Han Shizu

Chapter 376
In the northern part of Xin Dynasty and the southern part, five peaks stand tall, straight out of the clouds, with no trees on the top, like a platform built of soil, so it is called Wutai.

Between the stretching peaks and ridges, the charm of Buddha is flourishing. As a holy land of Buddhism and a famous mountain of Buddhism, it has always stood firm despite the vicissitudes of thousands of years, and its status is transcendent.

During the mid-Tang Dynasty, between the peaks of the Wutai Buddhist Temple, there were hundreds of Buddhist temples, large and small, and more than [-] monks and nuns.Even if it was damaged due to the troubled times of the late Tang Dynasty, it still does not hinder the "Buddha Lord Wutai".

There are more than [-] monks who can be inspected by the government alone. If you add private monks and monks who travel and board, there will be even more monks, not to mention the households attached to mountain temples, monks and farmers.Around Wutai, there are many mountains and flat land, and the fields are vast. Therefore, the population, land, and industries occupied by the temples are a huge wealth, especially for the Northern Han Dynasty, which has worked hard to recover and develop, it is even more attractive.

Since Emperor Liu Chengyou of the Han Dynasty decided to "destroy the Buddha", the temples in the Wutai Mountains have inevitably become the key "care" objects of the court.

Just a month ago, after a long period of investigation and preparation, Liu Chengyou formally issued an edict in the Chongyuan Dynasty to prohibit and rectify Buddhist temples and temples across the country.

This move is obviously different from the previous small-scale targeted disposal. This is a comprehensive blow to destroy Buddha.Even though Liu Chengyou's control over the center is getting deeper and deeper, the court is still not his one word. Regarding this matter, many courtiers raised objections, advised Liu Chengyou to be cautious, and some directly advised him to withdraw his order.

Buddhism still has considerable influence both at home and abroad, as well as in the government and the public.Even in various local towns, there are many people who believe in Shijiao among those murderous warriors, and they may want to use Buddhism to wash away the blood on their bodies. Of course, most of these people still hold bloody knives and chant mercy.

However, even though there are many criticisms from the DPRK and China, under the implementation of Liu Chengyou's resolution, all obstacles are not a big problem.What's more, it took Liu Chengyou a day or two to prepare for suppressing the Buddha. Since Li Shouzhen's rebellion in Xipinghe, it took nearly two years, which consumed a lot of manpower.

And the military and political power departments of the DPRK and China passed their gas early and quickly reached a consensus to stand on the emperor's side.

The third department is in charge of the country's finances, and has always been in short supply; the Privy Council coordinates the troops, horses and battles, the soldiers will be mobilized to raise rewards, and the plan to attack Huainan in the south has also been put on the agenda, and they all need money and food; For them, it is even simpler. The country’s finances are ample, so it can support them; and the local states, Jiedu, defense, and regiment training are obviously profitable. If they can share a share, how can they refuse? Even civil unrest, the emperor and the court are responsible for the responsibility, they are the execution center's orders...

Therefore, after the emperor's order was issued, a top-down, from central to local, attack and plunder against Buddhist temples across the country quickly unfolded vigorously.

Liu Chengyou's "destroying Buddha" was essentially to liberate the population and land, develop the economy, and generate a huge amount of income for the court by the way for the great cause.

But you can't be too "blunt" in doing this, and you have a reputation for learning from others, even if it is a naked act of plunder.Officially, the emperor's imperial edicts and the imperial court's orders all center on "recalling the old chapters and overthrowing the past" and repeatedly mention the word "rectification".

Moreover, it is natural to find a "good opportunity" and then take advantage of it.It was early summer, and the Emperor Liu Chengyou, out of his filial piety, specially accompanied the Empress Dowager Li to the Xiangguo Temple in Tokyo to worship the Buddha.

It was the first time that the emperor expressed his intention to pray for Buddha, which made the Buddhist sect who had felt the imminent mountain rain be overjoyed.

Then, something went wrong.

First of all, Liu Chengyou couldn't bear his curiosity, so he "randomly" picked a monk to recite a scripture, but if he didn't, the empress was immediately displeased.

At that time, there were also poor people from the left side of the temple, who risked their lives to go through the pass to see them, and sued the Buddhist temple for embezzling property and enslaving men and women. Liu Chengyou was very angry when he met him.

That is to say, the army was sent to encircle the temple, to control the middlemen, and to control the crane army, the commander Li Chongju made an investigation of the Buddhist temple.As a confidant general who was born as the emperor's bodyguard, he found out the problem very easily.Among the monks of Xiangguo Temple, several soldiers who had escaped from the army were found out.

Hearing the result, the emperor was very angry.

Next, a series of serious and thorough rectification actions against Xiangguo Temple proceeded logically.Collecting its acres, seizing its property, dispersing its monks, and punishing its lawlessness, Xiangguo Temple, which has not yet reached its peak, was erected as a model and became a victim of "destroying Buddha".

Afterwards, it was a fuss-free operation. Within a few days, Tokyo and various prefectures and states have made a concerted effort, saying that there are many Buddhist temples in the world, private monks and nuns, increasingly obscene, and sheltering evil. According to the report, all Buddhist temples in China seem to be described as places where filth is hidden and need to be rectified urgently.

Under a series of preliminary preparations, the policy of destroying Buddha is imperative, and it will gradually spread to the whole world!

Compared with the Temple of Wufeng, Foguang Temple can only be regarded as an ordinary temple among the temples in Wutai Mountain. However, the temple stands surrounded by green mountains, with towering giant trees and majestic halls, which is a famous temple scenery.

However, in the early autumn of the third year of Qianyou, the leaves in the mountains had just turned yellow, but the Buddhist temple was already shrouded in desolation and desolation.

Inside and outside the mountain temple was occupied by a small group of officers and soldiers and more than a dozen government servants. There was also a group of people dressed in black, exuding an air of keeping strangers away, looking at the Buddhist temple indifferently.

Dozens of monks, big and small, young and old, under the guard of officers and soldiers, left the monastery with their parcels in their hands.

Liu Chengyou's extermination of Buddhism does not mean to completely eliminate Buddhism, because it is unrealistic, and mainly uses the means of combating and restricting.The Buddhist temples in Wutai Mountain, according to the regulations of the imperial court, after distinguishing whether they are worthy or not, and selecting meritorious deeds, only twenty temples, big or small, are left, which is already considered a disaster.The other temples were all suspended or even demolished. All the big temples occupying the main peak of Wutai cannot escape bad luck.

And Foguang Temple is obviously not among the twenty reserved names.

A young novice monk, led by the old monk, turned his head step by step, looking at the high mountain gate for him, his eyes were blurred with tears, full of reluctance.

The old monk caressed his head and looked haggard. He looked at the officers and soldiers around him, and the shiny spears shone coldly, making one's heart palpitate.

With a heavy sigh, I only feel that my mind is bad.The time for Foguang Temple to be built is not too long. It just caught up with the great development of Buddhism in Tang Dynasty.After reconstruction, it has been less than a hundred years now, and it has undergone major changes, and it is in danger of falling into the temple.

Standing on a high place, followed by several black-robed subordinates, Wang Jingchong quietly watched the movement of the moving Buddha under his feet. The sad scene made him put on a slight smile on the corner of his mouth.

With a wave of his hand, Wang Jingchong directly ordered: "It's almost done, let the Wutai County government close, the land and population under the temple will be properly allocated, and all monks will return to vulgarity, and they will be placed under surveillance, so don't neglect them."

Then he went to the leader of the officers and soldiers and said, "Let the soldiers dismantle the bronze statues and ritual artifacts in the temple, transport them down the mountain, send them to Tokyo, and hand them over to the imperial court!"

"Yes!"

"Carefully inspect the property in the temple to avoid hidden places. After the inventory is completed, demolish this temple for me." Coldly, Wang Jingchong gave another order.

There are too many Buddhist temples in Mount Wutai and their influence is too wide. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the policy of "destroying Buddhism", the imperial court needs to send capable people.As the Deputy Envoy of Wude, the political star who rose rapidly in the three years of Qianyou, the emperor's "loyal dog", Wang Jingchong was sent to Hedong to deal with this matter, and Wang Jingchong obviously enjoyed it and regarded it as an opportunity for further political career. Energetic.

(End of this chapter)