Chapter 20 Java

Funan is close to the sea, and Java is separated from Funan by a sea.

Speaking of Java, the people of the Central Plains will not be unfamiliar with it. There is a common saying that everything is thrown into Java.

Java is an island country, but compared with Fenglinzhou Weiyuan, Java is more fragmented, with nearly 20,000 islands of all sizes and a large population.

There is a strait in the middle of many archipelagos, which is an important channel connecting the South China Sea and the West. This is a maritime Silk Road. I don’t know how many merchant ships pass through it every year. If there is any mistake, the loss caused is immeasurable.

Both the Taoist sect and the Great Xuan court attach great importance to this place, so the Nanting Duhufu of the Great Xuan court is directly located on both sides of the strait, and the South China Sea Navy patrols and cruises to ensure the unobstructed passage of the strait.

It is also worth mentioning that the main altar of the "Heavenly Court" is also within the territory of Java, among nearly 20,000 islands, which is quite like "only in this mountain, the clouds are so deep that I don’t know where it is".

In addition, this is also the place where countless South China Sea pirates hide. Not all pirates can gather together like the "Heavenly Court" and run rampant in the South China Sea. Small pirates may only have a dozen people on a boat. They are ordinary fishermen at ordinary times and it is difficult to distinguish.

Although the Great Xuan Navy is invincible, it can't stand the hide-and-seek between nearly 20,000 islands. If you want to completely eliminate pirates, you must establish an effective prefecture-county system and extend the power of the court to every county. Now it seems that the Taoist sect and the Great Xuan court cannot take care of Java for the time being. They can only ensure the safety of the strait and the land, so the pirates still have a free day.

The situation in Java is so special that Qi Xuansu must come to Java, so he put Java as the second stop of his trip.

Because he heard that there were many pirates, Qi Xuansu did not rush to fly over from the sky this time, but asked people to lower the flying boat and sail over from the sea-of course, the flying boat can be used as an ordinary ship, even if you want to sail on dry land, it is not impossible, but no one does it.

In addition to wanting to see the pirates, Qi Xuansu also wanted to see the "sea scenery" here.

It is already difficult to see monsters in the Central Plains. Under the centralized control of the Taoist sect, the monsters either surrender, flee, or die. After all, the naturally powerful dragons were almost extinct by the Taoist sect, not to mention other monsters. On the other hand, Fenglinzhou is still in a situation of rampant monsters.

In Nanyang, the same is true, but the monsters here are mostly related to the sea, or they can be called sea monsters. Most of them live in the sea. Except for competing with ships on the sea, they do not interfere with the people on land.

Gods and monsters are always in opposition. When talking about monsters, we have to mention a local god in Nanyang.

It is said that she became enlightened in the early years of the Jin Dynasty, earlier than the sages of Confucianism. It is said that on the evening before she was born, her neighbors saw a meteor turn into a red light shooting from the northwest sky, which was crystal clear and dazzling, and the rocks on the island were all red. It was suspected that she was the incarnation of a celestial being.

Because she did not cry from birth to the full month, her parents named her Mo, and also called her Mo Niang.

Mo Niang has been doing good deeds and helping people since she was a child, and she is determined not to marry.

She usually studies medical theory, treats people, teaches people to prevent epidemics and eliminate disasters, and often guides people to avoid evil and seek good fortune. Fishing boats and merchant ships in distress often receive her help, so people say that she can "cross the sea on a mat." She can also predict weather changes and tell boat owners in advance whether they can sail, so it is said that she can "predict good and bad things" and call her "goddess" and "dragon girl".

At the age of 28, Mo Niang gathered the power of incense and vows and became an immortal. On this day, a colorful cloud rose in the sky. From then on, sailors said that they often saw Mo Niang flying in red clothes on the sea to rescue people in distress. Therefore, her statue gradually became popular on ships to pray for safe and smooth sailing, and she was honored as the "Queen of Heaven".

The Queen of Heaven certainly has nothing to do with the Emperor of Heaven, and the two are not husband and wife. It's just that men respect the Emperor and women respect the Queen, and the sky is the highest, so the title of "Queen of Heaven" is used to highlight her lofty status.

The Confucian school repeatedly conferred titles on her, and after the Taoist school came to power, it also respected her status very much.

Taoism had a dark and decadent period. During the period when Buddhism and Taoism merged, Taoism was influenced by Buddhism. It talked about supernatural powers and made all kinds of nonsense. It created many gods out of thin air. However, it couldn't boast as much as Buddhism, and it couldn't draw cakes to satisfy hunger. It also abandoned the universe view of the Supreme Taoist Ancestor. Its ideas were confused and its principles were nonsense. It was crushed by Confucianism in terms of benefiting the people and governing the country. There was no style of Huang Lao in the past. In fact, it fell to the bottom of the three religions.

Therefore, after Xuansheng rebuilt Taoism, he was very taboo to fabricate gods out of thin air. He sorted out all the Taoist gods and removed many gods, but Wuyang and Tianhou were retained. The title given to Tianhou by Taoism is: Fudou Zhaoxiao Chunzheng Lingying Fuji Huguo Beimin Miaoling Zhaoying Hongren Puji Tianfei

The belief in the Queen of Heaven is very widespread, covering almost the entire Nanyang. In addition to the countries of Borneo, it also includes Qizhou, Jiangnan states, Lingnan, Fenglinzhou and other places. She is the most influential goddess in Taoism.

It’s just that this deity has ascended to heaven and passed away, so it gave the secret society the opportunity to enter Nanyang. However, it is said that the kingdom of the Queen of Heaven is still hidden somewhere in Nanyang, where the Queen of Heaven’s inheritance is. For hundreds of years, countless people have gone out to sea to find the Queen of Heaven’s inheritance, but all have returned empty-handed.

There is also a legend that the Grand Master of Jin, Lin Lingsu, was able to become an immortal because he inherited the Queen Mother's legacy by chance. The reason for this rumor is probably because the Queen Mother and the Grand Master of Jin both have the surname Lin, and people mistakenly think they are from the same clan.

It's a pity that Lin Yuanmiao is not with Qi Xuansu, otherwise he really wants to ask whether this rumor is true or false.

Speaking of Lin Yuanmiao, Qi Xuansu completely ignores him. The reason is very simple. Although he signed a contract with Lin Yuanmiao, he has no money now. All the Taiping money has been used to buy a house, and he has a huge debt of a hundred years. How can he have spare money to buy "Returning Soul Incense"? He is really powerless.

On the contrary, after Zhang Yuelu was appointed by the Heavenly Master, he had the support of the Zhang family, and the resources he could mobilize in his hands were really enviable. Lin Yuanmiao followed Zhang Yuelu, thinking that he would soon be able to recover his realm of the creation stage. He might as well let him follow Zhang Yuelu all the time and serve as a guard. After all, the innate exiled immortals are still more fragile than the acquired exiled immortals. This is especially true for the innate exiled immortals like Zhang Yuelu who don't practice physical related skills.

As for Qi Xuansu, he can consider training Xiao Yin well, which also has a bright future. But Xiao Yin's temperament is really a headache.

Qi Xuansu and Ding Chou Lingguan were standing at the bow of the ship, looking at the sea while talking about the big and small pirate leaders on the sea.

The biggest pirate leader, or the overlord of the sea, is naturally the leader of the "Heavenly Court", Jin Gong Zushi. In the rivers and lakes, Jin Gong Zushi is recognized as the first pseudo-immortal, almost with the strength of an immortal, and can fight against Lan Da Zhenren. There are also rumors that Jin Gong Patriarch has already entered the realm of immortals, but he deliberately hides his incompetence and shows his cultivation in the realm of pseudo-immortality.

The specific situation is unknown to outsiders because Jin Gong Patriarch has rarely appeared in public and the affairs of the "Heavenly Court" are all handled by the Grand Master Wu Guangbi.

However, in recent years, the "Heavenly Court" has a tendency to develop towards the inland of the Central Plains, so Wu Guangbi often appears in the Central Plains. The third person in the "Heavenly Court", Liu Gui, replaces Wu Guangbi to preside over the overall situation in the old nest of Nanyang.

In the previous dynasty, there were several sea merchants on the Nanyang Sea, the Wang family, the Zheng family, and the Liu family. They were said to be sea merchants, but in fact they were half merchants and half pirates, and they were actually overlords of one side.

Later, the Dao Sect took over Nanyang. The Wang family not only submitted to the Dao Sect, but also made great contributions with the Five Great Masters in the expedition to Posa Island. They assisted the Five Great Masters in implementing the surprise landing plan, cutting off the waist line of the Western Posa Island army, causing the entire army to be defeated and forced to withdraw from the Eastern Posa Island. After the Five Great Masters took charge of the Dao Sect, the Wang family also rose in power and took full control of the Taoist government in Borneo. This is why the Wang family today regards Borneo as their own private home in the backyard.

The grace of a gentleman is cut off after five generations. No matter how bravely the ancestors of the Wang family fought and made great contributions, it would be impossible for them to protect their descendants for billions of years.

So Qi Xuansu came to Borneo.

As for the other two families, the Zheng family was half a step late, and they were inferior to the Wang family if they went to the Dao Sect again. They simply went to the Daxuan court, and most of their descendants later served in the Lingnan and Nanhai navies.

The Liu family did not wash their hands like the Wang family and the Zheng family, but became the team of the "Heavenly Court".

Just as the Zhang family and the Li family brought capital to the Taoist sect, the Liu family also did the same to the "Heavenly Court", so the Liu family was strong in the "Heavenly Court", and Liu Gui was the head of the Liu family.

Outside the "Heavenly Court", there were several groups of pirates, which were not considered secret societies. They were either from the background of large sea merchants or from the background of local nobles and gentry. Their power was much smaller than that of the "Heavenly Court", and their backers were much smaller.

Ordinary people may not know, but those big figures who can call the wind and rain must know that the "Heavenly Court" can gain a foothold and become big because they have the Li family, the Taiping Dao Li family, behind them.

So some people joked that, regardless of their position, it was fortunate that the little national master did not come to Borneo with a mission. If the little national master had come, he would not have been so affectionate and warm, and the "Heavenly Court" would have caused a lot of trouble.

Of course, the little national master could not come to Borneo precisely because of his position.

Qi Xuansu wanted to see what pirates looked like. Not to mention pirates, even merchant ships kept their distance. After all, the Taoist flying boats were very easy to identify. They would naturally avoid them when they saw them. It would be a sin to collide with the big figures of the Taoists.

As for the sea monsters, they naturally did not dare to show up, let alone stir up trouble. After all, the flying boats were made of dragons. The dragon's breath, as well as the unwillingness and resentment of the dragons when they died, were enough to shock the monsters. Unless it was a peerless monster like the Yamata no Orochi, no one would dare to offend them.

But just when Qi Xuansu thought that they would return empty-handed this time, a large ship rushed towards them.