Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4753 The storm is coming
Li Er launched the "Xuanwu Gate Incident" to set an example for his descendants, telling them that the fate of life is not predetermined, and the so-called "destiny" can also be interpreted in many ways. As long as one "has lofty ambitions and dares to be the first", nothing is impossible.

In this society of patriarchal succession, even if one is not the eldest son, it is entirely possible to achieve a comeback through one's own efforts...

For individuals, Li Er is a role model for countless people. He has demonstrated his successful counterattack to everyone. However, for the overall situation, this kind of "uneasy" and "going against the will of heaven" behavior needs to be severely criticized. The original intention of clan succession is to make society run in an orderly manner. Once this order is broken, everyone "does not accept their fate", then wouldn't it be a chaos in the world?

The royal family was even more on high alert. The instigator, Emperor Li II, usurped the throne through the "Xuanwu Gate Incident", but he also knew that once this rule was passed down and future generations followed suit, the Tang Dynasty would never have peace. So he kept teaching his children to be friendly to their brothers, respectful to their younger brothers, and to be humble and orderly. Even though he was extremely dissatisfied with Li Chengqian, he was still hesitant about changing the crown prince and could never make up his mind.

When Li Chengqian ascended the throne, it was discovered that the crown prince was not born of legitimate parents, and the crisis of succession to the throne emerged again. How could the royal family not pay attention to this and take precautions in advance?

……

A drizzle continued for several days, the water levels of various rivers rose, and the drought in Guanzhong was greatly alleviated. When the sky cleared and the sun rose, the Ghost Festival arrived.

Countless monks and Taoist priests from all over the country rushed to Chang'an. In the past few days, monks and Taoist priests holding pass certificates were constantly passing through the various passes and roads leading into Guanzhong. Monks and Taoist priests gathered in the temples and Taoist temples in Chang'an, and even the number of monks and Taoist priests walking on the streets was dozens of times more than usual. The Da Ci'en Temple in the city and the Caolou Temple in the south of the city were the top places for population gathering.

The Da Ci'en Temple is filled with the lingering scent of incense and candles, and the sound of bells is melodious. During the morning and evening classes every day, the main hall is completely unable to accommodate all the monks, so they gather on the square and sit on the ground. The sounds of chanting sutras and reciting Buddha's name come together, loud, melodious, steady and heavy, which, combined with the environment, really gives off a sense of strict law.

Caolou Temple at the foot of Mount Zhongnan, as the Taoist venue for the "Zhongyuan Festival", was also crowded with people and the incense was very popular. Not only did all Taoist sects send people to the scene, but even many wandering Taoists came to hear the news.

Taoism has been passed down for thousands of years, and there are only a few grand events of this scale...

The entire city of Chang'an was bustling with the grand events of Buddhism and Taoism. With the surge in the floating population, more and more vendors also flocked to Chang'an. If there was no place to set up stalls, they would carry shelves and poles on their backs and wander around temples and Taoist temples to sell their goods. Naturally, public security issues became a top priority.

Not only did the Jingzhao Prefecture and its subordinate Chang'an and Wannian counties send out patrol officers, but the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple also sent officials to these government offices to sentence cases severely and quickly to ensure the stability of public security in the city of Chang'an.

The left and right leading guards who were in charge of guarding the palace and the left and right imperial guards who were in charge of garrisoning the capital were all mobilized. Li Ji was stationed at Chengtian Gate to command the left and right leading guards to ensure the safety of Taiji Palace. Fang Jun set up his tent under the Circular Mound outside Mingde Gate, taking control of the entire situation in Chang'an and eliminating any signs of danger in time.

Fang Jun's tent was set up under a big tree beside the official road. Since it was a temporary setup, it was just a shed. On the left and right, large banners stood tall with flags fluttering. Teams of well-equipped soldiers stood surrounded by it, looking majestic and murderous.

The playboys came in and out of Mingde Gate in groups to join in the fun, sometimes going to Da Ci'en Temple, sometimes rushing to Caolou Temple. When they were parading through the streets in fine clothes and riding horses, they saw Fang Jun sitting in the general's tent in the distance, looking majestic and fierce, and they all expressed their envy and jealousy.

In fact, some of the older ones among these playboys are the same age as Fang Jun. However, Fang Jun has now achieved outstanding achievements and has become an official of the highest rank. His every word and action controls the direction of the empire, while they are still hanging out in brothels, living in a muddle-headed way relying on the influence of their ancestors...

Dou Dewei, who was riding on a horse, looked at Fang Jun, who was so majestic in the general's tent. His lame leg throbbed with a slight pain. He gritted his teeth and said, "Everything that rises to the top must decline. This is the way of heaven. Since ancient times, which powerful official has a good ending? Let this guy be arrogant for a few days. I will wait for the day when he dies without a burial place!"

Dou Dewei was second to none in terms of hatred for Fang Jun. Not only was his leg broken by Fang Jun at Fangjiawan Wharf, but Fang Jun also broke through the Jinguang Gate he was guarding during the Guanlong Rebellion, causing the situation to deteriorate completely. Although Yu Ze, who relied on Empress Taimu, did not lose his life in the subsequent reckoning, he was dismissed from all official positions and only retained his title. To this day, he is still idle and follows a group of playboys, enjoying sensual pleasures, and has not been reused at all.

Whenever her legs hurt unbearably in rainy weather, she wished she could chew Fang Jun into pieces and swallow him. Now, seeing him showing off so much, she became even more jealous.

God is blind, how could such a despicable and sinister person steal a high position? Li Chengqian, who blindly favored him, was also a tyrant!
All deserve to die!
Yu Sheng, who was standing by, could not hide his envy and uttered a famous saying: "A real man should be like this!"

To rule the world and preside over the eight palaces, this is the most lofty ambition in the minds of all men. How can one not yearn for it?
Liu Renjing laughed and said, "I thought you would say 'he can replace me', hehe."

He has a bad relationship with Dou Dewei, but he is very close to Yu Sheng. Today, when he went out to play, he happened to meet Yu Sheng and Dou Dewei together, so he had no choice but to go with them...

Yu Sheng was shocked: "Don't hurt me, if Fang Er hears this, he will punish me, right?"

It's okay to be envious of Fang Jun who holds the highest position and great power, but if you have the intention to replace him, then the nature of the matter is completely different. Do you really think that Fang Jun won't fight like he did in the past because he is now in a high position and has great power?
The tyrannical image of this club was so brutal that it still leaves a deep impression on the dandies of the same era today, and its influence still lingers...

"Hey! What are you guys doing gathered together on the roadside, whispering to each other? Come here, tell us your identities first and see if you are the bandits being pursued by the police."

A captain saw a group of playboys gathered together, whispering and pointing at the commander from time to time. He immediately became suspicious and walked over to ask them while scolding them.

When they saw that things were not going well, especially Dou Dewei, who hated and feared Fang Jun, they feared that Fang Jun would see them and take the opportunity to deal with them. So they rode away without saying a word. Yu Sheng and Liu Renjing also did not want to get into trouble, so they followed Dou Dewei and rode quickly towards Zhongnan Mountain.

The other dozen or so playboys followed closely behind, and the group fled in panic with the sound of horse hooves.

The lieutenant chased for a few steps and saw that he could not catch up. He wanted to turn back and call his companions to chase after him on horseback, but after thinking about it, he decided to go back to his post and not cause any more trouble. Seeing that group of people were dressed in fine clothes and riding horses, they looked very imposing. I thought they were all sons of powerful families. It was better not to cause trouble...

……

The Buddhist "Yulanpen Festival" and the Taoist "Zhongyuan Festival" coincided with each other, and it was a day of celebration and excitement. The whole city of Chang'an was filled with a festive atmosphere. The government offices at all levels almost stopped functioning at the same time, but the back hall of the Jingzhao Prefecture was still crowded with people, and the sound of abacus beads was heard one after another. The work of liquidating the properties of various temples and Taoist temples was proceeding as usual in full swing.

Ma Zhou was a pragmatic person. He had no interest in paying attention to the power struggles among monks and Taoists. He only wanted to sort out the assets of the Buddhist and Taoist sects as soon as possible. As the autumn harvest was approaching, he determined the amount of taxes that the two sects should pay and collected them immediately.

A clerk came over holding an account book and reported: "Prefect, there is something wrong with this account book."

Ma Zhou took a sip of tea: "What's the problem?"

"This is the account book of Wannian County. It records the land of Ximing Temple, but many of the items do not match the actual measurements..."

"I will ignore all these details and just state the conclusion."

"..." The clerk said cautiously, "Although the land deed is in Ximing Temple, the account book does not record the origin of the land, and there is no land transaction document, so someone must have donated the land to Ximing Temple and used the temple's tax-exempt status to evade taxes."

Ma Zhou took the account book and flipped through it: "Are you sure? Wow, 13,000 acres? That's a lot of money!"

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the policy of "dividing land into households" was implemented. Every male of 18 years old could be allocated one mu of land, which is 100 mu. 20 mu of land was permanent land, which was owned by the individual forever and could be passed on to descendants after death, but only elm, mulberry, jujube, etc. could be planted there. The remaining 80 mu was household land, which belonged to the state and could be planted while the person was alive. After the person died, the state would take it back and redistribute it.

Thirteen thousand mu is almost the amount of land that one hundred families can share. It can be seen that when these lands were donated to the temple to evade taxes, more than one hundred families lost their land and were actually bankrupt...

The clerk hurriedly said, "It is certain, but we are still unsure who donated the land to Ximing Temple to evade taxes."

"Who cares who he is?"

Ma Zhou disagreed, returned the account book to the clerk, and ordered: "Take people to Wannian County Government immediately, seal up all the documents and contracts of this land, and nationalize it. In addition, send a letter to Ximing Temple for hiding the land and evading taxes, and impose a maximum fine of fifty times the amount of taxes evaded in recent years. In addition, send a letter to all temples and Taoist temples. If they voluntarily hand over the hidden land and pay the evaded taxes, they will be forgiven. Otherwise, they will all be fined the maximum amount and severely punished!"

"This one……"

The clerk hesitated for a moment and reminded in a low voice: "The one who donated his land to Ximing Temple is definitely not an ordinary family, and it is definitely not an isolated case. There should be many people like this. If the maximum penalty is imposed and the punishment is not lenient, won't the impact be too great?"

Who could have annexed so much land and donated it to a world-famous temple like Ximing Temple? Only nobles or royal family members could do it. Ordinary officials simply could not do it.

Once severe punishment is imposed, it will inevitably affect a large number of people and cause uproar.

Ma Zhou was displeased: "It is my duty to deal with the troubles that come one after another, and your duty is only to complete the tasks assigned by me and ensure that there are no omissions in every link. Only in this way can we work together and enforce the law impartially, so as to live up to the trust of His Majesty and the people. Just do your own thing, and you don't need to worry too much about the rest."