Chapter 209 Self-destruction without attack
"Something's wrong."
Jiang Lin looked at the huge crowds of people in front of his Taoist temple and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
Why are so many people coming?
Of course, this doesn’t mean that having more people is a bad thing. After all, Jiang Lin’s original plan was to “win over” the people through “large-scale construction projects.”
The mastermind behind spreading the rumors took advantage of the people's ignorance and bad nature of believing everything they heard and thinking a tiger is the real culprit.
Well, since the other party chose to use the people and rumors to compete with Jiang Lin, Jiang Lin also used a similar method.
Although the people are often ignorant, they are not stupid or foolish.
While being ignorant, the people are also simple and honest. Or it can be said that it is precisely because of the people's simplicity and honesty that the mastermind behind the scenes has the opportunity to take advantage of them.
The mastermind behind the scenes took advantage of this and stimulated the people's sense of crisis, making them avoid Ziwei Temple as much as possible.
Now, the first thing Jiang Lin has to do is to attract the people to Ziwei Temple and let them see it with their own eyes.
In order to achieve this, Jiang Lin used the simplest and most brutal method.
Throw money.
The generous rewards and the extremely low threshold are enough to make many people struggling on the poverty line "take risks".
As long as you come to Ziwei Temple, the rest will be easy.
But the problem is that although Jiang Lin is prepared to do so, his plan starts with the "construction team" introduced by Abbot Fahai who have worked for Jinshan Temple before.
As for these people who were half farming and half working, Jiang Lin's initial thought was to give them generous compensation and benefits first, and then use the reason of insufficient manpower to let the "construction team" bring in more people to work.
However, Jiang Lin's plan was disrupted.
Because the people who appeared in Ziwei Temple were all carrying tools, and even those who were empty-handed were wearing clothes that were very suitable for work.
This only proves one thing, that these people came to the construction site.
But the question is, where did they come from?
Jiang Lin was a little confused. He had just contacted the construction team of Abbot Fahai and had only been building up momentum for two days. Word of mouth should not have attracted so many people.
He stood in front of the gate of Ziwei Temple, looking at the people swarming in front of him. For a moment, no one on either side spoke.
"Master...Master!"
Until a commoner, who seemed to be an elected leader, stepped out from the crowd cautiously.
"Master, is what the notice says true?"
Notice?
Jiang Lin raised his eyebrows.
The man continued, "Three meals of flour and one meal of meat a day, and you'll get money when you finish the work..."
As he said this, he felt a little guilty. Although he knew that the notice from the government office and the emperor's endorsement were unlikely to be false, this exaggerated reward for them still made them a little unbelievable.
Jiang Lin blinked his eyes when he heard this, and as his mind raced, he smiled and said, "They are all true, but there is one thing that is wrong."
The common people all looked over and thought, even if they could only get two meals a day, no, just one meal, or reduce the wages, even by half, it would still be a great job that only comes once in ten years.
Just when the people were worried, the Taoist priest in green waved his hand generously and said, "It's not just meat for one meal a day, it's meat for every meal!"
"In the morning, we have big meat buns, no vegetables at all! At noon, we have stewed meat and chicken, and at night, it's almost the same, with a palm-sized piece of bacon in each bowl."
After these words were spoken, the people fell silent, staring at Jiang Lin with their eyes wide open.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin silently added: "But we don't have enough people to cook. We have to call the sisters and wives from all the families to come up the mountain to cook."
After thinking for a while, Jiang Lin said, "But if this happens, those who have children at home will not be able to take care of them. Bring them up here too. I will teach them to recognize words and read books."
Learn words! Read!
As soon as these words came out, the people's breathing became heavy.
Then, Jiang Lin continued, "The cooks earn fifty taels a day. The children don't have to work, so they don't get paid, but..."
"All meals are provided. Whatever you eat, your wife and children will eat."
The man who asked the question at the beginning suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard in the face.
Feeling his burning face, he shouted, "Master! We need to work!"
For a moment, almost everyone responded.
Jiang Lin laughed and pushed open the door of the Taoist temple behind him.
Behind the door, under the majestic statue of Wang Lingguan, there were two tables, and behind each table sat a fairy-like girl.
Jiang Lin smiled and said, "Line up, take your name, and start working!"
When the people heard this, they subconsciously rushed to line up. They were afraid that if they lined up too far, they would not be recruited when it was their turn.
If that's the case, you'll regret it for a year.
However, after the originally chaotic people stepped into Ziwei Temple and looked at the tall and majestic statue of Wang Lingguan, they couldn't help but slow down their pace.
They lined up in neat rows.
Bai Suzhen and Tu Shanyu looked at each other, and the latter winked at the former as they saw the people in front of them who were obviously overweight.
The former understood immediately and clapped his hands.
"Sister, are you calling me?"
Xiaoqing popped out from some corner.
"You come to take the name, my sister has something to do."
Bai Suzhen pinched Xiaoqing's face, then stood up and gave her seat to Xiaoqing.
Sure enough, my sister needs me.
Xiaoqing sat down happily, humming happily, her eyes fixed on the disgusting and smelly Taoist priest.
I am my sister's most loyal servant! You see, she only orders me around, not you!
I won this round again!
Jiang Lin didn't know that he had inadvertently gained a "rival in love".
They just watched Bai Suzhen coming and the two of them walked to a corner.
"Fellow Daoist, there are too many people. Add to that the promise you just made, and the cost is a small problem. The problem is that we really don't need so many people."
Bai Suzhen looked at the Ziwei Temple behind her and blinked helplessly.
Although Ziwei Temple needs a major renovation, which is basically no different from starting over from scratch, the problem is that the temple is so small that no matter how major the renovation is, the workload will only be limited.
"Don't worry, there will be a way. Even if all the people in Hangzhou come, it won't be a problem."
Jiang Lin smiled calmly and said, "Brother Bai, did you notice that these common people who came here obviously did not come here through the construction team of Zen Master Fahai."
Bai Suzhen nodded and said thoughtfully: "It seems that someone else is fanning the flames?"
It is certainly a good thing that more people come. For Ziwei Temple and Bai Suzhen, they can "overturn the case" to a greater extent and faster.
But this was an unexpected situation after all, and there was no guarantee that it was not a trick taken by the mastermind behind the scene.
Therefore, Bai Suzhen used the four words "adding fuel to the fire".
Jiang Lin also nodded and was about to speak when he felt a sudden pain in his chest.
"Jiji?"
Little Qingluan woke up again and came out.
"Jiji!"
No, not waking up, but being startled awake?
Jiang Lin raised his eyebrows, and saw the little Qingluan came out of Jiang Lin's arms, but did not stand on Jiang Lin's shoulders as usual, but flapped its wings and flew down the mountain.
"Chichi!!"
Jiang Lin was stunned at first, but then he understood. He turned to Bai Suzhen and smiled, "It seems that our worries are unnecessary."
"It's not adding fuel to the fire, it's our great helper that's here."
Bai Suzhen blinked and saw Jiang Lin walking down the mountain, so she followed him.
She followed Jiang Lin and reached about halfway up the mountain, when she suddenly narrowed her eyes.
I saw two people slowly walking up the mountain.
On the head of one of them was the little blue phoenix that had just flown down. These two were both women without exception.
The girl with the little blue phoenix sitting on her head had a delicate appearance, and her big eyes were full of quirky liveliness.
As for the other one, she maintained perfect etiquette even when climbing a mountain, like a lady from a noble family who had walked out of a painting.
Ok……
A grayish light flashed in Bai Suzhen's eyes, and the secret method of Mount Li was quietly activated.
The girl, who had a meticulous etiquette posture and a bit of baby fat on her face, had a canopy of purple air covering her head, and even the faint shadows of a golden phoenix and a white dragon rising and falling in it.
Royal nobles, and must be the direct descendants of the current emperor, and even have some of the dragon aura of the emperor.
In other words, this girl even has the opportunity to ascend to the position of the supreme ruler!
At least in the Zhou Kingdom, it can be said that she is second to none and above everyone else.
Although Bai Suzhen was a little surprised, she was just surprised. Although the look in the eyes of this royal nobleman when he looked at Brother Jiang Daoist was full of understanding.
But, after all, he is just a mortal who has never practiced cultivation, so he naturally has a huge disadvantage.
Not enough to be afraid of.
Bai Suzhen thought to herself and looked at another girl who seemed ordinary and had very little Taoism skills.
This person, doesn't seem to be anything special?
Bai Suzhen's gaze fell over.
'tread……'
The next moment, Bai Suzhen took a step back imperceptibly, and her eyes returned to their original black and white as she opened and closed.
Bai Suzhen lowered her eyes slightly, seemingly calm, but her heart was in turmoil.
His own Lishan secret method was broken...
No, it wasn't that it was broken, it was that someone peeped into something that he shouldn't have peeped into, and brought backlash.
If it weren't for her own solid and profound cultivation, and the blessing of the Lishan Dharma Lineage, otherwise just the spying just now...
I'm afraid I can't even save my eyes!
Bai Suzhen looked at the lively girl who was jumping happily on the spot after meeting Jiang Lin.
What kind of existence is it that even a cultivator like me, who has the luck of Mount Li and the blessing of the heavenly throne, is not worthy of spying on it?
"Master, are you surprised?"
Liu Yunxiu laughed and held the little blue phoenix on her head while jumping on tiptoe in front of Jiang Lin.
"Greetings, Taoist priest. It is rude of you to come here without telling me."
Zhou Rou bowed softly, lowered her eyes, and did not dare to look at the Taoist priest in front of her.
"It is I who should thank you two."
Although Jiang Lin was a little surprised by the arrival of these two people, he also understood what the emergency situation he had just encountered was.
"It seems that those people were the work of the two of you?"
These two seem to have no strength, and one of them is even a mortal, but to be honest, at least in the Great Zhou Kingdom, there is no "second generation" greater than these two.
One is the only daughter of the current emperor, and the other is the aunt of the prime minister...
Jiang Lin turned around and was about to introduce each other, but found that Bai Suzhen had disappeared without a trace.
Why did Brother Bai run away?
Jiang Lin was thinking with some doubts when he heard Liu Yunxiu's voice.
"Master, Rou'er brought a centurion from the Inner Court Affairs Department. They have already captured some people who spread rumors and have detained them for interrogation."
"In addition, a team of imperial censors will soon arrive in Hangzhou with the prime minister's order to clean up the bureaucracy, rectify the customs of the people, and put an end to rumors."
Zhou Rou, who was standing by, whispered softly, "I can't help you with other matters, but if it involves a fight between mortals, as long as it's within the Zhou Kingdom, I always have some ways to deal with it."
Jiang Lin heard this and accepted the surprise generously without hesitation. He smiled and said, "Thank you very much, both of you. If it weren't for your help, my plan would have been in trouble."
"Taoist priest, you don't have to be polite."
Zhou Rou nodded and quietly poked Liu Yunxiu in the waist.
The latter shuddered, then coughed and touched his purse with his little hand.
"Master Jiang."
Liu Yunxiu put his hands on his waist in a pretentious manner, holding a thick stack of silver bills in his hand.
At the same time, Zhou Rou gestured behind her.
Soon, a princess's sedan chair was carried up. Jiang Lin saw clearly that the one leading the group was Mr. Baihua.
The two young rich ladies held hands, and Liu Yunxiu said in a funny voice, "I've heard for a long time that the Ziwei Temple on Longjing Mountain is very effective. Your Highness the Princess wants to burn incense and pray for His Majesty. By the way, there's a little money for the incense. Can you please arrange it?"
Jiang Lin heard these words, and then took a look at the silver note that was estimated to be at least five figures, and they automatically translated into: I want to spend money!
Suddenly, Jiang Lin subconsciously entered "business mode".
The Taoist in green turned sideways and raised his hand with a meticulous posture and an eager smile on his face.
"Please come in, two laymen."
…………
Inside the Ziwei Temple, surrounded by a crowd of common people, the eldest princess' sedan chair stopped in front of the statue of Wang Lingguan.
All the people were vying to see the legendary royal noble, Her Royal Highness the Princess, the most honorable person in the Great Zhou Dynasty besides the Emperor.
Her Royal Highness the Princess meticulously burned incense, bowed and prayed before the statue of Wang Lingguan.
The posture is smooth and graceful.
Then, accompanied by Taoist Master Jiang, he walked into the main hall and bowed three times and kowtowed nine times before the statue of Emperor Ziwei.
Finally, Taoist Master Jiang chanted some sutras while Her Royal Highness the Princess personally covered the statues of the Emperor and Wang Lingguan with a large bright yellow cloth.
After doing all this, Her Royal Highness the Princess turned around and faced the people.
"Father is extremely respectful of Ziwei Temple, however, state affairs are busy, and as a son, I am here on behalf of my father to pray for him and for our Great Zhou."
After that, Her Royal Highness the Princess continued, "There have been many rumors in Hangzhou in recent days. Father has a message for the people of Hangzhou."
"I, as the Son of Heaven on Earth, must respect Ziwei. The Ziwei Temple on Longjing Mountain in Hangzhou is the direct descendant of the North Pole, the Ziwei True Temple, and the Taoist temple on Earth."
"In a place of righteousness, a place of peace and happiness, there is absolutely no place to harbor filth or evil, or even to harbor evil."
"Hangzhou citizens, please do not follow the crowd and make me feel disappointed."
After Zhou Rou finished speaking, the people cheered, but there were also suppressed whispers.
Jiang Lin listened and roughly understood the meaning: I told you to keep talking nonsense. I told you it was a rumor a long time ago but you didn't listen. Now Her Royal Highness the Princess has come with the emperor's oral order. How could it be false?
That's a great help.
Jiang Lin looked at Zhou Rou on the stage, smiled and nodded.
The latter naturally noticed the Taoist's actions, and his cheeks turned red and he felt a little excited.
Finally, I did not disappoint the Taoist priest.
As for the oral order, Zhou Rou was of course free to improvise it, but she had discussed it with Liu Yunxiu in advance.
But it doesn't matter. It's just an oral order, not a big deal. I can just ask my father to create a file later.
Looking at the people in front of her, Zhou Rou breathed a sigh of relief.
The plan of himself and Yunxiu was finally accomplished, but there was only one step left.
With this thought in mind, Zhou Rou raised her head and declared loudly.
"Father has ordered that since Ziwei Temple is located in Hangzhou, I have issued a special decree."
"Hangzhou, three years of tax exemption!"
When these words were spoken, the people were excited. I believe that it would spread throughout Hangzhou soon.
Everyone in Hangzhou will know that because of Ziweiguan, Hangzhou will be tax-free for three years!
And as long as we wait until that time, the so-called rumors will be self-defeating!
(End of this chapter)
