Volume 5 Chapter 35: Questioning
Starting from the winter of the eighth year of Jianyan, the imperial court officially began large-scale land division and inspection in the southeast, specifically in the most prosperous Liangzhe Road and Jiangdong Road.
Under the direct pressure from Phoenix Mountain, all the local officials in the southeast almost gritted their teeth and began the most core and most relevant work that they had never dared to think about before. However, the local scholars and officials who might directly hinder the inspection and local decision-making were summoned to Phoenix Mountain in batches, and then, like the local officials, they also faced the pressure from the current Emperor Jianyan.
Besides, the Emperor Jianyan had been on the throne for seven or eight years, and was quite skilled in martial arts, known for his revival... To put it bluntly, not everyone had the courage to say no to this emperor. After the martial arts conference, even most people lost the courage to discuss relevant issues with the emperor.
Not to mention, these people in the southeast, whether they were officials, literati or situation-conscious people, naturally lacked the experience of dealing with an emperor.
However, even so, after just a few months of getting along, these members of the so-called Southeast 'ruling group' still saw some clues... Apart from anything else, the official's attitude of going through fire and water once he made up his mind was really frightening.
It is precisely because of this that, as the land inspection and land division began, the entire southeast was plunged into a strange atmosphere:
First of all, it is definitely not right to say that all horses are silent, because Phoenix Mountain, on the contrary, shows a vibrant attitude and a relaxed political atmosphere.
It's really relaxed and vibrant.
Old officials from the southeast like Ye Mengde were pardoned, and southeastern scholar leaders like Zhang Jiuchen were directly promoted to senior officials of the Secret Cabinet... Who can say this is not lenient?
However, people like Zhang Jiuchen and Ye Mengde are still far away from everyone else. What really makes the Southeastern literati and the people with the best situation feel eager to try is, after all, the government.
While inspecting the land and making local decisions, the public cabinet also quickly and resolutely established a three-level local public cabinet system of road, state and county, with a structure similar to the state school and county school in the Sanshe system. Under this system, the literati and powerful households in the southeast, as well as wealthy merchants and famous monks and Taoists were almost all caught in one fell swoop.
And this public pavilion was by no means a mere empty shell used to accommodate those with influence. At the foot of Phoenix Mountain, everyone witnessed with their own eyes that many common literati, who were once around them, used the public pavilion as a springboard to obtain political prospects that they would never have dared to imagine before through political statements and talent displays. From such prestigious assignments as editors of court newspapers to actual vacancies such as Tongpan and magistrates, Emperor Zhao was not stingy at all and used real political power to buy off people politically.
Even those households with official positions, as well as purely wealthy businessmen, landlords, monks and Taoists, had their sons and nephews transferred to state and county schools in large numbers because they entered the government. Some of them who were somewhat famous were directly given the title of martial arts and became close attendants of the officials. This not only gave these households a political identity, but also gave them the extra expectation that their descendants would rise to become superior people.
Learn literary and martial arts, and sell them to the emperor. Isn't this what these people, regardless of whether they are officials or not, are trying to do?
In this kind of atmosphere, it's okay to rush to be the first, but who dares to say that everyone is silent?
However, the weird thing is here - obviously everyone knows that Emperor Zhao did these things to ensure his two reforms concerning population tax, namely the so-called "no tax for increasing the number of people" and "equalizing the tax on land". But except for a very small number of scholars who expressed their support in form by writing letters in order to become officials, almost everyone avoided talking about the specific development of this matter intentionally or unintentionally.
At the same time, the inspection and judgment of local lands were not so smooth. There was no open policy resistance, but there were private obstructions, delays in various ways, complaints to the local officials, and bribery of the executive officials. Even after Lu Yihao, the prime minister, issued a note to ask the officials of various prefectures to conduct mutual investigations, there were still cases where the officials burned the hay field next to their public housing.
However, the only thing that was protected by the dragon flag of Emperor Zhao on Phoenix Mountain was that no one died, which made everyone marvel at it.
In short, for a time, the vigorous vitality of Phoenix Mountain and the tense and serious local situation, the repeated instructions in official documents and the drunken chanting in the West Lake restaurant formed a strong sense of separation.
It can only be said that this phenomenon not only illustrates the instinctive resistance of these poor households to reform, but also fully demonstrates their contradictory mentality when faced with the coexistence of political bribery and harsh attitude of Emperor Zhao.
In this way, before the New Year, which was about the time when the government affairs were discussed in the Tokyo Imperial Academy, the light snow had just stopped and Emperor Zhao formally convened a general meeting of all the officials from Liangzhe Road and Jiangnan East Road at the foot of Phoenix Mountain. Without mentioning the various trivial matters in between, at the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Lu Yihao suddenly stood up and announced three new regulations on the situation of households in public.
First, it is to include wealthy merchants, landlords, and temples and monasteries whose real estate and assets reach a certain amount (annual rent of 300 dan and interest of 300 guan) into the category of situation households, which means that the situation households will be completely worthy of the name.
Moreover, as the name suggests, the situation households refer to the families with local situation, that is, the so-called wealthy and powerful families.
But in the Song Dynasty, "Situational Household" was still a special term. There really was a household registration book, which was full of official households and clerk households. Once a family fell into decline or had insufficient property, they would be moved out of the situational household and transferred to a common household... Those who were both rich and had official status were of course typical wealthy and powerful people.
However, this household registration still has nominal defects, that is, there are fewer wealthy businessmen and landlords who theoretically became rich through hard work, and there are also fewer temples and monasteries outside the secular world.
Now that they are unified, no one can escape, and in a sense, this can be regarded as a "local household registration adjustment" for households with different situations.
Secondly, regardless of anything else, all households in Liangzhe Road and Jiangnan East Road must pay taxes half a month in advance starting from the summer tax period next year, which means they must pay taxes before normal people do... Anyway, these people's property is already there, so they don't have to wait for the silk to be woven or the autumn grain to be stored in the warehouse.
Thirdly, for this summer tax, the privileged households in the two southeastern routes will be the first to enjoy the benevolent policy of never having to pay additional taxes or distributing the tax rate based on the amount of land they own. No matter what, the privileged households must first complete their own land inspections, and then the tax amount can be determined. This is a benevolent policy of the country, and no one can be left out except the privileged households.
Finally, Prime Minister Lu also reminded the members of the cabinet sitting below that they have the obligation to report the small number of households who are not only ungrateful but also trying to evade the land inspection and the new policy... The government said that those who have previously used the skin and bones of fields to resist the land property tax, or those who have hidden their land during the land inspection and have not reported it, will have no other way out, their homes, temples, and shops will be raided directly!
This kind of information basically exposed the true intention, especially when Prime Minister Lu was speaking, Emperor Zhao just sat in the back without saying a word... In other words, the most difficult work of land inspection has reached the stage of tackling tough problems... And everyone also understood that Emperor Zhao's determination was unshakable, to the point that he was going to tackle the toughest problem first after the spring. Whether the land inspection in Liangzhe and Jiangdong could be successful, or directly speaking, whether the entire tax reform could be successful, would probably depend on this wave.
If it succeeds, it succeeds. If it fails, it fails... I'm afraid it will really fail before the Northern Expedition.
However, although the true intention was fully exposed and everyone knew the truth face to face, due to concerns about Yang Yizhong who often disappeared from behind the emperor and the large number of plainclothes officers who went in and out of the Phoenix Mountain imperial guards, no one dared to connect in Hangzhou Prefecture, even though this was the best opportunity for connection... For a moment, it seemed that the road had a purpose.
Of course, Hangzhou Prefecture is just at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, and Emperor Zhao is personally in charge, so it is normal that they dare not do anything. But when these members of the public cabinet, who are basically equivalent to the situation households, left Hangzhou and went home to prepare for the New Year, they couldn't help but get together again during the New Year.
"Master Dahui is washing the Buddha's dirt for the New Year and doesn't want to come!"
In a quiet backyard of Jingshan Temple, several people from Yuhang Shezha came to burn incense. They naturally gathered together, chatted for a while, and could not help but ask the abbot of the temple who came with them to invite Monk Dahui, who was a cabinet member of Liangzhe Road and a close friend of Zhang Jiuchen, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and was said to be a lifelong friend of Prime Minister Zhang Deyuan.
The abbot was shy and of course could not refuse, but after waiting for a long time, he did not expect that the little monk would only say this.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. How could they not know that Monk Dahui was a suspicious person and was unwilling to come?
However, although Monk Dahui was a person outside the world, he was after all a member of the official cabinet with the most outstanding roots in Yuhang. Moreover, he took the opportunity to receive the purple robe in Hangzhou and officially received the name of Dahui from the emperor. He could be called the four-character great master Dahui Zonggao.
If I give up this position, I will inevitably feel reluctant.
So, seven or eight people looked at each other for a few times, and a leader came out, straight away with a frown, and asked the little monk to lead the way to find someone, meaning that he was going to take the initiative to go find someone. The little monk was confused and couldn't understand the host's eyes, so he actually bowed his head and turned around to take a few local luxury figures away.
However, these people still miscalculated. They followed the little monk and walked for a long time. They finally came to a narrow and abandoned Buddhist temple. They were shocked to find that on New Year's Day, Dahui Zen Master, who had just gained the status of a purple-robed monk in front of Emperor Zhao, was actually giving the Buddha a bath together with several little monks... An abandoned wooden Buddha that had been here for who knows how many years, covered with dirt and dust, was placed in this cramped Buddhist temple. Then, Dahui Zen Master had a bucket of hot water next to him, and he personally picked up a rag and was busying around on the Buddha, making his head and face full of stains and dust.
Only because he rolled up his sleeves, his arms were constantly wet, but they were still white, like two lotus roots in winter.
Seeing the other party's appearance, a group of Yuhang scholars hesitated at first, but when the monk Dahui saw everyone coming, he did not stop, but continued to wash the Buddha's dirt while reciting a jingle directly on the Buddha's body.
As the saying goes:
"Everyone, pour a ladle of dirty water to wash away the dirt on the Tathagata's pure side.
When all the filth is gone and all the sufferings of sentient beings are gone, the fox will roar like a lion. "
It is said that not all of these seven or eight people were as knowledgeable as Zhang Jiuchen and could not understand immediately. Instead, most of them were confused. A few of them understood something, but they did not dare to guarantee it, for fear that they had misunderstood and would be laughed at.
So, everyone looked at each other again, forced a smile and praised Master Dahui's Buddhist teachings in front of the temple, and then left awkwardly. Then they returned to the secluded side courtyard and talked about Master Dahui until the afternoon before they dispersed.
Not to mention others, just say that the abbot of Jingshan Temple had served these people well for the whole afternoon and was already thirsty, but he was not in a hurry to go back to rest. Instead, he turned around to look for Dahui. Unexpectedly, Dahui had already finished bathing the Buddha and was now digging lotus roots alone in a small pond in the temple.
In winter, the small lotus pond has lost its summer beauty. It is filled with dead branches and leaves. Although the lotus roots are growing in season, they are hidden in the cold water and mud below. People need to go into the pond in the cold water and carefully dig through the mud to dig out the big lotus roots, and they will be crushed if they are not careful... In the past, even young monks were unwilling to do this kind of work, and they always let the white lotus roots rot in the mud. It was only recently that the temple inspected the land and compensated the thousands of monks in the temple for their exemption money. Then the abbot said that if the temple did not become self-reliant, it would run out of food. He also appointed several young and energetic monks to imitate Emperor Zhao's financial strategy and carry out internal financial reforms. Only then did the hard work of digging lotus roots in winter come about.
However, no matter what, it was not the turn of the only great monk in the temple, Dahui, to go down and dig in person, so the presiding monk watched awkwardly on the shore for a while. He saw Dahui wearing a borrowed cowhide waterproof coat, rolling in the mud in the middle of winter. The cold winter air could not even cover the stench of the mud and water. It was not easy for him to take off his monk robe and go down to help, so he could only cough a few times and then called out seriously:
"Brother! Brother Dahui! Why is it so?"
Monk Dahui looked up and saw that it was the abbot. He immediately stood up from the mud and chanted a jingle from a distance:
“No one cultivates barren fields, but those that do are fought over. When lotus leaves sway without wind, there are definitely fish swimming.”
The presiding monk smiled bitterly on the shore, then looked around and waved his hand to signal the monk who was accompanying him and the novice monk who was originally here to watch over the lotus roots to go out and guard the door. Then he became serious again: "Brother, I have something serious to tell you, but I have always been stupid, so today we should speak human language instead of talking nonsense... Do you think it's okay?"
Monk Dahui also smiled in the winter mud and said: "Junior brother is the abbot, whatever he says is what counts."
The host smiled bitterly again, "Brother, why do you have to be like this? I have always known that you are a powerful person. Your heritage, reputation, and Zen wisdom are ten times better than mine. When you came here, I thought that if the court really fled to the south and created a situation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, I would push you, a monk from Tokyo, to be the host so that you can deal with officials... Come ashore, today we will not talk about Zen, but just talk seriously."
Monk Dahui sighed slightly, chanted the Buddha's name, then climbed up the shore carefully, took off his cowhide coat, and put on his outer coat... By the way, one of them was covered in incense, and the other was soaked in mud and had a bit of a rotten smell, but they didn't care, and didn't call for the novice monk outside to bring some hot soup or tea. They just stood side by side on the shore and talked seriously.
"...That's it. Donor Wang and the others said that when the court inspected the land, the officials sent down were extremely vulgar. They were worried that the officials might disturb the people rather than give some benevolent policies and concessions. This is especially true in the south, which is different from the Central Plains. The spring ploughing will start soon after the Chinese New Year. Delaying the spring ploughing will mean delaying the Northern Expedition. So they wanted to write to the court to postpone the matter for a season... What do you think, senior brother?" the presiding monk asked seriously.
"Since my junior brother asked me to speak human language, I would naturally like to ask the abbot first. Since ancient times, no one has known the situation in this place better than us monks. How wealthy are these families? Are they rich?" Monk Dahui asked with a smile.
The host laughed when he heard this, but he said a Buddhist name and then said seriously: "Although they are scholars, they are all local wealthy families. For example, the leader, Mr. Wang, is a legitimate official, but when his father was the governor of Hezhong, his family suddenly became rich. After the Fang La Rebellion, he began to invest heavily in property. Not only did he buy property in Yuhang and Fuyang counties, he also asked several of his relatives to hold land in Muzhou and Huzhou on his behalf. There are also several shops in several cities... I don’t know about other things, but the rent collected from the fields alone is more than a thousand stones this year!"
Monk Dahui nodded repeatedly. Of course, he had expected this. But soon he remembered something and shook his head slightly: "This is not a lot, right? Compared with the Hebei landlords who relied on the conquest of land across states and counties before the Jingkang period, it is still far behind..."
The host sneered and shook his head when he heard this. "That's Hebei, this is the southeast. The population of the southeast is here, there are more people and less land, how can Hebei compare? However, the north and the Central Plains have their own land, and we also have the Flower and Stone Gang. The problem is somewhere else."
"That's true." Dahui sighed slightly, then turned serious. "I already know what you just said, Master Junior Brother. These people are naturally afraid that the taxes they will have to pay after the tax increase and the tax rate are too high, so they are reluctant to resist. It's not that they dislike the officials going to the countryside to work and delay the spring ploughing. There may be some truth in their words, but it won't affect the overall plan."
"That's natural." The host responded calmly. "So what? Brother, just tell me, do you think they can succeed?"
"Difficult!" Dahui gave the answer immediately.
"Please explain in detail, brother."
"Brother, this is how I see this matter." Dahui answered earnestly, and indeed he didn't even bother to recite a jingle. "The government has already revealed its true intentions. If these people want to succeed, they must have extensive and proper connections, and the situation must be unified from top to bottom, from left to right. The people below must work together to create a situation that is too big for the government to control for a while, and the people above must work together to find many key figures, and then they can talk to the government and have a fight. But let alone that, just to communicate, I think it will be difficult for them to communicate smoothly."
The abbot was slightly stunned, obviously not understanding.
Since Dahui had agreed to speak human language, there was no need to keep the audience in suspense, so he immediately explained:
“First, we need to make contacts. It is difficult for these people to escape from the prefectures and counties… Take the donor Wang mentioned earlier for example. His family is in Yuhang, and his household has lived in Yuhang for generations. Of course, he can find people locally and can even be a half-leader.
But he still has land in Huzhou. Why would the people of Huzhou want to join him? You must know that according to the theory of never increasing taxes and allocating taxes to each acre, if his land in Huzhou is seized, the local tax amount of Huzhou must be taken from Huzhou. Wouldn't that benefit the people of Huzhou who don't even know him? How much effort does he have to put in to get Huzhou to contact Hangzhou? Is it too late? "
"That's right!" The presiding monk realized immediately. "That's right... Moreover, even if Huzhou has a big landlord like Wang Shizhu, they can't bring them together, because the difference between the two places is not just about the tax amount now, but also about the daily disputes over water sources, land boundaries, and the number of places in the state school, and even the number of places in the public cabinet. If he goes to the next door to make a connection, he will only be held back by his fellow villagers behind him... Even if it's between counties, it won't work... No wonder only the locals of Yuhang came today... What else?"
"Also, the upper and lower levels can't communicate with each other... There are two types of households with status quo. One is the official households. They are leaders, prestigious, have connections in the court, and can have a say with the government. The other type is the clerk households. They have a lot of property, a lot of land, and great local power, but they are independent of each other and can't talk to each other. They are even more nervous about the government... But there has always been a gap between the upper and lower levels. The upper levels are unwilling to know the lower levels, and the lower levels have no way to interact with the upper levels. Junior brother, do you think the gap between the upper and lower levels in the households with status quo can be broken in a hurry?" Monk Dahui continued to talk about it.
The abbot was slightly startled, then smiled again: "Brother, what you said is really simple and straightforward, and it just hits the nail on the head... The upper and lower levels cannot be connected, and in the end, the lower level wants to make trouble but has no way to do it. Then I guess the imperial army should also arrive at Wuwei Army. Or it has already arrived, and then they will not dare to make trouble; and the officials above are not only unable to make trouble, but also dare not or are unwilling to make trouble. Their methods are nothing more than the old party subduing the new party in the past. In the end, they still have to rely on ministers and dignitaries to persuade and shake the government, but which minister dares to speak to the government now?"
"There will definitely be some, and you will always find someone who is unwilling to give in, but it will definitely be useless." Dahui responded firmly. "I have personally seen that the government is as decisive as a knife! If the minister who goes to persuade is useful, he will be killed immediately, and if he is useless, he will just become a joke. The only thing they are worried about seems to be that they can find someone to persuade Lu Yihao, the prime minister, to stop this from the link of the prime minister, but I don't think so."
"Why?"
"Brother, have you ever heard a saying?"
"What?"
"Everything has a beginning." Dahui clasped his hands together with a serious expression, casting aside the stench of mud on his body, and his appearance was truly dignified. "Junior brother, you must know that Lu Xianggong is already over sixty years old this year, twelve years older than Li Gang, and only a few years younger than the other Lu Haowen, Lu Xianggong. I would like to ask why he is so hasty and strict... that the central government dare not keep him?"
"I would like to hear the details." The abbot also clasped his hands together and said seriously.
"During the Xuanhe period, the Liao Dynasty was destroyed, and the country purchased the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and established the Yanshan Prefecture Road, which was where Prime Minister Lu was appointed as an envoy. However, within a few years, the Jin army moved south, and the local Han people of Yanyun surrendered to the Jin army. Guo Yaoshi rebelled, and they took him into the Jin army..." Dahui couldn't help but sigh when he said this. "Now think about it, with Prime Minister Lu's toughness, how could he not regard this as a humiliation in his life? And his beginning was here."
The presiding monk also said "oh" and immediately understood.
"From this beginning, we can know what will happen today." Monk Dahui continued to sigh. "When the Song and Jin were at war and the emperor rose up to resist, he was the most determined among the senior ministers to fight; in terms of the preparations for the Northern Expedition and crossing the river to recover the two rivers, he was the most resolute among the ministers; in terms of the emperor Zhao's ambition to pacify Yanyun and destroy the Jin Kingdom, he was one of the few former ministers in the world who was willing to follow unconditionally and move forward! And since this is the case, this new tax policy is also an unshakable task for him! If someone is blind and afraid of the emperor and wants to say something about him, I'm afraid he really won't be able to spend the night in the southeast."
The abbot heard this and had no doubts at all, but nodded: "Thanks to my senior brother, otherwise I would have made a big mistake, right?"
Monk Dahui was puzzled for a moment: "Brother, did you intend to help those people today?"
The abbot shook his head slowly, "It's not about helping them, it's about whether to help others, whether to promote them... When you went to Hangzhou for the public meeting a few days ago, someone took the opportunity to come in plain clothes, holding a silver medal from the imperial guard, saying that since our temple has been cleaned up and we have been given the money to be exempted, we are innocent and can be used, so we are asked to work hard to serve the public. First, we should provide the Military Control Department with information on the land and property of the wealthy families around Yuhang, and second, we should pay attention to similar things today for the Imperial City Department... I was still a little hesitant at first, but today, Senior Brother's words were thorough. Since the government has already had means and the overall situation is clear, I don't have to hesitate."
Monk Dahui quickly chanted a Buddhist name, and even instinctively wanted to recite a jingle, but then he remembered the previous agreement and forced himself to hold it back.
On this side, the abbot saw this, so he stood up, clasped his hands together, bowed slightly, and prepared to leave.
At this time, Monk Dahui glanced at the muddy cowhide coat beside him and thought of something else. He couldn't help but said, "Junior brother!"
"Brother, is there anything else?" The abbot turned around puzzled.
"It's like this. Since we said we won't talk about Zen and will only speak human words, and we brothers are so frank today, I have a few words to say about the temple, and I want to ask the abbot..." Monk Dahui actually seemed a little timid. "But if it's embarrassing, you'd better not say it."
"Brother, what are you saying? Even the position of abbot can be given to you at will. Is there anything in this temple that you are not allowed to hear?" The abbot asked frankly.
"The first thing... I went to seek good fortune for the temple, but I didn't find any and I had to pay two hundred dan of new rice as compensation. Later, there was this wave of exemption money and advance land inspection. You didn't blame me, did you?" Monk Dahui seemed a little nervous again.
"How could that be?" The abbot smiled, like a Buddha holding a flower. "The land inspection and the exemption fee were paid by the temples in the southeast, so how can I blame you? As for the two hundred dan of new rice, didn't it also buy our temple a purple robe and a four-character master? According to the previous market price, two hundred dan is already very cheap, but the two hundred dan must be sent directly to Tokyo for storage next year, which will take more effort."
"That's fine. I know the route well. I'll just go back to the old place." Monk Dahui felt relieved for a moment, but soon became more nervous. "But there's one more thing. Recently, the temple said that after paying the exemption fee, the temple won't have enough food..."
"Not really." The presiding monk looked more and more gentle. "Jingshan Temple has been in the southeast for hundreds of years, and it has not encountered the kind of disasters that the north has. The flower and stone gang has never been robbed, and Fang La only came to ask for a jar of incense oil. How can it be poor? Not to mention that the temple has three dou and three liters of rice and gold for exchanging for the true scriptures, even the incense oil stored in the back warehouse is enough for you to drink for a lifetime, and to decorate and burn the relics after your death. Those words are just me taking the opportunity to restrain those people below... Isn't it that the officials have arrived at Fenghuang Mountain, and the Imperial City Division is everywhere? I am afraid that they will cause trouble... Why not let them stay in the temple to work, and also sharpen their mind."
Monk Dahui raised his eyebrows slightly, said "oh", and said no more. He just let the abbot turn around and leave. As soon as the abbot left, the monk looked at the cowhide clothes on the ground, but he didn't even want to wash them. He just recited a jingle.
As the saying goes: "Old cowhide has no cracks.
Ask about Buddhism and receive a grain of rice as reward.
A slight difference can make a big difference.
Without a face, people are afraid of him. "
After finishing reading, he stood up, patted his butt, and went out directly, calling the little monk who was washing lotus roots to go to the kitchen to find vegetarian food.
