Impeachment will make me stronger, and I will be invincible on the road to death.

Chapter 66 The monks of the Tang Dynasty suffered disaster

Li Duozuo on the side also sneered: "Suo Yuanli, do you think I, Li Duozuo, am deaf? The other monks just cursed Yang Yushi's land for not growing crops. You are even more sinister, and you cursed others not to live long! You This vicious villain!"

Suo Yuanli still wanted to argue, but Wu Zetian no longer wanted to hear it.

It was Suo Yuanli who dug a hole for Yang Yanzhang, and he was caught again at night. This was so obvious that there was no need to ask more questions.

If she were to do other things, Wu Zetian would be able to tolerate it, but if Yang Yanzhang's corn is really high-yielding, it will have a great effect on her!
But Suo Yuanli dared to come out to cause trouble at this time, and it was the curse that she was most taboo about, which made Wu Zetian intolerable!

"Pull him out immediately and kill him with a cane! Hang the body at the entrance of the vegetable market, let everyone see his fate!"

"Li Duozuo! They raided Suo Yuanli's house overnight and confiscated all the money. All the men were sent to the frontiers to do hard labor, and all the women were deprived of their status and became slaves!"

Li Duozuo was overjoyed when he heard this: "Don't worry, Queen Mother! If I let one of you go, I will come and see you!"

Today's incident happened suddenly. Suo Yuanli's family members were completely unprepared. They were all captured alive by Li Duozuo while they were still sleeping soundly.

Such a big thing happened here, and it was almost dawn when someone informed Yang Yanzhang.

"Suo Yuanli was killed in one night? I didn't even impeach him, but he couldn't stand it anymore..."

"If you do bad things, you won't live long."

However, when he heard that a group of monks were cursing him together, Yang Yanzhang felt as uncomfortable as eating a fly.

Buddhism may have a lot of truths, but begging for alms makes Yang Yanzhang very disgusted, not to mention the shameful practice of having to donate money to the merit box to make a wish, and other things that are filthy that cannot be described.

However, in the Tang Dynasty, monks did enjoy various privileges.

There is no need to serve, and the land belongs to the temple. I receive countless merit money every day, but not a cent is turned over.

This is a bunch of moths.

"Didn't the old witch say she was short of money and food? I'll give her a fortune!"

Yang Yanzhang did not go to the fields, but made a rare appearance in the court.

"Yang Yanzhang, what a rare thing, what kind of wind brings you here?" Wu Zetian teased when she saw him in the queue.

"I heard that there is a demon monk causing trouble, so I wanted to come and talk to the Queen Mother about something."

"Oh? I thought you came here to ask for a gift."

"Suo Yuanli is dead. Everyone is very happy with the Queen Mother's handling. I have nothing to say except praise."

Wu Zetian was overjoyed: "It's rare to hear you praise me! Then just say what you want to say!"

Yang Yanzhang then looked solemn and said loudly: "The Queen Mother thinks that there are many monks and temples in the country, which is a good thing for the Tang Dynasty?" Wu Zetian hesitated for a moment, but did not answer directly: "What do you think?"

"To tell you the truth, the existence of temples and monks is just to appease the people and reduce some conflicts between the people and the court! But my crops will mature in two months, and within three years there will no longer be hungry people in the Tang Dynasty. ! What’s the use of keeping these monks?”

Li Dan couldn't help frowning. The old Li family had no interest in Buddhism since Li Yuan, and so did Li Shimin. But later, because of Guanyin, Li Shimin also had a great change in his view of Buddhism. This led to the subsequent Li family's children and grandchildren being less interested in Buddhism. Very fond of it.

Li Dan naturally doesn't like what you said now, Yang Yanzhang.

So when Wu Zetian didn't express his position, Li Dan couldn't help but speak: "Yang Yanzhang, Buddhism can educate all people and is an important weapon of the country. Why don't you even understand this truth?"

Yang Yanzhang refuted it calmly: "When it comes to admonishing good deeds, Taoism is the same, or in other words, Confucianism is enough. And what does Buddhism teach people? Either they sit all day long dreaming of becoming a Buddha, or they are young and strong and go begging! How can the people of the whole country do this? If we learn from them, where does the food come from? How should we deal with powerful enemies coming to kill us?"

Li Dan couldn't speak for a while, but Yang Yanzhang didn't stop: "As we all know, temples have land, and there are countless merit money, and they guard countless wealth, but they don't do corvee or pay taxes. Many monks have fat heads and big ears, isn't it? Those who seek quarrels and troubles to bully the people are just wandering around the Fireworks Alley, looking for flowers and willows all day long! What is the use of keeping such Buddhism and such monks? At present, the court is short of food, and these fattened rats have never taken the initiative to donate a grain of rice or a grain of rice. A piece of money! I think this kind of existence should be completely wiped out from the empire, to replenish the treasury and improve the atmosphere!"

Wu Zetian's eyes flickered when she heard this, and she was quite moved.

But she knew that the premise of all this was that Yang Yanzhang could really grow a magical thing that could yield thousands of kilograms per mu and produce two thousand times more grain from one seed!
If Yang Yanzhang blows up his bullshit, but the temple is demolished and the monks are laid off en masse, won't there be many more homeless people without food?This is not a good thing for the government.

But she also knew that there was so much money in the temples that it could fill dozens of treasuries!

If the temple was indeed raided as Yang Yanzhang said, then this crisis would be nothing at all!
"Yang Yanzhang, are you sure those crops can produce high yields?" Wu Zetian suddenly asked.

"Of course! I can guarantee it with my head!"

After Wu Zetian pondered for a while, he suddenly stood up!
"My lords! Monks are supposed to educate the people and help stabilize the government, but you also saw what happened last night. The monks of the majestic White Horse Temple actually dared to do such a thing! I'm afraid most temples in the world are like this! Such Buddhism, It would be a disaster to keep such a temple alive!"

"I have decided! From now on, I will no longer give any preferential treatment to Buddhism!"

"Those monasteries with a bad reputation will be disbanded immediately and thoroughly inspected by me. All the money and food will be put into the national treasury, and all the monks inside will be sent to the frontiers!"

"If the reputation is still good, we can still disband it and return it to secular life, which can give it some capital to settle down and live in peace!"

"Templates that are truly respected and have a good reputation can be retained, but any merit money earned in the future will be turned over to the state treasury!"

Yang Yanzhang was filled with admiration after hearing this: "The Queen Mother has thought carefully and arranged it properly. In this way, there are fewer rice bugs, and she will not act too hastily and cause widespread resentment among the people!"

Su Liangsi, the left prime minister of Wenchang, couldn't help but sigh: "I have actually wanted to say this for a long time, but I was afraid of offending everyone! I didn't expect that Yang Yushi would dare to speak out and criticize current affairs. Compared with this, I am really ashamed! The Queen Mother is willing to adopt it. This suggestion is really a blessing to the people of the world! Once the temple is demolished, many people can be allocated land immediately! In this way, not only are there fewer hungry people, but the court has also gained more tax revenue, and it has also gained people's hearts. !”

All the officials agreed, not only admiring Yang Yanzhang, but also admired Wu Zetian's courage!

"It seems that I have done something right again! Yang Yanzhang is really my lucky star!" Wu Zetian couldn't help but have a satisfied smile on his lips.

(End of this chapter)