A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 25 Eye-opening
At the entrance of Mati Temple,
Li Yi couldn't help but sigh that it was worthy of being a temple built by royal decree, majestically situated on the bank of Shenhe Plateau, with an area of more than 300 mu, overlooking the mountains and water, and the scenery was pleasant.

There are more than 3,000 acres of fertile land on and below the plateau.

When the name of Hui Le, the head monk of the lower temple, was announced in front of the mountain gate, a monk in charge of reception immediately and politely welcomed him into the temple.

When we met again, Hui Liao was still wearing a red monk's robe and herringbone clogs, and his smile was like Maitreya Buddha. The first delivery went very smoothly, with ten kilograms of bean curd sheets and ten kilograms of fried tofu. Li Yi also gave him ten kilograms each of old tofu and tender tofu, and two kilograms each of vegetarian chicken and bean curd sheets. He hoped that the supply order could be expanded in the future.

"A big donor is coming to make a donation today, and the temple will prepare a vegetarian banquet," Hui Liao made a request, wanting Li Yi to teach the monks who prepare vegetarian banquets in the temple how to make bean curd sheets and fried tofu puffs, the same dishes that Wang Lizheng's family ate yesterday.

"No problem," Li Yi agreed immediately. "Braised bean curd sheets, stir-fried bean sprouts with tofu pudding, stir-fried bean curd sheets with black fungus, three-flavor bean curd sheet stew, and tofu pudding soup. Just these four dishes and one soup?"

"Thanks a lot."

Li Yi followed Hui Le to the temple's kitchen, which was very large. There were more than a hundred monks in the Ma Ti Temple, and there were also many slaves. In addition, there were many monks, scholars, and monks who stayed in the temple.

The temple is very popular and many people come to burn incense, especially on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month.

The kitchen of Mati Temple was called Xiangji Kitchen, and all the temple kitchens in Chang'an were called this name.

"Do you know why it is called Xiangji Kitchen?" Hui Liao asked.

Li Yi only knew that there was a famous Buddhist temple called Xiangji Temple at the foot of Shenheyuan in the Tang Dynasty. During the Anshi Rebellion, the famous Battle of Xiangji Temple broke out here. The Tang army and the rebels deployed 300,000 people to fight each other from day to sunset, from Nantianmen to Penglai East Road... The corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowed like rivers. The two sides were evenly matched. After more than half of their troops were killed or wounded, they still fought to the death and bravely advanced. It can be said to be a miracle in the era of cold weapon warfare.

In the end, the Tang army relied on its numerical advantage to win a narrow victory and successfully recovered Chang'an. In this battle, the Tang army killed 6 enemies and captured 2, but the two sides maintained a one-to-one exchange ratio.

However, Li Yi had inquired before and found out that Xiangji Temple had not yet been built at the foot of Shenheyuan.

The name of Xiangji Kitchen originated from the Vimalakirti Sutra. When Vimalakirti fell ill, the Buddha sent his disciples to visit him. Vimalakirti took the opportunity to preach Mahayana Buddhism. Near noon, Sariputra thought about how to eat. The layman scolded him, saying, "You are seeking liberation, how can you be so obsessed with eating? Since you want to eat, I will give you food you have never eaten before."

With the help of his supernatural powers, the lay Buddhist went to the distant Buddha Kingdom of Fragrant Rice and asked Fragrant Rice Buddha for a bowl of rice. The rich and refreshing aroma of the rice filled the entire city. Although the rice seemed small, it satisfied everyone present, and many people attained enlightenment because of the aroma.

From then on, temples renamed their kitchens "Xiangji Kitchens," hoping that the aroma of rice would inspire disciples to enlightenment.

The story sounds good.

I have to say that these days, the monks in temples are the best storytellers.

Li Yi didn't know whether the disciples in the temple could gain enlightenment from the smell of food, but what he knew was that all the major temples in Chang'an had Xiangji Kitchens, but Xiangji Kitchens were not just kitchens.
In fact, in most temples nowadays, the incense kitchen has another function, which is lending money.

Monks do not pay taxes or serve in the military. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, they have been engaged in industry and commerce. From the emperor to the common people, they have made large donations. The wealth of the temples has accumulated rapidly, but they cannot just leave it to rust, so they have to borrow money.

The kitchen has the closest contact with the outside world, so the Xiangji kitchen gradually became a place where temples lend money, and the loans were called Xiangji money.

Of course, Buddhism cannot be tainted by the smell of money, so the principal of the money accumulated is called "merit" and the interest is called "blessings".

The larger the temple, the lower the interest on the incense money.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, government loans, or public funds borrowed from government offices, offered a monthly interest rate of 8% and an annual interest rate of double that. However, the interest rate on incense-saving loans was relatively low. For example, at the Mati Temple, a large temple, their incense-saving loans offered a monthly return of 4 cents. For example, if a loan of 100 strings of cash was made over a one-year term, the return would be 48 strings of cash.

There is also a pawnshop in the temple. The monks call the pawnshop the Changshengku and the money lent out through pawnshops is called Changshengqian.

The names are better than one another,
But the interest is not small at all. Owing money to the temple is called owing a debt to Buddha, and most people dare not default on it.

The Three Stages Sect to which the Horse-Ti Temple belongs is the most secular among all the Buddhist sects today, and is also the most successful in making money.

Hui Liao brought Li Yi to the kitchen, and they were immediately greeted by a monk in charge of reception.

"Brother, are you borrowing or saving money?"

Hui Liao said, "This is Li Cunzheng from Luojiabao, bringing food to the kitchen. I asked him to teach Huotou a few new vegetarian dishes."

The monk greeted Li Yi and said, "So you are Village Chief Li from Luojiabao. Excuse me, but if you have any spare money, you can deposit it with our kitchen. We will lend it to you and pay you the interest on time."

Li Yicai realized that the temples did not lend all their own money, they had long learned how to get something for nothing.

Princes, nobles, landlords, and officials of all ranks would also deposit some of their spare money in the temples, entrust them to lend out, and collect interest on time.

The temples earned interest from it, while the noble officials enjoyed an easy life.

Many nobles who come to the temple to burn incense are not actually there to burn incense and worship Buddha, but to deposit money and collect interest.

Most of the common people who came to the temple were there to pawn or borrow money.

Everyone is just burning incense and worshiping Buddha in the name of it.

In the name of Buddha,

They were all doing the most mundane things. The monk who was in charge of reception even offered Li Yi a good deposit interest rate of 3% per month. He didn't have to worry about anything, and he could earn 36% interest in a year. The principal was safe, and the interest was reliable.

Li Yi believed that Ma Ti Si not only had a one-year loan with a 4% interest rate, but also short-term loans with higher interest rates, and even unsecured loans with higher interest rates. Of course, for some wealthy people who deposited a lot of money, the interest rates would definitely be higher.

But he has neither the money to lend nor the need to borrow money now.

Hui Le found the fire starter in the kitchen,
The fire chief was even fatter and had several monks in charge, and there were also many maids in the kitchen, who were slaves in the temple.

He had no doubts about the new dishes such as bean curd sheets and fried tofu puffs sent by Li Yi, after all, they were brought by Hui Le, the head of the lower house.

After walking around the kitchen,
Li Yi was quite amazed at this kitchen. It was very large. Not only were there stone pools and troughs for washing dishes and vegetables, but there were also four large iron pots for cooking.

The largest pot has an astonishing diameter of five feet and is more than two feet deep. Huotou said that it takes five bags of rice and two thousand kilograms of water to cook a meal, which can feed a thousand people.

It is only used during important temple fairs and charity activities every year.

It is said that after the rice is cooked, a layer of rice crust will form at the bottom of the pot, which is crispy, fragrant and delicious. It is also one of the specialties of this temple.

It takes an ox to make Li Yi's seven-seal pot. How many oxen would it take to make such a huge pot? It has to be said that it was a royal temple built by imperial decree, which means he was rich.

After teaching the cooking methods of several dishes in detail and soaking the bean curd sheets and black fungus, Li Yi and Hui Le went to visit the temple first.

This temple covers an area of several hundred acres, but many places are still empty. However, after all, it was the place where the princess of the Sui Dynasty became a nun, so you can still see the extraordinaryness of many places.

There are more than a dozen centuries-old ginkgo trees alone, and there are also thousands of cherry trees planted in the temple. It is said that when the cherry trees are in full bloom in spring, they are no less beautiful than the Qinglong Temple in Chang'an.

Looking at the magnificent Mati Temple, think about Wuji Temple.

It's only a few miles away, but this place is thriving. There are hundreds of acres of land and three thousand acres of farmland. There are over a hundred monks, groups of slaves, and many tenants. They lend money, collect rent, and accept alms, and their lives are extremely comfortable. On the contrary, Wuji Temple is destroyed and deserted. When the Taoist priest died, he was forced to return to secular life. The inheritance of Wuji Temple was cut off, and it was directly turned into a private residence.

All I can say is that monks are good at telling stories and packaging things. No matter what sect they belong to, they will describe a beautiful afterlife for you, such as believing in Buddha will lead you to the Western Paradise, and there is karma.
Taoists rarely do this. They look for blessed places to practice, seek immortality and ascension, and are determined to achieve enlightenment and become immortals. They don't care whether others believe in it or not. It's best not to bother me. Believe it or not, I would rather die than let my fellow Taoists die.

Taoism seeks immortality, Buddhism cultivates the afterlife. Buddhism always talks about liberation, Taoism cultivates happiness.

Taoists only care about themselves, so of course monks have a bigger market, and they also control the financial industry. In modern times, the nation that controls finance, such as the Americans, is the emperor in America. It’s okay for Americans to curse the sky, the earth, and the president, but it’s not okay for them to curse the Jews.

Li Yi remembered what Wang Lizheng said yesterday.

Take the initiative to ask Hui Liao for donation.

Hui Liao took him to Wu Jin Zang Monastery, where monks were accepting alms. Li Yi first donated 36 coins and 3 dou of millet according to the first-class standard, and then donated an additional 100 coins.

The monk wrote down Li Yi's name.

"We at Mati Temple believe in the Three Stages Sect. Zen Master Xingxing founded the Three Stages Sect, which divided Buddhism into three categories: time, place, and people. Each category is further divided into three stages. The sect believes that all living beings in the world are Buddhas, which is called universal Buddha. It advocates asceticism and forbearance. When you see people, regardless of gender, you should greet them with respect, which is called universal teaching.

Our Three Stages Sect promotes the Infinite Treasury, advocating that sentient beings should practice giving to eliminate past karma. Regarding the Infinite Treasury, there are two different methods for determining the amount of seeds. One is that the field is endless, providing for sentient beings day after day without interruption; the other is that the seeds are endless, indicating that one can give to others day after day without end, which is the Infinite Treasury.

Donated money and silk are divided into three parts: one part is used to support the expansion and renovation of Buddhist temples throughout the world; one part is used to relieve the suffering of the hungry and the needy throughout the world; and one part is used to support the well-being of the people...”

Li Yi listened to it and thought that the monk's rhetoric was very powerful. He said that by donating money to the temple, one could get rid of past karma. He could also donate a little every day. The temple would accept these donations and use them in a coordinated manner. It would use the principal to lend money and collect interest, repair the temple, buy land and help the poor and orphans.
They turned themselves into distributors who used the believers' property for religious ceremonies and charity.

The most special thing is that the donations they received were not used directly to build Buddhist temples or help the poor and orphans, but were first used to lend money and collect interest, or to buy land and rent it out to collect rent.
The monk also told Li Yi that if he needed help, he could take back the money he donated, without interest.

The money donated to Wu Jin Zang Yuan is different from the money given to Xiang Ji Chu for loan.

In short, Li Yi was also very eye-opening.

He felt that it would be really great if the money donated to Wu Jin Zang could be calculated with interest. If one could donate a little bit at a time and withdraw the money when needed, or withdraw it for retirement when old, wouldn't that become a unified pension insurance?
However, it is obvious that the Third Order Sect would not do such a thing. Even if they retrieve it in an emergency, it may not be possible to really retrieve it.

However, the Three Stages Teaching's Infinite Treasure confuses benevolent and pious donations with donations to the world and temples, and its value and effectiveness are doubled.

It has attracted countless believers among the people.

Back in the kitchen, Li Yi instructed the head cook to make four dishes and a soup with soaked bean curd sheets, black fungus, etc. After tasting them, Hui Le said that what Li Yi made yesterday was better.

After tasting the new ingredients, Huotou Monk and several other deacon monks were very satisfied with them. They thought the vegetarian dishes made from them were really good, so they asked Li Yi to supply them on a long-term basis and were willing to pay them on the same day. The price was one dou of rice for one jin of bean curd or fried tofu.

After leaving Xiangji Kitchen, Li Yi asked whether he should give another kickback to the kitchen's fire monk.

Fat Hui Le smiled and said no need, he could take care of it himself.

(End of this chapter)