Chapter 160 Dead End
After Zhu Yuanzhang asked King Yan to leave, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He Xi, what do you think of King Yan as the emperor?"
He Xi turned around from behind the screen and said, "The King of Yan is wise and powerful. As the emperor, he will definitely be able to recreate the prosperous age of Yongle."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled softly. What He Xi said was very problematic.
First of all, was Yongle a prosperous age?
There are many answers to this question, but generally many people don't recognize it because there were too many wars and too much consumption during the Yongle period. What really allowed the people to live and work in peace and contentment was the era of Hongxuan, that is, the twenty years of Hongxi, Xuande, and the early period of orthodoxy.
That is peace in the world.
Secondly, is the Yongle Era what Zhu Yuanzhang wanted?
The answer is already obvious.
If he didn't know history, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that King Yan was already pretty good. Although Yongle once. There are problems like this, but overall, Emperor Yongle is considered to be in the middle among all the emperors in China. To put it bluntly, even if the prince does not die and truly ascends the throne as emperor, will he definitely be able to defeat Yongle? What's more, Emperor Yongle did not have the original sin of Jingnan.
It’s just that Zhu Yuanzhang read so many modern books. What he wants is not as simple as a prosperous age of eternal happiness.
What he wanted was industrial revolution and modernization.
Zhu Yuanzhang knew this, and He Xi also knew this. He Xi happened to talk about Yongle's prosperous age, and the implication was obvious. It implies that King Yan cannot meet your requirements.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He Xi, you have to work harder recently to have more sons. One son is too few. If something happens, it will easily be cut off."
He Xi was stunned, wondering why Zhu Yuanzhang said this. However, He Xi could only continue with the elders' concern and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't seem to hear what He Xi said and continued: "The feng shui of Purple Mountain is good. I will leave a place for you. In the future, you and I can visit each other underground."
The more He Xi listened, the less he understood, and said: "Your Majesty, ------"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I don't understand, why do I say this? My meaning is very simple, you can prepare for the funeral."
Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was very calm, like a death sentence, but to He Xi's ears, it sounded like thunder. Suddenly he seemed to be in the ice and snow of the Arctic. He Xi said: "Your Majesty, what did I do wrong?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer directly and said: "Today, there are only two people who can be crown princes, one is King Yan and the other is Xiongying. King Yan, you have read it. After King Yan ascends the throne, the industrial revolution is probably not possible. At most, keep it The fire is just immortal. As for heroes?" Zhu Yuanzhang paused slightly, looked at He Xi meaningfully, and said: "If I were to pass on the hero, would you be Cao Cao or Wang Mang?"
This sentence is truly heartbreaking.
He Xi immediately fell to his knees, sweating through his clothes. For a moment, the fear he felt when he first came to Ming Dynasty came back to his heart again. What He Xi was most worried about at that time was that Zhu Yuanzhang was going to kill him.
As time passed, he and Zhu Yuanzhang became Weng's son-in-law. The two even became political allies, and to this day, they can be considered happy to cooperate. He Xi gradually forgot the fear before.
Now this fear came to mind again.
He Xi said: "Your Majesty, I have absolutely no intention of doing this. Your Majesty should know that if the reform is successful, the imperial power will definitely be shaken in the future. Why should I trade for real disaster for a mere false name? I may be a powerful official, and I will definitely not do anything wrong." I wanted to.”
After He Xi spoke, he immediately regretted it. I wish I could slap myself twice in the face.
What kind of truth have you said?
Yes, He Xi was telling the truth.
As the industrial revolution develops, it will naturally bring about a social revolution, and social resources will transfer from the court to capitalists. Some multinational companies even have more social resources than senior government officials.
This general trend will not change.
Under such circumstances, it is a foreseeable fact that the imperial power is becoming weaker and weaker.
He Xi has always avoided this issue because he was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang or the prince would not agree to the reform. In fact, this may not be the reason why the prince wants to take care of Xu Xu.
But at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was frightened and said it immediately.
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment, sighed, and said: "Since the founding of the world, who has not died, and which dynasty has not perished? I don't care anymore. But, even if you become Wang Mang, can you successfully implement the reform?"
He Xi didn't know how to answer.
Say yes. Didn’t he say he wanted to be Wang Mang? If you say you can't, don't you mean you are incompetent?
But before He Xi could figure out what to say, Zhu Yuanzhang had already issued a verdict to He Xi. Said: "You can't do it. Why bother? You don't know that your strengths and weaknesses are equally outstanding. When it comes to doing things, there is no one like you in the world. But the real Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty is not to do things, but to be a human being."
"In this regard, you are actually not as good as Fang Xiaoru."
He Xi said: "I don't understand."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "This kid, Xiongying, has high ambitions but low ambitions. He seems to be full of confidence, but he may not be able to persevere when he encounters setbacks. However, this is also a common problem among young people. Therefore, there are very few people who can achieve great things in the world. When a person is young, the right way is to endure more hardships. But now Xiongying may not endure much hardship in his life, and his character will never change in his lifetime."
"So, even if he is the emperor, you can't count on him."
Change is painful for everyone. Especially to improve yourself. If you want to become bad, it only takes a few days, but if you want to make progress, you have to swim in the bitter waters for who knows how long.
It's not that Zhu Xiongying is not good or has poor qualifications. But the environment he was in made it impossible for Zhu Xiongying to withstand real beatings and real pain. Zhu Xiongying's so-called pain, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, is as normal as eating and drinking.
When Zhu Xiongying ascended the throne, it was as if he had just entered the professional league after playing the King of Kings. It would be strange if he did not lose.
Some people make progress after losing too much. Some people fall flat when they lose too much. Zhu Yuanzhang naturally hopes that Zhu Xiongying is the former, but Zhu Yuanzhang has to admit that most people are the latter.
"You have to do everything yourself. Only by convincing everyone in the court can you implement reforms. But can you convince everyone in the court? Fang Xiaoru, you may not be able to deal with it."
"Not to mention Fang Xiaoru, Xu Da, Feng Sheng, Fu Youde, among the three of them, which one do you think you can deal with, you can probably deal with Lan Yu."
"Do you think you can really implement the reform successfully?"
He Xi was still a little unconvinced at first. But listen to Zhu Yuanzhang explain it in detail. In addition, during his stay in the capital, He Xi generally understood the thoughts of various forces, as well as King Yan's previous judgment.
My heart sank.
I wonder if He Xi has stayed in Beijing for a long time. So much so that I was infected by the environment in Beijing and thought that the whole world was the same as Beijing. But it is actually different. The situation in Beijing cannot be compared to other places in the world.
After all, it is impossible for the imperial court to invest tens of millions of capital elsewhere.
Beijing is special.
Beijing's success not only brought Zhu Yuanzhang many followers and supporters, but also brought more opponents. Even with Zhu Yuanzhang here, many opponents could no longer hold back. Not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang is gone.
When Zhu Yuanzhang is gone, the counterattack against the new law will be very violent. This was what He Xi had foreseen in Beijing, but he didn't expect it. The situation in Nanjing was worse than he imagined.
This made He Xi determined to help Zhu Yingxiong win the throne.
Because only with the support of the future emperor can the reform be successful. But Zhu Yuanzhang's words gave He Xi another dimension of thinking, that is, Zhu Xiongying ascended the throne. How much power can he borrow?
Zhu Yingxiong ascends the throne, how much help can be given to him? Zhu Xiongying ascends the throne, can he really succeed in reforming the law?
He Xi had never thought about these things before, but now that he thought about it, He Xi was distressed. Although he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that Zhu Yuanzhang's words made sense.
Not every emperor is Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang, even if he is not unique among emperors, is far superior to most emperors. Even though He Xi had high hopes for Zhu Xiongying, he did not believe that Zhu Xiongying would be able to compare with Zhu Yuanzhang as soon as he ascended the throne.
Some people died, but not completely...
