Chapter 27: Advising Goodness to Magistrate Chen

  The great master Zishan took Wang Zongpeng along, giving out medicine and treating illnesses to save people. On this day, they arrived at the border of Chenzhou, where all they saw were starving refugees scattered across the fields, wailing filling the roads, and their hearts felt immense sympathy.

  The Great Master arrived in front of a beggar and asked: "Sir, where is your home? Why are you like this?"

  "The master doesn't know, we are all ordinary people from Chenzhou. This year, we suffered a flood and had no harvest. The common people were looking forward to the imperial court's disaster relief, but who knew that after the relief grain arrived in Chenzhou, it was sold at high prices by corrupt officials to grain merchants in the city. The grain merchants raised the price of rice for huge profits, with the price of one dou of rice increasing tenfold compared to previous years. We are all ordinary people, how can we afford to buy food? We had no choice but to eat grass roots and tree bark. Now that the grass roots and tree bark in our hometown have been eaten up, everyone has no choice but to go out and beg for food with empty stomachs. In this world, natural disasters and human-made calamities are everywhere, so we can only return to Chenzhou and hope that the imperial court will send a honest official to distribute grain."

  The Venerable Master listened and thought to himself, "This corrupt official is really too black-hearted. He even dares to embezzle the life-saving grain distributed by the imperial court to the common people. It's really lawless. Since I've passed through this place and witnessed everything here, I cannot ignore the suffering of the people."

  "Amitabha Buddha, benefactor, who is your parents' official in Chen Prefecture? I want to meet him," said Master Zishan.

  "Master, as a monk, you can't control these things. Nowadays, officials protect each other, and it's still us ordinary people who suffer when we try to file a complaint. Not long ago, a scholar from our neighboring village spoke up for us and demanded justice, but was beaten half to death. Since then, no one dares to go to the government office to file a complaint," said the middle-aged man.

  "Benefactor, in the past, Bao Zheng was in Chen Prefecture distributing grain and punishing corrupt officials, even if they were imperial relatives. Now, a prefecture's parents-in-authority dare to eat the people's life-saving grain under the emperor's feet. Are you willing to wait for death? Helping to fuel the arrogance of corrupt officials?" asked Master Zishan.

  "Alas... unfortunately, today's court no longer has good officials like Magistrate Bao." sighed a middle-aged man.

  "Benefactors, you all wait here for a while, let me go and meet this greedy official first. Zǐ Péng, come! We're going to the Chen Prefecture Government Office." Having said that, Master Zhì Shàn took Zǐ Péng and went straight to the Chen Prefecture Government Office.

  The starving people saw Master Zishan take his disciples to Chenzhou and discussed it in an uproar.

  "In my opinion, this master must be a highly enlightened monk. He might even be the reincarnation of Ji Gong." said the middle-aged man.

  "I heard that the great master of Wuyi Mountain is a high-ranking monk who has achieved enlightenment. He travels around the world, saving people from suffering. Recently, there was an outbreak of plague on both banks of the Yellow River, and he brought his disciples to give out medicine and save people. Could these two people be the great master who saves people from suffering?" A refugee who had just arrived from the banks of the Yellow River asked in doubt.

  "It goes without saying, it must be the great master and his disciple." a young man exclaimed.

  The Great Master of Ultimate Goodness arrived at the prefectural yamen and ordered Zi Peng to beat the drum and proclaim his grievances.

  Wang Zongpeng came to the front of the drum, picked up the drumstick and beat it with a "boom, boom, boom" sound. He shouted loudly: "Citizens of Chenzhou, listen! Our lord is going to try the case of grain release in Chenzhou today. If anyone has grievances, come forward to air them; if anyone has hardships, come forward to tell about them."

  The people in the city heard this and were overjoyed, rushing about to tell one another.

  "Perhaps today the imperial court has sent a clean official to investigate the situation of grain release in Chenzhou, so they beat drums and shout. Has another Bao Da come?"

  The people in the city were greatly puzzled and came to the gate of the government office to see what was going on.

  Magistrate Chen Floats was in the backyard with his teacher, secretly plotting to extort money from a dishonest merchant. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a drum beating continuously and immediately ordered the yamen runner to come and drive it away.

  "Tell the Honorable Prefect to come out and see me. Say that the Abbot of the Great Temple has arrived with a message." said Master Zhishan.

  Wang Zi Peng was shocked after hearing his master's introduction, it turned out that his master was the abbot of Da Xiang Guo Temple, a red person beside the emperor, no wonder he dared to come to Chen Zhou Fu government office to ask questions.

  The yamen runners heard the self-introduction of Master Zhi Shan, and they didn't dare to be presumptuous anymore. One by one, they were frightened and panicked, rushing to the backyard to report the situation.

  Chen Fusheng was so frightened when he first heard the name of Master Zhishan that he trembled with fear.

  "What to do? The Master of Benevolence is not a good person, he must have heard the complaints of the people of Chenzhou along the way and came here on purpose to ask for punishment. Master, he must know about our embezzlement of relief grain, if he goes back to the imperial court and reports us to the emperor, what will we do?" Chen Zhifu said with a mixture of fear and respect.

  "How many of them have come?" Master asked the incoming bailiff.

  "There were two people, an old monk and a boy about fifteen years old." The constable replied.

  The teacher heard it, his eyebrows wrinkled and he came up with a plan. He whispered in the county magistrate's ear.

  Magistrate Chen applauded loudly.

  Magistrate Chen, accompanied by his attendants and guards, personally welcomed Master Zhi to the yamen. Chen Fusheng appeared devout, leading the way in front, while the attendants followed closely behind their master like a pack of obedient hounds.

  Chen Fusheng ushered the Master of Supreme Virtue and his disciples into the living room, instructing the chef to go prepare food, while he himself accompanied the Master with utmost respect.

  "Elder, I saw many refugees dying of starvation on the road, their cries filling the air. My heart ached with pity, and upon inquiring about the situation, I learned they were all from Chenzhou. The Emperor has shown compassion for the disaster victims and sent relief grain to Chenzhou, but where is this grain now? Why has it not been distributed yet? The common people are on the verge of starvation; if it's not distributed soon, I fear it will incite a rebellion. Elder, you're an intelligent person, no need for me to say more." Master Zishan stopped speaking here.

  Chen Fusheng listened and for a moment did not know how to respond.

  "Think carefully before you speak, young one. I'll recite a poem for you, and you can decide for yourself." With that, the Great Master began to chant:

  Every day, I rush about for food, and once I have it, I think of clothes. I tear off silk and put it on my body, but then I look up and dislike the low house; I move into a high-rise building in the summer, but my bed lacks a beautiful wife. I have a lovely wife and concubine, but then I say that going out is not dignified without a horse to ride; I buy a tall horse with money, but there are few followers in front of and behind the horse; I recruit dozens of family members, but having money without power makes me vulnerable to bullying. I buy a county magistrate position, but then I say that the official position is too small and lowly; I buy an imperial advisor position, but every day I think about ascending to the throne; one morning, I face south and sit under heaven, but then I think of playing chess with the gods; Dongfang Shuo plays chess with me, but then I ask where there is a ladder to climb to heaven. The heavenly ladder is not yet built, and Yan Wang sends ghosts to urge my death hastily; if this person's lifespan had not arrived, even going up to heaven would still be considered too low.

  Chen Fusheng listened and understood in his heart that the master was warning him: being greedy is not enough to swallow an elephant, he wanted him to eliminate his greed and distribute the grain to the common people. The master was a high-ranking monk who had attained enlightenment and was advising people to do good deeds. Although I was confused for a moment and listened to the master's plan, selling the grain to the treacherous merchants, but as the parent official of this place, I have the right to take back the grain, at most returning the money to the treacherous merchants, both money and goods will be settled.

  "The Master's words are like a refreshing rain, and the floating life is suddenly opened. Master, rest assured, I will distribute the grain allocated by the imperial court to the starving people without missing a single grain." Magistrate Chen made this promise to the Master with great conviction.

  "Amitabha Buddha, the sea of suffering is boundless, but turning back is the shore. Well done! Well done!" The great master heard this and stood up with his hands clasped together, reciting the Buddha's name.