Chapter 100 Arrogance
When we returned to the mountain gate, it was just as the brothers had said. The people on the mountain and below were all government officials.

Local militiamen dressed in black and grey robes stood everywhere. They wore warm hats with wide brims turned up, and a thick leather breastplate over their cloth clothes with a big "勇" character on the middle. They held knives at their waists and carried bows and quivers. Although they looked brave, their spirits were quite broken.

These are the Green Camp soldiers of Liangjiang, and they are the ones with good treatment. If they were sent to other places, let alone the chest armor, they probably wouldn't even have a warm hat. In winter, they can only wrap a piece of cloth around their heads, one to keep warm, and the other to serve as a uniform hat crown.

They stood there, staggering here and there, not looking serious at all. So much so that Li Daoxuan felt that he could beat ten of these Qing soldiers alone.

Going further up the mountain, there are many blue-robed soldiers. The word "soldiers" is written on their chests, and some of them are carrying muskets. Although they are more energetic than the brave soldiers at the foot of the mountain, they look unhappy, and they are probably opium smokers.

Perhaps that is why we were defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance in the future.

In fact, the imperial court during this period was not short of military strength. In addition to the Eight Banners, the imperial court also set up Green Camp soldiers, or "Green Banner Camps", in various places. Following the military service system of the Ming Dynasty, the court recruited men of appropriate age from all over the country to join the army, and then arranged them in various parts of the country according to different arms and functions, and even in the capital. The Green Camp soldiers stationed in Beijing were mainly distributed in the Five Cities Patrol Camp of the Capital, while the Green Camp soldiers distributed in other provinces outside the capital were called "Overseas Green Camps".

These soldiers all have a big word on their chests, either "Bing", "Yong" or "Ding".

The "Bing" army belonged to the regular army or regular reserve forces of the Qing Dynasty. Once a war broke out, they had to go to the battlefield at any time. Of course, danger and opportunity coexisted, so their treatment was far better than that of "Yong" and "Ding".

The "Yong" soldiers were militiamen recruited by local governments from the public. Their main purpose was to supplement the shortage of regular troops in the imperial court, protect the country and the people, and maintain local stability. However, their salaries were far lower than those of "Soldiers".

The main function of the "Ding" soldiers is to provide logistical support for the regular army, such as logistics and communications. In fact, to put it bluntly, this is a logistical support force that does not need to go to the battlefield. It also belongs to the regular army. There are more types, but most of them are engaged in heavy physical work, such as carrying food and supplies. There are transport soldiers responsible for water transport, warehouse management responsible for warehouse management, salt service responsible for salt service, etc. Although their salary is far less than that of the "Bing" soldiers who need to go to the battlefield, they have good benefits, more extra income, and they don't have to pay taxes for farming.

In addition to these, there are also "soldiers", but the word "soldiers" has nothing to do with the army. They are just runners in the yamen. They are part of the regular staff of the county yamen. When the county magistrate goes to court, these people are the ones standing on both sides.

Therefore, during this period, it was not because of the disadvantages of military force or the shortage of firearms. Even after the Westernization Movement, the weapons of the Qing soldiers were not much worse than those of the foreigners. The Jinling Weapon Factory was even able to imitate the Maxim machine gun, but they were still defeated by the foreigners. This was not the fault of the war, but the fault of the soldiers.

As Li Daoxuan entered the front yard of the palace, he could see a tree, which was the most beautiful scenery of Baiyun Temple. As soon as he entered the door, he was stopped by two yellow-robed guards.

The only two guards who could wear this yellow "official jacket" were the palace guards of the Forbidden City.

Li Daoxuan's mind flashed through various scenes from movies and TV series from his previous life. The Imperial Guards were the imperial guards beside the emperor. They would only follow the emperor when he was traveling. They would not leave the Forbidden City unless there was something important. The fact that they appeared here now meant that a distinguished person had indeed come to Baiyun Temple.

It seems that this noble man is so noble that he is accompanied by imperial guards.

Li Daoxuan felt a little uneasy. After all, this noble man might be noble, but he could also be a disaster. There were many nobles looking for the old Taoist priest. What he least wanted was for these dignitaries to come and look for the old Taoist priest. It was a pity that the heavens did not fulfill people's wishes. There were always times when things did not go as planned in many things in the world.

Although the old Taoist has never boasted about his past, the fact that he can be the abbot of Baiyun Temple, be called a real person, master the three true methods, and understand the talismans and spells of various mysterious sects is an ability that ordinary high-level Taoists cannot match.

Perhaps the old Taoist was also a well-known figure in the martial arts world. After all, the Taoist of the Taiping Clan still remembered him until his death.

After checking the identities of Li Daoxuan and Master Li, the guards in yellow jackets let them in. Li Daoxuan first took Master Li to the guest residence, and then went to the palace to look for his master.

Along the way, he saw many brothers and sisters, and they all showed joy when they looked at Li Daoxuan. He opened his mouth to say something, but as if he had thought of something, he came up to Li Daoxuan and whispered, "There is a distinguished guest in the temple."

"How expensive is it?" Li Daoxuan asked curiously.

"The royal family!" The little Taoist grinned, his eyes full of awe. He shrank his head and looked around, pointing to the Taoist temple not far away. "There are a lot of people with weapons. The abbot is entertaining them, and I'm afraid they won't be able to come out for a while. It's a bit troublesome for you to find the abbot, but the dining hall is sending tea over, you can go and have a look."

"Okay, I get it. Take this, it's your New Year's gift." Li Daoxuan seemed to understand what the young Taoist said, and thanked him. He stuffed a red envelope into the young Taoist's pocket, and then ran towards the dining hall. The young Taoist touched the red envelope and showed a happy expression. When he opened it, he saw a piece of silver that was bigger than his thumb nail. He weighed it in his hand and sighed, "My senior brother really loves me."

After saying that, he took the red envelope and left in a hurry, not daring to stay in this place for long.

Li Daoxuan came to the dining hall and greeted several familiar brothers. The brothers were busy preparing meals, including a lot of game. He could smell the fragrance as soon as he walked in, and his mouth was watering.

"Senior brother, senior brother. What are you doing?!" Li Daoxuan walked up and asked.

"Hey, Junior Brother, you're back from home?" Senior Brother Round Belly showed a look of surprise when he saw that it was Li Daoxuan. The others also greeted him and asked about Li Daoxuan's experience after returning home.

Li Daoxuan spoke briefly, and when his fellow brothers heard that he would have maids and servants to serve him when he returned home, they all showed envious looks.

"I didn't expect that my junior brother's family is so wealthy, and they are merchants in Jinling."

"Junior brother is no longer the junior brother he used to be! He should be renamed Dandy Brother."

"Hahaha."

There was constant laughter in the dining hall, but Li Daoxuan didn't think there was anything wrong. He chatted and laughed with his brothers and asked about what happened in the past two days.

After a brief narration, he finally understood what had happened in the mountain. It turned out that a noble from the capital had come to invite the Taoist priest to come out of the mountain and attend a grand ceremony in the Forbidden City. It was said that the two Empress Dowagers saw a real dragon flying up in the capital, flying southward and then disappearing.

Fearing that there might be an ominous sign, he summoned talented people from all over the world to the capital to gather. I don't know who mentioned the Taoist's name, but the prince in the Forbidden City came to invite the Taoist to come out of the mountain. Therefore, the mountain and the outside of the mountain were guarded very strictly in the past two days, and even mice didn't dare to run around.

"The pilgrims in the temple were scared away by the scene, and they lost two days' worth of incense money." The fat senior brother sighed. "Although going to the capital is a good thing, I always feel that it is a bit unsafe for the abbot to go to such a far place. What kind of place is the capital? It is a place where dragons and crouching tigers are hidden. I don't know how many Xuanmen masters there are. Why does the abbot need to go there? Besides, when the real dragon appeared in the capital, why didn't he go to find those Yin-Yang masters, but came to us Taoists instead? I really don't understand."

As the fat senior brother was talking, he talked about the real dragon again. He talked about it with details, as if he had seen the real dragon with his own eyes.

"I'm telling you, I've seen that real dragon. It's over ten thousand feet long! It flew here with such golden light that it made the clouds in the sky sparkle with golden light. It flew from the capital, I saw it with my own eyes!" The fat senior brother looked around, then lowered his head and whispered. "I heard that the real dragon flew out because the two queen mothers were involved in politics. The imbalance of yin and yang caused the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people. So the real dragon didn't want to stay in the capital, so it flew out to find a new place. I see that the dragon is flying south, so it must be in the south. The most likely place is Guangdong! Maybe there will be a..."

The fat senior brother didn't say anything more because a group of guards in yellow jackets came in. They looked around and tried all the food in the dining hall with silver needles. When they saw that there was nothing wrong, they nodded to each other.

"My Lord is hungry, so I told you to serve the food quickly." A yellow-robed guard said arrogantly, picking up a piece of braised pork and putting it into his mouth. He chewed it with a mouth full of oil and made a tsk-tsk sound. "My Lord, let the master taste it to see if it is poisonous. This braised pork is good, the master should like it."

After that, the others also took a piece each. Half of the originally full bowl of braised pork was gone, leaving a few pieces of pork that were neither fat nor lean in the bowl.

The Taoists in the dining hall were angry but dared not speak out, as they were all annoyed by the behavior of the Manchu soldiers. However, since they were more powerful than the soldiers, no one dared to complain.

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and serve the food. Do you want Lord Beile to starve?!"

The guards spoke arrogantly, not caring about the Taoists' mood. After having a full meal in the kitchen, they left with satisfaction.

The Taoists were left looking at the messy scene, and each of them felt like crying but had no tears.

(End of this chapter)