The mutton soup in Xi'an is really good, white as milk, with a blend of water and fat, pure texture, fresh but not sour, fragrant but not greasy, rotten but not sticky. Xiao Lilin took a bite of the mutton skewers and sipped the mutton soup with his small mouth.

Children who grew up by the sea eat too much seafood, but eat less mutton. I had a lot of fun today, finishing a bowl of mutton soup in one go and a long string of generous mutton skewers.

Looking at his son's appetite, Li Xiao was a little surprised. He looked at the half bowl of mutton soup left, and then looked at the steamed buns in his hand. He had only eaten half of the bowl of mutton steamed buns, and his child

I was already done with it. I looked at it eagerly, as if I wanted to have another bowl.

Don't dare to add another bowl. It's no joke for a child to spoil his spleen and stomach.

"We're not going to eat anymore, we have to go see the pagoda." Li Xiao pointed at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which looked taller and taller because of the close distance.

"Oh!" Although he wanted to have another bowl, Li Lin put down the bowl obediently. It seemed that the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was still very attractive to this child.

"Donor! Do you want more of these steamed buns?" As soon as Li Xiao stood up, an old monk walked up to Li Xiao. He was holding an alms bowl in one hand and holding a young monk in the other hand.

The clothes on the two monks were very shabby, and the little monk's cotton cassock was piled with patches. As for the old monk, what he was wearing was called cotton wool.

"Uh...! No more." Li Xiao stretched out his hand to stop Shunzi who had already put the gun against the monk's back.

"How about giving alms to the old monk?" The skin on the old monk's face is no different from the bark of an old pine tree. No matter how deep the ravines are, he looks miserable.

Li Xiao couldn't help but look at the old monk carefully. Most of the monks in these days asked for money and cakes, especially the leftover cakes eaten by others. It was really rare. Well... to be precise, it should be rare.

"Okay!" Li Xiao immediately agreed. This kind of thing should be supported. Monks have all four elements, but there are really very few monks who can really achieve all four elements. The monks Li Xiao saw were all fat-headed, big-eared, and red-faced.

The old monk and the young monk in front of me were completely different.

"Thank you so much, donor!" The old monk made a deep salute with one hand, and took most of the remaining steamed buns from Li Xiao. "Amitabha!" He recited the Buddha's name and saluted again, then took the young monk's hand, one old and one young.

Walked out of the small restaurant.

"Stay away! I'm tired of living!" With a scolding, a luxury carriage passed by on the street. Li Xiao looked familiar. Isn't this the same carriage that picked him up at the train station?

The car curtain was blown open by the wind, and the profile of a huge monk flashed past.

"I didn't expect that the monk of Daci'en Temple is still so poor." Li Xiao looked at the old monk's back and couldn't help but shook his head.

"Sir, you are wrong. In all the temples in Chang'an, there are only as many ascetics like this in one slap." The waiter who was clearing the table suddenly spoke up.

"Oh!" Li Xiao really didn't understand what happened to the Xi'an temple.

"There are eight hundred monks in Xi'an City, if not one thousand. This does not count the kind who have shaved themselves without taking ultimatums. Counting inside and outside, there are probably tens of thousands of them." said an obvious regular customer next to him.

The guy spoke.

"There are so many? Just rely on charity?" Li Xiao's eyes lit up. He didn't expect that there are tens of thousands of monks in Xi'an. With so many monks, people in Xi'an really believe in Buddhism.

"Alms? I see that you don't come to our Xi'an often. This Ci'en Temple was built during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. It has been over a thousand and hundreds of years. I heard from my ancestors that when Lord Hongwu drove away the Tatars, the Ci'en Temple was built.

It's more than half smaller than it is now. How can it be as big as it is now!" The speaker was an elderly man with a goatee who looked to be at least fifty or sixty years old.

"In Xi'an, we have the richest monks. The shops in the nearby streets are all temple properties. The monthly rent alone is a huge amount of income." The old customer spoke again, with a look.

The attitude of a local snake.

"What's this? You know who is the biggest loan shark in Xi'an. It's the Daci'en Temple. The monthly interest is more than twice as much as the rent." The speaker was Goatee Pension again, and he seemed to have a sense of superiority after he finished speaking.

He glanced around, showing his sharp ears and eyes.

"Is this Da Ci'en Temple so rich?" It was Li Xiao's turn to be shocked. He didn't expect that in Xi'an, the ancient capital of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the richest people were Buddhists.

"It takes thousands of taels of silver to perform a ritual. All the rich people went to the monk's temple with their heads down."

"Not only those doing business, but also the adults in the imperial court went there."

"It doesn't matter what you do, Buddhism is the best at doing business."

"Buddhism's business is all over Xi'an, and Xi'an people know this. This was still said a few years ago, but now I estimate that it is similar in half of Guanzhong."

"In the past few years, there have been wars and wars, and out of ten houses in Xi'an, nine are empty. Many people and their families have died, and the properties have no place to go. Ci'en Temple only consolidates these properties, and it takes up an unknown amount of land for buildings. Now Xi'an is prosperous.

Okay, house prices are constantly rising, aren’t these Buddhas making a fortune?”

"Not only houses, but also all kinds of things from the east. In the construction industry that has been booming in the past two years, there is no industry that does not have Buddhist shares. If you don't give shares to the Buddhas, hehe!" Goatee sneered.

"Don't talk nonsense. Those shares were given willingly. Do you know why? Buddhists don't pay taxes. If you have the ability, the government won't charge you for doing business. Our store is also under your name. Every year on the 4th and 8th festival,

Filial piety will never be lacking.",

"In recent years, the imperial court has been building roads, railways, and railway stations. The money seems to be flowing like water. Where has the money gone? I think 80% of the work is taken over by the Buddhist engineering team.

go."

"Well! The court's money is the best. The Ministry of Revenue has allocated a lot of money to us in Guanzhong. Building projects on Jinqiaoyin Road is the most profitable thing nowadays. And the court has not defaulted on the money and can get a bridge repair project.

This life has been spent enough."

"With so much input, we don't have to pay taxes. How about money?"

The topic has become a public topic, and Li Xiao was a little confused by everyone's words. But Li Xiao heard the last words of the shopkeeper clearly: Buddhism does not pay taxes.

Li Xiao didn't know much about the tax system, which was a matter of civil affairs and was under the control of Sun Chengzong. However, the Ming Dynasty's finances had been tight in recent years. With the temperament of Sun Chengzong and Ai Husheng, they would never allow the Ming Dynasty to not pay taxes.

"You just said that Buddhism doesn't pay taxes?" Li Xiao was afraid that he had heard wrongly, so he decided to confirm it again.

"That's natural. You'll get struck by lightning if you tell lies. My brother-in-law's brother-in-law's second uncle works in the kitchen in the temple. He can't be taken care of by his old man. How can I open a small shop here." The shopkeeper was smug, showing that he had a

Relatives of Buddhism.

"Haha! There is a marshal in the capital, and we have a Buddha in Xi'an. Sir, don't blame me for not reminding you that if you want to enter this Ci'en Temple, you must give up your money, otherwise you will be scolded." Goat.

Old Man Hu kindly reminded Li Xiao.

"They are so rich, but they still care about making a little profit from tourists." Li Xiao's eyes almost fell to the ground. According to what these people just said, Da Ci'en Temple can buy half of the city of Xi'an, which is definitely a modest statement.

.

"Sir, you don't know that even if a dung truck passes by the door, they still want to taste it. For them, if they don't pick up money when they go out, it is considered a loss."

"...!" Li Xiao was speechless this time. Is this a monk or a brave man? Today I want to see how the Great Ci'en Temple can make money.

Not far from the shop, there is the gate of Da Ci'en Temple. Since it is winter, it is more likely that Li Xiao will arrive, and almost the entire city of Xi'an is on alert. There are few tourists coming to Da Ci'en Temple, and the Duobao monk in front of the door has a

There was a basket with many bronze coins in it, and occasionally one or two silver coins were seen.

Just as Li Xiao and Li Lin were about to walk inside, Duobao Monk came out with a vigorous stride. He looked Li Xiao up and down and saw that this boy was leading a child and there was no carriage behind him. He looked at Li Xiao with a somewhat disdainful expression: "Donor!

We monks rely entirely on incense money, so please give me some charity."

It is true that money is required to enter the door. Thinking of the Shaolin Temple in later generations, this does not seem to be incomprehensible. After all, the Shaolin Temple charges admission tickets with clearly marked prices. Although Daci'en Temple is greedy for money, it still has some dignity and does not dare to blatantly mark the prices.

"How much charity is appropriate?" Li Xiao asked curiously.

"A thousand pieces of gold is never too much, and a copper is never too little." This Duobao monk was also humorous, and he opened his mouth and said a jingle.

"Oh!" Li Xiao nodded, took out two copper coins from his arms and threw them into the basket.

Looking at the large pile of copper coins in the basket, I could still vaguely see some silver coins. I didn't take the opportunity to grab a handful in the basket, which is really the result of the improvement of my moral cultivation over the years.

Seeing Li Xiao throw in the two copper coins, Monk Duobao's expression became even more contemptuous. He didn't even bother to say please and went back to the basket without even looking at Li Xiao and Li Lin.

Watching people serve dishes, Li Xiao can be regarded as a lesson.

"Dang!" There was a crisp sound, and there were two more silver coins in the basket.

Monk Duobao's eyes suddenly lit up, and he coughed to the concierge. Immediately, a fair-skinned monk ran out of the concierge. I thought this was the Zhike Monk from Daci'en Temple.

"The donor is kind and generous, and the Buddha will definitely bless the donor and keep him safe all year round." As expected, he is a knowledgeable monk. He speaks in an unhurried and gentle manner, which shows his Buddhist demeanor.

Li Xiao carefully looked at the Shaobao man who threw in two silver coins at once. This guy had a small nose, small eyes, and a small mouth. He had a pair of huge wind-catching ears, hanging on both sides like pig ears. The front teeth in his mouth were uneven, and the one in the middle was uneven.

It's still flat and hanging out. This appearance is as wretched as it is. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like a devout Buddhist believer. But Li Xiao definitely, there is something wrong with looking at people's dishes. After all, they spend a lot of money, and all of a sudden

Two silver coins are considered quite pious.

"Thank you, Master!" The man didn't seem to like to talk much, so he bowed to Zhike Monk and stopped talking.

"The little monk leads the way for the donor." The monk who knows the guest is also very knowledgeable. He leads the way without saying much and invites the pilgrims to come in.

Li Xiao found it interesting and simply followed the man into Da Ci'en Temple.

Walking up to the Daci'en Temple, this temple was built in the Tang Dynasty and has been destroyed and repaired and rebuilt many times. It is really magnificent.

"The temples all over the world are the same. The outer door is called the "Shanmen", also known as the "Three Gates". It is generally composed of three doors in parallel. There is a large door in the middle and two small doors on both sides. That is, the "empty door" and the "no phase door".

"Wusuomen", collectively known as "Three Doors of Liberation".

While walking into the mountain gate, Zhike Monk explained.

Li Xiao suddenly realized that it turns out that the money is not free from you. You are responsible for providing tour guides and explanations. Well! The money is quite real.

"Oh!" The guest just said "Oh" without saying much. It seemed that he was not a talkative person. He casually stuffed a silver coin into Zhike Monk!

"Donor, please be careful. You must not step on the threshold of the mountain gate, otherwise it will be a very serious sin." Seeing that the man was about to cross the threshold, the Zhike monk kindly advised him.

"Oh!" The man said "Oh" again and inserted another silver coin.

Li Xiao and Li Lin followed Shanruliu and walked inside.

Enshrined inside the mountain gate are two vajra warriors, these are the legendary Generals Hengha.

Being stared at by two vajra warriors, Li Lin was a little scared, so he held Li Xiao's thigh with his hands and leaned closer.

"Here is the bell tower on the left and the drum tower on the right. In the morning, the bells are sounded first, and the drums are used to respond; in the evening, the drums are played first, and the bells are used to respond. This is the origin of morning bells and evening drums!"
To be continued...