Most of the thirty miles of Fanchuan between Shaoling Plateau and Shenhe Plateau, and the fertile farmland on both sides of the Jishui River, were annexed by Prime Minister Pei Ji in ten years.
Now that Pei Ji's family was confiscated and exiled to Jingzhou, the land of the Pei family in Fanchuan was immediately divided up by the nobles of Chang'an, and their owners were changed one after another.
However, all this has not changed much for the people of these manors in Fanchuan and Baozi. The landlords have changed, but they are still tenants.
Wu Huaiyu accompanied the emperor across Lishui and up to Shenhe Plateau. When passing Xiangji Temple, the emperor came to the Pure Land Sect specially. Abbot Daochuo also led his disciple Shandao and others to greet him and offered him his happiness.
Collection of two volumes.
Bordering the Piao River to the south, the Li River to the west, and Fanchuan to the north, the scenery of Xiangji Temple is indeed very beautiful.
This temple is still very large, covering an area of 200 acres. However, although it was built by the emperor's decree, it is still relatively simple in today's atmosphere.
The archway, Shanmen Hall, Tianwang Hall, stele corridor, bell and drum tower, main hall, Dharma hall, etc. are all available. It can be seen that there are quite a lot of followers of the Lotus Sect. Even though the court has been strict in the past two years, they still can't raise enough money.
With little money and silk, the court relatively turned a blind eye to this situation.
However, although Xiangji Temple is quite large, it does not dare to blatantly go against the new imperial regulations. Generally speaking, it is relatively simple.
In particular, Xiangji Temple did not dare to put any thought into the land. Except for the temple land previously rewarded by the court, they did not dare to acquire more than one acre of land. No one dared to make random donations. Secondly, several nobles and businessmen donated money to the big temple in Chang'an.
As a result, the court imposed heavy penalties mercilessly. Not only did they confiscate the donated land, they also imposed three times the amount of land and a maximum fine. Even the temples were fined and confiscated with the same amount of land as the donated land.
After doing this, no one will dare to mess around with the land anymore.
Currently, Xiangji Temple is mainly composed of disciples of the Lotus Sect, and there are also some disciples of the Third Order Sect and disciples of the Vinaya Sect. They all practice mixed practice and are not allowed to be divided into different schools.
The fields under the name of the temple and within the temple walls are used by Daochuo monks to grow wheat and vegetables themselves, and the rest are tenanted and leased to nearby villagers.
Those villagers obtained permanent tenant rights and became customers.
"Xiangji Temple wants to build a spiritual pagoda to enshrine the Buddha bone relics of Huiyuan, Tanluan and other eminent monks of the Lian Sect."
Dao Chuo's plan is to build a thirteen-level spiritual pagoda, about thirteen feet high, built of green bricks, with dense eaves imitating a wooden structure. It is two hundred paces wide in circumference, in a square shape, and each side is three feet long. The shape of the tower is
The dense eaves imitate the attic style.
"Where's the money and food to build the pagoda?"
Huaiyu asked.
"Xuanzhong Temple and some other temples are willing to help raise funds,"
In the previous rectification of Buddhism, the imperial court basically took over the longevity treasury of major temples and temples. The money was nominally kept by the imperial court, and the purpose of the funds was divided into three parts, one of which was used for the maintenance of Buddhist statues in pagodas and temples.
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But this is only for repairs, not new construction.
Of course, what Dao Chuo said about raising money was not to use the money, but to make alms, that is, to find believers. But under the current court system, such large donations are not allowed. At least they must be approved by the court, and
To be included in the supervision, funds must be earmarked for specific purposes.
Xiangji Temple applied several times, but the responsible Chongxuan Office did not approve it.
Today he took the opportunity to request the emperor face to face.
Li Shimin walked around the Xiangji Temple and was quite satisfied with the new temple. It was not overly splendid or anything like that. The monks also performed well. He selected a few for them to memorize sutras, and they were all satisfied.
They carried it well. I even saw them growing vegetables and grain in the open space of the temple. After asking Xiangji Temple, they no longer lend money and pawn, and workshops such as Didian Mill are no longer in operation, which is good.
There are no slaves employed in the temple.
Li Shimin finally agreed to the construction of a pagoda in Xiangji Temple and asked Dao Chuo to prepare a detailed cost budget. Then the Chongxuan Department would send people to follow this list to help supervise Xiangji Temple to collect the money from believers and request
Donations are not allowed to be collected from people below the household level, and donations must not be raised more than the amount collected according to the declaration form. Even construction must be supervised by the government.
I also had a vegetarian meal at Xiangji Temple.
Really simple meals are very simple. The grain is collected from rent and the vegetables are grown by oneself. Apart from a little salt, there are only a few oils in the vegetables.
The rice is still wheat rice, very coarse and much less tasty than pasta.
The emperor was quite satisfied, but monks had to endure hardships to practice.
When leaving Xiangji Temple, Li Shimin even said with great satisfaction that since he asked Wu Huaiyu to start rectifying Buddhism and Taoism, all ten Taoist disciplines in the world are still rectifying it. The effect is very good. Not only has a large amount of temple land been recovered, but many monks and Taoism have also been restored
Return to home.
The country has more household registration fees and more taxes.
Many of the treacherous people who took refuge in temples or relied on temples to avoid taxes and labor were also eliminated.
Of course, we also collected a lot of workshops, money, silk, food, etc. from the temple. The amount was very considerable.
Nowadays, many tenants, slaves, etc. who were originally in the temple have either been allocated temple land and become good households, or they have also been allocated some permanent tenant land and become customers.
There are thousands of temples in the world, all of them are undergoing renovation.
There are also an even more astonishing number of Lanruo Wanjia. The so-called Lanruo refers to private monks’ residences. Most of them are not real monasteries at all. They are just privately owned by some local wealthy and powerful nobles, and then pretend to be Buddhists to avoid taxes and servitude.
They even put land workshops, etc. under their names to evade taxes.
Ordinary people sometimes had no choice but to cut off their limbs in order to escape Yao service, which was called blessed hands and feet. But the powerful gentry had no choice but to do so. There were many ways to do this, including serving as an official to avoid service, or becoming a monk and practicing asceticism.
If you practice Lanruo yourself, you can say that you are practicing with your hair. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, this kind of Lanruo has been the most common.
The purge of Buddhism and Taoism that began in Zhenguan, although it cannot be said to be the eradication of Buddhism, was indeed very intensive. Both monks and Taoists had to take exams. Temples had their temples and monks had their monks. Most of them were eliminated through the exams.
Even those who had staff marks tattooed on their bodies, or who had committed adultery, raised wives, or did not practice the precepts, were forced to return to secular life, and all the slaves they owned were ordered to be released from the temples.
Although they did not directly demolish temples or melt down the golden statues of Buddha, they banned the keeping of slaves in temples, the prohibition of temples operating industrial and commercial workshops, the prohibition of temple loans and pawns, etc., which is indeed very violent.
In just over two years, more than 100,000 slaves and maidservants were freed from temples all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of monks were forcibly eliminated and returned to secular life. There are also a large number of people who were originally attached to the monasteries and served as slaves and good people.
Not to mention shutting down a large number of Lanruo private temples,
The imperial court received a large amount of land, population, money and silk. In addition, many Hu temples and Tibetan religions were banned.
It's just that Li Shimin and the Zhenguan court were more skillful in handling affairs. They were not simply banning or destroying temples. While banning and banning a large number of temples, they were also constantly edicting to build new temples. Generally speaking, it is more reasonable to use the word "rectification". Those who truly practiced Buddhism
The monks and Taoism were not affected much, especially the eminent monks from all over the world, who were invited to Chang'an one after another by Li Shimin, arranged to practice in major temples, and were even given purple robes.
Outside Xiangji Temple.
On both sides of the river.
The wind blows the wheat waves, turning them golden.
The wheat is about to be harvested,
Li Shimin specifically emphasized that officials following the imperial army must not trample the crops.
"You also have a farm here, right? Did you grow wheat this year?"
"The Chen family has a thousand-acre village here. The imperial court collected the third-level temple land and subscribed it when it was put on sale. This year, most of the crops grown here are corn,"
New crops such as corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes have been continuously promoted in the past two years and more and more are planted. In Chang'an, corn is no longer so novel.
However, the Wu family still grows a lot of corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. every year. The main purpose is to breed and sell seedlings. They also sell a batch of tender fresh food every year. It is more convenient to transport them to Chang'an nearby and sell them, and the profit is higher.
"What's Zhuangzi's profit?"
"good."
"The summer grain hasn't been collected yet, and the price is already twenty or three cents per dou of rice," Li Shimin was quite proud when he said this.
Although the price of food is too low, it has an impact, but in a broad sense, it means that there is no shortage of food. Only when the food is sufficient can the people be safe, the country can be stable, and the army can be strong.
As for cheap grain hurting farmers, there is currently no solution.
Compared with the high food prices in the late Sui Dynasty and early Kingdom, Li Shimin still prefers to see the current cheap food prices. Although the farmers are not rich, at least they are not hungry. But in the early years, there was insufficient food and the price of food was low.
If it rises, that's what really kills you.
Not to mention famine and hunger, people often had to pawn off their wives and children, become bankrupt or even lose their homes.
"Ma Zhou told me that low grain prices hurt farmers. Today's low food prices are not always a good thing. I don't know that, but they are better than being hungry."
In fact, some people have long understood the saying that cheap grain hurts farmers.
Ban Gu of the Han Dynasty summarized it in the Han Dynasty: Buying is very expensive and harms the people; very cheap and harms the farmers. If the people are harmed, they will be separated; if the farmers are harmed, the country will be poor.
"Huaiyu, do you have any good way to get the best of both worlds?"
"I believe that neither too high nor too low is good. The price of rice should be maintained at twenty or thirty yuan, which is more reasonable. This will neither hurt the people nor the farmers."
"How can it be done?"
"This is actually a relationship between supply and demand. The world is unified, the country is stable, and food cultivation is guaranteed. In good years, food production increases significantly and supply exceeds demand, so food prices will naturally fall.
The key to how much farmers can sell grain depends on the output. The demand is relatively stable and does not change much, but the grain output varies greatly during periods of abundance and decline.
However, many large landowners do not have to worry about selling their crops during harvest time.
Low grain prices hurt farmers. The more abundant the harvest, the lower the farmers’ grain prices and the lower their profits. The court needs to take action.”
"In good years, Chang Pingcang raises the purchase price and buys a large amount of grain for storage. This is the most important adjustment method.
Secondly, even if there is more grain, the court must also adjust its policies and liberalize appropriately, such as allowing grain to make wine and exporting some to neighboring countries. For example, it can also encourage people or businessmen to engage in breeding and use coarse grains to raise poultry and livestock.
, this can also increase the supply of meat and eggs, consume and convert some food, and also increase people's income.
Furthermore, various regions can make more foresight and coordination when it comes to growing food. For example, on the basis of ensuring the cultivation of basic food, they can appropriately develop the planting of other crops. For example, in Gyeonggi, prefectures and counties, cities and towns can grow vegetables.
Plant fruits, or grow mulberry, hemp, etc. in some places, or plant medicinal materials, etc.”
When the Tang Dynasty equalized land among the people, they generally required Yongye fields to be planted with mulberry trees, jujube elm trees, and grain crops. This way, they could not only pay grain and silk to complete the tax task, but also be self-sufficient in food and clothing.
This was the most ideal small-scale peasant economic model for the imperial court.
However, in fact, the further inland the Central Plains, the less land available to ordinary people.
"I suggest that after this summer's harvest, the imperial court can spend more money and open up the market to purchase grain, raise the price of grain, and provide more protection to the people. And now a bucket of rice only costs 20 to 30 cents. This price can be said to be the lowest in decades.
At the lowest level, even if you add a little bit of harvested grain to store in the warehouse, you will never lose money. The harvested grain can be used to prepare for famines and disasters, and can also be used for brewing, breeding, etc."
