The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 431: Past Events at Hanshan Temple

Li Shimin noticed that Zhangsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling were both proud, so he said unhappily: "Look, this kid wants to make the army no longer like the army, and he wants to make a mess of the government and the country."

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "You worry too much."

Lord Li Wei also smiled but said nothing.

The three people in front of him were still looking at the decrees one by one. Li Shimin waved his sleeves and stood up, and then said, "There are thirty-five decrees for a period of five years. There are three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and twenty-four military offices. Can they handle it?"

Fang Xuanling said: "It's probably possible to handle it. It depends on how the court arranges it. These things should not be difficult for Cen Wenben."

Li Shimin snorted coldly: "Cen Wenben is already old, why doesn't he retire?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "Princess Dongyang is watching."

The retired emperor left in a hurry, with his hands behind his back, not knowing where to go, so he could only walk back and forth here.

Fang Xuanling held up a decree and asked Changsun Wuji, "Are there still not enough houses in Guanzhong and Luoyang?"

Changsun Wuji said: "Six years ago, the 108 wards of Chang'an City were all completed. Fortunately, it was a period of relief, but it was probably not enough. There were too many people in Chang'an City, so the counties in Guanzhong had to share the pressure. That's why the 72 counties in Guanzhong were divided into four prefectures, without city walls, and built houses on a large scale."

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and said, "Well, in this case, will the labor force in each county be sufficient?"

"We can recruit craftsmen from all over the Central Plains. It's not a difficult task."

"It would help ease the situation, and people wouldn't be crowded in Chang'an City."

The emperor's decree left Chang'an City and was sent to various places in the Central Plains. Teams of officers and soldiers rode on fast horses, heading in the east and west directions.

Suzhou, located in the southeast of the Central Plains, was originally Wu County during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, and later became known as Eastern Wu.

Since the changes of dynasties, in the early Sui Dynasty, during the Kaihuang period, Yang Jian appointed Yang Su to lead the army to destroy Chen and abolish Wu County. Because there was Gusu Mountain to the west of this place, it was renamed Suzhou.

At Hanshan Temple in the west of Gusu City, a monk in white came here and walked into the temple gate step by step.

When some people saw that it was a monk in white, they came forward to ask. When they learned that it was Xuanzang, they began to talk about it.

Xuanzang's white robe had many stains on it; he had been wearing this monk's robe for many years.

An old monk came to greet him. He first chanted the Buddha's name devoutly, and then said, "I heard that Xuanzang came to Suzhou, but I didn't expect that he had arrived here."

Xuanzang looked at the temple and saw that there were many guests walking around.

"I wanted to go to Lingyin Temple. I passed by Suzhou all the way from Hebei, so I came here to see this place."

The old monk took Xuanzang into the temple and asked, "Are the scriptures safe now?"

"Everything is fine under the care of His Majesty."

The old monk nodded again.

"The roads in the Central Plains are indeed easier to travel than those in the Western Regions. I encountered no robbers or thieves along the way."

"The court has cleared Jiangnan, so there are naturally no bandits."

The person who was speaking was a middle-aged man, and next to him was a woman holding a child.

Xuanzang bowed with a smile.

"I have long heard that you, Xuanzang, went to India alone. I am Yang Deyi."

A middle-aged man on the other side also introduced himself: "I am Wang Fuzhi, who just returned from Jiaozhi last year."

Looking at the two people in front of him, Xuanzang's gaze fell on the two children behind them.

Yang Deyi smiled and said, "These two boys are the same age. The fat one is this old man's nephew Yang Jiong."

Wang Fuzhi said, "This is my son Wang Bo."

Xuanzang observed the two children, who looked about one or two years old, and studied them for a moment before praising them: "They are indeed two young men with quite a bit of spirituality in their eyes."

Wang Fuzhi smiled and said, "This child is born smart. Although he is only two years old, he learns everything very quickly. I plan to take him to Chang'an to study. I wonder if Master Xuanzang can give the child some advice."

The place people most want to go nowadays is Chang'an. Xuanzang has met many people along the way. Some want to visit Chang'an, some want to go to Chang'an to learn from a master, and some people's life ambition is to go to Chang'an.

Places full of stories are always visited by many people, and Chang'an has so many stories.

Xuanzang said, "It's a long way to Chang'an."

Wang Fuzhi said, "Brother Yang and I will be traveling together. Our two families will go together. We are both officials in the court."

Seeing the curious look from the boy named Wang Bo, Xuanzang asked, "I heard that there were many monks in Hanshan Temple in the past. Why is it so deserted now?"

Yang Deyi explained: "That's because the government has been investigating hidden households and ordered many monks to return home. Now there are only 30 monks in Hanshan Temple."

As they were talking, the two men brought Xuanzang to the back mountain of Hanshan Temple.

Here Xuanzang saw the bloodstains on the ground and listened to the two people's stories. He then realized that the court had been investigating hidden households and was redistributing the annexed land, but had been resisted.

After several attempts of persuasion failed, the court killed those who resisted.

Xuanzang listened to another long story, which happened in the winter of the second year of Qianqing’s reign. An imperial censor named Shangguan Yi passed by Hanshan Temple.

He was here to inquire about the acreage of the land. Why did Shangguan Yi, who was clearly going to Wuyi Lane, suddenly come here?

Some people say that Shangguan Yi's father died in Jiangdu, Yang Guang also suffered there, Yu Wenzhi launched a mutiny there, and many people died that year.

Once upon a time, a young monk came to Hanshan Temple. This young monk was very studious and asked questions diligently.

I learned from some elderly monks that over the past ten years, this young monk had traveled to various temples. He borrowed books from guests who came to the temples, and most of those guests were officials and nobles.

Afterwards, the young monk changed his monk robes, grew his hair long, went to Chang'an, and never returned.

When the young monk came to Yangzhou again, went to Jiangdu, and then came to Suzhou, he had changed his appearance.

At that time, the young monk became the Imperial Censor Guan Yi and an important official in the court.

It was Shangguan Yi who ordered the beheading of the criminals behind Hanshan Temple because of the land inventory.

Later, I heard that Shangguan Yi went to Wuyi Lane, killed many people and captured many people.

In the past, Wang and Xie and their ilk from Wuyi Lane lent books to Shangguan Yi, but now Shangguan Yi has wielded the butcher knife against them.

Their good deeds became a knife many years later.

Xuanzang shook his head and said, "If they were evil in the first place, they would suffer the consequences sooner or later. It's not that Shangguan Yi is ungrateful, he is just following orders. It is the duty of the censor to eliminate evil."

Wang Fuzhi said: "The censors nowadays are so powerful. Some of them can read the other person's expression and judge whether he is lying. Some of them can investigate the case carefully. Some of them can even fight ten people at once."

Yang Deyi sighed: "It's just that this incident happened to Shangguan Yi, which makes people sigh."

In Hanshan Temple, Xuanzang heard a little-known story. He didn't know how he felt after Shangguan Yi killed those people... It is always difficult to distinguish between kindness and good and evil.

Here, Xuanzang heard another story, which happened in the distant past. When you first hear this story, you will always feel sad. When you hear this story, you will feel that the world is unfair. If you think about it carefully, you will feel that there are so many people like this in this world. In the following days, Xuanzang went to see Hanshanzi's tombstone, and saw that Wang Bo and Yang Jiong were quite talented, so he taught the two children here.

In April, Xuanzang was about to set off for Lingyin Temple again. He bid farewell to Wang Bo and Yang Jiong on Fengqiao.

When Xuanzang left Suzhou and passed through Yangzhou, he heard another news: the Minister of Justice Liu Dewei had passed away.

Many farmers in Yangzhou went to see Liu Dewei off.

Xuanzang stood on the side of the road, and the crowd was all wearing mourning clothes.

Liu Dewei's governance in Yangzhou ended. When he came to Yangzhou, he had no intention of returning. After Yangzhou was pacified, he finally passed away.

Xuanzang bowed to the crowd and chanted the Buddha's name in a low voice.

When he arrived in Jiangdu, Xuanzang met a team of imperial censors.

"Teacher, a monk has arrived." a young man said hurriedly.

Xuanzang walked forward with a gentle smile and said, "I am Xuanzang."

The man standing next to the young man turned around and said, "The Inspector General of Jiangnan, Li Yifu."

Xuanzang understood and said, "So the person in front of me is the famous imperial censor in Jiangnan."

Luo Binwang, who was standing next to Li Yifu, asked, "Do you know His Royal Highness the King of Wu, who is famous in Shandong?"

"heard."

Li Yifu said: "Don't lose your manners."

Upon hearing this, Luo Binwang bowed slightly.

Xuanzang walked forward and saw a tombstone nearby. On this tombstone were the words Liang Zhu. "This story is very touching."

Li Yifu said: "Some people only know that this story is sad, but they don't know how cruel it is behind it."

Xuanzang said: "The censor is also cruel."

"If the censors are not cruel, people's hearts will change."

Xuanzang asked, "Where were Liang Zhu buried?"

Li Yifu shook his head and said, "No one knows where Liang Zhu is. Shangguan Yi and I searched all over Jiangnan but couldn't find them. Later, when Shangguan Yi was in Jiangdu to pay tribute to his father, he erected a monument here."

"Is it because of the Jiangdu Incident that year?"

Li Yifu explained as he walked along: "Shangguan Yi was still young when the Jiangdu Incident occurred. At that time, he went into hiding to avoid being hunted down by Yu Wenzhi. He has only said a few words about these things, and I don't know much about his past."

Xuanzang said, "I have heard of it."

"It seems that the master is very knowledgeable, but I am just a humble official with limited knowledge."

"In fact, not many people know about the past. They are just rumors. Everyone back then has passed away." Xuanzang walked to the riverside and looked at a busy river bank. He asked, "Is that where Yu Wenzhi killed people back then?"

Li Yifu shook his head and said, "No."

Luo Bin Wang asked: "Why are you asking these questions?"

Xuanzang said, "Your Majesty and I have an agreement. Your Majesty will help me preserve those scriptures so that I can see more of this world."

"No wonder you are so knowledgeable." Luo Binwang asked again: "Have you been to Chang'an?"

"I returned to Chang'an from Tianzhu, and then left Chang'an and came here again."

Luo Binwang calculated the time and said, "You are walking really slowly. It would take at most ten days to go from Luoyang to Yangzhou by following the river."

Xuanzang said: "I came here on foot."

Luo Binwang asked in surprise, "Walking step by step?"

"Exactly."

As they were talking, someone came riding a fast horse, dismounted and said, "The Imperial Censorate's decree!"

Li Yifu took the document, looked at the contents, and said, "Please report back to Your Majesty. I will make arrangements."

Xuanzang didn't want to know what the court's policies were.

Luo Binwang was a curious child. He looked at the decree and read it out immediately. It turned out that the court wanted to build a Censorate in Yangzhou and let Li Yifu be in charge of it. After that, he would be replaced every two years to inspect the salt fields in various places.

This child read out the decree, and there was no way he would not know it.

Xuanzang looked up again and saw five riders on fast horses passing by on the official road, raising a large cloud of dust. They were delivering the emperor's decrees to all provinces and cities in the world.

The imperial decree was not only sent to Yangzhou, but also to the north of the Central Plains, where Lu Zhaolin, who had just returned to Youzhou to prepare for his wedding, also received the imperial decree.

After receiving the imperial edict, Lu Zhaolin had to ask his family to postpone the marriage because he had to go to Liaodong to teach the soldiers of the Wei Mansion.

Lu Zhaolin's family was the northern ancestor of the Fanyang Lu family. After the Fanyang case and the death of Lu Yuan's family, the Fanyang Lu family was no longer as strong as before. There were eight brothers of the same generation as Lu Zhaolin, one of whom served in the court, and two resigned.

Less than a day after Lu Zhaolin returned home, he had to bid farewell to his family again and go to Liaodong County to work with Li Simo, who was guarding Liaodong.

In the Tibetan territory west of the Central Plains, Ru Laijie also received the emperor's decree, and with him came thousands of teachers.

Fortunately, not all of these people came to Tubo to teach. Three hundred of them were going to India.

Ru Laijie was at the bank of the Zangbo River, watching teams of teachers building the Chongwen Hall. They actually wanted to build the Chongwen Hall on the bank of the Zangbo River.

Sambuza sat on the grass and said slowly, "In the words of the Central Plains people, you are a conspirator."

Although Ru Laijie is old, his eyes are still sharp.

Sambuza added: "Zanpu and Tian Khan have seen through your plot. Now Zanpu has not come to retaliate against you, and Tian Khan has not come to punish you. Zanpu and Tian Khan are both wise men. Your tricks are useless."

"Zanpu asked Tian Khan to build a Protectorate in Tubo. In the future, there will be more and more Tang troops in Tubo. People from the Central Plains will have to pay a huge price to come to the heartland of Tubo. Why are they not afraid of the dangers?"

The scroll contained the imperial decree. Sambuza stood up and explained, "You are very afraid of the Tang people."

Ru Laijie's breathing was heavy.

Sambuza continued, "The Tang people came to Tubo despite the dangers and hardships. They kept sending people to overcome the severe cold in Tubo. You have also seen Wang Xuance's wisdom in fighting in India. It was all because of your fear. You were not afraid of the extreme cold on the snowy mountains, nor were you afraid of facing a wolf pack alone, but you were only afraid of the Tang people."

Both of them were ministers of Tubo, and both supported the friendship between Tang and Tubo, but their ideas were different.

Sambuza felt that the Tang people wanted to change Tubo and were no longer struggling to go with the flow.

For Ru Laijie, he supported the friendship between Tang and Tibet and hoped that the Tang people could continue to build Tibet. But at the same time, he hoped that Tibet could control its own destiny and did not want to be manipulated by the Tang people.

(End of this chapter)