First we went to Changde Prefecture in Huguang. The so-called chieftains are called Xuanwei Shisi, which are actually the Tu emperors in remote areas. The Xuanwei Shi of Yongshun Division is the Peng family. This Tusi emperor has ruled that place since the beginning of the 10th century and has gone through several dynasties.
It has been more than four hundred years now, longer than the existence of the Central Dynasty... So for the sake of safety, Zhang Ning decided to find an assistant who could deal with the chieftains in the government under the rule of the Han people.
The Ming court allowed Peng to continue to rule the Yongshun Division. One of the reasons was that the remote mountainous area was located at the junction of several provinces, and the situation was complicated and had many ethnic groups. Han officials were required to mobilize troops and spend money, and they did not necessarily have to take advantage of the local situation. It was better to let them
The Tu emperor continued to stabilize the local situation; another reason is that the Peng family of Yongshun Division surrendered allegiance at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. Not only did they pay taxes to the court, but they also sent troops to assist in national wars. During the Vietnam War, they served as consolation envoys.
The eldest son led more than 2,000 troops to follow the Ming army to fight in the south; they also obeyed the decrees of the central court. The Ming court ordered chieftain Xuanwei to study Confucianism before inheriting the official position, so Yongshunsi built a study behind the palace.
He specializes in learning how to read and write. Such a local emperor's regime was so far away from the center of rule. Why did the central dynasty overthrow it?
So on the way west from Changde Prefecture, Zhang Ning's team had a few more people. The leader was Du Fang, the ninth-grade governor of Changde Prefecture. He was introduced by the prefect. It is said that he knew the situation of Yongshun Division very well and had been on business trips several times in the past.
. Sure enough, Du Fang talked eloquently about everything big and small along the way, as if he was a "Yongshun Tong". Zhang Ning felt that this person might be the one arranged by the Huguang Chief Envoy to monitor the Yongshun chieftains, so that the government would not be unprepared when they rebelled.
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The road became more and more rugged, and the mountains gradually got higher. Fortunately, everyone was riding Shu horses. This kind of horse is said to have come from the Sichuan Chief Envoy. It is not good to let it run on the northern plains, and it is short and lacks momentum.
; However, it is very good at walking on mountain roads. Even on the narrow paths in the mountains, it can walk very leisurely. It can bear heavy loads well and can endure hardships. It can do heavy work for a while without feeding refined food.
The autumn sun is painless and warm, but this kind of sun is more likely to tan people. People don't often seek shade if they don't feel the heat. So Xu Wenjun still dressed like an Arab woman.
Du Fang stood in front of Zhang Ning, looking back from time to time as he walked, speaking eloquently, "I heard about the anti-evil sect the year before last. It moved from Chongqing Prefecture, and its main altar is in Wushan. These people do nothing but deceive the public with their lies.
They have done nothing bad, and their activities are secretive. They often gather in high mountains and dense forests. It is very difficult for the government to send troops to exterminate them, and they may run away if they hear the news. In addition, there was a plague in the eastern part of Yongshun Division last year.
People provide disaster relief and rescue people, so the government has never paid much attention to them."
"Disaster relief? What do these people rely on to survive? I mean food and funds." Zhang Ning asked. He probably worked as an accountant in his previous life and was instinctively concerned about economic balance and expenditure issues.
Du Fang thought for a while: "It should be to use lies to confuse people! When we get there, we can confirm it by asking a believer who believes in that thing."
Zhang Ning said: "You mean cheating?"
Du Fang turned around and said: "That's exactly what it is, first to confuse people, and then sell talisman water and incense ash. There is a local place called Heifengya, where there are many ancient hanging coffins. The people of the anti-evil sect spread rumors that the ancient ghost king came out of the ground.
It specializes in sucking blood to harm people, and then letting people donate their family property to join the religion to ward off evil spirits."
At this time, the cripple Yan Ruofei calmly interjected: "This method has been used in Wushan County, but it is slightly different. The believers also spread rumors that mountain ghosts are haunted, and two abandoned temples were rumored to be haunted houses.
If a good person goes in during the day to hunt for strange things, he will die inexplicably, so the rumors become more and more mysterious. At this time, they claim to be the descendants of the 'Emperor of Heaven', who can exorcise ghosts and evil spirits. The leader of the cult is the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven, the reincarnation of a goddess, and deceives people
People donated money to join the religion. Later, Yan conducted a secret investigation and discovered the poisonous incense ash. They secretly placed that kind of incense ash in abandoned temples. The toxicity is very slow, but once there is too much, people will smell it when they get close.
He will die every day."
"Wushan County, Goddess, it sounds quite reasonable." Zhang Ning said with a smile, "Song Yu's "Preface to Gaotang Ode" says: In the past, the late king tried to visit Gaotang, and he took a nap during the day and dreamed of a woman.
He said: "I am the daughter of Wushan Mountain. I am a guest of Gaotang. I heard that you traveled to Gaotang and I would like to recommend you a pillow mat." The king was lucky and left and said goodbye, saying: "I am in the sun of Wushan, blocked by high hills. It is morning clouds and dusk."
"Weixingyu. Morning and evening, under the balcony.'... Could you be saying that he is their leader?"
Du Fang said: "Most of them are just self-made rumors to confuse the public."
Zhang Ning stopped joking and asked what he was concerned about: "People can stay away from me, but what do they do?"
Du Fang replied: "Some situations do often occur in the eastern part of Yongshun Division. From time to time, people bleed from all the orifices and die suddenly. At first, the government thought it was due to miasma. Later, they ordered the Xuanwei Envoy of Yongshun Division to investigate and report, and sent medical officers to assist. It was discovered that
In fact, there is a kind of tiny blood-sucking insect in the woods. Once it burrows into a person's body through the mouth and nose, it may bleed to death. The anti-evil cult members spread rumors that the ghost king of Heifengya was born, and then spread a kind of "evil-proof incense".
He gave the cult members something to ward off evil spirits. Unexpectedly, the thing was very effective, so the people all believed in it. In addition, the Yongshun Division was ineffective in governing, and the people in the mountain villages believed in the mysterious things the most, which led to the spread of the anti-evil cult.
Another thing is that there was an outbreak of plague in Yongshun County last summer, and the local officials also failed to treat it. The anti-evil cult took the opportunity to buy people's hearts through their followers, organized the people to isolate the sick, clean the water sources, and boil medicine for treatment, which was effective.
, so the anti-evil sect became famous for a while and was protected by the local people. It is rumored that someone in the Peng family has also joined the sect."
Wu Yong behind Zhang Ning said: "Whether it's miasma or blood-sucking insects, should we also ask for some incense ash..."
Yan Ruofei immediately said coldly: "It's poisonous. Do you believe that stuff?"
Wu Yong understood and kept silent. Fortunately, Du Fang said at this time: "I was prepared and brought medicinal materials. It is not just the ashes that can cure it."
Zhang Ning pondered for a moment and said: "Governor Du has said that there are officials in the department who have joined the religion? Then if we go to check out the evil church, no one will disrupt the business? I think so, first try to find a commoner who has joined the religion to understand the situation, and then spread the word.
Take a look at Heifengya and see if there are any clues."
Zhang Ning's errand this time was mainly to find out what the "incense ash" Hu Ying mentioned was, whether it was poisonous, and more deeply, whether there was any connection between the anti-evil sect and Jianwen Yichen... and then to prove the doubts about Taizong's death.
As for other things, such as destroying evil cults, correcting rumors, maintaining rule, etc., it is none of his business, and he can't control that much.
I walked on the road for several days before covering a hundred or two hundred miles. The road was really not very easy to walk. Although it was a post road, it was mostly rugged paths in the mountains and plank roads. But I finally arrived at the boundary of Yongshun Division. There was no way to get there from the main road checkpoint.
In case of any trouble, the official seal is very useful, but for the sake of confidentiality, only Du Fang's seal was used.
After walking for another day, one of his followers happened to be unaccustomed and had vomiting and diarrhea. Zhang Ning asked people to find the members of the anti-evil sect, claiming that one of his followers had been cursed by the "Ghost King" and wanted to donate money to save people.
Sure enough, after being introduced by religious Miao people, Zhang Ning and others found a house made of wood and bamboo on a nearby mountain. A man wearing long clothes made of Tujia cloth came out to greet them, with a wide bamboo hat on his head.
The kind-hearted Miao people who had benefited came forward and said: "These people are going to Yongshun Division for business. On the way, they were bewitched by the Ghost King. I will let them come to pray for incense."
The believer looked at Zhang Ning and the others. They must be travelers carrying their luggage. There was no point in persuading them to join the religion, so he said, "You go to the temple to worship the Emperor of Heaven and offer some sincerity to the Emperor. We will teach you
Everyone will consecrate it and give it sacred incense to help people in distress."
"Go in and say goodbye." Yan Ruofei said confidently, probably because he was confident in his own skills and was not afraid of these people at all.
Zhang Ning nodded: "When you are away from home, you should pay homage to the temple whenever you see it."
The hat-wearing believer's shoulders twitched. Although he didn't make a sound, he could tell that he was amused by Zhang Ning's words.
A group of people walked into the village and saw a tall clay statue standing in the middle, wearing a Pluto-like hat on its head, which was a picture of a dead man doing something. It looked very domineering. The so-called temple didn't even have a tile to cover its head.
No.
At this time, another man and a woman came out. They were dressed in ordinary clothes, but you could tell their gender by looking at their body shape and walking posture. Each of them held a small bottle with a slim waist in their hands, and knelt down behind the believer just now in front of the statue. The believer in front of him
Then he sang eloquently: "The emperor, the queen of heaven, the earth, with a rope in his hand, controls all directions..."
Zhang Ning came to his senses after listening to his lyrics. It turned out that the Emperor of Heaven was referring to the Yellow Emperor. He knelt down and kowtowed several times to the clay statue without any pressure. Although the clay statue was not very well made, since it represented the Yellow Emperor
, we are all descendants of Yan and Huang, there is nothing wrong with kowtow to our ancestors.
After a simple ceremony, the believer came over with two vials. Zhang Ning quickly took out a silver coin from his pocket and handed it over, saying: "May the spirit of the Yellow Emperor bless all the people in the world."
The believer nodded and gave the vial to Zhang Ning: "Always open the cork and smell the evil-repelling incense inside. One bottle a day. If you leave it open for too long, it will lose its spirituality. If you change it, it will exorcise evil spirits in two days."
He held a lot of silver in his hand, and couldn't help but said, "Let me see the evil person, and it will be better to drink a bottle of divine water."
It seems that this believer is not bad-hearted, and he is still very enthusiastic after taking the money.
Zhang Ning asked someone to bring the acclimatized and sick man in on horseback. The believer opened his eyelids, looked at him, and touched his forehead and wrist. He turned around and went into the house for a while to get a bottle of "sacred water."
come out.
After going down the mountain, no one paid attention to the incense ashes at first. Then Governor Fang took a handkerchief and poured some "sacred water" out to soak it in. He saw that it was a dark liquid with a medicinal smell. Governor Fang looked at it for a while and then
After sniffing it, he turned around and said with a smile: "This is the medicine you boiled. Maybe it can really cure acclimatization."
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