surnamed Wang

Chapter 220 Zen Buddhism
The Buddhist temples in Zhongzhou are well-developed, which is the most in the whole dynasty.

It is not an exaggeration to say that there is a temple in five miles, and a temple in ten miles.

You know, more than half of Zhongzhou is mountainous, and there are not many places left for living, but there are more than a hundred temples, large and small.

Almost half of the people here believe in Buddhism and respect monks.Walking on the street, you can often see monks begging for money. It’s good if you don’t get blown away in the capital, but here, most of the people will put their hands together respectfully and put a few copper plates into the monk’s alms bowl .

Wang Gangquan and others have seen this situation many times.

The rest of them found it strange at most, and they were very familiar with the situation of Buddhism in the Central Plains, but they were surprised by the situation in Zhongzhou.

Buddhism originated in Xichi, developed rapidly after being introduced to the Central Plains, and reached its peak in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Later, when the north invaded the Central Plains, they didn't believe in Buddhism, and even killed monks at every turn, which made Buddhism almost extinct in the Central Plains.

After the establishment of the dynasty, because Wang Quanquan’s grandmother loved Buddhism, the court’s attitude towards Buddhism was more accepting than resisting. Even many officials in Beijing began to teach Buddhism, and the Thousand Buddha Hall in the imperial palace was established at that time .

In addition to the inner city of the capital, the same is true among the people. Buddhist temples and pagodas have sprung up from the ground, and there are endless streams of believers, and the incense is extremely prosperous.

Under such favorable conditions, Buddhism grew wildly in the Central Plains, and its scale once surpassed that of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

In the era when the foundation of the dynasty was not stable and the people were hungry, there were few places where people could get enough to eat in temples, and it even formed a scene where people went to temples to "beg for alms".

After the Empress Dowager passed away, an upstart official in the court who had a unique insight into the current situation confronted Buddhism, which had always been persuading people to be kind, and only then did it reveal its true colors.

……

At the beginning of the establishment of Buddhism, it advocated the equality of all living beings, eliminated desires, and persuaded people to do good.

This is a good medicine that benefits the believers, but if the good medicine is used in the wrong place, it is poison.

Buddhism originated from Xichi, and it was originally a way to cross people and oneself. After being favored by the Xichi court, it was mixed with many dark schemes, making it a means to control the people.

Seeing its remarkable effect, Xichi set its target on the surrounding countries again.

After a lot of embellishment, these interpretations of carrying private goods took root in the four clans.

The most repulsive among them is Beitu. Beitu believes in the white wolf that represents the god of nature. It has always resisted foreign Buddhism. Even the establishment of temples requires the consent of local lords.

The law of North Turkistan clearly stipulates that there is at most one temple for every [-] lands, and at most one temple for every thousand lands.

Even though the law is so strict, there are still a large number of herdsmen who have devoted themselves to Buddhism, and the few big temples that are qualified to exist on a thousand-year-old land are all so incensed that they are so prosperous that they almost burst into flames.

Among them, Gandeng Temple in the south is the most famous. The amount of incense candles burned in the temple every year is more than ten times that of Wan'an Palace in the imperial city.

If this is the case in North Turkistan, let alone the dynasty that has always ignored it.

The Zhou surnamed scholar who predicted that the Western Red Esoteric Sect would be a serious threat to the dynasty wrote letters more than once, hoping that the court would take precautions early, but it was a pity that he did not pay attention to it. Instead, he was ridiculed and suppressed by many pro-Buddhist officials in the court. .

Later, even though the temple's annual incense money had exceeded the dynasty's tax revenue, the court remained unmoved.

It wasn't until something happened to Qu Xianwei that the Dynasty was really alerted.

Qu Xianwei is adjacent to Xichi. Compared with the Buddhism that has been integrated into the Central Plains' native Taoism and Confucianism in the deep hinterland, it can be regarded as the personal transmission of Xichi Mizong.

The West Red Esoteric sect pays attention to rank and integrity, and Qu Xianwei's small temples have inherited this very well.

However, their "****" is not against the Central Plains Dynasty, but against the Western Red Emperor's Court.

Under the secret arrangement of a member of the royal family in Xichi, these temples jointly incited believers, triggering a riot that shook the government and the public.

In addition, these temples also transported all the incense money they had accumulated over the years to Xichi. Fortunately, Wang Bingru, who was on duty at the border, stopped them, so no greater losses were caused.

As soon as Wang Bingru received the informant, he suppressed the local riots with iron and blood methods, and then took a team of light cavalry and rushed for fifty miles, stopping the carriage transporting silver taels.

Although this turmoil was passed without any risk, it sounded the alarm for the dynasty. No matter how hypnotized the esoteric sect said, it came from a foreign race after all.

After this incident, the direct descendants of Tantric sects from Xichi were completely wiped out in the Central Plains, and those border temples that had flirted with Xichi on weekdays, without exception, ushered in a wave of purges.

Countless gold and silver were recovered from it. It is said that more than 30 carriages were fully filled, and the treasury of the dynasty, which was still struggling, was suddenly enriched.

Since then, the dynasty has paid more and more attention to Buddhism.

The Zhou scholar who issued the warning was exceptionally promoted to a first-rank bachelor, in charge of religious affairs.

Under the suggestion of the new academician, the dynasty began to vigorously promote the slightly declining Huang-Lao theory. At the same time, it imitated the North Turkistan and implemented the system of a thousand temples. Although the existing temples will not be destroyed, the temples are already so dense. At present, it is almost impossible to build a new temple.

In addition, all temple monks must be recorded in the register, but if there is a collaborator and treason, he will sit in the entire temple.

At first, the monks didn't take it seriously. The previous living examples were there, and they couldn't afford to live a good life and run into this bad luck.

As a result, in the next few years, news of monks collaborating with the enemy would spread every once in a while. Those monks who ate fast and recited Buddha all day could not figure out why the temple was closed the next day when it was fine one day.

In fact, a discerning person can see at a glance that this is the imperial court's intention to control the number of temples.

Afterwards, Yue Mo really went too far, and was seen by others as a rule: every time there is a natural or man-made disaster, some temples will be closed, and the money saved for incense will naturally become disaster relief supplies.

After learning the truth, even a monk can't help but scold him for being wicked.

Such a vicious and smoky move naturally caused a lot of stigma for the upstart Zhou University scholar, but the scolding was scolding, and everyone in the court admired this new first-rank senior.

Not only did he solve a potential problem for the dynasty by himself, but he also found a way to make money for the increasingly empty treasury, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

……

Even though Master Zhou has calculated so far, there are still two places that have not been affected: one is the Southwest, and the other is the Central Province.

The Southwest has been influenced by Xichi Zen Buddhism all the year round, almost everyone believes in Buddhism, and the people's customs are aggressive. Compared with other places, it is extremely difficult to suppress, unless you don't hesitate to suppress it with heavy troops.

For this reason, the imperial court had no choice but to take a step back and set up Sengliu Temples in various counties and counties in the area to provide assistance to monks in name but monitor and manage them in reality.

As for Zhongzhou, because Wang Gangquan's grandmother's ancestral home was here, Emperor Shengen remembered the old love, and all the temples in Zhongzhou also knew how to raise funds and donations every time there was a natural disaster, so he never used this place for surgery.

(End of this chapter)