Chapter 38 5. Manager Li’s second return to his hometown (2)

A group of people, under the guidance of the "Dacheng Li" banner, walked and stopped. After three days of trekking, they finally arrived. When Li Lianying and the others arrived, all accommodation had been arranged.Due to the large number of people, not counting the soldiers, the Li family booked nearly half of the hotel, which made many other people unable to find a place to live, so they had to live in a place that could shelter from the wind and rain beside the temple. These people looked at the people in front of them, all of them were dressed gorgeously, the women were all coquettishly dressed, and the men were all flesh-faced, and they could be seen as playboys and ignorant people at a glance.They saw that the people in front of them moved out the boxes from the car, which were for clothes; I also moved out a lot of red cloth for hanging.Some of them remembered what they saw yesterday, and some of them were taking money out of the car and so on.

The arrival of Li Lianying and his party added excitement to the temple fair, and also added topics of discussion to the people rushing to the temple fair.The abbot and the abbot of the temple paid homage to Li Lianying in person, and the local magistrates and gentry also came to see Li Lianying one after another. For a while, the front of Li Lianying's hostel was full of traffic, and people kept coming and going all day long, which became another lively place in front of the temple.It caused many people to keep asking who lived there, and those who were usually famous in the local area also came to visit, but they would soon understand, because immediately someone pointed to a flag and told him that it was The second master of the Li family in Dacheng, the current celebrity around the queen mother.

The temple fair began, but first Li Lianying led his family to prostrate and worship devoutly there.Then people from the Li Mansion set off firecrackers outside. The sound of firecrackers lasted for a whole hour. To the Tathagata Buddha, and finally to the Empress Dowager Cixi, I burned some paper, and silently wished the Lafayette in Beijing a long and healthy life. The firecrackers were finally set off, and the general pilgrims who stayed outside looked at the cannon paper gathered there to be several meters thick, which made them dumbfounded, and what surprised them even more was the red cloth, these red cloths , Colored cloth is carried up by dozens of people, every two people carry a bundle.The abbot of the temple asked people to hang up those cloths, and for a while, the front, back, left, and right sides of the temple were all wrapped in red cloth.

From a distance, the temple was as red as if it was on fire, but there was no smoke coming out. After hanging the cloth, Li Lianying said a few words to the temple host, who nodded in agreement. After a while, he walked out of the temple and said to the pilgrims outside the temple: "Living Bodhisattva Master Li will give each person two taels of silver. The silver is at the entrance to the temple. Each of you come in to get one and then go down after worshiping the incense." Standing in the temple, Li Lianying looked at the pilgrims who came in. After burning incense, they would inevitably kowtow to the Living Bodhisattva Master Li.Li Lianying didn't back down either, and let him kowtow and bless him.

That night, Li Lianying stayed in the right hall of the temple because of the invitation of the abbot of the temple.Sleeping until midnight, Li Lianying had a dream in which someone told him, "Be careful in the Year of the Gengzi, otherwise, you will lose power, but it won't last long."When I woke up the next morning, I patted my head, thinking of last night's dream, I couldn't help but be surprised.However, Li Lianying believed in gods more, not to mention the dream he had in the right hall, which was separated from the gods by a wall, he was even more convinced.He had no choice but to warn himself to be more careful in the Year of Gengzi.

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye. Li Lianying felt that he hadn't seen Lafayette for such a long time. Besides, he also felt tired of staying at home. Tian gambled at home, so he decided to return to the capital early. After the news spread that Li Lianying was going back to the capital, the local gentry and the magistrates of several nearby counties all came to see Li Lianying off, and some also came to remind Li Lianying, hoping that he would not forget to promise himself.After being seen off by everyone, Li Lianying left home with her elder brother, third younger brother, fifth younger brother, several nephews, heirs, guards, servants, and royal cook, and went back to Beijing by boat.

Li Lianying and his party traveled slowly from south to north, and arrived at a small town called Pingyang that day.This small town is close to the canal, and the terrain is low and flat. Whenever the canal floods, it will become a disaster area, which is somewhat similar to Li Lianying's hometown. It was evening when we arrived in Pingyang.Li Lianying ordered to anchor here for the night. This time, because Li Lianying arrived quietly, the local government was not disturbed.After dinner on the boat, the moon had already risen. Seeing the smoke from people's houses in the distance, Li Lianying decided to get off the boat and go for a walk.

Accompanied by several heirs and guarded by eight guards, Li Lianying disembarked from the boat and went ashore, and walked slowly along the river.Looking at the wheat seedlings dancing with the wind under the moonlight, they are beautiful, bowing their heads for a while, raising their chests for a while, and playing music together with sand, sand, sand, all of which are so peaceful and peaceful. In the distance, there are several families who come out to enjoy the shade and chat together on such nights after eating.This is the happiest moment for farmers. They are so busy during the day that they cannot take time out to rest and chat. Only at night can they have time to talk together. Especially on moonlit nights, everyone is more willing to gather together. Together.They talked about the world on this kind of night, about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, about the Jade Emperor, about Guanyin, about anecdotes, about current affairs, and then they slept sweetly under the moonlight with their own dreams.

Li Lianying wanted to hear what they were talking about, so she brought her son and guards to the vicinity of the house, and stopped in a relatively secluded place. Li Lianying could only hear someone talking about the Boxer Rebellion inside. The Boxer Rebellion was a strange thing to Li Lianying, so she decided to listen carefully. Pushing aside the shade from the fence, Li Lianying saw more than a dozen rural people sitting around in the courtyard.They lay or sat or squatted leisurely and chatted under the moonlight.Li Lianying saw a man standing in the middle of the crowd with his back turned to him. He didn't look like a real farmer because his clothes were better than those around him.The man was eloquently and dancing about righteousness and regiments to the people around him, and the people around him were also listening to him very attentively, obviously attracted by his words.

"Since Master Lin Zexu banned the sale of opium in Guangzhou, it caused dissatisfaction among foreigners. They opened the door of our Qing Dynasty with guns and cannons, and then foreigners forced us to sign a treaty with them. They have made progress in our Qing Dynasty. This has made my country uneasy and the people uncertain. I also heard that some time ago, Lafayette wanted to abolish the emperor, but he was interfered by foreigners, and Lafayette was very angry when he didn't abolish the emperor in the end." Speaking of this, the man in the middle turned his head and faced Li Lianying who was standing outside the fence.By the moonlight, Li Lianying could see the man's face clearly. His face was very healthy. His nose was not too high, but it was not too low when viewed from the side. His eyes shone brightly under the moonlight. He looked energetic and fat. Yes, just by looking at it, I know that I usually eat well.

"But this time it's different. Foreigners don't dare to sit on our necks anymore and bully us Chinese! The Qing Dynasty should be proud, and Lafayette should be happy. Do you know what's going on?" The man said and looked at the crowd around him.Everyone shook their heads, expressing that they did not know. "I met the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals." This statement surprised not only the other people in the arena, but also Li Lianying who was standing outside. "Uncle, you are not fooling me, are you?" a young man asked. "How can I coax you? I went to Shandong to do business a few days ago, and there was a riot of Boxers and red lights. I heard that the boxers were very capable. They were invulnerable to swords and guns. There was a senior brother inside, that is, the leader among them, who made the officers and soldiers shoot more than a dozen shots, but nothing happened, and scared the two officers and soldiers to faint on the spot. Do you think this is a god?" "Uncle, it's really so powerful, I'll follow suit, too?" The young man was still talking: "What about the red light?" "Don't worry! I'll tell you of course. The red lights are from women's houses. They are very powerful. They wear red jackets, red trousers, red shoes, and red jackets. They hold red fly whisks in one hand. Holding a red handkerchief. Some people are dressed in another way. They hold a red fan in one hand and a red handkerchief in the other.These people are so coquettish, the eldest among them is thirty or forty years old, and the youngest is only fifteen or sixteen years old.I heard people say that the fans in their hands are very miraculous. One fan can lift oneself off the ground slowly, and the second fan can slowly rise up, and the fan can rise into the sky all the time.When I was in Shandong, I saw many red lights going up and down in the air at night, floating freely.Ah!That's great. " Li Lianying and a few guards were terrified when they heard it outside. They looked at each other in dismay, not knowing whether the person in front of them was bragging or telling the truth. "I've heard people say that whether it's the Boxers or the red light, when they recite a mantra, Zhang Tianshi, Yang Erlang, Nezha, Lu Dongbin, Tieguai Li, and the Virgin of Avalokitesvara will all possess their bodies, and they will immediately become powerful. Unstoppable courage. Killing foreigners, Ermaozi, and burning churches is a simple matter, but people have vented their anger. Two German priests in Juye County wanted to be arrogant. The Boxers rushed there and waved them thirty meters away. With two strokes of the knife, the heads of those two foreigners were cut off." The people in the garden were stunned, and even the sound of breathing was quiet, afraid that they would not be able to hear any details.Li Lianying outside the hospital was also listening intently, not daring to be distracted.When he heard that the Boxers had killed two Germans, he couldn't help feeling an inexplicable joy in his heart. Whether he was happy for Lafayette or someone else, he couldn't figure it out, but he was a little happy anyway. "Uncle! Have you ever really seen the Boxer's magic?" asked another young man. The man looked around, and then whispered: "Who said I haven't seen it? I have seen it. It was on the way to Jinan. At noon that day, I walked to a small town and saw a group of people gathered there." , I didn't know what they were doing, so I also surrounded them. I saw a man standing in the middle of the crowd, wearing a red turban and a red sash, with some gods painted on his clothes, surrounded by a dozen People in the same attire held guns in their hands. I saw the man in the middle walking back and forth inside, then stood still, closed his eyes, slowly raised his hands to his head, and slowly moved the He put his hands together, and then stood for a while. He seemed to be muttering something, but I didn't hear it clearly. I only heard that Zhang Tianshi appeared, and that Er Maozi was doing evil here. Please show up and burn his house. Suddenly, the man's hands came from It fell in the air and shouted at the same time. We looked in the direction the man pointed, and sure enough, a house in the distance caught fire." After everyone listened to it, they tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tipped their praises, but at this moment the man said again: "Look, aren't these magical soldiers and generals coming down to earth? If they are used to fight foreigners, they will not be killed, and they will be driven out of our Qing Dynasty!" "Yes! That's right! Uncle, you've been there for so long, haven't you learned how to do it?" A young man asked. "I learned it, I learned it. I only learned one incantation, and I didn't learn anything else. I heard people say that if you want to learn this, you have to get baptized by the senior brother at the altar, and then you can learn it yourself." "Uncle, let's have a listen and see what the spell is." The man said again. The man didn't say a word, then squinted his eyes, clasped his hands together and said, "I worship the Great Buddha! I'm going to the Western Paradise! I'm going to the Western Paradise! I'm worshiping the Great Buddha! I'm worshiping the Great Buddha! I'm going to the Western Paradise!" I'm going to the west!I worship Buddha! ..." He opened his eyes and said again: "But I didn't learn it, because I didn't enter the altar. " After hearing this nearly mythical talk, Li Lianying decided to ask if that person was real or not. He coughed outside the hospital.When the people inside heard the coughing outside, they immediately stopped talking and looked at the dozen or so people who came in from outside the courtyard. They didn't know what it was for?All of them could not help but look frightened. "You don't have to be afraid," Li Lianying said to these people, "We are merchants passing by here. Just now I heard this friend talking about the Boxers and the red light, so we stopped outside the courtyard and listened for a while." Li Lianying pointed The person standing in the middle who spoke just now continued, "We came in to bother you, and we also wanted to ask you whether what you said was true or not." The people sitting in the middle of the field breathed a sigh of relief.They looked at the unattractive man who claimed to be a merchant in front of him, and then at the eight imperial guards and his four heirs who were following him, and saw their faces were full of flesh, especially those eight people were even more fierce. , I couldn't help feeling chills in my heart.They were afraid that these people were bandits who robbed money, but they dared not not answer the question of the person in front of them. "Returning to the adults, what the little one said is what I saw with my own eyes, and it is definitely not a bragging speech." "Then how many people are there in the Boxers and the Red Lantern?" Li Lianying obviously believed it. "It's everywhere in every village, there are so many!" "Did you hear their attitude towards the imperial court when you were in Shandong?" Li Lianying asked again. The man thought for a while, and then he said to Li Lianying confidently: "It seems that their flag has the words Fu Qing and Exterminate Foreign Countries written on it." Li Lianying couldn't help yelling "OK" in his heart, but he didn't say it, he just nodded, looked at the man and smiled, and then led the guards and heirs back to the boat. When Li Lianying got back on the boat, he couldn't help feeling a lot of thoughts. He thought about the changes that had happened in the past two months since he went home, and he thought of what the man said just now. use.It can be seen from the banner of "Helping the Qing Dynasty and Exterminating the Foreign Countries" that the "Boxers" and "Red Lanterns" can still be regarded as righteous people, Li Lianying thought. Just as Li Lianying was thinking about her own problems, a guard came to Li Lianying in a panic, knelt down and said, "My lord, it's not good. A team of officers and soldiers came by the river and are heading towards the boat." "Li Lianying panicked when he heard this. What is he doing? He ordered the guards, his heirs, and other personnel on board to get ready to set off at any time. Just after Li Lianying finished giving orders, the officers and soldiers shouted from the shore. : "Listen, bandits on board, come down and be arrested!" Hearing this, Li Lianying's heart sank. It turned out that he regarded them as robbers, which made him very angry.He angrily said to one of the guards: "Go and tell them whose ship it is." The guards took the order and left. The guard walked to the bow and shouted to the commanding officer on the shore: "Bold slave, you dare to say that Chief Li is a bandit. I'm really impatient." With this shout, the commander on the shore was so frightened that he pissed off, and he hurried up to apologize to Li Lianying.It turned out that the person Li Lianying and the others met in the courtyard reported to the government, and the government sent people to arrest him, but it turned out to be Li Lianying, the chief executive of the capital. The trembling commander hoped that Li Lianying would follow him to the yamen to spend the night for a few days, and he would send someone to take care of the boat.In order to find out the truth about the Boxers he had heard, Li Lianying was also willing to go to the Pingyang County Yamen to learn about the situation, so he agreed to the commander's suggestion and came to the Pingyang County Yamen.Naturally, Li Lianying and his party were warmly received. Li Lianying had already enjoyed various forms of hospitality, and he was not interested in the kind of hospitality in front of him. He was only interested in "Boxers" and "Red Lantern Photos", so he asked Jiang Zhao, the magistrate of Pingyang County, about this aspect. thing.The magistrate of Pingyang County gave him a truthful answer. It turns out that "Boxers" and "Red Lights" are a kind of White Lotus Sect.Bai Lian taught Li Lianying to know, not only knew, but also knew very clearly.The White Lotus Sect has always been a non-government organization active in Hebei and Shandong.In Li Lianying's memory, the White Lotus Sect had several troubles in the history of the Qing Dynasty. In the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign, Wang Lun, a disciple of Shouzhang in Shandong Province, appealed to his disciples to revolt by treating people and practicing boxing.During the Jiaqing period, the imperial court encircled and suppressed the religious people on a large scale. It took several years to finally suppress them, but a large part of the religious people still hid themselves.In the 18th year of Jiaqing, there was the "Lin Qing Change" that shocked the palace, and the white lotus sect made people who heard it change color. However, the White Lotus Sect has never been suppressed. In places where corrupt officials are rampant, the White Lotus Sect is secretly spreading, waiting for opportunities to make trouble. In recent years, foreign religions have also become popular in China, and some people who believe in foreign religions rely on the protection of foreign missionaries to run rampant in the countryside and people of flesh and blood. Contradictions, and incidents of "teaching cases" occurred one after another, especially in Shandong, the most famous of which was the "Tianjin teaching case" handled by Zeng Wenzhenggong, which caused many officials to be dismissed.Li Lianying knew all these things clearly in the palace. What Li Lianying didn't know was how many branches the White Lotus Sect was divided into.Later, one branch of the White Lotus Sect gradually evolved into the Eight Diagrams Sect, and the Eight Diagrams Sect was divided into eight schools, the most powerful of which were "Qianziquan" and "Kunziquan". Lin Qing in it is Kun Ziquan.Ganzi Quan is a remnant of the Li Gua Sect. Li Gua Sect respects fire, so Gan Zi Quan is also superstitious.In Qianziquan, a person named Zhu Hongdeng appeared. He organized an organization "Yihehui", which was later changed to "Yihequan". Boxer Boxing massacres religious people in Shandong, making teaching plans repeatedly.Foreign ministers intervened and demanded that Yihequan be severely punished.However, Yuxian, the governor of Shandong at that time, was supposed to take over the former governor Li Bingheng who was resigned because he favored the Christians, but he didn't want him to support Boxing after he took office.In response to what Boxer Boxing did in Shandong, the imperial court decided to take measures to suppress it, in order to avoid intensifying conflicts with other countries. Yuan Shikai sent General Jiang Guiti to lead the Wuwei Youjun 11,000 people to Dezhou, which borders Shandong and Hebei. Soon, Yuan Shidun, Yuan Shikai's cousin and alternate prefect, marched into Pingyuan and beat the red lanterns to pieces.However, "Yihequan" did not lose its strength because of Pingyuan's failure. Some of them knew that Yuxian actually sympathized with the Boxers, so they suggested that Zhu Hongdeng fly the banner of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the Qing Dynasty" to replace the previous "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming Dynasty" banner. "The banner and purpose. As soon as the banner of "helping the Qing and destroying the foreigners" was launched, he was immediately protected by Yuxian, governor of Shandong Province. He used the excuse that Yihequan was a loyal person, changed "Yihequan" to "Boxer", and allowed the use of "Yuxian" at the same time. "The word yellow flag. This is what Li Lianying learned.However, Jiang Zhao, the magistrate of Pingyang County, used a derogatory tone when talking about Jiang Guiti and Yuan Shidun, and used an admiring tone when describing the "Boxers", admiring that they killed foreigners according to God's will and the people's will. In fact, Jiang Zhao himself didn't like the "Boxers" very much, he just wanted to cater to Li Lianying's temper, because he had learned from those who came to sue the bandits that Li Lianying had a good impression of the "Boxers". Finally, Jiang Zhao told Li Lianying: "Lafayette has decreed to dismiss Jiang Kai and Yuan Shidun, the magistrates of Pingyuan County." Jiang Zhao handed Li Lianying a copy of the official residence. Li Lianying looked at it and saw that it read: "Jiang Kai acted absurdly and caused catastrophe a few times, so he was dismissed immediately and never employed. The battalion official Yuan Shidun behaved modestly and bravely disturbed the people, so he was dismissed at the same time." Judging from the decree issued by the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Empress Dowager Cixi also intended to favor the Boxers, which Li Lianying had already noticed.Li Lianying expressed satisfaction with the information obtained from Jiang Zhao, the magistrate of Pingyang County.He decided to continue northward to learn about the situation of the Boxers along the way.In order to understand the situation, Li Lianying decided to abandon the boat and sit on Ma Mou on land. This decision was opposed by the eight imperial guards and four heirs including Li Chengwu. Therefore, he ignored the opposition of everyone and did not need Jiang Zhao to send people to protect him. He abandoned the boat in Pingyin County and took the carriage prepared by Jiang Zhao to continue northward. On this day, when a group of people arrived in Deduliu Town, suddenly "Ping! Pong!" came from afar. There was a burst of gunfire, and a man ran out from the front intersection.This man was wearing a toga with long sleeves, thin skin and tender flesh, and a metal cross hanging on his chest. He was as fat as a fat pig, and he was clearly a Catholic priest.He shot back as he ran, out of breath but still nimble on his feet.As soon as he ran out of the street, he saw the carriage in which Li Lianying and the others were riding, and rushed towards Li Lianying and the others.Li Lianying could see clearly from inside the car, and ordered everyone to prevent him from getting into the car. Another group of people came out at the intersection, holding machetes in their hands, shouting and chasing after the priest. The leader was a black man with a swollen face and bare chest and arms. He yelled, "Catch Er Maozi!" The people behind him also yelled.When they saw the priest coming towards Li Lianying's carriage, the big black man hurriedly said: "Grab that dude in front! Don't let him run away! Brothers, chase after him!" Li Lianying was very aware of his current situation and ignored the godfather. The group in front of him was difficult to deal with.Let's do it!What if Lafayette blames him in the future?Hey, why do you look so far away, let's filter it in front of you first.He ordered a guard named Lei Zhen to knock down the godfather's gun, and then stopped the godfather. The godfather actually wanted to hijack the carriage and escape in it, but he didn't know that the people sitting in the carriage were not ordinary people.Lei Zhen, the guard, has a good kung fu, that is to do the "lion's roar". This roar is like thunder, and the timid will faint from fright, and the bold will be frightened. His name is actually his martial arts an alias of .Lei Zhen squatted beside the carriage, watching the priest gradually approaching the carriage, he suddenly stood up and yelled at the priest, this yell startled the priest, and at the same time the pistol slipped from his hand.Lei Zhen was quick-sighted, he quickly jumped out of the carriage, kicked away the priest's pistol, and kicked the priest at the same time, knocking him to the ground. With Lei Zhen's roar, not only the priest dropped his pistol in fright, but even the Boxers who were chasing after him were startled.Seeing that someone in front had cut off the godfather, the big black man ordered his subordinates to quickly go forward and tie up the godfather.It wasn't until the priest was tied up that he realized what had happened, because he was so frightened that Monk Zhang Er couldn't figure it out. "I don't know which friend helped us catch this bastard who is doing all kinds of evil?" The black-faced man cupped his hands and said to Lei Zhen. "Under the thunderstorm!" "I'm reckless!" It turned out that the black-faced man was reckless, and judging from his name, he was not very cautious in his actions. "Where did Hero Lei go?" "I will accompany our master to the capital to do some business." Lei Zhen said, looking at Li Lianying who was sitting in the car. Li Lianying admired Lei Zhen's resilience.He slowly got down from the car, judging by his intuition, there was no danger now, and he might be treated politely, so Li Lianying dared to get down.Lei Zhen introduced the people in the car one after another, but they all used pseudonyms. Li Lianying saw that the group of people in front of her were all in their twenties, each of them was full of vigor, they held machetes, some were bare chested and arms exposed, some were wearing single clothes with gossip pictures on their chests, turbans on their heads, and waistbands. Ties and bags are divided into red, yellow, blue, black and other colors.On the headscarves are the words Qian, Kun, Gen, Zhen, etc., each of which is majestic and murderous.The attire of these people is much more complicated than what Li Lianying heard in Pingyang County. Hu Mang saw that the group of people in front of him had no sense of the market, nor did they look like high-ranking officials, because Li Lianying and the others had changed their clothes when they changed carriages in Pingyang County. They dressed up as businessmen, but they really looked like some businessmen .What's more, when he saw Lei Zhen and other servants disguised as bodyguards, they were spirited and strong. He thought that these people in front of him were from martial arts, so he intentionally invited Li Lianying and others to the main altar.It just so happened that Li Lianying also wanted to see how the Boxer Regiment's general altar was doing, so she readily agreed. Hu Mang led Li Lianying and others through several alleys and entered a gate. Then Li Lianying saw a large open space in the center of the field. In the center of the open space was a large open tent covered with reed mats. Five square tables formed a large altar, covered with red cloth, and burning incense candles.There are five statues of gods on each square table.From the hood, Li Lianying can see that the one in the middle is the original Tianzun, the two on the right are Nezha and Lu Dongbin, and the two on the right are Huode Xingjun and Tota Li Tianwang. At this time, a man wearing a red scarf and a red belt came out from behind the hood. On his turban were written four big characters "Xietian Dadi". With the words "heart-protecting mirror", when Hu Mang saw it, he hurried up to meet him. It turned out that this person was the elder brother of this altar.Hu Mang then introduced Li Lianying and others to his senior brother one by one.The man named Big Brother only looked at Li Lianying and his party coldly, and didn't say any words of welcome. After Hu Mang's introduction, the elder brother's eyes turned to the priest who was standing not far from the door.Hu Ruo understood, and hurriedly ordered the priest to be called over. The priest tremblingly came to the elder brother, the elder brother ignored him, he just whispered something in Hu Mang's ear, then slowly walked back into the hood, and went straight to Lord Huode Xing and knelt down, Then he kowtowed three times, knelt down in front of the statue of Nezha, and kowtowed three more times. After kowtowing, he slowly walked out of the hood and came to a place not far from the priest.At this time, the priest had been brought to a platform by the people sent by Hu Zhuang, and tied there.The priest was still struggling, he was begging for mercy, and promised not to do bad things again, but no one paid any attention to him. After the elder brother stood still, he turned his back to Li Lianying and the others, closed his eyes, folded his hands together and muttered something there, which reminded Li Lianying of what he heard people say in Pingyang County, and he knew that the elder brother might be casting a spell.Sure enough, after a while, the elder brother standing in front of them suddenly yelled, "Lord Huode Xing, come down to earth, burn the second haired boy in front of me to death", and opened his eyes at the same time, looked at them, and pointed to the priest who was tied on the stage with both hands. Li Lianying had heard about the story of the Boxers setting fire in Pingyang, but at that time he didn't believe that there was such a magical ability in the world, so he opened his eyes wide to see if it was true.Slowly, Li Lianying could see clearly that a flame rose from around the priest, and at the same time the priest's cry of pain was heard. The more the fire burned, the more the priest's cry of pain became louder. In the end, he howled like a pig.Seeing this, Li Lianying really believed that the Boxers really had such magical powers, which made Li Lianying both happy and sad. However, Li Lianying told himself that he should continue to watch the big brother's performance, so he calmed down his excitement, and stared at the big brother standing in front again.At this time, I saw the elder brother slowly raised his hands pointing at the priest, and slowly raised them to the top of his head, chanting a mantra: "Lord Huode Xing came down to earth to punish the poor for the poor, it's over! Go back to the West Paradise Let's go! I'm Lord Buddha Huo De Xing".Li Lianying listened sincerely from behind, and couldn't help but want to see how you will invite Huode Xingjun away.Strange to say, the priest's voice on the stage gradually died down.Only now did Li Lianying look up to the stage. The fire around the priest had obviously become much smaller. Gradually, the fire went out, and the elder brother stopped chanting the mantra, and then fell to the ground with a "bang", eyes closed.After a while, I woke up slowly. "It's amazing!" Li Lianying couldn't help but exclaimed in a low voice.Lei Zhen and others also echoed. There was still no smile on the elder brother's face, he just nodded towards Li Lianying and the others.The elder brother called Hu Mang over again, and ordered that the priest be brought over. Hu Mang obeyed the order and called over the priest who was covered in blisters and his skin was torn apart. The priest was escorted over by two boxers. Seeing the big brother still kowtowed. "I let you live this time. If you dare to bully the poor again next time, don't blame this forum for being rude to you. Get out!" The priest kowtowed three more times to the elder brother as if he had received a great order, and then left the main altar with his head in his arms. He couldn't help running when he went out, as if he was afraid that the elder brother would change his promise and catch him back again.Seeing the godfather's embarrassed appearance, Li Lianying and all the members of the group couldn't help laughing.You know, Li Lianying himself likes to watch others suffer. After the priest left, the elder brother showed a smile and said to the guests in front of him: "Before practicing, you must not talk and laugh, otherwise you will not be possessed by the gods, and you will not get help from the gods, so please forgive the slow treatment." "Where is it! What is it! Eldest brother is really a god-man, and Huode Xingjun is nothing more than that when he came down to earth. Today is an eye-opener for me." Li Lianying said with a smile. Eldest brother had a look of color on his face, raised his head high, puffed out his chest, and stroked the few beards under his chin.Hu Mang has been in the regiment for a long time, so he knew the meaning of the big brother's action, so he walked up to Lei Zhen and said: "Brother, are you willing to learn this kind of kung fu from the big brother? This kind of kung fu is most useful for dealing with foreign devils and errats. You see, many people here have practiced this kind of kung fu." Lei Zhen didn't dare to agree without authorization, so he could only look at Li Lianying.Li Lianying pretended not to see it, Lei Zhen had no choice but to shirk it.When Hu Mang heard Lei Zhen's words, he knew that they didn't fully believe them, so he turned around and walked up to the strong young man, pointed at the man's shoulder and said: "Niu Lao Si, senior brother wants to test your kung fu." Niu Laosi came out in response and came to the senior brother.The elder brother pointed to Niu Lao Si's shoulder and said to Li Lianying and the others: "Before you practice, you must first practice the mantra three times, with iron brows, iron eyes, iron shoulders, and no quarrel. body, then swords and guns will not enter, and then you will travel all over the world, and no one will be able to hurt you." The elder brother smiled at Li Lianying and the others after speaking, and then said: "Fourth, give everyone a drill." "Yes" Niu Lao Si stood in a T-shaped step, put his left hand on the back of his right hand, and bowed to the elder brother: "Eldest brother, be merciful!" "You have practiced very well, but you need to be a little more stable in your breath, don't come and go quickly, and go quickly. Remember to use the dantian's qi when chanting mantras." "Yes" Niu Lao Si replied, then turned around, stood facing the southeast, raised his head slightly to practice Qi, and his face was flushed red.The muscles of the arms of the bare upper body were agitated, as if a breath of energy was swimming back and forth under the flesh. Suddenly, Niu Laosi shouted: "Iron brows, iron eyes and iron shoulders, no quarrel can escape the wind!" These are exactly the two incantations that the elder brother said just now.The voice was thick and loud, full of vigor, Lei Zhen and others could not help but be surprised when they knew that the popularity was indeed coming from the dantian.After Niu Laosi finished chanting the mantra, he threw himself forward, threw his body to the ground, then jumped up again, chanted the mantra again, and threw himself to the ground again. It was the same as the look on the face of senior brother Cai Cai when he sent Lord Huode Xing away. Li Lianying and the others were shocked, not knowing what this meant.He looked at the elder brother and others, and saw that they didn't care, so Li Lianying couldn't express his incomprehension. He pretended to be calm and suppressed the wonder in his heart. There may be other reasons for doing it, but he doesn't know it. After waiting quietly for a while, Niu Lao Si stretched out his arms and legs, let out a long sigh, then stood up straight, straightened his eyes, and began to practice boxing in a stance. Lei Zhen and the other eight guards are experts in this area, but they can't see Niu Lao Si's tricks, and they can't tell what kind of boxing Niu Lao Si is practicing. , it seems that it is really difficult for ordinary people to accept him all at once. After Niu Laosi finished practicing a set of boxing, someone shouted: "Where is the fairy coming?" "It's the Tathagata Buddha!" ​​As he said, he clasped his hands together, his belly puffed up, his face was full of smiles, and at the same time, he parted his mouth, revealing his yellow teeth. Li Lianying couldn't help laughing when he saw Niu Lao Si's appearance: he thought this face was simple and funny, just as ridiculous as when he played a boy in front of Lafayette in the Summer Palace and Lafayette played Guanyin, but he still didn't dare Laughed out loud, because the senior brother said that you can't laugh when you practice.Just when Li Lianying wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, Niu Lao Si had already practiced kung fu there.I saw him pick up a blue brick on the ground, and then pointed to his chest, the blue brick shattered in response, so there were cheers everywhere.Li Lianying also called out. Amidst the applause of the crowd, the smile on Niu Laosi's face became wider and his mouth opened wider. Suddenly, he stared again and fell to the ground again.This time, not only was Li Lianying not surprised, but she could guess that the possessed "My Buddha Tathagata" had already returned to the west. After a while, Niu Laosi woke up, stood up again, and returned to the elder brother with his usual demeanor, clasping his fists and returning to his life.The elder brother said with a smile on his face: "难得！难得！我佛如来是不轻易下凡的，不到一定火候是请不下来的，我看你的火候差不多了！再好好用功！" 胡莽来到雷震跟前，对着雷震说道，他的声音很大，其实也有说给其他人听的意思。 "你看见了吧！只要你心诚，也能练成牛老四那样的功夫。 不过，我看你功底还不错，只要再用一点功，心再诚一点，你就能练到刀枪不入的火候。 " "这大概就是金钟罩、铁布衫的功夫吧！"雷震说道，以前他跟着他师父练功时，曾听他师傅说起过，只是由于这门功夫博大精深，一般人很难达得到，所以连他师傅也不会，他自然也不会了。今见牛老四练起这种功夫，雷震自然便这样猜测。 "Do you know?" "I won't." "你练了就会了，只要你愿意。老兄，以你本人的功夫再加上这种铁布衫功夫，不知你将会厉害到什么地步。" 李莲英对于这些谈话显然是听到的，虽然他也见这种功夫相当厉害，但他却不能练习。他必须得将这些情况报告给老佛爷，让老佛爷知道这些义和团、知道他们的功夫不同凡响，确实有呼风唤雨之能。他见雷震正在被引诱，他赶紧咳嗽了两声，雷震会意，他对胡莽说： "你去问我们老爷吧！我想我们在京城还有一桩大买卖，我们必须得及时赶到京城。等到我们办完之后，再来向你们学习这种通天的本事。" 胡莽见不能劝他们入团，也就作罢。那大师兄见李莲英等人对此也不是很感兴趣，也没有办法，只得顺其自然。 李莲英离开独流镇，继续北行，一路上见不少地方有义和团活动，他们杀教民，抢劫教民财产，惩罚传教士，这些事李莲英都一一记在心里，只等回京城后向老佛爷报告。 李莲英等人终于到达了紫禁城，他回家参拜过老母后，经自来到了乐寿堂见慈禧太后。 "莲英，你怎么回来了？"慈禧太后一见李莲英的面便略带惊讶地问，"今天不刚够八十天嘛，你还有二十天的假啊？" "老佛爷，您老有所不知，奴才在家想老佛爷想得多么厉害，奴才考虑着走后，没有人好好照顾老佛爷。老佛爷是天下人的老佛爷，是天下人的老人，奴才不能因为自己轻松就不服侍老佛爷了，所以奴才这才提前赶回宫来照顾老佛爷。要不，奴才想老佛爷想得要死，老佛爷总不愿奴才如此吧！" "你这个贫嘴，你能回来，我高兴都来不及，那舍得让你想死呢？你不在我身边这段时间里，我也怪想你的。"慈禧太后指着李莲英笑骂道。 在慈禧太后说话间，李莲英把一个食盒和一个细瓷葫芦献给慈禧太后。慈禧太后打开盒一看，是一盒红得起亮的枣儿，吃一个香甜如蜜，葫芦里盛的是水，喝一口清清凉爽口，如同泉水一样。慈禧太后吃着枣，喝着水，猛然间醒悟过来道： "这枣和水莫非就是你家东园子的枣和水？" "喳！回老佛爷，这枣和水正是奴才经常给你提起的枣和水。" 原来李莲英早把家乡的特产、风土人情，向慈禧太后讲过不知多少次，把他的家乡说得天花乱坠，宛如天上人间，以至于慈禧太后都萌发出有生之年到大城县李贾村去一趟的想法。 有一次，慈禧太后见李莲英的二妹李姐聪明伶俐，美艳沉鱼落雁，倾国倾城，于是便向李莲英问道： "莲英，你们那儿的人都长得这么聪明又俊秀吗？" 李莲英当时一听，决定对家乡的一些特产再吹一吹，一方水土养一方人，这一点李莲英清楚慈禧太后是非常相信的，因而他说： "老佛爷您有所不知，奴才家乡东园子里有两件宝：一个是砖井，听老人说，这口井下通海眼，井水甘甜清凉，永不干涸。用它来洗目，瞎子也能重新看得见东西，喝它会喉清皮细，这井是一宝井。另一个是枣树，此树结的枣名为玉文枣，当初老子西游时，与西王母亲吃的就是这种玉文枣，这种枣子能延年益寿，补神益脑，吃了玉文枣，人能够变得聪明伶俐，异于常人。奴才那儿的人都吃这种枣，喝井水，所以姑娘看起来细皮嫩肉，俊秀聪明。如果老佛爷喜欢，奴才有时间回家一定给老佛爷您给带来，准叫您老人家喝了益寿延年，越活越年轻。" 一番大吹大擂，吹得慈禧太后将信将疑。很早就想尝尝李莲英家乡的水和枣了，如今吃来，果然甜美，喝来果然清凉爽口。慈禧太后对李莲英大大夸奖了一番，说李莲英处处都在想着她。 等到慈禧太后吃得够了，喝得差不多了，李莲英本来想趁机给老佛爷说关于义和团的事，哪知慈禧太后故意不给李莲英说话的机会，她只是不断地叫宫女将这两个月来下面供上来的新鲜食品、玩物给李莲英。 "莲英，这些都是这两个月来下面拿上来的东西，我念你这些东西没吃过又没见过，又念你回家了，所以我特命她们给你留了一些，你现在拿回去吃吧！也孝敬孝敬你母亲，你不能只顾了我就不顾你母亲了。" "谢老佛爷知遇之恩，要是家母知道老佛爷的一片慈心，她老人家定会叫奴才更忠心地服侍老佛爷的。"李莲英磕了个头道，"只是……" 慈禧太后明白李莲英想说些什么，但她因为今天李莲英的回京而太高兴了，不愿意听到李莲英唠叨别的事，她只想今天痛痛快快地玩一天。好久没有李莲英陪伴的日子确实是少了些快乐，今天终于有李莲英陪伴，你说慈禧太后怎会放过这个日子。"莲英，你不要说别的，不是很重要的就明天给我说。你今天先陪我到颐和园去划划船，然后再去听听戏。" 慈禧太后难得有这种心情来主动提出去干什么，李莲英不好忤慈禧太后的意，只好顺从慈禧太后的意思陪她去划船，看戏去了。至于谈关于义和团的消息，只好日后伺机再说了，李莲英心里这样想。