Becoming a God from a Water Monkey

Chapter 339 Sending the King a Boat

"昘昘!"

Both sides of the muddy road were filled with wild grasses with new sprouts, but they could not escape the natural disasters but the "man-made disasters". Under the destruction of the wooden sticks, they withered and turned into mud, emitting a faint scent of green grass.

Six little boys holding branches ran from east to west, and then from west to east, in a hurry, raising dust along the way.

A group of people happened to be running by, and Liang Qu stopped one of them.

Seeing a stranger entering the village and stopping the children, a farmer who was carrying manure on the road stopped, observed for a moment, and found that Liang Qu was wearing official uniform, then left quietly.

"Kid! Whenever there's a fight at a wedding in your village, who do you ask to handle it? Where does that person live?"

The boy swung the thin stick stained with grass juice, stared at his companion hiding behind the corner with squinted eyes, and said nothing.

"Hey!"

Liang Qu stood up and reached into his pocket, only to find that he only had silver and banknotes on him, but no copper coins.

Chishan ran to the nearby tree, bit off a branch, and handed it to Liang Qu.

Liang Qu held it in his hand and exerted great strength. The entire branch broke apart, revealing the white wooden core. He then rubbed it with his index finger and thumb, causing wood chips to fall off, revealing a rough long sword.

Liang Qu shook the wooden sword and said, "Tell me, the wooden sword is yours."

"Over there!" The little boy pointed to the end of the road without hesitation, "It's the second house on the left. The walls are built step by step!"

"Okay! Go play."

Liang Qu used a tree branch to exchange for the position of the village elder, and led Chishan to the door.

The doors of the houses were open, and villagers occasionally came in and out freely without obstruction of vision.

The huge yard was filled with old men and women. They used glue and yellow paper to make paper boats, which they stacked up to look like layers of a mountain tower.

There was a huge paper boat in the center that was seven meters long. Before I could take a closer look, the village elder heard that a distinguished person was visiting and ran out from the inner room with his walking stick to greet him.

"I didn't know you had a distinguished guest. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. Ah Huang, go make some tea!"

"Hey, old man, you don't have to be polite." Liang Qu stopped the young man next to the old man and went straight to the point, "I was patrolling the village and happened to hear that your village was going to offer sacrifices to the river god? Is it true or false?"

The village elder was worried: "It is true, but is there any taboo?"

The old men and women in the yard pricked up their ears.

If the government doesn't allow it, it would undoubtedly mean that their work for nearly half a month would be in vain.

Liang Qu shook his head: "Don't worry, old man. I'm just asking out of curiosity."

As long as it is not something like the Ghost Mother Cult, the government will not interfere with what the people want to worship and when they want to worship.

Perhaps it was because Liang Qu looked kind, the village elder felt relieved.

"Whatever you want to ask, I will tell you everything I know."

"Can the village elders tell me when the village sacrifice will be held?"

"Tomorrow night, I asked a fortune teller to calculate the days. Tomorrow is an auspicious day for launching the boat. If we miss it, we will have to wait until late October. By then, the flood will have receded for more than a month. It will be too late, so all the villagers come today to make paper boats!"

“Why is the sacrifice held at night?”

Liang Qu was puzzled as it was already noon in Yixing Town.

It’s so dark at night, who can see clearly?

The village elder asked, "Are you a foreigner?"

"I'm from Pingyang County."

"That's right! Every year we send off the king's boat at night, with fires lit. It's spectacular! It's not so beautiful during the day."

The village elder told Liang Qu the story in detail.

There are different styles in Shili, and different customs in Baili.

The sacrificial method in Huazhu County is somewhat different from that in Pingyang County, or it is different from most forms of three-animal sacrificial worship. The main form is "sending the king's boat."

In order to worship the river god, the villagers would specially build a royal boat.

Rich villages used fir wood, poor villages used yellow paper, and they invited the prince to board the royal boat in the manner of inviting people to perform a big play, and then loaded firewood, rice, oil, salt and various daily necessities on the boat and burned it on the water.

Liang Qu stroked his chin and said, "It sounds like a southern custom. In Huaiyin Prefecture, people usually offer sacrifices to three animals, right?"

"Your Excellency is wise," the village elder complimented, "I don't know why this is so. Perhaps Rong Hanwen from the next village knows. He knows more.

You may not know that when the flood first came, a huge crab appeared in the next village and saved people. Rong Hanwen said that it was the incarnation of the Jianghuai River God, who came specifically to punish the Heishui River God. This year the flood will recede faster than in previous years. Hey, he didn't expect that he would be right!
The idea of ​​several villages joining forces to send the king's boat was proposed by Rong Hanwen!"

Big crab saves people...

Liang Qu fell silent. He suddenly understood where the recent talk about the Jianghuai River God and the Heishui River God came from.

It turns out to be me.

The village elder rubbed his hands together and said, "If you are interested in the sacrifice, I will take you to see him?"

Liang Qu came back to his senses without much hesitation.

"Okay, please take me to see him."

Narong Hanwen was able to propose co-organization, which obviously meant that he would take a dominant position in the sacrifice. It would be more labor-saving to ask the other party to do the work, and there would be no need to run from village to village.

"It's not a big deal, it's only a few miles away. Ah Huang, go get a cart!"

The village elder asked his son to pull the cart, and then rode the donkey cart to take Liang Qu to the neighboring Rongjia Village.

Soon, Liang Qu met Rong Hanwen, the head of Rongjia Village.

A little old man with a completely white beard, which was neatly trimmed and full of energy.

Rong Hanwen saw Liang Qu on horseback from afar and felt that he looked very familiar. When he got closer, he asked carefully, "Is it Lord Liang in person?"

Liang Qu got off his horse and said, "Does Rong Lizheng recognize me?" "Sir Liang, you are a forgetful person!" Rong Hanwen was delighted. "I organized the boats of the village and followed your fleet. Does Sir Liang have any impression of me?"

"Oh, it's you."

Liang Qu suddenly realized.

He rescued people as he went, and merged with many local fishing boats on the way.

It’s just that there are too many people, so the impression is always vague.

In my memory, Rong Hanwen was indeed very capable. When the Shahe Gang fleet arrived, he had already mobilized the villagers to help with disaster relief efforts everywhere, and he was quite accomplished.

"Master Liang? What Master Liang?"

The village elder who was leading the way looked confused.

Rong Hanwen reminded quietly: "Mr. Liang who got the Red Dragon Fish!"

The village elder was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what was happening and slapped his thigh: "Oh my, I am really blind, it turns out that it was Lord Liang in person!
I was wondering how there could be such a proud Malaysia and such a proud official! It was Lord Liang in person!

Everyone outside is saying that you are Prince Chi who has come down to earth, so the boat we are sending is for you!

Isn’t this a coincidence?”

So mysterious?

Liang Qu remembered that the Huazhu County inspector had mentioned it, but he didn't expect it to be true. Everyone really regarded him as the reincarnation of Prince Chi.

Then, everything went exceptionally smoothly.

Seeing that "Prince Chi" was interested, Rong Hanwen immediately suggested that Liang Qu be the person to start the fire.

This was exactly what Liang Qu wanted.

Let’s just call him Prince Chi.

Liang Qu agreed, and Rong Hanwen was overjoyed.

If we can get Liangqu to light a fire, it will bring honor to the whole area!

"Sir, please come in and take a look at the big ship from Rongjia Village!"

Liang Qu couldn't refuse the kindness, so he went to Rong Hanwen's house to see the paper boats. He found that the paper boats in Rongjia Village were bigger than those in the neighboring Shanjia Village. They were three zhang (ten meters) long, and were supported by a large number of rattan inside.

There stands a palace on the deck, with a hip roof consisting of a main ridge, four vertical ridges and four gable ridges, forming a hanging mountain wall, which is usually seen in palaces and temples.

There are no specific sculptures inside the hull, but instead a tablet with four large characters "Xun Shou on Behalf of Heaven" written on it. There is an empty table in front of the tablet for placing offerings.

Rong Hanwen accompanied him and introduced: "The purpose of sending the king's boat is to wish for 'peace and prosperity in the country, favorable weather and good harvests, a peaceful community, prosperity, active people and flourishing industries'.

The direction in which the mast falls determines the fortune of the village in the coming year. If it falls towards the village, it is auspicious, but if it falls towards the Blackwater River, it is bad luck.

Liang Qu wrote them down one by one and looked at the offerings on the empty table.

"The time is too short. We can't catch any good water beasts..."

The Black Water River is a river, not a swamp, and it is harder to catch monsters in it than to catch precious fish.

In one day, there is no way to come up with anything decent.

"Maybe we can catch a precious fish?"

The next evening.

Red clouds and red clouds, curling smoke.

Liang Qu took two large precious fishes worth nearly a hundred taels of silver, rode up Chishan Mountain and rushed to Rongjia Village. With Rong Hanwen's gratitude and refusal, he put the precious fishes into the paper boat.

After dinner, Rong Hanwen’s son beat drums and gongs, and the young and strong men in the village gathered at the door of Rong Hanwen’s house. When everyone was there, they carried them onto the big boat and walked onto the road.

The troops poured out from several villages, like small streams flowing into the sea, forming a huge team and moving slowly towards the Blackwater River.

The long procession was chaotic yet orderly, with the drum band and the dragon and lion troupe in the front, followed by the king's boat and various small boats, with young and middle-aged people taking turns to carry the boats forward.

The older villagers followed the procession devoutly, holding thin incense sticks in their hands.

Whenever the royal boat team passed by a house, the owner would place offerings at the door, implying that the king was invited to enjoy them.

After the disaster, most of the people can give a bowl of rice, which can be taken home and eaten after the sacrifice is over, so it is not a loss.

Half an hour later, Wang's boat arrived on the river, and the entire shore was filled with deafening sounds of firecrackers.

The drummers and musicians played various instruments and sang while three Taoist priests performed rituals.

Liang Qu asked Rong Hanwen and found out that the Taoist priest was not a real Taoist priest at all, but a temporary Taoist priest among the villagers.

Poor places have their own ways of living.

Everything was ready. The young and strong men carried the boat and pushed it into the river. The huge paper boat floated slowly. The people leaned forward one after another and released the small paper boats with burning candles.

Amid the expectant gazes of the crowd, Liang Qu sat in the wooden basin, and with the help of the young and strong men, he leaned against the king's boat and threw in the torches.

Licking the flames, the paper boat ignited a ball of bright orange light, illuminating the shore and the center of the river.

Layer upon layer of waves create layer upon layer of orange light.

The entire river surface was filled with vast orange flames, echoing the starlight in the night sky.

In the king's boat, the tall mast was shaking. The villagers stared at it intently, and it seemed that the boat was about to capsize into the river.

A few streams of water quietly surged up, pushing the direction of the mast and slowly falling towards the village.

boom!
Countless ashes and sparks rolled into the sky.

The cheers on the shore were like the tide.

[Sacrifice to Huaijiang River, river favor +0.0177]

(End of this chapter)