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

Chapter 289: The campaign to destroy Buddhism officially begins! The first shot was aimed at the temple in the capital!
When Emperor Wanli said this, both the main seal and the deputy seal, as well as the officials of the Ministry of Rites, were dumbfounded.

Are there any other bets like this?

We are here just to bring down Chen Han and let him die. We are not here to bet against you, Your Majesty.

Besides, they know their own business, how could those monks allow their own interest rates to be lower than those of the private sector.

Why do people go to temples to borrow food and borrow money at usury?

On the surface, the interest rate is indeed lower than that of the private sector.

And on the surface, monks do not use private loan debt collection methods, hire thugs, and the like.

But they use psychological warfare.

If you borrowed the Buddha's food, it would be like selling it to someone else. Are you embarrassed not to return it?

If you use your faith to directly and firmly control you, and if you use thugs to collect debts, you have to pay him back obediently.

After repaying it, you will still be willing to pay it back for several more years.

After all, Buddha saved your life, why don't you repay your wish properly?

Even if you go to the Buddha to pray for some miraculous effect, you have to fulfill your wish, let alone if the Buddha directly lends you food to survive the famine years, then you have to fulfill your wish properly.

It is precisely because of this kind of psychological blessing that people actually pay more.

Even if the interest rate on private loans is high, it is a one-time transaction and that is all.

But borrowing food from the temple is a bundled consumption. After you have paid back the interest and the principal, you still have to repay the favor. This is no longer a transaction, but a moral kidnapping.

The two monks knew how the temple was played.

They have all presided over temples, so how could they not understand these skills.

So now that Emperor Wanli said this, both of them panicked.

Because if you calculate it, the interest rate of the temple is definitely much higher than that of private loan sharks, and it lasts longer.

Chen Han and Emperor Wanli shared the same mindset. He saw the same gameplay as theirs at Longxing Temple, and immediately reached Emperor Wanli's place.

So Emperor Wanli immediately proposed a bet, and now it was the turn of the Zhengyin and Fuyin as well as the officials of the Ministry of Rites to be dumbfounded.

How can we keep playing like this?
If this were randomly selected, it would probably be a dead end.

So the main seal and the deputy seal immediately changed their words, "Your Majesty, I still feel that the current temple really needs to be reorganized.

Although Mr. Chen's methods are cruel, he uses heavy codes in troubled times and is neither strict nor powerful.

Master Chen has helped the Pure Land of Buddhism to rectify the young people this time, and has cracked down on a large number of fake monks. The poor monks and others were too reckless just now.

There is something inappropriate in everything you say, and your Majesty must not take it seriously.

I will go back immediately and tidy up the temples all over the world. "

When the officials of the Ministry of Rites saw that the two monks quickly changed their words, of course they knew what they meant, so they also changed their words: "Your Majesty, I am waiting..."

They just wanted to change their words, but how could Emperor Wanli give them a chance.

He waved his hand: "No! I want to play now."

Originally, Emperor Wanli never thought of rectifying Buddhism and could never find a good excuse. Now that he had this opportunity, he couldn't let it go.

He is not against Buddhism, nor is he against religious beliefs.

Religion doesn't actually matter whether it's good or bad, as long as it can lead people to good things.

There is no way to force people to believe in whatever they believe. Except for the easy formation of foreign religions brought into the party, Taoism and Buddhism are all acceptable.

Although it has always been said that Taoism is the native sect of the Central Plains, in fact, since Buddhism was introduced in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has been transformed according to China's traditional culture and social features, and has been completely localized.

On the contrary, India, the birthplace of Buddhism, has changed beyond recognition and is no longer a true Buddhist land.

When it comes to today's Buddhism, China can be regarded as a source, so there is no need to exclude it in the future.

What is excluded is that these monks take advantage of the tax exemption rights of temples to engage in wanton annexation and land loan sharking, which harms the people. This must be targeted.

The reason why there have been so many incidents of destroying Buddhas in history is because there are too many monks, and the country has less labor and less tax revenue. They do not pay taxes and annex land wantonly.

If this was not done, the people in the world would not have enough to eat.

This is what really hits them, not because they are local sects, but mainly because of economic reasons.

Therefore, there is no plan to say that all Buddhism must be eradicated in the future, but the number must be controlled.

In particular, we must focus on attacking those who make a lot of money through Buddhism.

Seeing that Emperor Wanli was getting serious, the officials of the official seal, the deputy seal, and the Ministry of Rites wanted to change their words, but Emperor Wanli laughed and said: "You must do what you say, you come to me yourself and say that Chen Aiqing is amassing money for his own personal gain." , saying that he slandered Buddhism,
Then of course I have to go and see for myself whether Mr. Chen has framed Buddhism as you said.

Is it true that your Buddhist sect takes advantage of the tax exemption rights of temples to lend usury to the common people, making them unable to repay them and thus becoming tenants of the temple? I was too young to have visited the capital before, so I just took this opportunity to go shopping.

There are so many temples around the capital. I believe there are temples that can support me. Take a good look at which sutras you monks recite and which bowls of rice you eat.

come! Get out of the palace! "

Emperor Wanli kept his word and never procrastinated.

The chief seal, deputy seal and the officials of the Ministry of Rites were very anxious at this time.

If the temple below is not prepared at all, there will definitely be a big mess, and then your head will be at risk.

I originally thought about leaving here and quickly informing the temples below to ask them to restrain themselves and prepare false accounts.

But Emperor Wanli left in such a hurry, obviously not giving them a chance.

Emperor Wanli quickly packed up and asked Li Rubai to lead fifty Jinyiwei masters for personal protection.

Wrap the muskets in cloth and follow them around as if they were ordinary wooden sticks.

The four officials of the Zhengyin and Deputy Yinli Department were also led out of the palace by Emperor Wanli at the urging of Emperor Wanli.

Emperor Wanli sneered at this moment, don't you bastards want to see my jokes? Then let me show you what it means to steal the chicken but lose the rice.

If the temples around the capital didn't bully the people, Chen Han would dare to cut off his own head.

Emperor Wanli randomly selected the Faji Temple located in Cuiwei Mountain in the west of Beijing.

This temple also has a great background.

It was built during the Zhengtong period by Li Tong, the great eunuch next to Baozong Zhuqizhen. It is relatively famous among the many temples in the capital.

Emperor Wanli immediately left for the west of Beijing, but the officials from the Zhengyin and Zhengyin and the Ministry of Rites dared not go.

Why?

Because when the temple was built, there were problems.

Legend has it that at that time, the great eunuch Li Tong dreamed of a fairy's suggestion that there was a fairyland in Cuiwei Mountain, so he built a temple there.

But was it really the great eunuch Li Tong who dreamed of the so-called Buddhist holy land?

Not also!

It's entirely because of the beautiful scenery in Cuiwei Mountain, the surrounding villages, and the people living a prosperous life.

There was originally a thousand-year-old Longquan Temple there, but it was destroyed by the war. People generally believe in Buddhism.

Faji Temple is located there and has a foundation for incense, and the surrounding fertile land can also be included in the temple industry.

Therefore, Faji Temple is also a temple with relatively prosperous incense and huge industry.

There are also four officials from the Ministry of Etiquette on the main seal and the deputy seal. They can receive a lot of filial piety from Faji Temple every year.

Where does the money come from? Isn’t it just exploiting the people?

Now he really shot himself in the foot.

If he hadn't stopped this matter originally, Faji Temple might have continued to provide him with money.

Now that there is such a commotion, His Majesty the Emperor went there in person, and paid a private visit incognito, and all the problems were revealed.

Soon, Emperor Wanli and his party arrived at Faji Temple.

Because Emperor Wanli asked Jin Yiwei to inform Faji Temple in advance that the main seal, deputy seal and officials from the Ministry of Rites would come to the temple to inspect the work.

Therefore, other temples have already set up their formations with gongs and drums.

It would be an extravagance. A total of three to four hundred monks, big and small, would greet him at the mountain gate.

Even the road up the mountain from outside the mountain gate, which is more than a mile, has been cleaned by novices in advance.

It's really clean water splashing on the streets, loess pavement, and even a red carpet.

Although it was only five or six hundred meters long, it was enough to show that these monks were very familiar with the art of extravagant ostentation.

Is this a fucking monk?
Isn’t this a bunch of fucking bureaucrats?
Such a good flatterer.

So when the officials of the chief seal, deputy seal and the Ministry of Rites bravely walked in front, and Emperor Wanli, Li Rubai and fifty armed guards followed behind and stepped on the red carpet, Emperor Wanli had already begun to gnash his teeth.

Damn you, you guys are having a great time...

First update! !

(End of this chapter)