Chapter 27: Persuade the Governor of Chen

It is said that Master Zhishan took Wang Zipeng to give medicine all the way to cure diseases and save people. On this day, I came to the boundary of Chenzhou, and along the road, I saw hungry people starving all over the field, crying, and I was very sympathetic.

The Supreme Master came to a hungry man and asked, "Donor, where do you live?" Why is it like this? ”

"The master doesn't know, we are all people of Chenzhou, and we have suffered a flood this year, and there is no harvest. The common people looked at the imperial court for disaster relief, but who knew that after the disaster relief grain arrived in Chenzhou, it was sold to the grain merchants in the city at a high price by corrupt officials. In order to make huge profits, grain merchants raised the price of grain, and the price of a bucket of rice was ten times higher than in previous years. We are all ordinary people, who have no money to buy food, so we have to eat grass roots and bark. Now, the grass roots and bark in the hometown have been eaten, so everyone has to go hungry to other places to escape the famine and ask for food. In these years, natural disasters [***], everywhere we go, it is the same, so we have to go back to Chenzhou again, hoping that the imperial court will send a Qing official to come and release grain. The middle-aged man said.

When the Supreme Master heard this, he thought in his heart: "This dog official is too dark, and he even dares to embezzle the life-saving food distributed by the imperial court to the common people, which is really lawless." Since Lao Qu has passed through here and witnessed everything here, he can't ignore the people here. ”

"Amitabha, donor, who are your parents in Chenzhou? The old man is going to meet him. The Supreme Master said.

"Master, you can't manage these things as a monk, and now that the officials are protecting each other, it is still us ordinary people who want to sue and suffer. Not long ago, a showman in our neighboring village sued us and demanded justice, but he was beaten half to death. Later, no one dared to go to the yamen to complain. The middle-aged man said.

"Donor, in the past, it was said that Bao Zheng Chenzhou released grain and punished corrupt officials, even the emperor's relatives dared to touch it, but now the parents and officials of a state capital actually dare to eat the people's life-saving food at the feet of the Son of Heaven, are you willing to wait for death? Fueling the arrogance of corrupt officials? "The best master asked, alas-it's a pity, in today's imperial court, there is no better official like Lord Bao." The middle-aged man sighed.

"Donor, you guys wait here first, and then talk about it when the old man goes to meet this corrupt official. Zipeng, go! Let's go to Chenzhou Mansion. Master Zhishan said, and took Zipeng straight to the Chenzhou Mansion.

When the hungry people saw that Master Zhishan had taken his apprentice to Chenzhou, they had a lot of discussions.

"In my opinion, this master must be a high-ranking monk, maybe he is the living Buddha of Jigong." The middle-aged man said.

"I heard that the best master on the nameless mountain is a monk who has attained the Tao, he has traveled all over the world to save us, and recently the plague epidemic on both sides of the Yellow River, he took his apprentices to give medicine everywhere to save people, will these two people be the best master who saves the suffering?" A refugee who had just come from the Yellow River wondered.

"Needless to say, it must be the master and apprentice of the Supreme Master." A young man said excitedly.

Besides, the best master came to the palace and instructed Zipeng to beat the drum and voice the grievances.

Wang Zipeng came to the drum, picked up the drumstick, beat the drum "dong, knock, knock", and shouted: "The people of Chenzhou listen well, our adults are going to try the case of Chenzhou's grain release today. ”

When the people of the city heard this, they were so happy that they ran to tell each other.

"Today, maybe the imperial court sent a Qing official who wanted to know about the situation of the grain release in Chenzhou, so he beat the drum and shouted. Could it be that there is another Master Bao? ”

The people in the city were puzzled and came to the outside of the government to find out.

Chen Fusheng, the prefect of Chenzhou, was plotting with his master in the backyard to blackmail the merchants, when he suddenly heard the sound of the drum of grievances, and immediately ordered the officials to come and drive them away.

"Tell your prefect to come out to see me, and say that the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple, Master Zhishan, has come to pass the word." The Supreme Master said.

Wang Zipeng listened to the master's self-report and was taken aback, it turned out that the master was the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple, which was a popular person around the emperor, no wonder he dared to come to the Chenzhou Mansion to ask the prefect.

It is said that after listening to the self-report of the master of the best nature, where did he dare to be presumptuous, he was frightened one by one, and ran to the backyard to report the situation in a panic.

When Chen Fusheng heard the name of the Supreme Master, he was so frightened that he trembled.

"What to do? The supreme master is not a good stubble, he must have heard the people of Chenzhou along the way, and specially came to Xingshi to ask for guilt. Master, he must know about our embezzlement of relief grain, if he returns to the court to complain to the emperor Lao'er, what should I do? Governor Chen asked with trepidation.

"How many of them came?" The master asked the officials who came in.

"Two people, an old monk with a boy about fifteen years old." The official replied.

When the master heard this, his brows furrowed. He attached himself to the prefect's ear and whispered.

Governor Chen applauded again and again.

Governor Chen took the master and all the officials to the yamen to personally welcome the supreme master into the palace, Chen Fusheng looked pious and led the way, and the master followed the master obediently like a pug.

Chen Fusheng welcomed the master and apprentice of the Supreme Master into the living room, instructed the master to go down to prepare the meal, and he spoke respectfully with the Supreme Master.

"My lord, Lao Gao saw many hungry people starving to death in the wilderness along the way, crying, Lao Gao couldn't bear it, inquired about the situation, and learned that they were all people of Chenzhou. The emperor sympathized with the victims and distributed relief food to Chenzhou, but I don't know where the food is now? Why is it delayed? The common people are dying of hunger, and if they do not distribute it, they may provoke a popular uprising. Your Excellency, you are a smart man, so I don't need to say more. The Supreme Master stopped at this point.

Chen Fusheng listened, and didn't know how to answer for a while.

"Your lord, you'd better think it through. The old man gave you a poem, and you made your own mind after listening to it. The Supreme Master said:

It is said that only for hunger can there be food and clothing; ripped off Ayara's body and wore it, and looked up and thought the house was low; lived in a high-rise building and lived in Daxia, lacking a beautiful wife at the head of the bed; I have a wife and a beautiful concubine, and I said that I didn't have a horse to ride when I went out; Buy the high-headed horse with money, and follow less before and after the horse; The family recruited dozens, rich and powerless, and was bullied; bought a county magistrate, and said that the official was small and the status was low; bought a cabinet old position, and every time he thought about ascending the throne; One sits in the south of the world, and thinks of the gods playing chess; Dongbin played chess with him, and asked if there was a ladder to heaven; The ladder to heaven was not done, and the king of Hades sent ghosts to urge him to hurry; If it weren't for this person's big limit, it would be too low to go up to the sky.

When Chen Fusheng heard this, he understood in his heart that it was just the master warning him: greed is not enough to swallow elephants, and he wants him to eliminate greed and distribute food to the people. The master is a monk who has attained the Tao, he participates in the Zen machine, persuades people to be kind, although I am confused for a while, I listened to the master's strategy, and sold the grain to the merchant, but I am the parent official here, I have the right to return the grain to the merchant, and the money is returned.

The master's words were like an initiation, and the floating mouth suddenly opened. Master, don't worry, I will definitely distribute a lot of grain allocated by the imperial court to the hungry people. Governor Chen assured the master with a lot of feeling.

"Amitabha, the sea of suffering is boundless, and the shore is back, good, good!" The Supreme Master stood up, put his hands together and sang the Buddha's name.