Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

"Seal all the palaces for me. No one is allowed to take anything out of them!"

"If you dare to miss a piece of paper, I will hold you accountable!"

"Also, no one is allowed to leave the temple!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, and then immediately dispersed in groups of three or five, rushing towards the various halls, houses, etc.

The pilgrims who were burning incense in the temple were frightened by this scene and all ran out.

But Fang Yuegong's order had been given first, and the gate of the temple was closed tightly. Four guards from the Western Factory, holding long swords and looking fierce, blocked the door. They wanted to leave, but were stopped.

"Sir, I am just here to burn incense. I have not done anything wrong."

"Sir, please be kind and let us go."

"........."

Most of these pilgrims had expressions of panic on their faces.

If they can go to the temple to burn incense, it means that there are some troubles at home and they don’t want to cause more trouble.

So, they just kept saying soft words in an attempt to get the barbarians to let them go.

But there are always exceptions!

An old woman in her fifties walked out from the crowd of pilgrims and started yelling at the four guards.

"This is a temple, the Buddha's territory. Aren't you afraid of being punished for offending the Buddha?"

"Do you know who I am? Leave immediately and do not disturb the tranquility of Buddhism!"

A soldier laughed when he heard this, walked up to the old woman and stared at her for a while.

The old woman was dressed in silk and had a golden hairpin in her hair. Behind her stood two burly men who seemed to be of some importance.

But the guy didn't take it seriously. No matter how powerful he was, could he be compared to his boss's boss?

"Come, tell me, whose mother are you in the court?"

"Or rather, whose wife it is!"

The old woman's eyes seemed a little unclear. She didn't see the mockery in the man's eyes at all. She thought that the other party was afraid of her, so she immediately revealed her identity with great pride.

"I am the mother of the current Right Censor-in-Chief. How can you contradict me?"

"If you know what's best for you, take your people away immediately. Otherwise, I will have my son write a letter to His Majesty to severely impeach you!"

The Right Censor-in-Chief was the second-in-command among the censors. After hearing this, he became unsure and quickly ran inside to tell Fang Yuegong what happened.

Fang Yuegong frowned immediately.

He thought that the audit would not go smoothly, but the obstacles he thought of all came from the temple itself.

But I didn’t expect that there would be such a big trouble among these pilgrims!

The other party was the mother of the Right Censor-in-Chief, an old woman over fifty years old. He couldn't use rough tactics on her, but he also didn't want to waste too much time on her.

After thinking for a while, he told the guy, "Just watch the gate. No matter what she does, just ignore her!"

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Fanzi turned around and went back to the door.

After that, no matter how much the old woman yelled, the four guards didn't say a word to her.

Such a big scene soon alarmed the monks and lamas in the temple.

A white-browed monk was surrounded by monks, and next to him was a middle-aged monk dressed as a lama.

When he got closer, he glanced at everyone and finally stopped his gaze on Fang Yuegong. He smiled kindly and chanted a Buddhist name.

"Amitabha!"

"I am Yuehua, the abbot of this place. I wonder what brings you here?"

Fang Yuegong did not return the greeting, but just uttered two words lightly.

"Check the accounts!"

Abbot Yuehua was still kind and amiable, and replied with a smile in his eyes: "Did you make a mistake, benefactor?"

"This is a pure place of Buddhism, not within the Three Realms, not within the Five Elements."

"From ancient times to now, how can there be any reason to come to the Buddhist sect to check the accounts?"

Fang Yuegong seemed to have expected such a question, and immediately asked back: "Have you eaten?"

This nonsensical question made Abbot Yuehua stunned for a moment, and then he pointed to the sun in the sky and answered.

"It's past the hour of Si, and the breakfast has been eaten."

"If the donor wants to have a meal, he will have to wait another two hours."

Fang Yuegong sneered and said, "Since Buddhism is not within the Three Realms and does not belong to the Five Elements, why do you still need to eat human food?"

Abbot Yuehua chanted the Buddha's name again: "Amitabha! Your Excellency is wrong. Buddha is Buddha, and we are just people who serve Buddha. We are mortals, how can we not eat grains?"

Fang Yuegong shouted, "Since you are eating human food and living in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, you should be under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. Why don't you pay taxes?"

"Hand over the account books obediently. I don't want more. I just need to trace it back to the first year of Tianqi!"

"All income of the temple must be repaid at a rate of 70%!"

"If you force me to resort to violence, then the investigation will not only extend back to the first year of Tianqi!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of all the monks present changed drastically.

"Impossible! Monks and nuns are exempt from taxes. This has been the rule since ancient times!"

"That's right. That's the money that the people donated to the Buddha. What qualifications do the officials have to collect taxes?"

"You dare to reach out to the Buddha. This is too ugly. Aren't you afraid of retribution?"

"That's right, they shouldn't collect taxes, but they actually asked for 70%. How is this different from robbery?"

"........."

Listening to the discussions of these monks, a murderous intent flashed in Fang Yuegong's eyes.

According to official history, when he was the prefect of Songjiang, in order to build a seawall, he did not allow government offices or official servants to deduct money from the government, and he visited the construction supervisors at any time.

At the same time, it was also stipulated that all wealthy households with more than 100 acres of land would be encouraged to pay 8 cents per acre for pond construction.

In this way, the first seawall in the entire Jiangnan area was built.

So, although he is a civil servant, his methods are not weak at all.

He naturally knew that if he reached out to Buddhism, he would bring himself into criticism.

But he was more afraid that in the middle of the night, the wandering ghosts of those who died of starvation in Shanxi and Shaanxi would come to him to claim their lives!

Chapter 313: Taking money but not doing the job, in my opinion, this is fraud!

The monks' discussions became louder and louder, and were gradually becoming more like those of a shrew scolding a woman in the street.

When the people outside who were eager to leave the temple heard this, they couldn't help but come over to watch the excitement.

When Fang Yuegong saw several people coming over, an idea flashed in his mind, and he walked forward and pulled a man over.

"Are you here to burn incense?"

The man nodded upon hearing this.

Fang Yuegong continued to ask: "What's the matter?"

The man quickly replied, "I am a butcher from Huanghuafang, my name is Liu Saner. My mother was seriously ill a few days ago and could not be cured after a long period of treatment. That is why I came here to pray to the Buddha, hoping that the Buddha can bless my mother and help her recover soon!"

Fang Yuegong asked again: "Is this your first time to burn incense and pray today?"

Liu Saner shook his head, his expression becoming somewhat gloomy: "To be honest with you, sir, today is already the fifth day!"

Fang Yuegong asked, "Has your mother's illness improved?"

Liu Saner shook his head again: "Not only has it not improved, but it has become more serious. I even coughed up blood this morning."

Fang Yuegong got the answer he wanted, and immediately waved his hand and shouted to the clerk next to him.

"Someone, escort Brother Liu Saner out of the temple, and take him to pick up Liu, and go to the medical school to ask Professor Zhang for treatment!"

Liu Saner was overjoyed when he heard this!

Since its establishment, the medical school has been well-known in the capital.

The current Queen is the principal of the medical school, and there are four miracle doctors in the school!

Legend has it that as long as one can enter the medical school, even if one is doomed to die, one can survive for another three days!

Of course, no one knows when this legend started to spread, but on the other hand, it also illustrates the people's yearning for medical schools.

Liu Saner knelt on the ground and kowtowed several times. When he stood up again, his forehead was red and swollen.

As he was being supported by the clerk and walked out, he kept turning back and thanking Fang Yuegong loudly.

The people around him looked at his back with envy on their faces.

The Chinese people have a habit!

That's just cramming!

Unless it is absolutely necessary, few people will go to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha.

Of course, except for those true Buddhists.

Therefore, the people present all had some requests to the Buddha.

For example, family health.

For example, business is booming.

For example, having many children and grandchildren.

Fang Yuegong knew all of this clearly, because his mother was the same.

So, after Liu Saner left, he pulled over another bystander and started interrogating him in front of Old Monk Yuehua.

"Tell me what wish you made when you came here to burn incense. How many times have you come here? Has your wish ever been fulfilled?"

The onlookers shook their heads like rattles: "I'm here to pray for a child. My wife has given birth to four money-losing babies in a row. I just want a boy!"

"I come here every year, but my wife is pregnant with a money-losing baby!"

This is a man's world, and favoring boys over girls is naturally the norm.

But Fang Yuegong is an exception!

This guy is a girl-loving maniac!

His daughter was almost spoiled by him, and now when she heard someone say that, she got furious!

"What are you talking about!"

"I tell you, daughters are never worse than sons!"

"I let my daughter ride on my neck and play with her every day when I'm at home!"

"You should think about it from another perspective. They say a son-in-law is half a son. Not only do you have four daughters, you will also have two sons in the future!"

"Besides, this son was raised by someone else for you!"

"Also, His Majesty has newly built the Shanhe Academy. Do you know what this means?"

"This means that future concubines no longer have to go through the state's selection process. As long as your daughter has the ability, she can pass the exam on her own!"

"When the time comes... "

"How do you know if one of your four daughters will become a crown princess?"

The man was stunned by his scolding and his head was spinning like smoke.

What the hell!

It sounds reasonable...

So, does this mean that I also have a chance to become the father-in-law of the emperor?