Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 380: When doing things, you have to be high-profile

As for how the royal temples make money, the best way is to open it to everyone, but set a threshold. For example, if each person donates a certain amount of money every quarter, he or she can become a devout believer, and at a certain date in a certain month, the points will be cleared and they can start all over again.

At this time, someone asked, it’s so blatant, why would anyone rush up to give money?

It's obvious that the person asking this question has never experienced officialdom or wealth.

Are those who come here to burn incense and worship Buddha really seeking Buddha's blessing? It is no exaggeration to say that Greater China should be the first region in the world to have materialistic thinking, because what did Confucius say? Confucius did not talk about strange things, not because he did not believe in them, but because he respected ghosts and gods and kept them at a distance.

Everyone studied Confucius' books, how could they be easily fooled by this? Those who can be officials are all first-class smart people. Even if they are not smart now, they were smart in the past. Even if they are not smart, their families are smart.

Arranging the grandmother-in-law and the sister-in-law to believe in Buddhism here is not for belief, but for friendship. The boundary between belief and friendship is sometimes very vague, belief is friendship, and friendship is belief.

The people who gather here are more interested in the social attributes of this place. Just like many men will play girl games, there are probably few people who really like them, right? Aren’t they just interested in the girls in the girl games?

It is the same here, the royal temple, the royal temple, few people seek the temple, but many seek the royal family. If you find it difficult to contact someone, let your aunts and other female relatives contact you. If you find it difficult to say something, let your aunts and uncles say it. If you cannot reach someone, let your mother and grandmother reach him.

So what kind of money did this royal temple make? It was money from favors.

And now, the officials who had been registered here before have come here to ask Xia Lin to take their people back. Xia Lin did not make things difficult for them. The only procedure for taking people back was to sign a name and register a number. Some senior officials had to show up in person, as Xia Lin said that this matter involved a lot of people and he had to come in person to pick them up.

What's more, even Gao Shilian and Zeng Ming came to pick up the people. Gao Shilian's eldest daughter and Zeng Ming's wife were among the family members.

Theoretically, there would be a commotion at this time, but no one made a commotion at this moment. Everyone signed quietly, took their people away, and went back to their families to teach them. This is because those who can still stand firm after several rounds of major changes in the capital are the smartest of the smart. Anyone who uses their brains will know the secret.

"You old thing, you've been bullied to the point of being bullied, but you still keep silent about it. Didn't you say that he was your most proud student? You old thing, are you bragging again?"

Although Zeng Ming is so arrogant and proud in public, he is famous for being afraid of his wife at home. Even Emperor Hongbao always makes fun of him about this.

But this time, he just raised his hand with a sullen face and slapped his wife: "Shut your mouth."

"You hit me! How dare you hit me! Even when my father was alive, he couldn't bear to hit me..."

"Shut up!"

After all, he was the prime minister, and when Zeng Ming got angry, there was still a sense of majesty in him, and he actually scared the tigress in his family.

At this moment, the maid came forward and handed over tea: "Master, have some tea."

Zeng Ming waved his hand and told her to leave. Then he sat there and said coldly, "Do you know who went there today?"

"Isn't he just an official?"

"Those are all eunuchs from the inner court, now the Inspection Office." Zeng Ming narrowed his eyes: "Inspection Office, killing you is just a matter of notifying. Is this his job? This is the Royal Family's job. You women dare to block the Royal Family's way, huh..."

Upon hearing this, the old woman from Zeng Ming's family turned pale. Although she had a hot temper, she was born into a family of officials and knew how serious the matter was. Her originally aggressive attitude suddenly subsided.

"He is making such a big noise to inform all the civil and military officials."

"Husband..." The old woman became gentle now: "Then...then our family won't be implicated, right?"

Zeng Ming waved his hand: "Of course not."

"But didn't you say that he was impartial and would never bend the law for personal gain? Isn't he bending the law for personal gain?"

"Women should not talk about such things. Is this something you can understand?"

The old woman was still curious: "Then tell me about it, sir."

At this moment, she began to call Zeng Ming "husband". This was not the meaning of husband that evolved later. At this moment, "husband" was still "husband", a classic honorific. Normally, she would call him "dead old man" very easily. "The law is indeed unreasonable, but beyond the law, we still need to think and measure. If he doesn't do this, only one out of ten officials in the court will survive. If the court is empty, how can the country function? He will be responsible for all the chaos that will happen. Even His Highness and His Majesty can't afford it, so how can he take responsibility? But he can't knock on every door and say, 'I'm going to punish you, please be more restrained recently'. That would be a ginseng book, and it would also be a case of bending the law for personal gain. Now, this is both enforcing the law impartially and informing in advance, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone."

"I see. It seems he is really your favorite student."

Zeng Ming blushed at this. Xia Lin had a connection with him, and saying that he was his favorite student was just bragging. After all, Zeng Ming still didn't have a proper successor. He only had a daughter in her forties at home, and most of his disciples were pedantic and inflexible like An Muxi. He was almost going crazy wanting a disciple who could inherit his legacy, so he spread the rumor that Xia Lin had a book connection with him.

But from now on, Zeng Ming really wants to pass on his legacy to him. This kid is really capable of doing things. Even an old fox with decades of experience may not be able to do it as well as he does.

As expected, just as Zeng Ming had expected, all the officials kept their mouths shut tacitly after taking the people back. Xia Lin has been slowly digging deep into the ground these days to find out the crimes of Baoen Temple, and he is not in a hurry.

This gave them ample time, and these people began to cut off their ties with temples in various places, from nobles like Gao Shilian to some less famous petty officials.

But there are always those who don't believe in evil and are indignant about this matter. They even try to report Xia Lin's behavior in the main hall, saying that it is insulting Buddha and disturbing the peace of Buddhism.

It’s just that this time this group of people had few helpers. Most of them, even the censors who usually talked the most, were shrinking their necks and not saying a word.

After all, everyone knows what's the point of having Xia Lin as the censor. Just look at where the people he leads come from. If he still can't figure it out, then what's the point of being an official? He might as well go home and farm.

The evidence of Bao'en Temple's crimes filled up to thirty-two pages, and every page was filled with tearful accusations, ranging from privately minting coins to trafficking in women and children, to secretly brewing wine to privately slaughtering oxen.

The investigation lasted for about fourteen or fifteen days, or about half a month, and six officials of all ranks were implicated. These six people were the six powerful figures who refused to believe in evil and insisted on going against Xia Lin.

The Crown Prince was "furious" upon hearing the news, and ordered Zeng Ming to assist the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice to convict and punish these people overnight. This was all about cutting the Gordian knot.

The decree was issued that afternoon, and the six people were arrested the next morning. Two of them were exiled to Leizhou and refused to be pardoned. Three were demoted to Lingnan to serve as county magistrates. One was a royal relative, so he was directly sentenced to the Zongzheng Temple for punishment. Anyway, how fiercely they scolded Xia Lin in the court, how miserable they cried in the prison car now.

And something even more exaggerated is about to happen, because on the first day of the new moon morning court session, Xia Lin is going to attend court for the first time.

He didn't even have a suitable official uniform. It was Zeng Ming who delivered a set of official uniform of the Central Censorate to his residence the night before so that he would not be laughed at the next day.

Xia Lin, accompanied by a group of eunuchs, carried thirty-seven large boxes covered in mud and entered the Golden Palace in a very arrogant manner.

"I was ordered to search the Bao'en Temple and found 37 boxes of gold, silver, and land deeds, countless cultural relics and treasures, and thousands of body-selling contracts. I have found that these body-selling contracts are all evidence of the Bao'en Temple forcing women into prostitution."

After he finished speaking, those heavy wooden boxes were placed on the ground with a thud. The thirty-seven dull thuds seemed to hit the hearts of all the officials present directly.

You know, if Xia Lin hadn't used that method to spread the news that day, there would be ten more boxes today, filled with the heads of the nobles...

The prince walked down and carefully looked at the contents of each box. He was immediately furious and returned to the throne with a flick of his sleeves.

"Well, well, well, they have deceived their superiors and subordinates, relying on the reputation of Your Majesty to do these unforgivable things. I want to see what other filth and dirt these bald donkeys have hidden!" The prince's face flushed and he shouted, "Xia Lin, listen to my order! I order you to thoroughly investigate all the temples and ancestral halls in the world from today on, and restore peace and prosperity to the people and the Great Wei."

Xia Lin immediately knelt down on one knee: "Yes, sir."

From this moment on, the massive Hongbao's destruction of Buddhism officially kicked off. All the civil and military officials in the court were terrified and dared not speak out, and all the bald monks in the world were to suffer.

"Monks don't pay taxes, they don't work but they enjoy large tracts of land, they sit on the people of Wei and squeeze their bones and marrow. Father's kindness allows these bald donkeys to do whatever they want. Today, even if I have to bear the stigma of being unfilial, I will get this done."

The prince was filled with righteous indignation at this moment, but he was actually very guilty, because he was just one of the people who were exploiting the people of Wei. Of course... who among you here is not one of them?

Oh, Xia Lin is not. This birdman is really powerful, his body is as strong as iron, and his political enemies can't find any good reasons to attack him. They can only find some lame and laughable things like he eats buns without paying for them to compete with the people for profit.

However, everyone knew that this destruction of Buddhism was the last time that Emperor Hongbao would pave the way for the Crown Prince. Not only did he want to retrieve the property that had been deposited with the monks over the years, but he also wanted the Crown Prince to win the hearts of the people.

As for the monks... Buddha cut off his flesh to feed eagles and gave up his body to feed tigers, so what's wrong with them sacrificing themselves now? Wouldn't it be better to become a Buddha by cutting off some flesh? This is to save the little bald donkey, they should say thank you.

(End of this chapter)