Linzhi

The third brother is well, if you see the letter.

He Zhan was able to write these eight characters, but the tip of the pen stopped in the air, and the full ink was about to drip. He Zhan hurriedly put the pen back on the inkstone, looked at the eight characters on the white paper and let out a sigh.

In fact, there is nothing to write about. It should be reported to the court. He has already asked Tan Jin and the others to write it in the memorial. The rest are trivial and trivial matters. He wants to write about the days in Nanyi, such as What to eat for three meals a day, how the schools in each village are built, he knows that the third brother will definitely like to read, but he has no way to write a thousand words on paper.

He Zhan thought to himself, the current capital must be undercurrents and crises are everywhere, and the third brother is in the court, so he will inevitably be involved in it, and writing letters frequently by himself will be tantamount to interference.

Thinking of this, he shook his head, grabbed the eight characters, crumpled them into paper balls, and threw them aside.

Then should he trust the second brother and persuade him to avoid conflicts with the eldest brother?

He Zhan reached out to pick up the pen, but when his hand was in the air, he stopped abruptly.

He is very clear about the character of the second brother. He looks cheerful and forthright, but in fact he is a bit headstrong. It is often difficult to change things that have been decided. What effect can a mere letter have?

He Zhan frowned slightly and sat still.

He also rejoiced from the bottom of his heart that he came out for a trip, and he didn't have to rush back, and he didn't have to go back to the capital to face the dilemma. He was caught between the eldest brother and the second brother, and he was forced to make an unwilling choice.

I hope that with the third brother around, even if the elder brother and the second brother cannot reconcile as before, the trouble will not become unmanageable.

A knock on the door broke the silence in this corner of the study.

With He Zhan's permission, the servant opened the door and entered.

Before there was an imperial edict, He Zhan had to guard here all the time, but now that the city of Guangzhou was in ruins, he did not waste manpower and material resources to build a separate mansion for himself, but divided the former governor's mansion into two halves. Shared with Tan Jin.

This servant is the servant of the original governor's mansion. After Li Zhan and others subdued the law, these maids and servants who either escaped or were driven away came back one after another. He Zhan asked Zhou Yi to select and use them again.

"Your Highness, two monks came outside and said they wanted to see you." The servant said.

He Zhan was puzzled: "What monk?"

The servant said: "They said it was your old acquaintance."

He Zhan was even more confused: "I never knew any monks."

The servant hesitated to speak, hesitating, He Zhan was worried about his brother's affairs, so he said impatiently: "Speak up if you have something to say!"

"That, that great monk said, you slept with him when you were five years old, and you peed on the bed in the middle of the night. In order not to be punished by your elders, you secretly moved him to your place, and pretended to be him peeing during the day..."

"Okay, stop talking!" He Zhan stood up abruptly, his forehead twitching, he knew why the servant had a strange look on his face. "Let them in quickly!"

The servant left in a hurry, and He Zhan took a deep breath, suddenly feeling ominous.

But Rao was already mentally prepared. When he saw two round and shiny bald heads, He Zhan still couldn't help showing a thunderous expression.

"Fourth, fourth brother?" He hardly dared to recognize each other, rubbing his eyes, He Zhan wondered if he hadn't woken up yesterday and had to go back to sleep again.

"Amitabha, the name of the poor monk is Mingjing, the benefactor is polite... Hey, what are you doing, help me!" He Xi, oh no, before Master Mingjing finished his salute, he saw He Zhan casually picking up a piece of paper next to him. The vase walked towards him with strides, He Xi was startled, turned his head and ran away without thinking.

The two ran out of the hall one after the other, and chased and beat them in the yard. At the critical moment, the little monk Mingchen played a role and stopped He Zhan slightly. He Xi hurriedly climbed up the tree in the yard three times and rode On the branch, clinging tightly to the trunk.

"You, you are so courageous, you have lost your brotherhood, and you still want to murder your brother, I'm going to sue His Majesty!" He Xi shouted from the tree.

He Zhan rolled his eyes: "If you really have the face to see Your Majesty, I will never stop you! Leave a book and leave without saying goodbye, but now you have become a monk. If Your Majesty knows, I'm afraid he will be worse than me." Ruthless, I broke your leg directly!"

He Xi: "Can you blame me! I didn't expect that I would become a monk. This is all arranged by the Buddha!"

He Zhan stood under the tree with his arms crossed: "Fourth brother, come down for me!"

He Xi cried and howled: "I don't! If you go down, you will definitely beat me! Junior brother, junior brother! Your senior brother who is the head of the sect is about to be beaten to death, and you are still standing there watching the show. If I die, the master will be killed." There will be no successors, and the incense of our Yutai Temple will be cut off from now on!"

The little monk Mingchen said slowly: "This benefactor, please speak up if you have something to say, don't be rude."

He Zhan looked at the innocent little monk, and then looked at He Xi on the tree. His mood suddenly resonated with his father thousands of miles away, and he could understand his father's mood of beating or scolding whenever he saw the fourth brother. .

If he wants to have such a son, it is estimated that his life will be shortened for several years.

"Then tell me, why did you suddenly become a monk?"

He Xi was aggrieved: "I'm tired of talking on the tree and I'm thirsty. I, the poor monk, want to talk down the tree!"

He Zhan: "..."

Mingchen took the initiative to help He Xi out of the siege, and briefly explained how He Xi was cheated out of his money at the foot of the mountain, lost his way on the mountain, almost starved to death, was rescued by his master and apprentice, and finally entered Buddhism by mistake .

After hearing this, He Xi frowned, and said to the young monk, "You guys are trying to coerce and lure him into Buddhism!"

"It's nothing to do with Master and Ming Chen, it's my own desire to become a monk!" He Xi shouted from the tree.

He Zhan glanced at him: "Aren't you tired or thirsty?"

He Xi: "...Can I borrow a ladder, I can't get down!"

When the ladder was moved, He Xi carefully descended the tree, fearing that He Zhan would make a move, he pulled the little monk Mingchen and hid beside him.

"Fourth brother, you are older than me, why do you do some irrelevant things all day long? Now that you have left home so silently, what will His Majesty think when he finds out? How can you feel sorry for his old man?"

He Xi coughed lightly: "Actually, I have already written to His Majesty to explain the matter, but His Majesty and his old man didn't respond, which means that he should have acquiesced to my actions."

He Zhan raised his forehead: "...That's because you are running around, and His Majesty doesn't know where you are, so he can't catch you back?"

He Xi chuckled: "It's almost the same! In fact, I originally wanted to be a Taoist priest. After all, to be a monk has to shave my hair, but when I went up the mountain, I went to the Buddhist temple by mistake and inherited my master's mantle. It's hard to say no It was preordained in the sky long ago."

He Zhan said coldly: "That's just an excuse for you to escape the world!"

He Xi glared at him: "Can you stop interrupting me! I really wanted to escape at first, but now, this reason is no longer prevailing. Master left us a few thick travel notes, which recorded his past years. Wherever he traveled, he has been to Dashi, Tianzhu, and even went to sea, I ran away from home before, didn't I also think that one day I would be able to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles?"

Not to mention thousands of books, you haven't even read a single book, how dare you say such a thing?

He Zhan didn't interrupt anymore, but just wrote this sentence on his face.

"..." He Xi turned his head, did not look at him, and continued, "It doesn't matter if you become a monk or a Taoist priest, it's all about self-cultivation and the way to save the world. This shore is the ultimate shore of Nirvana. Then what kind of method is it? It can be reached by boat, by car, and by walking. It is the so-called unity of all dharmas, which is the principle.”

There is indeed some subtle meaning in these words, He Zhan couldn't help but look at him with admiration, and thought to himself, did the fourth brother really decide to convert to Buddhism?

"So I went down the mountain with my junior brother, intending to go all the way, to beg for alms, on the one hand, to practice, and on the other hand, I also hope to rebuild Yutai Temple, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of Master during his lifetime."

He Zhan: "So you came to me for alms?"

He Xi smiled and said: "If you are willing to donate some, that would be great, but this time I come to you, and there is one more thing, I want you to help me get a certificate."

To be a monk is not to shave your head, but to go to a temple to perform a ceremony is considered a monk, and you need to have a certificate issued by the court. Every year, there will be a monk assessment in each state and county. Only those who pass the assessment can be issued a certificate , Become a real monk, otherwise you can only be a fake monk.

After hearing this, He Zhan laughed: "So fourth brother, you are still just a fake monk?"

He Xi touched his bald head, smiled wryly and said, "I also want to be a real monk, but there is no certificate!"

He Zhan: "According to what you said, Yutai Temple is in Luoyang, so you should go to Luoyang Mansion to take the exam. What are you doing here?"

He Xi sighed: "You don't know about this. Once you have a degree certificate, you can be exempted from taxes, so the state governments use it as a cash cow, openly selling degree certificates, and the highest price gets it, and the imperial court also acquiesces. If I now If you show your identity, they will definitely report it. Once His Majesty finds out, the old man will definitely order me to go back, so I can't look for Big Brother and the others, so I can only come to you. Ming Chen and I went all the way south. I heard that the court The army marched to Nanyi to quell the chaos, so I stopped by to look for you, but fortunately, the third brother has already gone back, otherwise he would definitely arrest me and go back."

He Zhan glanced at him: "Are you the third brother who has nothing to do all day long? He doesn't bother to talk to you! After all, since you can buy a copy, why don't you buy one?"

He Xi: "If I wanted that money, I would have repaired the Yutai Temple a long time ago. Why would I come out to beg for alms? Now a piece of certificate has been sold for more than a hundred coins, which is equivalent to the expenses of ordinary people for several years. More than one year's salary for a first-rank official!"

He Zhan's complexion changed slightly: "Why is it so expensive?"

He Xi spread his hands: "Because all the prefectures and counties say they have no money, they have to hand over money and food to the imperial court every year, and they have to keep some for their own use, but the imperial court's quota is increasing every year, and the local governments have to find ways to increase fiscal revenue. This selling degree is one of them. item."

He Zhan: "But as far as I know, the tax, money and food demanded by the imperial court is not too much. It is only calculated according to the minimum amount in a stable year. Every year, according to whether there are droughts and floods in each state and county, it will be reduced as appropriate. And even if In this way, the imperial treasury has been exhausted every year these days, and there is almost no money to be allocated."

He Xi: "In some prefectures and counties, the land is annexed by local aristocratic families, and farmers have no land to cultivate, so they flee one after another. Among the aristocratic families, those who have fame, those who buy certificates, and those who hide their population, use various methods to Exemption from paying taxes, not to mention that local officials dare not offend them, even if they dare to offend, they will not be able to collect money. To be honest, Emperor Gaozu founded this dynasty, thanks to the support of the noble family, so after the establishment of this dynasty, not only the legal system, Most of them followed the previous dynasty, and those aristocratic families did not suffer any injuries, but instead made a lot of money through the establishment of the new dynasty."

The more he talked, the more dignified He Zhan's face became.

The little monk Mingchen was affected by it, and he also had a sullen little face, sitting upright like a pine.

He Zhan murmured: "Has it come to this point... I thought the imperial court was thriving, except for the Turks, or the occasional natural disaster, and there were no hidden dangers. Now it seems that I am too naive?"

He Xi sighed: "I only found out about these things after traveling down the mountain. How could I know so much when I was blinded before? Ming Chen and I went south and passed through. Guess what we saw? Many refugees wandering around , hide and hide, there is no place to go, those who are more ruthless will go up the mountain to become bandits, and those who are weak will starve to death."

He Zhan: "I know about this. The Yellow River flooded two years ago, and the third brother and Ji Ling went to flood control and relief. Later, I tried my best to resettle the victims near Luoyang."

He Xi shook his head: "You only know one thing, but you don't know the other thing. Chenliu is the territory of the Fan family, and their family occupies five or six out of ten of the local land. Last time, the Fan family took advantage of the natural disaster to take advantage of the people If you flee the disaster, you will buy the land at a low price, and when the disaster is over, the people will be homeless and their fields will be gone, so you can only become their tenants, farm for them, and be exploited by them.”

He Zhan: "But I remember that the old Shangshu Fan Yi also came from the Chenliu Fan family. He is upright and has no money in his family. He is famous for his frugality."

He Xi: "Even if Fan Yi is really innocent, even if he can restrain his family members from acting for their own interests, can they still restrain all clan members to be obedient? Is there no clan member who uses his name to misbehave outside? Just one of them!"

He Zhan frowned.

"The things you said, I will report to His Majesty one by one, and let the court investigate."

"Then don't say I told you!" He Xi shrank his neck, "I don't want to be caught and locked up by His Majesty. Besides, His Majesty may not know, that's why the late emperor vigorously promoted the poor family's children, but So what if you know, now more than half of the officials in the imperial court are either high school students, or have been sponsored by noble families to study, these people have formed a strong iron chain, which cannot be easily broken."

Can't be broken easily...

A thought flashed through He Zhan's mind, but it was so fleeting that he had no time to catch it.

Seeing that he was lost in thought, He Xi couldn't help but said: "Stop talking nonsense, for the reason that I came all the way here to find you, you should hurry up and give me an ultimatum!"

He Zhan said slowly: "It's okay to ask for an ultimatum, but you have to do something for me."

He Xi opened his eyes wide: "I'm your fourth brother! How can a younger brother ask an older brother to do things?!"

He Zhan said ruthlessly: "Master Mingjing, you have already purified your six sense organs, and you have severed all ties with the world of mortals."

He Xi: "..."

He Zhan: "If you don't do this favor, I'll have someone take you back to the capital and hand it over to His Majesty."

He Xi: "If it's too difficult, I won't."

He Zhan: "How is your study of Buddhism?"

He Xi swallowed his saliva: "It's okay, Ming Chen and I will debate the law every now and then, and he is better than me... How does this have anything to do with what you want me to do?"

He Zhan grinned: "I will gather famous monks from famous temples in the south of the Five Ridges to debate the law and discuss the Tao. I invite the outstanding ones to preach Buddhism to the people of Nanyi. Are you and Mingchen interested?"

He Xi and Ming Chen looked at each other, full of surprise.