"Your Majesty, according to the latest telegram report, the fleet has left Goa for a month."
Liu Hongxun replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded, and then said: "The same applies to this dynasty. If we want the clan to survive forever, Tai Abu Yi must also allow the Han people in the world to be superior in front of others, which is equivalent to buying them off!"
"Governing a country with the profit mechanism as the leading factor is always easier to impress people and better implemented than with the moral mechanism as the leading factor!"
"And I am now counting on the new trade expansion and colonial expansion brought about by the voyage to the West, which will bring more benefits to all Han people and even the entire Eastern Confucian civilization, so as to protect my imperial power!"
"Your Majesty said so."
Liu Hongxun replied, and added: "Before Bi Gong proposed the concept of governing the country by faith, most people advocated governing the country by etiquette and taking moral mechanisms as the leading factor. Therefore, they asked the emperor to respect virtue and be benevolent, saying: If he is upright, he will not be ordered to do anything. OK!"
"However, looking at ancient and modern times, there are very few people who are wise and considerate!"
Liu Hongxun and Bi Ziyan had different priorities in governing the world.
Bi Ziyan, who was engaged in money law reform, paid more attention to solving domestic conflicts through economic means.
That is, through external expansion, to continue the existing peaceful and prosperous age of the empire.
Liu Hongxun was born in the Imperial Academy and had been outside the court's practice for a long time. He had the opportunity to observe the social ecology of the entire Ming Dynasty with a cold eye, and thus developed the habit of paying more attention to internal improvements.
At this time, Liu Hongxun continued: "Even if a person with a sense of shame wants to restrain himself mentally, it is difficult to restrain himself in terms of material enjoyment;"
"For this reason, in the past dynasties, although the kings restrained themselves and rejuvenated the country, it was difficult to avoid the poverty of the people and the country, which only enriched the world's powerful. But now the court uses benefits to win the hearts of the people of the world, but it has made the country stronger and the people richer. .”
"But in my opinion, the education of benevolence and virtue cannot be neglected because of this. Although the interest mechanism can restrain people's hearts better than the moral mechanism, it is necessary to promote some positive moral education; some morals have been promoted for a long time. It will be observed, and then it will become public order and good customs, and even correct our Han civilization, just like the spirit of the contract. In this way, although there will be no short-term results, it will help our Han civilization continue to exist in the world."
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao agreed quite a bit and said: "That makes sense! Aiqing can try to do this. In addition to the law, set some moral rules that do not involve serious mistakes, and determine the punishment for the offenders, because it is just a violation of the law. Morality is not considered a crime, so it is not necessary to be punished with halving, execution, exile, etc., but only fines, detention, forced labor, whipping and other punishments should be imposed."
"yes!"
Liu Hongxun replied.
Zhu Xieyuan and Wen Tiren couldn't help but feel nervous after hearing this, and glanced at Liu Hongxun.
In their opinion, the emperor's decision to let Liu Hongxun do this undoubtedly gave the chief minister an additional power, which was the power to establish some rules in the name of moral construction.
Both of them could guess that in the future, in the Ming Dynasty society with Liu Hongxun as the chief assistant, the life of rentiers would be even more difficult.
I'm afraid it's not just a matter of not being able to serve others.
Maybe some famous public figures will be subject to stricter control because of their poor personal ethics, and may even be less free than civilians!
As a result, many rentiers will have to remain humble and not dare to break their promises because of the constraints of some moral rules.
Naturally, behaviors such as shoddy goods, slandering historical heroes for the sake of profit, and abandoning the useless wife for the sake of profit, which are caused by the rapid development of the commodity economy, must be controlled.
Instead of being punished for non-criminal crimes as before, in this era of great changes, while a prosperous economy is being created, the ills that are occurring at the same time cannot be curbed.
Of course, there is no doubt that doing so will offend people.
After all, in the past, scholar-bureaucrats only asked the emperor to set an example, pay attention to his words and deeds, and restrain himself. Now you, Liu Hongxun, are better off asking the scholar-bureaucrats all over the world to do the same. Isn't this embarrassing?
"I have been ordered by the emperor to establish a moral treaty for the world, so I decided to temporarily draw up a few rules and order the gentry and officials in the world to abide by them, so as to set an example for the four people and promote civilization."
Therefore, Liu Hongxun talked about the moral construction in the next court meeting he presided over, and said: "The first article: restricting gentry from taking concubines to curb the trend of lewdness and increase the number of Han people. As far as I know, , many scholar-bureaucrats, even when they are very old, are married to one wife on the left and the other on the right. By doing this, how can the family tradition not be defeated, and how can the scholarly tradition not be weakened?!"
After speaking, Liu Hongxun said: "Bi Gong once had a proposal to improve the status of Han women, arguing that all Han people, regardless of gender, are noble, but now they have not discussed it. If there is any new policy, it is just to strictly implement what Your Majesty has already said. There is a ban on foot binding and a ban on infant abandonment!”
"Now, according to the servant's wishes, we have to add an order restricting concubinage, so that more Han women can be the first couple. Anyone with merit and fame should keep themselves clean. From now on, no more than three concubines are allowed, one is the right wife and two are the first. It’s enough to have three concubines and six people to have children!”
"In addition, you are not allowed to take concubines after seventy years! Those who already have this number or more than this number, or those who are over the age, are not allowed to take concubines. If they take concubines after this, their debauchery will be recorded in the archives, and they will be left in the history of the future. , and may not even be promoted or become an official; in severe cases, he may be dismissed from his post, or even be handed over to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for review and conviction!”
As soon as they heard this, the civil servants who participated in the court meeting reacted greatly.
"How can there be such a rule! It's common sense that a man loves his concubine, so why do you have to take care of it?! This is simply an abuse of the power granted to you by the emperor!"
Li Juesi, the Minister of Rites, said angrily on the spot.
"That is, the common people who dare to love can take concubines at will, but the scholar-bureaucrats have to be restricted. In this case, where are the nobles?"
Liu Yuliang, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, also objected.
"The value of a scholar lies in his integrity, his high virtue, and his frugality! It does not lie in his abundant land, wealth, and concubines!"
Liu Hongxun replied.
Senior civil servants such as Li Juesi and Liu Yuliang found it difficult to accept this.
Xiang Yuxuan, the young minister of Dali Temple, could not help but complain to himself at this time: "The chief ministers of our court are really more hateful than the last! Before, we were just strict in governing, but now it's better, we even control how many concubines the scholar-bureaucrats have!"
After Xiang Yuxuan thought of this, he couldn't help but sarcastically said: "According to this, doesn't Yuan Fu want to establish regulations to prohibit the gentry from divorcing their wives at will? Otherwise, if the number of concubines is not enough, there will be no fear of the gentry divorcing their wives. Will changing wives again mess up the scholarly style?!"
"That's right! The second rule I'm going to draw up is that from now on, husbands are not allowed to divorce their wives at will. Divorce or divorce must be agreed by both men and women, and the government approves it! This is to benefit the population and the reputation of the people!"
Liu Hongxun replied.
"Gensuke, you are corrupting Tsunasu!"
Li Juesi couldn't help but slap the table and said something loudly to Liu Hongxun, and then asked Liu Hongxun: "Even divorce and divorce must be approved by the government, so where is the husband's relationship?!"
7017k
