Chapter 7: Destroying the Temple

  A faint misty morning fog floated in the azure sky like a silk ribbon, with one end tied to the distant gate and the other to the nearby tent. In that slowly rising column-like smoke, the ancient silent creek that never stopped, the old cow carrying the sunset, all hung on the slender silver chain of memory like candied hawthorns, very fragrant and sweet.

  Li Yunzhong, Hu Yihuang, Ling Shiba and Meng Shangsheng had a simple breakfast and prepared for the baptism. In the courtyard, they set up an incense table which served as an altar, with two bright lamps and three cups of clear tea on it. Li Yunzhong read aloud the confession books of the three men, which bore the names of the baptized. He read once, and Hu Yihuang and the others repeated after him. Then they burned the confession books, symbolizing that they had been presented to God... Next, Li Yunzhong asked the converts if they promised "not to worship false gods, not to do evil, but to keep the heavenly commandments". Hu Yihuang, Meng Shangsheng and Ling Shiba knelt down one by one to answer. Li Yunzhong then poured a cup of water on each person's head, saying: "Wash away past sins, renew old things." The converts stood up, drank the clear tea, and washed their chests with water, symbolizing cleansing of the heart. While confessing their sins, they prayed for forgiveness. After being baptized, Hu Yihuang and the other two received various forms of prayer texts, which were used for morning and evening prayers and before meals.

  Next, Li Yunzhong taught the three men the commandments of the Tiandihui:

  1. Worship the supreme and omnipotent God.

  2. Prohibit worshiping false gods.

  3. Do not casually utter the name of God.

  4. Hold a ceremony on the seventh day to sing praises to the merciful supreme God.

  5. Be filial to parents.

  6. Abstain from killing and injuring.

  7. Abstain from lust.

  8. Abstain from stealing.

  9. Abstain from false speech.

  10. Abstain from greed.

  Let them memorize these commandments.

  Li Yunzhong was busy for a whole morning and finally completed the baptism of three people, successfully joining the Church of God.

  After that, Li Yunzhong saw them looking delighted and seemingly eager to take immediate action. So he proposed, "Why don't we become sworn brothers, so we can avoid the hassle of addressing each other as 'Li brother' or 'Hu brother'?" The three of them all agreed and suggested using the incense table from the baptism ritual for the oath-taking ceremony.

  At this time, a shout came from outside, and the four of them went out to greet him. It was Hu Yihuang's good friend: Zhang Weikun, Lin Daji, and Zhang Suimou.

  The three of them and Hu Yihuang had known each other since childhood, shared the same ideals, and upon hearing that a good friend had come to Hu's home, they came to visit. After learning that Hu had joined the God Worshipping Society and listening to Li Yunzhong's introduction to the God Worshipping Society, they also wanted to participate together.

  Li Yun thought: Can't let them be pulled over by Yang Xiuqing, it's better to use the method of swearing brotherhood to tie several people together.

  The crowd knelt in two rows, and Li Yunzhong lit several incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner. The seven people all raised three fingers towards the sky and swore: "Today, Li Yunzhong... etc." Each person reported their own name in turn. Li Yunzhong continued to say: "Seven people have sworn brotherhood, from now on we will share good fortune and bad together. If anyone betrays their brothers for wealth and glory in the future, or plots against them with others, let him be struck by lightning, torn apart by five horses, cut off his descendants, and his ancestors' eighteen generations not rest in peace... also die without a burial place..." Li Yunzhong said more than ten poisonous oaths in one breath. He glanced at the six people staring at him with wide eyes, as if saying: "Do you have to be so vicious?" Li Yunzhong quickly concluded by saying "Heaven and earth are witnesses" and then kowtowed. The several people all said in unison: "If anyone betrays their brothers, it will be like what Brother Li said." Afterwards, they killed a chicken and drank blood wine.

  Everyone reported their age, and the oldest was 42 years old as the eldest brother. Hu Yihuang was 32 years old as the second brother. Ling Shiba was 27 years old as the third brother. Zhang Suimu was two months younger than Ling Shiba as the fourth brother. Zhang Weikun was 26 years old as the fifth brother. Lin Daji was also 26 years old as the sixth brother, and Li Yunzhong was the youngest at 22 years old as the seventh brother.

  After the swearing-in ceremony, several people asked each other and chatted with a smile.

  Suddenly remembering something, Li Yunzhong's face had a difficult expression and let out a sigh.

  As expected, Hu Yihuang asked, "Why did you sigh, Eighth Brother? Do you have something on your mind? Tell me and I'll help you share the worry with our brothers."

  "Ah, don't be fooled, brothers," Li Yunzhong added with a flourish. "Now that the God Worshipping Society is growing and prospering, there are bound to be struggles for power and gain. At the beginning of this year, the authorities took advantage of our laxity and arrested Feng Yunshan and Lu Liu. Hong Xiuquan went to Guangdong, and Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui seized the opportunity to usurp power. Yang Xiuqing pretended that 'Heavenly Father had descended' in order to control the followers. When I rescued Mr. Feng, Yang Xiuqing dared to challenge him openly, provoking Feng Yunshan into returning to Guangdong overnight. I couldn't bear it and wanted to stop Yang Xiuqing, but he was so depraved that he actually wanted to harm me. Luckily, I received news of his plan and managed to narrowly escape."

  Meng Shangsheng whispered to the side, "I've long heard of the God Worshipping Society, and I thought it was created by Feng Yunshan. I didn't expect the leader to be Hong Xiuquan. And Yang Xiuqing, I know him, he knows some... hmm... evil arts, specializing in asking ghosts for poor families, with great prestige near Zijin Town. I didn't think he was that kind of person. When I get back, I'll definitely guard against them."

  "Hu Yi-huang comforted him, saying: 'Seventh brother, don't worry. What is Yang Xiu-qing? He was the one who acted unrighteously first. Of course we will follow your orders, seventh brother. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to do anything to us brothers.'"

  It seems that everyone is a wise person, and their future prospects are limitless. Li Yunzhong and Hu Yihuang looked at each other with eyes full of approval.

  Because Zhang Weikun, Lin Dakui and Zhang Suimu were all sons of wealthy families before joining the God Worshipping Society, they often suffered extortion by local officials under the pretext of needing donations for military training and suppressing bandits. They had long been dissatisfied with the status quo and frequently gathered together to discuss how to resist. Now that the three men and Hu Yihuang have all joined the God Worshipping Society, along with Li Yunzhong who has sworn an oath with them, they have all accepted Li Yunzhong's rebellious ideas and expressed their willingness to contribute all their family property in support.

  Seven people stayed at Hu Yihuang's house for a few days, during which Li Yunzhong's advantages were fully brought out. He constantly used his experience and knowledge from later generations to win the admiration of Hu Yihuang, Zhang Suimou, and others. Later, he became the sole lecturer, with the others listening in the back, unable to even interject a word, making them feel ashamed and inferior. Li Yunzhong's prestige in their hearts reached its peak, as if they had been brainwashed by him.

  Meng Shang rushed back to Huazhou with the three hundred taels of silver that Hu Yihuang had hastily sent, while Ling Shiba also took five hundred taels back to Xinyi, Guangdong. As Hu Yihuang strongly urged him to stay, and in order to further observe the character of the four men from wealthy families - Hu Yihuang, Zhang Suimou, Zhang Weikun, and Lin Daji - Li Yunzhong decided to temporarily remain in Pingnan County to preach.

  The relationship between the Hakka people, Yao ethnic group, Zhuang ethnic group and local landlords in Guangxi had become increasingly tense, with frequent armed clashes occurring between them. As a result, it was customary for villagers to gather together during slack periods to practice martial arts. After witnessing this, Li Yunzhong decided to mobilize the villagers to join the God Worshipping Society to jointly resist the oppression of local officials.

  Hu Yihuang brought Li Yunzhong and several brothers to pass by the town of Siwang, south of Shanrenchong. There is a temple of marriage on the west side of Siwang Town, which is very spiritual. It is said that Li Yunzhong has not yet married, so he insisted on bringing him over to take a look.

  It's actually just a mud and stone house, with a big tree outside the yard, hanging full of red ribbons, from time to time there are couples coming to make wishes and repay wishes.

  Everyone was stunned by the scene inside the temple after entering. The gods worshipped in the temple were a pair of semi-naked men and women, cuddling and leaning on each other intimately.

  Li Yunzhong asked the temple keeper who was lighting incense and hanging decorations next to the statue about the origin of the temple.

  It was in the early years of Daoguang that Guangxi suffered a severe drought, and countless people died of starvation. Among them, a young couple met unexpectedly under a tree in the courtyard just before their death, and they died together in the night. The next morning, the villagers discovered them and were about to throw their bodies into the wilderness, but it happened to be the time when heavy rain poured down, thunder roared and lightning flashed. Moreover, the news that the imperial court's relief funds had arrived spread immediately, and the people were both shocked and fearful, thinking that the gods were manifesting themselves. So they built a temple for the couple, and many romantic people came to the temple to make wishes after which they eventually became couples. The temple's incense fire thus became even more prosperous.

  After hearing the origin of this temple, Li Yunzhong thought of Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan's experience in spreading the worship of God among the common people. He quickly pulled out a few brothers from the temple gate and saw that they were all looking at him in surprise. Li Yunzhong took this "killer" as his own idea and said, "The main task of the worship of God in Pingnan County is to recruit more believers, and to expand its influence, after all, the more people know about it, the more people will join. Now we are destroying this temple under the name of the worship of God, isn't the reputation of the worship of God spreading out from here? Next, we will destroy all kinds of temples in Pingnan County, and not only Pingnan County but also the entire Guilin Prefecture will be famous."

  "If we destroy all the temples in Guangxi, wouldn't that allow us to immediately conquer Guangxi? And then if we destroy all the temples nationwide..." Zhang Weikun was cut off by Zhang Suimeng before he could finish his daydream.

  "That's impossible, since the founding of the Qing dynasty, folk gangs have been constantly rebelling, among which the Tiandihui, Tianli Teach and Bailian Teach have spanned several provinces, and the imperial court has to mobilize national forces to quell them. Therefore, the government has strict control over folk gangs, and as soon as they show their heads, they are accused of treason and eliminated by military force. However, since Jiaqing's reign, this policy has gradually relaxed, but it can only be secretly spread on a small scale."

  Zhang Su's vision is broad and wise, with many strategies; Ling Shi is brave and crowned among the three armies; Hu Yi is mature and stable; Meng Shangsheng is insightful into human nature; Zhang Weikun is mediocre but has no ambition; Lin Daji is meticulous and bold. All of them can be greatly used. Li Yun thought to himself: With these few people, a great career can be established.

  "I'm afraid the ordinary people will not only refuse to join our church, but also come to hate us. After all, we are destroying their temples for no reason." Lin Dajib said with concern.

  "Haha, younger brother worries too much. Those Hakka people are originally poor and rarely visit temples. As long as we lure them with benefits and call these temples evil temples, this method is still likely to succeed." Hu Yihuang was very much in agreement.

  Li Yunzhong saw that no one else had any objections, so he naturally gave orders: "Second brother, you go and spend some money to hire some idle men, beggars, and make a big show of it."

  "Alright, I'll go now." Hu Yihuang was very familiar with Siwang Town and walked in the direction where the beggar was.

  "Fourth brother, Fifth brother, Sixth brother, your task is a bit heavy. Use deception, use coercion, or whatever means necessary, in short, gather all the common people at this small temple. Also, bribe a few people to mix in with the crowd as insiders and follow my lead." As he spoke, Li Yunzhong pointed fiercely at the empty space around the small temple.

  "Then we'll go and prepare too," Zhang Suimou, Lin Dajun, and Lin Dajun replied in unison.

  After everyone left, Li Yunzhong looked at the small temple in front of him with a sense of pride and ambition, having an intuition that his career was starting from here.

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