Chapter 1724 Buddhism and Taoism One
Manbao, Baishan and others had all given their gifts before they stepped forward and took out the longevity lock they had bought and gave it to the little prince. It was a very ordinary lock and he probably would never wear it in his lifetime because the one his grandmother gave him was much better looking.
The emperor saw Zhou Man and remembered, and said with a smile: "Come to think of it, you have a longevity lock, similar to Lao Wu's?"
Manbao was confused. She pulled out the longevity lock she had worn since she was a child and asked, "This?"
The emperor recognized it as the same as Lao Wu's at a glance, and nodded with a smile, "Yes, it was given to Lao Wu by his maternal family. It seems to have been made by a silversmith in Shangzhou."
The fifth prince squeezed in from the back, took a look, and nodded, "It's the same piece as mine."
The emperor smiled and asked, "Where's your piece?"
The fifth prince smiled sheepishly, "Father, I'm old now, I don't wear the longevity lock anymore."
"You were born with a weak body, and your grandfather took great pains to get it back for you to pray for blessings. Look, Zhou Man has been wearing it all the time." At this point, the emperor looked at Bai Shan behind her and suddenly smiled: "If you hadn't been engaged to Bai Shan so early, you and Lao Wu would be a perfect match because of your relationship."
Manbao looked up at the Fifth Prince and saw the pimples on his face. She felt a little disgusted. But the Fifth Prince was thinking about how she had made Lord Wang faint in the court, and how audacious she was when she filed a complaint to the emperor last year. He couldn't help but tremble, shook his head, and took a step back.
Bai Shan stepped forward and stood beside Zhou Man, reaching out and holding her hand.
The emperor laughed out loud when he saw this, but when he turned around he glared at the fifth prince, calling him a useless boy.
Everyone watched the third day bath ceremony in great excitement, and then the emperor gave a banquet, well, a banquet in the East Palace.
Except for Zhou Man and Bai Shan, two outsiders, the rest were the emperor's family members, the emperor's daughter-in-law's family members, and the emperor's daughter-in-law's family members.
The emperor naturally sat with his elder brother-in-law and relatives. When he saw Zhou Man, he simply waved to her.
Because she is also a subject.
The relationship between the ruler and his subjects is suitable.
Because the emperor had a criminal record, Bai Shan shamelessly sat over with him, to prevent him from saying anything about marriage again.
Zhao Liulang and others watched Bai Shan and Zhou Man come forward and sit with their fathers and brothers, who were a generation older than them.
Of course, he did not sit there talking while eating. The emperor talked while eating. After commenting on the dishes, he mentioned that he and the queen planned to go to the Huguo Temple to burn incense in a few days and donate some incense money for the little grandson.
He hoped that Duke Zhao and Duke Pi could speak for him.
Going out with the Queen together was not incognito, so it was impossible to sneak out. Therefore, the consent of the ministers, especially the Jingzhao Prefecture, was required.
Both Duke Zhao and Duke Pi were happy today, so they agreed without hesitation.
Manbao was puzzled. "Your Majesty, the sky is gloomy and it looks like it's going to snow. It would be better to donate grain to the people instead of incense oil, right?"
The emperor said, "I asked the Huguo Temple to handle this matter."
Manbao felt it was too troublesome, and Daoxu and the others had said that they would keep enough for their own food from the incense money donated by the kind-hearted laypeople at the foot of the mountain, and only donate the rest.
She said, "It would be better to let County Magistrates Tang and Guo do it."
The emperor was slightly startled. After thinking for a moment, he looked at Bai Shan and asked with a smile, "Do you think so too?"
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "Providing relief to the victims and settling the people is the county magistrate's responsibility. And since it's the imperial court doing this, the people will only be more grateful to Your Majesty and the little grandson, right?"
The emperor sighed and said, "But this is only a minor disaster. If we provide relief this time, the next time we encounter a minor disaster like this, if we don't provide relief, we will only be blamed more. And if we provide relief, the national treasury is limited."
Therefore, although the imperial court would send officials to preside over minor disasters, it would rarely provide relief. Instead, it would encourage wealthy families in the county and township to help, and everyone would help each other and the problem would be solved.
The imperial court will only take action when the disaster becomes serious.
Why did the emperor like to donate money to the Huguo Temple so much? Did he really donate all the money to the Huguo Temple?
It's just a matter of using them to pass it on to the people.
As for the part of the food that was intercepted by them, the emperor did not care. Monks also need to eat and drink. They suffer for all living beings, so it is their duty to serve.
The emperor explained these principles to Manbao.
Manbao didn't understand why they suffered on behalf of all living beings, and he didn't understand what was so painful about being a monk.
"If life is so hard, why don't you become a Taoist priest?" Manbao was simply puzzled. "I have friends who are Taoist priests, and they never feel hardship. They work and chant scriptures every day just like us. I asked them if they felt it was hardship. One said that although there were times when they lacked food and clothing, they were not starving to death. They always had more money than the average person to pay for divination and burning incense. Another friend of mine said that there were so many people in the world who were worse off than them. If they felt it was hardship, what about those who were worse off?"
The emperor laughed and said, "They are quite open-minded. How old are they?"
"Two or three years older than me."
The emperor was even happier. "That's because they haven't grown up yet, so they can't feel it. Buddha said that the suffering of all living beings is the suffering of reincarnation. There are many poor people in this world. Buddhists are willing to give food and money to help them, so they don't suffer so much. But Buddhists have less things, and their food, clothing and daily expenses are reduced. This is their suffering, so it is said that they suffer on behalf of all living beings."
Manbao and Baishan were confused. They looked at each other, even more puzzled. "But isn't their income still given by believers? It's not earned through their own labor."
The emperor laughed and said, "That's what we offer to the Bodhisattva. Since it's an offering, it naturally belongs to him."
Bai Shan asked, "Why do you offer offerings to the Bodhisattva?"
"Of course I have something to ask for." Birth, old age, sickness and death, the country, the nation, and the people of the world, the emperor wants too much.
Two years ago, the queen was seriously ill, so he donated a large sum of money to the Huguo Temple in order to pray for the queen's recovery. Later, the queen really recovered.
Bai Shan and Man Bao were still puzzled, but they didn't know where to start, so they could only mutter, "Master Shouqing said that if people are depressed, they should go up the mountain to worship the Lord of Heaven, let go of their worries, and maybe good luck will come. But gods and ghosts won't change the fate of mortals. Since this is a severe calamity for mortals, they naturally have to overcome it themselves. The gods and ghosts can only help so much."
They could only mutter quietly, "It always feels like they've done good things and come full circle."
The emperor raised his eyelids and asked, "Why whisper to yourself if you want to say whatever you want to say?"
Manbao cleared his throat and said, "Master Shouqing never felt that being a Taoist priest was hard. Instead, he felt very comfortable. Believers donate money and materials to the Taoist temple because they believe in Laojun and need him to pray on their behalf."
The emperor thought for a moment and said, "Buddhism is also like this."
See you at 4 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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