Because Hua Manting had an explanation for Mei Fangxi, Mei Fangxi never came to Shuzhou without Hua Manting.
Li Chenan didn't know that the old man also had a very deep friendship with Hua Manting, but since the old man and his grandfather were old friends, he certainly maintained enough respect.
What's more, although the old man's words were direct, he was also thinking about him.
The old man came here early in the morning, and it should be a casual thing to invite him to the spring festival.
The questions he wanted to ask himself should be the main reason why he came here.
It's roughly about those doubts about the New Deal.
His problems are probably the same as Su Yian's.
Zhong Liyou sat beside him and was quite curious about what questions this well-known old scholar in Shuzhou would ask Li Chenan.
He was more curious about how the uncle of Zhongli Mansion would answer the old scholar's question.
The water on the tea stove was boiling, and Li Chenan took a handful of tea leaves and threw them in.
Mei Fangxi opened her mouth and asked:
"If you were the emperor, how would you treat the people?"
Li Chenan was slightly startled. This was not within the scope of the New Deal, but it happened to be the ultimate problem that he wanted to solve by implementing the New Deal.
The national economy and the people's livelihood, and all national policies will ultimately come before the people's livelihood.
But in today's society, the rulers' understanding of the people still cannot escape those old concepts.
For example, don't make the people rich, because if the people are rich, they will become promiscuous, and if they become promiscuous, it will be difficult to cure them!
It is also like the divine power of kings. The king obeys the will of heaven and respects the ways of heaven to support all people.
The relationship between the king and the people is not only about superiority and inferiority, but also the kindness of nurturing!
This is obviously not what Li Chenan wants.
But the "Constitution" is supposed to strive for the greatest power for the people of the world, but no one can accept it.
So he never mentioned the constitution again, because the people were not enlightened, and this step was too big, and it would really be ridiculous.
He could only do it silently.
What he was thinking was that after the people became rich, after the education level of the people in the world increased to a certain level, that is, after the civilization of the entire society made great strides forward, the people's desire for power would spontaneously arise.
This is a bottom-up effort to force the perfection of the law.
This takes a long time, even several generations of joint efforts.
At this moment, Mei Fangxi asked this question...
"Looking at history for thousands of years,"
Li Chenan put out the fire, poured three cups of tea, handed two cups over, and said slowly:
"Officials or emperors in all dynasties have always used the following methods to deal with the people."
"First, stupid people."
"Setting up many barriers to education prevents the vast majority of people in the world from studying."
"What is a book?"
"Books are the crystallization of the wisdom of human civilization. They are the key and can open the door to wisdom!"
"But in order to maintain their own political power and seek their own best interests, the rulers cannot allow the people to open up their wisdom, think, explore and question."
"They need to unify the people's thoughts and prevent them from having their own thoughts!"
"In this way, the people will always believe that they should be slaves of the ruler!"
As soon as these words came out, Mei Fangxi was shocked!
Li Chenan slowly said again:
"Second, weary people!"
"The people have no clothes and no food to eat. No matter how hard they work, they cannot live a truly worry-free life."
"The rulers need the people to work non-stop. In this way, the people in the world can provide the rulers with the best life. But the people can only think about three meals a day, because after eating the first meal but not the next meal, they will not have any Use your mind to think about other things.”
"Third, weak people!"
"Once anyone looks up to the sky, they will be killed!"
"Once any people question the authority of the ruler, they will be suppressed!"
"They killed strong people and good people, weakening their strength and making them unable to have the courage to fight against the imperial court."
"Let them be as docile as sheep, allowing them to be whipped by their rulers and still obey the rules."
"Fourth, the poor!"
"If the people's lives are a little better, they will increase taxes and use various methods to exploit the harvest of their labor so that they cannot be rich. Occasionally, they will be given small favors to make them feel that this is the court's care for them, and they feel that they can only Only by relying on the imperial court can we feel safe."
"Fifth, humiliating the people!"
"In order to manage the people of the world, the best way is to let the people supervise each other."
"So, for the sake of small profits, the common people, under their deliberate inducement, reported on each other and exposed each other. It was difficult for them to trust each other, so they could not unite to rebel."
After a pause, Li Chenan smiled slightly:
"Roughly speaking, everything is done to hold down the necks of the people, to consolidate political power, and for the common interests of the rulers."
"As for me...although I am not an emperor, I don't want the people of Ning State to be like this."
Mei Fangxi was already stunned!
As a great scholar of Ning State, he has been seeking a way to govern the country and save the people all his life!
But he struggled hard for many years in Kyoto and finally couldn't do it, so he left Kyoto in depression and came here to become a teacher at Wenweng Academy.
He has been thinking about the importance of the people to the country, but he has never been as thought-provoking as Li Chenan's words!
Li Chenan's five points pointed out the root cause of why people in all dynasties worked so hard but never lived a truly good life!
Hard work does not make you rich!
This is what rulers need!
Not just the emperor of a country.
But the entire interest group headed by the emperor!
The emperor is the trunk of a tree, and all officials in the court are leaves on the tree.
There are also those aristocratic families, they are all attached to this tree.
The common people are the providers of the huge nutrients needed by this tree.
Only one tree can be allowed to exist on the land.
Never allow another tree to sprout buds.
But Zhong Liyou was shocked at this time.
Zhongli Mansion is considered a powerful family in Ningguo.
Li Chenan is still the regent of Ningguo!
He should have still used this method to make the people of Ningguo work hard to maintain the stability of Ningguo.
He actually said this...
If this is broken, if those people really wake up, will Ning Guo still be peaceful?
Only then did Mei Fangxi understand the meaning of Huamanting.
He had to admire Hua Manting's vision.
He picked up the tea cup at this moment and asked again:
"What do you hope the people of Ning will be like?"
"I hope the people of Ningguo can become real people!"
"A man who stands tall and straight with his arms and legs straight!"
Mei Fangxi looked at Li Chenan without drinking tea. After a while, she said again: "If this is the case, the country will be in trouble if there are different ideas!"
"No!"
Li Chenan shook his head:
"If this is true, Ning Guo's thoughts will bloom into beautiful flowers!"
"Ning Guo's backbone will never be bent!"
"Ningguo's future... can only be expected!"
Li Chenan looked at Mei Fangxi's unbelievable expression and smiled again:
"I once said that absolute power corrupts absolutely!"
"A court that is not under the supervision of the people, a court that is not under any threat or pressure, will definitely not seek benefits for the people!"
"When threatened by other countries, it will retreat endlessly."
"But at the same time, it will use the greatest force to suppress its own people."
"Because they... will never give up the interests they hold!"
