朱元璋的和尚生涯
《明朝那些事儿》（二）
一、皇觉寺里的和尚不念经、不拜佛，甚至连佛祖金身也不擦，这些活自然而然地由刚进庙的新人朱元璋来完成。
1. The monks at Huangjue Temple neither chanted scriptures nor worshipped Buddha, not even bothering to clean the golden statues of the Buddha. These tasks naturally fell to Zhu Yuanzhang, the newest arrival at the temple.
二、朱元璋在皇觉寺除了要做粗活外，他还要兼任清洁工、仓库保管员、添油工（长明灯）。即使这样，他还是经常挨骂，在那些和尚喝酒吃肉的时候，他还要擦洗香客踩踏的地板。
2. At Huangjue Temple, besides doing manual labor, Zhu Yuanzhang also had to work as a cleaner, warehouse keeper, and lamp oiler (for the eternal flame). Even so, he was often scolded. While the other monks drank and ate meat, he had to scrub the floors trodden by pilgrims.
三、在战乱、动荡的年代，和尚的生活水准比平常百姓要高，身家性命也较有保障。朱元璋做过和尚，凤阳又是老家，所以明朝建立后，太祖对凤阳的和尚有很多优惠政策。
3. During turbulent times of war and unrest, monks enjoyed a higher standard of living than ordinary people and had greater security for their lives and property. Having been a monk himself and with Fengyang being his hometown, after establishing the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu granted many preferential policies to the monks in Fengyang.
四、凤阳府的寺僧可以喝酒，可以吃肉，还可以娶妻生子，一般老百姓要承担的差役赋税，也都跟他们无关。另外，僧人的妻子还有一个专有名词，叫“梵嫂”。
4. The monastic monks in Fengyang Prefecture were allowed to drink alcohol, eat meat, and even marry and have children. They were exempt from the corvée labor and taxes that ordinary people had to bear. Furthermore, there was a specific term for a monk's wife: "Fansao" (literally "Brahmin wife").
五、可以说朱元璋虽然被皇觉寺的和尚打骂过，但后来他当了皇帝后还是对和尚特别优待了，而那些和他出生入死的兄弟们大部分都被杀了。因为如果仅凭感情朱元璋怎么可以笑到最后。
5. It can be said that although Zhu Yuanzhang was beaten and scolded by the monks of Huangjue Temple, he still showed special favor to monks after becoming emperor, while most of the brothers who fought life-and-death battles alongside him were executed. Because if he had acted solely on sentiment, how could Zhu Yuanzhang have had the last laugh?
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