Meton looked at the decisive Master Huiyuan in surprise. He nodded and said, "Buddhism has made a wise choice. The teachings of the Hundred Schools of Thought have been passed down for thousands of years. Other than our teachings, it is also because of our self-discipline and rationality. Today, the School of Medicine has many doctors working together to form a hospital, solving the shortcoming of lacking physicians. The School of Taoism has split up the School of External Alchemy, and its theories are no longer flawed. The School of Mohism has given up on political ideology and focused on the Art of Mohism. In comparison, the sacrifice made by Buddhism is nothing."
Meton spoke bluntly, but the monks could not refute him. That's right. Every school was seeking development. Compared to the decisiveness of the Hundred Schools of Thought, Buddhism was indeed unable to see the situation clearly.
The most criticized aspect of Buddhism was that it did not produce. If they could limit the number of Buddhists to a level that the Imperial Court could bear, then Buddhism would no longer have any shortcomings and would truly flourish.
"Other than that, Buddhism still has a shortcoming that needs to be resolved. Only then can we ensure that there are no worries!" Meton continued.
"Benefactor Mo, please guide us!" Master Huiyuan said solemnly. At this moment, he did not look down on Meton in the slightest.
"Terada!" Meton said word by word.
"Terada!" The monks looked at each other. They had thought that Meton would talk about the gold-plated Buddha statues. They did not expect him to mention Terada.
Merton said, "During the time of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, the world was in conflict and the common people lived in misery. However, some astute people found a way to avoid the heavy labor and land rent."
The monks' faces suddenly became unnatural. They naturally knew that this method was to become a monk, because monks could be exempted from corvee labor and land rent. The Buddhists used this method to rapidly expand. The number of monks and nuns suddenly reached three million, and finally attracted the crazy counterattack of the North Zhou Dynasty.
"How could Buddhism not help the common people when they were suffering?" Master Huichang said righteously.
"That's right. You became the saviors of the common people. The common people only needed to meditate and recite Buddhist scriptures. They did not need to labor or pay land rent. Buddhism easily obtained a considerable amount of land for temples. What about the Imperial Court? When there is war, there are no soldiers. When there is payment, there is no silver. When the nest is overturned, there are no eggs left unscathed. Once the world is in chaos, how can Buddhism remain unscathed? When the world is in chaos, how many Buddhas have their golden bodies stolen, their bronze statues robbed, and their Buddhist temples destroyed? "
"Buddha said, if I don't enter hell, who will enter hell? This is Buddhism's of calamity..... this calamity...
..................... of temples..... when......... and............ and of temples.... to....... of Buddhist temples...... and of Buddhism..........
. "Meton sneered. His eyes swept across the faces of the eminent monks. Many of them lowered their heads. They knew the situation of their temples. They lowered their heads guiltily.
"As far as I know, the Buddhists do not lack money. Not to mention the land of the temples under your name, just the incense money that the believers usually offer is not a small amount. It seems that the Buddhists are too greedy." The Mohist disciples under Modun were constantly collecting information for the Mohist Journal. It could be said that Modun knew the situation of Buddhism like the back of his hand.
Master Huichang said, "Although we are collecting money, it is not for selfish desires. In the future, we will revive Buddhism and serve Buddha."
The other high monks nodded as well. Reviving Buddhism was the belief of all the high monks. However, building temples, casting Buddha statues, and gilding the body were all costly. Monks were vegetarians and didn't spend much on their daily lives. Most of the money from the temples was spent on these things.
"It is because Buddhism chose this wrong path that there is the Tribulation of Two Martial Annihilation." Meton said with certainty.
"Wrong path? Does it mean that Mohism is allowed to earn a lot of money, but Buddhism is not allowed to collect money and build temples?" Bian Ji could not help but refute.
The monks nodded. Everyone knew that Mohism was the best in the world. Every Mohism technique would bring huge benefits to Mohism. The Mohism Village was the first village in the world. Everyone in the village lived in luxury. Even Buddhism had heard of it. However, when they heard that Mo Jiazi only allowed Mohism to burn and not the common people, the monks were unhappy.
Modun looked at Bian Ji coldly and retorted, "All of the House of Mo's wealth was painstakingly earned by the House of Mo's descendants. Every single cent is clean. Moreover, when the House of Mo rose to prominence, I had already foreseen today's situation. I had long since given up on the privilege of tax exemption. Every year, the House of Mo pays tens of thousands of strings of coins in taxes to the imperial court. In comparison, what about Buddhism? "
Mohism's techniques were useful to both the country and the people. They also contributed huge amounts of taxes to the imperial court. On the other hand, Buddhism did not produce anything. Instead, they used the privilege of tax exemption to crazily dig at the corners of the imperial court. They turned the tax paid land into tax-exempt land for temples, causing the imperial court to suffer huge losses. With such a comparison, it was obvious who was superior. The last veil of Buddhism was completely removed.
The monks were silent. No one was willing to give up the benefits in their hands.
"What about the imperial court's opinion? We Buddhists can't own temples? "Master Hui Yuan frowned.
Meton shook his head and said, "It's not that we can't own temples, but we can't use the privilege of tax exemption to annex land. If land tax is the foundation of the country, if the country's treasury is empty, the imperial court will naturally find the reason. When the time comes …"
Meton did not finish, but the monks knew. When the time comes, the imperial court will naturally target Buddhism, who had a lot of temples and fields, and who was extremely rich. This was probably the time of the third Buddhist Tribulation.
"Benefactor Mo, please enlighten us." Master Hui Yuan solemnly bowed to Meton.
Meton said without hesitation, "There are two ways. It depends on how Buddhism chooses. First, set the number of tax-exempt temples and fields for each monk."
The monks' faces relaxed. If each monk was given a certain amount of tax-exempt temples and fields, then it was not unacceptable.
"In this old monk's opinion, a monk should have 50 mu of tax-exempt temples and fields under his name!" Master Hui Chang said loudly.
The other monks also nodded and agreed with this suggestion.
Modun nodded in agreement. He turned to Zu Mingjun and asked, "What is the land tax rate of my dynasty?"
"15% tax," Zu Mingjun replied without hesitation.
"Now, our Tang dynasty has benefited from the expansion of Mohism's experimental fields. The yield per mu has reached four catties. How much is 15% tax?" Meton was puzzled.
"About 35 catties!" Zu Mingjun replied.
"So the tax of 50 mu of land is …"
"One thousand seven hundred and twenty-five catties."
Meton suddenly understood. He looked at Master Hui Chang in disbelief and said, "I didn't expect a monk's appetite to be so big. He can actually eat one thousand seven hundred and twenty-five catties of grain a year."
In an instant, Grandmaster Huichang's face flushed red. He could hear Moton's sarcastic remarks about how the Buddhists' appetites were too big. According to Shen Hongcai's calculation of one catty of rations per person, each person could only consume three to four hundred catties of rations per year. Zu Mingjun's cold figure immediately exposed his greed.
"Every monk should have 20 mu of tax-exempt temples and fields! We can't go any lower. Buddhism needs other expenses besides food, and Buddhism needs to develop, "Master Fa Lin said firmly.
The other monks couldn't help but look reluctant. 20 mu of tax-exempt temples wasn't enough to satisfy them. However, Fa Lin was the Dharma Protector. She had a high status, so they couldn't say anything.
Meton smiled and turned to Master Hui Yuan and asked, "Master, what do you think?"
Master Hui Yuan closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. He suddenly opened his eyes and said firmly, "Buddhism gives up its tax-exempt privileges! We don't even want one mu of tax-exempt temples. "
"What?" Almost all the monks were shocked and looked at Master Hui Yuan in confusion. Among all the Buddhist temples in the world, the Shaolin Temple had the most fields. Not only did the Shaolin Temple have a long history, but after the Shaolin staff monks saved Li Shimin, Li Shimin also rewarded the Shaolin Temple with rich fields. If they were to pay taxes on all of it, it wouldn't be a small amount.
"Taxing 100 mu of tax-exempt temples is wrong in front of the world. Taxing one mu of tax-exempt temples is also wrong. Since that's the case, why should we Buddhism take responsibility for this mistake? It's better to give up on tax-exempt temples to protect our reputation," Master Hui Yuan explained.
The purpose of today's meeting was to solve the hidden problem of Buddhism. Since tax-exempt temples were one of the sources of Buddhism's troubles, it was better to deal with it quickly than to be hesitant. This way, they could also put an end to the phenomenon of people hiding their fields in temples to avoid paying taxes.
Meton looked at Master Hui Yuan in surprise and said with sincere admiration, "Master is wise. I admire you."
Shaolin Temple had nearly ten thousand mu of temple fields. Giving up all of them for a year was not a small amount of loss.
Master Hui Yuan shook his head and sighed, "It's a pity that there is no one like Benefactor Mo in Buddhism. Otherwise, we wouldn't have suffered two disasters in a row."
The biggest inspiration for his decision to give up tax exemption came from the School of Mohism giving up its tax-exempt privileges. Like Buddhism, Mohism seemed to be able to gain huge benefits in a short period of time with tax-exempt privileges. However, it gave people a weakness to attack. If there were loopholes and shortcomings, it was like a hole in an egg. It would only collapse more and more.
Meton looked at the reluctant faces of many Buddhist monks and smiled knowingly, "In the School of Mohism's secret book, Mosheng has a story. Please review it."
"We will listen to Mosheng's teachings!" Master Hui Yuan said respectfully.
"Mosheng once traveled to Chu and stayed at a shepherd's house. The next morning, the shepherd found that a sheep was missing from the sheepfold. After careful inspection, he found that there was a hole in the sheepfold. At night, a wolf came in and took away a sheep. Mosheng advised him, "Hurry up and fix the sheepfold and plug the hole!" The shepherd refused to accept the advice and stubbornly said, "The sheep has already been lost. What's the point of fixing the sheepfold?"
The next morning, the shepherd found that another sheep was missing. He regretted not listening to Mosheng and quickly plugged the hole. After fixing the sheepfold, no more sheep were lost.
This story was widely spread in Chu. During the Warring States Period, Chu's Minister Zhuang Xin advised the King of Chu that it is not too late to take care of the dog when seeing a rabbit; it is not too late to fix the sheepfold after losing a sheep. "
"Fix the sheepfold after losing a sheep!" Master Hui Yuan was shocked and his eyes flashed as he blurted out.
"That's right. Now that the Buddhists have lost their sheep twice, don't they want to fix the sheepfold?" Meton said loudly.
The group of eminent monks fell into a dead silence. Their original dissatisfaction disappeared. The School of Mohism and Taoism had given up part of their ideas to perfect their own doctrines. It could be said that they had fixed the sheepfold after losing only one sheep.
The Buddhists, on the other hand, were still stubborn after suffering two calamities in a row. In comparison, they were too stupid. In fact, the Buddhists were more than stubborn. It was only after the calamity of the Three Martial Sects and One Sect that the Buddhists began to reflect on themselves.
"Amitabha. Although this is safe, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Buddhists to develop further!" Master Fa Lin lamented.
Meton retorted, "That Master Luo who cheated on the streets of Chang 'an a few days ago may not have pure intentions, but he is a true Indian ascetic. I'm afraid the Buddhists are too far behind in this regard!"
The Indian ascetics lived very hard lives and dedicated their lives to Buddha. In comparison, the Buddhists of the Tang dynasty lived in the Western Paradise.
The group of eminent monks couldn't help but agree.
Master Hui Yuan said loudly, "It's decided then. Even if we give up the tax exemption for the temple, there will still be a lot of food left in the temple. In addition to the incense money from the believers, if we really can't continue, we can still go out and beg for alms. Perhaps there will be difficulties, but it's just a test given to us by Buddha."
The monks fell silent. If they lost their privileges, they could still survive, but they wouldn't be as comfortable as they were now.
"The Buddhists can accept this condition. However, the Buddhists still have a question for you, Almsgiver Mo," Master Fa Lin said seriously.
Meton said seriously, "Please speak, Master Fa Lin!"
"The Buddhists have suffered many calamities. Fu Yi and the others have been attacking the Buddhists. Other than the reasons mentioned above, there's another reason. They believe that the Buddhists are part of the Hu Sect and believe in foreign gods. If we don't resolve this problem, even if the Buddhists can achieve the two points mentioned above, we won't be able to stand side by side with the Hundred Schools of Thought," Master Fa Lin said with grief and indignation.
The Buddhists' scale and influence were on par with the Hundred Schools of Thought. However, they had always been excluded from mainstream thinking. This made the Buddhists feel wronged.
Meton pondered for a moment. If he couldn't resolve the Buddhists' grievances, he would have to return empty-handed. Then, he had an idea and said, "Do you know the origin of Yuwen, Murong, Nangong, Huyan … these surnames?"
"Who doesn't know? These surnames were left behind by the Hu people from the north during the Five Barbarians Rebellion," Bian Ji said proudly.
Meton nodded and said, "You're right. These surnames were indeed spread to the Central Plains at that time."
Bian Ji couldn't help but smile proudly. However, before he could be proud for long, he heard Meton ask, "However, these surnames were known as Hu people three hundred years ago. Now, which one of these surnames is known as Hu people? Also, the Buddhists have been in the Tang dynasty for six hundred years, but they're still known as Hu Sect. Don't the Buddhists know the reason?"
The smile on Bian Ji's face froze. The other monks were also stunned.
"Hanization!" Master Fa Lin said word by word.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
