Di Ming

Chapter 472 If the Regent doesn't go to hell, who will?

The Regent's wrath caused ten thousand Buddhas to ascend to heaven!

The winter of the first year of the Taichang reign was exceptionally cold in Nanjing. The Qinhuai River was covered with a thin layer of ice, and snowflakes fell on the green tiles and white walls of Wuyi Lane, lingering for a long time.

This year's snow season seems particularly long.

The sudden anti-Buddhist storm, centered in Nanjing, quickly spread to the south of the Yangtze River and even the entire southern country! It even reached the north of the Yangtze River, leading to the Zheng Guowang anti-Buddhist campaign not long after!

The temple landlords, who had been living in seclusion for a long time, were swept up in the fierce anti-Buddhist storm before they even had time to transfer their gold and silver or destroy evidence of their crimes.

Along with the imperial edict, His Highness the Regent also uttered a declaration-like verse:

I have a pearl,
Long ago locked away by worldly troubles.

Today the dust is gone and the light is born,

Light up thousands of mountains and rivers!

……

Fan Yi'an, who had already assumed the concurrent post of Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stood in the courtyard of the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters in Nanjing, wearing a cloak and looking at the secret order in his hand.

On the thin sheet of paper, the teacher's familiar handwriting was clearly visible in red ink:
"...Buddhist temples in Jiangnan are dens of iniquity and depravity. The case of the Great Bao'en Temple... is shocking and intolerable under the law. They are called Buddhist temples, but in reality, they are dens of demons... The Tiger Fang Bureau, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Five Cities Garrison, and all prefectures and counties are hereby ordered to thoroughly investigate all temples in the South, clear the fields, rectify the laws, and strictly enforce the precepts... to restore justice to the people and restore the purity of the Three Jewels..."

Behind Fan Yi'an stood a group of Tiger Fang agents and a large troop of Imperial Guards standing at attention, their breath condensing in the cold air. Snow accumulated on the branches of the old locust tree in the courtyard, occasionally falling softly.

"The teacher has finally begun." Fan Yi'an looked at the heavy snow in the sky and murmured to himself. He put away the decree and his eyes swept over the young and determined faces.

At this moment, Fan Yi'an's eyes shone with a frightening intensity, his heart filled with a sense of pleasure. He enjoyed this kind of thing, because many people were about to suffer and be interrogated again.

"Let's start with Qixia Temple."

"Set off."

Fan Yi'an wasn't the only one to receive the order. All of Southern Tiger Tooth's branches across the country would also receive it!

……

Qixia Temple in Nanjing.

Inside the abbot's quarters, it was as warm as spring. Fine silver charcoal burned in the bronze incense burner, and genuine landscape paintings by renowned artists of previous dynasties hung on the walls. Every tripod, vase, and incense burner, every precious object, had a provenance; even the tables and chairs were all made of valuable wood.

To the uninitiated, this might be mistaken for the luxurious mansion of a wealthy family.

Abbot Huiming was sitting and drinking tea with two laymen who looked like wealthy merchants. A young novice monk next to him was holding a brocade box containing a newly signed land deed: the deed stipulated that three hundred acres of paddy fields outside the temple would be "donated" to the temple, and the temple would lend one thousand taels of silver at an interest rate of three percent.

But the host and the guests were talking about business.

"Rest assured, Master, this batch of silk will be ready to go to sea soon," the wealthy merchant said with a smile. "With the temple's capital and the Shen family's fleet, we're guaranteed to make a profit."

With a dignified and solemn appearance, Huiming smiled and nodded, displaying the serene demeanor of a highly accomplished monk. Yet, the sandalwood prayer beads he gently plucked were each worth a hundred gold pieces.

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside. A stumbling monk rushed in, saying in a panic:

"Abbot! The soldiers have cleared the temple!"

"What!" Huiming's expression changed drastically. "Who dares!"

Just as he was about to send someone to check, the temple door was suddenly pushed open, and a cold wind carrying snowflakes swept in.

Fan Yi'an led the Tiger Fang agents into the room first, his cloak covered in snow. Behind him, the Imperial Guards filed in, the cold, rusty scent of metal instantly filling the warm room.

“Master Huiming?” Fan Yi’an’s gaze swept over the land deeds and silver notes on the table. “By imperial decree, Qixia Temple is to be raided.”

Huiming's face turned deathly pale instantly, and the prayer beads in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

"What is the meaning of this, benefactor?" He forced himself to remain calm. "My Qixia Temple is a renowned temple in Jiangnan, and we have always abided by the laws of the land."

"Well said, 'obeying the law'," Fan Yi'an said with a gentle smile. "Whether a monk is a good one who obeys the law can only be known after investigation. Can your temple withstand such an investigation?"

The chief spy took an account book from his pocket and gently placed it on the table: "Found in the dungeon of the Great Bao'en Temple. It records your dealings with them. Lending money at exorbitant interest rates, driving farmers to drown themselves in wells, hang themselves, or sell themselves into slavery… embezzling farmland, suspected of overseas smuggling…"

He paused, his voice suddenly turning cold: "Furthermore, seventeen young girls were lured into the temple under the guise of 'servants before the Buddha' to provide for your lustful pleasure. Three of them, unable to bear the humiliation, committed suicide. Their remains were unearthed this morning in the back hills."

"You...you..." Huiming trembled all over, his legs went weak and he collapsed onto the prayer mat.

"A pure Buddhist sanctuary?" Fan Yi'an looked around the luxurious abbot's room and said sarcastically, "I think it's a den of iniquity."

"Take him away. I want to see if all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens will protect you fake monks who commit crimes."

As Huiming was being carried away by two Imperial Guards, he suddenly burst into maniacal laughter:

"Do you think confiscating temples will fill the national treasury? Which powerful family in Jiangnan isn't connected to a temple? You're making an enemy of the entire Jiangnan region! An enemy of the whole country! This old monk demands to see the Regent! This old monk demands to see the Regent!"

Fan Yi'an watched him being dragged away expressionlessly, then turned to his deputy and said:
"Seize all property and register it. All monks shall be taken back to the yamen for interrogation."

"Yes!"

The Imperial Guards and soldiers from the Five Cities Garrison had taken control of the entire temple. The monks were forced to kneel in the snow, their cries and shouts filling the air.

Pilgrims who came to the temple to burn incense and lay Buddhists staying in the guest quarters were also isolated, but no measures were taken against them; they were treated as mere spectators.

The pilgrims and lay Buddhists were all astonished, wondering what such a magnificent temple as Qixia Temple had done wrong.

The temple’s various storerooms and accounting offices were opened, and they were filled with gold, silver, land deeds, IOUs, and even rare treasures from overseas.

Ironically, some Buddha statues are found to contain not Buddhist scriptures or ritual implements, but gold and silver jewelry inside their bellies.

"Hahaha!" Fan Yi'an suddenly burst into laughter, pointing at a large Buddha statue, "The Buddha statue's belly doesn't contain ten thousand scrolls of scriptures or three thousand Dharma gates, but rather gold, silver, and jewels!"

"Do you worship Buddha just for gold and silver? How laughable!"

"Come on! Overturn all the Buddha statues and inspect them! These statues are hardly the real Buddhas!"

……

In the following days, a climate of fear gripped Nanjing. Temples were raided and monks were escorted into the city daily. The snow fell heavier and heavier, but the raids on temples did not cease.

The monks of Jiming Temple attempted to resist, closing the temple gates and throwing stones down from the wall. The Five Cities Military Command brought in battering rams, which forcefully broke open the temple gates. Zhang Jun, the deputy commander of the Military Command and a special agent of the Tiger Fang Army, personally led a team to rush in. In the chaos, he was hit in the shoulder with a stick, but still managed to be the first to storm into the Mahavira Hall.

"Those who resist to the bitter end, kill them without mercy!" Zhang Jun roared, brandishing his Tang sword and killing two monk soldiers in succession, the splattered blood staining his armor red.

The resistance was quickly suppressed, and dozens of armed monks were killed.

After taking control of the entire temple, the soldiers located the basement of Jiming Temple and discovered an even more horrifying scene: more than twenty young women imprisoned there, their clothes tattered and their eyes vacant. In the vegetable garden behind the temple, they unearthed more than ten skeletons.

"These are all respectable women who refused to submit," the subordinates reported angrily. "Some have been imprisoned for three years... the scene was truly..."

Zhang Jun went over to take a look and couldn't help but take a deep breath of the cold air. Even someone as used to darkness as him felt a wave of nausea.

The phrase "harboring filth and evil" is insufficient to describe the crimes of those fake monks!
"Bring them all back." Zhang Jun ultimately only uttered four words.

That day, the bell of Jiming Temple rang for the last time, not for the morning and evening greetings, but for the end of this century-old temple.

Hundreds of monks in the temple were arrested on the spot, and their cries carried far in the wind and snow.

The pilgrims and ordinary people who witnessed this scene realized for the first time that when the masters committed crimes and were arrested, they cried out in fear just like ordinary people, and there was no difference between them and the masters.

Within just a few days, temples in and around Nanjing were being raided, and the crackdown spread rapidly. More and more temples were closed, and tens of thousands of monks were arrested.

Under the strict inventory and supervision of the Tiger Tooth agents, truckloads of gold and silver treasures were sealed and sent to the national treasury, temple account books were confiscated, and stacks of land deeds, shop deeds, house deeds, IOUs, and slave deeds were confiscated. Granaries of grain and cloth were taken into the government.

The seized temples were investigated, and all the evidence of their crimes was made public, leaving the evidence irrefutable and sparking outrage among many people. Many felt cheated.

However, many devout believers who have been too brainwashed not only fail to understand but also sympathize with the temple landlords and hate the regent who persecuted Buddhism.

Many great temples ceased to exist under the regent's edict against Buddhism, vanishing into history. Their centuries-old estates, gold, and silver were all confiscated as government land and state funds.

Every day, the vast amount of temple property confiscated was reported to Zhu Yin, updating the data on official land and national treasury silver, which pleased His Highness the Regent and made His Highness the Princess Consort beam with joy.

Even the ten-year-old Holy Mother of Pure Dust felt as if she were having a happy occasion every day.

Because she claims to be a Taoist, temples have become enemies of her faith. Many temples, in an effort to suppress her followers and reduce her incense offerings, have secretly prevented believers from seeking treatment at medical schools and even secretly slandered her as a sorcerer. Currently, with many temples being shut down and closed, her followers have increased, and her shrines and incense offerings have also grown.

Then, her medical skills can be spread more quickly.

How could she not be happy?
……

Not all temples are so bad.

When the Tiger Tooth agents arrived at Xiaopudu Temple in the south of the city with a team of men, they were met with a completely different scene.

The temple gate was old and simple, the walls were mottled, and the courtyard was quiet and secluded. Several old monks were sweeping snow, their movements slow and unhurried. Inside the temple, there were no luxurious decorations, only a simple Buddhist hall and neat monks' quarters.

Abbot Jing'an was an elderly monk in his seventies, with white hair and beard, who was chanting sutras in front of the Buddha with several disciples.

Upon seeing the Imperial Guards burst in, the monks were somewhat flustered, but Master Jing'an calmly rose and bowed to the newcomers with his palms together.

"What brings you here, sir?" His voice was old yet gentle. "Please come in."

The Tiger Fang agent leading the team looked around; the simplicity here contrasted sharply with the extravagance of the previous temples. He gestured for his men to remain calm and turned to Jing An:
"By imperial decree, we are conducting a thorough investigation of Buddhist temples in Jiangnan. We request the cooperation of the Dharma Masters."

Jing'an nodded and personally led the agents to inspect various parts of the temple. The storeroom contained only simple rice and grains, and the account books recorded the donations from believers and the temple's expenses, with every entry clearly documented. There were only thirty-two monks in the temple, all of whom were elderly monks who were truly devoted to their practice and a few young people who were sincerely devoted to Buddhism.

The spies were not satisfied and thoroughly searched the place, almost digging three feet into the ground. They interrogated different monks separately, threatening and intimidating them, using every trick in the book, almost resorting to torture to extract confessions.

However, the cunning and treacherous agents were disappointed. Not only was Pudu Temple completely without any problems, but the monks were also kind and devout Buddhists. The monks were all formidable individuals who could recite multiple scriptures from memory.

There was no illegal activity or hidden property within the temple.

Their food and clothing were extremely simple. They also cultivated their own vegetable garden, made their own tofu, and dried their own vegetables.

“Our temple is small and not very popular,” Jing’an smiled at the spy with complicated feelings in his heart. “But that’s precisely why no one covets it, making it peaceful.”

In the abbot's room, the agent saw a calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall that read: "Buddhism is in the world, enlightenment is not separate from the world."

The calligraphy is vigorous and powerful; it is Jing'an's own handwriting.

For a moment, the spies all felt that they had been somewhat purified.

After a moment of silence, the agent cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency is surely aware of the new regulations of the Imperial Court. Your temple may be preserved, but if the monks wish to remain, they will need to obtain new ordination certificates."

Jing'an clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha! Thank you, benefactor. The Buddha's teachings should be used to help people and save them, not to become a place for filth and depravity. I understand the court's efforts to rectify the situation."

"We apologize for disturbing you, Master." Unable to find any evidence, the agent could only lead his team away in frustration.

As they left Xiaopudu Temple, the agent glanced back. The dilapidated little temple stood tall in the wind and snow, like a pure land in a turbid world.

After the soldiers left, a novice monk said to Jing'an:

"Master, the imperial court's sudden crackdown on temples and the rigorous searches suggest that a persecution of Buddhism is imminent. Is the Regent's move in the same vein as the Three Wu and One Zong emperors, and is Buddhism about to face a calamity?"

"Amitabha!" Master Jing'an chanted the Buddha's name calmly, "The wind stirs the heart and shakes the tree, the clouds give rise to dust. If you understand today's affairs, you will be blind to your true nature."

"Bodhisattvas fear the cause, while sentient beings fear the effect. The way of Heaven is just, and nothing is more preordained. This Saha world, with its corrupt human beings, has seen Buddhas flee with tears of blood, while demons don robes and ascend to the throne. It is time for them to undergo the baptism of wind, fire, thunder, and lightning."

"Thank you for your explanation, Master." The novice monk looked slightly pleased. "I understand now. This turmoil is not a peril for Buddhism, but rather a great fortune and blessing for removing falsehoods and preserving truth, and for returning to the source."

"Excellent! Excellent!" Jing'an nodded slightly, made a flower-picking gesture with her fingers, and said:

"What appears to be a calamity for Buddhism is in fact the Nirvana of the Three Jewels. This is a blessing for the Buddha and a calamity for the demons, a rebirth from the ashes. The Regent's actions are full of great compassion, wisdom, and courage. This can be described as the compassion of a Bodhisattva Dharma King and the great strategy of a hero and sage."

“Amitabha! If the Regent is not as good as hell, then who will go to hell? By passing on the light from one lamp to many, eventually all the lamps will be lit.”

"Let this Nirvana Fire restore peace to the ten directions of the world."

……

The raid on the temple caused a huge shock in Jiangnan. As Huiming said, many aristocratic families had intricate connections with temples.

On Mochou Lake, a group of heads of prominent families from Jiangnan gathered together, each with a solemn expression.

"The Jiang Ning family is a monstrous devil! Such perverse and wicked acts, destroying Buddhism and Taoism, will they go unpunished!"

"Jiang Ning is a tyrant and a traitor! His crimes are heinous!"

"Even if all the bamboo of Mount Nan were used to record the crimes, they would be endless; even if the waves of the Eastern Sea were drained, the evil would still be difficult to wash away!"

"This is more than just a persecution of the Dharma! This is more than just the suppression of Buddhism! King Wu is going against the will of Heaven!"

"This isn't just destroying Buddhism, it's cutting off our source of income!"

"How much of the temple's land is under our ownership? How much of the temple's loans are our capital?"

"Yes, now that an order has been given, everything has been confiscated. Our losses are enormous!"

An old man slowly sipped his tea, and after they had finished venting, he said gently, "Please calm down. Where has the self-cultivation of a gentleman gone? All you talk about is putting profit first. Is this the character and discipline of a scholar?"

"Although this is the evil policy and law of the Jiangning clan that has brought disaster to the country and the people, it is also the imperial decree of the court. What can we do? Many temples have gone too far in recent years, and the monks do not know how to restrain themselves. The matter of the Great Bao'en Temple has become too big. They have set up a private dungeon, colluded with the Jesuits, and disregarded human life. The court is furious, and someone must be held accountable."

"The King of Wu merely used this as an excuse to suppress Buddhism. It was less a persecution of the Dharma and more a matter of equalizing land distribution and wealth! It was probably even more absurd than the actions of the Three Wu Emperors and One Zong Emperor."

Instead of feeling indignant on behalf of the various temples, you should think carefully about what you would do if this knife were to fall on you one day.

The venerable old man, having reached this point, put down his teacup, his deep, old eyes filled with worry. “If that day ever comes unexpectedly, what will become of us? I am deeply concerned for you all. If we do not prepare for the future, we may inevitably follow in the footsteps of today’s persecution of Buddhism.”

"But we can't condemn everyone just because of one example!" one family head said indignantly.

Another esteemed elder put down his teacup and said coldly, “Gentlemen, let me remind you, the account books and evidence of crimes from various temples have fallen into the hands of the imperial court. You all know how many transactions are recorded on them. The court is only investigating the temples now, not you yourselves, which is a lenient approach. Are you sure you are prepared to cause trouble again? Don’t you know the methods of the Jiangning clan? The bloodstains of the Xiaoling Incident are still fresh, and the bodies are still warm.”

"The intentions of the Jiang Ning clan are as treacherous as a precipice a thousand feet high. The tree may wish to remain still, but the wind will not cease. A change unprecedented in a century is probably unavoidable."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.

Everyone fell silent, only able to hear the howling wind outside the window, a cold front that hadn't hit Jiangnan in a century.

Jiangning Clan!
……

The twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

It's getting late.

The snow in Nanjing has temporarily stopped, but the weather is getting colder.

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei, draped in cloaks, stood on the city wall, gazing at the snow-covered Zijin Mountain in the distance. In just over half a month, more than 300 large temples in the south had been raided and confiscated, more than 80,000 monks had been forced to return to secular life, tens of thousands had been imprisoned and punished, more than 5 million mu of temple land had been reclaimed, and countless properties had been confiscated.

Roughly calculated, the temple property that has been confiscated and put into government possession is valued at 70 million taels of silver, of which more than 20 million taels are silver alone!
Ning Caiwei handed over a pot of wine: "Little Tiger, it's cold, have a sip of wine to warm yourself up."

Zhu Yin took the wine pot and took a sip. The spicy liquid slid down his throat, bringing a touch of warmth.

"The assets of all the temples have been inventoried and are being put into storage," Zhu Yin said with a smile, exhaling white breath. "The monks and nuns who have returned to secular life have also been settled. The government is helping nuns under the age of thirty to find husbands."

Ning Caiwei nodded, gazing into the distance.

Zhu Yin turned around and looked into the city. Along the banks of the Qinhuai River, lanterns were just being lit, casting a hazy glow on the snow. This city, which had flourished for two hundred years, had never truly been at peace.

"Should we continue?" Ning Caiwei lowered her voice. "Many ministers in the court have already submitted memorials saying that we are overcorrecting and that it is damaging His Majesty's benevolence."

“Our reputation is already ruined among the scholars in the south. Many ignorant people who have been brainwashed by the monks also hate us. In some places, people have even secretly smashed your temples dedicated to the child prodigy.”

Zhu Yin smiled, a smile that seemed particularly cold in the winter chill: "Since it's a legal crisis, how can it be stopped so easily? It's not over yet."

He looked up at the gray sky, and another snowflake landed on his brow.

"The snow in Jiangnan will continue to fall for a long time."

Kangxi, trudging through the thick snow, approached Zhu Yin and reported:

"My lord, my lady, Yue Zhengyuan from Liaodong has returned. He's also accompanied by a group of Jurchens; they say they've sent back something important!"

……

P.S.: That's all for today, I'm so tired. Thank you for your support, and please vote with monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)