Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2292 Three Triumphal Triumphs () Consecrating Zen to All People

The three fronts all triumphed. Although it cannot be regarded as the end, it is at least the beginning of the end. Gao Pragmatic, who was in control of everything in the capital, could finally rest assured and concentrate his energy on the court.

In addition to the daily affairs that the chief minister should have paid attention to, Gao Wuchen now also had to pay attention to another major event: Fengchan Taishan.

Before this conferment, the last emperor in Chinese history to hold a conferment ceremony was Zhao Heng, Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. As a result, subsequent emperors, regardless of whether they originally had this intention, gave up on this move until this time.

No matter why Zhu Yijun was interested in Feng Chan, since he had decided to do so, Gao Pragmatic, as the chief minister of the cabinet, could only rack his brains to find reasons for the emperor to convince the world.

There is no doubt that in order to avoid falling into the farce of Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng's Fengchan ceremony, we must first understand how Zhao Heng turned the Fengchan ceremony into a farce.

China has recorded history since ancient times, and the imperial court had the most complete "historical archives." Gao Pragmatic, who originally had no interest in Song history, had to work hard on the records and had some documents compiled for his review. In the end, he had the following main reasons why Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng's conferment of Zen was regarded as a farce:

First, forgery of auspiciousness and self-promotion: In order to achieve Zen status, Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty did not hesitate to forge the Heavenly Book, claiming that gods and men came into his dreams, and staged three scenes of the Heavenly Book falling from the sky to build momentum for his Zen status. This kind of self-deception seriously violates the solemnity and sanctity of the Zen ceremony.

Second, bribing ministers: When facing the resolute opposition of Prime Minister Wang Dan, Song Zhenzong did not face up to his own shortcomings, but resorted to bribery, trying to force Wang Dan to agree to the title of Zen by giving him pearls. This behavior not only damages the dignity of the emperor, but also undermines the justice of the court and damages the majesty of the court.

Third, it wastes people and money, causing public dissatisfaction: the holding of the Zen Ceremony consumes a lot of people's money and money, wastes people and money, and arouses strong dissatisfaction among the people. At the same time, in order to cater to Zhenzong, court officials fabricated various auspicious signs and encouraged Song Zhenzong to carry out more religious activities, further exacerbating the suffering of the people.

Fourth, disasters were concealed: During the Fengzen period, in order to cater to the true sect, various places reported good news but not bad news. Disasters such as earthquakes and famines were deliberately concealed. This not only prevents disaster victims from receiving timely assistance, but also aggravates social unrest and unrest.

To sum up, this Zen ceremony exposed Song Zhenzong's character flaws of being obsessed with great achievements, stubborn and obscene, and also revealed the fig leaf of the Northern Song Dynasty court. It caused all kinds of demons and ghosts to appear in turn, which caused the financial imbalance of the Northern Song Dynasty and the loss of public support, laying the foundation for the poverty and weakness of the Northern Song Dynasty. Not only has it failed to bring prosperity and stability to the country, it has instead aggravated social unrest and unrest.

Now that the lessons from the past have been laid out here, Gao pragmatically looked at it again and again, and felt that since it was Song Zhenzong who ruined the Fengchan ceremony, then since Zhu Yijun wanted to do it now, he had to do the opposite and bring the Fengchan issue back to what was truly beneficial. The imperial government is moving in the right direction.

The so-called opposite approach, Gao pragmatism, simply means: In the past, when you held the Zen ceremony, you always boasted that the country was peaceful and the people were safe. Therefore, the emperor had great virtues and achievements, so he reported them to heaven, showing that the court had received heaven's blessing. However, this is not the case for me, Emperor Wanli.

What is the purpose of Feng Chan set by Gao pragmatism? It is based on the reports from Jinghua's caravans running around the world: In recent decades, not only the Central Plains, but the whole world has been plunged into various disasters, and they are getting worse.

Gao Pragmatic would like to emphasize: This situation is not caused by God’s warning in the past because of the king’s low personal ethics, but because people all over the world show signs of moral corruption from top to bottom, which is why there is such a big deal. The scale of disasters has been reduced.

For this reason, the emperor, as a model for the world, must be the first to stand up and go to Mount Tai to pay homage to God. In the process of worshiping heaven this time, the emperor's most important task is not to explain his achievements, but to express to heaven that from now on, starting from himself, he will lead the billions of people in the world to deeply cultivate virtue and build a country of gentlemen.

Of course, considering that the emperor had to go to Nanjing to visit the Xiaoling Mausoleum after being enshrined, Gao Pragmatic added one more point: As for the southward patrol, it was to re-emphasize the importance of filial piety and to pay homage to the Xiaoling Mausoleum to set an example for the world... In short, it can boast Then blow, but the way of blowing must be reversed from the past.

In the past, you all boasted about peace and prosperity for the country, right? It's really sick of me to brag about this during the Little Ice Age, but it doesn't matter. I can brag about how difficult it is to prosper a country, and I can brag about the consequences and reflect on myself! You can even boast that the emperor worked hard for the victims of the world, traveling thousands of miles to worship God and the ancestor... Isn't this a holy king?

Blowing also requires skill.

This is like later generations claiming that most of the Tatar emperors were very diligent, but they kept silent about their diligence because they were afraid that the throne under their butts would be overthrown by the anger of the Han people whom they discriminated and oppressed. Let alone talk about what kind of bullshit "virtuous governance" their diligent government ultimately produced.

Hey, isn't it just a trick of changing concepts? You all can do it, but I am very pragmatic and can't?

Therefore, the highly pragmatic Shangshu was quickly sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies and came to the desk of the emperor's throne. Zhu Yijun frowned at first, but then slowly relaxed, and in the end his expression changed, and he was amazed.

"Okay, okay, what a trick 'Everyone is guilty, I am the one to blame'!" Zhu Yijun laughed loudly and said to Chen Ju beside him: "Look, look, the people in the imperial court who can share my worries the most, no matter what Choose horizontally or vertically, it will always be the best!”

Chen Ju had long been accustomed to this kind of situation, and there was not even a hint of jealousy on his face. Instead, he immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Yuan Fu's talent is beyond the reach of Guan Zhong and Xiao He."

"It's really unattainable!" Zhu Yijun laughed and said: "Although Guan Zhong and Xiao He are talented in political affairs, they are not capable of commanding troops. As I grow newer, if I live in a temple, the people will be prosperous, and the world will be peaceful; if I go to distant borders, I will ward off evil spirits and change things." , Si Yi bows to him. Isn’t it God’s blessing that such a person came to our court? I should also go to Mount Tai to pay my respects!” Although Chen Ju had heard countless words of praise from the emperor, this time The praise - no, this is simply a boast - it is unprecedented, and I can't help but secretly sigh.

After thinking for a while, Chen Ju followed the emperor's words and said: "What the emperor said is absolutely true, but then again, if it weren't for God's favor, why would such people come under the emperor's rule and be used in his hands again? From my humble opinion, the emperor is a virtuous king, that’s why.”

Zhu Yijun smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. He stood up and patted Chen Ju on the shoulder, saying, "You are not bad either. You have worked hard for many years and have never slandered others in front of me. You are also a rare close minister."

Chen Ju was flattered and quickly humbled himself. Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "The Han Dynasty has Yuntai, and the Tang Dynasty has Lingyan. You think... I am enshrining Zen this time, should I also follow this path?"

Chen Ju said cautiously: "The kindness comes from the superior. This matter is not something that I can comment on. It all depends on the emperor's decision. But having said that, our dynasty usually rewards its heroes and generals mainly with honors and gifts, but there is indeed no such thing. If the emperor wants to follow the example of the Yuntai Pavilion and the Lingyan Pavilion, which are very symbolic ways of commending meritorious officials, the whole government and the public will be very happy, but..."

"Just? Just what?" Zhu Yijun was very satisfied, but in the end he couldn't help but ask.

"But when should the recognition of meritorious officials be determined?" Chen Ju pondered: "Is it from the time of Taizu, or after becoming an ancestor? Or is it just for this dynasty?"

Zhu Yijun's heart moved and he asked: "What's the difficulty?"

Chen Ju smiled bitterly and said: "If we count from the founding of the country by Taizu, how should we count Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and others? If we count from the time of Emperor Cheng's Jingnan, how should we count people like Qiu Fu?"

"Uh..." Chen Ju asked this question well, and even the emperor Zhu Yijun was stunned.

The theory that Zhu Yuanzhang killed heroes indiscriminately has always been popular. This was not only the mainstream view in later generations, but it was also the mainstream view in the Ming Dynasty, but most people did not dare to say it openly.

Of course, from the academic perspective of later generations of historians, Zhu Yuanzhang's indiscriminate killing of heroes, like many other historical events, must be viewed dialectically. For example, "indiscriminate killing of meritorious officials" can also be justified: first, the meritorious officials behaved recklessly; secondly, the meritorious officials had too much power.

Based on these two foundations, it can indeed be said that Zhu Yuanzhang killed them for the sake of world stability. However, does the so-called stability of the world really mean that Zhu Yuanzhang only considers "all the people of the world"? I'm afraid that's simply impossible. His fundamental purpose is obviously for the long-term peace and stability of the Zhu family.

Therefore, history is complicated, and there are always connections and gaps between subjective consciousness and objective reality. For those who read history, how you judge it all depends on your perspective.

Zhu Yijun obviously didn't know what angle he should stand in - theoretically speaking, of course he should stand in the perspective of an emperor to safeguard his family's legal system, but after many years of Gao Pragmatic influence, he was inevitably influenced by Gao Pragmatic's typical Influenced by the "people's view of history", I really felt that Taizu was too harsh on the heroes.

Similarly, although Chengzu's punishment of Qiu Fu was indeed reasonable, it... seemed to be too harsh. You said that Qiu Fu didn't listen to Chengzu's warning, and he didn't listen to the advice of his colleagues. In the end, his entire army was wiped out, and he himself died in the battle. Therefore, there is no doubt that he was deprived of his title. This is indeed true. However, what was wrong with his whole family being here? That they would be implicated in the whole family being exiled to Hainan?

Qiu Fu was the top hero in the Jingnan War! Just because of a defeat, the whole family followed Wan Duzi. Isn't it a bit too mean and unkind? According to Zhu Yijun's view, it would be enough to deprive Qiu Fu of his title and reduce his family to common status. Why should it be so cruel?

So when Chen Ju said this, Zhu Yijun was embarrassed. After thinking about it, I still couldn't think of a way to get the best of both worlds, so I had to cough dryly and said: "What you said makes sense... The rights and wrongs of the past are admittedly difficult to discuss, so let's put it aside for now."

After a pause, he added: "Rixin's remarks are very insightful. The Chief of Ceremonies will sort them out and send them to the cabinet. If the cabinet's review is correct, they will be divided into six subjects. In order to let the world know, I am conferring Zen status. Mount Tai is not to boast of its achievements, but actually to pray for blessings from heaven on behalf of all people.”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I will take care of it immediately."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Here! I'll leave this slave."
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