Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

"Yan Huaide, the magistrate of Pingquan County, pays homage to the envoy."

A middle-aged man of medium height and unremarkable appearance walked into the hall under the leadership of the state officials, and bowed to Li Tai who was sitting in the hall.

"There is no need to be polite, Magistrate Yan. I invite you to see me today because I have something to inquire about."

Li Tai raised his hand to signal Yan Huaide to sit down without courtesy, then picked up the file on the desk and motioned to the officials to pass it over, and said straight to the point: "The county government accepted a lawsuit a few days ago, and it is you who will review the matters recorded in the file. The clan members accused the head of Guangming Temple and the governor Wei Na of arbitrarily compiling the family records. Does Yan Ling know about this? "

When Yan Huaide, the magistrate of Pingquan County, heard this, his expression suddenly froze. After a moment, he hurriedly shook his head and said: "No, I don't know. I really don't know how to sue my clan members for my humble position..."

"So, the things mentioned in the file are slander and not true? Yan Ling also holds the seal of Linmin. Does it know what punishment should be given for false accusations?"

After hearing this, Li Tai's face suddenly darkened, he slapped the table and yelled angrily.

"Your Majesty, please calm down, please calm down. It's true that it happened, but it's such a humble position. I really didn't know that my clan would bring this matter to the county government..."

Sweat appeared on Yan Huaide's face, and he hurriedly bowed and said: "The clan members don't know that the county affairs are busy, and they dare to disturb the criminals. After returning from their humble duties, they will be severely reprimanded and ordered to drop the lawsuit immediately!"

Li Tai was surprised when he heard this. Yan Huaide was obviously wrong about what he meant. But what kind of powerful person could make this dignified county magistrate dare not voice his grievances and complain, and could only swallow his voice and tolerate it?

"Nonsense. It is the sin of the shepherds who are close to the people to keep the grievances of the people together. Yan Ling, you are an official appointed by the imperial court to supervise and educate the people's moral customs. If you dare not even speak out about the hardship and injustice that your family has suffered. How can other villagers in Zhizhong seek justice?

He snorted again, directly reprimanding Yan Huaide for trying to settle the matter, and then said in a deep voice: "Since it is indeed true, then you should tell the whole story in detail, without concealing or showing favoritism!"

Yan Huaide, as a subordinate official of Qinzhou, has often been in and out of the state capital recently. He has heard a lot about Li Tai's character and style. After hearing this, he did not dare to say anything more, so he honestly told the origin of the matter, his expression Although I am still a little nervous, I also have some expectations.

This incident can be traced back to more than ten years ago. The Heyin Incident and the Northern Expedition of Nanliang Chen Qingzhi successively occurred in Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The order in the Heluo area was greatly damaged. Therefore, a considerable number of noble officials and monks They went to the west of Longyou River to avoid disaster.

The arrival of these people will inevitably have a big impact on the local order and religious environment here. The influence of many Longyou gentry who have been away from their hometowns for many years has become quite weak in the countryside. If they want to regain a foothold, they must compete for limited local resources.

However, those powerful people who stayed in the countryside were not easy to deal with. If they fought with force, the gentry officials who fled back in haste were obviously no match, and the official positions and other political resources that they were proud of in the past and felt that they were superior to others would also be lost. As the Northern Wei Dynasty became chaotic and dim, it could no longer deter the powerful in the countryside.

So these returning gentry chose another relatively stable way, that is, to participate in the competition for local resources through religious means.

They first raised funds to build several large-scale temples and strengthened the influence of the temples through various Buddhist worship activities.

The monks from Luoyang usually come in and out of the mansions of dignitaries, and they know too many things to do. In addition, their own research on Buddhist principles is indeed higher than the average level of the Longyou monks, so these temples and monks are here. His influence also increased, and his popularity quickly overshadowed the local Samana forces.

As the reputation of the monks in these temples grew, more and more believers came to pay homage to the Buddha. With this mass base in place, monks from these emerging temples began to serve as disciples and town masters for families in Longyou Township.

The so-called disciples are monks jointly supported by one or several families. They are responsible for the monks' living expenses such as food and clothing, while the monks are responsible for various Buddhist activities such as praying for blessings and warding off disasters, preaching scriptures and clarifying meanings for them.

The status of the Yiyi master is much higher than that of the disciple, and he is responsible for the Buddhist worship activities in Yiyi. In today's world, there are many people who believe in Buddhism, so the government or the people usually voluntarily demarcate an area. Only a certain group of monks are allowed to spread the teachings and accept offerings. This kind of parish is called Yiyi.

When these new temples widely serve as disciples and town masters, they have mastered important rural population resources, and can continuously obtain donations from these believers. The donations provided by the believers include money, land and other local resources. resource. The temple then transferred these acquired resources to the original donors, that is, the returning nobles, so that a win-win situation could be achieved.

But in this cooperation model, it is obvious that the monks have the greater initiative. Although they initially received funding and momentum from the returning gentry, once they gained a certain social influence, they were able to develop independently. The help brought to them by their initial sponsors was already very limited, and the constraints they could create were Even more insignificant.

Therefore, whether these monks are still willing to fulfill their previous agreements and repay the original donors depends on their own character and morality. As for the Samana monks in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it cannot be said that they are all bad guys, but the good ones are indeed limited.

The case filed by Tianshui Yan is a typical overturning case.

In the past year, some members of his tribe who were traveling in Heluo returned to their hometown. In order to celebrate the survivors of the disaster, they raised funds to build a temple called Guangming Temple, and enshrined several people they had known and interacted with when they were in Heluo. Monk.

The owner of this temple is also an eminent monk from Luoyang, named Master Tanjing. Because of his profound Buddhist teachings, he has shone brightly and attracted much attention in several Buddhist worship conferences in the countryside.

With the blessing of such popularity, the monks of Guangming Temple are naturally no longer satisfied with serving as the disciples of the Yan family. However, there are various requirements for becoming a local master, including those in the temple. The number of monk households and supporting households. Although the city magistrate is elected by the people, he still needs to answer to Duweina, the county monk official. Therefore, the more the two types of households are, the easier it is to be elected.

The Yan family also felt that they had a deep connection with Guangming Temple, and they were happy to see the temple have greater influence, so they mobilized the clan and recorded the songs as monks and relatives. The clan members served as donors and finally fought for Guangming Temple. to the quota of a city master.

Later, the development of Guangming Temple lived up to expectations and even far exceeded the expectations of the Yan clan. Master Tanjing successfully presided over several grand ceremonial projects such as digging caves and statues not long after he became the city master. It actually became a famous temple a few years later. Duvina, the monk official of Tianshui County, all the ascetics and believers in the county are under his management.

Of course, Guangming Temple has also grown with the tide, and now it has become the largest temple in the entire Tianshui County, second only to Maijiya Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall and Wudu Temple.

Wanfo Hall is a famous temple in Longyou that has existed since the beginning of the Maiji Cliff Grottoes, while Wudu Temple is the nunnery where the former Queen Yifu became a monk after her maids and slaves became rich. Guangming Temple has grown in just over ten years. To achieve a scale and status comparable to these two is truly remarkable.

However, Tianshui Yan, as the original sponsor of Guangming Temple, did not rise to heaven because of this, but the situation became even worse.

The temple records compiled in the past to support the development of the temple have now become a heavy shackles tied to them. Not only were the temples expropriating them based on this, some of the Yan clan members who could not repay the interest on the loans were simply expropriated. The temple accepted him as a slave.

While listening to Yan Huaide's story, fables such as "Mr. Dongguo and the Wolf, the Farmer and the Snake" kept flashing through Li Tai's mind. When he saw Yan Huaide's sad face, he couldn't help but want to laugh. This was really A living example of raising tigers to create trouble!

He also understood now why Yan Huaide was so nervous when he heard the complaint from his tribe at first, and even wanted to withdraw the complaint altogether, because this matter was really not something that he, a county magistrate, could bear. Even if it's Li Tai, if he wants to take action, he has to consider whether it's worth it.

If Guangming Temple is still just a famous temple in the region, it would be a big problem, but the temple owner is also Cao Duvina, a monk in Tianshui County. This would be a bit tricky.

Wei Na, the capital of a county, is not just a religious leader. He may even have more power than Li Tai, the governor of Tianshui County.

This is by no means alarmist. The number of citizens controlled by Tianshui County is estimated to be far less than the number of believers controlled by Shangduweina. This means that the manpower and materials that the county can mobilize are not as good as the monk-official Duweina.

When transporting the war preparation materials from Qinzhou to Weizhou, Li Tai remembered that Huangfu Mu once visited Wei Na, the capital of the county, hoping to organize a group of temple slaves to help transport the materials.

After understanding the whole story, Li Tai couldn't help but feel a little bit tempted to retreat.

He is not an iron-headed boy. He must provoke troublesome and difficult targets to enjoy his life. What's more, the current situation in Longyou is delicate and it is not suitable for making big goals or big moves. Although this temple is not a separatist armed force with sufficient troops, it is also related to the people's beliefs and beliefs. Once it gets angry, it may not be able to control it.

What's more, if this matter is discussed further, Tianshui Yan is really unreasonable. Who in the right mind would take the initiative to put a rope around his neck to swing? Stealing the chicken will not result in losing the rice, and it is indeed a pity for the poor people.

Li Tai thought this in his heart and was about to put the matter aside, but when he looked at Yan Huaide, he suddenly asked out of nowhere: "Yan Ling also returned from Heluo? Do you know a wise man named Yan Xin?" ? This Yan Mingfu served as the magistrate of Xingyang during the Wutai period, and he also commanded Tianshui. "

When Yan Huaide heard this, he bowed with some doubts and said: "What the envoy said was exactly an uncle of the same clan who held a humble position. He abandoned his post and returned to his hometown due to the invasion of the island's northern barbarians in the old year. He died of illness in his hometown a few years ago. It is unknown why the envoy asked this?"

"It's a pity, it's a pity that such a virtuous person cannot live long. It's a pity that he can't see him..."

After hearing this, Li Tai sighed and briefly described the relationship between his family and Yan Xin.

During the Heyin Incident, my father was lucky enough to survive and led his clan members to flee. On the way, he met Yan Xin and was rescued and funded by him. Only then did he successfully escape to Qinghe County. Calculated, Yan Xin was life-saving to their family. of grace.

Li Tai also learned about this in the memory of his predecessor. When he lived in his hometown, he almost lost his tongue talking about it, so he was deeply impressed. Although Li Tai was not directly responsible for this favor, he had to admit that if Yan Xin had not supported him, he would not have had the chance to come to this world.

After Yan Huaide learned that there was such a connection between them, he was quite surprised for a while. After a while, he quickly grabbed the ground with his head and said sadly to Li Tai: "Now I know that my uncles have made the lord's family loyal to each other. I boldly request that you can follow this old love and rescue my uncle's remaining heirs with righteousness!

The people in Guangming Temple were ungrateful, broke the previous agreement, and made excessive demands on my family. As a result, there was no shortage of people who lost their money and died. My uncle's family fell into this category. Only Sun Xi is left in the temple and has been a slave for several years..."

Li Tai couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He didn't expect that such a garrulous question would lead to a trouble that he couldn't refuse. However, the irritability in his heart was not caused by this, and he was rather lucky that he happened to ask a garrulous question. There is an opportunity to repay the life-saving grace of the past.

If you are lucky enough to see his father and other family members again in the future, you can face it calmly. I have repaid your family a great favor, so don't blame me for occupying the magpie's nest in this body. It’s a shame that it’s me who replaced the young boy who was a junior middle school student in my predecessor, so I can’t repay him in return!

After pondering for a while, he said to Yan Huaide: "Let me tell you in detail the life history of your uncle Sun Xi. I have heard about this matter, and I cannot refuse it due to emotion and reason. As long as he is still in the world, I will definitely treat him Searched and returned safely.

As for the dispute between your clan and Guangming Temple, it is already a long time ago. If you want to trace the origin and distinguish right from wrong, you must not listen to one side's side. Don't announce it to the public for the time being. I will personally investigate and inquire about the personnel at that time. If there is indeed justice hidden and need to be stated, I will do my best. "

Yan Huaide heard that Li Tai only guaranteed the personal safety of his uncle's descendants, but still had ambiguity about the exploitation of their entire family. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but he also knew that he would not force the matter and was willing to make such a promise. They are infinitely more noble than those ungrateful monks at Guangming Temple.

After learning from Yan Huaide that Yan Xin's family passed away one after another after returning to his hometown, and that the family property was lost due to years of worshiping Buddha, Li Tai couldn't help but sigh.

After repelling Yan Huaide, Li Tai summoned Huangfu Mu again and said, "I would like to inform Master Tan Jing, the master of Guangming Temple, if he is free these days. I would like to pay a visit someday."

When Huangfu Mu heard this, his face couldn't help but change, and he quickly asked: "Chang Shi must go to visit? But now that the army is fighting abroad, maintaining stability in the mansion is especially important! Master Kuang Tanjing has lived here to preach Buddhism for many years He is widely supported and respected by the masses. He has never been seriously immoral and obeys the orders of the state government. If he is rashly admonished and punished, I am afraid..."

When Li Tai heard this warning, his face turned dark. I'm so bored, why don't I go out for an outing? Am I just going to cause trouble when I go out, so why can’t I maintain stability?

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether Huangfu Mu looked down on him or thought too highly of him. The old monk Ren Lao had been here for at least more than ten years. How could he tease someone just by taking a stroll on their territory?

It has been a headache to look through the information in the past two days. It is an update. The plot clues have been straightened out. I will write more tomorrow. . .