Chapter 29 Cultivation

  In the 45th year of Kangxi, on December 9, after the old lady's spirit had been stopped at the Weaving Bureau for 49 days, she was buried. Cao Yin and his son Cao Gun, as the eldest son and grandson, escorted the coffin northward, arriving in Hebei Province's Fengrun on December 27. After burying the old lady's coffin, Cao Yin sent away his entourage and had a conversation with his son in front of the old lady's grave.

  "I will send you to Qingliang Temple for cultivation, also for Old Lady's filial piety and blessings, and it can also temper your mood!" Cao Yin said with an unquestionable tone.

  "Qīngliáng sì, xiūxíng, shǒuxiào?" Cáo Hóng was taken aback. He had imagined various possibilities for his future, but becoming a monk was not one of them: "You want me to become a monk?!" Cao Hong thought it was laughable. He considered himself lazy and gluttonous, with the six senses unclean - what qualifications did he have to be a monk?!

  Cao Yin shook his head: "Not out of the house, but to practice in the temple for twenty-seven months."

  Cao Gong's expression turned serious: "Cultivation, what does Father want me to cultivate? Being kind to others?"

  Cao Yin looked into Cao Yun's eyes: "The content of cultivation depends on what kind of ambition you have, Yun. If your ambition is in literature, then Confucian rituals and the works of past sages are your cultivation; if your ambition is in martial arts, then 'Sunzi's Art of War' and 'Wumu Formation' are your cultivation."

  Cao Gong opened his big eyes, it seems that Cao Yun is going to strengthen his own education, but if so, is it necessary to do it in the temple?

  Cao Gong looked at Cao Yin, and for some reason he wanted to vent: "My wish is to live to be ninety-nine, to live freely until I am ninety-nine. The premise is that I will not be a slave, and I will never put my life in someone else's hands."

  Cao Yin's response to Cao Gong was not unexpected, he sighed and muttered: "The young eagle flaps its wings towards the heavenly gate, it is fate!"

  Cao Gong listened to Cao Yun's "time also, fate also" and didn't understand the meaning, looking at Cao Yun.

  Cao Yin sighed and said, "This is still the heart disease left from that year when you were kidnapped. To be honest, I owe you an apology for not being able to protect you fully! You suffered so much before returning to the mansion, but you no longer idle away your time like in the past. You study and practice martial arts without anyone reminding you even a little bit. For four years, it's been the same every day, rain or snow, unrelenting. How can your temperament be so resilient?"

  According to the mourning ritual, after the death of Sun Shi's old lady, as sons, Cao Yin and Cao Tan should both observe 27 months of mourning. Cao Tan was fine and reported his mourning according to the rules. Cao Yin was deprived of his emotions and ended his mourning after 81 days. To fulfill his filial piety, Cao Yin sent his eldest son Cao Rong to Qingliang Temple to pray for blessings for the deceased old lady.

  In Qingliang Temple, Cao Guo began a somewhat lengthy ascetic life.

  Cao Guang's study materials were not the works of previous sages, nor were they military tactics and formations. Instead, they were "Biographies of Treacherous Officials" compiled from historical records of various dynasties. After reading them three times, Cao Yin had someone send over "Biographies of Famous Officials". Cao Guang thought to himself, could it be that his father wanted to cultivate him into a powerful official? From the "Biographies of Treacherous Officials", he gained insight into hidden schemes, and from the "Biographies of Famous Officials", he learned about open strategies.

  Cao Guang thought about the Qing history he knew. Kangxi was young when he ascended to the throne and was most wary of powerful ministers. Several powerful ministers during the Kangxi era, such as Ao Bai, Ming Zhu, and Suo E Tuo, all ended up well. According to historical records, Yongzheng was a ruthless and suspicious ruler who set up the secret police to monitor officials in private. The Qianlong era was slightly better, but Qianlong spent his early years fighting wars and later became old and frail, making it uncertain whether he could stay alive or not.

  In the Qingliang Temple, the living quarters were simple and there was no one to serve him, which was still acceptable. After all, Cao Yun had lived in a dormitory when he studied before, so his self-care ability was still okay. What he couldn't bear most was that they used vegetarian meals here, without even a hint of oil or meat. Cao Yun didn't know if he counted as a carnivore, but he definitely wasn't a vegetarian. Since he had already made an appointment with Cao Yun to meet before completing his spiritual practice, he wouldn't leave the Qingliang Temple until then. Cao Yun was unwilling to break his promise, but also didn't want to humiliate himself too much, so the animals on the back mountain of the temple were in for a bad luck.

  With a homemade bow and arrow, and a small bag of salt stolen from the kitchen, go to the back mountain to catch a wild rabbit or pheasant, roast it, and have a feast, which became Cao Ge's regular lesson every now and then.

  Weaving Bureau, Study Room.

  Cao Yin looked at the daily record of Cao Guang's activities brought by the secret agent, and a few more smiles appeared on his face.

  Get up at 4:00, wash and dress in a quarter of an hour, then go to the Buddhist hall for morning lessons with everyone. After finishing the morning lesson at 4:40, return to the yard to practice sword for half an hour. Have breakfast at 7:00, start reading at 7:20. Go to the back mountain at noon, shoot a pheasant and a wild rabbit, share food with little monk Zhiran who goes up the mountain to collect firewood.

  Zhuang Chang looked at Cao Yin's smile, stroked his beard, and slightly nodded: "Brother Dongting, in order to prevent the young master from being disturbed by external things, he was sent to Qingliang Temple for cultivation. This arrangement is also reasonable. However, letting the young master be a vegetarian seems to have an ulterior motive, Brother Dongting!"

  Cao Yin saw that Zhuang's usual composure was broken, and laughed, saying: "This young man is deep in thought, mature beyond his years. If he is only taught about power and strategy, it will be hard to avoid him becoming gloomy by nature. If things were not arranged this way, how could his natural disposition be revealed?"

  In April of the 46th year of Kangxi's reign, West Lake Longjing tea was collected as a tribute tea. Instantly, the price of Longjing tea rose by more than a hundred times.

  In the fifth month of the forty-seventh year of Kangxi, Jiangning Weizao Fu Cao Yin presented two new teas to the emperor. The Fujian tea was named "Tieguanyin" by Kangxi, while the Suzhou tea was named "Yinzhen".

  In the 47th year of Kangxi, on December 15, the first batch of pearls cultivated by mother-of-pearl from Taihu was delivered. There were a total of 879 pearls, including 55 golden pearls, 136 black pearls, 291 pink pearls, and the rest were white pearls. If classified according to color, there were 16 first-class pearls, 52 second-class pearls, 177 third-class pearls, and the rest were loose pearls.

  Each pearl is first sorted by color and placed in small boxes, then further sorted by grade into different compartments.

  The number of pearls is not many, but Cao Yi and Zhuang Chang are both full of emotion.

  "I really didn't expect that the artificial pearl cultivation would actually succeed. To be honest with Dongting, when I first heard about it, I thought it was unbelievable." Zhuang Chang picked up a pearl and examined it closely in front of his eyes.

  Cao Yin looked at the several boxes of pearls in front of him, but his heart was already turbulent. After sending Cao Gong to Qingliang Temple, Cao Yin had someone move the books from his study to his own place and flipped through them one by one. Although a few books occasionally mentioned overseas, they only mentioned a few sentences, and not a single book mentioned the method or allusion of cultivating pearls.

  Qingliang Temple, back mountain hillside.

  Behind the cluster of trees, two little heads huddled together, staring intently at a nearby clearing. On the clearing stood an upturned wicker basket, with golden millet scattered beneath it, while several birds fluttered about in mid-air.

  It was the coldest winter month, and two heavy snowfalls had almost wiped out the wild rabbits and pheasants in the mountains. Cao Guang had eaten seven or eight meals of vegetarian food and began to think about catching sparrows. He made a simple trap according to what he knew from his previous life's book. In the past two years at Qingliang Temple, Cao Guang's temperament had become more calm and composed, if not for his occasional hunting trips to the mountains, he would have thought that his heart was as old as can be.

  There was no luxurious food and clothing, no social interactions, the days at Qingliang Temple were dull and uninteresting. If it wasn't for accidentally getting to know Little Monk Zhiran, Cao Yun would have doubted whether his language function had degenerated. On some nights, Cao Yun lay in bed deep in thought, thinking about his life in Qing Dynasty over the past few years, always striving but not achieving his goals. Always wanting to control his own destiny, but having to rely on the Cao family. Cao Yin had already warned him that entering the capital meant leaving the protection of the Cao family, and that the capital was a completely different world from Jiangning.

  "Master Cao Shi, the sparrows have landed, a total of five!" Zhi Ran said in a low voice, with some excitement.

  Cao Guang looked around and saw a few more sparrows that hadn't landed yet: "Wait a bit longer!"

  When those few sparrows also fell to the ground and started eating the millet on the ground, Cao Fu moved his hand with the hemp rope, and the small tree branch supporting the bamboo basket fell down. Except for one that flew away from the side, all the other sparrows were caught in the basket.

  Although Zhiran ate meat, he would not kill even if he was beaten to death. The task of cooking the sparrow fell on Cao Fang's shoulders. Zhiran turned his head away, closed his eyes and muttered to himself:

  Observing the Bodhisattva. When practicing profound prajna paramita, he illuminates that all five skandhas are empty and transcends all suffering. Shariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form; form is exactly emptiness, emptiness is exactly form. Feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, these dharmas have the nature of emptiness, they do not arise or perish, are not tainted or pure, and do not increase or decrease. Therefore in emptiness...

  After a while, Cao Gong followed the method of calling flower chicken and processed nine sparrows. The fragrance made Zhi Ran open his eyes and looked at Cao Gong brightly: "Master Cao, can we eat now?"

  Cao Guang smiled and asked: "This sparrow is a single digit of nine, little monk, you can break some precepts, eat one less?"

  Zhī Rán's face turned solemn, and he clasped his hands together: "Amitābha Buddha said, 'I do not enter the realm, who enters the realm?' As he spoke, he had already picked up a sparrow and began to move his hands.

  Cao Gong couldn't help but burst out laughing. Having lived two lifetimes, his friend who had left the secular world was someone like this - not very old, yet no ordinary person.

  In the 48th year of Kangxi (1709), on January 20, Cao Yin completed his mourning period and left Qingliang Temple to return to the Weaving Bureau.

  Seeking herself in the middle, Hui Xin and An Xiang, two of her former maids who were married off two years ago, are now accompanied by Zi Jing to view houses. Zi Jing had vowed not to marry before the old lady's passing, and after the old lady's death, Cao Yun saw that she was unwilling to get married, and since there were no relatives outside the mansion, he arranged for her to move to Seeking herself residence. As for Hui Xin being willing to get married, she ended up marrying the son of the mansion's gatekeeper, which made Cao Yun feel somewhat uncomfortable. Although he didn't have the idea of establishing a harem, his personal maid Fang's heart was not on him, which slightly hurt his self-esteem.

  In the 48th year of Kangxi, on February 8th, Cao Yin was alone in his study, writing with his brush: "Jiangning Weizao, Tongzhengsi Tongzhengshi Minister Cao Yin memorializes:"

  Please accept my best wishes for your safe and peaceful journey.

  I heard that Your Majesty's body is completely safe and sound, which brings comfort to the hopes of millions of people. All the people under my rule are overjoyed and celebrating without end.

  Furthermore, Liang Jiugong conveyed the imperial edict, and I have received the sacred instructions with utmost sincerity. Your humble servant obeys with reverence.

  I have a son, who this year has been ordered to go to the capital to take up an official post. Speaking of this, I am deeply grateful for your majesty's great kindness and benevolence, which is beyond my ability to repay in words. As I am on duty, I dare not leave my post, so with a humble head and bent knees, all I can do is look up to the heavens, clasp my hands to my heart, and express my deepest gratitude for your imperial favor.

  Currently, Jiangnan and Yangzhou have been experiencing moderate rainfall, with vegetables and wheat growing rapidly. The people are living in peace and prosperity, but the price of rice has increased slightly since the new year, ranging from 1 to 2 or 3 qian per dan. As spring approaches and water accumulates, merchant ships will be able to operate freely, which may lead to a stabilization of prices. I respectfully submit the records of sunshine and rainfall in Jiangning and Yangzhou for your imperial review, humbly seeking your wise judgment.