The Forbidden City, draped in white cloaks, had just been awakened by the first ray of warm sunshine in the morning. The ruling ministers wearing red pythons and beam crowns entered the Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace one after another.
In the Nuan Pavilion, the tea stove is boiling, as if someone is talking tirelessly inside.
Beside a gilt dragon stove not far from the tea stove, Zhu Yijun didn't say a word. He just sat behind the royal eucalyptus, still reading Ye Xianggao's memorial.
Zhu Yijun knew that even in later generations, people would try to show themselves to be higher-level people in various ways, not to mention that this was an era of family and world where there were clans in the countryside and kings and fathers in the government.
Therefore, there is an indispensable issue of respect for Ye Xianggao's reaction.
Zhu Yijun could not deny that he was not important.
Although he came from a later generation and was able to accept that there need not be such a clear distinction between workers, he knew that it would be difficult for people of this era to accept equal treatment between civilians and soldiers.
"It snowed quite a bit last night."
As soon as Zhu Yijun put Ye Xianggao's memorial on the eucalyptus, he saw Shen Shixing and other officials in power had come in, so he said something.
"Your Majesty, yes!"
"The Holy Emperor is in charge of the dynasty, and the world is in great order. Even the sky is more cooperative. When it's time to snow, he is not stingy at all."
After Shen Shixing returned, he smiled and replied.
Zhu Yijun also smiled slightly after hearing this.
The climate in the early Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty was generally normal except for a severe drought in the capital area in the fifteenth year of Wanli year. Therefore, harvests were common and food prices were still relatively low.
But after thirty or forty years, the climate in Ming Dynasty will become weirder year by year.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun did not have enough time to make Ming Dynasty transform easily.
If we really delay the reform until then, more people's blood will only be shed.
Zhu Yijun's ruling ministers naturally did not know that the weather would become colder and drier, and there would be more and more droughts. Now they are enjoying the current peaceful age more peacefully than Zhu Yijun.
Therefore, after Shen Shixing said this, other ministers were also in high spirits and nodded in agreement.
Today, Zhu Yijun summoned these ministers to see him for two things.
One thing is that Ye Xiangshang asked for new etiquette and paid attention to the dignity and inferiority.
One was that Fengyang Governor Cao Yipeng impeached Fengyang Governor Lu Kun, Zhou Bangjie impeached Fujian Governor Jin Xuezeng, and Nanjing Yushi Zeng Qianheng impeached Shen Li, who was transferred from Hanlin to Yingtian as governor of Yingtian, for doing business in the name of the government and competing for profits from the people. .
Zhu Yijun first let these ruling ministers read Ye Xianggao's memorial.
"Tell me, what do you think of Ye Zhuangyuan's advice?"
After seeing these officials, Zhu Yijun spoke with an expression neither happy nor angry.
"absurd!"
Hai Rui said something first, and then asked: "Studying is for the sake of worship?"
Then, Hai Rui, the representative of Neo-Confucianism, stood up and cupped his hands to Zhu Yijun and said: "Your Majesty, the distinction between righteousness and benefit has always been there. Although people have five moral ethics, studying is to become a gentleman who knows etiquette, to become a king like Yao and Shun, and to restrain the desire for profit. With such a heart, how could you regard studying as satisfying your own selfish desires and promoting the prosperity of your family from the beginning, and think that studying should be regarded as a superior person, and as a shining light on the lintel of the family. The dignity of respect and inferiority is not so important! Such utilitarianism is not The gentleman’s way of reading!”
"But Da Sinong still admits that people have dignity and inferiority."
Pan Cheng stood up and retorted to Hai Rui, then cupped his hands to Zhu Yijun and said:
"Your Majesty, I think this statement is quite to the point. Now that the imperial court is discussing new etiquette, it should think about whether scholars should be regarded as the first of the four people, and whether there should be distinctions between superiority and inferiority among compatriots."
"But in my humble opinion, there should be some. The people's wisdom has not yet been enlightened, and they still need to be guided by scholars! In addition, if the court wants to advocate the rule of literature, it should indeed give priority to scholars to set an example. Otherwise, the people of the world may not know what reading is. It’s also a benefit!”
"But at this time, it is indeed no longer as compared to the early days of the country. There are as many scholars as crucian carp crossing the river. That's why we have the government where the officials and gentry all receive food and serve as errands. We can't just prevent some scholars who are only interested in their own wealth from betraying the country by betraying the country. Is the New Deal that has been implemented with great difficulty abolished?"
“It’s easy to abolish this government, but it’s even harder to rebuild it!”
Hai Rui stood up and said.
Shen Shixing laughed at this time: "Nature cannot be abolished. Xie regulates yin and yang. He does not only care about selfish desires but also ignores justice. This will make all gentlemen in the world uneasy."
After Shen Shixing replied, Hai Rui and other officials all nodded.
"Now that there is a huge increase in silver in the world, at least the families of powerful officials and gentry are no longer short of silver, so even working as a servant is just more money. It does not count as forcing them to do hard work, and the disorder of superiority and inferiority is not that serious."
"Even if we have to be exempted from military service in the future, it can only be to reduce or exempt everyone in the world from paying a small amount of silver when the country becomes richer."
Zhu Yijun said something at this time.
Shen Shixing cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is right. But in order to reconcile the upper and lower ranks, we should indeed ease the relationship between the imperial court and Shilin!"
"Since the implementation of the New Deal, in order to bring order to the chaos, the scholars have been treated with too much dignity and not enough kindness. It is inevitable that there is a suspicion of being too righteous, which has increased the resentment of the scholars, so that there have been a large number of cases of scholars treason against the barbarians."
"Nowadays, if we want to implement new national policies, such as relocating people, transporting grain and building roads, they still need to assist the government among the people. Not to mention that court officials are also selected from among them. Even disaster relief and theft capture require their cooperation, and they need to supervise corrupt officials. .”
"In addition, many major events in the future will also require their cooperation. They need to organize the villagers in the name of the clan or encourage the villagers to go out to work or settle down."
After Shen Shixing said that, he lowered his head and waited for Zhu Yijun's judgment.
Zhu Yijun said: "I know that governing a country is inseparable from scholar-bureaucrats. Whether the court and the people can enjoy themselves together, and whether culture can prosper, they will succeed or fail!"
"In the past, in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River, the successful implementation of the system of paying grain and serving errands for officials and gentry was also due to the fact that Hai Aiqing and some loyal people from the south of the Yangtze River understood the difficulties of the court under the persuasion of Master Shen. In addition, the court took the initiative to provide funds to encourage the wealthy people all over the world. Those who seek other benefits can finally implement it smoothly."
"Now, if Master Shen wants to continue to reform the system and bring out the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages, he still needs the cooperation of loyal people in the world and the unity of the top and bottom. The court should provide incentives. The country does need people who are out of work to carry forward the country's culture, make culture and education flourish, and promote The past carries forward the present.”
"I thought about it."
"It's better to do this. First of all, accretionary organisms and epiphytes that cannot be eaten are also allowed to eat, and the food for ordinary people is appropriately improved, and everyone is also allowed to eat. The Ministry of Rites determines the food specifications. It is different from the original exemption. Only the individual is allowed to eat. You can get food on the floor to solve the basic livelihood problems or support one or two families, but you can't merge the fields because of exemptions, and you can get slaves and maids to contribute."
"Secondly, officials are assigned official positions when they are promoted. If you fail to win the election twice in a row, the official position will be assigned by the Ministry of Personnel!"
"Since the elimination of preferential exemptions has caused scholars and tribesmen to not know the value of studying, it is combined with the reality that the imperial court needs to increase its number of bureaucrats!"
"There are additional officials at the town and township level here in the Ministry of Personnel. Those who are appointed to the officials are given the same background as Jinshi, and those with the same background as Jinshi are given the title of Quanxu. Those who are ranked among the Jinshi have a higher starting point and are considered more valuable than those who are promoted."
"In addition, in order to enlighten the people's wisdom and correct the atmosphere as soon as possible, a large number of teaching positions should be added and more schools should be established! The school department should prepare to establish a more complete school system based on the government-run social studies and academies, and even train a large number of teaching officials. Design a number of normal schools for use by academic officials."
"Furthermore, it is not impossible to exempt the whole family from having a small amount of silver. Anyone who is willing to be sent to prison by an official or to serve as an official overseas can be exempted from the whole family. This is to encourage them to go out and make meritorious services to the country."
"Finally, in order to restore the glory of China during the Han and Tang Dynasties! Every member of the family will be given a ninth-grade crown and a crown, and a senior citizen will be given an eighth-grade crown. They can recruit people in the name of the court to go to sea and open up our Ming and Han lands. If they open up a county, they can If you appoint yourself as magistrate, and want to come back, you can ask the court to confer a third-grade hereditary military title and send another official; if you create a large prefecture, you can appoint yourself as magistrate. If you want to come back, you can ask the court to confer a second-grade hereditary military title and send another official. Official; if you open up several large mansions, you can appoint yourself as governor. If you want to come back, you can ask the court to confer a hereditary military title and send another official."
"I don't care that they go out because they really just want to help the barbarian country and serve China. What I care about is that they were favored by the imperial court but remain cowardly and unwilling to go out and make contributions. They only know how to bully the common people of their country and instigate them. The common people fought against the imperial court, but when the imperial army pressed on the border, he betrayed the common people whom he instigated."
