Chapter 616: Cheng Yaojin: Give Him Forty Slaps!

Sun Fu Jia's men were all dumbfounded.

I only said a single objection—how did you start by greeting my mother?

I damn haven't even given the reason for my objection yet.

That infuriated Sun Fu Jia, who gritted his teeth and shouted, "Vulgar! You are vulgar!"

"Even though you're the current Minister of Revenue, a scholar, how could you, in front of countless civil and military officials and before the present sovereign, call each person 'mother' one after another? Don't you feel ashamed?"

"What am I ashamed of?" Chen Yan retorted, "I'm damn the son of a military general—what should I be ashamed of?"

"Don't bring up scholars. I study so that I can calmly reason with you bunch of stupid birds!"

"I practice martial arts so that you bunch of stupid birds can calmly reason with me."

"Shame? Do I even need shame?"

"If you ask me, you should thank me—I didn't even damn hit you, and that's already generous!"

"Hahaha!" Yuchi Gong heard that and could no longer hold back, bursting into loud laughter.

"Well done, big nephew!"

"No loss!"

Sun Fu Jia forced his anger back and said, "I'm not a Buddhist follower; the reason I oppose eradicating Buddhism is that the risk is too great—there's no need to go to such extremes right away!"

"I know the treasury's revenue is low, your Ministry of Revenue has it tough, and the Buddhist Establishment indeed wields massive influence, especially over the common people."

"What I mean is we could first establish regulations to manage temples, preventing them from continuing to run rampant, and later deal with them gradually."

"To jump straight to eradicating Buddhism is too prone to disaster!"

"...... Oh~" Chen Yan suddenly understood, a gentle smile appearing on his face, "Then you should've said so earlier—look at how this is being handled."

"Doesn't this risk friendly fire?"

"Lord Sun, it's a misunderstanding, all just misunderstandings!"

I misunderstood you, sir!

Sun Fu Jia's forehead bulged with blue veins; he wanted to argue with Chen Yan for a while, but thinking of Chen Yan's sharp tongue, he let it go.

Fine, I'm already of a ripe age—what can I possibly learn from a twenty‑year‑old youngster?

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" Xiao Yu inhaled deeply and flatly refused, "The world is full of suffering; the common people need a spiritual refuge, and the Buddhist Establishment is the best choice."

"If the Buddhist Establishment were to vanish, whose shoulders should the people's hope rest upon?"

Hearing that, Chen Yan froze for a moment, gave Xiao Yu a deep look, and fell silent.

The others glanced at Xiao Yu with equally strange expressions.

Xiao Yu immediately caught on, realizing his words might have been somewhat......

"Lord Xiao, do you mean that henceforth the people's spirit and hope must be placed on the Buddhist Establishment rather than the Court?"

Li Shimin, at some point, had already stood up, his face expressionless as he stared at him.

"Your Majesty, I didn't mean it that way..." Xiao Yu felt uneasy, then bowed deeply, "My point is that the people cannot lose their faith; for some beautiful imaginings, they need a place of refuge."

"It's like the Lantern Festival each year—people admire lanterns, make wishes; they're after that very yearning, that hope..."

"Enough!" Chen Yan scoffed, "Our Tang Dynasty also has Daoist sects—why not place our hope in them?"

"Daoist sects at least truly stay out of worldly disputes, they don't vie for incense offerings or profit, their moral standing is fine—so why can't the people's yearning be placed with Daoist sects? Why must it be with the filthy Buddhist Establishment?"

"Or is it because you, Xiao Yu, believe in Buddhism that all the people must suffer Buddhist oppression, and we should let it continue to harm them?"

"You......" Xiao Yu felt a tightness in his chest, held back for a while before managing: "What you said are just isolated cases; they don't represent the entire Buddhist Establishment."

"There are also many true masters within the Buddhist Establishment."

"What's the point?" Chen Yan sneered, "When an avalanche comes, no snowflake is innocent."

"Since ancient times, one rebel drags nine families; Great Qin even practiced collective punishment back then."

"I don't care about your real or fake masters—just eradicate them!"

"Alright, alright!" Fu Yi exclaimed excitedly, "What a perfect line—when an avalanche comes, no snowflake is innocent!"

"Well said!"

"In my view, these old bald donkeys deserve to die!"

"Eradicate!"

The moment he finished, he was immediately met with strong opposition from pro‑Buddhist officials, and instantly faced the wrath of anti‑Buddhist agitators.

In the Court, the argument instantly erupted into chaos.

Li Shimin sat down again, casually scanning the people on both sides.

The anti‑Buddhist camp, naturally, was led by Chen Yan and Fu Yi. The opposition to the anti‑Buddhist stance, naturally, was Xiao Yu, the steadfast Buddhist believer.

Honestly, Li Shimin himself also wanted to oppose Buddhism, but previously there hadn't been a good opportunity.

Now the realm is at peace, so bringing it up now is fitting.

Thus, Li Shimin said nothing, merely watching as both sides argued furiously.

Because he knew that as long as Chen Yan remained standing, they could never lose.

However, what Li Shimin didn't anticipate was that events would develop beyond his expectations.

"Damned Xiao Yu, do you really think the words I, the young master, said were just nonsense? If you keep opposing, I'll damn hammer you to death!"

"Chen Yan!! Don't sabotage yourself!"

"I damn......" Chen Yan, his temper flaring, pulled a large slab from his chest and lunged forward, slamming it onto Xiao Yu's head.

"Ah!!!"

Xiao Yu, struck heavily, immediately collapsed to the ground, letting out a painful cry.

Chen Yan still didn't let up; straddling him, he punched, "You like arguing, huh? Today the young master will give you a good lesson in reasoning!"

"You old rotten fool, you really gave me a face!"

When Chen Yan started the group, Du Gou and Fang Yizhi followed without hesitation; they're both young, who wouldn't be hot‑blooded?

They went up and kicked the officials who were opposing the anti‑Buddhist stance.

Because they set the ball rolling, the Court instantly fell into chaos and a fight broke out.

Li Shimin closed his eyes in pain.

If you want to argue, argue; why are you fighting?

Just as he was about to scold and stop them,

Cheng Yaojin, extremely excited, pointed at Chen Yan: "Hey hey hey!"

"His Majesty, look, look at our Duke of Wei, Minister Chen, the White Tiger Holy Envoy among the people, what is Chen Zaijiu doing?"

"He is beating the court‑appointed officials!"

"Where is heavenly justice? Where is legal principle? Where is the Court's authority?"

"His Majesty, I want to give him a full beating!"

"Oh ho ho!" Yuchi Gong, even more excited than Cheng Yaojin, said, "His Majesty, I also want to give the Duke of Wei a full beating!"

"Not only beating court‑appointed officials, but also leading Ministry of Revenue officials to fight other officials!"

"The Duke of Wei's crimes are grave; I earnestly request His Majesty to punish the Duke of Wei without mercy."

"Give him forty lashes, Your Majesty!"

Chen Yan: "......"

Li Shimin: "......"

"......"