Shi Tianwu shared with you the magnetic field rotation

Chapter 562 The Living Buddha Has Arrived
From the time Emperor Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to the present day, the Han people in the north have lived under the rule of the Khitan for more than two hundred years.

The Khitans used Han customs to govern Han people, without deliberately trying to change the traditional way of life of the Han people. As a result, the Han people in the north still retained many Han customs. However, the cultures of the Khitans and other northern ethnic groups were also merging with the Han people in the north. The biggest difference was that it changed the accent of the Han people in the north.

The Liao and Khitan states were well aware of the importance of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to the Southern Song Dynasty. Important passes were heavily guarded; Khitan warriors rode through the county towns on horseback.

Shi Jin led Zhu Wu and the other two northwards. After passing through the outskirts, they gradually arrived at a county town with a slightly denser population.

They only glanced at them from afar and dared not approach. The vagrants wandering outside the county town were very different from the beggars they were disguised as.

Shi Jin and his three companions were huddled up, their backs hunched, and their faces clearly showed they were in disguise.

They had full faces and bright, lively eyes, while the real refugees all had prominent cheekbones and dull eyes.

They also couldn't disguise themselves as ordinary people to blend into the city, because as soon as they opened their mouths, they clearly had an accent different from the locals.

"What do we do now?" Chen Da asked in a low voice.

"Let's not go into the city. Let's just patrol all the villages outside first," Shi Jin said softly.

"I will do as my husband says."

Chen Da sighed inwardly, feeling saddened. Why did Shi Jin enjoy living a life of hardship so much?

If Zhu Wu were to lead the way, he wouldn't have them disguise themselves as beggars or refugees. Instead, they would have them act as a merchant caravan from the Song Dynasty heading north, openly exploring and searching throughout the Yan and Yun regions.

Chen Da's idea is good, but it also carries great risks.

After Yelü Yanxi, the Khitan ruler who favored sycophants and distanced himself from virtuous ministers, ascended the throne, the situation in the Liao Dynasty deteriorated rapidly, heading towards the end of the dynasty even faster than during the reign of the previous emperor, Yelü Hongji.

The Han Chinese, Bohai people, and even the Khitans themselves suffered cruel exploitation from the Khitan upper class. The Liao Dynasty's taxation of people of all ethnicities reached the point of depleting resources.

In addition to the regular taxes, there were all sorts of surtaxes. Officials of all ranks lined their own pockets and added taxes at each level, causing great suffering to the people.

Many people starved to death could be seen on the roads, and not a rooster crowed for miles around.

The more severe the famine, the harsher the living conditions became in the north.

Unlike the south, which has a favorable climate and natural environment, where people can survive in the mountains and wilderness if they can't make a living in the fields, winters in the north can freeze people to death.

It was October, the time for rice harvesting in the south of the Song Dynasty. Shi Jin was from Huazhou, where the main crops were wheat, chestnuts, and millet, similar to those in the north.

Shi Jin, who had never engaged in farming, led Zhu Wu and the other two to study the crops grown by the people in the fields of Yanyun.

First, let's find out what people in the north eat.

……

……

Wearing monk's robes, a cassock, and carrying a monk's staff, Lu Zhishen also stepped into the territory of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

The Liao Dynasty, ruled by the Khitans, revered Buddhism. Buddhist temples and shrines were numerous in the northern Liao Dynasty. Lu Zhishen walked north along the main road without being deliberately harassed by anyone. When he encountered Khitan warriors on horseback, they would deliberately give way.

After indulging in feasting and drinking in Hangzhou for over a month, Lu Zhishen had gained some weight. His belly was much bigger than before, and the extra fat on his face made him look much more amiable.

Lu Zhishen appeared to be compassionate and sympathetic.

What Shi Jin saw along the way, Lu Zhishen also saw.

He would stop from time to time to chant sutras for the deceased. He didn't know how to chant sutras, but he found a few books and carried them with him in order to pretend to be a wandering monk. When something happened, he would take them out and pretend to recite a few verses.

By constantly performing Buddhist rites for the dead by the roadside, Lu Zhishen unknowingly memorized the Buddhist scriptures, and this former frivolous monk became a true monk.

Lu Zhishen swaggered to the county town gate and was questioned by the gatekeeper and soldiers. Speaking with a southern Song accent, he had no silver on him, and the only thing of value he seemed to have was his patchwork monk's robe. Yet, Lu Zhishen was still allowed into the town.

Despite his bald head, Lu Zhishen couldn't help but laugh when he saw the peculiar hairstyles of the Khitans and other northern ethnic groups.

The hairstyles of some Han Chinese from the north were assimilated by those of the Khitans, Bohai people, and foreign merchants from the Western Regions.

After entering the city, Lu Zhishen was quite experienced. He went directly to the Buddhist temples in the city to ask for lodging. No abbot of the temples would refuse him lodging.

Lu Zhishen passed through a village where the villagers could only eat once every two days, yet they never missed a day of offerings to the Buddhist temple next to the village, which made Lu Zhishen's scalp tingle.

"Master Zhishen, you come from the place where the Living Buddha became a monk. Could you share some Buddhist teachings with us?"

The abbot of the temple in the city attached great importance to Lu Zhishen's arrival, because Lu Zhishen was a monk on Mount Wutai, which is the sacred site of Manjushri Bodhisattva.

However, the Wutai Mountain where Lu Zhishen lived was the mortal Wutai Mountain, not the Wutai Mountain where the true body of Manjushri Bodhisattva resided. Otherwise, the monks on the mortal Wutai Mountain would have been devoured by the demon king, the Green Lion Spirit, long ago.

"How can we communicate like this?" Lu Zhishen felt a pang of panic.

"Just give us a few topics to debate, and you can debate with us."

“Master, please give me the question.” Lu Zhishen was ready for battle.

"There is a fork in the road. One fork has one person, and the other fork has five people. A group of bandits are about to attack and kill the five people on the other side. However, if the person on one side dies, the five people on the other side can be saved. What should you do?" the abbot asked Lu Zhishen.

"Oh, then let those five people over there die," Lu Zhishen said.

"What? Why?" the presiding elder exclaimed in surprise.

"For no reason," Lu Zhishen said.

"Isn't it worth it to exchange one person's life for the lives of five others?" the presiding elder asked.

"The Buddha said that all beings are equal, so does that mean one person's life is not a life?"

“If one person’s life is equal to the lives of five others, how can that be called equality?” Lu Zhishen said.

"Besides, this question is meaningless."

“If I were to encounter them, I would kill that band of bandits,” Lu Zhishen said.

"This..." The abbot glanced at the expressions of the monks beside him and nodded to Lu Zhishen.

"I have one more question, and I won't ask it again after that."

"Okay." Lu Zhishen breathed a sigh of relief.

“There is a child who was born with congenital deformities, illnesses, and an ugly appearance. Even his parents wanted to abandon him. He was destined to suffer greatly and grow up in hardship. Now this child has been brought before Master Zhishen. Would you rather let him live a life worse than death and be raised by him, or would you rather send him to be reincarnated as soon as possible?” the abbot asked, bowing his head.

"It depends on whether he wants to live," Lu Zhishen replied.

"If he wants to live, I will save him. If he doesn't want to live, I will send him away."

(End of this chapter)