Chapter 293 Three Fires
“Long Bo’s talent is really amazing, this reform method is very good.” In the palace, Di Xin looked at Ao Bing’s memorial with excitement on his face .
Everything Ao Bing wrote perfectly met his needs. The clear division of officials' powers was essentially to centralize power.
Take back the power of canonizing officials from the hands of the nobles!
In the past, nobles had the power to recruit their own subordinates. These were my subordinates’ subordinates, not my subordinates. But now, under Ao Bing's reforms, the officials of the nobility have to be appointed by the emperor.
In this way, the subordinate officials of the nobles became the emperor's ministers, and their authority was not only strengthened.
Ao Bing's reform method can only be said to be commonplace in later generations. But in this era, it is the first time that it has happened. It can naturally make knowledgeable people marvel and exclaim their fantastic ideas.
After all, etiquette and law were formulated by Duke Zhou, and many systems known to later generations basically originated from Duke Zhou.
As for Duke Zhou, he is the fourth son of King Wen, the fourth son of Jichang, the Marquis of Xibo. He is still a young man now. It will take many years for him to perfect the etiquette.
Ao Bing’s move has intercepted Zhou Gong’s luck in advance!
"It's just that although Long Bo's reform method is good, I'm worried that the nobles won't follow it!"
Di Xin had not completely lost his mind at this moment. After being excited, he soon realized that Ao Bing was The shortcomings of the reform method are easily opposed by the aristocratic group.
Since ancient times, it has not been easy to take advantage of vested interest groups. If one person fails, he will suffer the consequences. Therefore, Ao Bing's method is essentially risky.
"Try to implement it first. If the nobles agree, that would be the best."
"If the nobles do not agree, then implement it on a small scale. On a large scale, we still recruit subordinate officers The power is assigned to them, but the subordinate officials they recruit must be canonized by the king.”
Ao Bing said unhurriedly that the purpose of his reforms was to improve work efficiency. As for centralization, it was just incidental.
In short, first occupy the name and let the subordinate officials know that they are officials of the big merchants, and then they are the subordinate officials of the nobles.
And in the case of occupying the great righteousness, as long as you take it slowly, you can take back part of the power sooner or later.
"Just do as Long Bo said."
Di Xin also knew that a mistake is a mistake, and reform is not something that happens overnight. It requires a dull knife to cut the flesh. Within the acceptance range of the nobles, little by little Lower its bottom line until it is no longer able to resist.
"Reform does not happen overnight, but one thing must be put on the agenda, and that is the abolition of the living sacrifice system."
"From now on, grains and meat should be used to replace living people for sacrifices. The ancestors of heaven and earth and the ghosts and gods of the four directions.”
As soon as the new official took office, Ao Bing started to burn the second fire. And this second fire is the key, pointing directly to the core of Dashang's demise.
At the same time, this is also Ao Bing’s merit!
The demise of Dashang was due to the backlash of humanity caused by human sacrifice. Therefore, if we were to save Dashang, the first step was to abolish human sacrifice.
And Ao Bing, as the Prime Minister of the Great Shang Dynasty, was in his position and planned his own affairs. No matter what his real purpose was, since he was in this position, he had to do something.
Abolition of the living sacrifice system is what Ao Bing is planning to do. As long as he accomplishes this, he will have an explanation to the people of the world.
Even if Dashang dies in the end, with this achievement, his evaluation will not be too low.
"I have wanted to do this for a long time, but the obstacles were huge, but I never thought that Long Bo and Yu would think of the same thing.
When Di Xin heard this, he seemed to have found a confidant, He couldn't help but say with great joy. He was really happy. He saw clearly the shortcomings of Dashang.
However, whenever he wanted to make changes, he would find that the domestic resistance was greater than he imagined, and everyone became his enemy, so that he was blocked everywhere and accomplished nothing.
But things are different now. With Ao Bing’s support, the probability of this happening is extremely high.
"The general trend is like this. As the number of humans continues to increase, humanity is paying more and more attention to humans. Under this situation, continuing to sacrifice humans alive is an act that violates humanity and will definitely be punished."< br>
"If a great merchant does not want to be hated by humanity, it is inevitable to make changes."
Ao Bing did not answer Di Xin's words, but just stated the reason why he did so.
Di Xin did see the shortcomings of Dashang and was ready to reform, but his reform was a bit too outrageous.
In a nutshell, one size fits all.
If the living sacrifice system is not good, it will be completely abolished. I will no longer sacrifice to the ghosts and gods of the four directions, or to the ancestors of heaven and earth.
But how is this possible? Sacrificing sacrifices to ghosts and gods from all directions involves the struggle between monarchy and divine power. Emperor Xin will abolish it if he says it should be abolished. The nobles in the country who hold divine power will naturally object fiercely.
The human race respects their ancestors the most. Emperor Xin abolished the ritual of worshiping ancestors, which will undoubtedly make the princes from all over the world dissatisfied.
Later, when King Wu conquered Zhou, one of the crimes he punished Emperor Xin was not to sacrifice to his ancestors.
Di Xin is too radical, and the failure of reform is inevitable. Ao Bing learned his lesson and did not abolish the sacrificial ceremony, but only changed the sacrifices. In this way, even if someone opposes it, it won't be too violent. After all, if we don’t have the fundamentals of the country, we won’t be desperate to oppose it.
“We will discuss this matter at the court meeting tomorrow!”
After discussing with Ao Bing, Emperor Xin communicated with several close ministers and decided to wait until the court meeting tomorrow. At that time, these two things were raised in public.
Ao Bing and Di Xin can implement major national affairs. They do not have such great power and must obtain the consent of most of the courtiers.
The disadvantage of the enfeoffment system is that the monarch cannot be arbitrary and everything must be discussed.
......
Time soon came to the second day. During the court meeting, Ao Bing proposed reforming the official position system, but as expected, he was opposed by the ministers.
Ao Bing did not choose to go against them, and made concessions at the right time, reforming the official position system unchanged, but the subordinate officers were still recruited by themselves, and they only needed to report Emperor Xin.
Seeing Ao Bing's concession, the courtiers did not dare to push too hard, so they quickly gave up and agreed to his reforms.
In this way, Ao Bing’s first fire is over. Centralization of power failed, but reform of the official position system succeeded.
It is unknown what Di Xin thought, but Ao Bing was able to escape from the complicated government affairs in the future, so that he could have more energy to deal with other things.
After burning the first fire, Ao Bing started to burn the second fire, and took the opportunity to propose changing the sacrifices. The result was no surprise, and he encountered even more fierce opposition from the ministers.
“The ghosts and gods from all over the world are the foundation for the establishment of the Great Shang Dynasty. Now that the Great Shang Dynasty is in a precarious situation, it is even more inseparable from their support.”
"If you change the sacrifices rashly and arouse their dissatisfaction, you will not only lose their support, but also cause them to turn against my great merchant."
"My great merchant is so weak that I really can't withstand this. After all this trouble, I hope that the king will put the country first, take back his orders, and stop talking about this matter."
The nobleman in charge of the sacrifice stood up and persuaded him sincerely.
Everything he said came from his heart. Changing the sacrifice is easy, just a few words, but it is difficult to get the ghosts and gods from all over the world to accept it.
Why ghosts and gods from all over the world like to use living people as sacrifices is not because living people are of high value.
In exchange for grains and meat, even the innate grains and the flesh and blood of ferocious beasts are not as valuable as the human race. How could the ghosts and gods from all over the world be willing to do so.
If they cause trouble by then, it will undoubtedly add insult to injury to today's great merchants, further accelerating the decline of great merchants.
“Our ancestors overcame obstacles and created a huge foundation to provide a place for their descendants. As descendants, we inherit the virtues of our ancestors, how can we ignore the sacrifices to our ancestors?”
“Sacrifice and sacrifice a living person is a sign of respect for the ancestors. It is the blessing of the sacrifice. What a blessing it is to let him serve his ancestors. How can he dare to complain?”
“Also, ancestor worship is the foundation of the human race. If you rashly change the sacrifice, the princes from all over the world will hear about it? , will definitely be shocked, and even refuse to pay tribute to our great merchants on this basis.”
"This is an act of rebellion. If you insist on doing it, it will definitely disrupt our great business community, so I hope the king will take it back!"
The nobles of the ancestor worship sect also stood up and said, and their words also came from the bottom of their hearts.
After all, this world is different from the next.
In future generations, death is death, and there is no such thing as ghosts.
But in this world, after the death of our ancestors, they either ascended to heaven or practiced in the underworld, but they still continue to exist in the world and hold powerful power.
Many descendants can develop because of the protection of their ancestors. What is the difference between asking them to rebel against their ancestors and asking them to kill themselves?
Moreover, as princes and nobles, they cannot live forever, and one day their souls will return to the underworld. If the sacrifices are changed today, how will they deal with themselves after their souls enter the underworld tomorrow?
Ao Bing didn't want to change the sacrifice. He clearly wanted to cut off their escape. It's a shame that they could agree.
After all, everyone must die one day. The ministers present always have to think about what is behind them.
Therefore, the ancestor worship sect has a louder voice and a more determined attitude when it comes to opposing the easier sacrifices. At the same time, it is also the most powerful.
The God Sacrifice Sect is considered a big force in Dashang, but looking at the whole world, it can only be regarded as average. But the ancestor worship sect is different. All princes and nobles have ancestors, and they all will die one day.
Therefore, to be an enemy of the ancestor worship sect is to be an enemy of all the princes and nobles. Even a big businessman at its peak would be at risk of destruction if he dared to do this, let alone a big businessman who is now in turmoil.
"You..."
Seeing that the opposition from the ministers was so loud, Emperor Xin was furious and also clearly realized that this matter was probably not feasible.
With the opposition of all the nobles, no matter what the decree is, it is impossible to pass it. Realizing this, Di Xin's heart was suddenly filled with disappointment.
Then, under the backlash of the power of humanity, his will began to further collapse, and he became increasingly disgusted with his ministers and wanted to kill them all.
(End of this chapter)