Everyone in the hall saw the little emperor talking through the mystery, and everyone looked very good-looking. This was obviously an hinting that some officials were adding fuel to the fire, secretly indulging in order to collude with the monks to make profits. His Majesty turned his mind and refused to let them speak out. This turning point was really big, and he couldn't figure out what the emperor meant.

"Fifth brother, these monks deviate from Buddhism, attract attention and pursue utilitarianism, and should be punished!" Xie Fangde said after being silent for a moment.

"I talk about this, not to suppress them!" Zhao Bing waved his hand and said, "The prosperity and development of Buddhism in Jiuhua Mountain has a lot to do with the monks' pursuit of utilitarianism. This can also be regarded as a means for them to win over believers. On the other hand, Taoism first established a foothold on Jiuhua Mountain and built Taoist temples. It had flourished for hundreds of years, but why is it difficult to find Taoism now and will be replaced by Buddhism?"

"Maybe it was the difference in doctrine that made believers turn to Buddhism." Chen Shishi asked tentatively.

"Well, it can be considered a reason." Zhao Bing said, "The purpose of Taoism and Buddhism are to encourage people to be good and save sentient beings. However, Taoism emphasizes that in this life, one can live forever and become an immortal. How many people in the world who practice Taoism and become immortals? It can be said that there are very few, none of them, so people will naturally reject this illusory thing; while Buddhism practices in the next life, and encourages people to eliminate their sins by doing good in order to be rich and even be reincarnated as a Buddha. This is also invisible, but it can give people hope. All sentient beings are suffering, and everyone wants to be rich and safe in the next life, so they naturally flock to it."

"Fifth brother said it is reasonable!" Wang Yinglin and Xie Fangde looked at each other, feeling that what His Majesty said did not involve the teachings of Taoism, but analysis from the perspective of believers was obviously more in line with the ideas of the general public. Instead, he tentatively said, "Is it because the monks are good at managing and will make profits?"

"It can be considered one of them." Zhao Bing took a tea ceremony. "Some people are taboo to talk about utilitarianism, but I don't think so. Although some people privately say that I am only profit-oriented and are the best at taking advantage of the robbery."

“…”

"Haha, I don't care, because I do love money." Zhao Bing saw everyone's embarrassing look and waved his hand and smiled, "For example, this Jin Dizang first came to Jiuhua Mountain. He lived in a cave and ate rice mixed with Guanyin soil, but insisted on practicing Buddhism. I admired the attachment to this, but he had no place to live and could not fill his stomach, so he naturally could not accept disciples and build temples, which made it even more difficult to attract believers."

"So after receiving the funding, Jin Dizang had to build temples, recruit disciples, and expand the team. With too many people, they were not gods, and they could survive by eating qi and drinking dew, so they also had to eat and dress, and all of them required money. But at that time, they were still small, and although they could keep food and clothing through donations by believers, they could not develop any more. Therefore, they also needed to operate and use various means to make money to build more temples, recruit more disciples, and attract more believers to complete the foundation of promoting Buddhism."

"What is even more commendable is that after the monks of Jiuhua Mountain gained a lot of wealth, they did not use them to enjoy and Buddhist affairs, but instead used some to help the victims, help the poor, and repair bridges and roads." Zhao Bing said, "Just just now, Mr. Lu, the temple mobilized mountain people and believers, and used the proceeds of donation to open five, half a meter-wide stone roads to Huizhou, Chizhou and Xuanzhou. These five roads connect Hui, Chi, Xuan, and ten counties, with a mileage of hundreds of miles and can directly lead to the Dajiang Wharf. Even if these things are organized by the government, it is not easy!"

"Well, these monks are still very smart. They can use this to promote Buddhism and attract believers. Opening up a path can make believers from all directions come to worship, and make it easier for merchants to traffic in goods and communicate without communication. And they can get more benefits from it. It is really a good plan, and it is really a killing of two birds with one stone." Wang Yinglin nodded and said.

"But these actually cannot allow the monks of Jiuhua Mountain to completely replace Taoism. Taoist priests are not much worse than them!" Zhao Bing said with a chuckling.

"Then what methods do they have?" Ma Duanlin pondered for a moment, but did not think of any reason and asked.

"Because these monks understand the current affairs, know how to absorb and learn the strengths of other sects, and use them for their own purposes. Instead of observing the old rules and holding on to their own doctrines, they remain unchanged!" Zhao Bing said.

"They can't betrayal, right?" Chen Shishi said in surprise.

"We just entered the temple and which immortal family was worshipped in the front hall?" Zhao Bing asked.

"It is the Lingguan Hall, and the one who worships Wang Lingguan..." Chen Shishi replied, but he immediately understood and said, "It is said that Wang Lingguan was a man named Wang Er during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang. He had arm strength and was strong and violent. He once burned a strange ancient temple in the river because of the people's destruction, causing a strange wind to make a big move. Fortunately, Shi Zhenren arrived and practiced to fight against the wind and destroy monsters. The Jade Emperor admired Wang Er as a hatred and dared to act, so he appointed him as Marshal Huoluo and gave him the Golden Seal to supervise the position of supervisor. Later, he was respected by Taoists as the guardian god."

"Have you ever seen the worship of Wang Lingguan in the temple?" Zhao Bing asked everyone with a smile.

"This... I have never seen anyone who worships Taoist guardian gods in the temple." Several people looked at each other, and Wang Yinglin shook his head and said.

"Is it because it was a Taoist temple before, but later it was converted into a temple and not demolished?" Xie Fangde said in confusion.

"This is easy, you will know it once you ask!" Zhao Bing took a sip of tea and pointed at Ma Duanlin and said.

After they entered the guest dormitory, all the idle people were blocked outside the yard. After Ma Duanlin found an old monk outside the yard, he asked, and then returned to the yard and laughed laughing: "I asked the monks in the temple. According to his words, because the legend of the Buddhist guardian Wei Tuo, because of the precept of murder, was dismissed from the position of protecting the Dharma by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and was protected by Wang Lingguan."

"Haha..." Everyone laughed when they heard this. This reason was really far-fetched. But except for Ni Liang, everyone here probably understood that the monks worshipped Wang Lingguan in the temple. Their true intention was probably to attract Taoist believers and thus develop them into their own believers.

"Zong Gao, everyone must know who it is!" Zhao Bing asked again after laughing.

"Zong Gao is a famous monk in our dynasty, and is the descendant of Linji Sect, one of the five Zen schools. He was friendly with Zhang Jiucheng, the Minister of Rites of Emperor Gaozong, and became a guest outside the country. He refused to flatter and please the right prime minister Qin Hui. Later, because Zhang Jiucheng refused to easily agree with the peace talks of the Jin people, it aroused the hatred of Qin Hui. In the eleventh year of Shaoxing, Zhang Jiucheng visited Jingshan and asked Zen Master Yu Zonggao. When they were talking about current affairs and political situations, Zong Gao wrote a poem saying: A bow of the god arm was blowing through Yu heavy armor, and the monks looked at it, and it was so smelly skin socks." Wang Yinglin said.

"The intention was to say that Han Shizhong made a large number of bows to defeat the enemy in preparation for the destruction of gold, but when Qin Hui heard about it, he thought that this was an allusion to his surrender and peace talks, so he listed Zhang Jiucheng and Zong Gao and the other two of them slandered the government and persecuted them. Zong Gao was destroyed and stripped of his clothes, removed his monk's family, and was first exiled to Hengzhou, and then moved to Meizhou again. In the winter of Shaoxing, he was begged to return to the monk's family. In November, he ordered his resignation to live in Ashok Temple. In the 28th year of the year, his disciples from all over the world returned to protect the temple after hearing the news. Xiaozong ascended the throne and was given the title of Zen Master Dahui. After his death, he was given the posthumous title of Pujue."

"Although Zong Gao and the Buddhists in Jiuhua Mountain are both Buddhist disciples, they belong to Zen Buddhism. However, they were able to invite Zong Gao to teach Zen Buddhism, and they were recognized by the eminent monks of Jiuhua, breaking the sect's views and absorbing Zen Buddhism. Later, Caodong Sect was introduced to Jiuhua Mountain. However, this not only did not weaken its status among believers, but instead made it famous and welcomed more believers to join." Zhao Bing said.

"Well, I understand. The monks of Jiuhua made friends with officials from our dynasty and chanted poems with celebrities and scholars. In addition to increasing their reputation, they also intended to absorb the Confucian classics." Xie Fangde slapped the table and said.

"That is, therefore, it is not accidental that Buddhism in Jiuhua Mountain is prosperous. However, Taoism is self-confidence and adheres to the rules and refuses to be compatible. Finally, it is squeezed out of this blessed land and disappears into namelessness. Taoist temples are also replaced by temples." Zhao Bing said.

"Fifth brother, I am a little confused. Since these monks can be compatible, absorb Confucianism and Dharma, and benefit the local government, why do they still need to collect their temple property and cut off the monks?" Chen Shishi asked.

"Our dynasty founded a country with martial arts and Confucianism. And Buddhism and Taoism are prosperous, what will happen?" Wang Yinglin asked back before Zhao Bing returned.

"I should limit it!" Chen Shishi replied immediately.

"The Mongolian Yuan advocated Buddhism and ruled Jiangnan for more than ten years, and gave land to temples. The Shi family was able to further develop. The temples in various places received disciples and many temples, and their strength increased greatly." Wang Yinglin continued, "The large number of people invested in the temples, which reduced the source of troops, no one cultivated the fields, and the population was difficult to reproduce, which caused great damage to our dynasty. Moreover, once they did not obey the king's law, they would instigate a large number of believers to confront the government and make government orders difficult to pass. Therefore, they must weaken their strength, and collect their temple property and limit the monk's quota. If the rest return to secular life, they will make it difficult for them to continue to grow and have no strength to confront the court."

"Oh, the fifth brother refused to give a penny today, but he was willing to use a hundred guan to buy tea. Is it because they felt that the strategy of reducing the amount of land had already been effective, which forced the monks to find another way to get money, and in the end they hated the pilgrims and believers." Chen Shishi said suddenly.

"Haha..." Zhao Bing smiled but did not answer, but obviously had already agreed to his answer.

"Fifth brother, if the monks blackmail pilgrims, and the sharp drop in believers will cause damage to the interests of merchants and make the people's livelihood difficult?" Lu Xu asked. As his parents' official, his tax income is also an important part of the assessment. If the tax revenue is reduced, wouldn't it be difficult for him to do it!
Chapter completed!