Not to mention Jiajing after that, this one is even more heavyweight.
Extreme intelligence and extreme selfishness are perfectly reflected in this person. With the heart of one person, he can win the hearts of thousands of people. When a disaster occurs, the common people are given tens of thousands of taels of silver for disaster relief, but he spends millions to build his own palace.
Moreover, all kinds of etiquette and rules were seriously violated by him, and it was very difficult to take the lead.
Chen Bangyan, the leader of the "Three Lingnan Loyalists" in the late Ming Dynasty, described it this way in "Zhongxing Politicians":
Before Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Longqing of the Ming Dynasty, scholars valued honor and integrity. If someone came back from serving as an official in another place, and his relatives and friends asked him how much he earned, he would definitely fall out on the spot and curse.
But during the reigns of Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Longqing, before officials took office, their relatives and friends would settle their accounts for them: if the place they were going to was rich and there was a lot of money to be made, their relatives and friends would go to congratulate him in advance.
Coupled with Jiajing's division of seven of himself and three of his ministers, corruption further intensified, and even eventually became a reason for the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.
Another way to deal with Hai Rui was to put aside his own problems and regard himself as the king's father. He accused Hai Rui of being a son who insulted his father, which caused future generations of kings to imitate him.
This directly led to the fact that in the following hundreds of years almost no direct minister dared to speak out about the emperor's mistakes.
"This is the reason why I want to embrace Hai Rui and use him!" Zhu Zaijing thought to himself, "Hai Rui is the last conscience of the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty. If he is like what happened in history, then everything he has done will come to an end sooner or later. Destroyed!"
"Dad?" Zhu Yijun's clear voice brought Zhu Zaijing back to reality.
"Why."
"Who are they?"
"They are all ancestors!" Zhu Zaijing said, "Taizu, Chengzu, Emperor and the others!"
"Is Grandpa Huang here too?"
"Yes, that is your grandpa's portrait!"
"Why do we come to see them?" Zhu Yijun looked straight at himself with cute eyes.
"For the future!" Zhu Zaijing smiled.
Zhu Yijun wanted to ask again, but Zhu Zaijing ignored him, straightened his clothes, and began to kneel down with a serious face.
Zhu Yijun also put aside his curiosity and began to kneel down in the same manner.
Feng Bao, who was outside, turned around, faced the officials and clan kings in front of him, and cleared his throat.
"kneel!"
Following this sound, everyone knelt down in unison.
"The unfilial descendant Zhu Zaijing bows to his ancestors!"
In fact, he was very conflicted because he was not really their descendant, but these etiquettes were necessary because everyone was looking at him, and the historians on the side would also record his every word and deed.
"Thanks to the blessings of all our ancestors, Zai Jing ascended the throne even though he was frail and sick!"
"However, I think that our Ming Dynasty also has many shortcomings, and there are many unclear things when we are listed as ancestors!"
The historians and officials of the Ministry of Rites were shocked.
The emperor did not speak according to what was written in advance. Instead, his words were filled with dissatisfaction with the current situation and disrespect for his ancestors!
"Snapped!"
The historian knelt down and kowtowed, which attracted Zhu Zaijing's attention.
"Your Majesty, I would never dare to record these remarks!"
Zhu Zaijing stared at him indifferently.
"What's wrong?"
"Your Majesty pays homage to our ancestors and cannot say such treacherous and unethical words!"
"Treason?" Zhu Zaijing frowned, "Does it mean that by turning a blind eye to the mistakes of our ancestors and not getting to the bottom of all the problems of the Ming Dynasty, we respect them?"
Seeing that the historian couldn't answer, several officials from the Ministry of Rites also knelt down.
"Your Majesty, if our ancestors made mistakes, as a descendant, your Majesty can just improve and make up for it, but you can't do it openly..."
"It is precisely because no one dared to speak out that the previous dynasty was in such tatters!" Zhu Zaijing roared.
Everyone outside the Ancestral Temple could hear this sound clearly.
"If someone had spoken out early to prevent the late emperor from indulging in cultivating immortality and not going to court for twenty years, would the Jiajing Dynasty have made the country poor and weak, where Japanese pirates were raging, and every family was clean?"
At this time, the officials from the Ministry of Rites also lowered their heads in horror.
Treason and injustice! Treason and injustice!
"It is a great blessing for the country to die in a war to the death of a writer or a soldier! When did it become treason to face one's mistakes directly?"
"Even if it is really treasonous, the ancestors and ancestors are angry with me underground, not the officials and the people of the world!"
After speaking, Zhu Zaijing looked at his son.
"Zhu Yijun."
"My son is here!"
Zhu Yijun, who was quite relaxed at first, had just called him daddy, but the little guy immediately became serious when the emperor got angry.
"Do you think what Father said and did was right?"
"My father is the emperor, so naturally I am right..."
"Wrong!" Zhu Zaijing said seriously, "The emperor is also a human being, and he will make mistakes!"
"You can't just look at your identity and ignore right and wrong! You have to dare to question everything, and you have to dare to verify right and wrong yourself. Only then can you know what is right. Do you remember?"
Zhu Yijun was about to cry. His eyes instantly turned red after being taught such a serious lesson by Zhu Zaijing.
"My son...my son...remember it!"
"You are still young and you don't understand these things now, but keep it in your heart and you will understand one day sooner or later!"
Then, Zhu Zaijing ignored the looks of others and continued to kneel before his ancestors.
"I thought that the so-called prosperous times in the past were the prosperous times of scholar-bureaucrats and the royal family, but what I want is the prosperous times of the common people, the prosperous times of the common people!"
"Since the First Emperor unified the world, how many surnames have been changed in the world? How many common leaders have been changed? Only the common people have always been there, only the common people have always supported the world!"
"Therefore, serving the people's welfare and strengthening the people is my lifelong pursuit. For this reason, I will have to change some ancient rules, even the rules of my ancestors. I hope you can understand!"
"If you can't be considerate, I will accept the criticism of my ancestors when I go underground!"
After saying that, he kowtowed heavily.
Seeing the emperor's behavior, the historians and officials of the Ministry of Rites had no choice but to go back and pick up pen and ink and continue writing.
All this really subverted these people's views.
Yes, in this era, these four words of seeking truth from facts are more difficult than reaching the sky!
One of the dregs of Confucianism is slavishness to authority.
Of course, this is Confucianism that was continuously improved by Dong Zhongshu and successive dynasties, and was done in order to facilitate the rule of the people.
With this kind of thinking, you must never question the authority that governs you.
This authority is the imperial court, scholars, wealthy gentry, and your parents and masters.
Even if they are wrong you can't say it directly.
This is especially true of other higher authorities.
Shiquan Laoer had a case at that time. It was an old scholar who gave the emperor some information about several methods of governing the country and how to make the people richer.
After seeing this, Shiquan was furious and immediately issued an order to banish the old scholar and his family members as slaves.
This old scholar is called Wu Ying.
Why asking for orders for the people has long since ceased to exist.
In the Braided Dynasty, where feudal autocracy reached its peak, the people at the bottom could not even think.
You can only be ruled.
This is the pinnacle of Shang Yang's art of fooling the people!
Qin also had a similar case.
After Shang Yang's reform, a group of old aristocrats whose interests were harmed said that Shang Yang's reform was not good.
Shang Yang ran over and killed them.
Afterwards, the new interest groups received the benefits of Shang Yang's reform and praised Shang Yang's method for how good it was!
Shang Yang ran over and killed them again.
This is a trick to fool people. People with mud legs cannot think.
Shang Junshu, it’s time to burn the TM!
Zhu Zaijing knew that the development of any kind of social productivity has a prerequisite, and that is the openness of the mind.
And this kind of openness started from the emperor himself, Zhu Zaijing.
