When you are free, time flies by.
Before we knew it, it was the New Year's Eve festival in the seventh year of Wanli.
The ancients attached great importance to the New Year's Eve, and basically held a lantern festival starting from the 13th day of the first lunar month, making it very lively.
Since the Song Dynasty, the most famous event during the Lantern Festival has been the Aoshan Fireworks and Lantern Festival.
Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng also had differences over whether the Aoshan Fireworks and Lantern Festival should continue to be held.
According to Zhang Juzheng's opinion, the Aoshan Fireworks and Lantern Festival is very expensive and should be abolished rather than extravagant.
Mainly because Confucianism originally advocates frugality.
As the "Analects of Confucius" says: "The Master is gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and gives in to get it. What the Master seeks is different from what others seek."
Frugality is one of the five virtues advocated by Confucianism.
Therefore, not only Zhang Juzheng, but also many famous officials in history have a governing philosophy of advocating frugality and restraining luxury. This has led to many local officials in history prohibiting people from entertainment and prohibiting the establishment of temples in the name of upholding the imperial style. Social drama.
Of course, there is also the fear of people gathering together to cause trouble.
In short, many bureaucrats and scholar-officials do not advocate that people have their own entertainment life.
Even many scholar-bureaucrats still advocate the strict prohibition of people's entertainment. Even if they are capable ministers and good officials, because of their own class and the influence of the knowledge they have learned, they are more inclined to advocate that people should be educated by Confucianism, understand the five ethics and five virtues, and work hard in farming and weaving. It is not appropriate to set up a temple for obscenity or worship extravagance, which will ruin the moral standard.
It's just that many bureaucrats and scholar-officials find it difficult to do this on their own.
Including Zhang Juzheng himself, he believed in frugality in his thinking and was very strict in running his family. He never allowed his children to compete for wealth or extravagance.
But it was difficult for him to do this.
Not to mention other scholar-bureaucrats.
Therefore, many bureaucrats and scholar-officials advocate frugality and prohibit luxury, but only the common people are prohibited from doing so.
The same goes for Zhang Juzheng. Although he also indulged in sensuality and pursued luxury in his life. For example, according to the historical recollection of Lu Shusheng, who served as the official minister of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng would change his clothes four times for one meal, but he was indeed ideologically Advocating frugality.
Zhu Yijun was asked several times in history to be frugal and reduce palace consumption.
"Your Majesty, since Longqing, we have provided entertainment for the New Year's Eve every year. It is useless to waste money, so the new policy should be economical."
Zhang Juzheng also said this to Zhu Yijun at this time.
Zhu Yijun said: "But now that the national funds are abundant, what's more, the Yi'ao Mountain Fireworks and Lantern Festival does not cost much money, but what it brings is that it can make the people happier and the commodity trade can be more developed. And taxation is undoubtedly This will also increase income. More importantly, it can benefit the people and increase their income."
"Your Majesty! It is enough for the imperial court to alleviate the hardships of the common people, so why should we blindly help them become as wealthy as the gentry?"
"The first thing in governing the country is to enrich the country, and the second is to strengthen the army, so that the ancestral temple, the country, and the country can be long-term and stable, and benefiting the people is just incidental."
"Your Majesty is now aiming to enrich the people, which is not a good strategy for herdsmen."
"Because people have no need, once they are rich, they will seek wealth, and once they are rich, they will seek peace. Therefore, if Your Majesty does not uphold frugality to suppress people's desires, it will be difficult to satisfy everyone's desires, and the country will not be safe. "
Zhang Juzheng started talking at this time and said: "Perhaps your Majesty should read "Han Feizi" and "Book of Shang Jun" again, instead of just Tongjian!"
Shen Lizheng, who was in charge of daily living at the side, quickly recorded the conversation between Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng. After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, he suddenly raised his head and looked at the chief assistant who was also his teacher in surprise.
He obviously also realized that the emperor really had a conflict with his first assistant Zhang Juzheng on the philosophy of governing the country.
Zhu Yijun also knew that Zhang Juzheng, who studied both Confucianism and Legalism, had been restructuring and educating himself from the perspective of safeguarding the interests of the entire ruling class of the Ming Dynasty. He was not really on the side of the common people and was really bent on making the common people live a happy life. A happy life.
Zhu Yijun was not surprised by this.
Because Zhang Juzheng's restructuring was really just to ensure that the Ming Dynasty could survive for a long time and the country could maintain long-term stability.
Therefore, when Zhang Ju was carrying out reforms such as clearing land ownership, he used a persuasive tone to persuade the big landowners of this era to "spend a hundred percent of their savings to make up for the years of poverty."
Moreover, when expressing the purpose of his reform in front of Zhu Yijun, Zhang Juzheng only said: "I will make use of my strength throughout my life to help the descendants of the Miao descendants." That is, he just wanted to make his life easier in the future and to be favored by future generations of kings.
It is not about enriching the people of the world, and really freeing the people of the world from the oppression of the landlord class.
As the emperor, Zhu Yijun naturally could not say that Zhang Juzheng was wrong in thinking this way.
And he could not ask Zhang Juzheng, as a member of the scholar-bureaucrat, to be truly enlightened enough to seek happiness for the common people all over the world.
But Zhu Yijun was an emperor, a representative of the big landowners of this era, and the acres of land occupied by his imperial estate proved this; but he was also a person from later generations who had received more than ten years of education.
He knows more theoretical knowledge about social sciences than Zhang Juzheng, and he knows that people cannot really be treated like cattle and horses. In addition, it is impossible to really expect that a short period of reform can completely end the increase in entropy.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun only asked Zhang Juzheng at this time: "Sir, do you think that if you don't obey the people's desire for wealth and honor, the people's desire for wealth and honor will disappear and cease to exist?"
"Your Majesty, of course it exists."
"But Your Majesty should use the thoughts of the people of the world to implement a system that pursues wealth and honor, and captures the hearts of the people of the world, that is, the current imperial examination, and encourages the people to read the books of saints and follow the path of career."
"In addition, the imperial examinations were used to make the scholars among the common people only know orthodox knowledge, and thus only know loyalty and integrity. Instead of obeying the people's thoughts and seeking welfare for them, they even did not hesitate to rob the rich and give to the poor."
Zhang Juzheng replied.
Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "That's right, sir."
"But even so, because the population is increasing, there will still be more and more wealthy people, and more and more people are pampered, but the land of Kyushu is limited!"
"Sir, I feel that if things continue like this, if a king only knows how to control the people and does not think about increasing the income of the people and increasing production for the society, won't there be more refugees in the Ming Dynasty, and there won't be more refugees who will become bandits, or even Sitting there?"
Zhang Juzheng raised his eyes and glanced at Zhu Yijun in surprise.
Shen Li also glanced at Zhu Yijun.
Zhang Juzheng then said calmly: "Your Majesty is very worried, but it is just that one generation can only serve the interests of one generation. Your Majesty should leave future problems to his descendants, and there is no need to waste the country for the benefit of the people at the moment. Well, after all, the imperial court should prepare enough national funds to meet unexpected needs. What's more, there will be major events such as King Lu's leaving the cabinet, crossing the sea to fight against the Japanese, etc., which will cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, so frugality is necessary."
“You don’t have to be frugal on this!”
"The Aoshan Fireworks and Lantern Festival costs tens of thousands of silver? And as far as I know, a famous prostitute was rewarded more than hundreds of thousands of taels by the powerful gentry in one night."
"Some scholar-bureaucrats spend tens of thousands of taels of silver a year on raising a famous concubine, especially those who raise a rich concubine."
"Since we must advocate frugality and prohibit extravagance, we should make these powerful and powerful gentry prohibit extravagance and advocate frugality."
"First of all, it is forbidden to buy and sell women, it is forbidden to open brothels, and even antique tours in restaurants are prohibited!"
"Also, extravagant expenses should be heavily taxed."
“In this way, we can be considered as truly restraining luxury and advocating frugality.”
As Zhu Yijun spoke, he asked Zhang Juzheng: "What do you think, sir?"
Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but be startled, and was speechless for a moment: "Your Majesty."
(End of chapter)
