Limestone geology is more common, underground rivers and caves are more common, and these magical places often form colorful scenery.

Not far from Taiping Village, there is a small hill. Near the top of the mountain, there is a huge cave that can accommodate tens of thousands of people. The local natives called the Cave of Ten Thousand People. According to legend, the barbarians rebelled in the Tang Dynasty and once hid soldiers in the cave, but they are still inhabited.

The terrain in the Ten Thousand People Cave is dry and flat, and there is no common stalactite, which is very suitable for living. At the foot of the mountain, an underground river emerges from the mountains. The water is vast and it flows straight into the Zuojiang River not far away. This hill has two great scenic spots, one cave and one water, and its talents are rare among the mountains. Unfortunately, it is located in a remote place and the population of Taiping Village is sparse. It is not well known in the boudoir.

Until more than a month ago, a Master Zhiyun from Qinzhou claimed that he saw the Buddha's light appearing on the top of the mountain at night, saying that he had a connection with Buddhism and vowed to build a temple on the mountain to practice. The news spread that men and women nearby came here to see the Buddha's light and donated money and materials to Master Zhiyun who lives in the foot of the mountain to help him build a temple here.

Master Zizhiyun built a hut here. This unknown hill has its name, called Golden Light Top, and Ten Thousand People Cave has also been changed to Golden Light Cave. From time to time, people come here to visit, and quickly became a scenic spot in Taiping Village.

Xu Pingchu didn't care when he heard this news. As long as he was a monk with a certificate of justice and some believers were willing to donate money, he would be too lazy to pay attention to the construction of temples and practice as long as he did not violate the law.

Since the reign of Emperor Taizong, the Song Dynasty was relatively tolerant of Buddhism. It was from the Song Dynasty that Buddhism penetrated into the people and became a part of Chinese society. Most emperors of the Song Dynasty believed that Buddhism taught people to be good, could educate customs, and encourage them. According to Emperor Zhenzong, he formally established the political status of Confucianism during his tenure, and said the famous saying that "there is a man in the book, and the golden house in the book is a man in the book." But on the other hand, Emperor Zhenzong also advocated Taoism, enfeoffed and sacrificed in the east and west, and built palaces. At the same time, Emperor Zhenzong also wrote "Chongshu Theory", saying that Buddhism and Confucianism "had different deeds but the Tao is the same", and the three religions are actually not allowed.

In society, bald heads are obviously more popular than bull-nosed Taoist priests and poor scholars. If you receive your money, you will be rich and prosperous in the next life. In this life, you will live in a big house and wear silk in the next life, which will make people more fascinating. Especially Empress Dowager Liu, one is to inherit her husband's will, and the other is that women are closer to monks and are more enthusiastic about the retribution in the next life. Buddhism has developed rapidly during her tenure.

The monks' glory eventually caused a rebound from the scholars and officials, and Ouyang Xiu was the one who strongly dismissed the Buddha. However, the bald men were protected by the emperor. In addition to adding a few beautiful articles to the literati, the dismissed the Buddhas of the Song Dynasty did not cause any big news, but ultimately affected the transformation of Confucianism.

These are all later stories. Ouyang Xiu has just passed the imperial examination and is still struggling to get a seniority and has no idle time. The late Tiansheng period was really the golden time of Buddhism, and the monks lived a very prosperous life.

Xu Ping has always believed in the officialdom that peace is a blessing and that he should not stand up in everything. Although he is not interested in any kind of religion, he just let it go and does not deliberately make things difficult for them.

Until Gao Daquan came back and said that Master Zhiyun wanted to build a release pool under the golden light, Xu Ping could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, and had to stand up and express his attitude.

The release pond is a place specially used for release of animals. The Song people believed in this set, including dignitaries, nobles, and even emperors and queens, who would release animals on a large scale every important festival and their birthday. Of course, animals were divided into different levels, including those who ran on land, whether they were jackals, tigers, leopards, or roe deer, or roe deer, or roe rabbits. Obviously, they could not release animals on a large scale in dense crowds, so they were cheaper to aquatic fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs.

Since the emperor and the empress dowager believed in this, releasing animals was not just a spontaneous act of the people, but it brought a little official color. Developed areas, such as the Jianghuai area, had a special edict in the past two years that fishing was not allowed within five miles of the upstream and downstream of the prefectures and counties near rivers, and were specifically used for releasing animals.

It is precisely because of this background that someone proposed to set up a release pond, and Xu Ping, as the local chief, had to speak out. Fortunately, Master Zhiyun knew the current affairs and proposed that the release pond be located under the top of the golden light. Otherwise, if Zuojiang turned around in Taiping Village and banned fishing for five miles upstream and downstream, it would be a disaster for the Tijusi to be trapped.

On the day, it was just sunny after the rain. Xu Ping brought Gao Daquan to the Golden Light Top to observe the terrain and make the final decision to choose the site of the release pond. Xiuxiu, who was so nervous in Taiping Village, pulled Liu Xiaomei and Duan Yunjie to the crowd and relaxed in this emerging tourist resort.

The mountain road was rugged and difficult to walk, and the road was slippery after the rain. The group of people left the town not far away, so they left their cars and horses and walked all the way. The sun rose high before they arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Xiuxiu said to Duan Yunjie beside her: "The road is so difficult to walk, I am so exhausted. The road is just an ordinary mountain view. I don't know what's good about it!"

Duan Yunjie chuckled softly and said, "Maybe there will be a scenery at the foot of the mountain. You are just impatient."

"It's not here, it's just a pool and a big stream, where is it good to look!"

Duan Yunjie looked not far ahead, and it was indeed at the foot of the Golden Light Pin Mountain. The underground river came out of a cave and formed a small waterfall. A pool of dozens of feet in radius was rushed out of the mountain. The water flowed under the pond and formed a tributary of the Zuojiang River. Although the waterfall was small and not so spectacular, the water flow was clear, which set off the lush trees around it, and it was also a bit elegant.

Since the night of Buddha's light has emerged, there have been endless people visiting here. In just a short time, several shops were opened by the pool to do the business of these tourists. A tea shop for people to sit idle, two small wine shops, and there are tricks to sell people's wine and food outside. This place is made of ten thousand wines in Yongzhou, and the shops can brew and sell their own wine, and there are everywhere.

Next to these three shops, there are also some street stalls selling incense and candles, and a few of them selling fresh fruits and vegetables, all of which are produced nearby.

Xiuxiu said, "I am tired from walking. We went to the tea shop there to take a break and bought a few kilograms of lychees to eat. I saw that the ones on there were all watery, and they must have just been picked from the tree."

Duan Yunjie said: "When we come with the officials, how can we make the decision by ourselves?"

"Sister, we are here to have fun, how could we go running errands with the officials? The officials have to see the release pond and the temple's location. Could it be that we still follow the mountains?"

Duan Yunjie shook her head and had to follow Xiuxiu's wishes.

Xu Ping brought Gao Daquan and Tan Hu to the edge of the pool, and saw that the water in the pool was clear and deep, and fish were rising from time to time. There was a big banyan tree on the other side of the pool, with branches and leaves sweeping on the water surface, and there were many birds of various colors gathered in the canopy, jumping around and chirping.

I looked up at the Golden Light Top. The mountain was not high, but it was only thirty or forty feet. There was no golden light cave hidden among the trees. However, the mountain was a bit steep and it was not easy to look up and down.

After seeing it, Xu Ping turned around and said to Gao Daquan: "That monk chose a good place, choose this pool as a release pond. When the people who release animals arrive here, can they go up to his temple to burn incense? The incense will definitely not be bad."

Gao Daquan nodded: "I think so too. I'm afraid that the night Buddha light was made up by the monk. I just like to have a fancy to Feng Shui here. Officials, what do you think?"

"No matter whether he is true or not, as long as he doesn't commit crimes, he will do so."

Xu Ping was not interested in the matter of divine deity, and today he came here just a routine business. Since ancient times, the imperial court has had bans of mountains and rivers. Unless in some relatively chaotic special periods, mountains, rivers and lakes are not allowed to be developed privately. Subjectively, this is to maintain the majesty of the emperor, but objectively protect the natural environment from being destroyed. Until the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government opened the ban on mountain. In just over a hundred years, except for remote mountainous areas, natural forests were completely destroyed. Xu Ping has memories of his past life. Although he did not know how the environment was destroyed in history, he was very clear about the importance of protecting mountain vegetation and he still paid more attention to the ban on mountain and rivers.

The monk wants to build a temple on the mountain and a release pond at the foot of the mountain, and the government must have approval. To be honest, it is not legal for him to build a hut at the foot of the mountain now, but Xu Ping is not plaguing with the monks.

After roughly seeing that building temples on the mountain has no effect on the surroundings except being remote, Xu Ping agreed. Buddhism teaches people to be good is just a nonsense. Which one of the Confucians and Taoism does not guide people to be good? But neither of the two schools do not confuse people with the Buddhist theory of reincarnation confusing people and has strong temptation. Especially Confucians, doing good is the right thing to do, and those who do evil will be punished. If you believe in this family, besides studying and becoming an official, there will be no benefit in this life and the next life. For the illiterate lower class people, it is obvious from the basic doctrine that they choose to believe that they are simply lice on the bald head.

To put it bluntly, it is boring to care about people, scare people, and reasoning. Only by lying to others can we make others willing to pay and thank you very much. With the education of our previous life, Xu Ping naturally understood that religion is an anesthetic for the lower classes of society. Other high-level reasons are nonsense. National laws also require people to do good and not do evil. Which one will believe it? However, for rulers, the cost of anesthetic is lower, so it is vigorously promoted.

After seeing all the things, Xu Ping said to Tan Hu: "I am tired all the way. Let's go to the tea shop there to take a break and ask for a cup of tea to moisten your mouth."

He took a few people and the accompanying sergeants to leave the pool, and Xu Ping and a few sat down under the tea shop shed. These shops were built with bamboo poles and thatch. The construction time was short and the cost was low, which was considered to be a geography and climate in Yongzhou.

After coming up to tea, Xu Ping took a sip, looked around, and asked Tan Hu: "Where are Xiuxiu and the others? Didn't they come out with us? Why are there no one?"

Tan Hu said: "I just drank tea at the tea stall here, but after drinking tea, it seemed that I had entered the wine shop next to me."

Xu Ping nodded, too lazy to care about what the few people and women are busy with.

Before a cup of tea was finished, a noise suddenly came from the wine shop next to it, and something was thrown out from it, which seemed particularly harsh between the mountains and fields.

Xu Ping put down the tea and said to Gao Daquan and Tan Hu: "Follow me to see who is noisy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his face darkened. As the highest local chief, he rarely came out, and someone was making trouble here when he came out. Is it obvious that he would not give him face?

When they arrived at the door of the wine shop, the people inside had already come out one after another, and the three men pushed and shoved each other.

Xiuxiu and the other two stood in the crowd, holding a large bunch of lychees in their hands, eating them deliciously and seeing them deliciously.

Xu Ping waved his hand, called Xiuxiu to her and asked her: "What's going on in the store? Did you guys get involved in the unruly way when you go in?"

Xiuxiu shook her head: "Why do officials rely on me whenever they have something to do? We want to eat and eat in the store, and we speak in a harmonious manner. How can we cause trouble? It was those two big men who entered the shop and refused to let the store do business here for no reason, and they threw the dishes, pots and stoves out of the store."

Xu Ping frowned: "There is no reason?"

"Yes," Xiuxiu spit out the lychee core in her mouth. "The two people said that they were following the monk's lay Buddhists, and the store sells fish here to blaspheme Buddhism, so they quarreled."
Chapter completed!