Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 540 Waiting for the old monk to stretch his legs

Outside the camp, a carriage was parked. In the carriage, Monk Daoyan and Sun Shiwan sat opposite each other, exchanging news and discussing various subsequent arrangements.

After talking about these important things, Sun Shiwan ordered his close associates to bring the tea and asked Monk Daoyan to take a short rest.

"You're welcome, Master." He said enthusiastically: "I just went to visit the Crown Prince a few days ago and told him that those of us who are wandering around should help and support each other. Barbarians are rampant here, and you can meet fellow villagers. , these are not easy things.”

"Although we have some differences in some aspects, we are all members of the Huaxia family after all. Although this carriage is small, please treat it as your own place, Master. You might as well relax a little and taste this tea."

"The donor is the host, and the poor monk is the guest. Don't be too relaxed or lose your etiquette." Monk Daoyan still sat upright and said politely: "But this tea is indeed good. The poor monk is more respectful than obeying orders. .”

"Yes, please."

A few people exchanged pleasantries. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sun Shiwan asked: "There was a sudden accident in the city this time. I saw that Prince Wu's Mansion was particularly badly affected, and I was wondering if I could help donate some money to rebuild it. Does Master know about the situation there?"

"To be honest, I don't know very well." Monk Daoyan shook his head: "I was discussing the scriptures and meanings in the temple with the Queen Mother of Da Qin, Mr. Ma, a scholar of heaven, and others. Because the matter was urgent, I didn't have time to go to the scene. Look. By the time daybreak passes, it will be over over there."

"Several of the guys who do business with me all said that Jin Yiwei was also operating here. Logically speaking, they should have known about such a big thing in advance, right?" Sun Shiwan asked.

"You're welcome." Monk Daoyan said politely, and then joked: "Buddhism says that all living beings are equal, and it also says that one should not focus on skin appearance. But there are many people in the world who worship Buddha, but few who believe in Buddhism. It seems that this is not the case. A situation that is easily avoidable.”

"I will tell the prince when I get back." Monk Daoyan replied directly without agreeing or objecting.

Java Yuan also often uses the convenience of business networks to go to various places to inquire about the situation. According to their understanding, although King Wu himself has a weird and eccentric behavior, the most outrageous thing he does now is to run around, find all kinds of random people every day, and call on them to help him do great things.

Sun Shiwan thought for a while, but couldn't find any place to continue questioning.

This kind of thing sounds a little crazy, but the princes of the Ming Dynasty were more outrageous than the other. In comparison, his hobby was considered relatively healthy.

"If Grand Master doesn't believe it, you can ask Prince Wu's Mansion to send people to stay here and be responsible for communicating with each other. We will provide food and daily expenses." He suggested: "It just so happens that our Chamber of Commerce will take advantage of this opportunity to merge We have recruited several colleagues. In the future, the guilds in the city will probably be reorganized. We will need to add more shops, workshops and shops, and we are in need of manpower."

Therefore, he definitely hopes to minimize conflicts if possible. Anyway, Jin Yiwei also has various difficulties. It would be better for both parties to give in and make peace and make money.

He hesitated for a moment, as if he couldn't accept the judgment that the heroine Jeanne was also a beauty.

"But I heard from Jinyiwei, where did you send a girl to die?" Monk Daoyan also said directly: "They asked me to tell you, don't use this method to plant spies there. If it is a normal gift contribution, , they won’t care; but if they encounter someone within their business scope, even if there is a lack of manpower here, they will have to intervene. After all, there was an accident just before, so I don’t dare to be careless again.”

"That girl is too tall and too big." Sun Shiwan was a little surprised, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed to make sense: "But they are indeed very close, even if Sun is a new outsider, he can see it. But ……this……"

"Who are you talking about?" Sun Shiwan asked, "When I came to visit two days ago, I should have met everyone here."

As one of the noble people on Java Yuan's side, he naturally has his own spies and security experts. However, after all, I came here to do business, and the risk of getting into a fight with someone for no reason was too great and not worth it.

"If this was an ordinary child, he would probably be unable to hold it in. That means he has lofty aspirations and doesn't care about this. So, I just had a whim and came up with such a crooked idea. Master, please don't laugh at me. "

"No, no." Sun Shiwan waved his hands repeatedly: "Then she is really just an ordinary weaver. I asked the housekeeper to choose a good-looking one to use as an advertisement here, and that's how I picked it. In fact, she didn't even know how to operate the weaver. I don’t even know how to use it on the floor, because it’s really just used as a vase, and I haven’t had any training in it.”

"The Jinyi Guards are not omnipotent. They have their own tasks and are very busy at work. Moreover, Prince Wu's Mansion is a place approved by His Majesty, and they have not committed any mistakes. They will not just come over to monitor and interfere." Dao Yan The monk still answered calmly.

"Thank you, Master." Sun Shiwan cupped his hands: "As for that woman, I don't have any other intentions. Please help clarify it. If you are really worried, just ask him to deal with it by himself. Don't worry about Sun's face. .After all, if you give someone something as a gift, you can’t take care of it anymore.”

"Hey, I'm a layman after all." Sun Shiwan didn't care: "But to be honest, I do have good intentions. At the prince's age, if he were in our area, he should have already had contact with women. It's just a combination of Western and Western culture. They are all Rong Di women, very rough. The occasional ones who are okay if they have the conditions are all from noble families in the Qin Kingdom, and they will not come to be maids. "

"That's the tall Thai girl with blond hair." Monk Daoyan described: "The prince seems to be very close to her. He probably regards her as this kind of beauty to accompany him."

Monk Daoyan smiled and shook his head and said: "There must be no shortage of beauties to accompany the Crown Prince."

"I shouldn't have said this, but it's just a small talk anyway, so please forgive me for saying a few words. Is the prince in a barbarian land and has been away from Chinese cultural relics for too long?" Sun Shiwan went against his usual caution and whispered. He muttered: "That girl from Xirong, her facial features are okay, but her face is too rigid, her skin is not smooth enough, and her figure has no petite beauty. She acts carelessly, and she has not received any etiquette education at first glance. Her hands look quite rough. She’s pretty and her feet are big. She doesn’t look like a beauty, but she looks like a village girl.”

"Hey, Master, you are a monk, so you probably don't bother to know this. But in our opinion, this girl's beauty is probably... a little bit not enough for the stage. After all, the prince is a serious person, and when really needed, he can't even There are no maids with good looks. Even if it is not to please the eyes, the daily operations of the palace should be indispensable for these things. "

"I really don't know much about it." Monk Daoyan didn't bother to argue with him. He just said casually: "People in different places have quite different appearances. Maybe the girls here take this as their beauty." "Moreover, the prince seems to have recruited another girl from Zhongyuan recently. I see that the two of them often joke with each other, so they should have a good relationship, right?"

"That one." Sun Shiwan could indeed directly remember who it was, but he couldn't help but smile and shake his head: "The same goes for that one. And, precisely because she is from the Central Plains, the question is more direct."

"I remember that she also stayed in our Dayuan. This girl seems to be young, but she is already this tall. She is not engaged in a serious job yet, and likes to dance with guns and sticks. When she is fully grown, she will be taller She is no worse than the girl from Xirong just now. Moreover, her hands and feet are equally thick. Although our country is also overseas, she can't really be called a beauty even in our small territories. The key is that around the prince, These two girls of the same age, one Chinese and one Yi, both look like Bigfoot village women. When others see this, won't they laugh at the prince for his lack of taste? Of course, this is just my personal opinion."

"Uncle Sun is so humble." Monk Daoyan smiled and shook his head, taking advantage of the situation and asking: "Don't you people in Java dislike this kind of people? Although I studied Buddhism, I have also read some Confucian classics." The great beauty Zhuang Jiang is described in the Book of Songs, and it is clearly written as 'Shuo Ren Qiqi', which means that she is tall and slender. Is the change now so big? It shouldn't be the case."

"Maybe it has something to do with the region." Sun Shiwan thought for a while and said, "The descriptions in the Book of Songs are all in the Central Plains area. It's not surprising that people in the north still like this kind of woman."

"After all, the Book of Songs is too old, and the people of that era were still very simple. Perhaps the aesthetics of the Northerners and Rong Di are closer to that era that was not far away from the barbaric wilderness. As for us in Jiangnan, since the Six Dynasties, we have gradually As it rises, it has its own set of aesthetics. Moreover, after culture and education develop, these evaluation standards have more cultural significance, and they are definitely different from places like them."

"Of course, it is understandable that the ancients were like this. But now, only ordinary people whose family background is not well-off will like such strong women." He explained: "As for the scholar-bureaucrats who have some money and taste, they all leave This is the most instinctive and vulgar aesthetic. Therefore, the most popular ones are thin and delicate women."

At this point, maybe it was because he had come to a part that he liked. Sun Shiwan seemed to be quite interested. Regardless of whether the other party wanted to hear it or not, he directly introduced: "Among them, slim shoulders, slim waist, and flat chest are the best. Of course. Well, for the best quality, you have to look at the feet.”

"It is said that Concubine Pan of Donghunhou of the Southern Qi Dynasty was famous for her beautiful feet and was very favored. Donghunhou had people chisel gold into the shape of a lotus and stick it on the ground so that Concubine Pan could walk on it. It was known as 'Lotus grows with every step' '. Therefore, later generations called this kind of foot 'Golden Lotus'. In total, the history is not short."

"Later, Empress Li of the Southern Tang Dynasty built a 'Golden Lotus Platform', and asked the concubines to wrap their feet in cloth, wrap them into a crescent shape, and dance on the platform. As a result, the feet became small and beautiful, and the dancing posture was as if they were floating in the clouds. Because of this good effect, his method quickly became popular and remains so until now."

"Generally speaking, the trend is like this. The closer to today, the more educated people like this kind of petite women." Sun Shiwan concluded: "In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, there was a change. Maybe It's because the Tang Dynasty was greatly influenced by the Hu people, and their aesthetics also became barbaric. However, during the Song Dynasty, a lot of the influence of the Hu people was stripped away. In addition, the Song Dynasty had a developed economy and a prosperous culture, which was far better than that of the Tang Dynasty. Scholar-bureaucrats The aesthetics will return to orthodoxy."

"Amitabha." Monk Daoyan recited the Buddha's name and said with emotion: "Although this is not the first time I heard this, the step-by-step lotus flower should have been an allusion to the Buddha. It is not that it cannot be borrowed, but it is used here. Farming places, I always feel..."

"What's wrong? Is it offensive?" Sun Shiwan asked: "The word golden lotus is indeed widely used, but I don't think everyone wants to target Buddhism."

"It doesn't matter. Marquis Donghun himself soon encountered retribution." Monk Daoyan said, "However, there is another story about Buddhism. Regarding the cause of Empress Li's death, does the donor know?"

Sun Shiwan shook his head.

"I heard from the eminent monks in the capital that there was a popular story there. It was said that after Empress Li made the Golden Lotus Platform, the government and the public started the habit of binding feet and wearing small shoes. For a time, parents pushed their daughters, and mothers-in-law were picky about their daughters-in-law. Husbands hate their wives... The people are in a mess, and many women are forced to endure severe pain and bind their feet into a bow shape. And the initiator of all this is Empress Li."

"The Emperor of Heaven was very angry when he heard about this, so he asked Empress Li to bear the pain of the medicine when he died. The medicine was a famous poison at that time. The person who was poisoned would have twitching all over the body, so that the head and The foot was pulled back, shaped like a curved bow, until finally, it was beaten to death. Later, Emperor Li was poisoned by the Song Emperor, and his death was extremely miserable. Those who understand the truth will know that he let others endure the twisting of the bow. If you suffer, then you will have to bear it. This is also a kind of retribution."

"It can be seen that everyone should not harm others rashly, otherwise the karma will eventually come back to you, even if it is obscure."

"Uh..." Sun Shiwan was speechless for a moment, thought for a while, and said in a confused way: "There is also the Emperor of Heaven here. It's not a story related to Buddhism. Master is too serious."

"And when it comes to this kind of thing, there may be a difference between teaching and learning. Buddhism emphasizes abstinence, but we lay people are not so strict. Moreover, this is actually a norm for women, and it is actually for their own good. Many great scholars over there may have done this for this purpose. This is also the teaching of Confucius and Zhu Zi."

"Confucius never said this." Monk Dao Yan laughed and said, "As for Zhu Zi, it is even more impossible."

"Zhu Xi's family all studied under the lineage of Er Cheng. He himself often expressed his respect and admiration for Er Cheng's Neo-Confucianism. It can be said that they are of the same strain. Moreover, the women of the Cheng family, on the contrary, are They are famous for not binding their feet and not opening their ears. They are originally opposed to these."

"Zhu Xi's disciples also continue to try to stop this trend, thinking that it is causing innocent children to suffer infinite suffering, and it is useless. The masters of the past generations are obviously opposed to this trend. Occasionally, If some people claim to be Zhu Xi, they may be fake. After all, this behavior has violated the principles of Neo-Confucianism, so what does Zhu Xi do to support it?"

"Ah? Violated?" Sun Shiwan looked like he really didn't know.

"Neo-Confucianism requires 'preservation of natural principles and elimination of human desires', retaining only natural needs and eliminating unnecessary desires. Binding women's feet means making them suffer in order to please themselves. If this is not 'human desire', what is this? It is not difficult to think, and the Neo-Confucianists obviously know it, so they have insisted on opposing it since the second Cheng. As for controlling women, they are just a means to achieve the goal. Controlling women is to realize the laws of heaven, not Discipline women for the sake of controlling women. How can there be no ultimate requirement, but should give way to means?"

"This, that's it..." Sun Shiwan said blankly.

"I thought you really understood Confucianism." Monk Daoyan smiled again and shook his head. He obviously relaxed a little, straightened his legs and reached towards Sun Shiwan.

Sun Shiwan didn't react for a moment. Monk Daoyan pushed his legs to the side and said, "Let the poor monk stretch his legs first."

(End of this chapter)