Chapter 276

Chapter 276

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 8: Discussing Wine in Chang’an, Autumn Brings Change Chapter 276: Thousand Lantern Buddha Festival

Belonging to the book:


Can a strategist not ascend the throne?

Chapter 276: Thousand Lantern Buddha Festival

Six factions…

The forces involved gradually became clear, but it did not put pressure on Qiao Ting.

She was bound to face such challenges.

Earlier, Li Ru in Yizhou only faced the tug-of-war between Liu Yan, the Governor of Yizhou, the Yizhou scholars, the Dongzhou scholars, and the imperial court. Now, there are six factions, but who says she can’t outdo the master?

Moreover, placing six factions on a crowded chessboard will keep the situation on the brink of eruption, rather than quickly descending into chaos.

As the best-hidden faction, if one wants to leverage a certain point to overturn the seemingly stable situation, they hold the initiative.

The situation she faces is not that difficult.

Now she should think about what to do.

Disclosing Ze Rong’s plan to Tao Qian, causing these two sides to directly engage in battle, is clearly inappropriate.

Even according to the news sent back by her sister, Ze Rong’s forces have added remnants of Yan Baihu and Zu Lang, but don’t forget, Ze Rong and Zu Lang are not strictly in a superior-subordinate relationship.

So once Zu Lang is in a relatively troublesome situation, he will definitely choose to return to Danyang County, and the remnants of Yan Baihu are nothing more than bandits to the regular Xuzhou troops.

It’s uncertain whether they can achieve the effect of the Yellow Turban Army invading Xuzhou, let alone overthrow the provincial government and remove Tao Qian.

Even if Mi Zhu pretends to cooperate with Ze Rong’s rebellious actions and provides some assistance, it probably won’t achieve this effect.

Exposing the Yang Province people who intend to profit from others’ conflicts to Tao Qian, causing Xuzhou and Yang Province to fight, is also not feasible.

Tao Qian’s current state of inaction is enough to show his style of conduct.

He won’t act rashly because of the potential spying by Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, as he himself is also spying on the situation in Yang Province.

Thus, the situation becomes clear.

Six factions—Tao Qian, Ze Rong, Sun Ce, Zhang Yi, the Marquis, and Liu Bei still in Yu Province.

As the completely weak factions, Zhang Yi and Liu Bei must not be moved. They won’t enter the game unless the situation changes, and further weakening them will directly eliminate them from the game.

The Marquis and they must still maintain their position as behind-the-scenes manipulators.

Ze Rong and Sun Ce have also been determined to be untouchable in the previous analysis.

The only one left is none other than the Governor of Xuzhou, Tao Qian!

But it’s not easy to put Tao Qian in a precarious position first.

Yuan Shu was caught off guard by the private soldiers of the Gao family led by Ju Shou from Chenliu, making people laugh at the disputes between the Yuan brothers while also reminding them not to underestimate these dormant powerful clan forces.

Tao Qian learned a lesson from this.

From the brief exchanges between Qiao Ting and Chen Deng, besides seeing Chen Deng’s respect for Liu Bei, she also noticed another signal—

Tao Qian’s defense of Donghai County has become stricter than other places.

Perhaps, they need to adopt some other methods.

Thinking of this, Qiao Ting sent her analysis along with a special idea to Guangling County.

This letter arrived in Qiao Lan’s hands half a day later.

Thus, the people of Sheyang County learned in the following days that this merchant, who had traveled from Shu to Chang’an, Luoyang, and then to Xuzhou, had almost sold all the goods he brought, and the remaining ones could be sold out within half a month.

As a qualified merchant, he certainly wouldn’t return empty-handed, so before returning, he would make some purchases in Xuzhou.

“Mountain goods?” Zhang Yi’s wife, who came to Qiao Lan to reserve goods for her next trip to Xuzhou, asked curiously, “Since Xuzhou is by the sea, and Donghai’s pearls are particularly famous, why not buy sea goods but mountain goods?”

“Madam, you are mistaken. We are not not buying sea goods,” Qiao Lan replied, “My brother is currently in Donghai County. When we came to Xuzhou, we first paid a visit to Mr. Chen Hanyu and then got in touch with Chen Yuanlong, aiming to have a purchasing channel in Donghai County.”

“This can’t be considered a violation of rules. After all, my brother and I did not resort to bribery, we just hope to have a place with fair prices and good quality goods. Since the head of the Mi family is not in Donghai but has come to Guangling, some business is unimpeded, and of course, we can buy sea goods from Donghai.”

“But we also need to buy some mountain goods, as the specialties of the southeastern hills and the Shu mountains are somewhat different, just like the tea here is different from that in Guanzhong and Shu. Don’t you think so?”

Qiao Lan’s words left Mrs. Zhao dumbfounded. She muttered in her heart that the merchant’s eloquence was indeed slick, then replied, “Indeed, if you want to sweep up all the specialties of Xuzhou, naturally, you should not miss both sea and mountain goods.”

“Let me see if I can contact some acquaintances for you?” She paused suddenly, then added, “However, if I can really help…”

Qiao Lan smiled, “Madam, rest assured, next time I come, I will send you a fine piece of Shu brocade first.”

Mrs. Zhao left with a beaming smile, completely unaware that Qiao Lan was finding a reason for herself and her subordinates to temporarily disappear into the mountains, only thinking that she really knew how to be thrifty.

It’s no wonder she is so meticulous, as Zhang Yi has lost his official position and thus his original two thousand dan salary, so she has to be careful with her expenses.

However, when she repeated Qiao Lan’s words to Zhang Yi, hoping to hear her husband praise her for being good at dealing with people, she saw a strange expression on Zhang Yi’s face, “You said Mi Zhu is in Guangling?”

Mi Zhu’s visit was not publicized, and Zhang Yi only heard about the upcoming Buddha Bathing Festival in early July, not specifically inquiring about the guests, so he didn’t expect Mi Zhu to be among them.

Mi Zhu and Ze Rong have never been on good terms, so this news sounds somewhat微妙.

Zhang Yi didn’t know if he was overthinking.

Out of precaution and dissatisfaction with Tao Qian and Ze Rong, he sent someone to Gaoyou to inquire.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yu, also in the area, noticed Ze Rong’s attempt to win over Mi Zhu.

He pondered whether there was anything he could exploit, changed into plain clothes, and mingled on the streets of Gaoyou, observing the city most transformed by Ze Rong.

Similar to Mi Zhu’s initial impression upon arriving, Zhou Yu also felt the city had reached a somewhat morbid state.

Even though the streets were adorned with jade wormwood leaves, Buddhist banners, small Buddha statues, and lanterns for the night festival due to the upcoming Buddha Bathing Festival, it still didn’t feel like a lively and joyous scene.

He stopped by a roadside stall, seemingly casually inquiring about the price of the soup base, actually avoiding Zu Lang and his men passing by.

He overheard Zu Lang and his subordinates chatting, but due to the distance, could only catch a few words, saying something like “Ze Rong is really righteous” and mentioning Sun Ce’s name.

Zhou Yu couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding.

If it weren’t for the fact that he shouldn’t alert the enemy yet and needed to understand the current situation in Xuzhou, he would have liked to stop Zu Lang and get a clear answer from him.

But as he tried to follow and listen more to Zu Lang’s conversation, he saw them join Ze Rong’s men and leave together.

“Are you still buying?” Zhou Yu’s thoughts were interrupted by this question. He turned to see the stall owner looking at him strangely.

Zhou Yu quickly replied, “Yes, I’m just curious. These people don’t look like locals from Yang Province, why do they get such respect here?”

The stall owner muttered, “No stranger than these Buddhas.”

His voice was so soft that Zhou Yu, standing so close, almost didn’t hear it.

When Zhou Yu looked at the stall owner again, he had returned to an expressionless face.








After all, he also makes a living by selling Buddhist-related items, so it seems a bit inappropriate to criticize in such a public setting.

However, when the Bathing Buddha Festival ceremony officially appeared before Zhou Yu, he felt that the people living in the Guangling area were being extremely restrained by merely complaining verbally about Ze Rong and his Buddha!

The term “Bathing Buddha” in the Bathing Buddha Festival is the highlight of this holiday ceremony.

The monks in the temple use fragrant water to wash the Buddha statues in the temple, symbolizing the cleansing of impurities.

But today, because Ze Rong wanted to make this festival look like a city-wide carnival, he moved the Buddha statue bathing ritual to the square in front of the nine-story pagoda.

Four golden Buddha statues appeared before the people, making Zhou Yu, who had been busy with financial calculations in various counties of Yang Province, almost instantly convert these statues into equivalent copper coins and provisions, and he couldn’t help but gasp at this excessively extravagant scene.

The incense in the fragrant water held by the monks was also not cheap.

Zhou Yu, who comes from a noble family, still felt that this kind of behavior was too extravagant, let alone those who happened to pass by and temporarily stayed because of the excitement of the Bathing Buddha Festival.

These people had already seen the agricultural scenes developed in the Xuzhou area due to natural conditions before entering Gaoyou, and now they suddenly saw such a scene, making them feel that amidst the surrounding gongs and Buddhist chants, this was truly a heavenly Buddhist kingdom on earth.

How could they think about how much blood and sweat had been accumulated to create this prosperous scene?

The fragrant water poured on the Buddha statues reflected a dazzling golden light under the sunlight due to the residual water stains, and as the statues were paraded through the streets, this money-made symbol was more clearly displayed to the people.

Zhou Yu blended into the crowd, and to avoid standing out, he also placed the glutinous rice offerings bought from the street in front of the Buddha statues, and used leaves dipped in the fragrant water to sprinkle on the statues.

According to the monks, the leaves would then be imbued with the auspicious aura of the Buddha and could be worn on the head.

Then, placing this item on the doorframe at home would bless the family with peace and prosperity.

“Zhou Lang, aren’t you worried that this thing… might attract evil spirits?”

Zhou Yu waved his hand, signaling his subordinate not to say more. “If you walk straight and sit upright, there’s no need to worry about such things.”

He wanted to see what else Ze Rong had up his sleeve.

Among the parade holding the Buddha statues, the strongest and most robust monks under Ze Rong’s command were selected, becoming the first thing people saw after the Buddha statues.

This was exactly what Ze Rong wanted, to subtly make people believe that his Buddhist kingdom was not only wealthy but also had enough armed forces to protect the area.

At most, the form of the armed organization was somewhat different from elsewhere.

With the help of these warrior monks, the four bronze Buddha statues completed their parade and returned to the square.

A high platform had been set up in front of the pagoda, and the four Buddha statues were naturally placed at the four corners below the platform.

On the platform was Ze Rong.

Because of the sunlight, Zhou Yu could clearly see a layer of golden light on Ze Rong’s Buddhist robe.

That was the golden and silver threads used in the sewing of the robe.

In a time when linen clothes were still the most common and cotton clothes could even become a trend, Ze Rong’s dazzling appearance was truly eye-catching, but because of his self-proclaimed status as a Buddhist preacher, it was difficult for people to say anything critical in front of him.

He looked down at the high platform with satisfaction, reciting Buddhist scriptures while observing the expressions of a few people he was particularly concerned about.

The astonishment and admiration on Mi Zhu’s face, and the confusion and hesitation on Zu Lang’s face, were all excellent signals for Ze Rong.

But his display of strength was not over yet!

After the Buddhist teachings, there was a sermon for Buddhist followers to confess and atone, followed by a display of Buddhist scriptures.

The Buddhist scriptures he displayed were meticulously embroidered on silk, the very scriptures translated during the Han Emperor Huan’s time when Buddhism was introduced to China.

In a time when books were still considered the exclusive property of the upper class, such Buddhist scriptures were also a symbol of the elite.

By this time, the sky had gradually darkened.

The city-wide Bathing Buddha Festival was coming to an end.

It was at this moment that the candles set around the square were lit by the monks, keeping the area still somewhat bright.

Although the night wind occasionally blew through, the flickering candles had a certain charm.

Moreover, the wind also carried a fragrance, which was the food and drink Ze Rong traditionally provided to the participants at the end of the Bathing Buddha Festival.

These food and drinks were placed on tables along the long street, for people to gather and eat.

By this time, Ze Rong no longer needed to maintain his previous facade, as under the cover of night, these people he considered fools would only focus on the food and not pay attention to what the Buddha’s spokesperson was doing.

At most, when he walked down the high platform to talk to Mi Zhu, he still maintained some respect for Mi Zhu, or rather, for Mi Zhu’s wealth.

He suppressed his triumphant emotions and asked Mi Zhu, “What does Mr. Zizhong think of this Bathing Buddha Festival?”

Mi Zhu looked around and counted the number of tables set up for the food and drink.

Thinking of Qiao Yan in Chang’an strictly limiting alcohol production to control grain reserves, and then seeing Ze Rong’s unrestrained behavior, he felt even more that his early bet was the right choice.

But he didn’t need to say this to Ze Rong.

He replied, “It’s truly a heavenly scene.”

Ze Rong was delighted to hear this, feeling that the initial expenses were worth it!

Mi Zhu’s further softening attitude made him see the possibility of rallying Mi Zhu and using the Donghai Mi Clan’s followers and his own forces to launch a pincer attack on Tao Qian.

This speculation made a smile appear on his lips.

But at this moment, he suddenly saw his subordinate looking shocked behind him, pointing to the sky with an indescribable expression of disbelief. Ze Rong quickly put away his smile and turned to look behind him.

The next moment, an astonishing scene appeared before his eyes.

In the night sky with only stars and no moon at the beginning of the month, behind the nine-story pagoda, one after another, bright lanterns floated into the air.

Perhaps dozens, perhaps over a hundred.

In any case, these flickering lanterns floating into the sky formed an unprecedented backdrop, making the pagoda in front look even more like something not of this world.

The flickering lights swayed in the air, floating higher and higher, as if they were going straight into the clouds.

The people enjoying the food and drink in the square in front of the pagoda also stopped their actions.

They had never seen such a scene, and how could they still have the heart to eat and drink!

“A miracle, this is a miracle of the Buddha’s descent!”

A voice from somewhere broke the silence.

Ze Rong himself had not yet recovered from this scene when he heard the word “miracle” echoing throughout the city.

When he turned around, these people had already knelt down in a large black mass in the square.

To these people, it seemed that the Bathing Buddha Festival truly had a real Buddha descending, otherwise, why would these lanterns break free from the constraints of weight and fly straight into the starry sky?

Why would they not extinguish in the air, shining brighter than the stars in the sky?

These things beyond their imagination were naturally attributed to the gods and Buddhas, only Ze Rong was still dumbfounded.

Whether there is a real Buddha in Xuzhou, he, as the Buddhist preacher, knows well.

This scene not only shattered the people’s perceptions but also his own.

Because he had not arranged for this at all!

This was not his plan!

Could it be… could it be that he really had some spiritual connection with Buddhism?