The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 714 Comprehensive contraction
Millions of Taoist monks in Qi will pay a heavy price for Zhang Yihang's doggerel.

In the second month after Emperor Taizu of Qi disappeared, Emperor Guangde expelled all the Taoist priests that his father had supported in the palace.

Not only that, the new emperor also executed more than 80 Taoist priests who participated in alchemy, preaching, and seeking immortality.

The charges given by the Ministry of Justice were causing chaos in the court, misleading the people, killing the late emperor, deceiving the people, and causing the retired emperor to go on the eastern expedition and not return.

Liu Kan announced to the world that these Taoists were just entertaining clowns and street scoundrels.

They can do nothing but spread rumors and create troubles to bring chaos to the world.

For many years, Liu Kan, who was known for his generosity and love for the people, turned into a butcher overnight.

It is hard to imagine that this gentle and elegant prince and future emperor was sitting in the Fengtian Hall with a group of eminent monks and Taoist priests, discussing Taoism and expressing his feelings three months ago.

Judging from Liu Kan's ruthlessness in dealing with Taoist priests and monks, it may be inferred that the real cause of Taizu's death was that he overdosed on elixirs during the Eastern Expedition and died of poisoning.

However, under the influence of extremism, the historians of the Great Qi Dynasty could not write the truth for the sake of respecting the emperor, and they could not write the truth in this life - those who dared to write the truth would be reincarnated immediately in the next life - so they could only tell ghost stories and make up stories about the retired emperor killing monsters and becoming an immortal.

Since this historical material is too far away from the present, the relevant records have long been destroyed by those in power, and the author has no way to check it. Here we will tentatively accept the opinion of one person and conclude that the emperor had become an immortal.

Initially, when Liu Zhaosun served as the Duke of Protector of the Country, he launched the Lugou Bridge Rebellion, killed the king and usurped the throne, and seized the world from the orphans and widows of the Ming Dynasty.

After ascending the throne, in order to prove the legitimacy of the Great Qi's rule and to highlight his own achievements in governing the country, under the instigation of Kang Yingqian, Ke Zhen'e and others, the retired emperor often intentionally or unintentionally asked his officials to collect auspicious signs, such as golden crops, unicorns, and the five stars in a row...

In those years, related auspicious signs emerged like mushrooms after rain, appearing in the memorials of officials in large numbers and becoming a common sight.

Now, in the eyes of Emperor Guangde, those despicable tricks are too childish and ridiculous.

At least Liu Kan disdained to use it.

On the eighth day of the eleventh month of the fifth year of Guangde, Emperor Guangde summoned his ministers to the Fengtian Hall and announced the empire's development plan for the next five years. The main points are as follows:
"From the first day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Guangde, all auspicious events related to Qingyun and Jiagu are prohibited from being reported. Anyone who violates this order, regardless of whether they are an official or a civilian, will be executed!"

"Since the Empire's overseas military operations are exceedingly costly and yielding minimal returns, we will gradually abandon our colonies in Australia and Yinzhou, cease interfering in European affairs, and focus on recuperating at home, prioritizing agriculture and restoring production. Anyone who dares to expand borders or start a war without authorization will be executed!"

"Abolish the system of recommending candidates for the Imperial College entrance examination, gradually resume the provincial examinations, allow Henan and Hebei to resume commercial trade, protect the private property of small and medium-sized landlords, allow land transactions, and gradually abolish the food coupon system..."

"Abolish Buddhism and Taoism, and expel Western religions..."

The promulgation of this edict marked the gradual decline of the exaggeration and extremism left over from the Taizu era, and the return to normality of the power comparison between civil and military officials. It also marked that focusing on production and construction, doing things in a down-to-earth manner, and repeatedly rolling up their sleeves to work hard became the new theme of the empire.

~~~~~
On the first day of December in the fifth year of Guangde, the Minister of Rites Wu Shen submitted a memorial to the emperor, stating that since Emperor Guangde had already tied up his hair, he should get married as soon as possible.

On the second day of December, cabinet ministers, officials from the six ministries, and the military and civilians of Nanjing jointly submitted a petition requesting Emperor Guangde to establish a harem to reassure his subjects.

On the third day, the palace received an order from the two Empress Dowagers requesting the reconstruction of the Cining Palace and the Ciqing Palace for the emperor's wedding.

Emperor Guangde immediately reported to the Empress Dowager Cisi that the Ciqing Palace and the Cining Palace had been renovated once in the first year of Guangde. The palaces were majestic, solid, and magnificent. It had only been five years since then, and they were still as magnificent as before, so there was no need to rebuild them. As for the wedding, because the emperor's father was on an expedition to Japan and there was no news from him, if any bad news came back, he should observe filial piety and loyalty and should not get married.

So the ministers advised him again, saying that the harem could not be without a master for a day, and Emperor Guangde had to consider the interests of the country and the people.

Liu Kan declined again and again, but finally agreed.

On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Guangde summoned all his ministers to the Fengtian Hall and announced an imperial decree to select ladies aged thirteen to sixteen from across the country to choose the Empress of Daqi.

From the Ryukyu Province in the south to Sakhalin Island in the north, all ladies of Daqi with good appearance, character and family background, regardless of their background, can participate in the selection.

The audition lasted for five months, and 3,000 people were shortlisted and rushed to Nanjing from various provinces.

After arriving in Nanjing, they underwent a second round of selection, and then passed through the "Eighteen Gates" to select eighteen stunning beauties. The two Empress Dowagers then made the final selection, and the chosen ones had their heads covered with green gauze, which was then opened with gold and jade.

The ladies who were not selected returned the invitations and the court gave each of them 20 taels of silver and sent them back to their homes by carriage (boat).

While the auditions were going on, officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory repeatedly emphasized the details of the wedding ceremony to Emperor Guangde.

At that time, the wedding procession will enter the palace from the middle gate of Daqi Gate, and all civil and military officials will be dressed in court robes and stand outside Chengtian Gate, facing east and west to welcome them.

After the wedding procession entered Chengtian Gate, all officials withdrew. When the phoenix carriage reached the outside of Wumen Gate, bells and drums sounded, and the procession ended.

Then the phoenix carriage entered the Fengtian Gate and went to the harem. The empress got off the carriage and entered from the west steps. The emperor stood on the east steps and greeted the empress to enter the inner hall and then to the bridal chamber of Kunning Palace.
The audition for the queen is in full swing, so we won’t mention it for now.

During the months of selecting the queen, Emperor Guangde was not idle. What he wanted to do now was to destroy Buddhism and Taoism.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qi Dynasty, due to the chaos in the world, the division of the country and the unrest in society, Buddhism and Taoism flourished.

During the Taichu period, Taoism reached its peak due to the strong promotion of the retired emperor.

In the Southern Zhili region alone, there were 1913 Taoist temples and more than 360000 Taoists, almost one-tenth of the population of Southern Zhili at the time.

By the time Liu Kan came to power, there were more than 2800 Taoist temples and monasteries, and over 821700 monks, nuns and Taoists. Even the retired emperor Liu Zhaosun himself believed in Taoism.

The expansion and development of Buddhism and Taoism brought spiritual comfort to the emperor, but also gradually caused a huge crisis to the empire.

Let’s not talk about faith for now.

In terms of economy, Da Qi Buddhism and Taoism formed a unique religious economy centered on temples and Taoist temples.

According to the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty, temples and Taoist temples could obtain a portion of farmland as an economic source for the monks and Taoists to maintain their livelihood.

As the retired emperor waged wars year after year, these monks and Taoists cultivated land and engaged in commerce, thus forming an economic entity. Many monks, nuns, and Taoists in temples gradually became wealthy and entered into businesses such as commerce and usury, challenging the Qi Dynasty's land system.

Initially, Emperor Guangde was stationed in Jinan to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion. He entered a Buddhist temple and saw weapons hidden in the temple. He suspected that the temple was colluding with the White Lotus, so he ordered all the monks in the temple to be killed.

When confiscating the temple property, they also discovered wine-making tools, caves where women were hidden, and even many valuables deposited by local officials of the Great Qi Dynasty.

At that time, Liu Kan had no power and his father was superstitious about Buddhism and Taoism, so he could only endure it.

Now that the time is ripe, a large-scale campaign to destroy Buddhism and Taoism has begun.

On the seventh day of the twelfth month of the fifth year of Guangde, the day before the birthday of the retired emperor, Liu Kan announced to the world:

(Buddhism and Taoism) entered the family and destroyed it, making father and son do different things, brothers follow different laws, abandoning both parents, and completely destroying filial piety. They separated the affection between father and son, the righteousness between ruler and subject, the harmony between husband and wife, and the trust between friends. They caused chaos in the country, and the late emperor went on an expedition to Japan and never recovered. All of this was done by the evil Taoist Zhang Yixing...

As a result, Buddhism and Taoism were abolished, all scriptures and images were destroyed, and monks and Taoists were dismissed and returned to the people. They also banned all lewd sacrifices and eliminated all those not included in the ritual code.

More than 100,000 troops stationed on the borders of Guangdong, Guangxi and Sichuan were all withdrawn and dispersed under the command of civil affairs in various provinces to ensure the smooth implementation of the movement to abolish Buddhism and Taoism.

A vigorous movement to eliminate Taoism and Buddhism was launched in all parts of the north and south of the Great Qi.

According to historical records, in the territory of Da Qi, "Buddhists were melted and scriptures were burned, monks were driven out and pagodas were destroyed... all the precious temples and monasteries were turned into secular houses, and all the monks and Sakya clans became laymen."

Tens of thousands of temples and Taoist temples in the north and south of the Great Qi were all destroyed. All monks, nuns and Taoists under the age of 50 in the country were required to return to secular life and perform labor. Those who did not want to perform labor could pay money to redeem themselves instead. In a short period of time, the national treasury obtained more than 30 million taels of silver and 3 million able-bodied men.

(End of this chapter)