Xie Ming

Chapter 463 The evil monk comes again?

Yao Guangxiao was a native of Changshu, Suzhou Prefecture. His family was a family of doctors.

In the eighth year of Zhizheng (the reign of Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty - 1348), Yao Guangxiao, who was only fourteen years old, became a monk and was given the Buddhist name Daoyan.

Later, he became a disciple of Taoist Xi Yingzhen and learned the art of Yin and Yang.

In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered monks who were proficient in Confucianism to take the exam at the Ministry of Rites. Yao Guangxiao, who was already in his forties, was summoned to the capital for the first time by Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty as a Confucian monk. However, he was not appointed as a monk official and was only given monk's robes.

Five years later, he was recommended by You Jueyi Laifu and You Shan Shizongle of the Buddhist Records Office and entered the Tianjie Temple to seek a monk position.

In the 1382th year of Hongwu (), Empress Ma died. Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty selected eminent monks to accompany the kings and chant scriptures to pray for blessings.

At that time, Daoyan was recommended by the Monks' Registrar Zuoshan Shizong Le, and had a very pleasant conversation with Yan Wang Zhu Di, so he asked to follow Zhu Di to Beiping.

Later, he became the abbot of Qingshou Temple and often went in and out of Prince Yan's Mansion to have secret conversations with Zhu Di.

In the 1398st year of Hongwu (), Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty passed away and Emperor Jianwen succeeded to the throne and implemented a policy of reducing the power of the princes.

King Zhu Su of Zhou, King Zhu Bo of Xiang, King Zhu Gui of Dai, King Zhu Yu of Qi, and King Zhu Xun of Min were successively convicted and their vassal states were abolished.

Yao Guangxiao secretly advised Zhu Di to start a rebellion. Zhu Di said, "The people all support the court. What can you do?"

Yao Guangxiao replied: "I only know the way of heaven, not the people's will."

Later, Yao Guangxiao recommended the fortune teller Yuan Gong and the diviner Jin Zhong to Zhu Di, so that Zhu Di could gradually make up his mind.

Zhu Di secretly won over officers, colluded with troops, and recruited warriors. Yao Guangxiao trained soldiers in the back garden of the Prince of Yan's mansion, built underground caves surrounded by thick walls, forged military weapons, and used raised geese and ducks to cover up the sound.

In June of the first year of Jianwen (1399), Ni Liang, a centurion of the Yanwang Palace guard, reported Zhu Di's rebellion, and the court ordered the arrest of officials of the Yanwang Palace.

Commander Zhang Xin secretly informed Zhu Di of the news, and Zhu Di immediately decided to raise an army, and in the name of killing Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, he claimed to be "Fengtian Jingnan".

Yao Guangxiao was ordered to assist the Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi in garrisoning Beiping.

In October of the same year, Zhu Di captured Daning (now Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia), and the commander of the Southern Army, Li Jinglong, took the opportunity to besiege Peking.

Yao Guangxiao commanded his soldiers to hold the city and repel the attack of the Southern Army. At the same time, he used ropes to hang soldiers out of the city at night, and attacked from both inside and outside with Zhu Di's reinforcements, thus defeating the Southern Army.

Li Jinglong and Ping An were defeated and retreated soon after.

In the second year of Jianwen (1400), Zhu Di besieged Jinan for three months but could not break the city. Yao Guangxiao sent a message to Zhu Di, saying: "The soldiers are exhausted, maybe we should return home as soon as possible."

Zhu Di accepted his advice and withdrew his troops back to Beiping.

Later, the Yan army was defeated in Dongchang (now Liaocheng, Shandong), and the general Zhang Yu was killed in the battle. Zhu Di had no choice but to retreat again.

At that time, Zhu Di wanted to take a break, but Yao Guangxiao did the opposite and urged him to continue the advance, which led to the defeat of Sheng Yong and the capture of Xishui Fort.

Later, Yao Guangxiao took advantage of the victory to advise Zhu Di: "Instead of attacking the city, we should quickly take the capital. The capital has few soldiers, so we can definitely capture it!"

Zhu Di adopted his suggestion, defeated the Southern Army in succession at Feishui and Lingbi, crossed the river into the capital, and achieved success in one fell swoop!
After the Jingnan Campaign, in the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), Zhu Di proclaimed himself emperor and became the Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty.

Yao Guangxiao was appointed as Zuo Shanshi of the Buddhist Registrar's Office.

In the second year of Yongle (1404), Yao Guangxiao was appointed as the Grand Master of Zishan and the Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince, and his surname was changed back to Yao, and his given name was Guangxiao. Whenever Chengzu talked with him, he always called him Junior Tutor, instead of calling him by his name.

Later, Chengzu ordered Yao Guangxiao to grow his hair and return to secular life, but Yao Guangxiao refused.

Yao Guangxiao was also given a mansion and palace maids, but he refused to accept them and continued to live in the temple. He wore court robes when he went to court and changed back into monk's clothes when he left.

When he went to Suzhou and Lake Tai to provide disaster relief, he went to Changzhou and distributed all the gold he had been given to his clan members and fellow villagers.

After that, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty traveled between Nanjing and Beijing and launched several expeditions to Mongolia. Yao Guangxiao stayed in Nanjing to assist the crown prince Zhu Gaochi in regulating the country.

In the fifth year of Yongle (1407), Yao Guangxiao was ordered to teach the emperor's eldest grandson Zhu Zhanji.

In the 1418th year of Yongle (), Yao Guangxiao was seriously ill and unable to attend court, so he lived in Qingshou Temple.

Chengzu visited him several times, gave him a golden spittoon, and asked if he had any other requests.

Yao Guangxiao said: "The longer the monk Puqia has been imprisoned, I hope he can be pardoned."

And Puqia was the chief monk of Emperor Jianwen.

When Emperor Chengzu entered Nanjing, some people said that Emperor Jianwen had escaped by disguising himself as a monk. Pu Qia knew about this, and some people also said that Emperor Jianwen was hiding in Pu Qia's home. So the emperor imprisoned Pu Qia on the grounds of this incident, and ordered Hu Yi and others to search for Jianwen everywhere, but to no avail. Pu Qia had been in prison for more than ten years.

It was only then that Chengzu agreed to Yao Guangxiao's request and ordered his release. Yao Guangxiao kowtowed and thanked him.

Soon, Yao Guangxiao died of illness at the age of eighty-four.

Two days after Chengzu abolished court, he buried Yao Guangxiao with monk's rites, posthumously awarded him the titles of loyal and assisted the country, senior official of honor, senior pillar of the country, and Duke of Rongguo, and gave him the posthumous title of Gongjing. He also buried him in the northeast of Fangshan County. He also personally wrote the inscription for his spirit road and granted his adopted son Yao Ji the official title of Shaoqing of Shangbao.

In the 22nd year of Yongle, Zhu Di, who respected Yao Guangxiao very much, died in Yumuchuan during the northern expedition. Prince Zhu Gaochi succeeded him as Renzong.

Yao Guangxiao once assisted the Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi in defending Beiping during the "Battle of Jingnan". Later, he was appointed as the Prince's Tutor and assisted Zhu Gaochi in staying in Nanjing to supervise the country. Zhu Gaochi was full of respect for Yao Guangxiao.

After Zhu Gaochi succeeded to the throne, he commended Yao Guangxiao again.

On March 20th of the first year of Hongxi, which was the seventh anniversary of Yao Guangxiao's death, Zhu Gaochi personally wrote an obituary and sent his adopted son Yao Ji to pay tribute, praising Yao Guangxiao for his meritorious service to the court and for "cooperating with Emperor Zhu Di to resolve great difficulties and achieve great success". He also said, "My father, Emperor Taizong Wen, followed the will of heaven and responded to the people with great saintly virtue, and restored the country, promoted peace and prosperity, and built peace. It was all thanks to your concerted efforts to assist in the great cause." Therefore, he cited the "general rules of ancient and modern times" and "shared wealth and honor with him when alive, and accompanied him in sacrifice and enjoyment after death". He also gave Yao Guangxiao "the title of Shao Shi, a scattered official, and a posthumous title as before", and specially ordered Yao Guangxiao to be enshrined in the Ming Taizong Temple. Enshrining in the temple should be the greatest honor for Yao Guangxiao as Zhu Di's counselor.

Looking at the list of people who were enshrined in the Taimiao during the two reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Ming, the sixteen meritorious officials, starting from King Zhongshan Xu Da, were all military officials who had risked their lives.

The only civil official who was ranked next to the meritorious officials in enjoying the title was Yao Guangxiao.

This shows how special Yao Guangxiao's status was in the early Ming Dynasty.
However, time has passed, and two hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye.
At present, in Linggu Zen Temple, the old Buddha sitting in Xiao Lang's room in the middle of the night is actually a descendant of Yao Guangxiao and the same descendant of the Yao family. Xiao Jingchuan is unable to figure it out for the time being.

With the help of the breeze and the moon, I took a closer look and saw that the monk's eyebrows and eyes were so sharp that if it weren't for his eyes, he would have looked a bit sick!

This kind of face is bound by nature, and he is fond of killing. He really has the aura and charm of a "demon monk".
[Shaped like a sick tiger]

[Yao Guangxiao had visited Songshan Temple in his early years, and the fortune teller Yuan Gong said to him: "You are a very strange monk! Your eye sockets are gathered into a triangle, and your face looks like a sick tiger. You are naturally fond of killing, just like Liu Bingzhong!" Yao was delighted to hear this.]

[Liu Bingzhong: The legendary "evil monk" of the Yuan Dynasty, a meritorious official of the Kaiyuan period, and an idol admired by Yao Guangxiao! ]

(End of this chapter)