The so-called "prophecy" is a prediction and omen that will come true. It has been common since ancient times. The more famous ones include "The one who destroyed Qin is Hu", "Liu Xiu should be the emperor", "The one who will replace Han is Dangtu Gao", "Peaches and plums will get the world", "Female rulers will prosper", etc.

"Longsha Prophecy" is one of them. It is said that in the Jin Dynasty there was a man named Xu Xun, who had great magical powers and was honored as "Xu Xian" by the world.

Once, Xu Xian killed a rebellious dragon. Unexpectedly, the dragon was pregnant. The dragon's offspring escaped from the dragon's belly. His disciples wanted to kill the little dragon, but Xu Zhenjun stopped them and said that it had not done any harm yet and should not be killed. At the same time, he predicted: "One thousand two hundred and forty years after my death, eight hundred earthly immortals will emerge in Yuzhang and Wuling. Their master will be the incarnation of Tanluan Bodhisattva, who will spread my teachings. If the little snake causes harm at that time, the eight hundred people will kill it. If it does not harm anything, it should not be killed."

Later, the Jingming Dao, a branch of Taoism he founded, used this to predict that 1,240 years after Xu Zhenjun ascended to heaven, the world would enter the Longsha period and be in chaos. At that time, 800 earthly immortals would reincarnate to quell the chaos, and after they succeeded, they would be included in the immortal class and enjoy eternal blessings.

This is the so-called "Longsha prophecy", which has been very popular since the Song Dynasty. In this dynasty, some people have calculated that the 1,240 years after Xu Zhenjun ascended to heaven fell in the Wanli period of this dynasty.

This has become a long-lasting social hot topic, not only scholars talk about it in lectures and conversations, but also ordinary people on the streets and alleys are always discussing it. It is very similar to the 1990s in later generations, when everyone talked about the end of the world.

In this repeated discussion, the Longsha prophecy has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and many people in the Ming Dynasty believe that the Longsha prophecy is about to come true. It can even be said that it is this fear of the impending chaos that makes the idea of ​​enjoying life in the moment deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, hedonism will prevail in society, and the authority of reality will also be disintegrated to a certain extent.

The one who made this human drama reach its climax was Wang Xijue's second daughter, Wang Gui… Because Wang Xijue won the imperial examination the year she was born, he gave her this name.

As mentioned before, this girl has been inconspicuous since she was a child, and she has a strange temperament. She has no interest in the Four Books and Five Classics, and is unwilling to learn needlework. However, she has been obsessed with religion since she was a child. She studies various Buddhist scriptures and Taoist scriptures all day long, meditates in meditation, and is so mysterious that her family members don't like her.

Finally, she was ready to get married and send this god away, but her husband died before she got married. She claimed that she wanted to remain faithful to her late husband, which was a good virtue strongly advocated by the government and was very rare in this era of moral decline, so her family naturally could not stop her.

Unexpectedly, she not only remained chaste, but also became a female Taoist priest. She claimed that she was the incarnation of Tanluan Bodhisattva, as instructed by an immortal, so she called herself "Tan Yangzi". She also wrote a poem to promote herself:

'Left-knotted Tan Yangzi, he was the king of the wind. Wuling is the leader of the sect, the ancient moon is a lonely peak. The two ends are not yet reached, the nine rings will meet the red wall.'

Wang Haifeng is Wang Chongyang. This means that I, Tan Yangzi, will be the second Wang Chongyang in the future, and I will establish a sect at Wuling Ancient Moon Peak and become the leader. Before the evil dragon comes, you should all come and become his disciples.

It is just a very common slobbery poem, and the intention to ride on the popularity is very obvious. But at this time, there are at least 80 religious speculators who claim to be the immortal master in the Longsha prophecy, so it is not new.

But it was rare for a female Taoist priest to do this, and she was the daughter of the Wang family in Taicang! With the Wang family's reputation as a support, her starting point was naturally very high. After several appearances and several lectures, her reputation spread more and more, and she became a master of her generation.

Later, Wang Shizhen offended Zhang Juzheng and was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown. He visited Tan Yangzi and discussed Taoism with her. As a result, he was convinced by Tan Yangzi's eloquent theory of "Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism as one", and soon decided to become her disciple.

Wang Shizhen was a great literary leader and a master of his generation. With his help, Tan Yangzi was naturally even more powerful. Not only did his popularity soar, but Wang Shizhen also gave another explanation to Longsha's prophecy. He changed the eight hundred earthly immortals who were born to quell the rebellion into eight hundred people who would ascend to heaven in the flesh and be listed among the immortals.

His master, Tan Yangzi, was the master of the eight hundred earthly immortals and the one who decided who would be included in the immortal class. Under his strong advocacy, celebrities from all walks of life came to him to become his disciples, begging him to give them a place. Even Wang Xijue couldn't stand the temptation of becoming an immortal and became his daughter's disciple.

These disciples who held the power of social discourse also worked hard to flatter the Immortal Master, which allowed Tan Yangzi to develop hundreds of thousands of followers in Jiangnan within just a few years. Even within the Jiangnan Group, many people secretly became her believers.

Although limited by the group's regulations and the limited number of vacancies under Tan Yangzi, no one has yet chosen her as their master, but this has already aroused the high vigilance of the relevant departments.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, there was no group more vigilant about religion than the Jiangnan Group. Not to mention that the dynasty was founded on religion, the biggest enemy the group encountered when expanding its territory overseas was also religion.

On the surface, it was Portugal and Spain that came from afar in order to spread Catholicism.

In secret, the more troublesome thing is that the countries in Southeast Asia have generally converted to Islam or Hinduism. If this problem is not properly handled, we may be able to live in peace when we are strong and they are weak. But once the world changes and China is in trouble, it may lead to a disaster.

Therefore, Zhao Hao established the sixth committee, the 'Religious Affairs Committee', which reports directly to the board of directors to specifically study how to deal with religious issues in the vast ruling area.

The motto of the Religious Committee is: Religion is politics! How could they turn a blind eye to this new sect that has emerged right under their noses?

If Zhao Hao had not secretly ordered the Religious Committee to observe and study the "Tan Yang Yi Men" as a sample of a new religion, they would have already advised the board of directors to take steps to ban this potentially highly harmful organization.

In the research report issued by the Religious Affairs Commission, the various hazards were analyzed one by one, including but not limited to the fact that it is easy to trigger mass incidents; it is easy to form political organizations with ulterior motives; it interferes with the dissemination of science; and the close relationship between the Wang family and the group makes it easy for political enemies to attack the group.

In the secret report issued by the Security Department, the resumes of Tan Yangzi's disciples were analyzed one by one. It is not difficult to find that they are either local officials who offended Zhang Juzheng and were forced to resign, or idle officials in Nanjing who were frustrated during the Wanli Dynasty. Some are celebrities who are far away from the court but always seek to maintain their influence; or they are disciples of the School of Mind who were severely punished by Zhang Juzheng, famous lecturers...

In short, they are a group of marginalized people in the political arena. The purpose of such a group of people getting together is naturally nothing more than to maintain or even increase their influence and voice outside the court.

This is the motivation behind a group of extremely smart minds coming together to weave this absurd dream of becoming immortal.

~~

Oh, yes, the director of the Religious Affairs Committee is Xu Wei. The research report on the Tanyang Sect was made by him after he infiltrated the sect.

Xu Wei told Zhao Hao that on the Double Ninth Festival this year, Tan Yangzi would hold a ceremony to ascend to heaven in broad daylight and perform a live performance of becoming an immortal. If he wanted to eliminate her influence, the best way would be to expose her tricks at the ceremony.

But Fatty Xu did not advise Zhao Hao to do so. He believed that, in the final analysis, she was actually a tool used by the frustrated scholars to unite and compete with the court for the right to speak.

In today's social and political atmosphere, if one Tanyangzi is banned, more Kunyangzi and Shengyangzi will emerge. As the saying goes, it is better to do the familiar than the new, so it is better to try to take in the eldest niece and control the Tanyang clan in my own hands.

It’s the one who accepts disciples.

This is why Zhao Hao went to Taicang. He decided to talk to Tan Yangzi first. If he was still clear-headed and willing to cooperate, he would do as Fatty Xu said. If he was already obsessed or stubborn, he might as well learn from Shen Gongbao... Oh no, Ximen Bao.

But he has always been good at acting. He pretended that he had been away from Jiangnan for too long and knew nothing, and kept asking the Second Wang questions.

He found out with a smile that Wang Shizhen and Wang Xijue, who were in charge of this sect, certainly wanted to increase their own voice and have more weight when they opposed Zhang Juzheng, but they themselves really believed in Tan Yangzi's ideas...

In fact, it is not surprising that superstition is still prevalent four hundred years later, let alone in this era. Even Mr. Zhang firmly believes in the auspicious omen. Those who do not believe in gods and Buddhas are the minority and the outliers.

"Brother, please join us. I have already talked to your niece and my master and have reserved ten places for your family." What bad intentions could the chef have? He pulled Zhao Hao and persuaded him earnestly, "How happy it will be when our whole family becomes immortals together? Even if you don't consider yourself, you should at least consider the old man. He is already eighty years old."

"Then why didn't Grand Tutor Hua join?" Zhao Hao asked.

"Alas, my dear relatives don't have that kind of luck." Wang Shizhen, Hua Shuyang's father-in-law, sighed and said, "My master must first shed his mortal body and ascend to become an immortal, so that he can take back all his magical powers and enlighten us to become immortals. In order to save my dear relatives, my master wanted to ascend to heaven in April, but the time was not right, and his efforts were wasted. He could only wait for the Double Ninth Festival to ascend again, but my dear relatives didn't wait for less than a month..."

"Look, it's all fate." Wang Shimao sighed, obviously believing in Tan Yangzi.

That’s right, the Immortal Master will ascend to heaven in public in a few days, and others can’t help but believe it.

"How about it, do you agree?" Wang Shizhen and Wang Xijue looked at Zhao Hao eagerly. If they could convince this de facto lord of Jiangnan to join, then Tanyang Sect would immediately become the number one religion in Jiangnan.

"You have to let me meet Master Tan Yangzi..." Zhao Hao said with a wry smile, "Let me talk to her and experience the magic myself first, okay?"

"Of course." Wang Shizhen nodded and said, "When we get to Taicang, we will go to Tanyang Temple. I will take you to meet the Immortal Master!"