Part 276: Inside Yunsheng Temple

Daozhang Zhang stood in the “main hall” of the “Yunsheng Temple”—although it was called a “main hall,” it was actually just a three-bay tiled house. However, in the countryside of southern Shandong, it was considered a very neat and proper building—and looked down at the masses of people in the courtyard who were gazing at him piously. A smile appeared on his lips.

Only statues of the Three Pure Ones were set up in the main hall. According to the new Taoist philosophy, there should be “no idols,” but Zhang Yingchen, considering that it was not appropriate to be too unconventional and shocking at the moment, which might attract the attention of the local gentry and officials, thought it was better to appear in the traditional image of the Tianshi Dao.

Yunsheng Temple itself was very small, but with the strong support of the Zhuang family, it had been expanded considerably. Besides some land “donated” by the Zhuang family, most of it was bought by Zhang Yingchen himself. Although it was easier to buy land in a year of famine, the Zhuang family had also put in a lot of effort. Zhang Yingchen deeply felt that the support of the local gentry was really too important for operating in the Ming Dynasty.

Because the area was not peaceful, several masters of the Zhuang family suggested that Zhang Yingchen should quickly “fortify” the temple. Southern Shandong suffered frequent natural disasters, and there were refugees and bandits everywhere. Any slightly larger village or fortress was rushing to build defensive walls and train local militia. Although Yunsheng Temple was only four or five li from Dadian Zhuang, it was still isolated in the wild. It was originally an abandoned, dilapidated courtyard. Now, with hundreds of refugee households gathered there and having become the headquarters of the new Taoism, it had become an attractive target.

Zhang Yingchen felt that the Zhuang family’s masters had a point. In any case, he had plenty of manpower at his disposal now. Besides being able to use a large number of his followers, he also had enough food to recruit a large number of refugees willing to work hard for a meal. He immediately started building an earthen enclosure.

He was not short of money either. Although he had refused the Zhuang family’s donations and exempted his followers from “incense money,” after the Nanwuliang sect in the local area collapsed, most of its property, except for the liquid assets and some real estate occupied by Ma Weisan, fell into the Daozhang’s hands. He sold some of the real estate to the Zhuang family, obtaining several hundred taels of silver and several hundred shi of grain.

He didn’t even have to worry about building materials. In a year of famine, there were plenty of abandoned villages. Zhang Yingchen mobilized the refugees to dismantle the houses, and bricks, stones, timber, and even adobe bricks were transported back one by one. Soon, a wall with a circumference of five hundred meters was built around Yunsheng Temple, and a moat was dug outside the wall. Corner towers were built on all four sides, making it look like an earthen fortress.

To firmly grasp the signboard of “charity,” the “Ciji Hall,” a charity hall organized by the Zhuang family, was also set up in the temple. This was not only to ensure a close relationship with the Zhuang family but also to downplay the sectarian color of his own organization.

The Ciji Hall was now located in the side rooms of the main hall. Zhang Yingchen did not interfere with the organization or personnel of the charity hall at all. After all, it was the Zhuang family who provided the money, grain, and connections. He was only interested in the refugees.

The refugees all lived outside the Yunsheng Temple, within the earthen enclosure. According to Zhang Yingchen’s design drawings, the Zhuang family used adobe bricks and straw to build rows of refugee camp-style longhouses specifically for housing the refugees. The people responsible for looking after the refugees were all Zhang Yingchen’s followers.

Zhang Yingchen kept his followers under strict control, forbidding them from proselytizing to the refugees. He only preached to his followers that visiting the poor and inquiring about their suffering was a “great virtue” and a doctrine of the “immortal saints from across the sea saving people,” to avoid arousing the suspicion of both the Ming Dynasty and the Senate.

Of course, many of his followers had themselves become refugees, without enough food to eat or clothes to wear. Zhang Yingchen also distributed relief grain and clothing through the small group leaders to help them get through the winter, but he did not take them in for external transport. He was not yet sure of the reliability of these former Nanwuliang followers. If they were transported to Jeju or Taiwan and caused any trouble, it would be seriously detrimental to him and his new Taoism.

Zhang Yingchen walked down the steps slowly. The morning clinic had ended. He now continued to see patients at Yunsheng Temple for half a day every day. Because his medicine was miraculously effective and he charged nothing to the poor, his fame grew even greater. The refugees, followers, and staff gathered in the courtyard all made way for him. Zhang Yingchen, with a compassionate smile, would occasionally bow in return and sometimes exchange a few words with people.

When some followers saw him approaching, they would kneel down, some shouting his name wildly, while others rushed forward to try to touch his clothes. The scene became a bit chaotic at times. Zhang Yingchen knew that some followers had even tried to bribe the Daoist boys who served him personally, trying to get some of his wash water or old clothes as a medicinal guide. He had to severely criticize this practice in the doctrine study meetings of the various small group leaders, denouncing it as “demonic.”

Surrounded by his close disciples like Ming and Qing, he finally left the main courtyard and walked towards the back courtyard. The back courtyard had three sections and served as the administrative office of the new Taoism and his personal residence and office. It was also the nerve center of the Senate in southern Shandong.

Daozhang Daoquan had accomplished several things here that he had always wanted to do but had not been able to. One of them was finally gathering enough people to open a Daoist novice training class. In the past, the Daozhang, who had been constantly marginalized and despised for a few novice quotas, could finally hold his head high. With enough fame and a large refugee population, he finally selected fifty handsome young men and women as novices according to his own aesthetic taste and selection criteria.

Rows of houses were built along the wall of the back courtyard: the dormitories and classrooms for the novices. It was noon now. Because the dining hall had not yet been built, the novices were scattered in the courtyard in groups of two or three, eating with their bowls, squatting or standing.

The food was simple, even harsh: a gruel made of relief grain and dried vegetables. But to the novices, it was a supreme delicacy, and they all slurped it down with relish. Each novice wore a short Daoist robe made of locally purchased homespun cloth, made by the female relatives of the followers. Many were made from old clothes that had been taken apart, washed, and altered—they did not show too many Lingao characteristics.

Zhang Yingchen did not approach the novices, fearing he would cause them to “gather around.” Recently, he had noticed that the “personality cult” around him was growing stronger, which worried him deeply.

For this batch of novices, he used his first disciples, Ming and Qing, as teachers, first teaching them basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, and then teaching them the doctrine. The so-called teaching of the doctrine was to memorize the pamphlets he had personally compiled: “Introduction to the Daoist Canon,” “Questions and Answers on the Daoist Canon,” and “Collection of Essential Scriptures.” His time was limited, so he mainly used rote memorization, with one class a day for explanation and indoctrination. The only crucial subject, music, had no one to teach it. Although Daozhang Daoquan was very knowledgeable about Daoist music, he was unfortunately a poor singer and musician.

“This batch of fine uncut jade cannot be left here. The environment is too harsh. It would be a pity if they were ruined,” he said, watching the novices moving about in the courtyard for a while, somewhat lost in thought.

“Daozhang…” Mingqing reminded him softly.

“Hmm?! Oh.” Zhang Yingchen came back to his senses, coughed, and continued along the paved path towards his own courtyard.

Several new tiled houses had been built in the courtyard, exclusively for him and a few of his close disciples to live and work in. Zhang Yingchen usually prepared his medicines here as well. However, as the Qiwei’s transport routes became more familiar and more Chinese patent medicines were transported from Hong Kong, his personal pressure to make medicine had eased considerably.

He returned to his residence. Luo Chun served him a bowl of clear tea, and he drank half of it in one go. The room was neat and elegant, clearly having been carefully cleaned. He felt very satisfied. Having a woman around was indeed different from not having one.

Luo Saichun—Zhang Yingchen found her name too “jianghu” and removed the character “Sai,” so she was now called Luo Chun—stood silently by his side. Since being subdued by his “magical power” at the “dharma assembly,” Luo Chun had become completely devoted to the Daozhang. Zhang Yingchen understood the psychology of such women very well. Once their psychological pillars were destroyed, their worldview, outlook on life, and moral values would be completely overturned and easily reshaped. And Zhang Yingchen, at least, had read many books on psychology and practice. After a period of careful guidance, the results were remarkable. Although Zhang Yingchen was not yet 100% confident in her, he trusted her at least 80%.

“When this matter is over, I’ll send her back to Lingao for ‘purification’ and ‘re-education’,” the Daozhang thought. “Then she will be a qualified professional religious figure of the new Taoism.”

Luo Chun stood by the “True Man’s” side, holding her breath, waiting for his command. Now that she had changed her allegiance, she held this “True Man” of boundless magical power in great awe and reverence, almost to the point of worship. She usually only dared to consider herself a maidservant, carefully attending to the “True Man’s” daily life. This was to beg the True Man to show great mercy, perform rituals and chant scriptures for Hu Qi’er, and guide her soul to the “immortal mountain and divine world on the other side of the sea.” Although Hu Qi’er was not related to her by blood, she had no other relatives in the world, and her only disciple was also her closest kin.

Zhang Yingchen used both carrot and stick with Luo Chun, trying his best to win her over. Luo Chun had long served as the holy maiden of the inner dharma hall of the Nanwuliang sect and was very familiar with the affairs of the sect. If he wanted to launch a larger-scale operation in southern Shandong and seize territory from the local sects, Luo Chun would be his guide.

He did not trust Ma Weisan. Although Ma Weisan was responsive to his every request, his control over a large amount of the sect’s property and his respectful but distant attitude made him very unhappy. When he held small group leader meetings, Ma Weisan would either make an excuse not to come or send a deputy to make up the numbers, clearly full of suspicion towards him.

“Getting rid of you is just a matter of lifting a finger!” Zhang Yingchen thought to himself. If he just told Xiao Ye, there would be no Ma Weisan tomorrow night. However, he still couldn’t make up his mind. Although this high-level figure was very unpopular, the current small group leaders and deputy leaders had mostly worked with Ma Weisan for a long time. Rashly getting rid of him might make them feel a sense of “the rabbit dies, the fox mourns.”

“Luo Chun, what do you think of Group Leader Ma?” Zhang Yingchen put down his teacup and asked slowly.

“Reporting to the True Man: Ma Weisan’s faith is not firm, and he has talent but no virtue.”

Although she came from a background of a performing artist, she had been in the upper echelons of the sect for many years, and her speech was not vulgar.