Chapter 4754: Lure the snake out of its hole
The power structure of the Tang Dynasty was divided into three major groups, the noble families, the Xungui Group, and the Li Tang clan.
The aristocratic families have deeply entangled interests, which can affect the whole body. They have blocked the communication between the central government and the people, so that "government orders cannot be sent to the countryside." The country relies on them to govern the people and rule the country, so naturally they cannot tamper with it without permission.
However, in comparison, the Xungui Group and the Li Tang clan are truly untouchable existences.
There are many reasons why they are untouchable, but the most direct and important point is that the foundations of these two major groups are in Guanzhong, and the Guanzhong area, as the imperial capital, must not be chaotic...
Ximing Temple is a famous temple in the world, and it is impossible for ordinary people to interact with it, let alone donate land in the name of the temple property to help avoid taxes. Therefore, it is not necessary to find out the owner of the donated land from the account books of Ximing Temple. Xungui is the clan.
The concerns of the scribes are warranted. Our task is to "inventory the properties of temples and Taoist temples and determine the reasonable amount of taxes they should pay." Since the properties of temples and Taoist temples also need to pay taxes, why bother to remove these properties from the temples many times? What if the name of the temple and Taoist temple is stripped off?
As long as you pay the tax, who cares about whose property it is?
This is the correct way to be an official, but Ma Zhou disagrees with this: "No matter who annexes these lands, it has made hundreds of farmers have no permanent business and went bankrupt, and those people relied on their power to rely on the farmers. Knocking on bones and sucking out marrow, if not severely punished, this trend will It will continue to prevail, and if things go on like this, the people will have no permanent property, and the country will not be able to survive. There is no need to indulge in this matter. No matter what happens, you will be responsible for it. Just follow the order and handle the matter properly immediately. Yes, go ahead.”
"Here."
The clerk was worried but did not dare to disobey the order, so he turned around and gathered more than ten people to form a temporary team. They left the yamen and went straight to the Wannian County yamen.
Ma Zhou sat in the duty room and took a sip of tea. He called his chief attendant in and ordered: "Immediately go to the Mingde Gate to inform Duke Yue and tell him to be careful."
"Here."
After Chang Sui went out, Ma Zhou put down his tea cup, stood up and stood in front of the window with his hands behind his hands, looking at the row of leafy trees outside the window, slightly lost in thought.
This is an opportunity that has been preset for a long time. It is hoped that it will trigger divisions and confrontations within the clan. However, this move is extremely risky because no one knows whether those people will take the risk in advance when facing the impending confrontation within the clan. It was launched, and I don’t know where it started and what its scale was.
But this risk must be borne, otherwise the enemy will always hide in the dark, connect up and down, stir up trouble and trouble, and it is too passive to face the threat of the enemy all the time. All you need to do is separate the enemy from the clan, whether it is to be cut off immediately or killed Surveillance can take back the initiative.
The grand gathering of the Buddhist and Taoist sects caused the population of Chang'an City to surge and the public security to be chaotic. This was an opportunity for those people to launch an attack in advance, but it also gave the Four Guards an excuse to gather troops and set up defenses to cover up the public. Now it depends on whether those people dare to launch an attack in advance and how to launch the attack. How powerful it is.
……
The Wannian Yamen was very busy. As the Buddhist and Taoist sects held grand gatherings at the same time, not only the number of monks and Taoists entering Chang'an increased dozens or hundreds of times, but at the same time, there were countless people watching the excitement and vendors selling various goods in Chang'an today. , even the brothel Chu Palace in Pingkangfang invited famous prostitutes from other places to come and show off their own signs...
Normally, the permanent population of Chang'an has exceeded one million, but now it has increased by more than 200,000. All the inns and hotels in Chang'an, as well as the post stations outside the city and the brothels in Pingkangfang are already overcrowded, putting pressure on public security. You can imagine.
Everyone knows that this grand gathering of the two sects of Buddhism and Taoism heralds the beginning of the battle between each other. This will be a huge storm with far-reaching consequences. No one is willing to be passively involved in it because of their own negligence.
All officials are always paying attention to everything that happens in Chang'an City. Whenever there is a slightest sign of trouble, they must suppress it with all their strength to ensure that it does not cause trouble.
So when the officials from Jingzhao Prefecture broke into the yamen and directly demanded that the accounts be closed and audited, the officials in Wannian County were stunned for a moment. How long has it been since then and you are still busy measuring acres of land, inventorying assets, and determining tax rates?
Furthermore, the most important thing at this juncture is to keep the situation stable, and maintaining stability is the top priority. Such sealing and auditing of accounts is obviously targeted. Doesn't it mean that it will actively trigger a crisis of chaos?
Are the people in Jingzhao Mansion crazy?
When the officials of Jingzhao Prefecture saw that Wannian County officials were hesitant and hesitated to speak, they were immediately dissatisfied and took out Ma Zhou's warrant: "Jingzhao Yin's warrant is here. You must cooperate with us and do not violate it. If there is any Any delay will be punished severely!”
Wannian County officials did not relax because of this. Logically speaking, since there was a warrant, it would be easy to handle. They were just acting under orders, and all the consequences would be borne by Ma Zhou. He could not shirk it even if he wanted to, but this was not the case.
Everyone understood that this meant that these fields would no longer be owned by the original monasteries, and the real owners of these lands would suffer heavy losses. The local officials knew who those people were, so they all turned pale and shivered with fear. .
But he didn't dare to disobey the order. He quickly opened the warehouse and found stacks of dusty documents on the densely packed bookshelves. He moved them to the duty room and let the officials of Jingzhao Mansion check them, and then cooperated with them to find out those specific documents. The land was deleted from the Wannian County land account book and registered separately.
Jingzhao Mansion directly separated these fields from the temple industry and confiscated them, which was equivalent to direct war on those people.
Something big is going to happen...
In the evening, officials from the Jingzhao Prefecture loaded many trucks with land deeds dedicated to temples and Taoist temples, and Wannian County officials breathed a sigh of relief. Send letters to people everywhere whose land has been confiscated or confiscated.
……
In the main hall of the Prince's Mansion of Xiangyi County, the lights were bright, and the clans of the Tang Dynasty were gathered together.
This place is almost on par with Zongzheng Temple. Many clan members are not convinced by King Han as Zongzheng Qing. Instead, they are close to Li Shenfu, the king of Xiangyi County, and often move around.
"Bang!"
Li Chongxu, who was full of blood, slapped the coffee table hard and said angrily: "Is Ma Zhou crazy? You collect the taxes from the Buddhist and Taoist sects and collect them yourself. The land we donated to the Buddhist and Taoist sects is also If you are willing to pay the tax, why should you also confiscate it? This is the wealth that my Hanyang Palace has accumulated over the past few decades. Is this unbearable?”
Li Shenfu, who was sitting in the main seat, had his eyelids drooped. The old god was silent, making it difficult to see his happiness and anger.
Li Daoli was very sympathetic and said bitterly: "My family also has thousands of acres of fertile land that was confiscated. I was already at the end of my rope after being blackmailed by my second landlord. Now how can I survive without even these fields? Ma Zhou, a thief who has been so domineering, will definitely suffer in the future." Don’t die well!”
The dozen or so people present were shouting angrily, all because their fields dedicated to the temple and gymnasium had been confiscated by the Jingzhao Mansion for no reason. Since they had no idea, they could only be furious and ran to Li Shenfu to ask for a charter.
Since you are the leader, we usually listen to you, but now you have to stand up for us when we are in trouble, right?
However, Li Shenfu still looked indifferent and said nothing.
Li Daoli couldn't help but asked: "Uncle, what do you say about this matter? This is obviously His Majesty's intention to attack us. If Ma Zhou is allowed to tinker like this, it won't take long for our family property to be completely exploited. I’m afraid there will be no food in the house. How can I help my uncle accomplish great things if I don’t have rice and money?”
"Asshole!"
Li Shenfu's eyes suddenly opened, and his fierce look was revealed: "Why did I ever want to accomplish anything great? Do you need to bring out rice and grain to help me? Tell me, what is the purpose of your words? What on earth do you want to do? What?”
The old tiger was in full force, and at this moment Li Shenfu was so angry that he pointed his halberd and scolded him, scaring all the younger members of the clan into silence.
Li Daoli's face turned red and white after being scolded, and he couldn't live with it. However, he realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly apologized: "I was the one who said what I said, so don't blame me."
Li Shenfu scolded: "I wonder if you are worried about it. Do you think it's strange that this has reached His Majesty's ears? He has been talking nonsense all day long. It has nothing to do with me whether you have food in your house or not." ? The great power of the Tang Dynasty I have never heard of a clan member starving to death. If you really have no food, go and stay in Jingzhao Mansion. When Ma Zhou eats, you can eat with him. See if he dares to kick you out and let you go. Starve to death!”
Li Daoli's eyes lit up and he slapped his thigh: "That's right! Since Ma Zhou has forced him to have no way out, what else do you need to face? Besides, His Majesty ordered the monks and Taoists to pay taxes, but he may not let Ma Zhou control the temples and Taoist temples. After twisting the account books, all the land that was donated was confiscated. Not only our clan’s, but also the land of the nobles, I am not the only one who can’t afford to be punished like this by Ma Zhou!”
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Li Chongxu also became excited: "As long as we gather people and horses to make a fuss, I don't believe that Ma Zhou dares to risk the disapproval of the world! Chang'an City is in chaos now. If something happens again, how will he explain to His Majesty?"< br>
"If you ask me, let's just make the matter bigger. Now the whole Guanzhong is unstable. If we can find a chance... wouldn't it be wonderful?"
"We have been waiting, but when will this wait end?"
This sentence touched Li Shenfu's heart.
He has always advocated "striving for victory in stability". To accomplish big things, you cannot do it overnight but must be patient and patient. Only by being patient and patient and secretly accumulating strength. If you don't move, you will succeed if you move. It is not a panic and insufficient preparation. If you act rashly when the time comes, you will only lead to your own destruction if there are loopholes everywhere. His Majesty was in his prime years, but he was now seventy years old. Seventy years were rare in his life. He might not wake up and pass away one day... He couldn't afford to wait.