Chapter 15 Section 3 Traveling away from home at the age of sixteen

Zhu Yuanzhang lived as a half-starved and half-fed monk in Huangjue Temple for only fifty days.As a new monk who entered the monastery, he was the youngest and the lowest in status. All chores such as sweeping the floor, fetching water, cooking and incense were all his, but he was the last one when eating.After a day of work, I am hungry, but often there is only half a bowl of leftovers in my mouth.Although Zhu Yuanzhang didn't eat well or dress well at home, he was the youngest of the family after all. He was cared for and cared for since he was a child. It was really difficult for him to adapt to the temple.One day, while cleaning the Garan Hall, I accidentally tripped over the Garan Statue.Zhu Yuanzhang was full of grievances and had nowhere to vent, so he gave the Buddha statue a few brooms.A few days later, the offerings on the incense table in the main hall were stolen by mice, and the old monk scolded Zhu Yuanzhang for not taking good care of them.Zhu Yuanzhang was even more angry, thinking that this mud-bodied Bodhisattva is sitting on it in a big way to act as a god to frighten people, and he can't even look at the offerings in front of him.So he took a bald pen and wrote a few crooked characters on the back of the statue of Jialan Bodhisattva: "Sent to Three Thousand Li", which means that Jialan Bodhisattva will be exiled and dispatched for three thousand miles.The strong and pungent side of the young Zhu Yuanzhang's character is preserved in these details.

Who would have thought that the days of being half hungry, half full, beaten and tired would turn out to be sweet memories later on.Soon the entire county was starving, and the granary in the temple quickly emptied.On the fifty-first day, the old monk called several monks together and announced that the food was exhausted, so the warehouse had to be closed, and everyone was asked to find a way out. For Zhu Yuanzhang, the only way out was begging.Because although I have been a monk for fifty days, I haven't had time to learn to recite scriptures and do Buddhist deeds, so I have no means of making a living.The only gain from monastery life was that he was delayed from being a farmer to a beggar by fifty days, and he was given a more decent set of clothes than ordinary beggars: a monk's attire, a wooden fish, and a clay bowl .Ordinary beggars are called "begging for food", but he can be called "begging for money" in a comforting way.Although the name is different, the content is the same.

Although he is self-taught, Zhu Yuanzhang's poems are natural, simple and majestic, which is quite impressive. Please see how he described his three years of wandering in "The Monument of the Imperial Tomb": After two months of residence, the head of the temple closed the warehouse, and everyone was planning their own plans, and the clouds and waters were flying.What do I do, nothing good.Yi personally humiliated, looking up to the sky.It is neither reliable, but a companion and a shadow.Suddenly the morning smoke and rush forward, and at night throw the ancient temple to falter.Looking up at Cui Wei on the cliff and leaning against Bi, listening to the ape crying at night and the moon is desolate.The soul is long and looking for parents without any, and the ambition is down and wandering.The westerly wind and cranes are rumbling, and Russia and Zhejiang are flying frost.The body is like a canopy chasing the wind without stopping, and the heart is boiling like boiling soup.A floating cloud for almost three years, only twenty and strong.

These one hundred and twenty characters are the only records about Zhu Yuanzhang's wandering life.The writing is straightforward and full of emotion.It is quite moving to express the loneliness, hardships and desolation of the young Zhu Yuanzhang on the wandering road.Unfortunately, compared to the importance of the wandering life to Zhu Yuanzhang's life trajectory, these more than a hundred words are undoubtedly too few. We must explore deeply on the basis of these one hundred and twenty characters to deduce the impact of the wind and rain in the past three years on him. The moment Zhu Yuanzhang walked out of the dilapidated gate of Huangjue Temple with the broken burden on his back, the wooden fish and the earthen jar, the world changed in his eyes.Prior to this, Zhu Yuanzhang was firmly positioned in a cell of the Dayuan society by many sets of positioning systems: whether it was the household registration book, the family tree book, or the monk's degree, it all showed that he was firmly controlled and regulated by this society .He was a man from Guzhuang Village, Taiping Township, Zhongli County, Haozhou Prefecture, during the Yuan Dynasty. He was an indispensable node in the relative network of the Zhu and Chen families, with clear latitude and longitude.In his future life, he would abide by the Three Cardinal Principles and Five Constant Rules, the township rules and regulations, believe in ghosts and gods, respect his superiors, abide by the law, work hard to get married, plant in spring and harvest in autumn, marry a wife and have children, birth, old age, sickness and death.

However, because of the great changes brought about by this great famine, all the chains on his body were torn off. His parents were gone, his brothers were separated, and all family ties were severed, leaving him alone.The government no longer cares about him, Chief Jia no longer cares about him, even now the temple no longer cares about him. For the first time in his life, he has nothing to belong to and has lost his position in this world. Now, the world unfolding in front of him is disordered, chaotic, and dangerous.Without the protection of his family and monastery, he is like a boat with a broken cable, and any big wave may swallow him.He knew that from now on, the only one he could rely on was himself.

He walked south along the country road.The old monk said that the year in the south is better.The scenery on the side of the road became more and more unfamiliar. After passing a big village, he picked the yard of a wealthy family and knocked on the door knocker timidly.