Xinshun 1730

Chapter 803 Rational Monarchy Political Animals

The emperor's examination of education seems to be like a palace examination, and these people have already prepared for it.

If you look at it from the perspective of enriching the country, strengthening the army, and expanding the living space of the nation, these people's answers are quite reliable.At least, on issues such as trade, economy, navy, Southeast Asia, expansion, and colonization, he is much more reliable than most ministers in the DPRK and China.

But after the emperor heard it, it was hard to tell what it was like.

Listening to these people talking about words such as "monopoly", "trade", "commodity", "assimilation", "rule", "labor and wealth", and "division of labor", although the emperor nodded frequently, Praise a few words from time to time, but after all, I am a little vigilant in my heart.

Only these people understand what these people say.

There are also conflicts among these people, and they have different views on the same thing.

However, the vocabulary and speculative methods they use to argue are the same.

The emperor didn't know what happened to the future generations.

But if we look at the examples of later generations, it can be said that their internal debates and dissent, as well as the vocabulary and ideas used in the debate, are somewhat similar to the Russian Populists and Buddist parties: they all use words such as class, struggle, capital, and society; the ultimate goal It also sounds consistent.

In fact, their thoughts are very different. The problem is that the vocabulary, ideas, and ultimate ideals they use can be indistinguishable from outsiders.

The emperor never worried about Liu Yu, because no matter Liu Yu's behavior style or Dashun's centralized power structure, Liu Yu himself could not afford to make troubles.

But today, when I asked these people about their views on Nanyang, trade, enriching the country, and strengthening the army, the words and ways of thinking these people used made the emperor feel unspeakable worries.

Following the Ming system, it relied on the sons of good families to be the handles of the swordsman and the nobles to lead the army to achieve a balance with the civil servants.

At the same time, due to the entry of Western learning in the late Ming Dynasty, Dashun was able to open the Martial Virtue Palace, with an education system completely different from Confucian civil officials, to cultivate a basic force that could be incompatible with Confucian civil officials, hate each other, and compete for official vacancies.

However, in the words of Emperor Taizong, who founded Xinshun and established the system, "If the Wude Palace does not test the knowledge of Taixi geometry, astronomy and geography, it is to recite the ancestor rate to see who has more digits after the decimal point. It’s the same. It’s just to select a group of smart people as officials to balance it out.”

Sanshe Fawude Palace, Liangjiazi, Founding Honors, etc., this force that balances Confucian civil servants has no "Tao".

They don't have any officially designated beliefs, beliefs, or doctrines. In other words, their "Tao" is still the set of Confucianism.

Or rather, not at all.

When Wang Mang’s New Deal failed, the Confucian ideal of building a heaven on earth for the last time in reality was basically shattered. Now he is a graduate of the imperial examination. Ask him if he has the right way?I'm afraid not, how can anyone really plan to practice the rule of three generations and return to the well field?

Since there is no way.

Also since Emperor Taizong believed that even if it is to compare the number of digits after the decimal point of pi, or to see who draws shit vividly, there is not much difference between the selected person and the imperial examination in terms of official ability-reading the scriptures People in high schools in the imperial examination, whether it is because they are smart enough to manage politics, or because they have learned the scriptures, Emperor Taizong tends to the former, and thinks that smart people go to study the scriptures, so those selected by the imperial examination must be They are the smartest ones, but if you go to learn geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and geography, you will basically get the rankings in the exam-then, to put it bluntly, the system of Wudegong Liangjiazi exists for checks and balances of.

This is obvious, everyone in the court of Dashun knows it, the lice on the bald head.

As for why it is necessary to use the so-called "Taixi culture" instead of the various schools of thought of the Celestial Dynasty itself?

The reason is also very simple.

Because Dashun dared to use the orthodoxy of various schools of thought to compete with Confucianism, Dashun could not sit still.

All schools of thought have their own way.

Therefore, the use of Western learning actually corresponds to the Six Arts of Confucianism, because Western learning such as geometry has only skills but no proper way.

Ritual, music, archery, royal, book, number.

In the selection of the imperial examination, the test is the third of the six arts: etiquette, music, and calligraphy.

The selection of Wude Palace is nothing more than the test of the remaining three of the six arts: number, archery, and defense.

This sounds much better. Dashun still respects Confucianism, which is consistent with the word "protecting the world".

The policy theory, history, geography, and arithmetic of Wude Palace Examination can only be regarded as "a branch of Confucianism".

In short, orthodoxy is still Confucian orthodoxy, at least on the face of it.

In this way, one is divided into two to form a basic royal court, which is used to fight against the Confucian civil service system and achieve a state of balance similar to that before the civil fort.

This is no problem.

The emperor was in the middle, deliberately provoking conflicts between those born in Wude Palace and those born in the Imperial Examination. Basically, he didn't like the marriage between those born in Wude Palace and those born in the Imperial Examination, and the proportion of officials was basically kept within an unspoken rule. recognized quantity.

When necessary, the emperor can use civil officials to suppress the Wude Palace system; or use the Wude Palace system to suppress the Confucian civil official system.

This is the foundation of Dashun's "Han and Tang customs of going out and entering the prime minister".

However, these people who the emperor is now teaching, said these things - although the emperor also thinks it makes sense - the emperor smelled a power or political crisis.

Wude Palace used to be academic, not Taoist.

Are these people kneeling in front of them now learning a new "Tao"?
Talk about trade, labor volume, wealth, currency, division of labor... how can you not say these things in the six arts of Confucianism?
Ritual, music, archery, royal, book, number, which one should these things be counted in?
Of course, this is just a political struggle for a decent face, and if it is not included, other reasons can also be found.

The problem is that the things these people answer, the way of thinking about the problem, and the way of thinking, no matter whether they are from the imperial examination or Wude Palace, they are all incompatible.

Take the emperor's question "how should Java be governed" as an example.

In West Java, do you want to reform the land and divide the land among the common people?

In fact, whether they are kneeling here at this time, or those who are not here in the imperial examination or Wude Palace or those who were born in honor, the answer given by the talented must be the same: change.

The answer is the same.

However, the starting point, or the reason for "why change" is completely different.

This is basically similar to Liu Yu's view that "the Han Ming won the country's righteousness" and Dashun or Daming's official consciousness of "the Han Ming won the country's righteousness". The conclusion is the same, but the reasons are completely different.

One is that the resistance at the bottom is the righteousness of the country; the other is that it is the righteousness of the country that has not been an official of Mengyuan for a day and has not received the salary of Emperor Mengyuan.

The answer is the same.

Ideas can be described as varied.

The same is true for the issue of land reform in West Java.

People who came from the Imperial Examination or Martial Arts Palace, the reasons for their answers can basically be divided into several categories.

Benevolent governance, this is the slogan.

In fact, allocating land to small farmers is a continuation of the annexation policy.

Restrain the tyrannical.

It is convenient to flow officials.

Get rid of the local "chieftain" forces.

It is easy to govern by organizing households and Qimin.

The disintegration of the local "toast" and "tyrannical" forces allowed the imperial court to control West Java.

However, the reasons given by these people kneeling in front of the emperor at this time were completely different.

They believe that these people have almost the same reasons for the land reform in West Java, but the previous ones are completely different.

The reason they gave was: After the land reform, farmers in West Java were allowed to cultivate the land, so that their income belonged to themselves, and their enthusiasm for work was improved.And they grow rice, cotton, coffee, indigo, etc., which is exactly what Dashun needs.

Dashun's ironware, cloth, woodware, farm tools, etc. can be exchanged for the rice, cotton, coffee, and indigo they grow.

It is equivalent to taking away the harvest of farmers in West Java at a very low price.

Coffee, etc., can be sold to Europe for gold and silver currency.

Rice can stabilize the price of rice in Jiangnan; cotton can be spun into cloth in Jiangnan, and then exchanged for more Nanyang cotton indigo.

In this way, it can not only demonstrate a benevolent government that is completely different from the "forced planting system" in the Netherlands, but also greatly promote the development of Dashun's industry and commerce. While providing enough raw materials for Jiangnan industry and commerce, it can also open up a Nanyang market.

They believe that the land reform in West Java will increase the potential of farmers in West Java to buy things.The more cloth they bought, the more money Dashun made, and the more raw materials such as rice, cotton, and indigo.

In this way, on the one hand, the industry and commerce will prosper, and Dashun will be alleviated due to the abolition of poll tax. Under the wind of mergers, a large number of bankrupt farmers can go to the city to work and sell the products to Nanyang; secondly, It can also deepen the control over Nanyang, so that Nanyang leaves Dashun, and Mao cannot create it.

And this also caused the emperor to praise these people again and again, but in his heart he considered weighing power and politics and then became worried.

Wude Palace and imperial examinations are white horses and black horses.

Dashun was worried that the whole of his mother was a dark horse, so that the disaster of the previous dynasty would occur, and the Confucian scholars would completely grow at the grassroots level.

So get out a bunch of white horses: Don't think that your black horses are the only ones who can pull carts. If you are in a hurry, I use white horses to pull carts.

However, this is just to scare you.

Deterrent power can only be deterrent before it is used.Once used, it is useless.

You are all right, it seems that I may use all white horses, and the number of white horses is enough, but don't worry, don't go too far, I will not use them all: Dashun is still the way to protect the world .

Although Shenggong Jiangyan was a priest, he didn't become a commoner at all, did he?
Although I have been threatening you all day long to use people from the Wude Palace to carry out the emperor's will, it is also threatening you. You agree with my compromise idea, and you can raise the price on the spot and pay back the money on the spot. You can still discuss it.

But now, the relationship between these people in front of them and the Wude Palace and the imperial examinations is not about white horses or dark horses, but now there are more yellow horses.

Rather, it was a herd of horned, cloven-hoofed, cud-chewing cattle.

You must say that they all have four hooves, both have tails, both have ears, and both have two eyes, and then say that they are no different from white and black horses that do not chew the cud, have strange hooves, and have no horns. They are just a group of yellow horses...

It seems reasonable, but it seems unreasonable.

At the very least, the emperor at this time felt that something was wrong.

(End of this chapter)