On the edge of the Haizhou Goryeo Pavilion, there is a small but exquisite White Lotus Society, and this night, in a pavilion in the White Lotus Society, the lights are bright.

The White Lotus Society is the temple of the White Lotus Sect of Buddhism, the White Lotus Sect is also known as the White Lotus Sect, originating from the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, according to legend, the ancestor of the Pure Land Sect of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Shi Huiyuan in the Lushan Donglin Temple and Liu Yimin and other knots of the White Lotus Society to chant the Buddha together, and the believers of later generations thought it was a model.

Unlike other Buddhist sects, the White Lotus religion is simple, simple to practice (the minimum requirement is to recite the Buddha), and it calls on believers to worship their ancestors, and the presiding priest of the temple does not need to be a monk to practice, so it spreads very quickly among the people.

However, because the teachings of the White Lotus religion are too simple and there are not many rules and precepts, it is easy to be infiltrated by other sects. Especially after the ban on Manichaeism (Mingjiao) in the Tang Dynasty, the remnants of Manichaeism spread secretly among the people in the name of the White Lotus Sect. To some extent, there was also a fusion of the White Lotus sect of Buddhism and Manichaeism.

And this White Lotus Society, which was built on the side of the Haizhou Goryeo Pavilion, is like this. Inside the main hall, a life-size gilt Maitreya Buddha is enshrined. However, in the pavilion in the backyard of the White Lotus Society, what hangs is a statue of Mingzun with white brushwork.

On both sides of the statue, there are twelve candles filled with ambergris, which not only shrouds the Ming Zun on the statue in a piece of light, but also exudes a faint fragrance that attacks people, adding a bit of divine light.

During the day, in the restaurant in Tonghai Lane, the white beauty Mo Niangzi from Mingzhou who sang for Wu Haogu and others, was dressed in white clothes and wearing a black hat, kneeling in front of the statue of Mingzun, and singing in a low voice:

"The light is generally pure, and the joy is extinguished without the curse. He has no trouble with joy, but there is no use in suffering. Always be happy and bright, if you say that you are sick, it is useless. If there are those who can live in other countries, they will be worry-free. The solemnity of the place is pure, and all the evil is not pure; Happiness is full of Chang Kuantai, and there is no good thing to say......"

Although it is only chanted in a low voice and has no accompaniment, it is like a heavenly sound, making the listener feel extremely peaceful and peaceful from the bottom of his heart.

The sighing text in the Mingjiao scripture "Lower Praise" was sung by Mo Niangzi almost with divinity and magic.

In addition to the Mo Niangzi who was singing "Lower Praise", there was another person in the attic, that was Ji Yizhi, Ji Daguan.

Under the candlelight, I saw that Ji Daguan was wearing the same white clothes and black hat as Mo Niangzi, and he was also kneeling on the futon, holding a picture scroll in his hand, closing his eyes, and waiting quietly.

I don't know how long it took, but the heavenly chanting finally ended, and in the attic, there was a kind of refreshing tranquility.

After another moment, the demonic voice finally broke the silence.

"Remember, the painting is here?"

Only then did Ji Daguan open his eyes and find that Mo Niangzi had turned around and faced him.

"Brought it." Ji Daguan placed the scroll on the floor between him and Mo Niangzi, and slowly unfolded it, which was a copy of Mi Youren's "Bishamen Tiantu".

"This is an ancient painting by Wu Hao?"

"It's a copy, a copy of the Xiaomi official, he worships Wu Haogu as a teacher."

"Oh? Is it? Mo Niangzi's tone was calm, and she didn't seem surprised at all. He seems to be very interested in slaves today, is it possible to ask you for slaves? ”

"It shouldn't be ......" Ji Yi thought for a while and shook his head, "He and the girl of the Pan family are in love now, and he won't have that kind of mind for other women."

Moreover, marrying Pan Niangzi as him is Gao Pan, and taking concubines and raising family tricks are probably delusional. At least for a decade or two, you don't have to think about it. ”

"That's right." Mo Niangzi nodded, "Is it possible for him to worship Mingzun?" ”

Ji Yi squinted his eyes and muttered for a while: "Most of the northerners worship Buddhism and Taoism, and there are very few people who believe in Mingzun. However, this Wu Haogu doesn't seem to believe in Buddhism......"

"Don't believe in Buddhism?" Mo Niangzi was stunned, "Do you believe in Jingjiao?" ”

"It's not Nestorian Christianity," Ji recalled, "he probably doesn't believe in gods and Buddhas at all." ”

"Well, it's better not to believe than to believe." Mo Niangzi frowned, "False belief has always been a great disaster for all religions, and even the Holy Sect is no exception......"

"Holy Maiden......" Ji Daguan actually called Mo Niangzi a holy woman!

If Wu Haogu saw this scene, he would definitely suspect that he had traveled into Jin Daxia's martial arts novels.

However, Ji Yi and Mo Niangzi, the two "demon demons", have no world-class martial arts...... Ji Yi was originally a Mingzhou maritime merchant (who was also a pirate), and he only joined the religion in order to obtain the shipbuilding technology and maritime trade routes of the Arabs and Persians brought by Mingjiao from overseas. It is precisely because of these supports from the Ming Sect that the ancestors of the Ji family will become the richest people in Jiangnan.

The ancestors of the Mo lady are Persians, and the surname "Mo" is actually a homonym for "Mani". The Mohist ancestors were originally Persian Manichaean (i.e., Mingjiao) electors (ordinary clergy) and listeners (lay believers), who fled to China to escape the persecution of the Arab Empire. He took refuge in the Mingzhou Ji family, which was quite powerful in the southeast sea, and spread Manichaeism to the Ji family, and at the same time gave the shipbuilding technology and maritime trade route map brought out from Persia to the ancestors of the Ji family.

The Mo Niangzi, who is known as the "Holy Woman", is one of the two "Muja" (a man and a woman) of the Central Plains Ming Sect, and because she is a woman, she is called a holy woman by the congregation. There is also a male "Muja", who is called the Holy Father.

Manichaeism theoretically has 12 Mujas, and there is a Pope called "Yan Mo" above it, but Manichaeism that came to China is theoretically only a branch, so there are only two "Mu Jas", and there is no "Yan Mo".

However, Ji Daguan is not a priest of Mingjiao, he is just a "listener", that is, a believer at home.

But he is not an ordinary "listener", but a super listener who has supported a female "Muja" for generations. Or to be more precise, the Ji family is the big benefactor of Mingjiao. They have a considerable say in the affairs of the religion and even in the emergence of the Mingjiao "Muja".

From a certain point of view, the Pingjiang Ji family can control half of the Ming Sect through the female "Muja", that is, the holy woman, whom they support.

According to an agreement reached between the ancestors of the Ji family and the Manichaean Muja family who fled from Persia (neither the Muja nor the elect could marry and have children, but their brothers and sisters could), the Manichaean female Muja, or Ming saintess, was chosen from seven families of Persian origin for generations, and then the Ji family was responsible for protecting and providing for them.

And the seven "elect families" with Persian ancestry were actually seven Baifan merchant families who settled in Mingzhou, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou.

Through this special religious connection, the Ji family also became the head family of the Mingjiao maritime merchant group that could compete with the Arab maritime group.

However, after two or three hundred years of development, the Mingjiao maritime business group, led by the wealthy Ji family, has now encountered a great crisis - the spread of Mingjiao has gone out of control!

It turned out that the ancestors of the Ji family and the ancestors of the seven Persian Mingjiao elective families had devoted their main energies to commerce for two or three hundred years, and had little interest in missionary work, and the targets of the mission were mainly merchants in Mingzhou, Yangzhou, Haizhou, Guangzhou, and Quanzhou.

Moreover, although they also put up the sign of the White Lotus Society, they still adhered to the set of rules and red tape of the Persian Ming religion in their missionary activities. So the number of believers has always been small.

However, at the same time, the "Shenggong system" of Mingjiao has taken a localized and bottom-level development route, leaving aside most of the teachings and precepts of Mingjiao, and only pulling people to expand their power, while the people who join the religion are mixed, and they have all kinds of thoughts.

Up to now, even the Ming Sect Holy Father Jingming Monk himself was a little uncontrollable, so he turned to the Holy Maiden Mo Niangzi and Pingjiang Ji's family.

And the Ji family was also afraid that the Jiangnan Mingjiao would get out of control and affect them, the "well-behaved" businessmen, so they planned to take the upper route, so that the Mingjiao could once again gain a legal and open status to facilitate control.

"Holy Maiden," Senior Official Ji said to Mo Niangzi at this time, "Even if Wu Haogu does not become a listener of the Holy Sect, he can also be used by me."

Because His Royal Highness King Duan will soon learn to draw with him...... When the time comes, as long as my family's shadow comes out, are you still afraid that you won't be able to lose this King of the Great Song Dynasty? ”