Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 260 Oh no! Zhu Yuanzhang is coming for us!

Ok? !

The Taoist priest, who had just been quite dissatisfied with his junior brother, was immediately stunned.

The hand holding the teacup trembled involuntarily.

The composure she had shown earlier was gone.

"You mean, the imperial court's land survey is targeting us?"

"That's right, senior brother, they came specifically for us!"

As they were talking, the young Taoist priest arrived in front of them, looking out of breath.

It's obvious they came running all the way here.

At that moment, he didn't even have time to catch his breath.

"Senior brother, the government has issued a proclamation saying that they will conduct a land survey in our village."

They were given three days to voluntarily report the amount of land they owned, including Taoist temples and other local gentry. No one was allowed to conceal their land holdings.

Three days later, they will conduct verification and a formal land survey.

"What kind of procedure is this? A complete inventory check?"

The older Taoist priest asked with a gloomy face.

"Or are you going to reserve a portion for us?"

"They say...they say that apart from the land granted by the imperial court, all the rest are illegal and are all subject to land survey and will be confiscated."

Then, the land was distributed to the people to cultivate.

"boom!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the older Taoist priest slammed the teacup in his hand to the ground.

"Nonsense! Damn it!"

He spoke out angrily.

"What is the imperial court trying to do? What is it trying to do?"
He's trying to uproot us!

It's no wonder he was so emotional.

This matter is far too complicated.

In addition to the offerings from believers and the income from performing rituals.

One of the main reasons why they lived such a carefree life in their Taoist temples was that each temple owned a considerable amount of farmland.

For example, their Qingyun Temple owns more than a thousand hectares of land.

According to the imperial court's standards, they couldn't possibly keep even a single one of those thousand-plus qing of land!
They will all be taken away by land surveying.

Because only exceptionally famous places could be granted land by the imperial court.

For example, Zhang Zhenren's place on Longhu Mountain.

Even in Longhu Mountain, among the many fields it possesses, very few were actually granted by the emperor.

The vast majority of the land was acquired through other means.

Now, the emperor is conducting a land survey and is actually going to take back all these fields!

What will happen to them if they really take it back?
How can one live such a tranquil and carefree life?
Although they no longer own much land, they still have enough to eat and drink thanks to incense offerings and religious ceremonies.

But it's nothing compared to the days before.

Today, they not only have incense offerings, but also a stable income from their extensive land holdings.

Their land also needs to pay taxes to the imperial court. All they need to do is hire some people to cultivate it and regularly pay rent to their Taoist temple.

This is their Taoist temple's most important source of income.

With so much land at their disposal, life couldn't be more comfortable.

Farmland is their most stable and largest source of income.

Moreover, because they owned a large amount of land, they naturally had the ability to make the surrounding tenants obedient to them.

There are many intricacies involved in renting land, determining who gets to rent good land and who gets to rent bad land.

With distinctions made, there is naturally a lot of room for maneuver.

For example, if a family has a good daughter or a good wife, they can farm the land well.

If the daughter and wife in the family are not good, the land they cultivate will be of lower quality.

If someone is ignorant and doesn't have a daughter or a wife yet, they have to farm the lowest-grade fields...

This alone is enough to make many tenants obedient to them and listen to them in everything.

To be at their beck and call.

Now the imperial court has suddenly come up with this move, to survey the land, take back the land, and then redistribute it to these people.

This is not just a simple matter of surveying the land. Those who rely on the Taoist temple's land for their livelihood will no longer be as respectful and obedient to them as before.

Many intangible benefits will also be cut off.

The losses are enormous!
"He can forget about it! He can forget about getting even half an acre of land from here!"

He gritted his teeth and said angrily, his previous calm demeanor completely gone.
“Our land is all legitimate; it belongs to our temple.”

"The imperial court can just take it away like that? They can forget about it!"

The young Taoist priest also spoke up, his tone firm.

"Then... then senior brother, what should we do next?"

The elderly Taoist priest remained silent for a while before speaking.

"We don't report it here, but we report it just because those people who are surveying the land say so?"

They really gave them too much face!

I set off immediately to Longhu Mountain to see the Celestial Master and ask him to intervene.

Let the Celestial Master give an explanation, let the Celestial Master resolve this matter.

This is the most important thing.

It would be difficult for Qingyun Temple alone to resist the imperial court's policies.

This matter must be brought together with the Celestial Master so that we can work as one.

That makes things easier to do.

"After I leave, you will be in charge of Qingyun Temple."

Remember, during this period, do not allow the government to come and survey the land.

Explain the matter clearly to all the tenant farmers, and tell them that the imperial court is doing this because it intends to collect taxes from them!
They will pay more taxes to the imperial court than they pay rent to us in the future.

Alternatively, one could find reliable people to register a portion of the land under their names.

Just say that those are his fields, not our Taoist temple's.

He wants to investigate, right? Let them investigate properly!

Hearing his senior brother's words, the young Taoist secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I think what my senior brother said is indeed a good idea.

By registering some land under someone else's name, it no longer appears to be the Taoist temple's own land.

The government wanted to conduct a land survey, but they couldn't.

This is equivalent to cleverly handling the situation.

This is perfect; it's very secretive and difficult to investigate.

"Remember, we at Qingyun Temple should try our best to avoid direct conflict with the government."

We secretly sent those peasants to the front lines, to charge ahead. Their lives were worthless, not as valuable as ours.

Moreover, there are many of these peasants. As long as we can persuade them and get them together, the matter will be settled.

It won't be so easy for them to cross the river again.

It should be enough to hold out until I get back.

And I believe that the Celestial Master would certainly not agree to the government's reckless actions.

They will come up with a good way to deal with this.

The young Taoist nodded vigorously, indicating that he had remembered everything.

Then, he seemed a little hesitant: "Senior brother, this... this won't cause any trouble, will it?"
Those who came to survey the land included not only some scholars, but also a considerable number of soldiers.

If this really goes too far, what if...they resort to force?

"Don't worry, there's no need to be too concerned about that."

Zhu Yuanzhang's side was merely bluffing.

Sending troops is just a show of force; they don't dare use any real power.

If force is used, wouldn't that cause chaos everywhere?
Even if they really do use force, it won't be directed at us.

Those who resist and obstruct the land survey are peasants; what does that have to do with us?
Our Qingyun Temple has always abided by the laws of the imperial court.

"If you're upright, you have nothing to fear. What is there to be afraid of?"

Hearing the old Taoist's words, the younger Taoist felt relieved.

I know what to do next.

Just as my senior brother said, when faced with such a matter, our Qingyun Sect cannot directly intervene; we must remain hidden behind the scenes.

Let those peasants do the work properly.

If we let them take the lead and Qingyun Temple doesn't directly participate, then there won't be any major problems.

That makes sense when you think about it. A land survey is a huge matter, involving many people, and the imperial court wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

Otherwise, if chaos erupts everywhere, even the imperial court will find it difficult to manage.

After the two finished their discussion, the older Taoist priest did not linger. He hurriedly packed some things and left Qingyun Temple with a few people, heading towards Longhu Mountain at a fast pace.

When the older Taoist priest surnamed Liu arrived at Longhu Mountain, he discovered that the situation there was different from what he had imagined.

Because near Longhu Mountain, the imperial court had even more people surveying and registering land, and even more troops!

Originally, he thought that the imperial court's land survey was only targeting small Taoist temples like theirs.

We absolutely dare not touch Longhu Mountain.

Unexpectedly, the imperial court came directly to Longhu Mountain!
While being surprised, I couldn't help but be furious.

I just feel that the court's actions are simply too arrogant!
They completely disregard Longhu Mountain!
What do they take Longhu Mountain for? What do they take their Taoist traditions for?
Can we just let others take advantage of us and slaughter us at will?

Filled with shock and anger, he quickened his pace and entered Longhu Mountain at an even faster speed.

Upon arriving here, we discovered that some fellow disciples from other Taoist temples had already arrived earlier.

Upon inquiry, it was discovered that most of the Taoist temples that had come had been notified by the imperial court.

They said they wanted to survey the fields.

The rest, upon hearing the news, couldn't sit still any longer, fearing that the purge would also befall them in the future, so they hurried to Longhu Mountain to inquire about the situation.

Please, Celestial Master, give me some advice.

The best course of action would be to ask the Celestial Master to intervene and discuss this matter with the imperial court.

Let the imperial court hear of this unjust act!

When the group met and talked about the incident, everyone was filled with righteous indignation.

Some people looked worried.

After waiting for a while, a person dressed in a Taoist robe came out, escorted by several guards.

Upon seeing these people emerge, the chattering crowd fell silent.

They all immediately stood up and quickly bowed to greet him.

The person who came was none other than Zhang Yuchu, the current Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain.

“I already know why you have come.”

Zhang Yuchu sat down at the head of the table, gestured for everyone to sit, and then looked at the crowd and began to speak.

Upon hearing him say this, everyone could hardly contain themselves.

“Master, you must step in and take care of this matter. You must explain it to the court and not let them continue to act so recklessly.”

"Yes, Master! Our land and property in various places were not stolen or robbed."

Those were all offerings given to us voluntarily by believers.

All industries are legitimate and aboveboard.

Even if he were the emperor, he couldn't just arbitrarily decide to confiscate our land.

He can't do that.

"Master, Zhu Yuanzhang's actions are perverse and reactionary!"

This is also a heavy blow to our Taoist sect!

We will definitely handle this well.

Otherwise, our Taoist sect will be greatly affected, and its reputation will plummet.

I'm afraid... even many people won't be able to survive.

There were no outsiders present at the time, and the matter was of great importance, relating to their vital interests.

Therefore, these people who usually seem detached from worldly affairs are no longer detached from worldly affairs.

They all talked about these things and expressed their concerns.

Zhang Tianshi looks no different from a few days ago; he remains as otherworldly as ever.

They are completely unmoved by external things.

However, only a few people who had served him for many years knew that the Celestial Master was also in poor condition.

In recent days, I have been sleeping and eating much less.

“I am aware of everything you have said.”

The reason I've met with you today is to discuss this matter.

I have already made arrangements with Wu Yin, who is in charge of surveying the fields, and I will go to meet him tomorrow.

Let's discuss this matter in detail.

The imperial court was very aggressive in this matter; the important thing was not Wu Yin, but the emperor who would come after him.

Wu Yin was merely a knife in front of him.

"The emperor has his eye on us."

Zhang Tianshi's words ignited anger in many people.

At least no one cursed Zhu Yuanzhang by his name on the spot.

But just by looking at their expressions, one could tell that many people were also sending warm greetings to Emperor Zhu in their hearts.

"Since the emperor himself sent people to keep an eye on us, it's impossible for us not to suffer a great loss."

We need to fold something up first.

Only in this way can things be accomplished.

Now that things have come to this, I might as well lay my cards on the table.

Don't even think about keeping all the land; if you don't give up a single penny, nothing will be agreed upon.

Master Zhang started talking about closing the door.

Upon hearing his words, many people's expressions changed.

After a moment of silence, the older Taoist priest surnamed Liu spoke up: "Master, how much should we give them?"

After he said this, everyone else looked at Zhang Tianshi, waiting for his reply.

Master Zhang paused for a moment, then said, "Fifty percent."

what? !

Upon hearing this, everyone present changed color!
Everyone was shocked by this statement; they actually wanted to give up 50%?
Too much!

This is their land, something they've worked so hard to grow!
Now Zhu Yuanzhang has sent people to this area to conduct a land survey, and without saying a word, he wants to take away half of their land.

They can't accept this!
Zhang Tianshi was not surprised at all by the reactions of the crowd.

After the crowd quieted down a bit, he reached out and pressed down lightly.

Everyone fell silent before he slowly spoke.

"I just received news that before Wu Yin came to Longhu Mountain, a group of high-ranking officials from Jiangxi, including the Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, hosted a banquet for him, but the two sides parted on bad terms."

As far as I know, they were representing a group of people and offered a 30% cut.

You all know who Wu Yin, who presided over this land survey, is.

The Buddhists are at odds with us.

The emperor sent him to survey the fields; his intentions were obvious.

Since 30% isn't enough, we'll have to concede at least 50% to barely reach an agreement.
If 50% isn't enough, then let's go for 60%!

"Master, what if even 60% won't work?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianshi smiled, and after a moment slowly spoke: "..."

(End of this chapter)