Chapter 36: The First Chapter of the Pure Girl
February 10th, 3:30 pm
Several people surrounded Wen Yanbo and walked into the courtyard. They didn't have time to go to the back hall for tea. They went straight to the long table and saw the half stone tablet lying on the ground. The stone tablet looked very old and there was no word on it. Only lines outlined a graceful woman sitting on a lotus platform. However, the stone tablet was broken in the middle and the upper body of the woman could not be seen.
"Haha, Mother of No Birth? This is the deity they worship. I heard that she was worshipped in Beizhou City at that time, but unfortunately I couldn't find her after the city was captured. She is actually here. Haha, it can be regarded as God's will."
"Mr. Wen, doesn't the Maitreya sect worship Maitreya?"
Bao Zheng asked, this was of course also Shen Kuo's question.
"Maitreya is the Buddha of the future. It was when Wu Zetian of the previous dynasty was in power and a hen was crowing at dawn that she falsely claimed that she was the reincarnation of Maitreya. This is how people knew about it. Later, people's lives were difficult and there were many bad policies, so more and more people came to worship him, because this Maitreya was also for the purpose of cultivating the future..." Bao Zheng nodded repeatedly on the side and sighed repeatedly when he heard about the bad policies.
"Who would have thought that people with evil intentions would use the title of Future Buddha to incite the people to rebel? However, since people have a future, why should they rebel? You must know that if you rebel in this life, you will be beheaded in this life, and you may not know what the future will be like. Therefore, these people used a half-broken ancient stele that was dug out in an unknown year and place to create this Wusheng Laomu, who has no provenance. They said that she is the teacher of Maitreya and the original god of creation, neither yin nor yang, and is responsible for destroying the world. Whenever this stele appears, the end of the world will come."
“So there is such a connection?”
"Yes, since the chaotic times at the end of the Qin Dynasty, all rebellions must first fabricate divine prophecies, and this is the only way. Since the Maitreya sect has a new god, the leader calls himself the Dharma King, and there is another female cultivator called the Saint Aunt, a king and a saint ruling together. According to the captives, it is a common practice in the sect that the leader and the Saint Aunt are initially a master and disciple, and later they are mostly husband and wife. In the name of master and disciple dual cultivation, they do despicable things, which is simply a complete loss of human ethics and a complete loss of teacher ethics. If we don't eliminate them, it will not be enough to eliminate the beasts and promote education."
Wen Yanbo picked up a half-burned book, the title of which was still there: "The First Chapter of the Book of the Chaste Girl"
"Look, it's another of these pseudo-religious books that mislead people and teach adultery and incest. I thought I would never see them again in this lifetime." He sneered and threw the book back.
He walked a few steps and picked up another one.
"I have also read the book 'Infinite Calamity Ashes'. It specifically teaches about the end of the world, slanders your majesty's moral decline, and intimidates the ignorant people to join the rebellion. If it is not for solving the case, these books of evil words and misleading people should be burned to ashes."
He put the book down and walked a few steps, then picked up another one with half of the title burned off: "Holy...Scripture Talisman...It should be "Holy Teaching Scripture Talisman", haha, it is an evil book that combines spells, witchcraft, and incantations. I have seen rebels who drank the talisman water under the city of Beizhou. Their eyes were all bulging and their pupils were like fire. It is said that tiger and wolf medicine is often mixed into the talisman water to make people crazy and their courage doubled after taking ."
After he threw the book back to its original place, Shen Kuo picked it up again behind him. He heard that it was a pharmacology book of Maitreya Buddhism, and suddenly guessed that it might have some connection with the death of the pigs in Slaughterhouse Alley, so he had to take a closer look at it.
Wen Yanbo picked up a half-burned piece of paper and began to read: "In the last days, the calamity will kill the unjust, and the unjust will kill the unjust. Kill all the unjust and the world will be peaceful. In the last days, kill to make the world peaceful. Kill, kill, kill. These people who deceive people with evil words only know how to kill. The ones who really need to be killed are this group of people themselves."
Wen Yanbo threw the paper heavily on the table, and seemed to be really angry. His usual steady and mature appearance was completely gone, and his waist and back were not bent, and he seemed to be in much better spirits. He thought for a moment and picked up a few papers next to him and read them several times. The content was the same, and the font size was the same.
"I was wondering why there were so many of them. It turns out they are not handwritten copies. Have you found any engraved characters or carved blocks?" Wen Yanbo asked.
"We didn't find any woodblock prints, but we did find clay movable type, rosin, beeswax, and paper, but most of them were burned," Xu Chong replied.
Wen Yanbo turned to Lao Bao and said, "I wonder how these evil and slanderous books can be reprinted so quickly. If they were re-engraved, it would not be possible to do it so quickly. It turns out that movable type was used. With these things, Mr. Bao has undoubtedly found the lair of the Maitreya Sect. Can we catch the main culprit?"
"Well, how can we say the main culprit? We haven't even caught his accomplices. I sent people to surround the manor, but the thieves escaped through the tunnel, and most of these physical and documentary evidences were burned."
"Bao Longtu doesn't need to be discouraged. This group of people has been raided and has been forced into a desperate situation. There will definitely be more clues."
Wen Yanbo was very casual in encouraging others and did not delve into the responsibilities.
He used his crutch to push aside a pile of burnt-smelling paper and saw an exquisite wooden box there. Although a corner of the box had been burned, it was still basically intact.
Without waiting for him to speak, Xu Chong stepped forward and opened the wooden box, revealing neatly stacked golden garlic strips inside.
He tapped it gently with his walking stick, and Xu Chong took out one and placed it in front of him.
"I have failed the government. I thought I had wiped out the Maitreya sect and killed Wang Ze, but only a few insignificant fish and shrimp escaped. I never expected that they were so wealthy."
He weighed the gold bar in his hand, turned it over, and remained silent for a while. Everyone noticed that Wen Yanbo's face suddenly changed.
After a while, Lao Bao decided to break the deadlock:
"Mr. Wen..."
"I recognize this gold bar." He slammed the gold bar onto the table, then took the second one and slammed it onto the side.
"Please look at the mark on this gold bar."
Several people gathered around to take a look, and saw that there were indeed a few small dents on one side of the gold bar, as if caused by bumps. Gold bars are not hard objects, so it is not surprising that they have some dents from collisions, but the dents on the two gold bars are somewhat similar.
"Whenever our dynasty bestows gold and silver upon foreigners, such a stamp will be left when it leaves the Zuozangku. It is used to monitor the return of foreign gold and silver in and out of the market. I have been in Hebei for a long time and have been negotiating with the Liao State, so I know the secrets."
Everyone was secretly surprised when they heard this. The so-called gift of gold and silver to foreigners was nothing more than a nicer way of saying the annual tribute. However, there was a major secret behind why the gold and silver were here.
"Could it be that the Liao State is behind this Maitreya Sect?"
At this moment, Xu Chong had taken out all the dozen gold bars in the wooden box. They all had stamps on them, which showed that these gold bars were originally given to the Liao people as annual tribute. They should not be circulated among the people. The Liao people obviously did not know that the gold bars taken out of the Song Dynasty were secretly marked, and they were not melted and recast. They were returned in the same state.
Of course, if we analyze it rationally, it seems unreasonable that the Maitreya Sect could gather its followers again in just a few years after its leader was killed without external assistance.
"This matter is of great importance. I think it should be reported to the emperor. Sir Bao, why don't you write a letter first and present it to Shi Yaban." Wen Yanbo said.
"It is indeed important. I will write it right away."
"I'll go back first and look for the official documents from that year. Maybe there are some clues."
Wen Yanbo showed anxiety for the first time and left in a hurry.
Shen Kuo also said goodbye and left. Today's operation could be said to be a complete failure. They did not catch the main and subordinate criminals, but only got some fragmentary clues.
He returned to Yang Wei De's house with the "Holy Teachings and Talismans" in a depressed mood, and saw that the gate of the Prince Consort's house opposite had been repaired. He remembered that he had met Xiao Ping at the door that day but did not talk to her. It was Jin Er who reminded him that he had to return the donkey.
For some reason, he wanted to see Xiao Ping very much at this moment. Perhaps it was because he had encountered a setback, and he wanted to have a long talk with the experienced and insightful famous prostitute in Beijing that day.
It was almost dusk at this time, and the Fan Tower must have become busy and bustling. He could only wait until tomorrow. If Xu Chong could not come early in the morning, he would ride the old donkey to the Fan Tower to see Xiao Ping and then report to the Military Headquarters.
After planning everything, he hurried back. After greeting Yang Wei De and his master's wife, he hid in the house without eating dinner to draw blueprints. For him, the way to crack the hat monster is to copy it exactly. Just like he reproduced the invisible fire dog walking in the snow in front of Lao Bao. If this step is completed, the enemy's deception will be broken. Now that the leader has not been caught, it is still a priority to crack the hat monster's flight.
After making several changes, the problem was still not solved. The situation of the Hat Demon flying close to the roof that night was extremely difficult to understand.
So he gave up and looked through the confiscated "Sacred Scriptures and Talismans", which Wen Yanbo said was a medical book of the Maitreya religion.
I flipped through half of the book, and found that they were all strange prescriptions. For example, a medicine called "Ten Enemies" can be prepared by adding red-spotted mushrooms from Dali to purple quartz, Gelsemium, Scopolamine, Aconitum, and Datura. After taking it, it can probably be as effective as the name of the medicine. Shen Kuo has studied pharmacology. Although the red-spotted mushrooms from Dali are not common medicines in Song Dynasty, and the medicinal properties are unknown, the following few are well-known tiger and wolf medicines, and their effects are all to make people hot and crazy for a short time. Among them, purple quartz is one of the formulas of Wushisan, Datura and Scopolamine are the medicines for knockout drugs, and Gelsemium is even more poisonous. Of course, judging from the name of Ten Enemies, the efficacy cannot refer to the pharmacology of the following medicines. Maybe the mushrooms in Dali are more effective.
He flipped through a few more pages, still full of strange names, most of which were outside Shen Kuo's knowledge system of pathology, medical theory and pharmacology. Until he saw a prescription circled in red.
The recipe has a strange name, called "Ban Ri Ban Xiao San". From the description, it seems to be a poison that kills people and leaves no trace. It can only be stored in a sealed pottery jar, but if it is placed in an open container, the toxicity will be halved . This medicine is colorless and odorless, and it is very easy to poison. If the amount of poison is small, even if the person does not die, he will suffer from wind evil.
"Perhaps this was the poison that killed hundreds of pigs in the Pig Slaughter Alley that day?"
A bold idea came up.
Of course, we have to try the medicine according to the prescription to find out. However, one of the medicines is not available, which is the bitter brine of Chaka Salt Lake, which is obtained by seven times of leaching. However, Chaka Salt Lake is not in the Song Dynasty but in the jurisdiction of Tubo, and it is not a regular medicinal material, and it is obviously not available in the pharmacy. He couldn't help wondering: Why are the medicines required in this book so strange and difficult to get ?
Wen Yanbo said that this book should not be kept but burned. It seems to be true. There is no content about curing diseases and saving lives in the whole book. It is all about harming and destroying people.
The more he watched, the angrier he became. At ten o'clock in the night, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and fell asleep.
