元代宣政院所轄官 寺360 座，佔用民田數十萬畝，消耗天下之財。明代皇帝在京師供養大量藏僧，每日酒食皆係光祿寺支付，頻繁舉辦佛教法事、興建寺廟、造塔，造成國家財政危機。相較之下，清朝喇嘛及其徒眾的錢糧由戶部支給，康熙年間，戶部供養喇嘛約萬餘兩，乾隆以後約六萬兩銀及米糧二萬餘石。至於興建寺廟和法會所需用度，皆來自內務府。由皇帝荷包支付的銀兩，遠超過戶部的支出，遂未造成國家財政問題。 　　清朝統治者將施捨駐京呼圖克圖的牧場分布於長城口外，不佔民田。清中葉後，漢人出關開墾，促進這些地區的經濟發展。又，自乾隆皇帝實施雍和宮金瓶掣簽制度，提升了清廷的宗教影響力，蒙古的王公、喇嘛紛紛前往北京寺廟捐獻。同時，青甘地區的駐京呼圖克圖獲得朝廷封賜轄地，寺院土地廣闊，又新墾地畝成千上萬畝。藏傳佛寺聚集眾多信徒，寺廟附近成為重要的市集所在，喇嘛從商業活動中獲得的經濟收入逐漸增加。清朝皇帝認定蒙古衰弱的原因在於信仰藏傳佛教，又設法讓蒙古人不斷布施，加劇蒙古經濟的衰退。就清朝利用藏傳佛教銷蝕蒙古力量來說，已達到目的。

During the Yuan dynasty 360 official temples were included in the domain of the Commission for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, occupying thousands acres of civilian lands and depleting the wealth of the nation. During the Ming dynasty, emperors provided for numerous Tibetan monks in the capital, their daily expenses paid by the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Ming emperors also frequently held Buddhist ceremonies and built temples and stupas, which created a fiscal crisis. In comparison, during the Qing dynasty, expenses of lamas and their followers were paid by the Ministry of Revenue. In the Kangxi period, the Ministry of Revenue provided about ten thousand taels for lamas. After Qianlong, the amount rose to sixty thousand taels and twenty thousand pecks of grain provisions. Expenses for building temples and conducting ceremonies were paid by the Imperial Household Department. The moneys paid by the emperors were far more than the expenses covered by the Ministry of Revenue Ministry, and therefore did not cause fiscal problems for the state. 　　The Qing emperors allocated lands outside the Great Wall to Hutuktus as donations, not taking any civilian lands. After the mid-Qing, Han people moved outside the Great Wall to cultivate farmlands, thereby promoting the development of these areas. Moreover, since the Qianlong Emperor instituted the Golden Vase lottery system to choose lamas, the Qing government had increased its influence over religious matters, and more and more nobilities and lamas came to Beijing temples to make donations. At the same time, Hutuktus from the Qinghai and Gansu regions were given lands by the government; they gained large estates and cultivated new arable land. Because the temples of Tibetan Buddhism attracted numerous followers, areas by the temples became important markets, and lamas further gained income from commercial activities. Qing emperors believed that Mongolia was weakened because of Mongol belief in Tibetan Buddhism and that their donations to the lamas contributed to the decline of the Mongolian economy. From these observations, it is safe to say the Qing government successfully weakened Mongolia through Tibetan Buddhism.