Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4738: Another Wave
"forgive me……"

Gao Yang moaned softly, holding down her husband's mischievous hand, her whole body sore and weak, she begged: "I can't do it anymore, go find your queen, or the Princess of Silla, even sisters can share a husband, hehe!"

Thinking of that indescribable scene, Gao Yang felt both shy and excited.

Men need to know when to obey and when to refuse. For example, if Fang Jun obediently gets up and leaves now, Gao Yang will definitely not say a word to him for a month...

Leaning close to Gao Yang's crystal-clear earlobe, he smiled softly and said, "In fact, Your Highness might as well try the feeling of sisters sharing the same husband... oh!"

Before he could finish his words, a pair of bare hands grasped his vital parts tightly underwater, and he could not help but let out a scream.

Gao Yang gritted his teeth, exerted force with his hands, and said in a cold voice: "Humph, you dirty thing, you have been thinking about this for a day or two, right? Bah, dirty, filthy, shameless! Just give up on this idea, I will never let you get what you want!"

Fang Jun quickly broke free from the clutches and climbed up to the edge of the pool. While putting on his clothes, he did not forget to shout: "Nothing is absolute in this world. I advise Your Highness not to be so sure. One day Your Highness might cry and beg me to sleep with you..."

As he spoke, he ran out, because Gao Yang had already grabbed a fruit plate by the pool and threw the fruits in the plate over to him.

……

After rejecting Yuan Tiangang's invitation, Fang Jun knew that things would not end like this. Sure enough, in the evening, Li Chengqian sent a eunuch to Mount Li to inform Fang Jun that the emperor would visit Xuandu Temple in Chongyefang on July 15th and asked Fang Jun to accompany him.

Obviously, the Li Tang royal family, who respected "Laozi" as their ancestor, chose to stand on the side of "ancestors" in this dispute between Buddhism and Taoism and fully supported the revival of Taoism.

There is nothing wrong with such a choice. It does not depend on the emperor's religious affiliation, but on the "balance" principle of imperial rule. Since Buddhism has become more powerful and has suppressed Taoism badly against the backdrop of Xuanzang's journey to the West, it is natural to support the weak against the strong in order to achieve the goal of balance. Otherwise, allowing Buddhism to develop rapidly and suppress Taoism will be detrimental to the governance of the country.

When Fang Jun returned to Chang'an City the next day, news came in one after another.

The emperor issued an edict to build the "Haotian Temple" in Baoningfang to pray for the blessings of Emperor Taizong, and the abbot of the temple was Yin Wencao, the "Louguan Dao".

When the crown prince was ill, the empress issued an imperial decree to pray for him and set aside a quarter of the land in the southern corner of Shanningfang to build the "Dongming Temple".

Princess Jinyang became a nun and prayed for Emperor Taizong and Empress Wende. She rebuilt and expanded the Zhide Temple in Xingdefang. This temple was built in the sixth year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty. It occupies a few miles of land in the southern corner of Xingdefang. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers, but it has fallen into disrepair and is a bit dilapidated.

The series of actions taken by the royal family caused an uproar in the court and the country. Although the treasury was sufficient and no impeachment was caused even though a lot of waste was spent, these actions clearly supported Taoism, and still made many people realize the turbulent dispute between Buddhism and Taoism.

Afterwards, the Taoists responded by holding a grand ceremony at the Louguan Temple in Zhongnan Mountain on July 15 to praise the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and pray for the people of the world. It is said that this ceremony will bring together various Taoist sects in the world, and many famous and highly skilled masters will gather in Chang'an from all over the world to participate in the event.

The Ghost Festival on July 15th has been a Taoist festival since ancient times and is the birthday of the Earth God.

"After the separation of chaos and stick, there were the three original energies of heaven, earth and water, which gave rise to human relations and nourished all things." All life is inseparable from the control of the three officials of heaven, earth and water.

The Taoist "Three Officials Sutra" says: "The Heavenly Official bestows blessings, the Earthly Official forgives sins, and the Water Official relieves disasters." "Sanyuan" is another name for the "Three Officials". The Shangyuan Festival is also known as the "Shangyuan Tianguan Festival" (i.e. Lantern Festival), which is the birthday of the Heavenly Official; the Zhongyuan Festival is also known as the "Zhongyuan Diguan Festival", which is the birthday of the Earthly Official; the Xiayuan Festival is also known as the "Xiayuan Shuiguan Festival", which is the birthday of the Shuiguan.

The God of Earth descends to the human world during the Ghost Festival and determines people's good and evil deeds based on their previous deeds. All sins are recorded in a book by the Three Officials.

The Heavenly Official bestows blessings, the Earthly Official pardons sins, and the Water Official relieves misfortunes. According to the Cultivation Records, "On the Mid-Autumn Festival in July, the Earthly Official descends and orders good Taoists on earth to chant sutras day and night, and prisoners on the Hungry Festival are also freed." The Earthly Official pardons sins and balances yin and yang; if you want to accomplish yang things, you must go through the yin and yang exams; he saves the dead and the lonely, and the yin surpasses the yang.

This is the most important festival for Taoism.

However, not long after, the Da Ci'en Temple spread the word that the Buddhists would hold the "Yulanpen Festival" on July 15th to pray for the dead and save the world... Obviously, even though the Buddhists were growing stronger, they were still nervous about the Taoist counterattack and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

The fighting atmosphere suddenly became intense.

……

All the ministers arrived in the Wude Hall.

Liu Li was worried about the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism. "The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism has a long history, but there has never been a direct war like this. I don't care whether Buddhism is superior or Taoism wins. I only care whether this fight will lead to political instability in the world. The infrastructure construction in the empire is in full swing now. It will take less than ten years to build a foundation that would have been built for hundreds or thousands of years. If the so-called dispute between Buddhism and Taoism causes various projects to be delayed or even aborted, this is a loss that the empire cannot afford."

With the reform of commercial taxes, the empire's finances became increasingly abundant. In addition, gold and silver mined from Sado Island and other places in Japan were continuously transported back to Chang'an, making the treasury abundant. The unprecedented wealth of the two treasuries, the inner and the outer, marked the beginning of the infrastructure construction that the prime ministers had long imagined.

Building roads, digging canals, constructing cities, and establishing new settlements...an unprecedented nationwide construction boom began, and the entire empire was united in its vow to complete hundreds or even thousands of years of construction tasks within the lifetime of one generation.

Everyone knows that good infrastructure will lead to increased finances, political stability, abundant grain harvests, and prosperous commerce. However, even when the imperial dynasties throughout history were prosperous, they could not afford to invest too much money in such huge construction. Now is a rare opportunity, and no civil servant is willing to miss the chance to leave their name in history.

Minister of Civil Affairs Tang Jian is now getting older and older. Without the princess as a supporter, the future of the Tang family's descendants is not very clear. As the head of the family, he is naturally worried. When he heard Liu Li's words, he also expressed his concerns: "Now local governments are actively applying for funds, craftsmen, and manpower to invest in infrastructure construction. Millions of strings of money and grain have been allocated this year. If these projects are shelved due to external factors, the loss will be unbearable for the country."

Li Chengqian said helplessly: "How could I not know the hidden dangers? But now the Buddhist and Taoist sects are clearly going to fight fiercely. It is impossible to restrain them in the name of the country. Even if they are suppressed by force, it is just lip service. This fight is inevitable."

Buddhism has spread its followers to the lower levels, while Taoism has influenced the upper levels. The influence of these two major sects has long penetrated into every aspect of the empire. It is not enough to simply restrain them. Once they start fighting, they are likely to ignore the imperial decrees.

However, sectarian disputes are different from starting a war. We can't just arrest everyone one by one and throw them into jail, right?
The emperor and his ministers in the palace were very troubled.

Li Chengqian glanced at Fang Jun, who was leisurely drinking tea and seemed to be unconcerned about state affairs. He became angry and asked, "Duke Yue seems to have a plan in mind. Do you have any good advice for me?"

Before, Li Ji was a figurehead, and now there is Fang Jun who is absent-minded. The dignified left and right ministers of the empire are so indifferent to power and live a carefree life. For Li Chengqian, who is determined to control the imperial power, it is hard to tell whether it is a joy or a worry...

Fang Jun put down his teacup, sat upright, looked at Tang Jian and asked, "The Duke of Ju is in charge of the treasury and grain expenditures, taxes and rents of the whole country, but I wonder how much tax the temples and Taoist temples in the world pay now?"

Tang Jian was stunned, and subconsciously said: "Monks and Taoist priests do not engage in production, and have no output, so naturally they do not need to pay taxes. Only since the implementation of the rent and labor service system, monks and Taoist priests need to pay a small fee."

Temples and Taoist temples are not as free from taxes as most people imagine. In history, as the national situation changed, they were sometimes required to pay taxes. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the rent and labor system was implemented, which also included temples and Taoist temples. However, due to various reasons, the amount of tax they paid was very small, but it was by no means zero.

Emperor Taizong once said, "After pacifying the Liu family, I ordered the officials to exempt the temples in Mount Wutai from rent and taxes. The following four dynasties all followed my will." Since the rent and taxes of the temples in Mount Wutai were exempted, it is obvious that the temples had rent and taxes.

Of course, this amount is very small, and many taxes were exempted. For example, when Emperor Taizong attacked Wang Shichong, Shaolin Temple helped. Emperor Taizong issued an imperial decree exempting Shaolin Temple from all taxes. For example, the Li Tang royal family recognized Laozi as their ancestor and respected Taoism as the state religion. They also exempted taxes for Chang'an and many famous temples in the world...

After saying this, Tang Jian was startled and stared at Fang Jun, "Are you going to collect taxes from the temples and Taoist temples?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall.

Be it Buddhism or Taoism, they have already become giants rooted in the world today. They are said to be barbarians and idle clouds and wild cranes, but in fact they are very powerful. Even when the world is in turmoil and war is raging, few heroes from all sides are willing to touch these two forces. Otherwise, once they are forced into the opponent's camp, it is tantamount to seeking death.

Even if the world is at peace, Buddhism and Taoism have a large number of believers, and the court would not dare to offend them rashly, otherwise it would inevitably cause unrest among the people and shake the country. No matter what the reason is, the loss will outweigh the gain.

Liu Li was sweating profusely and tried to stop him, saying, "This is not a good idea!"

Ma Zhou's eyes were gleaming, and he was eager to try. "What do you think, Duke Yue? You might as well tell me directly. Whether it is feasible or not should be decided after discussion. Buddhism is not a scourge, how can you be afraid of it?"

Li Ji looked at Fang Jun, thought for a moment, and said, "Is Erlang planning to take advantage of the situation and take advantage of it? The question now is not whether we can attack the Buddhist and Taoist sects, but whether it is really necessary to do so?"

Even if we take advantage of the situation and act accordingly, it will inevitably affect the fundamental interests of Buddhism and Taoism and will inevitably lead to large-scale resistance. At a time when the situation among all parties is tense due to the measurement of land, is it really necessary to stir up another storm?