The carriage drove slowly into the gate of Changliu County. Except for the soldiers guarding the city, the streets were empty. There were flying locusts everywhere in the air. Some fell on the ground, some on the surrounding buildings, and the carriage walked. When it was out of date, a swarm of locusts was alarmed.
Fu Tian opened a little car curtain and looked at the Xiaosuo streets through the gap. Outside of Changliu County, the conditions of the large farmland they passed through were more severe than those in the city. Although it would not cover the sky, swarms of locusts were flying. , The carriage that passed by did not even dare to open the curtain.
The situation in the city is better than outside. It may be that there are few edible plants, and only a small part of it stays in it. The coachman with a hat to block his head and face, drove the carriage slowly to Fujia Mipu.
The coachman got out of the car and buttoned the door. After a while, a man wearing a hat came over and opened the door with his sleeves in his sleeves.
The look on his face was a little wary, "Who?"
"It's the boss here." The driver turned sideways and pointed to the carriage behind him. Fu Tian lifted the driving curtain, revealing a face.
The one who opened the door was the manager of Mipu. He had met Fu Tian before, and when he saw someone, he hurriedly opened the side door beside Mipu and greeted the carriage in.
The carriage drove into the yard, and Fu Tian got off.
The yard should have been covered with flowers and trees, but it was bare at the moment, with no leaves left.
Guan Shi took five hats and handed them to them, and said: "The three of you will bring them first. These locusts are not afraid of people and are easy to run into."
Fu Tian took the hat strap and asked about the situation in Changliu County.
"Why are there so many locusts here? Even in the city, don't the local officials care?"
It stands to reason that even if it is a locust plague, if local officials can manage the disaster in time, it will not be so serious. They usually have to cover their heads even when they go out.
"Why don't you care!" The steward was angrily and anxiously talking about this. "Originally, the county guard lined up to catch locusts, but how did they finish catching so many? The adults originally posted a notice calling the people to catch locusts together. , But some people listen to the slander of the demon monk, saying that this is a punishment..."
Having said this, the steward's voice was obviously lowered. He looked around before lowering his voice and continued: "Speaking of this day's punishment, the Holy Spirit must confess the sin to the heavens before it can be calmed down..."
After he finished speaking, he looked a little vacant, looked at the other people behind him, and explained: "I don't believe in this. After the holy ascended the throne, he will be the country and the people. How can there be a punishment... But these people are all bewitched by the demon monks. Believe it."
Even because of this, they became hostile to the county guard house. As their number gradually increased, people often splashed filth at the gate of the county guard house at night. The local county guard was kind and compassionate for them to be deceived by the demon monk, so they ordered the county guard house. People in, go out less, try to avoid conflicts, and wait for the support from Qingyang.
Therefore, the control of the locust plague has been delayed.
Official Qin, who had not spoken at this time, said, "Find a chance to see the county guard first."
Fu Tian nodded, "Where are the monks?"
"In the east of the city, a lot of victims gathered there, and they gave lectures and alms porridge in the east of the city."
"Then we can just go take a look." Wei Yang's expression is not very good, "will meet these'high monks'."
Guan Shi hesitated when he heard that, "These demon monks have many believers, and it seems that they have established a 'Pudu Temple'. It's better not to risk it yourself."
Fu Tian shook his head to stop him, "You find someone to show us the way, we change our clothes and take a look."
It was still early, and the carriage entered the city, and no one would notice it for no reason.
Since you can't hide your whereabouts, it's better to pretend to be believers and visit them for a while.
Seeing that they couldn't stop them, he could only call Xiao Er from Mipu tremblingly, and prepared some ordinary robes for the three of them. The three of them packed up again, pretending to be ordinary businessmen, and headed for the east of the city in a big way.
As the steward said, many victims of the disaster did gather in the east of the city. Some came from other places and took refuge in the east of the city because they were homeless. Others were local people who were affected by the disaster and went bankrupt for their lives.
After the outbreak of the locust plague, the price of rice in Changliu County soared to the point that ordinary people could not afford it. People who had no food in their homes had to sell their only house for money, but at this time, the house was not valuable and sold. His money could only be exchanged for a little rice, and he was careful to eat for a while, and it ended.
In the end, they could only end up in the east of the city.
Fu Tian looked at the victims who were sitting against the wall. The expressions on their faces were numb and desperate. When they saw Fu Tian and the three of them, their eyes moved and quickly moved away in disappointment.
Fu Tian and the others went by just in time for the evening lecture. The three of them walked, and there was a commotion around them. The victims who were originally numb in their faces suddenly became excited, their eyes bursting with light, and they gathered in the same direction.
The three followed them and saw the victims gathered in front of a house. The house was slightly dilapidated, but the plaque on the door was new, with the three characters "Pudu Temple" written on it.
This was originally an ordinary house, but it was turned into a nondescript temple by the monks. With the victims kneeling down in front of the door, it seemed funny and ironic.
The door of the house opened, and the two monks in gray monk robes folded their hands together and said, "Master Purdue, please."
The victims clasped their hands together and said in unison, "Master Purdue, please."
Master Purdue then slowly appeared from behind the door.
He was wearing a red and yellow robes with a string of Buddhist beads twisted in his left hand. He was kind eyebrows and good-looking, but he did look like an eminent monk.
If Fu Tian didn't know the rumors in advance or flowed out from here, they would probably believe them.
After Master Purdue came out, his eyes fell on them, then he smiled and nodded, then sat down cross-legged and began to lecture.
These fake monks pretend to be in battle, but it's a pity that they show up when they speak.
Purdue's so-called lecture is not an explanation of the scriptures, and he repeats the words: "Heaven has the virtue of good living", "There will be no sins on the people", "Innocents, debts and masters" and so on.
Fu Tian summed it up. It probably meant that this was God's punishment for being inhumane to the emperor, and the people were innocent, so he prayed that God would not be angry.
The three people laughed and laughed, but these victims seemed to be very convinced. They knelt on the ground with their hands folded and listened religiously. It seemed that they could really get rid of the disaster by doing this.
Waiting patiently for the end of the lecture, these victims seemed to have accomplished something extremely important, and even their look of despair improved.
Master Purdue did not go back, but slowly walked towards the three of them, "Amitabha, the three donors are also here to listen to Lao Na's lecture?"
Wei Yang smiled and spoke first, "We heard that there is a Purdue Master in Changliu County, who is the Purdue Master, so we rushed over to take a look."
Master Purdue smiled, but his eyes flickered and hesitated, "How many people have seen it, how do you feel?"
"It's better to see at a glance, Master Purdue is well-deserved." Fu Tian continued without changing his face.
Sure enough, Master Purdue's expression is much better, "The donor praised, Lao Na just wants to do something within his power for these victims."
Wei Yang pretended to be surprised, "The three of us came here to do something for the victims in Changliu County, but we coincided with the master."
"Yes," Fu Tian answered: "The three of us also believe in Buddhism on weekdays. It happened to hear that the master was here, so we wanted to do our best."
Master Purdue was a little fluttered by their singing and singing, and the smile on his face could not be restrained, "I don't know how the donor wants to help the victims?"
Fu Tian hesitated, "We are all laymen. We originally prepared a sum of money to donate to the victims..."
Master Purdue's face was even bigger, but when he listened to him, he continued: "But after listening to the master's lecture, I felt that what these victims need most is not money, and to help them escape the shadow of natural disasters and regain hope."
Master Purdue's face froze for a moment, "This is true, but these victims currently have a problem with eating enough..."
Wei Yang said in surprise: "Doesn't the master give porridge and rice every day?"
Master Purdue's smile faded, secretly thinking of reasons to prevaricate them.
From the beginning, in order to deceive the believers, they donated porridge and rice, but later they rarely gave alms. It was claimed that the food in Pudu Temple was also exhausted, and even the food and clothing of the master was a problem.
In this way, many believers can be tricked into donating sesame oil money.
Now facing the three foreigners, he looks like a rich man in his clothes. He is a little reluctant to bear the three fat sheep, and sighs pretensely: "Ashamed, the food in the temple has been exhausted, and he has not served porridge for a long time. Up."
He originally thought it was time for the three of us to donate some sesame oil money, but listened to Fu Tian sighed: "Under the natural disaster, it is not easy for the master. It is better to let the three of our brothers donate porridge and rice in the future."
Fu Tian said sincerely, with a worried look, and immediately stopped Purdue Master's words.
He paused and said, "Lao Na, on behalf of the victims, would like to thank the three donors for their kindness."
Fu Tian smiled and waved his hand, saying it should be. After dealing with him for a while, he left with the excuse that it was too late and would come back tomorrow to listen to the master's lecture.
Returning to Mipu, Wei Yang asked, "What do you think?"
Fu Tian said: "It looks like they are looking for money."
Official Qin also agreed, "The rumors should have been spread from here, but somehow it went out of shape and became the version they heard later."
Wei Yang said, "Although these fake monks are only looking for money, they do gather a lot of diehard believers now. Have you seen the eyes of the victims?"
The two nodded. The victims only had a hint of fanaticism when they listened to the scriptures. If they risked exposing the identity of these fake monks, it might be counterproductive. The victims not only did not believe it, but thought it was persecution by the government.
Wei Yang said: "It's much better than the worst we guessed. It's much easier to deal with money only." What they fear most is that someone plots to confuse the people through natural disasters.
"Then we will go tomorrow?"
Fu Tian said: "Since I have said that I will donate porridge and rice, I can't justify it if I don't go tomorrow, and this is also a good opportunity to get close to the victims."
Wei Yang had the same idea as him. The two hit it off. Wei Yang turned his head and asked the official Qin, "What do you think?"
Official Qin nodded, "Feasible."
So Fu Tian called the manager over again and asked him to prepare the rice grains for tomorrow.