Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

In the Longyuan Academy, two carriages, led by the guards, drove all the way into the hall before stopping in front of the living room. Immediately, a kind-faced, kind-eyed, enlightened monk with Dharma appearance stepped out of the carriage.

Li Tai stood at the door of the living room. When he saw the two old monks getting out of the car, he raised his hand and said with a smile: "I know that the two masters are elegant and quiet, so I specially set up a banquet at home to welcome them. The hall is simple, so please forgive me."

The two old monks originally looked graceful and graceful, but after seeing Li Tai, they immediately broke through. They hurriedly raised their legs and walked forward, and then bowed to Li Tai at the foot of the steps. One of them, The monk even said respectfully: "Tang Gong is the supreme Dharma King in the world. His body is dazzling with Dharma. All the old monks are protected by Tang Gong's glory. When they are summoned, it is no different than listening to the Buddha's voice!"

The other old monk's posture was a little more reserved. Although he didn't say such disgusting flattery, he nodded in agreement.

The names of these two old monks are Master Hongyi and Master Tanjing respectively. They were both Shaman monks that Li Tai used to regain in his early years. They were arranged to run the Buddhist temple on his behalf in northern Shaanxi. When Li Tai planned to get money from Samanas, he wanted them to set an example as insiders and set a tone for attracting money, so that other Buddhist temples would follow suit.

This time in the great debate on Buddhism and Taoism held in Chang'an City, although the two old monks did not take the stage to debate, they also participated in it and acted as Li Tai's informants to influence the progress of the debate.

The reason why Li Tai chose to summon the two people in his own academy rather than in an official office was, of course, to cover up others' eyes.

Erwuzi is always disliked, and there are many officials in the Western Wei Dynasty who are devout Buddhist believers. Although there are many people in the court who speculate and feel that Tang Gong wants to engage in ascetics, but this kind of thing I would rather let people know it than let people see it. Covering it up a little is respecting everyone's beliefs.

"How is the progress of this sutra debate? How are the eminent monks who participated in the sutra debate feeling at the moment?"

After welcoming the two of them into the hall and sitting down, Li Tai asked with a smile.

"The situation is very bad. The scholars of the Southern Dynasties have exquisite mystical meanings that are extremely difficult to refute. The mages have tried their best to break through the encirclement, but in the end they have been unable to defeat the mystical method. So far, they are somewhat helpless, but they are just worried every day."

After hearing Li Tai's question, the two old monks looked at each other, each sighed with a worried look on his face, and then Monk Hongyi answered. Although they are two young ascetics, they have developed feelings for each other after working in the industry for so many years. Of course, they also hope that Buddhism can be carried forward.

Li Tai had little faith and emotion in this matter, and the result was not what he expected.

The local integration and development of Buddhism is a long process. Although it was very popular during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the development of its theory of scriptures did not make significant progress until the Tang and Song Dynasties. Although the discussion of metaphysics and Taoism also flourished in During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was developed from local culture. When it comes to the level of logic and dialectics, the current Buddhism is still a bit inadequate.

The current development of Buddhism is similar to the later public accounts in the era of self-media that blindly attract traffic. All kinds of exaggeration, out of context, and atmosphere and rhythm are professional. As for the real logic, there may be some but not much.

If you leave this kind of thing indifferent and let it develop, its development momentum will be very strong, but if you can't help but take a closer look, it is an unreasonable phenomenon. If you really want to use reason to explain it, they themselves will be confused.

Zhou Hongzheng and other people from the Southern Dynasties, who Li Tai arranged to compete with these eminent monks, were truly the first-class academicians in the world who had learned all three religions. They were not only proficient in metaphysics and Yili, but also had deep knowledge of Buddhist classics. Their attainments may even be higher than More than these eminent monks from Guanlong, there are reasonable arguments and unreasonable arguments. How can these eminent monks win the argument?

"In that case, do these eminent monks have any plans on how to end this?"

Li Tai then asked again. This time the debate was not as simple as admitting defeat if you couldn't argue, because it related to the development prospects of the two major religions, Buddhism and Taoism, in the Western Wei Dynasty.

The reason why the monks actively donated materials and sought the qualification to participate in the debate was because they were tempted by the prospect of a dominant Northern Qi Buddhist family directly monopolizing religious beliefs.

They also dreamed of replicating this situation in the Western Wei Dynasty. In this way, the monks who promoted this change could not only occupy a place in the history of religious development, but also their actual benefits could be greatly increased, not to mention returning. There will be blessings and rewards after the great Dharma.

But the problem is, if all of this is to be realized, the first step is to win the debate between Buddhism and Taoism. But now they can't win at all, so their original intention to bring Buddhism to glory will become a stupid move that brings about self-destruction, and this opportunity for self-destruction was bought by them with real money!

The two monks looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly. Those monks who participated in the debate were worried about this. Although they could not win the argument, they just gritted their teeth and refused to admit defeat, just wanting to delay it forever.

When Master Tanjing saw Li Tai frowning, he said cautiously: "Does Mr. Tang really want to destroy the temple and extinguish the Dharma? These monks have not mastered the Dharma and should be punished. However, the Dharma of ascetics can educate all people, and it has its merits after all. Ah. If it is destroyed once, it will not only be the victims of the monks, but also the believers from all walks of life. It would be better to spread the word to other temples and follow the previous plan to visit another master who is profound in Buddhism. Come to argue?"

This monk really had some Buddha nature. In order to maintain the qualification of Buddhism to spread Buddhism in the Western Wei Dynasty, he directly suggested to continue to expand the scope of exploitation. He could also see that Tang Gong did this just to raise money and food. In order to prevent Buddhism from being banned, it was a plan worth considering to let a number of temples raise funds to pay protection fees and just let the debate continue.

After Li Tai heard this, he waved his hand. He was embarrassed to hear this ugly look. Moreover, such a plan was destined to be a one-shot deal. Afterwards, everyone realized that this was a sinkhole. Who would be scrambling for the first place? Jump in?

Of course, it would not be in line with the current needs of the Western Wei Dynasty to maintain social stability and vigorously develop internal affairs to immediately seize and completely destroy and ban Buddhas. With so much wealth, resources, and labor power possessed by Buddhism being released all at once, only a very small part of what the Bafu can effectively absorb and digest.

He still remembered that when Master Tanjing's Guangming Temple was built in Qinzhou, Longyou, there was an account in the Guangming Temple, which recorded the collusion between the temple and a group of local powerful people and the transfer of benefits. Therefore, once a government order is issued to completely ban and destroy Buddhism, the temple's assets will quickly flow to the countryside and be hidden again in another place.

Banning Buddha is already an act that can cause serious turbulence at all levels of society. If the scope of the attack continues to be expanded to include a group of local powerful people because of tracing the flow of assets, it will basically be equivalent to digging a hole to bury oneself.

So the next step is to instigate them to fight among themselves step by step, thereby gradually squeezing the temple's assets and establishing new control rules. If the imperial court could effectively control the temple through decrees and regulations, then it would not be important to destroy the Immortal Buddha.

After all, it is much easier to raid an illegal Buddhist temple than to collect and pay rent from thousands of households, and the harvest is much greater. They are all piglets raised in their own pig pens. Before they are fattened and killed, they have to stare at the roasted suckling pig?

After pondering for a while, Li Tai looked at the two monks again and said: "When you two return home, you can tell the eminent monks that the reason why Buddhism is unclear today is not necessarily because the masters are not good at studying the Dharma, but that the signs of the end of the Dharma in this life are getting stronger and stronger. Recluse There is so much filth and dirt in it that the Buddha will fall into oblivion and the Dharma will be destroyed. If you want to promote the Dharma, you must correct yourself!"

After Monk Hongyi heard this, he suddenly understood. He immediately leaned over and asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Tang, if the ascetics want to save themselves, how should they correct themselves?"

"The method of self-rescue lies in one's own mind. All the eminent monks and masters are deeply immersed in the Dharma. I am only briefly stating my own opinions and giving some advice."

Li Tai said with a smile: "For example, nowadays there are many evil spirits and demons who are greedy for the world. Buddhism is so strong that they dig ditches and erect fences to build a temple. They use their evil and heretical doctrines to confuse the villagers. Outsiders don't know the depth of their ways, so they join the sect one after another. For a long time, they regard themselves as moral, making it difficult for people to distinguish the true from the false..."

While listening, Monk Hongyi adjusted his sitting posture uncomfortably. Why did he suddenly feel uneasy like sitting on pins and needles? Are you sure that what Mr. Tang is talking about is not about our Shifo Temple?

Of course, Shifo Temple does not belong to heretics, because it was established with the permission and instructions of Duke Tang. From then on, all existing and newly built Buddhist temples in the Western Wei Dynasty must be evaluated and approved by the Bafu before they can exist, otherwise they will be banned from being destroyed!

Of course, Li Tai couldn't say this, it had to come from the senior monks who participated in the debate. Since these eminent monks were selected with real money, their religious status and Buddhist level are also among the best in the entire Guanlong region.

Now Li Tai gives them two choices, either you will become eternal sinners who failed to debate scriptures and destroyed Buddhism and Dharma, or you will lead a staff to establish a religious committee and cooperate with the overlord to manage all the temples in the territory!