The dawn is just beginning to dew, and the night is not dissipating.

There was already a long row of rows outside the city gate of Shanyang. Ma Jin and his group were standing in the long row at this time. Looking at the people in ragged clothes, carrying loads and carrying bags in front, Ma Jin couldn't help but frown, and then turned around and looked behind him. There were still people in ragged clothes. There were almost no one in the row of rows. Moreover, these people didn't look like they were going to the city to buy and sell things. They all looked worried and extremely sad.

"Uncle, are you going to the city to buy things?" Ma Jin couldn't help but ask a middle-aged man carrying a load standing in front of him.

The middle-aged man turned his head and showed a waxy face full of vicissitudes, with a hint of impatientness in his eyes. However, when he saw that he was a handsome young man in a brightly dressed manner, he naturally did not dare to neglect him.

"We are eligible to sell things in the city," the middle-aged man shook his head and said, "Today is the day when Jingnian Zen Temple collects rent."

"Calling rent?" Ma Jin couldn't help but look at the man in front of him. Although his clothes were very ragged, it could be seen that he was wearing a strong suit. He didn't look like a farmer. He thought he was a hunter in the mountains and asked:

"Uncle, you are a hunter, are you still going to pay rent?"

The man smiled bitterly when he heard this, and said in a slight voice: "Young Master, you are not a local, are you?"

"Xiao Ke is indeed not a local, he is a native of Jincheng, Liangzhou." Ma Jin replied with a smile.

"This is a big wonder." The middle-aged man suddenly realized and then smiled bitterly:

"Young Master, you don't know that although I am a hunter in the mountains, I have to pay taxes to Jingnian Zen Temple as long as I hunt in the Qiyang Mountains. Otherwise, if I am discovered by the Zen Temple, I will be beaten and thrown out of the mountain. In the worst case, it will affect the lives of the whole family."

"This Jingnian Zen Temple is so domineering!" Ma Jin's expression suddenly became cold when he heard this, and he murmured in a low voice.

"Uncle, I remember that the court has exempted the fishing and hunting taxes in the world. Jingnian Zen Temple openly disobeyed the court's government orders to collect taxes privately, so the local government ignored it." Ma Jin asked with his head up.

"Hmph, how could these high-ranking men care about the lives and death of us people in the mountains and the wilderness?" The middle-aged man couldn't help but spat and said hatefully: "The world is like a crow. If they don't collude with Jingnian Zen Temple to bully us ordinary people, we will burn incense!"

Ma Jin's face suddenly stopped, and then he became a little embarrassed. Isn't this scolding the bald donkey in front of the monk? If these local officials are not good, his face will naturally be lost. How can the people in Shanyang scold him behind their backs?

"Why don't you resist?" Ma Jin asked in confusion.

"How to resist? Jingnian Zen Temple is not an ordinary monk. There are tens of thousands of monk soldiers alone. How can we ordinary people resist?" The middle-aged man shook his head and sighed, "Besides, they don't want much. You can rest assured as you pay twenty kilograms of bacon every month. You can live a barely life. Who would be willing to lose your life for such a loss-making business?"

Ma Jin was silent for a moment. The people will always be the best people in the world. As long as they can survive, they will never have any other thoughts when they have a bit of food. However, some traitors don’t want them to survive, and they destroyed their little humble wish.

Although he has been in this world for more than three years and has done many things, he is just the moon in the well and the flowers in the water, which is very false.

Although the Great Zhou Empire is now full of prosperity and prosperity, it is actually rotten inside. I just think that although a big tree is still green, its trunk has been emptied by borers. It may collapse with a thunderstorm. The current Great Zhou Empire is the same. It is quite a bit of vitality after he cleans up the upper class of the imperial court, but there is a piece of stagnant water on the ground, and the trunk of the dead cannot arouse any tide.

The main reason is that local governments and clan forces are in a collusion and collusion, and they are lip service to the court's distortions, and have policies and countermeasures at the bottom, so that their good moral policies have become accomplices in the hands of these corrupt officials who harm the people.

Besides, there have been frequent incidents in recent years and endless wars, he focused his main energy on this, and did not have much energy to rectify the out-of-line and clarify the administration of the government.

Now that the overall situation in the Eastern Region has been decided, the war will end, so we can naturally turn our attention to the country. He now has time to clear these stinky mud and stagnant pools in the local area...

Thinking of this, Ma Jin calmed down and said to the middle-aged man: "It seems that Jingnian Zen Temple is very powerful locally!"

"Isn't that!" Tan Xing, the middle-aged man, seemed to have been hooked up and said constantly: "You are a foreigner. I don't know the situation in Shanyang. Nearly 80% of the fields in Shanyang are from Jingnian Zen Temple. It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire Shanyang County is from Jingnian Zen Temple!"

"Look, even the soldiers guarding the city gate are monks." The middle-aged man pointed to the city gate in front and said, which made Ma Jin shocked for a moment. He hurriedly followed him and looked in the direction. He saw more than twenty soldiers wearing iron armor standing on both sides of the city gate. A soldier took off his helmet at this time, revealing a big bald head with oily tiles, which was particularly conspicuous under the sunlight.

At this moment, a man who looked like an officer walked up to the bald man and scolded him a few times. The bald man quickly put on his helmet, clasped his hands together and bowed, which shocked Ma Jin. Is this Shanyang City from Jingnian Zen Temple or his?

Just as Ma Jin was thinking about it, the city gate finally opened. The middle-aged man couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly took on the burden and said, "It's finally opened. If I can't pay the rent today, it will double tomorrow." As he said that, he rushed towards the city gate...

...

On the second day of the day, in an inn in Shanyang City.

"Your Majesty, the army has reached the Qiyang Mountain ten miles away. Will the mountain be closed immediately?" Li Mu bowed.

"No, let's postpone it!" Ma Jin thought for a while and said. He had already had a goal, so he naturally would not use any stupid methods anymore.

"My dear friends, tell me, who is the most suspicious of this Qiyang Mountain?" Ma Jin said slowly as he looked at the people in the house.

"Your Majesty, I think it must be the cause of Jingnian Zen Temple." At this time, a middle-aged man with a handsome appearance and a majestic appearance came out and spoke.

This person is Wei Qing who Ma Jin had just summoned, and he continued:

"Today, I went around Shanyang City and found that more than half of the shops in the city were marked as Jingnian Zen Temple. Even the black forces in the city were mostly controlled by Jingnian Zen Temple, which shows how powerful it is."

"It's not only that!" A middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance stood up and said, "According to my investigation, there are nearly 100,000 monks in the Jingnian Zen Temple. Today, the fellow villager said that there are tens of thousands of monks in the Jingnian Zen Temple is not groundless."

"What Lord Wei Zheng said is right. According to the investigation by the inner guard, there are 60,000 martial monks in Jingnian Zen Temple." Wang Chengen also interrupted at this time.

Wang Cheng'en's words changed his face. The monks were extraordinary and monks practiced martial arts all year round and had extraordinary combat power. Even the most elite soldiers were one-on-one, and they were not necessarily the opponent of the monk. If they learned the method of battle formation, they would definitely be an elite team of hundreds of battles.

"Sixty thousand monk soldiers..." Ma Jin murmured, his eyes getting colder. Jingnian Zen Temple is so brave. He dared to train so many monk soldiers and use monk soldiers to control the county town in a noble way. Do you really think that the emperor can do whatever he wants if he is far away?

"Jingnian Zen Temple is so unpredictable and acts recklessly. Why isn't anyone from Yongzhou submitting a report to the court?" Ma Jin asked coldly.

"Your Majesty, according to the secret investigation of the inner guard, Chen Tingjing, deputy envoy of Yongzhou Censor, submitted a memorial to the court two years ago. The matter he was talking about was that Jingnian Zen Temple violated the law and discipline and had a bad intention. But for some reason, the court did not receive the memorial." Wang Chengen said hurriedly.

"Chen Tingjing is still in office?" Ma Jin asked with a look of movement.

"Your Majesty, Chen Tingjing was shortly after he submitted his memorial, and was involved in the Yongzhou Governor Hu Decheng for his misconduct. He was dismissed from his official position by the cabinet and rushed back to his hometown."

"Why don't I know about this?" Ma Jin frowned.

"Your Majesty, at that time, the Liao Kingdom launched a large-scale attack on the border. You focused all your attention on the border affairs. The cabinet did not alarm you such a trivial matter. It was signed by Chunyu Yan, who was the master of the cabinet at that time." Wang Chengen quickly explained.

"Chunyu Yan?" Ma Jin nodded in a flash and said, "I understand, remember, I will check the appointment and removal of officials above the fifth rank of the court in the future."

"I'm going to receive the order!" Wang Chengen hurriedly agreed. He naturally knew that His Majesty was dissatisfied with him. Although a deputy censor was not a high-ranking official, he was considered a high-ranking official in Shangzhou. He was dismissed from his third-rank without His Majesty's consent. It was impossible to say.

"Okay, since you all think that Jingnian Zen Temple is making trouble, let's go and take a look tomorrow. What are the things in Jingnian Zen Temple!" Ma Jin said immediately.

"I will obey the order!" Everyone hurriedly agreed loudly.

…………
Chapter completed!