There is some fish belly white on the horizon.
In the bell tower hidden in the bamboo forest, another young novice yawned and went up to ring the bell.
Living in this ancient temple on the mountain, with morning bells and evening drums in my ears, my daily life is the same as chanting sutras, and my perception of the passage of time seems to have slowed down.
It seemed to be the same time as that day again, but once again it was familiar again. This time Ouyang Rong climbed out of the well mouth and climbed over the fence, and left with his hands behind his back as if nothing had happened.
After discovering the secret blessing worth 10,000 merits, he stayed down there for a lot of time. Instead of chatting with Master Ignorance, he carefully inspected the underground palace several times from beginning to end.
He wanted to try to see if he could manually find or trigger this hidden blessing.
Because what if it's not the "going home" he expected, but some other strange blessing? It's not impossible, he has to rule it out.
But what made Ouyang Rong not sure whether he should be happy or disappointed...he found nothing and returned without success.
Ouyang Rong returned to Sanhui Courtyard, but he took a long detour - mainly to avoid his aunt's yard - not to mention, since Mrs. Zhen came to live there, the atmosphere of guilty conscience had filled him.
But this time around, I happened to bump into Master Shandao who was about to go to chant sutras and fast for the morning.
The old monk wondered: "Why is Mingtang walking on tiptoe so early in the morning?"
"This is... a popular morning exercise method at Bailudong Academy."
"I am short-sighted."
As soon as the two passed by each other, Ouyang Rong seemed to have thought of something and looked back curiously:
"By the way, I haven't asked you which sect Donglin Temple practices? Zen sect or Vinaya sect?"
"No, Zen sect is in the west, and Vinaya sect is in the north." Master Shandao shook his head, "The small temple is in the south, and we practice the orthodox Lotus sect, but Mingtang can also call us the Pure Land sect."
"Pure Land Sect..." Ouyang Rong raised his eyes and asked, "Do you think there is really a Pure Land in this world?"
Master Shandao nodded immediately. "Of course there is. Isn't that old master's uncle an example?"
"If there is, where is this pure land?"
Master Shandao pointed to Ouyang Rong's heart, "The Pure Land is right here. The Pure Land in Mingtang's heart has always been in Mingtang's own heart. Why do you ask the old monk, an outsider?"
Ouyang Rong nodded, "It's me."
Master Shandao glanced at him and said, "I don't know whether to say something or not. In fact, Pindao discovered the day before yesterday that Mingtang always looked gloomy and had obstacles in his heart."
Ouyang Rong looked directly at the old monk and asked humbly: "How to get rid of obstacles?"
Master Shandao did not answer, but lowered his eyes to straighten the monk's clothes and straighten his appearance. Before leaving, he only raised his hand to point in the direction of Sanhui Yuan, turned around and left slowly.
Ouyang Rong stood there for a while, then turned back to Sanhui Courtyard.
When he walked in, he suddenly stopped and looked up at the plaque hanging on the lintel.
Write "Three Wisdoms".
"What are the three wisdoms? Hearing, thinking, and cultivating are the three... Hearing requires listening carefully, thinking requires careful consideration, and practicing requires truthfulness."
Ouyang Rong's voice went from low to high, just like his understanding went from shallow to deep. He raised his head and said loudly: "Ouyang Lianghan, let me ask you again, how to break the barrier?"
Answer: "Lie down and hear it, sit down and think about it, get up... and do it!"
The Confucian scholar smiled, fluttered his sleeves and walked into the hall.
…
"Leave the temple today."
At the dining table, Longcheng's new magistrate Xiao Guan put down his bowls and chopsticks in a serious manner.
"No." Mrs. Zhen lowered her head to sip the porridge without raising her eyelids.
"Auntie, my nephew is informing you, not discussing. My nephew has already sent someone to notify Head Yan and the others. The host also asked about it. The master said that my nephew has recovered to about 70% and can go down the mountain. "
"Behead first and show later?"
"It should have been so long ago."
"The water at the bottom of the mountain has receded seven or eight times, why are you still going down?"
"It is the most critical time to start disaster relief after we have retreated seven or eight. My nephew is the Dragon City Order. He cannot hide on the mountain after being injured and leave him to the subordinate officials."
"Why leave it to the subordinate officials? Tan Lang doesn't have much responsibility for the flood under the mountain. You have just taken office, and the flood in Yunmengze has happened once in several years. The flood occurred while he was in a coma. This is force majeure. No one will hold Tan Lang accountable. Lang responsibility."
"Without responsibilities, can I sit back and relax and sleep peacefully?"
Mrs. Zhen put down the bowl, took the handkerchief from Banshen's hand, wiped her mouth, and began to speak slowly:
"Okay, then you can go down the mountain. Don't worry about my aunt. Just leave her in this ancient temple in the mountains to fend for herself. Why don't you just become a monk? After raising a child for twenty years, the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng is still not reliable."
Speaking of this, there was actually a hint of crying in her arrogant and decisive tone, and the woman tilted her head and "quietly" wiped away her tears.
Ouyang Rong's expression didn't change, and his aunt even labeled him as ungrateful and unfilial. As a result, he waited for a long time without hearing the dull sound of the wooden fish. It seemed that even the Buddha couldn't stand it anymore.
He continued to suggest: "If Auntie doesn't want to stay here, why don't we send someone to take Auntie back to Nanlong?"
"No!" Zhen immediately said decisively.
"..."
She glared, "Now that Tanlang is an official and his wings are strong, he doesn't want to bring his aunt to enjoy the blessings, right?"
Ouyang Rong said seriously: "The Great Zhou Order stipulates that local county magistrates must be thousands of miles away from home to serve, and they must not bring relatives or villagers with them to work for profit."
"Oh, Auntie Da Zhouling has never read it, but as a parent official, don't try to fool her."
Mrs. Zhen smiled half-heartedly, "These kind of relatives are male relatives who can be seen in public. There is no objection at all to relatives like mothers, and they even encourage them. Not to mention the censor of the prefectural procuratorate, they have to praise Tanlang for his filial piety and serving his mother." , it will be an extra consideration during the assessment."
Ouyang Rong covered his fists and coughed, "That's okay, that's okay. But I heard Liu Lang said that the county government office was flooded. I'll wait until we get down the mountain and settle down first, then pick up my aunt..."
Zhen didn't pay attention to this, and interrupted someone who wanted to change the subject with a smile, "Besides, does the Great Zhou Order also stipulate that the county magistrate must bring his wife and daughter with him when he takes office? If he really doesn't have one, he must also bring a concubine, and While serving in the local area, supervisors are not allowed to marry the daughter of local supervisees, otherwise they will be sentenced... The county magistrate should be more familiar with this rule than the country girl, right?"
Ouyang Rong had a straight face, and he wondered why Mrs. Zhen was so stupid about some things and so smart about others. Nephew’s nemesis, right?
"Then our conscientious Magistrate Ouyang, should you consider marriage?"
"..." Auntie's map of the Yan Kingdom is indeed a bit long, so she only took out the dagger now. Ouyang Rong felt.
But this time, since he decided to take office and do something good, he would no longer avoid it.
"It's impossible for my nephew to marry a girl with the fifth surname."
Ouyang Rong looked at Mrs. Zhen squarely.
"Why not? Tanlang is a gentleman who has become famous all over the world at a young age."
"It's very simple, lintel." Ouyang Rong raised his palm and made a slight gesture between his forehead.
"What happened to the lintel? Our Nanlong Ouyang clan..."
Ouyang Rong nodded and told the truth: "Our Nanlong Ouyang family does not have a good family background, in the eyes of the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes. The last time our Ouyang family produced a figure was in the Han Dynasty."
"..." Mrs. Zhen.
"Even the imperial examinations that my nephew took are for the five surnames and Qiwang... Well, aunt should know that my nephew was awarded the official title of Lintai by the empress at the Xingyuan Banquet, which was the former secretary of the Provincial School. Shulang, to be this official, one must have a clear background. He is one of the clearest among the clearest. Almost all the prime ministers of the current dynasty started from this official position. Qinggui, it is also the starting point for the ninth rank that scholars from the north and the south aspire to.
"But you know, every year during the Imperial Examination of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the poor families in the world, and the candidates from the north and the south can only be qualified as thirty or forty people, and among these people, only the number one scholar and a few people can pass the harsh selection of the officials and be selected as this official. .”
After a pause, Ouyang Rong said in an understatement: "For such an official position, the children of the gentry from the five surnames and the seventh rank can directly hold the position. They only need to be recommended by their elders. There is no need for an imperial examination."
Zhen was about to speak but stopped.
Ouyang Rong comforted him softly: "Auntie, in the eyes of the five surnames and Qiwang, we are the poorest of the poor. Even the Daqian Li clan, who has been the emperor for nearly a hundred years, is regarded by them as a sub-race mixed with Yi blood. . They rely on their family prestige and are ashamed to marry anyone with a different surname, so... let’s not think too much about it for the time being."
In the Zhou Dynasty, Shiyan Gaohua was headed by the five surnames, and Cui Lilu Wang Xie, with a total of five surnames and seven hopes.
Among them, the Cui family of Boling, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Li family of Longxi, the Lu family of Fanyang, and the Wang family of Taiyuan were county surnames, and they were the highest family of the northern gentry.
The Wang family of Langya and the Xie family of Chenjun are overseas surnames, and they belong to the Jiangzuo gentry...that is, the highest sect of the southern gentry. However, the second southern view is at the end of the middle row of the seventh view.
Because in the magnificent struggle between the Northern and Southern Dynasties before the unification, it was Sui Qian from the Northern Dynasties who finally won, pacified the Southern Chen Dynasty, and achieved another unification of the north and the south. The center of the current Zhou Empire is Luoyang and Chang'an in Guanzhong, and the north is It is the traditional hinterland of the Central Plains, so in this dynasty, the Five Hopes in the north are stronger than the Wangxie in the south.
Among them, the Boling Cui clan was the most popular, and was praised as the highest among the noble clans in the world.
And as far as Ouyang Rong knows, these five surnames and seven hopes are not just as simple as passing down family names and holding hairpins from generation to generation. It is said that each of these seven highest families in the world is more or less related to the three most prominent figures in the world: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The sects are closely related to each other, including Confucianism, metaphysics, or Taoism. What's more, it also involves the more secret inheritance of Qi practitioners from outside the world.
Those who were able to survive the chaotic conflict between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and whose family lineage extended into the Zhou Dynasty, were all noble families with terrible heritage for thousands of years. Even their genealogies could be traced back to the pre-Qin Dynasty, which was the same era as the pre-Qin Qi practitioners recorded in ancient books.
Ouyang Rong added: "Moreover, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, in order to suppress the five surnames and the seven hopes, he issued an edict prohibiting the most direct families among them from marrying each other. But now it seems that the prohibition of marriage has not achieved the effect at all. Instead, it has elevated the seven hopes in disguise. The family's worth has made it a glorious and isolated "forbidden marriage family"... In fact, if you think about it, you will understand that even you and your mother have heard about the dignity and popularity of "women with five surnames" in the countryside... It's really incredible. And know it."
In the words of Ouyang Rong in his previous life, this "forbidden marriage family" was the existence at the top of the contempt chain in the dating market of the Great Zhou Empire. Women, children, old and young were all driving up the prices.
Mrs. Zhen frowned, "Is it really so difficult? Isn't my Tan Lang the best man in the world? Even this is not acceptable?"
Ouyang Rong twitched the corner of his mouth, stood up and helped half the dishes.
"Don't even the sidelines have a chance?" Zhen still refused to give up.
"Those who are from the sidelines, others are not fools, they have already taken action. I heard that the prohibition on marriage was issued by Gaozong when the prime minister from a humble family was rejected when he tried to marry. No one from a fourth-grade family background in the dynasty left. .”
Mrs. Zhen frowned, "Why is it so troublesome..."
Ouyang Rong took the half-thickly handed hot towel, rubbed his face, and smiled as if he thought of something: "The nobles of the North are still married, the nobles of Jiangzuo are noble, the nobles of Guanzhong are crowned, and the nobles of Daibei are noble relatives. Which of your nephews is the best? Well, there is no 'Shang Junnan'."
Mrs. Zhen glared at him and then said nothing.
Ouyang Rong also pretended to be as frustrated as her, but in fact he was quietly relieved, finally letting his aunt give up.
"A distinguished figure among the Jiangzuo gentry... What a coincidence, isn't my Tan Lang the best among men..." Zhen murmured.
Ouyang Rong smiled and didn't answer. Sometimes it's not good to be disillusioned too quickly. Let Aunt realize it slowly... He washed his hands and prepared to go out.
But unexpectedly, the woman in a skirt behind him suddenly asked, "Tan Lang, is your academy teacher's surname Xie?"
Ouyang Rong was stunned, "Yeah, what's wrong?" Then he said helplessly, "Stop thinking about it. I'm going out."
He felt a little baffled, but he ignored Zhen and left Sanhuiyuan.
Inside the room, Mrs. Zhen rested her chin on her hand and looked at the back of someone as they walked out, her eyes narrowed.
"Really, it's up to Auntie to give you a chance."
…
