Chapter 468: Pretending to be stupid and stupefying Xu Dayong
Liu Zhixie, a native of Taihe, Anhui Province, was born in the fifth year of Qianlong's reign (1740). He was proficient in writing and could recite poems. He was engaged in cotton trading and cloth business. He wandered around all year round and made many friends in various places.
This person was like a ghost in the history of the White Lotus Sect in the Qing Dynasty. He never came to the forefront and only controlled secretly behind the scenes. In history, many leaders of the Sichuan-Shaanxi White Lotus Rebellion were his disciples, and many people in the sect just listened.
Liu Zhixie is famous, but few people have met him.
His master was Liu Song from Henan, Liu Song’s master was Wang Huaiyu, and Wang Huaiyu’s master was Fan Mingde, the founder of the Hunyuan Sect. In the 40th year of Qianlong’s reign, the Hunyuan Sect’s missionary activities in Henan were investigated by the Qing government.
Immediately they sent troops to arrest him. Chief Fan Mingde was imprisoned, seven people were beheaded, more than eighty people were exiled, and his wife and children were sentenced to slavery in the families of heroes.
The government found scriptures such as "Hunyuan Enlightenment" and "Da Da Wen Dao" from Fan Mingde's home. Among them were words such as "Change the universe, change the world, the end of the rebellion", as well as "Bomi Tian" and "Bomi Chu".
Waiting for the Lingwen. Fan Mingde confessed that it was passed down by a man named Yang Ji, which shows that this Hunyuan sect also has an origin. However, Yang Ji died early and the above origin has not been verified.
This arrest was a serious blow to the Hunyuan Sect. Liu Song and his son were sent to Longde, Gansu Province to serve in the army. However, his disciple Liu Zhixie was not taken seriously by the government and escaped safely.
Liu Zhixie secretly went to Gansu to visit his master six times, while Liu Song was unwilling to fail and planned to make a comeback.
In the fifty-third year of Qianlong's reign, after several secret discussions, the master and the disciples considered that few people believed in the "Hunyuan Sect" and had to establish a new name, so they changed the "Hunyuan Sect" to the "Sanyang Sect", and then
The "Hunyuan Diaohua" was changed to the "Sanyang Liao Dao Jing", and the "lingwen" was renamed the "koujue".
I think Zhao Xin had a whim and raised the banner of "Ming" during the first attack on Ninggu Pagoda. After more than a year, the news gradually spread into the pass. Liu Zhixie also heard about it and told Liu Song.
Then he had an idea and suggested that Liu Song find someone to pretend to be "Niu Ba" and make up the character "Zhu", pretending to be a direct descendant of the former Ming Dynasty. He also referred to Liu Song's son Liu Si as "Maitreya Buddha", and he would protect Niu Ba.
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Because it was difficult for Liu Song and his son to move around in the military distribution station in Gansu, they sent Liu Zhixie to recruit believers in various places. After Liu Zhixie returned to Anhui, he spent ten taels of silver in Bozhou to buy an eleven-year-old boy and changed his name to Wang Shuangxi.
He is a "niuba".
After the Northern Navy defeated Tsarist Russia and captured Kyaktu, the news that Zhao Xin "claimed himself King of Zhao" continued to spread back to the customs from Outer Mongolia with Shanxi businessmen. Although there were rumors among the people, because it was too far away, many
People don't care.
When Liu Zhixie heard about it, he simply made up the idea that Niu Ba was the biological brother of King Zhao. One of the two brothers was digging a lair in the Qing Dynasty outside the pass, and the other was in close contact with him inside the pass.
Liu Zhixie was full of enthusiasm for the "preaching cause" and developed a group of capable disciples in Henan and Hubei, including Song Zhiqing who was recruited in Xiangyang. Song Zhiqing was Sun Guiyuan's third disciple. He had been known as the "Shou Yuan Jiao" before.
He preached in Hubei and Henan. After this man converted to Sanyang Sect, because of his excellent agitation ability, his career prospered and his financial resources were rolling in, so Liu Zhixie promoted him to the second disciple.
Because the various sects of the White Lotus Sect have always followed the practice of concealing their missionary methods and opening altars at night to recruit disciples; and Liu Zhixie has learned from the lessons of past failures and only publicized Niu Ba's true identity among a few believers, so regardless of whether Shen Jing No one in Dan or Xuzhuang knew that Zhao Xin had a "brother."
Last year, because the Northern Navy troops came to Dagukou and were shocked by the shelling, the news spread everywhere through the mouths of the merchants who returned from Tianjin to celebrate the New Year. Although the Qing government told local governments to suppress the ban, it was impossible to prevent such rumors. Two or three A few months later, the news reached Liu Zhixie's ears, and a group of core believers were very excited.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month this year, Liu Zhixie asked his eldest disciple Liu Qirong to take people to Shandong, intending to find a ship to land in Liaodong from there, inquire about the news, and wait for an opportunity to contact Beihai Town. He had also coveted the Yuanjiao for a long time, so he asked Song Zhiqing to use various methods Search and intend to annex in the name of Niu Ba.
Leader Liu Da had no idea at this time that Beihai Town was extremely disgusted with people like them, and the usual method was to throw them into the North Senshu Coal Mine in Ezo, where they would never come out again.
In late March of the 54th year of Qianlong's reign, Liu Qirong, the chief disciple of the Sanyang Sect, led two of his men all the way north and arrived at Qingjiangpu, north of Huai'an Prefecture. According to the rumors they heard along the way, they learned that the big ship in Beihai Town He had been in Jiaodong and attacked Wendeng and Rongcheng, so he decided to go to Haizhou and take a boat to Rongcheng to have a look.
They found a flat-bottomed sand boat in Qinggangpo bound for Haeju. When they got on the boat, they saw that the cabin was almost full. The three of them found a seat and sat down. They thought it was just right. They would start as soon as the cabin was full. Boat.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the waterway from Qingjiangpu to Haizhou was the Yanhe River. After arriving at Haizhou, you could change boats and take the sea route from Dapukou. The Yanhe River, as its name suggests, is a river that transports salt and is also a tributary of the Grand Canal. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were four places in the world. Huaiyan salt, one of the major salts, actually refers to the salt produced in Haizhou area.
Liu Qirong was in such a hurry when he boarded the ship that he didn't pay much attention to the other passengers in the cabin. After the ship started, he discovered that most of the dozen passengers in the cabin were wearing bamboo hats. In the cabin It was crowded and hot, but none of these people took off their hats. Even if sweat flowed down their cheeks, they just wiped it with their sleeves.
When he took a closer look, he noticed something more wrong. Apart from the three of them, there were fifteen other passengers in the cabin. Among them, there was only one man with thick eyebrows and narrow eyes, a beard and a melon skin hat. , was taking a nap against the bulkhead. Next to him was a thin man with good features and a small hat, who looked like a footman.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As for the other thirteen people, they are all strong and healthy, and they do not look like ordinary people at first glance. Each of them has a thick cloth bag beside their legs, and they all have He put it on his lap. The contents of the bag seemed to be very heavy. When the ship's hull rocked, the people held on to it to prevent it from falling.
"Could it be a sword?" Liu Qirong was startled. He thought that he was really stupid and got on the boat without taking a good look. Thinking of this, he winked at his two men.
During the next half-day voyage, Liu Qirong noticed that except for the bearded man wearing a melon cap who would sometimes go to the stern of the ship to talk with one of the young men, the others hardly spoke much. Even when they talked, they were in whispers, as if they had something to do.
Keep it confidential.
From this, Liu Qirong concluded that these people were probably private salt dealers, and they should be going to Haizhou to set up private salt sales. So he took advantage of the time when he got up and went to the stern of the ship to stretch his body, and told his two subordinates not to mess with these people.
people.
Those who engage in illicit salt trafficking in these days are all outnumbered by their numbers, and the amount of salt they sell is at least tens of thousands of kilograms, and can reach more than hundreds of thousands of kilograms at most. If you encounter officers and soldiers inspecting them on the way, as long as there are not many officers and soldiers, then
It is to draw a knife and chop directly, killing people and silencing them; because once caught, they will be punished with a hundred sticks, ranging from three years in prison to being exiled to the nearby army.
The reason for this is that Qianlong became increasingly tired of politics in his later years, which led to officials becoming lax and corrupt. The entire society was immersed in a pathological officialdom system.
As far as the salt industry is concerned, the government's unlimited demand for salt and the extortion of salt merchants by salt officials at all levels have led to an increase in floating fees.
Judging from the changes in the wholesale price of Huai salt in Hubei and Hunan, Huai salt has risen from 6 taels, 8 cents and 2 cents of silver per citation in the seventh year of Qianlong's reign to 12 taels, 4 cents and 9 cents per citation, more than 40 cents.
It has doubled every year. (During the Qianlong period, the amount of salt consumed in the Huaihe River was 344 jins. In June, the salt consumption increased by 15 jins, in July, by 10 jins, and in August, the salt consumption increased by 5 jins.)
If you don't take into account the extra consumption, the average price of salt is three cents and six cents per kilogram. Add in freight, losses, road taxes and fees, and when it is sold in stores, it will be equivalent to more than forty yuan per kilogram in monetary terms.
On average, a strong laborer eats five kilograms of salt per year, which costs more than 200 yuan in total. The annual salary is one or two yuan, which is less than 1,200 yuan. The expenditure on salt alone accounts for one-sixth of the total.
one.
Someone said why sell private salt? Can we buy more salted fish instead of private salt?
Hey, in ancient times, the government had been on guard against this trick for a long time. They had special fish salt. In order to distinguish the salt used for pickling salted fish from the official salt, the government dyed the salt with lower purity red with olives, and then used it to make salt.
Dry.
At the same time, the government clearly stipulates that when fishermen return from fishing, they must truthfully report the number of fish caught and the amount of salt required to the government. The government will send a dedicated person to verify, and after confirming that the situation is true, a voucher will be issued to the fishermen, and the fishermen will also
You can get fishing salt only with the voucher.
When it comes to pickling salted fish, it's basically just one pound of salt and ten pounds of fish. If you want to impress the court, you should be a bit more tender.
Liu Qirong didn't know that among the people on the same boat, the guy with a beard and a melon-pipe hat did have something to do with salt. He had also salted salted fish in Beihai Town for several months.
In the afternoon, following an order from a young, slightly bearded man, those people took off their bamboo hats one after another and wiped the sweat from their heads. When Liu Qirong saw this order and prohibition, he couldn't help but be secretly frightened, and further confirmed these
People are not kind.
When it was time for dinner, when the boatman brought the food, Liu Qirong and the others immediately lost their appetite. They recruited disciples in Xiangyang City and Jingzhou, eating and drinking spicy food all day long, so happy. They had been out for more than 20 days, and they had been sleeping in the open air.
, Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, every day on the boat it’s either vegetables, tofu or fish, I’m tired of eating it already.
At this time, I heard the man wearing a melon-skin hat curse: "Why are you eating fish soup again? I almost vomited!"
The boatman saw that the man was well-dressed and spoke rudely, so he accompanied him and said carefully: "Sir, we are a small business. There are only vegetables, fish and rice on this boat and nothing else. I'm really sorry."
"I'm not talking about you. These days, every day is either green vegetables, tofu or fish soup. It tastes really boring." After the man finished speaking, he said to the boy next to him: "Take out the wine and meat from your backpack and share it with everyone."
The boy said "Hmm" crisply, then took out a big bag from under his feet, and then took out a wine gourd and several packages of meat bought in Qingjiangpu.
The man wearing a melon cap said to someone in the cabin: "Xiao Zhang, would you like to have a few sips?"
The man called "Xiao Zhang" shook his head and said: "The wine is waived and the meat is divided."
So the boy quickly handed over two large oil-paper bags for everyone to share. As the oil-paper bags were opened, the aroma of soy sauce suddenly overflowed. It turned out to be a soy sauce chicken and a package of braised pork. Liu Qirong looked at it and
The two men swallowed unconsciously.
The man in the melon-skin hat opened two more small paper bags, and he and the boy each took a piece of meat and ate it. Then he opened the wine gourd and took a sip, sighing with satisfaction. The boy was holding the rice bowl and kept talking.
I would put green vegetables and tofu into my mouth, and occasionally take a sip of fish soup.
"Aren't you tired of eating yet?"
"It would be good to eat some. Brother Xu, when I was in my hometown, I couldn't even eat green vegetables and tofu."
As soon as the words with a Shu accent came out, Liu Qirong and the others were stunned, and then they realized that the boy was actually a woman.
The man in the melon cap shook his head and smiled. He looked up and saw Liu Qirong and the three of them, and said loudly: "How about these brothers having a drink together? It's really boring to drink alone."
When Liu Qirong heard this, he was overjoyed. The wine bug had already broken out in his stomach, and he felt itchy. He quickly changed seats with others and got together with the man. After two glasses of wine, he naturally started talking more.
The man named Xu said that his name was Xu Wuyong and he was in the cotton cloth business in Chongqing. This time he planned to take his brothers to Haizhou to buy a batch of soybean oil.
Did Liu Qirong honestly say that he needed to bring weapons when buying soybean oil? I'm afraid he was still involved in the illegal salt business. Of course he couldn't say that he was from the Sanyang Cult, he just said that he was from Xiangyang, because recently the government was arresting people everywhere.
There was a bad news, so I took two fellow villagers and planned to go to Shandong to join relatives.
Not to mention that the government arrested people, but Xu Wuyong was very angry when he mentioned it. He said that in addition to arresting trackers, the Chongqing government actually arrested prisoners in the cells and beggars in the city, and drove them away in a wave.
Get on the ship and ship it out of Sichuan.
At first, Liu Qirong was careful when talking. After half a gourd of wine was finished, Liu Qirong started to talk more and chatted with Xu Wuyong quite speculatively. Xu Wuyong would occasionally curse the government while talking, saying that sooner or later someone would have to deal with it.
These guys all need to be beheaded.
During the conversation, Liu Qirong saw that these people were quite capable. More than a dozen of them looked strong and powerful, so he wanted to recruit them. Those who dare to be secretaries these days are all masters who are not afraid of officers and soldiers. He thought if he
Being able to develop these people into Sanyang believers, Master Liu Da will definitely be very satisfied.
"Brother Xu, have you ever heard of Niu Ba?"
"Niu Ba?" Xu Wuyong shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn't recognize him.
After another glass of wine, Liu Qirong felt excited and whispered: "Have you ever heard of Maitreya descending to earth?"
"Huh?" Xu Wuyong narrowed his eyes, then opened them wide, and said with a smile: "Then can you trouble Brother Liu to tell me something?"
Liu Qirong did not talk about the Sanyang Sect directly, but picked up those words in the "Hunyuan Enlightenment Sutra" that persuaded people to do good. The man named Xu couldn't help nodding in agreement.
"Let's say that the ancestor Wuji lowered his head and thought for a while. The eldest son came to the world, and the article was alive and had a name. The second son also established the world, and they all share the credit. The third son established a family and waited for a long time to test and educate his children and grandchildren. The source of Zhiyou was chaotic and high.
It is rare for me to turn to the true faith after encountering the mortal world. Since I have realized the teachings of ancient Buddhas, I will come to the mortal world with you today to protect me from finding the Yuanren of the Earth."
"I would like to ask Brother Liu, what is a Dadi Yuanren?"
"Brother, you know, when the Buddha Ran Deng was in charge of teaching in the past, he had saved 200 million yuan of people. Now when Sakyamuni Buddha is in charge of teaching, he has saved 200 million yuan of people again, and there are still 9.2 billion yuan of people who will be the ones who will teach in the future.
Those who were saved by Maitreya Buddha will all return to heaven. The Earth Yuan people are the Hunyuan Patriarch and the Inanimate Mother who are going to save the Qingyang. In addition to the 400 million Yuan people who have been saved in the Hongyang period, there are 9.2 billion Yuan people.
, so that he can escape from the suffering of the world and ascend to his empty hometown forever."
After hearing this, Xu Wuyong couldn't help but slap his thigh and exclaimed: "Oh! What a great supernatural power!"
Liu Qirong suddenly remembered something he heard in Qingjiangpu, and asked, "Brother Xu, have you ever heard of Xuzhuang in Sheyang Lake?"
Xu Wuyong shook his head and said: "My younger brother has been doing business in the south. I don't have many acquaintances here in northern Jiangsu. Brother Liu, please tell me more..."
In the next two days, Xu Wuyong took Liu Qirong to the stern of the boat and talked in a low voice. The more the two talked, the more they talked, and they seemed to be reluctant to meet each other. Xu Wuyong occasionally scolded the current emperor and the ministers of the DPRK, saying:
Liu Qirong's doubts disappeared immediately. If the other party was a soldier of the imperial court, he would never dare to scold the emperor.
On the afternoon of the third day, the ship arrived at Haizhou. When they got off the ship, Xu Wuyong said that he still wanted to listen to Liu Qirong's advice, so he invited the three of them to stay in the same inn, and all the expenses were paid by himself. When they arrived at the inn, he rented a room specifically for Liu Qirong and the others.
After that, he ordered a banquet to be delivered to the room, and invited two of Liu Qirong's companions to come and drink together.
The four of them had a feast and drank several kilograms of wine. When their eyes were dizzy and their ears were burning, Liu Qirong felt that the other party had fallen into the trap, so he took advantage of his drunkenness to reveal his identity and said that he was a member of the Sanyang Sect.
He then threatened him with words such as three disasters and calamities, which made Xu Wuyong sweat on his forehead.
After that, Xu Wuyong asked the three of them to wait, and went back to the house to get a hundred taels of silver and put it on the table. He said that he was not interested in joining a religion to cultivate immortality and escape from the sea of suffering. He just wanted to become a master when the great disaster came. This
The silver is his offering. If Mr. Liu still thinks it is not enough, he can also offer the concubine he bought in Chongqing.
Liu Qirong and the other three were overjoyed, knowing that this man was definitely a man who was not short of money. They were so proud that they couldn't hold it back for a moment, so they revealed the purpose of their trip.
Xu Wuyong blinked after hearing this, then suddenly laughed and whispered: "Come in, everyone!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the dozen men who were riding with him on the boat suddenly pushed in and surrounded Liu Qirong and the three of them. Liu Qirong was shocked, and he lost most of his drunkenness and said in a trembling voice: "Brother Xu,
You, what do you mean?"
"Mr. Liu, don't you want to meet the people from Beihai Town? Then come with me!" After Xu Wuyong finished speaking, he raised his hand, and the dozen or so men immediately pounced on him like wolves and tigers.
When Liu Qirong screamed, the three of them were tied up tightly and their mouths were gagged.
"I'll tell you the truth! As soon as you said something stupid, I knew you were not good birds! You dare to find someone to pretend to be Prince Zhao's brother, you are so fucking brave!"
Liu Qirong stared at Xu Wuyong with frightened eyes, and made a whining sound in his mouth, which meant who are you.
Xu Wuyong laughed and said: "Didn't you ask about Xuzhuang in Sheyang Lake? I am the owner of Xuzhuang, Xu Dayong!"