Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 141 The Judge Who Encourages Farming
The next day, not long after the gates of the neighborhood opened, Xu Shen arrived in a hurry, looking tired but also a little excited. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was holding several rolls of paper covered with writing in his arms.

Judging from this, he probably hasn't slept since he went back here, and has been writing furiously ever since.

Seeing Xu Shen's enthusiasm, Zhang Dai was quite satisfied with his attitude, but he still wanted to see how well the other party performed.

Xu Shen was originally from Bianzhou (Kaifeng). After returning to his hometown, he moved his deceased father's remains, erected a monument, and visited relatives and friends. He had recently returned to Luoyang. Therefore, what he saw was mainly the impact of the disaster on Bianzhou, with little involvement in other places.

Although the Yellow River breached its banks in Weizhou, the preceding heavy rains had spread throughout Henan and Hebei. Bianzhou, located at a crucial point for the Grand Canal, was also surrounded by numerous canals and waterways. Long before the Yellow River breached its banks, it had suffered greatly from the backflow of the river, resulting in the destruction of agriculture and sericulture. In Kaifeng alone, thousands of hectares of farmland were damaged, and countless transport ships of all sizes were also affected.

The Xu family was relatively well-off in Kaifeng, and therefore had a comprehensive understanding of the various losses within the region. He described in detail the disaster situation in Kaifeng and the surrounding areas, and offered several suggestions for disaster relief.

The first priority is to implement work-for-relief programs and dredge the canals within Bianzhou as soon as possible to facilitate the restoration of the Grand Canal. Secondly, Bianzhou should be used as a disaster relief material center, as various materials can only be efficiently distributed and transported to the surrounding areas if they are stored in Bianzhou.

These are all standard relief programs, but Xu Shen, as a local of Bianzhou, has a more specific and detailed understanding of how these programs are implemented. He even has a record of the transport volume of the water and land transport routes connecting Bianzhou to other prefectures within a fixed period of time.

This also shows that Xu Shen's previous appointment as the Military Advisor of Henan Prefecture was not solely due to his sycophancy; he possessed genuine ability.

In addition to these conventional relief strategies, Xu Shen also proposed a plan to mobilize merchants to participate in disaster relief, namely, to reduce or even completely exempt customs and market taxes within Bianzhou, in order to encourage merchants from all sides to transport goods to Bianzhou, and then replenish the government treasury through official markets and other means.

Zhang Dai had heard similar ideas mentioned at Yuwen Rong's home, but Yuwen Rong rejected them.

First, the power of merchants cannot compare with the mobilization efforts of the government. Second, the current problem is not only about providing relief to the disaster area, but also about the very tight internal and external finances.

Furthermore, the collection or exemption of market taxes is not directly related to disaster relief. On the contrary, whether or not rent and tax are collected in the current and following year directly affects the livelihoods of people in disaster areas. If market taxes are exempted, but rent and tax are not exempted for disaster victims, is that reasonable?
Yuwen Rong rejected this proposal from a holistic perspective, but that doesn't mean the suggestion was meaningless. Those directly responsible for disaster relief on the front lines should be aware of the need to mobilize all available resources to provide aid and assistance to the victims.

Therefore, Xu Shen's ability to propose this idea, at least in terms of attitude and approach, was satisfactory in Zhang Dai's eyes. Furthermore, what he needed Xu Shen to do was to coordinate the personnel he had dispatched to the disaster area, and then negotiate with the local government to ensure that his people and resources could play their due role in the disaster area.

"Pack your things, and I'll take you to the imperial court to report on your business."

After reading Xu Shen's answer sheet, Zhang Dai thought it was not particularly amazing, but it was acceptable. If Xu Shen's other qualities and talents were taken into account, it could even be said that it was quite excellent. So he smiled and said to Xu Shen.

"Thank you sir for your support, thank you sir for your support!"

Upon hearing that he had passed the test, Xu Shen was overjoyed and repeatedly bowed to Zhang Dai in gratitude. In the end, he even knelt down in front of Zhang Dai.

Xu Shen was then led away to tidy up a bit, ate something to fill his hungry stomach, and then went out with Zhang Dai toward the imperial city.

Upon arriving at the Imperial Censorate, Yuwen Rong was not there. He was about to be dispatched to the disaster area for relief work and had been staying at the Ministry of Revenue to take stock of personnel.

So they turned back to the Ministry of Revenue in the east of the city. This time they did not come up empty-handed. Yuwen Rong gave Xu Shen a brief examination in the Ministry of Revenue and found that his basic qualities were acceptable. So he wrote a letter of recommendation and asked Xu Shen to go to the Secretariat to receive the imperial edict.

As the two left the Ministry of Revenue's office, they saw that the Ministry of Personnel was still very lively. The selection process was at a critical moment, with candidates from various prefectures gathering in the capital to await assessment and appointment.

Originally, Xu Shen would have had to go through at least several years of waiting for the election. The candidates gathered in the capital province were all unattainable targets for him. However, he never expected that just by visiting Zhang Dai once, he would directly skip the waiting and election process and become an agricultural judge who could travel freely to several prefectures and supervise agricultural and sericultural affairs!

"I will never forget your great kindness, my lord! I will do my utmost on this mission and live up to your expectations!"

If there was any hint of friendship before, after being recommended by Zhang Dai to serve as the agricultural advisor, Xu Shen directly considered himself a disciple. Judging from his demeanor, he was almost identical to the censor who willingly served as Yuwen Rong's groom.

Zhang Dai didn't offer any platitudes about titles or official positions. Since he had chosen Xu Shen, he naturally intended to develop him into his own faction. After leaving the capital province, he said to Xu Shen, "I will not accompany you to the Secretariat. Your predecessors have already gone east. After you receive the imperial decree, depart as soon as possible. I don't want you to elaborate on what to pay attention to on this mission. I will only say one thing: human lives are at stake, and disaster relief must be swift."

Your fellow villagers have also suffered greatly from the disaster. Put yourself in their shoes; saving even one person is not only a meritorious deed, but also a great act of kindness! Since I have planned this matter, those of you who have contributed need not worry about not receiving recognition; I will take care of the publicity!

"I will certainly keep in mind Bishop Lang's teachings and spread his virtuous deeds throughout the disaster area so that the people may benefit!"

Xu Shen quickly bowed and said that although he was shrewd and cunning, he was not entirely selfish. He was well aware of the value of this opportunity, and since it concerned his hometown, he naturally had to put in more effort and care.

After leaving Dongcheng, Zhang Dai went to Gao Chengxin's house in Daoguangfang. This time, Gao Chengxin was not at home, and only his sister-in-law received him. She was still very warm and welcoming, and while she was chatting with him in the hall, she sent a servant to the palace to inform Gao Chengxin.

After waiting for about half an hour, Gao Chengxin rode home. Upon entering the hall, he first smiled and said to Zhang Dai, "I have already presented the plan that Liu Lang mentioned to Father, and Father also strongly agrees with it. Since the Emperor will need to accompany him to Guangchengtang in Ruzhou in the middle of the month, all matters have been entrusted to me. I am to complete this task before the Emperor returns to the capital."

The current sage really loves soaking in hot springs. When he was in Chang'an, he would go to Lishan to stay for a period of time almost every year. Now that he is in Luoyang, he goes to Ruzhou to soak in hot springs.

Zhang Dai knew about this, and his grandfather was also going to accompany him. He even asked Zhang Dai if he wanted to go for a soak in the hot springs, but he had too many things on his mind to do and didn't have time to go.

"Does Brother Sixteen have a preferred lineage or candidate?"

Zhang Dai then asked with a smile.

His strategy for Gao Chengxin was to directly undermine the temple's foundation by dismissing or stripping all the original monks of Changshou Temple of their monastic status, and then introduce other sects to fill the temple's ranks. He would then let these sects compete among themselves and determine the new chief monk of Changshou Temple based on the effectiveness of their teachings and the reactions of the believers.

Upon hearing this, Gao Chengxin nodded, and while pulling out a roll of paper from his pocket, he said to Zhang Dai with a smile, "A preliminary personnel plan has been drafted, and we still need to wait for Liu Lang to come and discuss it together."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai waved his hand and said, "I really don't know much about Buddhist sects and monks. I can offer suggestions and advice, but inviting me to discuss them together would be too much of a burden for me."

Last time this guy got drunk and went on a rampage, he was already shouting that making decisions on his own was the most enjoyable moment in life, clearly showing his personality of preferring to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond. Even his godfather entrusted him with all the matters, so if Zhang Dai were to insist on giving him advice, wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

Upon hearing this, Gao Chengxin no longer asked for his opinion, but simply introduced him to the sects and figures to be introduced.

Zhang Dai was not interested in any of these things. He noticed that there were no representatives of the Pure Land School on the list, so he asked, "Why are there no Pure Land monks listed?"

"Sixth Brother is indeed ignorant of Buddhist matters. The Pure Land School regards Zen Master Shandao as its founding patriarch. After Zen Master Shandao passed away, there were no famous monks in the two capitals who could be said to have succeeded him. Although there are many believers, there are few eminent monks who can unify the school. Even if there are, they probably would not condescend to Changshou Temple."

After hearing Gao Chengxin's explanation, Zhang Dai sighed and said, "This is such a pity. My family has many elders who practice the Samadhi of Buddha Recitation. I was originally planning to take this opportunity to arrange a Dharma assembly for the Pure Land School at Changshou Temple so that my elders could come and pay homage to the Buddha..."

At this point, he suddenly looked at Gao Chengxin and said, "Brother Sixteen, could you please establish a Pure Land Temple in Changshou Temple? I will personally recruit renowned monks to preside over the temple, so that Pure Land believers in the capital may have something to follow."

Because the Pure Land School transmits expedient methods and does not emphasize scriptures and rituals, it does not have as many famous monks as other schools. To put it in a somewhat outdated way, it is a decentralized faith model.

Zhang Dai only wanted the shell of Changshou Temple to use as a pretext for his own gain. He didn't really want to promote Buddhism. He just needed to get the people in the capital, especially the palace servants who rarely communicated with the outside world, to mention Changshou Temple and know that there was a Pure Land Temple inside. This would give them a certain level of trust, and that would be enough.

Whether or not there are renowned monks presiding over this Pure Land Temple is completely unimportant. Moreover, Pure Land believers, as long as they chant "Amitabha Buddha," probably have no idea how many eminent monks of their school there are in the present day.

Gao Chengxin didn't suspect anything. After hearing this, he nodded and smiled, "What's so difficult about this? Sixth Brother's plan is very helpful to me. There are seven or eight monasteries in Changshou Temple. Why not give you one? We'll go to tour the temple together later. You can choose which monastery you want beforehand. Even if it's just a private residence, that's fine too!"

(End of this chapter)