Li Mu finally entered Ci'en Temple. Not only did he enter, he also arrested and copied it. Bald monks were taken to Taichang Temple and sent by Jinyiwei to take care of them. The temple's basement was also opened. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent more than 30 accounts to calculate the amount in three times, packed, and trucks of gold and silver, countless copper coins were transported to the temple gate, waiting for the escort truck of the Datang Bank to come and transport it away.

I don’t know whether it was intentional or counting, but these boxes of property were all open. The people looked at it from afar and couldn’t help but talk. If it weren’t for seeing it with their own eyes, no one would have thought that Ci'en Temple had accumulated so much money.

The common nature of the world is that they all have a desire to hate the rich. When the people saw that the monks who received gifts on weekdays were richer richer than themselves, they thought of what Li Mu said and the actions of these monks in normal times, it seemed that the Marquis said it was really reasonable. They suddenly felt that they had been deceived and were filled with righteous indignation, blocking the door of Ci'en Temple, cursing, as if they had all been defrauded of money and waiting to pursue them back.

Li Mu ignored them, and he was passed on to the palace by Li Shimin. Changsun Wuji did not follow him. Empress Changsun had something to say, and during his "care for illness", don't enter the palace casually. Judging from Li Shimin's reaction speed, bad people must have a spy around Li Mu, and his every move would be transmitted to Li Shimin so quickly. When Li Mu did this, as the queen's brother, he stood up to stop it, and his affection had been fulfilled. He couldn't stop it. It was because Li Mu was too arrogant and domineering and could not stop it. Today he appeared here, and his purpose had been achieved. It didn't matter whether he entered the palace or not.

The person who sent the order was a godson of Eunuch Gao, but he was not from the factory guards. He was just an eunuch who sent the order. He also had a very good attitude towards Li Mu. Since Li Mu helped Eunuch Gao defeat Yuan Tiangang that day, these people under Eunuch Gao became closer to Li Mu. When they met and spoke, they were less polite, and they no longer avoided some "that shouldn't have said".

"Does the Marquis know why His Majesty summoned the Marquis into the palace so anxiously?"

“I don’t know,”

The eunuch looked around and approached Li Mu a little, and said, "Cien Temple is different from other temples. In the past, the queen had no cure for illness. She did a ritual at Cien Temple. I don't know if it was the Buddha's appearance, and then the headache was cured much. When I gave birth to the little prince the year before, I was praying for blessings at Cien Temple. Last winter, I was born in Princess Jinyang in the cold winter, because Cien Temple was safe and sound. Your Majesty once said that the master of Cien Temple had kindness to the royal family, so what the marquis did today."

"I understand." When he arrived at the gate of the hall, Li Mu interrupted the little eunuch's words, took out a ingot from his sleeve and handed it over. The little eunuch said no, but Li Mu grabbed his arm, stuffed it into his hand, and threw it into the Tai Chi Hall.

...

"Li Mu, you are too presumptuous!"

Li Shimin was angry and said, "What do you want to do? Can you discuss with me before doing it? Always so impulsive! How many times have I told you, and then make plans, are you not able to understand what I said, or are you deliberately causing trouble for me?"

"Your Majesty, why can't I understand? Changsun Chong took over what happened today. He couldn't handle it. I, the master, went to help. How could the master help his apprentice? Your Majesty, you are too bullying, right?" Li Mu turned his back and said unhappily: "This official is really hard to be. Otherwise, your Majesty would have removed my title, and I'm just going to be my official position. I'm just idle for a few days. I'm still thinking about building a big ship to pick up my wife in Silla, and I'm worried about not having time."

"You," Li Shimin was about to say something when he suddenly heard Li Mu say he wanted to build a big ship, but he was beaten up and asked, "What are you building a big ship? How big is it?"

"I will need ten thousand stones to build a ship, if I do, I will not be majestic enough."

Li Shimin sneered and said, "Just boast, don't think that if I don't know how to build ships, you can make up random things. The dragon boat of Emperor Yang of Sui was only twenty feet long and six thousand stones long, and it reached its limit and could not sail normally. It requires a boatman. The commonly used flat-bottomed sand ships are all around four thousand stones, and the warships are even smaller. Can you build a large ship of ten thousand stones?"

"What's wrong with this?" Li Mu smiled and said, "During the Lantern Festival, your Majesty saw it, I flew to the sky. Why is the ship still in the water? It's just a little bigger. Although it's difficult, it's definitely not impossible. I have confidence that I can build a ship of ten thousand stones..."

"Seriously?" Li Shimin's tone was a little excited. If he could really build a ship of ten thousand stones, the Tang Dynasty could transport troops from the sea and attack Baekje and Goguryeo. The great cause of conquest that Emperor Yang of the former Sui Dynasty could not complete would be completed in his hands. Such great achievements would be famous in history!

Li Mu said seriously: "As long as you have money, I will be able to do it."

"This is nonsense!" Li Shimin said annoyedly: "If I have money, I will build an invincible cavalry and I can kill all directions without taking a boat!"

"So, it's still money."

When it comes to money, Li Shimin was also worried. Li Mu copied Gaochang's treasury some time ago and obtained hundreds of thousands of chunks of money. Before he could use it to build a cavalry, he was divided up by each department. The six department seemed to be six hungry wild wolves, no matter how much meat, it was not enough for them to eat.

"Oh..." Thinking of the difficulty of losing money, Li Shimin sighed and was about to sigh a few words, but suddenly he remembered what he was here to find Li Mu. He slapped the table and said, "I almost broke the word. Even if I lack money, I have not been able to get into the level of robbing monks. You blocked the temple gate and arrested people and robbed money. Is it still reasonable? You have to give an explanation to the queen!"

Obedient and listened to the voice. When Li Mu heard Li Shimin say this, he understood his attitude. Li Shimin just asked him to give Queen Changsun an explanation, but did not think that this was done wrong. If Li Shimin felt that he had done wrong, how could he not stop him and let the Jinyiwei check Ci'en Temple? And Li Shimin should also understand that if the temple cannot rectify the matter of encroachment on the land, the new policy would be like a piece of paper and could not be implemented at all.

Therefore, it was Li Shimin's wish to renovate the temple, but he did not want to bear the reputation of "destroying Buddha", not only because of Empress Changsun, but also the influence of Buddhism. Since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism has been prevalent in the Central Plains, and believers have known countless people. If they are used by those who are interested, it will sooner or later be a disaster.

Therefore, he cannot do this, he must "kill people with a knife". Li Mu's approach can be said to be "deeply won by my heart", but what Li Shimin expects is that Li Mu can be more tactful, and now his approach is still a little more flawed.

"Old fox..." Li Mu figured out this section and muttered quietly. Li Shimin looked up at him: "What did you say?"

"I say that Your Majesty is wise." Li Mu smiled and said, "I will explain to you the Queen. Your Majesty, you know, I am not an unreasonable person. Since I have done such a thing, it is naturally reasonable."

Li Shimin's eyes floated toward a certain place in the hall, and he turned around, but Li Mu didn't notice it: "Then you might as well tell me first, what is your reason? I'm also curious about where your hatred for the monk comes from."

"Then I will talk."

Li Shimin reached out to signal, and Eunuch Gao brought a Jindun. Li Mu was not polite and sat down directly. As soon as he was a little thirsty, he got up and picked up the teacup on the table, raised his head and drank it in. Li Shimin twitched the corners of his mouth, said nothing, but shook his head helplessly.

"As Your Majesty said, I have opinions about monks, not about Buddhism. On the contrary, I think Buddhism is very good and encourages people to be kind. If everyone is kind to others, the great rule of the world will not be far away. In the past, the Sui Dynasty was close to Buddha, so there was a prosperous era of Kaihuang, the people lived in peace, and the country was in full swing."

"Yes, I'm just trying to follow this."

Li Mu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty must not follow his example."

“Why?”

“The situation is different.”

"In the past, Sui Dynasty took over the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and there was no war in the establishment of a country. Compared with the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, it was already the most stable situation of dynasty change. Simply put, before the Kaihuang era, the people had accumulated a lot. Emperor Wen of Sui was kind to Buddhism, hoping to educate the world through Buddhism, so that the people would be good, and the struggle would be reduced, making it easier to govern the country. With the support of the court, temples did not need to pay taxes, did not need to bear corvee service, rewards, and worship. These monks lived a very comfortable life. As a result, they encouraged evil thoughts such as monks in Ci'en Temple, making them unable to recognize their position and felt that it was natural and right to enjoy everything they are now. This was definitely not possible. After all, the country still had to have the final say. Your Majesty had the final say. Beliefs could be had, but they must not be excessive and should not be placed outside the law."

Li Shimin nodded slightly. Li Mu's words were exactly what he thought.

"Now the Tang Dynasty is in a time when everything is in trouble. All resources are very useful..."

Li Shimin interrupted: "What is a 'resource?"

"Everything that can be used, such as population, money, land, etc., is considered a resource."

Li Shimin nodded and signaled that Li Mu could continue to say.

"Let's talk about this population first." Li Mu talked happily, "According to the laws of our Tang Dynasty, all people and males must bear corvee labor and taxes. But after becoming a monk, these two items were gone. From the perspective of the court, taxes and corvee labor are missing. From the perspective of the court, a man becomes a monk, and a household may be cut off, and the population of the Tang Dynasty will decrease. In the long run, it is very unfavorable."

"Talking about this money again," Li Mu paused for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty knows how much money was found from Ci'en Temple?"

Li Shimin really didn't know. He thought about it and guessed casually: "Ci'en Temple is full of incense, how many tens of thousands of yuan?"

Li Mu smiled and said, "Your Majesty is talking about Abbot Yongxin's personal savings."

"What?!"

"Your Majesty, when I left just now, the number had exceeded 200,000 guan. This is not the case with the undiscounted gems and antiques. If they were all discounted, I dare not say more, there would definitely be 300,000 guan."

Li Shimin was shocked and said, "I have so much money? I thought it would be only 80,000 to 90,000 yuan at most... so much, how dare I make money like this in a monk temple?"

At this moment, Li Shimin had no regrets any more. If he had known that the Monk Temple was so rich, he might have thought of a way to start.

"Your Majesty, what I think is not just this little money." Li Mu said seriously: "Thirty or five hundred thousand coins seem to be a lot of money, but it is far from enough to say what you can do. Moreover, Ci'en Temple is different from ordinary temples. Not all temples in the world are Ci'en Temple. Some small temples cannot have so much money. The reason why I used Ci'en Temple to be an operation is for money, but not just for money."

"what else?"

"I want to tell Your Majesty a reason about money."

"speak."

"What does Your Majesty think is money? Is it money piled in the cellar?" Li Mu shook his head and said, "No, money is money because it is money at the moment it is spent. Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, all walks of life, have to make money, spend money, and trade money, and money is meaningful. If money is placed in the trough like a temple, and the more money is accumulated without spending, then there will be less money on the market. Once money is lacking in the market, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, all walks of life will be affected, so this matter must be corrected and eliminated."

"When the temple has more money, they have no place to spend, so they only have two choices. Either they are lending usury, and the harm of the ministers will not be too much. Or they are buying land. Spending money to buy land seems fair, but there are many hidden dangers. Not everyone can calculate the pros and cons clearly. For the people, most of them can only see the immediate benefits. For the people, after they sell the land, they can certainly get a lot of money, but this money is not enough to support them for the rest of their lives. On the contrary, because they lose their land, their lives will get worse and worse, and even sell themselves as slaves, and they will not be able to turn over for life."

"This is why in the new policy, I emphasize the principle that land needs to be redistributed. Food is the most important thing for the people, and Your Majesty must not forget this sentence. The so-called living and working in peace and contentment is that you must first have a full meal, and this meal must be planted with land."

"Is that your whole reason?"

"No, this is just the reason why I am considering as Your Majesty." Li Mu said frankly: "I personally don't like monks very much."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "I just knew, then tell me, why do you hate monks?"

"Your Majesty can hear that Taoist priests in troubled times go down the mountain to save the world, monks close their doors to avoid disasters. Taoist priests in prosperous times go back to the deep mountains, monks go out to beg for alms?"
Chapter completed!