"… Your Highness, Dragon Mountain is tall and surrounded by mountains on the south, north, and west. It's shaped like a dustpan. The trees on the mountain are lush and the environment is quiet. If you stand at the top of the main peak and look east along the sulfur ditch, you'll be able to see all of Taiyuan City. It's truly a place of beauty and beauty.
It's said that when Zen Master Hong Li traveled here, he saw a five-colored cloud of light shining from the ground. Within the cloud of light, there were four boys playing on the lotus seat, shaking the earth and causing rocks to crumble. On the shore, the image of Amitabha Buddha appeared, and the Three Jin came to pay their respects. After Zen Master Hong Li recorded this phenomenon, he reported it to the court and applied to build a temple here. Thus, the current Boy Temple was established! "
In the southwest corner of Taiyuan City, Li Tai, Qin Huaiyu, Meng Wenhao, Iron Egg, and the other Yanhuang College students were escorted by three hundred Imperial Army soldiers led by Dugu Xin to the peak of Dragon Mountain. Standing at the top of the mountain and looking east, they could see the entirety of Taiyuan City illuminated by the morning sun. It was a dazzling sight. The Provincial Governor's guard sent by Wang Liaoyuan was now beside Li Tai, explaining to him with all his heart.
"Heh! You know quite a lot! "
Looking around, Li Tai was very satisfied with the environment. He couldn't help but praise the guard. When the guard heard this, he immediately beamed with joy and said, "Your Highness is too kind. This lowly one is a native of Sourcepeak Prefecture. I was born and raised here, so I naturally know more than others. This lowly one has been to the Boy Temple many times. Your Highness, please come this way. In front of you is the Buddha Pavilion of the Boy Temple, where the Three Sages of the West are enshrined!"
At this point, the guard pointed to the north and made an inviting gesture to Li Tai.
It was a massive Buddhist pavilion with two floors. It was built against the mountain, and its scale was extremely grand.
Dugu Xin gave a look to his left and right, and two groups of Imperial Army soldiers immediately filed out toward the Buddha Pavilion in the north. Li Tai saw this and said nothing. He stood to the side, quietly waiting for something.
Not long after, an Imperial Army soldier ran out and cupped his fist at Dugu Xin. "General, everything in the Buddhist Pavilion is normal. There's no danger!"
Dugu Xin nodded and then gave Li Tai a look. Li Tai understood and said to the guard from the Bing Province Governor's Mansion, "Since you are familiar with this place, then lead the way!"
"Yes! Your Highness! "
The guard cupped his fists and slowly walked towards the Buddha Pavilion on Li Tai's left.
As Li Tai's group walked in, they realized that the Buddha Pavilion was made up of a front porch and the main part of the pavilion. The front porch was five rooms wide and one room deep. It was around ten zhang wide and twenty zhang deep. There were nine pillars, all of them in the shape of large lotuses. They were arranged in a north-south direction, and the lotus-covered part of the pillars was around three feet in diameter. The roof was made of stone and the floor was paved with stone, but the rooms were made of square bricks.
The main part of the Buddha Pavilion was around ten zhang wide and fifty zhang deep. It was even more spacious than the front porch. The walls were built vertically with stone strips, and the northern part of the wall was built directly on top of natural rock. In the middle part of the wall, the door to the room was open. There were no carvings on the outside, but the inside was filled with carvings of a thousand Buddhas. These Buddhas were of different shapes and sizes, creating a magnificent sight!
Inside the Buddha Pavilion, the Three Saints of the West were carved into the cliffs: Amitabha, Guanyin, and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva. The three Buddhas were lofty and lofty, each more than ten zhang tall. Just their heads alone were more than twenty zhang tall. These Buddhas were so dignified that one couldn't help but feel awe!
"This Buddha Pavilion is really magnificent. Just these three Buddhas and the thousands of Buddha carvings on the stone walls can be called a Buddhist holy land. It's a pity that it was abandoned and ruined because of the war in the Central Plains!"
After walking around the Buddha Pavilion, Qin Huaiyu couldn't help but sigh.
Qin Huaiyu's mother was a Buddhist, and the Qin family had even built a Buddhist hall in the backyard. Under the influence of what he saw and heard, Qin Huaiyu more or less had a good impression of Buddhism, which was why he sighed!
Hearing this, the others couldn't help but nod.
In all fairness, although this Boy's Temple was a little dilapidated on the surface, the majestic buildings, Buddhas, and exquisite carvings in the temple all showed its former glory and how much effort the founder of the temple had put in. Could its intrinsic artistic value be covered by the dust in the temple?
"Whether it was dilapidated or glorious, now that we can use this Buddhist temple, we can be considered to have made the best use of it!"
Because he had spent a long time "hanging out" with Li Zexuan, a disciple of the Celestial Master Taoist Sect, Li Tai was not "interested" in Buddhism. Hearing Qin Huaiyu and the others sigh, he said somewhat disapprovingly.
"Qingque, are you planning to … choose here?"
Hearing Li Tai's words, Meng Wenhao's heart moved and he asked aloud.
When Li Tai assigned the task in the morning, he thought that it would take a lot of time to choose the location of the telegram relay station. However, he never expected that after just a trip to Dragon Mountain, Li Tai had the intention of finalizing the location. Wasn't this too smooth?
However, although he was surprised, Meng Wenhao did not let down his guard. He did not say anything about the telegram relay station, because there was an outsider here — the guard of the Bingzhou Provincial Governor's Mansion!
It was related to the success or failure of the Academy's mission and the safety of the Academy's teachers and students. Every one of them had to be extremely cautious!
"More or less. However, before I decide, I have to confirm some things!"
Li Tai nodded and responded to Meng Wenhao. Then, he said to the guard of the Bingzhou Provincial Governor's Mansion, "Is there another floor above this Buddhist pavilion? What's the floor above for? "
The guard quickly replied, "Your Highness, I have been to the floor above. It's just a few meditation rooms. There's nothing special about it. It should be habitable after some tidying up!"
Li Tai nodded and said, "Good! I know! There's nothing for you to do here. You have done well. Go down the mountain and return to the city to receive your reward from Governor Wang! "
From the beginning to the end, he did not ask the name of the guard of the Bingzhou Provincial Governor's Mansion because he did not need to know!
"Yes! Thank you, Your Highness! "
The guard was overjoyed as he quickly bowed to express his thanks.
After saying that, he bowed to Li Tai and turned to leave the mountain.
…
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