Chapter 340: Making monks pay taxes is more uncomfortable than killing them
Li Yan rode on the lion's horse and headed south from Luoyang to Zhongyue Songshan Mountain.
Behind him, in addition to Yang Zaiwei, An Shengan and a group of internal guards, were the Beiya Baiqi commanded by Cheng Wuzhong.
Yang Zaiwei is good at martial arts and can stay up late. It would be a waste to rest in prison. So he will be taken with him this time so that Beiya Baiqi can complete the unfinished follow-up.
At this time, Cheng Wuzhong became extremely active: "Last time we set up an ambush in the stronghold, but the leader of the stronghold was extremely skilled in martial arts and relied on his familiarity with the location to escape from the siege. It was really a shame and a great humiliation!"
Li Yan looked at the fully armed postures of all the Baiqi, and said with a smile: "This time we will focus on negotiation. We are looking for the village leader and persuade him to follow the advice of his fellow disciples. If we can make the other party realize their mistake, we can turn the conflict into friendship.
"
Cheng Wuzhong was startled at first, then understood the meaning and smiled knowingly: "We have all the bows, crossbows, knives and clubs, so we can have a good talk with him."
Li Yan nodded: "Then I'll be relieved."
Everyone was a strong and powerful person, and they had Longyou treasure horses at their backs. They rode hard all the way, and after a few hours, they arrived at the territory of the Shaolin Temple.
Now is the time for spring plowing. The originally withered Guanzhong has begun to slowly recover under the organization of the imperial court. The land of Henan is even more prosperous and prosperous. Farmers are everywhere plowing the ground and drying the soil, creating a busy scene.
What is eye-catching is the novice monks in gray clothes, carrying two wooden buckets with pointed bottoms and raising their hands to carry water from the fields.
Everyone stood on the hillside and looked at it. Cheng Wuzhong was a little surprised: "Where are we now? Is it the fields of Shaolin Temple?"
Li Yandao: "Now as far north as Gongyi and Yanshi, as far south as Ruzhou, and in the winter solstice Xinmi, there are hundreds of miles of farmland around this temple."
Cheng Wuzhong was puzzled: "Why is it so big? Shaolin Temple has quite a martial arts style, but they are not a royal temple, so how can they get so many fields?"
Li Yan asked: "Do you know about the capture of Wang Renze by the thirteen stick monks of Shaolin Temple?"
Many people nodded, and others also expressed their understanding after hearing the explanation.
"It's not strange to take sides in troubled times. What's strange is the ones behind."
Li Yandao: "After the thirteen stick monks captured the king thief, Taizong issued the "Information to the Shaolin Temple in Baiguwu", commending the achievements of the Shaolin Temple, and granted him 40 hectares of land, which was milled with water. The leader, Monk Tanzong, was granted the title of Monk General."
"This matter has spread widely, especially the Shaolin Temple. They often say that their monk soldiers were given by Yukou himself."
"However, there is a follow-up to this matter, and I'm afraid few people know about it..."
"In the sixth year of Zhenguan, the Shaolin Temple reported to the court again, saying that the land previously awarded was a land allocated by the public, and the number was too small, which was not in line with their merits. They should be rewarded with 100 hectares. Based on this calculation, the Shaolin Temple lost 60 hectares of land at that time.
"
"This incident was recorded in the "Shaolin Temple's Quasi-Edict to Correct and Grant Land". The court's subsequent decision was to 'specially edict to build a temple and return the land without counting the common land'. In fact, an additional 60 hectares of land were granted to the Shaolin Temple.
reached its current scale.”
The inner guard was amazed when he heard this, while Baiqi's expression was not very good.
As the bodyguards of a saint, their fields were expropriated before. Even if they take them back now, their lives are still not as good as those of a group of monks?
The key point is that if it is Ci'en Temple to commemorate the saint Empress Wende, or Famen Temple to enshrine Buddha's bones and relics, it would be just a royal temple.
What is this Shaolin Temple? It is not even ranked among the ancient temples in the world. I have been rewarded for capturing the thieves before, but I can still be rewarded again and again. How can I feel embarrassed for the soldiers who are fighting bloody battles on the front line?
Li Yan knew how much land was occupied by Buddhist monasteries in later generations, so he didn't find it strange. Of course he wasn't surprised. It didn't mean that he just let it go. His eyes were slightly cold and he said to An Shen: "Take someone to investigate carefully. This Guanzhong disaster.
How much rice and food did the Shaolin Temple donate, and how many monks were sent to give relief? Keep it in the record, be sure to be detailed!"
"yes!"
Anshengan immediately mobilized capable people and spread them out.
This is not a voluntary donation by future generations. If you don't want to, you shouldn't be morally kidnapped. This time the court has clearly stipulated that in addition to the rich and powerful families in various places releasing food for disaster relief, all Buddhist and Taoist temples must send monks and Taoists to give porridge and save people.
, stabilize the people's hearts.
As the saying goes, it takes a thousand days to raise an army, but it takes only a short time. The imperial court gave such preferential treatment to Buddhism and Taoism. In addition to faith, it also used these religious forces to stabilize the civil situation and suppress the chaos of obscenity and worship.
With the disaster raging, it is only natural for these monks who are usually compassionate to come forward.
All the major Taoist temples and temples in Chang'an were involved, and the same was true here in Luoyang. Many monks had not returned yet, and the temples seemed very deserted.
But what they saw along the way was that there seemed to be a lot of monks in the Shaolin Temple. As the group went up the mountain, they saw many monks walking as fast as flying, kicking their legs, practicing boxing, and exercising their energy.
Li Yan's expression darkened, and he became increasingly unhappy.
He combined work and martial arts training so well. He had to go to work every day, and when he encountered thieves, he would work all night to investigate the case. In contrast, these monks relied on the support of the farmland tenants down the mountain and practiced martial arts all day long without being disturbed.
It was such a happy life!
I am indeed very happy. According to historical records, when Buddhism was at its peak in the Tang Dynasty, each monk spent more than 30,000 yuan on food and clothing each year, which is equivalent to 60,000 yuan in later generations, with an average of 5,000 yuan per month.
In a horizontal comparison, the taxes paid by the men of the five households in the Tang Dynasty were this amount.
Equivalent to every monk, there are five families supporting him. No wonder they want to destroy the Buddha later.
Of course, those were the heyday, and it is certainly not as exaggerated now as it was in the early Tang Dynasty. But behind each of the retired monks, there were also countless farmers who were bending over and working hard in the fields, silently supporting them.
No matter how much you heard in the past, it was never as true as seeing. Li Yan took in the contrast between the mountains and the mountains and made a decision silently.
Yang Zaiwei suddenly said from the side: "Li Yuanfang, do you hate Buddhism?"
Li Yan did not deny it: "I do hate it, what about you?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Yang Zaiwei said: "I can't say I hate it. After all, I practice consciousness-only energy. Master still has a good impression of Buddhism, but I definitely don't like these.
The monk asked people to see Huoda... With your power, when the prince ascends the throne in the future, if you really hate Buddhism, will you pursue the extermination of Buddhism like Emperor Wu of Zhou?"
Li Yan shook his head: "That won't work. Exterminating Buddhism may seem grand, but in fact, with the current popularity of Buddhism, it is deeply rooted in the hearts of ordinary people and many high-ranking nobles..."
"Coupled with the religious theory, the more suppressed it is, the more it will arouse people's rebellious psychology. People will continue to advocate it. No matter how you destroy Buddhism, it will definitely resurrect."
"Some eminent Buddhist monks are indeed compassionate and admirable. Blocking is worse than sparing. Destroying Buddha is never the solution to the problem."
Yang Zaiwei asked curiously: "Listen to this, do you have any other ideas?"
Li Yan did have an idea.
He wants Buddhists to pay taxes.
In fact, it doesn't matter if the land is divided, the common people all divide the land, but if you take the land from the court, you can't escape the tax. Anyone who grants land will lose two dendrobiums of millet and three dendrobiums of rice every year, which is called rent.
In other words, after you get the field, you must pay two husks of millet and three husks of rice one year later, which is considered a rental tax. There are many tax items after that. The taxes are different depending on the nature of the field.
But Buddhism does not pay taxes, no matter how much land it occupies, it does not pay taxes, and monks who follow the ultimatum can be exempted from corvee labor. This is why it has become a cancer for the country.
Therefore, Buddhists must pay taxes. Monks and Taoists under fifty years old must pay four pieces of silk cloth every year, nuns and female monks pay half of the tax, and other servants are the same as the common people.
After the age of fifty, you will be exempted from taxes and household chores, because old people who practice hard will serve as teachers. Only in this way can the benefits of Taoism and Buddhism be brought into play, and the atmosphere will become better and better.
This method was not invented by Li Yan, but was suggested by a Tang Dynasty official in history. According to that official’s calculations, if it were implemented, the taxes paid by monks across the country would be no less than one-third of the annual taxes, so
Once this happens, the country will be rich and the great harm to the people will be eliminated.
The emperor was very moved and rejected the proposal.
There was no way. At that time, the central authority of the Tang Dynasty was no longer enough to implement this reform. It could not even destroy the Buddha, let alone make the monks pay taxes.
For monks, asking them to pay taxes is more uncomfortable than killing them.
Because of this, Li Yan did not say anything.
Just like when he was selling tea, it also took a long time to prepare before it was officially launched when he was sent as an envoy to Tibet.
But no big deal like this can be rushed.
Everyone withdrew their gaze and walked all the way up to the mountain gate.
Not as majestic as the ones of later generations, the current Shaolin Temple is just a crude temple in the mountains. At first glance, it even looks a little shabby.
Since it is built in the mountains, the grandness of the temples and the exquisiteness of the statues are definitely not as good as those of the big temples in the city. However, the monks who come and go are much more energetic, and a group of strong monks gather together, with their upper bodies naked, showing their smooth muscles.
, put on various poses, and spoke loudly.
Others were confused, but Li Yan understood it at a glance.
This Shaolin Temple is actually proficient in advertising effects.
Sure enough, the monk who knew the guest came up to lead the way: "All the donors have come from afar, please dismount here..."
Their voices were enthusiastic, but their eyes frequently glanced at the team, looking for potential partners who could join the temple to practice martial arts.
The main income of the monks in Luoyang, Chang'an, is from the Buddhist rituals and donations from believers, and from the funeral services after the death of high-ranking nobles. These two major incomes feed them so much that they don't need to worry about anything else.
In comparison, the main business of Shaolin Temple is to recruit disciples to practice martial arts. The children of local wealthy families come here to earn a lot of money, especially if they are from high-ranking noble families.
But looking horizontally and vertically, the temperament of Li Yan and his group seems more like they are here to teach them, rather than learn from their masters...
Just when he felt something was wrong, Li Yan took out the edict and calmly announced:
"On the order of the Prince of the Supervisory Kingdom, thoroughly investigate the case of Shaolin Temple harboring thieves and call out your abbot and all the monks and officials!"