Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 137 The Battle of Wits in Chechi Kingdom (Part 7)
Meanwhile, the new abbot of Zhiyuan Temple, determined to revitalize the temple, made three arrangements.

First, the temple needs to be repaired.

Secondly, the borrowed funds must be recovered.

Third, they must demand payment of rent.

After making the arrangements, the new abbot seemed quite confident and quietly awaited a response.

The people who arrived fastest were those repairing the temple.

Several monks arrived with a group of craftsmen. The craftsmen said they needed to see the condition of Zhiyuan Temple in person before they could estimate the required cost and time.

The craftsmen didn't treat the group of monks very well. Because the Kingdom of Chechi had long promoted Taoism and suppressed Buddhism, the general public in Chechi had a lukewarm attitude towards monks.

But we still need to make money.

The craftsmen looked around and found that the situation was alright.

Although Zhiyuan Temple has been neglected for more than 20 years, it was built by imperial decree of Emperor Taizu, and the buildings inside are constructed with the finest materials. The main structure is almost undamaged, with only other parts suffering varying degrees of damage, making repairs relatively easy.

The most costly part was the gilding of countless Buddha statues in hundreds of Buddhist halls.

Fortunately, those Buddha statues originally had golden bodies, but they had become somewhat dull over time. After some repairs and applying gold paint, the golden bodies could be restored.

After discussing it, the craftsmen decided to ask the monks for 20% more silver, offering a higher price.

So the foreman said that the repair cost would be about six thousand taels, and a 30% deposit would be paid upfront, which would be one thousand eight hundred taels.

The new abbot listened and felt it was too little.

According to his estimate, the construction of the more than one hundred Buddhist halls in Zhiyuan Temple would cost at least ten thousand taels of silver. The fact that the other party only wanted six thousand taels of silver suggests that they were either cutting corners or trying to swindle him out of his deposit.

The new abbot thought this way because he had been employed by the Taoist priests for years, either doing hard labor or odd jobs, and had no idea about the situation outside.

He thought it was more than twenty years ago, when Chechi Kingdom often suffered from famine, grain prices were high, and other things were naturally expensive as well. Bricks, stones, and timber all cost money, and the craftsmen's fees were also high. Six thousand taels was definitely not an exorbitant amount.

But now that grain prices are stable, we no longer need so much money.

The new abbot, unaware of this, thought the craftsmen had cheated him, so he dismissed them and sent the monks to find another group.

The craftsmen all kept in touch with each other.

After the group of craftsmen was driven away, other craftsmen in the city quickly learned about it.

When the monks found new craftsmen, the foreman immediately quoted 15,000 taels of silver, demanding a 30% deposit of 4,500 taels.

Seeing this, the new abbot felt that this family was trustworthy. After discussing it for a long time, they finally settled on 13,500 taels and paid a deposit of 4,050 taels.

the other side.

The monks responsible for collecting the loans took the IOUs and went to the addresses on them to demand their money back.

More than half of them have already disappeared.

However, there are still some whose addresses haven't changed.

One of them, a monk once visited, was a dilapidated tile-roofed house.

This family doesn't seem to be very wealthy.

When we arrived, the abbot had instructed us that if the debtor was not well-off, the interest would only be calculated for three years, not for twenty-four years.

The monk knocked on the door, and an old man came out.

The monk explained his purpose.

Upon hearing this, the old man was about to close the door.

The monk barged in, sat on the old man's doorstep, and demanded money. The interest was quite high; even considering only three years of interest, and only simple interest, it nearly doubled.

The old man refused to give it to them, only offering the principal plus 30% interest.

Because after he borrowed the money years ago, the Imperial Preceptor brought rain the following year, and his family survived the crisis. At that time, he prepared the principal and interest and went to Zhiyuan Temple to repay the money, but unfortunately, all the monks in the temple were arrested, so he was unable to repay the money, and the debt has been delayed until now. If he were to repay it now, he would only be willing to repay the principal plus one year's interest.

The monk naturally refused, as he could not explain to the abbot if he only returned a year.

After the two argued for a while, the monk barged into the house and, seeing that there was nothing of value to pawn, began to search the place.

The old woman and her two young grandsons were quite frightened.

The old man stopped the monk, asking him to stop for the time being, saying that the money was with his two sons and that they would return it when they came back.

The monk believed him and told the old woman to go to the field to call her son.

Soon, two dark-skinned, burly men returned, each carrying a wooden pickaxe.

The monk was a little scared when he saw this, but he still braced himself and asked for money.

In the past, ordinary people like this would never have dared to offend the monks of Zhiyuan Temple.

Zhiyuan Temple was a temple built by imperial decree and had dealings with many officials and nobles. If they offended the temple, how could they survive?

But now, things are different. More than 20 years have passed since the extermination of monks in Chechi Kingdom, and the people are no longer afraid.

One of the two men reached out, grabbed the monk's robe, and pulled him over.

Another person snatched the IOU from his hand and tore it to shreds in a few quick movements.

Another big kick sent the monk flying out the door.

The monk could only return dejectedly. He thought he had suffered enough, having not received the money, having his IOU torn up, and being kicked. But on the way, he unexpectedly encountered a fellow monk who was covered in bruises, with torn clothes and bloodstains.

The monk hurriedly asked his senior brother why he looked like this.

The senior brother smiled wryly and said that his IOU was from a landlord's family. The landlord originally borrowed 500 taels from the temple, and the principal and interest totaled 4,100 taels over 24 years.

Knowing that the money would be hard to come by, he offered to give up the hundred taels and accept the four thousand taels instead.

Unexpectedly, the landlord was completely unreasonable. He refused to pay back the principal, let alone the interest. Instead, he ordered his guards to beat him up, tear up the IOU, and even set dogs on him, which is why he ended up in this state.

Left with no other option, the two returned to the temple. The other fellow disciples also returned one after another, but very few of them got any money; most of them had been beaten up.

The very few who managed to get their money back were ordinary people who borrowed three, five, or ten taels of silver, and even if they repaid it, it wasn't much.

Those who owed money—landlords, wealthy merchants, minor officials, and clerks—without exception, not one of them paid back the money. In fact, they even ordered their subordinates to tear up the IOUs.

Meanwhile, the monks who had come to collect their rent also returned.

There was still no gain.

The temple property of Zhiyuan Temple was sold to other merchants and nobles by those corrupt officials, and their land deeds were invalidated and no one recognized them.

After hearing his disciples' report, the new abbot knelt before the Buddha statue in anger and said, "Amitabha! These evil people have forcibly seized my temple's property. Where is justice? Where is reason?"

All the monks wept.

After a tearful outburst, the new host stood up and said:
"Our temple property has been seized. This is the ancestral legacy of Zhiyuan Temple, and we cannot let this go unpunished. All monks of the temple, come with me tomorrow to report this to the authorities!"

All the monks agreed.

The next day, the new abbot led a large group of monks, more than 500 people, to the government office to beat the drum and appeal for justice.

"It's unfair! It's unfair!"

Outside the government office, monks were beating a drum to appeal for justice.

An official came out and asked, "Where is the petition?"

The monk handed over the petition.

The official accepted it and said, "Just wait."

(End of this chapter)