Ji Shu originally thought that the legal system mentioned by Fa Zheng was to formulate new laws to check and balance the aristocratic families. After all, that is what Chu State did, but he did not expect that it was something more fundamental, which was to break away from human rule and establish a legal society.
He did not expect that a modern person would hear an ancient person discussing such philosophical things. If it had been the era when hundreds of schools of thought were contending in the Spring and Autumn Period, this person might have become another representative of the Legalist school similar to Mencius' influence on Confucianism. figure.
Seeing Ji Shu thinking deeply, Fazheng decided to give Ji Shu some hard information.
"Building factories and establishing guilds made the Chu court rich, but they also hid hidden dangers."
"What's the hidden danger?"
Ji Shu frowned slightly, Chu State's current national strength relied on the original New Deal.
"Some poor people now have their own land. Do they want to buy a cow? Some merchants have become rich. Do they want to eat more meat? Weaving factories have been built and clothes have become cheaper. Do they want to buy more clothes? ?”
"Isn't this a good thing?"
Lu Xun on the side couldn't help but interjected.
Fazheng raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said playfully.
"In the past, mountains of gold and silver were piled in the warehouses of aristocratic families. Now that wealth has begun to circulate, haven't you noticed that even if you have money, you may not be able to buy things?"
Ji Shu couldn't help but fell into deep thought after hearing this. There was still some money in the Chu State's treasury, but it was difficult to raise food and grass for this expedition. After all, money is not everything. It cannot be turned into something out of thin air. This is actually because the supply exceeds the demand.
Fazheng continued with a smile.
"These are all business opportunities. I believe that your country's labor union has received many requests from businessmen to expand factories and recruit more workers. Soon, visionary children of aristocratic families will join them, raising more cattle and sheep, building more More factories, more workers, more cloth.”
"What's the problem?"
Lu Xun looked confused.
But Ji Shu was already breaking out in a cold sweat.
too fast!
Sure enough, the revolutionary New Deal would trigger fundamental changes in society.
A very simple question.
Underpopulation.
Raising more cattle and sheep requires larger pastures, building more factories, weaving more cloth, and planting various non-food crops, all of which may rob farmers of their land.
Of course farmers can also work as workers, but the question is, who will farm the land?
Especially in these troubled times and underpopulation, a large number of people engaged in agriculture have transformed into workers! This is no longer a question of whether you are rich or not, whether you have money or not.
Damn it!
I should have discovered this problem long ago.
Ji Shu really wanted to beat himself to death. If he continued not to control it, money would eat people up.
Ji Shuzuo bowed and saluted.
"What the gentleman said made Ziyuan suddenly realize that this matter really needs to be controlled by the imperial court. Does the central system that the gentleman mentioned mean that the imperial court designated national plans?"
National plan?
Fazheng was stunned. It’s a new word I’ve never heard before. He coughed slightly and said.
"Of course this is a part of centralism, but it is not the most central thing. To make my views on centralism clear, we must first distinguish between feudalism."
"The so-called feudal system means that the emperor entrusts land to clan members and meritorious officials, and they each govern the land and protect the emperor. This was the fundamental structure of the country before Qin Shihuang."
"And the central system I want to talk about is actually the centralization of power that Qin Shihuang wanted to achieve. Setting up counties and counties in various places, managed by officials dispatched from the central government, instead of entrusting them to princes and kings, is the central system."
"The Han Dynasty inherited the system of prefectures and counties from the First Emperor, but still divided the members of the clan into princes and kings. Such an incomplete central system was the root cause of frequent feudal rebellions in the Han Dynasty. If Chu State wanted to implement a central system, the first step was to Once you have made a king and a marquis, you can no longer divide the land!"
Lawrence Lu took a breath.
Many generals fought in bloody battles just to be crowned kings and marquises, right? If this is true, the weight of the title will be reduced by half. Lu Xun was shaken and didn't know whether it was good or bad, so he couldn't help but turn his attention to Ji Shu.
"Centralize power, centralize power."
Ji Shu murmured to the two armies and said in a deep voice.
"In this way, a huge imperial court framework will be established. It's okay for the eldest brother to work harder. I'm afraid that a foolish emperor will appear in the future and directly destroy the good foundation left by the eldest brother."
Fazheng didn't expect that Ji Shu had already considered this, and he suddenly smiled.
"No wonder Brother Ji established a college in Daxing and allowed children to study for free for three years. It turned out that he had already thought about centralization. But centralization does not necessarily mean that power cannot be delegated."
Ji Shu was stunned for a moment, then sat upright and said.
"Appreciate further details."
Fazhengze said excitedly as if he had met a close friend.
"What is the most important thing in controlling a country? Military power!"
"As long as the military power is in hand, the emperor is the actual ruler of the country! But why must the emperor govern the world? Isn't it good to leave the power of governance to those scholars who specialize in this?"
Ji Shu and Lu Xun were both dumbfounded. Fa Zheng had previously said that Ji Shu had overstepped the imperial power, but what he said now was even more treasonous.
Fazheng didn't care and continued to talk wildly.
"Governance cannot be done without skills and can be done well by just reading a few books. A complete selection system must be established to select officials from the grassroots to the middle level, and select talents from the middle level to the top. The governance of the country should be left to these professional talents. People govern.”
"Why do we have to train each emperor to become a talented person in governing the country? No matter how good the education of the royal family is, sooner or later a foolish emperor will appear and corrupt the country. If we separate the power of governance from military power, and those ministers cannot manage the country, then the emperor will They will be driven out of power and a new group of people will come to power and govern the country."
"In this way, the emperor does not need to bear the responsibility for the failure of governing the country, but can still control the country. The only thing to do is to establish a set of supervisory agencies responsible to the emperor to supervise all officials for the emperor."
"The emperor no longer needs to be a well-educated statesman, at least he doesn't need to be an uneducated bastard. Wouldn't it be nice to enjoy life and go hunting when you have time?"
Fazheng kept talking, but it left Ji Shu and Lu Xun speechless.
After a long time, Ji Shu finally spoke.
"Yes, yes. I had already intended to advise my eldest brother before he entered the throne, to reduce the fief rewards of titles and strengthen the power of the central government, but I was far from having a mature idea like Mr. Sir. Have a good rest and wait until you return to Jian. Yes, I will introduce you to your elder brother."
This time, Ji Shu was truly convinced. He stood up and said goodbye with a deep bow.
Fazheng also got up and saw him off until he was outside the house.
