Catching Monsters

Chapter 197 Wen Chen
Xu Xiaogang was stunned after hearing Jiang Yun's idea: "Brother-in-law, we are here to recruit disciples for Sanqing Temple, and you are spending money like this..."

"Look." Jiang Yun pointed to the shops outside the five major palaces and five major Buddhist temples not far away. They were crowded with people and even had long queues.

From time to time, young people who were qualified and passed the review of the five major palaces would walk out, with rosy faces and ecstatic.

Entering one of the five great academies and becoming a student means you have basically crossed the social class barrier.

Once admitted to the academy, if one performs well, he or she does not even need to take the imperial examination. With the recommendation of the Confucian teachers in the academy, he or she can be recommended to the Ministry of Personnel to be an official.

Even if students are not so good at academics and cannot become officials directly, they always have classmates, right? With mutual support, they also have a future.

Even the worst students, as long as they successfully graduate from the Imperial Academy, will be popular in places like the capital, even if they are not doing well, when they go to other provinces...

Of course, it is not easy to successfully enter the academy. In addition to having outstanding talent as a scholar and being able to compose poems and write to the outside world, one must also have the qualifications to practice Confucianism.

Although some people passed the test successfully and were extremely happy, the vast majority of people left the academy with a sigh of disappointment and went to the five major Buddhist temples.

Jiang Yun sighed helplessly in his heart. It was normal that no one was interested in Sanqing Temple.

Taoism has been suppressed for so many years, and being a Taoist priest has no future. These six words have basically become everyone's inherent impression.

Jiang Yun took out a pen and paper and wrote: "Anyone who can pass the assessment and enter my Sanqing Temple will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver if he has decent talent, and 1,000 taels of silver if he has excellent talent."

Of course, the reward of 1,000 taels of silver was just a gimmick.

Isn't it Jiang Yun himself who has the final say as to what his talent is?
Sure enough, placing these words in front of the stall attracted many people to take a second look when passing by.

Just take one more look.

Most of the young people coming and going on the bustling streets actually come from well-off families.

After all, most of the people who come here come from provinces outside the capital.

To be able to travel thousands of miles to the capital to participate in the Chawu, his family background must not be too poor.

Of course, among these people, there are also those who come from poor families, and some even come to the capital with debts, with the mentality of taking a gamble.

These people would not give up the opportunity to join the five major academies just for one hundred taels of silver.

Seeing that people were not interested in this, Xu Xiaogang next to him also said helplessly: "Brother-in-law, how about we try another method?"

"Do you have any good ideas?" Jiang Yun looked at him.

Xu Xiaogang shook his head and had no better idea.

At this moment, a timid voice suddenly asked, "Can you really give me 100 taels of silver if you pass the test?"

Finally someone is here.

Jiang Yun looked up and saw a frail young man standing in front of them. He was wearing thin clothes and looked to be around fifteen years old.

This boy is thin and it is obvious that his family is not well off.

Jiang Yun smiled and nodded, "Of course, what's your name?"

"My name is Wen Chen." The boy was obviously here for the money.

But Jiang Yun didn't care. He took out a yellow talisman and a book of Qingxin Jue from his body and handed them over: "Can you read?"

"I recognize it."

"Hold the talisman paper in your right hand, and then recite according to this Qingxin Jue. Keep your mind calm. As long as this talisman lights up, it means you have the talent to practice the Three Pure Ones Taoism."

This is a talisman for sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

This young man named Wen Chen does not have any magical power in his body, but as long as he has enough talent, he can attract spiritual energy to gather.

Although it was very weak, it was enough to light up the yellow talisman.

People passing by also looked over curiously; this test was quite new to them.

After all, each family has different methods of assessing talent. Wen Chen opened the Qingxin Jue and read the contents inside. He was a little nervous and stuttered as he read the contents above:
'When the mind and spirit are united, the qi should follow each other, and when they are in harmony, they will not be startled by any changes.'

'No delusion, no anger, no desire, no seeking, no giving up, no abandonment, no action, no self.'

Huang Fu didn't react at all. Seeing this, Xu Xiaogang decided to let the boy try at another home.

Jiang Yun saw the clues and reminded Wen Chen: "You are very confused and have a lot of things on your mind, right?"

"Close your eyes, don't think about anything, just chant the mantra."

"Reciting the Heart Cleansing Technique when you are upset will have no effect."

After hearing Jiang Yun's reminder, Wen Chen simply closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and recited slowly as he said.

As he continued to chant the incantation, the yellow talisman gradually began to emit a dazzling light, with a hint of red in the light.

Jiang Yun's eyes showed surprise. He was so lucky. This young man was very talented!
What a lucky guy.

Wen Chen slowly opened his eyes and looked at the talisman in his hand that was shining brightly, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Where are you from? Are you willing to become a disciple at Sanqing Temple?" Jiang Yun asked.

"I am from the capital." Wen Chen said, "As long as the Taoist priest has 100 taels of silver, I will be willing."

"no!"

Suddenly, a voice came from the crowd. A man in his fifties, dressed in tattered clothes, walked out of the crowd. His face was a little pale. He stepped forward and grabbed Wen Chen's hand, then covered his mouth and started coughing violently: "Cough cough cough."

"No, no, Chen'er."

The man looked up at the stall where Jiang Yun had found a bargain, and a look of disdain appeared on his face. "I have tried my best to support your studies since you were a child. I want you to become an official and join the Five Great Academy. That is the way out."

"Even if you were forced to become a Taoist, you should enter Baiyun Temple. How could you enter Sanqing Temple, which you have never heard of?"

"Cough cough cough."

After saying this, the man continued to cough and his face turned pale.

"Dad, you are so sick. If you don't find a doctor to treat you and prescribe medicine, your body will not be able to bear it." Wen Chen hurriedly knelt in front of the man.

Soon, Jiang Yun and Xu Xiaogang learned the general situation from the conversation between the father and son.

To put it simply, this middle-aged man is named Wen Fanggang. He has been working as a dung collector in the capital. He works hard every day to earn money so that Wenchen can go to private school.

But it is almost impossible to pass the imperial examinations in a place as prestigious as the capital.

So they placed their hopes on getting Wen Chen to join one of the five great academies.

Today, Wenfanggang brought Wenchen here to join the five major palaces.

However, Wen Chen tried all the examination sites of the five great academies one by one, but failed.

In the end, frustrated and disheartened, Wen Chen had no choice but to go to Jiang Yun's shop to try to earn the one hundred taels of silver.

Seeing this, Xu Xiaogang couldn't help but look at Jiang Yun deeply. This father and son were somewhat similar to Jiang Yun and Jiang Qiaoqiao.

It’s just that Jiang Yun was originally raised by his younger sister.

"Let's go back. If it doesn't work, I'll save money next year and we'll try the imperial examination again." Wen Fanggang pulled Wen Chen's hand, his face slightly pale.

"father……"

Jiang Yun was about to stand up to stop them, but unexpectedly, a Taoist priest came out from outside the crowd with a smile on his face: "Don't worry, why don't you consider our Qingfeng Temple?"

"If this young man is short of money, if he has exceptional qualifications, we can also provide him with one hundred taels of silver."

Jiang Yun's heart darkened instantly, his eyes fell on the Taoist priest. How dare he snatch the person he liked?

(End of this chapter)