In the palace, Li Er was reviewing the memorial. Lao Gao, the chamberlain, came to report and the Chang'an County Magistrate asked to see him.
Chang'an County Magistrate and Wannian County Magistrate are the few county magistrates who can directly meet the saint.
"What? Can't you finally stand the pressure? Haven't I already sent Wuhou Yamen to cooperate with him, so there is no shortage of manpower." Li Er was a little dissatisfied.
Lao Gao explained: "I heard that someone took action. Before he came, the Minister of Hubu went to Chang'an County. Cui Sizheng, the Minister of Hubu, is a Buddhist."
Li Er frowned and said: "Cui Sizheng? A member of the Boling Cui family? Who does he mean to come forward? The Boling Cui family? Or the Buddhist sect?"
Lao Gao shook his head, this hasn't been discovered yet.
"Xuan Chang'an County."
Not long after, the Chang'an County Magistrate walked in with small steps and saluted respectfully.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report to you. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, all stolen money and stolen goods recovered in connection with the case, if found to be substantiated, should be returned to the victims. If there is no basis or the perpetrators, all the stolen goods will be confiscated and confiscated."
Li Er nodded and said: "Yes, it does happen."
"Nowadays, many temple fraud cases have occurred under Wei Chen's rule. The people are very excited and have complained one after another. At the same time, they demand to recover the sesame oil money they were defrauded. According to Tang law, the people should be returned in full. But..." The county magistrate said: Could it be.
"how?"
"But not long ago, Cui Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue came to hold Wei Chen accountable, saying that all stolen money should be confiscated from the national treasury. He said that Wei Chen, a small county magistrate, was not qualified to privately distribute the property belonging to the imperial court."
Li Er raised his eyebrows, "Is this true?"
The Chang'an County Magistrate explained: "This is indeed the case. The minister understands that Cui Shilang has good intentions. After all, the national treasury is empty and the household department is not easy. Moreover, more than a dozen large and small temples were confiscated this time, and the harvest was really huge, including silver and copper coins. It’s more than a hundred thousand taels.”
"Furthermore, what Cui Shilang said is somewhat true. Not everyone's donations are well documented. If they are given to those who come, there will be many people pretending to receive them. Don't look at these hundreds of thousands, which are given to these ordinary people. Each person can’t get much. Rather than letting unscrupulous people pretend to take it, it’s better to fill the national treasury to prepare for future wars.”
Hiss...a hundred thousand taels? Li Er took a breath. This number, not to mention the Minister of Tobe, even made him feel a little painful. Use it to recruit troops and buy horses, another cavalry team.
After calming down, Li Er asked like he was taking a test: "Then what do you think?"
Chang'an County hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, I think it is better to distribute this money to the people."
Li Er asked curiously: "Oh? Why?"
The Chang'an County Magistrate explained: "Your Majesty, imagine if there were not these Buddhist temple cases, there would be no hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. All these silvers would be hidden in the Buddhist temple. Wouldn't the Ministry of Household Affairs know about it, let alone care about it? These hundreds of thousands taels of silver? There are other ways to fill the national treasury. I think it is not appropriate to snatch meat from the people's mouths."
"What's more, these are the people's hard-earned money that was defrauded. I have been observing the people receiving the money for several days. There are few dignitaries and rich people coming to collect it, and most of them are poor people in ordinary clothes."
"I'd like to say something that I shouldn't say. Even if there are some false claims, they are forced to make a living and only take risks when they have no other choice."
Li Er nodded and praised: "You have a good heart."
At this point, the Chang'an County Magistrate knelt on his knees, and Li Er wondered: "Why are you doing this? I didn't say I wanted to blame you."
I only heard Chang'an County say sincerely: "Your Majesty, I have something to say, and I have to say it. In the past year since I took office, I have also solved one or two cases of robbing the rich and helping the poor, and acted chivalrously. At that time, I was convicted according to Tang law, but I was given a light sentence based on reason. ”
"At that time, I only knew the harm of robbing the rich and giving to the poor, and this trend should not rise. But today, when I see countless people in ragged clothes running around and crowded for the life-saving money of one or two pennies, I understand the helplessness of robbing the rich and giving to the poor. This time they destroyed It’s not an exaggeration to say that temples share money by robbing the rich and giving to the poor.”
"How many people have lost their blood and sweat through fraudulent means like many Buddhist temples in the city? As the magistrate of Chang'an County appointed by His Majesty, Wei Chen has the responsibility to take care of the people under his control and to feed them."
"Since the money for these Buddhist temples comes from the people, it should be taken from the people and used by the people."
"As Minister Cui said, although it is a rule to collect money from the national treasury, I believe that hiding money in the national treasury cannot win the hearts of the people. Only by hiding wealth among the people can we win the hearts and minds of the people. Please think again, Your Majesty!"
Li Er was puzzled, "That makes sense. I don't have to think twice, just do what you want. Since I appointed you as the magistrate of Chang'an County, I naturally trust your ability and character."
"Ah? Didn't you ask Cui Shilang to go? He clearly said it was His Majesty's wish..." The county magistrate was stunned for a moment.
The chamberlain Lao Gao heard this clearly and asked: "What? How did Cui Shilang tell you? Is it a false edict? Your Majesty has never asked him to do anything."
The Chang'an County Magistrate quickly told the story exactly as it was, and Li Er smiled, "Okay, okay, okay. Just now I thought that Cui was devoted to the country and was collecting money to prepare for war." Now it seems that you have selfish motives. You can't escape the serious crime of falsely preaching the imperial edict.
This is a game between the emperor and nobles from aristocratic families. More than 60% of the officials in the imperial court are from aristocratic families. Li Er wants to be replaced by his confidant, but only when they make mistakes, now is the opportunity to replace the minister of household affairs.
"Yes, you did a good job in this matter. Go ahead. If you have any difficulties, come over anytime. I will send someone to support you."
The Chang'an County Magistrate bravely said on the spot: "Your Majesty, we really have a problem. That is, we don't have enough money. Among the people who have been to Buddhist temples, which one is not defrauded of a large sum of money every year? Or dozens or hundreds of coins. Or dozens or even hundreds of taels. What we copied out are all small and medium-sized temples. According to interrogation, 89% of the money they collected was donated to large upper-level temples. It is similar to protection money to smoothen relationships and seek blessings."
"But those large temples are frequented by countless dignitaries. As a small county magistrate, I don't dare to touch them."
Li Er smiled, "What about this matter? Haha, I have already made arrangements. You go find the champion. Since he is the one who took the lead in this matter, he should be the one to do it. No matter how many dignitaries there are behind Buddhism , I believe that no one is not worried about this evil star. By the way, send someone to inform Wannian County, and you all obey the command of the champion."
The Chang'an County Magistrate retired with satisfaction, and happened to bump into Wannian County Magistrate who came to ask for help at the gate of the palace.
"Hey, Brother Wannian County? Are you here to see His Majesty too? Isn't it also a temple case?"
The Wannian County magistrate lowered his voice and said, "No, it's all the trouble caused by you guys. The people in my Wannian County have also destroyed many temples. I have to judge according to your example, so I ransack the houses one by one. . But the money is getting more and more copied, and my heart is trembling. So much money? Should it be distributed to the people? Or should it be turned over to the national treasury?"
The Chang'an County Magistrate smiled and said: "There is no need to ask His Majesty, just give it to the people."
"But it's not enough. Firstly, the list is not enough. Secondly, a lot of money has been lost by these monks. A large part of it has been taken away by the big temples. I don't dare to pursue it..."
"Hey, there's no need to go to so much trouble. Just say that the list is lost, and just share it equally with each citizen. If you can barely recover some of the loss, you can make up for it. It's better than having nothing at all. The common people can understand."
When Wannian County heard this, he took a breath and said, "This is a vicious plan to win people's hearts! In this way, the people will definitely actively destroy other temples..."
"Haha, you can't say that. This is called taking from the people and using it for the people. Anyway, it's all ill-gotten gains. We all work for His Majesty, using the monks' stolen money to gain the hearts of the people for Your Majesty. Why not do it? ?”
"That's right, or your brother has seen through it all."
Chang'an County took Magistrate Wannian's hand and said as he walked: "Seriously, even if the stolen money is confiscated, I will do it. These monks have confiscated so much people's wealth and anointing. No wonder the national treasury is empty all year round. All the money has been confiscated." They cheated me away. This time I will kill the rich and help the poor."
"Where are you taking me to? I, Wannian County, are not going with you."
"Let's go, His Majesty has ordered that the champion below is ready to take action."
