"Brother, you?" Zhu Su looked at the eldest brother Zhu Biao in front of him in surprise.
"You are just guessing. In 'history', you and Xiongying were also given by civil servants..."
"Fifth brother. You once told me that as a prince, you should put 'the interests of the country as your first priority.'" Zhu Biao did not answer directly, but poured himself a cup of tea.
"Brother, the more I think about this sentence, the more I find it to have infinite charm."
"Previously, I was taught by my teachers that to be a benevolent king, I need to respect Confucianism and follow the rules. If I have to be benevolent, filial, propriety and righteousness, then the world will naturally be governed."
"But later, my father asked me to watch him govern the country, and I found that the methods he used were quite cruel and inconsistent with the scriptures and meanings taught by the masters. My father was the founder of the country, and it cannot be said that it is unclear. But why did he use such methods to govern the country? It's completely different from what Master said, and I always don't think about the explanation, brother."
Zhu Su nodded and continued to listen to Zhu Biao's words. In the past, Lao Zhu was busy conquering the world, and his cultural level was not high, so he spent a lot of effort to invite many world-famous Confucians to teach Zhu Biao. But how can those great scholars govern the country? What they know how to do is just talk about "benevolence, justice, etiquette and wisdom" and "teaching people with virtue" in a general way.
As an emperor, Lao Zhu was decisive in killing and ruling the world. The Confucian standard of "benevolent king" that Zhu Biao was instilled in was naturally very different from that of a hero like Lao Zhu.
Zhu Biao raised his neck and drank the tea soup, and then said: "This matter has troubled me for several years. When I asked the master, the master was silent and only said that I should be a benevolent king in the future. When I asked my father, he could not explain the reason and only told me that as an emperor It’s not a matter of benevolence. But I still don’t understand how to weigh it. It wasn’t until you told me to ‘put national interests as the first priority’ that I found a yardstick.”
"There is nothing wrong with being a benevolent king. If you are a benevolent king, then the world will be at home and the people will naturally live in peace. But there is nothing wrong with being as cruel as my father did. Being a king is not just about benevolence and righteousness. Sometimes you should also use some thunder. As long as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for the country, even if the monarch is arbitrary, it is not a bad idea."
"Good!" Zhu Biao said these words, and Zhu Su couldn't help but stand up. He straightened the sleeves of his robe slightly, bowed to Zhu Biao with his back straight, and said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has realized something in his heart. I would like to congratulate His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and congratulate the Ming Dynasty!"
No wonder Zhu Su couldn't be moved. Zhu Biao is the future of the Ming Dynasty. His changes in temperament can produce earth-shaking changes to the Ming Dynasty court and even the entire Chinese history. Although Zhu Biao was considered a qualified successor in history, his governing philosophy actually conflicted with that of Lao Zhu.
According to historical records, Zhu Biao "always wanted to implement policies that were tolerant and easy for the people, but in the end it was often difficult to implement his policies because he was not in harmony with the emperor." It can be seen that Zhu Biao was deeply influenced by Confucianism, especially Neo-Confucianism.
But now, Zhu Biao has become enlightened and has a yardstick that is not based on Confucian moral standards, but on the interests of the country. A successor king who puts national interests first and is willing to abandon the standards of benevolent and righteous monarchs in the books is undoubtedly excellent news for Zhu Su and even the future of the Ming Dynasty.
At least, Zhu Su did not have to worry that his encouragement to Lao Zhu to expand the territory would be opposed by his elder brother because it was not in line with traditional Confucian concepts.
"Why are you so angry all of a sudden?" Zhu Biao pulled Zhu Su to sit down. "Brother can figure out the connection, and I still rely on you to solve my doubts. Otherwise, even if he succeeds in the future, he might just be another Jianwen or Chongzhen." He shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Emperor Jianwen listened to the civil servants and engaged in "restoration", which finally caused a big problem for Jingnan; Chongzhen was deceived by the Donglin Party and became a cripple. He created the so-called "All Righteous Dynasty" but gave the Ming Dynasty the last chance. Grave soil. With these two painful lessons, as well as Lao Zhu's distrustful attitude towards civil servants from beginning to end, Zhu Biao had to reflect on his previous excessive respect for these moral gentlemen.
"That's a bit far." Zhu Biao smiled sheepishly. "Now let's talk about those civil servants. The emperor should put the interests of the country first, and I will realize this later. So I began to think about it. Since the emperor should use this as the criterion, what should the criterion be for the civil servants? "
"As Hengqu said in four sentences, establish a mind for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the living and the people, inherit the unique knowledge of the past saints, and create peace for all generations?"
"Huh." Zhu Su sneered. "If this is the case, then when the Qing Tatars enter the customs more than two hundred years later, there will be no such thing as the water being too cold and the scalp being itchy."
"Not bad." Zhu Biao nodded. "Although Hengqu's four lines may cheer up the spirit, most literati cannot do it for my brother's sake."
"These four sentences are just to cover up those people's mistakes and make their actions sound high-sounding. They are not the real yardstick in the minds of literati."
Hengqu's four sentences are famous all over the world. If you randomly pull a Confucian scholar from the street and ask him why he studies Confucianism, I am afraid that 99% of the answers will be these four sentences.
Now His Royal Highness the Prince actually said that these four sentences are just things used by most literati to cover up their shame. If these words were heard by others, I am afraid that my eldest brother Zhu Biao would lose the heart of the world's scholars in an instant.
However, Zhu Su, the only person present at this time, nodded his head and couldn't agree more.
"Brother Wei looked at history, summarized the actions of the officials of the current dynasty, and discussed with my father the future generations of the Ming Dynasty. Finally, I concluded that the criterion hidden under the fig leaf by the literati was actually: 'hang the arch and rule the world.'" Zhu Biao continued.
"In other words, the emperor bows down and civil servants govern the country. This is their true goal."
"Therefore, Huaixi is powerful, so they huddle together to deal with Huaixi; the vassal king is powerful, so they encourage the king to deal with the vassal king; the emperor is martial, so they create accidents and appoint a new master; the internal eunuchs have exclusive power, so they deceive the new king and cut him off..."
"Their ultimate goal, which is also the criterion for its actions, is always to achieve the so-called 'rule the world through the arch'. This is the great righteousness in the hearts of civil servants. Even if they use some secretive means to achieve it, they are confident."
"Fifth brother thinks that he is a brother, don't you?" Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Su with burning eyes.
"Best brother, thank you." Zhu Sugong held his hand. In fact, he felt that Zhu Biao was too polite. To put it bluntly, what civil servants wanted was "power." They are not satisfied with "herding people on behalf of the emperor", but they always want to take away the power in the hands of the emperor. The emperor does nothing, "hangs his hands" and hands the world to the civil servants. This emperor is naturally a benevolent and holy king. .
On the contrary, it is "unkind" and "tyrant", which is more disgusting to civil servants than a foolish king.
What they want is an obedient emperor, and no matter what, he will be easy to fool. The most uncomfortable thing is that Lao Zhu is difficult to fool, has a strong desire for power, and is still the founder of the country. He has so many cards that the civil servants cannot compete with him. He can dethrone the prime minister and raise prisons with just a word.
It wasn't until after the Tumubao Incident that the Zhu family's many generations of heritage were completely ruined by that prodigal son that they finally found the dawn of "ruling the world with a bow".
"How did eldest brother come up with this festival?" Zhu Su asked curiously.
"To put it bluntly, it can be said that caring leads to chaos. In fact, it is because of Xiongying." Zhu Biao shook his head and smiled.
"Since Xiongying was born, I have been worried about the 'untimely death' you mentioned all the time."
"At first I was just thinking about my innate deficiencies. But suddenly one day, my brother suddenly became blessed."
"I wonder if heroes in history died young for the same reason as Wuzong and Xizong?"
(End of chapter)
