Chapter 4746 Suspicion
Cheng Xuanying said warmly: "Taoism and the Tang Dynasty are of the same strain, and there is no distinction between us. Now that a government order has been issued, we will naturally cooperate fully and never resist. However, Taoism has different inheritances and many factions. Although they have contact with each other, they may not advance or retreat together. Therefore, If the imperial court treats Buddhism and Taoism differently in terms of tax increases, once the Taoists in the world become angry, it will be difficult for Taoists to restrain them. ”
Taoism has now changed its tune. It no longer focuses on gaining followers, but focuses on the research of Taoist theory and the expansion of natural knowledge. Therefore, it can allow the court to increase taxes, but Buddhism relies entirely on incense to expand followers and enhance its influence, which requires a huge amount of money. Supporting it with money and silk may not necessarily agree to the court's tax increase.
So he has to threaten Ma Zhou, and he must not treat him differently. Don't think that Taoism is a soft persimmon when it agrees to increase taxes so readily. Once Taoism fully mobilizes, you may not be able to afford the consequences...
Of course, Ma Zhou would not do anything stupid like "differential treatment", and immediately promised: "As long as Taoists fully cooperate with the implementation of the imperial decree, there will be preferential treatment."
Even if it is "differential treatment", it will only give preferential treatment to you Taoists.
They agreed with Yin Wenchao and Cheng Xuanying to start measuring the Taoist land within the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture in a few days. After all, the land measurement had not yet started in Guanzhong, so Yin and Cheng had no objections.
After saying goodbye to Caolou Temple, Ma Zhou let out a long breath. He originally thought that the Taoists with "groups of elites" and "arrogant people" would be the most difficult to deal with, but the result was unexpected. Not only did he not have the slightest will to resist, but he was extremely Cooperate.
But things in this world are never smooth sailing, and good things always come with twists and turns. Since things go smoothly on the Taoist side, there will definitely be some surprises on the Buddhist side.
However, Ma Zhouyi was not afraid. He went back to his home and thought about all the possible prevarications, excuses, and even boycotts by the Buddhist sect. He planned countermeasures in advance, and the next day he took a few officials from Jingzhao Mansion and drove straight to Da Ci'en Temple.
As soon as I entered Jinchangfang, I saw monks everywhere in the square. The monks participating in the "Obon Festival" came from all over the country and spoke a variety of dialects. When they couldn't speak clearly, they danced and made various gestures. Not many Buddhists were pure and self-possessed, but they were more... Like traffickers and pawns from all over the world...
After entering the gate of Daci'en Temple, the huge temple was filled with incense and crowded with people. Countless monks were running back and forth carrying out various treasures to prepare for the grand Buddhist meeting.
The monk who knew the guest stepped forward to salute him with his hands together, and placed all the entourage in the guest house. He led Ma Zhou through the busy crowd, past the buildings, and arrived at the sutra translation courtyard hidden in the woods: "The host is busy today and has no time to wait. Guest, Master Yibao is waiting in the courtyard. Please come in and meet me.”
Ma Zhou nodded. It was better not to disturb Master Xuanzang with such mundane matters. Otherwise, given his lofty status in Buddhism, once he said something like "no tax increase", there would be no room for change.
The sandalwood scent fills the courtyard and the environment is elegant. The bustling crowds and figures in other courtyards do not affect the tranquility here. The tall locust tree branches are leafy and canopy with shade. Stepping on the green bricks on the ground, you enter the open hall. Then I saw bookshelves on the walls of the hall filled with volumes of scriptures, filled with the aroma of books.
Yibao, still wearing a hundred-pin robe, stood up to greet me, smiled and put his hands together: "The task of translating scriptures is too heavy, so I missed the welcome. Please forgive me."
Ma Zhou didn't take it seriously: "I have taken the liberty of coming to disturb the master's translation of the scriptures. I am sincerely frightened. I hope the master will not take offense."
He took a few steps forward and leaned over the book desk to look at the unfolded scroll of scriptures. The crooked words on it were very strange. He then reached out and touched the slipper with the scriptures engraved on it. It was so thin and fragile that it looked like a leaf. ……
Yibao introduced to him: "This kind of slips are taken from the leaves of a kind of tree called Bedoluo tree in India. The leaves are wide, flat, tough and stretched. The ancient people of Tianzhu used this as a carrier for writing. It is said that the Buddha was on this leaf. Write down the mysteries of Buddhism and pass them on to the world.”
Ma Zhou asked curiously: "Isn't it because Tianzhu has no paper?"
The so-called "Buddhist secret tree" is just fooling the world. The reason why Buddhist scriptures are carved on such leaves is just like the lack of paper in the Qin and Han Dynasties, so bamboo slips had to be used as carriers. As long as there is abundant paper, who would not mind it? Could you please use this kind of thing?
Today, the bamboo paper of the Tang Dynasty is very popular in Tianzhu and is very expensive. Only the highest-ranking nobles are not allowed to use it...
Yibao was noncommittal and asked Ma Zhou to come to a small square of mat by the window on the other side of the desk, get some boiling water and pour some tea.
"Fu Yin is involved in thousands of families and is busy with affairs. He took the time to come here today, but what is the important matter?"
"Since the master is so straightforward, I will not beat around the bush and speak frankly."
"That's just how it should be."
After taking a sip of tea, Ma Zhou spoke with a calm tone and a serious expression, and spoke the words that had been brewing all night. This not only demonstrated the majesty of the imperial court and emphasized that the decree was irreversible, but also did not make the other party feel that the imperial court was overbearing...
"Buddhism is prosperous, believers gather, and Buddhist temple industries are spread throughout the Tang Dynasty. It has become the largest sect in the Tang Dynasty and has a profound impact on the court's taxes. I also hope that Buddhism can take the overall situation into consideration and actively cooperate with the imperial decree to prevent public opinion from being unfavorable to Buddhism. .”
Ma Zhou followed the instructions with both flattery and warning...
However, Yibao seemed to be dismissive of these, and just asked solemnly: "Taoism is regarded as the state religion by the empire. It has always been above all other religions. It is domineering and self-centered. But I wonder if this tax increase is the same among sects across the country?"
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"This is natural. Although Taoism is not a state religion, it has never been superior to others. The tax policy of the imperial court has never been different from person to person, let alone favoring one over another. For example, if this tax increase is based on recognition, then Buddhism taxes to be paid The tax is probably ten times more than that of Taoism. You can't bear more tax just because Buddhism is prosperous and has a large number of believers, so the court decided to use the acres of land to determine the amount of tax, which is very fair."
Normally, people try their best to annex and purchase land, and even in various cities and towns, there are clouds of shops and warehouses like rain. They keep claiming that the six senses of outsiders are pure, but in fact, they are amassing money with a lot of money and silk. Naturally, they should be taxed heavily.
If you don’t want to pay too many taxes, just disperse all the Buddhist lands and honestly return to the origin of "walking with a hundred steps, being pure and having few desires"...
Yibao didn't seem to understand the warning in Ma Zhou's words. He smiled brightly and nodded: "Master Xuanzang has already discussed with many Buddhist leaders. As long as the court does not treat them differently, then the Buddhists will fully cooperate on how to increase taxes, There is no objection to any increase in taxes.”
Ma Zhou: "..."
I couldn't help but frown and think. First, Taoism and then Buddhism. The two major sects that I thought would be strong in resistance have successively expressed their obedience to the imperial decrees and kept saying that the interests of the country are above all else... This is the person who has the least regard for imperial power in the world. The two major groups only have their own Buddha and their own Tao in their eyes. They have always regarded themselves as "outsiders". Doesn't this mean that they do not obey the jurisdiction of the emperor in the world?
But now the expected difficulties are not seen at all, and the little sheep of the two major sects seem to be extremely obedient, which is really unexpected.
Is there some conspiracy behind this?
Yi Bao saw Ma Zhou frowning and said with a smile: "The poor monk will ask someone to prepare the title deeds of all the temples within the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Mansion later. Ma Fuyin can send people to contact him at any time. He can also register according to Jingzhao Mansion The land deed can be taxed, and the land can be re-measured to see if there is any hidden land. In short, the entire Buddhist community is fully cooperating. ”
*****
In the political hall, several prime ministers and senior officials gathered together. They couldn't believe the cooperation between the two factions of Buddhism and Taoism. Everyone in the world was seeking profit, so who would do something that was obviously a loss?
They are all masters of conspiracy and conspiracy, and they are inevitably suspicious of others when they judge others.
"The two sects of Buddhism and Taoism probably regard this tax increase as a continuation of their struggle. In particular, Buddhism must have felt the huge pressure brought by His Majesty's edicts to build many Taoist temples to support Taoism, so they did not dare to resist the imperial court's decree to increase taxes, lest His Majesty Angry, his support for Taoism became even stronger. ”
Liu Ji carefully analyzed the reasons why this tax increase order was implemented so smoothly.
Tang Jian said: "It makes sense for the Buddhists to be like this, but why are the Taoists so cooperative? Because His Majesty has given them strong support, so do you reciprocate the favor? Hum, those bull-nosed ones are all very arrogant, no matter how much you give them, it's just because it's natural It should be, if only the desires are hard to satisfy, how can we stop?”
Fang Jun looked at Li Ji.
Li Ji frowned and said, "What do you want me to do?"
Fang Jun smiled and said nothing. They all said that Li Ji had been a Taoist priest, but he himself did not admit it. Those who were alive in Wagang Village at that time were very secretive about that period. After all, that period was full of ambition, desire, betrayal, Life and death, emotional entanglements are extremely complicated, and it is impossible to distinguish between right and wrong.
Now that Tang Jian is scolding him so unpleasantly, if Li Ji really had been a Taoist priest, he would definitely refute it, but looking at Li Ji's expression, maybe he had never really been a Taoist priest...
Everyone recognized Tang Jian's words. Taoism has a long history and has penetrated into all aspects of Chinese society. Since Taoism has always been at the top, it has developed a bossy and ambitious temperament. It claims to be the closest to the immortal way, so it is superior to others. How can it be said that it is superior to others? Submissive when facing the court?
As long as Taoism is not willing, once it is launched, it can form a huge resistance to obstruct the implementation of the imperial decree. There are even some among you here who either voluntarily or are forced to speak for Taoism.
Liu Jie pondered and said: "Perhaps... the Taoist idea is to injure the enemy by one thousand and injure oneself by eight hundred? After all, the Buddhist school is larger in comparison. Once taxes are increased, the tax to be paid will at least be the same as that of the Taoist school." Ten or twenty times.”
Fang Jun was drinking tea at the side and said disapprovingly: "No matter what ideas the Buddhist and Taoist factions have, and whether they cooperate with the imperial decree or resist with all their strength, this decree must be implemented to the letter. In this case , why care about him What do they think? They just need to push forward with all their strength. If they have any conspiracy, they can use it during the implementation process. The soldiers will come to block it, and the water will come to cover it up. The government's justice cannot resist." (End of this chapter)