Top Scholar

Chapter 563 The Plan for the Reorganization of the Monastic Community
As Zhu Shou squatted on the ground with his butt sticking out, using a magnifying glass to focus the light on the ants, he casually asked, "What's wrong? Did Daban's meeting not yield any results?"

"Yes." Su Lu nodded and said, "The Grand Secretary did not support the eunuchs' ideas, and the eunuchs did not support the Grand Secretary's ideas, so in the end they could only part ways."

He smiled faintly and said, "This result is not surprising. Two groups with opposing views, forced together to discuss matters, will only result in one argument after another, with each sticking to their own point of view. No matter how much they argue, there will be no real result."

"Therefore, I've always maintained that rather than forcing things and compromising, it's better to just start over!" he said confidently, reinforcing his self-assured image.
"The world is so big, we can start anew and eat whatever we want without having to worry about those old fogies!"

"Think about it," he said, "if the emperor could earn his own money and spend it as he pleased, using his own money to support his own army, who in this world would dare to oppose him? They would all have to obediently submit to the emperor!" He spared no effort in persuading Zhu Shou.
"And he'd rather beat a dog than chase a chicken..."

"Hahaha, that's great!" Zhu Shou was overjoyed for a moment, then his face fell. "Stop making empty promises. We're already struggling to get through this crisis, and you want to set up another table? How can I afford that?!"

"Why can't it start?" Su Lu raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Have you forgotten what our Imperial Household Department has been busy with these past few months?"

"Good heavens!" Zhu Shou's eyes lit up immediately. He jumped up and rushed to Su Lu, his face full of surprise. "You finally came up with something big?!"

"That's natural." Su Lu nodded with a smile. "I originally planned to present it to the Emperor at a suitable opportunity."

"Let me see it first!" Zhu Shou eagerly stretched out his hand. Su Lu then took out a thin folded page from his sleeve and handed it to him.

Zhu Shou looked at the few flimsy pages and laughed, "You've only managed to produce this much in a few months?"

"Dongguitang has a whole room full of them, and this is just a summary of the summary." Su Lu laughed, "I can give you the detailed version now, but the problem is, will you read more words?"

"I definitely won't look at it." Zhu Shou chuckled and said, "You have a good eye for people."

Qian Ning remained silent and bowed throughout, vigilantly watching his surroundings to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on his two godfathers' conversation.

~~
Zhu Shou sat down in the chair and began to look through the "Investigation Report and Rectification Plan Summary of Buddhist Temples in the Capital" in his hand. At first, he was still indifferent as usual, but when his eyes swept to the column of "Expected Total Current Revenue", his eyes suddenly widened!

He first rubbed his eyes hard, then pointed to each digit on the table with his fingers. Firstly, Su Lu had implemented a new system of 'simplified numerals' for counting in the Imperial Household Department, and although he had been taught it, he wasn't quite used to it yet.

Secondly, this number is just too high!

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... an eight-digit number?!" Zhu Shou nearly dropped his jaw, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"So much money? Are you kidding me! These monks in the capital have gotten this fat?!"

"Our Imperial Household Department has fifty people, plus the help of the Investigation Bureau, and we've been investigating day and night for three months. Have some confidence, okay?" Su Lu then rattled off the details as if they were his own treasures.
"There are 826 temples of all sizes in and around the capital. Due to time constraints, only half of them were investigated, but it already includes the top 300 largest ones. These 410 temples alone have temple assets of at least 20 million taels and at most 35 million taels."

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Zhu Shou could only curse and couldn't describe his feelings at this moment. It was definitely not just joy, but also an equal amount of anger!
"This is only half of the wealth, yet it's already worth twenty or thirty million taels. How much would all eight hundred-plus properties be combined? Forty million or fifty million?!"

“Not by much,” Su Lu explained. “The remaining four hundred or so that were not counted are all small temples and monasteries. Each temple would at most have a thousand taels of silver in temple property and a few dozen or a hundred acres of farmland, so they can be ignored.”

He pointed to the folded page and said in a deep voice, "Our main target should be those fifty-six large temples and monasteries, which alone account for seventy to eighty percent of the total temple property. It is estimated that the property that can be confiscated is between 1500 and 2600 million taels. Add to that the silver tribute from the 244 medium-sized temples, and that's quite a lot, isn't it?"

That's right, simplified numerals are Arabic numerals. They do have unparalleled advantages in rapid counting, so the Su Lu (a system of numerals) was immediately welcomed by colleagues upon its introduction, encountering almost no resistance, and was quickly adopted within the Court of Imperial Sacrifices…

When Zhu Shou needed to glare, his eyes widened and his two big ears perked up, not missing a single useful piece of information.

He followed Su Lu's gaze to the 'tiered handling' section: "Good heavens, they even categorize them into large, medium, and small temples. Are they going to focus on the big ones and let the small ones go?"

“That’s right.” Su Lu nodded and explained, “Firstly, we’ve considered that shutting them all down would cause a huge uproar, and might even provoke Buddhist temples in other provinces outside Beijing to unite against us. So we need to make it clear that this operation is not about destroying Buddhism, but only about investigating and punishing temples that do not abide by the rules and regulations. Naturally, more temples will not be investigated and punished.”

"Secondly, the wealth is mainly concentrated in these three hundred large and medium-sized temples, so there is absolutely no need to investigate the numerous small temples," Su Lu continued.
"According to our plan, the fifty-six major temples will be directly sealed off and their property confiscated; the two hundred and forty-four medium-sized temples will be exempted from punishment by paying 10,000 to 30,000 taels of silver within a month, and if they fail to pay within the time limit, they will also be sealed off and their property confiscated. However, since the major temples have been confiscated, these medium-sized temples should not be so foolish."

"As for the numerous small temples, we will only need to survey their land holdings. Those exceeding the limit for permanent land ownership will be required to pay the taxes owed for the past five years, and then pay taxes according to regulations," Su Lu continued.
“This way, we can avoid inciting rebellion among the lower classes while maximizing our profits.” He then chuckled and added, “And did you see that? This isn’t just a one-off deal… According to our calculations, this confiscation will bring the Emperor an annual income of 150 to 280 million taels.”

"Why?" Zhu Shou was so excited that he could no longer see the words on the paper.

“Because we will receive 100,000 to 160,000 hectares of fertile land, as well as countless shops and businesses…” Su Lu replied.

"Mmm!" Zhu Shou nodded emphatically, snorting excitedly through his nose, "So how can we get the money you mentioned?"

He has indeed changed a lot this year. In the past, he would have acted impulsively and led his troops to rob his mother...

"We need to proceed step by step, and each step has been meticulously planned," Su Lu replied.

"Simply put, the first step is to 'establish authority through the case.' The cases of Baolian Temple and Guanghui Temple have been dragging on for so long that everyone has almost forgotten about them. We need to announce the verdicts in a grand manner to create momentum!"

“The cases of these two temples have been closed, and all the criminals have confessed. We suggest that His Majesty pronounce the verdict in the name of the Three Judicial Offices, and then publicly execute the sixty-six most heinous criminals. This will immediately create a great stir!” Su Lu said in a deep voice.

"Of course!" Zhu Shou nodded and said, "We must shave their heads again, otherwise how will anyone know we killed monks?"

"Good idea." Su Lu immediately pretended to write it down, even though he had already thought of it. He then continued:
"At the same time, the Ministry of Justice is ordered to issue a decree to the whole country detailing his crimes, and the Ministry of Rites is also to cooperate in conveying the decree, so that the people of the capital know that His Majesty is punishing evil and promoting good, purifying the monastic community, and protecting the Dharma, not destroying Buddhism! We are targeting monks, not Buddha, and only lawless monks; we will protect law-abiding monks!"

Su Lu further emphasized: "We must establish the tone that 'the monks in the temples of the capital are committing all kinds of evil deeds, and the court has no choice but to take action to punish them,' in order to pave the way for subsequent actions."

Zhu Shou said with some concern, "But it's clearly divided according to property class..."

"Don't worry, the saying 'the rich are heartless' not only applies to monks, but it's even more accurate." Su Lu said with certainty, "According to our investigation, monks who strictly abide by the rules and regulations are all poor, because even if they receive money, they will give it away. Therefore, Buddhist temples that are truly propagating Buddhism and helping people will not be very rich."

“What you say makes a lot of sense…” Zhu Shou nodded and chuckled, “Indeed, a monk who is rolling in money must be a bad monk. Killing them is helping Buddha clean house, a great deed!”

"That's right, it guarantees we'll all go to the Western Paradise someday!" Su Lu said quietly.

"Hahaha!" Zhu Shou laughed, "I would rather become a Buddha on the spot. I've already thought of my Buddha name—the Buddha of Western Heaven's Enlightened Path, Perfect Illumination, Freedom, Great Samadhi and Wisdom!"

"Alright, alright, I wish you become a big-butt Buddha," Su Lu said dismissively.

It's not that I look down on his Buddhist name, but this guy gives himself nicknames all the time and then forgets them, so there's no need to take them seriously.

“It is the Great Samadhi Buddha,” Zhu Shou corrected. “Alright, alright, continue.”

"The second step was to hold officials accountable. An imperial edict was issued to severely punish the chief officials of Shuntian Prefecture and the two capital counties, as well as the officials in charge of criminal and religious affairs. This was to demonstrate the emperor's determination to crack down on corruption and to order the government to accept the accusations of the victims on the grounds that corrupt officials had protected evil monks and created countless wrongful convictions."

Su Lu lowered his voice and introduced:
"To prevent the common people from being intimidated by the power of the big temples and not daring to file a complaint, Qian Qian has been busy with this matter for the past few months. He has already found enough aggrieved parties, including all fifty-six big temples. As soon as the yamen issues a complaint, the aggrieved parties will immediately go to file their complaints!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shou glanced at Qian Ning, who was standing quietly to the side, and smiled, "As capable as ever, Vice Commissioner Qian."

Qian Ning is now in a high position and holds great power, so he is much more composed than before. Upon hearing this, he simply bowed his head respectfully and said in a deep voice, "It is all what this humble subject should do!"

"Furthermore, we suggest that His Majesty establish a 'Special Task Force for the Rectification of the Buddhist Order,' with Eunuch Liu as the head and Eunuch Zhang as the deputy head. The Eastern Depot, Western Depot, and Embroidered Uniform Guard will be responsible for specific enforcement, with 20,000 soldiers to suppress and deter, and the Inner Depot to supervise the entire process!" Su Lu then continued in a deep voice:
"As soon as the complaint was submitted, fifty-six large temples were immediately sealed off! No one was allowed to enter or leave!"

P.S. I'll edit this later. Also, this temple property isn't outrageous. Think about how many gold coins Li Zicheng seized when he entered Beijing? And this is a combination of assets…

(End of this chapter)