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Chapter 131 The old angry youth is of great use
"..." This was a bit too much, and it was tantamount to swearing in person, but no one in the room dared to stand up and refute, and they watched the emperor leave angrily.

Why is Taicang so empty? Everyone here is thinking like a mirror. Even if there are some people who are really not corrupt, they still play a role in this system.In the words of later generations, no snowflake is innocent during an avalanche!
"Your Majesty, I have something to say, and I must say it regardless of whether I forgive my sin or not!" Even if he didn't say that he didn't, Li Zhi was not willing to be scolded and insisted on seeing him alone, and even treated him with a big gift after meeting.

"Master Li is already over [-] years old, right?" Hong Tao couldn't bear to see the trembling old man, so he left Ruantao and went over to help him up in person.

"I have just turned 80... A dying man occupies a high position, doing nothing, I am ashamed!" This was originally a greeting, but when spoken by the emperor, it may not have an ordinary meaning.Li Zhi's expression froze, and he hesitated for a moment before kneeling down to salute.

"Hey, I misunderstood. I didn't mean that. Master Li insists on meeting him for something important. Come on, let's chat while playing chess and talk about everything!" Hong Tao stretched out his arms to support the old man, turned around and sent him to the Grand Master's chair. Then he waved to Wang Chengen and asked him to bring the chess equipment.

"Your Majesty's chess skills have not improved at all, but are getting even weirder."

Li Zhi did not continue to wonder whether the emperor had hinted that he should resign and give up his position.He has a relatively free and easy personality, and is not too keen on official positions. He puts most of his attention on the chessboard within a few minutes of tea, shaking his head while playing, and does not think highly of him.

"My chess skills are not as good as Master Li's, and it takes too much time to catch up step by step. But I don't want to give in, and I still have to give it a try. As the saying goes, I can kill the master with random punches. Sometimes, when I am unexpected and take the wrong approach, the result is the other way around. It’s easier to win.”

Hong Tao probably knew what the old man wanted to say in a hurry to meet, and it was just to persuade him not to rush to quarrel with the courtiers. He had already said it many times that he was still young, took things step by step, and laid a good foundation.

Today, he scolded all the six ministries, nine ministers, and cabinet bachelors. In his opinion, it was a very bad start. Once or twice is nothing. If it becomes a habit, he will get less and less support in the future. Even more difficult.

"The emptiness of Taicang did not happen overnight, and your Majesty cannot change it in a hurry." Li Zhi completely disagreed with this rhetoric. He was like this when he was the prince, and he was still like this when he became the emperor.

There is nothing wrong with playing tricks once in a while, but you can't not follow the rules in everything, as that will make the courtiers feel disgusted in their hearts.No one wants to assist an emperor who never knows what he is thinking or where he will go next.

"Hahaha... Master Li, you have been deceived by me again. I don't care whether Taicang is empty or not, and it is useless to care. There are not a few rats in the court, but rats everywhere, killing one group and giving birth to another. The weeds are burning endlessly, and they grow again in the spring breeze, endlessly, is there any countermeasure?"

Can't wait?This point of view made Hong Tao laugh.The old master in front of me was an extreme alternative in the Ming Dynasty, but he still couldn't break away from his inherent class attributes and habitually looked at issues from the perspective of the ruling class.

If we don’t quickly find a way to stop the trend of poaching the country’s corners to line our own pockets, is there anything we need to worry about in running the country?Foreign wars are about seizing living space, while domestic wars are about fighting for power and gain, which are relatively intense. However, neither of these two types of destructive power is as thorough as undermining the country.

"Morality has declined and social conduct has deteriorated. Your Majesty should work harder to govern, promote enlightenment, select people with superior morals to enrich the court, and then rectify the administration, you can get twice the result with half the effort!"

When it comes to why official corruption is common, Li Zhi has his own understanding, mainly from a moral perspective.He believes that to completely solve this problem, we must start with ideological and moral education, so that more people understand and respect etiquette, and then select the best among them to serve as officials, so as to promote a change in the atmosphere of the court.

"Fuck, the people's spiritual realm has been greatly improved..." But these remarks sounded like fantasy to Hong Tao's ears. It wasn't that he didn't believe it, but it was proven that it was out of reach.Even if people all over the world work hard to develop for hundreds of years, they will still be very, very far away from this state.

"Spiritual realm... this is a wonderful statement!" Li Zhi found it difficult to listen to these words coming from hundreds of years later, but after thinking about it carefully for a while, he finally figured it out, and then he kept stroking his beard and nodding.

"The imperial court is like a big dye vat. Those with high moral standards cannot stay there, while those with low moral standards are like a fish in water. If Chen Ju hadn't come to the rescue, Master Li, I'm afraid you wouldn't have been able to change anything. My ministers, censors, and governors are not born like this. They are When they entered the court as officials, they all had passion and lofty ambitions.

To promote enlightenment, people can rise up, but the final assessment is still officials.It is impossible for them to go against their own interests, so the students you teach have only two ways to go, either to join the government and become officials and follow the crowd, or to stay idle and remain untouched by the mud.The court is still a court, and spending a lifetime of energy will not help! "Whether it's good or not, Hong Tao doesn't know, but how to change must be explained clearly. Li Zhi's idea is too optimistic, not feasible and illogical. No wonder he has few followers in the court, and his efforts are obviously thankless, except for Not many people like Ma Jinglun are willing to do it.

"...Then what does Your Majesty want to do?" As he spoke, Li Zhi fell into a passive position in the chess game. After thinking for a while and not finding a solution, he simply gave up and concentrated on talking about business.

"When I was a child, there were two pomegranate trees in the palace that grew very well. They were full of pomegranates every year, which were sweet and sour. But one year, the growth of one of them suddenly stopped, and the leaves turned yellow and there were very few flowers.

I went to ask my mother to find a solution. She said that there were insects growing in the soil. They were gnawing at the roots every day. It was useless to treat the branches. If I wanted to save it, I had to uproot it and catch all the insects in the soil, so that it could bloom and bear fruit again.

Wang An dug up the roots of the tree, and sure enough there were a lot of fleshy bugs the size of fingers, all of them eating fat and in vain.They were killed and the soil carefully sieved. Two years later, the pomegranate tree finally bloomed and bore fruit again.

"Tao Te Ching" says, "Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes."Governing a country is actually not difficult. The principles are repeated in daily life. The reason why kings in the past dynasties turned a blind eye is not that they can't see it but that they can't do it.

The country is like a tree, etiquette, law and morality are the roots. Corruption destroys not the branches and leaves of Taicang, but the roots of etiquette, law and morality. It is digging up the foundation of the empire!There is no civil or military person in the dynasty who does not understand this truth, but knowing it means knowing it, and doing it is another matter.

It is very difficult, almost impossible, to get them to change, like keeping bugs from eating the roots of a tree.If you want to solve this problem, you must first deal with the people, smash the original system, take its essence and discard the dross, and start over from scratch. "

Hong Tao's eloquence was impeccable, and when he talked about his childhood, it was as vivid as if there were a lot of meat bugs squirming on the table. Wang Cheng'en felt a little immersed in the scene and grinned.

It's a pity that they are all lies, not a word of truth. There is no pomegranate tree. There is nothing but weeds and shit in Jingyang Palace.The story was just a metaphor to make Li Zhi understand his thoughts.I can't say that when I have an army, I will arrest all the courtiers and ransack their homes one by one. That would be too explicit.

"...I also know a thing or two about planting flowers and plants. The bigger the tree, the harder it is to leave the soil. If you dig out the roots, you will probably die."

Li Zhi must have understood. The hand holding the tea cup was trembling slightly, his lips were trembling, and his beard was trembling.After a while, he raised his eyelids, took a deep breath, and asked a very inappropriate question.

"Everything you do has risks. When I was a prince, I might be killed every day. Being a prince is equally unstable. If you were afraid, you would have gone crazy. Master Li, you are willing to stand up for the dispute between schools and not be afraid of life and death. I am also willing to fight for the prosperity of the country, this is called my duty, and this is how it should be!"

Although the words don't sound good, the meaning is right.Hong Tao's plan has been implemented relatively smoothly so far, and it's a bit over-the-top, but he still doesn't dare to guarantee 100% success.

In his view, nothing in the world is 100% perfect, and doing nothing is the safest option.If there is something that must be done, consider it as thoroughly as possible first. If the feasibility reaches more than [-]%, then you can commit without hesitation and leave the remaining [-]% ​​to God. This is the minimum respect for it.

"...I dare to recommend myself. This old man is willing to serve your majesty and die without complaint!" When he heard the emperor boasting that he was not afraid of life and death, and compared him to the emperor, Li Zhi's madness started again.

If he were born in later generations, he would be a standard angry young man. He would not just talk about it with words, but practice it through practice. As long as someone can understand, he would dare to fight through mountains of swords and seas of fire, and he would love anyone!

"Hahaha, I'm not polite. I really want to ask Master Li, but Master Li can't do it!" It's a pity that he met Hong Tao, a shameless, moral and inhumane product. The higher the morals, the greater the disadvantages.

(End of this chapter)