My Side Job is a Trader

After tidying up briefly, Zhang Xin came to the Qingfeng Temple in Sucheng to meet with Taoist Songfeng.

"Master, isn't this Longhushan the ancestral home of Taoism? Why is the religious meeting held there? How can I remember that it was held in the capital?"

Master Matsukaze explained: "The five-year religious conference is a grand event in our religious circles, so it is natural for the organizer to seek the opinions of the following member units to select the conference site. There are currently three candidates for the conference site. The addresses are Songshan, Longhushan, and Jingshi, which correspond to the Buddhist and Taoist schools and the government. This year's grand event just happens to be our Taoist ancestral home as the host."

Zhang Xin said: "This is also in line with common sense. After all, there are only two influential religious forces in China, Buddhism and Taoism. This way, it seems fair, and it will not let people see that the government has any partiality for Buddhism and Taoism."

"Hey, there may still be a dispute between Buddhism and Taoism in the past, but over the years, Buddhism and Taoism have all been on the decline. With the popularity of science, more and more people have sneered at our religion, especially young people. I don’t even believe in religion, in everyone’s inherent impression, religion is feudal superstition, and those liars who used the guise of religion in the past to deceive people can be said to be very harmful.”

Regarding this situation, Zhang Xin is also silent. After all, for ordinary people, the pursuit of life is nothing more than wealth and status.

With the advancement of science and technology and social development, people's lives are getting better and better, so there is not much demand for spiritual beliefs. In addition, under the influence of science, everyone is more and more suspicious of the existence of gods and the like.

Metaphysics is like this, the more you doubt, the more you don't believe, so people are not as superstitious about these religions as before. Even Western Christianity has encountered such an embarrassing situation.

Therefore, the gradual decline of religion can be regarded as the choice of the trend of the times. The power of the individual cannot be stopped. Unless there is a fairy god descending to the earth one day, otherwise this kind of thing built on the level of consciousness will eventually disappear.

The next day, Taoist Master Songfeng took several Taoist priests from Qingfeng Temple and Zhang Xin to take the high-speed rail to YT City where Longhu Mountain is located, and then there was a special car arranged by the religious association to pick them up.

Since it is a grand gathering of religious circles, almost all the people who come and go are religious people.

Among these people, about half of them, like Daoist Song Feng, wore Taoist robes. Of course, monks basically wore monk robes.

This has a lot to do with the difference in the teachings of Buddhism and Taoism.

As long as monks become monks, they must shave their heads, even those professional monks must do so.

In addition to some special sects of Taoism, most Taoist priests actually have other identities. There is no need to wear Taoist robes all day long. Of course, you still need to put them on at the religious meeting tomorrow.

Along the way, before arriving at the destination, people kept saying hello to Taoist Songfeng.

Zhang Xin asked in a low voice: "Master, I didn't realize that you have quite a lot of connections."

Daoist Songfeng said: "What's the matter? Everyone is a religious person. Although Huaxia is big, there are only a few religious sects with strong roots. Many people here have participated in many religious conferences. The more we meet, the more we will naturally get to know each other.”

After a while, Daoist Songfeng specially told Zhang Xin, "After the religious meeting is over, don't leave in a hurry. I will take you to meet some real seniors."

Zhang Xin agreed with a "hmm".

He knew that Taoist Master Matsukaze should officially introduce him to other practitioners, which was also the main purpose of him agreeing to come to attend the religious conference, otherwise how could he attend such a boring conference.

The bus drove all the way to Longhu Mountain Tianshi Mansion, but passed several tourist attractions on the way. Many tour guides were leading their tour groups to visit various tourist attractions on Longhu Mountain.

Zhang Xin suddenly felt that there was a reason for the withering of the practice world.

Now not only the Taoist ancestral home has been excessively commercially developed, but even some other famous mountains and rivers have been developed and integrated by the local government. As a tourist attraction that can stimulate the economy, the government has spared no effort in this regard.

Gradually, some Taoist temples on these mountains also began to open their doors and started business. In this way, there would be no real cultivation. These temples and Taoist temples were gradually regarded as a tool for making money, and the clean and peaceful atmosphere of the past was no longer there.

I heard Taoist Songfeng said that there are still schools of real practitioners nowadays, but they are rare, but some Taoist temples or temples in inconspicuous and remote places still have real practitioners.

Zhang Xin thought of Master Chen. He once drove Master Chen to Baiyun Temple, which is a bustling place in the city center.

As a result, Daoist Songfeng came up with a sentence: "Master Liaochen is an exception. To be precise, Buddhism has an advantage over Taoism in this respect, because Buddhism places the most emphasis on cultivating the mind, so there are no real great monks in Buddhism. Ask where you are, and Taoists often choose places with few people to concentrate on cultivation because of their emphasis on cleanliness and inaction in their exercises."

After the car arrived at Shangqing Town at the foot of Longhu Mountain, everyone walked along the stone road to Tianshi Mansion.

Since these two days are grand gatherings of the religious circles, the tourist attractions of Tianshi Mansion, which are usually open to the public, are temporarily closed. Except for invited religious figures like Zhang Xin, those tourists from other places are not allowed to enter.

Zhang Xin followed Daoist Songfeng, and after checking the excessive certificate, everyone was released.

Zhang Xin walked behind Taoist Master Songfeng, and whispered: "I always thought that the Tianshi Mansion was built on the mountain, but it turned out to be in a small town at the foot of the mountain. Aren't most Taoist temples built on the mountain? For example, the Taoist temple in Wudang Mountain is on the mountain.”

Daoist Songfeng smiled and said: "Tianshi Mansion is not comparable to ordinary Taoist temples. Being in charge of Tianshi Mansion is equivalent to being in charge of the leader of Taoism in the world. To be precise, Tianshi Mansion is more like a kind of How can an official institution be built on a mountain with inconvenient transportation.”

When I came to a big stone, I saw that it was written in red lacquer: "Yongzhang Taoism in the world."

Zhang Xin couldn't help but said: "This tone, this boldness, it's no wonder that the Tianshi Mansion is in charge of Taoism."

Daoist Songfeng said: "You have to know that the Taoist Academy is just to the south of the town, facing the Tianshi Mansion far away, and the necessary procedures for graduation from the Taoist Academy are issued by the Tianshi Mansion. Hand, isn’t he in charge of Taoist affairs? From the perspective of legal procedures, Taoist priests without a certificate are wild Taoists, and the government does not recognize it. If you want to get a certificate, you must accept the procedures of the Tianshi Mansion.”

Daoist Songfeng's tone was very flat, and there seemed to be a trace of disdain in it.

Zhang Xin quickly understood why Daoist Songfeng felt disdainful.