On the eighth day of September in the sixth year of Wanli, the emperor's eldest daughter was born, and Zhu Yijun became a father at the age of sixteen. For him, who had no children in his previous life, this was a very fresh experience - as if he had grown up again.
In fact, according to his original idea, it would be best to wait until the age of eighteen to get married and have children, so as to set an example for all people in the world to marry later and have children later. However, as his understanding of the Ming Empire gradually deepened, he increasingly felt that he could not postpone his pro-government days until three years later; and Zhang Juzheng's life span in the original time and space also made him feel that time was urgent, because in terms of political ability and prestige , Zhang Juzheng are the best candidates to initiate and promote reforms. As for setting an example for late marriage and late childbearing - King Lu and the princesses can do this for them.
Zhu Yijun felt guilty for the queen. On the one hand, he allowed Zhuang Jingjia to enter the palace when her mind was immature; on the other hand, when Zhuang Jingjia's body was not fully developed, in order to allow her to obtain the status of the empress dowager after her sudden death and continue to promote reforms, he also Make Zhuang Jingjia pregnant.
For a comprehensive plan, Zhu Yijun asked the medical school to conduct in-depth research on women's birth technology for a year. Medical schools were not inspired by her and invented midwifery tools such as forceps. After accumulating some surgical experience, I tried to perform lateral incision surgery and caesarean section on women with difficult labor who had given up hope.
Even under the premise that the traveler directly taught the knowledge about infection, due to the backward anesthesia and disinfection methods, the success rate of lateral incision was less than 70%, and the success rate of caesarean section was only 30%.
Among the people, medical schools have a god-like reputation for treating difficult labor. But for Zhu Yijun, this terrible success rate is no different from dying. In desperation, when Zhuang Jingjia was about to give birth, he allocated money and arranged for people to pray everywhere. The two palaces also chanted sutras and prayed every day to pray for the queen to have a smooth delivery. Empress Dowager Li also issued a special decree to summon two eminent monks, Zibai and Hanshan, from Wutai Mountain to hold a Dharma assembly in the palace to pray for blessings.
Perhaps it was the care of the gods, or maybe it was Zhu Yijun who asked the queen to strengthen her pregnancy exercise. Zhuang Jingjia gave birth to a girl without using the operating room of the medical school. Although no son was born, for the ministers, the proof of the emperor's and empress's fertility was enough for them to express their congratulations. Some of them asked the emperor not to continue to favor her in the harem in order to increase the number of crops and harvests.
After many warnings from Empress Dowager Li and repeated remonstrances from Empress Dowager Chen, Zhu Yijun promised the two palaces that after the empress became pregnant again, he would favor other concubines and have more children - after all, things like postpartum depression are common in later generations. He also wanted to grow old with Zhuang Jingjia, so he had to be more cautious.
After the emperor's eldest daughter was born, she was not named, but she was canonized as Princess Rongchang after she was one month old. The birth of Princess Rongchang also made other concubines in the harem extremely jealous. Zhu Yijun successively punished several people around him who led him to "encounter" the concubines in the Imperial Garden, Xiyuan and other places, so that he could maintain his "temporary loyalty" to Zhuang Jingjia.
On the one hand, Zhuang Jingjia was very intoxicated by the emperor's special favor, but on the other hand, she was also under great pressure. In order to dispel her concerns, Zhu Yijun had no choice but to tell her that he hoped that the eldest son of the emperor would also be his legitimate son - he explained the same to the two palaces.
The emperor's ability to resist the urge to lower his body during the queen's pregnancy and childbirth also refreshed the outlook of the Ming court people. Empress Dowager Li compared her husband with her husband and complained bitterly to Empress Dowager Chen. She caught an odd number - looking at the appearance of Sejong and the late emperor, she couldn't believe that the emperor was Sejong's descendant.
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Monk Hanshan, who performed rituals in the palace, was one of the monks whom Empress Dowager Cisheng admired more.
In the Ming Dynasty, the development of Buddhism was closely related to the religious policies promulgated by Taizu. Taizu himself had been a monk for a period of time and was very aware of the shortcomings in Buddhist management. After he was established, he believed that Buddhism had both a negative side and an important auxiliary role, so Buddhism was a combination of management and utilization. As for himself, he was not affected by Buddhism in the slightest when he was creating murderous karma.
For the purpose of facilitating governance and deceiving the people, and to minimize the negative impact of Buddhism on production and life. Taizu formulated detailed religious management systems and measures for the promotion and management of Buddhism [Note 1].
These systems and edicts played a decisive role in the development of Buddhism in China. By the Ming Dynasty, the development of Buddhism in China was neither as muddy as it was in the Manchu and later generations, nor was it suppressed and had no place to stay, as it was in the dynasties that destroyed Buddhism. It has been tepid and in a healthy state.
Although Buddhism suffered a huge impact during the Jiajing period because the emperor believed in Taoism, Emperor Longqing believed in Buddhism and corrected Jiajing's policy of advocating Taoism and exterminating Buddhism after he ascended the throne. As for his two wives, they worshiped Buddhism to the point of obsession. Especially Empress Dowager Li, her Buddhist worshiping activities in the original time and space directly brought the prosperity of Buddhism to its highest peak after the Sui and Tang Dynasties in the late Ming Dynasty.
In the sixth year of Longqing's reign, the newly appointed Empress Dowager Cisheng, together with Feng Bao, Duke Zhu Xizhong and other dignitaries, donated a big bell to Huanggu Temple. Huanggu Temple has always had a close relationship with the court of the Ming Dynasty, which worshiped Buddhism. Empress Dowager Li's donation of the bell actually showed the world the trend of worshiping Buddhism in power.
After Empress Dowager Li took the lead, she immediately set off a trend of worshiping Buddhism in the world, which already had a certain foundation of Buddhism. "Many Buddhist temples were built inside and outside the capital, and tens of thousands of dollars were spent." After Zhu Yijun crossed over, he turned Empress Dowager Li's interest in using internal funds to build Buddhist temples to Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet and other places. However, in order to curry favor with the benevolent sage, the Han dignitaries donated temple lands, gold and silver, which far exceeded the investment of internal funds in the border areas.
In the second year of Wanli, the Li Ke inscribed "Three Prohibitions on Left Taoism" to Shi Zhongliang Shi, which said: "Today, there are countless temples and monasteries, large and small... Temples of obscenity incite public customs." He also said, " Heretics whitewash their appearance to deceive the common people, but they are not as prosperous as they are today." - If Zhu Yijun hadn't stopped him, Empress Dowager Li would have killed him.
Empress Dowager Li could shout and kill her when dealing with something, but she did not dare to do this to Zhang Juzheng. As a disciple of Legalism in the guise of Confucianism, Zhang Juzheng is an atheist in the absolute sense.
With the support of Zhang Juzheng, the Ministry of Rites issued a series of orders to "forbid leftist Taoism" and reiterated the increasingly disintegrated Taizu's "Book of Affirmation of Buddhism" to put an end to the disorderly development of Buddhism. The Cisheng Empress Dowager in the early years of Wanli was not very clear about the original meaning of Buddhism - as evidenced by the use of internal funds to build Bixia Yuanjun's Empress Temple. Faced with the unhealthy trends of "transcending etiquette" and "extravagant consumption" in Buddhism at that time, he was also very disgusted. Therefore, there is no longer any objection to Zhang Juzheng's well-founded suppression.
After Zhu Yijun gradually took control of the political affairs, Empress Dowager Li had a lot of time to worship Buddha and study Buddhism in depth. She became a devout Buddhist earlier than before.
Religion in China has never achieved the lofty status of the Papal States in the Middle Ages. Buddhists are all well aware that "it is difficult to establish Dharma without relying on the ruler of the country" and "all the Buddhist deeds done by ascetics are nothing more than blessings for the country and the enlightenment of the emperor." They are well aware that their own development must rely on the imperial power.
As the biological mother of the emperor, the Empress Dowager Cisheng was highly valued by Buddhism. At that time, all the eminent monks who were famous all over the world regarded it as their most sacred mission to teach the Dharma in the palace.
In the first year of Wanli, Cisheng used the pretext of "selecting monks to chant sutras to protect the country", and the Senglu Division summoned eminent monks to the palace to teach the Dharma, and Hanshan was among them.
Han Shan had a lot of wisdom when he was young. Before he started practicing Buddhism, his master saw his intelligence and asked him to study Confucianism and Taoism first. He also learned knowledge about worldly affairs and was more skilled in human emotions. Teach by precept and example.
In this way, Hanshan was like cheating after his ordination. He worked hard all the way and quickly gained a huge reputation. Because he was well versed in the world, when he taught the Dharma to Empress Dowager Li, he was both easy to understand and insightful. He explained clearly the practice methods and realms of lay people, which greatly pleased Empress Dowager Li.
In the spring of the fifth year of Wanli, Hanshan made a vow during his spiritual practice to repay his parents' deep kindness by piercing blood and writing sutras in gold, following the emperor's example of piercing blood to copy sutras and praying for the Queen Mother. Cisheng was greatly moved when he learned about it. He felt that Hanshan had done something to break the rumor that "Buddhists can break off their worldly ties by abandoning their parents and family." He ordered Zhu Yijun to "give gold and paper to help" in the name of the emperor.
In the autumn of the same year, three eminent monks, Zibai, Miaofeng and Hanshan, held a grand blessing ceremony in Mount Wutai to wish the emperor a long heir. This matter suited Empress Dowager Li's thoughts. In addition to sponsoring alms, she also vowed to build a pagoda of Sakyamuni Manjusri relics on Wutai Mountain to bless the birth of the first prince.
By the end of the year, the news of Zhuang Jingjia's pregnancy was confirmed. No matter how much effort her son made, Empress Dowager Li immediately concluded that this was the role of the Wutai Mountain Dharma Assembly, and fell deeper and deeper into worshiping Buddhism.
When Zhuang Jingjia was about to give birth, how could Queen Mother Li not find her most trusted eminent monk to protect her? Therefore, Zibai and Hanshan were ordered to return from Wutai Mountain and chant sutras and pray day and night at the completed Rensheng Temple. When the queen gave birth smoothly, Empress Dowager Li said to Zhu Yijun: "Look, the eminent monk is chanting sutras and your daughter-in-law has a normal birth. What else can you say?!" Zhu Yijun couldn't laugh or cry after hearing this.
But the fly in the ointment is that Queen Mother Li thinks that Princess Rongchang should be a boy. Well, there must be something wrong at some point, otherwise it shouldn't be the case.
Of course you have to ask if you have questions, so on September 19th, the day when Guanyin Bodhisattva became a monk, Master Hanshan was taken to the Yangxin Hall. Cisheng and the emperor wanted to personally ask why the queen's first child was a daughter.
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