A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 71 Return to the Song Dynasty and be buried in festivals

Three hundred and fourteenth year of the Bai Kingdom

After Mo Zhai stayed in the Bai Kingdom for several months, he returned to the Song Kingdom with his newlywed wife and mother. After returning to the Song Kingdom, Mo Zhai did not return to his home in the valley. Instead, he found a house in Shangqiu and prepared to settle down. In Shangqiu.

Mo's mother was very happy to see Mo Zhai, who was knowledgeable and capable, and asked Mo Zhai many times to seek an official position in order to revitalize the Mo family. Mo Zhai could not oppose his mother's request, so he had to find a way to become an official.

It just so happened that his wife Bai Qin said that Bai Guo had been very kind to Song Guo and could ask his father to introduce him to him. Although Mo Zhai did not want to rely on others' introduction to become an official, he had no choice but to agree in order to satisfy Mo's mother's wish.

Soon Bai Qin got Bai Jiu's letter of introduction, which said that Mo Zhai was a well-known and capable person in the Bai country, good at engineering and doing practical things, and Bai Jiu could endorse him.

Mo Zhai took Bai Jiu's letter of introduction and went to meet Song Gong. The Duke of Song heard that Bai Guo had recommended a talented person to Song. Based on Bai Guo's reputation for recommending talented people for many years, the person recommended by Bai Guo was definitely a great virtuous person. So Song Guo personally met with Mo Zhai.

At first glance, Mo Zhai was wearing brown clothes and straw sandals, with a dark complexion, and he looked like an old farmer. Song Gong was a little disappointed, but after several back-and-forth discussions and conversations, Song Gong was sure that Mo Zhai was really talented. When asked what he was good at, Mo Zhai said:
"Your Majesty, I am neither good at gorgeous words nor solemn etiquette. Please let me deal with the common people! I will definitely be able to govern them well."

So the Song Dynasty appointed Mo Zhai as a senior official, in charge of the craftsmen in Shangqiu. Mo's mother was very happy to see Mo Zhai become a noble. Even her weak body improved a lot.

Although Mo Zhai became a nobleman, except for court meetings, he still wore brown clothes and straw sandals. People in the Song Dynasty said that Mo Zhai was a "official of the common people." However, this outfit and Mo Zhai's outstanding talents suddenly became the favorite person of the lower class people in Shangqiu.

Mo Zhai was a humble man and treated everyone with respect, even a slave. Although his etiquette was not standard, his sincerity convinced the common people who interacted with him.

Three hundred and sixteenth year of the Bai Kingdom

Mo's mother passed away due to physical illness. Because Mo Zhai adhered to the concept of sparing burials and saving money, Mo Zhai's funeral was very simple. This caused great disturbances in the aristocratic and Confucian circles.

When Mo Zhai announced that the funeral of Mo Zhai was over, a Confucian scholar came to Mo Zhai and vigorously criticized Mo Zhai. He said that Mo Zhai was unkind and unjust for his mother who devoted her whole life to his mother to have a scanty burial and unfilial piety.

Mo Zhai was not angry after hearing this. Instead, he said calmly: "Today, when the three sage kings in ancient times have died, the world has lost its righteousness. Some gentlemen today regard generous burials and long mourning as benevolence and righteousness, and think that this is what a filial son should do. some regard it as unkind and unjust to pay a heavy burial and long mourning, and think that this is not what a filial son should do.

These two kinds of people attack each other with their words and opposite actions. They both say: "I am following the path of Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen and Wu." ’ However, their words were offensive and their actions were opposite, so the gentlemen of later generations were confused by the two statements.

If you are confused about the two statements, then let us try to implement their ideas widely in governing the country and the people, so as to examine, measure, and judge in which aspect a heavy burial and long mourning can be consistent with making the poor rich and the widowed. It is for the benefit of the masses to bring peace to those who are in danger and to bring order to those who are in chaos.

That being the case, let’s examine the opinions of those who follow the example of those who practice lavish burials and long mourning, and see how they use lavish burials and long mourning to govern the country.

First of all, the first case of thick burial, if it exists in the home of a prince or minister who has a funeral, it means that the coffin must be multi-layered, the burial must be deep, the deceased must be buried with more clothes, and the burial embroidery must be complicated. If you are rich, your tomb must be tall.

The second situation exists in the homes of ordinary people. Their belongings have not been much since ancient times, so generous burials will make them exhaust their family property.

The third situation is when a prince has a funeral and empties all the wealth stored in the treasury, then he decorates the body of the deceased with gold, jade and jewels, ties it up with silk wadding, and buries the carriage and horse in a hole. Make many curtains and curtains, bells and cauldrons, drums, banquets, jugs, mirrors, spears, swords, feathers, ivories, and leather, and place them in the palace of the deceased and bury them, and then you will be satisfied.

As for burials, the number of martyrs killed after the death of emperors and princes ranged from hundreds to dozens; the number of martyrs killed after the death of generals and officials ranged from dozens to a few.

What is the method of mourning? According to the custom, those in mourning must cry all the time, without changing their names, wear a mantle and tie, shed tears, live in a lean-to, sleep on a straw mat, and have a pillow of earth as their pillow.

They competed to endure not eating and allowed themselves to be hungry, and wore thin clothes and allowed themselves to be cold. It makes one's face thin and dark, his ears dull, his eyes dull, his hands and feet weak, and he is unable to do anything. Let us look at the consequences of mourning. If an upper-class scholar mourns, he must be supported to get up and use crutches to walk. Live this way for three years. If you imitate this kind of speech, implement this idea, and make the princes and nobles act according to it, then you will definitely not be able to go to the morning court;

If the scholar-bureaucrats follow this, they will definitely not be able to manage the five senses and six mansions, open up wasteland for vegetation, and fill the warehouses with food; if the farmers follow this, they will definitely not be able to go out early and come back late to cultivate and plant; if they let the craftsmen follow this, they will definitely be unable to You cannot build boats, cars, or make utensils; if you ask women to do this, they will definitely not be able to get up early and go to bed late to spin yarn, linen, and weave cloth.

If you carefully calculate the lavish burial, you will actually bury a lot of money; if you calculate the long-term mourning, you will actually prohibit people from doing things for a long time. Those whose property has been formed are buried in coffins; those who should give birth after the funeral are prohibited for a long time. Pursuing wealth in this way is like forbidding plowing and seeking harvest.

Therefore, it is no longer possible to make the country rich and the family prosperous by using rich burials and long mourning. Is it okay to use this to increase the number of people? I think this argument is not acceptable.

Long mourning stipulates that when the king dies, he must mourn for three years; when his parents die, he must mourn for three years; when his wife and eldest son die, they must mourn for another three years. Then, if uncles, uncles, brothers, and one's concubines die, the mourning period is one year; if close relatives die, the mourning period is five months; if the aunts, sisters, nephews, and aunts and uncles die, the mourning period is a certain number of months.

Therefore, the people could not bear the cold in winter and the heat in summer, and countless people fell ill and died. This will greatly damage the sexual intercourse between men and women. Pursuing an increase in population in this way is like making people bend themselves to the edge of a sword in pursuit of longevity. The theory of population increase is no longer achievable.

He also said that he wanted to use this to manage criminal government affairs. If we imitate this kind of speech and implement this idea, and make those at the top act according to it, it will be impossible to listen to the political state; if we make people at the lower level act according to this, it will be impossible to engage in production. In this way, the country will definitely be poor, the people will definitely be reduced, and the criminal administration will be chaotic. Therefore, it is no longer possible to use this method to govern the country.

Besides, if those who make chaos rule, if people who advocate rich burials and long mourning are in charge of government affairs, the country will inevitably be poor, the people will be reduced, and the criminal law and politics will be chaotic. If the country is poor, then the rice and wine for sacrifices will not be clean; if the people are reduced, there will be fewer people to worship God and ghosts; if the punishment and administration are chaotic, then the sacrifices will not be on time.

So God and ghosts began to ask questions from heaven: "What's the difference between me having these people and not having these people?" ’, if you put it this way, even if God and ghosts punish them and abandon them, don’t they still deserve it?
So I think the coffin is three inches thick and has three quilts, which is enough for the bones and flesh of the deceased to rot inside. The depth of digging should be such that there is no moisture leakage below and the smell of corpses does not escape onto the ground. The graves are enough for people to recognize them. After the burial, they were sent away crying and came back crying. After returning, they were engaged in production, seeking money for food and clothing, to help with sacrifices, and to fulfill their filial piety to their parents.

Therefore, I say that the scholars and gentlemen in the world today really want to be benevolent and righteous in their hearts, and pursue to be a superior scholar. They want to conform to the way of the holy king, and want to conform to the interests of the country and the people below. Therefore, they should be enlightened on the administration of funerals, not Don't investigate it! "

After listening to Mo Zhai's long speech, the Confucian scholar couldn't refute a single point. What was even more frightening was that his heart was shaken by the idea of ​​a rich burial and filial piety. The Confucian scholar could not say anything, so he had to quickly salute and run away.

The common people outside the courtyard also agreed with Mo Zhai's words and said, "That's right. We must be filial to our parents. It's just that we only have two or three children at home. How can we have a rich burial? Let's go to mourning and live alone." In 356 years, I don’t know what kind of waste this field has become.”

"Yes, that's right. Although I have always admired the gentlemen from the Confucian sect, I have always felt that what they said is wrong with ours, but I have never been able to say it out. Today, when I heard Mo Zhai say it, it turns out that's the case!"

"Mr. Mo Zhai, can you always speak for us? No one listens to our words, and we are often refuted until we are speechless. We have no choice but to behave in exchange for benefits. This makes those so-called gentlemen and scholars say that we are Rural pariah.”

"That's right! We also have our own ideas!"

Mo Zhai heard the words of many common people outside the door and said loudly: "Everyone, although I, Mo Zhai, am a doctor, I was also born as a commoner. Fortunately, my master taught me knowledge and made me understand a lot of truths. However, I am not here for When you speak, you speak for the truth.

My Master often said: The common people are the foundation of the world. And speaking out for the common people is the cornerstone of safeguarding the world. "

"Color!" "Color!" The common people were very happy, knowing for the first time that they were so important.

When the common people calmed down, Mo Zhai took advantage of the situation and said: "In order to let you understand more principles and prevent you from being bullied, I decided to open a forum in the Sophora Tree Square at the south gate. Anyone who wants to come and listen can come directly Come on, you don’t need to teach or teach, just don’t disturb other people’s lectures. Everyone still has a lot of work to do, so please don’t delay everyone’s work because of me, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

"Goodbye Mr. Mo!" Everyone outside the door said goodbye to Mo Zhai and left. Soon the whole city knew that Mo Zhai was going to give lectures at the South Gate and he would not be restricted from practicing.

(End of this chapter)