Few people know when the Mushan Taoist Temple was built, and few people know who built it. Even the people of Xiangcheng who are not far from Mushan don't know when did they know that there is a Taoist temple in Mushan. Some said it was eight years ago, some said it was ten years ago, and some said that there was a house like this in the mountain, which was left over from some dynasty, and it was not newly built at all.
But since there was a group of Taoists on Mushan, more and more people came to Mushan to visit. It is unknown how the Taoists in this Taoist temple practice, but their business methods are first-class. A bowl of white rice costs 20 renminbi, meat dishes 50 renminbi, and vegetarian dishes 30 renminbi. There is only one kind of wine, 500 renminbi a pot, and the price is clearly marked.
The Sui Dynasty was rich and prosperous, and a bucket of japonica rice didn't cost much. No matter how clean and delicious the white rice at the Taoist temple on the mountain is, it is definitely not worth twenty renminbi, and fifty renminbi can buy a large piece of pork, and I don’t know how many meat dishes it can make. But the Taoists in the Taoist temple also made it clear that these meat, eggs and fresh vegetables were all transported from Xiangcheng, and they had to be moved to the middle of the mountain.
Most of the people who can live in the Taoist temple are the family members of high-ranking officials and nobles. They are either young masters or young ladies and wives. Naturally, they don't care about trivial matters of tens of pennies and hundreds of pennies. Moreover, this family is the only one open for business on Mushan. Semicolon, it is difficult for people not to get rich.
The name Taoist Temple is appropriate for the occasion.
It's called Mushan Temple.
In Mushan temple, there are thirty-six Taoists, seventy-two little Taoists, and eleven handymen. The scale is not large, but the order is in good order.
The old Taoist man with a goatee who looks quite fairy-like, known as Chenzi, is the master of the Mushan Temple. But outsiders rarely know that the master in the Mushan temple is not Chuchenzi, but an outsider who seldom shows up. Even Taoist boys and handymen in Taoist temples seldom see this expert. Of course, Chu Chenzi's thirty-six disciples still knew what kind of demeanor this expert was.
His name is Xiang Qingniu.
He is very busy every day.
His origin is mysterious and astonishing.
He has an inextricable relationship with Xiao Zhenren, who is of the same spirit in Qingle Mountain, and has an unusual relationship with a certain important figure in the imperial palace of the capital. It is said that he also has an extremely mysterious and noble senior brother who is somewhat scary. He wandered away ten years ago and disappeared without a trace. In Xiang Qingniu's own words, that senior brother of his didn't know which mountain he fell into the way of the goblin when he was hunting down demons, and now he is working as a villager in a certain cave.
Xiang Qingniu is his name, not his Taoist name.
Even Chu Chenzi didn't know if this young fat man who was his uncle in terms of seniority had a dao name. In fact, if he hadn't witnessed Xiang Qingzheng pulling off the beard of Daoist Xiao Daoist Xiao in Qingle Mountain one year, he couldn't believe that this guy who has no other advantages besides greed for food and money is actually a Taoist. people. And he is also a very... awesome kind of person in the Taoist sect.
Xiao Zhenren is the leader of the Taoist sect, and Qingle Mountain Yiqi Temple is the holy place of the Taoist sect. Although the name of the Sanqing Temple in Wudang Mountain has become more and more famous in the past few years, it cannot be compared with the Yiqi Temple with Daoist Xiao in charge. In Xiang Qingniu's words, Taoist sects transform the three cleans into one qi, Qingle Mountain has the one qi concept, and Wudang Mountain has the three cleanses, so one qi concept is worth three three cleanses. I don't know if it is explained in this way, the Taoist ancestor has the idea of whether the fat man will be struck to death by lightning.
Xiang Qingniu is very busy every day.
But the things he has to be busy with are simple, just two things, except for sleeping.
If you are too full to eat, count the money, and if you are too tired to count the money, eat something. Every time Chuchenzi came to the small courtyard where Xiang Qingniu lived alone, as long as the young uncle was not sleeping, he must be eating, and if he was not eating, he must be counting money.
Xiang Qingniu once said that people who are greedy for money and don't know how much money they have will lose all their money sooner or later.
Xiang Qingniu looks only fifteen years old, white and fat, but in fact he is nineteen years old, and it was nine years old when his second senior brother left him. If he took off that Taoist robe and put on ordinary clothes, who would have thought that he would have a very noble status in the Taoist sect of the Sui Dynasty? Chu Chenzi still remembered that when he was in Qingle Mountain, Master Xiao humbly begged Xiang Qingniu for a Taoist name, and Xiang Qingniu almost pulled out all of Master Xiao's beards.
"I will take the second senior brother's surname as Xiang! And I will be called Xiang Qingniu, so you can know that I am his brother when you hear the name!"
"It's Junior Brother."
Daoist Xiao corrected.
"Isn't junior brother younger brother?"
Xiang Qingniu grabbed Master Xiao by his beard again and asked viciously.
"Of course it is, of course it is... Junior brother is of course also a younger brother, whoever says it's not me is in a hurry!"
Master Xiao was in great pain, and after Xiang Qingniu let go, he couldn't help sighing: "I have had a good relationship with your second senior brother since I was a child, and he really has the heart to leave you alone!"
Chuchenzi still clearly remembers the conversation at the beginning, and he also deeply remembers that he would rather offend the master than the junior uncle. Ten years ago, he was ordered by his teacher to travel around the world and open doors to accept disciples, and finally chose Mushan. Four years ago, the little uncle came to Mushan Temple, and since then he has lived a life of darkness.
It is said that shortly after he descended from Qingle Mountain, his junior uncle, who was only nine years old at the time, left without saying goodbye. Since then, there has been no news, and I don't know why he suddenly appeared in Mushan six years later. At that time, Chu Chenzi didn't dare to delay, so he hurriedly sent someone to Qingle Mountain to deliver the letter. Master Xiao sent several groups of people to invite Xiang Qingniu to go back, but he just stayed here and didn't leave.
Later, Zhenren Xiao sent a message: "It's okay not to go back to Qingle Mountain, but you are not allowed to leave again."
Xiang Qingniu curled his lips and said to the disciple who sent the message: "Go back and tell old man Xiao that six years ago I was penniless and traveled all over the Sui Dynasty but couldn't find the second senior brother. I think he has gone to a foreign land. Taoist cultivators in the Sui Dynasty can walk without money, but after leaving the Sui Dynasty, the disciples of the Taoist ancestors are far less popular than those bald donkeys, so no money is not enough. When I have saved enough money, I will leave the Sui Dynasty and find the second senior brother Naturally, he didn't go anywhere."
Master Xiao sighed dejectedly after hearing this reply, and said "Idiot".
Perhaps, this can also be Xiang Qingniu's Taoist name.
…
…
When Xiang Qingniu woke up, it was already high in the sun. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and turned over to continue sleeping, but the Taoist people in the front yard were chanting the Tao Te Ching too loudly, so he felt very irritable. Daodejing, Chaosjing, Daozu said that these three books are compulsory homework for Taoist disciples, except of course Xiang Qingniu.
Hearing the sound of reciting in front of him, he became angry, and immediately sat up and got out of bed, pulled on his two shoes and picked up the copper basin for washing his face, and walked out of the room with his bare arms showing his white fat. The small courtyard strode to the front and rear doors, and then threw the copper basin towards Chu Chenzi who was sitting in the first seat.
There was a bang, extremely crisp.
After this crisp sound, the voice of reading in the room stopped immediately. When I looked again, Chu Chenzi flew to hide behind the stone statue of Taoist ancestor without knowing when.
The owner of Mushan Temple showed his head tremblingly from behind the stone statue, and asked cautiously, "Master, what are your orders?"
Xiang Qingniu said something and told people not to sleep, turned his head and left. After Xiang Qingniu's figure disappeared, he came out from behind the stone statue, tidied his clothes and said solemnly: "The purpose of reciting the Tao Te Ching is to make people sleep. You understand the method of the natural way left by the Taoist ancestors. This... lies in the sincerity rather than the loudness of the voice... You listen to the spring breeze without sound, but it is natural, and the spring grass is silent, and it is also natural, so... "
"Master, we know!"
All the disciples said one sentence in unison, and then began to recite silently in their hearts.
Chu Chenzi nodded in satisfaction, and said in his heart that they are all materials that can be made.
After Xiang Qingniu returned to his small courtyard, he got into bed and continued to sleep. When he went to bed, he accidentally dropped a copper coin. He immediately picked it up, put it in his mouth, blew it, and put it away. On the side of his wooden bed, there are countless copper coins and silver banknotes piled up, and the number is unknown.
Of course, he knew it himself.
Looking at the pile of money, Xiang Qingniu murmured to himself: "Old man Xiao said that you can't travel the world without a thousand pieces of gold. I don't know how long it will take to save up to a thousand pieces of gold. I'm only waiting here for five years. If five years If I don’t have enough money, I will leave too. The second senior brother probably didn’t bring much money with him when he left, so naturally I can go as far as he can go.”
After saying this, he shook his head again: "I'm definitely not as far away as Second Senior Brother."
After saying this, he felt that he was hungry, and he would definitely be too hungry to sleep. So he stood up again shirtless and shaking his fat body, and devoured the leftover cooked meat and snacks on the table last night. He patted his stomach contentedly, and his fat body rippled away like water waves.
Of course you have to go to sleep when you are full. Counting money is physical work and you must wait until you have rested before doing it.
Not long after, the snoring sounded like thunder.
An hour later, Chu Chenzi cautiously appeared at his door, hid half of his body behind the door, and said softly, "Uncle, are you still sleeping?"
Xiang Qingniu turned over and continued to sleep.
"Someone has come from the imperial capital and is waiting in front, do you want to meet?"
"Old man Xiao came here again? Nope!"
"This time it's not... the eunuch from the palace, with His Majesty's decree, although I still want to invite you to take the exam at the Yanwu Academy this year, but this time it's not an audience, but an invigilator."
"The emperor sent someone?"
Xiang Qingniu sat up abruptly, rubbed his eyes and said: "People sent by the emperor? They should still go... Old man Xiao can't listen to what the emperor has to say."
Chuchenzi heaved a sigh of relief, and finally felt more at ease. He had always thought that Xiang Qingniu was a person who was fearless, but now it seems that he still has the most basic awe of the emperor.
"Second senior brother said before that you must listen to the words of the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, and you can treat the words of emperors of other countries as fart. Since it is the second senior brother's words, it must be reasonable, so I will go this time. As for being the invigilator of the Yanwu Academy... I think I should be able to Are you in charge of the food?"
Xiang Qingniu picked up his clothes and walked out, and said as he walked: "Then I'm going to the imperial capital now, Mushan Guan, you are in charge, you can be short of anything, that is, if the monthly income is short, I will count it back." I can't stop talking to you... Besides, I know exactly how much money I have in my house, if I come back and find that a copper coin is missing, I will pluck off your beard and hang you from the beam in the front yard to beat."
"Master, don't worry... that... the imperial envoy is still waiting for you."
"Let him go back first, I can go to Chang'an by myself."
…
…
After Xiang Qingniu got off Mushan, he realized that he had forgotten to bring some dry food, and his stomach was growling with hunger after walking for half a day. He planned to go to a town not far from Mushan to find a way to get some food, but after precise calculations, he found that he would definitely faint from hunger when he was a mile and a half away from that town.
At this moment, I suddenly heard a sound behind me. He looked back and found that it was a string of about six or seven carriages. The drivers are all strong and strong men, and they are not good people at first sight. Especially the shriveled old man driving in the second carriage, even made him feel a sense of resistance unconsciously.
Just as he was hesitating, he saw that the windows of the carriage were open, and many attractive women were looking out, so he completely gave up the idea of asking for some food. In his opinion, the old man with the big wine gourd was scary, but he was far less scary than those fairy-like women.
Just when all thoughts were lost, he suddenly found that his luck had come.
It was about a hundred meters away from the convoy, followed by a carriage.
The driver was a middle-aged man, and the whip cracked. Sitting next to the driver was a young man in black, his eyes closed as if he had fallen asleep.
That's not the point.
The point is that the driver was eating meat while flicking his whip.
Very flavorful meat.