I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 112: Possessed by an opera spirit, Xia Song’s crying performance is conspicuous

"Zhao Yu, don't deceive the Lord, just like my arms."

The word "deception" not only means deception, but also oppression.

Since Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, he has been subject to the spirit of dominance many times.

In the past, Zhang Shixun, Lu Yijian, Zhang Dexiang, and Yan Shu all made Zhao Zhen lose his face, and even forced Zhao Zhen to return to the harem to cover his face and cry.

Nowadays, Zhao Zhen is becoming more and more experienced in being an official, so he is naturally willing to choose the ruler that is convenient to him.

These words made Chen Zhizhong burst into tears. He quickly expressed his gratitude and said that he would never let down the holy grace.

The position of Prime Minister of Conglong Minister was thus decided.

Although Ouyang Xiu, Tang Jie, Su Liang and other Taiwanese admonishers were a little unhappy, they also knew that the official family had its own meaning.

Tai Jian and Prime Minister are inherently checks and balances on each other.

If you choose a prime minister that Tai Jian likes, the monarch's power will be weakened, which is something that kings in the past dynasties have been afraid of.

Fortunately, Xia Song failed to become prime minister.

If Chen Zhizhong is the Prime Minister, at most Zhongshu will turn into a well-behaved cat, while if Xia Song is the Prime Minister, Zhongshu may become a wolf with bared teeth and claws.

……

The 24th of the twelfth lunar month is the Xiaojie Nian, also called the Jie Nian Jie.

this day.

Every household is preparing "vegetarian beans" to offer sacrifices to the stove.

Many "Welcoming Nuo" worshiping teams appeared on the streets of Bianjing City, beating gongs and drums, and it was very lively.

At the beginning of the month, Su Liang hired Mrs. Liu from the same lane as his servant.

Mrs. Liu has given birth to five children and is very good at taking care of others.

She does not live in Su Zhai. She is mainly responsible for three meals a day and doing some housework in Su Zhai. She and Taoer take care of Tang Wanmei.

A few days ago, Su Liang's father-in-law Tang Ze wrote a letter saying that he had too many old friends during the Chinese New Year and would not be able to come to Bianjing until after the Chinese New Year.

This evening.

Officials from various yamen in Bianjing City, businessmen from all walks of life, and some like-minded associations, such as Qiyun Society for Cuju, Jiaodai Society for sumo wrestling, Jinti Society for embroidery tattoos, etc., will all choose to have dinner together to share these things. A year of harvest and joy.

Taiwan's admonishers are no exception.

On weekdays, everyone rarely has private dinners to avoid suspicion.

But during the Chinese New Year, there aren’t so many worries!

into the night.

The admonishment officials from the Yushitai and Jianyuan gathered together, drank and talked until late at night before going home.

After today, all yamen will no longer order the numbers at the right time.

Su Liang goes to the Yushitai every day to deal with official matters. It will not be until the Shangyuan Festival on the [-]th day of the first lunar month that all official affairs of the yamen will gradually return to normal.

In winter, the nights in Bianjing are very cold.

Su Liang had a long sleep and didn't wake up until dawn.

After he woke up and washed up, the first thing he did was to take a look at the door.

Every morning, Liu Chang'er would order someone to stuff the latest tabloids or some gossip into the door through the cracks, rain or shine.

This information is the best medium for Su Liang to understand the situation in Bianjing City, and its content is much more detailed and richer than the imperial newspaper.

"what?"

Su Liang leaned over and picked up the paper on the ground, and couldn't help but be stunned.

In addition to the two tabloids, there was an envelope.

Su Liang and Liu Chang'er had an agreement that whenever there was a major event that alarmed the court, they would be recorded in an envelope.

"What big thing can happen during the Chinese New Year?" Su Liang opened the envelope with doubts on his face.

After seeing the content inside, Su Liang was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing.

He said to himself: "Brother Xiren, you are mighty, you are really mighty. Now, Bianjing City will be lively!"

The contents of the envelope are——

Last night, Bao Zheng led the government officials from Kaifeng Mansion into a private house and arrested a group of monks and two officials who were engaged in promiscuous gambling.

The monks all came from Daxiangguo Temple, and three of them were the first to give lectures.

Two officials.

One is Xu Dong, the chief officer of the Temple Affairs Department of Honglu Temple, and the other is Yu Dehai, the judge of Gouyuan of the Third Division of Household Affairs.

The Temple Affairs Department of Honglu Temple is responsible for the custody and distribution of books and certificates for monks and nuns; the Household Department of the Third Department is in charge of the entry and exit accounts of the Third Department to prevent corruption and fraud.

Both yamen are related to Daxiangguo Temple.

However, the direct superior government office of Daxiangguo Temple is Kaifeng Mansion.

Kaifeng Prefecture is in charge of various religious affairs in Bianjing, such as the appointment of monk officials (the first lecturer), examinations of monks and nuns, quotas, etc.

After Su Liang read the content of the letter.

The first thing that can be determined is that the official positions of those two officials are definitely not guaranteed.

Fornication and gambling are two things that are not done by officials in private, but once discovered, they will definitely be severely punished.

It's the New Year's Day now.

Foreign envoys are all in Bianjing.

Daxiangguo Temple is also a place where foreign envoys often go to burn incense and pray for blessings.

If this matter spreads out, the Song Dynasty may lose face to Liaoxia.

Su Liang thought for a while and felt that Bao Zheng was most likely going to attack the monks in Bianjing this time, so he immediately changed his clothes and ran to the censor's platform.

The monks and nuns in Bianjing, especially the monks of Daxiangguo Temple, have long been a pest to Bianjing.

These monks are not monks at all.

Drink wine and eat meat, marry a wife and have children, go shopping in Goulan tile houses...

They do everything that ordinary people can do, and they do things that ordinary people dare not do.

Selling pork, opening hotels, making ink and smelting, opening pawn shops (i.e., loan sharks), opening casinos, and even abducting and trafficking women...

As long as there is a profitable business, there are monks from Bianjing City.

There were multiple reasons why the imperial court did not touch this group of monks.

First, it stems from the national policy set by Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty.

Taizong once said: The teachings of the Buddha family are beneficial to politics.

Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty believed that Buddhism could help standardize the morality of the people, and the promotion of Buddhism could persuade the world.

This led to the establishment of many Buddhist temples and the printing of many Buddhist scriptures after the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Emperors would also choose to conduct their prayers for rain, blessings, or major celebrations to worship heaven in Buddhist temples, which led to the increasing status of monks and nuns.

Second, monks can make profits for the court.

For example, all the booths of Wanxing Trading in Daxiangguo Temple are chargeable, as well as various incense money, various chanting activities, etc.

Among them, the most profitable ones require several ultimatums.

Dudu is the monk's ID card.

In the Song Dynasty, if you want to become a monk or nun, you need to take an exam, and it is no less difficult than the imperial examination.

There is a quota for the number of monks in each place.

The thing that proves the identity of monks and nuns is the ultimatum.

Since the Tang Dynasty, those who held the ultimatum could be exempted from taxes and labor. However, in the Song Dynasty, if a criminal became a monk and obtained the ultimatum, the crime could be dismissed (for example, Lu Zhishen in Water Margin, Wu Song became a monk because he had no money to buy the ultimatum).

One more ultimatum means one more life.

This made ultimatums a hard currency, and dignitaries were willing to hoard them.

Seeing the huge profits, the court also began to make short-term ultimatums.

For the imperial court, the cost of an ultimatum was negligible, but it could be sold for 130 guan, which was a huge profit.

The monks hoarded the ultimatums and sold them from hand to hand, even selling them for three hundred guan each.

……

Half an hour later, Su Liang arrived at the Yushitai.

And this moment.

The news that Bao Zheng had arrested the monk and two officials of Daxiangguo Temple had spread in various yamen.

After Su Liang heard Zhou Yuan's description, he felt it was very eye-catching.

Last night, more than 40 female actors were arrested.

The current state of the house, covered in white flowers, is really hard to describe.

Those monks had so much fun!
At the same time, Bao Zheng went to meet the saint early in the morning.

After a while, Yushitai got the news.

Bao Zheng suggested that the people in the city should take the initiative to expose the crimes of Bianjing monks. After punishing a group of monks, he hoped that the imperial court would order a ban on monks and nuns doing business.

As for Zhao Zhen, everyone knows without thinking that they will definitely not agree.

This involves the ancestral method.

And if such a thing happened suddenly during the New Year, wouldn't the Song Dynasty lose all its face in front of foreign envoys!

At this time, the new Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong ran to Chui Gong Hall angrily and impeached Bao Zheng for not reporting the matter to the Zhongshu Ministry of Education, which was actually making the decision without authorization.Bao Zheng explained that the incident happened suddenly. After arresting the person, he reported it to Zhongshu in the early morning.

In fact, this is an excuse.

If Zhongshu knew about this, Bao Zheng would never be able to catch anyone.

Bao Zheng understood this very well, and he just wanted to take advantage of this moment to completely deal with these evil businessmen in cassocks.

soon.

Officials began to go to Chuigong Hall one after another to meet the emperor or submit memorials.

Some people hope to suppress this matter and deal with it later in the year.

Some people say that this incident is just a matter of drunkenness during the New Year festival and that a few people can be severely punished without implicating all the monks and nuns.

Others claimed that Bao Zheng did not listen to Zhongshu's orders and committed crimes based on the situation, so he should be severely punished.

……

This incident made the entire court lively, and Zhao Zhen, who was troubled and troubled, immediately announced that the matter would be discussed in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, inside the Chui Gong Hall.

Officials from the two prefectures, three divisions, Hanlin Academy, Yushitai, Jianyuan, Kaifeng Prefecture and other yamen gathered together.

Zhao Zhen frowned slightly.

He originally thought that after the Little New Year, the next court meeting would be the Yuan Dynasty meeting.

Who would have thought that something so embarrassing would suddenly happen.

Bao Zheng took the lead and said loudly: "Guan family, I did not arrest these people last night on a whim. After reading many files on the crimes committed by monks in Kaifeng Prefecture, I wanted to eradicate this group of cassock-clad monks." Scum. The monks of Kaifeng Prefecture have been suffering for the people for a long time!"

"The monks in Kaifeng Prefecture drank alcohol, ate meat, married and had children, and kept concubines. These behaviors are against Buddhist law and have immoral private conduct. I will not elaborate on them. Everyone in the court knows it."

"What I want to talk about today is the harm they do to the court and the people!"

"First, the monks built private warehouses and charged high interest rates from the people to make profits. Some people were even forced into prostitution, sold their sons and daughters, and even chose to commit suicide by jumping into the river."

"Second, they make use of their status as monks to make money. They all wear cassocks, but are rich in wealth. They turn the people's fertile land into temple fields, turn the people's property into personal property, wear Buddhist robes and do evil things, and all the money they earn is invading the people. wealth."

"Thirdly, the Wanxing Trading Market in the Daxiangguo Temple has become a place for officials to sell their dirty work. Officials quickly convert bribes into cash. The monks of the Daxiangguo Temple help the evil and conspire with unscrupulous officials. Those who embezzle money are all people's wealth! "

"Fourth, monks resell a large number of ultimatums. If you flip one ultimatum to another, you can earn more than a hundred guan."

……

"Tracing back to the source, they are all caused by monks and nuns doing business. The examples I mentioned can be found in the Kaifeng Mansion Cases. Therefore, I implore you to immediately ban monks and nuns from doing business, so that monks can return to Buddhism instead of competing for profit!"

After Bao Zheng finished speaking, Wang Yaochen, the envoy of the Third Division, stood up.

As the third envoy, he could see the various benefits brought to the court by monks and nuns doing business.

"Bao Xueshi, what you said is wrong. The Daxiangguo Temple is full of incense and people go here to pray and worship the Buddha. This shows that the Buddhist temple really helps to standardize morality."

"Monks and nuns doing business is an inevitable trend after the temples prosper. Every year, hundreds of temples in Bianjing provide food and accommodation for the candidates at low prices. Which official shop in the city can do this? As for the quality of the inventory, it is indeed high. The interest rate is still much cheaper than that of private merchants. In addition, during the drought, the refugees crowded under the city of Bianjing, and the monks gave them porridge for free..."

"Bao Xueshi, because you caught a few monks who behaved improperly and handled several cases of monks violating the law in Kaifeng Mansion, you are going to beat the monks to death with a stick for their merits!"

"You know, over the past few years, when our military, salary, and disaster relief funds were insufficient, most of them were supplemented with money from ultimatums or temples. In addition, treating monks and nuns favorably is an ancestral law, and monks and nuns doing business must not be abolished!"

Wang Yaochen was entirely concerned with the benefits provided by monks and nuns, and he felt that there was nothing wrong with what he said.

"Humph!"

Bao Zheng snorted coldly and asked: "A man-eating tiger, if you donate its blood to protect yourself, then let it eat people?"

"The Third Secretary calls a group of evil monks who are greedy for the people's money so righteous and takes it seriously. In fact, you, the Third Secretary, are useless!"

"伱...you..." Wang Yaochen was so angry that he could hardly speak.

Not far away, Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Fangping shook his head helplessly.

The reason why he gave up his post as Third Secretary was actually because he was criticized everywhere.

Since the Zhenzong Taishan was granted Zen status and almost all the money in the treasury was consumed, the Third Secretary has been a hard worker.

No matter how capable and responsible the current Third Secretary is, he will be scolded if he doesn't have enough money.

Chui Gong Hall suddenly became quiet.

At this time, Chen Zhizhong stood up.

"Should monks and nuns just eat fast and recite Buddha's name all day long and not care about worldly affairs? Monk and nun business is the right path. We cannot prohibit monks and nuns from doing business because of some bad phenomena. This is the method of giving up eating because of choking."

Swish!
Zhijianyuan Ouyang Xiu strode out.

"I dare to ask Mr. Chen, have you gone to Kaifeng Mansion and seen how many monks have done evil things? Do you know what reputation the Bianjing monks have in the hearts of the people? If you haven't investigated, you think that they are 'disabled from eating because of choking.' Is that right? Too arbitrary?"

Immediately, Yushi Zhongcheng Tang Jie also stood up.

"Besides eating fast and chanting Buddha's name, monks and nuns have many things to do, but the prerequisite is not to do evil things. The behavior of those monks last night was really the behavior of animals. Does Chen Xiang think this is just an individual bad phenomenon?"

Shi Fan Zhen, the imperial censor on the side, added: "The monks and nuns in Bianjing City have become a cancer in the hearts of the people. I feel that they have to be eliminated. Let them just eat fast and chant Buddha, which will benefit the country and the people!"

……

Chen Zhizhong's face was ashen.

He didn't expect these Taiwanese admonishers to be so disrespectful to him. He just said a word and was beaten up by a group of people.

I really can’t get off the stage.

He immediately realized that being the Prime Minister was much more difficult than being the Deputy Prime Minister. No wonder Du Yan mostly kept silent or spoke only at the end.

He stood up to speak, obviously standing up early.

At this time, Privy Councilor Xia Song, who had been silent until now, stood up.

"Ugh!"

He first let out a long sigh, and then said slowly: "Officials, I didn't expect that after Du Xiang became official, the court would turn out like this!"

"The Kaifeng Prefecture ignored the Zhongshu, which is the fault below. The Zhongshu was unable to control the Kaifeng Prefecture and was weak and incompetent. A group of Taiwanese admonishers even said a bunch of mindless words!"

In one sentence, Xia Song scolded Zhongshu, Kaifeng Mansion and Taijian.

Suddenly, everyone looked at Xia Song.

Chen Zhizhong's eyes were filled with murderous intent, clearly saying: You are capable, why aren't you the Prime Minister?

Xia Song looked around and said: "I believe that the focus now is how to preserve the face of our court and not let those foreign envoys see the joke!"

"Under the New Year's Day, many countries are paying their respects. Do we want them to hear that monks who often give lectures to officials gather together for sexual immorality, or do we, the officials of the Song Dynasty, gamble every day? No matter how we want to deal with this matter, it must be put into the New Year's Eve Let’s talk about it later!”

"As for banning monks and nuns from doing business, anyone who can say this is either a fool or a treacherous and evil minister!"

Xia Song suddenly raised his voice.

"Does he dare to go to Tianzhang Pavilion and look at the portraits of Taizong and the late emperor and say this? Does he dare to go to the tombs of Taizong and the late emperor and say this?"

"Taizong once said: The teachings of the Buddha family are beneficial to politics. If we suppress monks and nuns, we will be acting against the ancestral family law. If we go against the ancestral family law, our country, the Song Dynasty, will be destroyed!"

At this time, Xia Song suddenly started sobbing and wiped the barely visible tears from the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

"Official family, since the founding of the Song Dynasty, our country has always been peaceful and the people are safe, without the worry of war, thanks to the family laws of our ancestors, which are the rules left by Taizu Taizong and the late emperor. In order to enrich the country and the people, we can implement various new policies, and we can Try various strategies, but you must not violate the ancestral family law!"

"The family laws of our ancestors are the foundation of our country's governance in the Song Dynasty. In recent days, the veterans feel that our path has gone astray. The admonishers have forgotten the constraints of the family laws of our ancestors, and now they are even proposing to violate the laws of our ancestors. This suggestion is truly treasonous. If I can’t stop you today, I will have no face to face the late Emperor and Taizu Taizong after my death!”

Say it.

Xia Song suddenly knelt on the ground and raised his hands.

Bang!Bang!Bang!
He kowtowed three times on the ground.

At this time, his face was full of tears, and there was a transparent snot under his nose.

With a look of death on his face.

It makes people feel that in the entire court, he is the only one who is smart, the only one who respects his ancestors, and the only one who is loyal, capable and good for the sake of the Song Dynasty.

"Xia Shuxiang, please correct the chaos and speak out the chaos in my court. I am really a Gengchen. I think what Xia Shuxiang said is very reasonable!" An official stood up and shouted, with tears on his face. .

"My minister agrees!"

"My minister agrees!"

……

Immediately afterwards, several officials stood up and agreed with Xia Song's point of view.

Xia Song's words are indeed very wise.

At least he is smarter than Chen Zhizhong.

He used his ancestral family methods to overwhelm all opinions, and he also promoted himself as the only sober minister in the court who understood the general situation.

Zhao Zhen was a little moved after hearing this, and said quickly: "Xia Shuxiang, please get up quickly, how could I forget the family law of my ancestors!"

Just when all the ministers thought that this matter would be discussed again after the year according to Xia Song's suggestion.

Su Liang strode out and said in a long voice: "I believe that what Prime Minister Xia Shu said is very wrong! Suppressing this matter and discussing it later is really a tactic wrapped in paper."

Su Liang was a young man with a loud voice and full of momentum, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Officials, the people of Bianjing are all aware of the quality of the monks of Daxiangguo Temple and how many scandalous things they have done. To suppress this matter is to completely deceive themselves and others."

"Last year, there was a rumor among the people that a businessman and his wife went to Daxiangguo Temple to ask for a child. The great monk at that time gave a prescription and promised that he would have a child within a year. Then the great monk had an affair with the businessman's wife and gave birth to a baby. The businessman was very angry. Take poison and commit suicide!”

"None of you know about this, and none of the people in Bianjing know about it!"

"There are many similar things like this. The reputation of the monks of Daxiangguo Temple has been bad for a long time. The move of Kaifeng Mansion is just to expose these bad reputations. This matter has already come out. It is impossible for those foreign envoys not to know about it. We We must act vigorously and resolutely, give an explanation to the people, and give the world a result. This is the style of a great country! If you don't have such magnanimity and mind, how are you different from barbarians like Liao Xia? As for whether to ban monks and nuns from doing business, it is completely Let’s talk about it after the new year!”

After Su Liang finished speaking, the court became quiet again.

Those officials who had just supported Xia Song suddenly felt that Su Liang's words seemed more reasonable.

　I wrote a lot and deleted a lot. I would rather write less than make you look down on me. I really tried my best to write today. I checked the information about the monks of the Song Dynasty for most of the day, but it was useless.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)