Chapter 890 Master Jia is back
Two old farmers were invited and wanted to cross their hands to salute. Li Zhi smiled and said, "Why does this old man have to do this?"
Respecting the old is a tradition, even the emperor has to smile in front of the old.
Li Hong asked: "The land in the two old husbands' homes looks quite fertile. I think it's a good day."
also learned to detour...
Li Zhi took a look at Wu Mei, and the feeling of an old father came to his heart again.
The shorter old farmer said with a smile: "This is outside Chang'an City! I can't wait for this kind of fertile land, it's all over there..." He pointed in the direction of Longji Temple and said: "It's all from Longji Temple. Those The eminent monk is merciful, and gave me the fields to cultivate, and I don’t have to serve in the army... so merciful!"
Li Ji's heart skipped a beat.
It’s easy to talk about other places. The fertile land outside Chang’an City has long been snatched up by the dignitaries. How can ordinary people have it... But this Longji Temple easily owns a large amount of fertile land here. What does it mean...
Xu Jingzong glanced at him with serious eyes.
—This means that Fang Wai is approaching the emperor.
When China was in chaos, the entire northern land became a hunting ground. The people turned into two-legged sheep, howling bitterly but could not return to the Sima family hiding in Jiangdong... The lingering little imperial court sat and watched the Han people in the north become the livestock of a foreign race, were bloodbathed, ravaged, and... roasted and fried Hu people's food.
This is the real Shenzhou Lu Chen. Countless Han people howled to the sky, hoping that the gods could save themselves from hell, but the gods just blinked in the sky full of stars.
Those anger and unwillingness, fear and despair cannot be dispelled, and the Buddhist theory of reincarnation has become the best comfort.
It is karma for you to be reduced to livestock in this life, so bear with it. Be a good person in this life, and you will enjoy happiness in the next life...
The collapsed heart was comforted, and the rulers suddenly found that the people ruled better, and they couldn't help being overjoyed... So Buddhism still has this effect?
So Buddhism flourished.
Which realm has Buddhism reached?
In the short history of more than one hundred years in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Fa Difficulty happened twice.
The root cause is that the power of Buddhism is so huge that the emperor is like a light on his back.
They have countless fertile fields, countless believers and people. This is just the foundation. What's more terrible is that many powerful and wealthy families have also become believers. With their hands, for the first time, Buddhism can speak out to the world.
The terrified emperor was scared.
So in the shadow of swords and swords, the two sides began to break.
The entanglement and struggle between Buddhism and politics has been lingering for hundreds of years, and this moment is a prosperous period.
The two Falun Gong campaigns in the Southern and Northern Dynasties were not far away, and the last one was less than a hundred years ago, but Buddhism has once again become a behemoth within a few decades.
Li Hong thought of the conversation between his uncle and himself.
He asked: "This Longji Temple is so big!"
The old man said proudly: "Not much, not much, the area around Chang'an is only about 40 hectares, and there are more outside."
Li Yifu's cheeks trembled...
Ren Yaxiang's breathing was slightly short of breath.
There is almost no land around Chang'an, but here there are tens of hectares of fields...
Another old man glanced at everyone, and said slyly: "We are not slaves..."
Li Zhi said lightly: "Go to Longji Temple to have a look."
It is enough to know the basic situation. As for what is not a slave... In the eyes of the emperor, anyone who goes out of his control is a slave.
After a few rides, you can hear the farmers saluting and shouting the Buddha's name along the way.
These people are monks, and they should have come to inspect the fields.
Seeing hundreds of people looking at him, a monk pointed at the crowd with a whip and shouted: "Where did you come from?"
"What a majesty!"
Wu Mei glanced at these people, "Let's go."
The monk stared at them and shouted: "Don't stay nearby."
One of the monks pointed his horsewhip at the old man who had just talked to Li Hong and asked, "What did they ask?"
The old man smiled and said, "They just asked if the field is okay..."
The monk's face turned pale, "Don't talk nonsense, or the whole family will rush to the mountain."
The old man laughed and said, "Yes, yes, I dare not dare."
Li Zhi walks slowly...
Li Ji accidentally saw the clenched fists of the emperor.
The dispute between population and land has intensified. The government and China have been pondering this matter for several years. Immigration is a good way, but not only to increase revenue, but also to cut expenditure.
The so-called throttling is to clean up the fields in Guanzhong, take back those fields that have been embezzled, and redistribute them to the people... This is the foundation of the government soldiers. Once shaken, Datang will shake the ground.
A monk followed them far away. When he saw Longji Temple, the monk rode his horse and overtook it from the left.
Li Zhi said lightly: "Noisy!"
Wang Zhongliang sternly shouted: "Get it down!"
A guard ran out from the guard array, took out a longbow while running, and completed the process of drawing the bow and nodding the arrow while running.
He stands on the left, with his longbow fully drawn...
As soon as he let go of his hand, the arrow flew away.
Boom!
The horse was hit by an arrow and fell down, and the monk on the horse flew out. Fortunately, the speed of the horse was not fast, so he only broke his arm.
The guard held the bow in his left hand, touched an arrow in the quiver with his right hand, and stared at the two following riders like a falcon.
"Stop!"
He sternly shouted.
The two riders reined in their palpitations.
"They dared to shoot arrows here... who is it?"
Arrived in front of Longji Temple, the Zhike monk came to welcome him, and he couldn't help being overjoyed when he saw Li Hong, "I have seen His Highness, and His Highness came to pray for blessings yesterday, and today he came again. This filial piety is earth-shattering!"
The abbot rushed over upon hearing the news, and as soon as he turned his gaze, he fixed on Li Zhi and others in casual clothes.
This is the experience...
"Please, Your Highness."
I know that you are a noble person, but if you don’t take the initiative to report your identity, don’t ask… If you ask, you’re making yourself boring, and others will think you’re trying to steal money. The best way is to be neither humble nor overbearing, but also to make the nobles feel respected in every possible way.
This is a science that humans have studied for thousands of years, and few have mastered it. The descriptions of the few masters in the annals of history are also mixed, some are described as treacherous and treacherous sycophants, and some are described as loyal and loyal ministers...
A group of people walked slowly in the room, took a thorough look inside Longji Temple, even went to the dining hall to take a look, and asked about the food situation, which can be called meticulous.
Out of the dining hall, everyone looked different.
"The food is so good that I want to have a meal here." Ren Yaxiang said with emotion: "What do you think, Mr. Xu?"
He suddenly wanted to die: the old man asked who was wrong, asked Xu Jingzong... To tell the truth, I don’t know how many people have been cheated, the old man is doing it to death!
Xu Jingzong lived up to everyone's expectations and said: "The old man took a look...the rich man!"
The face of the abbot remained unchanged, and he said with a smile: "It's just serving the Buddha, don't dare to neglect. Those good believers donated a lot...all of them are charitable people."
Li Zhi nodded noncommittally, turned around and said, "Are the monks serving the Buddha all day long?"
The abbot nodded, "Yes! Longji Temple is devout."
Li Zhi looked at him with his hands behind his back, and asked with great interest, "I've all gone to serve the Buddha, where did the food come from? As far as I know, you don't go to cultivate the land when you own 30 acres of land in the middle of the court. Where does the rice grain come from?"
The taste of these words was not right, and the abbot’s smile remained unchanged, “Some believers donated a lot of servants, and they are all farming.”
Xu Jingzong said sharply: "You waited to serve the Buddha, so you have to find someone to serve you, but it is also clear."
Everyone is holding back their laughter.
Li Zhi nodded, "Not bad."
The abbot breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help laughing: "There are some good vegetarian meals in the kitchen. If you are hungry, you can use some as you like."
"gone back."
Li Zhi felt that the place was boring.
When everyone returned to the city, those few monks dared to come in.
"Abbot, those people are vicious. They almost shot our people with arrows."
The abbot smiled and said: "But you waited for the wrong rules? Huh?"
The smile disappeared abruptly, and then his voice became stern, "That's a nobleman! You are used to being domineering, and you dare to be arrogant in front of them today, not only killing yourself, but also dragging down the temple!"
Everyone was stunned, and someone asked, "Who is this noble man?"
The abbot covered his forehead, "That's His Majesty and the prime ministers."
Everyone couldn't help but rejoice, "Even His Majesty and the prime ministers come here to pay respects to the Buddha. Da Ci'en Temple can't compare to us."
"Stupid." The abbot felt tired, "Why is your majesty plainclothes? This time the bad luck is uncertain, these few days should be more peaceful."
A monk said with a smile: "Why do you need to worry about the abbot, the Tang Dynasty treats foreigners preferentially, and every time a temple is built, it will definitely allocate money and food to help, and even divide a lot of land..."
"Yes! The abbot is worrying too much."
Everyone wanted to persuade for a while, but the abbot looked pale and sighed: "Buddhism is vast, and it is omnipotent."
…
The prime ministers returned to their respective places.
Ren Yaxiang went to Li Ji to talk, a little out of his mind.
"What's Your Majesty's intention today?" Ren Yaxiang pointed to his eyelids and said, "I've been feeling my eyelids twitching today, and I'm a little flustered. Those who give alms in the fields are never stingy, this is not right today."
"Of course not."
As calm and steady as Li Ji, he was also a little flustered, "Emperor Gaozu and the late emperor also suppressed the support of Buddhism. They all witnessed the consequences of worshiping Buddhism in the previous Sui Dynasty...so they lived in peace. After your majesty ascended the throne, he gave a lot of support to Buddhism, but he forgot about the late emperor. The means... After more than ten years, the Buddhism is prosperous..."
Li Ji was cautious, but Ren Yaxiang didn't care, "This is the consequence caused by His Majesty himself."
Li Ji nodded slowly.
"This time the prince... revealed the big mistake His Majesty made, I'm afraid it will be repeated in the palace!"
Li Ji sat there and sighed slightly, his gray beard and hair swaying slightly.
…
"I am alone."
Li Zhi refused the queen's company and stood alone in front of the palace.
The autumn wind blows, and the people who blow it feel very comfortable.
The emperor's eyes were calm until Xu Jingzong hurried over.
"Your Majesty..."
"explain."
"Gaozu had an order from time to time: three temples in the capital and two temples. The rest of the states in the world each keep one, and I will leave it alone..."
Xu Jingzong took a peek at the emperor, and saw that his face was calm, so he continued: "When the first emperor broke Luoyang, he had an order: all the monasteries were abolished, and 30 monks and nuns in the city were left with virtuous names, and the rest returned to the beginning."
"The first emperor came to the throne and there was an edict... Those who have selfishness will be punished with capital punishment. At that time, there were many escaped monks in Yiyang Mountain, and their money was poor."
Li Zhi closed his eyes.
"In the third year of Zhenguan, the whole world is enshrined in righteousness and private life, and those who don't come out will be beheaded. I am afraid of hearing this."
Li Zhi clenched his hands into fists.
"There are countless temples in the world today, and there are many monks and nuns... There are countless people who have ordained privately, and those who pretend to be monks and nuns to evade taxes are even more... countless."
If it goes on like this...the world will be shaken! Li Zhi's body shook a bit.
From the side, Wu Mei came quietly.
She turned around and waved her hand, signaling the servants to avoid it.
Xu Jingzong's forehead was sweating, "In the former Sui Dynasty, there were 3,985 temples in the world, with more than 230,000 monks and nuns. At the beginning of Zhenguan, there were 2 million households in the world, and they made offerings to... 200,000 monks and nuns... "
He bowed back, turned around and left after a few steps.
"Your Majesty, why should you suffer yourself?"
Wu Mei's voice came.
Li Zhi said indifferently: "From the time when I supervised the construction of the Daci'en Temple, I have opened the door to Buddhism. Over the years, I have watched the Buddhism continue to expand. They built countless temples with extreme luxury. I have the energy to spare..."
"Last time, Jia Ping'an mentioned the matter of Fang Wai."
Wu Mei nodded, "Pingan said that faith can make people peaceful, but Fang Wai must not erode the world. The Buddha is merciful, but it is ordinary people who serve the Buddha. Ordinary people are full of eyes, and how many people can truly detach themselves? Red dust?
Buddhism embezzles land and population, which is competing with the secular world for the world. The two previous dharma disasters are not far away, but now Buddhism is making a comeback again... He privately told his concubine that if everything goes on as usual, future generations will raise the banner of Dharma difficulty again and compete with Buddhism for money, food, land and population. "
Li Zhi nodded, "I feel that there is enough money and food, but I have forgotten that these are all managed by the ancestors and the first emperors. In the former Han Dynasty, there was no rule of Wen and Jing, so how could there be Emperor Wu's swaying? But here, the money, the land and the population They were generously given to Buddhism, but they forgot that these were all accumulated by the ancestors and emperors..."
Wu Mei smiled and said: "Your Majesty, did you think of Emperor Wu? Although Emperor Wu has great martial arts skills, he is also extravagant. He spends the money and food in the treasury like running water at will. It is difficult to continue in the future, so he changed his course and became an emperor who amassed money... If I knew this earlier, why bother?"
Li Zhi turned around, frowning slightly.
Is this shrew implying that I am a dandy emperor who only knows how to waste the accumulation of his ancestors?
"Both Gao Zu and the first emperor used Buddhism to calm people's minds, but they were quite wary of the expansion of Buddhism. I don't think so. It has only been more than ten years since I ascended the throne, and Buddhism has already become too big..."
Wu Mei sighed: "The concubine has also donated a lot of money and fields to the Buddhist sect in recent years. There are also many temples built to pray for princesses and princes. Speaking of which, the concubine is also one of the culprits."
Li Zhi smiled wryly and said: "You and my husband and I are questioning ourselves today, feeling very guilty... But what makes me feel even more guilty is that even a young man like Wu Lang saw the crisis, while you and I are content, I don't know if this is planting disasters for our children and grandchildren... "
There was a smile in Wu Mei's eyes, "Goro Chunxiao, seeing this crisis, he didn't hide it, but said it out. His vision... Come, let the prince come here. Your Majesty, how about having dinner together today?" "
Li Zhi nodded.
A servant hurried over.
Li Hong was being persuaded with a sad face.
Jiang Feng sighed: "Your Highness is kind, and it is a good thing to have the world in your heart, but Buddhism...is vast, why bother to offend them by speaking out?"
Zhang Song turned around with his hands behind his back, and the corners of his mouth were blistered. He stopped and said, "Does Your Highness know how many powerful and high-ranking officials those monks have made friends with? Your Highness's words have left Fang Wai with a bad reputation, and how much harm will it bring in the future, hey! "
After all, Li Hong couldn't bear it anymore, and said: "But shouldn't Fangwai people have asceticism? Why do they want so many slaves in the fields, so much money and food... and make good friends with those high-ranking officials, this is sobering? "
"Ahem!"
Jiang Feng coughed dryly, "Your Highness! Such things...you can know it, but you can't say it."
Zhang Song whispered: "Your Highness, they are all human!"
Li Hong suddenly realized, "My uncle once said that if there is a Buddha in his heart, even a trafficker and **** is an eminent monk. Without a Buddha in his heart, those who practice hard in temples deep in the mountains are just in vain."
"That's a great statement!"
Although they were at odds with Xinxue, Jiang Feng and Zhang Song greatly appreciated what Jia Pingan taught the prince.
"But Your Highness has put His Majesty in a dilemma." Jiang Feng was a little tangled, "Buddhism is powerful, and today it has uncovered many disadvantages that affect the Tang Dynasty. Your Majesty doesn't care? It just sits and watches the disadvantages expand. Take care of it... Buddhism is powerful. ! Your Highness! Will backfire!"
Li Hong frowned, "I don't care about it now, but can my descendants do it too?"
What you said makes sense, but the old man is speechless...
Jiang Feng and Zhang Song looked at each other.
"If you don't care about it now, the harm will only get bigger and bigger in the future; if you don't care about it now, you're leaving the trouble to your children and grandchildren. Aye is not that kind of person!"
Li Hong said very firmly.
"Your Highness, Your Majesty is calling."
The servant conveyed the order, and when he returned, he told the prince what he had said.
"My servant just heard His Highness say...don't worry about it at the moment, since then the disadvantages will become more and more serious, just throwing the disadvantages to the children and grandchildren, Aye is not that kind of person."
Li Zhi looked at Wu Mei with his hands behind his back, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
Wu Mei smiled and said: "Wu Lang trusts His Majesty, but His Majesty can't feel at ease right now?"
"It's hard for me to be happy for a moment, but you want to expose the scars."
How easy is it to cut off the benefits of Buddhism?
"Looking at the number and piety of those believers when Xuanzang was traveling, I know that this matter is difficult."
Li Zhi was quite distressed, and when Li Hong came, he asked, "What do you think of Fang Wai's shortcomings?"
"Goro is still young!"
Wu Mei immediately protects the calf.
Li Zhi glanced at her and shook his head slightly.
Li Hong thought for a while, "Buddhism and Taoism are both useful and can calm people's hearts. They can be used, but they can't be allowed to erode the world. Once they open their mouths, they can't be sealed later."
Li Zhi was silent for a long time.
"Dinner."
A rare dinner for a family of three.
That night, the emperor's bedroom was brightly lit, and it was not extinguished until the end of the ugly hour.
Ren Yaxiang is getting old and can't eat much for breakfast.
The old servant was muttering that he was eating more and more, showing his health.
When getting on the horse, Ren Yaxiang's movements were much slower.
"I'm old, and my legs and feet are not flexible."
Riding his horse slowly on Zhuque Street, Ren Yaxiang looked at those familiar square walls and couldn't help sighing: "There are few tall cornices that go beyond the square walls. I used to recognize them, but now there are more and more. I can see that there are more and more. Datang is getting richer."
The sound of horseshoes came.
Ren Yaxiang looked back when he heard the sound of hoofbeats.
"Ren Xiang."
The man on horseback grinned at him.
His swarthy face turned paler, Ren Yaxiang was taken aback, "You...Mr. Jia?"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Ren Yaxiang laughed loudly, "You...you stayed outside the city last night? You just waited to open the city gate so you can come in... No, you want to go home and have a look first... Forget it, hurry up."
Jia Pingan waved his hand and disappeared in front of him with the people.
Ren Yaxiang covered his forehead, "He came back just in time for the Buddhist affairs. This matter... is troublesome."
…
Good night!
(end of this chapter)