Chapter 259: The Suppression of Buddhism Begins

There was already a will in Liu Chengyou's words, bursting forth.

The Son of Heaven's attitude toward Buddhism—even a shrewd close minister like Fan Zhi had sensed it. Though not explicitly stated, there was some speculation; not quite disgust, but a targeted dissatisfaction. In Fan Zhi's view, it wasn't just Buddhism—even toward Daoism, the Son of Heaven seemed to show little reverence or faith.

During this period, from time to time, Liu Chengyou would express dissatisfaction with Buddhist temples—temples filthy, monks extravagant, deceiving people's hearts, occupying vast lands, enslaving common folk... In short, he found them objectionable in every way.

The Empress Dowager was a believer in Buddhism. During the recent drought in Hebei, the Empress Dowager went to Buddhist temples and Daoist shrines to pray for rain, but Liu Chengyou went only to the Daoist shrine. That in itself was a statement.

Over time, Fan Zhi had more or less figured out the fundamental reason for the Son of Heaven's targeting of Buddhism. Magnificent temples and shrines, lavish bronze statues and ritual implements, fertile lands, vast numbers of monks and non-productive Buddhist followers, and tax revenues nearly at zero...

The Great Han was currently in financial difficulty. This western campaign to suppress the rebellion had spawned endless corvée labor, nearly exhausting the court's tax revenue for the past half year. Though the spoils seized in Hezhong were considerable, for the Great Han as a whole, they were but a drop in the bucket. Not to mention other matters—the pensions for wounded and fallen soldiers alone would be another enormous expenditure.

Buddhism occupied so much wealth and population. Not to mention the Son of Heaven—even Fan Zhi himself couldn't help but covet it. As a man of no small learning, Fan Zhi naturally knew the story of the "Three Emperors' Suppression of Buddhism" and understood the enormous benefits of "suppressing Buddhism"—the most direct being a sudden surge in court revenues.

Suppressing Buddhism was not the goal; the benefits of suppressing Buddhism were. In fact, if Daoism were like Buddhism, Liu Chengyou would probably suppress them both together.

Reading between the lines, Fan Zhi wholeheartedly supported the intent to suppress Buddhism that Liu Chengyou had revealed. Of course, there might be resistance, but given the Son of Heaven's ability and methods, the chances of success were high. Moreover, among the court officials, there would certainly be no shortage of generals and ministers supporting this—of that, Fan Zhi was quite confident. To cite two examples: Yang Bin and Wang Zhang...

Besides, wasn't there right now a ready-made excuse and a good opportunity to exploit?

Of course, these truest thoughts could not be spoken plainly; they had to be phrased differently.

While Liu Chengyou was pondering, Fan Zhi thought for a moment, then cupped his hands and reported: "Your Majesty, Buddhist temples are supposed to be places of purity, yet as your minister has heard, chaos abounds among the monks of the realm. Their temples are no less magnificent than palaces; their statues no less lavish than noble mansions; their monks no less cruel than bandits; their lands..."

"They act wantonly, pervert the law and defy reason, so that even wicked men like Zong Lun can mingle among them, falsely claiming the title of Buddha, deceiving the people, and even daring to plot rebellion. I beg Your Majesty to rectify and restrain the Buddhist temples of the realm, to weed out the base and improper elements, and restore purity to Buddhism!"

Fan Zhi's words were, of course, one-sided and heavily biased—not every temple in the realm could be a den of filth. But there was a term called political correctness, and at this moment, it was not appropriate to discuss other aspects. What Fan Zhi said was basically picking out what Liu Chengyou liked to hear, and it deeply pleased him.

As the Son of Heaven, no matter what one did, it was best to have people who supported and endorsed it—and at this moment, Fan Zhi was playing exactly that role.

"What Minister Fan says is most true." Letting out a faint sigh, Liu Chengyou said with feeling: "The matter of the wicked monk Zong Lun truly alarms me. Buddhism has many believers, but if monks everywhere were like that lot, how could the realm find peace? For the stability of the state, for the well-being of the people, and for the sound development of the temples themselves, a rectification is indeed necessary..."

Liu Chengyou's words were hypocritical in the extreme, but Fan Zhi's stern face was full of admiration: "Your Majesty is wise."

"Zhao Yanjin!" Liu Chengyou turned his head toward Zhao Yanjin, who stood in attendance at his side.

"Your minister is here."

Zhao Yanjin had heard the entire exchange between Liu Chengyou and Fan Zhi. With his level of insight, though he couldn't grasp the crux of it, his keenness allowed him to roughly understand that the Son of Heaven intended to move against Buddhism.

Not knowing what he could do in this matter, he muttered inwardly while his hands moved without delay, clasping his fists and asking: "What does Your Majesty command?"

Liu Chengyou gave the order directly: "Zong Lun joined the rebellion and caused chaos. Though he has been executed, I fear his followers may be hiding in temples and among the people, leaving endless trouble. Here is your task: take the guards under your command and sweep through all the temples in Hezhong for me. Carefully screen and examine the monks therein—do not let any rebel partisans escape!"

Zhao Yanjin heard the order and froze for a brief moment, then straightened his chest and answered: "Yes!"

With that, he turned and left. Seeing Zhao Yanjin's capable bearing, but recalling the half-comprehending expression on his face when he received the order, Liu Chengyou drew a breath, then raised a finger and directed Fan Zhi: "Minister Fan, Zhao Yanjin probably still doesn't fully grasp the intent. Set aside your current affairs for now, take my hand decree, go assist him, and personally oversee this matter."

"Yes!" Fan Zhi bowed with a solemn expression.

Storming the city, breaking it, suppressing violence, quelling disorder, calming the people, handling the aftermath—a series of complex affairs, and dusk had already fallen. The wounds the city had suffered were still plainly visible, and the smoke of war had only just begun to dissipate. Outside the city, the reassembled rebel-suppression army had already fallen into an orderly bustle.

Cart after cart of grain, wine, and meat came out of the government storehouses, hauled into the various military camps. Of course, the Son of Heaven's reward to the army did not forget the government troops at the western stockade—there were no few meritorious soldiers there as well. He ordered boats to be sent with reward supplies.

Liu Chengyou had only managed a brief look at Hezhong's household registers, military rolls, and land records, noting the region's wealth, when a palace eunuch reported that Yao Yuanfu and Song Yanwo had crossed the river and come to seek an audience.

At this, Liu Chengyou displayed great enthusiasm, personally going out to receive them. His posture of honoring meritorious ministers actually made the old general Yao Yuanfu think even more highly of Liu Chengyou.

"Minister Yao, past sixty years of age, still able to wield blade and spear, brave arrow and blade, personally facing battle, fighting and killing for the nation. Such valor and martial prowess—you are truly a living Lian Po. I have long heard of you and yearned to meet you. Now that I see you today, you truly live up to your reputation!" In the hall, Liu Chengyou studied Yao Yuanfu, who stood straight-backed in full armor, wearing an expression of admiring wonder.

Facing the Son of Heaven's personal praise, Yao Yuanfu laughed heartily and replied: "Your minister has fought all his life and knows only how to fight. If I don't take the field, my bones start to itch. The only pity this time is that the rebels in Hezhong couldn't take a beating."

Though not exactly modest, the open-mindedness in his tone was not off-putting.

"But His Majesty—ascended the throne not long ago, foundation not yet firm—to face such a rebellion with such spirit, personally leading troops west and destroying the rebels within a month—such boldness commands admiration!" Yao Yuanfu praised Liu Chengyou in a tone that was not at all flattering.

"That this rebellion was smoothly suppressed is also thanks to Minister Yao's earlier efforts holding the enemy at Tongzhou, buying me time to march west..."

After that, it basically descended into mutual compliments between sovereign and minister. Soon, his brother-in-law Song Yanwo joined in as well. The atmosphere was very harmonious.

Watching the sky gradually darken, Liu Chengyou took the lead, bringing Yao Yuanfu and Song Yanwo out of the city and heading to the main camp.

In the vast camp of the Han army, lanterns were already all lit, a lively scene—the celebration had already begun. Liu Chengyou arrived at the imperial tent and gathered the generals and commanders to celebrate the victory.

When the atmosphere reached its peak, from within the camp, as if "fortune touched their hearts," wave after wave arose—the soldiers of the various units shouted "Long live" in a mountain roar. Compared to the earlier welcome of the imperial carriage, it was clearly more fervent. The effect of a single victory surpassed ten thousand schemes.

Even so, Liu Chengyou did not let success go to his head. Amid the drinking, he did not forget to send people to patrol the camp, guarding against disturbances while also preparing for unforeseen contingencies.

By the afternoon of the second day, Fan Zhi and Zhao Yanjin, who had been handling the task, returned and reported to Liu Chengyou.

In that short time, they had only managed to take control of and search the Qiyan Temple and Pujiu Temple near the prefectural city. According to Fan Zhi, even just these two temples had over a thousand monks, with grand and magnificent buildings—especially the Qiyan Temple, which Zong Lun had controlled, with several hundred Buddha statues of various sizes, plus dozens of qing of farmland...

Merely hearing this report, Liu Chengyou's thoughts could no longer be contained. While ordering Zhao Yanjin to continue the "suppression of rebels" operations against the other temples in Hezhong Prefecture, he also had Fan Zhi draft and issue orders to all circuits, prefectures, and commanderies across the realm, directing local officials to inspect and report on the Buddhist temples under their jurisdiction. Previously, Liu Chengyou had already ordered the Wude Office to investigate secretly, but with insufficient manpower, the scope had been very small. This time, however, it would be a great nationwide census.

Hezhong was merely an appetizer; the nationwide "rectification" would have to wait until they returned to the Eastern Capital.