In such a long history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there are many talented emperors, but there are only two in the entire long history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, one is Yu Wenyong, and the other is Yang Jian, the founder of the Great Sui. Today we will first talk about this Yu Wenyong.

After the death of Yuwen Hu, the Northern Zhou Dynasty ushered in an era that belonged to Yuwen Yong alone, and twelve years of forbearance did not make Yu Wen Yong abolished, but made him a mature politician. And in the past twelve years, he seems to have no desire for power, but he has made a lot of preparations in secret, and has a very clear understanding of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Immediately after he came to power, he carried out a series of reforms, and his first decree was to destroy the Buddha!

Buddhism since the Eastern Han Dynasty was introduced to the Central Plains, although it has been in a state of development, but it has always been tepid, after all, everyone in the Han Dynasty at that time knew that Confucianism was the only respect, the influence of Confucianism was very large, followed by the influence of Taoism, the local religion was also very large, so Buddhism has been in a tepid state. But during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism became popular all of a sudden, why could it be popular? In addition to its own teachings, the main reason is the great admiration of the rulers.

In two parts, let's talk about the teachings of Buddhism first, there are many teachings of Buddhism, but the main propaganda doctrine of Buddhism during that period was that suffering in this life and enjoying happiness in the next life seems strange now, but at that time it was sought after by the majority of working people. We all know by now that this is actually brainwashing, drawing a big pie. But it was really useful at the time, and the fundamental reason was that the people at that time were bitter, it was really bitter, and this kind of thing happened from time to time. After years of war, the common people have been displaced too much, and due to the monopoly of the aristocracy, the people at the bottom have almost no hope of promotion, they urgently need spiritual comfort, and they need a reason to give them comfort and let them persist in suffering in the troubled times. And Buddhism's theory of the afterlife is obviously in line with the needs of the people at that time, I am now working for you nobles, I will not resist, because in the next life, you will work for me, this is similar to Ah Q's spiritual victory method. But I have to say that this thing is really useful, at least the people at that time really believed it, and the ruler saw that this kind of thing could stabilize the people, and stabilize the people to stabilize their own rule, so they kicked away Confucianism and Taoism, hyped Buddhism, and because the ruler took the lead in believing in Buddhism, the effect was surprisingly good. So there were temples one after another on the land of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, and how many buildings and platforms are the best portrayal of the grand occasion of Buddhism.

So in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, what kind of situation did Buddhism develop? Let's talk about the number, 2 million, a full 2 million Buddhists in the last years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, what kind of situation is this. You must know that the population of the Northern Wei Dynasty was 30 million at its peak, and Buddhists accounted for a full fifteenth. And the Buddhists of the Northern Wei Dynasty are a high-paying tax-free profession, many times better than the current civil servants, they enjoy the worship of the people, have their own land, do not have to pay taxes, all income is 100% their own, and the emperor and nobles also reward them from time to time. At that time, the biggest ideal of the people was actually to be monks, they did not have the hope of becoming nobles and entering the official career, but they could be monks, so the temple spread like a cowhide in the land of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

The population of 2 million became monks, they did not have to work, did not need to work, did not need to do military service, did not have to pay taxes, not only led to a significant decrease in the financial income of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the monks were basically in the prime of labor, so who would farm? Who will be the soldier? You must know that Yu Wenyong's ambition is to unify the north and the south, what reunification is, is to fight, defeat you, and your things are mine. Ancient wars are different from modern scientific and technological wars, ancient wars compete with population and money and food, you Buddhism took away the two things I need most, can Yu Wenyong endure it? I can't bear it. And in the second year of Emperor Wu of Zhou's reign of Yuwen Yong, there was a drought in Guanzhong, and the people were not able to make a living, Emperor Wu of Zhou ordered the nobles and the privileged class to take rations out to help the people, and those nobles took them out, but the monks in this temple blatantly violated the will of Emperor Wu of Zhou, not only did not donate the grain, but also took advantage of the famine year to lend usury. This completely angered Yu Wenyong, you took away what I needed the most, I haven't stabilized yet, I'll let you jump for two years, but you're still blocking me at this time, you're tired and crooked. Yuwen Yong can endure Yuwen Hu for twelve years, because he doesn't have enough strength to wrestle with Yuwen Hu, but what are you Buddhism? Yu Wenyong said, I can't bear it, I can't bear it, then let's destroy it.

Moreover, although Emperor Wu of Zhou believed in Taoism and studied Buddhism with his parents, he still believed that Confucianism was the foundation of governing the country, so Emperor Wu of Zhou repeatedly convened the three schools of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism to debate, and the purpose of the debate was to see which doctrine was the best. At the end of 573 AD, Emperor Wu of Zhou decided to convene a national symposium of religious figures, with the aim of ranking the religions of the whole country. The above also said that Emperor Wu of Zhou believed in the Tao, but he felt that Confucianism was the foundation of governing the country, and Buddhism was just cooperating to see, according to Emperor Wu of Zhou's thoughts, this ranking should be a ranking of Confucianism and two interpretations, and Yuwen Yong still hoped to use a more moderate means to solve Buddhism. But Buddhism has developed too fast in the past few decades, and it has developed so fast, and it is coaxed by a group of believers every day, rewarded by the rulers, and the people who stay in the temple every day and don't communicate with others, and the emotional intelligence is basically zero. So at such a forum, the representatives of Buddhism were not satisfied, and in the current situation of Buddhism, I ranked second, and you ask who dares to rank first? It's good for you, you got me a third, no, you have to re-arrange, if you don't row you, you wait, I, the millions of Buddhists, are not blowing out. Well, I was embarrassed and threatened me, so Emperor Wu of Zhou was even more angry, and a thorough campaign to exterminate Buddhism began on the land of the Northern Zhou Dynasty: the temple was demolished, the scriptures were burned, and all the monks were forced to return to the world. As soon as these decrees came out, there was a commotion in the court, after all, there were many nobles who believed in Buddhism; The common people are also very dissatisfied. But does it work? It's useless, after Emperor Wu of Zhou took power, the most important thing is military power, military power is firmly in his hands, the soldiers are in his own hands, and if others dare to oppose it, they will just destroy you by the way.

The benefits of such a large-scale extermination of the Buddha are also obvious, a large number of laborers have returned to the world, and the financial revenue of the Northern Zhou Dynasty has increased greatly, not to mention others, the tributes and rewards saved every year are enough for Emperor Wu of Zhou to equip tens of thousands of troops. In addition, the labor force has returned to the world, the employment rate has risen, and the army has also increased considerably. And the common people also found that they didn't have to raise these monks, and their lives seemed to be better, so after the early anger, the common people saw the substantial benefits, and the Buddha had long been gone. After all, no matter how good the afterlife is, it is nothing, and it is really good to live well now.

After the destruction of the Buddha, the strength of the Northern Zhou Dynasty increased greatly, and Emperor Wu of Zhou was very happy and confident, and launched a war against the Northern Qi at this moment.

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