Chapter 161: Rumor
Before, He Xi put things first and cultivated party members, which was just a incidental matter. After all, many times it’s impossible to do things without people around you. Even if we promote industrialization, we still need manpower. But this need for manpower is completely different from today's need.
If we say that before, He Xi was striving for excellence and looking for like-minded people. Even cultivate students. But it's different now. He Xi wants to quickly build up momentum. Otherwise, this scene cannot be sustained. If you can't hold up this scene, you will soon be suppressed by others.
It can be seen from Jie Jin's appearance that Zhu Yuanzhang's will is the direction of the court. And the person who wants to take advantage of this good wind and send me to Qingyun is not just Jie Jin.
It's just that these people may not care about any new laws, nor He Xi's knowledge.
He only cares about power and official position, but He Xi really can't live without them. At this moment, He Xi felt Wang Anshi's situation. He Xi had only been operating in the Ming Dynasty for a few years. And Wang Anshi has been watching the world for thirty years. After taking power, he knew that many people in the New Party were unreliable. Wang Anshi could only hold on.
Because without this group of people supporting Wang Anshi’s new law, it would not be able to stand at all.
The same is true for He Xi today, except that He Xi is better than Wang Anshi because Zhu Yuanzhang is not Song Shenzong.
But there are things that should be prepared.
This is actually what Yao Guangxiao is worried about. Zhu Yuanzhang asked He Xi to serve as the standard bearer of the reform, which was a crisis and an opportunity for He Xi. There are times when He Xi still doesn’t think about it. But Yao Guangxiao has already thought that He Xi's official position will definitely be greatly improved.
Otherwise it will not be enough to support this burden.
He was worried that He Xi would be dazzled by his sudden rise to a high position. Seeing He Xi, he still limited the reform to Liaodong. This kind of caution will make you feel more at ease. Just a little reminder.
He Xi said: "Things in Liaodong are easy to handle."
Yao Guangxiao said: "The matter of changing the Ming Dynasty Law is also easy to handle. The biggest problem in this matter should be the Hanlin Academy."
He Xi's heart moved and she said, "You said it was Liu Sanwu?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "Exactly. Let's not talk about other things for now. The biggest resistance this time should be this person."
He Xi touched his beard and thought to himself: "This old man is difficult to deal with."
——
Once this matter was confirmed, the news spread quickly.
After all, there is no need to keep this matter secret. The Ming Law is the most fundamental legal document of the Ming Dynasty. There can be no private giving or receiving of any changes to the Ming Law. It must be open and above board. In this case, there is no need to keep it secret.
Not to mention, after Xie Jin returned, he immediately began to take action and strongly criticized such things as things that harmed the people, cannibalism in etiquette and law, starving to death is a small matter, and honors and festivals are big things. . He put forward the views that the way of heaven is good for life and the importance of life for the people. He also said that Confucius said to achieve benevolence and Mencius said to obtain righteousness. This benevolence and righteousness were derived from Confucius and Mencius. Today, I use my kindness and righteousness to save the hearts of others. It's a must-have. With my way, others will die. In this way, I admire the benevolence of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors so much that I can teach them. Even if I die, I will have no regrets. In this way, I can make them follow the Three Emperors and Five Emperors underground for me to show my admiration for the way. Sincerity. The Master said, Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you.
Of course, Ding Xian also responded. Ding Xian's writing style and principles are not inferior to Xie Jin's. He is the kind of person who, regardless of the pros and cons, can spray flowers as long as he gets an issue.
He dealt with them one by one without falling behind.
But he clearly felt something was wrong.
It's just that he doesn't know what has changed at the moment.
Only after Fang Xiaoru and others invited Ding Xian over did Ding Xian know what had happened.
Of course, Fang Xiaoru didn't know much. There were only a few words from the prince. The prince didn't say much, but just reminded Fang Xiaoru that his majesty was going to rebuild the Ming Dynasty laws and was going to order He Xi to take charge of this matter.
But in just one sentence, people like Fang Xiaoru can already smell a lot of clues from it.
Nowadays, the people who can be in Fang Xiaoru's circle are not ordinary people. Among them, the one with the lowest status is Ding Xian. It’s just that Ding Xian has great influence outside. There is only one place here. Although Confucianism is relatively slow to accept some new affairs. However, as a politician in the whirlpool of power. You need to be sensitive to struggle. Newspaper mouthpieces have become a key link in the power struggle. Because many times, each faction has very few backbones. It is the silent majority that truly determines the development of history.
It is exactly what Mencius said: if you gain the Tao, there will be many help, but if you lose the Tao, there will be little help. Newspapers are a powerful tool for propaganda, and naturally they are also an artifact in power struggles.
Ding Xian said: "My lords, the laws of the Ming Dynasty were written by your majesty. They are inherited from the laws of the Tang and Song dynasties. Except for the increased penalties, they are of the same origin. There is nothing that can be changed. Will this mean that your majesty will modify the sentencing?"
Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said: "No, a few days ago, His Majesty had implicated more than a hundred people in the Jiangsu Xi family loan sharking case. He didn't mean to show mercy at all. If Your Majesty really wanted to show mercy, there would be no warning before that. . And the person in charge of this matter cannot be He Xi. Because it is the prince."
As soon as this was said, everyone nodded.
The Ming Code is actually very complete and can be regarded as a representative of the Chinese legal system. The Qing Code is actually modified from the Ming Code. The only issue is sentencing. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang used heavy codes as an excuse in troubled times. The Ming law sentencing was generally heavier than the Tang law, especially for some moral crimes, adultery, cheating, or quarrels between brothers, etc. There are clear aggravations on these counts.
The so-called dirty men in the Tang Dynasty actually didn't care much about sexual affairs between men and women in the Tang Dynasty. But in the Ming Dynasty, it evolved into this. Naturally, it is because of the dominance and influence of Neo-Confucianism.
Of course, what they want to say here is to reduce the sentence, but it is not these punishments that are reduced. It's about officials, such as how many taels are punished for corruption, how many taels are beheaded, how many taels are skinned and used as grass. It is simply terrible to embezzle sixty taels and then peel off the skin and pass it off as grass.
This is just a typical example. Zhu Yuanzhang not only valued code to govern the people, but also valued code to govern officials. He fully demonstrated one thing to the world: three-legged toads are hard to find. People with two legs who want to be officials are easy to find.
Officials all over the world have opinions on the Ming Law.
Even if these Qingliu are relatively honest. But no one likes to work under such high pressure. If there is no news, one will go to court in shackles; if one is careful, one will be imprisoned and the treatment will be meager. Some people even exaggerate to the extent that they would leave their wives in court and not even know if they would be able to come back at night.
It seems that every morning they touch their heads and ask, is my head still there?
However, they also know that mitigating the sentence of the Ming Dynasty Law is regarded as a favor to the officials of the world. The favor comes from the top. This kind of thing that is obviously a good person and wins the hearts of the people is naturally done by the prince. How can a mere minister be compared with the prince? Compared with the prince.
It is normal for the prince to hold on to this reputation, but if He Xi holds on to this reputation, it will be a disaster rather than a blessing.
Liu Sanwu sighed and said: "What is supposed to come will eventually come. His Majesty's mind changed a few years ago, and it has been a long time since he took action now. Even I feel that this matter is not your Majesty's. It's just that His Majesty has always been resolute. But it has been many years since He Xi entered the Imperial College. It must be a big thing for His Majesty to be able to endure it for such a long time. It must be a big thing to consider something for such a long time. But this big thing must be right. It’s not good for sacred science.”
A few years ago, Song Ne and He Xi had a battle of wits in the Imperial College, which was only a superficial one. After Song Ne died, Liu Sanwu went down and walked around. In fact, at that time, Liu Sanwu had a hunch in his heart. Under His Majesty's cultivation, He Xi will stand in front of them again one day.
However, he did not expect that this day would finally come.
It’s hard to even say whether it’s fast or slow.
Although the Ming Law is a law and although the punishment is too severe, the overall core content is Neo-Confucianism. This is something they cannot give up. If you can give up this, then there is nothing else you can’t give up.
But is it okay not to give up?
Liu Sanwu couldn't help but think of Song Ne, and he thought to himself: "Brother Song, what would you do here?"
