Jinting Han people

The next morning, Liu Xian led dozens of his followers straight to Laojun Mountain, thirteen miles northwest of Zitong City.

Compared to the towering terrain north of Jiange, the mountains of Zitong, while still noticeably undulating, are hardly considered treacherous. Along the way, one could frequently see farmers fertilizing their fields, women reeling silk in front of their thatched huts, cowherds playing by the riverbank, and occasionally a herbalist hawking his wares along the mountain path. It appeared to be a vibrant and peaceful scene. However, as Liu Xian and his companions rode past, the residents' expressions turned wary, reminding them that Bashu was still embroiled in war.

It was a drizzly day, and everyone's clothes were soaked. Wen Yan lifted his straw hat, pointed to the houses they saw along the way, and said to Liu Xian, "Your Highness, have you noticed anything similar along the way?"

Liu Xian sensed something was amiss. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment before replying, "It seems that all these people have talismans pasted on their doors!"

"Your Highness has a keen eye!" Wenyan nodded and said with a smile, "That is the mark of a follower of the Celestial Masters sect. As long as there is a talisman posted at the door of a house, it means that the person is a follower of the Celestial Masters sect."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian was alarmed. Did this mean that everyone he had seen along the way was a follower of the Celestial Masters sect? He recalled the situation in Zitong City, where eight or nine out of ten people had talismans pasted on their doors, which he had assumed was a local custom. Did this mean that the vast majority of people in Zitong County were followers of the Celestial Masters sect? But the situation was quite different in Hanzhong and Bazhou. Why was that?

After he raised his question to Wen Yan, Wen Yan explained: "Your Highness, the sacred site of the Celestial Masters Sect is in Qingcheng Mountain. It has expanded in all directions from the center of Sichuan and Chongqing. Therefore, in terms of the influence of the Celestial Masters Sect, it is naturally more in the west and less in the east, and more in the south and less in the north."

"The Celestial Masters sect within Hanzhong had been completely eradicated once after the three generations of Celestial Masters, Zhang Lu, went north. Even if it were to redevelop, it would not be as powerful as before. However, in the seven prefectures of Zitong, Guanghan, Wenshan, Xindu, Jianwei, Hanjia, and Shu, the Celestial Masters sect had become the dominant force, and no one could control it."

Liu Xian understood that Wen Yan's reference to "one dominant force" referred to the Celestial Masters sect's authority, which had already overwhelmed the local government. This secretly alarmed him, and his feelings towards the people along the road had changed drastically. Without the harmony he once felt, even the people's actions seemed strange. His previous leisurely enjoyment of the Sichuan landscape had vanished.

After traveling for about half an hour, the group finally arrived at the foot of Lao Jun Mountain.

Laojun Mountain, though called a mountain, actually has a relatively gentle slope, more like a large hill. Its sunny side features a sloping area and three green lakes, with reeds growing along the lake shores. The slope is covered with pine forests, camphor and maple trees, and several strangely shaped white rocks, giving it a distinctly Taoist natural charm.

Liu Xian dismounted and saw a rather large building standing on the mountaintop in the distance. There seemed to be a crowd of people in front of the building, so he couldn't help but ask, "Is that the Taoist temple?"

“Yes,” Wen Yan said. “The believers around Zitong are all under the management of the local chief priest.”

"Divide and conquer? A chief priest?" Liu Xian asked curiously.

Wen Yan then explained to Liu Xian that the diocese of the Celestial Masters was called a "Zhi." A Zhi was not established casually; it required confirmation from the Celestial Master or one of the Four High Priests, the presence of at least ten thousand believers in the area, a prayer ceremony, a report to the Heavenly Emperor, and finally divine revelation before its establishment. The Zhi was managed by the Chief High Priest, who could be nominated by local believers, directly appointed by the Grand High Priest, or passed down from the previous Chief High Priest.

Wen Yan said, "The number of believers in Zitong County is not enough, so we can only set up a branch administration, which is under the jurisdiction of Gengchu Administration in Fu County. The local libationer is not a true chief libationer, but just a minor official holding the title of libationer, which is still somewhat lacking."

Hearing that a single "zhi" (治) had at least ten thousand followers, Liu Xian became very wary. Although he was relatively ignorant about the Celestial Masters sect, he did know that there were forty-four "zhi" in Sichuan. This was tantamount to saying that they had at least forty-four hundred thousand followers, and considering the many branch "zhi," the estimate couldn't be too high. It should be noted that the registered population of Zitong County was barely ten thousand; even if the entire county believed in the sect, it would be difficult to establish a single "zhi." And this situation was quite common in Sichuan.

The worst-case scenario is that there are a million followers of the Celestial Masters sect in Sichuan and Chongqing. If that happens, it means they have become integrated with Sichuan and Chongqing, and Liu Xian will be almost unable to eradicate the Celestial Masters sect. He now urgently needs to know how the Celestial Masters sect operates, how much control its doctrine has over its followers, and how much it will affect his future administration.

The group followed the mountain path uphill and discovered that the path was quite uniquely constructed. There were many polished stone steps along the way, and the camphor trees on both sides were carefully pruned, indicating that they had been maintained. A small stream flowed gently beside the path, its bottom filled with white pebbles.

Upon reaching the summit, the Taoist temple came into view in no time. Although he knew from the foot of the mountain that the temple was quite large, he only realized its extraordinary size upon closer inspection. The temple, though situated in the center of the summit, was not the only building. High walls, constructed of brick and stone, stood on either side. Behind it were two very prominent storerooms and over thirty outbuildings. These structures, scattered throughout, almost completely occupied the summit. Liu Xian estimated that in an emergency, this place could probably accommodate nearly a thousand people.

At the end of the mountain path stood a specially made gate, where a young Taoist boy, barely ten years old, stood drowsy, guarding the entrance. Hearing footsteps on the path, the boy awoke with a start, immediately rising to look. Seeing dozens of unfamiliar faces descending the mountain, each with swords at their waists, he was startled again and vanished. A moment later, he returned hastily to the gate with five followers. The leader asked, "Honored guests, we are sorry for not welcoming you properly. May we ask your identity?"

Meng Tao was about to introduce himself, but Liu Xian waved his hand to stop him and said with his hands clasped, "I am Liu Xian, Liu Huaichong. I have just entered Zitong and have heard of your esteemed family. I wish to enter your family for a visit. I hope you will take the trouble to announce my arrival."

Upon hearing that it was Liu Xian, everyone present was greatly shocked. Although they lived in the mountains and news from Sichuan was usually not very reliable, they had still heard about the rapid political changes in Liang and Yi provinces. At least they knew that the person before them was the rightful heir to the Han dynasty.

Everyone present was about to kneel down, but the leader stopped them, saying, "So it is Your Highness. How rude of us! However, there are rules at the mountain gate, and a grand ceremony of chanting sutras is currently being held. Please allow me to inform the head priest Tian first, and then I will open the gate for you."

Facing the new ruler of Zitong County, this man seemed quite composed. After exchanging glances with the other followers, he merely clasped his hands and bowed in greeting, showing none of the enthusiasm and emotion that commoners should have when first meeting the Duke of Anle. Most importantly, he didn't even open the door, leaving Liu Xian waiting at the mountain gate for quite some time, which greatly angered Liu Xian's entourage.

But Liu Xian was already used to it, and he just smiled and said, "It's alright, then I'll wait here for good news."

After the man left, Liu Xian and his group stood at the door, looking at each other with the believers inside. The remaining five people, three men and two women, looked at Liu Xian, somewhat at a loss, unsure whether to stand or sit, as if frozen in place, which amused Liu Xian.

Liu Xian looked at the youngest Daoist boy and said, "Boy, want some candy?" With that, he took out a small piece of rock candy from his sleeve. Rock candy had always been Liu Lang's favorite sweet, so Liu Xian carried some with him. This was a rare dessert that only aristocratic families could obtain, and the Daoist boy could not resist the temptation. Naturally, he nodded repeatedly, put it in his mouth, and in the blink of an eye, he was beaming with sweetness.

This meal eased the awkward atmosphere somewhat, and the other four believers also relaxed a lot.

Liu Xian then asked them, "My troops' entry into Zitong hasn't caused you any trouble, has it?"

"No, no," the four said in unison.

Liu Xian asked again, "How was last year? How was the harvest?" The oldest man among the four muttered, "Your Highness, last year was a rare peaceful year. There was no war until autumn, so it was a bumper harvest. Everyone thought that good days were coming, but then war broke out again..."

There was an unspoken implication in those words: Liu Xian's arrival had plunged Bashu back into war. Liu Xian frowned slightly, but didn't delve into it. He listened to the faint chanting coming from the mountaintop and asked, "It's so lively over there, what's going on?"

This time it was the young Taoist who answered, and he said with great pride, "Your Highness, this is a grand chanting ceremony held by our temple to accumulate merit."

"Accumulating merit?" Upon hearing this, Liu Xian immediately realized that the term could not be understood literally, and asked, "What is merit?"

The young Taoist stammered, unable to speak for a moment, so a seemingly devout female believer introduced, "Your Highness, the Celestial Master has said that the great calamity of the Jiazi year has arrived, and only those who believe in the Heavenly Lord will be able to survive. The rest of the people without a seed will perish in the calamity. And the seed of the people is merit."

Liu Xian had heard about this from Sun Xiu, and he asked, "Oh, that's good. But how can ordinary people accumulate merit and become members of a race?"

Hearing Liu Xian's encouragement, the female believer became even more interested. She happily explained, "Of course, it means listening to the teachings of the Heavenly Master, keeping the names of the twenty-four gods in mind, and then doing good deeds, being loyal to the emperor, filial to her children, faithful to her husband, chaste to her wife, respectful to her elder brother, obedient to her younger brother, and having no disloyalty. Then, you will gain the approval of the priest, be given a talisman, and have your name written on a special birth register, and then you can become a member of the clan."

"Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life, and its most important merit is to guide people into the Tao. The Celestial Master stipulates that every three people guided constitute one merit; three merits constitute one diligence, three diligences constitute one assistance, three assistances constitute one refinement, and three refinements constitute one virtue. According to the magnitude of each person's merit, their status in the Tao is also determined."

At this point, she couldn't help but ask with excitement in her eyes, "Your Highness, I heard from the priests that you are the true Lord of Peace, who will lead us people through the calamity and punish evil. Is that true?"

When asked about this, Liu Xian neither denied nor admitted it, but simply smiled and said, "This is not something I can decide, but of course I hope everyone can live a good life."

The female believer mistakenly thought that Liu Xian was showing respect for the Celestial Masters sect, and nodded again in agreement, bowing and saying, "Your Highness is so humble, Fan Tianjian will also repay you with kindness."

But Liu Xian had already gathered a lot of questions. He pondered for a while, and seeing that the other party was very relaxed, he still asked, "This year is already the year of Yi Chou, and the Jia Zi catastrophe has already begun, right? But looking around the world, there are still many people without a race who are alive. Don't you find that strange?"

“Of course it’s not surprising.” Another female believer widened her eyes, seemingly puzzled as to why Liu Xian would ask such a question. She replied, “The Jiazi Calamity is not the destruction of the world overnight. It is the loss of the will of Heaven, and the world will be in chaos for a full Jiazi (sixty years). Different disasters will occur every year until the end of the Jiazi. Only when the people are left in the world and they have eliminated those wicked people who defied the will of Heaven will the calamity end.”

"How do those people not die? Do they possess the supernatural power of immortality?"

"Of course not. The flesh and blood of the race will also disintegrate. But the soul of the race will remain unchanged, and like Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly, it will ascend to the celestial realm, free and unfettered, eternally immortal. As for those ignorant people without race, they will completely vanish into thin air, all is over."

"If that's the case, you people are all of the same race, so why don't you ascend to the celestial realm sooner instead of suffering in the mortal world?"

"It's to accumulate merit," the old believer continued. "The more merit you accumulate in the mortal world, the higher your rank will be in the celestial realm after death. Otherwise, an ordinary person, even if they go to the celestial realm, will only be a lowly ghost soldier."

"Oh, besides the ghost soldiers, what else is there?"

"Above the Ghost Soldiers are Ghost Officials, above the Ghost Officials are Libationers, above the Libationers are Chief Libationers (Chief Libationers), above the Chief Libationers are Supervisors of Heaven (Grand Libationers), and above the Supervisors of Heaven are Celestial Masters."

At this point, the old believer bowed again and murmured to himself, "By the mighty immortals above, if I donate another ten bushels of rice after this autumn harvest, I can become a ghost official. At that time, I will die content!"

Across from him, Liu Xian, who was listening to these devout words, was inwardly turbulent: The Celestial Masters Sect, what an incredibly tight-knit organization!

Using the indefensible and unknowable afterlife as bait, and the current wars and disasters as threats, they developed a complete and rigorous missionary system. They lured the people to donate money and provisions to their religion and expand their followers. They not only had their own followers, but also their own bureaucracy, their own household registers, and even their own strongholds—this was practically a theocratic secular regime!

Most importantly, in the eyes of these people, they are not afraid of death at all; death is simply an inevitable fate, making them not cherish life. And they see those who are not religious as utterly unworthy of their lives!
At this moment, the chanting ceremony on the mountaintop finally ended. Tian Zong, the head priest of the temple, arrived late, opened the door to apologize to Liu Xian, and invited him to sit inside the temple. Liu Xian led his men inside and found more than four hundred believers gathered there, discussing the meaning of the scriptures in hushed tones.

Liu Xian's mindset was completely different now. He had arrived calm and collected, but now he felt uneasy. After settling into the temple, he exchanged pleasantries with Tian Zong, trying to glean some information about how they viewed him. However, Tian Zong, having preached for so long, had long since learned to remain impassive, making it difficult for Liu Xian to discern his true intentions.

But remaining silent was itself a dangerous attitude, which made Liu Xian even more vigilant. After the conversation, on the way back to the city from the mountain, Liu Xian was told by his companions that one of the two warehouses on Laojun Mountain was full of grain but also contained weapons, while the other smelled of blood and faint groans could be heard coming from it, suggesting that it probably contained some of the remnants of the Chengdu Kingdom's army.

At the same time, they also learned that all the chief priests of the Celestial Masters sect in Sichuan and Chongqing had left their respective administrative offices and gone to the sacred Qingcheng Mountain, where a grand religious council was apparently being held, but outsiders did not know the specific details.

Upon hearing this news, Liu Xian immediately guessed the truth: the other party must be discussing their attitude towards contacting them.

Thinking of this, Liu Xian felt an immense heaviness in his heart. How could his country be governed normally if such a thing existed within its borders? Liu Xian glanced back at Wen Yan, already understanding his purpose in bringing him here. Without a clear plan for dealing with the Celestial Masters Sect, no matter what policies were implemented, they would be utterly ineffective within the territory.

Driven by immense disgust, Liu Xian immediately made a decision: he would shorten the army's rest period and launch the third offensive against Chengdu as soon as possible.

Liu Xian planned to sweep across Sichuan and Chongqing with unparalleled force in a short time to intimidate the Celestial Masters sect, and then gradually diminish their influence. He believed it was essential, not only for long-term stability but also for the peace and tranquility of the people. (End of Chapter)