I'm really not doing business

Chapter 644: Not only looking at production, but also looking at life
The Western sect does not allow questioning. Whatever God says is what it is. As for what the oracle is and how to interpret it, it is naturally up to the Vatican to decide. Anyone who dares to question it, no matter who it is, will be labeled a heretic and punished by the Inquisition. Victims are endless.

But as supporters of the God of Wisdom and believers gathered because of wisdom, they can ask questions to the incarnation of wisdom and get answers.

"If I ask you to die now, what will you do?" Zhu Yijun suddenly asked. He became curious about this sample of fanatics.

Marion said confidently: "I will ask why I am asked to die. If it is for the eight virtues, I will not be afraid."

"Very good, I like this answer." Zhu Yijun discovered that Marion's fanaticism was not completely irrational. This was the best news for Zhu Yijun, the incarnation. At least it was a sect with a certain rationality, rather than a sect that would sacrifice everything for God.

The Ming Dynasty is not a holy land, the imperial court is not the Church, the Ming Dynasty enfeoffed vassal states based on the need for border stability, and Zhu Yijun is not the embodiment of wisdom. This Ming Religion brought great pressure to Zhu Yijun, because once it became deformed and had no rationality, it would be better to destroy it.

Zhang Juzheng has been hit by boomerangs countless times. The Ming Cult has become deformed, and the Ming Dynasty will be hit by this boomerang sooner or later.

Zhu Yijun suddenly realized that he actually had a great influence on the Great Ming Sect. After the pilgrimage, Marion could be considered a saint in the West. Then her interpretation of the doctrine would definitely affect the direction of the Great Ming Sect. Opening this door would be of great positive significance.

"So do you have any questions?" After Zhu Yijun figured out the problem, he began to answer the questions for Marion, the fanatic, so as to prevent the Ming Cult from going astray.

Marion said sincerely: "The prophet who leads people out of confusion, the lost lambs, need your guidance. I have many confusions, but these confusions on the road of life are not worth the prophet's words. I just have some doubts. In the West, the Roman Catholic Church tells people that the world is unchanging and is God's random graffiti on the earth."

“I don’t know how to refute them.”

The biggest cornerstone of the theory of contradiction is that everything in the world is changing, and there are universal connections between all things. It is precisely because of these universal connections that complex contradictions arise in things. Change is Tai Chi, it is chaos, and the spear and shield are the two yin and yang.

The theory of contradiction is highly consistent with the Tai Chi Bagua advocated by the Daming Sect.

But the biggest dilemma Marion encountered after becoming a believer was how to defeat heresy! The damned Roman Catholic Church was the biggest dark cloud over Tessa's head, the biggest heresy!

Even Felipe II, the defender of religion, was dissatisfied with religion. This was a struggle for secular power.

Zhu Yijun's fingers kept tapping on the table, and then he smiled and whispered to Feng Bao twice. Feng Bao asked the eunuch to get something. The emperor smiled and said to Marion, "I already have the answer to your question, but I need my attendant to get it from Tonghe Palace. Do you have any questions?"

Marion was extremely surprised. This problem had troubled her, or rather, troubled Taixi for many years, but His Majesty just tapped on the table a few times and came up with a solution? What kind of true god is this!
"Yes." Marion said loudly, "Life has many forks in the road. How should the lost sheep live? Please guide me, prophet."

Zhu Yijun looked at Marion, thought for a moment, and said with a smile: "Everyone has their own life. There are many things that are not important when you look back."

"There are so many crossroads in life. How to choose is indeed a problem that everyone needs to face."

"I am not a prophet, nor am I the embodiment of wisdom. I am right in front of you, a living person. As for life, I personally believe that the most important thing is to live as yourself, rather than living in the shape of others."

"Don't let others define you. This is personal freedom."

"Thank you for the prophet's teachings." Marion knelt on the ground and saluted solemnly.

Zhu Yijun drank a bowl of chicken soup and looked at Marion, who seemed to understand something. He asked curiously, "Do you really understand?"

"I am me, my hopes, my fears, my victories and successes, my failures and mistakes, my ignorance and cowardice, my thirst for knowledge and my courage. I own all of me! Put your hands together, I am my own God!"

Marion's face flushed, she clenched her fists and said loudly: "I am me!"

Zhu Yijun glanced at Marion calmly, looking quite indifferent and calm, but he looked at Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu, and this look was meaningful. He was just giving them chicken soup, but Marion seemed to have found her way in life.

Li Zhi discussed religious matters and talked about believers' self-deception and self-interpretation. Zhu Yijun saw actual examples. He was amazed by the self-hypnosis skills of these fanatics.

"Your Majesty, did I understand you wrongly?" Marion asked apprehensively.

"No, that's what I mean. From now on, you are your own God. You don't have to pay attention to what the so-called God says." Zhu Yijun replied immediately. Just kidding, as a prophet, Zhu Yijun would not admit that he was just giving chicken soup!

In the Daming Sect, there are no gods. All wisdom comes from heaven and earth. The sun, moon, mountains and rivers gave inspiration to our ancestors, and the yin and yang shaped universal rules.

So, what Marion said is very consistent with the doctrine.

In fact, Marion should have a lot to say to Li Zhi. Li Zhi, this crazy husband, once said that everyone can be Yao and Shun, and everyone can be a saint. This is a humanistic thinking of self-liberation. Zhu Yijun once affirmed Li Zhi's point of view.

"Okay, as you asked before, the Western Church said that the world is God's graffiti on the earth, and change belongs to God's domain. I have two books here that can answer your questions." Zhu Yijun took out two of the four books brought by the eunuch and asked Feng Bao to pass them to Marion.

"The first one is called 'Natural Selection' and the second one is called 'Anthropic Selection'. They perfectly explain that change is not the domain of God, but is universal and universally connected."

The last two books in Zhu Yijun's hands were not widely published even in the Ming Dynasty. They were "On the Survival of the Superior" and "On the Survival of the Inferior". In these two books, it was proved in great detail that the long history of the Ming Dynasty and the brutal wars had screened out more outstanding races time and time again, such as those with less severe body odor and those who were taller than other people in the world, etc.

"Thank you for the prophet's gift!" Marion held the two books in her hands. She knew that the prophet would not lie to her. If he said that the problem could be solved, then it would definitely be solved.

"I am a humble servant of God and a lost lamb. I see that Your Majesty still has two books in his hand. I would like to ask Your Majesty to give me new scriptures." Of course, Marion saw that there were four books in total, but the emperor only gave her two.

Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao to take the remaining two books and put them away. He shook his head and said, "They are not suitable for you now. Are you questioning my decision?"

"Of course not!" Marion's forehead immediately broke out in a thin layer of sweat. She said in fear and trepidation. She had truly believed that His Majesty was the embodiment of wisdom. She could indeed ask questions, but as a believer, it was difficult for her to doubt the prophet's decision.

Marion began to flatter the emperor, praising the thousands of ships sailing in Songjiang Prefecture, the wealth of Nan Ya, the splendor of the glazed tower of Da Baoen Temple, and then praising the magnificence and grandeur of the bell and drum tower of the main Yamen in an extremely exaggerated tone. These corny words finally stopped when the emperor stopped them.

This propaganda made Zhu Yijun dizzy and dazzled. He thought that the Ming Dynasty was really a divine kingdom on earth. Compared with the Western world today, the Ming Dynasty might really be more prosperous and stable, but it was far from being so exaggerated.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "May wisdom always be with you."

"Thank you for the blessing of the prophet." Marion bowed again and ended the pilgrimage.

Marion finally left, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty immediately breathed a sigh of relief after they left. Being a prophet was too tiring, and he still preferred to be an emperor. Being a prophet required dignity, but being an emperor did not require that. An emperor could do whatever he wanted. Receiving the pilgrimage group was more tiring than reviewing memorials for ten days.

Before leaving Ming Dynasty, Marion went to Chongyifang, Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty specifically instructed Gao Qiyu, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to do it. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty set up an execution ground in Chongyifang, Shanghai County, and sent Marion there specifically to let her watch the beheading and break the beautiful filter of the Ming Dynasty in her mind. The Ming Dynasty also had a place like the court to try and execute criminals, and in a very bloody way, beheading them for public display.

The person killed was Yuan Shen. The execution ground was outside the Hongyuan Dyeing Factory in Chongyifang, and he was beheaded in public.

When Marion figured out what the murdered Yuan Shen had done, she immediately exclaimed that Daming was truly a holy land. She had witnessed justice at this moment and even started crying as she spoke. Other fanatical believers had already cried many times, but Marion burst into tears the moment she witnessed justice.

As the daughter of a French Field Marshal, Marion had never been treated unfairly, but she had witnessed too much injustice.

Justice does not exist in the West. This is the first time that Marion has witnessed justice with her own eyes. Zhu Yijun's original intention was to break her inner beautiful filter of the Ming Dynasty, but he inadvertently made this filter deeper and even became a stamp of her thought.

For a believer, is there anything more touching than seeing justice and the eight virtues he believes in appear before his eyes?

When Zhu Yijun received the news, he was reviewing memorials to the emperor's grave. He felt a little confused. After Yuan Shen was killed, the Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty had been writing in miscellaneous newspapers for more than ten days, criticizing the Ming Dynasty's harsh laws, the Grand Court's disregard for human life, and Yuan Shen's crime not punishable by death.

As a result, a golden-haired fan sincerely approved of Yuan Shenming's execution.

"Wang Ci Fu made the final judgment. Yuan Shen was executed immediately and Zhou Jianren was acquitted. There is no problem with that. It is justice." Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao with a frown.

"That's right. Even the barbarians from the west can see it clearly." Feng Bao answered your majesty's doubts very clearly, and said with a smile: "The lowly scholars either don't understand it, or they are just making a fuss."

Once Yuan Shen died, the collective ownership of the means of production by the craftsmen of Hongyuan Dyeing Factory became a foregone conclusion. The debate was never about whether Yuan Shen deserved to die.

"Let's go and see the fun." Zhu Yijun planned to go and see the fun. This time the fun was not in Taibai Tower, but in the teahouse in Qianmen Tower. This place has always been a place for storytelling.

The two people who gathered for discussion this time were Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi, and their topic was still the alienation of people by money. After successively discussing that fairness is freedom, silver has no home and country, and meat eaters have no home and country, the topic of discussion this time was more in-depth.

The big teahouse in Qianmen Tower is a gathering place for all kinds of people. Originally, the gathering should have been in Taibai Tower, but due to the decoration of Taibai Tower, they had no choice but to hold it here.

The teahouse has three floors in total. There is a small square table on the large stage in the middle, and the seats around the stage are all occupied by the Confucian scholars who are going to have a chat with Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi this time.

Li Zhi stood on the stage, looking at the open windows of the No. 1 box on the third floor, and felt a headache. When they were in the grassland, His Majesty the Emperor never came out to watch the fun. Now that they were back, His Majesty really attended every show.

If I say the wrong thing, won't there be no trace of my body left?
The key is that Lin Fucheng often speaks outrageously. "Master Lin is on the way." Li Zhi coughed lightly and said to everyone.

This time, Lin Fucheng was late again, which caused boos from the audience. Was Lin Fucheng late because of the traffic jam or was he the last to appear to create his image as a master? Everyone has their own opinions.

Li Zhi said with a serious face: "Before Master Lin comes, let me tell you a historical story. It says that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the country was divided into three kingdoms. Wei, Shu and Wu had exhausted their heroic spirit and were stolen by the rat Sima family. After the Shu emperor Liu Chan surrendered, he was infamous for being happy and not wanting to return to Shu."

"Jiang Wei left a very short letter to the King of Shu, which read: Your Majesty, please bear with the humiliation for a few days. I want to restore the country from danger to safety and the sun and moon to brightness again. This was Jiang Wei's last effort. He succeeded and failed."

"This letter, which could have cost the life of the Shu emperor, was kept by the Shu emperor until 83 years after Jiang Wei's death, when it was discovered by Sun Shengjin, a general under Huan Wen."

"Liu Chan, the last ruler of Shu, said to Sima Zhao cheerfully, 'I am happy here, I don't miss Shu.' He returned home drunk and lay on his bed, touching the letter that threatened his life but he still wanted to protect it. He thought about his father who had devoted his life to the prime minister, his father who had fought all his life, Zhao Zilong who had been in and out of the army seven times, Zhuge Zhan and his son who died in battle, and his own prince who had been killed."

"What was the Shu emperor feeling? It was probably not that he was enjoying himself here and didn't miss Shu, but that he was suffering like being boiled in a frying pan."

"If he really was so happy here that he didn't want to return to his homeland, why would he leave this letter asking for his life? Sima Zhao was the one who killed the emperor in the street."

"Why did he lie to Sima Zhao? Instead of scolding Sima Zhao, Han and thieves cannot coexist! Because Shu Han allowed the old ministers and old subordinates to live, and the Shu Queen lived mainly for them."

Li Zhi told this story as if it had nothing to do with the alienation of money on people, but there was silence at the scene and everyone remained silent.

"This is what we are going to discuss today! If the king is wise and the ministers are virtuous, can the country really be restored to light? History tells us that it can't! You can only dream on!" Lin Fucheng's voice rang out in the backstage. He walked in breathlessly. The traffic jam was so severe this time that he had to run here. Li Zhi had rehearsed the story he was going to tell in advance.

Li Zhi's forehead was trembling with veins. He wanted to kick Lin Fucheng off the stage. The words Lin Fucheng said were not in the script at all! The original words were far from being so direct and explosive!
The window of the Tianzihao box remained motionless. Li Zhi was sweating profusely, and he didn't know what the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would think when he heard this.

Meanwhile, in the Tianzihao box, Zhu Yijun was sitting by the window, looking at the two people on the stage. He smiled and said to Wang Qian, who was fidgeting and feeling uneasy, "Master Lin, what you said is not about Liu Chan at all, but about me. The former emperor's mausoleum still owed 11 silver coins, which was not paid until the first year of the Wanli reign. We fought against Altan Khan for years, and the Japanese invaders for another years. Can the Ming Dynasty be restored to its former glory by relying on a wise ruler and virtuous ministers? You are dreaming!"

"Right, Wang Qian."

"Your Majesty, I don't know!" Wang Qian was more nervous than Li Zhi. Li Zhi was still on the stage after all, and he, Wang Qian, was in the box. It was he who invited Your Majesty to watch the fun. Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi's Xiaoyao Yiwen and Guangde Bookstore were also run by Wang Qian. It was easy to understand Lin Fucheng's words as Wang Qian pointing at the emperor.

When the emperor was still that fat ten-year-old kid hiding behind the Empress Dowager, Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng?

Wang Qian was so annoyed that he wondered if this big mouth Lin could stick to the script!
This is a veiled attack, saying that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is a wooden man like Liu Chan, a hopeless person.

Wang Qian wanted to take the script out of his sleeves, but his hands were shaking. He simply shook his sleeves and finally found the script. He quickly presented it to him, and said nervously, "Lin Fucheng said it himself. It's not like this in the script!"

The content of the script is that the king is wise and the ministers are virtuous, and the Ming Dynasty will be restored from decline. It cannot be said to be exactly the same, but it can only be said to be going in opposite directions. Lin Fucheng is indeed extremely bold.

"No problem, no problem." Zhu Yijun flipped through the script and said with a smile, "Lin Fucheng has done this more than once or twice. As long as what he says is useful, I can tolerate him."

Zhu Yijun could not tolerate lowly Confucian scholars, but Lin Fucheng was not a lowly Confucian scholar. He was a fifth-rank doctor of the Five Classics and the emperor's opinion basket. If he did not offer opinions, his opinions would be useless.

"Is it enough to rely solely on a wise monarch and virtuous ministers? Of course not! In addition to a wise monarch and virtuous ministers, one also needs the concerted efforts of thousands of people! And the situation that has been like this since the Wanli Reform is because of the wise monarch and virtuous ministers, as well as the concerted efforts of thousands of people!" Li Zhi really racked his brains, and in a flash, he made up for the mess that Lin Fucheng had caused!

Li Zhi wished he had not come to Beijing. As a madman, what was the point of him cleaning up the mess made by other madmen all day long?

Wang Qian was overjoyed when he heard this! Li Zhi, well done! With just one sentence, he saved three lives!

"That's true." Lin Fucheng stood in front of the four sides and apologized, then said with a serious face: "Everyone, how long can the strength of ten thousand men last? Especially now, with a large amount of silver flowing in, the alienating effect of money on people is becoming more and more obvious. It's just a dream."

"So, what we are going to talk about today is that Hongyuan Dyeing Factory is bound to fail."

"As long as Hongyuan Dyeing Factory still aims to produce and exchange value, then individuals will continue to gain power by accumulating money, just like the military settlements in the past!"

"The united artisans, the poor coolies without means of production, or the collective economy, will eventually fail, because stealing the public for private use, the private accumulation of money will inevitably gain power in production, and then self-exploitation will occur. It is only a matter of time before the collective economy is corrupted."

Lin Fucheng's statement was extremely bold. In the dispute over whether Yuan Shen was going to die, no newspaper dared to say it so bluntly! They were all using Yuan Shen's life to oppose the government order, and no one really cared about Yuan Shen's life or death.

There was thunderous applause. Lin Fucheng, a liberal, finally lived like a liberal should and became the standard-bearer of openly challenging bureaucracy and autocracy!
At this moment, Lin Fucheng was like a hero standing in the light, shouting to the Ming court and the emperor: You are wrong!

Zhu Yijun looked at Lin Fucheng's excited expression, stretched out his hand and joined in the applause.

Confucius and Mencius both believed that human nature is inherently good and pure, and that it is polluted as people grow older. However, the anti-Confucianists and Legalists, led by Xunzi, believed that human nature is inherently evil, and that systems need to be established around this to prevent people from doing evil.

Eventually, the teachings of Confucius and Mencius became popular, and Xunzi was no longer one of the greatest teachers of Confucianism.

Lin Fucheng's point of view is very clear. Human nature is evil. Harming the public interest for personal gain and stealing public resources for personal gain are bound to happen. Once the enriched individuals have accumulated enough financial advantages, they will gain power in organizing production activities and thus gain more financial advantages.

Zhu Yijun agreed with Lin Fucheng's point of view. The corruption of military settlements had already happened once, and the engineering corps and government-run factory construction groups might also follow the same path as the military settlements.

Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Fucheng finally got back to the script before the imperial guards shot them to death. Master Lin, who was on the verge of death, finally got to the point. He spread his hands and said, "If it is bound to fail, then it is impossible to succeed?"

"That is a question that the court should consider, and we need to analyze the reasons behind the phenomenon." Lin Fucheng shook his head and said, "Our vision is too narrow, the court's vision is too narrow."

"Almost all supporters of the Wanli Reform have focused their attention on the labor market and workplace, that is, the means of production. It is true that this is the main battlefield, but does exploitation only occur in the production process?"

"Wrong! Exploitation is everywhere!"

"Oh? Master Lin, please tell me in detail." Li Zhi flipped through the script on the table and took over the conversation with a smile.

Lin Fucheng looked around and said, "There are four things that people cannot live without: food, clothing, shelter and transportation. Poor people are also people, and they need a place to shelter from the wind and rain. They can't just find a mat to cover themselves and live a stable life. The supply of housing often becomes another knife for exploitation."

"How do they exploit? They extract rent. When poor people cannot afford to buy property, they can only rent houses. At this time, rent is a knife hanging over their heads. Even newly-appointed scholars cannot afford to buy houses in the capital and can only rent. They extract interest. Once a producer wants his own home, he often cannot afford the high land price and can only borrow money. Interest is also a knife of exploitation."

"Brokers and compradors, there are countless scams in the real estate market. The real estate market is a predatory market. When buying and selling, the brokers and compradors will charge you a sum of money, and the court will also charge you a sum of silver for the house number. There is no difference between this house and a piece of land."

"This is just, live."

"Master Lin, now I understand. That is to say, exploitation exists in the production process, but it does not mean that exploitation only exists in the production process." Li Zhi followed the script and said with sudden enlightenment: "So we should not only look at production, but also at life."

Lin Fucheng said sincerely: "The life of the poor coolies is miserable, and everyone's life is the same."

Li Zhi looked at Lin Fucheng, his eyes widened, and he pulled Lin Fucheng hard, saying loudly: "What nonsense are you talking about! Lin Fucheng, don't take me with you if you want to die!"

What Lin Fucheng said was no different from Mo Daoshiren's one-eyed man who instigated the Yellow River to rebel! Don't make any inflammatory remarks when you gather and talk. This is an iron rule. Do you want to go to the Northern Pacification Division to be punished by the Five Poisons?

In the box, Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Qian and said, "When will the decoration of Taibai Building be completed?"

This is a group of grown men gathered together, what else can they talk about? Only in Taibailou can people shift the topic to other places.

"It can be done tomorrow...today! We will never meet up in a big teahouse again!" Wang Qian originally wanted to say tomorrow, but immediately said that it can be done today!

"Very good." Zhu Yijun nodded and looked towards the stage.

Lin Fucheng smiled awkwardly and said, "What I mean is that exploitation does not only exist in production, but also in life. It is everywhere. For example, if you want water carriers to deliver water, you have to pay them. The scholars and officials of the Censorate carrying water are a sight that travelers to Beijing have to see."

"Everything from firewood and rice to oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea is exploited."

"So, back to the original question, how can the collective economy avoid failure or delay failure?" Lin Fucheng said very clearly: "The Ming Dynasty's government-owned factories are actually doing it. Cheap and effective housing, government-owned school dormitories for three-level schools, ubiquitous Huimin pharmacies, and security measures are all done by government-owned factories."

“But is that enough?”

"Isn't it enough?" Zhu Yijun frowned and asked loudly.

"Not enough, far from enough!" Lin Fucheng said confidently: "Only by training craftsmen to become nobles and meat eaters can we avoid the inevitable outcome of failure!"

"Master Lin, the Xishan Coal Bureau and the two woolen factories have 70,000 craftsmen, and the five major shipyards have 170,000 people. Even if we want to do it, we can't do it." Zhu Yijun sighed and said, "People don't worry about the lack of wealth, but the inequality of wealth."

(End of this chapter)