Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 357 0352 [Participating in Zen and worshiping the Buddha]

Due to the excessive exploitation by the imperial court, the local treasury is empty, and the common people have no money left.

A lot of money and food were transported from Hanzhong, but Lizhou was messed up, so Zhu Ming needed military funds to help the people.

The confrontation in Jianmen and Zitong for more than two months, the military rations were seriously consumed, counting the seized from the officers and soldiers, at most the current army can be maintained until March next year.

"We have to ask the wealthy households to donate money and food," said Zhu Ming.

Gao Jingshan reminded: "Of course we have to start with the rich, but not now, we have to wait until next year's summer grain harvest! Otherwise, these rich households will spread the word, and the ordinary people will be ignorant, and the general's hard-won reputation of benevolence and righteousness will be lost. Here After all, it’s not Hanzhong, nor Jinzhou.”

The Zhu family's father and son are in Hanzhong and Jinzhou, and their prestige among the people is extremely high, so it is naturally difficult for wealthy households to manipulate public opinion.

On the Chengdu Plain, Ju Ming is an outsider.

Newcomers, the foundation is not stable, and suddenly the rich households are apportioned. These wealthy households will definitely pass on the losses, and then frantically spread rumors to smear.After Xiaomin is exploited by the rich, he will only hate Zhu Ming, and his benevolence and righteousness will turn into cruelty in an instant.

Gao Jingshan gave a strategy for governing Chengdu: "The general issued a tax reduction decree, which has initially won the trust of the people. The most urgent task is to rectify the administration of officials. Arrange confidantes to take charge of household registration and justice, re-examine unjust cases accumulated over the years, take the opportunity to replace the old officials who violated the law, and severely punish the big clan. My son. This will be upright, not only can establish prestige on the big family, but also establish trust and morality on the common people. In this way, Chengdu can be gradually controlled, and tax collection will be a matter of course by next summer."

Shi Yuangong asked: "Our army's food and grass can only last until March next year. Where can we find the food for the remaining two or three months?"

Gao Jingshan pointed to the north: "Zhaojue Temple in the north of the city!"

"Wonderful!"

Lord Shi Yuan clapped his hands and praised that he had been to Chengdu several times: "Not only Buddhist temples, but also Taoist temples, you can take the opportunity to clean them up."

Gao Jingshan said: "Although Mr. Shi has been to Chengdu and inquired about the news among the people, he can only get a glimpse of it. Zhaojue Temple was built in the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Five Dynasties. In the early years of the Kingdom, The army of the Song Dynasty burned, killed and looted, and Zhaojue Temple was abandoned and dilapidated. But decades later, it prospered again. By the time of Shenzong, it was too late. Fang Jungle."

Ju Ming thought it was amazing: "Can Buddhist temples have descendants temples?"

Gao Jingshan explained: "The descendants here refer to the disciples and grandchildren. The abbot of the previous generation can refer to the abbot of the next generation. The abbot of the Shifang Jungle can be appointed by the government."

"I see." Zhu Ming really didn't know this.

It seems that ancient times also had means of religious management, through the appointment of abbots, thus indirectly controlling temples.

Gao Jingshan continued: "Today's Zhaojue Temple has three hundred temples and hundreds of monks' houses. There are thousands of monks who only hold certificates of graduation, and there are also a large number of monks without certificates. You can check the temple fields for three or four hundred Hectares, hidden fields are even more difficult to count.”

"In this way, the temple land controlled by Zhaojue Temple may be close to [-] mu?" Zhu Ming was moved to kill him.

Gao Jingshan nodded and said, "And most of them are fertile fields in the north of the city!"

Ju Ming smiled and stood up: "Since I am in Chengdu, I should visit famous temples and eminent monks."

Gao Jingshan reminded: "Don't kill too much, Zhaojue Temple has a very good reputation among the people."

Will a temple covering nearly [-] mu of land really have a good reputation?

You may have!
As long as the interest rate is a little less than that of ordinary landlords when lending usury.When collecting rent, it is also less than ordinary landlords.In the famine years, take out a little more food to relieve the victims.The eminent monk was responsible for making friends with the government and celebrities, and his reputation rose all of a sudden.

During the Shenzong Dynasty, the government took back the right to appoint and dismiss the abbot, and the income of Zhaojue Temple had to be handed over.

Li Tian said in "The Story of Rebuilding Zhaojue Temple": "The temple has three hundred permanent residences with fertile soil. Money; the wealthy family in the mountains and rivers, give up the benefits of the golden hole. Five baht and a strand, all belong to the temple, and there is no one who is private..."

It can be seen from this article that the lotus root grown in the pond belongs to Zhaojue Temple (and the land rent is estimated to be the same).The incense money donated by believers must be handed over to the government, and it is very likely that land taxes will also be paid.

But after only a few decades, the government gradually lost control of Zhaojue Temple. How could the incense money be handed over honestly?

The current abbot, whose dharma name is Yuanwu Keqin, is a generation of eminent monks who play a pivotal role in the history of the development of Zen Buddhism.

He was promulgated twice by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and Yubi was appointed as the abbot of Zhaojue Temple (the abbot of the temple has a term of office, and if he wants to be re-elected, he must obtain the emperor's permission).

There are more than 500 direct disciples.

Among them, more than 100 disciples are abbots in other temples, and their influence spreads all over Sichuan, and even spreads outside Sichuan!

Fang Wu Keqin is tasting tea, he is very knowledgeable about tea ceremony.As a result, there are rumors in later generations that his calligraphy "Tea Zen Yiwei" was collected in Daitoku Temple in Japan. This calligraphy also had a story with Monk Yixiu.

This rumor has not been confirmed, but the letter he wrote to his apprentice Shaolong, namely "Yuan Wu Yin Ke Xing", does exist in Japan.

Disciple Shao Long held the teacup and asked: "Zen Master, the emperor is summoning him, and the bandits are occupying Chengdu. Do you still want to go to Tokyo?"

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "I am the abbot, I can't leave. You are not from Shu, so you can go there yourself."

Shao Long is the patriarch of the Huqiu School of Zen, but now he is just an ordinary monk.His master received Keqin Buddha's words and told them to Shaolong, but Shaolong didn't fully understand them, so he came to Chengdu from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to seek the Dharma.

Shaolong said: "My disciple listened to the monk's words, the Zhu thief entered the city to calm the people, and did not offend the people at all. If you encounter it, how should you treat it? Is it a thief? Is it a crowd?"

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "You call him a Zhu thief now, you already have a prejudice in your heart, why bother to ask me again?"

Shaolong was silent, thinking quietly.

"Zen Master, Zhu...the man surnamed Zhu is here." A monk said standing at the door.

Yuan Wu Keqin stood up slowly: "Follow me to greet you."

Zhu Ming was standing outside the temple gate, looking through Yuan Wu Keqin's "Bi Yan Lu".

This book was written by Yuan Wu Keqin when he was in Hunan.In the early days of Zen, there was no written text, but there were works in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, and "Bi Yan Lu" is the master among them.

"Old monk Keqin, I have seen Zhu Tanyue." Yuan Wu Keqin clasped his hands together.

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Tanyue means benefactor, right? I am not here to give alms, but I need relief from Zhaojue Temple. In this way, the Zen master is the benefactor, and the poor have seen Keqin benefactor."

Yuan Wu Keqin has lived for more than 60 years, and has never met such a shameless person, who actually called the monk a benefactor when he met him.He said calmly, "Please enter the temple for tea."

Zhu Ming flipped through "Bi Yan Lu" and said: "Just now I read the Zen master's masterpiece, and this sentence is quite insightful. If you see it clearly, the sky is still the sky, the earth is the earth, the mountains are mountains, and the water is water. It reminds me of my father's words. "

"May I ask your father to say something nice?" Yuan Wu Keqin followed him.

Ju Ming said: "My father once said that there are three realms in life. Mountains are mountains, waters are waters; mountains are not mountains, waters are not waters; mountains are mountains, and waters are waters."

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "This is the words of Chan Master Qingyuan Xingsi, and your father is also a Zen practitioner."

Already have this passage?

Zhu Ming didn't feel embarrassed, and asked, "According to Zen Master, am I a mountain or a river? A general or a bandit?"

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "The general and the bandit are in one mind."

Zhu Ming said: "Zen Master is indeed an eminent monk, and he said it right. If I have enough money and food, I will be a general. If I don't have enough money and food, I will be a bandit. Please save me, Zen Master, and don't let me become a bandit."

Yuan Wu Keqin was still calm about such a threat from Chiguoguo: "The old monk seldom asks about the account books in the temple. Let the general take them together. Just don't hurt the monk's life."

Zhu Ming also said: "A monk without a certificate must return to the vulgar."

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "Yes."

Zhu Ming said again: "There are too many temple fields, some of them must be confiscated."

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "Yes."

Zhu Ming was particularly surprised: "I won't keep much."

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "It's enough to fill the monk's stomach."

Zhu Ming said: "The money and food owed by the tenants must be written off, and the monks will have to farm by themselves in the future."

Yuanwu Keqin said: "It should be, plowing the field is also practice."

With such cooperation, Zhu Ming is really not easy to use a knife to kill people, and he sighed repeatedly: "Today I finally met a great virtuous monk."

Yuan Wu Keqin said: "The green tea made by your father coincides with the way of practicing Zen. The poor monk has long wanted to visit."

Zhu Ming said: "My father is in Hanzhong, the Zen master can go there, and I can write a book as proof."

Yuanwu Keqin asked: "Does Tanyue still go to the temple to taste tea and discuss Zen?"

"No, it's already been discussed." Zhu Ming folded his palms together and said goodbye, and asked Zheng Hong to lead troops to search the property of the temple.

Yuan Wu Keqin sat cross-legged in the abbot's room, and the monks' pleadings continued to come from outside.

Loads of grain were taken away, boxes of money were moved away, and Zhaojue Temple's savings of hundreds of years were used by Zhu Ming as military funds.

As for the tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, some were distributed to local tenants, and some were rewarded to meritorious soldiers.

There is also a lot left for Zhaojue Temple, each monk can cultivate two acres of land, and all the lotus fields are reserved for monks to eat vegetarian.

The monks of Zhaojue Temple did not dare to resist, and they were restrained by Yuan Wu Keqin.

However, there were many rich families who came to see Zhu Ming, and cried outside the yamen when they couldn't see anyone.

They posted their own property under the name of Zhaojue Temple in order to escape the government's taxes and duties, and now they are being confiscated by Zhu Ming.

Not only the property was confiscated, but the rent and usury owed by the tenants were also declared invalid by Zhu Ming according to the location.

I can only say that I deserve it!
Even other wealthy households around Chengdu have no sympathy for these guys.

There are various ways to evade taxes, and posting them in temples is the lowest level of tricks.Moreover, the origin of these properties is often unknown, and most of them were obtained through illegal means. They used the name of Zhaojue Temple for fear of being traced by the government.

The raid on the properties of Zhaojue Temple is just the beginning.

There are many counties under the jurisdiction of Chengdu Prefecture, and there are many Buddhist temples and Taoist temples. Everywhere is so rich that it is enough for Ju Ming's military rations to last until next autumn.

Not all are eminent monks and great virtues, there are always a few who want to resist.

During the search, more than 200 monks and Taoists were killed.

The wealthy households in central Sichuan were worried, for fear that Zhu Ming would swing a knife at them.

(This is in stock, I don't know if there will be an update tomorrow.)
(End of this chapter)