"The moon is setting, crows are crying, and the sky is filled with frost. Jiangfeng is fishing and fire is facing melancholy. Outside the Hanshan Temple in Gusu City, the midnight bell is ringing for the passenger ship."
The poem "Night Mooring on the Maple Bridge" by Zhang Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, has been famous throughout the ages and has been known to countless people in later generations. It has also made Hanshan Temple outside Suzhou famous far and wide, becoming the leading temple in Suzhou and even the entire Jiangnan region. Buddhist holy land.
Over the years, Hanshan Temple has always had a large number of believers and a prosperous atmosphere. Even in today's somewhat chaotic world, the temple has not been greatly affected. Even though there had been several fierce battles in Suzhou before, Hanshan Temple was not affected in any way, and it truly became a pure land outside the world.
The reason is not only that Hanshan Temple itself is famous enough, but also because there are too many famous people in Suzhou who are protecting this thousand-year-old temple. Unless Wu Jun wants to offend all the local wealthy families in Suzhou, Otherwise, they would never dare to attack Hanshan Temple. So even though the two armies are still at war, the temple is still full of bells and drums in the morning and evening, quiet and indifferent.
On the fifth day of February, just after dawn, the Suzhou city gates were opened early, and then a group of more than 100 people slowly came to Hanshan Temple to offer incense. They are not particularly devout believers, but a group of men and women from the Su family in Suzhou. They are here to pay homage to their ancestors, because today is the birth anniversary of the previous head of the Su family. As a son of a human being, the current head of the family, Su Naturally, Mao wanted to bring the men and women of the clan to pay homage - the spiritual tablets of generations of ancestors of the Su family were set up in Hanshan Temple for incense.
As one of the great Tanyue and benefactors of Hanshan Temple, the arrival of the Su family naturally attracted the attention of the whole temple. Before they arrived at the mountain gate, Abbot Huikong had already brought many monks from the temple to greet them. He recited the Buddha's name and said, "Donor Su is indeed a very filial person. He comes on time every year. This is really admirable!"
"Haha, Master, you are ridiculous. As a son of a human being, I, Su Mao, can no longer honor my parents. I can only choose this day to come and pay my respects. On the contrary, I feel a little ashamed." Su Mao was in his prime, and he looked smart and capable, but he was He also has a kind and friendly smile, making it easy for people to get along with him at first sight. He and Huikong were considered old friends, so they spoke casually. After just a few words of greeting, they walked up the mountain to the temple with him.
What followed was a series of sacrificial activities that were well versed in ancient rituals. This is why the Su family chose to worship their ancestors in Hanshan Temple, because the monks here are more familiar with this way than monks elsewhere. All the monks in Hanshan Temple do it. They can also save a lot of effort.
Of course, it would cost a lot to have all the monks in Hanshan Temple serve the Su family. Not to mention today’s incense money, the Su family would allocate hundreds of guan every month as sesame oil in the temple. In addition, In the past few years, they have successively donated hundreds of acres of fertile land as property to Hanshan Temple. This kind of gesture is the key to making the monks in the temple respect them all the time, not just because the Su family, Suzhou, is Suzhou. The relationship with the richest man.
The sacrifices did not rest until after noon. After kneeling for a while inside and outside the hall where the ancestral tablets were enshrined, everyone in the Su family was able to get up and stretch their muscles. At the same time, they also walked around to enjoy the scenery inside and outside Hanshan Temple. As for Su Mao and several other people in charge of the Su family, Huikong invited him into his abbot's room to drink tea and discuss Zen.
It can also be regarded as a rare moment of relaxation for those who are busy with mundane affairs.
Naturally, the tea in the temple cannot be as fancy as outside, but it is the same as the clear tea advocated by Sun Tu in Shandong. There are only a few tea leaves floating in the green tea soup, but no other condiments. This made Su Mao and others who were accustomed to drinking heavy tea couldn't help but praise it, and couldn't help but drink a few more bowls.
"Master, this tea is more fragrant than last year, but it is still refreshing when you drink it. It is really a good drink for self-cultivation." Su Mao said with a smile after carefully tasting the tea in the cup.
"Haha, as long as you have no worries, even ordinary tea can taste delicious." Huikong Xuanzhi said this mysteriously, and then explained: "But no one in the temple would dare to drink such good tea. We take the credit, but it’s the donor who taught us that we don’t need to boil it, just soak it in boiling water to bring out the true nature of the tea leaves, and the taste will be clearer and more meaningful.”
"Oh..." Su Mao sipped the taste of the tea in the cup carefully, and then sighed sincerely: "The tea ceremony is like doing things, simplicity is the most skillful, and lack of work is the most skillful. It seems that this person can propose such a He who sees the world must have great wisdom, but it is a pity that I have no chance to meet him."
"Su Tanyue's words are wrong. You and this benefactor are closely related, and he also wants to meet you." Huikong took the opportunity and said with a smile.
Su Mao was stunned for a moment, and then he guessed something, and said with a smile: "This man is very attentive. He actually knew that I would go up the mountain today, so he waited here early? Since he had such thoughts, I can't refuse people thousands of miles away, so please ask the master to call them out." For a person with his status, it is natural that people come to ask for help on weekdays, but no one would come to Hanshan Temple to ask for help. On the contrary, It made him interested.
"But the benefactor once said that he wanted to be alone with Tan Yue, so..." Huikong said, looking only at those Su family members, and his meaning was already clear.
"That can't be done. How noble my father is, how can he meet a person of unknown origin alone!" Immediately, a young man objected, it was Su Wei, the second son of Su Mao. Although the others didn't speak as eagerly as he did, judging from their intentions, they didn't seem to want to leave just yet.
Su Mao's face immediately darkened: "No need to be rude, this is Hanshan Temple, could Master Huikong have any evil intentions?" Although he said this, he did not mean to turn away the others.
Huikong smiled again: "Tan Yue doesn't know. This benefactor's identity is somewhat special, so to prevent any complications, he only wants to meet you alone first. However, he also knew that Tan Yue was worried, so he asked the poor monk to I'll give you this token." As he spoke, he took out a half-worn wooden sculpture that had been plated and patinated, and showed it to Su Mao for inspection.
Su Mao only glanced at it, and then his expression changed a little. After a moment, he turned back and waved to the others: "In that case, you can go outside for a while. I want to meet with people in private."
"Father..." Seeing that he really wanted to meet alone with an unknown person, even the eldest son Su Jing couldn't understand it and opened his mouth to say something. But after meeting Su Mao's determined eyes, he didn't dare to say anything anymore and stood up.
He nodded to the others and went out first.
When the other children of the Su family saw that Su Jing had left, they did not dare to persist anymore and left one after another. After they left, Huikong slowly stood up and said, "In this case, the poor monk will leave for the time being. Please ask Tan Yue to wait here."
At this time, Su Mao was a little confused. He just nodded casually to the other party and continued to wait there with a frown on his face. After a cup of tea, the door of the abbot's room was opened again, and a slightly bloated body appeared in front of Su Mao.
Even though he had already guessed, when he saw the person coming in, Su Mao was still so excited that he stood up quickly: "Thank you... Mr. Xie, is it really you? Are you safe and sound? This is great."
The person who appeared in front of Su Mao was none other than Xie Mo, a famous young master from Jiangnan!
Xie Mo's fame is not limited to the Jinling area, but is also respected by everyone in Suzhou and Hangzhou. And he has always been known for his charity without expecting anything in return. He has helped many people over the years. Even Su Mao received his favor a few years ago and formed an irreversible relationship with him.
When the news came that Xie Mo was burned to death on Qixia Mountain a few months ago, Su Mao was really sad for a while. Even when he was worshiping his ancestors just now, he had paid homage to his good friend in front of the Buddha, but he didn't expect that this person would appear in front of him alive now!
Xie Mo entered the room and closed the door, then looked at the surprised Su Mao and laughed: "Why, Old Su, when you see me, it's like you've seen a ghost. You don't owe me any money, so why do you do this?"
"You..." Su Mao felt dumbfounded, but at the same time he was convinced that it was indeed Xie Mo who came, because he was the only one in the world who would talk to him like this.
It wasn't until Xie Mo came forward and sat on the futon in front of him that Su Mao exhaled a breath and said happily: "It seems that the previous rumors are false. Your son, Mr. Xie, was not harmed by the Song Dynasty government? Fortunately, I was very sad when I heard the news that day, and even... "
Seeing that he suddenly stopped talking, Xie Mo chuckled: "He even gave money and supplies to help Fang La and his gang quickly control Suzhou... Wow, you, Old Su, are becoming more and more courageous. You actually dare to fight against the rebels." Collusion!"
"Keep your voice down, it's better not to talk about this kind of thing." Su Mao quickly stopped him, and then smiled bitterly: "Don't I want to avenge you? Besides, they even harmed you. Think about what happened back then. With all the things Zhu Men did when he was in Suzhou, I am really afraid that I will follow in your footsteps."
"Haha, your concerns are not unreasonable. If Zhu Meng is really allowed to fight back to Suzhou, you wealthy families will suffer a big loss. At first, he was reluctant to attack you due to certain concerns, but this time You all voted for Fang La. Once you come back and the reckoning comes, hehe, the consequences will be really hard to say."
Su Mao sighed: "When Suzhou fell, we had no choice but to do this to protect ourselves. By the way, what happened to you? Why is it widely rumored that you were killed by Sun Tu on Qixia Mountain in Jinling? Now But he appeared in front of me alive?"
This matter is indeed too strange. Even a calm person like Su Mao is eager to know the answer.