The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 723
The west wind blows the old Dongting wave, and Mr. Xiang has many white hair overnight.

After being drunk, I don't know that the sky is on the water, and the boat is full of dreams and the galaxy.

——"Title on Green Grass Lake in Longyang County" Tang Gong (Yuan)
……

Bai Fu nodded and said: "The war between Gyeonggi Province and Henan Province is now stalemate, and the water transportation is blocked. Once the rebellion is put down, the water transportation needs to be resumed as soon as possible."

Before Yun Yanying could speak, Shi Sunyan, Secretary of the Household Department, rushed to answer.Seeing Wang Jiangting and Yun Yanying talking endlessly, he couldn't hold back for a long time.

Water transportation is his duty, and he has been studying it for several years, so he naturally does his part at this time.

Sun Yanji said: "Water transportation is the main channel for the world's wealth. The grain in the Jianghuai River is transported to Chang'an through water transportation.

Now that the water transportation is slack and blocked, when the counter-insurgency is successful, it is necessary to dredge the river as soon as possible and restart the south-to-north grain diversion.However, the method of water transportation before the war had many flaws, so we can take this opportunity to change it. "

Bai Fu said, "How to adjust?"

Sun Yanji said: "First of all, organize manpower to dredge the river from Jianghuai to Gaoshi section by section, build [-] strong large tank boats, and train soldiers to transport food. Every ten boats form a team, and the officers are responsible for escorting them.

Instead of conscripting strong men along the river to serve, they hired boatmen with the royal salt.The boatman was transferred from being transferred to being hired.

It is possible to follow the method of Mr. Pei Yaoqing in the previous dynasty, change the straight method to the section transportation method, divide the whole journey into four transportation sections, and build a transfer station.Grain storage can be stored at the junction of rivers in Yangzhou, Biankou, Heyin, Weikou and other rivers for transshipment.

At the same time, special boats are used exclusively so that river boats do not enter the Bian River, Bian boats do not enter the Yellow River, and river boats do not enter the Weishui.This method can not only improve the efficiency of grain transportation, but also use exclusive ships for specific rivers to prevent ship capsizing accidents.

After the reform of water transportation, it can not only improve transportation efficiency, reduce food loss, reduce freight costs, but also exempt the people in the south of the Yangtze River from hard labor.

According to my calculations, implementing this method, grain from Jianghuai can be continuously transported to Chang'an, with an annual transportation volume of 40 shi to [-] shi.Not only did it solve the food shortage in the capital area, but it also had reserves for disaster years. "

Although the officials of the Ministry of Households are not high-ranking, they handle specific affairs every day and have a deep understanding of the court's finances and taxes.Once given the opportunity to speak out about politics and let them speak freely, they will be able to brainstorm and quickly discuss countless fiscal and taxation methods to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

Bai Fu was overjoyed, and hurriedly asked his attendant to write it down.

The banquet ended, Bai Fu could not sleep at night.

Who said that the court has no talents?It's just that these people are humble and unable to offer advice, which makes the court helpless in matters of finance and taxation.

Gold, jade and pearls are mixed in the mud and sand, and the dust turns into ashes.This is not only the sorrow of talents, but also the sorrow of Datang!

……

On the second day, Bai Fu approached Liu Yan, the servant of the household department, and told them in detail what everyone had said last night.

After reading the statement sent by Bai Fu and carefully studying the above plan, Liu Yan was overjoyed and said with great joy: "Master Bai, your plan is feasible. As long as it is implemented in this way, within three years, the court will no longer have to worry about financial and tax matters." worry.

Lord Bai, it's no wonder that you are a general and a prime minister, you are not only proficient in military affairs, but also have such an in-depth study of finance and taxation! "

Bai Fu hurriedly waved his hands, and said, "Lord Liu, you're absurd. The plan is not my idea, but the plan of several officials in the household department. I don't dare to be greedy for credit."

After all, Bai Fu informed the names of Shi Sun Yanji, Secretary of the Ministry of Households, Yun Yanying, head of the Ministry of Households, Wang Jiangting, head of the Money and Banking Department of the Ministry of Households, and others one by one.

"Oh? There are such talents in the household department. As the servant of the household department, I don't know it. I'm ashamed and ashamed." Liu Yan was quite ashamed, and he loved talents even more.

Bai Fu said: "My lord, there should be a group of talents among the middle and lower officials in the household department. They are not only well-educated in poetry and books, but also have rich experience in finance and taxation. It's just because of their backgrounds that these poor families have not been taken seriously.

It would be a blessing to the imperial court if they were promoted and given a chance to display their talents. "

Liu Yan said: "Master Bai, don't worry, with your recommendation, I will definitely not let this group of talents be buried."

……

A few days later, at the court meeting, all the courtiers were still discussing and arguing about the expansion of tax sources.

At the court meeting, Shi Yushi Zheng Shuqing and You Pushe Pei Mian's plan to increase income and reduce expenditure caused an uproar.

The censor Zheng Shuqing and the right servant She Pei Mian did not talk about tax revenue, but talked about the harm of Buddhism: "Ji in the mountains of Kyushu, the two capitals, the monks are more and more, and the Buddhist temples are more and more revered. Labor manpower for civil engineering Take away people for the benefit of gold and precious ornaments, leave the king as a teacher, and violate the spouse between the precepts. There is no more than this way of breaking the law and harming people. And if a husband does not have a field, some will suffer from hunger; if a wife does not have silkworms, there will be Those who suffer from the cold. Today there are countless monks and nuns. They all wait for agriculture to eat, and wait for silkworms to wear clothes. The temples are recruited, and it is unknown to Jiji. Liang, material resources are withering, and customs are deceitful, all of which are caused by this..."

Next, the financial and tax plan proposed by the two was earth-shattering. It was to close Buddhist temples and dismiss monks!
The censor Zheng Shuqing and the right servant shot Pei Mian and said: "I asked the temple department in charge of monks and Taoism to conduct an investigation, and found out that there are 26 temples in the world, 500 monk houses (Lanruo), monks, monks, and monks. There are a total of [-] nuns. That is to say, among the common people in the Tang Dynasty, there is one monk for every thousand people.

For the sake of the country of the Tang Dynasty, please issue an order to destroy the Buddha! "

As soon as this remark came out, all civil and military officials were in an uproar, and the court immediately exploded.

The censor Zheng Shuqing and the right servant Pei Mian ignored the horror of the ministers, and continued to play: "The specific plan of the minister is as follows: only one exquisite temple should be kept in each larger state. Statues of emperors and sages can be moved into this preserved temple. As for smaller states and counties, Buddhist temples do not need to be preserved.

Chang'an and Luoyang can each keep ten temples, and each temple can keep ten monks.Chang'an Wannian County retains Ci'en Temple and Jianfu Temple, and Chang'an County retains Ximing Temple and Zhuangyan Temple.

Except for dozens of temples that were allowed to be preserved by the imperial court, the rest of the temples were destroyed and all monks and nuns returned to secular life.

In addition, there were more than 3000 monks preaching the Great Qin Nestorianism (Christianity) in the Tang Dynasty and the Persian Zoroastrianism.The ministers and others suggested that these two sects should not be retained, and [-] monks should also return to the secular world. "

All the courtiers whispered to each other and talked a lot.Everyone knows the real reason for exterminating the Buddha: to expand the imperial court's fiscal and tax revenue.

The Buddhist temples all over the world in the Tang Dynasty caused too much resource consumption:
One is the population of Buddhist temples.Every temple is full of young and strong monks, but not only do they not work, they also do not pay taxes and do hard labor. The imperial court has long wanted to play with them.

The second is the land of Buddhist temples.According to the tradition since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the land of Buddhist temples is tax-free.When the taxation of the imperial court was too strict, the people even gave the land to the temple first, and then became the tenants of the temple land, and the income they got was more cost-effective than owning the land.But the imperial court lost a lot of fiscal and tax revenue as a result.

The third is the bronze statue of the Buddhist temple.Since the imperial court monopolized the minting of coins, there was a shortage of both copper and money. However, there were a large number of bronze statues and bells in Buddhist temples that could be sold and melted to make money, and ironware to be cast into farm tools.

During Xuanzong's reign, the imperial court had already considered restricting temples.For example, monks also have to perform military service and corvee service, and monastery land is also subject to taxation, and temples must use soil, stone, and wood to make statues, and only a little copper is allowed to decorate the buttons and ornaments of Buddha statues.

However, these methods have received too much resistance from the people and cannot be implemented.

The plan of exterminating Buddha by Shi Yushi Zheng Shuqing and You Servant She Pei Mian completely solved the problem.According to the calculations of the two, once this plan is adopted, the imperial court will get a lot of income, which is enough to meet the military expenses of countering the rebellion; Tax households; the imperial court added tens of millions of hectares of land, all of which are of the highest quality; all the bronze statues and bells of the abandoned temples were handed over to the salt and iron envoys to be sold for melting and casting, and the ironware was handed over to the county and state government to be cast into farm tools.

After the censor Zheng Shuqing and the right servant shot Pei Mian played, Suzong's face was extremely ugly.

Suzong believed in Buddhism. After Lingwu ascended the throne, in order to quell the war, Suzong set up altars many times to worship Buddha.

In the second year of Zhide (757), the Tang army recovered the two capitals, and Suzong returned to Chang'an. When talking about state affairs, he often attributed the blessing of the Buddha to the blessing of the Buddha.

Suzong didn't know the benefits of closing Buddhist temples for the court's fiscal and taxation, but this plan ran counter to Suzong's personal beliefs, and it was extremely difficult to agree.

Zheng and Pei came from two aristocratic families, the Zheng family in Xingyang and the Pei family in Wenxi, and their memorials naturally represent the opinions of these two great families.

It is neither allowed to denounce it publicly, let alone grant its petition.Suzong had a headache.

At this moment, Bai Fu stepped forward, holding a wat board, and played loudly: "Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate to close Buddhist temples and dismiss monks!"

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　　4. "Finance and Taxation of Ming Dynasty China in the Sixteenth Century", written by Huang Renyu, Life·Reading·New Knowledge Joint Publishing House, February 2007.

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(End of this chapter)