Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Thirty miles north of Luochuan Fangcheng, there is a vast construction site. The construction site is fenced with fences and contains a large amount of wood, earth and stone and other building materials.

In the center of the construction site, a majestic hall with a foundation of more than ten feet has begun to take shape. It can barely be seen that it is a Buddhist temple building.

When Li Tai introduced Liu Kang and his son to visit the construction site, the three father and son expressions became a little excited. Liu Kang pointed at the prototype of the main hall and asked: "Is this the Shifo Temple built under the supervision of the Grand Governor? Is it still there?" It is already so grand and impressive before it is built. It will be even more magnificent when it is completed, and it will be the best in Beizhou! No wonder all the villagers who visited it praised the governor for being a role model in promoting Dharma and Buddhism, and a rare good person in the world!"

Li Tai accepted all these compliments and led the father and son around the construction site while introducing them to the layout plan of the Buddhist temple.

There are also many Jihu tribesmen employed here. When they see Li Tai, they all bow with respect and solemnity, and their expressions are full of admiration.

The Liu family and his son also met some acquaintances of Hu chiefs on the construction site, including many similar Hu chiefs who lived next to their tribe.

When these Hu chiefs saw the Liu family and his son following Li Tai, they all looked happy. They stepped forward and said with a smile: "Liu Wanqi has finally been recruited by Governor Li to join the plan of promoting Dharma! Your tribe is powerful." , the accumulation is rich, if we get funding, the temple will be completed faster! By then, not only this generation will be honored, but future generations will also enjoy the blessings of the Buddha!"

Faced with the compliments and flattery from the powerful chieftains, the Liu family and his son just laughed in response and did not make any immediate statement.

Seeing that they still had reservations and hesitations about this matter, Li Tai was not in a hurry. It's okay if you don't believe in this kind of thing, but once you get started, you have no way to control it, and it will make people addicted and unable to extricate themselves.

"The Buddhist temple has not yet been completed, but the Buddhist rituals are already being performed. There are three tents here, one is to worship the Buddha, the second is to lecture on scriptures, and the third is to promote the Dharma."

Li Taixian led the father and son into a large tent. The tent was filled with incense. What he saw were Buddha statues of various sizes and made of various materials. They were enshrined on the earthen platform in an orderly and distinct manner.

"Master Buddha is a great virtuous master of Beizhou. In addition to the compassionate relationship with Buddha taught by Buddhism, he also has a blood relationship with ethnic groups. All tribes and ethnic groups, regardless of whether they are wise, foolish, rich or poor, must support a Master Buddha in this life. It can be said that there is no leakage and perfection, you can go through tribulations without being hurt, and you can enjoy blessings in reincarnation!"

Li Tai has now transformed into an ambassador to promote Master Liu's religious image. After entering the tent, he solemnly introduced the importance of making offerings to a statue of Master Buddha.

In the tent here, the bottom layer is stacked with ceramic Buddha statues. Their faces are blurred, their shapes are rough, and they are not even colored. They look like dusty hard clods.

But even such an inferior Buddha statue requires believers to donate a sheep before it can be displayed, and a pottery statue that is painted upwards requires two sheep.

In addition to the clearer and more prominent shape, according to the standard of the pure ones being the top and the turbid ones being the bottom, naturally the incense enjoyed by the upper ones is purer, and the corresponding worshipers can also enjoy more blessings.

The clay statues on the lower floor were personally donated by Jihu believers. On the upper floor, there are bronze and tin Buddha statues, which cannot be worshiped by ordinary people with money.

Because the copper-tin-topped Buddha statue is not only a donation to gain blessings, but also a sign that they have made a tangible contribution to the construction of the Buddhist temple. Their names must be engraved on the base of the Buddha statue, and they can enjoy the incense and merit together with the master and Buddha. worship.

Making a contribution is very simple, just use people or things. For example, this Buddhist temple occupies such a vast area, so of course it needs to be redeemed from the state and county officials in order to enclose the land and turn it into a temple.

Li Tai personally guaranteed to the state government and assumed the investment of 200,000 bolts of silk. Now he has become the largest worshiper of this Buddhist temple. Therefore, the Buddha statue he enshrines is not placed on the earthen platform, but has its own shrine, which is dedicated to the Buddha's room. Every day, eminent monks chant sutras, protect and consecrate it.

The Hu chiefs around the territory raised more than 100,000 bolts of silk before finally exchanging this land from the prefecture and county to build a Buddhist temple.

Therefore, each of these Jihu chiefs also enjoys a statue of merit. Although they are not as good as Li Tai's treatment of having a separate niche, they will all be enshrined in the upper frame after the main hall of the Buddhist temple is completed.

In addition to the illusory merits and blessings, the worshipers of these merit statues also enjoy a practical privilege, which is the opportunity to gain temple management rights. The chief monks of various levels in the temple will only be selected from these worshipers.

The person responsible for explaining these worshiping rules to the Lius and his son is Master Hongyi, the current host of the temple.

This so-called mage was actually an old monk whom Li Tai captured in the Hongfa Temple in Beidi and took him as a domestic slave. Li Tai saw that he was sanctimonious, good-looking and eloquent, so he specially invited him to be a virtuous and eminent monk. The title of mage is used to preside over the construction and daily affairs of the temple.

But in fact, this seemingly otherworldly mage has deep secular roots. His two sons, one daughter, and all his wives and concubines were all adopted in Li Tai's Shangyuan Village.

The Liu family and his son listened very seriously to this, and became even more respectful to Master Hongyi, who presided over it. It wasn't because he didn't know the old monk's true identity or that he believed deeply in Buddhism, but because he heard the profound meaning.

The Master Liu Buddhist Temple built by Li Tai was, at best, to gather people to make money, but at worst, it was to create a new order among the Jihu people!

Although the Liu clan is also a powerful clan in the Diao Yin Realm, their power and prestige are far inferior to that of Li Tai, who has the Western Wei Dynasty and Xingtai Bafu as his backers. Even if they have such an intention and plan, they are completely unable to operate it. .

More importantly, if Li Tai continues to integrate the local forces, the surface rural capital forces they are proud of will gradually lose their advantage.

When Li Taizhen wants to attack them, not to mention other things, the Hu chiefs from the same village who greeted them with smiles just now will probably be the first to lead the way and lead troops to attack the wall of their territory!

Li Tai saw that the three of them, father and son, had thoughtful expressions and kept making eye contact. He didn't say anything more, but just led them into the tent on the left.

In this large tent, several eminent monks took turns taking the stage to lecture, and some believers gathered below to listen devoutly.

Although Master Liu was born in Beizhou, his real teaching area was in Longyou, and the Buddhist principles he upheld were also widely spread in Longyou.

Li Tai wanted to run this Buddhist temple, and of course he had to provide a complete set of services. Therefore, he specially entrusted Dugu Xin to find several eminent monks of this Dharma transmission in Longyou and come to preach Liu Shifo's sutras and meanings.

But it turned out that his arrangement was redundant. Most of the Jihu people only believe in the scriptures but do not listen to the meaning of the scriptures. Even if the eminent monks grind their teeth here and bleed, there are still only a few listeners to the scriptures.

On the contrary, the Dharma promotion tent on the right was often overcrowded, with thousands of people gathering at every turn.

Because the main exhibition here is picture books and dramatic stories of surprises, such as Liu Shifo's subjugation of demons, divination of ancient and modern times, and other stories about gods and monsters. Especially when the drama is performed in which monsters transform into beautiful women with the intention of luring eminent monks into evil ways. It is airtight with three levels inside and three outside.

It can be seen that from ancient times to the present, killing monsters, upgrading, and driving drift have been the popular ways of disseminating information among the people.

When I saw those charming women using various seduction methods, I couldn't help but get involved in them. It was so hot and uneasy, but Master Buddha could sit still and calmly, and he naturally understood the exquisiteness of the eminent monk's Dharma. laity. As for those Buddhist scriptures that make people sleepy, forget them!

Li Tai is not discriminatory about this. As long as he can expand the influence of the Buddhist temple and gather more manpower and materials, everyone can naturally see what they want to see. If you really have to waste time studying the scriptures and study the doctrines in depth, you will have no energy to work in a daze, and the leeks will be wilted!

The Liu family and his son also came here and found out where the legend of Master Liu who transformed into Governor Li came from. Such plots often appear in those Jingbian picture books. The facial features of the characters in the picture books are vaguely similar to Governor Li's appearance. The methods are different, but in the end, without exception, they are all bright and majestic images.

"The Grand Governor promotes Buddhism and worships Master Buddha in this way, but believers like us stay on the sidelines and sit back and watch the success. It is really shameful and uneasy. If you are willing to donate your life and work together to achieve this, I sincerely ask the Grand Governor to accept it!"

After visiting the Buddhist temple for a while, Liu and his son no longer hesitated, but expressed their stance sincerely.

Seeing that this business has been sought after by many similar Jihu people and is becoming more and more popular, naturally the earlier you join, the greater the benefits you will enjoy.

After Li Tai heard this, he smiled and said: "I am only providing some convenience and support in my work. The person who really manages this matter is Master Hongyi, the eminent monk recommended by the masses. It is natural that Patriarch Liu has such a kind heart to worship Buddha, and everything will take care of itself." It’s not convenient for me to comment when negotiating with Master Hongyi.”

With his current status, it is natural that he can no longer bargain with others in person, so he simply leaves it to his subordinates to do it for him.

After explaining this, he returned to Fangcheng, and Monk Hongyi was responsible for greeting the father and son.

In the evening, Monk Hongyi came to the city to see and report the result of the negotiation: "My lord, this Liu Qushuai actually wants to exchange for the privilege of having his own niche. I took it upon myself to tell them that if they do this, they must do so during the construction of the temple." Only the price of five hundred thousand pieces of silk can be offered."

Li Tai knew that all the monks of Hongfa Temple were ruthless and ruthless, otherwise they would not have accumulated such a huge amount of temple property. He was not surprised when the old monk Shili opened his mouth and just smiled and asked: "They accepted?"

"His demeanor is still a bit reluctant, so I plan to hold a few more Dharma meetings in the near future. With mass agitation, it shouldn't be difficult to get them started."

Monk Hongyi quickly bowed again and said.