A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 779, Chapter Forty-Two Sutra

"Does Minister Li intend to come to my temple to study the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra?"

"Yes, Minister Li was ordered to inspect local customs and observe the provinces. He said that since he came to Luoyang, he must visit the White Horse Temple. When he comes to the White Horse Temple, he will naturally also read the first Buddhist scripture in the Han region."

Outside the east gate of Luoyang city, in the White Horse Temple, known as the ancestral temple of Buddhism, the chant master in charge of miscellaneous affairs listened to the words of this subordinate of Minister Li and felt uneasy.

Although the White Horse Temple is located outside Luoyang city...
However, news of Li Situ's actions in Luoyang also reached the temple. As one of the three main leaders of the temple, the chant master was responsible for miscellaneous affairs in the temple and had a lot of contact with the outside world. He was very worried that Li Situ's anger would spread to the White Horse Temple.

I didn't expect them to arrive so quickly.

"We wonder when Minister Li will arrive at the temple so that we can welcome him."

"I will come tomorrow, so there is no need for any preparations," the visitor said before taking his leave.

After seeing the man off, Viña Hui went to find the seat of honor.

Baima Temple is known as the ancestral temple of Buddhism in Han China, and its affairs are still managed according to the Three Cardinal Guides.

Above the chant leader, there are also the temple's inner sanctum and the senior monk.

The senior monk is the head of a temple, who preaches Buddhism and sets an example for other monks. He is also called the abbot or the resident monk.

Below the senior monk is the abbot, who is responsible for the actual affairs of the temple and is also called the temple supervisor or abbot.

The head monk is quite old and usually doesn't manage temple affairs.

Despite being afraid of that Minister Li, Viña Hui still came to disturb the abbot's room.

"Please take a seat,
Minister Li said he would be coming to my White Horse Temple tomorrow to examine the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra.

"I'm worried he's up to no good. Not long ago, there was a major upheaval in the Buddhist community of Chang'an. The Three-Tier Sect was completely eradicated, and the emperor once again bestowed titles upon more than a hundred eminent monks."
He even selected a newly ordained monk as a master translator to preside over the Water and Land Dharma Assembly, and sent officials and soldiers to escort him to India to seek scriptures. It is said that all of this was orchestrated by this Li Situ.

Most importantly, Li Yi was adopted by a Taoist priest at the Wuji Temple in Chang'an when he was young, and only returned to secular life at the age of sixteen.

The senior monk Huiyin put down his pen, which was used for translating scriptures.

“Minister Li is an important official of the court. We welcome him to the White Horse Temple. If he wants to read the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra, then we will take it out for him to read.”

"Please take a seat, Minister Li. He wishes to see our temple's most prized possession, the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra."

Emperor Ming of Han dreamt of a golden man and sent an envoy westward to seek Buddhist scriptures. The scriptures were carried back to Luoyang by a white horse, and thus the first temple in China was born.

More than 500 years ago,
Emperor Ming of Han built the first Buddhist temple in the Han Dynasty, the White Horse Temple, outside Yongmen Gate in the west of Luoyang.

The first Chinese translation of Buddhist scriptures that I brought back that year was the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra.

Emperor Ming sent envoys to the Western Regions to seek Buddhist teachings. In the Yuezhi Kingdom, they met the monk Zhu Moteng, who translated this sutra and brought it back to Luoyang.

This scripture was once treasured by Emperor Ming in the Lantai Stone Chamber of the Imperial Palace in Luoyang.

During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Luoyang was destroyed during the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, and the White Horse Temple was no exception.

During the Cao Wei and Western Jin dynasties, Baima Temple was rebuilt, but the Yongjia Rebellion of the Western Jin Dynasty plunged Luoyang into a deep abyss of disaster.

When Cao Cao and Emperor Wu of Zhou suppressed Buddhism, the White Horse Temple was destroyed twice.

Until the Sui Dynasty unified the north and south and rebuilt Luoyang, Baima Temple also regained its ancestral glory during the prosperity of the Sui Dynasty.

But during the chaos of the Sui Dynasty,
The White Horse Temple was located just outside Luoyang City, and it suffered greatly from the ravages of war. It was only with great difficulty that the country was reunited.
It was the time when the Buddha's light shone again.

Suddenly, a Minister Li arrived, specifically requesting to see the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra, which was a translation brought back from the Western Regions years ago.

This inevitably caused some unease among everyone in the temple.

The senior monk Huiyin instructed the chant leader Huishi to invite the abbot Huida.

The Three Principles of Baima Temple
Let's discuss countermeasures together.

Compared to the senior monk Huiyin, whose beard was completely white, the abbot Huida was younger, just over sixty.

"I think Vina is right, Li Yi's intentions are not good."

I think he might be looking for alms from us.

As soon as this word comes out,
Venerable Huiyin and Venerable Huishi both fell silent.
It has always been the temples and monks who solicit alms from people, but now the Imperial Minister has come to them to beg for alms.

"You're saying that Minister Li has come to borrow grain and money from us?"

Huida shook his head.

"I don't think it's a loan; what's borrowed must be returned."

Hui Shi shook his head. Only monks like to give alms so they don't have to repay them. Now Li Yi wants to do the same?
"This man in Chang'an uprooted the Three Stages Sect. The sect of Zen Master Xinxing had been passed down for decades and had a large number of believers, but it was also wiped out in a single day."

Of the more than 3,000 monks of the third rank in Chang'an, only 36 passed the examination; the rest were all forcibly returned to secular life. All 43 third-rank temples were also abolished, and monks who had been granted ordination certificates were allowed to enter other temples.

When he arrived in Luoyang, he immediately beheaded thirty-six gang leaders and confiscated the property of many families.

He then turned around and beheaded over a hundred officials who had embezzled during the raids, and confiscated the homes of many other corrupt officials.

He is now going to Baima Temple.

They definitely didn't come here to read the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra.
Let's take the initiative.

As the abbot who actually managed the temple affairs, Huida was quite pragmatic. In fact, since the chaos of the Sui Dynasty, Luoyang had been a battleground on all sides, with several factions embroiled in fierce fighting. If it weren't for Huida's skillful maneuvering among the various parties...
I fear that the White Horse Temple was also destroyed by war long ago.

After the war, he actively liaised with the government, which enabled the White Horse Temple to recover so quickly.
right now,

He sensed the crisis brought about by Li Yi.

"Our White Horse Temple now has over 1,600 hectares of temple land and more than 2,000 monks,"

The White Horse Temple, hailed as the ancestral temple of Buddhism, has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, but for most of its history it has held a high status and been greatly revered, worshipped by both the common people and the imperial court.

Donations from nobles and rewards from the imperial court.

He owns a lot of land.
During the war, most of these lands were abandoned, but the land deeds were held by the temple.
After each war, with the land deeds in hand, they could reclaim the land, then rent it out to tenants, or even hide displaced people to cultivate the land for them.

same,
The temple also engaged in lending and pawnbroking businesses, and operated mills, oil presses, and inns. As long as the war ended, the White Horse Temple could always be quickly rebuilt and restored to its former glory, its greatest pride being its status as the ancestral temple and its countless fields.

“Offer forty acres of land to the imperial court, and also offer four thousand shi of grain.”

Abbot Huida addressed the senior monk.

It's better to lose money than to suffer a terrible disaster.

Vina Hui felt sorry for him, thinking that forty acres of land was too much.

But Huiyin, seated above, shook his head. “Tomorrow, hand over the six hundred acres of land in Huai and Meng on the north bank of the Yellow River to Minister Li and ask him to present it to the Emperor on our behalf.”

Those 600 hectares, located in six counties including Huai and Meng on the north bank of the Yellow River, were not originally part of the Baima Temple. They were bestowed upon the temple by Emperors Wen and Yang of the Sui Dynasty.

A total of 600 hectares of arable and paddy fields.

Many of them originally belonged to other temples.

Abbot Huida was surprised. "There's no need to donate so much land. Four thousand mu is already quite a lot."

Huiyin insisted, "How much grain and money do we still have in storage?"

The Venerable Huishi, who was in charge of miscellaneous affairs, was very clear about these matters. He immediately said, "We have accumulated tens of thousands of shi of grain over the years, but we have two thousand monks in our temple, as well as many laypeople and farmers. We need to consume 20,000 shi of grain a year."

The temple has 1,600 hectares of irrigated and dry land, with rent ranging from four to six dou per mu, and the annual rent is 70,000 to 80,000 shi of wheat and millet.

But that's not actually the case.
Because these 1,600 hectares of land do not actually all belong to the temple.
A small portion of the land was actually registered under the temple's name; it belonged to nobles, powerful families, and ordinary people alike.

They 'donated' the land to the temple, but it was a lie.
The land still belonged to them, but it was under the temple's name, so they could avoid the various taxes and fees imposed by the government.

True landowners would give them two liters of grain per acre as a benefit.

Mutual cooperation.

Therefore, although the temple nominally has 160,000 mu of land, it actually only has about 100,000 mu. The rest of the land yields only two liters per mu per year, which is only a little over a thousand shi per year.

One's own 100,000 mu of land can yield approximately 50,000 shi of rent.

The temple consumes 20,000 shi of food per year, leaving about 30,000 shi, which is used for lending, selling some, and storing.

“Now, apart from the grain that has been lent out, the temple only has a little over 30,000 shi of grain left. We’ve set aside 20,000 shi for a year’s worth of rations, so we only have about 10,000 shi available,” Hui Shi said.

“Then, aside from the annual ration of 20,000 shi, the remaining 10,000 shi will all be handed over to Minister Li tomorrow!” said Huiyin, the seated monk, calmly.

Neither the abbot Huida nor the chant master Huishi understood.

"There's no need to give so much; four thousand shi is already more than enough."

Huiyin said very seriously, "I predict that Buddhism will face another calamity. Our White Horse Temple has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. This time, we must be careful."

The Three-Tier Cult was so prosperous in recent years, yet it was wiped out just like that.

I believe that we should not only surrender all six hundred hectares of land in the six counties of Huai and Meng, which were bestowed upon us by the two emperors of the previous dynasty, but also...
Moreover, those five or six hundred acres of land registered under the name of my temple

It would also be best to explain everything truthfully to Li Situ and make a clean break.

"There's no need for that. Besides, most of those places that are registered under other names belong to nobles and aristocratic families. If we do this, won't we offend them all?"

Huiyin said, "This is our tribulation. If we can survive this tribulation with several hundred acres of land and tens of thousands of bushels of grain, it will be worth it."

"I'm afraid Li Yi will become greedy and take advantage of the situation!"

"Then prepare some more money and silk!"

The lessons learned from the Three Orders Sect made Huiyin wary. Having experienced the chaos of the world, he knew that war is merciless.

Li Yi is very busy.
He was there to pave the way for the emperor; soon, a steady stream of officials, soldiers, and troops would arrive, numbering at least 100,000.

Although not a large army,
But the emperor, accompanied by his officials, a large number of guards, and his family,
It's much more troublesome than hosting a large army.

time is limited,

We had no choice but to act swiftly and handle the matter specially.

Prepare the palace where the emperor resides.
Prepare the imperial city where officials conduct their business.
While Qu Tutong was conscripting artisans and laborers to speed up the work, Li Yi was frantically buying things at the market.
Stockpile various supplies.

Li Yi had a limited budget at his disposal, and he had to prepare for the arrival of the emperor and his 100,000-strong entourage.
We must also prepare for the famine next year.

Even the most skillful cook can't cook without rice, so Li Yi had no choice but to borrow some.

They issued bonds and persuaded officials, powerful figures, and merchants to buy them.

With the money earned from issuing bonds in one hand, they went on a buying spree to stockpile grain.

They also had to borrow grain from powerful families and even temples.

The White Horse Temple, which owns more than 1,600 hectares of land, and the Shaolin Temple, which is not far from Luoyang, are both targeted by Li Yi because of their large land holdings and the fact that they have accumulated a lot of grain.

The White Horse Temple is located outside Luoyang city.
Covering an area of ​​several hundred acres,
After the chaos of the Sui Dynasty, the temple was repaired in just a few years, and its incense offerings flourished once again.

Hearing that they actually owned over 1,600 hectares of land and tens of thousands of bushels of grain, Li Yi decided to visit the White Horse Temple.

Let's take a look at what the first Buddhist scripture to be introduced to the Central Plains, the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra, looked like.

The White Horse Temple alone had nearly two thousand monks.

The fact that he owns 160,000 mu of land is too exaggerated. Li Yi thinks it's good that the monks are focused on chanting scriptures and worshipping Buddha. What do they need so much land for? They don't grow grain or vegetables themselves.

Even if each monk is granted twenty mu of land, with two thousand monks, the total would be at most eighty thousand mu.

But does Baima Temple need so many monks? Of these monks, how many have received ordination certificates issued by the imperial court?

The White Horse Temple has enough monks, even with just a hundred.

If a monk is granted twenty mu of land, then keeping two thousand mu will be enough.

(End of this chapter)