Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1409: Summoning the Battle (Part [-])
The return of official documents is slower than usual in the cold winter months. By the time the dispute in Liaodong reaches the capital, it will have been closed for nearly a year.

On the morning of this day, the emperor gave some New Year's goods to the elders of the cabinet, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Six Departments, and some lecturers on the feast day.The things are not precious, they are nothing more than winter bamboo shoots, bacon, dry goods, etc., but this is a kind of "kind care" divided into relatives and relatives, and those who can be included in this category will naturally be regarded as emperors by the outside world The "minister of the thigh".

As the cronies of cronies, the thighs of the thighs, Gao Pragmatic got twelve catties of winter bamboo shoots, twelve catties of bacon, twelve kinds of dry goods, twelve catties each.As for why they are all twelve, in fact, even Gao Yushi is not very clear about it, and he never asked.Presumably, it should be the practice of the inner court, which means "the moon is red".

As soon as the dry goods were delivered to the mansion in the morning, Gao Yushi, who was in the yamen of the household department, only got a list. He should have written a thank you letter immediately, but he was called into the palace immediately before he could write.

The cabinet is in the palace, which is closer to the Wenhua Palace, while the household department and the military department are outside the palace, which is much farther away. Therefore, when Gao Yushi and Liang Menglong arrived together, the cabinet elders had been waiting for a while. Even the emperor is there.

Gao Wushi and Liang Menglong hurriedly apologized, and Zhu Yijun waved his hand: "You are far away, there is no crime, I can't let you fly over. Chen Ju, give the two Qings a seat."

Hearing Zhu Yijun's tone of voice, Gao Yushi knew that he was in a good mood today - at least for now, so he sat down with Liang Menglong without being too polite.

Zhu Yijun picked up a memorial from the imperial case and said: "This is the memorial of Liaoyang Deputy Commander-in-Chief Cao Yu, and it's about the recent Jianzhou captive chief Nurhachi's occupation of a city in Dong'e. Have you read it? "

In fact, Gao Yushi was the only one who hadn't read this memorial, because this memorial was written by the Liaodong Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and it was about military affairs, and he was in charge of the Ministry of War.So the process is that the Ministry of War reads it first, and then submits it to the cabinet. After the cabinet has reviewed it, it writes a proposal and then submits it to the inspector of rituals for the emperor to review.

There is no such thing as high pragmatism alone.

But in fact, Gao Wushi knew the content of this memorial. Cao Yu not only sent him the news in advance, but also clearly stated the cause and effect.And on the way into the palace just now, Liang Menglong also guessed that the emperor must be talking about this matter, so he also had a conversation with Gao Wushi.

To be honest, Gao Wushi also felt a little overwhelmed.

The trouble now is that things are getting together, and there is a "financial power war" in Beijing.Although Gao Yushi gave a sweet date first, and basically cleared the salary conversions of officials, big and small, all over the country, leaving only the food and cloth conversions that everyone can accept, but because he wants to fully collect financial power next, it is still It will affect the interests of many people, so the public opinion is fiercely contested.

Public opinion is sometimes useless, but sometimes it is very useful.For example, if the emperor insists on doing something, no matter how much your public opinion opposes it, it should still be done.But generally speaking, this kind of situation is still relatively rare. If there is any, it will be a dispute of the level of the great ceremony, the dispute over the country, and it is almost a direct conflict between the imperial power and the civil official group.

This is unlikely to be the case for gathering financial power, because in the final analysis, this matter is a dispute within the civil official group, a dispute between the "big government" and "small government" between the School of Reality and the School of Mind, and the emperor is in the role of a high-ranking mediator. Sit tight on the Diaoyutai.

Gao Yushi is obviously a supporter of the "big government" system. Having experienced the rise of the Red Dynasty in later generations, he knows very well the importance of a strong "big government" in many cases.

He actually dabbled in this issue when he was studying at the Party School. For example, he knew that after the spread of Chinese culture to Europe, the problem that confused European scholars the most was that they could not understand the true meaning of "benevolence and righteousness", because benevolence and righteousness are based on the social level Yes, and society is something that Western hunter-gatherer culture does not have.

A hunting economy requires only spontaneous organization at the individual level, which is active and free for the individual.The agrarian economy needs social organizations to deal with natural disasters, which are passive and compulsory.

On the other hand, for religious culture, it is even less likely that there is an intermediate link between man and God (or the natural level), even if it is based on the individual level, the bridge between the individual and God-the church organization, is also considered Redundant, abolished by Martin Luther's Reformation 500 years ago.Therefore, Westerners cannot understand and even less tolerate the existence of an intermediate link (society) between individuals and nature (God), let alone understand the importance of this intermediate link.

As for the spiritual level of man, it does not exist, because there, only the devout belief in God is allowed to exist.If there is an exception, only one is allowed, and that is atonement.Therefore, in the face of a complex world, Christians will only and can only consider two factors: God and the contract.

The West also has the consciousness of the crowd, because the crowd exists objectively, but that is called a group, not a society.

The difference between a society and a group is like the difference between a brother and a friend.In society, the relationship between brothers is objective, passive, unchoiceable, and independent of human will. Even if they are beaten badly, even if they become enemies, they will all be eaten together. Sleeping on a kang must be tolerant and there is no freedom.

In a group, however, the relationship between friends is subjective, active, and optional. If you agree, you will gather, and if you disagree, you will divide. It is full of freedom.

Without social consciousness, there will inevitably be distortions about human existence and organizational forms. This is why Rousseau's "Social Contract" is the cornerstone of the so-called "modern democratic system".In fact, this thing is not complicated, nor can it be considered high-end. Its essence is that individuals transfer part of their power and freedom to the state in exchange for the state's (limited) protection of individuals.

Let me say one more thing here. The "society" in "Social Contract Theory" is Social in English, which means living in groups and crowds. The Japanese mistranslated it as "society" cleverly back then, and the result is still a legacy. The meaning of understanding is essentially different.

That is to say, under the "modern democratic system", the government is based on the authorization of individuals, the "legality" of the government depends on the authorization of individuals (votes), and the responsibility of the government to individuals is limited (within the scope of contracts at the individual level) , individuals (voters) are concerned with whether the government violates individual rights (by contract), not whether the government can adequately protect itself.

Since the power transferred by individuals is inherently limited, the government's responsibilities are naturally limited as well.

For example, in the past, European duels must be held under the supervision and justice of the judges and police on the spot. Why?Because the responsibility of their judges and police is to ensure that the duel process conforms to the contract, and the life and death results of the parties are not within the scope of their responsibilities.

This is the government based on individual contracts and limited liability, that is, small government.

But China is different. Historically, the Chinese government has not been based on individual contracts or individual authorizations, and its legitimacy does not depend on individuals.From ancient times to the present, the Chinese government has been based on social requirements, social empowerment, selected by social elites (or won the war), and bears unlimited responsibility for everyone in the society. Its legitimacy depends on the results of all members of the society. recognition, rather than the process by which it is generated.

In other words, in Han culture, society is an individual’s way of existence, so as a social management institution, whether it is the imperial court or the government, it must be “people-oriented” and take overall responsibility for the survival and development of all people. .

This is socially based government with unlimited responsibilities, or big government.

To make a comparison, American police rescue is just a kind of "work service", and the premise of this "service" is not enough for him to abandon his life and health to satisfy.The primary responsibility of the Chinese police is to protect the personal safety of every member of the society. For this reason, they even sacrifice their own lives in exchange for the rescued.

So in later generations, you may often hear how serious the assault on the police in the United States is, and they are shot and killed by the police at every turn. However, unless the Chinese police are arresting suspects with dangerous weapons, it is impossible for the Chinese police to draw their guns and shoot at ordinary people. ——Even firing warning shots is sometimes punished internally after the incident, because it is suspected of excessive law enforcement and has posed a threat to the people.

That's the difference. (Note: This is like why we respond to the epidemic "three times and four times early", while the West can only "herd immunity" and can't even copy homework. It's not a question of whether it will be done, but a question of their inability to do it.)
So how did this difference come about?Why did Gao Pragmatism insist that Ming Dynasty could only engage in "big government"?
Of course there is a reason, and this reason has long been formed, it is difficult to change, you can only adapt.

3000 years ago, the Duke of Zhou, Ji Dan, expelled the gods and ended the period of Chinese religious culture, but the dual power structure established in religious culture cannot disappear automatically.

What people fear most is uncertainty. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?What will happen in the next life?What will happen to the children and grandchildren?Therefore, the most basic function of culture is to provide certainty.

The existence of uncertainty cannot provide certainty, so neither the political power itself nor the kingship, or the imperial power can provide certainty. Only a stable and certain theocracy can take on the important task of providing certainty and become the power over power. Thus forming a dual power structure with the regime.

Providing certainty, endorsing the legitimacy of the regime, and making decisions on major issues are the three responsibilities of theocracy.As a result, a stable cooperation between the divine power in the backstage and the political power in the foreground (imperial power) was formed, the ownership of the management power belonged to the divine power, and the right to use the management power belonged to the political power.

This is like the "modern" corporate system born in religious culture. The board of directors, which is equivalent to theocracy, owns the ownership of the enterprise, and the company (CEO, general manager, and various departments), which is equivalent to the government, has the right to use it.

When the Zhou Dynasty abandoned the gods, they could only turn to the society if they had difficulties, and of course the society should provide certainty.But the question is, society is an abstract concept, who represents society?

Zhou Gong thought of a genius idea, that is, to use a clear social "system" to ensure certainty. This system is the ritual and music system, and our Han culture is therefore called the ritual and music culture.

In later generations of China, although the content of ritual and music culture has long been lost in history, its ideas have always dominated the development of China and the Chinese people.

In today's terms, "ritual and music" is the constitution.

Who said there was no constitutionalism in ancient China?The ritual and music system is the earliest constitutional system in China.

"Rites" are a set of written institutional arrangements that allow those in power to understand what they should and cannot do, and at the same time let the people know what they will face so that they can make their own arrangements.

This is what modern constitutionalism theory says, using institutions to constrain state power, stipulate civil rights, and establish a system consisting of constitutional foundations, regime structures, and guarantee mechanisms that are consistent with the basic requirements of constitutionalism.

For a long time, the fundamental purpose of the annual family ancestor worship is to let the clan members who rarely see each other or even have some discord understand that everyone belongs to the same family, so as to strengthen the cohesion.This is like the annual Spring Festival Gala in later generations, which is actually a national-level institutional sacrificial activity to strengthen the sense of belonging among Chinese people, which is the original meaning of "joy".

We cannot restrain God, but we need to restrain man, so we use institutions instead of God to restrain man.

What is constitutionalism?Regardless of academic majors, to put it simply and popularly, it is actually replacing theocracy with institutions to provide certainty to the whole people.

When Confucius elevates ethics with benevolence and righteousness and the way of a gentleman, and when Dong Zhongshu binds divine power and imperial power with the "unity of man and nature", China's orthodox dynasties have become governments with unlimited responsibilities, which need to be responsible for the whole world. Can shirk.

Therefore, if it does not rain, the emperor loses his morality, if there is a big earthquake, the emperor loses his morality, tsunami, hurricane, locust disaster, snow disaster, etc. Anyway, any ominous occurrence, either the emperor loses his morality, or the state-owned treacherous people—in the final analysis, someone must be responsible!

However, what Gao Wuzhen is most worried about now is the status quo of the Ming Dynasty: it is a government with unlimited responsibilities, but it cannot bear unlimited responsibilities at all. Its imperial power can at most go down to the county level, and then it can only rely on gentry self-government.

Do you think "the party branch is built on the company"?Dreaming, Daming does not have such a strong ruling power, it does not have such a strong organizational ability and economic strength!

Gao Yushi was able to completely control Jinghua, relying on economic means as the backing and family members as the backbone of the organization, so even if Jinghua had an army of 10,000+ in southern Xinjiang, he could firmly control Jinghua from thousands of miles away.

In contrast, the great Ming Dynasty, with the absolute righteousness of "expelling the Tartars and restoring China", can only rely on the generals' family troops as the core of force all over the world. What a sickness it is!
If it does not become a real big government, and does not effectively assume social responsibilities, this Ming Dynasty will always be a hypocritical power that is strong from the outside and can be overthrown at the first push.

Why in the original history, once the Qing army entered the pass, the interior of the Ming Dynasty was actually torn apart, and the Qing army was easily defeated one by one?At that time, how many people were left who claimed to be willing to "thank the king with one death"?
You did not assume your "unlimited responsibility", and your courtiers and gentry naturally believed that they were not responsible for your fate.

However, if you want to shoulder all these responsibilities, without the "Party" as the backbone of the social organization, you can only rely on financial power to maintain it. Therefore, Gao Pragmatism can only find ways to gather financial power without compromise.

But the tree wants to be quiet but the wind keeps on. He wants to gather financial power before doing other things. Tumen, Nurhachi and others keep causing him external troubles, so he has to spend money to fight again and again; You have to find a way to fight them wits and courage.

It's really internal and external troubles.

Zhu Yijun's question seemed to be aimed at "all the nobles", but in fact he only looked at Gao Yushi, because he knew that everyone else had already seen it.

Gao Wushi sighed quietly, but said calmly on his face: "I have just heard about it from Da Sima."

Hearing what he said, Zhu Yijun asked happily: "Okay. If that's the case, what do you gentlemen and your family think?" He paused, and added: "The last time Nurhachi colluded with Tumen and entered the army without authorization. Hada’s account has not been settled with him yet.”

The meaning of the emperor's words is actually very clear, and he obviously wants to be tough.

Shen Shixing looked at his nose and heart, as if he didn't hear it.Wang Xijue glanced at Gao Yushi, who was also silent, and smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, Nurhachi's account is easy to settle, but the difficulty is that our own account is not easy to settle... I would like to ask Da Si Nong, if the cancellation of salary conversion will be done this year, Does the Ministry of Households have enough power to support Liaodong to start a new war?"
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(End of this chapter)