Chapter 978 - The Envoy Arrives
Through the Zhuang family's efforts, Zhang Yingchen first "whitewashed" his sect. He himself possessed ordination papers, and the three missionaries from Qiongshan all carried official Daoist ordination documents obtained by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau through the Guangzhou Station.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, local officials maintained high vigilance toward monks and Daoists, especially itinerant ones. In the eyes of officialdom, they were practically potential criminals and agitators. Every prefecture and county maintained a Monks' Registry Bureau and a Daoists' Registry Bureau specifically to manage religious personnel. Theoretically, when monks and Daoists traveled, they needed travel documents issued by the local registry bureau to have proper standing when stopping at temples elsewhere. Staying at any location also required registering with the local "relevant department."
Though this system had grown lax by the late Ming, Zhang Yingchen believed it was still best to have all procedures as complete as possible—to avoid giving officials any pretexts for trouble.
First, he officially registered "Yunsheng Temple" as a Daoist temple. With the Zhuang family's connections and Zhang Yingchen's liberal distribution of silver, this was quickly accomplished. Then the three Qiongshan missionaries were added to the "official roster." Zhang Yingchen appointed the cleverest one with the best Mandarin as abbot to handle external affairs.
Thus he now possessed a legitimate religious site in Yizhou. Zhang Yingchen then invested funds to expand the temple. In a disaster year, labor was extraordinarily cheap—except for a few skilled craftsmen, most laborers worked simply for food to fill their bellies.
Next, the pharmacy he was running jointly with the Zhuang family opened for business. For a time, New Daoism flourished throughout Yizhou with growing momentum, and believers continuously increased. Meanwhile, the Nanwuliang Sect's local branch altars began to crumble. Many incense masters and incense handlers started defecting—some because they feared his "powers" as rumored, others because they faced financial difficulties. The past two years of frequent flooding and heavy government taxes had stretched many of the small landlords and rich peasants who served as incense masters and handlers to their limits. The sect itself also imposed various "offerings" and "incense gifts"—though they could pass these burdens down to ordinary believers, those believers were even worse off and couldn't produce much money. After the floods, some relief money and grain had been allocated from the main altar, but very little reached their hands. Instead, the altar master had extorted considerable money and grain from them under the pretext of "relieving fellow believers."
From the incense masters who had defected, Zhang Yingchen learned that the current Yizhou altar master, Ma Weisan, was a local strongman—essentially a hybrid of landlord and bandit. With formidable martial arts skills and several hundred thugs under his command, he wielded considerable local power; even officials didn't dare provoke him easily. Seeing the Nanwuliang Sect's growing influence and numerous believers locally, he had developed ambitions and joined the sect. Being locally wealthy and powerful, the sect naturally valued him highly. Within three to five years, the previous local altar master had suddenly died, and Ma Weisan smoothly ascended to the position.
Such a person's so-called faith was merely a money-making tool. Of course, he remained very respectful—even seemingly devout—toward the sect's higher-ups. This was because though he lacked genuine faith, he was deeply superstitious, and the "magic" of the sect's guardians and inspectors made him wary. He had also discovered that wearing this religious cloak made extracting money even more convenient than before.
Thus the believers in the Yizhou area had long been dissatisfied with Ma Weisan as altar master. But intimidated by his tyranny, no one dared speak. Some had gone to the main altar in Jinan to "file complaints," but since Ma Weisan was performing well in Yizhou and sending large incense offerings every year, the "petitions" went nowhere.
After hearing reports from several incense masters, Zhang Yingchen sighed: everywhere in life is the jianghu, but actually, everywhere is also "officialdom"—though perhaps saying officialdom is also the jianghu would be more accurate.
"Does everyone still have food at home?" Zhang Yingchen asked. "I see many refugees here, with people starving everywhere. Quite a few displaced migrants too."
"We have some." Several incense masters shed tears as they spoke. "Everyone shares and rations, adding bark and wild vegetables to barely survive. The old ones, young ones, and weak ones who can't hold out—when a few die, that's their fate. But it's summer, and the floods washed everything away. Nothing planted. Come autumn, we don't know what we'll do. We'll have to abandon our homes and go begging, or else starve to death."
Folk sects mostly had a "mutual aid" aspect. From the Way of Great Peace and Five Pecks of Rice Sect onward, this had been characteristic. Combined with some money and grain allocated from the main altar, local sect members were slightly better off than other common people. Whenever major natural disasters struck, it was the best opportunity for folk sects to expand their power.
If Ma Weisan hadn't been so selfish and exploitative, Zhang Yingchen would have had great difficulty challenging the Nanwuliang Sect's position here.
Zhang Yingchen nodded. "Tomorrow you all go to the Zhuang household first to get grain. I've already arranged with the household head—they'll temporarily lend a hundred dan for everyone's relief. In a few days, someone will deliver more grain."
The first emergency shipment of rations had already been transported via the Grand Canal to Jining by Qiwei Station and was being forwarded toward Yizhou. Zhang Yingchen only had to wait for this grain to arrive, then use Yizhou as a base to massively recruit flood refugees from southern Shandong, including Xuzhou and other areas.
With grain came the capital to recruit migrants—starving people didn't care whether you were taking them to heaven or hell. Wherever there was grain, they would follow. The late Ming bandit armies were simply groups of desperate people who kept themselves from starving by fighting.
While Zhang Yingchen's situation blossomed like flowers in full bloom and oil sizzling over fire, Ma Weisan's incense altar had fallen into complete chaos.
His incense altar wasn't in that farmhouse—though the location was secret, that was where he usually received incense masters and outside visitors; many people knew its details. Now with many incense masters defecting, it was even less safe.
Ma Weisan had retreated directly to his own base. His altar wasn't a secret location, but ordinary people couldn't easily enter—a local fortified compound that also served as his residence. Ma Weisan had always operated from here, conducting business that straddled both legal and illegal worlds.
The compound walls weren't high—about one zhang—and he didn't have many men, but at least two hundred were willing to fight for him. Holding out for a while wouldn't be a problem.
What he feared most now wasn't someone storming in with weapons and fire, but those inexplicable "magic arts." Since joining the sect and becoming the local altar master, he had witnessed quite a few "powerful" figures at the main altar during several "dharma assemblies" in Jinan. "Five Thunder Method," "Soul Seizure Art," "Flying Through Air Art"... he had seen more than a dozen types.
Some he knew were tricks from the "illusionist's trade," only good for fooling ordinary believers—he had learned many such tricks himself after joining. But some he couldn't explain, and therefore believed to be real.
If the main altar decided he had failed and wanted to make an example of him, they wouldn't need to storm in—the Soul Seizure Art alone could make him die mysteriously.
When Ma Weisan had first joined the sect, he had been careful. During the opening of his incense altar and transmission ceremony, the birth date and time he submitted were all fake—to prevent himself from being "seized of soul" one day.
Even if all these magics were fake, the main altar still maintained a group of highly skilled jianghu experts at their disposal—some guardians and inspectors were themselves jianghu masters.
If the main altar made him fearful, that mysteriously appearing Daoist Zhang was even more terrifying. Not even Guardian Hu Qi'er's magic combined with Min Zhanlian's martial arts could handle him. Hu Qi'er had gone to chase Min Zhanlian but came back empty-handed—only finding seven corpses of Min Zhanlian's subordinates along the road, stripped naked and dumped in ditches. Most terrifying was that Hu Qi'er had returned pale-faced—because these people had died horribly, each bearing gaping wounds on their bodies.
Both Hu Qi'er and Ma Weisan had fallen into deep terror. The dual threat of the main altar's reckoning and Daoist Zhang's revenge kept both confined indoors, watching helplessly as the Yizhou altar crumbled. Daoist Zhang had brought in much grain from Jining, and besides relieving refugees, was using the grain to massively attract defectors—believers were generally short of food and struggling.
Now half of the dozen-plus incense halls in Yizhou had defected, and half of the remainder were wavering. Only a few halls under his direct control remained firmly in his grip.
Ma Weisan had fought back hard, sending capable subordinates to attack defecting incense masters and believers—killing some as examples. Initially this was quite successful. But after several such attacks, all the incense halls that had sent assassins suffered retaliatory slaughter, with all core members killed. This made the entire situation even more unstable.
The situation had now forced the main altar, which previously hadn't paid much attention to Yizhou, to take direct interest.
On the official road, more strangers appeared—horses from Jining passed by continuously, astonishing the vendors who regularly set up stalls by the roadside. In the Great Ming, people who could gallop on horseback were exceedingly rare. Horses were valued in gold.
Before the gate tower of the Ma family compound, over a dozen riders arrived.
In the lead was an elderly man.
Atop the compound's gate tower stood Ma Weisan's head guard instructor—also a believer. He normally stationed himself here, specifically vetting visitors. Recently, with tensions high, the Ma compound kept its gates closed even during the day.
Seeing the stately bearing of the arrivals, the guard instructor opened the small gate to greet them.
"May I ask what brings you gentlemen to this place?"
"Thank you." The old man returned the courtesy with a faint smile. "Is Master Ma at home? This humble one has business and would trouble you to announce me." As he spoke, he pointed upward, then reversed his hand to point downward, finally placing it on his right chest.
The guard instructor's body stiffened. "So the Main Altar Envoy has arrived..." His speech and manner became even more respectful. "Please show your dharma identity so this disciple may pay respects."
"Inner Dharma Hall Guardian Xuan De, under the Main Altar."
The guard instructor immediately knelt in reverence, showing the utmost deference. "This disciple respectfully welcomes the dharma presence."
"Rise." The old man waved. "Is your Altar Master Ma present?"
"He is, he is. He's at the residence. This disciple will go report immediately."
"No need. Just lead us directly inside." The old man was majestic and imposing, his manner naturally commanding.
"Yes, yes." The guard instructor hurried to instruct the guards to open the compound gates and led the group inside.
(End of Chapter)