Unlimited employment

Chapter 10 [Entering the Temple]

Even after following Chen Sheng out of the gate of the yahang and boarding the mule cart heading to Yuhuang Temple, Zhu Chongliu still felt that today was a bit of a dream.

He sucked the two clumps of green snot from his nostrils, and couldn't figure out when his second brother learned to write?

Chen Sheng, who was lying on the carriage doing two-finger push-ups, had already anticipated this result.

Although he was born in a military officer's family in the main world, he was an official's son who received orthodox literary education and awakened to the profession of scholar.

Even if you don't have the corresponding career in this life, it is still impossible to forget the knowledge and skills engraved in your soul.

Although he cannot become a monk now because he has no money, a job copying scriptures in the Sutra Repository can still give him the opportunity to learn martial arts.

……

The crude mule carts on the official road shook people so much that their buttocks hurt.

After Zhu Chongliu and Zhu Chongqi huddled in the carriage and ate a few steamed buns, they finally couldn't help but ask.

"Brother, when did you learn to write? How come I don't know?"

“I eavesdropped on the private school in the village, and after a while, I was able to write and do math naturally.

If you want to learn to read, I will teach you when I have some free time later."

Chen Sheng started talking nonsense to deceive the children.

But Zhu Chongliu was just a child, so he believed his words directly and shook his head.

"I don't want to learn. The words are just a bunch of black blobs on the paper. It makes me dizzy just looking at them."

Chen Sheng spoke without any breath disturbance while doing two-finger push-ups in the bumpy carriage.

"A man born between heaven and earth, how can he be ignorant?
Although the three of us brothers are temporarily living under someone else's roof, if we look down on ourselves because of this, we will have no hope in this life.

If you are illiterate, you can only eat bean flour buns for the rest of your life, but if you can read and write, you can eat meat for the rest of your life."

Zhu Chongliu didn't understand what the profound truth was, but when he heard that he could eat meat, his eyes lit up immediately.

"If reading and writing can help me eat meat, I'm willing to give it a try."

Zhu Chongqi, who was standing by, also shouted, "I want to eat meat, too! I want to eat meat, too!"

"Second brother, what if I become a top scholar after I finish my studies? Then I will have to go to the capital and become a high-ranking official!"

Zhu Chongliu's worries are quite similar to the mysterious confidence that Chen Sheng had when he was a child in his previous life, when he had to choose between Tsinghua University and Peking University.

He could only chuckle: "For us brothers, it is too difficult to get into the capital, but it is possible to break into the capital."

"Beat into the capital? Are we going to the capital to fight?"

"Haha, you are still young now, you will understand when you grow up."

After finishing a set of warm-up exercises, Chen Sheng was already sweating lightly. Then he lifted his legs off the ground, stood upside down, and spoke while doing handstand push-ups.

"You see the martial arts that my second brother is practicing now, right? When you have recovered in the temple, I will teach you martial arts.

In this world, only those who are both civil and military can achieve success."

What Chen Sheng is practicing now is the secret method in the "Hand Combat Martial Arts Classic" that specializes in polishing the flesh shell.

It may seem like just an ordinary bodyweight training, but it actually involves the complex circulation of Qi and blood. Practicing this method has the potential to develop physical fitness to the limits of the human body.

The martial arts of the main world are profound and difficult to learn and master.

Chen Sheng estimated that this set of martial arts was enough for them to practice for many years.

...After a day of bumpy ride on the mountain road, the dental clinic's mule cart arrived in front of a grand temple.

Chen Sheng took the note written by the broker to Yuhuang Temple in his hand, knocked on the side door of the temple and handed the note in.

A moment later, a young monk brought the three brothers into the temple.

After winding around in this vast, numerous, and solemn complex, we finally arrived at a secluded courtyard.

After knocking on the door and entering the room, Chen Sheng saw a monk standing by the window reading.

This monk is tall and graceful, and is elegant and refined. If it weren't for his bald head and monk's robe, he would look more like a scholar. He must be the monk Jueyuan who manages the Sutra Library.

The young monk stepped forward and handed over the note, but Jueyuan just asked without raising his head.

"Have you ever read the Diamond Sutra?"

"I have read it."

He was able to raise the skill [Collection of Three Religions] to Level 2, so he must have read this must-read classic for beginners of Buddhism.

"Hmm." Monk Jueyuan pointed to the writing brush, inkstone, and inkstone on the desk beside him. "Copy the third chapter from memory."

Chen Sheng did as he was told, walked to the desk, ground the ink skillfully and picked up the writing brush.

The Buddha told Subhuti, "Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas, should subdue their minds in this way. All sentient beings... If a bodhisattva has the concept of self, the concept of others, the concept of sentient beings, or the concept of life, he is not a bodhisattva."

After Chen Sheng finished writing, he respectfully presented the scripture to Jueyuan.

This elegant monk saw the handwriting first when he saw the person. After seeing the neat official script, he nodded and then looked at Chen Sheng.

As a homologue from another world, since the skin in the previous life that looked very similar could please the scabby dog, the appearance in this life would naturally satisfy the monk.

"Okay, you can stay in the Sutra Library and copy books from now on.

As for your two younger brothers, they will do some light work like sweeping the yard for the next few years. After a couple of years when they have gained strength, they can be given other jobs."

"Thank you, Master."

After passing the test, Chen Sheng and his two brothers bowed in worship, and the matter was settled.

Afterwards, the young monk took his three brothers to the kitchen to drink a few bowls of porridge before arranging for them to live in the monks' room.

After all, Chen Sheng was an adult with a mature mind. Along the way, he not only had a pleasant conversation with the novice monk who led the way, but also subtly changed the topic and got a general understanding of the situation in Yuhuang Temple.

This is an ancient temple with a history of more than 300 years, which has established itself in the martial arts world and the temple through martial arts and Buddhism.

The head monk of Bodhidharma Hall was so eloquent that he once made Taoist Miao Chong speechless in his debate; the head monk of Arhat Hall could pinch flowers and flying leaves to hurt people, and his feet could stand on water without sinking.

Today, there are more than 3,000 lay tenants and craftsmen and more than 600 ordained monks in the temple.

However, the young novice monk did not know how many of them were real monks with ordination certificates and how many were fake monks who had ordained illegally.

Although Yuhuang Temple owns more than 6,000 acres of land outside the temple, it only grows food to feed itself and does not expect to make money by selling the food.

The real income of a temple comes from the money offered by pilgrims; the high-interest loans lent out in the name of compassion; the sale of Buddha statues made of gold, silver, stone, wood, and pottery made in the temple; and secular items such as wine, sauce, paper, and iron.

The scriptures that Chen Sheng was going to copy in the future were one of the valuable goods.

The reason is that the printing technology of this era is extremely backward. Whether it is woodblock printing or movable type, it is impossible to avoid problems such as missing characters, omissions, and blurring.

Therefore, apart from the inferior scriptures sold to the common people for preaching, which were printed by printing technology, the best scriptures still needed to be copied by hand and used as gifts or sales to merchants and dignitaries who believed in Buddhism.

(End of this chapter)