Although he didn't like it in his heart, Xu Ping would not have affected the government orders because of his own likes and dislikes. Master Zhiyun was convinced and agreed to compensate the owner for the losses. Xu Ping took the boat to expose the matter, stood up, and followed him to the thatched cottage in the Golden Light Cave to see the temple's location.

Seeing Xu Ping get up, the shop owner on the ground hurriedly knelt on the ground and said, "Thank you, the official, to be fair to Xiaomin!"

Xu Ping, who was about to leave, turned around and looked at him and smiled, "I'm helping you because you have a word for judging today. Remember, if you open a shop here, you will inevitably be suspicious of being under the melon field, so you should pay attention. In the future, this pool is officially designated as a local release pond. Never catch the fishing catches and cook, otherwise no one can guarantee that you will open a shop here."

"Little one keeps in mind the teachings of officials!"

Xu Ping shook his head and followed Master Zhiyun to the mountain. As for whether the store owner took his words to heart, he was too lazy to care. If he committed a crime, he would just follow the rules and sing the mountain songs wherever he went.

After following the previous incident, Master Zhiyun became more and more cautious, leading the way forward, and said to Xu Ping at the foot of the mountain: "Officialist, although this mountain is not high, the mountain is steep and the road is rugged, which is very difficult to walk on, so be careful."

Xu Ping nodded and said nothing. He was a young and middle-aged man, and his skills were much more flexible than the old monk. His subordinates were all people who had been in the army for many years and would not be stumped by this mountain road.

Not long after entering the mountain, the noise outside the mountain was separated by another world. Birds chirping in my ears, accompanied by cheerful deer chirping, and the rivers were invisible, but the crisp sound of water continued.

The unique fresh breath of the mountains and forests came to my face, and my whole body and mind were washed away. People suddenly felt that they had become light and a bit like a ecstasy.

No wonder literati, scholars, eminent monks, and even those immortals like to practice in the mountains. Such an environment in the mountains can really clean people's hearts.

Everyone was not walking fast, and after walking along the inconspicuous mountain path for half an hour, they finally arrived not far from the top of the mountain. After walking through the dense forest, they suddenly became wider. A large area of ​​grass mixed with shrubs, with large or small stones distributed on it. There was a large bamboo forest next to the grass, which gently swayed with the breeze, as if the ocean. On the edge of the grass near the bamboo forest, there were several deer eating grass. After taking a few bites, they raised their heads vigilantly, looked around, and were ready to escape from the bamboo forest at any time.

Just ahead, there were grass in the bamboo forest, and a road was set aside in the middle. On the other end of the road was a huge natural cave, which was pitch black and invisible.

"Officials, there is a Golden Light Cave in front of you, and my thatched cottage is inside."

Master Zhiyun said respectfully.

Xu Ping nodded: "It's indeed a quiet place, a good place that the mage finds!"

Xu Ping expressed this sentence from the bottom of his heart, and Master Zhiyun could hear it and praised it all.

Sometimes I really have to admire these monks. Although they pretend to be magical, these beautiful scenery hidden in the mountains are hard to find for them to travel through mountains and rivers.

Monk Zhiyun led the way in front, walked across the grass, and came to the Golden Light Cave.

The entrance of the cave is five or six meters wide and more than ten meters high. It has been cleaned up. One or two dozen banana trees are planted in front, accompanied by the bamboo forest next to it.

A thatched cottage was built not far from the entrance of the cave, and the thatched grass was new, and it looked like it was newly built.

Everyone entered the cave and just arrived at the entrance of the cottage. From it, a middle-aged man in his forties came, with a fair skin and a medium figure, wearing a long blue gown.

Master Zhiyun hurriedly introduced to Xu Ping: "This is Mr. Huang from Qinzhou, my great donor, who comes here from Qinzhou to help me."

Mr. Huang saw the formation of the visitor and had already guessed Xu Ping's identity. He hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "Student Huang Wei was originally from Guangzhou. He had participated in the test of the trial in this province. Unfortunately, he failed. He has been doing business in Qinzhou for many years and has made a living. He heard that the master is here to promote Buddhism and is here to help. He has met the magistrate."

“No need to be polite.”

Seeing that Huang Wei was a little familiar, Xu Ping couldn't remember where he had seen him, so he couldn't help but look at him twice. He had participated in the test for the trial and was considered a scholar, so he called himself a student in front of Xu Ping.

Seeing that Xu Ping was paying attention to him, Huang Wei had nothing unusual on his face, but just smiled and stayed by the side.

Master Zhiyun said, "Please please from the official. Since you have arrived, you will sit in the thatched cottage."

The soldiers with him stood around the thatched cottage. Xu Ping brought Gao Daquan and Tan Hu into the house. The little monk came up to tea, and several people chatted while drinking.

Xu Ping said: "It's good to build a temple in this cave, and it doesn't hinder the surrounding people. The road up the mountain is too rugged and it's inconvenient for pilgrims. Another mountain has no water source, so you should pay attention to fire prevention."

Master Zhiyun said: "The water source is not a problem. There is a mountain spring not far from here, so it is easy to carry water every day. As for fire prevention, as long as you lay some water tanks in the hole, it will be fine."

"The most difficult thing is to build roads." Huang Wei, next to him, interrupted, "The master is well-known in Qinzhou and has a lot of believers. Everyone heard that if you want to build a temple here, they donate money and materials, and money is not a problem. However, this hill is full of stones. If the road is opened manually, it will take a very long time, and I don't know when it will be completed."

Xu Ping remained silent: "Oh, what do you mean?"

Huang Wei thought for a while before saying, "The student took the liberty. I heard that there is a dedicated person in the Tiju Department responsible for building roads. The gunpowder used to save time and effort. I wonder if I can help build this section of mountain road?"

After saying that, he looked at Xu Ping with Master Zhiyun.

"It's hard to open up!"

Hearing Xu Ping's answer, Huang Wei hurriedly said: "There is no need to build a flat road, just open it into a step road, so that the pilgrims can go up and down the mountain."

Xu Ping did not speak. The local area does not produce saltpeter, the production of gunpowder is not high, and the surroundings are barbarian forces, and Jiaozhi is not far away, so the gunpowder flows out is a hidden danger. Therefore, the gunpowder in the Sugar Supplement Department is extremely strictly controlled, and all the ingredients are hidden separately in different warehouses, and they are temporarily mixed. Each warehouse has a dedicated person in charge, and they are not aware of each other. Only with the documents approved by Xu Ping can they be used. The Han Zong of the same train must also be held by Xu Ping to collect. In a few years, except for the official road construction, gunpowder has never been used for civil affairs, and even the firecrackers Xu Ping was not brought to Yongzhou. Xu Ping was reluctant to use gunpowder for the monks to build a temple.

After a moment of silence, Xu Ping asked Huang Wei: "What business are you doing in Qinzhou?"

Huang Wei said: "One is to sell salt, buy salt from the salt business and sell it into the mountains."

"Oh—" When Xu Ping heard that he was doing business with the barbarians again, his eyes lit up and said nothing.

Huang Wei hurriedly said, "But the salt business is getting worse and worse. Recently, too much salt has flowed into the Song Dynasty. We have worked hard and can't make much money. The students have been selling Qiongya spices in the past two years. They go back and sell local cattle there and make some money from this business."

"Yeah—" Xu Ping nodded.

The largest export material in Guangxi is squid cloth and cows. Most of the squid cloth is sold to the mainland, and many of the cattle are sold to Qiongya, which is Hainan Island in later generations. There are thousands of heads every year. Qiongya has the custom of killing cattle and offering sacrifices to ghosts, and dozens or hundreds of heads are killed. Most of the cows exchanged for specialty spices by the natives consumed in this way. Therefore, in this era, cattle were consumables rather than production materials. Moreover, at this time, Qiongya and Leizhou both belonged to Guangnan West Road, and trading between the same roads was also convenient.

As for salt, due to the impact of Jiaozhi in recent years, this business has become increasingly difficult to do. Since Li Fuma ascended the throne, Jiaozhi has stabilized its domestic situation and has stepped up its expansion to the north.

Now in Yongzhou, the Song Dynasty relies on sugar, Jiaozhi relies on salt, and Guangyuanzhou relies on sand and gold. The forces are developing rapidly, and they are accelerating their infiltration into the traditional barbarian areas. Xu Ping knew very well that the traditional barbarian areas, which are now crowded between the three forces, has become a powder keg, and just one fuse will cause the three parties to fight. However, the term of office of the Song Dynasty officials is not long, and Xu Ping has only two or three years left in Yongzhou. He has spent all his energy on the expansion of sugar business and has been undecided about the operation of the barbarian areas.

Xu Ping still didn't answer Huang Wei, and looked up at the decorations in the thatched cottage. It was nothing more than wooden fish bells and chimes, some common Buddhist instruments, and Buddhist scriptures were placed on the shelf next to it. It seemed that many of them were printed by Xu Ping.

There was a kerosene lamp on the table not far from the table, which was very bright. Xu Ping looked at the lamp for a long time, and Master Zhiyun and Huang Wei were both embarrassed.

Kerosene is a material distributed in Taiping Village. The number of lamps used in places such as inns and restaurants is registered, and the number of kerosene is distributed per month. However, how long is the specific time and brightness of January, and where can I control it? There are a lot of smuggled kerosene flowing out of this channel alone. In addition, people in the sugar business secretly sold it, the quantity is quite large. People who are slightly decent near will light kerosene lamps.

Of course Xu Ping knew about this situation, but just turned a blind eye. When the water was clear, there was no fish. Sometimes, keeping a gray area in irrelevant places is also a lubrication for the local economy.

Looking at the kerosene lamp for a while, Xu Ping didn't say anything in the end.

Looking back, he said to Master Huang Wei and Zhiyun: "It's not impossible to ask the people in the Tijuan Division to help you build roads. This dynasty has always been respectful to Buddhism, and I am not an unkind person. However, the Tijuan Division is an institution of the court, and even if a copper coin comes in and out, it is recorded in the account. The Three Divisions are very particular, so I dare not be careless. Let's do this, I ask them to make a list and pay the bills according to the amount of silver money."

After saying that, Xu Ping looked at Huang Wei.

Huang Wei and Master Zhiyun looked at each other and couldn't help but say happily: "Thank you Shangguan Tongrong, don't worry about money. The students will call on the believers in Qinzhou to contribute to the master!"

Master Zhiyun hesitated a little: "Officials, Mr. Huang, the money for road construction is probably not a small amount. Anyway, it's better to make a long-term plan."

"Mage, don't worry. Even if we disciples lose everything, we should help the monk build this temple and promote Buddhism! When we recite the Buddha's name all day, when we read the true chapter, which one will care about some money!"

Master Zhiyun chanted the Buddha's name: "The layman has a heart!"

Xu Ping looked at it coldly and didn't say anything. He didn't think about it much, but just came to make a move. As the local chief, he had to come forward as the first serious religious place in the place, and had no special intentions. But since he saw Huang Wei, Xu Ping always felt something was wrong and couldn't say it, so he simply fulfilled his thoughts and saw what was going on.

Xuping has been in Taiping Village for two or three years and is not afraid of anyone making trouble.

Even Master Zhiyun came strangely. The lay Buddhists and others who followed him came from Qinzhou. Although everything makes sense, they are always a little weird. Xu Ping decided to ask Feng Shenji to help him send a letter to Qinzhou after he went back and checked the background of these people. He also inspected the three states of Yong and Qinlian, and the public security in Qinzhou was also under his control.
Chapter completed!