Chapter 14: Eating is the best
If Fang Xiaoru could not be persuaded, what role would his debate play in convincing Zhu Yuanzhang? Is Zhu Yuanzhang a persuasive person? He always makes free judgments.
As for the prince. The prince even listened to Zhu Yuanzhang.
In other words, now he even has a verbal battle with Fang Xiaoru for 300 rounds. It's all in vain. What's more, there's the possibility of losing. After all, even if He Xi was confident, he would not dare to compare with Fang Xiaoru. After all, after Song Lian, the leader of the literary world in the world was Fang Xiaoru.
He Xi didn't think that she must be better than him in words.
In that case, why bother talking.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Fang Qing, the secretary has a lot to do. Go down and do some work."
Fang Xiaoru naturally wanted to stay, but Zhu Yuanzhang said this, so he could only salute and say: "I leave."
After Fang Xiaoru left, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He Xi, you did a good job just now. Do you know what I'm most worried about? I'm worried that if you are successful as a young man and are proud of yourself, you will be arrogant and self-reliant and will not be wronged. If so, you can only be a Rich and idle. In the court, even I will be wronged."
"From now on, you can give Fang Xiaoru a head start. This will make me feel more at ease."
He Xi said: "Father, you are so complimentary. I don't dare to take the lead with Lord Fang. After all, Lord Fang is the future great master of Confucianism."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Okay, don't talk about those useless things. You can talk about your thoughts now."
"Yes." He Xi said, "My son, I only have one thing in mind, and that is idealism and materialism."
The prince was a little confused after hearing this. But Zhu Yuanzhang was very familiar with these two words. He was very interested and said, "Please tell me."
He Xi said: "Erchen's history is to summarize and summarize a truth from thousands of evidences. Then prove it repeatedly. Finally, a conclusion is reached, but this conclusion is not always correct. If this comes out in the future The conclusion must also be revised for unexpected things. For the time being, this conclusion is what I said."
"Confucianism, on the other hand, first deduces a principle, and all things in the world must be included in this principle. Anything that is not outside this principle is heresy, and should be attacked with the sound of a drum. There are many things that cannot be explained. Either turn a blind eye or make excuses."
"The former is idealistic, the latter is materialistic."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "That's a bit interesting. I think of an old thing, that is, when Master Song was here, he told me that my saintly virtue is so towering that I must have heavenly auspiciousness. There must be heavenly auspiciousness." "
Zhu Yuanzhang did not elaborate on this Tian Rui, presumably because Zhu Yuanzhang was suspicious and well-informed. Tianrui is sent up below. It's nothing, he's probably aware of it.
It’s just that it hasn’t been exposed.
There are also reasons for some of Song Lian's own experiences. Of course, Song Lian may not be involved in some auspicious fraud. However, Song Lian's saying that if a holy virtue reaches heaven, there must be heaven's auspiciousness, it is derived from the connection between heaven and man. After all, if the emperor does not do well, God will warn him. If the emperor does well, then God will not show anything. Song Lian completely believed in this theory. How could Zhu Yuanzhang believe that Song Lian was not involved?
But the person is no longer here. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything either. He turned around and asked the prince, "Prince, who do you think is right between the two of them?"
The prince was confused for a moment.
Really confused.
The prince could clearly feel Zhu Yuanzhang's tendency. But he really didn't understand. He said: "Father, what brother He means, I understand some things. The principles taught by Confucianism are not universally applicable. They often say that the righteousness of the king and his ministers is greater than heaven, but the ministers who kill the king are not Unparalleled in history. Loyalty to the emperor is supreme, but private affairs are inevitable. But if the country is not governed with loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, then what should we do?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Prince, this is a good question. He Xi, what do you think?"
He Xi was also a little confused for a while. He seemed to understand why Zhu Yuanzhang in history arranged for some Confucian ministers to be Taisun ministers when he was dying. The reason is very simple. Zhu Yuanzhang was never a Confucian. In fact, he also felt that Confucianism was hypocritical. However, it is easy to point out problems with a doctrine. Even if the science of later generations has a complete system. There are also some unexplained problems. But finding an alternative doctrine is not easy.
At least, Zhu Yuanzhang in history finally returned to Confucianism in governing the country. Because he only has one option.
But how to answer the prince's question? Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness are the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation. It must be carried forward even by future generations and cannot be denied at all. It cannot be denied. Even though there is a lot of ugliness in the world, there should be some beautiful things in our eyes and hearts.
This is not wrong either.
Suddenly, a sentence came out of nowhere and appeared in He Xi's mind: "Focus on the construction of material civilization with one hand, and the construction of spiritual civilization with the other hand. Grasping with both hands, both hands must be strong." This sentence gave He Xi a deep impression. Thinking about it, he immediately knew how to answer. He said: "Your Royal Highness, the sky is big and the earth is big, and eating is the biggest. The warehouses are enough to know etiquette. Everyone's survival is the first priority. Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness are never wrong. What is wrong is empty talk about benevolence and righteousness. The prince feels that the court wants What you want to do is to feed and clothe the people of the world. Or do you want to educate the people on benevolence, righteousness, and etiquette?"
"If it's the former, then benevolence and righteousness will come naturally without talking about benevolence and righteousness. If it's the latter, then ethics and religion cannibalize people."
The prince wanted to refute, but he didn't know how to refute. He Xi's words felt like the edge of a knife, making him very uncomfortable.
Without him, Confucian local officials always put education first. Du Fu's poem goes: "To the kings Yao and Shun, and then to make the customs pure."
The prince is not a simple Confucian scholar. But as Song Lian was his teacher, Confucianism occupied a very high position in the prince's thoughts. It was very uncomfortable for the prince to be exposed nakedly by He Xi at this moment.
"Okay." Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Listening to your words is better than ten years of reading."
Zhu Yuanzhang told the truth.
Zhu Yuanzhang actually found it difficult to read modern books. There is a difference between vernacular and ancient vernacular. It brought some dyslexia to Zhu Yuanzhang. In addition, many vocabulary words are imported. It is also very difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to understand.
Industrial Revolution. modernization. Productivity, production relations and so on. It was difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to understand. It is not at all in line with the atmosphere of the fourteenth century of the Ming Dynasty, but today He Xi’s words are already very down to earth.
Eating comes first, etiquette comes first.
Many people may not understand, is this considered a route? Could it be that the ancient imperial court did not allow the people to eat?
The ancient court would not deny the people food, but the ancient court was not responsible for this. The feudal dynasty never thought about solving the people's livelihood problems from an institutional perspective. Even if there is, it is incidental. As long as the people don't starve to death, it will be fine.
On the contrary, matters of ethics and education have always been the focus of local officials' political achievements. The chastity arches all over the world are proof of this.
The Ming and Qing Dynasties paid most attention to the people's livelihood issues. That is Zhu Yuanzhang. During the Hongwu period, cultivated land was reclaimed on a large scale and cotton was promoted on a large scale. Before Zhu Yuanzhang, there was not much cotton planting area, but after Zhu Yuanzhang, cotton became one of the most planted cash crops in China, and people's clothes changed from linen to cotton.
It can be said that He Xi's talk about eating is a big statement, which is exactly in line with Zhu Yuanzhang's ideas. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang had really suffered from hunger. It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang often subconsciously paid attention to people's livelihood. It has not been raised to a theoretical level.
Of course, it’s not enough to just formulate a theory.
Confucianism has many theories such as treating people as if they were injured, but there is no action at all. And the theoretical methods brought by He Xi from modern times are enough to support the policy line of making the most of food.
Zhu Yuanzhang only felt that his eyes were bright. It could be said that it was much better than the modernization mentioned before by He Xi.
Zhu Yuanzhang turned to the prince and said: "Prince. I remember that there is open space in the East Palace, right?"
The prince said: "Yes."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "After you go back, you will reclaim the open land. You can go to farm every day when you are free. You are not allowed to rely on others. I will supervise it."
The prince was stunned and said, "Yes."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Go back and think about it carefully. What is the responsibility of the court? It is to educate the world, but to feed the people of the world."
The prince secretly thought: "Your tendency is already so obvious. What else is there to think about?" However, the prince also knew that the trend of the court would change in the future, and he had to take a good look at what he had to do now and in the future.
