Start with detective Li Yuanfang

Chapter 631 The person who collects taxes from Buddhism has a unique root of wisdom and a deep connection with Buddhism?
Daxiangguo Temple.

As an old man from Bianjing, the number of times Li Yan came here is undoubtedly unqualified.

And the previous two visits were related to the case.

The first time was when Mr. Happy Lin was killed. At that time, he followed the clues all the way, but just passed by in a hurry, and went straight to the next place.

The second time was the assassination of the Queen Mother. At that time, there were guards outside the squad to prevent the crowd from entering the three core areas of Tianwang Hall, Buddha Hall and Zisheng Hall.

So the third time I came, it was really a good tour of Daxiangguo Temple.

"'Brilliant and magnificent, the clouds are disfigured', it is indeed the first royal temple in history to 'open a temple for the country'. The Daci'en Temple in the former Tang Dynasty did not have such treatment!"

Li Yan walked in the deep and wide courtyard, rigorous layout, magnificent temples, majestic and majestic temples, with the attitude of tourists visiting, very relaxed.

Gao Qiu was anxious, and he endured it again and again, but finally couldn't hold it back: "Mr. Lin, aren't we going to visit Zen Master Zhiyuan?"

Li Yan raised his brows slightly: "The abbot of Daxiangguo Temple is not Zen Master Zhiqing anymore?"

Gao Qiu said: "Since the Queen Mother was assassinated, Zen Master Zhiyuan has taken over the presidency."

Li Yan nodded knowingly: "Then don't be in a hurry, let's see if they are willing to take the initiative to greet them..."

Gao Qiu looked behind him and saw that he was following a large number of soldiers of the Imperial City Division, walking at a pace unrecognizable by his relatives. With his ferocious appearance, the believers who entered the temple to worship avoided them one after another. They were not ashamed, but proud: " Yes, these monks should come out to meet us!"

This group of uninvited guests did quickly attract the attention of the monks in the temple, but after waiting and waiting, no eminent monk came forward to greet them.

Gao Qiu's face sank, he gritted his teeth and said, "These monks are really rude!"

After all, this is the number one Buddhist temple in the world. Even the Queen Mother would come here to pray for the officials. This royal temple is not convenient for the Imperial City Secretary to get angry directly. Go to the left street first."

In the Daxiangguo Temple, there is a "Zuojie" directly under the central management agency, and the "Youjie" located in Kaibao Temple, another royal temple, has the same management and jurisdiction over Buddhist affairs across the country.

During the Tang Dynasty, the religious management organization was under the management of the Chongxuan Department under Honglu Temple. Go to these two royal monasteries, and you can imagine their leadership.

Of course, there are historical reasons for this. When Li Yan led Gao Qiu and a large group of servants of the Imperial City Secretary to formally enter this imperial court institution, what caught his eyes was stacks of bookshelves with a huge amount of documents piled up.

The officials who came up did not dare to offend the Secretary of the Imperial City. Seeing that Gao Qiu followed behind Li Yan like a follower, he hurriedly introduced enthusiastically: "These are documents from Buddhist temples in various places. I wonder what the officials want to inquire about?"

Gao Qiu couldn't help being shocked when he saw it: "So many?"

Li Yan smiled slightly: "Before the Shenzong Dynasty, there probably wouldn't be so many. After the opening of the border, a large number of Buddhist temples were built. This number is not surprising. I'm afraid there are so many on the 'You Street'."

The official was a little surprised: "I didn't expect the officials to know so much about Buddhism..."

Of course, Li Yan understood that Buddhism was extremely prosperous in the Tang Dynasty, but it also aroused the disgust and hatred of many high-level officials, and it eased a lot in the Song Dynasty. One reason is that Buddhism not only has the value of religious guidance, but also can participate in secular military warfare. .

This also has a big background. For the entire East Asian continent today, belief in Buddhism is a common feature of all ethnic groups. In this way, Buddhist monks play an important role in the exchanges between various ethnic groups.

For example, in Tuobian during the Shenzong period, Zhang Dun used the influence of famous local monks to persuade the barbarians when he opened the "Meishan Man". After tasting the sweetness, he immediately recruited famous monks to accompany the army. Go to lobby, everyone who is willing to listen to Amitabha, if there is someone who does not listen, Song soldiers will follow and start a war.

After the border opening was successful, the imperial court began to build Buddhist temples in the newly occupied area, using its enlightenment power to cater to the hearts of the barbarians, so as to smoothly transition the rule, and then subtly change the customs.

Because the people of all ethnic groups are subconsciously convinced of Buddhism and have little doubt, it is also a Buddha. The Buddha in the Northern Song Dynasty is the product of the fusion of the three religions, and there are many "private goods" in it. Over time, it can be culturally influenced. control it".

For the same reason, in the spy war between the Northern Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom, and Xixia, many spies were monks, and the Liao Kingdom was the most direct. "Assassination incident", the imperial court hurriedly ordered Mount Wutai to strictly investigate their identities, but they still couldn't ban the activities of the spy monks among the people.

According to Li Yan's thinking, the secret service agency of the Imperial City Division should have close contacts with Buddhism, cultivate a large number of monks and spies, and engage in peaceful evolution of various ethnic groups around. A tool to suppress internal voices obviously does not have such strategic thinking.

Of course, this period is too late now, the Liao Kingdom and Xixia have been ruined, the real enemy is the Jurchen who is now rising, and this race believes in Shamanism, which is precisely the only one in East Asia that does not believe in Buddhism. The Southern Song Dynasty in history In the early days, because of inertial thinking, the spies pretended to be monks to deliver messages. As a result, the Jurchen saw, where did the monks come from, and immediately arrested them. It turned out to be a spy from the Song Dynasty.

Anyway, each era has its own characteristics. After three times of extermination of Buddhism, Buddhism, a foreign religion, has completely reached a balance between secularism and religion with the imperial court. In addition to not paying taxes and corvees, the current Buddhism still sucks blood from the people. He did many things entrusted by the imperial court.

That's why Li Yan chose to come here to find clues to deal with Ming Zunjiao because of the endorsement of Gao Qi, an official figure.

He visited the bookshelves, picked some documents at random, and checked the documents collected by monasteries in various places. The records are very detailed, and there are many records of folk prostitution and evil sacrifices. Sort out all the movements of Mingzun disciples reported by the Buddhist temple."

The official's face changed slightly: "This... so many..."

Hearing this, Gao Qiu immediately shouted: "What's the matter? I'm used to being lazy and unwilling to do things? You don't want to do things, so I suggest someone who is willing to do things right away!"

For example, the officials in Zuojie Street are all ninth-rank officials. If Huangcheng Secretary really wanted to take it, no one would pay attention to it. The officials hurriedly nodded and bowed: "Please don't worry, the next official will definitely take care of this matter, come on, come on!" Organize paperwork!"

Seeing the fat-headed and big-eared officials mobilized, they came to the high shelves and began to look through the documents. Gao Qi frowned: "Mr. Lin, can these people find out the clues?"

Li Yan has long been accustomed to the efficiency of the Northern Song Dynasty court agencies, so he found a place to sit down, took a sip of the tea served by Li Xu, and said, "This is how to solve a case and find clues. It might just be a misleading piece of information. I can understand the high-level anxiety. I also hope to take down those thieves quickly so that the people of the capital will not be harmed again. "

"Mr. Lin's words are reasonable..."

Gao Lian sat opposite him, nodded first, and began to drink tea.

But after drinking a few cups of tea, he soon lost his patience, rolled his eyes, and summoned his subordinates to give orders in a low voice.

Li Yan didn't stop him, and tasted tea indifferently, but Gao Qiu took the initiative and said: "Mr. Lin, our main investigation is now in the capital. I think we should let the host of Daxiangguo Temple come forward. What do you think?"

Li Yandao: "From the active avoidance of the monks before, we can see that after the assassination of the Queen Mother, the monks of Daxiangguo Temple have a negative attitude based on the idea that one thing more is worse than one thing less."

"After all, we are here to ask for help. Zuojie is an imperial government agency. If those eminent monks really stay away, we can't force it?"

Gao Qiu looked at his words and found that this person had no awe and belief in Buddhism, so he sneered immediately: "Then please wait and see, Mr. Lin, to see what my Imperial City Secretary does!"

Li Yan was noncommittal.

However, half an hour later, there was indeed a lot of noise coming from outside, as well as the sound of people crying and wailing. Li Yan raised his brows slightly: "What's wrong?"

Gao Qiu sneered: "I think it's a matter of loaning money. There are different sects in Daxiangguo Temple, and the letter money sent out has deceived many people. Since they don't give me face, I don't have to give them face... ..."

Li Yan knew that he couldn't wait, and that was the purpose, but he had to admit that the Secretary of the Imperial City was really proficient in doing these things.

Now that the winter solstice has just passed, many people will borrow money on this festival in order to reunite their families and save face when worshiping their ancestors. Daxiangguo Temple has made a lot of money in this business, but because this royal temple is owned by different There are many Buddhist sects in the world, among which there are a lot of tricks and fraudulent elements. The Imperial City Secretary started with this, which naturally caused disputes, and began to intervene openly.

"Amitabha!"

Seeing that the commotion outside was getting louder and louder, finally a thick and mellow voice, like Zen singing, echoed in everyone's ears, as if explaining scriptures.

Gao Qiu got up and came to the door, and saw a group of eminent monks coming. Although the head of the old monk was not tall, he walked very upright, like a bronze bell, without any deviation, which was the wise wish of the successor.

Gao Qiu smiled coldly, put his hands behind his back, and walked out arrogantly.

Li Yan also put down his teacup and came to the gate of Zuojie.

However, Zen Master Zhiyuan, who is currently in charge, first glanced at Gao Qi, then his eyes fell, but he was slightly taken aback. After carefully looking at Li Yan, he put his hands together and said: "Tanyue has a unique root of wisdom, and the Buddha's relationship is deep, and the old man is not far away." welcome!"

(End of this chapter)