Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 303 Borrowing Money from Buddha

On the fourth day of the eleventh month of the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign (1644), Zhu Youjian ordered the abolition of the Buddhist scripture factories, Han scripture factories, and Daoist scripture factories within the inner palace, expelled the resident lamas from the Buddhist scripture factories, and ordered the removal of Buddhist and Daoist scriptures, Buddhist statues, ritual implements, prayer flags, and other items from the palace for sale. The news caused a stir in the capital.

Jiang Xikong, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, advised that the Tibetan monks were important for pacifying the Mongols and Tibet, and were not simply monks who ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist scriptures. If the emperor found them an eyesore, he could move the Tibetan scripture office from the capital to another place, and there was no need to abolish it.

But cults cannot be tolerated; the Ming Dynasty has suffered enough from its lack of control. Zhu Youjian did not believe that these Tibetan monks with long hair could serve any purpose other than producing excrement, so he rejected Jiang Xikong's suggestion and insisted on expelling them.

Even before the monks were driven away, they were still forced to pay rent, which was extremely cruel. Zhu Youjian was relatively lenient with his officials, but there was no need to be polite to these kinds of people. He went straight to the extreme. If they had the guts to rebel, they could do it. If they dared to do it, Zhu Youjian dared to kill them. He treated it as a kind of annihilation of his own family.

Zhu Youjian possessed absolute control over the inner court. How he managed the Twelve Directorates and other smaller institutions was his own business, and no outsider had the right to interfere. However, the intentions reflected in his actions were already quite clear.

The Ming Dynasty was a period of great prosperity for Buddhist and Taoist monks, especially in Beijing, where numerous famous ancient temples and royal monasteries flourished. These monks were indeed powerful. Since the emperor clearly intended to eliminate them, they couldn't remain indifferent. Even the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, was persuaded—truly a man of great influence and influence, but unfortunately, it was all in vain!
Zhang Weixian said he often performed sacrifices at the ancestral temple on behalf of the late emperor and sometimes went to temples to pray for blessings. He was acquainted with the abbot of Fayuan Temple and hoped the emperor would show leniency. Zhu Youjian laughed and directly asked Zhang Weixian, "How much money did you receive? Let's share the profits! It's not good to hog all the credit!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Weixian was speechless.

"Your family doesn't have any farmland registered under the name of Fayuan Temple, do you?" Zhu Youjian asked.

Zhang Weixian lowered his head even further.

Zhu Youjian said earnestly, "My mind is made up. I hope the Duke of Ying will not make a mistake!"

"Your Majesty, my family owns three thousand acres of land registered under the name of Fayuan Temple!" Zhang Weixian cried, his face contorted with grief. "This is our family's ancestral property, passed down for seven generations!"

Zhu Youjian's fist hardened. If it weren't for Zhang Weixian's merit in supporting the emperor and his core supporters, he would have loved to give this guy a couple of good whacks! He roared, "Then who told you to donate land and evade taxes? You're a Duke, you can reduce or exempt land taxes yourself!"

"Not enough," the British Duke said weakly.

"Eight thousand mu isn't enough for you?! How much land do you own?" Zhu Youjian looked at Zhang Weixian with greedy eyes.

“Well, not much.” Zhang Weixian’s eyes darted around. “Well, Your Majesty, I don’t need these three thousand acres of land. I have some urgent matters to attend to at home. I’ll take my leave now!”

"Stop right there!" Zhu Youjian reached out and grabbed Zhang Weixian's sleeve.

"Our family owns a total of over 100,000 mu of land, including some in Zhili (Hebei and Guangxi), Shandong, and Henan. This is considered small compared to other countries. The Duke of Dingguo's mansion owns hundreds of thousands of mu!"
"Your Majesty, my family is utterly loyal. This land was either bestowed by the late Emperor or legally acquired through purchase. We never seized it by force! After Your Majesty approved the tax exemption limit, I dutifully paid my taxes!" Zhang Weixian said rapidly.

"You son of a bitch, with tens of thousands of acres, and only three thousand acres, you still dare to come and whine to me?!" Zhu Youjian's forehead veins bulged.

“Land in the capital is expensive!” Zhang Weixian said aggrievedly. “My family is large and we spend a lot of money, so every little bit saved counts.”

Admittedly, Zhang Weixian was incredibly open and honest, daring to say anything and truly treating the emperor as an outsider. Was he so certain the emperor wouldn't punish him? He was right; Zhu Youjian really didn't dare touch this fellow! How infuriating!
Zhu Youjian knew perfectly well that these ministers and nobles had a lot of money, but he had pretended not to know before. However, when he heard the scale of "tens of thousands of acres", he was still quite frightened.

No wonder the nobles share the fate of the nation; they truly are in charge, major shareholders of the Ming Dynasty. The Jurchens want to bribe them, but they can't afford the price.

Of course, Zhu Youjian was not denying the loyalty of the Duke of Yingguo. There were also scoundrels like the Duke of Chengguo, Zhu Chunchen, in the imperial court. In comparison, the Duke of Yingguo's line was relatively upright.

That's where things go wrong. The emperor himself owned millions of acres of imperial estates, so what's wrong with the descendants of the meritorious officials who followed him in conquering the country annexing hundreds of thousands of acres of land?
Those civil officials and ministers held great power, and seeing how well the nobles and officials were doing, they naturally wanted to get a share of the pie. As a result, the official land and the land allocated to the common people gradually disappeared.

Therefore, land annexation was a problem that Zhu Youjian was always reluctant to face, as the huge interest groups made him feel uneasy.

It wasn't that he was worried about being outmatched; after all, he had troops, and if he was determined, he could easily raze the Ming Dynasty to the ground. The problem was that his relationship with these interest groups wasn't a simple binary opposition. Take the Duke of Ying, for example; he was clearly one of his men, and they loved him dearly, so how could they bear to kill him?

What Zhu Youjian found most difficult to resolve was the problem of "his left hand fighting his right," as all the people under his command were landlords of varying sizes. If he were to speak of "selflessness," then he would first need to transcend his own limitations.

Therefore, he appeased the land issue, hoping to adopt the Song Dynasty's "non-suppression of land annexation" system, which meant that as long as the government could maintain stable tax revenue, it would be enough.

The only option is to let the common people suffer first, since the land always needs someone to cultivate it. The people have changed from self-cultivating farmers to tenant farmers, from regular farmers to outsourced farmers, and have been exploited twice, but at least they can still make a living.

Zhu Youjian took a deep breath and asked, "Among the noble families in the capital, how many have donated their land to temples like you?!"

“Many more so than my family!” Zhang Weixian said with a fawning smile. “Your Majesty, my family only followed suit because everyone else was doing it.”

"Seriously, was what I did really obvious? I just chased away those few dozen lamas. Couldn't it just be that I simply dislike Lamaism? And where did you get this information from? When did you find out? Did someone leak the news to you beforehand?!"

"I only found out today. As for Your Majesty's idea of ​​dealing with monks, it's nothing, everyone knows it, even a fool could guess it!" Zhang Weixian said, pouting.

Fortunately, the three old men hadn't betrayed him; they still loved him. Zhu Youjian's mood improved slightly, but he deliberately put on a long face and said, "I never expected you could have guessed it. Are you saying I'm a fool?!"

“What are you saying, Your Majesty? Your Majesty is wise, powerful, and exceptionally intelligent; you simply choose not to hide it. As the saying goes, ‘If the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die.’ That’s why I’ve come to beg Your Majesty.”

However, in my humble opinion, these monks and Taoist priests are harmless and enjoy a high reputation among the people. Some temples even provide porridge to the people. Why does Your Majesty want to exterminate these elders? This is detrimental to Your Majesty's reputation!

Zhu Youjian didn't elaborate on the negative impacts of religious beliefs, as Zhang Weixian might not understand that anyway. He stated directly, "I'm out of money, so I plan to borrow some from Buddha and the Taoist patriarchs, since they're easier to talk to. I can't very well just behead you and confiscate your property, can I?!"

"So direct?!" Zhang Weixian was momentarily at a loss for words.

"I will convert the confiscated land into public land for the people to rent and cultivate, and a portion of it will be put up for sale. Tell me clearly which ones belong to your family, and I will sell them to you at a discount," Zhu Youjian said with a smile.

"Your Majesty seized my land and now you want me to pay for it?!" Zhang Weixian's eyes widened. "Isn't this outright robbery?!"

"What do you mean 'your land'? If you call him, will he answer? The land is clearly written in black and white as temple property. How did it become your land?! The imperial court does not recognize land deeds. If you don't want it, fine, I'll sell it to someone else."

"Buy, buy, I'll buy it, okay?!" Zhang Weixian was on the verge of tears.

"That's right, this is my trusted minister! Truly insightful and righteous! Now that Fayuan Temple has been taken over, I can make an exception and leave you a few small Buddha statues, or a few kilograms of Buddha relics or something." "Wh-what?! How could it be so fast?!" Zhang Weixian was stunned.

"Ha, if I don't act quickly, do you expect me to wait for you to transfer the temple's assets?!" Zhu Youjian sneered. "I'm not an emperor for the first time. You should know that I was the one who released the information. This is called stirring up trouble and throwing them off balance!"

“What are you saying, Your Majesty? That’s clearly temple property, it’s written in black and white, what does it have to do with me? As for the relics and such, I don’t believe in that stuff!” Zhang Weixian said righteously.

"You!" Zhu Youjian was furious. The two stared at each other for a moment, then suddenly couldn't hold back anymore. "Pfft, hahahaha!" The emperor and his minister burst into laughter, unable to stop, laughing until tears streamed down their faces!

……

Today is a good day. It hasn't snowed in the Beijing area for two days, and today is a rare sunny day. The midday sun has warmed up the winter city of Beijing a little.

People who have been hibernating in the winter are feeling sore and tired, and they are eager to get up and stretch. In the capital, as the most prosperous city, it is still manageable that everyone has a pair of trousers to wear.

Wang Xinglong possesses a family tradition of spice-making skills passed down from the Northern Song Dynasty. He grinds and mixes thirteen secret spices to create an exquisite delicacy, which is why his family has done quite well in Beijing.

But he hasn't been able to open for business for several days now, and it might not pick up until the Lunar New Year. There are quite a few spices in the house, and the aroma is so strong that he feels nauseous from smelling them every day, so he decided to open the doors and windows to let in some fresh air.

With a creak and a bang, Wang Xinglong quickly closed the shop door facing the street. He leaned against the door, panting heavily. As an old Beijinger, he knew the survival rules of the capital: don't look at what you shouldn't see, and don't listen to what you shouldn't ask about!
"My goodness, what's going on here!" Wang Xinglong hadn't seen anything like this in a long time. "The Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot agents, even those from the north are here!"

"Scholar, what are you looking at?" asked a centurion surnamed Xu from the Northern Garrison.

"Oh, that spice shop owner was peeking around a bit," asked the junior officer nicknamed "Scholar." "Boss, do you think the spice shop owner might be connected to that bald monk from Fayuan Temple?!"

"What could this possibly have to do with anything?" Xu Baihu asked, puzzled.

“He makes incense and sells it to the monks in the temple,” the scholar said, stroking his chin.

"How can these be the same?!"

"What's the difference? They both smell good!"

Xu Baihu rolled his eyes. "Alright, it's not easy for people to make money doing small business. The higher-ups are cracking down on things lately. Be careful you don't get caught and have your skin peeled off!"

"Oh!" The scholar turned his gaze away with some regret.

Fayuan Temple was known as the premier temple in the capital. The Imperial Han Sutra Hall often invited the abbot of Fayuan Temple to perform rituals in the palace. Therefore, Fayuan Temple was officially recognized as a semi-royal temple and enjoyed a high reputation in the capital. However, today, Fayuan Temple is in big trouble!

First, a group of soldiers with northern accents surrounded Fayuan Temple without saying a word, and then dragged out hundreds of monks from the temple; then the Embroidered Uniform Guard entered the scene, with the Southern Garrison in charge of collecting account books, land deeds and other documents, and the Northern Garrison in charge of finding money; finally, the Eastern Depot agents did the dirtiest and most filthy work, such as scraping the gold paint off the Buddha's golden body!

"Who are you? What right do you have to arrest us? What crime have we committed? Do you have arrest warrants from the Southern City Military Command? How dare you! Don't you know that the Southern City Patrol Censor is a follower of this temple? Watch your skin!" The abbot struggled and shouted.

"What the hell is this Imperial Censor?! He's so noisy, shut him up! I fucking hate bald monks the most, especially talkative ones!" Geng Zhong said impatiently.

"Bang bang! Waaaaah!" The abbot was hit twice with a hammer and then stuffed with two smelly socks, so he could only sob and shed tears.

"Captain, all done!" Cao Dazui said with a silly grin.

"You little rascal, you're really damn disgusting!" Geng Zhong laughed and cursed.

"Hehe, I haven't washed it in three days, it's specially prepared for this kind of bald monk!" Cao Dazui said with inexplicable pride.

"Oh no! The abbot has fainted!" the monks of Fayuan Temple exclaimed in alarm!

"Quick, check what's going on, don't let him die!" Geng Zhong was startled.

"Captain, if he died on his own, it's not our fault!" Cao Dazui was also a little panicked. They had just been exonerated and still owed 293 lashes. They couldn't afford to take another life on their conscience!
"Haha, brother, don't be afraid. His Majesty said that if this bald monk throws a tantrum and tries to hang himself, let him be. If he dares to use force, kill him! If he wants to set himself on fire, let him, but don't burn down the temple."

His Majesty said, "Uh, what did I say? This temple was built by craftsmen, and the incense money was donated by the people. These are clearly the people's houses. These bald monks do nothing but eat and chant wooden fish all day long. What right do they have to hang around in this temple?!"

"Haha, that puts my mind at ease! Brother, you have quite the eloquence. May I ask your name?!"

"Your Excellency is too kind. I am Luo Yangxing, Assistant Secretary of the Southern Garrison!"

"Brother Luo, I've long admired your name! My name is Geng Zhong, and I'm a servant of General Cao in Jinzhou. This is my brother, Cao Dazui, who is the General's adopted son!"

“My father used to be the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard,” Luo Yangxing said.

"Huh?!" Geng Zhong was stunned.

"Alas, let's not talk about it. I'm just a lowly clerk now, a nobody with a title but no real power!" Luo Yangxing said with some disappointment.

"Captain, isn't the position of commander hereditary?!"

"Speak more if you can speak properly, you're just hitting a nerve!" Geng Zhong's head was buzzing, feeling anxious for his younger brother's lack of social skills!
Luo Yangxing was also somewhat speechless, but still replied politely, "My family has fallen on hard times, please excuse my predicament! The command of other garrisons is hereditary, but it's different in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Whoever is in charge of the guard and whoever is the commander must be appointed by His Majesty. I would gladly go through fire and water for His Majesty, but alas, I can never see His Majesty!"

Geng and Cao exchanged a glance, thinking, "Is it really that hard to see the emperor?!"

(End of this chapter)