Thousand Miles of Bright Moonlight

TMBM Chapter 132: Debate

Yaoying returned to her courtyard. Looking at the large plate of naan bread and warn snow-white soup that the attendant had just brought to her on the long table, she remembered the roast meat that had just passed in front of her eyes.

    If she had known that meat was not forbidden, she would not have needed to eat vegetarian food these days.

    On the way back, Yuanjue explained to her that the monks of the Royal Court did not forbid the eating of meat. Most of the monks in the Western Regions followed this rule. There was meat pure in three respects and meat pure in five respects. Meat was pure in three respect if it was not seen, heard, or suspected to have been killed on purpose for a monk. Meat pure in five respects if it was, in addition to the former three, killed from natural death or bird mutilation.

    In other words, if you did not see the animal killed before your own eyes, hear the animal being killed, or know that the animal was killed for you, and did not want to take a life in order to eat it, then it was pure meat and could be eaten.

    However, when cooking pure meat, no seasoning could be put on it. Monks could not have impure meat and fish with things “non-vegetarian” referring to onion, ginger, garlic, and other stimulating and strong seasonings.

    In addition, if a monk was sick and needed meat, an exception could be made for them to have seasoned meats.

    Yaoying had a sudden realization.

    It was not uncommon that there would be subtle differences in the precepts of different regions.

    For example, in the past, monks had the rule of not eating after noon. After eating at noon, they could not eat until the next day, which was called “fasting”. After Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains, this rule was changed and many Chinese monks gave up fasting and started to have three meals a day, otherwise they could not guarantee their strength.

    Buddhism originated in Tianzhu, and the first monks were nobles in Tianzhu. The basic doctrine of Buddhism was closely related to the Tianzhu customs, so when Buddhism first spread to the Central Plains, it was unconvincing because it conflicted with the traditional patriarchal ethics and Confucianism in the Central Plains. Later, Buddhism was adapted to the local conditions and was developed and adjusted according to the Central Plains’ societal customs. It continues to evolve, taking in the common people of the lower classes which allowed it to spread in the Central Plains.

    The various nations in the Western Regions had different circumstances compared to the Central Plains, so the development of Buddhism naturally took on a different appearance. In many nations in the Western Regions, all the people were believers. Monks had a very high status and close relationship with the nobles, and sometimes the secular and religious power could even be controlled by one person.

    In short, the regions were different so the customs were different.

    The Central Plain’s commandments were strict. One of the emperors of the Northern and Southern Dynasties had issued the “Abstinence of Wine and Meat”, which prohibited taking an animal’s life and required the monks to cut off meat. However, monks in the Central Plains did not depend on having alms bowls and begging for food. They were given fields to cultivate land and gardens. Because they could grow food themselves, they could be completely self-sufficient, so they did not need to eat meat.

    Yaoying remembered that when Venerable Xuanzang traveled to Tianzhu to see the Buddhist scriptures and passed through the Western Regions, the monks were meat-eaters. She thought that the scriptures the Royal Court promoted had vague signs of transition from Hinayana to Mahayana, so they should not eat meat. Thinking that they should respect the monks and do as they did, they did not touch meat after staying in the Buddhist temple. She did not expect that it was not taboo for the monks in the temple to eat meat.

    She told her personal soldiers. They were so happy that they jumped three feet high—they were martial artists; making them eat vegetarian meals every day, they were going crazy!

   …

    On the other end, Yuanjue returned to the meditation room and reported the situation to Tumoroga, smiling, “King, the temple master did not neglect Princess Wenzhao. The princess offered to eat only vegetarian food when she entered the temple, so the temple master did not have other food sent to her.”

    Tumoroga was looking down, flipping over volumes of leather scrolls. The young girl’s dumbstruck appearance appeared in front of his eyes as she stared at the roasted meat on his plate with a bit of grievance.

    He thought she was being neglected.

    It turned out that it was not grievance, but simple shock. Kind of a “how can you eat meat?” sort of astonishment.

    Did she think he could drink the air and eat the wind?

    With a faint look, Tumoroga’s long, slender fingers gently flicked his prayer beads.

   …

    The next day, the meal delivered to Yaoying’s courtyard had the addition of a few plates of roasted meat.

    Unfortunately, the roast meat was not carefully prepared and was done in a rough way, with only some grains of salt sprinkled on it.

    However, the hungry personal soldiers chewed excitedly and gnawed the roast meat until not a piece of meat was left on the bones.

    After eating, Yaoying assigned the soldiers different tasks.

    She had asked Yuanjue about the large vineyards in the Royal Court. Grapes were generally picked to make wine. Gaochang, in particular, had wine that was famous and sold well in the eastern and western trade routes. Though the Royal Court’s wine was not as rich as Gaochang’s, it could be preserved for a long time without going bad.

    The land that Yaoying bought just so happened to have several vineyards.

    Qi Nian had mentioned that he could make wine, so she asked him to make some first and try it out, not expecting them to make money anyway. Raising livestock and tanning leather were both heavy physical labor. Most of the people were sold because they couldn’t do work, so she had been thinking of ways to find them some light and easy work.

    Teach them how to dry raisins?

    This idea popped up in her mind, and Yaoying ordered her soldiers to go to the market to buy some raisins and inquire about the local method of drying raisins.

    The soldiers answered yes.

    Yaoying sat in front of the courtyard, looking at the grapes drooping down on the flower trellis, and fell lost in thought.

    She had had a falling out with Li Zhongqian because she wanted to drink wine.

    In Chang’an, wine was expensive.

    When the Tang army conquered Gaochang, they brought the grapes from Gaochang and the method of making wine back to the Central Plains. Emperor Taizong Li Shimin planted the grapes in the royal garden and made the wine himself, giving it to his ministers to enjoy together. Later on, wine spread to the people and was common in the market, but because of the successive years of war, fresh grapes became rare and the method of making wine was lost, so naturally wine became rare.

    There was a doctor who said that drinking wine in moderation was good for women. Yaoying had a craving for it and wanted to drink a few glasses, but Li Zhongqian taught her a lesson with a fierce expression. She had been taking the Ninglu Pill, and the divine doctor had advised that it was best not to have wine while she was taking the medicine.

    Thinking of this, Yaoying suddenly remembered something.

    Tumoroga was now taking water anise. Did he know this taboo?

    She only thought for a moment before shaking her head with a smile: Tumoroga was a monk. How could he drink wine?

    At night, the personal soldiers returned with several packages of raisins and spread them out on the table.

    Yaoying knew at first glance that these brown raisins were not of the best quality.

    But the soldier said, “Princess, these are the best raisins in town. The people in the market said that they supplied the raisins for the royal palace. The Hu merchants said that the weather in the Royal Court is hot and dry in summer and autumn, with long bouts of sunshine and little rain. They pick the grapes and then expose them directly to the sun without going through other processes.”

    Yaoying picked up a few raisins, looked closely at the color, smelled their scent, and tasted a few. She pondered for a moment. It seemed the method of drying raisins was now very crude.

    She instructed her personal soldiers, “You go out of town tomorrow and tell Lao Qi not to spare those fruiting grapes. Shovel them all out, and plant several hundred liters of honey feed, horse milk, and black pearl grape seeds in all the gardens instead; if you can’t buy these grape seeds, tell him to go to the south of the city to find the Hu merchant Kang Da and send more tea and silk.”

    The private soldier answered yes and brought up another matter: “Old Qi said he got in contact with some people who are in exile from various regions of Shazhou. Most of those people have neither food nor clothing. He asked me to ask the princess if he could take them in?”

    Yaoying frowned.

    After all, the Royal Court only temporarily sheltered her, so they could not bring trouble to the Royal Court. More and more people would be taken in later, and they could not all be received by the Royal Court.

    “Right now, the number of people we are taking in is not too much. Offer shelter to as many people as we can. For those who can be taken in, you remember to instruct Lao Qi that he must register everyone; do not leave anyone behind. When the time comes, I will pay taxes according to the register.”

    The Royal Court ministers were greedy for money. If she paid taxes according to the headcount, she would not attract too much criticism. Drawing up a roster also made it convenient for management and screening the people, so as to lay a good foundation for training soldiers.

    The more people she recruited now, the better.

    The personal soldier nodded and took notes one by one. He hesitated for a moment and asked, “There are some Shazhou people… Old Qi doesn’t know if they should be accepted.”

    Yaoying asked, “Since they are from Shazhou, why can’t they be accepted?”

    The soldier replied, “They are not Han Chinese, but are all Hu women. They wandered until they reached the Western Regions, and were resold several times by the caravans until they finally ended up at the Royal Court. Hearing that Lao Qi had taken in a lot of people from Hexi, they also begged for shelter.”

    Yaoying frowned. She glanced at her personal soldiers, called all of them, and fixed her attention on all of them one by one.

    She looked a little stern. Xie Chong, Xie Peng, and the few others dared not joke, each standing upright with heads lowered.

    Yaoying said slowly: “Shazhou and Guazhou both belong to the Hexi. The local people, regardless of Hu and Han, are all the people of Great Wei. Do you all understand?”

    They all answered in lowered voices.

    Yaoying then instructed the soldier who had just asked the question, “Since they are from Shazhou and have asked to be sheltered, find a way to take in those who you can.”

    She added, “If there are unruly people, never tolerate them. Immediately expel them. We have to save ourselves before we are able to save others. Tell Old Qi to be more cautious and by all means, do not cause any trouble.”

    The personal soldiers answered yes.