The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 454 China is on my shoulders
Empress Ma chose to support Zhu Yuanzhang's iron fist without hesitation.

It's not that she didn't consider the consequences, this was exactly the answer she came up with after careful consideration.

"If there was no Jing Ke, and no "Great Harmony World", I would not agree to you touching the Kong family."

"But now with all this, the Kong family's existence has become a stumbling block to the progress of the Ming Dynasty and must be removed."

Old Zhu nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, without Jingke, we can only govern the country with Neo-Confucianism, so we must respect Confucius."

"When we were bullied by the Confucian scholars, we could only swallow our anger. That's why."

"We don't need them now, so let's settle all the old and new accounts with him."

Then he sighed and said, "In fact, I also doubt whether Jing Ke can take on this important task."

"Over the years, I have read his lectures over and over again, and the more I read, the more profound they seem to me."

"The analysis of history and general trends is more thorough than any other."

"Later, I went to various places in the Ming Dynasty for field investigations and saw with my own eyes the Ming Dynasty under his reforms. It can be said that the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous."

"It has far surpassed the so-called prosperous times of all previous dynasties."

"These facts give us confidence that he has the ability to change all this."

Madam Ma agreed and said, "We watched him grow up and always treated him like a child. It's inevitable that we underestimated his abilities."

"In fact, if you think about it carefully, what he thinks, what he does, has already surpassed his predecessors."

Lao Zhu said: "Yes, the Great Harmony World gave me the determination to deal with the Kong family and Confucianism."

"If the Confucians know what's good for them this time, we can still give them a place."

"If you don't know what's good for you, we'll completely change Daming's mind."

To govern a country, especially if you want to maintain a huge empire for a long time, you must have a complete system of thought.

Even if this ideological system is very backward, it is better than having nothing.

There is no shortage of great empires in history that flourished for a time, but they often collapsed within a few decades.

It is just as the saying goes, its rise is sudden, and its fall is sudden.

The reason is simple. Those empires were maintained by one or two strong men and had no strong ideological system to back them up.

Without the strongman, the key factor maintaining the existence of the country is gone, and the country is gone.

China can maintain its vast territory because it has a set of ideological system to support it.

No matter how divided we are, we are all one family in terms of ideology and culture.

If we meet a capable monarch, we can achieve unification again.

China's ideological system originated from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and matured during the reign of Duke Zhou.

Confucius, Mencius and other ancient sages innovated on the basis of this ideological system, giving rise to Confucianism and the Hundred Schools of Thought.

For more than a thousand years afterwards, Confucianism became the most important thread that binds people's hearts together.

No matter how the dynasties changed, Confucianism was the root.

If you govern the country with other people's ideas and respect their descendants in order to win the hearts of the people, it becomes inevitable.

This is also the reason why, starting from the Han Dynasty, the emperor had to offer sacrifices to the Confucius Temple and always gave the Kong family honorary titles.

Finally, the Confucius Temple became the Wenmiao Temple, and the Kong family had the Yansheng Duke, which lasted until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty also needed scholars to govern the country and Confucianism to maintain its rule.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang's iron fist had to suffer a setback in the face of this situation.

In the end, he chose to be selectively blind and allowed the Kong family to exist.

However, he did not give in completely and always tried to limit the influence of the Kong family to Qufu.

But it is obvious that this restriction is very weak.

It was not until Chen Jingke wrote "The World of Great Harmony" that they saw hope of suppressing Confucianism and getting rid of Confucius.

Although "The World of Great Harmony" has deep Confucian traces, it has already broken away from Confucianism.

It is as if Confucianism was created based on Zhou li and absorbed various new ideas.

The world of great harmony is based on Confucianism, which absorbs the strengths of various schools of thought and innovates to form one unique opinion.

Therefore, the two cannot be regarded as one discipline.

Of course, if you want to reduce the difficulty of promoting a world of universal harmony, you can also call yourself a Confucian.

This was what Chen Jingke planned at the beginning, but now Old Zhu and Empress Ma would definitely not do as he wished.

The old couple gathered together and began to make various plans.

First, Zhu Yuanzhang told them his own idea, asking Jiang Li to lead people to thoroughly investigate the evil deeds of the Kong family, and then make it public in newspapers.

"…If the people's resentment is aroused, the cost for us to attack the Kong family will be much lower."

"Then they forcibly promoted the Great Harmony World to suppress Neo-Confucianism and Confucianism."

Madam Ma shook her head and said, "This is a very bad strategy. It will definitely lead to the fusion of the Kong family and Neo-Confucianism."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Oh, sister, do you have a better idea?"

Madam Ma glanced at the teacup, and Lao Zhu immediately filled it up: "Sister, moisten your mouth and speak slowly."

Madam Ma was very satisfied and said, "Jing Ke once said that if you stand on the moral high ground, you can comment on others at will."

“We did the opposite and gave the moral high ground to the rationalists.”

Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised and asked, "Ah? This...isn't it just handing the knife to them?"

Madam Ma laughed and said, "You only saw one thing, but not the other."

“It is indeed very convenient to criticize others from a moral high ground, but it can also be used as a magnifying glass by others to find fault with you.”

"Usually they are the ones who point fingers at the emperor with a magnifying glass."

"Give them the high ground, and then it will be your turn to pick on them with a magnifying glass."

"And the newspaper is the best magnifying glass, which can magnify all their faults infinitely."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to understand something, but it was not clear to him, and he felt itchy in his heart:

"Sister, don't play dumb. Just tell me what to do."

Ma found a comfortable position, leaned back on the chair, and said:

"First, use newspapers to put Neo-Confucianism on a high moral high ground, then expose the past of the Kong family and put it in front of them for them to judge."

"Then use newspapers to make their trial process and results public."

"If they enforce the law impartially, we can use them to eliminate the Kong family."

"If they want to cover up, then no matter how high they stand, they will fall as hard as they fall."

Finally, she exclaimed: "Newspapers are really good things."

This method won't work if there are no newspapers.

To put it bluntly, the right to public opinion must be in our own hands.

"Ouch." Old Zhu slapped his thigh and said happily:

"Sister, you are really our good wife. This is a good idea. It's very good."

"We can't wait to see their embarrassment."
-
On the other side, Chen Jingke was in the study, perfecting his work for the umpteenth time.

At first he thought what he had written was already very good, but every time he looked back at it once in a while, he would always find flaws and loopholes.

He was reluctant to publish his theory of the Great Harmony World. It was indeed because he was afraid of Neo-Confucianism and Confucianism, but the main reason was that he felt it was not perfect enough.

There are always very few works by great sages, and many of them only produce one work in their lifetime.

It is because thoughts are always maturing.

If you want to pursue perfection, you need to spend your whole life studying and practicing.

Fortunately, he has lived two lives as a human being, and his total age in the two lives is over sixty years old.

Although previous studies have shown that hormones can affect a person's mentality.

A young body will give people a young mentality and make their thinking more active.

It can be seen that knowledge is proportional to time.

More than sixty years of experience in past and present lives gave him the confidence and capital to write books.

He is not a genius, but the reason why he was able to write about the world of great harmony is not only due to his rich experience, but also because he had many templates from his previous life to refer to.

Even so, the book is not perfect.

Of course, there is nothing perfect in this world, and a new idea is not achieved overnight. Confucianism has evolved into what it is today after generations of disciples perfected it.

There was a huge difference between Confucius' words and deeds when he was young and when he was old.

What's more, Chen Jingke is a "mediocrity".

So he had decided to publish the Great Harmony World while Zhu was in power.

By then, even if those Neo-Confucian scholars want to cause trouble, there won't be any big problems.

He didn't know that while he was thinking about how to use Lao Zhu's notoriety to intimidate the Neo-Confucian school, Lao Zhu was also plotting against him.

Just as I wrote down the new idea in my mind, I heard the butler come to report that Commander Du wanted to see me.

Chen Jingke couldn't help but wonder in his heart that Du Tongli came to see him so late at night, something must have happened.

It really doesn't let people have peace for a moment.

He did not dare to delay, so he put down his pen and asked someone to bring Du Tongli over.

After greeting each other, Chen Jingke asked directly:
"Tell me, what brings you to my place so late at night?"

Du Tongli said with a serious face, "Commander-in-Chief Jiang has requested a group of men to leave Beijing."

Chen Jingke frowned slightly: "Is there a handwritten order from the emperor?"

Du Tongli nodded and said, "Yes, without the emperor's order, I would not dare to let him take too many people out of the capital."

"The Emperor has granted him full command of the Imperial Guards, and even I have to obey his orders."

Chen Jingke said angrily, "Just for this little thing, you came to my house in the middle of the night? Do you know that scaring others can kill them?"

Du Tongli said quickly, "Please listen to me. I came to see you because Commander Jiang took away a batch of files when he left."

At this point he lowered his voice and said, "The files of the Kong family in Shandong."

"Hiss..." Chen Jingke took a breath of cold air: "Jiang Lin took away the Kong family's files?"

Du Tongli nodded heavily and said, "That's why I came to you at night... What do you think the emperor wants to do? Is he going to..."

Chen Jingke took a deep breath and said seriously:

"Make a list of the famous scholars of science and find out how many threads their underwear has."

Du Tongli was surprised and asked, "Neo-Confucianism... The emperor wants to take action against Neo-Confucianism?"

Chen Jingke said: "The Neo-Confucian school will never sit idly by and watch the Kong family fall, but if they dare to protect the Kong family, the emperor will definitely fight them as well."

"The Ming Dynasty is really going to change."

Du Tongli said in horror: "You mean... the emperor wants to completely abolish the Kong family?"

Chen Jingke sighed and said, "The Emperor is clearing obstacles for future generations."

He knew Zhu Yuanzhang too well. If he did anything to the Kong family, he would either do nothing or kill them.

What's more, if one wants to intimidate the Kong family's Jinyiwei, then that's enough. Why send out Jiang Li?

Granting Jiang Li full command of the Jinyiwei was the biggest signal.

Du Tongli was so confused that he naturally would not doubt Chen Jingke's judgment, but it was precisely because he believed in it that he was even more afraid.

He originally thought that Zhu Yuanzhang just wanted to capture a few typical people to serve as a warning to others in the Kong family.

Unexpectedly, the target was the entire Kong family.

This is a big deal.

Not only the Neo-Confucian school, but all Confucianists will fight to the death to defend the Confucius School.

Du Tongli didn't think they could win. As long as the emperor was determined, the worst that could happen was chaos.

But the counterattack of Confucianism and Confucius can also take away many people.

As the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he is a sitting duck.

He always knew that he was just a scapegoat, and the real leader of the Jinyiwei was Chen Jingke.

He didn't have any objection to this, as not everyone was qualified to take the blame.

No matter what, he is the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the second most important person under Chen Jingke.

Moreover, with Chen Jingke in charge of communicating with the royal family, his job as commander was very easy.

But... he didn't expect that one day he would have to carry such a big pot.

With his small body, he cannot withstand the attack from Confucianism.

Looking at the frightened Du Tongli, Chen Jingke suddenly laughed:

"Are you scared?"

Du Tongli said without hesitation: "I'm scared. I'm scared to death."

Chen Jingke said: "How about I replace you and let Jiang Li return to his post directly?"

Du Tongli was somewhat tempted, but after hesitating for a long time, his eyes became firm again.

He did not say anything about allegiance, but said:

"A real man deserves to be eaten in five cauldrons while alive, and to be cooked in five cauldrons after death."

"If you don't dare to take the risk of being cooked by the Five Tripods, how can you be worthy of being eaten by the Five Tripods?"

"I have long coveted Commander Jiang's title of Light Cavalry Commander, but I regret that I met you too late and don't have the same opportunity as him."

"Now that the opportunity has come, how can we miss it?"

Chen Jingke smiled and said, "You are quite honest. Now that you are mentally prepared, then go ahead and do it."

"Even if I can't make you happy this time, I will create another opportunity for you in the future."

Du Tongli was waiting for this sentence, and he immediately stood up and bowed:

"I obey my orders."

He didn't say anything else after that. He immediately returned to the Pacification Office and mobilized elite forces to make some arrangements.

He was also very proactive. He not only looked up famous scholars of science, but all of them.

Be prepared.

After seeing Du Tongli off, the smile on Chen Jingke's face disappeared, and he felt far from relaxed inside.

Dealing with the Kong family is not that easy.

Even with Zhu's prestige, a major turmoil was inevitable.

But at the same time, dealing with the Kong family was destined to be a major ideological breakthrough.

Since the Song Dynasty, the Kong family has become the symbol of Confucianism and the representative of conservatism.

The brighter the divine halo around him, the more severe the constraints on the ideological world will be.

To break the sacredness of the Confucius family is to break the shackles around the neck of the intellectual world.

At the same time, it is also a liberation of Confucianism itself.

Unexpectedly, after enduring for half his life, Old Zhu finally raised his knife against the Kong family.

No wonder he didn't give power to the prince. It turned out he wanted to make a big move.

But what exactly happened that made him put aside his worries and take action against the Kong family and Confucianism?
Chen Jingke looked towards the table, the world of great harmony.

Unexpectedly, in the end, I gave Lao Zhu the capital to take action.

He didn't feel happy at all, but only felt a mountain of pressure that made him feel a little breathless.

It is no exaggeration to say that at this moment he felt that China was on his shoulders.

but……

Old Zhu, Old Zhu, don’t you think too highly of me?

I don’t have that much confidence myself.

but……

His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his chest slowly straightened.

Since fate has given me this heavy responsibility, I have nothing to fear.

Set up the heart for the heaven and the earth, set the destiny for the livelihood and the people, for the sacred and inherited knowledge, and for the peace of the world.

We should do it.

(End of this chapter)