Chapter 211: The Zhuang Family's Sons and Nephews

In front of the several masters of the Zhuang family, Zhang Yingchen became even more cautious, never mentioning his “magical powers” and even less so the issue of doctrine. Unless the other party asked, he would only briefly discuss the principles of his “New Taoism.”

Zhang Yingchen knew that when dealing with this kind of gentry and scholars, one could not rely on a little display of “magical power” to persuade them to convert their faith, as one would with ordinary people. Traditional Chinese intellectuals all followed the principle of “the Master did not speak of strange occurrences, feats of strength, disorder, or spirits,” and could be considered a group of atheists.

Therefore, when he preached to Zhuang Qian and the others, he never did so intentionally, but rather discussed it as if it were an academic topic. He adopted an exploratory attitude towards the questions they raised.

This attitude of his indeed won the respect of the several masters of the Zhuang family. Moreover, the New Taoist system he had created did have some extraordinary aspects.

When Zhang Yingchen was creating this system in Lingao, he was very clear that for his New Taoism to forge a path through the rampant folk religions of the late Ming, and to further integrate and digest the northern and southern sects of the orthodox Taoist system, it was not enough to have a mature religious ideology and scriptures. Even the Nanwuliang sect he had just dealt with had two scriptures.

As for the kind of folk secret societies that mixed Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism with folk legends, although they had the advantage of being easy for the lower classes to understand, in the eyes of the middle and upper-class elites, they seemed vulgar and shallow, and were greatly despised—even though they feared the power and “sorcery” of the folk secret societies. Therefore, when he was creating his own New Taoist system, he tried his best to use the concepts of the original Taoist system and made extensive use of the scriptures in the “Daozang”—although he had tampered with some of them. He took the Tianshi Dao as the main body, mixed in the teachings of the Quanzhen Dao and some other sects, and tried his best to introduce some concepts of modern scientific theory.

Of course, for the time being, he could not peel off his veil of mysticism—he still had to rely on it to save his life.

Throughout Yizhou, his fame suddenly grew—or rather, in the past he was just a “good person,” but now he had suddenly become a “True Master.” All sorts of rumors about Zhang Yingchen’s “boundless magical power” spread like wildfire. Besides the refugees, from all the surrounding villages, anyone with a sick person in their family all flocked to Dadian Village, and the excellent situation suddenly caught him off guard.

However, the excellent situation made Zhang Yingchen reluctant to give up. This was a good opportunity to win over people’s hearts and build faith! He immediately roused his spirits and continued to see patients for half a day every day. The medicine he had on hand was almost used up. Besides sending a message to Linqing to telegraph the “center” to quickly transport medicine from Guangdong, he mainly used the medicinal materials that could be purchased locally. Not only did his three apprentices work together to prepare the medicine, but many of the Zhuang family’s servants also helped out. The cost of the medicinal materials was also all paid by the Zhuang family. He now felt more and more that the Zhuang family’s attitude towards him had changed.

The personal information about the Zhuang family that he had requested from the Grand Library was sent from Linqing. It turned out that the several masters and young masters of the Zhuang family were quite remarkable.

He found that the reason why Zhuang Qian had taken the initiative to retire shortly after leading troops to defend the capital in the second year of the Chongzhen era was related to the political climate of the court at that time. In the early years of Chongzhen’s reign, the purge of the “remnants of the eunuch faction” was very severe. This person had built a living shrine for Wei Zhongxian when he was an official. Even if he was not a member of the eunuch faction, he should have some connection with them.

“No wonder he usually keeps his mouth shut about court affairs and doesn’t talk about his experience as an official. So that’s what happened!” Zhang Yingchen understood. He had a “historical problem,” so naturally he had to be very cautious in his speech after retirement. Moreover, he had heard that the activities of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered-Uniform Guard had become frequent again recently.

Another person who aroused his interest was Zhuang Zheng, styled Diao’zhi, Zhuang Qian’s cousin. This person had gathered tens of thousands of people after the fall of the Ming and occupied the Jiuxian Mountain in Zhucheng to resist the Qing. After his failure, he sneaked into Beijing alone, preparing to assassinate a high-ranking Manchu official. He had once attempted to assassinate Dorgon. Unfortunately, he failed, but he still managed to escape, which showed that his skills and adaptability were very impressive.

“This person is too legendary. I have to get to know him,” Zhang Yingchen was very interested in him. Unfortunately, this military xiucai had become the garrison commander of Luokou for his military merits during the Tianqi era and was not at home now.

Zhang Yingchen felt that this military xiucai might have had connections with the local forces of Jiuxian Mountain in Zhucheng in the past. Otherwise, it would be hard to imagine an outsider who was unfamiliar with the place being able to easily gather tens of thousands of people to occupy a mountain and rebel. It was necessary to get a clear picture of the specific situation.

He burned the secret letter and watched the black and gray paper ashes completely turn to fragments in the brazier before standing up and patting the dust off his robe.

Outside, the sun was scorching. Inside the room, there were large blocks of ice, emitting white mist. This kind of enjoyment was not bad in Yizhou—of course, it was much worse than the gentry family in Jiangnan where he had helped to “compound the great medicine.” Zhang Yingchen strolled to the eaves and was about to go and see how his three apprentices were doing with the medicinal herbs when a servant came to ask him to go to the main house.

Zhang Yingchen was a frequent visitor to the main house, so he was surprised when the servant did not lead him inside. He couldn’t help but be taken aback and secretly gripped the pistol at his waist.

“True Master! Forgive my boldness—” the servant said with a smile. “It wasn’t Master Zhuang who summoned you just now, but the young master of the second master’s family who wanted to see you. He was afraid you wouldn’t want to see him…”

“All living beings are equal. Why would I not want to see him?” Zhang Yingchen said with a smile, relieved.

“True Master, you are so magnanimous!” the servant said with a fawning smile. “It’s like this, our young master Yongling is only eleven years old…”

“Oh,” Zhang Yingchen nodded. “No matter. Ambition is not determined by age. Gan Luo became a minister at twelve. Your young master must also be a great talent.”

“Some people have said so,” the servant, seeing that Zhang Yingchen did not object, was overjoyed—he had secured his reward of two hundred copper coins. He immediately led him to a small courtyard.

Zhang Yingchen saw that the flowers and trees here were lush and the environment was elegant. In the main hall, there was a desk and a tablet of Confucius. He knew that this was most likely the study where the Zhuang family’s children studied.

He remembered that the sons and nephews of the Zhuang family were also outstanding. Not only were several of them xiucai and tribute students, but they had also participated in the anti-Qing movement later on. They were all people who were skilled in both literature and martial arts. This so-called young master Yongling was probably Zhuang Qian’s nephew, Zhuang Yongling. According to the materials, he was born in 1620, which made him eleven years old now.

This Zhuang Yongling, styled Da’nian and also known as Fu’lai, later became a Jinshi in the 18th year of the Shunzhi era, the second Jinshi of the Zhuang family.

It was clear that this person was also a promising scholar. Why did he suddenly want to see him?

As he was thinking, he saw three teenagers in their early teens coming out to greet him. They were all around a dozen years old, handsome and heroic-looking. They were dressed in fine cotton cloth, the typical attire of the sons of a “farming and reading” gentry family.

The Daoist priest’s heart couldn’t help but stir. He immediately bowed in greeting.

“True Master!” The young man looked very happy. “I didn’t expect you to really come. Please forgive my crime of inviting you in someone else’s name.”

“Why would I not come?” Zhang Yingchen put on a gentle and sincere smile.

“Please come inside and take a seat!”

They then led Zhang Yingchen to the east wing of the study. Since it was summer, the window panels had been removed, and the windows were covered with green gauze, which, along with the dense shade of the trees in the courtyard, made it feel very cool.

After entering the room, they exchanged greetings again. Zhang Yingchen knew that the scholars of Shandong, influenced by the Kong family, were mostly keen on elaborate etiquette if they had some property. As the saying goes, “no one blames you for being too polite,” so he also followed suit and exchanged greetings.

After they were finally seated, a study boy brought tea. Only then did Zhang Yingchen feel a sense of relief. This etiquette was really too complicated.

The three teenagers looked at me, and I looked at you, but no one spoke. Zhang Yingchen was very strange. After a long while, Zhuang Yongling finally said hesitantly:

“True Master, we have heard from the servants that you were bathed in thunder and fire in the courtyard, but were not harmed in the slightest…”

Zhang Yingchen listened while stroking his beard and smiling, thinking to himself, so that’s it. Young people are indeed curious and bold.

Seeing that his expression was not displeased, the few of them immediately became bolder and began to ask questions.

“True Master, did you pass a tribulation that night?”

“After passing a tribulation, shouldn’t one ascend to heaven in broad daylight? True Master, can you ride the clouds and mists?”

“True Master, how can one be unharmed when struck by thunder and fire? Every summer, there are always people and cattle struck dead by lightning…”

Zhang Yingchen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. These were scholars. But he also found it very endearing. After all, young people’s natural curiosity was not yet extinguished, and they were full of curiosity about all sorts of things, which was much more lovable than adults who pretended to know what they didn’t and still acted reserved.

He pondered for a moment, did not answer their questions, and only said:

“Do you know where the thunder and fire in the sky come from?”

This question stumped them. They were all scholars and did not believe in things like the Thunder God and the Mother of Lightning. But neither Confucius, Mencius, nor any of the other sages had ever spoken of this matter. The three of them couldn’t help but look at each other.

Zhuang Yongling’s eyes lit up, and he asked, “True Master, could it be that you know?”

Zhang Yingchen nodded. “If I did not know, how could I have bathed in thunder without being harmed?”

Zhuang Yongling stood up with a “teng” and made a bow. “Please, True Master, teach me.”

Zhang Yingchen smiled but did not answer.

Zhuang Yongling was a little disappointed. He suddenly thought that this matter must be a great secret of this “True Master,” and it would not be easy to learn it.

The sons of officials were either naive or worldly-wise. Zhuang Yongling was the latter. He thought: if it were an ordinary Daoist priest, he would just be trying to extort some money, and that would be simple. But since this Master Zhang came to the residence, he had never taken a single coin from the family. He treated the sick without charging and even gave out medicine. It was clear that it was not for money.

He put on a sincere expression. “This junior is dull. Please, True Master, enlighten me.”