Chapter 276 Thousand Lanterns Buddha Meeting
Six parties...
The forces involved gradually became clear, but Qiao Ting did not feel pressured.
She will have to face such challenges eventually.
Earlier, Li Ru had to face only the tug-of-war between Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, the scholars of Yizhou, the scholars of Dongzhou and the imperial court in Yizhou. Now, there are six parties involved. But who says that she can't come and surpass her master?
What's more, placing the six forces on a crowded chessboard will put the situation on the verge of breaking out, rather than quickly falling into a melee.
As the best player hidden in the game, if one wants to pry the chessboard from somewhere and overturn this seemingly stable draw, he has the initiative.
The situation she had to face was not that difficult.
Now she had to figure out what to do.
It would be inappropriate to disclose Zuo Rong's plan to Tao Qian and let the two sides engage in direct warfare.
Even though according to the news sent back by my sister, Zuo Rong has more people like Yan Baihu's old subordinates and Zu Lang under his command, we must not forget that Zuo Rong and Zu Lang are not in a superior-subordinate relationship in the strict sense.
Therefore, once Zu Lang fell into a relatively troublesome situation, he would definitely choose to return to Danyang County, and Yan Baihu's former subordinates were no different from bandits to the Xuzhou soldiers with a regular system.
It is still unknown whether they can replicate the effect of the Yellow Turban Army that invaded Xuzhou, let alone overthrow the provincial government and bring down Tao Qian.
Even if Mi Zhu pretended to cater to Zuo Rong's disloyal behavior and provided some help to his actions, he probably could not achieve this effect.
It would not be feasible to expose the people of Yangzhou who intended to take advantage of the situation to Tao Qian and to let Xuzhou and Yangzhou fight each other.
Tao Qian's current state of inaction is enough to demonstrate his style of doing things.
He would not show any anger or move troops just because of the potential spying of Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others, because he himself was actually spying on the situation in the direction of Yangzhou.
This makes the situation clear.
Six forces - Tao Qian, Zuo Rong, Sun Ce, Zhang Yi, Jun Hou, and Liu Bei who is still in Yuzhou.
Zhang Yi and Liu Bei, who are on the completely weaker side, must not move. They will not make any move to join the game until the situation changes. Once they are weakened again, they will be directly eliminated.
The prince and they must continue to maintain their position as the driving force behind the scenes.
It had been determined in previous analysis that Zuo Rong and Sun Ce could not be touched.
Finally there was only one person left.
It was none other than Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou!
But it is not so easy to put Tao Qian into danger first.
Yuan Shu was caught off guard by the private soldiers of the Gao family led by Ju Shou from Chenliu. On the one hand, it made people feel ridiculous about the dispute between the Yuan brothers, and on the other hand, it served as a reminder that people should never underestimate these dormant powerful clan forces.
Tao Qian learned a lesson from this.
From the brief exchanges between Qiao Ting and Chen Deng, she could see not only Chen Deng's respect for Liu Bei, but also another signal -
Tao Qian's garrison in Donghai County became tighter than that in other places.
Maybe they have to try something else.
Thinking of this, Qiao Ting sent his analysis along with a special idea to Guangling County.
The letter arrived in Qiao Lan's hands half a day later.
So the people in Sheyang County learned in the following days that this merchant, who had traveled from Shu to Chang'an and Luoyang and later came to Xuzhou, had basically sold out the goods he brought, and the only remaining ones could be sold out within half a month.
As a qualified businessman, he certainly would not run an empty truck, so he had to make some purchases in Xuzhou before returning.
"Mountain products?" Zhang Yi's wife had originally come to Qiao Lan to order goods for her next visit to Xuzhou. When she heard her ask this, she curiously asked back, "Xuzhou is close to the sea, and the pearls from the East China Sea are particularly famous. Why don't you buy sea products but mountain products?"
"Madam, you are wrong. We are not against buying seafood," Qiao Lan replied. "My brother is in Donghai County right now. When we arrived in Xuzhou, we first visited Mr. Chen Hanyu and took the opportunity to talk to Chen Yuanlong. We did this to find a way to buy seafood in Donghai County."
"It's not a violation of the rules. My brother and I didn't resort to bribery. We just wanted to find a place with fair prices and good quality goods. Since the head of the Mi family is not in the East China Sea but in Guangling, some business is no longer blocked. Of course, we can buy seafood from the East China Sea."
"But we have to buy some mountain products, too. After all, there are some differences in the specialties between the southeastern hills and the mountains in Shuzhong, just like the tea here is different from that in Guanzhong and Shuzhong. Don't you think so?"
Mrs. Zhao was stunned by Qiao Lan's words. She thought to herself that the merchants were really good at talking, so she replied, "That's true. If we want to get all the specialties of Xuzhou, we will naturally not let go of any seafood or mountain products."
"Can I see if I can contact someone I know for you?" She paused for a moment and continued, "But if I can really be of great help..."
Qiao Lan smiled and said, "Madam, don't worry. Next time I come, I will give you a piece of the finest Shu brocade."
Mrs. Zhao left with a smile on her face, not realizing at all that Qiao Lan was looking for an excuse for herself and her subordinates to temporarily go into the mountains and disappear. She only felt that she really understood how to run a household frugally.
It's no wonder that she is so frugal. After all, Zhang Yi has lost his official position and naturally no longer has the original salary of 2,000 stones. She still has to save on expenses.
However, when she repeated Qiao Lan's words to Zhang Yi, hoping to hear her husband praise her for being a good person, she saw a strange look on Zhang Yi's face, "You said that Mi Zhu is in Guangling now?"
Mi Zhu's visit was not publicized. Zhang Yi had only heard that the Buddha Bathing Festival would be held again in early July. He had not specifically inquired about the number of guests this time. He did not expect that Mi Zhu would be one of the visitors.
Mi Zhu and Zuo Rong had never had any friendship, so this news sounded a little subtle.
Zhang Yi didn't know if he was overthinking it.
In order to be prepared for any eventuality and out of his dissatisfaction with Tao Qian and Zuo Rong, he sent someone to Gaoyou to find out something.
At the same time, Zhou Yu, who was here at the same time, also noticed Zuo Rong's move to win over Mi Zhu.
He wondered if there was anything he could use here, so he changed into simple clothes and mingled in the streets of Gaoyou, looking at this city that had been most transformed by Zuo Rong.
Zhou Yu felt that this city was somewhat sick, just like Mi Zhu did when he first came here.
Even though the streets were decorated with Artemisia leaves, Buddhist banners, small Buddha statues, and night lights for night parades because of the upcoming Buddha Bathing Festival, it still didn't feel like a lively and festive scene.
He seemed to stop by a roadside stall unintentionally and asked the price of the base of the fragrant soup, but in fact he was avoiding Zu Lang and others who were walking on the street.
He listened to Zu Lang chatting with his subordinates. Because he was still some distance away, he could only vaguely hear a few words, such as "Zuo Rong is a very loyal man" and the name of Sun Ce.
Zhou Yu couldn't help but have a bad feeling.
If it weren't for the fact that it was not advisable to alert the enemy at this time and he had to understand the current situation in Xuzhou first, he really wanted to stop Zu Lang and ask him for clarification.
But when he tried to follow and listen to the conversation between Zu Lang and others, he saw that the other party had already joined up with Zuo Rong's men and left together.
"Are you still buying?" Zhou Yu was thinking in his mind when he was suddenly interrupted by this sentence. He turned around and saw the stall owner looking at him with a strange look.
Zhou Yu quickly replied, "Yes, I am just a little curious. These people don't look like native Yangzhou people, so why can they be so respected here?"
The stall owner muttered, "No matter how strange it is, it's not as strange as these Buddha statues."
His voice was so soft that even Zhou Yu, who was so close to him, could hardly hear it.
When Zhou Yu looked at the stall owner again, he saw that he had regained his expression as if nothing had happened. After all, he made a living by selling things related to Buddhism, and it seemed a little wrong to complain in public like this.
But when the Buddha Bathing Festival ceremony officially appeared in front of Zhou Yu, he felt that these people living in Guangling were extremely restrained in merely complaining verbally against Zuo Rong and his Buddha!
The two words "bathing the Buddha" in Buddha's Bathing Festival are the highlight of this festival ceremony.
The monks in the temple must use fragrant water to clean the Buddha statues in the temple to wash away the filth.
However, today, because Zuo Rong wanted to make this festival look like a city-wide carnival, he moved the ceremony of bathing the Buddha statue to the square in front of the nine-story pagoda.
Four golden Buddha statues appeared in front of people. Zhou Yu, who had been busy with financial calculations for various counties in Yangzhou recently, converted these Buddha statues into equivalent copper coins and food almost in an instant. He couldn't help but gasp at this extremely luxurious scene.
The spices in the incense soup held by the monks are not cheap either.
Zhou Yu himself was born into a noble family, but he still felt that such behavior was too extravagant nowadays, not to mention that he happened to be passing through here and stayed here temporarily because of the excitement of the Buddha's Bathing Festival.
Long before entering Gaoyou, these people had seen the farming scenes that had developed in Xuzhou due to natural conditions. Now, when they suddenly saw such a scene again, they probably really felt that with the surrounding gongs, drums, and Buddhist chants, this was truly a Buddhist kingdom on earth filled with heavenly sounds.
How could they have imagined that this flourishing scene was built with the blood and sweat of so many people.
The fragrant water was poured on the Buddha statue, and because of the remaining water stains, it reflected a dazzling golden glow in the sunlight. As the Buddha statue was paraded through the streets, this symbol created with money was displayed more clearly to the public.
Zhou Yu mixed in with the crowd, and in order not to stand out too much, he also placed the glutinous rice cakes bought from the street in front of the Buddha statue, and then sprinkled the fragrant soup with leaves dipped in it on the Buddha statue.
According to these monks, after this operation, the leaves are imbued with the auspicious energy of the Buddha and can be worn on the head.
Then place this item on the door of your home to protect your family from harm and misfortune.
"Zhou Lang is not worried about this thing..." Will it attract evil spirits?
Zhou Yu waved his hand, signaling his subordinates that there was no need to say more. "If you are upright, you don't have to worry about it."
He wanted to see what kind of medicine this Zuo Rong had in store.
Among the teams carrying Buddha statues and parading through the streets, the strongest and most muscular monks under Zuo Rong were selected to become the ones that everyone could see at a glance after seeing the Buddha statues.
This is exactly what Zuo Rong wanted to do through subtle influence to make people believe that his Buddhist kingdom is not only rich, but also has armed forces capable of protecting one side.
At most, the form of armed organization is slightly different from other places.
It was with the assistance of these monks that the four bronze and gold Buddha statues completed their tour and landed back on the square.
A high platform has been built in front of the pagoda, and the four Buddha statues are naturally placed at the four corners under the platform.
The person on the stage is Zuo Rong.
Also because of the sunlight, Zhou Yu could clearly see that the other party's Buddhist robe was also covered with a layer of golden light.
That is formed by the use of gold and silver threads during the sewing of the Buddhist robe.
At a time when linen clothes were still the most common and cotton clothes could even become a trend, Zuo Rong's dazzling appearance was truly dazzling. However, because of his self-proclaimed identity as a Buddhist preacher, it was difficult to say anything reproachful in front of him.
He looked down at the platform with great satisfaction, and while reciting Buddhist scriptures, he also noticed the expressions of several people he paid special attention to.
The astonishment and admiration on Mi Zhu's face and the confusion and hesitation on Zu Lang's face were both excellent signals for Zuo Rong.
But his display of strength has not yet ended!
After the preaching of the Dharma, there was a speech of repentance and atonement by Buddhist believers, followed by an exhibition of Buddhist scriptures.
The Buddhist scriptures he took out for display were delicately embroidered on silk. They were the Buddhist classics translated during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty and introduced to China.
When books were still considered exclusive to the upper class, such Buddhist scriptures were also a symbol of superiority.
By this time, the sky had gradually darkened.
The Buddha Bathing Festival, in which the whole city participated, was coming to an end.
It was at this time that the candles set up around the square were lit by the monks, so that the place still maintained a certain degree of brightness.
Although the night wind blows through from time to time tonight, the swaying candles seem to have a different kind of charm.
What's more, there was a fragrance brought with the wind. That was the wine and food that Zuo Rong would provide to the participants as usual at the end of the Buddha's Bathing Festival.
The food and wine were placed on tables along the long street for people to gather around and eat.
At this point, there was no need for Zuo Rong to keep up the mask he had been wearing. Anyway, under the cover of night, these people whom he regarded as fools would only focus their attention on food and would no longer pay attention to what he, the spokesperson for Buddha, was doing.
At most, when he walked down the platform and talked to Mi Zhu, he still maintained some respect for the other party, or rather, for Mi Zhu's financial resources.
He suppressed his complacency and asked Mi Zhu, "Mr. Zi Zhong, what do you think of this Buddha Bathing Festival?"
Mi Zhu looked around and had an idea of how many tables of food and wine were set up here.
Thinking of how Qiao Yan strictly restricted the production of alcohol in Chang'an in order to put the control of grain in his own hands so as to accumulate more grain, and then thinking of Zuo Rong's unrestrained behavior, he couldn't help but feel that it was the right choice for him to place the bet early.
But he didn't need to say this to Zuo Rong.
He replied: "It is indeed a scene from heaven."
When Zuo Rong heard this, he immediately felt that this initial expenditure was worth it!
The further softening of Mi Zhu's attitude made him see the possibility of winning over Mi Zhu and then launching a two-pronged attack on Tao Qian with the help of the followers of the Donghai Mi family and his own team.
This speculation made a smile appear on his face.
But at this moment, he suddenly saw his subordinates looking behind him with shock on their faces, pointing their hands towards the air. His movements were indescribable surprise. Zuo Rong quickly put away his smile and turned to look behind him.
The next moment, an extremely shocking scene appeared before him.
At the beginning of this month, in the night sky with only stars twinkling but no moon, behind the nine-story pagoda, one bright lamp after another floated in the air.
Maybe there were dozens of them, or maybe over a hundred.
In short, these flickering lights floating towards the sky formed an unprecedented background, and the pagoda in the front did not look like something created by human beings.
Those flickering sparks swayed in the air, floating towards higher places, as if they were going straight into the clouds.
When the people who were enjoying food and wine in the square in front of the pagoda saw this scene, they immediately stopped what they were doing.
They had never seen such a scene before, so how could they have the mind to eat and drink!
"A miracle! This is the miracle of the Buddha's coming to the world!"
I don't know where a sound came from, breaking the silence.
Before Zuo Rong could recover from the scene, he heard the words of "miracle" one after another behind him, which had already resounded throughout the city.
When he turned around, these people had already kneeled down in the square in a large mass.
To these people, this Buddha Bathing Festival might really be the birth of a real Buddha. Otherwise, why would these lanterns break free from the constraints of weight and fly straight into the starry sky?
Why do they never go out in the air and are brighter than the stars in the sky?
These things were beyond their imagination so they naturally attributed them to gods and Buddhas. Only Zuo Rong stood there stupidly.
As a person who has been spreading Buddhism for generations, he always knows whether there is a real Buddha in Xuzhou.
The scene before him not only broke the people's cognition, but also broke his own cognition.
Because he didn't plan for this at all!
This was not his plan!
It can't be... it can't be that he really has some Buddhist and psychic abilities?
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