Chapter 437 Heartbroken
Everything is fine, the only drawback is that there is a guy named Zhu Pingan in the crowd!
On the way to Xiyuan, Yuan Wei felt as if he accidentally swallowed a fly while eating delicacies!
But, okay, it’s time to show off his face! Let him understand his position, and stop thinking that he is self-righteous because he wrote a few pieced-together food-related poems!
Yuan Wei made up his mind that this Zhai Jiao must write another Qingci that shocked the whole audience!
Zhu Ping'an didn't have so many worries. He was just curious. He was curious about what Emperor Jiajing's woodcutting was like, how big the scale was, and how the woodcutting was held. On the way to Xiyuan, Zhu Ping'an exchanged opinions with Zhang Siwei in a low voice, and they arrived at Xiyuan unknowingly.
Xiyuan is filled with smoke at the moment. I don’t know how many incense candles there are in the Xiyuan incinerator that day. I guess I have to use the truck load to calculate them. Fortunately, the air quality in Daming is good, otherwise burning incense would increase the PM2.5 index.
The various guards and sergeants on duty in Xiyuan all wrapped a strip of apricot cloth around the blades of their weapons to express their will to heaven to do good and not to kill. The decoration inside Xiyuan is a bit like a Taoist temple. Taoist statues, incense burners, various talismans, seals, etc., if it is your first time here, you will definitely mistakenly think you have arrived at a Taoist temple.
Li Mo led Zhu Ping'an and the others to Xiyuan, handed them over to a man dressed as a middle-aged Taoist priest, and then went to Pinglu where the cabinet was on duty. Disdainful from the bottom of my heart.
Now that the Strict Party is in power, laws and disciplines are lax, and the Holy Spirit has not been in court for more than ten years since he practiced immortality and refined elixirs. There are thousands of major national events. How can they be solved by cultivating immortals? ! If cultivating immortals can really achieve enlightenment and become an immortal, then how could the previous heavenly master Shao Yuanjie, who was treated as a teacher by the Holy One, pass away? Shao Yuanjie would inevitably die, so why would the Holy One even bother? I really don’t understand why the Holy One is so smart and can keep the government in his hands even if he doesn’t go to court, but why he can’t see through such a shallow truth!
Li Mo sighed several times in his heart, shook his head and returned to the flat house where he was on duty. He closed the window and paid attention to the woodcutter and other things outside, out of sight and out of mind.
"My lords, please wait a moment. The master is discussing with the Holy One the matter of fasting and woodcutting." The middle-aged Taoist priest waved his Buddha dust and said to Zhu Pingan and others, indicating to Zhu Pingan and others to wait a moment. .
Zhu Pingan noticed that the Bagua pattern and other lines on the middle-aged Taoist priest's robe were all outlined with gold threads. It was really luxurious. Such a robe would have to cost at least several taels of gold to make. !
While the middle-aged Taoist priest was talking, Emperor Jiajing and Tao Zhongwen in the Sanqing Hall had already decided on all the details of the woodcutting ceremony. Tao Zhongwen had already stood up from the Bagua mat and saluted Emperor Jiajing.
"This will help the potter." Emperor Jiajing also stood up from the Bagua mat.
Emperor Jiajing was very polite to Tao Zhongwen, and even Yan Song would definitely be jealous if he saw this scene here. Emperor Jiajing actually called Tao Zhongwen "Master", and Emperor Jiajing only called Yan Song by the word "Master".
In addition, if Yan Song wanted to see Emperor Jiajing, he had to ask for permission. When Tao Zhongwen saw Emperor Jiajing, he could go in directly without asking for permission, and Emperor Jiajing would give him a seat every time he came in.
There is almost no other person in this dynasty who has received this level of courtesy.
While waiting outside, Zhu Ping'an also observed the layout of the altar. Oh, to be precise, it should be a "dojo". There are many Taoist priests wearing golden robes around the dojo. They held various magical instruments in their hands, such as apricot yellow flags, court slips, wishful thinking, jade albums, jade seals, swords, command flags, command arrows, command tokens, etc. These magical weapons were all glittering and golden, and they were used wherever metal was used. All made of gold!
Looking at this scene, Zhu Pingan could hardly help but want to slap some of them!
With so much gold, how much did this fasting and woodcutting ceremony cost? All the blood and sweat of the people of Ming Dynasty were used to do this? ! How nice to spend it on the common people!
And that’s not all!
The ashram is very wide, with a total of nine altars built. One of them is the main altar, and the other eight altars are smaller. The altar is a high platform built of earth and wood, used to communicate with heaven. Among them, the main altar is almost seven or eight meters high. There are also scattered incense burners, candlesticks, vases, incense slips and other offerings on it, as well as banners, talismans, seals, water, hand burners and other items. There are nearly a hundred varieties!
In addition to the altar, there are ninety-nine and eighty-one incense burners in the ashram. Each of these incense burners is half a person tall, with a one-meter-long thread that is as thick as a baby's arm inserted on it. The incense is filled with smoke, and there are also the smells of several medicinal herbs and spices. It can be seen that the price of this incense is definitely worth a lot.
What a waste!
It would be great if the money spent on fasting and woodcutting could be used to do something practical for the people! All the money was wasted like this! What a waste!
The larger the scale of the woodcutter industry, the more distressed Zhu Pingan was.
When Zhu Ping'an was heartbroken, he heard the voice of the Infinite Heavenly Lord, and then he saw an old Taoist priest with white beard and white beard in the distance, wearing an apricot-yellow Taoist robe, slowly coming towards him. All the Taoist priests in the dojo were all He saluted the old Taoist from a distance, and several middle-aged Taoist priests with higher status came to greet him, waiting for the old Taoist priest's instructions.
Although the distance was far away, Zhu Ping'an could almost see the appearance of the old Taoist. He had a sense of immortality and Taoism, almost like the appearance of the old immortal often described in books, with a fluttering white beard and a strong spirit. .
The demeanor of such a magic stick is comparable to that of the old magic stick who Zhu Pingan met on the bank of the Qinhuai River who presented Zhu Pingan with two books.
But what can be confirmed is that this Tao Tianshi is not the old Taoist Zhu Ping'an met last time on the banks of the Qinhuai River! This Tianshi Tao appears to be older and more imposing.
Hey, cultivate your way well in the mountains and recite your sutras! I, the Ming Dynasty, can’t stand your torment like this! Speaking of which, the tall buildings and mountains of the Ming Dynasty collapsed more than a hundred years later. To a certain extent, these Taoist priests in the palace also "played" a role!
Zhu Pingan looked at Tao Tianshi from a distance and curled his lips secretly!
After giving instructions, Master Tao Tianshi in the distance went to another palace, probably to share a bath and prepare for fasting and woodworking.
After returning, several Taoist priests who listened to Tao Tianshi's instructions led Zhu Ping'an and others to the altar. One Taoist priest and one Hanlin were in charge of an altar, and they went to write inscriptions on the altar. Words, plaques, couplets, etc.
Yuan Wei should be a regular visitor to Zhaiqiao, and all these Taoist priests knew him. A Taoist priest who looked like a senior brother led Yuan Wei to the largest main altar.
So, Yuan Wei, who was on the highest and largest altar, looked at Zhu Pingan, who was on the small altar not far away, and raised his eyebrows with satisfaction, showing a proud look! (End of this chapter)