"Traitor! Beast!"
"The emperor killed me well!"
"Those thieves should be killed by the Nine Tribes!"
…
On the second floor of a restaurant in the capital, two people were sitting at the wine table by the window.
The table is filled with big fish and meat. From a distance, you can see roasted venison, frog legs, fish with frozen ginger and vinegar, stir-fried lamb tripe and so on.
Several of these dishes are palace food and the emperor's royal meal menu, but fortunately the emperor of the Zhu family did not mind the promotion of these dishes among the people.
So in the late Ming Dynasty, for those high-ranking officials, if you wanted to, you could even eat better than the emperor.
Shen Shixing poured himself a full glass of Sangluo wine and was about to get up to pour it for Zhang Juzheng opposite, but Zhang Juzheng directly waved for him to sit down.
"I have been accustomed to drinking Shaodaozi since I was a child. You drink yours and I drink mine."
Shen Shixing shook his head and smiled.
"This Sangluo wine has a pleasant aroma, a mellow body and a sweet taste. People in the south drink more of it."
"I am also from the south! But let me tell you, in the bitter cold winter in the capital, you should drink Shaodao! To warm up your body and wake up your brain!" Zhang Juzheng chewed sheep tripe in his mouth, "This is Sangluo wine, which is used as tea in summer. Drink!"
"It's just hypocritical! I'll throw it to you by the Yellow River and endure the snowflakes for a few days. If your face is cracked by the cold, you will know how delicious the roasted knife is!"
"Hahahaha! Do you have a problem with the taste of southerners? Or do you have a problem with southerners?"
"What's the difference?"
"That's not true!"
The two clinked glasses and smiled at each other.
The young people downstairs gathered together and discussed the newspaper articles enthusiastically.
Zhang Juzheng glanced at them and said, "I didn't expect this newspaper to be so powerful!"
"Yes!" Shen Shixing said, "Your Majesty is talking directly to the people, especially the young people."
"It's a good thing!" Zhang Juzheng said with a smile, "Ordinary people have only known the county magistrate for several lifetimes, not the emperor."
"This newspaper directly bypasses the government and conveys the most authentic voice of the court to the people at the bottom. The court's policies will not deviate from the original intention, and we errands don't have to worry too much!"
"What's your plan for that matter?"
Shen Shixing put down his chopsticks nervously.
"It depends on Mr. Gao's instructions?"
"Pull you down!" Zhang Juzheng sneered disdainfully, "What can that old guy Gao Gong say about this?"
"Are we forming a clique for personal gain?"
"Students are also afraid of bringing gossip to adults!" Shen Shixing lowered his head and pinched his nails, "After all, Mr. Xu Ge is still here, and students are like this..."
It was steaming inside the house, but it was extremely cold outside the window. While the two were talking, a few snowflakes the size of fingernails fell on the edge of the window, and were immediately melted by the heat inside the window.
"We all know!" Zhang Juzheng said, "Is it possible to enter the cabinet without anyone standing behind you?"
Shen Shixing was the number one scholar in Jiajing forty-one years, and the examiner at that time was Zhang Juzheng.
This time the Ministry of War was going to purge so many people. Of course Zhang Juzheng would not let the young people he favored stay in the Hanlin Academy and live their lives with books.
He needs someone who is as hard-working as himself and the emperor. Although the young man in front of him is a little timid, Zhang Juzheng will not misjudge the person. This young man is also a hard-working person.
I'm just a little timid.
"That old boy Li Chunfang did a good job. Can you name anyone in the court who belongs to him?" Zhang Juzheng wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Speaking of Mr. Li Ge, did he go to worship at the Confucius Temple?" Shen Shixing was curious, "Your Majesty should have gone there in person."
"Are you serious? Rumo? I haven't been to the Confucius Temple in almost 50-60 years!"
Early this morning, Li Chunfang, the Second Assistant to the Cabinet, went to the Confucius Temple to worship Confucius on behalf of the emperor. He led a group of hundreds of students from the Imperial College and the Hanlin Academy to solemnly worship Confucius.
Zhang Juzheng broke out halfway and dragged Shen Shixing here to drink.
Li Chunfang, the second assistant in the cabinet, did not dare to say anything.
"Isn't it normal that Your Majesty doesn't want to go?" Zhang Juzheng looked at Shen Shixing in confusion.
"But...but since His Majesty ascended the throne, all kinds of ceremonial activities have not been left behind!" Shen Shixing said, "My lord, do you still remember that Your Majesty went to Jitian? It was so cold that day! It was windy and cloudy."
"But didn't His Majesty personally take care of the fields? He also personally checked the seeds in the granary. How come it's Confucius' turn..."
He paused suddenly.
Zhang Juzheng was picking his teeth and looking at him with an expression of "Have you just figured it out?"
That's right!
According to the emperor's ambition to revive the Ming Dynasty and reorganize the imperial court, he would never easily miss any such activities that could reorganize the atmosphere.
Unless he doesn't want to go.
But...why?
Why didn’t the emperor want to go to the Confucius Temple?
"I do not understand."
"Your Majesty himself grew up reading the books of sages. Why did he become the emperor..."
"What's wrong with you!"
"I'm sick...ah?" Shen Shixing thought he heard wrongly.
"Are you sick?" Zhang Juzheng repeated.
"I do not have it!"
"Why do you think His Majesty must respect Master Kong?"
Zhang Juzheng looked at him and said, "Let me ask you, did Confucius ever become a king?"
"No."
"Did Confucius let Lu, or any country, dominate the world?"
"No."
"Then why do you think that the words of a saint can definitely enrich the country and strengthen the army?"
“…”
Shen Shixing's mind suddenly became confused.
"Look, look!" Zhang Juzheng laughed at him, "I said you should come to the Ministry of War! Look, you have only been in the Hanlin Academy for a few years and you have become like this?"
“Student, I don’t understand, haven’t emperors throughout the ages relied on the words of saints to govern their countries?”
"From ancient times to the present? Which ancient times?" Zhang Juzheng looked serious, "Dong Huan of Qi? Duke Wen of Jin? Duke Xiao of Qin? Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty? Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty? Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty?"
"Do they all rely on Confucianism to make their country strong?"
"Those...those...the two at the back?"
"Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty created the imperial examination just to weaken the big families! During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, he did not say that people could only study Confucianism!"
"Emperors before the Song Dynasty had many choices!"
Shen Shixing was suddenly speechless, with a puzzled face.
These words came from his teacher, and they really had a huge impact on him.
"But... doesn't it mean that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism, which means that the words of the saints are the truth?"
"Liu Che only respects Confucianism, but he has not completely dismissed all schools of thought!"
"He only values Confucianism so that he can more conveniently concentrate his power and wreak havoc all over the world!"
"Think about it. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the territory of the Han Dynasty doubled. There were wars for forty years, and the household registration in the world was reduced by half. However, the Han Dynasty did not perish. Why?"
"Students don't know!"
"It's because we only respect Confucianism!"
"What's the connection between the two?"
"It was the Confucian people who were divided into three or nine grades who ideologically tamed the new population in the newly opened territory of the Han Dynasty, and truly allowed the Han Dynasty to digest the new territory and population!"
"And internally, the people who were exploited by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and could no longer survive, because of the thoughts of kings, kings and ministers, fathers and sons, no one dared to rise up and overthrow the rule of the Han Dynasty!"
"Confucius' holy words may not have meant this originally, but Dong Zhongshu's Confucianism simply teaches you only four words."
"Where...where...four words?"
"Tame the people!"
Zhang Juzheng laughed a few times and looked at Shen Shixing's puzzled face like a child.
"Otherwise, why do we talk about herdsmen on behalf of the emperor? Is there any difference between shepherds and cattle and sheep?"
