"On the contrary, if all the people worship Buddha, who will give birth?" Manbao has not forgotten why they oppose the prosperity of Buddhism and Taoism. She said: "Buddhism does not pay taxes, does not pay donations, and does not work.

If all the people worship the Buddha, who will guard the borders? Who will repair the roads and rivers? What will happen to water conservancy?"

Bai Erlang said: "Even though I am not very good at studying, I know that after the prosperity of Buddhist temples in ancient times, the dynasty will suffer many hardships."

These words were so heartbreaking that Zhishen couldn't help but look solemn, "The three donors are too biased. When a Buddhist temple prospered, wasn't it the time when the dynasty was at its peak?"

Bai Shan: "The greatest prosperity must inevitably decline. This is an eternal truth."

Zhishen: "So how can we attribute the decline of the dynasty to Buddhist temples?"

"The prosperity of the dynasty has nothing to do with Buddhist temples," Bai Shan said: "Since Buddhist temples cannot benefit the country, the imperial court should not favor Buddhist temples. Your Majesty is the head of the imperial court, and you should not be biased."

Zhishen shook his head slightly, "Huguo Temple has no intention of letting Your Majesty take sides. I, the Buddha, just want to guide all people to become wise and lead people to do good."

Bai Shan smiled slightly and said: "Master is very righteous, but I think everything in the world starts with responsibility. Even monks, they also enjoy the stability of the country, and the ability of Buddhist temples to preach should also benefit from the stability of the world. If the world is in trouble, who else will

Can you safely go up the mountain to worship the Buddha?"

so what?

Bai Shan did not say any more, but asked: "What do you think, Master?"

Zhishen naturally agrees. It is indeed better to preach in prosperous times than in troubled times.

Bai Shan and others accepted Zhishen's gifts, and he personally sent the three of them to the mountain gate, which was seen by many people.

Master Zhishen is not easy to meet. Everyone was quite surprised that three young men could send Master Zhishen to his door.

"Isn't that Mr. Zhou?" We go to court together and meet every month. It's hard not to recognize him.

"That's Princess Mingda's consort, right? Is that Mr. Bai next to him? Master Zhishen actually sent them to the mountain gate in person."

Everyone is envious of such a young man, "I don't know how the feng shui of the Bai family and the Zhou family is arranged..."

Bai Shan and the others said goodbye to Monk Zhishen politely and turned around to go back.

Bai Erlang saw them in a hurry and asked, "What are you going back for?"

"Write a note," Bai Shan said: "Master Zhishen thinks that Buddhist temples and monks should also be responsible for the country. Although it may not be possible, we can still make some suggestions."

Bai Erlang: "...it's really written. Will we be kicked out when we go to Xuandu Temple in the future? And after we go back, will the Master Shouqing Temple be willing to let us go up the mountain to worship Master Tianzun?"

Of course, the excerpt above cannot only focus on the management of Buddhist temples, Taoist temples will also be mentioned, otherwise it will appear as if they are targeting Buddhism.

Bai Shan thought for a while and then said: "There should still be some preferential treatment. Let's think about it later."

But after reading the history of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the three of them have often thought about the impact of the increasingly prosperous Buddhist temples on the country.

Even Mr. Zhuang has said privately that the prosperity of Buddhist temples is tantamount to leveraging the foundations of the national treasury. It is not obvious now, but in another twenty or thirty years, more and more monks will enter the temples and more Buddhist temples will be built, occupying more

When there are more Buddhist fields, taxes will definitely be reduced on a large scale. When the state treasury is empty, the pressure of taxes will definitely be passed on to other people.

There are many things that history books will not point out, but few of us are stupid, and reading history is never about reading superficial words.

Not only Buddhist temples, but also Taoist temples.

It's just that Taoist temples are in decline now, and many Taoists travel around the world or live in seclusion in the mountains. There are not many people who are actually walking around and preaching in the world.

Half of them are liars, which is completely different from the prosperity of Buddhist temples.

Bai Erlang really didn't want to go back, but Bai Shan and Man Bao were going back, and he was bored outside alone, so he had no choice but to follow them.

Zhishen watched them go away and turned around to go back, but instead of going back to his own room, he went to the host's room.

Coincidentally, his back window faced the yard where they were talking just now.

Master Zhiren was immersed in writing something, but when he heard the voice, he didn't even raise his head and asked, "Sent off the three little friends?"

Zhishen said: "I'm afraid that friends and senior brothers have also heard it. They are prejudiced against our Huguo Temple and even Buddhist temples."

Master Zhiren smiled and shook his head, "No prejudice."

Zhishen:……

He stared at Zhi Ren, "Senior brother actually likes them?"

Zhiren then stopped writing and put aside the half-translated Buddhist scriptures. He said: "Junior brother, didn't you hear? The three of them are the first in the world. There are many young people of fifteen or sixteen who have this ambition, but some

Not many people have this opinion.”

He said bluntly: "Although they are young, their understanding is not inferior to that of their junior brothers."

Regarding Zhishen's behavior of bringing people to the back yard to talk today, Zhishen didn't have any feelings at all, because he had no intention of getting involved in these disputes, so he concentrated on writing his own scriptures for those who came here before.

Only this time, he was a little happy. These three children were still young. This was their current shortcoming, but it was also their greatest strength. They would have unlimited possibilities in the future.

Zhishen has become accustomed to his senior brother's blows. He doesn't care. He only cares about the future of the Huguo Temple. "Senior brother, your Majesty believes in the Huguo Temple, but the prince has no special feelings for the Buddhist temple. Now Zhou Man is not only in front of your Majesty's eyes."

The popular person is also the popular person in front of the prince. She prefers Taoism. In the future when the prince takes the throne, if things continue like this, my Buddhist temple will be severely damaged."

Seeing that Zhishen didn't take it seriously, Zhishen said: "Senior brother, have you forgotten the tragedy of Emperor Taiwu's destruction of Buddha and Emperor Wu's destruction of Buddha?"

Seeing that Zhishen was agitated, Zhiren sighed and said, "Junior brother is in trouble. I, the Buddha, should not interfere in political affairs. As long as I stay away from political affairs and become a benefactor, I will treat him with a normal heart and there will be no such disaster."

He advised again: "Junior brother should not buy so many Buddhist fields."

Zhishen said: "There are more and more monks in Huguo Temple. If we don't buy the Buddhist fields, how can the disciples continue?"

Zhiren said: "Junior brother should not accept so many disciples."

"Disciples are needed to promote Buddhism and study Buddhism." Zhishen's eyes fell on Zhiren's table and said: "Senior brother, if you want to concentrate on studying Buddhism, you shouldn't work hard for three meals a day. These also need disciples.

and worship the believers.”

Zhiren said calmly: "Everything like tea and rice is a gift from God. Not only do I have apprentices to support me, I can also farm myself. I don't need to worship in the temple."

He paused, thinking of the responsibility Bai Shan had just mentioned, and was about to remind him, but when he looked up, he saw Zhishen's disapproving look on his face, so he paused and remained silent.

Zhishen once again did not agree with his senior brother, but he was not angry either. In the past few decades, they had disagreements eight times out of ten conversations. Zhishen would be angry before, but not now.

He bowed and left. When he went out, he found his senior disciple standing outside the door with his hands hanging down. He nodded and said, "Take good care of your master."

Jie Hui clasped his hands in response, and waited until his uncle had gone far before knocking on the door and entering.
Chapter completed!