Now, the new abbot of Zhiyuan Monastery had resolved to restore the monastery to prosperity and made three arrangements.
It was said that the new abbot of Zhiyuan Monastery was determined to restore the monastery and had made three arrangements.
First, the monastery was to be repaired.
Second, the loans were to be collected.
Third, the tenant rents were to be demanded.
Having made these arrangements, the new abbot felt rather pleased with his ambitions and quietly awaited the responses.
The people coming to repair the monastery arrived first.
Several monks brought a crew of craftsmen over. The craftsmen said they needed to inspect Zhiyuan Monastery themselves before they could estimate the cost and time required.
The craftsmen's attitude toward these monks was actually none too friendly. Chechi Kingdom had promoted Taoism and suppressed Buddhism for years, so its people generally held no great regard for monks.
Still, money was money.
The craftsmen made a circuit of the grounds and found that things were not too bad.
Although Zhiyuan Monastery had gone untended for over twenty years, it had been built by imperial decree of the Great Ancestor, and its buildings had all been constructed from excellent materials. The main structures were almost undamaged, while the other sections had suffered varying degrees of deterioration. Repairs would not be particularly difficult.
The greatest expense would be the Golden Bodies of the countless Buddha statues in its hundred-odd halls.
Fortunately, those statues already had Golden Bodies; time had merely dulled them. With some repairs and a coat of gold lacquer, their Golden Bodies could be restored.
After discussing it, the craftsmen decided to quote these monks twenty percent extra in silver and charge them a high price.
Their foreman therefore announced that the repairs would cost approximately six thousand taels, with a