Chapter 214 Cutting Meat
After resolving the issue of Li Zhongwen, the emperor saw that religious issues became intense, so he summoned officials from the three religions to gather in the Wende Hall.

Fu Yi still insisted on destroying Buddhism: "Buddhism is a cunning tribe among the Hu people, deceiving the barbarians. It first stopped in the Western Regions and gradually spread to China.

Those who follow his teachings are all perverse and eccentric people who imitate the mysterious words of Zhuangzi and Laozi and embellish their teachings of magic and fantasy. They are of no benefit to the people and are harmful to the country. "

Buddhism insists that the Buddha is innocent: "In this world, even the rulers, ministers, fathers and sons say that their kindness is hard to repay and that the heavens will not repay. Moreover, the Buddha is the loving father of all living beings and a good doctor for both ordinary people and saints. It is impossible to suppress and frustrate him, to offend and humiliate him!"

Taoism, at the suggestion of the royal family, began to join in the criticism of Buddhism.

When Fu Yi gained the upper hand by taking advantage of two rebellions by evil monks, Li Jiancheng took the opportunity to start cutting off Buddhism. He wanted to cut off the population, land and taxes, which was his fundamental purpose.

The previous dynasty issued more than 200,000 certificates of ordination. With a certificate, one was a monk recognized by the court and did not need to bear taxes or perform corvee labor.

This would have been very enviable in times of peace, let alone during the reign of Emperor Yang. The horrific taxes and corvee labor service were so heavy that even the landlords and powerful people could not afford it, let alone ordinary people.

Apart from outright rebellion, seeking refuge in Buddhism and escaping taxes and labor service was undoubtedly the best option, so there was a considerable number of people hidden in Buddhism.

There are 60,000 to 70,000 monks on the surface, but there are at least 200,000 to 300,000 people serving and supporting these 60,000 to 700,000 monks. These 200,000 to 300,000 common people also do not pay taxes or perform labor service in the Buddhist industries.

Moreover, if the monks were like this, even if the Taoists were less than them, they were definitely not much less. How could Li Jiancheng tolerate this?

But just by talking, even if it's the emperor's golden words, don't expect these monks with their own logic to spit out what they have eaten.

Therefore, he deliberately went through such a long detour and issued the "Shatai Monks and Taoists Edict": "The teachings of Sakyamuni are about purity and tranquility, staying away from dust and dirt, and cutting off greed... But there are some lowly companions who are self-righteous and lazy. They try to avoid corvée and labor, and falsely shave their heads and become monks, and they are insatiable and never stop pursuing desires.

Monks, nuns, Taoists, and female nuns who are unable to practice diligently and observe the precepts and conduct themselves in a deficient manner are not worthy of support and should be dismissed and returned to their hometowns.

The relevant departments shall clearly stipulate the rules and regulations, and all violations shall be stopped. Eight temples and nine academies shall remain in the capital, and two temples and academies shall be established in each prefecture throughout the country. The rest shall be closed!"

After the emperor's edict was read out, all the monks and Taoists were shocked. This was not cutting flesh, this was clearly beheading.

How could they know that Li Jiancheng was already exercising restraint. If it were not for the fact that in that era when people were ignorant, technology was underdeveloped, laws were unfair and unjust, and the lower-class people had no basic resistance to natural and man-made disasters, and if religion still needed to play a certain role in maintaining national stability, he would have been even more ruthless.

Monks and Taoists were never good citizens who would submit to fate, but Li Jiancheng promoted Fu Yi to be the Minister of Civil Affairs and appointed Li Yuanji, the Prince of Qi who had just returned to Beijing, to supervise the matter.

Moreover, Xiao Yu, the Duke of Xin'an who had the greatest objection, was demoted to the position of Doctor of the Imperial College, which shocked all the ministers.

At this time, the Shenwu Army also brought good news. All the southern counties were conquered, and the rebel leader Dugu Huai'en was also captured. He would be escorted to the capital along with other rebels.

Good news also came from Liaodong. The King of Goguryeo treated the emperor's envoy with great respect and said that he would never dare to covet Liaodong City again.

A series of victories both internally and externally greatly boosted the emperor's prestige, and his orders became more authoritative.

The King of Qi was a person who did not believe in gods or Buddhas, nor did he respect his elders. As a result, nearly a hundred temples and monasteries in Chang'an were forcibly demolished. Under such heavy pressure, some ugly things were exposed in broad daylight.

Naturally, Fu Yi would not let go of such an opportunity. He was merciless to the monks involved. Once the evidence was conclusive, he would strongly demand that the Ministry of Justice enforce the law and make the crimes public.

There were also many famous monks among them, which dealt a heavy blow to the faithful people in Chang'an. Outside Chang'an, the situation was more complicated. More than a dozen counties in the country had rebelled, and no one knew where they had gathered tens of thousands of troops.

Fortunately, most of them were near Luoyang, and the emperor directly ordered the King of Qin to quell the rebellion. In just a few months, the world returned to peace, and the court suddenly had an extra population of hundreds of thousands.

The first year of Taiping ended in a situation that was not very peaceful, but generally peaceful.

At the beginning of the second year of Taiping, the ministers petitioned the emperor to summon concubines to maintain the prosperity of the country. The emperor approved the request and accepted virtuous daughters from various families to enrich his harem.

The emperor treated Guanlong, Daibei, Shandong and Jiangnan equally. Noble ladies such as the Yuwen, Yang, Yuan, Zheng, Xue, Wang, Cui, Lu and others entered the palace to serve the king.

It can be seen that the most favored one is the noble lady Zheng. Although she is the oldest, she has reached the position of Zhaoyi, the head of the Nine Concubines, the fastest speed, and is only one step away from the position of one of the Four Concubines.

The Zheng family of Rongyang was naturally prominent, and their children were transferred from the local areas to the capital one after another, making other aristocratic families envious.

When the Shenwu Army returned to the capital, the emperor ordered Prince Jin to lead all the officials to welcome them, and promoted Li Shentong to Prince of Yongkang and Li Shenfu to Duke of Rong.

The two chief generals from the royal family led the heroes who had quelled the rebellion to the court for an audience. The emperor looked at them one by one, matched the characters with their names, and then ordered someone to read out the rewards.

Pei Xingyan was appointed as the commander of the Shenwu Army, Cheng Zhijie was appointed as the commander of the Zuojianmen, Su Dingfang was appointed as the commander of the Zuoqianniuwei, Hou Junji was appointed as the commander of the Jinyang Zhechongfu, and Xue Wanche was appointed as the commander of the Jinyang Zhechongfu.

Most of them were officials of the sixth or seventh rank, which was not considered high, but all the generals were very satisfied. After all, this battle was not difficult at all. The troops sent by the court could win the victory smoothly. What's more, the sixth or seventh rank was a good starting point.

Li Jiancheng looked at the civil and military officials below and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, there were so many brave generals and wise counselors like clouds and rain. He wouldn't have to worry about the shortage of high-level talents, especially military generals, for at least decades.

Then it was time to deal with Dugu Huai'en and other traitors. Others could be ignored, but Dugu Huai'en was a legitimate relative after all. The emperor ordered people to bring up the disheveled and smelly Dugu Huai'en.

The Minister of Works, who was so powerful a few months ago, has now fallen to the point where even street beggars would despise him.

Dugu Huai'en kowtowed and cried bitterly, his toothless mouth opening and closing constantly, saliva splashing everywhere, trying to push the blame onto Yuan Junbao and others who had died in the battle.

Dugu Huai'en deliberately indulged in defecation and urination for several days in order to win the sympathy of His Majesty and seek a way out.

But he carefully made eye contact with the gaze directed down from above for a moment, and felt the contempt and undisguised murderous intent contained therein.

Dugu Huai'en didn't care about anything else and pleaded for mercy from his closest relatives. As long as he could ask the retired emperor for help, he could still be saved.

After all, the retired emperor is the son of his own aunt, and they are legitimate relatives. He raised the army in order to let the retired emperor rule the world!
But no one paid any attention to him, including his brothers and nephews.

The emperor is in good health, and the family's wealth will never be wasted on a fool.

...............

(End of this chapter)