Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

In the evening, the temple slave farmers who had finished their work for the day returned to the village one after another. But before they could go home and rest for a while, they were shouted and driven by the monks in the temple who were already waiting here. They gathered in groups. We came to the simple shanty outside the temple.

At this time, as many as one or two thousand people had gathered inside and outside these shanties. They were all Ding Zhuang, a slave of Guangming Temple. They worked in the fields during the day and were responsible for guarding outside the temple at night.

There were nearly two thousand monks and soldiers in the temple, and with the addition of these slaves, it was more than enough to protect the safety of the temple.

Therefore, although the people in the county know that a large amount of property materials are stored in Guangming Temple today, no one dares to invade. Not only were they afraid of the powerful force in the temple, but also they were in awe of this important place of Buddhism and did not dare to be presumptuous.

Today was nothing special compared to usual days. After the slaves were gathered together, they each received some food provided by the temple to satisfy their hunger, and then they lay down individually inside and outside the shack. Although the environment here is noisy and simple, he was already exhausted after a day's work, and soon the shack was filled with thunderous snoring.

"Why is there fire there? Where is it?"

Suddenly, a night watchman noticed that there seemed to be a fire looming in the distance under the night cover. The fire grew rapidly. At first, there was only a halo, but soon a clear flame could be seen. It was undoubtedly a raging fire!

More and more people were awakened, and soon someone recognized the location of the fire: "No, it's a barn! Go put out the fire, put out the fire!"

The barn does not store grain, but farm tools, grain seeds, livestock feed and other sundries, which are related to the entire season of spring plowing. These slaves were so panicked when they saw the barn on fire that they no longer cared about guarding the temple. They rushed to the field where the barn was located to put out the fire and save the farm tools and seeds.

The monks in the temple were also disturbed. On the one hand, they sent several deacons to direct the fire fighting and to check if there were any other accidents. On the other hand, they also increased their vigilance in the temple.

Armor and weapons were distributed to each monk soldier, who guarded the residences of the temple masters and elders and the warehouses where important supplies were stored to ensure the safety of important personnel in the temple.

Master Tanjing, who had just finished his evening class, did not fall asleep at the moment. He summoned a few monks to inquire about the situation, and then said calmly: "Don't panic, it should be just an accident. If there is really a bad person who intends to do evil. , it will definitely be done in the dead of night when people are sleeping, the second watch has not yet come, the people are still vigilant, and even if there are thieves, they will not dare to act recklessly!"

After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement and felt relieved. They followed Master Tanjing's instructions step by step and carried out warnings. They were no longer as panicked as before.

Although he felt that thieves were not infested, based on the principle of caution, Master Tanjing inspected some important locations in the temple, and did not forget to tell the monks and soldiers not to ignore the goods sent by Li Tai. If he guessed correctly, those should be goods that were moved directly from the treasury. If any accident happened, he would not be able to explain it.

Thanks to the efforts of the masses, the barn fire was gradually brought under control and did not continue to spread to the surrounding areas. However, the night is now covering the scene and the scene is in a mess, making it difficult to trace the cause of the fire.

After running to put out the fire, the farmers who had worked hard all day were even more tired. Although there were deacons and monks calling them to return to the outside of the temple to defend, they were too lazy to respond. Only a few were willing to go back. Most of them went home to rest nearby. .

Among those who still returned to the temple obediently, there was a group that seemed to walk unsteadily and unsteadily, but their speed was extremely fast, and they were ahead of everyone in a short time.

When the other temple slaves saw this, they just thought that these people were trying to grab a comfortable position in the shanty. While cursing secretly in their hearts, they also dragged their tired bodies to speed up their pace. The temperature difference between day and night in Longyou is huge, so no one wants to be exposed to the cold wind all night.

Seeing the return of these temple slaves, no more accidents occurred outside the temple, and the monk soldiers who were on guard on the wall also withdrew into the temple one after another. With these outside eyes and ears responsible for peripheral security, the monks and soldiers were naturally too lazy to keep watch all night.

When the monks who were out on inspection also returned to the temple, the novice guarding the door was ready to close the temple door again. However, at this moment, a sharp sound broke through the air, and there was a muffled sound. The novice felt the door panel shake violently. When he looked up again, he saw an arrow had been deeply inserted into the door panel, and he suddenly panicked. Sitting paralyzed on the ground.

Many strong figures emerged from the shacks, each armed with long knives and sharp blades, and rushed towards the half-closed temple door. The monks were caught off guard and forced by these strongmen to retreat into the temple in embarrassment, giving up control of the temple door.

When the monks and soldiers in the temple came together after hearing the news, these strong men had already formed a formation in front of the temple gate, and threatened the monks and soldiers with strong bows and arrows, so they did not dare to approach.

At the same time, several vacant shacks outside the temple were also set on fire. The blazing flames became a signal, and the loud and noisy sound of horse hooves could be heard in the wilderness outside the temple.

Not long after, hundreds of fully armed knights rushed to the door of the temple. Because their companions on the way were rushing to seize the door, they rushed into the temple without any hindrance, and drove the monks and soldiers straight away. They rushed in all directions.

"This trip is just for money. If you abandon your weapons, you will die. If you resist, you will die!"

Each of these knights shouted slogans and rushed back and forth in the temple waving their guns and swords. They did not pursue the monk soldiers who abandoned their weapons and fled, but they showed no mercy to those who still wanted to resist and stabbed them with their swords. Cut and stab.

The defense in the temple was not completely unorganized. After the initial chaos, an effective defense was quickly organized in front of the hall. The fences erected made it difficult for the knights who entered the temple to gallop and attack.

"Leave thirty people to prevent these monks from leaving the formation. The others will follow me and quickly attack the warehouse!"

A masked gangster shouted to his companions, and these people quickly divided into two parts. One part was here to contain the monk soldiers stationed here, and the other part led them straight to the warehouse where the money and food were important in the temple.

At this time, Master Tanjing had already been alerted. The sound of fighting that filled the entire temple made him no longer need to guess. Under the protection of his trusted monk soldiers, he headed straight for an area that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. At the same time, he ordered the monks to shout. Zhong warned, organized the monks to take up defense, and asked for help from outside.

The monks and soldiers did their best to guard the temple, but these invading enemies seemed to know the internal structure of the temple and even the strength of the defense line. After entering the temple, they avoided the most important and took the easy way to break through, and soon overwhelmed the temple guards. The army was defeated, and the defense lines everywhere were continuously compressed and pushed back.

Unknowingly, the vast majority of the monks were driven into a relatively closed area of ​​the temple. The strong men in front of them had no intention of rushing in to cause massacres, but they did not allow the monks to break out, so the monks felt a little relieved. , although the temple masters and elders repeatedly ordered to break out, the young monks and soldiers on the front line did not have the courage to risk their lives. The shouts became louder and louder, and their movements and stances became more and more retreating.

After controlling the guards in the temple, the invaders divided into two groups and went straight into the warehouse. They quickly picked up the gold, jade, gems, various high-grade pigments, minerals, etc. accumulated in the temple, or wrapped them in cloth, or It was packed in boxes and cages and kept being thrown on horseback, and several warehouses were quickly emptied.

"That's enough, that's enough! Any more will slow down the operation. Mount your horse and evacuate!"

When the men and horses were all assigned a considerable load, even though there were still materials in several warehouses that had not been packed away, the leader also called a stop in time and stopped loading greedily.

All the knights also obeyed the order and stopped, quickly evacuated from here, and scattered some of their belongings along the way, in order to stimulate the greed of the monks and not to pursue them too closely.

The trumpet sounding the order sounded, and the powerful men scattered in various areas of the temple quickly gathered at the temple gate. The leader who had been waiting here for a long time counted the people and confirmed that nothing was missing, and then ordered his troops and horses. Exit the temple quickly.

At this time, a group of people waving weapons and staffs rushed towards the temple. Many of them were strong warriors wearing armor and holding swords. It should be that the nearby temple heard the distress bell and sent personnel to rescue them.

But this group of people did not stay here to fight. They beat several horses loaded with gold and silver treasures hard and rushed towards the opposite side. As the bags of treasures on the horses fell down, the rescue team suddenly changed. They have to disperse and it is difficult to maintain the momentum of pursuit.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the knights no longer stopped and rushed towards the mountains and fields deep in the night.

"Hurry up and recover those robbers!"

At this time, Master Tanjing in the temple no longer had the calm and peaceful appearance of the past. Although he was protected by the masses unscathed, his face was filled with anger and despair. Especially when he saw the warehouse that had been looted in a mess, he felt even more heartbroken. Breathing heavily, he kept stamping his feet and shouted: "Don't lose track of these gangsters, you must find out where they are running to!"

The monks and soldiers did not dare to neglect at this time. Some of them stayed behind in the temple to clean up and clean up, while others went to the stables to ride out to chase the enemy.

But at this moment, the outside of the temple was no longer deserted. Many temple slaves and monks from other temples living nearby came to rescue them after hearing the news. However, when they arrived, their belongings were scattered by the gangsters. Suddenly, there was a rush and stampede, and the scene was extremely chaotic.

This chaos lasted the whole night, and on the second day, the Morning Bell Buddha, which has always been a major feature of Tianshui, was rarely interrupted after arriving here.

A large group of people came from the direction of Zhoucheng. After arriving at the scene, they surrounded and sealed off the temple, preventing anyone from entering or exiting at will.