Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 796 cultivates the immortality of the pure breeze!

The old Taoist's first stop was naturally to return to his hometown. Although he had been cultivating at the foot of Yuelu Mountain, he was originally from Shu, the land of the King of Shu...

The King of Shu has become the Pirate King. The Shu region has been neglected for a long time. Chang'an is in a state of chaos. Except for not being able to establish itself, the Shu region is pretty much in the same boat.

The scions of powerful families in the Central Plains and the North were first killed by Xia Lin, then killed by Xia Lin again, and even those who escaped Xia Lin's killings and came to Chang'an City were still killed by Xia Lin. Now their sphere of influence is shrinking step by step, and in the end, almost all of them are huddled in the Shu region.

That's why it's said that the ancient literature, music, and etiquette of Sichuan are best preserved today. Even the ancients have traveled there.

Along with these things came their style of doing things and their methods of doing things. The Land of Abundance was a good place, but even the best place can't withstand being ruined by some people. These fallen noble families who came over were more united than ever before, and quickly defeated the local nobles and landlords. In the end, with their strong financial resources and experience, they quickly recovered their strength in the Shu region.

But this group of people didn't engage in production, nor did they promote industry and agriculture like Xia Lin did. All they could do was exploit people. Their methods were far beyond what the farmers of Shu could handle. Unlike Jiangnan, where all the land belonged to the public, this place allowed them to live a life of luxury in this land of abundance.

In addition, Xia Lin's previous actions had already enraged the nobles of Shu and Longyou. If they weren't so helpless against him, they would have already started to fight back. So these people have also benefited from the struggle. They were driven all the way from the south to the north, and now they are acting like tyrants in this corner of the southwest.

The old Taoist priest's destination was Shu, which was also Xia Lin's arrangement. Since Li Erfeng wanted to escape his family and didn't want to be a prince, he could leave this matter to Xia Lin. After all, if Erfeng really came back now, he would probably go crazy. The Xuanjia Army, which he valued most, had already been reorganized and dispersed to various levels of camps to become team elites. The Shu region, which he had worked so hard to conquer, was also being sidelined. If he weren't out there being the Pirate King, he really wouldn't know how to deal with the current problems.

The old Taoist priest arrived in Sichuan before the New Year. As soon as he arrived, he naturally followed the established procedures. His first task was to apply to the local government for a mountain to build a Taoist temple. This was easy to do; he only needed to spend some money to smooth things over, and then he easily acquired a mountain that already had a Taoist temple.

"Master Daoist, the original abbot of this place was a tough guy. When my master came to collect taxes, he said that he had neither land nor property, so where would he get the money to pay taxes? But collecting taxes is a matter of course, so the old Taoist was driven away. And now it just so happens that a Taoist temple has been made available for you, Master Daoist. It seems that it is the will of Heaven."

Because the old Taoist priest was generous, the local magistrate valued him highly. So when he came here to choose a location, he even had the magistrate's clerk accompany him. But after listening to the clerk's words, the old Taoist priest understood that this was a false politeness but a real warning. It meant that if he did not pay on time in the future, he would end up like the former temple master.

No problem, just do as Lord Xia instructs.

The old Taoist priest paid off his advisor, and the lackey left with a smile. The hundreds of "flat-headed" Taoist priests who had followed him had already scattered throughout Sichuan, leaving only a dozen or so by his side.

They quickly began to renovate the Taoist temple, and renamed the original Songliu Temple to Qingfeng Temple. Then, they began their practice as usual.

A few days later, the local magistrate asked, "Is the new Taoist priest behaving himself?"

“Master, that Taoist priest is very honest. He has been staying at home these days, meditating and practicing Zen all day long.”

"Hahaha, you, you, you ignorant fool! How can a Taoist priest practice Zen meditation? Go down. As long as the Taoist priest pays his taxes on time, don't worry about anything else. Right now, you must collect the planting taxes before spring. If any family hasn't paid their taxes, remember to tell them to return the land as payment, so as not to delay the spring planting."

"Sir, just you wait and see."

In the days that followed, even though the Spring Festival was fast approaching, the people in this area were having a hard time. In the past two years, various counties in Sichuan had been levying taxes under various pretexts, and in some places, even breathing was taxed. Some people were finding it difficult to make a living, so they either sold their land early and became long-term laborers or tenants for landlords, or they had to use their land to pay off taxes and leave for distant places in misery.

The old Taoist priest had visited several towns in the past few days, and all he saw was the desolation of the people. Although there was a dazzling array of goods, the people were truly destitute, while the richly dressed gentlemen, ladies, young ladies, and gentlemen were enjoying immense luxury.

If he had never seen the light, this would have been just an insignificant scene in the old Taoist's life of travel. But he had been to the land of light, to Jiangnan Road, and to Fuliang.

I've seen the ordinary daily lives of such important figures, and I've also seen how even the most insignificant common people can drink alcohol and eat meat.

At this moment, braving the swirling snow, the old Taoist priest became even more convinced of what Xia Lin had told him.

"That light must not be extinguished."

The old man looked up at the sky and silently shook his head.

Back at the Taoist temple on the mountain, he put up a sign offering medical services the very next day. The county magistrate heard about it immediately and even sent his advisor to his door. "Master Taoist, I've heard..."

Before the clerk could finish speaking, a flat-topped disciple stepped forward and presented him with three hundred taels of Fuliang silver notes. The old Taoist priest smiled and said, "Clerk, look at how senile I am, I've completely forgotten. There's a gate tax for practicing medicine, this is just a small token of my appreciation."

The annual gate tax was only ten taels, but he took out three hundred taels at once. The clerk naturally knew the implications. He chuckled and pocketed the silver notes: "You are very generous, Master. I will go back and report now."

Back at the yamen, the clerk took out two hundred and fifty taels of silver and handed it to the magistrate. The magistrate was so pleased that he immediately waved his hand and exempted the old Taoist priest from three years of taxes. He then neatly put the silver notes into his small box.

"Master Qin, this is a fat sheep."

“Who says otherwise, sir?”

"Let him be, let him be." The magistrate laughed heartily, "It's not good to push people too hard."

It was the coldest time of year, and every day people who had been displaced would freeze or starve to death on the road. Some of them fell ill and did not know what to do. Occasionally, they would learn that the old Taoist priest's temple was giving away clothes and medicine, but at first most people did not dare to go. Until one morning, a woman carrying a child who was already on the verge of death rushed into the Taoist temple.

Upon seeing the old Taoist priest, he kowtowed repeatedly, saying that he would be willing to do anything to save the child, even be her slave.

The old Taoist priest didn't waste any words. He already knew some medical skills, and after training in Fuliang for quite some time, he immediately knew that the patient had caught a cold as soon as he took the pulse.

He rummaged through the box, muttering the incantation he had learned from Fuliang: "If you have a fever, reduce the fever first; if you have diarrhea, stop the cough first..." Then he took out the talisman paper he had prepared specifically for this cold.

He first wrote incantations on the talisman paper with medicinal liquid, then soaked the talisman paper in a bowl. The talisman paper itself also contained ingredients such as fritillaria and loquat. Combined with the medicinal liquid, he forced the child to drink it, and in less than an hour, the person who was originally on the verge of death returned to normal body temperature.

Afterwards, the old Taoist priest even allowed the mother and son to recuperate in the Taoist temple. The woman only needed to clean the place and cook meals for the dozen or so men there each day as a way of repaying him.

The news spread quickly, and the story of the old hermit living on the mountain became widely known. People from all around began to flock there, seeking medical help, asking for food, and all sorts of other kinds of people.

However, the old Taoist priest also said that their place was small and could not accommodate too many people. He also said that it was better to rely on oneself than on heaven and earth. So he began to not only distribute porridge and medicine, but also to teach the impoverished people various ways to make a living.

As time went on, the old Taoist priest's reputation among the people became self-evident, and now he was about to begin implementing the plan he and Xia Lin had already devised.

Preaching was their specialty, and once they started, it was bound to attract the attention of the authorities. In truth, those who became county magistrates, unless they genuinely bought their positions, were all incredibly shrewd and capable of anything. Upon hearing that a Taoist temple was gathering a crowd, anyone with even a basic understanding of history would immediately think, "The old heavens are dead, the new heavens shall rise!" Who wouldn't be afraid of that?

But this was something Xia Lin had anticipated. He had already taught the old Taoist how to deal with it, and now that things had come to this point, the old Taoist couldn't help but admire Xia Lin from the bottom of his heart.

"Lord Xia is simply a god among men; he can even predict these things with remarkable accuracy."

Watching the government officials leave happily without causing any trouble for the people watching outside, the old man was filled with endless emotion.

After all, his preaching from the beginning was about teaching the villagers weaving, bamboo weaving, carpentry, and bricklaying, without any ideological interference. After the government investigated, they naturally didn't bother with it. After all, leaving these people on the street was both unsightly and a safety risk. Being able to gather them here was actually a good thing for them.

Just as they began to become complacent, the next phase began: the Taoist temple became a night school, teaching people to read and write. In addition, more and more people gathered around, and at night the warm Taoist temple could hold hundreds of people, young and old, men and women, all listening to the old Taoist priests' lectures.

"As the saying goes, Heaven has its way, and man has his way. Gentlemen..."

The old Taoist priest suddenly sighed, looking at the many impoverished people before him: "This world shouldn't be like this..."

(End of this chapter)