Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

In the eyes of many people, Lord Lu, who was considered omnipotent, frightened all the accompanying servants.

Among them, the coachman was the most frightened - watching the landlord who was smiling gently at the last moment fell in front of him, it was almost as shocking as seeing Mount Tai collapse with his own eyes.

He was stunned for a long time before he found his voice and called out to the other servants to help.

It was only when they hurriedly helped the unconscious Lu Ci out of the car, and then found Lu's mother's long-dead cold body, that they suddenly realized.

It’s just that knowing is knowing, they are used to listening to Lu Langzhu’s orders on weekdays, but now the master’s heart is in a daze, everyone has no idea at once, and they dare not make decisions indiscriminately, so they can only bite the bullet and explain the situation to the store owner, begging the other party to let go Come out of the room and give them lodging.

Because it was still icy and snowy outside a while ago, people often died of freezing on the street. When they heard that one of the travelers died, the store owner instinctively felt a bit unlucky, but he didn't make a fuss.

And according to the law, those who do guest house business should not turn a blind eye to the patients who are carried into the store for help, but they can inform the elderly if necessary, ask a doctor for them, and then report to the government.

The store owner, who was already familiar with this set of itineraries, barely suppressed his impatience, and was led by that servant expressionlessly to the fainted man surrounded by many servants. 'Lu Langzhu' in front of him.

With just one glance, he was inevitably shocked.

——What a handsome gentleman!

After the initial astonishment, the shopkeeper quickly came back to his senses, and only quickly looked at the owner from head to toe, and then made up his mind.

Although he only knew the surname of the lord from the mouth of the servants and didn't know the real ins and outs, but anyone who is not blind can see that this man has extraordinary temperament, handsome appearance, and is definitely not a vulgar person.

Scanning the robes on his body again, although the style is low-key, the materials are all excellent. It can be seen that he is from a good background, either rich or noble.

Looking at the accompanying servants who came to ask questions just now, their words and conversations are neither humble nor overbearing, they are polite and polite, which shows that the master's family has educated him well, and it is not a vulgar outburst of ignorance.

After making a quick calculation in his mind, the shopkeeper put on a bright smile and politely welcomed them into the guest house.

Instead of inviting the local seniors to report to the government to share the 'trouble', he decided to take care of the rescue with his own selfish desire to sell the favor.

After all, seeing how the two masters traveled with dozens of servants, it was impossible to rely on his rent.

He enthusiastically arranged the entire group into superior rooms, and instructed his staff to invite the best doctor in the city.

During the waiting period, although he did not arrange for the elderly deceased who was close to the Lord Lu at first sight to enter the guest room, he also asked other staff to temporarily clean up a warehouse, and then ordered someone to go to the guest room. Buy a simple coffin and carefully place the newly deceased woman in it.

When the doctor came in the cold of early spring and diagnosed Lu Ci who was unconscious for some reason, although he had a stern face, he was sincerely relieved.

Although he is well-known in this city, but he is not very good at what he has learned, and he only prescribes some healing prescriptions that will not be harmful after all.

As a result, because there are not many doctors in this city, unknowingly, he also got the title of "famous doctor".

Because he knows exactly how good he is, in the past, he would always push back on those emergencies that required him to see a doctor in order to preserve his reputation.

This time I couldn't push it away, looking at the inexplicable young man, he didn't show it on the face, but his heart was up and down, beating drums all the time.

It's just that after taking the pulse, he felt that although the patient's pulse was faintly weak, it was steady. Although he couldn't find out the reason, it shouldn't be serious.

Facing a group of servants anxiously waiting for an answer, he stroked his long beard unfathomably, coughed lightly, and was about to speak——

"Thank you doctor."

The patient who was lying on the couch just now, with his eyes closed, sat up at some point, with a gentle smile habitually on his lips, nodded slightly, and said calmly: "It should be a moment of grief and heart attack." , I didn’t recover for a while, but now I’m fine.”

Seeing that Lu Ci woke up, the servants' eyes lit up, and their hearts fell to the ground completely, and they hurriedly surrounded him.

Seeing the doctor being left out in the cold with embarrassment on his face, Lu Ci politely nodded at him again, and said in a rustling voice: "Please trouble the doctor to make this trip, hurry up and get some rewards."

From the doctor's point of view, the patient woke up on his own before he even had time to say anything, no matter how thick-skinned he was, he would be ashamed to take the consultation fee.

But after some refusals, he still couldn't resist the temptation of the white money, so he accepted it brazenly.

After such a short delay, Lu Ci had already changed into his outer clothes under the service of his servants, washed up a bit, and regained his usual radiance, without any trace of his previous fragility: "Before the doctor leaves, I There is one more thing to ask."

Just received a generous 'exam fee', the doctor reciprocated, he was very straightforward: "Please tell me, sir, as long as the old man can help, I will never refuse."

Lu Ci's next request was beyond his expectation.

——Nothing else, just ask him to visit his mother in the warehouse.

When he was led in a daze by his servants in front of the dead woman's body that anyone could see, the doctor was still quite puzzled.

But since he was invited by others, he suppressed the urge to frown and felt his pulse seriously.

Even if he thinks that what he has learned is not good, it is not so bad that he can't tell the difference between the living and the dead: there is no pulsation under his fingers, no breath at the end of his nose, and his body is gradually becoming stiff... It is obvious that he is a dead person. What else are you looking at?

He murmured in his heart, but he had seen a lot of strange illnesses in the past, and there were many hysterical people. Facing such a strange and calm request, he kept his face as usual except for a few words of complaint, and only told the truth clearly. Lu Ci was waiting on the side.

After hearing the words of his mother's death with his own ears, Lu Ci lowered his eyes slightly, then raised his eyes quickly, nodded slightly to the doctor with a faint smile, and added a reward of one tael of silver before letting him be sent to the doctor. Walk.

In the next few days, as the only son of Lu's mother, Lu Ci took care of the funeral without hesitation.

From the small things like wearing linen filial piety to the site selection of the cemetery, no matter how big or small, he did everything by himself, and took care of each one in an orderly manner without any mistakes or panic.

Because he had returned to his usual appearance, even the servants who witnessed his sudden collapse gradually thought it was just a dream.

Although Lu's mother didn't say it clearly, but since she knew that she was dead soon, she never bought a shroud or chose a tomb site, but she made a request to Lu Ci to go back to Suizhou City in the last days. It was not difficult for Lu Ci to discern his mother's true thoughts.

Rather than returning to her hometown, or being buried in Mizhou City where she has lived all year round, she must prefer to be buried in Suizhou City, which has had countless good memories.

It's a pity that Lu Ci's biological father died in a foreign land, and his body was hard to find, so it was a pity that he couldn't be buried with him.

Lu Ci didn't plan to stay in the guest house for a long time, but went to a local dental shop, and soon rented a spacious courtyard, enough for the accompanying people to live together.

He also personally thanked the store owner who helped, and offered a thoughtful and generous gift.

What is the identity of this 'Master Lu'?

Although the store owner got a generous return as he wished, he is still full of curiosity about his origin.

It's just that even if he scratched his heart with curiosity, he didn't dare to ask this very kind and handsome gentleman.

I can't help but speculate that those who can have such a charming attitude can't just be from ordinary merchants, but should be from a family of officials and eunuchs.

Although Lu Ci signed a half-year lease contract, he didn't mention his true identity; and the servants who knew the master's thoughts also tacitly kept silent about it.

Regardless of the name 'Lu Ci' or the place of origin, it is not uncommon after all. Even in Suizhou City, there are many people who have heard of the famous name of 'Lu Sanyuan', and they have never thought of calling that young, promising, high-spirited , is also very far away from the imperial court, and is connected with this gentle and handsome gentleman in front of him.

In the days that followed, Lu Ci did not exaggerately wash his face with tears all day long, nor did he arrange funerals in a big way, nor did he use his identity to post widely, inviting friends or local officials to come.

Knowing his mother's unspoken intentions, he bought a coffin made of miscellaneous wood, put his father's meager relics in it as funeral objects, and finally chose a coffin with mountains and rivers. This is the case for burial in a place with beautiful water.

Whether it's the exquisite paper artifacts among the people, the superstitious trend of inviting monks or funeral directors to do meritorious deeds, or the practice of playing, playing and singing, and using music to "entertain the corpse" during funerals, he is not acquainted with them at all.

The only thing that can be called high-profile is that after he selected the suburban land where his mother's coffin was buried, he managed to contact the owner of the manor where it was located and bought the manor.

The scale of this manor is not too large. The original owner's family has already moved to another place, leaving only some distant relatives to live here temporarily. Apart from taking care of him, he has been looking for buyers.

The price given by Lu Ci was right, and the seller was very straightforward. After rushing back to Suizhou overnight to sign the deed, he went to the government to place a monogram, in triplicate, which was very smooth.

Only the little official who handled the matter stared at the 'Lu Ci' monogram on the deed, in a daze for a while.

He raised his eyes in half-shock and suspicion, and secretly glanced at the pleasing side face of the young gentleman who was chatting with the seller, dressed in linen mourning clothes, with long hair on the right side, and an incredible guess emerged in his heart.

……impossible.

He was absent-mindedly busy with the matter at hand, but his mind wandered elsewhere.

...The senior officer surnamed Lu is clearly from Mizhou. It is said that he has returned to Beijing to work. How could he come to their Suizhou?

After all the dust settled, Lu Ci had time to deal with some relatively 'minor' matters in this newly purchased manor: first he wrote to the court, requesting three years of mourning; then he wrote to Liu Qi , and repeatedly urged him to keep silent about this matter to Di Qing and others who were still in Qinzhou; then he expressed his gratitude to Zhong Yuan in Mizhou City, who had given him great care and help, and told him what happened recently. Briefly inform; and then symbolically inform the grandfather's family in Hangzhou...

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. Regarding the obligation of the guest house to take care of patients on the road, it should have been listed before, but you may have forgotten it, so I will list it again.

People are often lonely and helpless when they are traveling.In order to protect the safety of passengers, the Song government issued regulations on the management of the mansion.One of them is particularly warm to read: "Passengers and travelers are restless, so they must not be dispatched. When you stand up, you will report to the elderly, and call the nearest doctor to see the reason. Only those who have symptoms within the same day will receive a note from Shenxian County. If the elderly are carried between the roads The patients who are sleeping in the shop must also be taken care of in accordance with the law, no matter where they are lost, they will go to the county with the senior and strong generals to show up in the county, so that they can pay the shopkeepers, doctors, etc. with money and goods." That is to say, the government of Song Dynasty It is stipulated that if a hotel finds that a guest staying in the hotel is sick, it is not allowed to drive him out of the hotel with an excuse. Instead, it must inform the local "old man" (the leader of the grassroots non-governmental organization), and ask a doctor to see him at the nearest doctor, and report to the county government on the same day.If the locals found a sick person on the road and carried them to the hotel, the hotel would not refuse, and they should follow the procedure to invite a doctor and report to the government.When the patient's condition is slightly milder, the store owner can go to the county government to settle the settlement together with the "old and strong", and reimburse medical expenses, food expenses, etc. according to the expenses spent.

This regulation is included in "Zuoyi Zizhen" written by Li Yuanbi of the Song Dynasty. ("Song: The Dawn of Modern Times")

2. Funeral

In the Song Dynasty, thin burials were already emphasized.

The government has issued repeated orders to prohibit rich burials. The "Funeral Order" stipulates that gold, jewels, and jade are not allowed to be placed in the coffin, and stone slabs are not allowed to be used as coffins and tombs.The area of ​​the cemetery, the height of the tomb, the number of stone beasts and artifacts, etc., are all restricted according to the rank of the officials.General literati also advocate thin burials, making thin burials a custom.During the reign of Emperor Renzong, Song Qi, a Hanlin scholar, ordered Song Qi to write "Zhijie" to teach his son, and proposed that he should be buried in three days after death, and buried in March, without being restrained by the custom of yin and yang; the coffin should be made of miscellaneous wood, and gold and copper should not be used Put sundries in the tomb; plant five cypress trees on the tomb, and the tomb is three feet high. Don't use stone Wengzhong and stone beasts.Some scholar-bureaucrats built tombs without using bricks, only using lime and sieved soil to tamp them down, so as to avoid being discovered by villagers in the future and stealing bricks for sale.

Here is an episode of a wicked ghost who robs a tomb: After the death of the prime ministers Yan Shu and Zhang Qi, they were both buried in Yangdi, Xuzhou (now Yu County, Henan Province), several miles apart.Someone robbed Zhang Qi's tomb first, got a lot of gold, jewels and jade from it, and then finished his coffin and left.Later, when they robbed Yan Shu's tomb, they got only a wooden body wrapped in gold and two pieces of gold, and the artifacts were all made of pottery.This incident made some people think that Zhang Qi was "the harm of frugal burial" because of "burial of the whole body" and Yan Shu's "burial of broken bones".

3. Paper money

In the Song Dynasty, paper money and paper lamps were widely used in funerals and sacrificial ceremonies.At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, in the Dongyue Palace in Fuzhou, people used paper money to worship gods and pray for blessings.People at the time described that the amount of paper money was like "flying snow", and the paper money was finally burned.

4. Regarding burial and cremation

Burial and cremation were the two main burial methods at that time.From the beginning of the Song Dynasty, cremation gradually became popular.At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Taizu issued an edict to "forbid the people to be cremated", but the effect was not great.The people on Hedong Road were burned because of "the land is narrow and there are many people, even if their relatives are mourned."Generally, scholar-bureaucrats went to other places to serve as officials, and died of illness, and their descendants burned their coffins, collected bones and brought them back to their hometowns for burial.The imperial court stipulated that soldiers should leave the garrison, allow cremation after death, and transport the ashes back.It is also stipulated that "the only way to burn people" is three miles away from the suburban altar.Er Cheng believes that the state has actually "clearly established rules and regulations on cremation, and it was not prohibited before."Therefore, the folks regard cremation as conforming to the etiquette and law, "even though they are filial to their sons and grandchildren, they don't think it is different."Cremation has the advantages of saving land and money, and the imperial court allows ordinary people to be buried in this way, so it became more popular after they went to the south.

However, the mainstream ideology at that time did not accept cremation (only a few scholar-bureaucrats agreed with cremation).A scholar-bureaucrat in the Song Dynasty felt incomprehensible about the custom of cremation: "There is a so-called cremation in today's folk customs. If you are alive, you will enshrine the utensils for fear that they will not be destroyed. If you die, you will sow them and donate them. Why is it more important than life and less than death?" Cremation is disrespectful to the dead.Therefore, he suggested, "The tragedy of cremation is becoming more and more serious nowadays. It is related to morality and should be banned." I do not support the Song Dynasty government and some literati who wanted to ban cremation. In the Southern Song Dynasty, some people also opposed the cremation ban. Yu Wenbao, who wrote "Blowing the Sword Record", questioned the ban on cremation: "Today, inside and outside the capital, there are hundreds of artifacts. If it is not cremated, where is it buried?"

In fact, the Song government's ban on cremation did not have much effect.The trend of folk cremation can be described as repeated.Therefore, at the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, another official proposed: "Since there is no place for burial, cremation is prohibited, which may not be safe." He also suggested that "except for the strict prohibition of the rich and powerful clans, the poor and the poor will travel far away together. If there is death, let it be as it pleases."This proposal was approved by Song Gaozong.This is the Song government's concession to cremation, allowing some people to choose what kind of funeral, and let them do what they want.

In the process of the dispute between burial and cremation, another practice of Song Dynasty officials was very wise and full of humanitarian spirit, that is, to set aside a "righteous land" in the official land and build a cemetery for the poor; Or set up a public welfare crematorium to help poor families be cremated.Let the poor and without a burial place be able to bury their relatives—whether it is burial or cremation.

It is worth mentioning that there is also the public welfare cemetery promoted by the Song government in Zhuzhou County - "Louze Garden".In the Song Dynasty, Louze Garden had a system that took into account the dignity of the deceased: free burials of the poor and without a place to bury the deceased and the remains of the owner; the tomb was uniform in size, about eight feet square, and the name of the deceased was engraved on two large square bricks. Birthplace, date of birth, date of burial, and family information are also engraved on the bricks as a mark; for those who have no coffins, the government will collect them for coffins; poor families who have relatives who have passed away can also apply for burial in Louzeyuan, and the government A nine-foot-square cemetery will be arranged—of course, there is no charge; Louze Garden also has houses for relatives of the deceased to come here to worship.

The Song government also hired virtuous monks to preside over and manage the Louze Garden. For example, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Renhe and Qiantang counties had "200 Louze Gardens". Five guan, rice and one stone. 200 people were injured, the government found out, and Shen Chao's family rewarded them with purple clothes and a teacher's title."Monks are paid by the government: five guanqian per month and one stone of rice.Every time [-] people are buried, you will be rewarded with purple clothes and teacher number.

So how much money did the Song government invest in the welfare of Louze Garden?During Song Zhenzong’s time, the government needed to spend [-] Wen for each dead person buried, including the cost of the coffin; during Song Shenzong’s time, it cost [-] Wen;The sum of the expenses of Luze gardens all over the country should be very large.In order to allow the citizens to have a dignified burial after they die, the Song government is willing to spend a large sum of money from the finances. This is a manifestation of civilization. (The fourth series of "Life in the Song Dynasty")

5. The superstitious practice of accepting Buddhism and Taoism

Funeral rituals are also deeply influenced by Buddhism, Taoism and other folk superstitions.It is mainly manifested in the theory of seven or seven days, hundred days, and anniversaries, choosing a date and place for burial, doing meritorious deeds such as dojos, wearing filial piety clothes, eating and drinking at funerals, etc.Buddhism makes up stories about the world and the underworld, heaven and hell, saying that after a person dies, every seventh day, his soul must pass through the underworld and suffer a lot.From the first seven, the second seven, until the seventh seven, the last Yin Division is completed, which is called "Duan Qi".Then there will be a hundred days and three years, and you will have to go through the Yin Division once.Out of filial piety and love, as well as superstition and ignorance, the common people invite monks to do dojos or water and land conferences, perform sacrifices, write scriptures and statues, and build pagodas and temples after the death of their parents, which is called "doing merit".After the meritorious deeds are done, soup rice is made again, which is called "seven times soup rice".It is said that in this way, the sins of the dead can be made up, so that they can escape the pain of hell, go to heaven, and enjoy all kinds of happiness;Taoism originally only talked about purity and nature, and there was no theory of hell and heaven, but seeing Buddhist monks profiting, they also imitated it and made up "send the soul to the sky, forgive it on behalf of the sky, fry it in a cauldron, which is called refining; Jujube, used to repair", among which "many are ridiculous" [Note].Therefore, it has become a custom for the folks to invite monks and Taoist priests to recite scriptures, set up fast, do offering sacrifices, and do Buddhist ceremonies when encountering funerals, and they rarely think it is strange.

The common people also believe in the words of Mr. Yin Yang or the "burial master". After a person dies, the date of burial is chosen, and they also believe in Feng Shui.Therefore, in the secular world, the coffins are often left in monasteries without guards. Often, due to unfavorable times, the coffins are not buried for decades, or even for a lifetime or for several generations. They will inevitably be abandoned by others, found by thieves, or burned Float.There are also some families who park their coffins at home because they are far away from the date of burial and do not want to pay for the funeral expenses, so that they put all kinds of sundries at home on the coffin, just like using several cases.

6. Funeral music

During the funeral process, folks have become accustomed to "using music", that is, hiring bands to play music.At the time of the first funeral, the music "Entertaining the Corpse" was played.During the funeral, the guard of honor was led by "beautiful boy with long nails" monks beating cymbals and drumsticks from ethnic minorities, echoing the cries of the families of the bereaved.In the early Song Dynasty, an order was issued to prohibit the families of scholars and concubines from using music and monks' ceremonial parades at funerals, but with little effect.In the Southern Song Dynasty, the residents of Lin'an prefecture generally used "yoga rituals" to beat drums and cymbals all day long when they were building dojos.At the same time, during the mourning period, the folks still drink wine, eat meat, and entertain each other, which is rarely considered strange.

7. Mourning clothes and hair

The filial piety clothes of descendants, when Liu Yue wrote "Shu Yi" in the Five Dynasties, it was stipulated that the five clothes (i.e. Zhan Shuai, Qi Shuai, Dagong, Xiaogong, and Ma, according to the degree of relatives) should all wear common clothes, and the clothing system was roughly the same. Still close to "ancient ceremony".In the Song Dynasty, due to "many secular taboos", no one wore linen clothes unless the son was the parent, the daughter-in-law was the in-laws, the wife was the husband, and the concubine was the husband.Otherwise, if the elders of the bereaved family disagree, everyone will ridicule.At that time, it was customary to wear hair disheveled to express condolences when a loved one died.According to the "ancient ritual", all hair should be scattered.After the death of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, Zhenzong "distributed the number (split)". "There is a ritual of distributing", only the empress dowager's "full hair" means all hair is scattered, and the emperor and empress, kings, princesses, county heads, wives of kings, and people in the six palaces all "left hair", that is, loose the left side s hair.Folks are used to only loosening the left side of the hair for the father, the right side for the mother, the left side for the father-in-law, and the right side for the mother-in-law.This is much more complicated than the previous generation.

(The above are all from "Cultural History of the Song Dynasty" Chapter 8, the ritual system and patriarchal clan of the Song Dynasty)