"If everything goes well, it will take two or three months!"
Zheng Cunzhong said with certainty.
They are all decent local people, and there can be many favors.
Even if you have a new concubine for no other reason, you can also invite some friends to get together, right?
"Xie Changjie is in Chaozhou and has collected more than 20,000 taels of silver. Not to mention the maids, he has left three concubines!" Zheng Cunzhong said with a smile, "I have dealt with this person face to face, so there is nothing to worry about. Your Majesty and The Yang Party is protecting him, but he can’t see the reason clearly and becomes more and more arrogant.”
"Cunzhong, you said two or three months, are you really sure?"
"Two months later, it's time to harvest and plant rice. Three months later, it's time to appoint a queen." Zheng Cunzhong waved his folding fan to let out a cool breeze. "Sun Jiao is a cabinet minister and the head of the country. If Yang Tinghe wants to create a situation for reform, There must be a result before Sun Jiao's status is transcended, so that His Majesty can expel Fei Ge Lao and other old parties. If His Majesty wants to expel Mr. Yang Ge Lao, he will have to wait for these three months to wait for these abandoned sons in Guangdong who presided over the new law to cause trouble. There's trouble!"
Someone thought thoughtfully: "So... the best time is between two or three months?"
"Of course! Your Majesty, the vassal king, in order to secure your position, you must be wise and brave, and have the ambition to rejuvenate. But has your Majesty ever been taught by an imperial teacher? Without knowing what is going on, he first boasted that his income would be doubled in ten years, and then asked why. Rich country, only then did Yang Tinghe's plan come true! How can your majesty take back the golden words?" Zheng Cunzhong said with a teasing smile, "Therefore, in the future, we will still have to find some way to achieve this goal, otherwise, where will your majesty's prestige remain?"
He looked at the elders of each family, with the pleasure of planning: "So we attack three points together! Huangmingji, Xie Changjie, Zaodao! Huangmingji belongs to His Majesty, but the Shibo Division is in the hands of Yang Tinghe; Both sides of Xie Changjie can first protect and then abandon them to appease the people's grievances; if there is a problem with Zaodaa, Yang Shen is unforgivable, and His Majesty, the Imperial Party, and Mr. Fei Ge can work together. In the future, the Shipping Department will be returned to the internal ministers, and we will borrow it The Emperor Ming remembered that he went to sea in a majestic manner. Could it be that if the internal funds are doubled in ten years, it is not considered a national wealth? Whether the internal funds are loaned to the Ministry of Revenue and other treasuries is up to your majesty!"
"Yang Tinghe definitely doesn't really want to change the law. Who doesn't know what he was like in the past? There are also experts in the old party and the imperial party, so the second step of the new law is to change the market and set up the Emperor Mingji. Yang Tinghe asked Yang Shen to make We cannot fall for such actions! No matter what he asks for in Guangzhou or how he forces us to donate, give it to him! As long as there is a problem with the early rice and the people of Guangzhou are displaced, the opportunity will come!"
A big man stood up and said angrily: "But my wife's family..."
"Uncle Xu." Zheng Cunzhong looked at him and sighed, "Wang Ziyan was chopped with a knife, but you actually escaped. Liang Chu and Huang Mingji were closest to each other. Don't forget that those five hundred Jinyi guards were How did you go south? Since your wife's family did commit that case and there is irrefutable evidence, so what? What the Liang family and the Zhang family did is not only a slap on the back of us, but also a throwback. If Huang Mingji can't get me in Guangdong If we wait for cooperation, it will be impossible to achieve the goal of doubling the annual income in ten years by leveraging the benefits of sea trade, and Yang Tinghe can continue to talk about taxes and servitude. If Your Majesty has to use taxes and servitude, what can you do except delegate power to Yang Tinghe?"
Seeing the other people's thoughtful looks, Zheng Cunzhong said with emotion: "The battles in the court are really dangerous and subtle. Fulun committed suicide, but his godfather Wei Bin was able to save his life and come to Guangdong. Among them I mean, elders, please think carefully about this. We must not hinder the purchase and transshipment of the remaining missions in Guangdong. The Emperor Ming remembers the important people, and we will work together. If you cannot pass this level, Your Majesty will really force you to do so. With Yang Tinghe levying taxes and levies in Guangdong, I would rather have chaos in the world than drive Yang Tinghe away!"
…
Guangdong, which is at the center of the whirlpool, is gradually taken in a new direction by the "dangerous and subtle" struggle between the courts.
In the court, impeachment and questioning never stopped.
At this moment, everyone discovered how powerful the talisman His Majesty's policy was when he established the National Policy Council: "If you are impeached, you will not leave office, and if there is no evidence, you will not be held accountable."
If you want to make any suggestion, if there is real evidence, it will affect His Majesty's sensitive nerves.
In this "war", there will only be many middle- and low-level officials who will become cannon fodder. The outcome will be decided in one fell swoop only after the situation changes.
Last year's new scholars, some really clean local officials in the past, and idle officials waiting for vacancies, just watched as more and more positions became vacant in the government, central government, and local governments.
But in the appointment of these low- and medium-level official positions, Wang Qiong, the official of the Ministry of Personnel, has great power.
The people who suffered the most in the past period were those promoted by Wang Qiong and others.
I'm both greedy and scared...but I finally think that as long as I work hard during this period, there won't be any problems.
At the national policy meeting, Zhu Houcong repeatedly lamented: "I didn't expect that Mr. Fei Ge's drama actually rectified some officialdom in advance."
The other staff members all looked at Screenwriter Fei with complicated expressions: Huan Chao Shi Yue was extremely low-key, and he directed this big drama as soon as he started, and his skills were fully demonstrated.
"It's just that the situation in the government is unstable at the moment and I have concerns." Fei Hong looked at the emperor and hesitated before saying, "Your Majesty is extremely talented and has become more candid in national policy meetings. Recently, His Majesty often goes to Wanfa Pavilion. , I dare to ask, is your Majesty worried about the effectiveness of Confucian education?"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Yang Tinghe.
After so many years of preaching about cultivating oneself, managing one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world, and upholding the principles of nature to eliminate human desires, what was exposed in this great storm was how bad these officials who studied Confucianism and were good at serving as officials were in selfish desires.
It is impossible for such a smart emperor not to understand the reason why the newly promoted officials are doing things carefully at this moment: they are afraid of being punished!
What about the future? If you change the soup but not the medicine, you will become bolder after the political situation is stabilized.
By then it will not be enough to just set up an example of Yu Qian. From the very beginning when the emperor made a fuss about Wang Shouren, it can be seen that the meaning and thought of Confucianism will undergo a major change.
Now His Majesty is actually becoming interested in those miscellaneous subjects!
This affects the nerves of many people here more than changing the law.
Zhu Houcong looked at their worried eyes and put on a puzzled expression: "I have also grown up reading books about sages since I was a child. However, I really have a lot of doubts after Yu Ji. The way of the great saint is so vast. Mr. Yang Ge is experiencing the banquet for the first time. I have kept the teachings of that time in mind. I am indeed studying the meaning of the scriptures now. It’s just that the principles of heaven are difficult to understand, and human desires are difficult to destroy. After studying the method of achieving conscience, I only feel that it is the same. Direction. Scholars all over the world only see the road ahead. Once they set foot on the road, they don't know how to follow it and gradually become lost."
The emperor explained his current understanding of Confucian classics, Neo-Confucianism, and Xinxue, and everyone present was attentive.
Zhu Houcong sighed: "This is like trying to cross a river. You only know that the bank is on the other side. How do you get across? No one has built a bridge, and no one is sailing a boat to ferry it across. Everyone's crossing the river is like seeking the Tao. In the end, they have to rely on themselves. . Only knowing the direction but not the method, they will eventually be blocked by the reef in the middle of the river and submerged by the big waves. In the end, most of them will join the trend."
This metaphor made many people start to think about it, and most of them were actually a little confused.
Now it is not a matter of whether Confucianism should be used to govern the country, but the issue of Confucian disciples who have already occupied this position are backlashing the country.
Fei Hong said that now there is a trend of frankness in national policy meetings, and His Majesty does not ignore the importance of etiquette and order, but he wants to find a solution.
How come most of the Confucian disciples are able to "acquire conscience" and most of them are able to "destroy human desires"?
Today’s facts prove that the Neo-Confucian sages only used moral condemnation to try to raise the lower limit. However, the officials and gentry all had plenty of fertile land in their homes, but they did not have the desire to govern the country and bring peace to the world. The lower limit may not have been successfully raised. It was just like the very stable annual income from land tax in the Ming Dynasty. Overall, it looked pretty good.
The price is that the people are increasingly overwhelmed.
The method of cultivating conscience among people taught by Xin Xue also depends too much on talent, and if it is promoted vigorously, people will inevitably use it to fulfill their selfish desires.
Anyone who can sit here knows what the consequences will be if it continues to develop: the people will eventually be unable to survive.
It cannot be said that as officials and gentry, they do not care about the change of dynasties. After all, every change of dynasty is accompanied by a large number of family destruction and annihilation.
Who can guarantee that he is not the one whose family was destroyed?
As the emperor agrees that the overall interests of the officials and gentry as a large group in the order of etiquette and law should also be protected, the question raised by His Majesty is indeed worth thinking about.
"Your Majesty, this metaphor is very apt." Yang Tinghe, the highest-ranking person among the Neo-Confucian disciples, spoke up. "This has inspired me. It may be necessary to build a bridge, or have someone to ferry the boat, or it may be like managing a river..."
Zhu Houcong laughed: "This is still like pursuing the great road. I am in the clouds and fog, and I don't know its meaning. Just like the Six Classics commented on me, there are different opinions."
Yang Ting and others were shocked: Your Majesty has really gained some in-depth insights into the meaning of the scriptures.
Zhu Houcong had indeed found some clues, so he used Fei Hong to raise this topic and threw out a clue of his own: "At its root, the debate between Neo-Confucianism and Psychology is based on principles. The existence of human desires makes it possible to pursue the principles of nature. It has become too difficult. The saying that everyone has the nature of heavenly principles and the nature of temperament makes it difficult for people to clarify which of their thoughts and actions belong to heavenly principles and which belong to human desires. Without a ruler, Xinxue simply I believe that nature is reason. Yang Ge’s old saying is true. Mind science pays more attention to talent, but the hidden dangers are greater.”
Everyone confirmed that His Majesty had indeed touched the source.
Neo-Confucianism believes that there are many things in heaven and earth that are eternal truths that do not change depending on people. The etiquette and legal order established thereby meet the needs of imperial rule. Everyone follows some moral requirements, but there is indeed no clear standard or ruler.
This is not only because everyone has different desires and cannot set standards for personal cultivation, but also allows everyone to have a flexible moral bottom line.
Now we are colluding with others, constantly lowering the bottom line and the lower limit.
"I have experienced a lot over the past year and gained a little, but I don't know what is right or wrong." Zhu Houcong thought for a moment and said, "Metal, stone, water, and fire have no spirit, and the reason is easy to understand. Grass, trees, birds, and animals have spirits. When one obeys nature, the animal nature can multiply, and the reason is not difficult to understand. If one understands it, one can tame it and guard against it. However, humans are full of spirituality and have different temperaments, so the reason is difficult to understand."
"I believe that the laws of nature are the laws of nature, and human nature is just the manifestation of the laws of heaven in humans. When human nature conforms to the laws of nature, the laws of heaven will open a way for it. If human nature violates the laws of nature, not only will it fail to pursue the truth, but it will also be punished by the laws of nature. Just as one person disobeys the laws of nature and harms others and himself. Many people disobey the laws of nature and harms the family and the country. If everyone in the world disobeys the laws of nature, it will only be the disaster of annihilation of the entire clan."
"Thinking about it is nothing new. When it comes to governing a country, it is nothing more than the combination of Taoism and art, the internal Confucianism and the external law. What I have learned is that there are principles of things and principles of human beings under the laws of heaven. To study things to achieve knowledge is to understand physics. It is too difficult to find human principles. Conscience attaches more importance to human principles, but it cannot help but ignore the constraints of natural principles and physics on human principles. It is like not knowing the principles of water. How can you try it first just because you know and do the same thing? Control floods?”
“Use the investigation of things to understand physics, and do things without going against the laws of nature and failing to follow the law; observe human ethics and morality as human principles and conscience, and use conscience as the method for human nature to practice; use laws and regulations as the restraint criterion for human nature that violates the laws of nature. In fact, this was also the case in the past. I don’t know if I can explain clearly what I have learned?”
At this moment, Yao Rong has also arrived.
The Eighteen Arhats, Zhang Bi, and Gu Dingchen were all shocked when they looked at the emperor with an expectant expression.
Regardless of whether these remarks are right or wrong, regardless of whether his judgment and views on Neo-Confucianism and Psychology are correct, regardless of whether he is the emperor or not, the person who speaks these words now is just a sixteen-year-old boy.
It is extremely rare for young people of this age to understand the meaning of the scriptures. If you think more about historical and current affairs, and reach a certain level of calligraphy and writing, then the road to the imperial examination will be smooth.
In the field of learning itself, those who have their own opinions and can generally justify themselves can be called great Confucians.
Now, the emperor's statement still does not overturn the Confucian framework. This is equivalent to a new interpretation of the views of Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue.
The two concepts of physics and human principles are introduced, and they are considered to be the manifestations of heavenly principles in different objects.
At the human level, there is no such thing as good or evil, but it is governed by an underlying principle of heaven. Specifically speaking, the conscience and morality advocated by Confucianism should be pursued and promoted. Continuously improving one's human ethics and conscience is the way to sincerely cultivate one's mind and self.
The external laws and regulations can naturally be expressed as the standards and boundaries that Confucianism should have for the laws of heaven and human nature. Beyond this limit, it goes against the laws of nature, harms others, harms oneself, harms the family and the country.
The right to interpret is still in the hands of Confucians.
Is it Confucianism within and Legalism outside? In fact, for thousands of years, hasn’t Confucianism been absorbing insights from various schools such as Legalism, Taoism, and Buddhism?
Confucianism and Legalism have always existed, otherwise why would there be both a Ministry of Rites and a Ministry of Punishment?
The study of mind comes from Neo-Confucianism. In the framework of Neo-Confucianism proposed by Cheng and Zhu, there has never been a clear and clear explanation of how to achieve knowledge and what knowledge is.
Today, the twenty people in the imperial study heard a new insight.
Investigating things to achieve knowledge is to understand physics; the process of sincerely cultivating one's mind and cultivating one's mind can be interpreted as the process of practice after understanding what it means to investigate things and achieve knowledge?
From physics, we can glimpse a corner of the eternal and unchanging laws of nature. Sincerity means realizing this, and having a correct mind means determining the direction and then following the laws of nature to practice human principles.
If you have gained knowledge in physics and human theory, you will naturally be able to regulate your family, govern your country, and bring peace to the world.
Every practical matter in regulating the family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world actually involves both physics and human reasoning.
For example, in business, isn’t growing goods physical? The whole process involves the management of so many people. Isn't it human nature?
For example, when regulating a river, isn't the nature of water and its behavior not physics? But when it comes to dispatching corvees and managing financial accounts, doesn’t it involve human affairs everywhere?
The most important problem: all this is still within the framework of Confucianism!
Thoughts flowed through everyone's mind, and the bodies of Yang Tinghe, Jiang Mian, Shi Yue, Fei Hong, etc., who were not very accomplished in classics and meanings, could not help but tremble slightly.
They all looked at the emperor with inexplicable expectation and awe, with both desire and uncertainty.
The Ancestral Temple is the highest honor of merit, and what is before you may be the steps leading to the saints.
"The great road is always the same, but there are tens of thousands of paths." Zhu Houxuan found that it seemed to be working. "I set up the Ten Thousand Methods Hall just to see if it would be enlightening. I have recently received some recommendations for worship, and Qiu Wenzhuang mentioned it in "The Great Learning" "Yi Supplement", I have found it very helpful to read it. Qiu Zhongshen, a famous Neo-Confucian scholar, also has many techniques for managing the world and governing the country in his writings. I suddenly had an idea and realized it. If the general principles of heaven, physics and human principles, then Tao and techniques are not If they are contrary to each other, they are all bridges, boats and chariots on the road to the great road. The wise will suddenly realize, the fool will practice diligently, and everyone will gain something."
Thousands of words are stuck in everyone's mind, but they don't know where to start.
Because in a hurry, it is like listening to the fairy music, but I dare not say whether it is right or wrong.
But one thing is absolutely certain.
Yang Tinghe's eyes were full of pure envy, without the restraint caused by the status gap between the monarch and his ministers: "I am ashamed...Your Majesty has gained something occasionally, which is close to the great road. I...please ask Your Majesty to analyze it in detail."
Compared with the previous volume "Draft of the Ming Dynasty's Fiscal and Taxation System", today's short paragraphs had a much more severe impact on them.
Yang Tinghe really made a gesture of asking for advice.
Zhu Houcong doesn't care about his reputation in this area. If he can really put science in the skin of Confucianism so that scholars can study "physics" openly, then his goal will be achieved.
What's more, he is the emperor, who dares to steal his honor?
So he nodded: "This matter has to do with the way of governing the country. Naturally, there will be a lot of debate between the monarch and his ministers. I have also written to Wang Bo'an to hear his opinion. This matter is serious and I have no intention of subverting the academic tradition. Therefore, if I cannot let you Once you agree with it from the bottom of your heart, you cannot easily announce it to the outside world. If Confucianism can take on a new look as a result, you will be as good as the sages in the history of history."
The Eighteen Arhats and the two accompanying readers nodded repeatedly: Yes, yes, your Majesty, this is what we want!
From this day on, for this group of fishermen who had already set up a dragnet, the geriatric study class evolved into a geriatric theory seminar.
New rules must be guided by new theories.
"That's all I can think of at the moment. You can think about it based on your own knowledge and opinions, and we can communicate with each other tomorrow."
Twenty people left their seats and prostrated themselves sincerely: "I have received the instruction and the order, Your Majesty is wise!"
Those who have mastered it are the first, and twenty people are close to the etiquette of a master.
Zhu Houcong smiled slightly: This is a good start. I can start to try to lead the Ming Dynasty's advanced thinking.
Thousands of dollars per day! ! !
(End of chapter)
