In the early summer of the second year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty, in the evening, Yecheng.

Houses are like forests, with eaves overlapping, layer by layer, like fish scales. In the dark dusk, the candlelight in the city houses is arranged into a warm halo, like chess pieces nailed to a chessboard, implicitly outlining the outline of Yecheng, interpreting a strange beauty. The dinner time has passed, Zhao Yanshen is standing on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, beside him is an old monk wearing a cassock and clasped his hands. Many officials and troops stand under the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and under the dark sky, they are like evil Shuras.

"I came rashly and accidentally disturbed Master Chengde's practice. Please forgive me."

"You are polite to the right Prime Minister. The right Prime Minister is in charge of the government and the government is in trouble every day. You can take the opportunity to visit this temple. This is the honor of this temple. How can you disturb me?"

"Haha, Master Chengde's reputation is often heard of even if His Majesty is in the Nine Palaces. Last year, the master passed away Princess Baoqing to enter to eliminate disasters and resolve disasters. His Majesty also praised him when he mentioned the master... This time, the master took the initiative to sell the mu households under the name of the temple to the court. His Majesty was even more happy and personally picked up the imperial pen and wrote a plaque for the master. From then on, the famous generals of Cheng'en Temple spread to the world."

The old monk was very thin, with a hunched back, which was a little older than when the emperor saw him last year. He had to breathe heavily when he had a little action. He saw that it was too late, but his eyes were kind and clear. Facing Zhao Yanshen, a huge harsh and arrogant person, he was neither humble nor arrogant, and his behavior was filled with Zen, which made people feel like spring breeze.

"Since the master is so polite, I can't hide my belly anymore, it's not so good..." Zhao Yanshen tapped his finger on the railing and said, "Our dynasty was reorganized to investigate the land, household registration, population, and other powerful people. The behavior of hiding the households under the throne is absolutely not allowed. After the Ministry of Revenue review, Buddhism has hidden at least one million farmers. In this way, Buddhism is a big family, but never pays taxes or grains, but enjoys so many special treatments. Now the court has already complained about it..."

"Well... is it a million? Indeed... I, Cheng'en Temple alone, have eight thousand households... more than 20,000 people, so many Daqi Buddhist Temple, and Yecheng is even called the Buddha Kingdom. After careful calculation, it may be estimated that it will be less than a million miles."

When the old monk heard this explicit, half-light and half-dark words, he did not defend the Buddhist sect at the first time. Instead, he argued the authenticity of the data in a realistic manner, which made Zhao Yanshen feel a little more favorable to him. The emperor had never believed in Buddhism, but he admired and respected the old monk very much. Now it seems that it is not unreasonable.

The court counted the household registrations of several states. Yecheng was the top priority, and its strength even exceeded that of Jinyang. In addition to the hundreds of families who were going to focus on attacking, it was because of the thousands of Buddhist temples in Yecheng that were troublesome. The Gao family worshipped Buddha, Gao Huan, Gao Yang and other monarchs all built temples on a large scale, and even the palace was built with a luxurious royal Buddhist temple, with a pile of gold and jade, and a magnificent magnificent place.

The world is rich, and Buddha accounts for seven or eight. Although it is a little exaggerated, it is not far away. These Buddhist temples not only have the source of income of incense money, but also have a large number of fugitives and farmers. In this era of fanatical and superstitious Buddhism, the monks and nuns had the power to be exempted from taxes and service, so a large number of farmers who were suffering from taxes and service exploitation fled into Buddhist temples in large numbers. In the Northern Dynasties, monks and nuns broke the law and were not bound by the law. They were dealt with by the internal laws of the temple. Many privileges made this sect grow like a snowball.

During the Taihe period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were only 6,478 Buddhist temples and more than 80,000 monks and nuns in the entire territory. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, when the Northern Qi Dynasty was united, there were more than 10,000 temples and more than 1 million monks and nuns in the Northern Qi Dynasty. There were more than 30,000 monks and nuns in the Northern Qi Dynasty, and more than 2 million monks and nuns accounted for one tenth of the population, which was ten times more than when Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty was at its peak later!

It is recorded that "there are many dangers in the world, and the kings are even more powerful. So the households where they are located, they join in the Tao, and they just admire the monks, and actually avoid taxes and service... After a brief analysis, there are two million monks and nuns." It can be said that the monks of Buddhism and Taoism are the largest landlords in the world, but the most terrible thing is that this landlord does not pay taxes or pays tributes, and the wealth they earn is his own, and the court will not even think of getting it at all.

But when they did this, everyone in the world felt that it was reasonable and legal, and there was no dissatisfaction, which made Buddhism more arrogant...

Things have reached this point, and everyone in the court has understood that Your Majesty must be punished by Buddhism. No matter who is really obedient to the court, or is just good at understanding the current situation and protecting yourself, one thing is recognized by Zhao Yanshen - this old monk is a sensible person.

Smart people will not do stupid things, so some things Zhao Yanshen thinks can be mentioned. Even if they talk about cooperation and ask him to cooperate, it is no big deal.

"...Ah, although the master has great wisdom, not everyone has the idea of ​​the country like a master. The new policy of the court has been implemented locally, which is full of difficulties. Without the violent suppression of the army, there will be no solution to many problems..."

"For this, the censors have submitted more than once to impeach me and others. I don't want to use my weapons. It's better to be able to solve the problem peacefully... Your Majesty also means this, but many times, the times force us to do something against our will..."

The old monk looked up at Zhao Yanshen, clasped his hands together and said, "The right prime minister has something to say, but it doesn't matter. Although the old monk is gentle, as long as he can help, the old monk will do his best to help."

"Master Chengde is quick to speak," Zhao Yanshen nodded and stroked his beard. "Things have developed to this point. There is no turning back. Re-determining the household registration and measuring the land is imperative. As for the land under the name of Buddhism, it will be taken back together at that time. There is nothing to discuss... I am afraid that someone will still not understand and do some stupid things."

"So, I hope the master can cooperate with us... we don't need the master to do anything. The master is highly respected and enjoys a high status in Buddhism. At that time, the master only needs to convey the will of the court for us in Buddhism, then that's fine." Zhao Yanshen thought for a while and added, "Oh, if the master cannot dissuade him, there is nothing. Your Majesty will accept this love from the master."

It was already deep in the night, but the bustling in Yecheng showed no sign of disappearing. After hundreds of years of accumulation, Yecheng was the perfect key to the Daqi regime, reaching all directions. There were countless people who traded here every day. After Daqi opened border trade, in order to further stimulate the economy, the curfew in Yecheng was cancelled. Since then, Yecheng has become a city that never sleeps. A large area of ​​lights in the distance lights illuminated the night sky. On the roadside, in the courtyard, in the wine shop, there are people in groups of three or three to two. In addition to the bustling, it is also a quiet picture of life.

The old monk was silent for a long time, as if he was looking at the scenery in the distance, but his eyes were blurred. Then he nodded slightly, "The right blind man came to discuss this with the old monk. How dare the old monk refuse to respond? Hahaha, the old monk just did it."

Zhao Yanshen was overjoyed and bowed to the old monk. The old monk waved his hands repeatedly, saying that he couldn't afford it. Then Zhao Yanshen took the crowd and left.

In the dark sky, stars shone. Standing on the top of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, it seemed as if you could pick the stars with your hand. The old monk looked away alone on the railing. The little monk who served tea stood quietly behind the old monk, raised his white and cute face, and asked crisply: "Master, what are you thinking? So impressed." The old monk then turned around and stroked the little monk's naked head. He smiled lovingly: "Well, I don't think of anything anymore. I can't think of anything anyway, so why bother myself unnecessary trouble? Go back to sleep..." There was a spider web under the eaves of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. A few flying insects stuck on it, and they couldn't move anyway.

The old monk blew a lightly, and a little insect broke free from the spider web with the wind. When he turned around, the old monk You said:

"If there is a quagmire ahead, you should bypass it far away. Don't even know that it is impossible to do it, because you are reckless, or not checking for a while, or greed, you will fall into a place of death... If you plant any cause, you will taste the result. This is the retribution of cause. Isn't there no god on your head? Why can't you think it through? Amitabha, good, good..."

On the second day, the old monk Master Chengde summoned 20,000 Buddhas under the name of Chengen Temple, and all of them were dispersed. The Buddhist sect was shocked! Countless monks asked to see Master Chengde. After a deep conversation, several presided over the sleeves, who were as famous as Master Chengde left. In early July, more than a dozen famous monks from all over the world went to Jinyang to kowtow to the emperor and asked the emperor to take back his fate.

The court and the country were shocked, and the censor Zu Yi went to the public to impeach Buddhism on the same day: "Monks and nuns do not obey the king's laws, disrespect the emperor, hold the emperor's land, eat the people's salary, but do not submit to the people, and pay taxes. They are called monks and people who steal the country and the people!... The proliferation of Buddhas has made the scholars and people in the world only respect Buddhism, but forget to respect the emperor. If this continues, the country will perish!"

The emperor, who was sitting high above the nine palaces, just glanced coldly and threw the document written by the Buddhists on the ground. The dark clouds in early summer covered the sky like a large pot of lid. Before the lightning fell, no one knew what was brewing behind it.
Chapter completed!