After about three hours of leaving the city, Le Yiyang saw a mountain ahead. This mountain was high into the sky, stretching for hundreds of miles, and was a remnant of Taihang Mountain. To the north of Taihang Mountain is the "Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun" belonging to the Khitan, and to the south are the states of the Central Plains. Taihang Mountain has always been a place of frequent battles between military strategists. As early as the first year of the Yuan Dynasty of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor An of Han issued an edict to garrison troops at 36 southern ends of Taihang in order to prevent foreign enemies from invading Luoyang. In the 19th year of Taiyuan in the Jin Dynasty, Murong Chui of Later Yan advanced to attack Western Yan. Murong Yong of Western Yan ordered all his troops to block the Taihang Mountain Pass. Murong Chui led his troops from the Fukou and destroyed Western Yan. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Shimin fought with Dou Jiande, and Li Shimin occupied Hulao, so that Dou Jiande could not cross Taihang. Li Shimin took the opportunity to occupy Shangdang and seize all the land in Hedong.

The mountains are lush with trees, and you can vaguely see the backbone of the pavilion. When you approach, you will find that there is a thousand-year-old treasure temple in Taiyuan hidden here - Guixian Temple. When Le Yiyang was a child, he heard from his father that Guixian Temple was built by gentry donating funds to commemorate the withdrawal of Khitan troops. Guixian Temple was usually very popular. During its heyday, nearly a thousand people from all ethnic groups came to burn incense and pray for blessings every day. Now it is getting dark, and the temple is still crowded, as if people forget that the war has quietly come to the innocent people.

Le Yiyang had been traveling for a day and felt a little tired at this moment. The dry food he bought in Taiyuan yesterday had been eaten, and there was not much water left in the bag he carried with him. Seeing that he was almost at a loss, he walked to the door of Guixian Temple. "It's really a road ahead. I'll stay here for the time being tonight." Le Yiyang remembered what his father said to him when he was a child, and told him to go to Guixian Temple to burn incense when he grew up. So he straightened his body and walked into Guixian Temple.

When you enter the gate, you will see two stone tablets erected in front of you. The stone tablet is about three zhang high and five feet wide. On the left is the merit stele, which records the heroic deeds of the soldiers on the frontier and the kindness of the gentry of Taiyuan; on the right is the grace stele, which records the poems and essays written by Emperor Gaozu Shi Jingtang who returned home in glory and visited Guixian Temple.

After reading the inscription of merit, Le Yiyang immediately admired the deeds of the soldiers on the frontier. Then he walked to the stele of the benevolence and carefully read the poems written by his predecessors. Here are several sentences:

"The top of the mountain is flat and wide, and the scenery is full of fragrance. The beautiful scenery is lined up, which is fascinating. The rocks are flying in the sky, and the peanut trees are mixed in the front, and it is overwhelming. Following the west of Luohan Street, you can get a hundred and fifty steps, and the treasure temple comes out. The three words "Guixian Temple" are presented to me in front of me. The temple is quite ancient, with a wide and bright inside. When you walk into the hall in vain, you will gradually come to a good place."

Also, "When you climb around, the sky is high and the earth is vast. Outside the mountains, you will see flying cranes. Looking down at the mountains in the northwest, it is rolling and undulating, like jade beads; looking closer to Jincheng, the buildings are built against the mountains, lined up and down for dozens of miles. Looking back at the return of the wise, the trees are prosperous, the temples are crowded, and the blue smoke lingers, as if you return to the Eastern Capital."

Just as Le Yiyang left the stone tablet and entered the temple vestibule, he was stopped by a group of monks. A young monk in the lead said, "The master of the presidency has an order. There will be major discussions in the temple tonight, and idle people should not enter."

Seeing that it was getting late and there was no other place to stay in Shizhou, Le Yiyang said, "This master is just passing by Guishen. He wants to stay in Guishen for a night and rush to the capital tomorrow morning." The monk responded unyieldingly, "No, no, if the host knows, we will all be punished. You should leave quickly." Le Yiyang also wanted to explain, but the monks had been reluctant to give in and kept pushing him to the door.

At this time, an old monk came out. He was wearing a purple cassock, wearing a Vairocana crown, holding a pitch-black Buddhist bead in his hand, and followed two little novice monks. Le Yiyang bowed devoutly. The old monk smiled at him, and waved to the monk to come over to understand the situation. The young monk walked forward and said in the old monk's ear for a long time. After hearing this, the old monk nodded and agreed and returned to the Buddhist temple.

With Master Huixing's will, the young monk's attitude immediately changed. He enthusiastically arranged the east wing of the temple's front courtyard for him and prepared tonight's vegetarian meal for him. Le Yiyang then knew that the monk was Du Hui. He just turned 20 years old this year and was a person in the southeast of Taiyuan. He also learned from him that the old monk was the famous Master Huixing in Taiyuan, and he is now acting as the host of Guixian Temple. The real host of Guixian Temple is Master Huikong, who is now practicing in seclusion in the back mountain and will be out of the mountain in a few days. Hearing that Le Yiyang was going to the capital, Huixing promised to let him stay in the temple temporarily.

Le Yiyang was very grateful to Master Huixing. After dinner, he was about to visit him. At this time, three soldiers from Taiyuan suddenly came into the temple. The leader was about forty years and was full of heroism. He held a long sword in his hand and walked straight into the door. Seeing this, Le Yiyang immediately avoided it.

I only heard the man calling: "Is the presiding officer Huikong here?" Monk Du Hui walked out the door and saw the visitor. He greeted with a smile: "General Guo, it's been a long time since I saw him. The host is in seclusion. You go to the west wing room to rest first. I will call Huixing's agent to come out." The man shouted: "Okay, go and go quickly, the King of Peking is urgently in military information, Guo Wei dare not delay it." After that, he went to the west wing room.

Le Yiyang wondered what the military situation had to do with the monk. He did not intend to eavesdrop on the privacy here, but was just curious, so he secretly hid in the bushes outside the west wing while they were unprepared.

After a while, he saw Master Huixing. This time he was alone, and the little novice monks were waiting in the lobby. He walked to the door of the west wing, looked around, and saw that no one followed him, so he walked into the room. At this time, in the west wing courtyard, only Le Yiyang and the other three were left.

Guo Wei was walking anxiously in the room, but when he saw Master Huixing coming in, he hurriedly greeted him, bowed with both hands and said:

"Master Huixing, I'm here to disturb you so late, I hope to forgive you."

"How dare you?" Huixing greeted: "General Guo's visit late at night must have something to do not delay."

"There are indeed important military information to discuss with the masters, but I don't know when Master Huikong can come out of the mountain."

Seeing this, Huixing still had to discuss with the presidency. Knowing that this matter was extraordinary, she did not dare to neglect it and immediately assigned someone to go to the back mountain to ask the presidency to come out of the mountain.

While waiting, Guo Wei kept drinking vegetarian tea in the room, thinking about receiving military newspapers from the front line before leaving, and became more and more anxious. Seeing this, Huixing knew the habit of joining the army and was inconvenient to impose comfort, so he just slid the Buddhist beads in his hand silently. After an incense stick, the gate of the west wing was pushed open, and a monk in his fifties stepped in. He was covered in tatters, and even his beard was covered in dust. As soon as he entered the room, Le Yiyang felt a powerful stream of air flowing towards him, and at this time, the doors and windows were automatically closed.

Le Yiyang was surprised when he heard the people in the room talking softly on the ground. He immediately cheered up and his ears were almost directly pressed against the wall through the air.

"General Guo, what's the matter with me late at night? Why didn't Liu Zhiyuan come in person?" Huikong asked.

"Master Huikong, you don't know that the Khitan was provoking the border some time ago, and five counties on our Taiyuan border were plundered. Now the military expenditure is seriously insufficient. The end of the two countries' trading has caused great losses to merchants. Our military expenditure is not supplemented, and the soldiers on the front line have complained. Although the King of Peiping went to the front line to comfort the soldiers a few days ago, if this continues, a mutiny will inevitably occur."

Guo Wei said anxiously,

"I received a military newspaper from the King of Peking this afternoon and asked me to come to you right away. I must meet you in person. I don't know what the prince is thinking. I wonder if your temple can support Yi2 now?"

Huikong looked up at Huixing. Huixing usually records all the expenses in the temple, so he naturally knew how many assets he had.

"In the country is in trouble, we should have helped. However, we are indeed powerless now. Although there are many pilgrims on weekdays, they are all used to build attics, and there is currently very little inventory left." Huikong replied faintly.

Guo Wei lowered his head and thought in his mind that Guixian Temple's annual income exceeded one million taels of silver, and other donations were not included. Of course, disaster relief meetings were held in the temple every year, but they were only the tip of the iceberg of income. Most of the money was spent on repairing temples and expanding the towers. What's even more ridiculous is that every winter, the army would send people to the temple to serve, which was called Guixian's rotation. It was really infuriating!

"General Guo, what the presided over is true. We currently only have 1,300 taels of silver. We still need to buy cotton coats to keep warm this winter and food to help the border residents next year." Huixing responded quickly.

"Even if this is the case, even if you use this thousand three hundred and three hundred dollars for military expenditure, you will not last for a few days. Could it be that God wants to destroy my Taiyuan?" Guo Wei said disappointed.

"We have no choice but to do anything about this. General Guo, you might as well ask him back!" Huikong shook his head and stood up to see him off.

Just as Guo Wei was about to leave, he suddenly remembered what Liu Zhiyuan once told him. He turned his head and said to Huikong:

"Does the host still remember the friendship with the King of Peking back then?"

Huikong was shocked after hearing this, but he didn't expect Guo Wei to ask this question. He motioned Guo Wei to sit down and said to Hui:

"You go down and rest first. I have something to say to General Guo."

Hui Xingnuo said a word, then left the west wing and returned to his room.

Huikong sat next to the coffee table and was silent for a while. Le Yiyang stood outside the door with a sore waist and legs numb, and was about to go back to the room to rest. At this time, Huikong began to speak.

"General Guo, when we talk about our friendship with you, King Liu Zhiyuan of Peking, we have to talk about one person, that is, the late Emperor Gaozu Shi Jingtang."

"That must start ten years ago. It was the last moment when the last emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, Li Congke, ruled the Central Plains. My common name was Xu Yuanfei, and together with Liu Zhiyuan, it was a military academy under Shi Jingtang. In the late Later Tang Dynasty, the court was corrupt, the military discipline was scattered, and the people lived in vain. The rebel army in various parts of the Central Plains was surging, and the Tang army was defeated step by step. At this time, the Khitan people, located in the northern part of our country, had already established a country II. Emperor Yelu Deguang saw the civil strife of the Tang Dynasty, so he made his younger brother Yelu Lihu.

He went south to attack Daizhou. Unexpectedly, Shi Jingtang formed an alliance with the Khitan behind the court and ceded the "Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun" to use the Khitan troops to attack the Tang Dynasty. After Liu Zhiyuan and I learned about the situation, they believed that the "Six Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun" would be lost and there would be no peace in the Central Plains afterwards. So they risked their lives to advise. Shi Jingtang refused to listen to our advice and insisted on his own. As a result, he was humiliated to call Yelu Deguangqu the "child emperor". I was angry and left Taiyuan and lived here for fourteen years.

About an hour passed, and Huikong finally finished talking about the whole thing.
Chapter completed!