Chen Shaoping sensitively noticed another issue: All the merit boxes in Lingyuan Temple are locked. Where does the money in the merit boxes go?
"Bureau Zhou, there's something I'm not very clear about!" Chen Shaoping pointed to the lock on the merit box and asked, "Is this the lock of our Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau?"
Zhou Yong nodded: "Yes!"
"Is the merit money inside collected by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau?" Chen Shaoping continued to ask.
"Yes!" Zhou Yong stared at Chen Shaoping, looking a little nervous.
"How does the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau use this money?" Chen Shaoping seemed to have noticed something was wrong with Zhou Yong.
"This... serves as the daily expenses of our Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau!" Zhou Yong replied.
"Daily expenses?" Chen Shaoping frowned, "How often do you open the merit box here? How much does it cost each time you take it out?"
"This... I'm not sure!" Zhou Yong replied.
"Is there a record?" Chen Shaoping continued to ask.
"Yes, yes... yes!" Zhou Yong spoke hesitantly.
"Who usually opens this merit box? Who records it?" Chen Shaoping continued to ask.
He already roughly knew the trick.
"Usually, I usually come. Sometimes Director Hao comes with me!" Zhou Yong replied. He no longer dared to look at Chen Shaoping.
Director Hao is Hao Licheng, the former director of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, who has now been transferred to the county CPPCC.
"Why don't you ask the office accountant to come with you?" Chen Shaoping continued to ask.
"This, this is Director Hao's arrangement, I, I just execute the order!" Zhou Yong said.
"Are you wearing the key?" Chen Shaoping continued to ask.
"Yes!" Zhou Yong replied.
"Open this merit box and let me take a look!" Chen Shaoping said.
Zhou Yong looked around and nodded reluctantly.
I opened the merit box and found a pile of money inside, most of which were one or two yuan, but also ten or twenty yuan.
Chen Shaoping squatted down and quickly counted the money. There was 117 yuan in it, which was not too much.
However, this is just a merit box in front of one of the Buddha statues in Lingyuan Temple.
So, Chen Shaoping took Zhou Yong to the most popular God of Wealth and asked Zhou Yong to open the God of Wealth's merit box.
As soon as I opened it, I saw two hundred-dollar bills, of which fifty and twenty were everywhere.
Chen Shaoping quickly counted the money and found that there were more than seven hundred yuan.
Chen Shaoping did a simple calculation and found that there are at least ten merit boxes in front of the Buddha statues in Lingyuan Temple. The merit boxes at the God of Wealth's side have more money, while other places have less money, but there are at least about a hundred in each merit box...
If added up, this is nearly a thousand and fifty-six dollars!
"How often does the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau open the merit box?" Chen Shaoping continued to ask.
"Normally, it's once a week!" Zhou Yong replied.
Chen Shaoping was silent for a while and said, "Let's go back and look at the accounting records!"
Chen Shaoping and Zhou Yong walked out of Lingyuan Temple one after another. Zhou Yong knew that he couldn't hide anything, so he could only whisper to Chen Shaoping: "Bureau Chen, we basically didn't record anything..."
Chen Shaoping stopped and turned back to look at Zhou Yong: "What do you mean it's basically not recorded?"
"Every time Director Hao and I come to get the money, no one else knows, so we deposit the money into the account once a month...the amount is controlled within 300!" Zhou Yong said in a low voice.
"Within three hundred?" Chen Shaoping smiled, "The merit box in front of the God of Wealth just now contained more than seven hundred!"
Zhou Yong smiled awkwardly, looked at Chen Shaoping and said with a mysterious face: "Bureau Chen, no one will investigate this matter..."
Chen Shaoping already understood what Zhou Yong meant.
"How many temples are there in Cangyang County?" Chen Shaoping asked.
Zhou Yong saw that Chen Shaoping had no expression on his face and didn't know what Chen Shaoping meant. He could only say truthfully: "There are 53 temples in total, but only 11 temples can have merit boxes!"
"With 11 temples, the monthly merit box must contain 10,000 yuan, right?" Chen Shaoping asked.
"That's not necessarily true!" Zhou Yong said, shaking his head.
"All this money went into your and Director Hao's pockets?" Chen Shaoping asked coldly.
"Not all of them have come in. Our Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau lacks funds, so we have used some as funds..." Zhou Yong lowered his voice and said.
"Bureau Chen, this money... is also the management fee of our Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, and we also pay them wages!" Zhou Yong added.
"The management fees of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau?" Chen Shaoping suddenly emphasized his tone. "Aren't the management fees of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau fixed by the Finance Bureau? Paying them wages? Isn't that also allocated by the state finance?"
Chen Shaoping snorted coldly: "Boss Zhou, how brave are you, how dare you take the Bodhisattva's money?"
Zhou Yong's general Chen Shaoping suddenly attacked and was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Director Chen, this matter, this matter was Director Hao's idea. I, I am just a deputy!" Zhou Yong looked ashen.
"Director Hao? What a great Director Hao. You call Director Hao now and we have to have a good chat! Or should I call Gao Mingjian, Secretary of the County Commission for Discipline Inspection directly?" Chen Shaoping said suppressing his anger.
"Bureau Chen, Bureau Chen, don't be impulsive. This matter can be discussed, it can be discussed!" Zhou Yong stabilized Chen Shaoping, walked aside quickly, and called Hao Licheng, who was already working at the CPPCC.
Just ten minutes later, Hao Licheng drove over in a hurry.
"Bureau Chen..." Hao Licheng immediately stretched out his hands to shake hands with Chen Shaoping after getting off the car.
Chen Shaoping was quite disdainful of this man, but he still shook hands with Hao Licheng.
But while waiting for Hao Licheng, Chen Shaoping also thought about it in detail.
It is an undeniable fact that Hao Licheng and Zhou Yong embezzled temple merit money, but if they are really to be handed over directly to the County Commission for Discipline Inspection, it seems inappropriate under the current circumstances. After all, Chen Shaoping has just arrived at Minzong. When the bureau went to work, the former director and the serving deputy director were sent away... In the officialdom, it was extremely detrimental to Chen Shaoping's development.
Besides, the current situation is how to deal with the housing problem of the monks of Lingyuan Temple.
Chen Shaoping combed through his thoughts and finally came to the conclusion that the 200,000 yuan needed for Lingyuan Temple’s housing problem must come from Hao Licheng and Zhou Yong. Then, the cancellation of the incense money in the merit box should be funded by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau. management system.
Hao Licheng and Zhou Yong both knew that Chen Shaoping had caught them, and they were already frightened to death. However, when they heard that Chen Shaoping asked each of them to cough up 100,000 yuan to build housing for Lingyuan Temple, they put an end to the matter. Secretly he breathed a sigh of relief.
Hao Licheng worked as the director of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau for seven years, but he took more than one million yuan from the merit box, which was at least more than 100,000 yuan in additional income a year.
In fact, not only do you take money from the merit box, but temple fairs and large-scale rituals must be approved by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau.
