roccoschili Chapter 4735: Farm Old Monk
Chapter 4735: Farm Old Monk
Chapter 4735: Farm Old Monk
Tang Jian was in tears. He touched his son's head and choked up, saying, "You are all good children, and each of you has ambitions. But if it were someone else, it would be fine. The Prince of Gaoping is a member of the royal family. No matter how unbearable he is, he is still a member of the royal family. We can disrespect him, but we cannot disrespect the royal family and the bloodline of our great ancestors. If you really feel aggrieved, you should not go to someone's house to cause trouble, but make achievements. With achievements, who dares to look down on our Tang family? If you can do that, I, as a father, will have no regrets even if I die soon."
When people reach a certain age, past achievements are meaningless. What matters most is the achievements of their descendants. Having a promising son is more gratifying than mountains of gold and silver, high positions and noble titles. Changsun Wuji knew that Li Chengqian would not sentence him to death, but he resolutely committed suicide by taking poison. Was it because he was desperate? No. The real reason was that the promising sons of the Changsun family died one after another. As a father and a head of the family, he could not see any hope of reviving the family, and fell into despair and had no desire to live.
His children were able to choose to endure when Li Daoli provoked them, without any rash direct conflicts; and when he showed his anger, he could choose to ignore it and vent his anger. It was already very good that he had both the ability to examine the situation and the responsibility as a son.
Although he is not as talented as Fang Xuanling in having a son like Fang Jun, and cannot be praised as "If I had a son, I would want him to be like Fang Yiai", he is still infinitely satisfied.
A not-so-small disturbance has not been resolved without a trace. No matter how the Tang family expresses their stance, the Zongzheng Temple must enforce the law and give the Tang family an explanation. King Han Li Yuanjia hurried away to deal with the matter, but it seems that in the end it will be nothing more than a few scoldings and a fine, nothing more.
Sitting together to keep watch at night, several princes gathered around Fang Jun. Fang Jun patted Li Yun's shoulder, touched Li Yin's head, smiled and praised: "You are all very good. Not only can you stand up to maintain your majesty's prestige when others attack your majesty, but the most important thing is that the brothers are of one mind and advance and retreat together. It is enough to comfort the spirit of Emperor Taizong in heaven. He will be proud of you sons."
Emperor Li II devoted his entire life to his sons' education. He racked his brains and used every possible means to make his sons respectful and loving brothers, but he failed miserably.
……
The funeral rites for Princess Yuzhang were very strict, second only to those for the empress. They were jointly presided over by the Ministry of Rites, the Temple of Imperial Clan, and the Temple of Royal Edicts, with Cui Renshi, the Minister of the Temple of Royal Edicts, as the supervisor, and Deng Shilong, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Xiaoyi, the Junior Minister of the Temple of Imperial Clan, as deputies.
Li Chengqian suspended court for three days, and all court officials went to pay their respects. Those who could not come in person for some reason had to write a statement to explain their reasons. If their reasons were not sufficient, they might even be impeached by the censor and punished severely.
The palace gave her fifty sets of clothes, one million and five hundred thousand cash as a gift, and one thousand pieces of cloth of various colors... The rewards were so generous that they exceeded the maximum limit, which was enough to show how much the emperor valued Princess Yuzhang. Of course, this was also due to Tang Jian's hard work and great contributions.
Originally, the Honglu Temple and the Imperial Observatory were supposed to be responsible for surveying and selecting the cemetery, but Li Chengqian ordered that Princess Yuzhang be buried with her in Zhaoling Mausoleum, so this step was skipped.
On the seventh day, Prince of Dongping Li Daoli came to Tang's house in person and apologized in public. Tang Jian took his hand and led him into the house, showing tolerance and generosity, and the estrangement was immediately eliminated.
By the time Princess Yuzhang was buried and the noisy funeral ceremony was over, Guanzhong had already entered the most unbearable hot season...
Although the heat in Guanzhong was unbearable and the Taiji Palace was as hot as a steamer, Li Chengqian had no intention of going to Mount Li or Jiucheng Palace to escape the heat. He stayed in the Wude Hall without moving, with strict guards around him to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation.
Li Chengqian dreamed of proving to Emperor Taizong that he was a qualified emperor. Even though he was not as talented and wise as Emperor Taizong, he was definitely no worse than others. But now he was able to keep his mind steady and not be greedy for merit or act rashly in the face of the turbulent undercurrents in the court and the country, and within and outside the royal family. This approach won unanimous praise.
An emperor should be upright and invincible like this. An emperor who is fighting for the world can take risks, but an emperor who is in charge of the world must always prioritize safety. Otherwise, if the situation is turbulent all day long, where will the civil and military officials in the court go?
The continuous funeral ceremonies for several days made Princess Gaoyang extremely tired and sad, and she was mentally depressed. The Ghost Festival happened to be approaching, so Fang Jun simply took his family who stayed in the capital out of the city to Mount Li to escape the summer heat, and returned to Chang'an after the Ghost Festival when the weather was cooler.
Early in the morning, the servants packed a lot of clothes and daily necessities and loaded them into several carriages. Fang Jun also invited Jin Deman, Jin Shengman and his sister to ride in one carriage. Surrounded by dozens of personal soldiers, they left Chunming Gate and headed for Mount Li in a mighty procession.
When they arrived at Lishan Farm, the family members entered the farm, while Fang Jun, leading the horse, strolled around the farm with a few personal soldiers.
The farm that was set up in the past to settle refugees has now become the most prosperous area in the entire Mount Li. The refugees of that time settled down and reproduced here. In addition, servants of the Fang family and disabled and widowed people in the army moved here. The population has reached more than 5,000, almost equivalent to the size of a remote county lower than the county level.
In terms of prosperity, the cultivation of corn, the popularization of greenhouses and their technologies, and the increase in textile workshops made Lishan Farm extremely wealthy, almost comparable to a superior county in the capital area.
The main street is the street in front of the Fang family villa. The ground is not paved with cement but neat bluestone slabs. There are houses on both sides with various signs hanging in front of the doors. There are breakfast shops, restaurants, wine shops, grocery stores, clothing stores, and even mule and horse markets, blacksmith furnaces, etc.
This kind of town full of the scent of incense is Fang Jun's favorite. He is extremely proud of creating the entire Lishan Farm from scratch, especially the slogans painted on the walls everywhere in the streets and farms, such as "Literacy is glorious, illiteracy is shameful", "Self-reliance, hard work", "One person's literacy, the whole family is glorious", etc., which make Fang Jun feel a sense of accomplishment with "bad taste".
Not only are the bluestone slabs on the main street clean and smooth, but even in the village behind the shops, the roads are still flat and clean, and the houses are lined up one after another. The red brick and black tile houses are staggered in an orderly manner. Most of the farmhouses are home to chickens, ducks, geese, dogs and other poultry and livestock. Walking on the lower road of the village with my hands behind my back, I check the drain from time to time to see if it is blocked, take an egg from the firewood pile, and look at the smoke rising from the chimneys of every household, I feel peaceful.
Fang Jun's good mood disappeared instantly when he saw an old monk wearing a patchwork robe and holding a copper bowl appear at the entrance of the village, and farmers kept coming out of their houses to donate money or bring water and food for the old monk to enjoy.
"Duke Yue is compassionate and has placed countless refugees here. This is truly a great deed. Such a person who has brought Buddha to thousands of families should have a heart of Buddha. But why is he upset when he sees a monk like me, and even looks at me with disgust?"
The old monk had a simple and deep face, his dark skin was covered with wrinkles, each wrinkle seemed to squeeze out a bit of hard work, perseverance and calmness, especially his eyes, which were black and white, bright and clear, and did not look like the mental state of an elderly monk at all.
The villagers were naturally very familiar with Fang Jun. When they heard the old monk's words, they stood on both sides in surprise, wondering why Erlang was so disliked by this kind-looking old monk who obviously had profound cultivation.
Fang Jun looked from the old monk's bald head, wrinkles on his face, patchwork clothes to the straw sandals on his feet, and shook his head: "People like you who pretend to be good have long deviated from the original intention of being a Buddhist disciple, let alone a monk. How can you deserve my respect? Not having someone beat you out of Zhuangzi is already giving Master Xuanzang some face."
The old monk's eyes were bright, but he was not annoyed. He even asked with interest, "How can I not be considered a monk? Please enlighten me."
"A patchwork robe is made of simple pieces of cloth, which reflects the original intention of hard work, not enjoying luxury, and advocating frugality. However, the patchwork robe you are wearing is made by cutting up a whole piece of cloth and sewing it again, so I said you are pretending. Although the straw sandals on your feet are worthless, they are brand new and neat, and your toes are clean. This is contrary to the monks' aspiration to travel around the world and spread Buddhism. It is obvious that you are a person who indulges in pleasure and lives a rich life. What kind of monk are you?"
After hearing what Fang Jun said, the villagers all looked at the old monk and found that it was indeed true, and they were immediately outraged.
"Erlang is right. This old monk doesn't look like a good person!"
"A rich monk actually wants my alms, how dare you?"
"I just gave you ten copper coins out of pity. Since you have more money than me, give it back to me."
A few people were filled with righteous indignation. They were willing to give alms to the monks who were preaching the sutras, but they were unwilling to give a penny to a monk who was pretending to be richer than them. So they rushed forward to take back the copper coins that had just been given to the old monk from the copper bowl...
The old monk was not angry, but just watched with a smile. When the villagers quieted down, he said to Fang Jun with a pleasant face: "Duke Yue is right. I have learned my lesson. But I am not a swindler. Monks are different. Some monks travel around to popularize believers, some monks stay in temples to receive incense, and some monks decipher Buddhist scriptures to spread Buddhism... I am the latter. This patchwork clothes is indeed cut from a whole piece of cloth as Duke Yue said, but it is not to pretend. I assisted Master Xuanzang in deciphering Buddhist scriptures obtained from India in Da Ci'en Temple. I have no shortage of food and clothing and live a comfortable life, but I can't go out wearing brand new clothes, right? Although it looks pretentious to cut the whole cloth into pieces and sew it again, it is better than wearing neat new clothes after all."
Fang Jun raised his eyebrows. This old monk obviously knew him, so it was very likely that he came here for him, not to beg for alms or preach.