I was a god in the 18th century

Chapter 538 Chengde Mountain Resort
Ever since Xia Qingdai made a move in the capital, the street she chose has a new name - Immortal Street.

On the open space in the northeast corner of Xianren Street, there is a pagoda that rises out of thin air, a glittering brass-gilded temple next to the pagoda, and an equally glittering brass-gilded fire unicorn that attracts wealth in front of the temple. These have become new places of pilgrimage for the common people of Beijing.

Day and night, people burn incense and pray at the treasure tripod outside the temple gate. It is hard to say whether other Taoist temples and monasteries are effective, but this Infant Protection Pagoda and Golden Temple bestowed by the gods must be effective!
People of this era are keen on religious activities. It can even be said that half of the social activities of ordinary people are completed in various city god temples, land god temples, and wealth god temples.

Xia Qingdai used such a magical method to place the abandoned babies in Lilliput. Even though she did not build a wall, there was naturally a high wall in everyone's hearts to isolate all evil.

Even beggars and thieves who had not eaten for several days did not have the courage to enter the temple to steal food - even though everyone knew that the temple was filled with various sacred objects bestowed by the gods, and that the windows here had not been completely sealed.

Everything else is fine, but everyone has a deep reverence for the true God, and no one dares to blaspheme.

As long as they could burn a stick of incense from a distance, the common people would be satisfied. As for those who were aware of their sins, they did not even dare to approach, fearing that a thunderbolt would strike them and turn them into ashes.

Many volunteers who used to hang around in various temples and Taoist temples all year round have now changed their direction and headed straight for the temple, devoutly offering all their strength, willing to be commanded by the messenger Wen Renyi.

Wen Renyi, who was pretending to be a Taoist priest, also accepted everyone who came. Anyone who dared to come at this time must be a fanatical believer, and there was no reason to turn them away.

On the contrary, there were not many abandoned babies that Xia Qingdai wanted to take in at the beginning. It was probably because she was too fierce when she smashed the abandoned baby home with a medical book as thick as a brick that day. As long as the family can still hold on, they will never dare to abandon the baby at this critical moment.

Having one more mouth to feed is a minor matter, but being struck by lightning is a major matter. Everything will go wrong in the future, and you don’t know when you will meet the King of Hell. You also don’t know if you will be sent to the 18th level of hell after meeting the King of Hell.

Therefore, after the huge baby shelter was completed, there were actually only three abandoned babies picked up that morning, and all of them were baby girls.

Those free volunteers became temporary mothers for the abandoned babies.

The prototype of the pagoda that Xia Qingdai took down was the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. She made it into an exquisite brick and wood structure model. The Lilliput Kingdom was almost the same as the original Big Wild Goose Pagoda. She used it as an orphanage.

The prototype of the temple is the main building of the Temple of Heaven, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, which was made into a brass incense burner. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, also known as the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, was where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties prayed for good harvests in the first month of spring. The original version now stands in the capital and was built in the 18th year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Xia Qingdai chose it as a warehouse to store "divine objects". All the rice, flour, oil, milk powder and rice flour she put down were piled in it. Of course, after all, it was an aromatherapy stove, and it was ventilated on all sides. It still needed some modifications, such as adding some glass windows or something.

Xia Qingdai didn't care about the details, and Wen Renyi, who was appointed by her as the "divine messenger", was in charge. The latter was also happy with this task and didn't think it was troublesome at all. After all, this was also an opportunity for him to accumulate reputation.

What happened here soon spread throughout the capital. From the government to the people, legends about the gods were everywhere.

Even Emperor Qianlong, who was far away in Rehe, received an urgent report on the miracle from the officials who stayed in the capital.

Whether it is the Infant Protection Pagoda or the proportional replica of the Golden Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, it is not a trivial matter and it is certain that it will reach the ears of the gods.

Just as Qianlong was flipping through these outrageous memorials with a serious look on his face, the main members of the British delegation, accompanied by Qing officials, set out from the capital to Rehe.

The chief envoy, Macartney, the deputy envoy, Staunton, Staunton's son, who was only 13 years old but already as tall as an adult, and the deputy envoy, Owen, all naturally went to Rehe to meet the emperor. The road from the capital to the north was flat and the scenery was pleasant. Sometimes Owen felt that it was similar to the British countryside, including the similar expressions of the farmers working in the fields.

Compared to others, Owen was much more relaxed on the road. Sitting in the trailer with shock absorbers and rubber tires, he did not feel any bumps at all, and could even read books and draw pictures. When he was tired, he could take a nap on the big bed.

Owen, with his own driver, drove an off-road vehicle towing the RV, attracting countless eyes along the way.

Wang Wenxiong and Qiao Renjie, two Han officials, came up twice to use the toilet. When traveling, the most difficult thing is eating, drinking, defecating and urinating.

Anyway, Owen didn't have to deal with the toilet himself, so he had no objection to others asking for help.

After nearly a week of stopping and starting, the group finally reached a place about 12 miles away from Rehe. At this time, except for the luggage cart, all other vehicles and horses stopped, and those who needed to change into formal clothes did so, and those who needed to line up lined up.

When they arrived at the feet of the emperor, the atmosphere of the team changed instantly, and there was no longer any sense of laxity and relaxation.

Leading the way were a hundred neatly dressed Qing cavalrymen, followed by the British delegation and Chinese officials.

Owen also got out of the comfortable RV and, together with Macartney, Staunton and others, changed to a prepared British military vehicle.

It took several hours just to line up and organize the ceremonial guards, and we were busy until noon before we finally set off again.

Although the last section of the journey could not be taken in an RV with rubber tires, Owen did not feel it was too bumpy.

This was because the road they were driving on now was far from an ordinary small road. Although it was not a royal road, it was extremely smooth.

Speaking of the Imperial Road, Xia Qingdai, who was looking down at the ground from a high vantage point, was as shocked as the British.

In late September, Emperor Qianlong was about to return from the Chengde Mountain Resort, so the imperial road was being repaired and was parallel to the road the envoys took. However, except for the emperor's guard of honor, no one else was qualified to walk on it.

Along the way, you can see tens of thousands of soldiers busy on the Imperial Road, some are covering the road with loess, some are leveling the road, and some are setting up tents on the side.

Whenever Owen and his team's convoy passed a tent, a small yellow flag would be raised and a gong would be struck to signal the approach.

In Xia Qingdai's vision, she felt that the road was densely packed with soldiers, as densely packed as little ants. There might be as many as 100,000 of them.

This kind of honor is probably only enjoyed by the Chinese emperor in the world. In any case, Xia Qingdai has never seen it in Europe.

She had attended court balls in Britain and the Holy Roman Empire, and had seen the King of England and the Holy Roman Emperor in person, but none of them had such an exaggerated pomp.

Even before meeting Qianlong, everyone could already deeply feel the emperor's majesty!