Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 194 The Temple of the Two Saints

A blue brick archway suddenly appeared on the mountain path. The archway was two zhang high, with a kind of simple and majestic style rarely seen in Fujian.

Zhu Wen peered into the archway and saw a three-bay, four-frame temple inside. The archway was likely used to replace a memorial archway. This incongruous structure was rather peculiar.

"This archway doesn't look like Han Chinese architecture."

Wang Shenzhi nodded: "This archway was built by local Manichaeans in Fujian, modeled after the Ctesiphon Arch in Persia, but on a smaller scale."

After trading with local merchants in Fuzhou, Wang Shenzhi sent his subordinates to various counties to purchase goods, while he himself, as a semi-host, led Zhu Wen on a tour of famous scenic spots in Fujian.

Upon hearing the words "Manichaeism," Zhu Wen's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Manichaeism is another name for the Ming Cult, named after its founder, Mani.

The Ming Cult originated from Persia, and its earliest followers in Tang China were mostly Persians who came via the Silk Road by land and sea.

Even though the Ghost King Ming Shiyin, who has Persian blood, shows no signs of foreign origin in his language and customs.

Zhu Wen had also heard from Ge Congzhou's father, Ge Jian, that the Ming Cult in the Central Plains believed that after Zhang Jiao, the founder of the Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty, ascended to heaven, he was reincarnated as Mani and spread his teachings to the Western Lands. Later, his doctrines were transmitted back to the Central Plains.

To facilitate its spread, the Ming Cult in the Central Plains region was heavily influenced by Buddhism and Taoism, and has become highly localized.

In the isolated region of Fujian, Manichaean architecture still retains some exotic charm.

Of the four leaders of the Ming Cult, Zhu Wen met three. Only Yuan Chang, the Ape King, never had the chance to meet Zhu Wen, as he died at the hands of Lei Shuai Gao Pian.

"Could this temple be dedicated to the esteemed Senior Yuan Chang...?"

Zhu Wen, seeing that the temple was located in such a remote and desolate place, knew that there must be a hidden story behind it.

Among the four kings of the Ming Cult, Yuan Chang died the earliest, but he was universally recognized as the best in both martial arts and military strategy.

In the second year of Qianfu, almost simultaneously with Wang Xianzhi's uprising, Yuan Chang also gathered the remnants of Pang Xun's forces and joined forces with Wang Ying, the illegitimate son of the Wang family of Taiyuan, to launch an uprising in Jiangdong. Within two years, they swept through ten prefectures: Taizhou, Quzhou, Wenzhou, Wuzhou, Mingzhou, Yuezhou, Xinzhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Changzhou.

Yuan Changyi's army was also destroyed in the early part of the fifth year of Qianfu. When Commander Yan was strangling Wang Xianzhi in Qizhou, Commander Lei Gao Pian drove hundreds of miles and wiped them out in one fell swoop.

Of the four kings of the Ming Cult, only Yuan Chang was able to raise a large army on his own, which speaks volumes about his abilities. His eventual demise at the hands of Gao Pian, the foremost of the four great generals of the Tang Dynasty, was not entirely shameful.

Wang Shenzhi nodded, a hint of sorrow appearing on his usually composed dark face.

“This temple was built last year,” Wang Shenzhi confessed. “However, it was built with the help of many friends in Fujian who believe in Manichaeism.”

Wang Shenzhi truly had some courage to build a temple for Yuan Chang, a major rebel who twice defied the imperial court.

There must be a story between this kid and Yuan Chang.

Zhu Wen and Wang Shenzhi walked slowly forward together and saw that the temple was built against a rocky cliff and a mountain hollow. On the western cliff of the temple, there were Manichaean mantras: "Encouragement to recite, purity and light, great power and wisdom, supreme truth."

The temple plaque reads "Temple of Two Saints." The temple gates are wide open, and inside the central shrine are two painted statues. On the left is a short man, resembling an ape, holding a long staff. His golden eyes burn like torches, exuding a dignified and awe-inspiring presence. On the right is a tall, thin man with a refined appearance and narrow eyes, possessing the air of a scion of a noble family.

Two memorial tablets and two incense burners were placed in front of the statue. The left tablet read "The Position of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven," and the right tablet read "The Position of the Great Sage Who Reaches Heaven."

The thin man on the right must be Wang Ying, who joined forces with Yuan Chang to raise an army.

"You've portrayed the two predecessors, Yuan Chang and Wang Ying, as deities, so that even if the court discovers it, they won't know that it's them they're being worshipped?" Zhu Wen asked, increasingly impressed by Wang Shenzhi's meticulousness.

“After their martyrdom, I bribed officials to steal their bodies and buried them at the foot of the temple. I also sold my goods and, together with a group of Manichaeans from Fujian, rebuilt this temple.” Wang Shenzhi pointed to the incense ash in the incense burner: “It looks like someone has offered incense within the last three to five days.”

This section essentially confirms that Wang Shenzhi participated in Yuan Chang's uprising. If he weren't a former subordinate, how could he have gone this far?
"Just who is Senior Yuan Chang?"

Wang Shenzhi bestowed upon Yuan Chang and Wang Ying the divine titles "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" and "Great Sage Reaching Heaven," respectively, which were quite impressive. The two must have held a very high position in Wang Shenzhi's mind.

“General Zhu, let me first tell you how I met the Ape King.” Wang Shenzhi’s voice softened as he slowly recalled, “In the fourth year of Qianfu, I was sixteen years old and led a team to Fujian to do business for the first time.”

"Before, I always followed my elders or my second brother, Wang Shengui. Finally, I was able to stand on my own, and I was incredibly excited. I led my brothers out of our hometown, eating hot pot and singing songs, and arrived in Hangzhou..."

Wang Shenzhi suddenly changed the subject: "They were robbed by the soldiers under the Ape King!" Zhu Wen was slightly startled, then said, "Continue."

"They forced me to join them, but still took away half of my goods. A month later, I was quick-witted and met two heroes, who then returned the goods to me."

Zhu Wen nodded. It sounded like Yuan Chang was somewhat disciplined in his actions, but that alone was not enough to make Wang Shenzhi revere him like a god.

"Then, the two of them explained the reasons for their uprising."

……

In the second year of the Qianfu era, there was a small county in the territory of Taizhou.

The stench of corpses that lingered in the air after last year's great plague seemed to have not yet dissipated. And in the fields, new, wronged souls were added.

Yuan Chang, dressed in the robes of a clerk, bowed and reported the collection of the two taxes to the county magistrate.

“Your Excellency, we have searched everywhere we could, from under the stoves to the cellars, but this is all we could find.” Yuan Chang said with a humble expression, “After this ordeal, several families have already hanged themselves because they couldn’t bear the pressure.”

The magistrate coldly examined the collected money and grain.

"Suicide? You think killing a few vengeful children will make you show mercy?" The fat, big-eared magistrate stroked his beard and sneered, "Yuan Chang, am I keeping you here just to freeload?"

Back then, Yuan Chang joined Pang Xun's uprising, using the alias Wu Jiong. The county magistrate had no idea that the meek and obedient man before him was actually the Ape King, one of the four great leaders of the Ming Cult.

"I dare not!" Yuan Chang said urgently, "Last year, a great plague struck Taizhou, and all the counties were devastated. The land tax for the families who died out was distributed among the households, and with the recovery of outstanding taxes, the people were truly driven to desperation! Many families even sold their wives and daughters to pay these taxes..."

"Yuan Chang, you haven't listened to a word of my teachings!" The magistrate suddenly gritted his teeth, his voice sharp and stern. "When have these unruly people ever been short of money and food? Squeeze them a little more, there's no shortage of profit to be made!"

"You just sold your wife and daughters? If you were any sense, you should have arrested the children of those who owed taxes and sold them to pay off their taxes! These bastards, you can't even raise so many, they only cause trouble for this county!"

The magistrate suddenly clenched his left fist, his knuckles cracking: "You haven't done a good job. Ten lashes on the back. I'll give you one more chance. If you still can't collect the taxes, you can forget about being a tax collector!"

The ruthless guards rushed forward, pinned Yuan Chang down, and stripped him of his upper clothes.

A fiery glint flashed in Yuan Chang's eyes.

But he kept his head down and did not offer any resistance.

The bamboo whip lashed Yuan Chang's rough back, leaving deep, bloody welts.

Yuan Chang gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound.

"Your Excellency, shall I still allow my subordinates to collect the arrears?" Yuan Chang suddenly asked, his tone somewhat cold.

The magistrate, however, failed to notice the unusual tone in Yuan Chang's voice.

He roared angrily, his fat face contorting: "Yuan Chang, you idiot! I've already told you, why are you asking again? Do you want to be whipped ten more times?"

A bailiff standing nearby also said, "Yuan Chang, why don't you kneel down and thank the magistrate?"

Yuan Chang's short body suddenly straightened up.

"No need."

He gently snatched the fire-and-water stick from the constable's waist.

The magistrate and his servants suddenly felt an overwhelming aura.

This hunched, short, ape-like middle-aged man seemed to grow taller than a mountain at this moment, towering above the sky and possessing the power to break through the dome of heaven.

"This blow will reduce you to ashes!"

The water-and-fire stick struck the magistrate on the top of his head, slamming his skull directly into his skull cavity, his white brain matter mixed with fat splattering all over the ground.

(End of this chapter)