Chapter 153 Read to me
In the end, no official raised any objection to the court meeting on the formulation of the "Outline of the Imperial Constitution".
Because the senior officials of the Ming Empire had never thought that the empire's system needed to be clearly stipulated in writing, Zhu Houzhao's proposal was undoubtedly too novel, catching them off guard and making them confused, not knowing whether to stop or agree.
Under this situation, Zhu Houzhao could only use imperial power to order the Hanlin Academy to organize a Constitutional Affairs Office, which would formulate a draft of the "Outline of the Imperial Constitution".
At the same time, the draft will be held for another court meeting after it is completed.
However, the Hanlin Academy bachelor who drafted the imperial constitution in the Constitutional Hall had to be personally appointed by Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao requested that Hanlin Academy officials from different classes be selected to participate. They should not only be from the official and gentry class, but also from the common people and landlord class. They should also have business backgrounds and those without business backgrounds. At the same time, they should not only be from the north, nor only those from the north. Southerners.
It can be said that although Zhu Houzhao's purpose in formulating the "Outline of the Imperial Constitution" was to protect his imperial power, his approach was still very democratic. He did not say that he made decisions directly or consulted with his ministers.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao's purpose in doing this was actually to let the civil servants of the Ming Empire get used to the way of thinking of governing the empire using the rule of law instead of using ethical relationships to govern the empire.
Wang Yangming, who was the governor of Southern Zhili at that time, also learned about the imperial court's plan to formulate a constitution through Huangming Bao. At the same time, he also learned about the content of the court discussion on formulating a constitution and the debate in the newspaper from Huangming Bao.
This discussion on the formulation of the constitution had a great impact on Wang Yangming, just as it had a great impact on other officials of the empire.
Wang Yangming found that even though he was in the court at the time, he could not tell whether the emperor's actions were right or wrong.
He had to admit that His Majesty the Emperor likes to make rules very much. He just formulated a "Convention" in Nanzhili, and also formulated a "Contract to Observe" with several important internal and external ministers related to the Royal Bank. Now he is going to formulate a "Convention" constitution".
But what Wang Yangming has to admit is that these rules are necessary and effective. Once there are rules, order and fairness will exist. For example, the "Convention" in Nanzhili forced the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River to pay taxes, and there was no way to argue with it. Because the rules are laid out in black and white.
But this also made Wang Yangming discover that the Confucian Neo-Confucian knowledge he had learned was very lacking in this aspect. It seemed that the Confucian Neo-Confucian knowledge he had learned only focused on self-cultivation and ethical relationships, and had never understood what rules the empire needed to govern. Over the explanation, there is no clear political program. It only says that the king is the guide for the ministers, and the father is the guide for the son.
But what exactly is Jun's plan and what powers does it have? Could it be that Confucianism wants everyone in the world to be the slaves of the king? What does the king say? Dominate the life and death of his subjects? In this case, why is there a saying that "a ruler treats his ministers like dirt, and his ministers regard him as a bandit?" Isn't this contradictory?
Wang Yangming found that he needed to study again to explain the relationship between people, people and nature, people and their countries, people and their kings, and the relationship between people and themselves. For the world, special knowledge is needed to explain what talents are. It is the most reasonable system, and at the same time, what rights and obligations should people have.
Wang Yangming found that he was about to open up a new world of thought.
For this reason, he read Zhu Houzhao's "Outline of the Governance of the Country" again, went to the bamboo forest, and went up the mountain to find the monks who were meditating and the Taoist priests who were cultivating immortality. He even went to ask the farmers what they wanted and what they wanted. What did her maid want? With Wang Yangming's repeated encouragement, the maid shyly took off her clothes and said she wanted to be an aunt.
Like Wang Yangming, Kang Hai, the academician of the Hanlin Academy, is also confused now. His Majesty's intention to formulate a constitution seems absurd to him, because there has been no constitution since ancient dynasties governed the world. It was either Huang-Lao theory or Confucianism. .
But Kang Hai can't explain the absurdity now. Even if the state takes Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as its orthodoxy, there is no explicit provision that Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism can be directly used as a political system, and it cannot even be used directly as a political system at all. System use! Because "preserve the laws of nature and eliminate human desires" is something that is used to demand individuals, but it feels inappropriate to demand the country.
Moreover, even if Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is used as a political program, it seems to be very contradictory. According to the idea of the emperor as the minister, the gentry in the world should not question the emperor and advise the emperor. Otherwise, even if the emperor is advised, the emperor will have no choice but to listen to them. obey.
As a member of the official gentry class, Kang Hai had to admit that he was very resistant to this view, but he did not understand why he regarded this idea as orthodox.
But when Kang Hai thought that the father is the guide for the son, he felt that it was right. How could a son oppose his father?
Kang Hai fell into confusion. He found that the emperor in the palace had given him a difficult problem, and he also found that even though he was the number one scholar, he seemed not proficient in his studies and could not understand many things clearly, especially when he saw the constitutional government When the normally gentle Hanlin bachelors in the library were quarreling red in the face, he never expected that officials from gentry backgrounds and officials from common people would have such big differences in the formulation of the constitution.
Kang Hai wrote a memorial about his intention to resign and go to the Capital University to become a student. He found that the contents taught at the Capital University contained a lot of knowledge not mentioned in the Four Books and Five Classics, and many of them were directly related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and they were very straightforward. He even He still doesn't know what system these knowledges are, but now he decides to study them. He feels that he can learn some new knowledge from there to answer his doubts.
Zhu Houzhao agreed to the request of Kang Hai, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and exempted him from military training because of his age. However, Kang Hai's request caused an uproar in the Manchu Dynasty, and even the entire literary world of the Ming Dynasty was quite surprised by this, because the official position of bachelor of the Hanlin Academy is one of the most noble official positions in the Qing Dynasty, and it even foreshadows the next You will be in the cabinet in one step, if you follow the past rules.
Now Kang Hai has to resign from his official position to study, which naturally puzzles many people. Moreover, he goes to study at the Capital University, which is widely frowned upon and even criticized by the world. He even goes to study there as a great Confucian, which makes many arrogant Confucian scholars. Literary people really cannot accept such a thing happening.
Xu Zhenqing asked Kang Hai: "Brother, why do you want to resign and go to study there? Do you really want to study with a group of younger generations?"
"I don't know something. It's actually because His Majesty wanted to implement constitutional government the day before yesterday. I discovered that my knowledge is very limited. I can't judge whether what Your Majesty said is right or wrong. According to the words of the sage, is it better to restrict the monarch's power or not? Good, very good The words of the sages are not consistent, so no one in the court can argue whether what your Majesty has done is right or wrong. In order to better refute your majesty's deviant ways, I must learn what your majesty knows. !" Kang Hai said.
Xu Zhenqing did not stop Kang Hai's behavior.
Zhu Houzhao did not expect that he was just formulating a constitution, so that the civil servants were so confused, and even had big differences, because he said, "The constitution is the foundation for the governance of future dynasties, and the king and even the subjects of the world must use it." "As a guideline", a group of literati and bachelors in the Constitutional Hall of the Hanlin Academy did not dare to be disrespectful. They did not formulate a draft for several months, and even the quarrel became more and more fierce.
Zhu Houzhao did not stop him, and even said: "It is best to quarrel more. Now we have a clear understanding, so as not to cause dissatisfaction in the future. If the quarrel cannot produce results, let more people quarrel, and we can always work out a solution that satisfies all the people in the world." The Constitution is here, don’t worry.”
Because of this, almost all literati in the world participated in this war of words and expressed their views on how the constitution was formulated through Huang Ming Bao.
Zhu Houzhao didn't care. Even if some literati rolled up their sleeves and started fighting because of this, he didn't ask Jin Yiwei to ask. Besides, he didn't have so much time to care about how these literati quarreled, and in his opinion, it was fine for the literati to quarrel among themselves. , so that they won’t deal with him as the emperor.
"Your Majesty! Censor Ximen Fu impeached Shouning Marquis Zhang Yanling even though his slaves seized hundreds of hectares of civilian land."
Zhu Houzhao did not expect that the civil servants did not bother him, but his relatives and nobles caused trouble for him. It was obvious that his two uncles thought that after the death of Emperor Hongzhi, he would indulge them even more and continue to annex land unscrupulously. .
"Order Shouning Hou to return the land to the people immediately, and deliver the slaves who occupy the land to Jinyiwei within three days. Otherwise, I will order Jinyiwei to come and seize the person in person, and reduce his title!"
Zhu Houzhao was naturally not polite, and went to see Empress Dowager Zhang with the memorial and said to Empress Dowager Zhang:
"Mother, although relatives are not allowed to be involved in politics, I feel that my two uncles cannot remain unlearned and unskilled. Even if they damage the reputation of my mother's family, they will be criticized by hundreds of officials. What's more, even if I do favors to the Zhang family now, they will be criticized in the future. The emperor may not necessarily be kind to the Zhang family. In order to ensure the wealth of the Zhang family, I feel that now we should let our two uncles go to the Capital University to study, like other nobles, so as to avoid being known as a playboy!"
"But your uncles are both very young. Is it still too late to study now?" Queen Mother Zhang asked.
"There is no age limit for studying. The first person to gain the Tao is the teacher. It is better to let the two uncles learn the truth than to cause trouble now. Otherwise, it will bring great disaster to the Zhang family! Now the imperial history has reported that they "What if we seize people's land and cause death again in the future? We don't even know loyalty and listen to traitors instigating rebellion."
Zhu Houzhao said.
After all, Empress Dowager Zhang was just a woman who stayed in the palace all year round. Now that she heard what Zhu Houzhao said, she naturally had no choice but to agree. Of course, she didn't want her two younger brothers to continue to act like this.
At this time, as soon as Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling received the imperial edict asking them to study at the Capital University, they reluctantly came to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, I have returned the captured fields, and the offending domestic slaves have also been escorted to the Jinyi Guards Yes, but can you please stop letting us study?”
"No! This is the decree of the Queen Mother! It is to keep the Zhang family rich forever! And aren't you complaining in private that the Royal Bank did not count your share? Are you regretting your refusal to invest in the stock? Now I will tell you Understand, if you don’t want to go now, you can. I won’t go to my two uncles again if I want to make a fortune, so as not to let you lose!”
Zhu Houzhao said.
But because of what Zhu Houzhao said, both of them had no choice but to accept the arrangement of going to the Capital University to study, and only asked again: "May I ask, Your Majesty, can I be exempted from military training?"
"No!"
(End of chapter)