Chapter 621: Letting Go

"Your Highness… shall I, your servant, go investigate a temple as the Duke of Wei instructed?"

Having walked out of the Dali Temple prison, Empress Changsun looked in a sour mood, and Shen Shurong asked softly.

Empress Changsun pondered for a moment, then gave a slight nod: "Go. Don't go far; just look for a suitable temple around Chang'an."

After speaking, she paused, turned her head and asked, "Do you think I will lose?"

"Zi An has earned many merits, and with Li Zhi and Gao Yang's dowries, plus part of the Wei family's lands, he now has over a hundred thousand mu."

"Can a single temple have that much land?"

Shen Shurong gave no reply.

It was less that Empress Changsun was asking her, and more that she was asking herself.

Moreover, when Chen Yan mentioned this wager, the win or loss was already irrelevant.

Because Chen Yan's real purpose was not to gamble with Empress Changsun, but to use the wager as a pretext to inform her of the current dangers posed by temples.

The matter is too great for servants like them to intervene.

They only need to follow orders and do their part.

"Sigh—let's go."

Empress Changsun let out a slight sigh, "Come with me to Ganlu… Minister Du, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng?"

Before she finished speaking, she saw three unexpected people arrive outside the Dali Temple prison.

"Uh… Your Highness," the three, upon seeing Empress Changsun, did not dare to delay and quickly paid their respects.

Empress Changsun glanced at the three, smiled faintly, and said, "Today's Dali Temple prison is almost livelier than the Chang'an market; I have lost count of how many officials have passed through."

Fang Xuanling clasped his hands and said, "Your Highness, you jest. Since you are here, you must already understand what has happened."

"The Luoyang flood issue remains unresolved, and now there is an anti‑Buddhist movement… we naturally must come to question Minister Chen in detail."

"Indeed, indeed," Du Ruhui and Wei Zheng echoed from the side.

How to put it.

Wei Zheng indeed dared to confront Li Shimin, but he did not dare to confront Empress Changsun.

Because he knows well that without Empress Changsun repeatedly speaking for him, he might still be in a far worse position.

"Just now I met Zi An…" Empress Changsun withdrew the smile from her face and slowly said, "I asked him why he opposes Buddhism."

"He did not explain much to me; he simply made a wager with me."

A wager?

The three twitched the corners of their mouths in unison upon hearing that.

Betting with Empress Changsun—such a thing, perhaps only Chen Yan could pull off.

However, Empress Changsun had clearly not finished speaking, so the three could not refuse to give her face; thus Du Ruhui asked, "May I ask, Your Highness, what wager Minister Chen made with you?"

"He said… his family owns over a hundred thousand mu of land, a small portion originally his, then the dowries from marrying two princesses, and the majority from the Wei family's lands." Empress Changsun did not hold back, and said:

"Zi An told me to freely find any temple that has been established for over ten years and has decent incense, and to check whether they have more land or Zi An's family does."

After speaking, Empress Changsun looked deeply at the three and asked, "What do you think… will I win or lose?"

"This…"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged glances, unable to speak.

Wei Zheng said directly, "Your Highness, forgive me for speaking plainly; you need not investigate, you are bound to lose."

"Not even ten years—perhaps even five years would already surpass Minister Chen's lands."

"Why?" Empress Changsun was truly puzzled.

Because Chen Yan is a special case.

He had previously earned too many merits, and being too young, he could not be rewarded too readily, so he was allowed to marry two princesses, and because of the cotton situation, Li Shimin smoothly handed over the lands of the fallen hundred‑year Wei clan to Chen Yan.

That is how he came to have over a hundred thousand mu.

How can a single temple possibly have more land than Chen Yan?

"Because the common people voluntarily give their land to temples," Wei Zheng said directly. "The benefit is that the people become tax‑exempt; thereafter they only need to give the temple a sum of money and grain lower than the tax."

"Especially families with more members, this is the most economical."

"There are too many issues to explain in a sentence or two, but in summary it's simple: temples have such great privileges that even if they do not actively annex land, the people will voluntarily let them annex it."

"Just as the hidden population of our Tang Dynasty far exceeds the official count."

"If you hide people, you can pay far less tax—what's not to like?"

Empress Changsun pressed further, "So this is why you all support him; do you think what he does is right?"

Wei Zheng gave a faint smile and said nothing; Du Ruhui replied, "Your Highness, whether Zi An is right or wrong, you know better than anyone, don't you?"

"If you thought Zi An was wrong, he wouldn't be here today; instead His Majesty would have agreed to Cheng Yaojin's request and beaten Zi An with dozens of lashes."

"You ask us only because your own reason tells you that Zi An is right—he acts for the Court, for the Li Tang realm, to keep the people's land from being lost, and to prepare for future reforms."

"And your belief clashes with that, which is why you keep questioning us, right?"

Hearing this, Empress Changsun was silent for a moment, then raised her eyes and said, "Ke Ming, I suddenly feel you are a bit like Wei Zheng."

"Your Highness jokes," Du Ruhui said dumbly, "It's not that I am like Wei Zheng; I merely spoke the truth."

"Back then, when Zi An became Minister of Revenue, you also played a part, supporting him to sit in that position that controls the empire's purse."

"As Minister of Revenue, when facing year‑end wars, the Luoyang flood, and large fixed expenditures, does Zi An have to keep borrowing from Money Shops to meet those huge costs?"

Fang Xuanling nodded slightly, "Your Highness, that is precisely the point."

"Zi An needs to find ways to increase the treasury's revenue, and His Majesty needs to smooth away all obstacles on the reform path."

"To that end, they even gradually apply both soft and hard pressure on the aristocratic families, so what can the Buddhist Establishment amount to?"

"Your Highness, forgive this old minister for speaking plainly; this is also the inevitable trend."

"We cannot yet move against those landlords, wealthy gentry, or local meritorious nobles, so we can only act against the temples first."

「Even if this time Zi An does not bring it up, within this year, someone will still bring it up. 」

After hearing what several people said, Empress Changsun paused for a good while, then sighed long: "...... I understood."

Not only did I understand, but I also put my mind at ease.

"......"