Chapter 301 Plan
Wang Cong pointed to the center of the village and said, "The problem is not with Third Junior Brother's parents, but with their clan leader. If the clan leader doesn't agree, Third Junior Brother's parents will keep changing their minds."

"and……"

Wang Cong turned his head and glanced at Tao Yanbai, who seemed to be very well-behaved, and said, "The most important thing is that Third Junior Brother must pass the test to obtain the certificate of ordination. If he fails, this status in the secular world will have more advantages than disadvantages for him."

Pan Yun was surprised: "Then why didn't you stop me? I have already offended everyone. Is it too late for me to win back his parents now?"

Wang Cong smiled and said, "It's not too late. They make a fuss every two years, but things get better after that. As long as Third Junior Brother has the ability, they won't really cut off their relationship with him."

Pan Yun felt relieved, patted his chest, and asked Tao Yanbai, "Do you think you can't pass the test?"

Tao Yanbai whispered, "I plan to take the test next year. If I can pass the test, I will pay for my father to go to the government office."

Pan Yun glanced at Tao's father and felt that it would be a bit difficult to let Tao's father be beaten and allow Tao Yanbai to qualify for further examinations.

Moreover, Tao Yanbai was not able to take the exam after being beaten. His father had to serve in another place for one year.

Pan Yun patted his shoulder and said, "You are a loving father and a filial son. Your father might even take a risk for your wish, but your father-son relationship is like this... You should wait until you reach adulthood and try to see if you can pass the exam. If you fail, you will be punished with eighty strokes of the cane. I will give you a few yellow talismans to carry with you, so that your butt and waist will not hurt so much."

This is somewhat different from the cognition of people in later generations. In this world, many parents are open-minded and do not prevent their children from becoming monks.

Oh, a big part of the reason may be that becoming a monk can avoid labor and taxes.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang prepared many policies to stop people from becoming monks for the sake of profit.

In fact, it also prevents parents from abandoning their children to a certain extent.

In the Ming Dynasty, unless the child was drowned, people would usually abandon the child by throwing them in front of temples or Taoist temples.

Sanqing Temple was built on the top of a mountain, which was too high and the mountain road was rugged, so no one would abandon their children in front of the temple. However, Yuling Temple, Lingji Temple, Fuqing Temple and Fuyuan Temple at the foot of the mountain did take in many abandoned children.

There are many cruel people, but there are even more parents who cannot bear to be cruel. Therefore, in the Song and Yuan dynasties, many parents would raise their children until they were a few years old and send them to temples or Taoist temples to become monks, to ensure that their children would be adopted by the temples and Taoist temples and could survive.

Lao Zhu’s policy is aimed at this group of parents.

His logic is also very simple.

Children do not have enough knowledge to make decisions for their own lives, so if parents of minors ask them to become monks, they are guilty.

However, it is difficult to enforce the law at the grassroots level. Most of the time, sending children to become monks is a matter of no consequence, until they are ready to take the ordination exam.

The household registration management in the Ming Dynasty was very strict, and everyone had to have a background.

Even if it was Miaozhen and Miaohe, they would have to be reported to the government office immediately after being picked up, and have household registration pages issued for them, otherwise, they would have been unable to take a single step.

Sometimes, when the restrictions are strict, they can’t even enter Yushan County.

Therefore, when the monks and Taoists took the test for the certificate of ordination, they could implement the law made by Zhu Yuanzhang. If a minor wanted to take the test, his parents would be beaten first, and then he would be punished. He would be forced to serve in a foreign land for half a year to a year, and then he could take the test after completing the service.

As adults, you can make your own decisions.

So, after passing the preliminary test, one would go to take the test for the ordination certificate. If one failed, he would be beaten with eighty sticks and sent back to be a commoner.

Of course, three years later, the unyielding can try again, since Lao Zhu does not limit the number of times.

Therefore, to be a monk or Taoist priest with a certificate of ordination in the Ming Dynasty, one must not only have strong professional skills, but also be in good physical condition.

Tao Yanbai was comforted. He glanced at Wang Cong and said, "When I reach adulthood, I will take the test for the certificate of ordination like my elder brother."

Pan Yun patted his shoulder and said, "A good man should have ambitions for the world, and should not be confined to the gains and losses of a single house."

Tao Yanbai was excited, and his hesitant heart suddenly became firm. He nodded vigorously.

This is how Pan Yun advised Tao Yanbai, but she still left him a way out. She stepped forward to stop the couple who were arguing more and more fiercely and were almost about to fight.

This was the painstaking effort that Wang Feiyin and others had put into Tao Yanbai, and she didn't want to let it go to waste.

So she smiled and said to Mr. and Mrs. Tao: "Don't worry, it's just over a hundred taels. Yanbai is about to finish his studies and can go out to practice medicine to make money. He can pay back the money in five or six years at most. There is really no need for you two to quarrel over this."

Is this what they quarreled about?

It's obviously for...

They both paused at the same time, and they had forgotten why they had been arguing.

But Father Tao immediately remembered, "Five or six years? Yanbai is so old now. I was thinking of letting him come back to get familiar with the family in the next two years, and then we can get married in two years."

He said, "When he gets married, I will have done my duty to his mother."

Pan Yun: "Even if it's six years later, he's still young, there's no rush."

"He's already over 21, what's so young about that? By then, all the kids his age in the village can go to work in the fields," Tao's father hesitated for a moment, then said indirectly, "Young Taoist priest, you see my family is poor, and his mother died early, this money..." Pan Yun said with a gloomy face, "This money must be repaid, brothers have to settle accounts clearly, he is just a nominal disciple of my second senior brother, although I feel sorry for him, but I care more about the money."

Tao's father choked and couldn't help muttering, "You said you were good to my son, but now it seems that you are not so good. You value money more than people..."

Pan Jun heard it. It was obvious that he spoke it specifically for Pan Jun to hear. Although his voice was low, it was too close to her.

So Pan Yun didn't pretend not to hear, but nodded directly and said: "My nephew is indeed miserable. His mother died, his stepmother is not good to him, and his father is even worse to him. Alas, I am not a good uncle either. I value money more than people."

Pan Yun asked Tao's father directly, "Good man, do you love people more than money? How about you pay some of the money for him?"

Tao's father didn't expect Pan Yun to play by his own rules. He not only pointed out the meaning of his words, but also directly asked him for money.

Tao's father, who always cared about his reputation and liked to hide behind others, blurted out, "Where do I have money?"

He realized something was wrong after the words came out of his mouth. He quickly glanced at Wang Cong and said with a bitter face: "Little Taoist priest, you can see that my family is penniless. How can I have the money to pay off the debt for this rebellious son..."

The little girl who had been standing by the door holding a sickle suddenly said, "We have money, Dad, please help my brother pay back some of the money."

Tao's mother picked up a stick and hit her, "What do you have to do with what the adults say?"

Tao Yanbai quickly stepped forward to stop her and grabbed the stick to stop her from hitting him. During the quarrel, the door on the left side of the main room opened, and a boy of seven or eight years old came out rubbing his eyes and yelled, "What are you guys quarreling about? I can't sleep."

Seeing Mother Tao holding a stick, the older boy said unhappily, "Mom, why are you hitting me again?"

"Don't worry about it. This kid is so mean. If I don't beat her to death today, I'm not your mother!"

Tao Yanbai stopped her, and Tao Hua also cleverly hid behind Tao Yanbai, occasionally poking her head out and saying, "Mom, big brother is also our family member, and he should have a share of the money saved at home."

"When will it be your turn to be the head of this family and to distribute the affairs? I told you to stop talking nonsense and say you want to be the head of the family. When you get married, go to your husband's house..."

The boy didn't understand what they were arguing about, but when he saw the stick was about to hit his sister, he quickly went forward and hugged her mother's arm, shouting, "Sister, stop arguing and run."

Tao's mother was so angry that she pushed the boy away and kicked him.

The boy was kicked in the side and flew out, his face hitting the stone of the well. Pan Jun's eyes turned fierce and he waved his sleeves, pushing the boy aside, and he fell on his face with a thud.

The boy raised his head, touched his sore nose, looked at his scratched palm, and burst into tears.

Pan Jun turned his head to look at Tao's father who remained indifferent.

Father Tao saw Pan Yun looking at him, and perhaps because he felt annoyed, he yelled at the mother and her two children, "Stop making trouble!"

He glared at Mother Tao and said, "Didn't you see anyone was there? You're making a fool of yourself..."

Tao's mother then discovered that the neighbors had been standing outside the wall of their house, looking inside.

Because she arranged her stepson's room in the cowshed, many people in the village gossiped about her. Recently, Tao's mother seldom went out, and when someone saw her coming to the door, she couldn't help but blush.

Tao's father cared more about his reputation than she did. He didn't take Pan Yun, Miao Zhen and Miao He seriously, but he had to care about Wang Cong.

Wang Cong is obviously a promising young man, and his father is the abbot of the temple!
So even though Pan Yun has been the one in charge since he entered the house, Tao's father still subconsciously regards Wang Cong as the one in charge.

He smiled embarrassedly at Wang Cong and invited them into the main room to discuss the matter.

Wang Cong glanced at Pan Yun and went into the lobby with Tao's father.

Tao's mother was afraid that Tao's father would really pay money to pay off Tao Yanbai's debt, so she quickly dropped her stick and chased in, wanting to sit in as well.

Pan Jun did not go in, and her purpose was not really to get money. Wang Cong must know what she wanted and how to do the best for Tao Yanbai. He was skillful, capable, and not soft-hearted. There was no need for her to follow him in.

She walked towards the villagers outside the wall and asked them about Tao Yanbai's life in the village.

It's really wonderful and I followed it immediately.

Tao Yanbai walked up and picked up his brother who was crying but no one paid any attention to him. He brushed the dust off his knees, then took out a candy from somewhere and stuffed it into his mouth.

The boy stopped crying immediately, sobbed for a while while holding the candy in his mouth, and then wiped away his tears, "Brother, I don't feel any pain anymore."

Tao Yanbai pulled him to the well, fetched water for him to wash his hands and face, and after drying his hands, he rubbed some medicine powder on his palms, "Don't touch anything randomly, let the medicine powder stay longer, go play."

The boy responded happily and ran out to play with his neighbors outside the wall.

Tao Hua picked up the shoulder pole and was about to go out with the basket to collect grass for the pigs, but Tao Yanbai stopped her and took her back to the cowshed.

After closing the door, Tao Yanbai took out a handful of copper coins and two silver notes with a face value of five taels from his sleeve and gave them to her. "Take this money and hide it somewhere. You can spend it when you need it in the future."

Tao Hua was stunned for a moment and then quickly shook his head, "No, big brother, I have enough food and clothes at home, why do I need money? You can use the money to return it to your uncle."

(End of this chapter)