarettes. Anyone with a sprained foot or sprained wrist would just smoke a pipe of cigarettes as long as they had money. That's why Western businessmen discovered the "business opportunities" so quickly. ".
“It’s all thanks to the praise of my comrades, the prefect is wise.”
Kai Ming Taoist priest clasped his fists and said with a smile, “The prefect is counting on the performance of each temple to double that of the previous year. How many percent, not how many goods were sold, if we just count The amount of goods, I may not be able to fit in."
"Come on, my carriage is quite spacious. If you don't mind, why not ride with me?"
Fuxing and Shouquan both looked at Su Hanshan and saw him nodding before thanking him and getting in the car.
When the enlightened Taoist priest saw this scene, he became concerned.
This carriage is really spacious, and even after three more people get in, it doesn’t feel crowded.
A few Taoist priests chatted for a while, while Su Hanshan just opened the curtains and looked at the scenery outside.
“I have a few disciples in my family who love to gossip. I heard from some women in the dental shop that Brother Shouquan led people to buy back all the wives, children, and children that the smokers had recently sold. ?”
Kai Ming Taoist priest Xu said, "Some of them have been educated for half a year. They can be sold to wealthy families and become decent maids. You have to buy them back at the original price. Those women did not dare to say it at the time, but there were a lot of rumors afterwards."< br>
"It is said that Dongyue Temple took advantage of them. When they are well-educated and bought back, they will start this business, which makes those women complain very much."
Taoist Shouguan and Taoist Fuxing Looking at each other, they could only put on a hehe smile.
Those who can complain are considered to be lucky. Those who have no teeth to post serious posts are in a den of teeth, but even the leader's head is gone, so they can only complain to the Lord of Hell.
Besides, if today’s big event is really accomplished, those people will not be the only ones who will complain later.
Taoist Shouguan feels uncomfortable just thinking about it.
Although he was afraid of Su Hanshan, he also had great respect for the prefect.
Su Hanshan obviously wants to take action against the magistrate. If it succeeds, he will just pay it back. If not, everyone in Dongyue Temple will really not be able to survive or die.
It would be fine if the prefect encountered something urgent today and didn't go to this meeting.
It drags on day by day. The two Taoist priests felt uneasy and could not help but speak perfunctorily.
The enlightened Taoist priest saw that they were absent-minded and thought that they really wanted to get involved in other industries and did not want to disclose it in advance, so he smiled mysteriously.
"Taoist brother Shouguan has already cultivated the middle Dantian at this age. He is very hopeful to break through to the upper Dantian in the future. The magistrate also gave him a sword and looked at him differently."
"Such a talent can only control the eastern part of the country. The property of Yuemiao is indeed a waste of talent."
Taoist Master Kaiming said, "I am. Brother Zhishouquan is unwilling to join the prefect because he is afraid of losing his freedom. After all, it is better to be his own master. "
"Recently, there is an opportunity. You and I will form a partnership and everyone will be the master. Industrial silver can also be promoted. I wonder if you are interested in this? ”
Su Hanshan asked curiously: "What opportunity?"
"Hmph."
Taoist Master Kaiming was quite proud, "This is the news I got secretly. Not long after, Songjiang Mansion I’m going to grow my own big tobacco.”
“It’s not a small one, it’s a big one. The prefect already has a plan to control seven towns first. Get up, plant for a year, and see the results. If you plant well, you can expand again next year."
"This year is crucial, and it will determine who will be at the forefront in the future, if you and I. As a partnership, you provide martial arts and I provide money, which should be enough to take over a town, suppress those weak-legged people, and make them work for us obediently..."
As he talked, he didn't see any surprise look on Taoist Shouguan's face, so he couldn't help but feel a little confused.
Why are the people in Dongyue Temple so unmoved by such a great good thing?
Fortunately at this time, Su Hanshan answered the question again.
“The opium business in Songjiang Prefecture has not been growing for a day or two. How come the prefect’s Yamen didn’t grow opium before, but now it wants to do so?”
The cultivation of opium in the mainland was not a matter of Qianlong’s reign. It has been around since the time, but even the emperors like the Manchu Qing Dynasty hated this matter deeply and explicitly prohibited it.
In recent decades of chaos and war, no one could control whether to grow cigarettes or not. But since the situation has stabilized, this ban has been put on the agenda by all parties.
Buying and smoking cigarettes all turn a blind eye, but the ban on growing cigarettes is not at the same level as the previous ones.
Not for anything else, just for food.
You can get a lot of money from growing tobacco. After all places follow the example of growing tobacco, there will be less food. Without food, how can you fight a war?
The territories of small warlords are intertwined. If your side becomes slightly weaker and lacks food and grass, there will immediately be three, five, seven or eight families nearby, waiting to annex you.
The great warlords really have the desire to unify and become emperors, and they are more eager for troops and food. They wish that grains would fall from the sky, give birth to ten children a day, dominate the world, and achieve great achievements.
Since the mainland does not allow it, what is the attitude of foreigners?
Foreigners don’t want to see this kind of thing either.
Tobacco is grown overseas, transported and sold. The profits are not only from selling cigarettes, but also from freight transportation, shipbuilding, sailors, navy, plantation slaves, etc., all aspects are business.
If you grow cigarettes on a large scale, you are competing with them for business.
Considering that Songjiang Prefecture is not considered the territory of other warlords, and the prefect's Yamen wants to grow cigarettes on a large scale here, the biggest resistance may come from the foreigners.
So, who has recently given the prefect’s Yamen enough confidence to resist the pressure from foreigners?
Su Hanshan has only been here a few days, and after understanding the situation in this world, he can think of these things.
The enlightened Taoist priest, who was born and raised and was involved in the situation, had gotten into money before. He had never thought about this, and certainly did not want to inquire about this information.
Su Hanshan asked a few more questions, and he became a little dazed.
"This..."
The enlightened Taoist priest's face changed slightly, "So, we really shouldn't get involved in this matter in a hurry. If we jump too fast now, if there is a commotion in the future, we will probably The one who was sacrificed!"
Su Hanshan comforted: "Don't panic, don't panic, Fellow Taoist, you have figured it out now. It is not too late. Come and have a cup of tea to calm down the shock."
The enlightened Taoist took the ice-jade cup, drank it in one gulp, and came to his senses: "This is it. What kind of tea is so fresh? ”
“It’s just a little dew from home brewing”
Su Hanshan took the cup and put it into his sleeve, but the moment it entered the cuff, it had already vaporized and disappeared.
He made the cup casually, and he condensed the tea directly from the moisture in the air.
Originally this was not a problem, but he also added a set of Xuanyin Sword Plague spells inside.
When this Kung Fu was first created, it required several seals. The afterimages shot out could be seen by ordinary people with the naked eye, and an obvious sword-shaped mark was temporarily formed on the forehead.
After these days of speculation, Su Hanshan has been able to use this set of spells invisibly and condense them into tea. Once others drink it, it is equivalent to being cursed.
The way of Xuan Yin and the evil way skills must be treacherous and unpredictable to achieve samadhi.
There are many people in today's large gathering. If we don't prepare some means to operate silently in advance, it will not be considered complete if some people escape.
The bumpy carriage suddenly became extraordinarily stable after going uphill for a while.
Su Hanshan opened the curtain and saw that the carriage had already driven onto a cement path that was several miles long.
The end of the path leads to a beautiful scenery of forest and green water. Rose vines are wrapped around a white pointed wooden fence. There is a garden inside the fence. To the north of the garden, several two- and three-story Western-style buildings stand side by side.
Cement was still called cement at this time, and the most popular type of housing in Songjiang Prefecture was that the brick walls were covered with cement, and the cement was covered with tiles.
There are also pillars and arches made in imitation of the British royal style, and sculptures placed in the garden, collectively called garden houses.
Songjiang Prefecture does not live there at all, and specially allocates it for these monks and Taoists to gather once a year. It is such a large garden worth tens of thousands of gold.
The carriage was parked on a large flat cement ground outside the garden. Dozens of carriages had already arrived nearby, and servants brought fodder to serve the horses.
When Su Hanshan walked through the fence gate, the first thing he saw was a pool. In the pool stood a bronze horse. It seemed to be cast after the eight horses of the King of Wu. It was deliberately patinated and had small seal script inscriptions.
In the garden of a Western-style house, there are such things with oriental classical charm. It is not obtrusive at all, but complements each other. It can be seen that it is the handiwork of a master.
On both sides of the pool, there are large grassy pavilions and corridors, as well as long tables where pastries, wine and fresh fruits are placed.
There are hundreds of people in the garden, wearing cassocks and Taoist robes, singing "Amitabha" and "Immeasurable God" with glass wine glasses in their hands, tasting cakes from time to time, drinking and drinking, walking around and chatting.
The enlightened Taoist priest is a man who has many friends. As soon as he came in, he laughed, greeted everyone, and went to get a wine glass to drink with him.
Some people also greeted Taoist Shouguan and the others.
Su Hanshan let the two of them leave, and walked alone, walking slowly along the long table, tapping the edge of the table with his index and middle fingers, and stepping forward bit by bit.
Dear masters and Taoist priests, it is really fashionable and fashionable, otherwise it would not be so convenient to cast a curse on you.
Where he walked, small bubbles rose up among the drinks on the table. They disappeared in an instant, but there were already traces of spells invisible to the naked eye.
When Su Hanshan walked around those who had taken the wine before, he also took a glass of wine, leaned against the pillar of the pavilion, and tasted it slowly.
These people talked loudly, and what they talked about could help him supplement his knowledge. However, he was even more looking forward to the arrival of the Songjiang prefect.
He was not kept waiting too long. When the grandfather clock in the building rang nine o'clock, eight carriages came one after another on the road in the distance.
A group of people got out of the car in a hurry, surrounded the magistrate, and walked into the manor.
But it is different from what Taoist priest Fuxing and others once described. In the past, the prefect took the lead and was absolutely central.
The group of people who entered the manor today, there was also a green-robed Taoist wearing a purple lotus crown and five long beards floating on his chest, walking side by side with the prefect.
Between the cloud patterns on the diagonal collar of the Taoist priest, there is another unique pattern, specially embroidered with gold thread. After careful identification, it turns out to be the word "Xiantian" written in cursive script.
(End of this chapter)