The first stop of Wuhaogu's eastward journey was Nanjing Yingtianfu, not Nanjing on the Yangtze River in later generations, but on the edge of Kaifeng Mansion, which was about the Shangqiu area in later generations.

They traveled very slowly this way, from Kaifeng Mansion to Yingtian Mansion, but more than 200 miles, but they walked for five days to arrive.

The reason why he walked so slowly was because Wu Haogu made an appointment with the old Japanese monk to quit and go with the Wutai Mountain bureaucratic monk Lu Zhishen. Lu Zhishen is nothing, he is strong and can ride a horse, he really has to rush desperately, and he will arrive in more than 200 miles in one day and one night.

However, it was not possible to quit the old monk, he was too old and could not ride a horse, so he had to take a mule cart sent by the Great Xiangguo Temple to travel slowly.

And this old monk has Dao Heng at a glance, every time he goes to a pavilion post (Jiezhu and Lu Zhishen are both officials, and they are ordered to go east, they naturally receive post coupons, and they can stay in the pavilion post for free, and Wu Haogu and others will be rubbed in the name of the old monk everywhere), will attract a few passing dignitaries to explore Buddhism. Sometimes, there will be officials who go out of Beijing to take up their posts, and they will talk with the old monks along the way.

However, this is also convenient for Wu Haogu, with officials as companions, the tax cards along the way were released all the way, until they entered Yingtianfu City, and they did not pay a penny of tax.

Ying Tianfu was originally known as Songzhou, and before Zhao Kuangyin usurped the throne, he was the former capital of the palace and the envoy of Songzhou to the German army. The name of the Song Dynasty came from this, and Songzhou became the "Land of Longxing" of the Song Dynasty and was upgraded to Yingtianfu. In the seventh year of Song Zhenzong's Dazhong Xiangfu, Ying Tianfu was upgraded to Nanjing again, and the main hall of the palace was built here, and the city was repeatedly expanded, becoming a big city no less than the scale of Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo.

However, the population of Yingtianfu is far less than that of Kaifeng Mansion, and even after entering the Fucheng, there is still a sense of emptiness.

After entering Yingtianfu City, Wu Haogu and others still found the pavilion of Yingtianfu, and before they entered the door, they saw a man with a white face and a long beard, dressed in a brocade robe, and a rich businessman's appearance strode forward, and bowed to the old monk.

"Buddha disciple Wu Zhi, knock on the Venerable Master of Martial Arts."

The old monk refused to return the salute, and said, "This benefactor, please hurry up." ”

The man who called himself "Wu Zhi" bowed again, then stood up and said respectfully: "The disciple saw the Bodhisattva in a dream yesterday, saying that he could meet Arhat today, and he didn't want to really see the master in Yingtianfu. ”

The old monk seemed to have long been accustomed to this kind of scene of being worshiped by believers, so he just smiled and said, "Does the donor recognize the old monk?" The old monk Xiang practiced on Wutai Mountain and had not come out to walk for more than ten years. ”

"The disciple has been to Wutai Mountain," Wu Zhi said, "I was fortunate to listen to the Venerable Master talk about Buddhism in the Zhenrong Temple.

I don't know how the master got to this Ying Tianfu? But who has traveled here? ”

"The old monk has been practicing in Wutai Mountain for many years, and he was lucky enough to get some Buddhist teachings by mistake, and he wanted to pass them back to Dongying in order to save the lives of the people of Japan."

"That's a great feat."

When Wu Zhi heard this, he bowed his head again, and said in his mouth, "No wonder the Bodhisattva said that he can see Arhats today, it turns out that the master of abstinence is to prove Arhat Fruit, and I have to see the Great Arhat today, which is really a blessing from the cultivation in my previous life!" ”

As he spoke, Wu Zhi's senior officials actually wept bitterly, looking really pious.

For Buddhism, Wu Haogu is also skeptical of faith (he was originally a godless immortalist, but he encountered such things as soul crossing, so he believed a little, but I don't know which one is the real immortal), and I have seen many more devout Buddhist disciples in Kaifeng Mansion. However, it is rare for someone like the one in front of him to cry when he sees an old monk.

This rare person can be seen at once, and it would be bad if it was endless. Thinking of this, Wu Haogu glanced at Monk Fu, who was supporting the old monk.

Monk Fu immediately understood, and said, "It's not too early, let's let the mage enter the hall to rest first." ”

When the senior official of Wu Zhi heard this, he immediately stood up and said to the old monk: "I really shouldn't delay the master's practice, but the Buddha disciple still has a reluctant request, and I hope that the master will be fulfilled." ”

"Oh," the old monk smiled, "said the benefactor." ”

"The disciples of the Buddha know that the vegetarian food of the Guanyin Monastery by the Nanda Lake not far from here is the first in Nanjing, and the disciples of the Buddha want to set up a table there and invite the master to enjoy it."

"It's okay," the old monk didn't shirk, "When the old monk settles down, he will go to the Guanyin Monastery." ”

"Then the Buddha disciple went to arrange it."

Wu Zhi made a salute and hurried away, without saying a word to Wu Haogu from beginning to end.

Wu Haogu only thought that he was a Buddhist disciple who believed in Buddhism and was obsessed, but he didn't expect that this person was the second leader under Song Jiang of Xiaoyi Hei Saburo of Zonghengyun, Ji and Pu Prefectures, Zhiduoxing Wu Yong.

It was on Song Jiang's order that he pretended to be a disciple of the Buddha to approach Wu Haogu, and wanted to find out the details, so that it would be convenient to start.

Just when Wu Yong went to the Guanyin Monastery to prepare for vegetarian food, Wu Haogu and the others had already opened a room in the pavilion in Yingtianfu with post tickets and put down their luggage. Because it was still early, the quitting monk and Lu Zhishen did not go out, but asked Monk Fu to invite Wu Haogu and Pan Qiaolian to drink tea and chat together.

As soon as Wu Haogu and Pan Qiaolian entered the door, they heard Lu Zhishen talking about the "Wu Zhi official".

The great monk said: "The Buddhist disciples of Wu Daguan are not very common in the Great Song Dynasty, but there are many in the Liao Kingdom. ”

"Liao?" Wu Haogu was following Monk Fu into the door at this time, "Master Zhishen still knows about the Liao Kingdom?" ”

"How do you not know?" Lu Zhishen stood up and greeted Wu Haogu and Pan Qiaolian, and then invited the two of them to sit down, "The Sprinkle family has been to the Liao Kingdom." ”

"Have you been to Liao?" Wu Hao Guqi said, "Is it easy to go?" ”

"It's easy," Lu Zhishen said with a smile, "Wutai Mountain is close to the border of Liao, and the Liao people worship Buddha far better than our dynasty. ”

"Oh."

Wu Haogu vaguely remembered that I don't know who gave the definition of the demise of the Liao State and the Jin State, which was called "Liao to release the abolition, Jin to the death of Confucianism". "Interpretation" is Buddhism, and the dignified Liao is the belief in Buddhism and the abolition of faith......

"Now that there are frequent police in the north, the Liao people won't raise troops to go south, right?" Pan Qiaolian was not very interested in Liao Buddhism, but she was very concerned about the conflict between Song and Liao. Because her brother Pan Xiao'an is the commander of the Japanese army, if Song Liao starts a war, it will really go to the battlefield!

"No, it won't." Lu Zhishen affirmed the authenticity, "Now the Khitan people believe in Buddhism and are good, there are many Buddhist temples in Wujing, and the monks are like clouds, and they are no longer as fierce as in the past, how can they go south?"

By the way, Wu Dalang, you have good photo skills, if you can write a few pictures for the master of quitting, and find an opportunity to take them to the Liao Kingdom in the future, and give them to the nobles, you will definitely get a lot of rewards, and if you want to do business in the Liao Kingdom, it will be much easier. ”

It turns out that the master of the abstinence not only has many believers in the Song Kingdom, but also has a cloud of believers in the Liao State - the disciples of the Buddha all know that it is a great achievement to spread the Dharma, and the old monks who abstain from going to China to seek the Dharma and pass it on in Japan can prove an Arhat Fruit.

If Wu Haogu painted a portrait of him, and the old monk passed away in the future, this would not be "Quit Monk Photo Collection", but "Quit Arhat True Face Collection". For those nobles in Liao who believe in Buddhism and are fascinated, a "true picture of Arhats" that is exactly the same as a real person is a priceless treasure, more precious than Wu Daozi's real handiwork!

The old monk listened to Lu Zhishen's words, and laughed and said: "Master Wu, draw a few pieces of paper for the old monk, and ask the old monk to take it back to Japan." ”

Wu Haogu also felt that this attention was good, and he didn't care about the rewards of the great nobles of the Liao Kingdom, but it was also good to be able to get a relationship.

As for the transmission of his works to Japan, he may be able to place them in the imperial temples of Heiankyo, which can be regarded as stepping out of China and into the world......