Song Gexing

Chapter 174 Zhao Fang made up his mind
"Okay, I was wrong."

Zhao Fang felt distressed when he saw Xiao Guanyin's aggrieved look. He walked over and held her in his arms, admitting his mistake.

Then he sighed and said, "I know that everyone's views on the upper and lower classes are deeply rooted, but I don't agree. Human beings are created equal to be the way of life, and inequality is only due to one's personal background."

Xiao Guanyin was surprised when he said this: "Since Your Highness knows that births are unequal, why do you still say that people are born equal? ​​Isn't this contradictory?"

Zhao Fang held her face in his hands and said seriously: "The equality I am talking about refers to equality in personality. Everyone should live with dignity. As for your origin, you cannot choose it, but a noble birth does not mean that you have noble moral sentiments."

These words made the girls think. It is true that those who are famous in history are not necessarily from noble families. The most typical one is Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty.

If we talk about moral models, then Yan Yuan is the model. Confucius 72 Xianzhong and Yan Yuan are the ones closest to the Dao, but they are also the poorest.

"Your Highness is saying that scholar-bureaucrats can enjoy wealth and honor, but they can no longer enjoy preferential treatment according to the law, right?"

Finally, Han Xue asked the question. Zhao Fang turned to look at her and said, "Xue'er said before that the punishment is not as good as that of a scholar-official, so Sun Mian cannot be held accountable for too much. But Xue'er forgot that there is a saying from ancient times, that is When a prince breaks the law, he is as guilty as the common people. Since even the princes are equal to the common people, then are the scholar-bureaucrats more noble than the princes?"

Han Xue was stunned. "Yes, these are two completely opposite paradoxes! Isn't the prince not a scholar-official class, or is the prince lower than the scholar-official class?"

Let’s not talk about whether a prince who breaks the law will be sentenced as a common people, but the problem is that this has been said for a long time, which shows that everyone has reached this consensus a long time ago.

But since there is this consensus, why should we single out the scholar-bureaucrats and talk about them separately?

Thinking of this, she suddenly realized that this was the gentry's usurpation of the imperial power. Legally, the gentry must respect the imperial power, but they were not willing to do so.

Zhao Fang smiled thoughtfully when he saw her, and hehe said: "The punishment of the scholar-officials cannot be punished, which became popular after the gentry came to power. Xueer should know that this sentence first came from the Book of Rites, but the original sentence is that the punishment of the officials cannot be punished, and the courtesy cannot be punished. Common people, and the officials of that era were not the scholar-officials of today. The gentry were just higher than the common people in that era, and the officials were the real aristocratic families."

The girls suddenly realized that there was a world of difference between a scholar-bureaucrat and a doctor. This was a distortion of the original intention and used to build momentum for the gentry class.

The Book of Rites describes the era of aristocratic rule before the Spring and Autumn Period. The aristocracy of that era was based on blood. Only descendants of kings and princes could be officials. Officials naturally had aristocratic status.

The scholar-bureaucrats were the class that seized power after the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was not about blood, but a class. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it specifically referred to the class of scholars.

Especially since the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination has become the most important criterion for selecting scholars. The scholar-bureaucrats may have come from mud-legged backgrounds simply because they consciously abandoned their original class of origin after successfully studying.

But before that, they were not common people, but because they were separated from the common people, they later suppressed the common people. From this point of view, they are actually very shameless.

The prince who breaks the law is as guilty as the common people. This statement comes from the Book of Shang Jun, which is a typical statement of the Legalists, emphasizing that everyone is equal before the law.

But the scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty, on the one hand, refused to try civil servants because they could not be punished, and on the other hand, they caught the princes who committed the same crime as the common people, and demanded that everyone be equal before the law. Isn't this a joke?

Since the scholar-bureaucrats are not punished, it means that the royal family has the privilege of breaking the law. It is fair to stop emphasizing that it is fair to share the same crime with the common people.

Because the royal family is the highest leader of the ruling class, it can also be said to be the representative of the scholar-bureaucrats.

"Your Highness is right, I misunderstood Your Highness."

Zhao Pan'er walked over with long legs. Zhao Fang smiled, put his arms around her and said, "I was tricked by my father this time, but this is not the end of the matter. I will change these unreasonable things after I ascend the throne. Pan'er Sister, will you support me?" Zhao Pan'er nodded and said solemnly "Yeah", and Meng Xin shouted: "Your Highness hates it, why don't you ask others, they will also support Your Highness."

Zhao Fang turned around and smiled: "Yes! My princess, you are the most important thing. If the queen doesn't support it, then the emperor will be too frustrated."

"I hate it, I'm not a queen."

Meng Xin coquettishly acted coquettishly, but why was she so beautiful in her heart.

In the palace at this time, Zhao Zhen was worried about what happened in the court today, and finally asked: "Brother won't blame me for this, right? But I'm not worried about him having too much trouble with the ministers. Is it bad for the future if it’s stiff?”

Mrs. Yu was now the Concubine Shu. Seeing Zhao Zhen like this, she had to comfort her softly: "Don't worry, officials. That child is very angry, but it's just a gust of wind. I'm afraid I'll forget about it now. Let's talk about marriage." There is no estrangement between father and son."

Zhao Zhen was right when he thought about it. His son had been very opinionated since he was a child, and he often got into trouble and was careless, but he was actually very filial.

He nodded and said: "Yes, he is now older, and he is also in charge of the country, so it is good to have a little temper."

Then he looked at Mrs. Yu and smiled: "You said that we both follow the rules, how could we give birth to such a son who loves to break the rules? I think his temperament is not like you and me, but more like the former Queen Guo."

Yu was stunned and looked at him suspiciously.Zhao Zhen asked in confusion: "What's wrong? Is my face dirty?"

Yu Shi smiled, shook her head slightly, and then sighed: "The official is old, and he actually thinks of Sister Guo."

This time it was Zhao Zhen's turn to be stunned, then he immediately laughed dumbly and said: "It's true, I haven't thought of her in more than ten years. It seems that she is really old."

Mrs. Yu stepped forward and gently pressed his shoulders. The couple was speechless for a while, immersed in the tenderness of silence.

After a long while, Zhao Zhen suddenly said: "How is the Guo family now? Do you still have contact with them?"

Mrs. Yu nodded and replied: "We have people go there every year, but it's a pity that there are no outstanding people among the younger generation."

Zhao Zhen nodded, pondered for a while and said: "Give me a favor. You can talk to your elder brother tomorrow. Let him make the decision on this matter, and he will listen to you."

Mrs. Yu pinched him coquettishly and said, "If he listens to his eldest mother-in-law, the officials will send people away. Why don't you let the queen mother-in-law tell him about this?"

Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "The Queen has no friendship with the Guo family, only you do. She was so domineering back then, but she took care of you in every possible way. It can be seen that she is also a lover."

Queen Guo was indeed very kind to the Yu family because the two were related. Queen Guo's biological sister married Qian Weiyan's brother, the eldest son of Qian Chu, King of Wuyue.

Qian Chu's wife is Yu's aunt. Yu is actually one generation younger than Queen Guo, because Queen Guo's brother-in-law is her direct cousin.

This is also the reason why Queen Guo targeted the women in Renzong's harem, but Yu, a beauty who had been with Zhao Zhen since she was eight years old, had nothing to do with her.

(End of this chapter)