"According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, what is the crime of corruption? I think you may remember it more clearly than I do."
Li Shimin sighed and said: "Now the salary issued by the imperial court has been unprecedentedly generous. It has also provided you with various benefits based on Duke Ping's proposal. As a result, this person's heart is always full."
"So, I have decided to confiscate the Chang'an temple assets. From now on, Buddhist temples and Taoist temples across the country, if they have properties, will pay taxes like ordinary merchants and chambers of commerce."
"Your Majesty, this... this sudden seizure of temple assets is inappropriate, isn't it?" Wei Zheng said.
"What's wrong? Someone, please give Wei Aiqing a thought. How should I be punished for covering up a crime? They accepted corrupt money and loaned it out. They knew the law and broke the law. What's wrong with me handling it this way?"
Li Shimin looked at Wei Zheng and said, he hadn’t slept all night. He had actually read these account books, but Wei Zheng was not in them.
Come to think of it, this old man just says whatever comes to his mind.
Sure enough, after hearing what Li Shimin said, Wei Zheng stepped back honestly: "Your Majesty is right, but I was wrong."
Li Shimin looked at the courtiers below again: "I can give you one more chance, and this is the last chance. For those who hung their assets in the temple to avoid taxes, you are allowed to get your assets back, as long as you make up for the taxes."
"Three days, only three days. After three days, I will burn these two boxes of account books. Those who have been corrupted in the past can treat it as if it didn't happen this time."
"But if there is a next time, don't blame me for being rude."
As he spoke, Li Shimin stood up and drew his long knife again, slashing diagonally with the knife, cutting a corner of one of the boxes, revealing the account book inside.
"Now Cheng Zhijie, you lead the city guards to confiscate the major temples. Who else is in favor and who is against it?"
Li Shimin looked down, and all the courtiers knelt down and shouted: "Your Majesty is wise."
Li Shimin did this, and those who evaded taxes could get their property back as long as they paid up the taxes they owed.
Calculating, there is no loss at all. These are mainly aristocratic families, so doing this can be said to give them enough face.
As for those corrupt officials, Li Shimin also made it clear that they can treat it as if it didn't happen, but they will definitely not get back the money they deposited in the temple if they become corrupt.
Gone.
But according to the law, they are all sentenced to death, so it is good to be able to save their lives this time.
It is impossible for Li Shimin to really burn those account books. If anyone commits the crime again in the future, it will be an additional crime.
As for the confiscated temple assets, some of them were actually earned by these temples through various methods such as lending over many years.
But who will speak for them at this time? Officials who did not save money there originally felt that these temple lending practices were harming the people, but in the past they had many connections and had no choice.
As for those official families who are connected to the temples, Li Shimin has given them face this time. If they dare to stand up and speak for those temples at this time, then maybe they really have to give it a try I tried Li Shimin’s sword but it turned out to be good or bad
Li Shimin waved his hand, and Cheng Zhijie went out to lead the troops to seize the temple's assets.
Tang Ping yawned and said, "Your affairs in the future have nothing to do with me. I will go and give Lao Cheng a hand."
Now these officials all know that the two people who said a few days ago that Tang Ping and Li Shimin had a falling out were actually staged for them.
I'm afraid Tang Ping also put in a lot of effort behind this.
Moreover, the temple was really cleaned up. Apart from the court, which received a large amount of funds, the one who gained the greatest benefit was Tang Ping, who had just opened a bank.
In the future, banks will naturally become everyone’s first choice for saving money and borrowing money.
Tang Ping followed Cheng Zhijie out of the palace, and Cheng Zhijie said, "You kid, you always do big things secretly!"
"Hey, isn't there nothing we can do to catch the duck?" Tang Ping asked strangely: "But Lao Cheng, why don't you save some money in the temple?"
"How much is the tax? Doing business honestly and paying taxes honestly are the new rules of our old Cheng family!" Cheng Zhijie said proudly: "I have warned Chu Mo a long time ago, even if it means paying a billion The tax of 800 million cannot be less!"
"There is a pattern!" Tang Ping gave him a thumbs up, and then said: "Let's go to Daxingshan Temple first. I still have a few people inside, so don't let you accidentally hurt me."
The two of them joined the transferred city guards and headed towards Daxingshan Temple first.
Li Shimin acted vigorously and resolutely, and now everyone who knows the news is still here
Even if there is a court meeting held in the court hall, even those who want to report to these temples cannot do so.
Soon the city guards surrounded Daxingshan Temple. The inexplicable army caused Daxingshan Temple to close the gate tightly.
"Which general is it? Daxingshan Temple is a holy place for Buddhism. How can you be allowed to be so presumptuous?"
"Presumptuous? Damn you!" Cheng Zhijie scolded: "I, Cheng Zhijie, have you heard of my name, right? Open the door for me as soon as possible, so that I can do business easily after I finish my work. Otherwise, I will act like a fool. So easy to talk to."
Tang Ping ignored him and used the drone to fly towards the position of Duanmei and the others. He had to ask a few people to hide for a while to avoid being accidentally injured.
Then with his drones guarding them, the city guards would not embarrass them.
When he saw the positions of several people, Tang Ping was stunned. These guys were actually in the Luohan Hall where the account books were hidden.
Moreover, they were hung up and tortured.
"Tell me, where did you take the account books?"
"Boss Zhang, what are you talking about?" Duanmei shook his head with difficulty: "We brothers just heard that there are five hundred Arhats in this place, so we planned to come in and take a look."
"Bang!" a whip hit him: "Why are you pretending to me? This Luohan Hall is well locked. You tricked the guards into running in, and our account books disappeared. How can there be such a coincidence?"
Tang Ping frowned. The temple was surrounded here. We don't know what's inside yet, but we will definitely know it soon. Then a few people will be in danger.
"Lao Cheng, help, my people are in danger inside."
Seeing that Tang Ping was speaking urgently, Cheng Zhijie stopped talking to the inside and directly ordered: "Break down the door and let a group of people follow Duke Ping in to rescue his people."
The people in Daxingshan Temple originally planned to find out why Cheng Zhijie came, and planned to contact some officials and families who had connections with them to make plans.
They didn't expect Cheng Zhijie to be so unreasonable, and a group of city guards climbed over the wall and entered.
Although the people inside Daxingshan Temple also held some weapons, they did not dare to make any move when they saw the city guards.
At this time, fighting against the city guards is another matter. Whether they can fight or not is another matter. The key nature is the same at once.
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