The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 73 Destroy the Buddha
"Destroy Buddhism."

Two light words came out of Li Yi's mouth.

He was just waiting for someone to ask this question!
Li Yi naturally knew that the imperial court was temporarily facing financial difficulties, and that it would definitely not be able to afford such a huge amount of expenses if it wanted to carry out such a drastic reform of the imperial guards.

But he had already thought about this issue.

As for how to solve it?

easy to do!

There is a ready-made solution... destroy Buddhism!
Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei Tuoba Tao, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou Yuwen Yong, Emperor Wuzong of Tang Li Yan, and Emperor Shizong of Zhou Chai Rong all did this.

History records that the Three Wus and One Zong destroyed Buddhism.

The reasons why these four masters did this were very similar, and the biggest factors were lack of money and lack of people.

Buddhists do not engage in production, but own a large amount of land and seize the offerings from the people.

It also absorbed many ordained monks and nuns, and these extremely important labor forces became the private property of the temples.

In troubled times, population is already scarce, and young and middle-aged people all become monks.

Who will farm the land? Who will fight the war?
Who will do the labor? Who will give birth to the children?
Historically, Chai Rong had his sights set on Buddhism in the second year of his reign, and in May of the second year of Xian De he officially launched the vigorous "Anti-Buddhist Movement".

Li Yi is just bringing this matter forward now.

"Envoy Li is committing a murderous sin against His Majesty!"

A censor suddenly stepped out and shouted.

Li Yi looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with half white hair and beard. He didn't know who this guy was.

But seeing the other person's sad look, people who didn't know the truth would think that his whole family was going to be killed.

This old guy is probably a Buddhist, otherwise he wouldn't be so excited, right?

Seeing that this guy was so ungrateful and jumped around for no reason, Li Yi naturally wouldn't tolerate him.

"What you said is very strange. I only said that I would destroy Buddhism, but I didn't say that I would destroy your parents. Could it be that your parents have already become Buddhas?"

Li Yi grinned, but his words were very venomous.

He would never have bothered to argue with such an old guy.

But the first thing this guy did was to accuse you of "committing a sin of murder for Your Majesty".

You old thief!

Li Yi continued, "Oh, that's right. At your age, your parents must have ascended to the Western Paradise. If you destroy the Buddha, they will have nowhere else to go."

When it comes to sarcasm, he, who has been influenced by the Internet in later generations, has never been afraid of anyone!
The old censor who was speaking was so angry that he blurted out: "My old mother is over eighty years old, and I am still alive, and you! You..."

The old man was so angry that he started to talk incoherently.

He had lived to such an old age and had never heard such "witty" words. It was a sign of good health that he didn't die of anger on the spot.

The civil and military officials in the court listened to the argument between the two, and many of them tried hard to suppress their laughter, looking like they were watching the fun and not afraid of any trouble.

However, everyone also sighed in their hearts that this seemingly polite and courteous Li Dushi with thick eyebrows and big eyes could actually be a wonderful person who could say such "nonsense".

Chai Rong also found it funny, but he kept a straight face and pretended to reprimand him, "Mr. Li, the Left Attendant was just giving you a good reminder. How could you say such a thing?"

As he spoke, he looked at the Left Attendant and said soothingly, "Lord Zuo, Envoy Li is still young and comes from a military background, so it's inevitable that he might be a bit tactless in his words. You should be patient with him."

Since the emperor had already come out to smooth things over, Li Yi took the opportunity to bow to the old man and said, "I am a military officer and not very good at speaking. I hope the Left Attendant will forgive me."

It seems that this old man surnamed Zuo is only a sixth-rank Imperial Censor, which is lower in rank than him, who is a fourth-rank Governor with an additional title.

However, even if it was the Fourth Rank Chief Censor, Li Yi wouldn't necessarily give him face, and would still confront him when necessary. In those days, a military commander of Li Yi's status would only show some respect to the Prime Minister, and would not really take other civil officials seriously.

If you are given face, you should accept it; if you are not given face, you should endure it.

"Hmph, Your Majesty, rest assured, I will not argue with a child!"

This old man surnamed Zuo was out of breath because he was fat. No wonder he was only a small official of the sixth rank at such an old age.

Chai Rong said no more and motioned Li Yi to continue: "Mr. Li, please tell us in detail about this so-called destruction of Buddhism."

Li Yi responded, "When I say destroying Buddhism, I don't mean massacre, but rather clean up the Buddhist community."

"There's nothing wrong with Buddhism being so popular, but it's a little out of place during this time of turmoil in the world."

"Not to mention the fact that temples are amassing wealth, which results in the concentration of wealth in one place and prevents normal circulation. This is a disaster."

"They also bought up farmland, leaving the people with no land to farm. This is the second disaster."

"Add to that the large number of young men and women who have become monks, and the Buddhist precepts forbid intermarriage. If this continues, the population will inevitably decline sharply. This is the third disaster."

Li Yi exaggerated the harm of Buddhism and directly linked it to the loss of population in Qiandi. This was also an excuse for the emperor to destroy Buddhism.

Besides, he was not exaggerating. In fact, in troubled times, the actions of Buddhism did not seem to be about saving all living beings, but rather about taking advantage of the opportunity to make money for the country.

Chai Rong frowned when he heard this. He was not completely ignorant of Buddhism.

The year before Taizu Guo Wei passed away, after Guo Wei killed the powerful minister Wang Jun, he recalled Chai Rong from Chanzhou to Kaifeng, conferred on him the title of King of Jin, and appointed him as the prefect of Kaifeng and the envoy of merit.

The so-called merit envoy is an official who manages monks, nuns, Taoists and nuns.

Chai Rong served as the envoy of merit for a short time. Although he was not in charge of any specific matters, he had some understanding of Buddhism and Taoism.

In addition, what Li Yi said about Buddhism had precedents in all dynasties, so Chai Rong couldn't help but become concerned.

But he was still a little hesitant, worried that causing trouble for Buddhism would have a negative impact on his reputation.

After all, in troubled times, people's worship of Buddhism and Taoism is a kind of psychological sustenance.

If you go too far... Chai Rong compared himself to Emperor Taizong and cared a lot about his reputation and the evaluation of future generations.

However, after hearing Li Yi's proposal, he was very tempted, because the court was too poor at the moment and had to spend money in every aspect.

Chai Rong pondered and said, "What Li Qing said does make some sense, but there must be a sense of propriety when it comes to rectifying Buddhism."

"I wonder if Li Qing has ever considered this?"

"Your Majesty is a wise and sage ruler with profound thoughts and universal love for the world."

Li Yi patted his horse first, then said, "There must be limits to rectifying Buddhism. We must not hinder the people's good intentions."

"So after careful consideration, I have come up with some rules, which can be roughly divided into five aspects."

"First, abolish temples without imperial decrees and eradicate a large number of isolated temples and outlying temples, leaving only a few famous temples throughout the country to appease the people's worship of Buddhism."

"Secondly, limit the number of monks and nuns in temples, and dismiss those without ordination certificates, as well as lay disciples affiliated with temples, to prevent the underreporting of registered population."

"Third, it is forbidden for ordinary people to become monks without permission. If a person has parents, wives, and children at home but fails to fulfill his or her responsibilities of supporting and raising them, he or she should be severely punished as a warning."

"Fourth, designated places for ordination should be set. Ordination at random should not be allowed. Places should be set up in important provincial capitals, and those who are ordained must go to designated places."

"Fifth, confiscate the bronze objects used to make Buddha statues and coins. In my opinion, copper coins have been in short supply since ancient times, yet using copper to make Buddha statues and utensils is a huge waste."

"Some people even melt coins to make bronze Buddha statues for profit, which is fundamentally shaking the country's monetary system and people's livelihood."

(End of this chapter)