Chapter 1 Lieutenant Hong mistakenly releases the demons
It is said that during the reign of Renzong in the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a plague that was rampant and the people were devastated. Emperor Renzong heard about this and hurriedly ordered the Hanlin Academy to draft an edict. On the one hand, he would grant amnesty to the world and reduce taxes, and on the other hand, he went to the temple to hold rituals to eliminate disasters. Unexpectedly, the plague not only did not abate, but became worse. Emperor Renzong was very anxious and summoned his ministers for discussion.
Deputy Prime Minister Fan Zhongyan said that there was a master named Zhang Tianshi who had great magical powers and that he could be invited to come to the capital to practice magic to eliminate the plague. Renzong had no other choice but to send Hong Xin, the prefect of the palace, as an envoy to Longhu Mountain in Xinzhou, Jiangxi Province to invite Zhang Tianshi to the court.
Hong Xin received the imperial edict, took dozens of people, got on his horse, and rushed to Xinzhou day and night. Local officials, big and small, came outside the city to greet him, and then sent someone to inform the Shangqing Palace on Longhu Mountain so that the Taoist priests could prepare to welcome him. The next day, all the officials and Hong Xin arrived at Longhu Mountain. The host and the Taoist priests hurried down the mountain to greet him. Taiwei Hong arrived at the Shangqing Palace, dismounted from his horse, and asked the master in charge: “Where is the Heavenly Master now?” The real man said: “The Heavenly Master is cultivating himself on the mountain, and there are no strangers.” The Taiwei said: “Don’t you ask the Heavenly Master to come down from the mountain? , how can I read the edict?” The real man replied: “The Celestial Master has a profound practice and his whereabouts are unpredictable. He often flies in the clouds and mist and travels in all directions. It is difficult even for us to see him.” Taiwei Hong said anxiously: “Now the plague is rampant in the capital. Your Majesty, please He went to do magic to eliminate disasters, but now no one can see him, what should he do?” The real man said: “If the Taiwei is sincere, tomorrow morning, he will take the edict and walk up the mountain alone to kowtow to the Heavenly Master. Maybe he can see him. If he is not sincere, I am afraid he will walk away in vain.”
At five o’clock the next day, Lieutenant Hong got up, took a shower, changed into new cloth clothes, put on hemp shoes, finished his vegetarian meal, took the imperial edict and the silver stove with him, said goodbye to everyone, and went up the mountain alone. . The mountain road was very difficult to walk, and Taiwei Hong walked for a long time before he reached the halfway point of the mountain. Looking up, the scenery on the mountain is as beautiful as a heavenly palace. However, after walking for two or three miles, Lieutenant Hong’s back and legs were already weak. He thought to himself that he was a high-ranking official in the imperial court. He always had fine clothes and fine food, and he always rode in a sedan when he went out. How could he have ever suffered this kind of misfortune? Just as he was sighing, a gust of wind suddenly blew, a loud roar came from behind the pine tree, and a striking white-fronted tiger with brocade hair jumped out. Lieutenant Hong was taken aback and shouted, “Ah!” and fell to the ground.
The tiger looked at Captain Hong, circled around him a few times, then roared, turned around and jumped down the back hillside.
Lieutenant Hong was so frightened that his thirty-two teeth chattered together. His heart was like fifteen buckets, rattling up and down, his legs were like a defeated rooster, and he was moaning repeatedly.
When the tiger was ready for a cup of tea, he got up, picked up the silver stove, and continued walking up the mountain. Unexpectedly, just after taking a few steps, another gust of wind blew from nowhere, blowing a cloud of poisonous gas towards his face. Taking a closer look, a large flower snake as thick as a bucket sprang out of the bamboo vines on the mountainside. When Lieutenant Hong saw this, he was so frightened that he shouted: “It’s over this time.” He fell back against the stone. The snake opened its bloody mouth and sprayed poisonous gas in his face, which frightened him so much that he didn’t dare to move. However, the snake did not hurt him. It just glanced at him and disappeared.
Lieutenant Hong was startled twice and scolded the Taoist priest: “You dare to tease me. If you can’t see the Heavenly Master, go down and show him a favor!” Just as he was about to continue climbing the mountain, he suddenly heard a faint melodious sound coming from behind the pine trees. The sound of the flute. The lieutenant took a closer look and found that the flute player was a Taoist boy. He was wearing green clothes, with his hair in two buns, riding upside down on the back of an ox, playing the flute as he walked toward him.
After walking on this barren mountain for so long, I finally saw someone. Although he was just a Taoist boy, Lieutenant Hong did not miss the opportunity to ask for directions and asked: “Where are you from? Do you know who I am?” Who knew? The Taoist boy ignored him and only played the flute. Lieutenant Hong asked several times, and the Taoist boy laughed, pointed at him with his flute and said, “Are you coming here to see the Heavenly Master?” Lieutenant Hong was taken aback and said, “You are a shepherd boy, how can you Do you know?” The shepherd boy said with a smile: “The Heavenly Master told me in the morning that an envoy from the Emperor would come to deliver the imperial decree today, asking him to go to Tokyo to cast spells to eliminate disasters. He has gone now. He is probably no longer in the nunnery, so you’d better not go up there. There are many poisonous insects and ferocious beasts on the mountain. It would be bad if they hurt you!” Lieutenant Hong didn’t believe it, so he asked, “Don’t lie.” The Taoist boy laughed, did not answer, played his flute again, and turned around the hillside. Taiwei Hong couldn’t find the Heavenly Master, so he had to go down the mountain.
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The Taiwei took the furnace and walked down the mountain. He was welcomed into the temple by a group of Taoist priests. As soon as he sat down, the real man asked: “Has the Taiwei seen the Heavenly Master?” After hearing this, the Taiwei became very angry and said: “I am a high-ranking official in the imperial court. I have never suffered like this before, and I almost didn’t.” I lost my life! I encountered an eye-catching white-fronted tiger on the top of the mountain, which scared me out of my mind. After walking a few steps, I encountered a big snowflake snake blocking my way. If I hadn’t been so lucky, I would have died sooner. He was eaten. Are you Taoist priests looking for fun with me?” The real person explained: “How dare a poor Taoist tease the officials of the court? In fact, this is the Heavenly Master testing the sincerity of the Taiwei. Although there are many poisonous snakes and beasts on the mountain, But it didn’t hurt anyone.” Taiwei Hong added: “I was about to continue climbing the mountain, when suddenly a Taoist boy rode an ox and played an iron flute and came towards me. I asked him where he was from and whether he recognized me. He actually knew everything, and said that the Celestial Master had already flown to Tokyo on a crane, so I came back.” The real man said, “What a pity, this Taoist boy is the Celestial Master himself!” Taiwei Hong said nothing. He didn’t believe it and said, “How could the Heavenly Master be a naughty child?” The real person replied: “Although the Heavenly Master is young, his magic power is boundless and he is very effective in eliminating disasters and resolving problems, so the world calls him the Patriarch of Daotong.” Listen. After receiving the introduction from the real person, Hong Taiwei regretted and said: “The Celestial Master is right in front of me, but I can’t even recognize it. How ignorant!” The real person said: “Since the Celestial Master said he was going to Tokyo, Taiwei can rest assured. By the time you return to the court, the Heavenly Master must have eliminated all disasters.” After hearing what the real person said, Lieutenant Hong felt relieved.
After breakfast the next day, the Taoist priests took Hong Taiwei and others on a mountain tour. They visited all the scenic spots and palaces on the mountain. Hong Taiwei had a great time. At this time, a group of people came to a temple behind the right corridor. Different from other places, this temple is surrounded by a large red wall. Even the two doors on the front are painted with red paint, with a large lock hanging on it and several crosses. seal. Lieutenant Hong took a closer look and saw that the seal was covered with overlapping red seals. There is a plaque under the eaves with four characters written on it: “The Palace of Demon Suppression”. The Taiwei felt very strange and asked the real man: “What is this place? Why are there so many seals on it?” The real man said: “The Taiwei doesn’t know something. There is a demon king sealed here, so it cannot be opened.” Taiwei Hong After hearing this, he couldn’t help but have doubts in his heart, so he ordered the real person to open the door, saying that he wanted to see what the devil looked like. The real man replied: “You must not do it. If the devil inside comes out, it will cause trouble to the world.” Taiwei Hong didn’t believe this evil and insisted on opening the door to go in. He also said: “If you don’t open the door, wait until I go back to report.” Your Majesty, I say that you are deceiving the public and deceiving the imperial officials with your monstrous words.” The Taoist priests were afraid of offending Taiwei Hong, so they had no choice but to obey the orders, broke the seal, and broke the lock with a hammer.
Everyone pushed the door open and found that it was dark inside and could not see anything. The Taiwei asked someone to light the torch, and when he looked carefully, he saw that the surrounding area was empty, except for a stone tablet standing in the center, about five or six feet high, with a large stone turtle at the base. The stone tablets are engraved with various shapes of runes, which ordinary people cannot understand at all. Lieutenant Hong detoured behind the stone tablet and found the four characters “open in case of flood” written on it. The Taiwei said happily: “You obviously want me to open it!” Then he ordered his men to dig up the stone tablet. The real man hurriedly advised: “Sir, we can’t dig this! If something happens, I’m afraid the lives of tens of millions of people will be endangered.” The Taiwei said angrily: “What do you Taoist priests know? It’s clearly written on this stone tablet Bai Bai, you clearly want me to open it, why are you stopping me?” The real person still kept persuading, but Lieutenant Hong was not willing to listen. He called a group of people to put the stone tablet down, and removed the big stone turtle on the base, only to see the bottom. There is a large bluestone slab underneath. When you open it, you will find a bottomless cave inside. Suddenly, there was a deafening loud noise in the crypt, and a black smoke billowed out from the crypt, overturning half of the temple. I saw that black smoke rushing straight into the air, scattering into hundreds of golden lights, flying in all directions. Everyone was shocked, dropped their hoes and shovels, and ran away. Lieutenant Hong was even more frightened, his face turned pale, and he ran outside in a panic, only to see the real person complaining to him. The Taiwei asked: “What kind of demon escaped?” The real person said: “The runes on the stone tablet were carved by Dongxuan Tianshi, the founder of the mountain, and they suppressed the thirty-six Tiangang stars and the seventy-two Earth evil stars. Now the Taiwei will If they let go, they will bring trouble to the world and cause big troubles in the future.” Upon hearing this, Taiwei Hong broke out in a cold sweat. Knowing that he had gotten into trouble, he had to pack his luggage in a hurry and return to the capital with his entourage.
On the way back to Beijing, Lieutenant Hong told everyone not to tell anyone about the accidental release of the demons. When he arrived in the capital, he heard people say that the Heavenly Master had come to do magic, eliminated the plague, and drove the crane back to Longhu Mountain. When he went to court the next day, Lieutenant Hong said to the emperor: “The Heavenly Master rode on a crane and flew into the clouds, and arrived at the capital first. I went to the post station, so I came back now.” Song Renzong did not know that Lieutenant Hong was let go. Regarding the demon thing, I thought he had made a great contribution, so I rewarded him heavily. Later, Renzong died of illness. Since he had no sons, he passed the throne to the son of King Pu’an Yi, who later became Yingzong of Song Dynasty. After the death of Song Yingzong, the throne was passed to Song Shenzong. Song Shenzong reigned for eighteen years and passed the throne to his son Song Zhezong. During that period, the world was peaceful and there were no major events in the country.