Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 216: Collective passing away, six relics!
Baoguo Temple.

It is also called Shuangsong Temple.

It was first built during the Liao Dynasty and later abandoned. In the second year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Xianzong, in accordance with the order of his mother, the Queen Mother, ordered the construction of a new temple on the original site of Baoguo Temple.

According to the inscription on the Baoguo Temple, the temple was built by Emperor Xianzong to celebrate the birth of his mother, Empress Dowager Xiaosu Zhou.

There is an inscription: "Now, we are demolishing the old temple and building a new one outside Xuanwu Gate. We are using the money from the inner treasury to buy materials and hire workers. It will be completed in a few months... It is the will of the Holy Mother, and it is named Daciren Temple, so that many monks can live there and celebrate the good fortune and receive gifts..."

But this was only the superficial reason for building the temple. The real reason for building the temple was to build it for Zhou Jixiang, the younger brother of Queen Dowager Zhou.

After the temple was built, Empress Dowager Xiaosu Zhou's younger brother Zhou Jixiang became a monk here, and Emperor Xianzong appointed this uncle as abbot.

Compared with other temples, Baoguo Temple is relatively small, covering an area of ​​only five acres. It is divided into two halls, the middle hall and the west hall. The middle hall has four courtyards and the west hall has six courtyards. There are no more than thirty-four individual buildings in total.

But it is not easy to have such a large temple in this capital city where every inch of land is valuable.

What's more, the location and orientation of Baoguo Temple are elegant, facing north and south, which has a bit of the flavor of a royal temple.

There are five halls, and at the back is the Pilu Pavilion, which is thirty-six steps high and offers a distant view of the West Mountain.

The porcelain statue of Guanyin you have here is over a foot tall, wearing a crown and a green cape, and holding a Sanskrit wheel in its hand. It was contributed by the Jingdezhen porcelain kiln and is one of the Eight Treasures of the capital.

It is called kiln-fired Guanyin, and a scroll of "Picture of Victorious Fruits and Wonderful Causes" is hung between the beams.

There is also a scroll of "Five-Colored Heavenly Lord Fairy" in the temple.

It can be said to be a sacred place in the world.

The arrival of the Jinyiwei Tiqi and the Five Cities Bingmasi soldiers surrounded them, adding a bit of solemn and murderous atmosphere.

It doesn't fit in with the atmosphere of the temple.

There must be killing.

At the place where Lu Bing and Zhang Yuangong dismounted, the abbot of Baoguo Temple, Master Huizhen, who was the reincarnation of gods and Buddhas, was already waiting with the monks.

"Amitabha."

"Amitabha."

Lu Bing and Master Huizhen were familiar with each other. They greeted each other with Buddhist etiquette and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

"When I heard that the wonderful Dharma was burned outside Dongzhimen, I knew it was the result of karma. And when the one-eyed stone Buddha was born outside Xizhimen, I realized that there must be some karma. So I closed the temple gate in advance to welcome the arrival of the two commanders." Master Huizhen sighed, his chest-length white hair and beard shaking.

One east and one west, two straight doors, two miracles.

Master Huizhen is indeed a person who is well versed in worldly affairs. As soon as he heard about the miracle, he knew it was fake.

After arriving in Beijing, Master Miaofa and six other great Buddhist masters did not live in the post station, but stayed at Baoguo Temple.

Now, Master Miaofa has met with an accident at Dongzhimen, so the incident at Xizhimen is obviously closely related to the other six great Buddhist masters.

Therefore, in order to avoid harming innocent people, Master Huizhen persuaded the pilgrims who wanted to burn incense to leave the temple in advance, closed the gate and waited.

"Thank you, Archmage."

Lu Bing expressed his gratitude with a Buddha's hand salute and asked bluntly, "May I ask, Master, where is the evil monk?"

"Please follow me." Master Huizhen led Lu Bing and Zhang Yuangong into the mountain gate, passed the main hall of the first courtyard, and came to the Hall of Heavenly Kings in the main hall of the second courtyard.

The Hall of Heavenly Kings is three bays wide and seven rafters deep, with a gable roof. In the spacious courtyard in front of the hall, there are six simple and rough platforms built of flammable pine wood.

Moreover, flaming oil was added to the bottom of the platform. Once the fire was ignited, the platform and everything on it would be burned to ashes.

The abbot of Hongyuan Temple, Master Yunxi, the abbot of Langya Temple, Master Wufa, the abbot of Feixian Temple, Master Lingmeng, and other six great monks of the imperial temples, all great masters appointed by the court, sat cross-legged in front of six high platforms. Lu Bing knew that these six great Buddhist masters were the masterminds behind the appearance of the one-eyed stone Buddha outside Xizhimen. In this situation, he had some guesses and was not in a hurry to arrest anyone.

The wise Master Huizhen breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Lu Bing, and said in a calm tone, "I hope the commander-in-chief will help and forgive the monks of the seven temples."

Perfection and forgiveness.

Master Huizhen talked about two things.

This high platform can be said to be a Buddhist nirvana platform.

The six great Buddhist masters in front of them have been respected all their lives. Before they die, they naturally do not want to be imprisoned and tortured, or be interrogated. They want to live a decent life, and this requires the help of Lu Bing, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Great Ming Dynasty.

Like many previous dynasties.

They all believe that "if one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit."

on the contrary.

When it comes to collective punishment, there is no mercy.

You enjoy the good fortune and bear the bad fortune, that's all, so don't feel innocent.

The actions of the seven great masters of the Ming Dynasty, including Master Miaofa and Master Yunxi, were both disobedience to the imperial order and violation of the great law.

According to the imperial edict and the law, not only the seven great masters will die, but all the monks in the temple will not be able to escape either.

If they want to avoid being implicated, they need Lu Bing, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to mediate.

"Master, I dare not disobey your request and am willing to fulfill it."

Lu Bing nodded, then shook his head and said, "As for forgiveness, I can only save the lives of the monks in the seven temples. The rest is beyond my reach."

Just like the Great Master Miao Fa.

The evil monk was burned to death by thousands of fires, and Master Miaofa was kicked into the cauldron and burned to death. This was a disguised implementation of the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Master Yunxi and six other Buddhist masters died on the platform of nirvana, which was also a disguised implementation of the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Lu Bingneng promised to fulfill this.

However, Lu Bing could not fully agree to the joint punishment of seven large temples, including Xingfo Temple, Hongyuan Temple, Langya Temple, and Feixian Temple.

As the saying goes, 'the monk can run away, but the temple cannot.'

The monk can’t run away, and the temple can’t run away either. The death penalty may be innocent, but the living punishment cannot be escaped.

Destroying the temple and dismissing the monks, this set of methods to destroy the temple is inevitable.

The seven ancient temples that were thousands or hundreds of years old had their inheritance cut off, and Master Huizhen could not help but sigh.

But Master Huizhen, who had cultivated karma throughout his life, also knew that worldly affairs could not be forced. There were more than 10,000 monks in the seven temples, and it was not easy for all of them to escape death. He expressed his gratitude, "Master Commander, you are so merciful!"

Saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda.

Saving ten thousand people would mean seventy thousand pagodas. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a great compassion.

Lu Bing shook his head slightly and said nothing more. The Jinyiwei did not do good deeds. In front of the Jinyiwei, where everyone was an executioner, the merits of this 70,000-story pagoda were not worth mentioning.

Looking at the six great Buddhist masters slowly walking towards the platform for nirvana, they sat down and recited the "Dharani Sutra of the Secret of the Heart of All Tathagatas and the Whole Body Relics Seal in the Treasure Box". The sound of prayers suddenly arose, and there was no ripple in his heart.

Master Huizhen asked someone to bring torches, walked to the bottom of the platform himself, and lit the platform one by one.

The flames instantly engulfed the six great Buddhist masters. When the flames touched their bodies, the voices of the masters chanting Buddhist scriptures suddenly changed, but they still did not stop...

(End of this chapter)