back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 761 Monks have to pay taxes too!

Lu Chengqi just smiled and didn't speak.Xu Chongguang knew the truth, but he thought it was still within the controllable range, so he didn't tell Lu Chengqi the truth.If Lu Chengqi hadn't held the card of the Supervision Department in his hand, he would have really been fooled.Monks also have to pay taxes, how can the world not be boiling?
This is also the sorrow of the rulers of all dynasties. Although they are in high positions, they cannot see the suffering of the people.The emperor Lu Chengqi admired the most was Liu Xun, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. Many people may not know this emperor, but his evaluation in history is far better than that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was aggressive in military affairs. Although he was very talented, he has always been criticized by historians.But for Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, historians praised him and seldom slandered him.

It turned out that Liu Xun, formerly known as Liu Bingji, was the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che, the grandson of Prince Li Liu Ju, the son of Liu Jin, the grandson of Emperor Shi, and the tenth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty.When the scourge of witchcraft (the scourge caused by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty being fatuous in his later years and listening to slander) happened, Liu Bing, who was still in his infancy, had already been sent to the county prison.He was pardoned in the second year of the Yuan Dynasty and was raised by his grandmother historian.Emperor Wu of the later Han Dynasty issued an edict to Yeting to raise him, and ordered Zongzheng to register his family status, so Liu Bingji was brought up in Yeting.

Since Liu Xun went to Sanfu in Kyoto to understand the people's conditions when he was young, he understood the sufferings of the people and the gains and losses of officials, which had a direct impact on his governance.During his reign, he worked hard to govern, selected talents and appointed them, and virtuous ministers came out in large numbers. The famous ones are the eleven heroes of Qilin Pavilion.Emperor Xuan paid attention to reducing the burden on the people and restoring and developing agricultural production.He also attaches great importance to the administration of officials, and believes that the way of governing the country should be mixed with "hegemony" and "kingly way", and opposes full-time Confucianism.In terms of foreign relations, Emperor Xuan joined forces with Wusun to defeat the Huns in the second year of the first year, and then the Huns Huhanxie Shanyu led the crowd to the court to proclaim his ministers.

Liu Xun is a well-known virtuous monarch in Chinese history. During his reign, the country’s politics were clear, the society was harmonious, the economy was prosperous, and the barbarians were obedient. He was known as "filial piety and revival" in history. Historians recognized that the Western Han Dynasty was the most powerful under his rule.In the Western Han Dynasty, which was famous for its strict establishment of temple names and posthumous names, Liu Xun was one of the four emperors with official temple names.It can be seen how high its historical evaluation is.

Lu Chengqi only gradually understood this period of history after he was reborn.It turned out that in later generations, he had watched a TV series "Oolong Breaks Through Love", which was about Liu's illness.He thought it was far-fetched. How could there be an emperor of the Han Dynasty living among the people?But it wasn't until he reread the history of the Han Dynasty that he realized that Liu Bing had indeed existed.He reformed the Western Han Dynasty more than 1000 years ago, and he is the famous king of ZTE.

In the Han Dynasty, the two emperors Lu Chengqi admired the most were Liu Xun and Liu Xiu.The Wen, Tao and Wu strategies of the Western Han Dynasty under Liu Xun's rule were all outstanding, and Liu Xiu's creation of the Eastern Han Dynasty was even more powerful.It is even more admirable that it can resist the provocations of the Huns, cherish the power of the people and never send troops.

Taking a closer look, the experiences of Liu Xun and Lu Chengqi seem to be very similar.Of course, this similarity means that they have all stayed in the private sector, know the real needs of the people, and are also committed to reform and revitalization.He is also merciless towards foreign enemies.Those who offend China will be punished even if they are far away!Now that he is powerless, he also punished the Liao Kingdom a little, so that the Liao Kingdom has not recovered its vitality for three years.As for Jiaozhi and Goryeo, one day these small countries that make troubles will understand what it means to lay down millions of corpses when the emperor is angry!

Besides, regarding the collection of agricultural and commercial taxes for monks, Taoists and priests, the Supervision Department has long reported that monks in many places have a tendency to riot and seem to want to attack the yamen.But after the Qingzhou City case happened, the flag died down.

After Lu Chengqi read this secret report, he dismissed it aside dismissively, so what if these monks made trouble?They can't take the name of righteousness, and they also want to threaten the court to take back their orders?It's really wishful thinking, it would be better if there was a riot, and Lu Chengqi would have more excuses to "destroy Buddha".

It's not that Lu Chengqi discriminates against Buddhism, but that Buddhism does have something wrong.You said that all four of his monks are empty, why the temple property is as large as ten thousand hectares?You said that he became a monk to avoid anger and anger, why did he train monks?You said that monks are not greedy for money, why do you want believers to send all their family property to the temple?

This is all because after Buddhism entered the Central Plains, because it was deeply integrated with the Central Plains culture, many teachings contradicted itself.How many monks do you think are really disillusioned and convert to Buddhism?I'm afraid it's just a minority, most people are still greedy for the monks to be free, not have to work and have food, do everything possible to get the degree, so that they are "above and aboveboard", lazy and lazy, and become social parasites.

And more monks, who don't even have a degree certificate, are fake monks. They can become "monks" if they shave their heads and burn their scars.Such monks are good at defrauding money, and none of them really persuade people to be good!If Dashun continues like this, more and more people will follow suit and become monks instead of producing.At that time, not to mention passing on the family line, even the social order may become disordered.

Of course, Lu Chengqi did not expose Xu Chongguang, but asked: "Now those monks, can they pay taxes on time?"

Xu Chongguang nodded, and said: "As far as I know, none of them dared to resist the imperial court's order, and consciously offered tax money."

It's easy to say, but Lu Chengqi knows that some temples have dispatched monks in order to resist the tax.What surprised Lu Chengqi was that the Shaolin Temple, which has the most monks, did not take the lead in resisting the tax, but obediently paid the tax; while some small temples resisted desperately.After the local supervisory department dispatched, it was settled smoothly.Of course, it is not known how much blood is involved in the balance here.

Lu Chengqi sighed: "Taoism and Buddhism are the richest, and their combined wealth is even inferior to the imperial court."

Xu Chongguang said cautiously: "These monks and Taoists are not useless. During the famine years, their porridge for the victims can be regarded as credit..."

Lu Chengqi said disapprovingly: "The merits are there, but the excesses are even worse, so we must stop it! If we let it go, I fear that the Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Principles will no longer be the same. People's hearts are unpredictable, and their harm will be even more harmful. Xu Qing is familiar with Qing History, and we can know that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty The yellow turban stretches the corners? If you don’t forcefully control it, you may have another disaster!”

Xu Chongguang didn't make a sound, but he was thinking in his heart: "The monk has to pay taxes, so who will be next? I'm afraid anyone with a discerning eye will see it, you are a drunkard, and you don't want to drink!"

Fortunately, Dashun's tax rate is not high, even in the past dynasties, it has been low tax.Therefore, there is not much resistance to paying taxes on a large scale this time.If [-]% of the agricultural tax is levied as before, I am afraid that there will really be wars everywhere.After doing the math, the summer grain and autumn grain are taxed twice, a total of [-]% and [-]% to [-]% belong to the landlord.If the land with two crops is okay, but the land with one crop a year, I am afraid that the farmers will really not be able to survive and will rise up.Working hard all year round, I can't even fill my stomach.In the event of another famine year, will farmers still have a way out!

Lu Chengqi lowered the tax rate but expanded the scope of tax collection, which was actually tantamount to sharing the risks of the farmers on the landlords.It's just that this road is not easy. The biggest landlords, the bureaucrats, are still tax-free privileged classes.If one day officials also pay taxes, he will be regarded as a real success in reform.

(End of this chapter)