Qing Yao

Chapter 403 When the Sage is at Peace, the World is at Ease
Real people are generally quite pragmatic, but it would be somewhat biased to say that they came down the mountain to save their lives and surrender.

To be precise, the real man went down the mountain not only to save his life, but also to seek wealth and honor from the government.

Because the ancestor of the true masters was Song Xianze.

Song Xianze was originally the strategist of Li Zicheng, the leader of the rebel army at the end of the Ming Dynasty. He was proficient in Qimen Dunjia and divination, and was a very qualified rumor-monger and disseminator, as well as a pragmatist in the field of rebellion propaganda. The prophecy "Eighteen children will rule the divine weapon" was put forward by him.

After surrendering to the Qing, Song Xianze used his skills to flatter the Manchu nobles and was treated as an honored guest by the Manchu high-ranking officials. He was always escorted by Manchu soldiers and lived a carefree and happy life. It is said that he lived until the Kangxi era and passed away at the age of eighty.

The master believed that his skills might not be as good as his ancestors, but they were more than enough for the present. To die on the mountain with Marshal Xie and others would be a waste of his skills and would also sever his lineage. After repeated deliberation, he finally decided to use his skills in a better way to benefit all living beings.

He was confident that with his status and the secrets of the sect he possessed, he could definitely win the government's forgiveness and the favor of that Lord Zhao.

To emphasize his image as a master, the master tidied his clothes and Taoist robes on his way down the mountain, and only after confirming that his appearance was in good condition did he lead several trusted disciples to escort Baili Yunlong, who had been taken hostage, toward the Qing army camp.

Soon, Zhao An learned that Master Liu had come to surrender.

Zhao An was quite curious about this Taoist priest who could turn salt smugglers into fanatical followers of the White Lotus sect. According to Xie Hongwu, this Master Liu not only completely deceived his elder brother, but was also the de facto "number one" of the White Lotus sect in northern Anhui, and knew far more about the sect's secrets than Xie Hongyi and Yang Biao, the two senior disciples who joined the sect halfway through their careers.

If Liu Zhixie, the leader who fled to Henan, was the commander-in-chief of the White Lotus Sect, then Liu Zhenren, who remained in northern Anhui, was the front-line commander of the White Lotus Sect in Anhui.

The surrender of such an important figure was tantamount to handing over the White Lotus Sect's "codebook" to Zhao An, allowing Zhao An to learn more about the White Lotus Sect's secrets and thus help him to more rationally utilize and divide the White Lotus Sect in the future. Naturally, he attached great importance to it and immediately ordered someone to bring the person over.

To be honest, when Master Liu strode in, he made a pretty good first impression on Zhao An. His otherworldly demeanor earned him a five-star rating.

It's quite intimidating.

No wonder they were able to outsmart a bunch of salt smugglers.

If Zhao An hadn't come from the information age, he would most likely have been fooled by Liu Zhenren's disguise and ended up limping along.

The saying "clothes make the man, and gold makes the Buddha" is absolutely true.

Baili Yunlong came in with Master Liu. Although he had been detained for several months, he had not been mistreated. He just looked a little listless, but his body was fine.

The reason for this was twofold: firstly, Baili Yunlong's status as a disciple of the Cao Gang played a role; secondly, it was also a way out that Master Liu had left for himself.

Otherwise, Baili Yunlong would have been executed by Xie Hongyi long ago.

Ye Zhigui and Xu Lin, who were inside the tent, were excited to see Baili Yunlong and nodded to each other.

"Amitabha Buddha, this humble Taoist greets Your Excellency!"

Master Liu flicked his whisk and did not kneel before Zhao An, the acting governor of the second rank, because he was a monk and Buddhists and Taoists did not need to kneel before officials.

Of course, it was also a way of putting on airs to show his superior image.

Zhao An's face betrayed no emotion, but he observed the charlatan before him with interest. Instead of ordering him to kneel, he spoke calmly, "I have heard that you possess the ability to foresee the secrets of heaven. I wonder what other supernatural powers you have besides observing the stars and the qi? And could you perhaps broaden my horizons?"

They were very polite in their speech, even using the term "real person" instead of "demon."

This was exactly what Master Liu wanted, and he was secretly overjoyed. He wasn't worried about anything else, but he was worried that the Qing army commander was an old scholar who believed in "the Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits," in which case he would really have no chance to make any use of his abilities.

It now seems that this young Qing official, just like the Manchu nobles of yesteryear, not only knows nothing about the methods of wandering sorcerers, but is also full of curiosity.

This is easy to handle.

Overjoyed, he remained incredibly humble, flicking his whisk and saying lightly, "How dare I claim my humble skills as supernatural powers? I am merely acquainted with some talisman techniques."

"Oh? Then please, sir, demonstrate your skills so that I may feast my eyes on this!"

Zhao An looked quite expectant, even leaning forward slightly, as if he couldn't wait.

Seeing Zhao An like this, Master Liu was greatly encouraged, as if he could already see the carefree days of his ancestor Song Xianze beckoning to him.

After pretending to ponder for a moment, a yellow talisman appeared out of thin air in his hand. He then looked at Baili Yunlong and asked him to wash his hands with clean water before holding the talisman.

Baili Yunlong looked at Zhao An, who nodded and immediately did as he was told.

After Baili Yunlong washed his hands, Master Liu personally handed the yellow talisman to him, performed the ritual steps, chanted incantations, and suddenly flicked his right whisk, pointing it at the yellow talisman in Baili Yunlong's hand, and shouted in a low voice: "Eternal Mother, protect my Dharma body! Here!"

Immediately, an astonishing scene unfolded: the yellow talisman in Baili Yunlong's hand spontaneously combusted without fire, startling Baili Yunlong so much that he quickly threw the burning talisman to the ground.

"Great!"

"Incredible skill!"

Ye Zhigui and Xu Lin, both roughnecks from the canal gang, were dumbfounded by the scene, and they were even more impressed by Master Liu, who seemed like a hermit.

No wonder Xie Hongyi and his gang listened to this person so readily; it seems he's not some kind of sorcerer or fraudster, but rather a highly skilled individual with some magical abilities.

Seeing that he had successfully fooled the Qing general, Master Liu was naturally pleased with himself. Just as he was about to display one or two more immortal arts to make his image as a great master even more lofty, he saw Zhao An slowly get up and walk to Baili Yunlong. Then he bent down and picked up the little bit of embers that had been burned on the ground, examined them carefully, and smelled them. Then he asked Baili Yunlong to extend his hand.

Baili Yunlong did as he was told and extended his hand. Zhao An then asked him to smell his hand to see if there was any smell.

"this?"

Baili Yunlong raised his hand to smell it, only to find that his palm had a faint garlic smell.

After speaking in a low voice, Zhao An nodded and asked, "Did your hands smell like this before you washed them?"

Baili Yunlong paused for a moment, thought carefully, and said firmly, "No!"

"it is good."

Zhao An put away his smile, turned to Liu Zhenren, whose face had turned pale and who was feeling extremely guilty, and said coldly, "Phosphorus fire talisman drawing is nothing but a street trick. You can buy a stack of them for three coins. I wonder if you have any other skills, Zhenren? But there's no need to demonstrate things like writing on blank paper, retrieving objects from a pot of boiling oil, slaying demons with a precious sword, or having a fairy child appear in your dream. What I want to see is the true immortal magic of Taoism, not the tricks of a charlatan."

"..." Liu Zhenren, whose trick was exposed on the spot, turned pale and his lips trembled, not daring to say a word.

"That's all? Hmph, you so-called Taoist priest, you really are a fraud!"

Zhao An suddenly turned around and glared at Liu Zhenren, "Today I will imprison you, you white lotus demon, and bring you to the capital to be executed by slow slicing!"

The words "death by a thousand cuts" struck Liu Zhenren like a bolt from the blue, causing his legs to buckle and he collapsed to his knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly and begging, "My lord, spare my life! My lord, spare my life! I am willing to atone for my sins with good deeds, I am willing to atone for my sins with good deeds, please spare my life, my lord!"

"Atone for your sins with merit? What merit do you have to claim?"

Zhao An coldly looked at the immortal who had long lost his immortal demeanor and was now kowtowing on the ground like a pitiful worm.

Unexpectedly, this cowardly master claimed to know where Liu Zhixie, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, was hiding.

Just as he was about to speak, Zhao An raised his hand to stop him, and sneered, "I already knew that Liu Zhixie was hiding in Henan. This cannot be considered your merit, nor can it offset your crime."

After saying this, he summoned his personal guards outside the tent to escort the sorcerer to the capital. Whether he was to be cut in half at the waist or subjected to slow slicing was up to the old master to decide.

The man, whose real name was Liu Qingfeng, was terrified. He never expected that the government already knew about the secret he thought would save his life. Seeing the Qing soldiers about to drag him away, he cried out in desperation, "My lord, I know the names and whereabouts of Liu Zhixie's many disciples. I know them all. I am willing to write them down for you, my lord!"

"Oh?"

Zhao An raised his hand to signal his personal guards to leave first, and then asked Xu Lin to bring paper and pen so that the fake immortal could write down all the secrets of the White Lotus Sect that he knew.

Desperate to survive, Liu Qingfeng dared not hold back any longer and honestly wrote down the names of all the White Lotus leaders he knew from various places, who were also the disciples Liu Zhixie had cultivated over the past twenty years.

The list of more than forty people quickly reached Zhao An's hands, causing a glint of light to flash in his eyes.

Qi Lin, Wang Cong'er, Leng Tianlu, Xu Tiande, Zhang Zhengmo, Nie Jieren, Yao Zhifu
There were people from Hubei, Henan, Sichuan, and Shaanxi.
Although Zhao An did not know who the specific leaders of the White Lotus Rebellion were, Qi Lin and Wang Cong'er did.

In particular, Wang Cong'er was very famous. Like Tang Sai'er during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, she was a heroine who directly led the White Lotus Rebellion.

The White Lotus sect members appearing on this list are likely to be the various marshals of the White Lotus uprising three years later.

If this list were submitted directly to the Qing court and people were arrested by name, the White Lotus Rebellion, which was intended to shake the foundations of the Qing Dynasty, would inevitably be nipped in the bud.

To further confirm that these people on the list were future key figures in the rebellion, Zhao An interrogated Liu Qingfeng discreetly.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, Nie Jie is a wealthy man from Jiejiachong in Yidu. Last year, Chang Dankui, the Assistant Magistrate of Wuchang, used the pretext of searching for and arresting my followers in Jingzhou and Yichang to extort money. People who could not produce the money were falsely accused of being members of the White Lotus Religion by the government, resulting in the destruction and death of thousands of families."
Nie Jieren, in a fit of rage, donated 400 mu of his family's fertile land to join the church, using the guise of practicing medicine to spread its doctrines. He also colluded with Zhang Zhengmo and Liu Hongduo, officials of the Yidu County government, to resist grain taxes and levies. Now, the number of believers in Yidu and Zhijiang has reached tens of thousands!

Liu Qingfeng confessed that under Liu Zhixie's instructions, Nie Jieren selected five or six thousand young and strong believers and secretly took them to Wangzi Dashan in Hubei for training, calling them the "Tianyun Army".

Liu Zhixie, as the leader of the sect, appointed Zhang Zhengmo as the marshal of the Heavenly Fortune Army, Nie Jieren as the sect leader, and Liu Hongduo as the military advisor, under whom were the Seven Colors Military Departments.

This Heavenly Fortune Army is currently the strongest armed force controlled by the White Lotus Sect. In addition to the Heavenly Fortune Army, Liu Zhixie's disciples in Sichuan and Hubei are also secretly training young men, ranging from thousands to hundreds.

The original plan in Anhui was to use Xie Hongyi and Yang Biao's salt bandits as the backbone, and then absorb the Nian rebels from northern Anhui to join them. The plan was to launch uprisings simultaneously in five provinces: Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Henan and Anhui, and to call themselves the Five Marshals.

Therefore, when Liu Zhixie learned that Anhui was suffering from drought last year, he brought a large number of core members to infiltrate the province. The number of believers increased greatly and the plan was going very well. However, he did not expect to run into Zhao An.

The battle of Suzhou not only severely weakened the White Lotus Sect in Anhui, but also made its leader, Liu Zhixie, extremely nervous, and he fled to Fugou, Henan, in fear of being captured.

Liu Zhixie's escape made Liu Qingfeng, the "real person," the actual commander of the remaining members of the White Lotus Sect in northern Anhui.

Why does Liu Qingfeng hold such a high position within the sect?
The reason is that he is the cousin of the former leader Liu Song.

Liu Song, now in his sixties, is serving hard labor in Longde, Ningxia. But he is more capable than his cousin who is good at pretending to be a god. He not only rebuilt the White Lotus sect in Longde, but also sorted out the chaotic doctrines of the past. He also managed to turn the Qing soldiers who were guarding him into believers. This is why Liu Song was able to keep in touch with believers in various places and coordinate the relationship between his several senior disciples.

It sounds like this old leader of the White Lotus Sect, Liu, has a bit of the style of the Westerners. He was also imprisoned, innovated his doctrines while in prison, and developed his guards into believers.

Therefore, throughout history and across the world, there has always been an endless stream of outstanding individuals.

Zhao An also traced the historical lineage of the White Lotus Sect to Liu Qingfeng. The sect originated from the White Lotus School founded by Mao Ziyuan in the Southern Song Dynasty and the Maitreya Sect founded by Fu Dashi. It combined Buddhism, Mingjiao and other beliefs to form a mysterious religion.

During the Ming Dynasty, the sect had branches such as Hongyang, Jingkong, Wuwei, Huangtian, and Xidacheng; during the Qing Dynasty, it had branches such as Hongyang, Hunyuan, Shouyuan, Longhua, Bagua, Qingshui, and Tianli.

From a traditional perspective, the legal principles of Liu Song and Liu Zhixie, the master and disciple pair, are much higher, because the Hunyuan Sect has the longest history and the most believers.

Two years ago, after Liu Zhixie secretly visited his master Liu Song in Ningxia, he returned and renamed Hunyuan Sect to Sanyang Sect, and elected Liu Song as the old sect leader.

In order to entice the villagers to join the religion, the master and his disciple conspired to "find someone to give the name Niu Ba, make up the character Zhu, and falsely claim to be a direct descendant of the Ming Dynasty." They also claimed that Liu Song's adopted son, Xi'er, was "the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha, who will protect and assist Niu Ba in the future," and boasted that those who joined the religion could be spared from all disasters such as war, fire, and water.

Other branches of the White Lotus Sect also used "Niu Ba" as their rallying cry, while others claimed to worship Zhu Liu Taizi as their master. These branches were not subordinate to each other and acted independently.

However, the most steadfast in their anti-Qing sentiments was the Sanyang Sect, which was reorganized by Liu Zhixie.

Three-quarters of the White Lotus core members revealed by Liu Qingfeng were members of the Sanyang Sect. Influenced by Liu Song and Liu Zhixie, the people on the list were also enthusiastic about overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming, and had already begun to train troops in preparation for rebellion.

"My lord, I have told you everything I know. Please spare my life. I am willing to serve you and the Qing Dynasty!"

Liu Qingfeng stared at Zhao An, who was holding the list and remaining silent. He knew that once the list was delivered to the court, it would be a tremendous achievement for the young man in front of him, and a great fortune for him as well.

"If the list is true and the information you provided is accurate, you have indeed rendered great service to the court, and I will petition the court for your commendation."

Zhao An walked slowly toward Liu Qingfeng.

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingfeng was overjoyed, but the next moment a cold blade of light flashed!
Clutching his bleeding neck, he stared in disbelief at Zhao An's "real person," unable to utter a sound, only a desperate "hoarse" echoing in his throat.

"The secret you glimpsed, the saying 'the sage brings peace to the world,' is true, but unfortunately you misinterpreted it. It's not that the sage brings peace to the world, but rather that the sage brings peace to the world."

Zhao An whispered these words into Liu Qingfeng's ear, then gently pushed the immortal aside. With a heavy thud, the dignified commander of the White Lotus Sect's Anhui front line passed away.

The list was then lit on an oil lamp by Zhao An, and gradually vanished into nothingness.

(End of this chapter)