All realms have enabled me to achieve the Great Dao.

Chapter 290 Investigating Temples

The first few reports I read were fine; the temples mentioned in them were all normal.

The reports I read later mentioned that the temples were getting worse and worse.

Li Junxian's report was also neatly arranged according to its quality, with the top one showing absolutely no problems.

The further you look, the more serious the problem becomes.

The first problematic temple was one that profited from worshippers by using various means to extract money.

The report stated that the Buddha statues enshrined in their main hall were all made of gold.

The second temple not only amassed wealth, but also engaged in other activities.

Their temple is most famous for granting children; everyone who goes to the temple to pray for a child becomes pregnant, it's incredibly effective.

Why are their temples so effective? Because the children conceived by women who pray for children are given to them personally by the monks in the temple. Can you believe how effective that is?

Ancient times were very different from modern times. In ancient times, it was a serious crime for a woman to be unable to conceive. At best, she would be divorced; at worst, her life would be in danger.

Therefore, women who seek children cannot care about social ethics for their own sake; survival is their only concern.

However, some families who know the ropes are willing to let the monks plant the seeds for them.

Some were drugged and became completely unaware of anything.

There were two more temples like this, and Li Shimin exclaimed upon seeing them that people's hearts were unpredictable.

Some temples train thugs to forcibly buy up land around the temple; one temple owned land for miles around.

They made ordinary people farm for them, but gave them very little food.

Some temples have even engaged in robbery and plunder.

Some temples keep demons and practice evil arts.

Li Shimin was so angry after reading it that he wanted to personally destroy those temples, but fortunately he restrained himself.

"Someone, go and fetch Li Jing and the others."

Not long after, Li Jing and other military officers arrived at Li Shimin's office.

Li Shimin showed them Li Junxian's investigation report.

"These bald monks look respectable, but they do nothing right."

"I thought they were all highly virtuous monks, but I didn't expect them to be even worse than demons."

"Your Majesty, please issue an order so that I may lead troops to wipe them out."

Many military generals were furious and wanted to lead their troops to destroy those temples.

Li Shimin gestured to silence the voices of the many military officers and said, "I called you here for this matter. The temples mentioned in these memorials are only those around Chang'an. There are countless temples throughout the entire Tang Dynasty."

I have ordered Li Junxian to send men to investigate all temples within the Tang Dynasty, while you are responsible for eliminating those fake temples.

Li Shimin assigned tasks, with each military general responsible for a region. Their task was to thoroughly investigate all the temples within the Tang Dynasty and remove any that were found to be problematic.

And so began the campaign to investigate and clean up temples in the Tang Dynasty.

In the tavern, Zhou Yongcheng found it strange that he hadn't seen Cheng Yaojin and the others come to drink these past few days.

It was only after investigation that they learned they had been sent by Li Shimin to investigate all the temples in the country.

Once they finish investigating the temples, the wealth of both individuals and the imperial court will skyrocket.

More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Cheng Yaojin and his companions returned to Chang'an one after another, each bringing back a large amount of money.

The money Li Shimin received from the temple, especially the copper coins, was given to the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue was overjoyed to receive such a large sum of money; it was the first time in many years that they had seen so much cash.

During this period, all temples in the Tang Dynasty were investigated by the government, and those that were not legitimate were shut down.

Their actions were made public, which dealt a fatal blow to Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty, and many people stopped believing in Buddhism.

On the contrary, the Taoist temple became popular among the people, and its incense offerings flourished, something that the many gods and immortals in Heaven had not expected.

The flourishing of Taoism during the Tang Dynasty was what Taoism most hoped for. Once the Journey to the West was completed and Buddhism flourished, the popularity of Taoism would probably return to its original state.

After handing over their work, Cheng Yaojin and the others arrived at the tavern immediately.

They hadn't had a drink at a pub in a long time, and they missed it terribly.

"Boss, it's been a long time." Cheng Yaojin greeted Zhou Yongcheng as soon as he entered the tavern.

"It has been a long time since we last met. This trip has been quite fruitful," Zhou Yongcheng said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yaojin and the others subconsciously looked around. Fortunately, the people who came were all good brothers, and there were no civil officials in the tavern.

If those censors heard Zhou Yongcheng's words, they would definitely be impeached tomorrow.

"A little something for your trouble."

"What kind of drinks would you like?"

Cheng Yaojin took out two hundred taels of gold and said, "Give me two taels of mid-grade Wuliangye to try."

Then he took out another tael of gold and ordered a side dish to go with his drinks.

Zhou Yongcheng smiled slightly. He was so generous as soon as he returned. It seems that the investigation of temples has made their pockets bulge.

After Cheng Yaojin finished getting his things, it was Li Jing's and the others' turn.

"I'd like two ounces of medium-grade sorghum liquor, plus a side dish to go with it."

"I'd like two ounces of medium-grade corn spirit wine, plus a side dish to go with it."

"..."

The generals who came to drink all wanted mid-grade spirit wine. This was the first time that mid-grade spirit wine had been purchased by anyone in all the time the tavern had been open.

Cheng Yaojin and his companions sat down at a table and began to drink.

They sensed something was wrong after just one sip of wine.

The energy contained in the wine was so potent that their internal energy circulated rapidly, quickly absorbing the energy within their bodies.

At this moment, they dared not sit down and instead sat cross-legged on the ground, focusing wholeheartedly on circulating their cultivation techniques to refine the energy within their bodies.

Zhou Yongcheng smiled slightly, "Mid-grade spirit wine is more than ten times more potent than low-grade spirit wine."

Even low-grade spirit wine can help their cultivation, let alone mid-grade spirit wine.

Zhou Yongcheng's concoction of spirit wine was almost in accordance with the grade of elixirs.

Low-grade spiritual wine is effective for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, mid-grade spiritual wine is effective for Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, high-grade spiritual wine is effective for Deity Transformation and Void Return stages, and top-grade spiritual wine is effective for Body Integration and Tribulation Transcending stages.

Cheng Yaojin and his companions cultivate martial arts, but their cultivation level is only around the Grandmaster level, which is at most comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage of immortal cultivation.

One sip of mid-grade spirit wine, and you can imagine the taste. Fortunately, they didn't drink much, just a small sip.

If someone is greedy and drinks two ounces of liquor in one gulp, those with low cultivation levels will likely be ravaged by the energy in the spirit liquor, or even explode and die.

Just as Cheng Yaojin and the others were sitting on the ground cultivating, Fang Xuanling and other civil officials arrived at the tavern.

As soon as they entered, they saw Cheng Yaojin and the others sitting cross-legged on the ground, and they knew at a glance that they were cultivating.

"Shopkeeper, why are they cultivating here?" Fang Xuanling asked.

"They bought two ounces of mid-grade spirit wine. The energy contained in the mid-grade spirit wine is too great for them to digest in a short time, so they started cultivating here," Zhou Yongcheng explained.

"Two ounces of medium-grade spirit wine? They've had quite a haul on this trip."

As people in officialdom, they are well aware of all the ins and outs.

Fang Xuanling and his companions ignored Cheng Yaojin and the others. They ordered two ounces of spirit wine and began drinking it in the tavern.

Although Fang Xuanling and his colleagues were civil officials, they also possessed cultivation skills. They practiced basic body-strengthening techniques to improve their health.

Since drinking the tavern's spirit wine, their bodies have undergone a complete transformation, changing almost every day.