A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 440 The Missing Ten Thousand Taels of Gold

"How much money is there in Endless Hidden?"

"countless."

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From the establishment of the Wuhe Zang Temple in the first year of Kaihuang to the second year of Zhenguan, it is actually only a few decades, but the wealth of Wu Huai Zang, not to mention the richness of the country, is indeed a hundred times fuller than the current treasury of the Tang Dynasty controlled by Wu Huaiyu.

Datang's treasury rats have all moved, but the wealth of Wuhe Zangyuan is still expanding.

Wu Huaiyu was skeptical of Zhishi's words. After all, he had been forced to return to secular life for several years, and he was not a monk of Huadu Temple before.
"Recently, Pei Xuanzhi, the deacon of Huadu Temple in charge of Endless Zang, disappeared. Huadu Temple is investigating everywhere, but he dare not speak up." Zhishi revealed another secret.

"Oh, what else do you know?"

"It is said that Pei Xuanzhi was originally a Taoist priest in the previous dynasty, but later he converted to the third-order religion and entered the Huadu Temple for more than ten years. In the temple, he was seen to be a master of precepts and practice, and he was also good at managing money. Let him guard the endless treasure."

"And now he suddenly disappeared, and it is said that he left a poem inscribed on the wall of Endless Tibetan Courtyard."

"Send the meat to the wolf, put the bone on the dog's head, you are not an Arhat, how can you avoid stealing it?"

This poem is only at the level of doggerel, but it expresses the meaning clearly. Even a person who has practiced in the temple for more than ten years, but guards a treasury of gold, silver and jewels every day, will inevitably be tempted after a long time.

Zhishi said that Pei Xuanzhi stole a large amount of gold from Endless Treasure. Some said he stole tens of thousands of taels of gold, and some said tens of thousands of taels. Now this is still a very secret news.

Fa Ya has now ordered two thousand monks to search for Pei Xuanzhi everywhere to find the whereabouts of the gold, but they have not found anyone.

Wu Huaiyu felt that this matter might be true.

In fact, 1 taels of gold is only more than 600 catties. It is not difficult for one person to guard and steal it, and it can be carried away in a carriage.

After all, gold doesn't take up much space, and a few boxes of gold are easy to hide, so what if you want to find them?
This also shows from the side that the money-raising ability of the Third Tier Sect is really good.

Their money comes from the donations of believers. Their donations are different from other families. Others donate at will, but the development of the third-tier religion has already felt like tax collection.

The identity and wealth of fundamental believers are divided into sixteen levels, and each is donated according to the corresponding level. For example, for the poorest poor, you are asked to donate one penny and one millet a day. The accumulation in a year is 36 coins and three buckets and six liters. Su, this is not much.

Afterwards, the file was continuously raised, such as 36 cents a day, [-] cents a day, etc., from a few hundred cash a year to one or two thousand cash, and more and more later.

At the earliest time, it is said that the Endless Zang of Faith and Practice initially advocated that all living beings should practice generosity to end the karma of previous lives.

Donate a little property every day, the temple will use it as a whole, help take care of it, and deposit it in the Endless Tibetan Temple. The money will be used to build temples, provide monks, and relieve famine.

You can borrow if you need it, and you don’t need to type an IOU, and you don’t need a guarantor. The Buddha is the guarantor, and there is no interest on the loan.

Even if the donors need money in an emergency, they can go back to Wuhe Zangyuan and come back to donate later.

Even Nobuyoshi advocates asceticism and endurance as his tenet. He only eats one meal a day from begging.After death, the dead body is directly placed in the woods to be eaten by birds and animals. This is called giving with one's body.

They also oppose the samadhi of reciting Buddha, and advocate not reciting Amitabha, but only reciting Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.He also said that all Buddha statues are clay niches, and there is no need to respect them, and all sentient beings are true Buddhas.

This is the opposite of the mainstream, being excluded by all parties, but it was supported by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty and others in the early days. It can only be said that now, only a few decades later, this sutra has been recited incorrectly.

Now they will no longer just eat one meal a day from begging. Although the money they have accumulated endlessly comes from donations, they are also lending money to collect interest or even two or three times the interest. Part of it is for enjoyment.

Falla even married wives, took concubines and had children, drinking and eating meat.

In the past, it was advocated that believers give alms, and everything is voluntary. Now, since you believe in my teaching, you must give alms, and there is no reason to say that the money you donate can be taken back.

After Xinxing's death, in the 20th year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, Yang Jian had already issued an edict to ban the teaching of the third-tier sect who read crooked scriptures, but he did not ban it. When Yang Guangshi, on the contrary, it became more prosperous.

The San Tier Sect now has great influence and wealth in Chang'an. Not only are they one of the most powerful moneylenders in Chang'an, but they are also big landlords and slave owners. They have many temple purists, and they have other There are two thousand monks and soldiers that are not generally available in temples.

From the perspective of the imperial court, there are some problems with the teachings of the Three Tier Sect. Only by giving them alms can there be hope for the future. Of course, there is a big problem.

In addition, they treat giving as a tax, which is even more unacceptable.

Usury, slavery, annexation of land, etc. are nothing.

The emperor gave Wu Huaiyu an errand to review Buddhism and clean up non-abuse. Of course it was not for Huadu Temple, but now Li Shimin finally freed up his hands to rectify the temples in Chang'an and even the whole world.

Originally, in the ninth year of Wude, Li Yuan had already started to proceed and issued an edict, but Li Shimin came to a palace change, and everything was suspended. In order to gain more support and unite all forces, Li Shimin abolished Li Yuan's plan. Dao Sha eliminates Buddha and Dao Zhao.

But now Li Shimin is very poor, and he can't get rid of the poor. However, there are many temples in Chang'an, all of which are very rich. There are too many temples in the world, too many monks, nuns, and Taoists, and they occupy too much land. Big problem.

Granting Wu Huaiyu this errand is to cooperate with Wu Huaiyu, the leader of Yongzhou, and it will be more convenient for the rectification of private usury in Yongzhou, the crackdown on privately minted money, and the rectification of money savings.

After all, those big monasteries are all used for lending and saving money, and they even have a share in many private castings.

It's just unexpected that before Wu Huaiyu made a move, Ma Sanbao took him to meet Zhishi here, and revealed a ruthless character among the monks in Chang'an.

Ma Sanbao came to Pei Ji's side, and he also had contact with Fa Ya. He was more aware of the problems of Huadu Temple and the third-order religion.

"Duke Xin shouldn't happen to know where Pei Xuanzhi is hiding?" Huaiyu asked with a smile.

"Then I really don't know, but it's not difficult to find him. Falla can't find him, but someone can find him."

"Who?"

"Shi Wanbao."

Yuan Guogong Shi Wanbao, younger brother of the famous Sui general Shi Wansui, a former Chang'an hero, after Li Yuan raised troops, he joined forces with Li Shentong, and later joined forces with Li Sanniang. Now he is named Yuan Guogong. This guy is not very active now. It was he who killed Li Shimin's little brother Huaiyang King Li Daoxuan, who is the brother-in-law of the current Prime Minister Qin Qiong.

As a Chang'an hero in the early years, Shi Wanbao's reputation in the world is still there in the [-] workshops of Chang'an, which is beyond the reach of people like Chai Lun and Duan Shizi.

With Wu Huaiyu as the leader of Yongzhou, plus Chang'an hero Shi Wanbao, Pei Xuanzhi can be dug out no matter how deep he hides.

(End of this chapter)