By the time the Jinling Conference began, many scholars from all over the city had gathered in Nanjing.
So that all the inns were full.
Even many private houses have been temporarily occupied.
And at this time, some scholars were already spontaneously arguing and giving speeches. The debates about feudalism and the county system, as well as the debate between monarchy and civil rights, were very lively.
There were some who couldn't resist using force, but fortunately, because the emperor was in Nandu, security in the patrol camp was very tight. After catching a few fighting soldiers, not many people dared to directly change the civil fight into a physical fight.
And wait until the day when the conference begins.
Naturally more scholars came.
There is almost no open space in the entire city of Nanjing, and it is filled with people.
It can be said that this Jinling Conference is really an unprecedented event, and it is destined to be recorded in history.
After all, previous cultural gatherings were only hosted by local officials and gentry, but this time it was directly hosted by the emperor.
No one wants to serve Jun Yao and Shun and realize their personal ideals.
Whether this ideal is to achieve personal fame and wealth or to achieve permanent peace and order in the world.
On this day, Zhu Youxiao first worshiped the Xiaoling Mausoleum, then set up a forum in the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and ordered all the scholars here to elect representatives to come to the imperial court to argue.
The place where Zhu Youxiao is located is on the first floor. There are guards all around the balcony and on the steps.
In addition, the tower has a special royal road leading to the outside world, and the royal road is also full of guards.
Without the emperor's announcement, naturally no one could go up to the tower or enter the royal road.
After Zhu Youxiao came to the balcony and sat down on the temporary dragon chair, he ordered the retinue officials and representatives of workers and farmers from Xuanlai to sit down at the designated position in front of the emperor.
Not long after, the scholars also selected the representatives of the scholars who would come to the imperial court to make suggestions, and these people were also announced to the imperial court.
And when the elected scholars came to Zhu Youxiao, Zhu Youxiao said: "The reason why I chose Xiaoling to hold the Jinling Conference and listen to your so-called folk voices is that I want you to speak in front of Taizu In front of you, you can speak freely and cannot tell lies! Do you understand?"
"Students will understand!"
These scholars replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao said: "Then let's start speaking. After the speaker has finished speaking, opponents or supporters can raise their hands to speak without interrupting!"
"According to the order!"
Then, the first person to speak out was Huang Zongxi.
Huang Zongxi was still a little nervous when he saw Emperor Zhu Youxiao staring at him, but when he saw many scholars from his side standing outside the window looking at him expectantly, he mustered up a lot of courage and looked at Zhu Youxiao. He cupped his hands and replied:
"Your Majesty, I request you on behalf of all the people to change the system of the Ming Dynasty, select great scholars to come to the capital, establish laws for the world, limit the imperial power, and give freedom to the people, so that the Ming Dynasty can truly become the Ming Dynasty of the people!"
After Huang Zongxi said that, the scene was silent.
Zhu Youxiao, Lu Xiangsheng, Wen Tiren and others only raised the corners of their mouths slightly.
However, when the attendant who was responsible for the sound transmission spread Huang Zongxi's words, many scholars outside began to get excited.
"Okay! Mr. Lizhou finally made our voices heard before the emperor!"
"Mr. Lizhou is so brave!"
"Mr. Lizhou is mighty!"
There were cheers outside.
Zhu Youxiao could hear it from the balcony.
At this time, Gu Yanwu raised his hand: "I want to refute Huang Lizhou's words!"
Zhu Youxiao nodded in agreement.
So, Gu Yanwu stood up and said: "The great Confucian does not have the qualifications to represent the people of the world, and the laws he makes are not the laws of the world! Water has its source, and trees have roots. The Ming Dynasty can only have one powerful king. Once there are two, there will be chaos. Chaos, so limiting the power of the king will only have the effect of dividing the power of the king, and dividing the power of the king will only allow the powerful to exploit the people at will without restraint!"
Huang Zongxi replied: "We restrict the power of the monarch not to exploit the people without restraint!"
"If you say you don't want to exploit, you won't exploit. If you weren't the sole monarch, would the most powerful people in the world listen to you?"
Gu Yanwu asked rhetorically.
Huang Zongxi was speechless for a moment.
"Your Majesty, we just don't want the king to increase the amount of troops without restraint and compete for the interests of the people without restraint!"
Lu Weishu stood up and said at this time.
"You don't need to restrict such a king. The people of the world will rebel. In addition, I have to tell you, Mr. Lizhou, even if you restrict the power of the king, you will not be able to prevent the most powerful group of people from colluding together to seize profits from the people. Execute harsh governance and extort money from the people."
Gu Yanwu then concluded: "In short, restricting the power of the monarch now will not only facilitate a group of people to exploit the people without restraint, but it will not do anything to restrict the people's interests from being exploited!"
"well said!"
"With the emperor's power limited, who can control their powerful people?"
"If the emperor is stronger, these corrupt officials can restrain themselves. If the emperor is weak, they can destroy families and destroy families!"
When Gu Yanwu's words came out, the scholars outside who supported Gu Yanwu also actively cheered.
It makes it even noisier outside.
Naturally, those scholars who hoped to limit the power of the monarch and make society more liberal were very angry when they saw this.
Many liberal scholars have even clenched their fists. In their eyes, these scholars who oppose them are simply a group of idiots who cannot be educated!
At this time, Huang Zongxi didn't know what to say. He didn't expect that his proposal to limit the monarch's power would be so rebuffed that he couldn't reply. Many people even supported what Gu Yanwu said.
"Whether the monarch's power is limited or not can be left aside for the time being, but restoring the feudal system, allowing local autonomy, and allowing local sages to choose their own governors will be beneficial to people's livelihood! It will not make local bureaucrats only focus on enriching themselves!"
Lu Fu, who came with Huang Zongxi, said something at this time.
"The Rebellion of the Seven Kings during the Han Dynasty and the Rebellion of the Vassal Towns at the end of the Tang Dynasty. Didn't the harm caused by feudalism be small?! Even this dynasty has had similar examples!"
At this time, Guizhuang asked directly.
Lu Fu glanced at Guizhuang quite depressedly: "This won't work, that won't work either. Should we maintain the status quo?"
"That's right, just maintain the status quo! Managing a big country is like cooking fresh food. If it doesn't change, you can live in peace for one, two, or even three or five generations, but even if it doesn't change, it will cause chaos!"
He returned to the village and said.
"At the beginning of this dynasty, the imperial power did not extend to the counties, and the local governments were governed by the township magnates. But now why not let the township magnates take care of local government affairs themselves? Will the local township magnates still cause harm to the local area?"
Wan Weishu asked.
"That's right! The local squires really think that there are not many businesses that can harm the local area and make a living for the people! Who doesn't know that all the squires in the world are good and bad, and their relationship with the government is complicated. Therefore, it is difficult to represent public opinion against the government, and even the bad ones use power for personal gain. , colluding with the government, or even coercing the government, harming the people together, and allowing them to govern themselves, there is only one consequence, and that is to force the people to rebel, and then the court has to come to quell the chaos and appease them!"
Return to the village and continue to reply.
Zhu Youxiao, Lu Xiangsheng, Wen Tiren and others looked at each other and smiled.
They found that these Jiangnan scholars really couldn't agree with each other, and the liberal scholars obviously couldn't compete with the scholars who supported the autocratic monarchy in terms of governing the country.
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