After hearing what Gao Wuzheng said, Gao Pingshi shook his head slightly and said: "As long as it is a power struggle, no matter what skin it is in, the motivation behind it is generated by interests."
He paused for a moment and then said: "As for Prince Salim's so-called support for this sect, rather than saying that he supports the original sect of the conquerors, you might as well say directly that he supports 'the conquerors own everything'. At the same time, the people who support the eldest son of the emperor must be those old people who 'conquer the world' and their descendants."
Gao Wuzheng heard this and asked for advice attentively: "Brother, if that's the case, then why did Emperor Akbar stand on the opposite side of these people? I think no matter what, these descendants of the Mongols came to India as conquerors. , even if they become the emperor of India, the most reliable force is still their Mongolian descendants, right?"
Gao Pragmatic laughed and asked: "Let me ask you, what is the purpose of the naturalized household registration system that I implemented in southern Xinjiang in terms of system design? Or, what kind of goal am I trying to achieve?"
Gao Wuzheng seemed to be very familiar with this issue, and immediately said: "The naturalized household registration system is naturally to buy... well, for the sake of the world's return, so we must give some people who understand that 'good birds choose trees to roost' a space for advancement. Let them think...let them know that if they work hard and are loyal, they can become one of us."
Gao pragmatic ignored his slip of the tongue, nodded gently and said without changing his expression: "That's roughly the case, but it's not comprehensive."
Gao Wuzheng arrived immediately: "Brother, please give me some advice."
"When we first took control of southern Xinjiang, because there were too few local Han people, two situations were bound to happen: On the one hand, the social status of the Han people would be very high, because in the eyes of themselves and the local indigenous people, the Han people were conquerors Those who are foreigners are "human superiors" and enjoy various privileges.
On the other hand, precisely because of such significant ethnic differences, there will inevitably be a mutual opposition between the 'Han conquerors' and the 'conquered natives'.
In this way, when our strength is strong, the local people are forced by the situation and can only bow their heads and obey orders. However, once our strength weakens - no matter what the reason is for the weakness, even if it is just that the local garrison is temporarily transferred elsewhere. , the locals are also very likely to launch a rebellion immediately, hoping to get rid of our rule.
We cannot always rely on garrison troops in various places to suppress all opposition forces, because if such ethnic antagonism cannot be resolved, it will become a game of pushing the gourd and lifting the ladle. Our hands that can press the gourd are limited, but the number of gourds may continue to grow.
One day, there will be too many gourds and we can no longer press them. Then...the consequences can be imagined. So, what does the naturalized household registration system do? It is to pull out the gourd vine. "
Gao pragmatic smiled and said calmly: "If the gourd wants to grow, it first needs soil, but this soil is also what we like. We can't destroy the soil, so we can only find another way to separate the gourd from the soil.
Giving the gourds a path up so that they can achieve the same identity as us through serving us creates two different gourds - one part of which remains the gourd and the other part becomes us.
In this way, there will be a gap between the gourds. The gourds who join us will in turn be more cruel to their compatriots, and even take the initiative to take over things that we think will make our hands dirty, in order to prove that we allow them to join. A very good deal. There is a term for this behavior called 'convert fanaticism'. "
"Converts are fanatical?" Gao Wuzheng said in confusion: "How do you say this?"
Gao Pragmatic said: "When some European scholars studied cases related to new believers in religion, they found that new believers who are usually not considered completely pious are actually more pious and fanatical than most old believers. This phenomenon is called Fanatic for 'converts'.
If you still don't understand, just think about the behavior of some local traitors after the Jin Kingdom occupied the northern part of the Song Dynasty. As for the reason, it's actually very simple - newcomers have to show off. "
"Oh...that's it. My brother is really discerning." Gao Wuzheng suddenly realized.
In fact, he didn't know that the first thing Gao Pingshi thought of just now was not the Jin Kingdom's occupation of the northern Song Dynasty, but the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Qing Dynasty.
But the first person he thought of at that time was not Shui Tailiang, or even Wu Sangui. In his view, the most fanatical "convert" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was none other than the traitor Sun Zhixie.
Before the Qing army entered the customs, shaving one's hair and changing clothes was originally a means of expressing surrender, and soldiers and civilians were not forced to perform it. For example, Hong Chengchou shaved his hair to express his submission; Wu Sangui, who served under Shanhaiguan, invited Dor Gun's reinforcements had to be shaved off as a sign of severance with Li Zicheng.
Seeing that the policy of shaving their hair seemed to be a quick test of whether the Central Plains scholar-officials were sincerely loyal to their side, the Qing court issued edicts to the Ministry of War and the former Ming Dynasty officials and civilians on the third day of May in the first year of Shunzhi, requesting that "the surrendered officials, soldiers and civilians should all wear shaved heads and uniforms." "Comply with the system of this dynasty", but the implementation is not strict yet.
At this time, Sun Zhixian, as a newcomer, had not made any achievements, and judging from his subsequent performance in recruiting Jiangxi, his ability was really not very good, so he started to have evil thoughts, hoping to get promoted and make a fortune by flattering others.
As soon as the "hair-shaving order" was issued, he became the first Han scholar-official to shave his hair and grow braids, and also changed to Manchu clothing. However, the court officials at that time were divided into Manchu and Han classes. When he went to court, the Man class ministers said that he was a Han and were not allowed to join the class. The Han class ministers said that he was dressed as a Manchu and did not want him, so he lingered in the two classes. Between them, they were unable to advance or retreat, and were in a very awkward situation.
Sun Zhixian was so angry that he proposed to the Qing Dynasty that he should strictly shave his hair. He said: "Your Majesty has pacified China and made everything new, but the system of clothes, hats, and hair only remains the old Han Dynasty. This is your Majesty's coming from China, not China's coming from your Majesty."
When Dorgon heard this, he liked the suggestion very much, so he adopted the proposal. In June of the second year of Shunzhi, he issued another "hair-shaving order", which stipulated: "For officials and people all over the country, the time limit is ten days inside and outside the capital. The day when the cloth is issued will also be limited to ten days, and all of them will have their heads shaved."
Of course, although Sun Zhixian made the Qing government put aside the last concern of implementing the "hair-shaving order", he was despised by the world. Even the Qing government looked down on him. After discovering that he had no other abilities, he So he was dismissed from his post and was finally executed by the rebel army. It can be regarded as evil retribution.
In fact, under the general background of that time, there were many people like Sun Zhixian. Rutan Qianjian wrote sadly in "Guoyan": "When Dong Hu first entered the Yan Dynasty, he did not hear about the distant strategy, and the Han people followed the rebellion. To guide it southward, to the inner sea of Xu, and to the left and right, and not to follow orders, then what is the true meaning of the so-called extremely good, killing the envoys, and going to the south of the Yangtze River!"
Having said that, the root of "convert fanaticism" lies in identity and the desire to integrate into a new circle. So what is the purpose of integrating into a new circle? If you don’t necessarily want a reputation, then let everyone bear this reputation, such as Hong Chengchou, the “Loyal Minister of the Ming Dynasty”, etc. They should think so.
What about profit? How to protect your own vital interests?
Returning to the great changes at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the scholar-bureaucrats were pessimistic and disappointed with the Ming Dynasty and surrendered to Dashun. Its senior officials were often attacked by the peasant army of Li Zicheng who had not yet been corrupted. They defected to Nanming and were relegated to another book by Ma Shiying and others. They surrendered to the Qing court. Woolen cloth? The Qing court created two sets of political structures, Manchu and Han. One official position could be filled by two people, which perfectly arranged these "pre-Ming high-level officials."
It can be seen that the so-called "convert fanaticism" is ultimately just based on the word "profit". So, looking back at the highly pragmatic naturalization household registration system, is it not a policy formulated in the opposite direction based on this idea?
"...As time goes by, more and more gourds join us. On the one hand, the remaining gourds become less and less, and they are less and less able to fight us. On the other hand, they will also be tempted by the benefits after joining, and start to Shaken up.
In this way, as long as we slowly relax the admission criteria, one day, all the gourds will transform, first into naturalized Han people, and then into 'pure Han people' with the word "naturalized" removed. As a result, there were no indigenous people in the entire southern Xinjiang, and all became Han people.
So at this time, do we still need to worry about being overturned by too many gourds? Even if the imperial power is not eternal, those who overthrow us will be our own people, and the new court will be just another Han court anyway. In this way, the sinicization of southern Xinjiang will be completely completed, and I have no regrets. "
This passage is so shocking, especially to Gao Guoyan, Gao Wuzheng and Gao Qi. But what shocked them most was not the sinicization of southern Xinjiang, because it was obvious that Gao Pragmatic had this intention, and they had known it for a long time.
What shocked them even more was actually the passage "Imperial power has no eternity". First of all, everyone knows this truth, but no one will say it casually - what, you have resentment against "my emperor"? Secondly, Gao Pangshi's words seem to vaguely regard Southern Xinjiang as his "own court", and he himself has viewed various related issues from the perspective of an "emperor".
Regarding the status of Southern Xinjiang in the future, because the head of the family, Gao Pragmatic, has never made it clear, it has always been a topic of high-frequency discussion in private within Jinghua—and even within the core Gao family.
Some people believe that Gao Pragmatic, as a famous minister of the Ming Dynasty and the resurgence of the Ming Dynasty, will definitely not establish a separate court, and will always maintain the indirect control model of Beijing to rule southern Xinjiang.
Some people think that it should go one step further, that is, Gao Jingyi will persuade the emperor to set up a special institution in southern Xinjiang before taking office, whether it is called Dingnan Protectorate or something else. In short, the Gao family can actually rule southern Xinjiang through this institution. The advantage of this idea is that with the emperor's endorsement, the institution's legitimacy will not be a problem, which is far better than the previous idea.
Some people are even more radical, believing that after Gao Jingzhi repays the kindness of two generations of emperors, he will establish a separate court in southern Xinjiang and form a situation with the Ming Dynasty of "two emperors in the north and south, sharing China."
However, they are not the most radical. The most radical group of people even believe that the reason why Gao Pragmatic has been hesitant to determine the identity of Southern Xinjiang is because sooner or later he will seek to usurp the throne, and the source of legitimacy for his seizure of the throne is - - "Expanding the southern border area for tens of thousands of miles"!
Southern Xinjiang is tens of thousands of miles away! Such achievements are unique in all dynasties. Isn't it appropriate to be an emperor?
It should be said that none of these private discussions can be said to be unreasonable, and they are even highly feasible. As long as Gao Pragmatic is willing, given his current reputation, status, and power, it seems that either way is possible. But precisely because of this, several factions have not been able to convince each other until now.
However, today, Gao Pangshi's words inevitably made the three of them think about it - they are already thinking from the perspective of the emperor, so is his goal to become emperor in southern Xinjiang? But if this is the case, then taking the throne of Ming Dynasty does not seem to conflict with what he just said, right?
Those in power often need to "silence is golden". The reason is that when the person in power says something casually, the people below him have to figure out what his words mean.
As the saying goes, "What is good at the top will be bad at the bottom." If inside Jinghua, or even just within the Gao family, they feel that Gao Jingshi's goal is to proclaim himself emperor, then I'm afraid it won't be long before a huge force appears in Jinghua and uses various means to promote Gao Jingshi to become emperor.
It's a pity that Gao Pragmatic's focus is not here at all today, and he didn't realize there was anything wrong with what he just said.
The words "Imperial power has no eternity" were perfectly normal in his previous life, and could even be said to be one of his basic world views. Therefore, when his focus was not on this, he did not notice the expressions of his three relatives at all. Continue talking about the topic just now.
"Speaking of the Mughal Empire, why did Akbar want sectarian tolerance? Because he faced the same problem in India as I did in southern Xinjiang: too few people. It can even be said that my situation in southern Xinjiang was actually It's easier than him.
After all, compared to China, the civilizations of the countries in southern Xinjiang are neither advanced nor powerful. Therefore, they have been influenced by our Chinese civilization for thousands of years, and many people there often have ancestors from China. In this way, when it comes to discussing naturalization, many people can claim to have Chinese blood - whether true or false, as long as they have this reason. Because you can convince others as well as themselves.
But Akbar was different. To put it bluntly, his family is actually a mixture of Mongolians and Central Asians, and their culture is Persian. The whole family is a hodgepodge.
In contrast, the India he wants to rule is a region with a long civilization tradition. On the one hand, they have never been truly unified, and on the other hand, they once had a splendid civilization.
In this way, it is almost a luxury for him to want to use the mother country's civilization to assimilate the local civilization like me, because his so-called "mother country civilization" cannot condescend to the local Indian civilization.
Then he has very few options to choose from, either to suppress with force, kill all those who disobey, and force the local area to accept his so-called "mother country civilization"; or to carry out civilization integration, such as the Northern Wei royal family changing their surnames to Han, and The eight major surnames in Xianbei were changed to Han surnames, using Chinese characters, wearing Han clothes, etc.
Akbar should have carefully weighed it. Judging from the total number of subordinates his grandfather brought to India, throwing that number of people into India would be almost like a cow into the sea. It is impossible to kill all the Indians just relying on these people. Therefore, his actual choice is only civilization integration.
In other words, his sectarian tolerance does not mean that he likes Hindus in his heart and is willing to treat them equally, but it just means that he really cannot kill Hinduism. "
——
PS: I’ve been a bully and the changes have made my head ache. I need to explain things clearly and there are a bunch of words that I can’t touch. Forget it, let’s leave it at that.
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(End of chapter)
