1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 108

They thought the Shaolin Temple's Eighteen Bronze Men Formation might be very powerful, but I arranged for 1,800 soldiers fully armed, and also prepared 18 heavy machine guns.

No matter how powerful the Eighteen Bronze Men of Shaolin Temple are, they can't fight against a hundred men, can they?

More than two hundred police officers, all skilled personnel transferred from the Henan Provincial Police Department, accompanied the work group directly into the Shaolin Temple. Each officer was equipped with a basic police revolver, and in addition, they were issued submachine guns for backup.

In fact, none of these things were needed. When the young monk guarding the mountain gate saw the government officials' credentials and documents, his legs went weak, and he simply opened the mountain gate wide without daring to stop them.

The other monks in the temple stayed in their rooms as if nothing had happened. Those who were supposed to sleep continued to sleep, and those who were supposed to chant sutras stayed in their rooms and tapped their wooden fish.

So-called religious figures are surrounded by various mysterious halos, to the point that outsiders believe they are omnipotent. These days, there are even many superstitious worshippers who believe that the monks of Shaolin Temple are all immortals.

But after encountering the real state apparatus and witnessing the mighty power of the state, these monks became more docile than anyone else.

After the fat, big-eared abbot of Shaolin Temple was politely asked to get up by the head of the work group, he was then led by five loaded police revolvers to put on his clothes and shoes and sit down opposite the head of the work group.

"I heard that the abbot really wanted to see me, so I came here early this morning." Civil officials are different; their tone became much gentler.

The abbot forced a smile: "If you are truly devoted to Buddhism, why did you bring weapons with you?"

The team leader, not wanting to waste words, asked directly, "Has the abbot ever heard the story of Buddha cutting off his own flesh to feed an eagle?"

The abbot, however, was quite knowledgeable, correcting him: "It's not about cutting flesh to feed an eagle, it's about cutting flesh to trade for a pigeon! That's a story about Indra and King Sibi."

"Still daring to be naughty?!" Team Leader Cheng slammed his fist on the table. "You're asking for trouble, aren't you? I said I'd feed the eagle with my own flesh, and that's it! Don't try to give me any more excuses!"

"Now the country needs Buddhism to cut its own flesh, but not to feed birds, but to feed the people!"

"Forget it, cutting off one's own flesh is still not enough. Let's change it to sitting in meditation and passing away."

"The nation needs more than just the flesh that has been cut off; it also needs relics—it needs everything!"

“All your untaxed real estate and fields, the usurious loans you've made, and the temple's assets are now all illegal assets.”

"I now formally declare myself guilty of organizing an illegal cult, engaging in illegal financial transactions, illegally evading taxes, and organizing criminal gangs."

Before Team Leader Cheng could finish reciting a long list of charges, his subordinates stepped forward to inform him that a large number of illegally imprisoned minors and adult women had been found in a basement inside the temple, most of whom had been sexually assaulted.

Team Leader Cheng's forehead veins bulged as he gritted his teeth and said, "Add to that the charges of assaulting minors and rape, and we will launch a serious investigation against you, and confiscate all your illegal gains!"

The abbot knew what he was going through, but he was powerless to resist, so he could only pretend to be a hermit monk, put his hands together and recite a Dharma name.

"Amitabha Buddha, I am deeply grateful to the benefactor for helping my temple to set things right. Not only have the monks in the temple acted so recklessly, but I also thank you for helping my temple to correct its wrongdoings."

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. What is meant to leave cannot be kept, what is meant to come cannot be stopped. Everything is an illusion. It is good for monks to be detached from worldly desires."

"Please stop here, benefactor. Take what you need, but leave behind only this pure Buddhist ground!"

Team Leader Cheng was so angry he laughed: "I'm not going to tell you any stories. I'm just asking you, if Buddha is compassionate, shouldn't he try to enlighten the world?"

The abbot could not deny these words and could only nod emphatically: "That's natural! To enlighten and guide people is the purpose of Buddhism."

Team Leader Cheng stood up, hands on his hips: "That's good. I've found a place that needs Buddhism the most. Go there and try to influence people!"

The abbot asked, "Where?"

Team Leader Cheng gritted his teeth and said, enunciating each word clearly: "Reform-in-Camp!"

“All the key personnel involved in the case will receive at least a life sentence. Anyone involved will be sentenced to at least ten years. As for you, abbot, you'll never be able to go anywhere for the rest of your life. Just stay in the reform camp and go and reform the masses.”

"Those people inside are all in need of being reformed. Once you go there, I guarantee you will achieve perfect merit and become a Buddha on the spot!"

The abbot was shocked. He was not the kind of person who knew nothing; on the contrary, he had a good understanding of many of the policies and measures of the republican government.

The Republic no longer has prisons, only reformatories. There are no so-called death sentences with reprieve or life imprisonment for twenty years. Whatever sentence you are given is what you get.

If the word "death" is involved, it means you're definitely going to get shot, and most likely by a heavy machine gun.

But at least the death penalty is a quick and painless punishment; what's worse than the death penalty is serving time in a reformatory.

A sentence of one or two years is manageable; you can grit your teeth and rely on luck to get through it. Perhaps if you're sent to a better place, you can endure three to five years.

But in ten years, even Superman would have to kneel down.

The places where prisoners served their sentences were either battlefields, or the Tibetan Plateau, the Xinjiang desert, the northern grasslands, or the northeastern swamps—all the most arduous and dangerous places.

Recently, the reformatory server has added many new dungeons such as "Shanxi Dungeon", "Extreme Cold North Kuye", and "Taiwan Adventure Island".

None of them were easy to deal with. Ten years in prison was almost the same as the death penalty. The difference was that the death penalty meant immediate death, while ten years in prison meant ten years of suffering before death, and life imprisonment meant suffering until death.

The reform camps are similar to a battle royale game. The mortality rate in the first year is as high as 20%, which drops to 10% in the second year and continues to decrease, but it surges to 50% in the third year and continues to rise.

Because they are not used to it when they first enter the prison, they are likely to die. By the third year, their bodies are exhausted and they are also likely to die. Anyway, the longest prison term for Manchu prisoners is now four years. The survival rate is only about seven percent. In another two years, it will be close to zero.

Petty thieves, if sentenced, can still gamble in prison, but serious offenders shouldn't even think about it.

"No, I don't want to go to the reformatory. I was wrong, I'll never do it again. Please forgive me this time!"

The abbot collapsed. Upon hearing that he was to be sent to a reformatory, he immediately knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, and begged for mercy.

Everyone around was dumbfounded. Just a moment ago, he was a serene and reclusive monk. How did he suddenly kneel down and beg for mercy?

"Report! Urgent instructions from the central command! The Führer was furious after hearing our report from Dengfeng!"

Team Leader Cheng quickly took the telegram and checked the leader's instructions.

After reading it, Team Leader Cheng looked at the abbot with pity: "Alright, Your Majesty is merciful. You don't need to go to the reformatory. There will be other treatment."

Overjoyed, the abbot wept: "His Majesty's benevolence is boundless! His blessings extend to the world and cover all living beings! For the rest of my life, I will dedicate myself to the Buddha and pray for His Majesty's well-being day and night!"

Team Leader Cheng explained again: "Abbot, you have no more life left. The head of state's instructions are very simple. I will read them to you."

"Today, I, the head of state, have calculated with my fingers and come up with a line of poetry: 'To hear the tide and attain enlightenment, to see the letter and find peace!' A true monk should pass away in a grand and magnificent manner, just like a real man!"

Abbot: "Ah? This humble monk does not wish to pass away. This humble monk wishes to return to secular life and cease being a monk!"

Team Leader Cheng waved his hand: "Grab him! The time the leader calculated is definitely correct. If he calculated it to be today, then it is today. Help the abbot out, set up a bonfire, and let him pass away peacefully!"

"And all those abbots and head monks in the temple, as long as they are in management, arrest them all and force them to die!"

"Arrange for people to set up bonfires at the foot of the mountain and gather the public to watch the ceremony for the passing of a high-ranking monk from Shaolin Temple. This is an order from the head of state, and it must be done well!"

The subordinate replied, "Yes, team leader!"

Team Leader Cheng sighed. These monks are all like those who refuse to take the path to heaven and barge into the gates of hell!

If it were simply land annexation and usury, these monks might still have a way to survive. Even if they also commit sexual assault against minors and women, they would still have a chance to go to a reformatory.

But they really went too far, to the point that Zhao Yan got angry.

These monks, under the guise of accepting disciples and converting them to enlightenment, actually took in a large number of innocent children from good families and then sold them to high-ranking officials and nobles with special tastes.

They also organized a group of martial monks whose main function was to act as henchmen. If a temple wanted a piece of land, they would kill the whole family in the middle of the night, and then the temple would take it over.

They also work part-time as debt collectors, but instead of making phone calls, they go directly to people's homes to collect debts. If they don't have money, they resort to violence. The men sell mines, the women sell brothels, and those who can't work are simply beaten to death.

As for other crimes, they are countless. You won't know until you investigate, and once you do, you'll be shocked. Even Zhao Yan couldn't hold back when he saw them. As a former intellectual fraudster, he despised these brutal colleagues the most, let alone those who treated human life so lightly, taking money and then killing people.

The higher authorities issued instructions regarding these cult members: all lower-level monks who had not benefited from the cult were ordered to return to secular life; all those who had illegally benefited were sent to reformatories; and those whose crimes were most heinous were to die on the spot.

The Ministry of Culture has established a new Department of Religious Affairs to be responsible for the review of religious personnel and the issuance of religious certificates, as well as the follow-up procedures after this incident.

The most important thing right now is to make an example of him. Zhao Yan wants to kill the high monk they believe in completely in front of countless believers!

From now on, no one in China can be trusted except our ancestors!

Team Leader Cheng ordered his subordinates to screen and interrogate the monks in the temple, and all the police officers to work on the spot. At the same time, he ordered the garrison soldiers to maintain order at the funeral site, while he personally deployed the funeral work.

The local people living around the mountain were shocked to hear that the government was going to help the Shaolin monk who had passed away. Then they heard that the date was predicted by the head of state's divine calculations, and they all believed it to be true.

Everyone rushed over to see if it was true; people from all around flocked to the area.

Seeing the firewood being laid out at the funeral ceremony site at the foot of the mountain, the local people rushed to help. Many of them had suffered greatly as a result. Few people in the surrounding area had escaped the trap; everyone had been fooled by these bald monks.

Now that we hear these people are about to pass away, how can we stay idle? Many hands make light work!

Thousands of heavily armed garrison soldiers imposed martial law on the scene, with heavy machine guns positioned on high ground. The soldiers ignored the civilians who were helping to chop firewood, but they would show no mercy to anyone who tried to storm the execution ground.

Some believers protested around the area, denouncing the government's atrocities, but none of them dared to step forward and challenge the guns. After uttering a few curses, they were instead grabbed and beaten by the surrounding people.

A very small number of believers dared to charge the garrison's cordon, but once they got through, they couldn't get out. Seven or eight believers who charged the cordon were caught and sent to the line of those waiting to die.

Since you believe so much, then I'll grant your wish.

After the firewood was piled up, Team Leader Cheng politely invited all the deceased to enter the urn: "Please, everyone, step inside!"

Team Leader Cheng gave these people a chance to save face, but none of them were willing to accept it. After seeing the pile of firewood soaked in kerosene, they all frantically begged for mercy and struggled incessantly. The few believers who were captured also soiled themselves and regretted their actions.

The soldiers stepped forward to try and send the men on their way, but they refused and struggled desperately.

Team Leader Cheng saw that things were going to fall apart. The other party wasn't cooperating, and even if they brought a pyre, it wouldn't look right. The head of state wanted a grand and spectacular passing away, not a gruesome burning at the stake. This was the passing away of a high-ranking Chinese monk, not the burning of witches in medieval Europe!

Then someone suggested inserting a steel needle into the buttocks! Investigators found a ready-made steel needle for the death ceremony inside the Shaolin Temple, complete with a base, and the marks indicated it had been used many times.

Team Leader Cheng did not hesitate and waved for people to bring out the props.

Upon seeing the steel needle used for meditation, the monks turned pale. They immediately understood what it meant, as they had used this thing many times before.

In order to demonstrate their miraculous abilities, Buddhist monks would occasionally appear and claim to have predicted that they would pass away on a certain day, month, and year, with the timing precise to the exact moment.

But what decent person predicts the day they will die? They just predict and fantasize about the day they will become rich and get promoted.

But Buddhists like to do this. The high monks involved are most likely forced into it, perhaps they just drew a death lot, and then others spread the word for them.

When that moment arrives, the other monks in the temple will bring out the death-sustaining steel needle. A group of people will force you to sit on it. The steel needle, along with its base, will be inserted through your anus, all the way to your throat, and then, after you have breathed your last, you will be positioned to sit on the base.

With internal steel needles supporting it, the corpse remained upright in a seated position, making outsiders think it had truly become a Buddha!

Now Team Leader Cheng is using these people too. The strong and powerful soldiers immediately get to work, pressing people down on the butcher's block, pulling down their pants, and engaging in "base docking".

After they finished, they wrapped their legs up and tied them with rope, and tied their hands together with rope as well. Then, one by one, with their faces contorted and screaming in agony, they were carried onto the pile of firewood.

Team Leader Cheng personally lit the fire, throwing a stick of firewood at the pile, which was doused with kerosene and immediately burst into flames. Thus, the grand and spectacular funeral ceremony for a true man, as requested by the leader, was born.

"Add more firewood, make a roaring fire, we must burn out their relics!"

Team Leader Cheng stared at the bonfire through gritted teeth, while the surrounding crowd erupted in a tsunami of cheers.

Chapter 183 The Aftermath of the Spoils

"Get rich, get rich!"

Wang Chongshan excitedly held up a list in his hand, and strode into the gate of the Ministry of National Defense with a loud shout, while his subordinates around him grinned foolishly.

Regardless of what exactly brought you wealth, if your boss is happy, you have to smile too; that's called being observant.

"A bunch of idiots, and what are you people in the intelligence department doing? Those bald monks and that Duke Yansheng are so rich, why didn't you say so earlier? Why didn't you report it?"

"If our intelligence work were done properly, would our Ministry of National Defense have to take a small share? If we could take it all this time, we could build five more army groups and support them!"

Wang Chongshan felt a pang of pain in his heart whenever he thought about how the military would take a small share of the profits while the civilian officials would take the lion's share.

"If we had done a good job with intelligence work, everyone in our Ministry of National Defense would have received a bonus of four times their salary at the end of the year. Now, it's only double!"

"Humph!"

After Wang Chongshan finished speaking, he stormed off to his office. Everyone else, however, beamed with joy, knowing that their year-end bonuses were finally secured.

Who the hell cares about the difference between two or four times? As long as there's something, that's enough. There haven't been any year-end bonuses in the past two years.

The military budget prioritizes personnel expenses, followed by frontline soldiers, then demobilized personnel, and finally, those in the rear.

The only advantage the military has is that it doesn't delay payments. While unpaid salaries are common among civilians, no one dares to delay military pay because Zhao Yan is watching.

The theoretical year-end bonus is just an illusion; it has never been paid since its inception. This time, Wang Chongshan said in front of everyone that he would pay it, and it would be double the monthly salary, which is equivalent to a 14-month salary for the whole year. Who wouldn't be happy?

The only thing I'm curious about is what exactly Wang Chongshan meant by getting rich.

Back in his office, before Wang Chongshan could even settle into his seat, Navy Minister Lieutenant General Sa Zhenbing came over, drawn by the scent of the office.

"Old Wang, I heard there's been a result from the land grabbing in Shandong. What's the situation?" He didn't even bother with a report, just barged in and called him Old Wang instead of Minister. Only Sa Zhenbing in the entire army would dare to do something like that.

"Ahem, what do you mean by 'scraping the land'? General Sa, please watch your words!" Wang Chongshan, sitting behind his desk, adopted an official air and reprimanded, "And another thing! You, Sa Zhenbing, are becoming more and more unruly. You enter my Ministry of National Defense's door without even reporting your presence. Moreover, this is working time. Please address me by my title. What are you calling 'Old Wang'? Who are you calling!"

Sa Zhenbing completely ignored Wang Chongshan's official airs and found a place to sit down: "Come on, why are you putting on airs with me? When I was a captain in the army, you were probably just a common soldier. Back when I was the head of the navy, you were just a brigadier general in the Hunan New Army."

"Right now, you're the Minister of Defense and I'm the Minister of the Navy. We're both ministers, so don't try that on me!"

"Tell me quickly, how much money did you scrape off? Let me know!"

With just a few words, Sa Zhenbing elevated the two men to the same level, even placing his own seniority higher, which dampened Wang Chongshan's enthusiasm.

Compared to his seniority before the Republic, no one in the military is more capable than Sa Zhenbing. After the Republic, Sa Zhenbing is now the Minister of the Navy, only one rank lower than the Ministry of National Defense.

The Minister of National Defense also serves as a member of the Supreme Executive Committee on National Defense, but the Minister of the Navy is only at the same level as the other central ministries. According to the civil service calculation, he is only at the level of a department head, which is not high enough to qualify as a member. There is still a cabinet member in between!

In terms of military rank, Wang Chongshan was one rank higher than Sa Zhenbing.

However, the navy is unique in that it possesses a certain degree of independence and is strategically important, which is why Sa Zhenbing has enough confidence to assert his seniority with Wang Chongshan.