back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 734
The crisis was temporarily resolved, and Lu Chengqi breathed a sigh of relief.He is fairly familiar with the history of the Song Dynasty. It is unrealistic to say that the Northern Song Dynasty was dragged down by the uprisings of Song Jiang and Fang La; it is also unrealistic to say that it has nothing to do with it.If it weren't for Song Huizong's own death, and the officials followed, no matter how extravagant the Northern Song Dynasty was, it would not be Song Huizong's turn to perish.In addition, the terrain of Bianliang is too flat, which also planted the root of the ruin of the dynasty.If Zhao Kuangyin had been firmer and moved his capital to Luoyang, the Northern Song Dynasty might have been saved.

Dashun now has some signs of something similar to the Northern Song Dynasty, some people with ulterior motives are secretly doing things.It is impossible to put all the affairs of a country on the table. There are always some mice, peeping in the dark, turning into poisonous snakes unexpectedly, and jumping out to bite you.

"Fortunately, I defended myself and kept the Tiger Wing Army in Liangshan... Well, I put gold on my face..." Lu Chengqi's mood fluctuated too quickly, and he couldn't help but feel complacent.

The hearts of the ministers also fell to the ground, and then the "extreme plan" came out: "Your Majesty, I believe that the Manichaeism is inciting the people and should be eradicated, otherwise there will be endless troubles!"

The rest of the ministers seconded the proposal one after another, and Lu Chengqi also had the same idea, but he suddenly thought of religious people, isn't it a bit too much.The reason why Manichaeism was eliminated in the previous dynasty was also because more and more people believed in the religion, and they gradually stopped producing and lived on land.If people all over the world are like this, how can society develop?

Take Buddhism as an example. When first entering China, the property obtained by the monastery from giving was collectively owned by the monastery at that time, and was mainly used to maintain the daily life of the monks and Buddhist activities. Later, with the continuous privatization of monastery property and rich monks The emergence of the monastery landlord economy was finally formed.Temple landlords are an integral part of the feudal landlord class, and the temple landlord economy is a feudal landlord economy with the charm of Buddha added. However, its rapid development has increased the real competition mechanism for the landlord class in the secular society, and has also caused serious damage to the national economy. some damage.And the feudal country was established and controlled by the secular landlords, and economic interests were fundamental. Therefore, when the Buddhist forces seriously threatened its fundamental interests, the emperor, the general representative of the secular landlords, had no choice but to hurt Buddhism in order to safeguard his own fundamental interests. Use the trump card.Now Dashun has almost reached this point. The monks have vast land, which is extremely unfavorable to the rule.

But the construction of Buddhist monasteries is a waste of a lot of social wealth.Secondly, monastery landlords occupied a large amount of land, which seriously affected the implementation of the national land policy.The temple economy is mainly based on land, and temples generally obtain land by alms and mergers and plunder.Regardless of whether the country or the princes and nobles build temples, they generally donate some land along with them.Occupying land is not the biggest harm. The harm of Buddhist temples is that their economic development has seriously affected the taxation of the court.The prominent feature of the monastery economy is that while the monastery occupies a large amount of land, it also has a large number of dependent population.The reason why the people are willing to join Buddhist temples is mainly because the temples have the privilege of exempting from duty and rent adjustment tax.Monks and nuns not only "do not lose an inch of silk to the government, and rice rises do not enter the public warehouse", but also "the family rests according to the size of the house, and the door is closed for the strong and the weak, and they can come and go as they like, and come and go freely."

As an emperor, Lu Chengqi has long been unhappy with these rich monks, can he use the pretext of Manichaeism to control the population of Buddhist believers?
After he thought about it, the officials couldn't listen to what he said, until he sorted out his thoughts, he said slowly: "Manichaeism is naturally forbidden to spread, but in my opinion, other religions, Nor are they good people."

The cleverness in the words made these real court officials feel frightened.Cabinet Minister Wei Xu asked tentatively, "Why did Your Majesty make such a statement?"

Lu Chengqi sighed, and said: "Don't think that if I don't leave the palace, I don't know the affairs of the world. Take Buddhism as an example, there is no tax on temple property, and there are thousands of people who get ordained every year? In Buddhism, Dharma is equal. But in fact, the hierarchy in Buddhist temples is very strict. Originally, temples could be used as relief places, but later, the relief business of temples gradually turned into usury exploitation. They not only lend money but also rent, collecting rent from tenants without paying taxes. Not to mention that there are so many temples in the world and how much land is there, even the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song has more than [-] hectares of land."

Among the ministers, there are also people who believe in Buddhism, but they never think about this issue. When Lu Chengqi mentioned it, they became a little alert.Lu Chengqi continued: "...the previous dynasty also destroyed the Buddha, because the monks were too much. Only by creating the Royal Bank can we stop their greed. If it weren't for this, there may be troubles in the future."

Shen Zhizheng Wen Yanbo frowned and said: "Your Majesty, this belief in Buddhism is voluntary by the people, and cannot be forced by the imperial court. Even if the temple is rich, it is also donated by believers, how can we receive it?"

Lu Chengqi waved his hand and said, "I don't want to confiscate their temple property, but to make them pay taxes."

Those present are all bureaucrats, who doesn't have a few acres of land in the family?Upon hearing the tax payment, Liu Geng from Zhongshushe became a little sensitive: "Your Majesty, is it a little unreasonable to levy taxes on monks and Taoists? After all, monks practice hard, and there is no output..."

Lu Chengqi sneered and said: "How can there be such a good thing in the world, that you can eat while sitting and reciting scriptures? I have heard that there is a kind of ascetic monk in Tianzhu, who works to support himself. Tianzhu monks can do it, why can't Dashun monks not?"

In fact, Lu Chengqi is stealing the concept and bullying these ministers "have never seen the world".In fact, the ascetics in India are just unkempt and ragged, with a three-pronged staff symbolizing Lord Shiva, chanting ancient scriptures while walking.As for the three meals, you still have to beg, oh no, it is "begging".

Knowing the little emperor's intentions, some people echoed him: "Han Yuyun in the previous dynasty said, 'Now the law says: you must abandon the emperor and his ministers, go to the father and son, and prohibit and support each other, in order to seek the so-called pure and peaceful ones. Today He also wants to rule his heart, but outside the world, the country will destroy its natural order, the son will not be his father, the minister will not be his ruler, and the people will not do anything about it. Now we also use the law of the barbarians and the di, and add the old kings. Above all the teachings, it is impossible for them to become barbarians'. Now it seems that there is some truth. Even if the imperial court does not suppress Buddhism, it must reduce its followers. Everyone has become a monk. This is a severance of human relations! Your Majesty , I believe that the Ministry of Rites should strictly control the system and check the number of monks in temples all over the world. Those who have no system should be returned to the village and ordered to return to vulgarity..."

Cabinet Minister Zhu Xucai's remarks were also agreed with.Unlike the previous dynasty's extermination of Buddha, this move is more benevolent and righteous.

Lu Chengqi made a final decision: "The imperial court neither advocates nor encourages religion. Anyone who has no degree will return to the vulgar. Temple property is included in the agricultural tax and will be collected. As for Manichaeism, it is classified as a cult, and its spread is prohibited, and it will be published in various newspapers." , to tell the world."

The little emperor has made a final decision, and these ministers can only carry out the will of the little emperor.In fact, there are still a small number of officials who believe in Buddhism. After all, in the hearts of many people, Buddhism was passed down by "barbarians", and they prefer to be Taoists.But more people don't even believe in Taoism, they only believe in Confucianism.Therefore, some scholars in later generations said that the ancients had no faith, which is actually wrong. Just like scholars, they may worship in temples and kneel in temples, but when it comes to faith, they still prefer to believe in Confucianism.Is Confucianism a belief?In Lu Chengqi's view, this is faith!Otherwise, how can you explain the ideals of scholars "self-cultivation, family harmony, governance of the country, and peace of the world"?This is faith!

(End of this chapter)