People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 282: Kill the bald donkey bullying the people with one shot! !
After killing these three people, Chen Han said to the people, "Although Longxing Temple is said to be the place where Taizu made his fortune.

But if you all know the unfair treatment that Taizu received at Longxing Temple back then, you will know that the reason why Taizu wanted to rebuild Longxing Temple was not to thank the monks there, but because of his own pride. consciousness.

What you don’t know is that Taizu’s family was suffering from hunger and cold, and his relatives passed away one after another. The young Taizu had no choice but to become a monk in Huangjue Temple.

To put it bluntly, Taizu became a monk in order to survive.

After Taizu arrived at Huangjue Temple, he was not well treated by the monks there.

In Huangjue Temple, Taizu not only had to carry water and cook food, but also suffered from hunger. He still lived in a straw shack.

Because the monks in Huangjue Temple were also fighting for power and profit, especially in troubled times. Not only did they not help the poor people tide over the difficulties, but they closed the gates and lived their own lives.

Taizu couldn't survive there, so he had to beg for food everywhere. After Taizu accomplished his mission, he was grateful that Huangjue Temple gave him a place to stay, so he built today's Longxing Temple.

Then, everyone, think about it for yourselves, was Taizu really blessed by those monks back then?
Not also!

Those monks just used Taizu as a slave, otherwise why would they give Taizu the heaviest and dirtiest work?

To put it bluntly, His Majesty Taizu's ability to survive in Huangjue Temple was due to his own hard work and luck.

It has little to do with the monks of the past, and even Taizu almost died from exhaustion as a hard-working monk in the temple. "

Why are the monks at Longxing Temple able to suppress the surrounding people and even landlord officials?

The key is to play the card of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

They portrayed themselves as the land of Longxing that saved Emperor Taizu, and they firmly held the two weapons of religious belief and public opinion with impunity.

Chen Han wanted to break the most important sword of public opinion in Longxing Temple.

When the people heard this, they suddenly realized.

It turns out that this was what happened to Emperor Taizu and Longxing Temple back then.

Chen Han said again: "Now these monks are relying on the reputation of His Majesty Taizu to do whatever they want to exploit the people. If Taizu is still alive, it is estimated that those monks will die miserably."

As soon as these words came out, the people immediately burst into tears, especially the people who had been squeezed by the monks of Beilongxing Temple.

So some people said: "Sir, you are so right. Although those monks are monks, they actually live a richer life than the landlords!
They lent us a loan, and we had to pay back five dan for every kilo of grain in the second year. They were very familiar with the local officials and the big landowners who were officials. We were afraid and did not dare not to repay. "

Some people said, "We also believe in Buddha. If we don't pay back, will the Buddha punish us?"

The great monks all said that what we borrowed was food from the Buddha. If we didn't pay it back, the Buddha would definitely make us unable to reincarnate in our next life. We dare not not pay it back. "

Look, this is where the monks are smart.

The reason why ancient monks were worth millions was that as long as each monk's temple prospered, their family property would be very huge, because they were doing business without capital.

The monk's main funds come from three sources, one is money for incense, and the other is land. A large part of this land is given by the emperor.

After all, as one of the religions that control the people, the emperor also needs them to stabilize people's hearts. Some emperors even believe in Buddhism themselves.

For example, Emperor Wu of Liang and Wu Zetian during the Southern and Northern Dynasties believed in Buddhism. Ordinary believers could only contribute some incense money if they worshiped Buddhism.

However, the emperor's dignitaries believed in Buddhism and threw away tens of thousands of acres of land with a wave of their hands.

In ancient times, the most valuable thing was land.

This is the temple's largest source of wealth.

The third is also a very secretive loan sharking, but temple loan sharking is different from direct silver and copper coin loan sharking among the people. They lend money with grain.

During the lean years, the common people had no choice but to borrow money from others to make ends meet. The interest rates from landlords were relatively high, so they had no choice but to borrow from temples with lower interest rates.

It is true that the interest rate in the temple is relatively low, and it seems low, but when you pay it back the next year, you are borrowing food from the Buddha. Not only do you have to pay back the interest, but you also have to repay the wish?

That was given by Buddha.

Therefore, with the support of interest and debt repayment, the temple's borrowings are not low at all.

Why is it called loan sharking? That's how it came about.

Furthermore, there is no tax on temple land, so not only the tenants who work for the temple have to pay rent, but even the landowners have to make donations to the temple.

Because a large number of landowners affiliate their properties to temples, they have to pay affiliation fees to the temple every year. So they are extremely rich.

Those monks have always said that they have pure six roots and do not participate in folk affairs.

But in fact, any relatively prosperous temple in ancient times was a large agricultural group.

The host is the chairman of this agricultural group. Not only are they deeply involved in the secular world, but they are also directly linked to money.

Those real ascetics, those real practitioners, are actually unwilling to touch money throughout their lives.

They will ask for food and drink, but they will never touch money.

However, some temples claim to be monks, but in fact they are engaged in the business of collecting incense money and lending money at usury. They love money the most.

Take this Longxing Temple for example. When Chen Han led the people towards Zhongshan, where Longxing Temple is located, a group of monks happened to go down the mountain to collect the loan sharks they borrowed last year.

A small village at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain.

At this time, a quarrel was taking place in the small courtyard.

There were five people in the yard at this time, three monks, and two peasant couples in their thirties, one man and one woman.

The couple knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the three monks.

"Master, please wait for a few days. Give us a few more days, and we will definitely collect food to pay back. We are really suffering now. Give us a few more days, and we will definitely be able to pay back."

The three monks had contempt on their faces and kept staring at the cowshed in the southeast corner of the yard.

There was a big ox there, which the family had raised for more than ten years.

In ancient times, cattle were probably the most valuable property of a farm family.

"How many days will it be delayed? How many days can the Buddha's things also be delayed? The Buddha lent one stone of food and only asked you to return three stones. The other two stones are what you have promised, and they are not among them. You have delayed it for five days. "Jiu, doesn't the Buddha want to eat incense?"

As soon as these words came out, the couple was very embarrassed.

Last year, their youngest son fell ill. Unfortunately, the family ran out of money and couldn't cure it. The younger son died, so they had to borrow some food from the temple to survive.

But this year's harvest was not very good. Fortunately, the imperial court issued an order to implement the New Deal. After the people were divided into acres, they no longer had to pay the poll tax, which relieved a lot of their burden.

But the younger son's illness also brought down the family.

The couple knelt and crawled to the feet of the three monks and begged: "Master, please give us a few days of grace. Give us a few days of grace, and we will definitely come back."

One of the monks pointed to the cattle in the cowshed and said, "Since we still can't pay for the food, let's use the cattle to pay off the debt."

As he said that, he was about to go to the cowshed and take the cow away.

The male owner was shocked when he heard this. He quickly stood up, grabbed the monk's robe, and cried: "Master, this cow has been with my family for more than ten years. My whole family is still counting on him to plow more fields and grow more food." , if you take him away, it will be equivalent to taking away the lives of my family of five. "

The monks laughed loudly: "What does it matter to us whether your family dies or not? Take the cattle away!"

The male host was not as strong as those pampered fat monks. He kicked her away. The hostess tried to step forward but was kicked in the stomach by one of the monks, causing her to squat on the ground unable to move.

The remaining one went directly into the cowshed and took the cow out, then walked away laughing.

As soon as they went out, they saw Chen Han and the others standing outside. When they saw the Jin Yiwei in Feiyu uniforms beside Chen Han, they were startled and lowered their heads with guilty conscience.

Chen Han already held the musket in his hand. He could hear clearly outside the fence just now that the couple was begging for a few days of grace.

Chen Han thought how long the arrears had been, but he didn't expect that after only five days, they dared to take away other people's cattle.

If you owe one stone of food, you have to pay back five stone. This is simply forcing these people to death.

He was furious, and the three monks didn't know how to defend themselves. Chen Han raised his hand and shot the monk who was holding the cow rope in the head, "A bunch of moths!!"

……

Third update! !

(End of this chapter)