Now that the Australians are practicing the old tricks of the Qin people, what are their virtues and abilities, and are they confident that they will not repeat the same mistakes?
He Wuzou coughed slightly and said: "The governance of this bandit is nothing new. It is just the old method of Shang Yang. Qin governed the country according to legalism. Although it unified the six countries, its administration was harsh and the people had no way to live. In the end, the second generation perished. Is it possible that the so-called Senate in Kun didn’t know about this? Even if they don’t know, Meng Liang, you know it too. As the councilor of Australia, why don’t you give me some advice? Since ancient times, governing a big country is like cooking a small one. You can’t. The people from Kun came to Guangzhou and had many good policies, but they were eager for success and harsh in their policies, which was definitely not the way to achieve long-term peace and stability."
This statement is actually the common sentiment of many scholars who know a little about the Senate. They saw the ability of the Senate to govern the country, but they could not get rid of the doubts in their hearts. After all, the lessons of the Qin Dynasty were too profound.
"Otherwise," Liu Dalin said, "Qin's death was not due to Qin's laws, but actually due to the abuse of people's power by the first emperor and the second emperor." Liu Dalin said, "The Han Dynasty would inevitably have made the same mistake again. If it hadn't been for the painstaking efforts of Emperor Xuan and Zhao, the central government would have I'm afraid that Han Xun will lose his position before Wang Mang comes to usurp it."
Everyone is a well-educated scholar. They have read all the classics and histories, and have a clear understanding of all the historical events of the past dynasties. He is not a pedantic scholar who only knows the Thirteen Classics. Although everyone has their own opinions when considering the political gains and losses of the past dynasties, in the final analysis, the collapse of the dynasty can mostly be attributed to the four words "the people are in dire straits."
They felt that today's Ming Dynasty has begun to follow the same path. A few days ago, He Wuzou received many letters from his relatives in the same year as an official in the capital. They all warned him that the court was preparing to launch a "qiong pay" campaign for three years and a "suppression of pay" for one year. He would select a supervisor and send troops to the south. The purpose of the crusade required him to "make preparations in advance."
Most of the big guys here don't have much hope for the imperial court's southern expedition. They have seen and heard about the military strength and financial resources of the Kun thieves, and they know everything clearly. No matter who is sent to supervise the division, hoping to settle the situation in a battle is tantamount to wishful thinking, and will most likely stop at the north of the Five Ridges. The long-term confrontation with Guan Ning, which is said to be "Qiong's pay" for three years, I'm afraid it will continue to be like "Liao's pay".
"No, no, no!" In a moment, someone else joined the debate.
…
Liu Dalin argued for so long that he ran out of words. He knew that it would be futile to argue like this for seven days and seven nights, so he said: "Brothers, have you ever remembered that I used the Chinese style of the "Book of Changes" in the past? Since you think that the fortune of the Ming Dynasty has not been exhausted, it is better to use the "Book of Changes" 》Divination, ask the sky. I wonder what you think?”
The art of divination has existed since ancient times. The imperial courts of all dynasties had officials responsible for divining good and bad luck. Emperor Jiajing also advocated cultivation and becoming an immortal, so divination was very popular in the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention the scholar-bureaucrats, even the emperor himself had to turn to heaven for help in critical moments. It is said that before Chongzhen hanged himself, Li Zicheng's military advisor Song Xiance used divination to "attack his mind". Li Zicheng arrived at the capital. Chongzhen, who was having trouble sleeping and eating, and the eunuch Wang Chengen went out to relax, and met Song Xiance pretending to be a calligrapher. The restless Chongzhen wrote the character "酉", and Song Xiance wrote a note and handed it to Chongzhen, saying that this was a secret from heaven and could only be opened at midnight. Chongzhen returned to the palace, opened the note in the middle of the night, and wrote: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is originally the emperor, and the word "zun" has no head or tail and is cut into the unitary, and the country is in danger." Chongzhen was so shocked that he collapsed to the ground.
Lingnan customs are inherently superstitious, so these talented scholar-bureaucrats did not see anything wrong with Liu Dalin's proposal. Zhao Xunru said: "For divination, there are turtle divination, duck divination, copper coin divination, and fortune telling. I wonder what Meng Liang wants to do?"
Liu Dalin said: "Turtle shells and yarrow cannot be obtained suddenly, but copper coins and fortune-telling are methods used by the people in the countryside. I will use chess and divination."
"What is chess divination?"
"The two pieces of Go, black and white, are the symbols of yin and yang, so chess pieces are used instead of yarrow."
As the host, Chen Zilu quickly ordered someone to bring the Go chess.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Liu Dalin took out fifty exquisite jade chess pieces, placed them on the ox bone chessboard and began to deduce.
I saw Liu Dalin calmly using his pipe to randomly pick out a piece from the pile of chess pieces and put it next to him. This is the so-called "the number of Dayan is fifty, and its use is ninety-nine". Picking one piece does not resemble Tai Chi, forty-nine symbolizes the world Everything. The pipe is randomly divided into two parts from the middle of the forty-nine chess pieces, with the left as "sky" and the right as "earth". The previous chess piece also symbolizes "human", hanging one to symbolize three, so that heaven and earth , people have all three talents.
Then, Liu Dalin began to count the number of chess pieces in the "sky" on the left. Four pieces were drawn in groups to symbolize the four seasons, and the remaining chess pieces were taken out. After calculating the left side, continue to calculate the "land" on the right, and also set aside the remainder. Then put the chess piece that symbolizes "person" and the removed chess piece together, for a total of five pieces (the number in this step is either five or nine. If not, it means the calculation is wrong). This process is called "change".
Then he mixed the remaining two piles of chess pieces into one, and repeated the previous process, which was called the "second change". In this way, after the "third change", the number of remaining chess pieces was reduced to four to get a line. There are a total of six lines and eighteen changes, and one hexagram can be obtained.
After the third change, Liu Dalin drew a long horizontal line on the rice paper with a brush and said loudly: "Shaoyang."
After a while, he drew two short horizontal lines on the first line and said: "Shaoyin."
As this yin and yang hexagram gradually appeared on the paper, the onlookers couldn't help but feel a cold sweat about the fate of the Ming Dynasty.
"Shaoyang."
"Shaoyin."
"Shaoyin."
After the fifth line came out, the result became clear, and the remaining line was either a yang or a yin. Chen Zizhuang was lucky and thought to himself: "Maybe it's the mountain fire, or it's the middle and upper hexagram."
"Lao Yin."
As Liu Dalin drew the last line, everyone's hearts could not help but feel cold. It turned out to be the thirty-sixth hexagram "Ming Yi" in the "Book of Changes".
Seeing that everyone was silent, Liu Dalin said: "This hexagram only has one Lao Yin in the sixth line. If one line changes, it should be accounted for by the change of the original hexagram. The line says: 'Sixth chapter: It is unclear. It first ascends to the sky, and then enters the sky. "Earth" is the hexagram of "Ming Yi" and "Darkness". The Lord of Darkness is above, and the bright one sees the time of injury."
The hexagram of Ming Yi hexagram is Li at the bottom and Kun at the top. Li represents the day and Kun represents the place. When the sun enters the earth, it cannot shine, as if it has been damaged, so it is called Ming Yi, which is the hexagram of Xia Ping. The meaning of this hexagram in terms of human affairs is that the emperor is above and the ministers are below, unable to display their talents, and the situation is very difficult. As the saying goes, "If you are lucky and unable to walk, you rush to cross the river and demolish the bridge. The benefactor is unjust and resentful. All your efforts are in vain."
In this situation, He Wuzou's face was pale, Yao Tian and Chen Zilu were silent, and Zhao Xunru couldn't help but shed tears. Could it be that God is really going to destroy our Ming Dynasty.
Only Chen Zizhuang still did not give up and said: "There is still room for turning around in this hexagram. If the negative pole is reversed, otherwise it will be peaceful. If the upper line is old Yin, if the upper line is moved, it will become a mountain fire Ben. The poem says: 'Shangjiu: Bai Ben, no blame' , the ambition is achieved. Today, the Holy Emperor ascended the throne at the age of sixteen, executed the eunuchs of Wei, and purified the inner court. He was amidst internal and external troubles every day, working hard and sleeping nightly, and never enjoyed a day of leisure, just to revitalize the Ming Dynasty. There are three books of rites : Heaven and earth are the foundation of life; ancestors are the foundation of species; monarchs and teachers are the foundation of governance. Heaven and earth give birth to gentlemen, and gentlemen govern heaven and earth. Heaven and earth can change but cannot change their positions."
Liu Dalin knew that Chen Zizhuang had already made strong arguments, and said: "Qi Jinggong asked Confucius about the government. Confucius said to him: Lord, minister, father, father, son. In ancient times, the world was the master, the king was the guest, and every king was in his place. The ruler is the ruler of the world. In ancient times, the people of the world loved their ruler, regarded him as their father, and regarded him as the heaven. It is not an exaggeration to be sincere. Today, the ruler is the master, and the world is the guest. Anyone who has no place in the world can find peace. , is the king. When he didn't get it, he slaughtered the livers and brains of the world and separated the children of the world in order to gain my own inheritance. It was not miserable, saying: "I will start a business for my descendants." It's what he got. , break the marrow of the world, separate the children of the world, and take it as a matter of course to serve my one person's lustful pleasures, saying: "This is the flower breath of my inheritance." Today, the people of the world hate their king and regard him as an enemy. He is called a single husband, so he is the greatest harm to the world, and he is just a king."
Chen Zizheng replied righteously and solemnly: "Since ancient times, there has never been a person who was not a real person but a famous minister. As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, I should help the building when it is about to collapse and turn the tide before it falls. Although there are thousands of people, I will go."
Liu Dalin said: "Since Ji Sheng spoke the words of Mencius, you should know that Mencius also said: the people are the most noble, the country is second, and the king is despised. Taizu once read "Mencius" and came across the words of Cao Jie and Kou Qiu, saying that they were not suitable for ministers to speak. After debating their rights and interests, those who issued an edict said it was disrespectful. The world is so big that it cannot be ruled by one person, but it can be divided and ruled by a group of workers. Therefore, my official position is for the world, not for the king, for the ten thousand people, not for one. The surname is also. The governance of the world does not depend on the rise and fall of one surname, but on the joy and sorrow of all people. Those who serve as ministers in the world do not understand this meaning, thinking that ministers are created for the king. The king divides the world and then rules it. The king gives me the The people then shepherd them, treating the people of the world as the private property in the pocket of the king. Now the trouble of the four directions and the haggardness of the people's livelihood are enough to endanger the king, and he has to teach the art of governing and herding. If it is not related to the survival of the country, then the four directions Overwork, the people's livelihood is haggard, even if there are honest ministers, it is also a disease caused by thinness and mustard."
"Meng Liang, you and I are each our masters, no need to say more." After saying that, Chen Zizhuang walked away with a flick of his sleeves.
Seeing this, Chen Zizhuang chased Chen Zizhuang out, and the rest of the people didn't look very good.
Although Liu Dalin had already had a premonition, he didn't want today's gathering to end on an unhappy note, so he had to say to He Wuzuo, Yao Di and Zhao Xunru: "If you, the minister, despise the people's water and fire, you can assist the king and prosper." , to die after obeying the king, it is true that he does not violate the principles of his ministers."
He Wuzou said: "Ji Sheng is an upright person. It is difficult to accept the drastic changes in today's world. Meng Liang should understand him."
Liu Dalin shook his head, with mixed feelings in his heart, and sighed: "It's fate that we met each other. I'll leave you a message, brothers, please do your own thing."
Having said that, he took up his pen and left four words in block letters: Gong Wu crosses the river.
