A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 459 Xiangji Temple

At the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, Tianziyukou.

Next to the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree in Xiling, the White Pagoda still stands tall.

Tianziyu is also known as Zigu. It is said that Li Shimin commanded troops to pass through this valley in the early years, so it is called Tianziyu today.

"Have you heard the government's notice, as long as you register for naturalization within ten days after being listed, one person will be granted one hundred acres of land, and middle-aged men will also have forty acres."

In the Zhuangzi under the valley, a group of farmers with kudzu clothes covered in patches gathered together.

The person who spoke had a vicissitudes of life, his beard and hair were disheveled, and his tattered clothes were only tied with a straw rope. His emaciated face was full of excitement at this moment.

He has a large family, his parents are in their 50s, and he has three brothers who all married wives and had children. Although the famine and war took many relatives from this big family, there are still seven adults and five middle-aged men.

If what the official notice said was true, then when they registered for naturalization, they would be granted [-] mu of land for men, and [-] mu or [-] mu of land for middle-aged men.

Even if Yongye only has 240 mu, and the remaining 660 mu is a sub-field, this is enough to make him uncontrollably excited.

This is Chang'an.

These people are all part of Baita Temple, working in the manor of Baita Temple. Although Part [-] can have their own property, they are attached to the temple, and they don't even have household registration, let alone their own fields. How can there be any surplus money by working for Baita Temple to earn some rations.

But having said that, thanks to being attached to the Baita Temple, his family has escaped time and time again military service, hard labor, miscellaneous corvee, etc., and they don't have to pay rent.

At least barely survived under the White Pagoda Temple, otherwise, their family would not have twenty or so people.

He is also grateful to Baita Temple, so before the deacon monks in the temple came to them, talked to them a lot, made a lot of confessions, and they went to the government with mulberry forks, hoes, and shackles to ask for it. It is said that we must complain about the Baita Temple.

But now an announcement made him shake.

That's nine hundred acres of land.

"Registration of naturalization is limited within one month, and it is only limited to us three-tiered temples, trilogy and tenants under other courtyards. Others do not have this opportunity. One person who registers in the first ten days can be divided into one hundred acres. Ding only has [-] mu, middle-aged men will not be awarded, and if they register in the next ten days, then only [-] mu will be awarded to Ding men, and those who have not registered by the expiration date will no longer be granted land."

The other farmers also spoke excitedly.

Like Wang Ruyi, there are not many large families with 23 members. Usually, there are five or six members in a family. But even if the family has only one member and one middle school, or a family of two members, if you register in time, you can still grant land of one or two hundred Mu.

Now they face the loess and their backs to the sky, working hard all day long, and resting at sunrise and sunset, but throughout the year, the monasteries basically take away what they get from the fields, leaving them very little.

There are several types of these farmers, and some have been in the temple for a long time, even for several generations, so they are more trusted, and they are directly assigned a piece of land to them, and the harvest is shared.Some families have some property, so they can keep more of it.

Those who have no property of their own use temples for cattle, farm tools, seeds, etc. Most of the harvest is given to the temple, and very little can be kept by themselves.

Some are also bachelors, so they are directly equivalent to hiring long-term workers.

These people basically have no household registration and are attached to the temple, so in addition to paying a lot of money for farming, they also have to do a lot of free labor for the temple every year.

Originally, everyone was used to it, and it might even be better to be attached to the temple than to directly become a registered household of the imperial court.

But now there are fields to divide, which makes them waver.

"I'm afraid that the government will lie to us. Didn't the deacon monk tell us not to trust the government?"

"But now that the land in Baita Temple has been confiscated by the government, how can there be a fake? We are not naturalized. If the land is sold to someone else, what will the new landlord do if he doesn't give us the land? What about increasing the rent? manage?"

A group of people talked a lot, involving their own interests, and everyone forgot about the Baita Temple.

"Why don't we go to the yamen to ask, if it is possible to divide the land, we can't miss it."

Wang Ruyi is the most tempted. There are 23 members of his family, seven small men and five middle-aged men. Now they can register to get [-] mu of land.

Turning around and being a landlord, this is something that I would never dare to dream of.

Now everyone decided to go to the Wannian County Government in Chang'an City.

Tianzi Valley is very short, and there are not many rivers and valleys in the mouth of the valley. There are many temples on the East and West Mountains on both sides of the valley.

The towering white pagoda actually houses the relics of the third-rank leader Nobuyoshi.

Coming out of Yukou is the Guanzhong Plain. Most of the fields here belong to Zhixiang Temple, and most farmers are not registered with the imperial court, but attached to the temple.

Ge water, one of the eight waters in Chang'an, originates from Shibian Valley in the east.

After converging with the Juhe River near Duqu, it forms the Jiaohe River to the west, and enters the Fenghe River in the west of Chang'an.

After all, a group of villagers, lured by the land, decided to go to Chang'an City. The village must not reassure them. Everyone got up before dawn, packed a few grain pancakes, met at the head of the village, and then went down the river.

As soon as they arrived near Duqu, they were stopped.

There are many soldiers here, and many craftsmen.

"What is this doing?"

"The imperial court ordered the construction of Xiangji Temple."

An official in crimson clothes received them and answered their doubts.

"Ji Xiang Wugong wrote to His Majesty that the remains of the fallen soldiers should be collected at the site of the Great Battlefield, and an altar should be built to invite eminent monks to perform the deeds, and temples and pagodas should also be erected to commemorate it.

This is Xiangji Temple, one of the new seven temples. "

"The emperor issued an edict to go to Hedong Xuanzhong Temple and invite Master Daochuo, a Zen master of the Pure Land Sect, to preside over the ritual and become the first abbot of Xiangji Temple. From now on, Xiangji Temple will be the ancestral home of the Pure Land Sect."

The villagers are all tenants of Zhixiang Temple, the ancestral home of the third-tier sect, and they know more about the Buddhist sect than ordinary people. It is a very formal sect.

Although this sect of monks claims to have originated from Huiyuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it has not officially established a sect until now.

"This place is good. The Ziwu Valley is in the north, on the west bank of Shenheyuan, on the south is the Fu River, on the west is the Fushui River, and on the north is the beautiful Fanchuan River. The Fu River and the Fu River converge in the southwest. It is said that this temple The site was chosen by Mr. Wu himself, and even the name of the temple came from the hand of Mr. Wu, which comes from the Buddhist scripture Vimalakirti Sutra: Tianzhu has a land of many fragrances, and the Buddha's name is Xiangji."

"By the way, you are tenants of Zhixiang Temple, what are you going to do in the Wannian County Government?" Jiangyi asked.

So everyone hurriedly said that they had heard of the imperial court's announcement, so they wanted to ask about granting land.

"Oh, for this matter, you should not go to the Wannian County Government Office, you should go to the Guanneidao Zhidu Government Office. It just so happens that they have staff in Duqu Town who are in charge of measuring land, naturalizing and granting land. Just go and find them there."

Wang Ruyi and everyone hurriedly thanked them, and then went to Duqu Town not far away. Everyone looked back at the busy construction site while walking.

"The Pure Land Sect is about to formally establish a sect. The emperor ordered to build a dojo. What a huge crowd."

"Xiangji Temple, the name sounds nice."

"Is that Zen Master Xihe that powerful?"

"I've heard about this Zen master Xihe. It is said that he is nearly seventy years old. He inherited the Xuanzhong Temple of Tanluan, an eminent monk in the Northern Qi Dynasty, and also inherited his commentaries on the theory of death. He spread the Dharma everywhere and became famous.
He always advised people to call the name of Buddha, say a word of Amitabha, put a grain of hemp bean, the common people recite the name of Buddha, and accumulate beans to give. "

"I have also heard about him. It is said that he is 70 years old this year. A large gathering of monks and lay people gathered in Xuanzhong Temple, saying that he is going to pass away. But when he is 70 years old, his teeth will be regenerated, his face will be radiant, and his body will be stronger. The Dharma of the Buddhist scriptures is even more profound, and [-] Buddhist scriptures are recited every day."

"It is probably because of this that the Holy Son of Heaven specially invited him to come to Chang'an, let him establish a sect here and preside over the Xiangji Temple?"

At the age of 70, a mouthful of new teeth grew again, which is simply a miracle, and it seems to be rejuvenated. Wu Huaiyu would only think that the real Zen Master Xihe died, and a young disciple pretended to be.

Of course, this does not affect the people's belief, and Wu Huaiyu recommended to Li Shimin that inviting this famous monk from Shanxi to Chang'an is to introduce a catfish that disrupted the situation, and invite this master to come to Chang'an to be the abbot of the newly built Xiangji Temple to support him. The White Lotus School officially opened the Pure Land School.

Using barbarians to control barbarians, monks to monks, and turning conflicts into sectarian disputes among monks, this will put the court in a more detached position.

Of course Wang Ruyi didn't know these mysteries, but they just felt that since the prime minister and the emperor respected Master Xihe Daochuo so much, he must be a real eminent monk.

They rushed to Duqu, which is the base camp of the Jingzhao Du family, and Weiqu, the base camp of Jingzhao Wei's, is also nearby.

Wang Ruyi and the others were very lucky. Not only did they meet the office staff of Zhidu Envoy here, but they also happened to meet Dou Lu Huairang, Zhidu Envoy of Guannei Road, and Ji Xiang Wu Huaiyu, who came to patrol below.

After hearing their intentions, let them come forward directly.

"This is the prime minister of the current dynasty, Yi Guogong and Wu Xianggong. This is Guannei Dao Zhidu envoy, Princess Wanchun's son-in-law, Duke Doulu of Nanchen County. If you have any doubts, you can ask them in public."

When everyone heard that these two young men in purple robes had such a noble status, they trembled a little for a moment. People are always afraid of officials, especially such high-ranking officials.

In the end, it was Wang Ruyi who was thinking about the [-] mu of land, and went forward to bow down and ask about granting the land.

"Are you the tenants of Zhixiang Temple?"

"Yes."

"You are attached to Zhixiang Temple, and you don't have a household registration yet?"

"Yes."

"Are you willing to register for naturalization?"

"willing."

"Well, if you meet the conditions, you can register now. We guarantee that within ten days, you will have your household registration registered and the land will be assigned to each household."

"May I ask Mr. Wu, there are 23 people in my family, seven males and five middle-aged males, can we really get 240 mu of Yongye and 660 mu of land?"

"No." Wu Huaiyu shook his head.

Wang Ruyi was stunned.

Wu Huaiyu said, "You may not have heard the complete announcement clearly. If you are willing to move to Kuan Township in the border areas, such as Lingnan, Shuofang, Longyou and other places, it is true that there are one hundred acres, and the middle man also has forty acres. But if you stay In Chang'an, we can continue to cultivate the original fields, because the Guanzhong area is small and there are many people, we cannot allocate so many fields."

"How much can you get?" Wang Ruyi asked quickly.

"A maximum of [-] mu can be granted for one dynasties, but each household can be granted a maximum of [-] mu. If there are more than [-] acres in the family, each dynasty will first be awarded [-] acres of Yongye, and the remaining [-] acres will be supplemented by oral distribution."

A family can only grant a hundred acres at most?
Wang Ruyi was suddenly disappointed. Although one hundred mu of land was not a lot, after all, he thought it was nine hundred mu before.

At this time, Wu Huaiyu asked about the specific situation of his family. After hearing that his family has four generations under the same roof, Wu Huaiyu gave a suggestion, "In this case, you can register separately. For example, your three brothers, Three households can be established, so that each household can be awarded a maximum of [-] mu of land, and the total can be awarded [-] mu of land."

Seventy-five middle schools, three households are about two small and two high schools for one household. In this way, one household can get [-] mu of Yongye land, and another [-] mu of sub-field. There is no need to return it to the government.

Nine hundred acres became three hundred acres.

Wang Ruyi immediately felt the joy of regaining what was lost, and immediately thanked her.

"If you want, go over there to register for naturalization, and wait for the distribution of land."

"Yes, Cao Min is willing, Mr. Xie Wu."

Others are also very excited. Although most of them have only five or six people in a family, or even a family of one middle school, at least they have a hundred acres of land. When it comes to the real number of [-] mu, after the establishment of households, it will still be better than the current kind of affiliated temples as tenants.

Seeing the grateful villagers, Wu Huaiyu smiled slightly, and Dou Lu Huai let him say, "Erlang guessed right, as long as the land is allocated to them, the temple will no longer be able to drive them."

The limit of [-] mu of land granted to a household was actually added later, because many officials in the court felt that if it is true that one town is given one hundred mu, and one town is given another forty mu, then the family of seven or eight or ten people will If it's three or five cents, wouldn't they be given hundreds of acres of land all at once?
That's too much.

In the end, the emperor asked about it, so Wu Huaiyu had no choice but to add this one.

Although this is a bit untrue, the imperial court has the final right to interpret, and the people are like Wang Ruyi and the others. Although there are nine hundred changes and three hundred changes, they are still happy in the end.

They are actually very easy to please.

Although a clause was added in the final explanation that those who are willing to go to the borderlands and wide townships can be awarded at a rate of [-] mu per Ding and [-] Mu per Zhong, but unless it is absolutely necessary, there are a few who are willing to go from the wealthy Guanzhong Jingji , Leaving home to go to Lingnan or Shuofang, what is the difference between that and exile.

A large amount of land was allocated to the third-tier sect tenants, and all the land that was cut out was sold to the nobles.

The list drawn up by Wu Huaiyu and the others has also been completed. The seats are ranked according to the emperor's will. The royal family is the first, the descendants are next, then the first-rank officials, the prime ministers, and then the real meritorious officials, then the second-rank civil and military officials, and then the third-rank.

Those who are eligible to be on the list this time must at least be knighted, and then at least be a Beijing official with a fifth-rank minister.

Wu Huaiyu belonged to the prime minister's class, and he himself was granted the title of Duke of Seven Hundred Households. He also passed the rank of second rank and took Zhu Guoxun with him.

Among the eight prime ministers, he was ranked third, only after Fang Xuanling and Qin Qiong, who were both prime ministers, and their true seals were higher than Huaiyu's. Yu, even like Wei Zheng, was only a Marquis of Julu, without a real title, and his scattered officials, duties, and grades were not as good as Huaiyu.

The ranking is high, and the subscription amount is also high. Wu Huaiyu owns ten hectares.

"The land next to Xiangji Temple is good, why not give Erlang a thousand mu here?" Dou Lu Huairang said with a smile. Naturally, this convenience should be given.

Huaiyu also likes the location of Xiangji Temple, the location is good, the scenery is good, especially the surrounding water is abundant.

"Okay." He responded bluntly.

(End of this chapter)