Everyone must please the emperor, except those who are looking for death.

"Alas, I don't know if this dream is negative or positive, in short, I feel uncomfortable." Zhu Yuanzhang's face was haggard, as if he had just escaped death.

"Oh? The emperor is willing to speak out and let the concubines hear it, and the concubines may share the emperor's worries. Concubine Shu gently patted Zhu Yuanzhang's back.

"You can't share my worries. There is still half an hour to go to court, and I don't sleep. Zhu Yuanzhang got up and got out of bed, and Concubine Shu dressed him and put on a crown.

"Concubine Shu, do you have nightmares?"

"Yes, but the concubines didn't take it seriously." Concubine Shu tied Zhu Yuanzhang's belt, gently hugged him from behind, and pressed her face against his back.

"Have you ever dreamed that the dead are coming back to you?"

"Dead people?" A trace of sadness was fleeting in Concubine Shu's eyes, "Occasionally." ”

"What did they come to you for?"

"Your Majesty, they came to reminisce about the old days and ask the concubines if they are doing now."

"What if they want to hurt you?"

"Did the emperor take the sword just now to drive them away?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

"Your Majesty, no."

"Why?" Zhu Yuanzhang was displeased. Horror was still fighting for the tiger in the pores of his body, but no one around him stood behind him to support him.

Concubine Shu walked in front of Zhu Yuanzhang with a slightly solemn face: "Don't be angry, the emperor." If they want to be unfavorable to the emperor, they must have fallen into the beast path, the evil ghost path, and the hell path in the six realms of reincarnation. They are so bad that the emperor can't drive them away. ”

"Concubines have practiced Buddhism for decades, and the Buddha often said: Thousands of suffering beings are punished by this because of their karma in this world, and all the bad karma they have created can be purified through repentance. Only when they are open-minded and liberated will they not disturb the emperor anymore. ”

"What does their repentance have to do with me?"

"The emperor can provide them with a place and an opportunity, let them listen to the scriptures and listen to the Fa, give them food, and only those who suffer can be nourished by the Dharma water, and the emperor and the people of the Ming Dynasty will share the benefits of the Fa, and the merits are immeasurable."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the water and land puja.

In the early dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little absent-minded. Disturbed by nightmares, he was exhausted. Second, he was anxious to arrange a land and water puja to relieve his troubles as soon as possible.

After the ministers finished writing the recitals, he unexpectedly discarded his meticulous harshness, did not express his position on any of the recitals, and only said that he would return to it.

Some officials who committed crimes and were worried about them were glad to have escaped. Some officials who always think that their affairs are urgent, but they dare not urge.

The morning court adjourned half an hour earlier than usual. Li Shanchang and Song Lian were asked to stay.

The two of them were thoughtful, and naturally knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had something in his heart, and they were full of concern, hoping to solve problems for Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang let out a long sigh, only Li Shanchang and Song Lian were by his side, and he did not hide his sorrow.

"I dreamed of Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and ...... last night"

Li Shanchang and Song Lian looked at each other. Although Zhu Yuanzhang often left the two of them behind after the early dynasty, he never mentioned illusory things such as dreams and ghosts to them.

He is a down-to-earth person who is devoted to current affairs, and he always discusses with them what is happening at the moment.

"Hey! There are also those political envoys who were executed in the empty seal case, and there are concubines! Zhu Yuanzhang, with his always vigorous and resolute temperament, resolutely confided in all the people he was difficult to talk about, especially Concubine Yi.

Li Shanchang and Song Lian bumped their heads into each other, and the tirade treasured in their stomachs seemed to be useless, and at this moment they realized that Zhu Yuanzhang, who had reached the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, needed to expand their knowledge.

"What do you mean by that?" The two were speechless for a moment.

"Say! I forgive you no sin! ”

Regarding Zhu Yuanzhang's promise, Li Shanchang and Song Lian did not take it to heart. They know that if they say the wrong thing, they will die.

"Prime Minister, you speak first!"

Li Shanchang is a little familiar with medical skills, so he has to explain from the field he is familiar with: "Your Majesty, the ministers are shallow in their knowledge, and they don't know if the explanation is right." In the "Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon", it is mentioned that dreams arise due to the imbalance of yin and yang. If the qi of the five internal organs is excessive, it will not be possible to sleep peacefully. ”

"When a person sleeps, his internal organs and qi have to rest and recuperate, but when too much qi swims in the body, the body will react, which is dreaming."

"The prime minister is saying that my health is not good?" Zhu Yuanzhang was angry, but he tried to restrain himself. He demanded that he keep his word for at least a few hours.

"The emperor is not in a hurry. The emperor is in good health. When people eat grains, it is inevitable that there is an imbalance between yin and yang, and only a serious imbalance of yin and yang can be described as a disease. The emperor's current condition is still in the prime of life. ”

Li Shanchang exhausted what he had learned all his life and saved him. Staying by the emperor's side, he often faced this situation. He knows how to save himself.

Zhu Yuanzhang disagreed with Li Shanchang's opinion, turned his head and asked Song Lian: "What do you think of Bachelor Song?" ”

"The minister dared to ask, what are the people the emperor dreaming of doing?" Song Lian plans to find another way.

Zhu Yuanzhang bit his lip, raised his fist and landed heavily on the dragon case. Song Lian and Li Shanchang were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and begged for mercy as if they had been beaten by Lei Gong, and they muttered: "The minister should die!" Damn it! ”

"They're going to kill me!" Zhu Yuanzhang stared ahead, searching for traces of demons. He wanted to see if these evil ghosts dared to come to ask for his life in this broad daylight, under this bright and bright world, and in this unique Fengtian Temple.

The devil did not appear, Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the throne of Jinluan as steadily as Mount Tai, and regained his sanity with unrivaled confidence.

"Flat! I am scolding evil spirits, and you are not guilty. ”

He finally noticed that the two ministers were frightened by him, but he didn't care.

"They have become evil spirits, they are going to kill me, they are going to take me to hell. Mr. Song, let's talk about it, is this any sign of this? ”

Song Lian knew that he could no longer prevaricate with physical arguments, so he had to pour out the explanations he knew about dreams. As for the conclusion, he will not give it easily, Zhu Yuanzhang may already have the answer in his heart.

"Your Majesty, Wang Fu of the Eastern Han Dynasty said: 'The strange dream of the husband has many reasons and few people who do nothing' (1). Most of the dreams have a cause, they are all experienced by the emperor, and they are very important things. ”

"The emperor eliminated Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang, ended the situation of years of war, and founded the Daming Society; For the sake of the integrity of the Ming officials, the emperor had strict laws and executed officials who did not follow the rules; The emperor also executed the concubines of foreign countries for the purity of the Ming bloodline to prevent foreign invasions. Everything the emperor did was for the Ming Dynasty and the common people. ”

"Now that they appear in the emperor's dream, they have become evil ghosts to harm the emperor, they must have fallen into the path of hell and hungry ghosts, and they have endured the torture of all catastrophes. This shows that they have done too much evil in this world, and now they are suffering from this samsara. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyebrows gradually brightened, he spread out a piece of music on the case, and he didn't plan to approve it, but he felt that this piece was very cordial, and he liked the act of reading it.

Song Lian's heart was calm, and he knew that his explanation was very satisfactory to the emperor. This kind of rhetoric, he can talk about it for three days and three nights.

"The emperor dreamed that they were just going to heaven to let the emperor know where they were reincarnated, and let the emperor know that the emperor's fairness and justice and love for the people like sons, they all saw it in their eyes, and God would punish the wicked."

Song Lian didn't dare to mention the allusion to Zhou Zhuang's dream butterfly with Zhu Yuanzhang, if there is no difference between dreams and reality in essence, then there is no difference between those evil ghosts who want to kill Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yuanzhang who kills them.

"Master Song is erudite, can you tell me more about this reincarnation? I dreamed that the demons wanted to take me to hell......"

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. The evil ghosts are suffering from the rot of the intestines, the hungry eagle eating the meat, and the frying in the oil pot, and they are still unable to protect themselves, how can they take the emperor away? ”

"Oh, and when will they get out of hell?"

"I don't know when, maybe billions of years, maybe tens of billions of years. Your Majesty, the six realms are the Heavenly Dao, the Human Dao, the Animal Dao, the Asura Dao, the Hungry Ghost Dao, and the Hell Dao. Doing good deeds and keeping precepts can enter the way of humanity and heaven, and there will be more happiness and less suffering, otherwise you will enter the path of livestock, the path of hungry ghosts, and the path of hell, with less happiness and more suffering, and the path of hell is all suffering, and there is no happiness at all. The asura path is blessed and unvirtuous, and it is also an evil path. ”

"What if they don't get out of the evil way and often come to me to haunt me in my dreams?"

"Heavenly ......"

"Heaven may not limit the number of times they appear in my dreams, this is not the first time I have encountered evil spirits. I used to be strong and strong, and I didn't take these evil spirits seriously. After last night's nightmare, I was weak and weak, and my heart palpitated, even afraid of delaying today's court. In the long run......"

"The emperor is blessed with great blessings, and the evil ghosts will definitely not dare to come again."

"They have long been doomed, what are they afraid of?"

"This ......" Song Lian couldn't answer for a while.

Li Shanchang rubbed his hands in a hurry, he was afraid that the emperor would turn around and question him again. In terms of Buddhism, his attainments are not worse than Song Lian, and Song Lian can't answer the question, how should he deal with it?

"There is a way for ministers, but they don't know whether to talk about it or not?"

Song Lian lowered his head and didn't dare to look directly at Zhu Yuanzhang. He was originally reluctant to draw conclusions on this matter, but Zhu Yuanzhang got to the bottom of it, and if there was a black pot in front of him, he could only carry it.

"Say, I forgive you not guilty!" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed with scorching sparks, as if he was looking for a flame that could be lit.

If Song Lian looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang at this time, he knew that he would never need to be submissive and tremble.

His proposal may be the flame that Zhu Yuanzhang desperately needs.

"The water and land pujas will transform sentient beings in the six realms, so that evil spirits can be freed from the sea of suffering."

Song Lian held his breath and stared, his thoughts became clearer and clearer, and the evil consequences of this remark were already presented in front of him - Zhu Yuanzhang would reprimand him for not taking into account the hardships of the people's lives, ignoring the consumption of people's fat and people's ointment, and being unworthy of being the prince's teacher.

"Land and water puja?" Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to be surprised.

Song Lian never dared to raise his head, he interpreted Zhu Yuanzhang's surprise as a reproach, and he began to tremble.

Note: (1) Quoting Wang Fu's "Theory of the Hidden Husband"