Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 741 Walking Barefoot
"Isn't this 'Huang Ming Zu Xun' our 'Zu Xun Lu'?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's mind worked quickly, and he realized it almost at a glance, so the Emperor of Ming Dynasty started to argue:

"How can our ancestral teachings be useless?"

"The teachings of upholding justice are a lesson for future generations to learn from!"

Seeing her husband's proud look, Queen Ma smiled and shook her head.

In fact, although she and her sons did not think that the "Record of Ancestral Instructions" could achieve the effect expected by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, in the face of her husband's insistence, these objections were destined to be of no use.

But even though it was useless, the husband would probably still feel a little bothered, just like when he went to court, he would sometimes suppress his anger and talk to her in the harem for the sake of decency. These unpleasant objections were also suppressed in his heart.

At the moment, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help feeling proud, just like his sons who tried hard to prove that they were right when they were young.

"Okay, okay, from now on, I will never say a word that is not right about the Great Ming Treasures."

After hearing the Queen's assurance mixed with a smile, Zhu Yuanzhang's smug expression paused for a moment, and he coughed lightly and said:

"That's not the case. We all know that listening to both sides will lead to enlightenment, while only believing in one side will lead to ignorance. My sister is our female Zhuge Liang, so of course she can still speak."

"As for Biao'er and the rest of you..."

The princes looked at each other, and then heard their father's calm and composed lecture:
"You should read more and discuss less about the precious teachings. If you have any questions, please come and ask me for advice."

"All of them are our experience in dealing with the world. If we follow their principles, this is a blessing that will be hard to come by in the future."

Several princes obeyed the order obediently, but Zhu Biao felt that later generations would mostly use this ancestral precept as historical material and might not really think it was correct.

Moreover, it has been said that the words "Yuan lost the world because of Kuan" were only found in the Ancestral Instructions Record of the seventh year of Hongwu. The implication is that there was a later version of the Ancestral Instructions Record, and this sentence was not included in it. The meaning contained in it is quite worthy of speculation.

But his father was obviously in high spirits, so Zhu Biao did not intend to offend him, and instead said:

"People in later times said that governing a country is about governing officials. I think that is similar to how I govern my father."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, looked up at the shadows on the screen, and said slowly:

"The one who destroyed the Yuan Dynasty was a righteous army. Later generations called it a peasant uprising, but in the final analysis, it was the common people who destroyed the Yuan Dynasty."

"Whether the government is clean and honest is related to the livelihood of the people."

"If the world is peaceful and prosperous, with enough food and clothing and granaries, who would join the rebel army and risk their lives? How can our Ming Dynasty not be stable?"

"The hearts of the people are the hearts of the world, which is where the mandate of heaven lies, and this is the mandate of heaven that I accept."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke very slowly, pausing from time to time as if he was thinking. However, Zhu Biao agreed with all these words, but at the same time, he couldn't help thinking in his heart:
Did the demise of the Ming Dynasty mean that we lost the support of the people?
Zhu Di also raised his head and thought for a moment, then said:

"Dad, these words are not in the ancestral record. Did you think of them now?"

The Emperor of Ming Dynasty temporarily suppressed his right hand and said unhappily:
"Why rush? It will be in the ancestral record tomorrow."

"When the time comes, we'll be the first to take the fourth child's exam!"

Zhu Di's face suddenly turned pale:
"Father, the defense of Peking is of great importance. I am afraid that if I go north with the general..."

But this statement was politely rejected by Emperor Hongwu:

"Without you in Peking, our Ming Dynasty will not perish. Let's spend a reunion year in Yingtian Prefecture first, and then worry about other things."

The implication is that he still has to study during the New Year? The fourth prince of the Ming Dynasty suddenly wanted to die. …

"The leniency of the Mongols is almost like that of Liu Jiyu."

Pang Tong couldn't help but comment:

"He treated the great families with leniency, so that the common people would suffer from the chaos, and thus Lord Xuande won the hearts of the people of Yizhou."

After hearing what Pang Tong said, Guan Yu also made a rare comment:

"At that time, I was in Jingzhou and saw my brother's letter saying that the military advisor wanted to use severe punishments and strict laws in Yizhou. At that time, I thought that the military advisor wanted to rule the people harshly, but later he focused on the big families."

"It has been a long time since I last saw the light of day. Now, seeing the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, I realize that the military advisor treated the rich families with strictness just as he treated the common people with leniency. Strictness and leniency complement each other and there is order. This is why the merchants in Jingzhou spread the name of Yizhou. I really want to..."

Before Guan Yu could finish, the impatient Zhang Fei said:
"Now that Cao Cao has been captured, the world will soon be at peace. When the war is over, why don't you two brothers and the military advisors go to Chengdu for a visit?"

"I will lead the horse and row the boat so that my second brother and General Xu can enjoy the beautiful scenery of Bazhong."

It must be said that Zhang Fei's proposal was quite tempting, but in the end Liu Bei laughed and sighed:
"Now that the world is about to be settled, we cannot relax any more. Let's... wait for another two years."

Guan Yu stroked his beard, was fascinated for a while, and then sighed:

"Don't mention me and Yuanzhi in all the big and small things happening in Jing and Yu now. Do you think you can stay out of it?"

The topic returned to the present, Kong Ming waved his fan and smiled:
"Governing affairs is nothing more than emotion and law."

"To be lenient to the great families is to be indifferent to the people. It is better to strictly enforce the law. This is the way to be lenient to the people."

"To use leniency and severity together means to use severe laws on officials, so as to be lenient to the people and thus help the world."

Seeing Liu Bei chatting and laughing with his subordinates, Cao Cao subconsciously looked at his civil and military officials.

Xiahou Dun's face was filled with anger, Dong Zhao was still unwilling, Liu Ye's face was distorted, and Xun Yu had his hands behind his back, expressionless and meticulous in his posture.

Xun You was also looking at him at this time, and when their eyes met, they both read the bitterness in each other's heart.

[For China, the Qin Dynasty laid the foundation, the Han Dynasty united the nation, the Tang Dynasty created the height, and the Song Dynasty created elegant poetry.

The Ming Dynasty took this pile of mud that had been chopped by the barbarians for hundreds of years and mixed it with their blood and molded it again.

If there were no such dynasty, perhaps we would look at the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties in the same way as the Turks look at the Byzantine Empire, or like Russia today looks at Kievan Rus.

The decline of the Han Dynasty may be traced back to the An-Shi Rebellion. At that time, foreign history books would at most sigh:
"This great nation that once created glory was eventually buried under the seabed of Yashan Mountain along with its civilization under the attack of the Mongols, just as Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks."

By then, the achievements of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties can only lie in a corner and slowly turn yellow. Eventually, with a gust of west wind, they will be blown away into a pile of yellow earth with no one to mourn. When the book of history turns a page and shakes itself, the pile of yellow earth covered by the quilt will remain there forever.

For this regime, the Yuan Dynasty was too ignorant, the Song Dynasty was too biased, and the Tang Dynasty was too old. The political, economic, and military structures inherited from their ancestors had reached the point where they had to be changed, but there was no perfect experience to learn from.

At the same time, the former Song Dynasty was destroyed twice, both the north and the south were lost, and the rivers became natural barriers separating the north and the south. The mess left by the ancestors also fell on the shoulders of this regime.

Holding the glorious history that has long turned yellow in my arms, there are thorny bushes hidden in the darkness in front of me.

This regime, still bearing glaring scars, stepped barefoot into this darkness. 】

(End of this chapter)