Frankly speaking, even Sanbao felt that his prince's attitude was indeed a bit aggressive.
But after the old monk got angry at first, he seemed to have lost his temper. At this time, he was still very talkative. He said: "Your Highness is the orthodox person whom everyone expects. Buddhism only seeks a way to survive and does not seek to participate in secular power.
I hope your highness will forgive me."
Li Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.
He has no good feelings towards religion, but this does not prevent him from using all the power at his disposal to consolidate his rule.
What's more, Zhao Xuanji hasn't been eradicated yet, and the vassal kings are still watching him. His control over the Qin Empire is far from being able to sit back and relax. The power of Buddhism, if used well, can be a rare weapon.
No matter how bad it is, I can't personally push these monks into the arms of the enemy.
"This is not the place to talk."
Li Chen turned to Sanbao and said, "Arrange a quiet place."
Sanbao bowed and accepted the order.
For Sanbao, finding a quiet place nearby to talk is not even a problem.
With just a cup of tea, Sanbao came to ask Li Chen to move over.
As expected, Sanbao knew Li Chen and found a restaurant. There was no one in the restaurant at this time. Apparently, everything had been cleared out. A private room with the best view was left. Li Chen could directly look at the street view of the capital when he came up.
The old monk naturally followed.
On the balcony of the private room on the third floor of the restaurant, Li Chen and the old monk were sitting opposite each other. There was a pot of incense and a pot of tea on the coffee table in the middle.
Although it was arranged in a hurry, Sanbao's care and attention can be seen everywhere.
"Master, drink tea."
Li Chen held up a cup of tea and invited him. His attitude was completely different from the aggressive one before. At this moment, Li Chen was noble and generous without losing his grace, which made people feel like they were taking a breath of spring breeze.
The old monk was not polite, bowed his head slightly and saluted Li Chen, then picked up the tea cup and took a sip.
The two of them drank tea respectively, and Li Chen directly picked up the topic.
"Under the ancestral system of the Qin Dynasty, monks and Taoists can develop as freely as possible without encouragement or obstruction. Any temple or Taoist temple must be controlled by local official uniforms. Monks go out to beg for alms, Taoist priests open altars and practices, and faithful men and women donate money, build temples, and invest in religious ceremonies.
, everything shall be supervised, reviewed and approved by the local government.”
"All Buddhist and Taoist disciples who convert must submit their ultimatums to the local government for sealing and preservation. If they need to go out to beg for alms, hold Dharma meetings, communicate across temples, etc., they must bow to the officials and then hold the ultimatum in hand before entering the city or temple.
Enter the temple."
What Li Chen is talking about is the laws on religion that have been enacted since the founding of the Qin Empire and have not been changed for more than 360 years.
Its content is simple, but its effect is extremely powerful.
On the surface, Buddhism and Taoism are allowed to open wide to develop followers, but all religious activities are withdrawn and restricted, leaving the final decision-making power firmly in the hands of the government.
It was precisely this law that prevented Buddhism and Taoism from flourishing in the Qin Empire for more than 360 years.
However, compared to Buddhism, Taoism is better. After all, the Qin Empire emphasized Taoism and suppressed Buddhism. But even so, Taoism does not do whatever it wants. Every generation of Longhushan Celestial Master must accept the imperial canonization, otherwise it will be illegal.
Although after more than three hundred years, many loopholes have appeared in the implementation of the law, and there are also cases of insufficient implementation in many places, but overall, the Qin Empire's control of religion far exceeded all previous dynasties.
At least, there are no brainless characters like alchemy masters in the imperial court.
