Chapter 8: The Common People Join the God Worshipping Society

  Half an hour later, Hu Yihuang led a group of beggars who had just finished eating to the front of the temple, asked Li Yunzhong if they could start, and after getting Li Yunzhong's affirmative answer, he quietly instructed the beggars behind him.

  The beggars heard that they could join some sort of God-worshipping religion, and would not have to worry about food or drink, and were each given five silver coins on the spot. Although none of them knew who this "God" was, just being able to eat a meal was enough to get them excited. Without their usual reservations, they rushed towards the small temple, chasing out everyone inside. The young men and women in the temple did not understand what was happening, some of them pushing and shoving with the beggars inside the temple, refusing to come out. This enraged the beggars, who let loose a string of profanities:

  "Dog man and woman, what temple are you still worshiping? Just learn from them and have a wild union"

  "Shameless! Still running around and losing face. Haven't you heard that a marriage needs the consent of parents and matchmakers to be valid?"

  "What's the point of looking for a pretty boy, I can dress up and be more handsome than him"

  …………

  Those who insisted on staying behind all blushed and covered their faces, quickly retreating. The temple master was also carried out by two beggars, twisting his body like a rogue, shaking his head, waving his hands wildly, and shouting "What are you beggars doing? Is there still king's law? Let me go!"

  The beggars started to demolish the temple, and the earth wall made of thatch, mud and stones was easily knocked down by a group of beggars who had just eaten their fill. Two beggars climbed onto the 'god platform', pulled down the bronze statue, which rolled to the door frame before stopping, and almost got hit by the angry glares from the people on the platform, until the beggars who pushed down the statue apologized with fists clenched.

  When the beggar started smashing the temple, many people heard the commotion and gathered around, pointing at the temple and asking each other what had happened, but only got headshakes in response.

  Li Yunzhong saw Zhang Sui leading a group of people walking over, pointing to the small temple and saying something as they walked. Before long, Zhang Weikun and Lin Daj also arrived with their own large groups of people.

  The beggars smashed the temple and seemed to be unfinished, but someone had an idea and set it on fire. Before long, the small temple was burned clean.

  Many people were outraged, their voices growing louder. Li Yunzhong sensed that the timing was ripe and psyched himself up, imitating scenes he had seen on TV of Communist Party members addressing crowds during the Republican era. He walked to a raised spot in front of the crowd, his left hand on his hip and his right hand thrust upwards, shouting: "Fellow villagers, quiet down! Are you wondering why we're smashing temples and burning incense? I'll tell you - it's because I'm saving you! You've committed a grave sin, worshipping a pair of adulterers! They don't deserve your devotion!"

  The crowd gradually quieted down when they heard Li Yunzhong shouting "Quiet!" and were startled to hear that they had committed a crime. The sound of their breathing was low and faint, and they carefully listened with bated breath, afraid that Li Yunzhong was an official.

  Li Yunzhong was very satisfied with the effect of his words, and he put his right hand down to his waist, continuing to say: "There is only one God in the world, that is the Lord, all others are false. You worship them but cannot get blessings, instead you will bring disaster. Some people may ask what kind of disaster? Well, I'll tell you, suffering and hardship in life, this is the reason why your lives are so poor now. After death, you will go to hell, suffer the torture of eighteen layers of hell." Li Yunzhong intimidated, fearing that Chinese people would not understand the horror of Western hell, instead using China's eighteen layers of hell.

  "You must believe in God to be saved, believing in God can dispel disasters and difficulties. When you fall ill, praying to God can alleviate your suffering. If your family is poor, having faith in God will provide you with food and clothing." Li Yunzhong stopped here and gave Zhang Suimu a meaningful glance.

  Zhang Sui nodded and signaled understanding, then whispered something to a man with a sinister appearance beside him.

  "What is God and how should we believe in Him and worship Him?" asked a man with an ugly face loudly.

  "God is the only true God in the world, and he sent his own son to establish the worship of God for your salvation. As long as you join the worship of God, you can believe in God, ascend to heaven after death, where there is endless money, food that never runs out, clothes that never wear out, and eternal bliss. And in this world, we will eventually build a small heaven, where everyone works together, eats together, wears the same clothes, uses the same money, everything is evenly distributed, and everyone is warm and full." Li Yunzhong later recited all the slogans of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at once.

  The people below were stunned, Li Yunzhong's words were like a thunderclap in their ears. From the future, Li Yunzhong would never understand the longing of the common people for food and clothing now. They worked hard all year round, but still had to go hungry one day and full the next. In times of disaster, they not only couldn't eat, but also had to gnaw on tree bark, eat grass, and even sell their children, with severe cases leading to mass starvation. Now hearing that someone could bring them land to farm together, food to eat together, and clothes to wear together, the emotions were simply indescribable.

  A young strong man squeezed forward first and excitedly asked Li Yunzhong "Can we really eat our fill and wear warm clothes?"

  Li Yunzhong, who had been quiet for a while, secretly wiped the sweat from his brow and gave Zhang Suimou and the others an approving glance. He said with certainty, "Not bad, as long as you believe in God, you can eat your fill and dress warmly." Seeing such a robust man, Li Yunzhong couldn't bear to let him go hungry, still expecting him to charge into battle in the future!

  "In the future, I will follow Li to victory. I am willing to join the Boxer Rebellion, please accept me." The strong man heard that he could join the Boxers and excitedly knelt on the ground, kowtowing to Li Yunzhong several times.

  "Isn't that Li Desheng, the servant of Wang's family? How did he get ahead of us? He eats so much, I'm afraid if he joins the God Worshipping Society, he'll bankrupt them single-handedly." Someone recognized the robust man kneeling on the ground.

  "That's a foodie, I heard that last month Master Wang was curious about how much he could eat, so he let him eat to his heart's content. Master Wang went to take a nap, but who knew he took the opportunity to eat for an entire afternoon and finished off three days' worth of grain from Master Wang's household! Haha, when Master Wang woke up, he was furious and had him hung up and beaten severely. Li Desheng couldn't get out of bed for three days, and afterwards Master Wang made him do the work of three people to pay off his debt." A commoner was sharing what he thought was a very confidential piece of news.

  "Hurry up and don't say anything more, haven't you heard that as long as you join the God-worshipping sect, you can eat your fill and wear warm clothes, and there's even land to cultivate? Why not quickly ask if they want us in the God-worshipping sect?" a clever-looking commoner said to someone who was chatting idly.

  "Right, right, let's be smart about money. If we join that Christian church, can't we have a full meal every Sunday?"

  Before Li Yunzhong could help up the fallen Li Desheng, he was submerged by the crowd of onlookers, his ears filled with phrases like "I want to join" and "Do you want me?"...

  When Li Yunzhong was speechless, Hu Yihuang and Zhang Sui helped to comfort the people. They kept telling the people: "If you want to join the God-worshipping Society, just stand under the tree on the right."

  In a short while, everyone stood around the tree, and no one was still standing in their original position. They all looked at Li Yunzhong with eager eyes.

  "As long as you want to join the Church of God, we all will, and together we'll build a little paradise." Li Yunzhong said without hesitation.

  The crowd erupted in excited cheers, with occasional shouts of "My wife hasn't arrived yet, I'll hurry and bring her over" and "Right, right, my brother isn't here either, I'll go call him to come".

  Li Yunzhong seemed to know the concerns of the people, and smiled at them saying "Alright, you can now go back and bring your families. In one hour, gather here again, I will baptize you, after baptism, you will be followers of the Lord God's teachings. Those without family can call upon friends or acquaintances, the Lord will remember your contributions to the Lord God's teachings."

  The crowd dispersed quickly with excitement, and even Li Desheng, who had no relatives, said he would go to Wang's house to call his good brothers.

  Lin Dajibao said to Li Yunzhong with a hint of worry, "Now that so many people have joined the God Worshipping Society, they hear about eating their fill before joining. We don't have enough grain even if we have more, what about even more people?"

  Hu Yihuang also nodded in agreement with a worried expression.

  "Haha, Sixth Brother is worrying too much. These common people living at the bottom, their demands are not that high, as long as we give them hope, it's enough. As long as we let a portion of them eat their fill and then have them spread the word, more people will join in. Besides, I already have plans to make those people eat their fill." Li Yunzhong's confidence infected others, who then discussed with him: once the people arrive, what should be done next.

  Less than half a time, people came one after another. Li Yunzhong led the brothers to act according to their previous discussion.

  Hu Yihuang and Zhang Weikun maintained order, guiding the crowd to designated locations to wait and answering their questions.

  Zhang Sui observes the crowd and sees that there are many people following behind him, so he lets Lin Dajun get close to them and then tells Li Yunzhong the information.

  Li Yunzhong arranged the incense case in front, brought a stack of white paper, originally wanted to let new members write a letter of repentance, considering that most people were illiterate, not to mention writing, so he thought of changing to a way of speaking against the white paper as a letter of repentance, and handed out the white paper.

  An hour passed, and seeing that no one was coming this way anymore, Li Yunzhong quietly counted the number of people. There were thirty people in a row, with forty-two rows, roughly around twelve hundred people. He thought to himself: I didn't expect that today's small test would summon so many people, it seems like almost all the villagers from Siwang Town have arrived. He couldn't help but think: he could also be like those heroes on TV, rallying a hundred people with just one call to revolt.