Chapter 241 King Ning rebels
Cong Lan, who was born as a Jinshi, is also a knowledgeable person. He is sure that these three words do not appear in ancient Chinese classics.
Cong Lan wanted to stand up and ask Zhang Cong, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, what these three words meant, but he still restrained this impulse.
Because the official rules of the Ming Dynasty told him that this was the capital, he was ordered to go to the capital to learn how to govern the country. The first thing he had to do was to abide by the rules and abide by the class rules explained in advance by Zhang Cong, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, that is, he must raise his hands in class. You can only speak with the permission of the instructor.
Cong Lan raised his hand. To be honest, he was shocked by this way of teaching. He also went to a private school when he was a child, but it was basically a room with several desks. The teacher shook his head and read on it, and the students shook their heads and read on it. Read on below, with a portrait of the Holy Master hanging in the middle.
But nowhere is it like now, a classroom with stairs on one side and a lower side. On each step is a long row of wooden tables and benches. It can accommodate dozens or even hundreds of students at a time, because the teacher who lectures is on the stairs. The lowest place always gave Cong Lan the feeling of being a student looking down on the teacher, which made Cong Lan very uncomfortable.
But in any case, this is the arrangement of the court, and Cong Lan can only listen to the class seriously.
When Zhang Cong saw Cong Lan raising his hand, he also motioned for Cong Lan to stand up and speak.
Cong Lan stood up and bowed to Zhang Cong: "May I ask, sir, where do the words human rights, state, and decentralization of powers come from and what do they mean?"
Zhang Cong is now responsible for teaching political science to officials studying at the National Academy of Administration, so Cong Lan is naturally called Mr.
However, Zhang Cong did not rely on him because he was a teacher at the National School of Administration. After all, Cong Lan was one rank higher than him in official rank, so he smiled and said:
"Cong Gong, please sit down. These three words come from the imperial mouth and there is no dictionary to look up. As for what they mean, Zhang will explain them in detail later. I hope you will listen carefully, but you need to listen to Zhang finish. You can only raise your hands to speak, otherwise you will not be able to finish speaking. After Zhang finishes speaking, you will be given time to ask for comments. ”
Zhang Cong began to explain as he spoke.
But Cong Lan had already begun to have doubts in her heart: "There is no scripture to look up, but it comes from His Majesty's mouth? Can His Majesty's words also be used as the words of a saint to teach?"
Not only Cong Lan was shocked, but other officials who came to the National Academy of Administration were also shocked. They had only known how to study and study the words of saints, but they never knew that the saint was His Majesty the Emperor and wanted to read His Majesty's words.
However, due to the majesty of the imperial power and the order of ethics, they did not dare to despise it and had no choice but to listen carefully.
But Cong Lan and other civil servants became more and more horrified the more they listened. They were horrified that His Majesty would actually make these remarks. They couldn't help but wonder, why does Your Majesty emphasize human rights? Is it possible that His Majesty wants us ministers to realize that we also have rights? How do you understand the sage's words that the king should guide his ministers, the father should guide his sons, and the husband should guide his wife. If the king wants his ministers to die, they have to die. If we really want to pay attention to this human rights, wouldn't it mean that we should resist the decree and die? Does Your Majesty want us to rebel against him?
Cong Lan felt that this theory was ridiculous, but he also felt that it made some sense. However, this was the capital, and the person teaching in front of him was Zhang Cong, His Majesty's favorite minister, Zuo Shilang. He did not dare to refuse to listen, so he could only continue patiently. study.
In fact, it is no wonder that Cong Lan and other civil servants were surprised.
After all, this kind of enlightenment thought that started modern civilization also took a long time from the seventeenth century to the eighteenth century to mature in history.
In this era of believing in the divine right of kings, no one would have thought of the concept that kingship is granted by the people, nor even the concept of a country, or even the concept that a country is composed of people.
Cong Lan and other civil servants had many questions, but they seemed to have gained a lot at once. For the first time, they discovered that there was a concept of country outside of the dynasty.
"The dynasty belongs to the royal family, but the country belongs to everyone! The affairs of the dynasty are planned by monarchs, ministers and other meat-eaters; while the affairs of the country are planned by the people of the world, and ordinary people are also responsible!"
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Zhang Cong's words shocked Cong Lan and other civil servants who were studying. Since they received education, they have learned that they cultivate themselves, manage their families, govern their country, and bring peace to the world. But to be honest, they have never thought about the relationship between the dynasty and the country.
In their view, being loyal to the Zhu Ming Dynasty is because they are ministers of Zhu Ming and they are keeping their duty. However, if they are ministers of the former Yuan Dynasty, it is also their duty to serve the emperor of the former Yuan Dynasty. But they did not expect that they would know it today. It turns out that there is a country above the dynasty, and this country is called Huaxia!
Zhu Houzhao was standing outside the window at this time, watching the shocked expressions of these civil servants. Instilling national consciousness and national consciousness into the people of this era was his fundamental purpose in establishing the National School of Administration, and even his fundamental purpose in opening the Capital University. He However, we do not hope that if China encounters another foreign invasion hundreds of years later, the Han people will still think that it is just a change of dynasty, and even regard being a traitor as obeying the destiny, making the national heroes who resisted the invasion become sinners who hindered reunification.
However, when Zhu Houzhao saw Cong Lan and other civil servants showing the same shock as when he preached human rights and national ideas to Zhang Cong, Xia Yan and others, he did not feel as excited as before.
Because Zhu Houzhao now understands that simply changing the minds of a few civil servants will not have a significant effect on the overall environment. For example, after Zhang Cong and Xia Yan accepted their own ideas, they still had to abide by the rules of this era. When they became magistrates and governors, they dealt with problems according to the ethical rules of this society. If they did not deal with the problems according to the ethical rules of this society, they would encountered resistance from the entire society.
For example, parents who kill their children and grandchildren do not need to be sentenced to death, and the people can accept it.
However, if children and grandchildren kill their parents, they must be put to death. If this is not done, the people will not accept it, because the idea of filial piety is greater than heaven is deeply rooted in this era, and parents can be forgiven for killing their children.
Zhang Cong was not overjoyed to see the civil servants in front of him being so shocked. He could also understand that it was normal for these people to be shocked at this moment, but he had to admit that, as His Majesty said, even if they knew this truth, they would still be shocked. Nothing can be changed, because the people do not have this awareness, and there is no need to have this awareness at the moment.
Zhang Cong still clearly remembers the snow disaster in Dongsheng City, Hetao in the seventh year of Zhengde. After he transferred 30,000 shi of grain to the soldiers and civilians, the soldiers and civilians were just grateful to him and felt that he was a good official. Although Zhang Cong himself said that this was what he should do, the common people They are still grateful to themselves like a grateful Bodhisattva, without the awareness that they are also the masters of this country and that they have the right to receive national service.
But in fact, only Zhang Cong himself knew that he only used a small part of the taxes collected from these soldiers and civilians to buy grain to provide relief to them.
Zhu Houzhao also knew that enlightening people's wisdom is a long process, so that the people understand that they are transferring power to this country, and letting this country manage themselves is to let this country serve themselves, safeguard the public interests of the nation, safeguard their property and life safety, and also Protecting your own freedom is something that takes time.
But Zhu Houzhao had to let the rulers of this country know where their power came from, and let them know that they had to serve the entire nation and people after they had national power.
Because in essence, it is the people of this nation who have accepted your rule, and you have the power to manage the people through paying taxes. And when you have the power of the country and take the people's money, you have to do things for the people, and you have to do things for the nation. .
Zhu Houzhao admitted that it would be a long process for the common people to understand this truth. Judging from the historical experience he knew, it was impossible within a hundred years. In other words, within a hundred years, no matter how hard he tried, he could not change it. The fact that he will still be a dictatorial monarch.
There is no way around it. The people of the Ming Dynasty can only accept the rule of an autocratic king. They are now only accustomed to the rule of a good emperor and good officials. If you ask them to elect to decide who will rule them, they do not have this yet. Consciously, they don't even think it's necessary, and since the empire is so huge, they don't have the energy to choose a ruler they are satisfied with from tens of millions of people.
The same is true for Zhang Cong and other civil servants. Although they have now accepted the so-called idea of monarchy being delegated by man, they began to believe that the people of China chose someone from the Zhu family to be the emperor at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, becoming the king of themselves and countless Chinese people. , but he still has no reason not to obey the rule of the current Emperor Zhengde. He also knows that if he disobeys, he will be regarded as a treasonous person by the whole world!
Therefore, although Zhu Houzhao killed civil servants, after Zhang Cong and other civil servants accepted the idea of the human power of kings, they had already understood this truth. Civil servants all over the world did not really believe in the divine power of kings, but they still would not rebel. because they know The people of the Ming Dynasty are still popular. Now that they have accepted Zhu Houzhao's ideas, they are more aware that the people of the empire are still willing to transfer the power to rule them to the Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao. This power is given by the people and they, the civil servants, cannot deny it at all.
Zhang Cong and other civil servants knew that the only time they could deny the illegality of the emperor's rule was when the emperor abandoned the people, when the emperor ignored the interests of the people and cared about his own enjoyment, when the emperor failed to use the power given by the people to serve the people and nation of the country. time.
But the current emperor does not disregard the interests of the people, and has even been seeking welfare for the people. Naturally, they, the civil servants, cannot deny the emperor.
Because of this, Zhu Houzhao was not worried that spreading these so-called advanced ideas would affect his rule, because he knew that even if people in the Ming Dynasty had this idea, they would not overthrow him, because he has been fulfilling his duties as an emperor. Responsibilities.
Of course, if you want to enslave the people of the world and fail to fulfill your responsibilities as the emperor as the supreme ruler to benefit the people, you will also be abandoned by the people. This truth has been proven by the subjugated kings of the past dynasties.
On the contrary, if there is an ambitious person who attempts to overthrow himself as the emperor through violence and enslave the people of the world, he will encounter stronger opposition from more people.
At this time, Liu Jin, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, hurriedly ran over: "Your Majesty, Prince Ning has rebelled!"
Zhu Houzhao didn't feel much horror. In his opinion, he was just an ambitious man who only wanted to overthrow himself and become the master of the world. It was impossible to get the support of the people of this era. Therefore, he only replied lightly: " Got it!”
Readers who read this chapter should know that the author is just writing about a real protagonist. If he goes to ancient times to overthrow Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which led to China's closed and backward thinking, he must propagate the Enlightenment ideas that opened up modern civilization. But in fact, even if the protagonist spread in the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible to realize it politically in the current Ming Dynasty. It is always just an ideological theory because productivity has not caught up and the consciousness of the people has not caught up. Therefore, the author uses the protagonist and Zhang Cong’s vision to reason and elaborate in this chapter. This can be more reasonable. Otherwise, I always feel that something is missing. After all, as a modern person, why is the protagonist still a dictatorial emperor in ancient times? The reason is not because the protagonist is selfish, but because realistic conditions require him to be an emperor! Great emperor! This is also why the book is so titled. In addition, the protagonist is not a selfish egoist who only cares about his own interests and kills women indiscriminately for pleasure. He is a patriot. He traveled through the past to do what he thinks is right for China. Of course, he also understands that being a tyrant will definitely not end well for him. Although this is a cool article, the values are still right. There will be no such ideological content next. Let’s start the plot of Prince Ning’s rebellion. It’s time for this guy to appear.
(End of chapter)