Northern Dynasties

Chapter 356 A crushing defeat

Li Tai was dressed in military uniform, and walked into the temple with a stern expression surrounded by his own soldiers.

All the deacons in the temple finally looked forward to his arrival, and rushed forward to complain or beg, hoping that he could uphold justice for Guangming Temple, arrest those robbers who committed crimes, and recover the losses in the temple.

Li Tai was too lazy to deal with them, so he asked in a low voice, "Where is Master Tan Jing now? Why didn't you come to see me?"

After hearing the words, the monks did not dare to neglect, and directly led Li Tai into Master Tan Jing's living room.After a night of fright and toil, the sorcerer looked very depressed now, but after learning of Li Tai's arrival, he quickly ordered the little novice to help him up, and went to see Li Tai on the couch.

"Last night, the bandits entered the temple to commit murder and plunder. Under the diligent protection of the disciples in the temple, although the old monk was spared from harm, after this misfortune, he was also in a turmoil. I didn't come out to meet him in person. Please forgive me! "

Master Tan Jing greeted Li Tai respectfully, even pitifully, the indifferent attitude before was gone.

Apart from other considerations, this matter is completely beyond his ability at the moment, and he must rely on the power of the government to see the following. Of course, this old monk has to be humble in front of Li Tai.

Li Tai frowned slightly, and said with a serious expression: "Master, please tell the story, don't hide anything. I am staying behind, and such a sensational evil happened. As far as I can trace the evil, I will give the mage and the people of the county a satisfactory answer!"

Hearing Li Tai's statement, Venerable Tan Jing felt a little more at ease in his heart, and while thinking about it, he recounted in detail all the things he had heard and seen from yesterday to now.

After listening to Li Tai, he casually asked a few places that were not clearly described, and then said: "I have dispatched people to follow the traces left by the bandits, but the bandits are very good at concealing their movements. In particular, according to what the Master said, they entered and exited the temple as if they were in a deserted place, which shows that they knew everything about the personnel and affairs in the temple. It was not an abrupt question, but just to ensure thoroughness. I can understand."

Hearing that Li Taiyan seemed to suspect that there were gangsters in the temple, Master Tan Jing couldn't help but take a deep breath. In fact, he also had such doubts in his heart, because these gangsters showed familiarity, and it was not like they were here for the first time. temple.

Although it is inevitable that believers will come and go in and out of the temple on a daily basis, some areas are the focus of defense, and outsiders are rarely allowed to come in and go out.If there is no internal response, it will be difficult for those gangsters to come in and out freely.

So he nodded quickly and said: "This is within the envoy's duty. If you can use Jun's Mingjian to clean up the evil and poison in the temple, the old monk will also be grateful!"

"So, the mage also feels that there is evil hiding in the temple?"

After hearing this, Li Tai's expression changed abruptly, and he stood up from the table, pointing at Master Tan Jing with his saber in his hand, and said angrily, "Because I trust Master Tan Jing, I entrusted important matters to you, and I entrusted more than one person to you." Pile! Since the mage can't fully grasp the situation of the people in the temple, why didn't he tell me in advance! Now that he is being harmed by this thief, the Buddhist ceremony may be difficult to continue, and there are other..."

Speaking of this, his voice paused again, ignoring Master Tan Jing whose face became extremely worried, and directly ordered: "Quickly put all the deacons and monks in the temple into prison, and each of them will be interrogated. Let one person go!"

"Follow the envoy's orders and don't disobey them."

Master Tan Jing was also flustered at this moment, worried that the monks could not control their emotions and clashed with the state army, so he hurriedly ordered, and then leaned in front of Li Tai and whispered: "Is there really any evil hidden in the temple? The old monk can't be sure. But if you are worried about the materials in front of you, please rest assured that yesterday's looting was only the treasury in the temple, and the things you stored here were not affected because of the remote location..."

"Whether it has been affected or not will only be known after inspection."

Li Tai's face was ashen, and he didn't get better because of Master Tan Jing's comfort. He held the saber in one hand and looked at Master Tan Jing and said in a deep voice: "There is still room for re-arranging for the prayer to the Buddha. But what I put here If there is a mistake in the materials, I am afraid that neither I nor the mage will have any hope for the future!"

When Master Tan Jing heard Li Tai's seriousness, he couldn't help being surprised.He didn't dare to inquire deeply about it, but seeing that Li Tai and his family were dead, it showed the seriousness of the matter, and he couldn't help secretly regretting that he shouldn't have accepted such a hot potato in the temple.

But it's useless to worry about it now, he can only hope that there will be no accidents with that batch of goods, and go to inspect it with Li Tai.

After arriving at this warehouse, seeing that there were no obvious signs of damage, Master Tan Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Tai's guards blocked him, so he stood outside and saw Li Tai walking in alone, but he didn't see him coming out for a long time, his heartstrings gradually tightened, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Bring that old monk in!"

After a while, Li Tai's shout came from the warehouse, but his tone was hoarse and exasperated.

Master Tan Jing became even more flustered when he heard the voice, and subconsciously didn't want to go in, but the soldiers outside the door turned him into the warehouse involuntarily.

After entering the warehouse, Master Tan Jing saw Li Tai standing with a knife in his hand, with many broken boxes and sacks scattered at his feet.The items loaded in it were naturally scattered all over the place, but they were not silk or gold and silver jewelry as Master Tan Jing had expected, but civil engineering, gravel, and broken hemp.

"This, this...how could this be?"

Master Tan Jing saw this scene, his calf trembled and began to twist, and he didn't dare to look at Li Tai whose face was so gloomy that he was about to drip.

After hearing this, Li Tai's expression almost changed, if he didn't, he would have seen a ghost.But the play still has to go on. Li Tai walked up to the bleak-faced old monk with his knife in hand, gesticulating with the blade on his chest, and his tone became a bit ferocious: "The thief monk deceived me, too much! Could it be that you thought My sword is not good enough to cut off your head?"

"No, no, wait a minute! Even if Shi Jun kills me, it won't help... The most important thing right now is to find out who framed me!"

Seeing Li Tai's posture, Master Tanjing panicked for a while, but still forced himself to control his emotions and said in a trembling voice.

"Who else could it be? Except for you, a man in a den of thieves, who knows that I am hoarding heavy goods here? You either really don't know, or you don't know what to do, but it's nothing, and I don't need any conclusive evidence. means to retaliate!"

While speaking, he put the blade directly on the old monk's neck, and said bitterly.

"The old monk really doesn't know... Your envoy, please calm down, please calm down. I have betrayed your entrustment, and I am indeed guilty, but please let me help you carefully investigate the hidden villains in the temple! Also, and, your envoy is responsible for all aspects of this matter." For the loss, the old monk will definitely compensate even if he drains all the savings in the temple!"

Master Tan Jing really wanted to cry, but he was ignorant of this matter until now. He didn't know what Li Tai had stored here, and he didn't know what kind of means was used to complete the replacement without a sound. Everything is beyond his cognition and control.The first priority right now is to keep Li Tai steady, otherwise if he is excited by him and throws a knife at his hand, he will be dead for no reason.

"Let's save your life first, but if the matter cannot be resolved properly, this Guangming Temple will be wiped out in this place!"

Hearing the old monk's statement, Li Taicai put away his saber and said bitterly.

Although Guangming Temple was ransacked last night, it was a surprise attack in the middle of the night when there was no defense, but it did not mean that the power in the temple was weak.

Today, all the monks with lingering fears gathered in the temple. In addition to the monks who came from the surrounding area after hearing the news, there were nearly ten thousand people gathered inside and outside the temple.

At present, the Western Expeditionary Army has not yet returned, Li Tai has mobilized all the troops in Fangcheng, but there are only nearly [-] prefectural troops.If the members of Guangming Temple insisted on resisting, Li Tai would not be able to completely block and control so many people.

But with Master Tan Jing's cooperation, it was much smoother for him to block the temple. The temple slaves and peasant households were dispatched to their respective villages in batches, and the monks in the temple were placed in different courtyards in the temple. They were also disarmed and taken into custody together.

At the same time, under the pretext of investigating traitors, Li Tai confiscated all the land and property registers in the temple. Although Guangming Temple was robbed, Li Tai's series of actions regarded Guangming Temple as a whole. Thieves are being treated.

Master Tan Jing is not a stupid person, but a series of unforeseen accidents made him lose his accurate cognition and judgment of the situation for a while. After seeing Li Tai's series of operations, he couldn't help but hide in his heart enlightened.

But now the entire temple, including his own personal freedom, has been controlled by Li Tai, and it will be too late for him to realize it. Seeing Li Tai dignifiedly flipping through the various records in the temple in front of him, Master Tan Jing immediately I couldn't help but said in a shy voice: "The old monk's ten years of living here is not in vain. He has created this huge temple regardless of his hard work. If you want to overthrow it, it will be extremely difficult, right? Make you dare to bully the sky." , Do you really think you can hide it from everyone's eyes and ears?"

After hearing this, Li Tai closed the account book first, walked up to Venerable Tan Jing, looked at the old monk and sighed: "I don't intend to overthrow this huge temple industry, the only one who wants to end is the Venerable Master.

The elders and monks of Wanfotang, Wudu'an and other temples are very willing to kill the Buddhist nature of the master in front of people.Today's mages really can't take them away in anything, except their karma.When he gained power, he was able to tolerate others, but today he can be three points calmly.

I don't want to kill all the mages, so if there are any words and deeds that are not thorough enough to cover up, I hope the mages will be considerate for me.If you lose your reputation or retire from the whole body, you will be determined by the mage himself. "

Master Tan Jing couldn't help but let out a long sigh after hearing this, and said with a desolate expression: "The wind and thunder are surging in the next moment, and the personnel and affairs are reversed within the palm of your hand. The old monk can't wait. It should be presented as a gift to the envoy, begging for forgiveness..."

"Master, don't underestimate yourself. I took your temple property here, but I treat you elsewhere."

Li Tai admired the methods and experience of this old monk, so he did not intend to put him to death, but hoped that he could continue to shine under his sect, and plan a development policy for his Liu Shifo Temple in northern Shaanxi.

(End of this chapter)