Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 346 Buddha Bathing Festival

On the eighth day of the fourth month in the third year of Xiaochang's reign, the Buddha's birthday, the whole world celebrated.

The Buddha's Bathing Festival is a festival established to celebrate the birth of the Buddha. Before the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was only celebrated by monks. Today, it has become an important festival among the people.

Su Ze had an ambiguous attitude towards Buddhism. In fact, Princess Chenliu could not be said to have any belief in gods or Buddhas, but pregnant women had more thoughts after all, and giving birth in this era was also a matter of walking through the gates of hell. So when Princess Chenliu wanted to go to the Buddhist temple in Yongle City to pray for blessings, Su Ze put aside his official duties and accompanied her.

The military also decided to start war preparations after the Buddha's Bathing Festival, so this was the last festival before the war in Guanzhong.

Su Cho drove all the officials of the Council of State and the Shogun's Office back home, and the commanders of each army also ordered their officers to leave the camp to celebrate the festival. The entire avenue of Yongle City was extremely crowded.

Because Su Ze had such a high prestige in Yongle City, he traveled in a low profile and squeezed in a carriage with Princess Chenliu.

Of course, outside the carriage were all Bai Lu Cao's guards, and two close bodyguards, [Daxia Longque Beishen] and Yuan Buddha, were on horseback guarding the two sides of the carriage, protecting Su Ze and his wife closely.

Yuan Fotu was Yuan Shen's son, and he also learned the news of his father's defeat from the military meeting.

When Yuan Fo was escorting Princess Chenliu to Xiazhou for her marriage, Yuan Shen told Yuan Fo that no matter what happened in the court, he must never leave Su Ze's side.

As a filial son, Yuan Buddha was sad but remembered his father's teachings.

Su Ze knew that Yuan Shen's arrangement to have Yuan Buddha escort the bride was actually also an attempt to entrust his son to the care of others.

Princess Chenliu liked Yuan Fote very much. Yuan Fote had risked his life to protect the wedding procession. Princess Chenliu was a relative of hers, so naturally she was more willing to let Yuan Fote protect her.

Su Ze knew that Yuan Fotuo had a kind character, but he was also a fierce general. He thought he was not a good general, so he was more willing to be Su Ze's bodyguard.

Su Ze and Yuan Buddha had known each other for a long time and knew his character, so he was confident in letting him serve as the leader of the guards.

Su Ze also asked Su Suan (the envoy who was well versed in human nature) who was stationed in Luoyang to work in Luoyang and find a way to make the court forgive Yuan Shen's crimes.

But in fact, Su Ze knew that this was just words to comfort Yuan Fotu. In this defeat, Yuan Shen almost destroyed the last elite imperial guards of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and his entire fortune was wiped out in one battle.

The military forces directly controlled by the court were not enough to defend Luoyang.

In situations like this, someone always has to take the blame.

As the Grand Commander, Yuan Shen must be the one to take the blame, and it was he who actually commanded this battle.

Su Ze specially brought Yuan Buddha with him on this Buddha Bathing Festival in order to let him go out and relax. From his name, we know that Yuan Buddha also believes in Buddhism.

In addition, Su Ze’s sister Su Yuyao was also sitting in the carriage.

Su Ze had been fighting in wars everywhere over the years, and it was only after he got married and had Princess Chenliu as his sister-in-law that he began to plan Su Yuyao's marriage.

As Su Ze's status has risen over the years, Su Yuyao has become more and more reserved, no longer the same as she was when Su Ze first traveled through time.

Su Ze felt that such a sister was not as close to him as when they were children, but some things could never go back to the past.

Su Yuyao was whispering something private to her sister-in-law. Su Ze seldom rode in a carriage and felt that it was stuffy and bumpy inside, so he chose to sit near the entrance to get some fresh air.

Su Yuyao respects her sister-in-law, Princess Chenliu, from the bottom of her heart.

When Su Ze was fighting outside, Princess Chenliu took care of Su Yuyao and his uncle Li Tong, while his brother went from being an affordable soldier in the imperial guards to marrying a princess of the Wei Dynasty in just a few years.

In Su Yuyao's eyes, her sister-in-law, the Princess of Wei, was marrying her brother.

As she grew older, Su Yuyao understood the reason behind the scandal between Su Ze and the so-called "Lü Zhu". This kind of "mutual love" between brother and sister-in-law is also a very attractive story for adolescent girls.

Su Yuyao began to imitate Princess Chenliu, and her manners became more dignified. Moreover, the girl had fewer and fewer topics to talk about with her brother, but she could talk about everything with her sister-in-law, Princess Chenliu.

Su Ze was also helpless. Although he didn't have a younger sister in his previous life, he knew that most adolescent girls looked like this.

The carriage stopped and started, and finally arrived at the temple in the south of Yongle City. The plaque of this Yongle Temple was inscribed by Su Ze himself, and the abbot of the temple was also an attendant summoned by Su Ze.

[A monk who is good at business]

Name: Debate.

Grade: Purple;
Effect: The economic benefits of the temple where the monk serves as the abbot or the receptionist will increase;
Comment: "The seven necessities of life for the Buddha are firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea."

Selling price: 500 Wen Tai and Wu Zhu coins, and a monthly maintenance fee of 100 Wen Tai and Wu Zhu coins is required, and commissions from incense money are required from Buddhist temples.

Bian Wen claimed to be Bian Ji's junior fellow student, and he rose to fame in Xiazhou under the name of Bian Ji. Under his management, the construction of Yongle Temple did not cost the Su Ze shogunate a penny. During the construction, Bian Wen did the work himself and called on believers to do good deeds (volunteer for the Buddhist temple), and actually built a temple of considerable size.

Of course Su Ze knew that these Buddhist temples had imprisoned a large number of people during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In order to avoid rent and taxes, the people handed over their land to the tax-exempt temples. At the peak of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the number of monks reached 10% of the national population!
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou destroyed Buddhism, liberated the productivity of Northern Zhou, and finally defeated the increasingly Buddhist and decadent Northern Qi and Southern Liang.

However, things like destroying Buddhism must be done, but it cannot be done now.

Although the time has not come to destroy Buddhism, Buddhism must also be controlled in the areas controlled by Su Ze.

For example, there is only one Buddhist temple in Yongle City, Yongle Temple. The monks' property of the temple is allocated land according to the quota of monks in the temple and cannot be increased or reduced at will.

Yongle Temple was also not allowed to lend money at high interest rates, and could not accept common people to become monks at will. Therefore, compared with other temples, the affix "bianwen" (good at management) was used to develop the temple economy.

By the time the carriage approached Yongle Temple, it had completely stopped moving.

Bian Wen turned the square in front of Yongle Temple into a market, and held a temple fair in front of the temple every month to attract vendors to set up stalls.

In addition, Bianwen also introduced a paid program for copying scriptures and short-term practice in the temple, which was welcomed by dignitaries in Yongle City as soon as it was launched. The vegetarian food of Yongle Temple became a well-known delicacy in Yongle City.

These things are not uncommon in Luoyang, but they are still very attractive in areas like Xiazhou.

Today is Buddha's Bathing Day, and Bian Wen has set up a platform in the square in front of the Buddhist temple to hold the Buddha's Bathing Ceremony.

This is the custom of Buddha Bathing Day. To celebrate the Buddha's birthday, a bronze Buddha is placed in a basin in the temple and washed with orchid soup.

The common people offered incense and money one after another, and the dignitaries in Yongle City, such as Su Ze, entered the temple through the side door under the guidance of the receptionist.

When he arrived inside the temple, Su Ze finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the strong smell of powder made Su Ze frown again.

Haven't I repeatedly warned that Buddhist temples must not be allowed to become places where filth and dirt are hidden?

Princess Chenliu rolled her eyes at him and said:
"Today is the Buddha Bathing Festival, and also the day for finding a relationship. All the women in Yongle City who want to find a relationship should come to the temple. Do you also want to find a relationship, my dear?"

Fate?

Su Ze realized that the Buddha's Birthday Festival also serves as a blind date event?
Su Ze quickly shook his head and said:

"I have never been to a Buddhist temple during the Buddha Bathing Festival in Luoyang, so I don't know about this custom. Let Yuyao make the connection."

Su Yuyao's pretty face turned red and she gave Su Ze a cold look.

The Buddha's Bathing Festival can also be considered a blind date event. Unmarried young men and women can go to Buddhist temples to worship. If they meet someone they like, they can send someone to inquire about the other person's name and family background. If the two parties have similar identities, they can try to propose marriage.

Of course, in this era, this activity has nothing to do with ordinary people. Those who can participate are at least from poor families, and a poor family is still a family.

However, it does not mean that adult men and women can wander around the temple. After paying homage to the Buddha statue, there are some simple martial arts events such as throwing pots and archery in the backyard of the temple. There are also cultural and artistic activities such as talking about Buddhism and copying scriptures, which makes it convenient for everyone to show themselves.

After being dragged by Princess Chenliu to worship the Buddha statue, Su Ze accompanied his wife to the Guanyin Temple to pray for a child, and let Su Yuyao go to the back house to play by herself.

Su Ze was a little uneasy. Princess Chenliu looked at him and said:
"Are you worried that the man sister Yuyao is entrusting to is not a good person?"

Su Ze nodded, and Princess Chenliu said, "So that's the case. My lord, you have so many talented people under your command, why don't you arrange a marriage?"

Su Ze still said in confusion:
"Twisted melons are not sweet."

Princess Chenliu rolled her eyes at her husband and said:
"Then aren't you and I also married by imperial order?"

Su Ze hugged his wife and said:

"Then we have been together for a long time?"

"Bah! What kind of adultery? A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory."

The two of them played around for a while, and Su Ze saw a familiar figure in white. Wasn't this Dugu Xin?

Come to think of it, in the history before Su Ze traveled through time, Dugu Xin's daughter was named Dugu Jialuo. Jialuo is a Buddhist term, which means a mantra to pray for peace and happiness, indicating that Dugu Xin was also a devout Buddhist believer.

It was normal for Dugu Xin to come to the temple to pay homage on the last Buddha Bathing Festival before going to war. Moreover, Dugu Xin was not married, so it seemed normal for him to come here to participate in the event.

Seeing Dugu Xin's handsome face again, Su Ze started to worry again whether his cabbage would be seduced away by a pretty boy.

After Dugu Xin went to the back house, Su Ze took his wife to visit the front yard of the Buddhist temple, and then walked around the commercial street in front of the temple. It was not until the evening that Su Yuyao came out of the temple.

Along the way, Su Yuyao kept talking to Princess Chen Liu in private. After returning to Baizhang Tower, Princess Chen Liu said to Su Ze:
"Sister Yuyao has taken a liking to your subordinate, Dugu Xin from the Six Towns."

Su Ze had an unexpected yet reasonable thought.

Princess Chenliu said:

"It's the Dugu Lang from Wuchuan, right? Sir, you have to give him some opportunities, otherwise he is not worthy of our sister Yuyao."

Su Ze was silent for a while and then said:

"If it's Dugu Lang, then I wouldn't worry about whether he can accomplish anything."

"Why is the young master worried about him?"

Su Ze didn't say anything, just said:
"Let's talk about it after this war."

I have to go out today, so the update from 7pm will be postponed to 9pm. I am very sorry. Thank you all.
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(End of this chapter)