A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 120
July fifteenth.

Huaiyu got up early, today is a special day.

The traditional autumn festival day for the people of the Han family is also the day when the Taoist land official Zhongyuan forgives sins, and it is also the day when the Buddhist Yu Lan Basin Festival saves the dead.

When Yanjing Town was prosperous, it was inclusive. There were not only Yanshengong Temple, but also Taoist temples and temples. Every July and a half, some people went to Taoist temples to worship, fast and pray, and some went to temples to worship Buddha, Yulan Basin, and others. Worship ancestors at home and be cautious about chasing after the end.

Some sent lanterns by the river and burned paper on the roadside to save the dead.

On this day, the three religions are integrated into one.

After the establishment of Li Tang, Li Yuan issued an edict in the eighth year of Wude, "Laojiao and Confucianism are very important in this land. After Buddhism, it is advisable to respect guest etiquette. Now you can be old first, then Confucianism, and finally Shizong." The old Li's family Pursuing Laozi as the ancestor naturally put Taoism at the top, so on the half day of July, the Ghost Festival became the official name of the festival.

The Turkic and Qiang people plundered, and Yanjingzhai was destroyed by war. Whether it was a Taoist temple, a temple, a Confucian temple, a salt temple, or even the Chenghuang Temple and the Hebo Temple in Zhanghe River, they were all destroyed.

Today is the day when the Salt Temple is rebuilt and the Salt God returns.

"Erlang, it's so lively today. There are already tens of thousands of people under the Yanshan Mountain behind Baojing." Xu Erling rushed over and said that the scene was no less than the annual social fire scene in Sanyuan.

"I'm all looking forward to the return of the God of Salt, and the return of Bittern." Hou San said with a smile, "Er Leng has lost weight recently. Although you are young, you have to be careful."

The second fool picked up a daughter-in-law on the way back, and now the woman's family also came to Yanjing Town, and they settled on the bank of Zhanghe River, simply built a grass shed, cleaned the Yanjing village, cut firewood, and transported nitrate every day, and could earn money A ration.

Er Leng's daughter-in-law's surname is Ke. It is said that her ancestors were Qiang people who were included in the Han Dynasty, but now basically they can't see any difference from the Han people. Their family is very grateful to Er Leng. It is said that Ke's family is very good to Er Leng.

Fan Xuanfu changed Huaiyu into a Taoist robe, put on a pure yang scarf, held a dust whisk in his hand, carried a three-foot Qingfeng Slashing Dragon Sword on his back, and hung a gourd on his waist.

"Really handsome." Fan Xuanfu couldn't help admiring.

Huaiyu stroked his beard, this attire really had a bit of otherworldliness, if he was older, with white hair and beard, it would be even more immortal.

"Let's go."

Everyone was waiting. The people in Zhang County on the other side had rushed to Yanshan Mountain early. Although the county seat was on the other side of the river, the prosperity of the salt industry in Yanjing Town was of great interest to all the people in Zhang County.

If there is no more brine from the salt well, then Zhang County will really be abolished.

After the salt well, at the foot of the salt mountain.

On a platform, the newly built Salt Temple has been erected, but it is still a bit crude, but the cleaned and planned area is much larger than the original Salt Temple.

Huaiyu came all the way, and there were people everywhere. Everyone crossed their hands and bowed to Huaiyu, who took off his armor and put on a Taoist robe and held a sword on his back, and shouted Qingyangzi.

Some kitchen households, burners, firewood customers, and salt merchants even knelt down to Huaiyu directly.

"Erlang, the sacrificial offerings are all ready."

On this special day today, everyone is very nervous, and there is not much joy in the atmosphere.

The newly built Salt Temple encloses a large area, but even the wall has not been built in time, only the mountain gate has been erected.

Even though they are hungry right now, everyone still prepares three large and small animals. Pigs, sheep and deer are the big three animals, and chickens, ducks and fish are the small three animals. Originally, the big three animals are cattle, sheep and pigs, but the cows are too precious so they are replaced by deer. In fact, among the three animals in Taoism , are deer, deer, deer.

Huaiyu is no stranger to this salt temple, and he participated in the design of it. Unlike the original small salt temple, this time the salt temple is planned to be quite large, and the Taoist, Buddhist and other gods originally supplied by Yanjingzhai Please come in.

The main hall is dedicated to the god of salt, that is, Dayu who has been worshiped since the pre-Qin period. He is not only the god of salt, but also the god of mountains, and even the god of wealth. He has the highest status in Yanjing Village.

Right now, I am sitting alone in the main hall to enjoy offerings.

The north hall is dedicated to the Taoist Emperor Xuanwu, who is both the god of the north and the god of water. People in Yanjing used to worship him, probably because of the brine and water.

The south hall is dedicated to the three Buddhist Bodhisattvas, Avalokitesvara, Samantabhadra and Manjusri.

All the gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of Yanjingzhai were invited together to accompany Grandpa Yanshen, so that he would miss the mother-in-law of Yanguanzhai in Chengzhou all the time, and often went to Chengzhou to make the salt well dry.

Take a tour.

The statues of gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are all made of clay, and they were painted by Huaiyu himself. It was he who made the final check, so that although each of these gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is a grass-born clay sculpture, they are all majestic.

"Erlang, the auspicious time has come."

65 local salt tycoons led a group of scattered kitchen households to invite Huaiyu to start the ceremony.

An altar has been set up in front of the main hall, and three offerings are placed, waiting for Huaiyu to draw amulets and cast spells.

Huaiyu is not stage-frightened at this kind of ritual like dancing a great god. Although she knows it is pretending to be a ghost, but for the current Yanjing village, it is still necessary to go through such a ceremony to get back on track.

It is very necessary for him, Wu Huaiyu, to guard the Yanjing village in the future, and even get a share of the salt and nitrate.

Straightening the pure yang scarf, tidying up the Taoist robe, Huaiyu flicked the whisk, and walked onto the altar.

He began to draw talismans on it, drawing talismans on the spot, and chanting words and mantras while drawing.

The lower floor has already been surrounded by the inner three floors and the outer three floors, and there are still many people crowded around the periphery and can only listen to the people in front of the story.

It's more lively than a concert.

Huaiyu is the absolute protagonist. Although he does not have the spotlight, his performance is impeccable, without stage fright, with professional movements and natural expressions.

After drawing the specially made cinnabar talisman, Huaiyu chanted a mantra, and then it actually burned on the tip of his sword. This scene aroused the amazement of the onlookers.

Huaiyu even deliberately showed off his skills, with a flick of his hand, the prepared props in his sleeves flew out, and then there was a bang, and smoke rose in all directions.

The smoke made Huaiyu faintly visible, and he was even more mysterious as he danced the sword and flew the talisman in the fog.

In the last few bangs of explosions, Huaiyu ended the ceremony.

When everyone was waiting quietly for the smoke to dissipate, Huaiyu shouted, "If within three days, Mitsui brine blows out, it's all the spirit of the God of Salt, and it's lucky for everyone. Repay all the courtesy, God will listen to it!

Hurry up as a law! "

Taoist incantations often end with haste like a law, and the common people are no strangers to it. They know whether it means that the gods have been notified, or that it is extremely urgent.

Everyone quietly waited for Wu Huaiyu's next statement.

Huaiyu closed her eyes and meditated.

It took a long time to open his eyes, as if he was very tired.

He glanced across the crowd, facing everyone's expectant eyes, "I have sent a flying amulet to ask the God of Salt to return to his place, please wait for a while."

After speaking, he continued to meditate with his eyes closed.

After a while, Huaiyu got up, picked up a piece of talisman paper and placed it on the altar.

After a while, the scarlet runes slowly appeared on the talisman paper that was originally empty.

"The God of Salt has responded and is about to return."

As soon as Huai Yu finished speaking, the paper talisman floated up with the wind, and then ignited in the air, turning into ashes.

With this move, countless onlookers immediately knelt down and shouted the God of Salt.

Huaiyu looked at this scene with satisfaction, pretending to be a martial arts ghost is not easy. These seemingly miraculous things are actually tricks, but it is not easy to do.

"Everyone, before the return of the God of Salt, he gave us a task to dredge the wells, re-dred the salt wells, strengthen the wells, pump up all the well water polluted by the Turkic and Qiang people, clean the wells again, and then The brine will be restored."

The crowd cheered.

Having witnessed those miracles with their own eyes, they now completely believe in Huaiyu's words. At this time, Huaiyu is not a town general or a court official, he is the messenger of the God of Salt.

The 65 salt-making tycoons rushed to Mitsui excitedly with hundreds of households with small stoves.

Buckets of well water were brought up, but it was still extremely weak.

Everyone is full of energy to draw water and take turns to relay.

A spoonful of well water was poured into the sand, and finally, there was a change.

An old burner took a sip directly, the well water was already very salty and bitter, but he wept happily, kneeling on the ground and cheering to the crowd.

"The God of Salt has returned, and the bittern has flowed out again."

"Yanjing village is alive."

A group of old burners squeezed up and drank directly from the newly drilled well water.

"Oh, that's the smell!"

"Brine, it's brine."

"typical."

Experienced old burners can even taste the saltiness of the brine directly with their mouths, "One pot can definitely produce fifteen catties of salt, it's so brine!"

"Open the fire, boil the brine, and make salt!"

The saltsmiths cheered excitedly and let go of their voices.

In the newly built stove near the upper well house, only the official salt square stove with no walls on the roof immediately started to light the fire, and the salt workers poured the brine they had picked up into a big bucket, a big bucket of three hundred catties of brine , the two guys lifted it up with a yell, and happily went to the kitchen.

A group of people surrounded them and followed their footsteps, as excited as if they were drunk.

The brine is poured into the cauldron of the roasting house, and the salt is boiled.

Huaiyu also followed the onlookers. First, he removed the impurities, scooped out the thenardite, and then continued to heat it. After six hours, it would crystallize and obtain a pot of salt.

Fifty catties of water for six hours can finally produce fifteen catties of salt.

The excited salt official introduced to Huaiyu the traditional method of making salt here. Because the brine concentration in the upper well is high, they are all boiled directly, and the Yanguanzhai in Chengzhou, where the salt god mother-in-law is located, has a low concentration of brine. They need more and better processes to make salt.

The prepared brine should be poured on the sand first, then put the sand into baskets, and continue to pour the brine. In this way, the concentration of the brine can be increased, and then boiled, which can save firewood, time, and increase the rate of salt production.

But when they go to the well for salt, [-] catties of water can directly boil [-] catties of salt, and there is no need for so much trouble.

"Our Zhangxian salt is exported to Bashu, Longyou, Hexiguan and other places through nine salt roads. The salt is good and the price is good."

According to the salt officials, there are generally two kinds of salt produced here. One kind is boiled and contains more water, such as silver ingot-shaped block salt, which is usually ten catties a lump, and people in Yanjing Village call it Jieyan.

"Jie salt is generally exported, but what we sell locally is boiled salt, which is also called loose salt and soft salt."

"If the salt merchants are far away, such as Bashu, they will generally ask us to dry the condensed salt, which has less moisture, is harder and is easier to transport over long distances. This is called crispy rice salt."

When the first pot of salt was finally boiled out after more than six hours, all the Yan family, stove owners, and burners cheered excitedly, and the old burners even commented how good the pot of salt was.

But Huaiyu looked at the salt lumps that were scooped up like rice crackers. It didn't match the snow-white salt in his impression. A large piece of hard salt could be used as a weapon. The salt grains were uneven in size, dark yellow in color, and even It also contains a lot of black impurities.

Put some in your mouth and taste it, it is salty and bitter.

"Is this the best salt?"

"The salt was filtered and salvaged, boiled carefully for three hours, and the water was specially dried. This is high-grade salt, and it is a skill of experienced burners. Ordinary workers can't make it out of it." The salt official was proud. the way.

Huaiyu was disappointed!
(End of this chapter)