Limestone geology, underground rivers and karst caves, these magical places often form gorgeous and colorful landscapes.

Not far from Taipingzhai, there is a small hill, and there is a huge karst cave near the top of the mountain, which can accommodate tens of thousands of people, and the local natives call it a 10,000-person cave. Legend has it that the barbarians rebelled in the Tang Dynasty and hid soldiers in the cave, and there are still traces of human habitation.

The terrain in the cave is dry and flat, and there are no common stalactites, which is very suitable for habitation. At the foot of the mountain, there is another underground river drilled out of the mountain, and the water is huge, and it flows straight into the Zuojiang River not far away. This hill has two beautiful scenery, one cave and one water, and the endowment is rare among the mountains. It's a pity that it's located in a remote area, and the population of Taipingzhai is also sparse, and it is not known to people in the deep boudoir.

Until more than a month ago, a Venerable Zhiyun from Qinzhou claimed to have seen the Buddha's light appear on the top of the mountain at night, saying that it was related to Buddhism here, and vowed to build a temple on the mountain to practice. The news spread, and the men and women in the vicinity came here to see the Buddha's light and donated money and materials to Master Zhiyun, who lived at the foot of the mountain, to help him build a temple here.

Since Master Zhiyun settled here, this unknown hill has a name, called Jinguangding, and the 10,000-person cave has also been changed to Jinguang Cave, and from time to time people come here to play, and it has quickly become a scenic spot in Taipingzhai.

Xu Pingchu didn't care when he heard the news, as long as there was a monk who had a degree, and there were believers who were willing to donate money, as long as he didn't break the law to build a temple, he didn't bother to care.

Since the time of Taizong, the Song Dynasty was relatively tolerant of Buddhism, and it was from the Song Dynasty that Buddhism penetrated deeply into the people and completely became a part of Chinese society. Most of the emperors of the Song Dynasty believed that Buddhism was a good guide to goodness, could educate customs, and had an encouraging attitude. Emperor Zhenzong said that his tenure officially established the political status of Confucianism, and he uttered the famous sentence that had a profound impact on Chinese society: "There is Yan Ruyu in the book, and there is a golden house in the book." But on the other hand, Zhenzong also advocates Taoism, worships in the east and west, and builds palaces. At the same time, Zhenzong wrote the "Treatise on Chongshi", saying that Buddhism and Confucianism are "different but the same way", and the three religions are actually not the same.

In society, the bald head is obviously more popular than the bull-nosed Taoist priest and the poor scholar, and if you receive your money, you will be allowed to be rich in the next life. Being a cow and a horse in this life, living in a big house in the next life, and wearing silk is even more demagogic. Especially the Empress Dowager Liu, first, inherited her husband's will, and secondly, women were closer to monks and more enthusiastic about the afterlife, and Buddhism developed rapidly during her tenure.

The scenery of the monks eventually caused a backlash from the scholars, and Ouyang Xiu was the representative of the fierce rejection of Buddha. However, the bald heads were protected by the emperor, and in addition to adding a few splendid articles to the literati, the Song Dynasty did not make any big moves, but eventually affected the transformation of Confucianism.

These are all later words, Ouyang Xiu has just been admitted to the Jinshi for a short time, and he is still struggling for qualifications, so he doesn't have the leisure to do so. In the later period of the Heavenly Sage, it was really the golden time of Buddhism, and the monks lived a very nourishing life.

Xu Ping has always believed that peace is a blessing in the officialdom, and everything is not going out, although he is not interested in any kind of religion, but he just goes with the flow, and does not deliberately embarrass them.

It wasn't until Gao Daquan came back and said that Master Zhiyun was going to build a release pond under the golden light, that Xu Ping could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, and he had to stand up and show his attitude.

The release pond is a place specially used for the release of life, and the Song people believe in this set, and the dignitaries and even the emperor and queen mother will release animals on a large scale every important festival and their birthday. Of course, animals are also divided into three, six, nine and so on, and those running on land, whether they are jackals, tigers and leopards, or roe deer, roe deer and rabbits, obviously cannot be released on a large scale in crowded places, so they are cheap aquatic fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs.

Because the emperor and the empress dowager believed in this, the release was not only a spontaneous act of the people, but also took on a bit of official color. In developed areas, such as the Jianghuai region, there was a special edict in the first two years, and all prefectures and counties near the river were not allowed to fish within five miles of the upstream and downstream, and it was specially used for the purpose of releasing animals.

It is precisely because of this background that someone proposed the establishment of a release pond, and Xu Ping, as the local governor, had to come forward to speak. Fortunately, this Master Zhiyun knows the current affairs and proposes that the location of the release pond be under the golden light, otherwise if it is according to the old practice of Jianghuai, Zuojiang will turn around and bend in Taipingzhai, and the fishing ban for five miles upstream and downstream will make it miserable.

On this day, when it was sunny after the rain, Xu Ping brought Gao Daquan to Jinguangding to observe the terrain and make the final decision on the location of the release pond. Xiuxiu, who was in a panic in Taipingzhai, pulled Liu Xiaomei and Duan Yunjie to mix in the crowd and went to this emerging tourist attraction to relax.

The mountain road was rugged and difficult, and the road was slippery after the rain, so the group left the town not far away, so they gave up their carriages and horses, walked all the way, and the sun rose high before they came to the foot of the mountain.

Xiuxiu said to Duan Yunjie beside her: "The road is so difficult to walk, I am tired of people, and the road is just an ordinary mountain scene, I don't know what to see!" ”

Duan Yunjie laughed softly: "Maybe you won't have the scenery until you reach the foot of the mountain, you are just impatient." ”

"It's not here, it's just a waterhole, and a big stream, where is it beautiful!"

Duan Yunjie looked not far ahead, and sure enough, at the foot of Jinguangding Mountain, the underground river came out of a cave, forming a small waterfall, and a waterhole with a radius of dozens of zhang rushed out under the mountain, and the pool water flowed downstream, forming a tributary of the Zuojiang River. The waterfall may be small and not spectacular, but the water is clear and lined with lush trees, which is also very interesting.

Since the news of the Buddha's light appeared at night, there were many people who came here to visit, and in a short period of time, several shops were opened by the waterhole to do business for these tourists. A tea shop for people to sit idle, and two small wine shops, outside with signs to sell people's wine and food. Yongzhou is made of 10,000 households here, and the shops can brew and sell themselves, and there are people selling wine everywhere.

Next to these three shops, there are some stalls selling incense and candles, mixed with a few fresh fruits and vegetables, all from the vicinity.

Xiuxiu said: "I'm tired of walking, let's go to the tea shop over there to take a break, and buy a few catties of lychees to eat by the way." I see that the water spirit over there must have just been plucked from the tree. ”

Duan Yunjie said: "We came with the officials, how can we be our own masters?" ”

"Sister, we're here to play, why do we follow the officials to run errands? The officials want to see the release pond and the location of the temple, is it possible that we are still running all over the mountain? ”

Duan Yunjie shook her head, and had no choice but to follow Xiuxiu's meaning.

Xu Ping took Gao Daquan and Tan Hu to the edge of the pool, and saw that the water in the pool was clear and bottomless, and there were swimming fish popping up from time to time. On the other side of the waterhole is a large banyan tree, its branches and leaves sweeping on the water, and there are many birds of all kinds gathered in the canopy, jumping around and chirping.

Looking up at the Golden Light Peak, the mountain is not high, but it looks like thirty or forty zhang, and the Golden Light Cave cannot be seen between the trees. However, this mountain is a bit steep, and it is not easy to go up and down.

After looking at it, Xu Ping turned back to Gao Daquan and said: "The good place chosen by the monk, this waterhole was selected as the release pool, and the person who released the life came here, can he still go up to his temple to burn incense?" Incense must be no different. ”

Gao Daquan nodded: "I think so too, I'm afraid that the Buddha light that appears at night is just made up by the monk, but I just fancy the feng shui here." What do you think, official? ”

"It doesn't matter if he's true or not, as long as he doesn't commit adultery, let him be."

Xu Ping is not interested in Shinto things, and he came here today just for a routine matter. Since ancient times, the imperial court has forbidden mountains and rivers, except for some more chaotic special periods, mountains, rivers and lakes are not allowed to be developed privately, subjectively this is to maintain the majesty of the emperor, but objectively it protects the natural environment from destruction. Until the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government opened the mountain ban, and in just over 100 years, except for the remote mountainous areas, the natural forests were completely destroyed. Xu Ping has memories of his past life, although he doesn't know how the environment was destroyed in history, but he is very aware of the importance of protecting mountain vegetation, and he still takes the prohibition of mountains and rivers seriously.

If a monk wants to build a temple on the mountain and build a release pond under the mountain, he must have the approval of the government. Speaking of which, it is not legal for him to settle at the foot of the mountain without permission now, but Xu Ping doesn't care about the monks.

After roughly looking at it, building a temple on the mountain, except for being more remote, has no impact on the surroundings, so Xu Ping agreed in his heart. Buddhism is a nonsense to guide people to goodness, which one of Confucianism and Taoism does not guide people to goodness? It's just that those two families don't have the Buddhist reincarnation theory to confuse people's hearts, and the demagogic power is strong. Especially in Confucianism, it is right to be good, and those who do evil must be punished. For the illiterate lower class people, which one will be chosen to believe, it is simply lice on the bald head, and it is clear from the basic doctrine.

To put it bluntly, managing people, scary, and reasoning are all tirese, and only deception can make others willing to pay money and thank you a thousand times. With the education of his previous life, Xu Ping naturally understands that religion is the narcotic of the lower classes of society, and other lofty reasons are nonsense, and the national law still requires people to do good and not do evil, which one will believe it? However, for the rulers, the cost of anesthetics was lower, so it was strongly promoted.

After looking at everything, Xu Ping said to Tan Hu: "I'm tired of walking all the way, let's go to the tea shop over there to take a rest and ask for a cup of tea to moisten our mouth." ”

Leaving the waterhole with a few people and the accompanying sergeants, Xu Ping sat down under the shed of the tea shop. These pergolas are built with bamboo poles and thatch, which take a short time to build and have a low cost, which can be regarded as the light of the geography and climate here in Yongzhou.

When he came up for tea, Xu Ping took a sip, looked around, and asked Tan Hu: "How many of them are Xiuxiu?" Didn't you come out with us, why didn't you disappear? ”

Tan Hu said: "I was drinking tea at the tea stall here just now, and after drinking the tea, it seems that I entered the wine shop next to it." ”

Xu Ping snorted, and didn't bother to care what a few people and women were busy with.

Before the cup of tea was finished, there was a sudden noise from the liquor shop next to it, and something was thrown out of it, which was particularly harsh among the mountains and fields.

Xu Ping put down the tea and said to Gao Daquan and Tan Hu: "Come with me and see, who is noisy!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, his face sank. As the highest local governor, it is difficult for him to come out, and when he comes out, someone will make trouble here, so he obviously doesn't give himself face.

When they arrived at the door of the wine shop, the people inside had already come out, and the three men were pushing and shoving and entangled together.

Xiuxiu and the three of them stood in the crowd of onlookers, holding a large string of lychees in their hands, eating and watching deliciously.

Xu Ping beckoned, summoned Xiuxiu to him, and asked her, "What's going on in the store?" Did a few of you go in and unruly and provoke it? ”

Xiuxiu shook her head: "Why do officials rely on me whenever they have something?" When we go into the store to ask for food and drink, we all talk kindly, how can we cause trouble? It was those two big men who entered someone's shop, and for no reason they were not allowed to do business here, and they threw dishes and pots out of the store. ”

Xu Ping frowned: "There's no reason?" ”

"Yes," Xiuxiu spat out the lychee kernel in her mouth, "and the two men said that they were lay monks with the Venerable Master, and the shopkeeper was here selling fish to blaspheme the Dharma, so they quarreled. ”

At this moment, onlookers spotted Xu Ping and his party, and someone shouted, "Okay!" The officials of the Lifting Division are here, and they are praising reason, what are you guys still fighting! ”