I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 133 I am the Grand Master of the Xian Cricket Sect, the substitute of the Morality Heavenly Lord, Lin Shisan! ( words)

That night, Huangtangzi Village.

Lin Shisan, Zhang Bo and Sun Yue came to the Yin Yang Sect's place of fasting and offering sacrifices.

Lin Shisan was a dignified official of Yongshou Palace, and he had seen many big events. He had seen the fasting and offering ceremonies held by the Quanzhen Sect, Zhengyi Sect, and Tianshi Dao, all the orthodox Taoist sects in Xiyuan.

In comparison, the fasting and offering sacrifices of the Xuan Da Yin Yang Sect are hard to describe.

There is a threshing ground at the east end of Huangtangzi Village, where the "village temple" is located.

The owner of the village temple was the only landlord in the village, his surname was Qin. He had worked as a jailer in the county government for several years and was a capable man in the village.

Master Qin Guan was wearing a Taoist robe, a pair of embroidered shoes, a red-painted face, and a peach wood sword in his hand.

He didn't look like a Taoist, but more like a grassland shaman, dancing around a ball of fire with a peach wood sword in his hand.

As he danced wildly, he muttered incoherently: "The temple is complete, and the relief will be accomplished. The host is pious, burning incense and offering worship. The crowd under the altar raises the holy name."

Then he began to sing a Taoist song that had no origin: "The sea of suffering is surging, calling the evil son, the deceived are not awake at all, if the world does not remember the Heavenly Lord, then their life in the world is in vain."

Lin Shisan's brows were furrowed. What the hell is this?

In Taoist fasting and prayer ceremonies, there is only a pile of fire on the altar, but no ritual implements, talismans, or incense burners?
The tribute contained no incense, flowers, lanterns or fruits; the scriptures did not recite the Daode and Huangting; and the song sung was actually borrowed from the tune of obscene songs in brothels.

What's even more outrageous is that the so-called master of the temple is jumping up and down and can't even walk in the right way.

When the Three Pure Ones in heaven saw this, they all said, "Oh, what a piece of crap this is! It really stains my eyes."

Seventy or eighty sect members surrounded Master Qin Guan, each holding a stone and smashing it against another stone. They kept chanting, "Wulian Tianzun."

Master Qin Guan thrust the peach wood sword into the ground and shouted, "The fasting and offering ceremony is complete! The gods are coming! Wuhu, fly!"

Lin Shisan thought: Is that all? Good guy! What a good guy!

The fasting and offering ceremony was completed. Master Qin said, "Fellow Taoists, please make this month's offering!"

Most of the clan members offered millet, two or three catties, while those who were better off offered dozens of copper coins.

Qin Guanzhu looked back and forth in two directions. One direction was towards Lin Shisan. He heard that Zhang Laojue from the village brought a birthday head from Beijing and wanted to donate cash tonight.

In the other direction was a 13 or 14-year-old girl. She was the daughter of the village widow Wang. Tonight, the widow Wang wanted her daughter to become a maid of the immortal family.

Master Qin was thinking, the daughter of widow Wang is beautiful and virgin, she can be sold for at least 80 strings of cash. According to the rules of the clan, I, the village master, can get 8 strings of cash as a reward.

I just don't know how much silver the man from the capital can afford.

Widow Wang happily led her daughter to the presence of Master Qin and said, "Master, my daughter is thirteen years old. I would like to offer her to the Three Pure Ones as a maid."

Master Qin Guan narrowed his eyes and said in a mysterious tone: "I just asked the Three Pure Ones. The Three Pure Ones are quite satisfied with your daughter. When she goes to heaven, the Three Pure Ones will bless you."

"As long as you are sincere and have not committed any sins in your past life, you will be able to eat white flour every day in a few days."

Lin Shisan thought to himself: Heaven? What a good reason! In this way, they can sell the girl to a brothel, and if the girl's family asks about her whereabouts, they can just say that she is in heaven.

The girl burst into tears: "Mom, I won't leave."

Widow Wang scolded him, "You are so confused! If you go to heaven and serve the Three Pure Ones, you will have tribute fruits to eat every day. You don't have to stay in the human world and suffer anymore!"

Master Qin Guan waved his hand, and two strong men immediately stepped forward and carried the girl away.

Lin Shisan looked at the short clothes worn by the two sturdy men and judged that they should be the "fork-carrying men" in the brothel.

After Master Qin Guan collected the maids, the old man Zhang, who had no family, brought Lin Shisan to him.

Lin Shisan bowed and said, "Ah, Master. I am a merchant from the capital. I want to join our Yin Yang Sect and ask the Three Pure Ones to save me."

Master Qin pinched his fingers and said, "Ah! I asked the Three Pure Ones. Daoist friend, you are a person with great opportunities! If you sincerely worship the Three Pure Ones, you will surely have smooth sailing, two dragons playing with a pearl, three suns opening the sky, and prosperity all year round!"

Lin Shisan took out a silver ingot from his sleeve, which was worth twenty taels!
He raised the silver ingot above his head with both hands: "I am willing to offer twenty taels of silver to the Three Pure Ones."

As soon as these words came out, all the members of the sect looked at the silver in his hand with their eyes wide open.

Ninety-nine percent of the poor people living in the border areas will never see a whole ingot of silver in their lifetime. Not to mention silver ingots, even broken silver is very rare.

Master Qin took the silver ingot and said, "Okay, from today on, you are a fellow Taoist of the Yin Yang Sect! You must worship the Three Pure Ones every month and recite the 'Infinite Blessing and Longevity Mantra' of the God of Hell every day."

Lin Shisan nodded, "Yes, yes. But I don't know how to recite the Infinite Blessing and Longevity Mantra. Why don't we go to the abbot's house to learn the mantra and my father also wants to join the sect, so let's discuss how much silver to offer as an offering."

When the silver was mentioned, Master Qin's eyes lit up: "Okay, okay, wait for me for a moment."

The head of the Qin Temple ordered four of the clan members to load the offerings collected tonight onto a rooster cart and deliver it to the township temple overnight. Then he led Lin Shisan, Zhang Bo and Sun Yue to his home.

Qin Guanzhu's home is a small courtyard with three blue brick houses. It stands out among the thatched houses in Huangtangzi Village.

After entering the house, Master Qin Guan's wife came up and poured tea for everyone.

Master Qin Guan was an old man in his fifties, but his wife was only fifteen or sixteen years old, with wrinkled cheeks.

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "The abbot is truly a blessed person. His wife is as beautiful as a fairy."

Master Qin Guan laughed and said, "What celestial being? She was originally a maid offered by the sect members to the Three Pure Ones. After she ascended to heaven, the Three Pure Ones didn't like her and sent her back to the mortal world."

"I am a kind-hearted person. How could I see her being homeless and take her home as my second wife?"

Lin Shisan nodded: "Oh, I see. The master is truly as kind as water."

Master Qin told his wife, "Go back to the north room and sleep first."

The wife left.

Seeing her leave, Lin Shisan was too lazy to talk nonsense with Master Qin Guan and gave Sun Yue a look.

Sun Yue pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and put it across Master Qin Guan's neck.

Master Qin was horrified: "Who are you, bandits? No, heroes? I didn't rob you of money, but if you want to rape me, you can go to the north room."

Lin Shisan slapped his badge on the table and said, "Have you ever heard of the Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division?"

Qin Guanzhu used to work as a jailer in the county government, where he spent all day chatting with his colleagues. Naturally, he had heard of the Northern Pacification Office.

Qin Guanzhu was full of doubts: Northern Pacification Division? Why are you looking for a small landlord like me in the village?
Lin Shisan said: "Qin, you are using the name of Taoism to corrupt the Three Pure Ones and deceive the people. I will execute you on the spot!"

Qin Guanzhu was so scared that his legs went weak: "Master! My family is rich! There are eleven taels of silver and thirty-five strings of cash hidden in the vegetable cellar outside the door. There are also three thousand catties of corn in the granary, and three stalks of meat."

Sun Yue cursed: "What a small family. You want to buy your life with just this little wealth?"

Lin Shisan said, "I don't want your money. Tonight you must tell me everything about the Yin Yang Sect. If you tell even a single lie, I will kill you immediately!"

"Oh, Jinyiwei killing a village charlatan like you is like crushing a stink bug." Lin Shisan interrogated Master Qin for two hours and roughly understood how the five levels of Yin Yang Sect, namely, headquarters, prefecture, county, township, and village, operated.

He suddenly discovered that the evil Taoist Yan Hao was not only a charlatan, but also a business genius.

Each temple defrauded the sect members of money and food, and everyone who handled it could share the profits. Only about 30% was left in Yan Hao's hands.

It was the 70% that was distributed that made a group of charlatans, both big and small, eager to help him, the charlatan leader, make money.

The one who eats without pooping is a Pixiu. He keeps shouting that if you pay the offering, the Three Pure Ones will save you. If this goes on for too long, the sect members will inevitably become suspicious.

So Yan Hao came up with a method of drawing fortunes based on the list of sect members.

Every month, each county temple randomly selects three members of the sect, who are called "predestined people". The Yin-Yang Sect will give back a hundred times the amount of offerings made by the predestined people, which is called "the blessing of the Three Pure Ones".

Isn’t this the gambling of the Tang Dynasty? Li Bai has a poem that says, “When the six bets are won, the golden plate is opened by thousands of people.”

Zhang Bo listened for a long time and was a little surprised: "Playing tricks is really a good business. Isn't there anyone who wants to start a new business and grab the huge profits of the Yin Yang Sect?"

Master Qin Guan had worked as a county magistrate, so he knew the ins and outs of this very well: "Yes. But a sect business must start small and grow big. When others just start a business, the government will come out to ban it."

"I don't know about other counties, but in our county, from the county magistrate to the constables and police officers, everyone can receive monthly wages from the Yin Yang Sect."

Lin Shisan sighed: "Alas. It turned out to be a collusion between officials and demons. No wonder!"

Zhang Bo interrupted, "Among the various highly profitable businesses in the Ming Dynasty, which one did not have government officials involved in it? Evil ways are also a type of highly profitable business."

At midnight, Lin Shisan left Huangtangzi Village. As for Master Qin Guan, he let it go like a fart.

The three of them rode back to Xuanfu City.

Lin Shisan said: "Master, I have thought of a good way to lure Yan Hao out."

Zhang Bo asked, "What method?"

Lin Shisan said: "The first step of this method is to establish a new Taoist sect in Xuanfu. I will be the leader and steal Yan Hao's business!"

Zhang Bo took a deep breath and said, "Are you going to play tricks?"

Lin Shisan nodded: "Yan Hao cares about 'wealth' and 'career'. If I bring all the people from Yin Yang Sect to my new Dao Sect, he will lose both wealth and career. Wouldn't he be furious?"

"When I have almost won him over, I will post letters of challenge inside and outside Xuanfu City to challenge him to a duel. I am not afraid that he will not come."

"His magic tricks are just tricks. I will expose him in front of the people and let them know that he is a fake god and a charlatan."

"In this way, we can naturally eliminate the Yin Yang Sect without causing a civil uprising."

Zhang Bo said, "It's easy for you to say. But it will be very difficult to do it. And the emperor has ordered the officials to open Dao Zong in Xuanfu? Won't the censors' impeachment memorials overwhelm you?"

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "Master, how could you have forgotten that I was once possessed by the Lord of Morality! That was in front of the Emperor and all the civil and military officials!"

"Because I found the golden tortoise, the censor acquiesced to the 'miracle'."

"Isn't it legal and reasonable for someone who has been possessed by the Heavenly Lord of Morality to start a Dao Sect? I'm not afraid of the censors reporting me!"

"I interrogated the man surnamed Qin today and roughly figured out two secrets of the Kaidao Sect."

Uncle Zhang asked, "Oh? Which two secrets?"

Lin Shisan said: "The first secret is to give the people a sweet treat. Oh, Governor Yang gave me several thousand taels of treasure. I sold them and converted them into cash and distributed them to the people. This can be regarded as taking from the people and using them for the people."

"The second secret is to drag the officials into the water and make them my backers. I dare to ask, in the current Xuanda, how many people can be a stronger backer than me? The Prime Minister of the Cabinet, the Seal of the Imperial Household Department, the Left Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and even the Emperor of the Yongshou Palace are all my backers!"

Zhang Bo said, "You are establishing a Taoist sect here. Aren't you afraid that Yang Shun and Lu Kai will become suspicious?"

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "I have already thought of a story that will surely fool the two of them."

Zhang Bo asked, "What about the emperor? How are you going to explain it? The emperor ordered the messenger to come to Xuanfu to catch the bug, but the messenger opened Dao Zong? It's embarrassing for the emperor!"

Lin Shisan suppressed his smile and said seriously, "I am the substitute of the Heavenly Lord of Daode in the human world. The Heavenly Lord of Daode prepared a short-winged fairy insect as a gift for the emperor to congratulate him on his great success in cultivation."

"But the short-winged fairy insect ran away to the human world. So, the Lord of Morality came down to the human world and took over my body to look for the fairy insect."

"Once the mission is completed, I will take the fairy insect back to the capital and present it to the emperor."

"I have already thought of a name for the new sect. It will be called 'Xian Cricket Sect'."

At this point, Lin Shisan couldn't hold back any longer and laughed out loud.

Zhang Bo exclaimed: "Brilliant! You have a talent that is beyond comprehension."

Lin Shisan said, "You are embarrassing me. The purpose of doing all this is to catch Yan Hao and clear Shen Lian's name. But clearing Shen Lian's name will definitely offend Yan Ge Lao and his son."

"I haven't figured out a way to please both sides."

Zhang Bo said: "If you can finally handle this difficult matter and please both sides, I can only say that you are born to be an official."

Lin Shisan told Zhang Bo some immature ideas.

First, they distributed money and food to the members of the "Xian Cricket Sect", and then asked them to look for "Short-winged Stove Fairy Insects" along the Sanggan River, which was a disguised form of work-for-relief.

Secondly, when the "Immortal Cricket Sect" becomes more powerful, Yang Shun will definitely ask about it. Then Lin Shisan will say: I did all this to catch insects for the emperor. At the same time, it is also to satisfy my little hobby of Lin Shisan - to play with the people.

Third, Yan Hao has many confidants. When he shows up, it will be difficult to capture him with only the more than 30 comrades of the Northern Division. And the Xuanfu garrison cannot be used to prevent Yan Hao from falling into Yang Shun's hands. Then they can borrow troops from Zhang Yun, the military supervisor of Baoan Prefecture.
Zhang Bo was very impressed with Lin Shisan. In just half a night, he had even thought of the details of the response.

When the three of them rode to the foot of Xuanfu City, Lin Shisan, who was in a good mood, made a joke: "The Great Master of the Xianqiu Sect, the substitute of the Morality Heavenly Lord, Lin Shisan, is going to enter the city."

When the three men returned to the governor's office, they happened to run into Inspector Lu Kai.

Lu Kai asked with a smile: "Did Lin Chuanfeng go to the Ruanyu Pavilion on Maoshifang Hemorrhoid Street to check on customs again?"

Lin Shisan deliberately held his waist and said, "Ah, yes. That girl practiced the 18-step spring kick horizontally. It almost killed me."

"Oh, by the way, Patrolman, are there any banks or pawnshops in Xuanfu City?"

Lu Kai replied, "Yes. There is a 'Guangjinhao' in the city, opened by a Puzhou native. It runs both a money house and a pawn shop. Lin Chuanfeng, why are you looking for a money house and a pawn shop?"

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "My tigress is a money-grubber. She doesn't like gold or jewelry, she only likes shiny silver."

"Didn't Yang Butang give me a box? I want to exchange everything in the box for silver and take it back to Beijing."

Lin Shisan planned to exchange all of Yang Shun's generous gifts for small change, and use it to offer generous benefits to attract members of the clan.

Lu Kai nodded: "Oh, that's how it is."

Lu Kai laughed in his heart: Oh, what a close minister to the emperor. He is greedy for money and lustful, what a vulgar person, just like me.

(End of this chapter)