Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 222 Destruction of the Shrine of Life

Li Shi was startled by the thunderous gunfire, and fell silent for a moment.

Lin Hai put away his pistol, blew on the muzzle of the gun, and while loading gunpowder into the barrel, he said to the old eunuch: "I will die if I fight a child. I have no intention of going back alive today. I can hold you Su." Hang Zhili’s husband is a good supporter.”

In Li Shi's heart, heaven and man were at war, and he knew that his only hope at this time was the officers and soldiers outside. But the ruthless gangster in front of him was telling the truth. If this person was cornered, he would definitely be forced to take advantage of him in the end.

"Uncle, why don't you let me go and deliver the order?" At this time, Li Shi's useless nephew spoke from the side, and this guy suddenly saw the hope of escaping.

"Huh? Are you the nephew of this dead eunuch? You can't go." Lin Hai's words made Li Yong feel like he was mourning. At this time, he had already loaded the gunpowder and was carefully tamping it down with a stick.

When it was extremely urgent, Lin Hai's hand was still very stable without a trace of tremor. He then smiled at Li Shi and said: "It will probably take a few snaps of my fingers to finish loading the bullet. Think about it quickly, is your head bigger than agarwood?" Harder? If you don’t think about it anymore, you won’t have a chance to think about it.”

The statue of Wei Zhongxian was carved from fine agarwood, and the smell of fire and salt in the air was mixed with a faint scent of wood.

Lin Hai took out the lead bullet, loaded it into the muzzle slowly, and then pushed it in with a cane, as if he was doing something very ordinary.

Li Shi looked at Lin Hai tremblingly. The man in front of him seemed like an emotionless puppet. Even when his life was hanging by a thread, he still acted like a normal person. Would someone who was so indifferent to life and death be stingy about giving him a shot?

After Xiao Xuanzi left, Lin Hai took a look at the nine-thousand-year-old ancestral hall, and then ordered: "I'll smash this broken ancestral hall. Wei Zhongxian, a dog-like person, dares to falsely claim that he is nine thousand years old?"

"And Baoyu!" Shan Laidi also shouted.

"Wait a minute, good man, we just listen to you..." When Lin Hai raised his gun again, Li Shi finally couldn't hold it anymore, and his sharp voice sounded like a wild cat that had been stepped on.

"Look, there's gold in this bird statue!" Amid the sounds of smashing, Waizui suddenly exclaimed.

As for collecting commercial taxes, most of those who praised Wei Zhongxian didn't know what commercial taxes were. They didn't know that the emperor in the Ming Dynasty who was best at collecting commercial taxes was precisely Chongzhen who defeated Wei Zhongxian.

Both of them represent the interests of the gentry and landlords, and both are a mixed bag of good and bad, good and bad. But generally speaking, the average lower limit of the Donglin Party is higher than that of the Eunuch Party. After all, cleanliness still requires face, and those who claim to be moral gentlemen still value their reputation after death.

Lin Hai really didn't have a good impression of Wei Zhongxian. This man was a total disaster to the country and the people. However, in the Internet era when street stall history was prevalent, many people praised him as one of the Ten Philosophers of the Internet Temple. This was probably something that even Jiu Qiansui himself could not have predicted.

"Is this little Xuanzi talking well?" Lin Hai still pointed the flintlock pistol at Li Shi's head, "I only want to see if the officers and soldiers on the opposite side have retreated. As long as they don't retreat, the nine-thousand-year-old wooden sculpture will end up being a fool." ”

Although Chongzhen was caring and naive and self-willed in military matters, he was indeed remarkable in some aspects. At least if he wants to be a Taiping Emperor, he will most likely be above the average of ancient emperors.

I'm afraid not many people can tell what the Civil Service Group is. Most of the Eunuch Party are originally civil servants. In fact, they are no different from the Donglin Party.

Of course, it is unfortunate that Chongzhen encountered a situation like this in the late Ming Dynasty. Maybe someone who was less tossing or less mean would be better than him.

By the time Chongzhen ascended the throne, the dozen or so warehouses in the inner transport warehouse were basically full of rats, so much so that the new emperor received a pay arrears report from the border troops on the first day he ascended the throne. Moreover, Chongzhen could not even pay out the routine rewards given to the border troops when he ascended the throne. It was not until he ransacked the homes of everyone in the Wei party that he could barely collect the money.

"Very good, go ahead. Remember, your father's life is in your hands. I risked my life just for money. You will still see your father one day in the future." Lin Hai said to the pockmarked man Xiao Xuanzi said.

As for the legendary Emperor Tianqi who was not deceived by civil servants, he spent all the tens of millions of taels saved by his grandfather in seven years, and lost Shenyang, Liaoyang and Guangning in a short period of time. . It is true that many of these tens of millions of taels were used by the angels for military purposes, but a considerable part was also squandered.

Lin Hai came over and took a look, and saw that the wooden sculpture of Wei Zhongxian, who was originally wearing a nine-curved hairpin and a red python robe, had been smashed to pieces, revealing sparkling gold and beautiful jade.

After hearing Lin Hai's order, everyone immediately started destroying everything in the temple. In fact, the reason why Lin Hai issued this order was not just because Wei Zhongxian was unhappy. Xiao Xuanzi went to order the troops to withdraw without knowing the outcome. He actually wanted to use this to relieve the tension of his men.

I don’t know how this man fell into the eyes of the weaving eunuchs in Suhang. It seems that he was adopted as his godson first, and then he developed pimples and turned into pockmarks.

These stall history enthusiasts also have a complete set of logic: Wei Zhongxian is the representative of the imperial party and suppresses the civil servant group on behalf of the emperor. Why Eunuch Wei can collect commercial taxes and is the only person who can save the financial crisis in the late Ming Dynasty is simply a joke in the world.

"That's good, that's good...this is my godson." Li Shi replied hurriedly.

Apart from anything else, only three of Donglin's generals were eventually surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, but there were many who were determined to resist the Qing Dynasty. However, there were countless national scum among the eunuchs.

"Xiao Xuanzi, go and pass the order to our family, asking the rest of the gang to go back quickly and not come near." Li Shi then said to the little eunuch, a close confidant, who was also captured alive.

"Be careful, don't smash the jade!" Lin Hai ordered quickly. He didn't expect that there was a cave in the statue, which could be regarded as an unexpected fortune.

Everyone then hurriedly took out the gold and jade. It turned out that these were the internal organs of Wei Zhongxian's statue, and they were all made of gold and jade.

What Lin Hai didn't know was that the wood sculpture itself actually cost a lot of money. The agarwood was the best quality shipped from overseas, and there were mechanisms inside the wood sculpture, so the mouth, eyes, hands, and feet could all move.

In addition, the materials used inside and outside this ancestral hall are extremely exquisite, and the two pairs of white marble lions in front of the door are worth a lot of money. Later, after the fall of Wei Zhongxian, legend has it that someone moved the pair of lions in front of the Yuewang Temple. As a result, there was a storm and thunder that night. Four hundred years later, the pair of lions are still standing in front of the park on Gushan.

Between the sixth and seventh years of the Apocalypse, in just one year, forty Wei Zhongxian shrines sprung up all over the country, each costing hundreds of thousands of taels. In the end, the money did not go to the local people, but part of it went into the pockets of local officials, and many materials from other temples were demolished.

The Yuewang Temple and Guandi Temple in West Lake are examples. The ancestral halls of Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi and other sages in Jiangxi were not spared. In Kaifeng, Henan, more than 2,000 private houses were demolished in order to build a shrine for Wei Zhongxian.

Those civil servants who have read the books of sages are really cruel! This is not surprising. At that time, there was even an imperial eunuch named Lu Wanling who petitioned Emperor Tianqi to let an illiterate Wei Zhongxian enjoy the Confucius Temple, saying that his merits were not inferior to those of Mencius... Of course Lin Hai didn't know this, he just laughed. He said: "Master Pan Du is really willing to do this! Everyone, after today's work is completed, these gold and jade will be converted into silver and will be rewarded to you. It will not be included in the silver reward agreed before."

Pan Ruzhen extorted 50,000 taels from him, but Lin Hai also gave him a favor and asked him to endorse and recruit immigrants for three months. From Lin Hai's point of view, this was considered even. He had no intention of causing trouble to him anymore, but he didn't expect Master Pan to be so polite.

"Thank you, sir!" Everyone cheered in unison after hearing this. These pieces of gold and jade can be worth thousands of taels of silver at least. Who can't live with money?

At this time, Feng Yidao outside the door suddenly shouted: "General, those officers and soldiers are retreating!"

"Very good, let's go too!" Lin Hai then ordered to leave the living temple. He looked back at the plaque in front of the door and saw the word Pude written on it. This was a gift given to this living temple by Emperor Tianqi himself. name.

Everyone returned to Qixia Ridge and then returned along the original road. The main reason why they did not go directly across the lake to Yuhuang Mountain via Sudi was because they did not want their whereabouts to be exposed.

Including Li Shi himself, there are only three prisoners in total now, and including Lin Hai and his party, there are no more than forty people. When these forty people burrowed into the mountains, they were still unable to find a trace of the gods.

The next risk is mainly after leaving the mountain. It depends on whether the rest outside can predict the actions of Lin Hai and others, and immediately set up defenses on the Qiantang River.

This is still possible. After all, you can go overseas directly from the Qiantang River. However, Mr. Yu doesn't know who Lin Hai is. It is probably difficult to imagine that he will run into the sea next.

It is impossible to fully control the surrounding mountains, and the total strength of Yuba is far from enough. It would be too late to report to higher-level officials, and then it would be too late to mobilize enough troops. Lin Hai could reach the Qiantang River in just a few hours.

However, Li Shi was obviously a laggard. His nephew and another young eunuch were forced by swords and guns, and they could still use their usual strength. However, this old eunuch really couldn't keep up. Even if he was killed, he couldn't keep up. .

Lin Hai had no choice but to order Ruan Jin to carry the old eunuch on his back. This guy didn't have any trouble at all. He could still walk as fast as he could while carrying the fat old eunuch on his back.

"Good man, good man, where are you taking our family?" The old eunuch lying on Ruan Jin's back asked Lin Haidao tremblingly after finally catching his breath.

"Stop talking nonsense, I didn't tell you not to make a sound!" Lin Hai then said to the other two prisoners, "The same goes for you two."

The two men nodded their heads like chickens pecking at rice, and kept walking. Each of them had a bright scimitar behind them, and they would be killed if they stopped.

Li Shi spoke again: "Good man, don't you want some silver? Our family has plenty of silver! Tell me, how much silver do you want?"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Lin Hai said, calling Shan Sinan to come over, "Give this old guy some color, but don't hurt him."

After Shan Sinan received the order, he reached out and took out a handful from Li Shi. Before Lin Hai saw his movements clearly, he heard the old eunuch crying for his father and mother, and big beads of sweat suddenly appeared on his white and wrinkled face.

After a few snaps of his fingers, Lin Hai then ordered: "Okay, let this guy silence his voice!"

Shan Sinan touched Li Shi twice more, and the old eunuch immediately stopped screaming, and the severe pain just now disappeared without a trace.

When it comes to killing people, Shan Sinan may not necessarily be the most powerful person in Huiyou Company. But when it comes to punishing people, others really can't keep up with this martial arts master who is famous throughout history. There are indeed many destructive tricks in traditional martial arts.

"Of course I will ask for the money, but when and how I want it, you just have to wait and hear." Lin Hai then said to Li Shi, "Don't worry, as long as you cooperate well, I won't kill you. Remember, I won't kill you." Please don’t make a sound, otherwise you will suffer a lot!”

Sure enough, the old eunuch stopped talking, and everyone walked all the way from the mountains to the south of West Lake. At dusk, they left Yuhuang Mountain through the Cixi Ridge Ancient Road, and then boarded the two small sand boats that were still waiting on the Qiantang River.

The sailors on the ship still don't know what they are doing here, and of course they don't know who the three extra people are. The three of them all looked bad, but they all remained silent as if they were mute.

The reason why Lin Hai didn't let these three people talk was because he didn't want the sailors on the sand ship to know their identities. He was still preventing his men from rebelling.

"Weigh the anchor and sail the ship to the ocean!" Lin Hai immediately ordered the ship to sail after getting on board. These two small sand boats use both sails and oars. They are very convenient for traveling on inland rivers and are not restricted by the wind direction.

After the sand boat started moving, Lin Hai was finally able to sit down and have something to eat. Everyone was already hungry and started to eat as much as they wanted.

However, there was no drink on the ship. Lin Hai was afraid of causing trouble, so he simply didn’t bring any. He also gave the three prisoners some food: "Eat your food, you are only allowed to eat, and you are not allowed to talk!"

The two sand boats traveled for half an hour without encountering any obstacles along the way. During this period, they encountered a warship patrolling the river. Lin Hailiang passed directly after showing his official seal.

Lin Hai didn't know if this was a routine river patrol, or if Commander Yu or his superiors could mobilize limited forces in a short period of time, so there was no focus on control on the Qiantang River. In short, it was easy to pass.

I didn’t encounter any substantial obstacles along the way. Of course, if there were any, Lin Hai wasn’t afraid. He holds Li Shi's life in his hands. Even if there are officers and soldiers to intercept him, it will just be a repeat of the scene in West Lake. At least in this three-acre area of ​​Zhejiang, no one dares to disobey this old eunuch.

The old eunuch didn't survive to the end in Wei Zhongxiansheng Temple, and now he had to eat again. Lin Hai didn't believe he could muster up the courage to fight to the death.

That night, two small sand boats approached Hangzhou Bay in the darkness. Early the next morning we arrived at Yangshan in the Chengsi Islands, where the old lock ship was parked.

After landing, Lin Hai asked Feng Yidao and others to take the old eunuch to a deserted place: "Now, we can talk about the money."

(End of this chapter)