Xinbei Dainan is a domain with five peaks standing straight out of the clouds. There are no trees on the top, just like a platform of earth, so it is called Wutai.
Among the stretching peaks and ridges, the charm of Buddhism is prosperous. As a holy land of Buddhism and a famous Buddhist mountain, it has always stood firm despite thousands of years of changes, ups and downs, and a transcendent status.
During the mid-Tang Dynasty, Wutai Buddhist temples were the most prosperous. There were hundreds of large and small Buddhist temples and more than 10,000 monks and nuns among the peaks. Even though it was damaged due to the chaos in the late Tang Dynasty, Shan still did not hinder the "Buddha Lord Wutai".
The number of monks that can be inspected by the government alone is more than 3,000. If you add in the monks who live privately or travel to stay, the number will be even more, not to mention the households attached to the mountain temples, monks and farmers. Wutai is surrounded by many mountains and flat lands, and the fields are vast. Therefore, the population, land, and industry occupied by the temples are a huge amount of wealth, especially for the Northern Han Dynasty, which is working hard to restore and develop. It is even more attractive.
Since Emperor Liu Chengyou of the Han Dynasty decided to "exterminate Buddhism", the temples in the Wutai Mountains have inevitably become the focus of the imperial court's "care".
Just a few months ago, after a long period of investigation and preparation, Liu Chengyou officially issued an edict during the Chongyuan Dynasty to ban, suppress and rectify Buddhist temples across the country.
This move is obviously different from the previous small-scale targeted disposal. This is a comprehensive attack to destroy the Buddha. Even though Liu Chengyou's control over the center was deepening day by day, the court still did not have his say. Many courtiers raised objections to this matter, admonished Liu Chengyou, advised him to be cautious, and some even directly advised him to withdraw his orders.
Buddhism still has considerable influence at home and abroad, in the government and outside the country. Even in various local towns, among the murderous warriors Jiedu, there are still many people who believe in Buddhism and may want to use Buddhism to wash away the blood on their bodies. Of course, most of these people still hold bloody blades in their hands and chant compassion.
However, even though there are many objections between the DPRK and China, under the implementation of Liu Chengyou's resolution, all obstacles are not a big problem. Moreover, Liu Chengyou's preparation for suppressing the Buddha did not take more than a day or two. It took nearly two years since Li Shouzhen's rebellion in Xiping River, and consumed a lot of manpower.
The powerful military and political departments in the DPRK expressed their anger early and quickly reached a consensus to stand on the side of the emperor.
The three divisions are in charge of the country's finances and are always in a tight situation; the Privy Council coordinates troops, military battles, the mobilization of generals and rewards, and the plan to attack Huainan from the south has also been put on the agenda, all of which require money and food; the commander-in-chief of the front and guard divisions For them, it is simpler. Only when the national finances are abundant can we support them. However, the local Daozhou, Jiedu, defense, and regiment training are obviously profitable. If you can get a share of the cup, how can you refuse it? Moreover, even if it causes public resentment Even for civil unrest, the emperor and the court took the blame. They were the ones who carried out the orders of the central government...
Therefore, after the emperor's order was issued, a top-down, from central to local, attack and plunder operation against Buddhist temples across the country quickly began with great vigor.
Liu Chengyou's "extermination of Buddhism" was essentially to liberate the population and land, develop the economy, and create a huge income for the court to support its great cause.
But you can't be too "straightforward" in doing this, and you have to be famous, even if this is a naked robbery. Officially, the emperor's edicts and the court's orders all centered on "raising old rules and correcting previous shortcomings", with the word "rectification" repeatedly mentioned.
Moreover, it is natural to find a "good opportunity" and then take advantage of it. It was early summer. In order to fulfill his filial piety, the emperor Liu Chengyou accompanied the Queen Mother Li out of the palace and went to the Xiangguo Temple in Tokyo to worship Buddha.
The emperor expressed his intention to pray for Buddha for the first time, which made the Buddhist community, which had already sensed the impending mountain rain, great joy. Xiangguohe Temple paid special attention to it and everyone came together to welcome it.
Then something went wrong.
First, Liu Chengyou couldn't bear his curiosity and "randomly" selected a monk to recite a scripture. The emperor and the empress were immediately displeased because he couldn't.
At that time, there were poor people from the left side of the temple who risked their lives to break through the gate to visit them. They complained to the Buddhist temple that they had occupied property and enslaved men and women. Liu Chengyou received them and was very angry.
That is to say, troops were sent to surround the temple, control the people inside, and command Li Chongju, the commander of the controlling crane army, to inspect the Buddhist temple. As a trusted general who came from the emperor's bodyguard, he easily found out the problem with his body and mind. Among the monks in Xiangguo Temple, several soldiers who had escaped from the army were traced.
After hearing the result, the emperor was extremely angry.
Next, a series of serious and thorough rectification actions against Xiangguo Temple will proceed naturally. They collected their fields, seized their property, dispersed their monks, and punished their lawbreakers. In this way, Xiangguo Temple, which had not yet reached its peak, was set up as a model and became a victim of "extermination of Buddhism".
What followed was a fussy operation. Within a few days, Tokyo and various prefectural capitals reported that numerous Buddhist temples were built all over the world, where monks and nuns were kept privately, and the number of nuns increased day by day. They were sheltering evildoers... .In short, according to the reports received by Liu Chengyou, all Buddhist temples in the country seemed to be described as places harboring filth and evil and in urgent need of rectification.
After a series of preliminary preparations, the policy of destroying Buddha is inevitable and will gradually spread to the world!
Foguang Temple, compared to the Temple of Five Peaks, can only be regarded as an ordinary temple among the temples in Wutai Mountain. However, the temple stands on the green mountain, with giant trees and towering halls, giving it the scenery of a famous temple.
However, in the early autumn of the third year of Qianyou, the leaves in the mountains had just turned yellow, but the Buddhist temple was already shrouded in desolation and desolation.
The inside and outside of the mountain temple were occupied by a small group of officers and soldiers and a dozen government officials. There was also a wave of people in black clothes, exuding the aura of keeping strangers away, looking at the Buddhist temple indifferently and disdainfully.
Dozens of monks, old and young, under the guard of officers and soldiers, took their packages and left the temple with miserable steps.
When Liu Chengyou destroyed Buddhism, he did not intend to completely eliminate Buddhism, because it was unrealistic. He mainly used crackdowns and restrictions as a means. Among the Buddhist temples in Wutai Mountain, according to the regulations of the imperial court, after identifying the merits and merits, only twenty large and small remained, which was considered a disaster. All other temples were abandoned or even demolished. All the major temples occupying the main peak of Wutai could not escape their fate.
Foguang Temple is obviously not among the twenty reserved names.
A young novice monk, guided by the old monk, turned back step by step and looked at the gate of the mountain, which was high to him, with blurred eyes and full of reluctance.
The old monk caressed his head gently, looking haggard. He glanced at the officers and soldiers around him, and the polished spears and spears shone with a cold light, which made people feel heart-stopping.
Sighing heavily, I felt my mind was broken. The construction of Foguang Temple was not too long, and it coincided with the great development of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty. However, during the Huichang period of Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, it was destroyed during the "Wuzong Extermination of Dharma". It was later rebuilt, but less than a hundred years ago, another major change occurred and the temple fell into disrepair.
Standing on a high place, followed by several black-robed subordinates, Wang Jingchong quietly watched the movements of the moving Buddha at his feet. The sad scene caused a slight smile to appear on his lips.
With a wave of his hand, Wang Jingchong directly ordered: "It's almost done. Let the Wutai County government finish the work. The land and population under the temple should be properly allocated. All monks should return to secular life and be placed under surveillance. Don't neglect..."
Then he walked towards the leader of the officers and soldiers and said: "Let the sergeants dismantle the bronze statues and magical instruments in the temple, transport them down the mountain, and send them to Tokyo and hand them over to the court!"
"yes!"
"Inspect the property in the temple carefully to avoid hiding places. After the inventory is completed, demolish the temple for me..." Leng Youyou, Wang Jingchong gave another order.
There are too many Buddhist temples in Wutai Mountain and their influence is too wide. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the policy of "exterminating Buddhism", the imperial court needs to send capable people. As the deputy envoy of military ethics, Wang Jingchong, a political star who rose rapidly in the three years of Qianyou and the emperor's "loyal dog", was sent to Hedong to deal with the matter. Wang Jingchong was obviously very happy with it and regarded it as an opportunity to further his political career. Highly motivated.
