Guangzhou's government office is where the original Imperial Palace of the Southern Han Dynasty was located. It is located in the center of Guangzhou City and covers a very large area, far larger than ordinary state government offices. Although the area is a bit vast, this place has been the center of Guangzhou (Panyu, Nanhan County) since Zhao Tuo established the Nanyue Kingdom. I haven’t moved my home in more than a thousand years, what a great Feng Shui treasure!
Therefore, after the Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Han Dynasty, Guangzhou Prefectural Government was placed here.
After Zhao Chen came to Guangzhou, he also placed his prince's residence here... Sure enough, he changed from prince to king in a short time. It seems that the feng shui of this place is indeed excellent.
Nowadays, there are many auspicious things in various places in Guangdong and Guangxi. Sometimes there are twin ears of grass, sometimes there are sweet springs coming out of the ground, sometimes there are jade stones falling from the sky, sometimes there are books hidden in the belly of fish, and now there are white elephants and auspicious animals from overseas countries entering the palace.
In short, all kinds of auspiciousness emerge in endlessly!
All these auspicious signs were sent to Zhao Chen's palace on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month in the ninth year of Hongwu.
Zhao Chen roped in Zhao Huan, who had abdicated, and invited a group of experts, including Li Qingzhao, Lu Benzhong, Li Tong, Cheng Duanzhong, Shao Pu, etc., plus a group of civil and military officials to identify whether these auspicious signs were true or false? If it is true, we need to study what exactly this auspicious sign means?
I have experienced the double ear of Hesheng. It is indeed a rare species and it is very magical!
The place where Ganquan comes out is in Conghua Town, north of Panyu County, Guangzhou. Geng Nanzhong and Li Gang went to see it together. It is indeed a sweet spring, and it is still warm. Two old men, Geng Nanzhong and Li Gang, also took a bath in the sweet spring. It was so refreshing!
The jade stones dropped from the sky, the white elephants paid tribute by foreign countries, and the books in the fish belly were all brought to Zhao Chen's palace for everyone to study together.
Among them, the jade stone dropped from the sky is a large white marble stele, with six characters engraved on it: "The Emperor of the South comes out, and Tianli prospers"... which are the same characters tattooed on the book in the fish belly.
Such a big piece of white marble fell from the sky, but it didn't break. It didn't even break a corner. This is an incredible miracle!
So this auspiciousness must be true!
Since auspiciousness is real, then the six words "Southern Emperor comes out and heavenly principles prosper" that appear together with auspiciousness must also be God's will.
And the white elephant that was paid tribute by foreign countries is said to come from the extreme south... yes, it is the precious Antarctic elephant! This Antarctic elephant is all pure white and looks powdery. The powder will fall off after taking a few steps, which is very magical. What's even more amazing is that both tusks are engraved with characters. The one on the left is engraved with "Southern Emperor comes out" and the one on the right is engraved with "Tianli Xing".
After everyone watched carefully, they all agreed that this elephant was the legendary Antarctic elephant, which is extremely rare!
It must be God's will that such a rare auspicious beast came to Guangzhou from the far south, so this auspicious beast must be real.
Since the auspicious beast is real, the words on the teeth of the auspicious beast must also be part of the auspiciousness, it is God's will!
As for the collection of books in the belly of the fish...because there are many of them, everyone is now getting a copy and studying there!
"It's true!" The great scholar Lu Benzhong was the first to come to the conclusion. He carefully read the "book collection" countless times, placed it respectfully on the table in front of him, and looked at the two books sitting side by side. Zhao Huan and Zhao Chen, who were sitting on the throne, cupped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, your Majesty, I can see that this book is indeed made by heaven. It is indeed a book from heaven and is not a forgery."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty," Cheng Duanzhong spoke for the second time, and also gave a positive answer, "This thing is indeed auspicious, and it is definitely not man-made!"
Shao Pu was the third to give the certification, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I also believe that this fish belly book is indeed God's will!"
Li Qingzhao also smiled and said: "This thing is indeed God's will! God's will is difficult..."
Li Tong finally nodded, "Yes, this is indeed God's will... The emergence of the Southern Emperor and the prosperity of Heavenly principles are God's will!"
The five great scholars have completed the certification and reached a unanimous opinion...the auspiciousness is all true! And the emergence of the Southern Emperor and the prosperity of heaven are also the intentions of God!
Zhao Chen nodded without comment, then turned his gaze to the important ministers on the other side, and said with a smile: "What do you think, sir?"
The great scholars are professionals in the study of auspiciousness, and they all gave unanimous opinions. Of course, the ministers would not raise objections... Besides, everyone knows what the purpose of these auspiciousnesses is? Moreover, the current Southern Song Dynasty exile group must also take advantage of these auspiciousness to further push Confucianism into Confucianism, and then use Confucianism to gather and maintain the hearts and minds of the troops scattered throughout the south.
Although this method deviates from the original intention of Confucianism, it is really a last resort... Because if you don't push Confucianism towards religion, it will be really difficult for Confucianism to go to sea. Even if you go to sea, it will not be possible. The method is to fight against Buddhism, Tianfang Religion and Brahmanism which are widely popular in Tiannan countries.
Moreover, it is impossible for Zhao Chen to abandon Confucianism, because Confucianism has a "feudal version" and Confucianism has the banner of "restoring rites". The etiquette that Confucianism wants to restore is the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty. It is actually a feudal hierarchical order and is used to maintain the feudal etiquette of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
If he abandons Confucianism and adopts Legalism, which is popular with later generations, then Zhao Chen will not be able to implement low-cost "garrison feudalism" in various parts of Tiannan... This kind of "garrison feudalism" is actually "Western Zhou Dynasty feudalism"!
Moreover, Legalism does not touch on the "ultimate issue" and does not teach much. It also advocates equality... Legalism advocates that "laws are not noble, ropes are not bent, and punishments are not hierarchical." Of course, they also oppose the distinction between states.
Of course equality is good, but for a semi-feudal and semi-colonial empire, if there are no national privileges, then the numerically disadvantaged nations will be overwhelmed by the numerically superior "savages"... If If something like this happens, this semi-feudal and semi-colonial empire will be gone!
The Han people who followed Zhao Chen out to sea would become nourishment for the natives of the southern countries and help them develop and progress.
Therefore, Zhao Chen must now hold high the two Confucian banners of "Tianli" and "Fuli", use "Tianli" to educate, and use "Fuli" to determine the feudal order.
Even if the ministers who understand Zhao Chen and their own situation no longer agree with "natural principles" and "restoration of rites" (Confucian ministers all oppose the restoration of Zhou rites and prefer to use the Qin system), they have no choice but to support Zhao Chen now - if Zhao Chen can To successfully establish a semi-feudal and semi-colonial empire, these people must be "princes", and they finally live like what they hate the most.
But there is no way...
Seeing that the ministers also expressed their support one by one, Zhao Chen looked back at his father Zhao Huan.
Zhao Huan looks much better now than when he was an official! In the more than three months since he stepped down, he has been very happy. He does not live in Guangzhou city. Instead, he takes a group of concubines to Baiyun Mountain and lives a life more carefree than a god.
If it weren't for the Chinese New Year, he wouldn't even go down the mountain.
Seeing the look in his son's eyes, Zhao Huan just smiled and said: "Of course the auspiciousness is true... because the Southern Emperor must come out and the heavenly principles must prevail. But who is the Southern Emperor? What are the heavenly principles?"
Zhao Chen smiled and said: "Father, who do you think will be the Southern Emperor, and what is the law of heaven?"
Zhao Huan was a "giant scholar" of his generation, so he could certainly answer this question, "The one who can establish the principles of heaven is the Southern Emperor! And to establish the principles of heaven, one must know the principles of heaven... Your third uncle advocates the investigation of things and the principles of exhaustion, and the need to understand the talents of all things." Know the principles of nature. And we believe that the principles of heaven are in the heart. Only when the principles of heaven are in the heart, the principles of heaven will be with me."
"I understand!" Zhao Chen nodded and said with admiration, "Then how should we establish the law of heaven?"
Zhao Huan pointed at the five great scholars present and said, "Ask them!"
Zhao Chen turned to look at Li Qingzhao, Lu Benzhong, Li Tong, Cheng Duanzhong, Shao Pu and the other five, and said with a smile: "Five gentlemen, can you give me some advice?"
Lu Benzhong was now the leader of these great Confucian scholars and became Zhao Chen's teacher, so he was the first to answer: "Your Majesty, I believe that if you want to establish the laws of heaven, you must establish Confucianism, and then worship heaven and convert the barbarians, then you can achieve great prosperity." Heavenly law.”
What he said, if translated into human language, is to establish an organized Confucianism, then respect the laws of heaven, and then use the name of heaven to educate the barbarians... The so-called enlightenment means to make the barbarians respect heaven and observe etiquette, that is, Accept the beliefs and rules of China, slowly move from barbarians to Xia, and become part of China.
This line is somewhat similar to Zhao Kai’s “scientific Confucianism”, but the core of “Confucianism” is faith, while the core of “scientific Confucianism” is rationality.
However, the levels and rules they want to maintain are relatively close. They can also be regarded as the "popular version" and the "elite version" of the same Confucianism. The "Popular Edition" is convenient for external communication, while the "Elite Edition" is a bit niche and is just used to cultivate elites and promote technological progress.
Zhao Chen nodded and asked again: "The Gu family is planning to establish Confucianism, respect the principles of heaven, and educate the barbarians... Now that the auspiciousness is coming to Gu, does it mean that God is sending a great responsibility to Gu?"
"This is exactly what God wants!" Lu Benzhong said, "I ask your Majesty to quickly proclaim himself Emperor of the South and revive Confucianism as the study of saints and establish the foundation for all generations!"
That’s it!
As soon as he took the lead, the great scholars and ministers below him immediately followed.
"I respectfully invite the king to obey the will of heaven, proclaim himself the Southern Emperor, promote Confucianism, pass on unique learning, and promote the principles of heaven..."
Seeing that the ministers were unanimous, Zhao Chen turned to look at his father Zhao Huan. Zhao Huan sighed. He knew that Zhao Chen was betting... that Zhao Kai would not send troops to attack Zhao Chen, the Southern Emperor, for the time being. In this way, Zhao Chen could make a time difference and take advantage of the navy and firearms to quickly establish many territories in Tiannan.
By that time, even if Zhao Kai wanted to destroy the Southern Emperor, he would be beyond his reach!
Thinking of this, Zhao Huan could only nod his head and said: "It is God's will that my eldest brother should become the Southern Emperor... God's will is irreversible and cannot be violated, otherwise it will be harmed. So you should follow the advice of the ministers and choose an auspicious day to ascend the throne first. Proclaim yourself emperor and establish a religion!"
When Zhao Chen heard this, he immediately stood up and saluted Zhao Huan: "My son, I respectfully give your Majesty's decree!"
