Gradually, the road became crowded, and the carriages, horses, and pedestrians were mixed, and Wen Yong looked out, only to see that the people on the road were carrying baskets in their hands, which should be incense and candles and other items. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

On the side of the road, there was an old lady in ragged clothes who was walking slowly on the side of the road with her two little grandsons, perhaps because of her old age, and she had to fall down several times in the push and shove of the crowd.

Wen Yong couldn't bear it, and ordered: "Fu'an, invite the old woman and her two grandsons up." ”

"Childe, this ......"

Fu'an was a little reluctant.

Wen Yong scolded: "If you are told to go, where is there so much nonsense!" ”

"Yes, Childe."

Under Wen Yong's coercion, Fu'an could only obediently jump out of the carriage and ask the three ancestors and grandchildren on the road to come up.

At first, the old woman was a little reluctant to protect her two grandsons, and Fu'an wanted to return to her life, but when she thought that she would be scolded if she returned empty-handed, she could bite the bullet and try her best to finally dispel the old woman's vigilance and let her take her two grandsons into the carriage.

After the old woman got into the carriage, she hugged her two little grandsons tightly, for fear that the two naughty ghosts would make the two noble sons in front of her unhappy.

Seeing that she was a little restrained, Wen Yong smiled and said: "Don't be afraid, auntie, we are also incense in Wuling Temple, seeing that you have two grandsons who are unable to move, so let the subordinates invite you to come up and go together." ”

The old woman bowed her head and said: "It turns out that the son is also a person who is dedicated to goodness, and it is really the blessing of the Buddha, so that the old man will meet a noble person as soon as he goes out." ”

"My son-in-law is kind, what does it have to do with the Buddha!"

Fu'an's grumbling voice came from outside the car curtain.

"Shut up!"

Wen Yong stopped Fu'an, and asked the old woman with a smile: "This lady, how is the harvest at home this year?" Is it enough for home use? ”

The old woman touched her grandson's head and smiled: "This year, the Buddha is gracious, and the monks of Wuling Temple have done another great Dharma service, so the year is smooth, although there is not much land at home, but it is enough to feed these two little leather monkeys." No, the hen at home has just laid eggs, and I took it to Wuling Temple to make a vow. ”

No wonder the eyes of the two little ones were fixed on the old woman's basket, and the little eyes were about to glow green.

Wen Yong persuaded politely: "Auntie, this Buddhism is not allowed to kill, it is not appropriate for you to take these eggs." ”

The old woman said regretfully: "Don't hide it from the son, the old body has nothing valuable in the family, and he can't reshape the golden body for the Buddha like the old man, so he can only take this to worship." ”

Not long after talking to the old woman, the coachman's voice came from outside the curtain, "Childe, Wuling Temple has arrived." ”

Lifting the curtain, a very shocking palace-style building appeared in front of Wen Yong's eyes, if it were not for the flow of people who climbed the stairs to worship, Wen Yong would have thought that he had returned to the palace.

Before entering the mountain gate, the pre-Qin straight road that has been in disrepair for a long time has become a flat avenue paved with bluestone slabs, and the spliced stone slabs are artificially carved into the shape of lotus flowers, and the stamens and stems are clearly identifiable, and the two gold-carved Dharma Protector Vajra at the end of the road look angrily and look at it, guarding the vast temple behind without limits. The mist formed by the incense envelops the temple, like the fairy clouds that make the Wuling Temple become ethereal, and the two golden-scaled dragons carved from the fine sandalwood are coiled on the pillars of the gate, dancing and clawing, as if they want to step on the green clouds and soar. Between the two dragons, the top of the vermilion lacquer gate hangs a golden silk nanmu plaque, and the dragon flies and the phoenix dances on the three big characters of "Wuling Temple".

The old woman got out of the carriage with her two grandsons and thanked Wen Yong: "The old man thanks this son for sending him off." ”

After saying goodbye to the old woman, Wen Yong did not rush to follow the crowd into the temple, but looked into the distance not far in front of the temple.

The main hall of the temple is the top cloud sandalwood beam, the hall is hung with glazed jade cups, the three-foot-wide silk Baolian Buddha flag hangs down from the beam of the house, the tent is embroidered with gold and silver, the wind starts and moves, the candlelight extinguishes the golden Buddha in the main hall such as sitting between the clouds, mountains and the illusory sea, shining and overlooking all beings.

Wen Yong stared at this extremely luxurious temple and sneered and asked, "Wen Xin, what do you think?" ”

Wen Xin heard the hidden dissatisfaction in Wen Yong's heart, and carefully said his opinion, "Heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, if you benefit the country and the people, you will be established, and if you harm the country and the people, you will be abolished." ”

Fu'an took the incense candle and asked, "Childe, aren't we going in?" ”

Wen Yong glanced at the people who gathered to the temple like ants on pilgrimage, and sighed: "That's it, so many people's prayers, the Buddha is probably too busy, let's go around the temple." ”

Wen Yong did not go to the main hall with the flow of people to pray for blessings, but took Wen Xin and Fu'an to the side hall.

Different from the solemnity of the main hall, the flow of people in the side hall is much less, the courtyard here is in good order, and there is a Buddha statue enshrined under each temple, or happy or sad, or laughing or angry, or carved with mutton fat and white jade, or fired with the above celadon porcelain, or cast with gold and silver, at a glance, I don't know how many Buddhist saints are located here.

At this moment, the sound of Buddha came out of the backyard, the sound was neat and straight through the sky, like ten thousand people singing in unison, and the majesty of its voice was so overwhelming that the birds had to hover in the sky and did not dare to stop.

There was a burst of Sanskrit sounds, and many believers knelt down in place, kowtowing sincerely and praying for blessings.

Wen Yong's brows furrowed, and he instructed Fu'an: "Go and add some sesame oil money, and by the way, ask how many monks in the temple are there, and how much land is produced." ”

After receiving the order, Fu'an found a younger monk in front of the merit box and threw ten taels of silver in front of him.

Ten taels of silver in the Great Zhou Dynasty is enough for a family of 5 people to spend a month, but the little monk didn't even look at it, and directly called the Buddha name, "Amitabha, the donor's merit is immeasurable." ”

Fu'an took out another fifty taels of silver and shook it in his hand, and the little monk's eyelids raised slightly: "Is the donor inquiring about something?" ”

Fu An has been crawling in the deep palace for a long time, how to ask the heart has a plan, arrogantly said: "My son-in-law has a noble status, everything wants the best, I heard that Wuling Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the vicinity before I came to worship, how to know the big disappointment, this temple looks so big, and the monks are even more difficult to see." Is there a bigger temple than Goreongsa Temple nearby? ”

The little monk said unconvinced: "My Wuling Temple covers an area of thousands of acres, with 10,000 monks, and it is already the largest Buddhist temple here." ”

"Fa Hui, don't talk nonsense!"

A slightly older monk stopped the little monk, walked up to Fu'an and said, "Amitabha, this benefactor is in good shape, and worshipping the Buddha does not look at the size of the temple, but relies on sincerity. ”

Fu An'an knew that he couldn't continue to ask, so he stopped entangling with him, and returned to Wen Yong with a snort.

After listening to Fu'an's relay, Wen Yong's face turned a little blue, "Wen Xin, do you know how many temples there are near Chang'an?" ”

Wen Xin made a silent calculation in his heart and replied: "Now that Buddhism is prosperous, there should be no less than a hundred near Chang'an. ”

A Buddhist temple covers an area of 1,000 acres, 10,000 monks, the 100 is an area of 100,000, millions of monks, and the population of the entire Chang'an is close to 2 million, that is to say, nearly half of the population are monks.

Of course, Wuling Temple is the largest temple, and it can't be used as a template to count other temples, but after a rough estimate, Wen Yong himself was also frightened by this data, this is just Chang'an, so what about other places?

Since ancient times, the monk is not taxed, that is to say, the tax foundation of the entire Zhou Dynasty has been unconsciously cut off most of it, when he thought of the old thief himself also believed in Buddhism, and intended to enshrine it as the state religion, Wen Yong couldn't help but scold in his heart: "Wen Hu you are a fool, this is the national politics you govern." ”