The west wind blows the old Dongting waves, and Xiangjun's hair turns white all night long.
After being drunk, I don’t know that the sky is on the water, and the boat is full of clear dreams that overwhelm the stars.
——"Inscribed on Qingcao Lake, Longyang County" by the Communist Party of the Tang Dynasty (Yuan Dynasty)
…
Bai Fu nodded and said: "Nowadays, the war between Gyeonggi Province and Henan Province is stalemate, and water transportation is blocked. Once the rebellion is suppressed, water transportation needs to be restored as soon as possible."
Before Yun Yanying could speak, Shi Sunyan, the secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, had already rushed to answer. When he saw Wang Jiangting, Yun Yanying was talking non-stop and could no longer hold back.
Water transportation is his duty, and he has been studying it for several years, so he naturally takes up the responsibility at this time.
Sun Yan already said: "Water transport is the main channel for goods in the world. Grain from the Jianghuai River is transported to Chang'an through water transport.
Nowadays, water transportation is depleted and blocked. Once the counter-insurgency is successful, it is necessary to dredge the river as soon as possible and restart the south-to-north grain diversion. However, the pre-war water transportation method has many flaws, and we can take the opportunity to change it."
Bai Fu said: "How to adjust?"
Sun Yan already said: "First of all, organize manpower to dredge the river from Jianghuai to Gaoshi step by step, build 2,000 strong large cannons, and train sergeants to transport grain. Every ten ships will form a team, and the officers will be responsible for escorting the transportation.
Instead of conscripting strong men along the river to serve, the court's salt profits were used to hire boatmen. The boatmen were transferred from the government to hired men.
The method of the former Lord Pei Yaoqing can be followed, changing the straightening method to the section transport method, dividing the whole journey into four transport sections, and building transfer stations. Warehouses can be set up at the junctions of Yangzhou, Biankou, Heyin, Weikou and other rivers to store grain.
Ready for transfer.
At the same time, dedicated ships are used to prevent river ships from entering the Bian River, Bian ships from entering the Yellow River, and river ships from entering the Wei River. This method can not only improve the efficiency of grain transportation, but also use dedicated ships for specific rivers to prevent capsizing accidents.
After the reform of water transportation, it can not only improve transportation efficiency, reduce food loss, reduce freight, but also relieve the people of Jiangnan from hard labor.
According to my calculations, if this method is implemented, grain from the Jianghuai River can be continuously transported to Chang'an, with an annual transportation volume of 400,000 to 100,000 shi. This not only solves the food shortage in the capital area, but also provides reserves to prepare for disaster years.
.”
Although the officials in the Ministry of Revenue do not hold high positions, they manage specific affairs every day and have a deep understanding of the finances and taxation of the court. Once they are given the opportunity to speak freely about government affairs, they can brainstorm and quickly discuss countless ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
Fiscal and taxation methods.
Bai Fu was overjoyed and hurriedly asked his attendant to write it down with his pen.
After the banquet was over, Bai Fu couldn't sleep at night.
Who says the court has no talents? It’s just that these people are humble and unable to offer advice and suggestions, which makes the court unable to do anything about finance and tax matters.
Gold, jade and pearls are mixed into the mud and sand, gathering dust and ashes. This is not only the tragedy of talented people, but also the tragedy of the Tang Dynasty!
…
The next day, Bai Fu went to Liu Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs, and told him in detail what everyone had said last night.
Liu Yan read the proposal sent by Bai Fu and carefully studied the above plan. He was so impressed that he said with great joy: "Master Bai, your plan is feasible. As long as it is implemented according to this, within three years, the imperial court will no longer have to pay for finance and taxation."
Worry about one thing.
Lord Bai, no wonder you have become a general and a prime minister, you are not only knowledgeable about military matters, but you also have such in-depth research on finance and taxation!"
Bai Fu quickly waved his hand and said: "Master Liu, you are ridiculous. The plan mentioned above is not my idea, but the plan of several officials in the Ministry of Revenue. I don't dare to be greedy for credit."
After that, Bai Fu informed the names of Sun Yanji, the secretary of the Ministry of household affairs, Yun Yanying, the director of the household department, Wang Jiangting, the chief clerk of the money department of the household department, and others.
"Oh? There is such a talent in the Ministry of Finance. As the minister of the Ministry of Finance, I didn't know it. I am ashamed and ashamed." Liu Yan was quite ashamed, and he even started to love talents.
Bai Fu said: "Your Excellency, there should be a group of talents among the middle and lower-level officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs. They are not only well-read in poetry and books, but also have rich experience in finance and taxation. However, due to their background, these scholars from poor families have not been taken seriously.
If we can promote them and give them the opportunity to display their talents, it will be a blessing for the court."
Liu Yan said: "Master Bai, don't worry, with your recommendation, I will not let these talents be buried."
…
At the court meeting a few days later, the courtiers were still discussing and arguing endlessly about the expansion of tax sources.
At the court meeting, the censor Zheng Shuqing and his right servant She Pei Mian's plan to increase revenue and reduce expenditure caused an uproar.
Zheng Shuqing, the imperial censor, and Pei Mian, the right servant, did not talk about financial and tax revenue at first, but talked about the harm of Buddhism: "Since the Jiuzhou Mountain Plains, at the gate of the two capitals, the number of monks has increased, and the number of Buddhist temples has increased. Manpower has been devoted to civil engineering.
, seize people's ornaments that are beneficial to gold and treasures, leave the king's relatives to the teachers, and violate the precepts between spouses. There is no way to harm others by breaking the law. And if a man does not cultivate his land, there will be those who suffer from hunger; if a woman does not silkworm, there will be
Those who suffer from the cold. Today, there are countless monks and nuns, all of whom wait for farmers to eat and silkworms to clothe themselves. Temples and temples are decorated with clouds and algae, pretending to be palaces. Jin, Song, Qi,
Liang, the material resources are withered and the customs are deceitful, all of which are caused by this..."
Next, the two men submitted an earth-shattering financial and taxation plan, which was to close the Buddhist temple and dismiss the monks!
Zheng Shuqing, the imperial censor, and his right servant She Pei Mian reported: "I asked the ancestral department in charge of monks to conduct an investigation and found that there are 4,600 temples and 40,000 monks' residences (Lanruo) in the world. Monks,
There are a total of 260,500 nuns. In other words, among the people of the Tang Dynasty, there is one monk for every one thousand people.
For the sake of the Tang Dynasty, I request you to order the destruction of Buddha!"
As soon as this statement came out, the civil and military officials were in an uproar, and the court immediately exploded.
The imperial censor Zheng Shuqing and his right servant She Pei Mian ignored the shock of the ministers and continued: "My specific plan is as follows: only one exquisite temple should be preserved in each larger state and county. If the remaining temples have ancestors,
Statues of emperors and sages can be moved into this preserved temple. As for smaller states and counties, there is no need to preserve Buddhist temples.
Chang'an and Luoyang can each retain ten temples, and each temple retains ten monks. Chang'an Wannian County retains Ci'en Temple and Jianfu Temple, and Chang'an County retains Ximing Temple and Zhuangyan Temple.
Except for the dozens of temples allowed to be preserved by the imperial court, the rest were destroyed and all monks and nuns returned to secular life.
In addition, more than 3,000 monks preached in the Nestorianism (Christianity) of the Qin Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty and the Zoroastrianism in Persia. The ministers and others suggested that these two sects should not be retained, and the 3,000 monks should return to the secular world together."
All the courtiers were whispering to each other and discussing. Everyone knew the real reason for destroying the Buddha: to expand the court's fiscal revenue.
The Buddhist temples spread all over the world in the Tang Dynasty caused too much resource loss:
The first is the population of Buddhist temples. Every temple is filled with young and strong monks, but not only do they not work, they also do not pay taxes or perform labor services. The court has long wanted to take advantage of them.
The second is the land of Buddhist temples. According to the tradition since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the land of Buddhist temples is tax-free. When the court's taxation was too strict, people even gave the land to temples first, and then became tenants of the temple land.
The income was more cost-effective than owning land. However, the court lost a lot of fiscal and tax revenue as a result.
The third is the bronze statues in Buddhist temples. Since the imperial court had a monopoly on coinage, there was a shortage of both copper and money, and there were a large number of bronze statues in Buddhist temples that could be used to mint money.
During the Xuanzong Dynasty, the court had already considered restricting temples. For example, monks also had to perform military service and corvee labor, and temple land also had to pay taxes, and temples had to use soil, stone, and wood to make statues. Only buttons on Buddha statues were allowed.
Use a little copper to decorate the ornaments.
However, these methods have encountered too much resistance from the public and cannot be implemented.
The plan of exterminating the Buddha by the censor Zheng Shuqing and his right servant She Pei Mian completely solved the problem. According to their calculations, once this plan is adopted, the court will gain a lot of income, enough to meet the military expenses of countering the rebellion: Twenty-six
Tens of thousands of monks and nuns returned to secular life and became two-tax households; at the same time, 150,000 slaves and maidservants employed by Buddhist temples also became two-tax households; in addition, the imperial court added tens of millions of hectares of land, all of which were of the highest quality.
After the censor Zheng Shuqing and his right servant shot Pei Mian played, Suzong looked extremely ugly.
Suzong believed deeply in Buddhism. After Lingwu ascended the throne, in order to quell the war, Suzong set up altars many times to worship the Buddha.
In the second year of Zhide (757), the Tang army recaptured the two capitals, and Suzong returned to Chang'an. When talking about state affairs, he often attributed the victory of retreating from the enemy to the blessing of Buddha.
Suzong didn't know the benefits of closing Buddhist temples to the court's finances. However, this plan ran counter to Suzong's personal beliefs and it was extremely difficult to agree to it.
Zheng and Pei came from two aristocratic families, the Zheng family and the Wenxi Pei family respectively in Xingyang. Their petitions naturally represented the opinions of these two aristocratic families.
He could neither publicly denounce him nor grant his petition. Suzong had a headache.
At this moment, Bai Fu stepped forward, holding a wat tablet, and loudly said: "Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate to close the Buddhist temple and dismiss the monks!"