The saint came to the East Palace in person, and he chose this time. No matter how stupid you are, you will know what he is here for.
Therefore, whether it is Xu Ze or Xue Ne and others, they are all guards at a distance. If they dare to get close, they will definitely kill anyone. Although Li Yun and Jiang Hao knew that they were the emperor's confidants, they still stayed far away. At least today, they didn't want to hear a word of the saint's words.
Li Xian also knew that Li Zhi would not come to the East Palace for no reason. There is no doubt that what Zhang Wenguan and others can teach is only government affairs, so that he can have clear and vague concepts about the court and the world.
And what Li Zhi wants to teach is the emperor's art that they can't teach.
Since ancient times, the emperor's art has been covered with a veil, making everyone curious, and Li Xian himself is no exception.
Speaking of which, Li Zhi's arrival today gave him a little expectation.
The chefs in the East Palace are now able to let go. They only need to briefly explain how to cook a dish, and then they can serve the dish that meets the requirements.
In the small pavilion next to the martial arts arena, Li Zhi and Li Xian had a meal of sweet and sour cold noodles.
As for the drink, Li Xian couldn't help but make an exception for Li Zhi and brought him wine chilled with well water. Of course, it's mixed with some water.
Although Li Zhi was very dissatisfied when the wine was mixed with water, he was too embarrassed to get angry when the promise was made.
On a hot day, I really can't get over those big fish and meat. Although the sweet and sour cold noodles are simple, they are the best thing to get rid of the irritability.
After finishing the meal, Li Zhi glanced at where Li Yong and Jiang Hao were. He did not ask them to come over and clear away the dishes. Instead, he looked at Li Xian opposite who had finished eating and said seriously: "Prince, I came to the East Palace today specifically." This trip is just to teach you what the Imperial Art is. What I taught you before was just superficial. Starting today, we will tell you the most important part."
Hearing what Li Zhi said, Li Xian glanced around, then sat upright and waited to listen.
Seeing that Li Xian showed seriousness with his actions, Li Zhi continued to talk: "What is an emperor? An emperor is the center of power of a country, the true master of a country, and the son of the sky. The power of heaven descends to the emperor, and the emperor He is the only person who can rule this country on behalf of God..."
Since we want to talk about the art of emperors, we must start with the majesty of the emperor.
Li Xian was not very interested in the content of this paragraph. Although educated people in later generations all know the origin of "reception between heaven and man", and some who are interested in this also know the "Three Questions between Heaven and Man" by Dong Zhongshu and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but for people of this era, even if There are people who have read the book, and some people don’t know this.
Ever since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, Confucianism has been spreading across the Central Plains like the Armillaria fungus in Malhol National Forest Park in North America. Although they don't know the specific content, their minds have been firmly imprisoned by this type of thinking since they were born.
Therefore, ministers cannot rebel against the king, wives cannot rebel against husbands, sons cannot rebel against fathers, and subordinates cannot rebel against superiors. The world only knows that feudal ideas are dregs, but they don’t know that the growth of feudalism was due to the power of Confucianism.
Some people blame Confucianism for China's thousands of years of feudalism. In fact, this is wrong.
Before the Confucian school, nobles and scholars in ancient society accepted the traditional six virtues through "teacher" and "Confucianism": wisdom, trust, sincerity, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty and the six elements: filial piety, friendship, harmony, marriage, responsibility, compassion, and return. There are six arts: socialized education of etiquette, music, archery, chastity, calligraphy and mathematics.
It can be said that the original Confucianism may still have some aristocratic flavor, but its original intention is to teach people correct ideological values.
What really changed the taste of Confucianism was actually Dong Zhongshu, or in other words, he combined Confucianism with rulers, making Confucianism truly begin to change from a knowledge that persuades people to have correct thoughts and values to a chain that binds the bottom class.
Starting from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and developing to the present, although the royal family has changed hands several times, even the emperor has become of Hu people's ancestry. However, the status of Confucianism remains unshakable. Because no matter which ruler he is, he must admit that the combination of imperial power and Dong Zhongshu's statement is the best way to rule.
After a "brief" introduction to "celestial induction", even Li Zhi felt a little thirsty. Seeing Li Xian's thoughtful look, he didn't bother him, so he walked out of the small pavilion and summoned Li Yong to get some tea. .
What Li Zhi didn't know was that Li Xian didn't listen to his story at all. As a teacher born in the 1990s, he has a vast network and can search for information, so he also knows a lot about knowledge other than textbooks.
To put it bluntly, the induction of heaven and man is the ruler's behavior to put gold on his face. Dong Zhongshu's theory is simply crude and effective compared to some auspicious behavior, and directly praises the emperor as the son of heaven.
And with the help of Confucianism as an "accomplice", the emperor could also secretly mix parts of the imperial arts into it, thus covering the honey of knowledge and delivering poison to the mouths of the people of the world.
However, there are only a few who dare to bite through the shell. Everyone tastes the fragrance of honey and becomes terminally ill unknowingly.
As a person from later generations, Li Xian naturally has his own ideas, his own logic, and his own pursuits. Originally, when he accepted the original memory of King Yong Li Xian, he had experienced a shock. The world is for my own use. This is not just the idea of the emperor. People in the royal family, no matter what their status, will involuntarily have such an idea.
After all, it will be difficult for a future generation to adapt to this era. Li Xian was even a little lucky that he was a prince. Soon after arriving in Chang'an, he became a prince. Regardless of whether he is a prince or a prince, he has no right to run around casually.
Because he couldn't run around, his sight was limited to the palace, the east palace, the palace and the carriage. If he really walked around like a free man, he would probably feel even more uncomfortable.
Taking a long breath, Li Xian looked outside. He was suddenly afraid now. Li Zhi will talk about the real emperor's art later, and he doesn't know how long he can endure such education.
Because Li Yong and others could not get close, Li Zhi personally brought the teapot and teacups.
Seeing that Li Xian had come out of his deep thoughts, Li Zhi put the teapot on the table.
Li Xian naturally picked up the teapot and poured water.
After taking a few sips of tea, Li Zhi cleared his throat: "Prince, we are now going to talk about the real emperor's art. You must know that Emperor Taizong's saying of 'the people are like water and the king is like a boat' is very clear. It shows the relationship between the emperor and the people. Although the imperial power is superior to all the people, it also needs the support of the people."
"So, the first part of the emperor's art is to deal with the people."
"The chapter on the people can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. At that time, Shang Yang wrote a book called "Shang Jun Shu", which can be regarded as the beginning of the emperor's art. Oh, Shang Yang, you know who it is."
Li Xianggong cupped his hands and said, "Of course I know that Shang Yang made reforms to strengthen Qin. Politically, he reformed Qin's household registration, military titles, land system, administrative divisions, taxation, weights and measures, and folk customs, and formulated Harsh laws; economically, he advocated focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, and rewarding farming and warfare; militarily, he led the Qin army to regain the land in Hexi, and was given to Shang by Qin Xiaogong in the fifteen cities, and was named "Shang Jun", known in history as For Shang Yang."
Li Xian could only say that he was extremely familiar with Shang Yang. He was definitely the most famous person in the pre-Qin period. It was his reforms that made the Qin Dynasty gradually stronger, and Qin finally unified the Central Plains, and he had a share of the credit for it.
As for the consequences of the car cracking in the back, it is easy to think of the word "taking the blame". The reform made the common people rich, but it hurt the interests of the traditional aristocracy and offended the entire class. Even the Lord of Qin could not protect him.
Thinking of Shang Yang's fate, Li Xian felt that it would be better to put away his thoughts. Lest the history books record that Shang Yang's reform in the pre-Qin Dynasty caused the car to break, or that Li Xian's reform in the Tang Dynasty caused it to break down, or something like that.
If you want to move the skyscraper of the Feudal Dynasty by yourself, it really can't be done in a day or two.
Seeing that Li Xian was very familiar with Shang Yang, Li Zhi continued: "This book is actually a forbidden book. Because it is a book that only the emperor can read. And the ideas in the book, in summary, are to control the people Five Arts.”
"The so-called five skills of controlling the people are to fool the people, to weaken the people, to tire the people, to humiliate the people, and to impoverish the people."
"The so-called fooling the people means controlling the people ideologically, preventing them from having their own thoughts, and unifying their ideas so that they have only one thought and one point of view. Doctrines and ideas can easily form their own groups. When a hundred schools of thought contended, the kings of various countries , it’s hard to swallow without food. Not to mention, the current Five Surnames and Seven Hopes are so difficult to deal with because of their own family background. This is the theory of one family, let alone more theories. "
"The so-called weak people means weakening the power of the people, using the weak to become strong, and using evil to control the good. The people are easy to deal with. As an emperor, you don't need to control the people, you only need to control the people of the next class, that is, Aristocratic officials. And if the aristocratic officials control the lower levels step by step, they can have the effect of affecting the whole body. The emperor's control over the people is also achieved. They are unable to resist the landlords and county magistrates at the upper level. , how dare you resist the almighty emperor?"
"The so-called tired people mean that the people are constantly running around and working in order to support their families, and the people are kept busy. Why? As long as people are still tired of running around, they have no thoughts and no time to think about anything else."
"The so-called poor are to strengthen taxes, impose excessive taxes, and squeeze the results of the people's productive labor force so that the people will not starve to death. They cannot be too rich except for the necessities of life. In this way, the people have no sense of security. Without permanent property, there is no perseverance. They can only Depend on the imperial court, and the imperial court will give you some small favors, and you will be grateful. People who are poor will have short ambitions. In this way, the people will naturally be peaceful and honest."
"The so-called humiliation of the people means, firstly, that the people will have no self-respect and self-confidence. Only when the people have no dignity can the imperial court be dignified. Secondly, it will reward the people for reporting on each other. If the people have no sense of trust in each other, they will naturally not be able to unite. If the people are not united, they will be disrespectful to the court. There is no threat, and the people will be cautious no matter what they say or do, for fear of bringing trouble to themselves. For the government and the court, there is no need to worry about the people's words going back and forth, making it difficult to manage."
"The above five skills of controlling the people are one of the core of the emperor's academics. I will not teach you the rest today. You only need to memorize these five."
After speaking, Li Zhi simply picked up the teapot and prepared to give Li Xian enough time to think.
He feels that his health is very good these days. Although he made the mistake again before, he is still much better than before. Seeing Li Xian shooting arrows today, he couldn't help but think of his archery skills that he had forgotten for many years. I don’t know if I can still use my bow now?
With this in mind, Li Zhi walked to Li Yun's side and ordered: "No one is allowed to disturb the prince. Anyone who dares to come close will be killed without mercy."
After finishing speaking, he sipped his tea and walked towards the shooting range.
No one dared to approach the small pavilion, so the small pavilion became Li Xian's world alone.
In this world, Li Xian's mood was in chaos.
He understood every word Li Zhi said, but when combined, why couldn't he even say anything?
The so-called core of the Imperial Art is actually something like this?
Foolish people, weak people, tired people, humiliating people, poor people?
Li Zhi thought so, so Taizong, who taught him the imperial art, also thought so?
What kind of bullshit does the people serve the water king and the boat? It turns out that this bastard is also doing one thing on the surface and another behind the scenes!
The infamy that Mr. Qianlong has suffered over the years may have subsided a little. His isolation from the country certainly separated the Qing Dynasty from the ranks of the world. but....
Throughout the ages, since Shang Yang, a guy who was not at all unjust, created the so-called Five Arts of Controlling the People, why hasn't he been "closing himself off" internally?
The common people were not allowed to receive education, so the nobles were naturally superior to others.
Insulting the people makes them afraid to resist the authority of the government. Therefore, even if they encounter a disaster and the court gives them a handful of Guanyin soil, they have to eat it honestly. No need to make any further demands?
As for the poor, oppressing the people with peace of mind and making them live hand to mouth has indeed consolidated their position as rulers. However, when looking at wealth in a country, what we need to look at is not the amount per capita, but the amount per person. With such thoughts, how can we talk about the rule of Zhenguan and the rule of Yonghui?
In the final analysis, the so-called prosperous age is just an illusion that the rich and powerful families are rich and the people are still in dire straits.
Li Xian wanted to give himself a slap in the face when he thought about the time when he told his students about the prosperous age of Zhenguan Yonghui.
What is revealed on the surface of the text does seem quite touching. However, when I delved deeper into it, I found out how cruel it was.
Emperor's art? hehe.
It's just for the sake of his precious throne, he will do whatever it takes.
