There are many Dragon Mother temples in Wuzhou. There are Dragon Mother temples on the banks of the Dongxi River in the city, on the banks of the Xun River on Changzhou Island, and on the banks of the Gui River in the north of the city. However, in terms of its long history and grand scale, the Dragon Mother Temple on the bank of the Gui River in the north of the city is undoubtedly the Dragon Mother Temple.
It was first built during the Xianping period of the Northern Song Dynasty - so He Dongli led him to the north of the city.
Wuzhou's economy relies on water transportation. The markets outside the city have always been prosperous and there are many docks along the river. The north of the city is the later famous "Guibei Wharf". Originally, there were many shops and businesses here, and there were many porters who relied on the water.
Boatmen, arranging workers... But now there is only a ruin. The fortifications built by the Ming army outside the north gate are being dismantled, and there are also labor teams in twos and threes cleaning up the ruins.
The Dragon Mother Temple is located in the east of Guijiang River, opposite the famous Guibei Pier. It is not far from Dayunmen in the north. Opposite is the famous Guibei Pier. The temple building is complete and has not been damaged -
The Ming army abandoned this area directly outside the city, so it was not affected by the flames of war.
According to the standards of the old time and space, the Dragon Mother Temple is not very big, but in the 17th century, it was already "magnificent". The temple faces north and south, surrounded by mountains and rivers.
During the temple celebration in the temple, the Taoist heard that the "Prefect of the Song Dynasty" was coming to offer incense and hurried to the door to greet him. Because the neighborhood had long heard that the "Australian Prefect" was coming to the Dragon Mother Temple to offer incense, many people gathered at the gate of the temple.
Idle people were watching the excitement. The yamen servants of Cangwu County were shouting to maintain order.
Xie Erren walked up the stairs, surrounded by cheers from the front and back, and entered from the mountain gate until he reached the front hall.
Although the Dragon Mother Temple has not been looted by the war, it has housed many refugees from the disaster outside the city. At this moment, the strong men have formed teams to go out to work, and the old, weak, women and children gathered under the eaves on both sides. There are government officials guarding them and not lighting fires. Xie Erren
Before coming, the government officials had informed them, and the government officials in the temple rushed the refugees to squat on both sides, and were not allowed to talk to each other. However, the ground was not cleaned up, and broken bowls were thrown all over the floor.
When Xie Erren entered the temple and saw the refugees in the corridor, he couldn't help but be startled: I didn't expect there were many here! Judging from their clothes, some of the refugees should be from well-off families or even wealthy, but now they are reduced to squatting under the temple corridor and leaning on each other.
Giving porridge to survive. There are also children and old people who have been frightened by the cold and are now lying on the ground with illness. There is no medicine or bed, and they are lying under the eaves of the corridor beside the wall, moaning and crying. He unconsciously sighed secretly: No wonder people say they would rather live in peace.
Dog, if you are not a man of troubled times, Wuzhou only fought for a few days, and the people were so tortured!
However, he could not find any way to improve the living conditions of the refugees. At present, he could only temporarily ensure food supply.
The front hall is not large in scale, and there are four seal characters inscribed on the plaque. Xie Erren did not recognize it, but He Dongli explained that these were the four characters "Benefit the World".
There is a statue of the Mother of Dragons in the main hall, and there are five little dragons coiled under the altar. The temple Zhu had already prepared fragrant wax, and Xie Erren took it - he originally planned to just make a show of it, but the people's livelihood was miserable along the way.
Let him involuntarily burn incense and pray, praying that this "Xijiang Water God" can protect Wuzhou's safety.
The belief in the Mother of Dragons is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in Wuzhou and other Xijiang River Basin. Although scholars like He Dongli mostly have an "ignorance" or "Shinto teachings" attitude toward gods, folk beliefs will also affect them to some extent. Seeing this self-made
The "prefect of the Song Dynasty" who came from overseas was so devout to the Dragon Mother that not only He Dongli, but also the people watching inside and outside the temple also had a good impression of him.
After offering incense, Xie Erren walked around the temple again under the leadership of Miao Zhu and He Dongli. The Dragon Mother Temple here is quite large. Starting from the mountain gate, there are front halls, back halls, left and right corridors, and corners.
Pavilion... According to He Dongli, this temple was first built in the Northern Song Dynasty and rebuilt in the Wanli Year. It is the largest and most popular among the local Dragon Mother temples.
"On the first day of May every year, it is the Dragon Mother's birthday, which is the most lively," He Dongli said, "ships sailing on the river, when encountering the Dragon Mother's birthday, will sail within three miles of the Dragon Mother Temple, regardless of day or night.
, then we should blow the whistle and gong, go to the temple to pay our respects, sail to the river in front of the temple, stop the boat and go ashore to the temple to pay our respects, offer incense and candles."
He said that the worship of the Dragon Mother starts from the first day of May and ends on May 15th. It reaches its climax in the two days and nights of the seventh and eighth day of May and the day and night of the ninth day of May. There are three days and two nights in total. Not only merchants and vendors gather, but also all kinds of people.
Entertainment troupes from all over the place come here to perform, and people from local and nearby villages and towns also come here to perform performances and competitions, which is very lively.
Xie Erren immediately thought that this was a great opportunity to "set up a stage for sacrifices and economic performances". At the very least, it could promote economic exchanges between urban and rural areas. However, thinking about the current riots in Bapaiyao and the uneasy path, merchants and common people probably would not be so
Good mood.
The foundation for a good economy is to have a peaceful environment. Xie Erren suddenly had a profound understanding of this sentence.
While sighing, the guard leading the escort said in a low voice: "Chief, there are many people gathered outside, and there are only a few government officials to suppress them, so it is difficult to ensure safety - let's go out through the small door next to it."
Xie Erren disagreed, "We have no grievances with the people of Wuzhou, so what security issues can there be? This is also an opportunity to connect with the masses. We don't want to be a military force."
After coming out of the Dragon Mother Temple, I saw a lot of people gathered outside to watch the fun. Xie Erren smiled and waved to the people on the stone steps to show that he was "close to the people." When the people saw that he had no official pretensions, they all wanted to treat him well.
Seeing what this "Australian prefect" looked like, they rushed forward one after another. The government officials who were maintaining order were caught off guard and suddenly became overwhelmed. The guard guard urged Xie Erren to leave quickly.
Xie Erren was not in a hurry. He enjoyed the feeling of "having fun with the people". He walked slowly down the stairs with square steps, waving greetings all the way. As he reached the last level, suddenly a crowd crowded in.
A woman came out and shouted:
"Thieves! Die!"
While he was shouting, a bright knife appeared in his hand, and it was heading towards Xie Erren.
This sudden drink made Xie Erren stunned. With quick eyesight and quick hands, the guard pushed him hard and knocked him to the ground. He spread out his limbs and covered him with his body.
Pushing and pressing, Xie Erren's eyes were filled with stars and he almost couldn't breathe.
The guarding soldiers were carrying rifles on their backs and had no time to react in a hurry. The government servant on the side was still agile. He swung the long whip in his hand and hit the woman's calf. He rolled her down to the ground with a smooth roll.
The government officials on the side swarmed up and held the woman down. Someone grabbed her wrist and took the sharp knife from her hand.
The soldiers quickly formed a circle and surrounded Xie Erren. Xie Erren got up from the ground and broke out in a cold sweat. He was speechless for a long time. He saw that the woman fell less than two or three meters away from him.
Mi Yuan, if it weren't for the quick response of the guards and the quick actions of the government officials, he would have been doomed at this moment: even if he survived on the spot, his stomach was stabbed in a place far away from the Senate and there were no senators, and the chance of survival was slim.
This was the first time that his life had been threatened at such a close range. While extremely frightened, he immediately burst out into great anger. He was so angry that he wanted to break out on the spot and hang the assassin from the street to show the "dictatorship of the Senate and the people."
"The power of ". However, it is inconvenient to get angry in public at this moment. Being pushed to the ground by the guard just now was a "disgrace". To be furious now would make it more obvious that I have no "city". So I just coughed and pretended to be calm:
"First... take... down, and slowly... interrogate..."
"yes!"
The government officials all carried ropes with them and tied up the woman in a few strokes. Only then did everyone see clearly that the assassin was a young woman, wearing a blue cloth short coat, a moon-white bra, a children's skirt, and a hairpin on the temples.
A white velvet flower - a mournful widow.
"What a handsome woman!"
"Why did this little widow want to assassinate Australians?"
"Could she be the wife of a soldier who died in the battle?"
"What a pity for a good woman! This is asking for death!"
"Looking at her strong deeds, she is truly a strange woman."
... There were whispers among the surrounding onlookers. Xie Erren originally wanted to say a few words, but the security guard urged him to leave quickly - there might be a second or third assassin hiding.
Xie Erren was feeling frustrated at this time. He originally felt that "the world is in his hands", but now he feels that "all the countries are enemies". He had no intention of expressing himself anymore, so he nodded and said: "Let's go back!"
The woman who was being escorted suddenly stopped, lowered her head and bit the yamen servant next to her. When the yamen servant let go in pain, she struggled to break away from the yamen servant beside her. She turned around and shouted: "If you want to kill or behead me, it's up to you!"
I am a man of the Ming Dynasty in life and a ghost of the Ming Dynasty in death. I will never bend my knees to serve the thieves!"
The officer was shocked and turned pale. He rushed over and pushed her to the ground again. The woman continued to curse herself:
"We are descendants of the Chinese people and have been educated for a long time. You thieves have no king and no father. They are ruined creatures. They are all thieves and armies. Why don't you bow down when you see me!
"Although you, the soldiers and horses in front of the Kun bandit palace are brave and brave, your violence is the same as that of Donglu Hun! Xiangshu still has skin, but the Kun people have no manners. If a man has no manners, what is the use of immortality!
"Kun's mother is a maidservant; Kun's father is a slave! The bones of you thieves will fall into the hands of officers and soldiers in the future, and your bones will be broken into pieces."
The sharp sound echoed on the stone steps in front of the Dragon Mother Temple. An old government servant hurried over and removed her chin, and the series of curses turned into inarticulate sounds.
Xie Erren was extremely annoyed. What was originally a good "people-friendly embroidery" was ruined by this woman. He could see from the expressions of the people around him that they sympathized with this woman to some extent - since ancient times,
The common people will always involuntarily worship those of the same kind who fight against power - and they can't help but secretly sigh in their hearts: They are really ignorant!
He calmed down and pretended to be understated and said to the people around him: "Take her back and keep an eye on her. Don't let her die."
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 343