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This was not the first time that County Magistrate Lei met the princess.

When King Nanyang was alive, he took his granddaughter to inspect various counties. County Magistrate Lei clearly remembered that the last time he met the princess was three years ago.

Three years later, the girl has grown into a little girl, with bright eyes and white teeth, unparalleled beauty, and a noble demeanor. He glanced at her lightly, and his heart skipped a beat. The originally prepared response suddenly seemed a little difficult to say.

Jiang Shaohua looked slightly cold.

A trace of anger flashed in Chen Zhuo's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Why did County Magistrate Lei not answer the princess' question? Is there some unspeakable difficulty?"

Magistrate Lei quickly came to his senses and hurriedly bowed and replied: "Princess, please calm down. I am really ashamed and don't know how to answer."

Jiang Shaohua's voice was light: "Just tell the truth."

County Magistrate Lei had no choice but to tell the truth: "Today is the first day of June. Master Pushan in Baiyun Temple teaches Buddhist scriptures for one day every first day of the month. Almost all the people in the county town have gone. I am afraid that there will be too many people in the temple and it will cause congestion." It happened, so I asked the county captain to take three squads of government officials to maintain order."

Jiang Shaohua twitched the corner of his mouth, but before he could say anything, Chen Changshi was already angry: "It's ridiculous! A Buddhist meeting in a temple requires officials from the county government to go to maintain order. This is putting the princess at the mercy of others. Where?"

Magistrate Lei had cold sweat on his forehead and immediately knelt down to plead guilty: "I am all incompetent. Please punish me, Princess!"

Behind him, the county magistrate and others also knelt down and apologized.

inability?

These two words are worth pondering.

Jiang Shaohua's eyes flashed, and there was a hint of coolness in his voice: "I understand what Magistrate Lei means. The government officials should take the initiative to go to Baiyun Temple to maintain order on the first day of every month, and it is this princess who comes. , for them, the Buddhist meeting is more important, so they still went to Baiyun Temple."

Magistrate Lei looked ashamed and gritted his teeth and replied: "Most of the government officials are locals and believe in Buddhism. They go to the Buddhist meeting on the first day of every lunar month. As a parent official in the county, I have nothing to do with them. I had to send the county lieutenant to go with them. Go and be a leader.”

"I'm all useless. Please punish me, Princess!"

Jiang Shaohua said coldly: "As a county magistrate, if you can't control the county government officials, you are really useless."

Magistrate Lei could not raise his head in shame.

Buddhism flourished in Daliang, and it was common for people to believe in Buddhism. However, the people here in Pheasant County have become obsessed with Buddhism.

On the first day of every lunar month, almost everyone, men, women, old and young, flock to Baiyun Temple. The family is too poor to open the pot and only has a handful of rice left. They would rather the whole family go hungry and send the handful of rice to Baiyun Temple.

Such crazy acts of worshiping and worshiping Buddha are commonplace in Pheasant County.

As the county magistrate, he usually only manages the county government. What he said was not as useful as a Zhike monk in Baiyun Temple.

Chen Zhuo endured his anger and whispered: "This is not the place to talk. Princess, please go to the county government to settle down first!"

Jiang Shaohua nodded briefly and rode into the city gate.

Chen Zhuo glared at the frustrated Magistrate Lei and said, "Get up quickly and enter the county office later. Whatever the princess asks, you must answer honestly. Don't hide anything."

Magistrate Lei responded submissively, and after standing up, wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

……

Although Pheasant County is poor, the county seat is not small, with a population of more than 8,000. The roads in the county are also unexpectedly wide and smooth.

After entering the county government office, Jiang Shaohua took the first seat in the lobby and asked casually: "The road to the county government office is well built."

County Magistrate Lei kept Chen Changshi's instructions in mind and did not dare to hide even a word: "Back to the princess, this road was built with money from Baiyun Temple. In addition to building roads, Baiyun Temple also often opened a porridge shed to provide porridge." , so when people mention Baiyun Temple, they are full of gratitude." Jiang Shaohua suddenly said: "Where does Baiyun Temple get the money? It is all offered by the people. If you use a little to do good deeds, you will become a great benefactor."

County Magistrate Lei sighed: "Of course I know the truth behind this. But the people are obsessed with identifying Baiyun Temple, and I can't do anything about it."

This is also true.

The people believed in Buddhism enthusiastically, but what could he, the aggrieved county magistrate, do.

Jiang Shaohua glanced at the useless Magistrate Lei and was too lazy to pay attention. He turned to Chen Zhuo and said, "Everyone has gone to settle down and rest. We will make a decision when Commander Song comes back."

Chen Zhuo accepted the order.

Everyone went to the county government house to settle down and rest.

In the evening, Commander Song finally returned from Baiyun Temple.

"Princess, I have been pretending to be a believer today. I have been in Baiyun Temple for most of the day, and I have seen how enthusiastic the people here are about believing in Buddhism." Song Yuan looked a little solemn: "There is no merit box in Baiyun Temple. It was filled up in half a day. Some poor people, looking disheveled and without money, went to Baiyun Temple with bags of rice and grain in their hands."

"The abbot of Baiyun Temple is Monk Pushan. He holds a Buddhist meeting on the first day of each month to teach Buddhist scriptures. Only those who pay more money can enter the Buddhist hall to listen. The rest can only crowd outside the Buddhist hall."

"Baiyun Temple covers an area of ​​​​100 acres, and it is full of people today. Not only people from Pheasant County are here, but many people from several nearby counties are also here, and there are also people who come from other states and counties to worship Buddha."

Jiang Shaohua did not cover up in front of Song Yuan and snorted coldly: "This Baiyun Temple makes money by promoting Buddhism and confuses the people. It is really abominable!"

The harm caused by Baiyun Temple even far exceeds that of the Li County bandits!

As the princess of Nanyang County, Jiang Shaohua couldn't tolerate it at all!

Song Yuan thought for a moment and whispered: "The general knows that the princess is unhappy. However, it is inconvenient to deal with Baiyun Temple too directly, lest the ignorant people become resentful and dissatisfied with the princess."

If public anger is aroused and the turmoil gets out of hand, the gain will be outweighed by the loss.

Jiang Shaohua let out a sullen breath: "Uncle, don't worry, I know the severity. I won't do anything wantonly! I have to find a clever and subtle way."

……

The next day, Jiang Shaohua led everyone to inspect the granary.

As expected, most of the Taiping granaries in Pheasant County are empty, with less than 30% of the grain in stock, and most of it is more than two years old.

After checking the book, Master Wen's face turned dark.

Chief Wen, who had always been smooth and never offended anyone, rarely said with a serious face: "Magistrate Lei, before the spring plowing, the royal palace issued an official document, ordering all counties to replenish the Taiping granary. All the counties inspected so far have replenished it. Only Pheasant County has done so. There is not enough granary. How do you do your job?"

The old face of County Magistrate Lei has been thrown to the ground, and he looks like he has smashed a jar: "I heard from the chief secretary that the people in Pheasant County are poor. They don't receive enough land tax every year, and there is no money in the county government. These old grains are still in my county. Ling bought it out of his own pocket. I really have no choice."

Mr. Wen was so angry that he blew his beard and stared.

Jiang Shaohua's eyes flashed with coolness.

Why can't the people pay their land tax? Because Buddha incense must be supplied daily.

After all, there is no way around Baiyun Temple!