Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 524 Buddha Tooth
In Jiankang, the capital of Southern Liang, Yang Zhong's wife Lü Kutao sat by the river with her head buried. Her hands had been rotten from being soaked in the river water, and she felt excruciating pain when they touched the icy water, but Lü Kutao had to persevere.

For ordinary people in Jiankang, if they don't work for a day, they will have nothing to eat.

When Yang Zhong went to war, he promised to give Lu Kutao a good life.

At the beginning, the White Robe Army was invincible in the north, and Lu Kutao was able to receive letters and valuables from Yang Zhong. Life was pretty good at that time.

But gradually, the letters from home became fewer and fewer. Although it was heard that Yang Zhong had made great contributions and became an official, there was nothing he could send back.

In fact, Lu Kutao didn't know that after Yang Zhong became the General of the False Emperor Yuan Hao, he had been sending things home, but all these things were embezzled by the quartermaster in the rear.

When the news that the 7,000 White Robe Army was annihilated came back, Lu Kutao felt like the sky was falling.

Many people advised Lu Kutao to remarry, but she gritted her teeth and refused to do so.

By washing clothes for others, Lu Kutao managed to survive in Jiankang.

But it was very difficult for a weak woman to survive in Jiankang.

Ever since Xiao Yan sacrificed himself in Tongtai Temple, officials used hundreds of millions of iron coins to redeem him, and the price of rice in Jiankang has risen a lot again.

Now even grassroots officials can no longer make a living and can only exploit the people even more.

Nowadays, there are many types of taxes in Jiankang. Even women who wash clothes by the river have to pay taxes, which are called laundry money.

In addition, wine shops have to collect wine taxes, and salt shops have to levy salt taxes. As long as a shop is open, if there is no noble person behind it to protect it, the tax collectors may come to the door three times a day.

Nowadays, many shops in Jiankang city nail their doors shut with wooden boards and dare not open during the day for fear that tax collectors will come to their shops.

It can be said that everything in Jiankang was rising in price, forcing the people in the city to start farming in their open spaces at home.

The prosperous scene created by the massive issuance of iron coins is no longer there. These issued iron coins are gathering in the hands of the powerful at a faster rate, leaving ordinary people with even less money.

The reason is very simple, the depreciation rate of iron money is too fast.

After delivering the washed clothes back to his employer's home, Lu Kutao received a bag of iron coins.

Yes, a bag of iron coins. Nowadays, the iron coins in Jiankang are all packed in sacks. The same weight of iron coins cannot even be exchanged for the same weight of grain.

Lu Kutao had to speed up. If she couldn't exchange the bag of iron coins for food in the morning, she would only be able to exchange 80% of the food in the afternoon.

The depreciation rate of iron coins exceeded that of any other currency, and the people of Jiankang had already begun to barter in private.

Lu Kutao didn't know that the copper coins in the warehouse of Xiao Hong's home, Xiao Yan's younger brother, have now been exchanged for hundreds of millions of iron coins. These powerful people have gained more wealth than in the copper coin era by relying on the right to mint coins.

Lu Kutao walked quickly towards the grain store. At this moment, the soldiers guarding the city began to drive away the people along the way, and saw a large caravan coming from the main gate of Jiankang and heading towards the imperial palace.

Lu Kutao recognized that this was the caravan of Xiao Yi, King of Xiangdong.

Since the beginning of this year, the Crown Prince has been increasingly ill, and it is said that he is on the verge of death. Merchant caravans from local princes have been coming in one after another to pay tribute.

Among them, the one with the most outstanding performance was King Xiao Yi of Xiangdong.

Jingzhou was originally a prosperous place. After losing Yizhou, Jingzhou became a frontier station for foreign trade.

A large number of merchants from Guanzhong brought new and exotic goods, especially the Indian specialties that Su Ze obtained after taking control of the Western Regions, which made Xiao Yan very fond of them.

The most important cargo of the Xiangdong King's caravan this time was a Buddha tooth relic.

After the Buddha Shakyamuni passed away, his disciples took his relics to various countries. This Buddha tooth relic has appeared in many Buddhist scriptures and is the largest relic.

This relic was originally enshrined in the Lion Country. Later, after a war broke out in the Lion Country, the relic was taken to India, and later flowed into the Western Regions, and was finally collected by the King of Shanshan.

It is said that a merchant from Guanzhong exchanged twenty pieces of the finest Shu brocade for this Buddha tooth relic.

The Buddha's tooth relic was in Liangzhou, and was authenticated by the eminent monk Bodhidharma from the Western Regions, and then sold to the King of Xiangdong.

As for how much the King of Xiangdong paid for this Buddha tooth relic, ordinary people dare not imagine it.

The relics were placed in an exquisite Buddhist shrine. When the believers heard that they were the Buddha's relics, they chased the convoy madly and threw all their belongings into the shrine.

The soldiers in charge of maintaining public order hurriedly stopped them and said, "You're kidding. The Southern Liang used iron coins. What if this bag of iron coins smashes the Buddha's tooth relic?"
Lu Kutao also believed in Buddhism. She looked at the Buddha's tooth relic, and reluctantly took out a few iron coins, then followed the crowd and threw them at the relic.

Yang Zhong's life or death is uncertain, and Lu Kutao only hopes that he can come back alive.

Upon hearing about the riot in the city, Xiao Yan quickly dispatched Chen Qingzhi to lead troops to maintain order, and only then was he able to rescue the convoy.

Apart from preaching at Tongtai Temple, the Bodhisattva Emperor Xiao Yan, who had not been seen by the ministers for a long time, came out of the monk's house in person this time and stood at the gate of the palace to welcome the Buddha's tooth relic. There was no other way. The Buddha's relic was an irresistible temptation for any believer. It was a supreme treasure.

When the convoy arrived at the gate of the palace, Xiao Yan was still able to remain calm. He asked the abbot of Tongtai Temple, Fayun, and the purple-robed monk Bianji beside him to come forward to identify the authenticity of the Buddha's tooth relic.

After the two of them looked at each other for a long time, Fayun knelt down first and said:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! This is truly the Buddha's relic!"

Fayun knelt down, and Bianji only hated himself for pretending to judge for too long. He knelt down almost at the same time and said:

"It is consistent with the records in Buddhist scriptures. Your Majesty, this is the Buddha's relic! It is absolutely true!"

Xiao Yan was overjoyed and held the Buddhist shrine personally. Xiao Yi's gift really touched his heart.

"Zhu Yi!"

Zhu Yi stepped forward, and Xiao Yan said:
"The King of Xiangdong was rewarded with the title of King of Chu for his meritorious service in escorting the Buddha's tooth relic. He was given an additional fief of 5,000 households and was allowed to establish a government in Jingzhou."

This appointment surprised Zhu Yi.

The political significance of single-character royal titles and two-character royal titles are completely different. Except for the crown prince, all other sons of Xiao Yan had two-character royal titles.

Now that the crown prince was seriously ill, Xiao Yan promoted Xiao Yi alone to the title of single-character king. The outer court didn't know how to interpret this matter.

However, Zhu Yi himself had a bad relationship with the prince. Xiao Yi had been bribing the ministers of Jiankang over the years and had a very good relationship with Zhu Yi.

Zhu Yi naturally had no reason to object. The son was showing filial piety to his father, and the father was rewarding his son. This was the emperor's family affair that no one could interfere with.

"Yes, I will draft the edict right away."

Xiao Yan personally carried the Buddha's tooth relic to the monk's room in the palace. The more he looked at it, the happier he became. He then said to Bian Ji beside him:

"Master, I respectfully receive the Buddha's tooth relic. How much merit do I gain?"

Bian Ji immediately said:

"Your Majesty, this Buddha's tooth relic is different from other things. As long as you worship it wholeheartedly day and night, it will bring you great merit!"

Xiao Yan was overjoyed when he heard this, and felt even more satisfied with his son Xiao Yi.

Bian Ji discussed Buddhism with Xiao Yan for a while before slowly leaving.

Because Xiao Yan often summoned Bian Ji to discuss Buddhism, he simply gave Bian Ji a mansion next to the imperial palace.

When Bian Ji returned to his mansion, he met a special guest.

Bian Ji closed the door carefully. If outsiders knew that the emperor's favored monk met with the prime minister of the time, he would probably be impeached.

Zhu Yi smiled and said to Bian Ji:
"Master, how confident are you about that matter?"

Bian Ji said cautiously:
"Although the King of Chu is a filial son, His Majesty still seems to be hesitant."

Zhu Yi risked being impeached to meet Bian Ji late at night just to discuss the issue of the succession to the throne.

Seeing that Crown Prince Xiao Tong's health was failing, his other brothers all had ideas.

Zhu Yi and Crown Prince Xiao Tong have always been at odds with each other. Zhu Yi is considered by the Crown Prince to be a treacherous minister who is bringing disaster to the country and the people, and is the reason why his father has been stupid in recent years.

The prince was about to die, and the happiest person was naturally Zhu Yi.

But even though the prince is in poor health, he still has a son.

Logically, if the crown prince died of illness, the eldest grandson Xiao Huan should be appointed as the heir. This eldest grandson hates Zhu Yi as much as his father does.

So Zhu Yi had been trying to find a way to get Xiao Yan to enthrone another prince as the crown prince.

The person who had the closest relationship with Zhu Yi was naturally the King of Xiangdong, now the King of Chu, Xiao Yi.

The event of bringing the Buddha's tooth relic into Jiankang was jointly planned by Zhu Yi and Xiao Yi, in order to please Xiao Yan at this critical moment of the fight for the throne.

When Zhu Yi heard that presenting the Buddha's tooth still failed to change Xiao Yan's mind, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

Bian Ji said calmly:
"Don't worry, Master Zhu. I have my own solution."

(End of this chapter)