I'm really not doing business

Chapter 581: Everyone is mortal since ancient times, but I will leave my loyalty to shine in history

"Master Lin, you don't try to understand things that you are not interested in?" Zhu Yijun looked at Lin Fucheng and said with a frown.

Others were all confused. When Lin Fucheng learned that Master Huang had appointed 200 Ti cavalrymen, he did not consider the number first, but thought that there was not enough money to pay for the security expenses!
As expected, Zhu Yijun did not give Lin Fucheng the title of Doctor of Five Classics in vain. This guy’s thinking process is different from others.

Lin Fucheng said in confusion: "I don't care, but with these two hundred people going to the grassland, we don't have enough money."

What we are discussing now is the expenses for these 200 people along the way. Guangde Bookstore has no money. In fact, Lin Fucheng is a little confused about the protection of so many people. Is it worth sending 200 Tiqi to protect 50 people going to the grassland to study?
Lin Fucheng went from Songjiang Prefecture to the capital, and then from the capital to Baoding Prefecture. He did not experience a disordered world along the way. Even in the village, there was internal oppression. When outsiders like Lin Fucheng arrived, the local village chiefs either killed Lin Fucheng directly or escorted him out of the country with courtesy. They had no other choice.

When a Jinyiwei Tiqi was standing next to Lin Fucheng, no matter how cruel the market owners were, they had to consider the consequences of killing the Jinyiwei.

Therefore, Lin Fucheng had tried his best to imagine the dangers of the grassland, but he still underestimated it. Not to mention the horse bandits and wild beasts, those lama temples, without strong soldiers to protect them, the monks in the temples could eat Lin Fucheng and his fifty men alive.

Zhu Yijun sent 200 Ti cavalry based on the complex environment outside the Great Wall.

Li Zhi wanted to tell Lin Fucheng immediately that the person in front of him was the Emperor! The mobilization of the imperial guards was never a matter of money, but the focus should be on the imperial guards themselves.

Whenever the Ming Dynasty’s capital camp mobilizes more than 100 men, it must report to the Ministry of War and obtain the emperor’s approval!

Don't think about saving trouble. Dealing with two matters involving fifty people will only become a handle for the civil servants to criticize you. The emperor should think about whether his head will be kicked like a ball.

Lin Fucheng is worried about the funding issue?

"Don't worry about money and grain." Zhu Yijun lamented that Lin Fucheng was sometimes clear-headed, but he was a little confused about the key points of things that he didn't care about very much. In this respect, Lin Fucheng was very similar to the Five Classics Doctors in the Academy of Gewu. When he specialized in one thing, he would ignore the others.

The money and food for the Tiqi's mobilization naturally came from the imperial treasury. Should the Tiqi be forced to eat outside? Could Emperor Zhu Yijun be assured?

"That's great, very great." Lin Fucheng said happily, feeling fortunate to have saved a lot of money.

Li Zhi said solemnly, "Mr. Huang, to abolish religions that make people pursue illusory well-being, we must allow people to have well-being in reality and feel at ease. To ask them to abandon illusions, we must first allow people to get rid of the situation that requires illusions."

“Only when we have peace of mind in reality can we stop pursuing false peace of mind. Only when we have happiness and material abundance in reality can we completely abandon illusions.”

"To eliminate religion and ignorance, we must first eliminate poverty. The root of all evil is poverty, the lack of material wealth."

Once we start discussing the alienation of people by power, money, and religion, the imperial court, which is above all forces and needs to mediate conflicts, must find ways to reduce this alienation. The solution lies in the topic itself: instead of allowing people to pursue vain well-being in the afterlife, they must pursue concrete, real happiness.

This is the fundamental purpose of discussing human alienation, to make the world a better place. Only when this purpose is clear will the discussion be meaningful.

It's exhausting, but also very romantic.

"This is the official badge of the Doctor of Five Classics. Take it. Last time we said that if you can discuss the topic of human alienation clearly, this official position will be yours. Work hard. Even though you are old, it would be great if you could give useful suggestions." Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao to bring a set of official badges.

The fifth rank ensures that Li Zhi will not starve to death while attacking the lowly Confucian scholars.

Li Zhi had starved his second and third daughters to death. Apart from anything else, just for the fact that he was an honest official, Li Zhi deserves recognition.

Lin Fucheng acted as if it was a matter of course, but Li Zhi's eyes were already filled with tears. A lot of things had happened to him since he retired in the ninth year of Wanli. This official badge was a guarantee for his future life.

He wanted to thank the emperor for his grace, but once he did so, the emperor's interest in playing with the world would be ruined. He thought for a moment and said solemnly: "Thank you, Master Huang, for your great kindness. I will definitely live up to your trust."

"Just do your job well." Zhu Yijun said with a smile and waved his hand.

Li Zhi and Lin Fucheng had different functions. Lin Fucheng was engaged in social science research and investigation, while Li Zhi's function was to become the nightmare of the lowly Confucian scholars! As long as I think of Li Zhi's name, I can't sleep or eat well.

In history, Li Zhi was a madman who was criticized by the lowly Confucian scholars. Now with the help of the emperor, he is like a tiger with wings.

This time, the alienation of religion, aimed at Confucianism and became the essence of Confucianism, can be said to have sounded the clarion call for attacking the despicable Confucian ethics.

In the short term, it may be difficult to see anything, but if the time dimension is extended to ten or twenty years, the seeds will take root, sprout, bloom and bear fruit.

Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said seriously, "Li Zhi, you said that the more firm one's belief is, the more serious one's self-alienation will be."

"Look at this guy. His name is Chen Mo. He has been a marquis on the grassland for five years. Look at his hands. They are all covered with spots from frostbite. He has been living in the open air on the grassland and facing the brutal northern barbarians. What is he trying to achieve?"

"Few of the Duntai Yuanhou could work for more than three years. Some died, some ran away, some could not work anymore, and so on. But he worked for five years regardless of the cold or heat."

Chen Mo has already escorted the confiscated proceeds back to Beijing. This is the money for the highway from Tianjin to Mizhou. Now Chen Mo is working for the emperor.

"Chen Mo, tell us, what are you doing this for? What do you believe in?" Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Mo and asked.

The Duntai Yuanhou and the coastal defense inspectors also have faith. Could it be that they have also alienated themselves in their faith?

This issue must be clarified and discussed clearly. We cannot be so confused.

"In reply to Mr. Huang, I have to do it. If I don't, these northern barbarians will break through the pass and burn, kill, and loot my family." Chen Mo thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Thinking back, I don't know why. I can't explain it clearly."

"Someone has to do it, why can't it be me?"

Chen Mo did not talk about loyalty to the emperor. Duntai Yuanhou had never seen the emperor before and did not even know what the emperor looked like. Talking about loyalty to the emperor was somewhat hypocritical. Chen Mo served beside His Majesty, and His Majesty liked people who spoke the truth and did not like false flattery.

"Someone has to do it. Why can't it be someone else who can do such a dangerous thing?" Zhu Yijun immediately asked back.

"I'm better than others!" Chen Mo said with certainty: "I have been better than others since I was a child!"

"You are awesome! Both the Duntai Yuanhou and the Coast Guard Patrol are awesome." Zhu Yijun nodded in approval, smiling brightly without a trace of hypocrisy, and with all his heart.

Zhu Yijun looked at Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi and said, "So, Li Zhi, do you think he is self-deceiving and self-alienated?"

"Mr. Huang, this is not self-alienation, this is righteousness, this is benevolence. The Master once said: One must sacrifice one's life for benevolence, and one must achieve benevolence regardless of one's life. Benevolence means upholding justice, upholding lofty interests, and the common interests of the Ming Dynasty. Mencius once said: Life is what I desire, and righteousness is what I desire. I cannot have both. Those who sacrifice their lives for righteousness also have this truth." Li Zhi answered this question in detail.

There is no need for the great debate during the Wanli period. The ancients two thousand years ago had already thought about this question, and they thought about it very deeply. What is benevolence? What is righteousness? To protect the common interests of all people in the country is great virtue and high righteousness.

"Since ancient times, everyone has to die. Let us leave behind a loyal heart to shine in history." Lin Fucheng immediately said, "Mr. Huang, this is integrity, not self-alienation, and certainly not self-deception in pursuit of the false other side. Without self-deception, there would be no self-alienation."

"Mr. Huang is still young. You can't learn the selfishness that some lowly scholars are clamoring for. If everyone in the world were like them, the world would have perished long ago."

"Mr. Huang used Chen Mo as an example, so let's take Chen Mo as an example." Lin Fucheng looked at Chen Mo, thought for a while and said, "Captain Chen, I have a few questions, just tell me what you think."

"Did you suffer when you were a marquis?"

"Bitter." Chen Mo stretched out his hands, which were covered with traces of frostbite. His palms were a little deformed. Due to years of archery and riding horses, his palms and fingers of his right hand were covered with thick calluses.

You can tell whether it is painful or not by looking at your hands.

Lin Fucheng said sincerely, "Mr. Huang, we mentioned before that the fictional other side is to escape the suffering of reality. In fact, Chen Mo knew from the beginning that Duntai Yuanhou's life was hard. We can talk nonsense here, thanks to them. It is these soldiers who have worked tirelessly to provide us with the environment to talk freely here."

"Captain Chen, is it dangerous to be a distant marquis?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment and said, "It's dangerous."

These two words express the essence of the situation. Chen Mo was very clear about the dangers involved. He went deep into the enemy camp, transmitted intelligence, fought against the bad weather, fought desperately with the cruel enemy, and wrestled with wild beasts. Every year when the wasteland was burned, the northern enemy would send out countless scouts to block the attack.

"When we went to Baoding Prefecture together, Chen Mo was washing in the yard. I saw scars all over his body. The longest one was from his left shoulder blade to his back. When I saw the wound, I didn't know how he survived." Lin Fucheng frowned and said, "It is human instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm, but he overcame his instinct, which is not something a weak person can do."

"Since the establishment of Duntai Yuanhou in the second year of Jingtai, the 3,000 men have always been fully staffed."

"The alienation of religion to people is first of all self-deception. Obviously, Chen Mo knew very well what he was doing, why he was doing it, and what he was facing, but he still did it to protect everyone in the Ming Dynasty."

"Uh..." Chen Mo looked left and right, and said helplessly: "If I don't do this, there's nothing else I can do. I used to be able to farm, but later I didn't even know how to farm, and there was no land to farm. If I don't work as a Duntai Yuanhou, what should I do? And I'm afraid and scared, and I'll escape."

What Chen Mo actually wanted to express was that he was not that noble. After his comrades left Duntai, they could never come back. On the road, they met Duntai Yuanhou who was torn apart by wild wolves. All they could find were scattered pieces of clothes and an iron plate with his name on it. He was afraid, and he even thought about joining the Northern Tartars, but in the end, he couldn't do it.

For people like Chen Mo, surrendering and submitting to the enemy is worse than killing him with a single blow.

"Then why do you still want to go if you are afraid? Just be a deserter, it's such a simple thing." Lin Fucheng looked at Chen Mo and suggested another option.

Chen Mo waved his hands repeatedly and said, "That won't work. That would be so embarrassing."

He refuses to surrender to the northern barbarians, and finds it shameful to be a deserter. Then he is only competing with the heaven, the earth, and people. Who is higher, heaven or earth?

"Look, people who know shame are the bravest." Lin Fucheng ended his question. Chen Mo is ten thousand times stronger than the humble Confucian, because knowing shame is a huge challenge for the humble Confucian.

"You scholars are really good at talking." Chen Mo gave up the debate, he could not win the argument with these scholars. His thoughts at that time were very simple, there was something to do, if he didn't go, someone would die, it was not that complicated. He didn't think about human alienation or great virtues.

Li Zhi concluded: "Indeed, living a mediocre life or dying for great virtues and righteousness are different choices. Living a mediocre life, living a life of petty intrigues and humiliation, is aggrieved, shameful, submissive, treacherous, and despised by others; choosing to die for great virtues and righteousness makes one's heart bright, shining, and upright, and it will shine through the ages."

"Just looking at the words and deeds of the despicable Confucian scholars, the history of our Ming Dynasty is too pale."

"Very good." Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Mo with a very bright smile. Zhu Yijun thought of Hong Chengchou. For the sake of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Chengchou had tried his best, and then was included in the Biography of Traitors by Emperor Qianlong.

Even the Qing Dynasty and its slaves knew that traitors would be despised.

"Your religion has written very well about the alienation of human beings and has a very thorough understanding of it. Let's go to the grassland." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling them to go and do their own things.

Integrity is integrity, which is completely contrary to religion's escape from the suffering of reality.

After Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi left, Zhu Yijun held up the Xiaoyao Yiwen in his hand and said, "It is time for the Ming Dynasty to distinguish between the identities of officials and scholars."

Zhu Yijun was condoning popular opinion and the speculation of miscellaneous newspapers, and in fact, he was condoning protests against oppression, which naturally included the oppression of the Imperial College, the Hanlin Academy, and the king of hell.

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, the identities of scholars and officials overlapped. The unclear identities of both academics and officials led to the alienation of Confucianism into Confucianism, forming a quasi-religious oppression.

Zhu Yijun had been constantly desacralizing Confucianism. Overthrowing the Confucius Mansion in Yanzhou and rescuing Confucius was the first step in desacralization. The theory of contradiction, the theory of public and private, the production diagram, and the class theory were the second step. Distinguishing identities was the third step.

Let scholars return to their original identities as scholars and strip scholars from the label of officials. The combination of the identities of scholar and official will determine that power will alienate people, because officials not only hold real power, but also control the right to interpret scriptures in the illusory other side.

This step is very difficult, because it has been like this since ancient times, but Zhu Yijun has actually taken this step secretly.

"Doctor of the Five Classics in the Academy of Gewu?" Wang Qian was an official, and his father was a second-in-command of the court. He was quite experienced in this area. When His Majesty mentioned it, Wang Qian immediately knew that His Majesty had actually set out a long time ago, much earlier than Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi could point fingers.

Zhu Yijun looked at the eldest son Wang with a complicated expression. He said with a sigh, "Wang Qian, you are very smart and quick to react, but you must use your intelligence in the right place. Don't follow in Yan Shifan's footsteps. It's not easy for your father to get to where he is today."

"It was with great difficulty that we negotiated peace with Altan Khan. With Altan Khan being beheaded, we finally put aside all the burdens and started anew."

"Don't ruin your father's reputation."

"Isn't the crime of usurpation my father's biggest burden?" Wang Qian said in a daze.

"Your father really gave birth to a filial son!" Zhu Yijun was so angry that he laughed. As an emperor, he did not mention the crime of usurpation. It was Wang Chonggu who governed the country and promoted new laws that were good things for the country and the people. He did not mention it, but Wang Qian took the initiative to bring it up.

Wang Qian said indifferently, "My father also said that to me."

Wang Qian thought he was very filial. Who wouldn't be a playboy in a family like his? Not only was he not a playboy, he also passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. He spent his days helping the country and solving problems for the emperor. He had a clear bottom line in what he did. Looking back at the eleven years of the Wanli reign, did Wang Qian do anything that would bring disaster to the country and the people and bring disaster to his family?

Even if we take a step back, he is better than Yan Shifan, who failed to even pass the imperial examination!

After a brief rest, Zhu Yijun went directly from Taibai Tower to the Beida camp to review the troops.

"General Qi, why are you coming out of the camp to greet me?" When Zhu Yijun's carriage arrived at Beidaying, he saw Qi Jiguang. After returning to the interior, Qi Jiguang became elegant and easy-going. If he no longer wore military uniform, he would look more like a scholar, with bookish air all over his body.

When Zhu Yijun met Qi Jiguang for the first time, he also felt strange. Could this elegant and easy-going man really be a general who was victorious in every battle?

General Qi looked the same as he did ten years ago when he first met the Emperor. His temples had become whiter, but his demeanor remained the same. As he stood there, his kind yet calm eyes were as steady and arrogant as a mountain.

Most of the young and vigorous people behind Qi Jiguang were common soldiers from the Military Academy. These common soldiers were real low-level soldiers who became common soldiers after learning the tactics of war in the Military Academy. There was no contradiction between common soldiers and hereditary military honors, because all the hereditary military honors who could not bear the hardship of the Beijing camp went to the old camp in Nanhai Zi to serve as honored soldiers.

The young and vigorous generals stood there as straight as a pine tree, exuding a strong and sturdy aura. These young and vigorous generals were the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun did not face the same dilemma as Zhu Di. Many of the generals who were systematically trained in the Military Academy became the backbone of the army in the constant wars.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty." Qi Jiguang said with a complicated expression: "Li Rusong is in trouble. I did not teach him well."

"What trouble has Li Rusong gotten into?" Zhu Yijun said solemnly, "Let's go inside and talk."

Zhu Yijun was also a member of the young and vigorous faction. Under his loose uniform was a body full of muscular muscles. He did not have any military talent, but he worked hard to become a qualified Ming sharp soldier. This was his promise to the soldiers of the world. He would continue to strengthen his military power. Even if he only reviewed the troops every other day, Zhu Yijun would appear in the Beidaying on his days off.

"What happened to Li Rusong?" After changing into his military uniform, Zhu Yijun looked at Qi Jiguang and asked with a frown.

"The Tangbao is here." Qi Jiguang handed the Tangbao to His Majesty.

Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng could present memorials in person without having to go through anyone else but Feng Bao to deliver them. These two were the only foreign officials of the Ming Dynasty who had this honor.

"I thought something big had happened. Isn't it just destroying a village? I sent him to do this." Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief after reading the news. He thought something big had happened, but it turned out to be a rebellion.

Is suppressing a rebellion a disaster?

Qi Jiguang shook his head and said, "In fact, there is no need for such a violent suppression. It is still possible to persuade them to surrender. He directly razed the village to the ground. The owners of Baoding Prefecture were frightened and dared not resist."

"Ugh."

"I want their lives, but they won't let me take their lives. How can I persuade them to surrender?" Zhu Yijun said helplessly, "General Qi's blade never points inwards. This is why the court officials dared to bully General Qi in the past."

Qi Jiguang was always like this, unwilling to fight with his own people, unwilling to waste energy on internal strife. The question is, Qi Jiguang treated others as his own people, but did others treat him as their own people?

Not at all. I can’t wait to get rid of it.

Qi Jiguang was really a very gentle person. Even when the conflict escalated to this point, he still conservatively believed that he could persuade them to surrender. Disobeying the king's order was tantamount to treason, and all he needed to quell the rebellion was a position.

Qi Jiguang still insisted: "Li Rusong went too far. He deployed thirty nine-jin cannons and directly destroyed the village."

It was razed to the ground in the true physical sense. The wall of the village was demolished with artillery. The owner of the village refused to demolish the wall, so Li Rusong generously helped him do it.

"What else? If he doesn't fire the gunpowder he brought, it will get damp and become unusable." Zhu Yijun still didn't think there was anything wrong with Li Rusong's approach.

"Your Majesty, violence must not get out of control, otherwise it will lead to the downfall of the world." General Qi Jiguang still insisted on his opinion.

Of course, force had to be used when necessary, but in the matter of demolishing the dike wall in Baoding Prefecture, the Ming court already had the absolute upper hand and there was no need to use such drastic measures.

Those who rely on military force will be destroyed, and those who rely on culture will perish.

Simply relying on military men led to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, when people suffered under the underworld politics; relying entirely on scholars led to the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, when the emperors of the Central Plains had to bow down to foreign barbarians. And yet they still say that culture reached its peak in the Zhao Song Dynasty? If bowing down to foreign barbarians, losing land and territory, and destroying a country is the peak of culture, then there is no need for such a peak of culture.

Li Rusong's brutal suppression of the rebellion easily portrayed the emperor as a tyrant and a traitor to the people.

"General Qi has a point. Li Rusong did something wrong, but he was right." Zhu Yijun pondered for a while and partially confirmed Qi Jiguang's statement. He said with certainty: "He should have been faster. He spent thirteen days on a village. It was really a bit slow."

Li Rusong was right to suppress the rebellion, but the means of suppressing the rebellion could have been faster. After blowing up the dike wall on the first day, Li Rusong surrounded the village without attacking. After cutting off the water source, he sent people to attack the village, set fire to the food, and retreated. He waited until the thirteenth day, when the people in the village came out to surrender.

This was simply a game of cat and mouse, and the reason why Li Rusong did this was to let the local community owners in Baoding Prefecture see that any resistance would be futile in the face of the attack from the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp.

Zhu Yijun said with certainty: "Are they the people of the Ming Dynasty? They are just a bunch of bandits. General Qi has a philanthropic heart and still regards them as part of the Ming Dynasty. But when these weir owners used the poor people as fertilizer, exchanged five catties of grain for people's daughters, and used money houses and gambling houses to seize people's property, they never thought of themselves as people of the Ming Dynasty, local sages and gentry. The court gave them taxes and legal privileges so that they could live in peace and herd the people."

"I am probably getting old." Qi Jiguang sighed and said helplessly: "Li Rusong's move will inevitably lead to the court officials to attack him. It is the laziness of the teacher who does not teach strictly."

"Wait, this is what General Qi is most worried about! Say what the officials want to say first, and leave them speechless." Zhu Yijun was stunned, and then he understood Qi Jiguang's real purpose. Qi Jiguang, a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would also be scheming.

When Li Rusong did this, the court officials did not care about the difficulties Li Rusong faced, but only put labels such as butcher and executioner on Li Rusong's head to make the emperor wary of military men. This round of attacks was actually not easy to face. Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou had won battles in the past, and it was good enough that they were not held accountable, let alone rewarded.

Obviously, what Qi Jiguang was really worried about was not the violence getting out of control, but the attacks on Li Rusong by court officials.

Moreover, Qi Jiguang was not very clear about His Majesty's thoughts. After the Ming Dynasty's conquest of the grassland, the Beijing Camp had no plans for conquest in the short term, and the Beijing Camp had an annual expenditure of 2.4 million silver coins, which was twice the amount of gold and silver. The money spent by the Beijing Camp every year was twice what the court gave to the royal family.

Qi Jiguang had to consider whether it was time to let his horse go to the mountains.
This was not a test. Regardless of whether Your Majesty wanted to let Li Rusong go to the mountains or not, Qi Jiguang would only support him. Qi Jiguang used his own reputation to protect young people like Li Rusong, so that when Your Majesty needed to use people, there would be no one available.

"Your Majesty is wise." Seeing that he was seen through so easily, Qi Jiguang admitted it directly.

"Don't worry. Li Rusong didn't just plunder the village and raze it to the ground. He didn't raise his butcher knife to kill people and make blood flow." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "If the officials really can't tell right from wrong, I will send them to Baoding Prefecture and let them face these lawless village owners."

"Li Rusong's temper has improved a lot now. If it were before, he would have killed everyone long ago."

Zhu Yijun was not talking nonsense. When Li Rusong first entered the Beijing camp, he had an extremely bad temper. Now this bad temper has turned into fearlessness and courage. It used to be just the anger and courage of a common man, but now he has the demeanor of a talented general.

Li Chengliang could not have educated such a Li Rusong. Only under the command of the great general of the empire could he have grown into such a person.

This time, Li Rusong fought for thirteen days against a small village in Baoding Prefecture. Either he was unable to pacify the situation quickly, or he fought to intimidate Xuanwei.

Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Chen Lin, Ma Fang, Li Chengliang, Li Rusong, Liu Xian, Liu Jing, Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Yuanxun, and Deng Zilong were all the best generals among the best generals, so Zhu Yijun was not in the dilemma of having no one to use.

There was also a fierce and aggressive boy named Xiong Da, Xiong Tingbi, who at the age of fourteen started shouting and clamoring to go to Suiyuan, and even made trouble with Zhang Juzheng when he was not allowed to go.

Compared with the abundance of talented military men and sufficient talent reserves, the civil officials are very weak.

(End of this chapter)