Back to the early Tang Dynasty to be a fairy

Chapter 886 If you are quite a monk, you must pass the monk and nun qualification exam
Since the promulgation of His Majesty Li Yuan's last edict "Sha Tai Buddhist Edict", the entire Buddhist sect in Chang'an has been in a state of anxiety.

Although the edict said that among the monks, "there are those who practice diligently and abide by the precepts, and they are ordered to live in the big temple, and the officials provide food and clothing", but after Fu Yisha eliminated the Fahua sect a few years ago, everyone can see that, This is actually a difficult goal to practice diligently and observe the precepts.

At the beginning, there were at least 2000 monks in the Fahua Sect in Chang'an, but after being eliminated by Fu Yisha, how many monks are left now?

five!

Thinking of this elimination rate that can no longer be described as terrifying, these eminent monks in Chang'an felt their hearts beating non-stop, so all the eminent monks with some connections were running around the rich and powerful families during this period, just to find out what the crown prince was. What kind of specific plan did His Highness Li Shimin have, but basically nothing came of it.

Just when the hearts of the eminent Buddhist monks in Chang'an and even in the world were like fifteen buckets fetching water, and they were up and down, Prince Li Shimin finally updated the methods of the monks Sha Tai under the attention of all the people.

take an exam!

That is to say, from now on, if all monks want to continue to engage in this lucrative career, they must take the qualification examination for monks and nuns personally hosted by the imperial court. There are three consecutive rounds of examinations on scriptures, xinxing, and precepts. Only monks who pass all of them are eligible to continue to be monks.

……

After Li Shimin's method was announced, it was like a stone stirring up a thousand waves, and all the monks in Chang'an who saw the announcement instantly exploded.

"Being a monk actually has to take an exam... Just kidding, if someone has the ability to take the exam, he will go to the imperial examination, why should he be a monk?"

"Well... I don't even know the words, can I recite the scriptures during the scripture exam?"

"That's fine with the scripture test, but how do you test your mind and precepts?"

"..."

"Everyone, don't be impatient!"

Facing the chattering voices of these monks, the two arresters who were in charge of guarding the edict did not answer any questions, but pointed to the line of small characters below the edict.

"Of course you will know when you go to take the exam tomorrow. It's useless to ask a certain class now, and a certain class doesn't know anything!"

Although the monks present were very dissatisfied with the answers given by the two arresters, they still did not dare to do anything out of the ordinary because of the intimidation of the government troops standing around the arresters standing upright and holding knives and guns. I can only mutter about going back to each temple.

"The Great Monk Fajing!"

On the night when he saw the notice, monk Huiyuan of the Jushe sect quietly came to the Dachan Ding Temple at night, and found the monk Fajing of the Chengshi sect who also belonged to the "Ten Virtues" to discuss countermeasures.

"How do you think Li Shimin's so-called scriptures, xinxing, and precepts are tested in the three exams?"

"The poor monk doesn't know!"

For monk Huiyuan's words, monk Fajing shook his head helplessly.

"However, judging from Fu Yi's situation at the time when the Fahua Sect was eliminated, it is likely that making things difficult is indispensable..."

"That's right! This is another catastrophe for my Buddhist sect..."

Speaking of this, the preoccupied monk Huiyuan looked at the monk Fajing with a glimmer of hope.

"By the way! Isn't the nephew of the Great Monk Du Shun Li Shimin's confidant? Does he know something that some people don't know?"

"After learning the news, a certain person immediately sent someone to send a letter to inquire, but he..."

The Fajing monk shook his head again, and recited the Buddha's name!
"Namo Master Harivarman!"

"Oh... so the Great Monk Du Shun didn't know either!"

Monk Huiyuan nodded with a serious face, then turned his eyes and asked thoughtfully.

"By the way! Great Monk Fajing, do you think that Great Monk Du Shun really didn't know, or did he have other ideas? After all, judging by Hu'er Li Shimin's actions, he probably wouldn't order all the monks and nuns like Zhou Wu Return to the vulgar, but some monks will be left behind..."

"Who knows..."

Monk Fajing smiled wryly.

"Great Monk Du Shun can be said to be wise and shining. How can I guess what he is thinking?"

"Brother Fajing!"

Monk Huiyuan thought for a moment, then whispered.

"Why don't you just wait and procrastinate, since Li Shimin's beard told me to wait for the exam tomorrow, then I won't wait..."

Before Monk Huiyuan finished speaking, they heard a chaotic voice from outside, and then they saw a little novice running in in panic.

"The abbot is not good, there are a lot of soldiers outside!"

"A lot of soldiers?"

Monk Huiyuan and Monk Fajing looked at each other, then walked out the door one after the other, and looked towards the front yard of the temple.The front yard was brightly lit, and there were vaguely noisy human voices.

"Your Highness has an order. Before tomorrow's exam, make sure that all monks take part..."

"The front door and the back door are all blocked, you can only enter but not exit!"

"The walls must be surrounded, and these monks must not be let go..."

"..."

Monk Huiyuan and Monk Fajing looked at each other with disbelief in their eyes.

Are they going to take the qualification examination for monks and nuns, or to go to the Dharma field?

……

On the second day, after breakfast, the great monk Huiyuan who was blocked in the Great Zen Ding Temple, under the 'escort' of the soldiers who besieged the temple with swords and guns, followed the great monk Fajing and other monks from other temples with a heavy heart. The rest of the monks came to Gwanghwamun.

Walking along the road, monk Huiyuan and monk Fajing also saw many monks from other monasteries, like them, marching towards Gwanghwamun under the 'protection' of soldiers lined up. There was even a long queue in front of the door.

"Do you know how to read?"

From afar, Monk Huiyuan heard voices from the guards in front of Gwanghwa Gate.

"If you know him, sign your name or dharma number here, and then go to the side to check and you can go in."

"Uh……"

When he saw that he was about to sign, the monk who was at the front of the line shook his head obediently.

"do not know!"

"I don't know how to read..."

The next moment, Monk Huiyuan heard the soldier waving his hands contemptuously.

"Then what kind of monks are you still doing? Stand over there, someone will take you to Jingzhao Mansion to become a monk, and you will return to vulgarity in the future!"

"..."

Hearing what this soldier said, the great monk Huiyuan was speechless.

"You can't be a monk if you don't know how to read, why is that?"

"nonsense!"

The next moment, monk Huiyuan heard a voice speaking from the side. He turned his head to look and found that it was a Taoist priest in a blue Taoist robe, with the word Taishi embroidered on his cuff.

"Monk is an important profession to save sentient beings. You don't even know how to save sentient beings. Which gods and Buddhas have you heard of being illiterate? By the way, don't tell me that all living beings are equal, all living beings are equal." It is the Buddha nature, not the culture. And it is not the Buddha nature, but the culture to save sentient beings.”

"..."

Monk Huiyuan blinked silently.

What the other party said made sense, and he didn't know how to refute it for a while.

"correct!"

Seeing Huiyuan's silence, the Taoist opened his mouth and continued.

"When you enter the door later, it is best to take out any scriptures you are carrying, otherwise it will be regarded as an intention to cheat. Seeing that you two monks are not young, I advise you to save some face for yourself. Don't wait until you find it and it won't look good!"

After finishing speaking, the Taoist priest hurriedly walked towards Gwanghwamun.

"..."

Seeing the back of the Taoist priest going away, monk Huiyuan was speechless.

"It's really...how decent!"

I don't know if it's because of the fact that monk Huiyuan and monk Fajing are too old. After waiting in line for almost an hour, the guard who was in charge of checking the two of them just glanced at them casually. After patting the cuffs, he let them enter the pear garden located in Xiyuan, saving a lot of embarrassment.

That's right!

This Liyuan was the place where Tang Xuanzong taught the opera troupe later, and later opera actors were called Liyuan disciples, referring to this place.But the current Liyuan has not been used for this purpose, it is just a very inconspicuous place in Xiyuan.

After entering the pear orchard, monk Huiyuan and monk Fajing saw a dozen or so white buildings in the pear orchard and large characters written in striking red paint on these buildings.

'The first (two, three, four...) examination room of the scripture test'

"This is the place for the scripture exam!"

After seeing the large characters in red paint, monk Huiyuan and monk Fajing immediately turned their attention to the houses in front of them, which looked similar to the flying castle outside the city, as if they were built with white clouds in the sky.

From a distance, one can see that these houses are very spacious, each of which can accommodate hundreds of people comfortably.After the two of them walked a few steps to the side, they looked in through the window, and could vaguely see that there were tables arranged one by one in the room, and behind the tables were rows of monks sitting.

"Brother Fajing..."

Monk Huiyuan looked at those monks in the room who were writing vigorously, some were staring blankly, and some were grabbing the ground with their heads, and said to the monk Fajing beside him.

"Shouldn't this scripture test be the same as the one Fu Yi gave to the monks of the Fahua Sect?"

After hearing his words, Monk Fajing suddenly felt a little uncertain.

"Probably not!"

(End of this chapter)