Chapter seven hundred and fortieth tongue war Confucianism
In the past few years, thanks to the reputation on the lake, the bamboo stick and gauze scarf have shown their affection.
Sometimes I would stay in a temple outside the clouds, and I would walk along the river in the west without anything going on.
In Tao Qian's county, one can see flowers and hair, while in Yu Liang's tower, the moon is shining brightly.
Whoever travels thousands of miles to read and present the book, the king is deep in the nine-layered city.
——"The letter was sent to Wei Shijun of Suzhou and also to Li Mingfu of Wu County" Cui Dong (Tang Dynasty)
…
The extermination of Buddhism was originally planned by Prince Li Chu and his party.
Seeing that Li Chu was worried about expanding his financial and tax revenue, Li Chu's attendant Hu Fuduo Dan gave him advice and said: "Your Highness, I have been practicing in Shaolin for a period of time.
Shaolin has the largest amount of land in Luoyang, and the gold and silver treasures donated by donors are countless. Even the richest man in Luoyang and the prominent family in Hedong pale in comparison.
The Shaolin monks are even more numerous, and their monk soldiers are as powerful as a regular army.
Seeing the big from the small, we can see that the Buddhist temples in the Tang Dynasty occupied countless fields and people in the world, causing too much losses.
If the Buddhist temples are closed, the monks are dismissed, and the Buddha statues are minted, the court will no longer have to worry about finances and taxes."
Li Chu said: "What you said is correct. It is precisely because of this that Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty launched two campaigns to exterminate Buddhism.
However, although the benefits of destroying Buddhism are great, it will incur the resentment of Buddhists all over the world, and the gains outweigh the losses."
Sui Fu Duodan said softly: "If the public dissatisfaction is too great, after Your Highness ascends the throne, you can restore Buddhism at your discretion, but you do not need to re-allocate land and other materials to the Buddhist temple.
In this way, we can not only enjoy the benefits brought about by destroying the Buddha in this dynasty, but also avoid the bad reputation of destroying the Buddha, and gain the support of believers all over the world. It can be said that we kill three birds with one stone."
An evil light flashed in Li Chu's eyes, and he quickly found someone to plan.
Pei Mian, the right servant, is the uncle of the Crown Princess Dugu Xiaozhong, so he is naturally willing to sacrifice his life for Li Chu. Pei Mian found his close friend Zheng Shuqing, the imperial censor, and the two joined forces to play.
This was the scene of the court meeting.
…
Seeing Bai Fu step forward to share his worries, Suzong was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "Bai Aiqing, what do you have in mind?"
According to historical records, the main reason was that Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty launched two campaigns to exterminate Buddhism. The two emperors had different motivations and different situations, but they were the same. It was nothing more than political and religious reasons; the conflict between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism; the monk group and Taoism
Defects in style; conflicts in financial interests between monks and laymen, etc.
Since Zheng Shuqing, the imperial censor, and Pei Mian, the right servant, used financial and tax revenue as an excuse to destroy Buddha, Bai Fu started from here to refute them.
Bai Fudao said: "The imperial court can order the young and strong monks in the temple to farm and produce crops. If necessary, they can also tax them personally and order them to perform military service and corvee service.
The tax burden on temple land can be reduced or exempted, but taxes must be paid according to the number of acres.
In this way, there is no need for extreme events such as the extermination of the Buddha, and the court's fiscal revenue can also be expanded."
Zheng Shuqing, the imperial censor, laughed heartily and said: "Sir Bai's words may seem reasonable, but asking monks to work and pay taxes is nothing more than a dream.
Buddhist canons and precepts extremely despise and exclude farming labor, and believe that digging the ground, cutting grass, planting trees and other labor are 'unpure karma', and monks who engage in labor violate the precepts."
Bai Fu nodded and said: "Yes, many temples are indeed as Master Zheng said.
However, some Buddhist sects, led by Zen Buddhism, foresaw that the imperial court would tax temple property and order monks and nuns to serve, so these sects took a series of measures to help monks face the severe survival situation.
For example, Zen Master Huaihai of the Baizhang Temple in Daxiong Mountain in Xinwu, Hongzhou (now Fengxin, Jiangxi Province) established his own Zen monastery, led the people to practice, and implemented the agricultural and Zen life of the monks.
Zen Master Huaihai referred to the Mahayana precepts and formulated a new practice and life ritual "Zen Rules" (i.e. "Baizhang Qing Rules"), advocating the rule of "nothing for a day, no food for a day" among monks to ensure the development of the Zen sect. .”
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Back then, at White Horse Temple and Shaolin Temple, Bai Fu listened many times to Abbot Kong, Master Kong Jian and other eminent monks expounding Buddhism and telling Buddhist stories, and he became relatively familiar with Buddhism in the world.
Bai Fu spoke non-stop, and his eloquent manner made Zheng and Pei unable to argue for a while.
Apart from religious piety and the principle of saving all sentient beings, Bai Fu fully understood the importance of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples to the common people through his contacts with Xiong Badou and other low-level officials.
Bai Fu discussed the matter, and Kang said passionately: "Whether it is a Buddhist temple, a Taoist temple, or a Nestorian Zoroastrian church, it is not only the pious belief of the people, but also an institution for disaster relief and charity.
Buddhist temples and Taoist temples are responsible for supporting the elderly, weak, sick and disabled people all year round. Once Buddhist temples are closed, the poor people will have no food and clothing, and will suffer from poverty and disease, which will only accelerate their death.
At that time, the poor people in the world will definitely be full of resentment towards the imperial court."
When the right servant She Pei Mian heard this, he laughed and said: "Sir Bai, you are too worried. The imperial court can order the capital and various states and counties to allocate a certain amount of land and use the land rent to support these poor people, and replace the disaster relief charity originally hosted by the Buddhist temple. Become a government agency.
In this way, wouldn’t it be the best of both worlds?”
Bai Fu smiled calmly and said: "If all the organizations responsible for disaster relief charity activities become government-run, how efficient will they be?
Mr. Pei has been an official for many years, so he knows the effect of official documents better than a lower official, right?
The common people are not stupid, so how can they not know the truth of hiding their ears and stealing their bells?"
The right servant shot Pei Mian and his expression changed, and he glared at Bai Fu fiercely.
Of course all the courtiers knew what Bai Fu meant - the so-called charity officialdom was simply impossible to run successfully. It was just a cover to block the mouths of scholars all over the world.
In the face of major issues of right and wrong, Bai Fu stood firm and did not give Pei Mian any face, even if he worshiped his right servant She!
Although Suzong also felt that Bai Fu's loyal words were harsh, he was more willing to support Bai Fu's ideas than bear the infamy of destroying Buddhism.
Suzong was about to express his stance when Tong Zhongshu's subordinate Ping Zhangshi and Minister of War Lu Kui glared at Bai Fu angrily and said: "I heard that Lord Bai once practiced in Shaolin for a period of time. When Shaanzhou was recruiting soldiers, there were many local brave disciples from Shaolin. .
As the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, how could you put your own selfish interests ahead of the country and the country?!
Mr. Bai disregarded the overall situation of the imperial court and openly defended Buddhism today. I am afraid that I will live up to His Majesty’s grace of promoting you in an unusual way!”
Bai Fu's eyes turned cold, and murderous intent suddenly appeared, and he thought in his heart: "This old rogue has openly opposed me many times. If he continues to endure it, he will become even more unscrupulous."
While all the courtiers were whispering, Liu Yan came out with a memorial to ease the tense atmosphere between Bai and Lu. Liu Yan said: "Your Majesty, we are closing the temple. This is a serious matter. We can discuss it slowly and don't rush to a conclusion." .
Regarding the sources of fiscal and tax revenue, Wei Chen and Master Bai also have some ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure to meet the court's expenses."
After that, Bai Fu introduced the methods of leveling, salt administration, water transportation and so on one by one. All the courtiers could not help but nod and praise highly.
Suzong Longyan was very happy and said: "What Liu Aiqing said is absolutely true. Regarding these methods of raising finance and taxation, you and Bai Aiqing jointly submitted a memorial to the minister. After the two provinces signed the signature, I personally approved it.
As for closing the temple and dismissing the monks, we will discuss it later."
A few days later, Suzong issued an edict and agreed to implement methods such as leveling, salt administration, and water transportation to raise fiscal and tax revenue.