The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 460: Long-awaited Class

What is the public’s view on this matter?

Chen Jingke and Zhu Xiongying hesitated for a long time and did not dare to answer, mainly because they were afraid that Old Zhu would get angry and something bad would happen.

Just by looking at his expression, Lao Zhu guessed the situation and snorted:

"Are they cheering, thinking that the Ming Dynasty has produced a large group of upright judges who can uphold justice for them?"

Zhu Xiongying quickly replied: "The people are ignorant and stupid, Grandfather Emperor, please don't bother with them."

However, after hearing this, Old Zhu was unhappy.

She glared at him and said, "When did we ever have the same experience with them?"

"Also, what do you mean by the people being ignorant?"

"Jing Ke taught you so many things, but you've fed them all to the dogs, right?"

“It is true that the people are ignorant, but they are not stupid at all.”

"And can the people be blamed for their ignorance? It's because no one taught them."

“To accuse them of ignorance without teaching them is the arrogance of meat-eaters.”

"We were poor people back then. We had to look up to anyone who could read."

"But later I made up for my shortcomings through learning, and soon surpassed those who claimed to be smart, and finally won the world."

"Who dares to say that the people are ignorant?"

This scolding made Zhu Xiongying's head bleed.

Zhu Xiongying felt so wronged. I said this on purpose because I was afraid that you would get angry and blame the people.

Why are you making a big deal out of it?

When it comes to empathy, I have more than you.

You are the one who has forgotten your roots. After becoming the emperor, you have forgotten the hardships you suffered in the past.

If you hadn't met Jing Ke, who knows what would have happened to the Ming Dynasty.

But he only dared to think about this in his heart, not say it out loud.

Chen Jingke on the side almost laughed to death. Old Zhu was angry and was taking it out on Zhu Xiongying on purpose.

It's really rare that he takes his anger out on Zhu Xiongying.

However, it can also be seen from this that Lao Zhu was really angry.

Madam Ma did not directly defend her precious grandson this time. She gently stroked the back of Old Zhu's chest to calm him down:

"Alright, alright, it was just a slip of the tongue, Xiongying, just curse a few words and don't get yourself mad."

Old Zhu also took advantage of the situation and snorted, "The more the people are misled, the more it shows the importance of public opinion."

“In the future, we must firmly grasp the power of public opinion in our hands and not grant it to others.”

Zhu Xiongying said quickly: "Yes, Grandpa Emperor, don't worry, I will definitely keep the Ming Weekly in my hands."

"Even if Jing Ke wants to help, I will have to turn against him."

Chen Jingke: ????? ?????

Ma Niangniang couldn't help but laugh: "This child is talking nonsense."

Old Zhu stared at him speechlessly, but he also knew that this grandson was interrupting on purpose, so he didn't take it seriously and said:

"It's good that the people are happy. The happier they are, the more they praise them, and the better the effect of our plan will be in the future."

"Not only should we not be angry, we should also encourage them."

"Tell Fang Xiaoru to promote them vigorously in the newspapers and make sure to blow them up to the sky."

"Well... after the court session, we whipped Zhu Gui severely and sent him to guard the imperial mausoleum. We also published this story."

"Just say that I was frightened by their forcing me to abdicate, or that I am old and confused and easy to be bullied."

"In short, we must help them keep the fire burning vigorously."

Zhu Xiongying said bitterly: "Don't worry, I will keep an eye on this matter personally."

Damn it, you actually caused me to be scolded by the Emperor. Just wait for me.

Chen Jingke sighed a little, saying that Zhu Yuanzhang was one of the few monarchs of a unified dynasty who was not concerned about his reputation.

If it were any other emperor, who would smear himself?

It's such a shameful thing that it's hard to cover up, so how can we publicize it?

Even if you are setting a trap to kill someone, you must first ensure your own face.

This kind of character was reflected in the previous life. How did later generations know about the human-like behaviors of the royal family in the early Ming Dynasty?

It is not a history book, essay, local chronicle or other book written by others, but the "Imperial Record of Misconduct" written by Zhu Yuanzhang himself.

If it were any other emperor, who would have such magnanimity?
Of course, he indulged his son in doing evil, which was indeed his shortcoming.

Let's look at it dialectically. There's no need to see it in black and white.

and many more……

Chen Jingke recalled what Lao Zhu said and realized that something was wrong. He quickly said:
"Your Majesty, you must not do this."

Old Zhu said, "What do you mean by absolutely not? Are you satisfied with this little fame?"

Chen Jingke quickly waved his hand and said, "No, I mean that it is absolutely not allowed to let the King of Dai guard the mausoleum."

Old Zhu was amused: "Hey, that's strange, don't you hate the evil deeds of the royal family and the rich the most?"

"Why are you begging for him?"

Empress Ma seemed to have guessed what he wanted to say and sat down beside him with a smile.

Chen Jingke explained: "I am not pleading for the King of Dai, but this is not the way to do it."

"Your Majesty should be aware of several basic legal principles that I have been emphasizing."

The crime and punishment are prescribed by law, the crime responsibility and punishment are commensurate with each other, etc.

"It is sufficient to compensate the king for the wrong he committed according to the law."

"Even if aggravating circumstances are taken into consideration, ten lashes of the cane are sufficient."

"As for the subsequent confinement, it is you as a father enforcing family rules on him, and no one can interfere."

"You can abolish his princely status and send him to Fengyang to guard the imperial mausoleum. This will fall within the jurisdiction of etiquette and law."

"It is against etiquette to abolish the prince's title without reason."

"It will also set a very bad rule for future generations."

"If an emperor dislikes his brothers or other relatives, he will find an excuse to send them to guard the imperial mausoleum."

"When the ministers dissuaded him, he used your punishment of the King of Dai as an example, saying that this was a law passed down by our ancestors."

"What should we do then?"

Old Zhu's expression also became solemn. Although he loved his blood relatives very much, he also hoped that his descendants would live in harmony and reunion.

But as an emperor he knew very well that this was impossible.

The three founding monarchs of the Ming Dynasty were all kind to their fathers and filial to their sons, which is a rare thing in history. How can we expect more?

Therefore, in "Huang Ming Zu Xun", he clearly wrote that even fathers, sons and brothers must be wary in the face of power.

If he dares to treat King Dai like this today, someone will definitely follow suit in the future.

There is no doubt about this.

Then, Lao Zhu turned to Ma Niangniang and complained, "Sister, why didn't you persuade us just now?"

Ma Niangniang said unhappily: "You were angry at the time, what could I have advised you to do?"

"Originally I wanted to wait until you calmed down before telling you about this, but Jing Ke brought it up first."

Then she praised: "Jing Ke is really a good kid, his ideas are the same as mine."

Old Zhu was so angry. You, my wife, if it weren't for... if it weren't for...

If it weren't for your poor health, I would have dealt with you long ago.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu felt much more at ease.

I just love my wife and give in to her, not because I'm afraid of her, huh.

However, despite Chen Jingke's advice, Zhu Yuanzhang did not immediately withdraw the order.

"Let's scare that bastard first and teach him a lesson."

No one objected to this, as Zhu Gui was indeed stubborn. Many of Zhu Gui's sons had bad personalities.

But after the abolition of the prince's fiefdom and personal teaching, the younger ones became more focused.

Only Zhu Gui has no hearing ability at all.

I beat him, I scolded him, I talked to him about the principles, but it was all in vain.

I hope this lesson will help him improve.

After a brief discussion on education, the topic turned back to national affairs.

The main topic of discussion was the suppression of Confucianism.

As they chatted, everyone discovered a problem.

Although the entire Confucian school was involved in this incident, 70 to 80 percent of them were from the Neo-Confucian school.

This is so abnormal.

Madam Ma couldn't help but wonder, "Officials are all very smart and never trust others easily."

"Why is the Neo-Confucian school so united this time?"

Don’t talk about school interests or anything like that. When Confucianism was the only orthodox school of thought in the Han Dynasty, other schools of thought were not so united.

Taoism in the Tang Dynasty went against the trend and became the most prominent school of thought. Confucianism was still below Buddhism in status, and there was no sign of Confucianists uniting to fight for their interests.

Even in the Song Dynasty, Confucianism simply tacitly excluded other schools of thought and never worked together as united as it does today.

What's more, this is not an academic dispute, but a simple power struggle.

No wonder she was so confused.

Not only her, but also Lao Zhu and Zhu Xiongying.

Chen Jingke thought to himself, if this question had been asked before, I really wouldn’t have been able to answer it.

Now, you can try to give an answer.

This answer was not something he learned from his previous life, but a conclusion he came to after studying the political system of the Ming Dynasty and comparing it with the past and present.

Moreover, this conclusion not only answers the question of the unprecedented unity of the Neo-Confucian school.

It can also be used to answer why the party struggles in the Ming Dynasty in the past were so fierce.

He quickly recalled his research findings in his mind and considered how to answer.

At this time, Zhu Xiongying spoke first: "I do have an idea."

Lao Zhu said happily: "Oh? That's good to have an idea. Come and tell us about your idea."

Chen Jingke also encouraged with his eyes.

Zhu Xiongying was also very excited after receiving the encouragement and said:

"Although the Han Dynasty advocated the supremacy of Confucianism, in reality it used both Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism and military science."

"During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, as Buddhism became more Chinese, its ideas were also adopted by the imperial court."

"It was like this from then on until the Song Dynasty."

"The Song Dynasty valued Confucianism and truly respected Confucianism."

"More than three hundred years of dominance has made them arrogant."

"Especially Neo-Confucianism, as the largest school within Confucianism, has the idea that no one else can do it but me."

"As Confucianism and even Neo-Confucianism gained prominence, they often joined forces to suppress other schools of thought, and this tradition gradually became established."

"Now that Neo-Confucianism has united to fight against the imperial court, it is just continuing the tradition."

"I wonder if what I said is right?"

After saying this, he looked at Chen Jingke.

The same was true for Old Zhu and Empress Ma. Seeing their grandson's answer was so reasonable and well-founded, they were actually very happy.

At any other time, they would have praised it long ago.

But now that Chen Jingke is here, they habitually want to hear his opinion before drawing any conclusions.

What if it’s not right, right?

Chen Jingke applauded and said, "Excellent! The Song Dynasty's 300 years of respect for Confucianism has indeed made Confucianists develop a sense of arrogance."

"If it weren't for the suppression by the Mongols, they would be even more rampant than they are now."

Zhu Xiongying breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the answer was correct, it was good enough.

Then a feeling of joy arises from the bottom of my heart, and I will analyze the changes of things along the historical context.

Old Zhu became even happier and started praising his good grandson non-stop.

Empress Ma was also very happy that the child had finally learned some of Chen Jingke's skills.

But she was more careful and could see that Chen Jingke had something else to say, so she said:
"It's not that simple. Tradition alone can't explain this problem."

"Otherwise, why didn't they unite before, but at this time?"

"Not to mention this dynasty, even in the Song Dynasty, there has never been a case of Confucianists uniting to fight against the royal family."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Xiongying both looked thoughtful.

If you think about it carefully, it is true. Although the Zhao Song Dynasty respected Confucianism, it was always firmly controlled by the royal family throughout the Song Dynasty.

There has never been a situation of collective resistance against the royal family.

Although Confucianism achieved supremacy in the Song Dynasty, it was still just a knife in the hands of the Zhao Song royal family.

Not to mention the Yuan Dynasty, it was almost impossible for the entire Han community to enter the central government.

Confucian households could only serve as middle and lower level officials.

Unite to fight against the Mongol court? Haha...

They did try to reform the Mongol court using Confucian ethics.

The end result was that he was kicked back to reality by the Mongol nobles, and then he became obedient.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not suppress Confucianism as much as the Mongols did, Zhu Yuan Dynasty was not soft-handed at all and killed people without blinking an eye.

Several major cases killed more than 100,000 people, most of whom were high-ranking officials and their families.

This is rare in history.

Such harsh measures failed to stop Confucianists, especially the Neo-Confucian school, from banding together.

What exactly is the problem?
I can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang was a top politician. He vaguely realized that the problem might be related to the Ming Dynasty's system, but he couldn't figure out which system it was.

So he asked uncertainly: "Could it be related to the system we established?"

Chen Jingke did not answer directly, but said: "No matter what the matter is, it is nothing more than the result of the combined effect of internal and external factors."

"What the prince just talked about were external factors. As for the internal factors..."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "I think it has something to do with two of your majesty's policies."

Empress Ma showed an expression that said "as expected", then gave Lao Zhu a cold look and said, "Let's see if you will continue to show off in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang blushed, pretending not to notice his wife's look, and asked:
“Which two policies?”

Zhu Xiongying also looked like he was listening.

Chen Jingke said: "The first is to recommend officials to the court, and the second is to crack down on factions."

The so-called court recommendation means that when an official position becomes vacant, the emperor’s opinion will be asked first.

If the emperor did not have a favorite candidate, his ministers would discuss and determine the number of seats.

Cracking down on cliques means exactly what it says: anyone found forming a clique will be given a severe sentence.

When a person makes a mistake, his followers should be punished as well.

Old Zhu frowned even more tightly: "What's wrong with these two policies?"

"The purpose of the imperial recommendation is to weaken the power of the Ministry of Personnel. If there is a tyrant emperor in the future, it can also restrict the emperor from doing wrong."

"Fighting against cliques is something that has been done throughout the dynasties. There's nothing wrong with us doing this, right?"

Empress Ma was also very surprised. She guessed that there was something wrong with the Ming Dynasty system.

But I never expected that it would be these two.

In her opinion, both policies are very practical.

Doubts arise, why these two?
(End of this chapter)