Top Scholar

Chapter 529 Little Zhu's Piggy Bank

After the Imperial Guards finished cleaning up the battlefield, Gu Dayong, along with agents from the Western Depot, eliminated any remaining threats before inviting the young master to the temple.

In fact, according to Zhang Yong and Su Lu's idea, Zhu Shou only needed to sit in the capital and wait for the results of the battle, but this guy was born to love excitement. He was always there, and no one could stop him from coming.

As the sun rose higher, the smell of blood lessened, and Zhu Shou, accompanied by Su Lu and Zhang Yong, entered Baolian Temple.

Upon entering the temple, he didn't look around but went straight to the storeroom, his purpose very clear.

The backyard was heavily guarded, with the Western Depot and the Imperial Guards jointly protecting the warehouse, seemingly keeping an eye on each other.

Zhu Shouxian arrived at the entrance to the gold and silver vault, and the burly general slowly pushed open the heavy iron door. The vault had no windows, so torches were needed even in broad daylight. Rows of wooden chests bound with iron bars were open, their contents of gold and silver leaving people speechless.

With a gulp, Zhu Shou swallowed hard and excitedly grabbed two heavy red gold ingots... People at the time used "ten red, nine purple, eight orange-yellow" to measure the purity of gold, and this red gold was already close to pure gold.

Zhu Shou then picked up the other gold ingots, each one of them pure in color and heavy in weight, indicating a very high level of casting quality... After all, he was a caster of Buddha statues, so casting a gold ingot was a piece of cake for him.

The reason it was determined to be privately minted by the temple is because there are no official or merchant markings on it, only a string of numbers and the words "superior," which should be the serial number and condition.

The silver ingots were also perfectly shaped, with a soft silver sheen. Each ingot weighing fifty taels was stacked neatly, forming a wall of them...

"How much does this cost?" Zhu Shou asked, looking completely unsophisticated.

"Reporting to you, young master, a preliminary count shows a total of 18,700 taels of gold and 93,200 taels of silver." Zhang Yong laughed, "There are too many copper coins next door, and the ropes are all rotten, making it difficult to count them all at once, but it should not be less than 100,000 strings."

"This is from the storeroom. The entire temple is filled with countless gold Buddha statues and bronze ritual implements. Each monk also has a considerable amount of private money. In addition, there are tens of thousands of bushels of grain and thousands of bolts of silk..."

"So much?!" Zhu Shou's mouth gaped open wide enough to fit a fifty-tael silver ingot. After a while, he burst into laughter, put his arm around Su Lu's shoulder, and said, "Hey, brother, you're really something! Now I understand what 'Little Zhu's piggy bank' means. It's my piggy bank, Zhu Shou's piggy bank!"

Fearing that Zhu Shou might let something slip, Su Lu quickly coughed, squeezed his hand, and said, "We are acting on behalf of Heaven and eliminating evil for the people. These are all unexpected joys."

"Oh yes, yes, what a pleasant surprise! How was I supposed to know a temple was so rich?" Zhu Shou said, then asked in bewilderment, "How did they become so wealthy?"

“This is a family fortune accumulated over a hundred years,” Su Lu said in a deep voice. “Take Baolian Temple for example. They occupy thousands of acres of fertile land and don’t have to pay taxes. The tenants’ rent goes into their pockets every penny of the year.”

"And there's a constant stream of donations and business ventures! Officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants seeking children would readily offer a hundred taels of gold. Princes and eunuchs would pray for blessings every year, often sending a thousand taels of silver. The temple would then use this money for usury and to invest in businesses that went west, doing whatever was profitable."

"Moreover, monks don't need to divide their property; it can be passed down from generation to generation. After a hundred years of accumulation, how could they not be rolling in money?" Su Lu laughed. "To put it bluntly, this is all the blood and sweat they have plundered from the people. Today, we are taking it and using it for the benefit of the world. This is doing justice on behalf of Heaven and making the best use of resources. It's better than letting these lewd monks squander it."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhu Shou nodded vigorously.

~~
They then escorted Zhu Shou on a tour of the remaining warehouses, where they saw mountains of copper coins and layers of colorful silks, brocades, Suzhou embroidery, and Hangzhou satin.

And in the enormous granaries, the warehouses were overflowing with rice, wheat, and millet...

These scenes completely shocked Zhu Shou, and strengthened his resolve: "That's right, they are rebelling! No one can change their minds!"

“They are indeed plotting a rebellion, even without emphasizing it,” Su Lu corrected. “Five hundred monks resisted arrest with weapons and even used muskets to block the Emperor’s imperial guards. In addition, hundreds of suits of armor and shields were found in the warehouse. It’s certain that they are plotting a rebellion!”

"Yes, yes." Zhu Shou nodded vigorously and said, "Then who should be the next to rebel?"

"Be careful what you say, or we'll be in a very passive position if this gets out." Su Lu was sweating bullets, but luckily he was already used to this young master's unreliability.

"Then what should we say?" Fortunately, even though Zhu Shou was carried away with his pride, he could still listen to what he had to say.

"Ahem." Su Lu cleared his throat and said with a sorrowful expression, "Besides the rebellion, Baolian Temple also imprisoned more than a hundred women for their pleasure! In another dry well, bones are piled up like mountains, and more than a hundred victims have been murdered over the years!"

"Is it that serious?" Zhu Shou exclaimed in surprise. "How did Buddhism become like this? Have we entered the Dharma-ending Age?"

As he spoke, his eyes lit up, and he said with great pride in his assertion, "That's right, that's right! This isn't a problem with Buddhism, but rather the arrival of the Dharma-ending Age! The *Dharma-Extinction Sutra* says that Mara, the Demon King, will send his demon sons and grandsons, disguised in robes, to infiltrate the Sangha and destroy the very foundation of Buddhism!" He pointed to the group of monks tied together and said, "These bald monks from Baolian Temple are the reincarnations of demons! On the surface, they wear monk robes and chant Buddhist scriptures, pretending to be more devout than anyone else, but behind the scenes, they do all sorts of things like imprisoning women and taking lives, all to lead people astray and corrupt the true Dharma!"

"..." Su Lu understood that Zhu Shou still had a favorable impression of Buddhism. Because the late emperor had been a devout follower of Buddhism and Taoism in his later years, he was unwilling to deny his father's beliefs, so he preferred to explain the decline of monks in temples by saying that it was the end of the Dharma era.

But this did not stump Scholar Su. After a moment's thought, he firmly said, "What you say makes sense, so it is necessary for us to help Buddhism overcome this calamity. This would be a great act of merit!"

"Hmm, maybe the dynasty's lifespan can be extended by several hundred years. What should we do?" Zhu Shou suddenly became very interested, completely different from before when he was only interested in making money.

“If we look at it from the root, where did all these demonic offspring come from? Ultimately, it’s because the imperial court’s scrutiny of ordination is too lax, especially last year, when they issued 40,000 ordination certificates in one go!” He then conveniently dug a pit for Eunuch Liu:
"Although it seems like we earned two million taels for the Emperor back then, how many scoundrels and their offspring were let in? Local thugs and criminals could buy a certificate of ordination for fifty taels of silver and openly become monks! With so many scum infiltrating the temple, it naturally became a place of filth and corruption!"

"Wait a minute..." Zhu Shou was very sensitive to money now, and raised his hand to stop Su Lu, saying, "How much did you say you earned for the Emperor?"

“Two million taels,” Su Lu said.

"Nonsense." Zhu Shou shook his head and said, "It's clearly 800,000 taels, and of course, 800,000 taels is quite a lot."

"Is that so? But everyone knows that a certificate of ordination costs fifty taels..." Su Lu then had several newly ordained monks brought in and asked them how much their certificates cost. They all said they cost fifty taels.

"Twenty taels are the official amount, and thirty taels are a tribute..." the monks said dejectedly.

"Whom did you offer tribute to?" Zhu Shou's expression immediately turned ugly.

"I don't know, they said it was to pay respects to the father-in-law above..." Several monks shook their heads.

"Fine! The Emperor doesn't even get as much as the eunuchs, and the Emperor should be grateful to them!" Zhu Shou flew into a rage and kicked the monks in the backside. "I'll teach you to be obedient to your eunuchs!"

"It's not that we want to show filial piety, it's that we can't get our ordination certificates if we don't!" the monks protested.

"They dare to take the lion's share under the Emperor's name!" Zhang Yong added, seizing the opportunity to further annoy Liu Jin. "They claim to be loyal to the Emperor, but I think it's all just talk!"

"Hmm..." Zhu Shou nodded with a gloomy face and said to Su Lu, "Continue."

"Therefore, we must not only deal with Baolian Temple," Su Lu said in a deep voice, "but also thoroughly investigate all monastic communities! We must root out all lawbreakers, punish those who should be punished, and expel those who should be expelled! Only those monks who are truly devoted to Buddhism should be kept, so that the people can worship the true Buddha and the Dharma can be preserved! Otherwise, if this chaos continues, everyone will be worshipping evil ghosts in monk's robes, and the Buddhist community will become a man-eating den of demons!"

Zhu Shou slapped his thigh hard and said, "That makes perfect sense! You see things very clearly! The reason why these evil children and their offspring were able to infiltrate is because of lax vetting and poor management! We must not only raid these evil temples, but also thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of all Buddhist communities in the world, and restore peace to Buddhism!"

"You are wise," Su Lu praised. "Let Eunuch Gu take the lead. It would be most appropriate for the Western Depot to conduct a thorough investigation."

"Letting the Western Depot investigate is fine, but you have to make the decision." Zhu Shou knew that Su Lu, as the top scholar, shouldn't be doing such dirty work, but he himself didn't realize that his trust in Su Lu had surpassed that of a eunuch.

Especially when it comes to money matters, Su Lu can't feel at ease without keeping an eye on him.

"Sigh, alright," Su Lu reluctantly agreed.

~~
After the inspection was completed, the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Battalion who had participated in the 'suppression of the rebellion' last night lined up solemnly in the square in front of the palace, waiting for Zhu Shou to give instructions.

"You've done a great job. Keep up the good work! There are still many more Buddhist temples waiting for us to save! Remember, we're not killing monks, but the demons who have taken over the temples. Killing them is a meritorious act! Killing one wipes away all your sins, killing two sends you straight to heaven!" Zhu Shou remained composed in front of the army, even using the phrase he had just thought of.

"Yes, yes, yes!" the soldiers responded in a thunderous roar. This was truly important; many people still had reservations about attacking a Buddhist temple, fearing retribution.

But Zhu Shou, a "demon son and grandson," said that he had relieved them of their burdens, making them no longer hesitant to kill monks.

What excited them even more was yet to come. Zhu Shou brazenly announced that each of the Western Depot captains who led the vanguard last night would be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver! Each of the Imperial Guards who participated in suppressing the rebellion would be rewarded with ten taels of silver!
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" The soldiers were overjoyed, especially the officers and soldiers of the regiment, who hadn't heard the words "reward" in many years.

P.S. I'm still feeling restless today, so the next chapter will be a little late.

(End of this chapter)