The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 493 Action and inaction
People are more important than things, and the political system and bureaucratic system are all built around governing people.

This is not just true of ancient China, but of basically all ancient political groups around the world.

The difference is that a collective with a relatively complete and advanced ideological system believes that only by managing people well can the collective be healthy and orderly.

This was the case in ancient China.

A group of people whose ideological system is backward or who have not even developed a systematic thought simply does not know how to do things.

The group system can only be established through simple and crude managers.

This is the case with most political groups.

Modern governments in the true sense are basically built around things.

The functions of government agencies are also very specific, and they are responsible for a particular matter.

The saying "everyone takes care of their own business" is a reflection of this situation.

As a result, modern governments are very large and have many agencies and staff.

But the advantage is that it can achieve refined management.

This is also one of the prerequisites for industrialization.

This thing is easy to say but actually very difficult to do.

Even in the 21st century, most countries have not yet made this transition.

This is not an exaggeration at all. "Modernization" cannot be achieved by setting up a few institutions and appointing a few officials.

It is a major transformation of the entire thought system and the entire social ideology.

As mentioned earlier, any system needs ideas as its driving force.

Without great ideas, there can be no great system.

Most countries have not completed the ideological construction, but have simply established a system by imitating others.

In fact, their core is still the same old thing.

The reasons behind this are very complicated, including obstruction from local vested interest groups as well as blockade and suppression from developed countries.

There is a cruel but realistic saying: survival and development are a luxury, but people in it are unaware of it.

It is not an exaggeration to say that all the reforms before Chen Jingke were laying the foundation.

Because all the previous changes never touched the essence from beginning to end.

They are all based on traditional thinking to repair and improve the existing systems.

If a new emperor were to take over, it would be easy to undo everything he had done and restore things to their original state.

The reason why he went through such a big circle was actually to build up his confidence.

Cultivating everyone's confidence in change is also cultivating everyone's confidence in him.

At the same time, through repeated institutional reforms, traditional forces are being desensitized.

Today we will only change 0.1%, and everyone will feel that there is a change but it is not much and it is acceptable.

If we change it by 0.2 tomorrow, everyone will feel it is fine.

When I look back more than ten years later, I suddenly realize that the world has changed.

This was the best solution Chen Jingke could think of without launching a bloody revolution.

So far, it's been quite successful.

That is why he took the opportunity to put forward the idea of ​​Great Harmony, in an attempt to achieve a major ideological turning point.

He only came up with a framework, not everything.

On the one hand, one's own abilities are indeed limited, and on the other hand, one has to leave room for other schools of thought to survive.

This will reduce drag.

He never thought that he would be able to accomplish that man's achievements in his lifetime.

But he wants to set a standard for the world, a standard that is very high and infinitely close to that person's thoughts.

Even if three, five, ten or twenty generations cannot accomplish it, it doesn’t matter.

The seeds have been planted, and one day they will sprout and bear fruit.

The current reconstruction of the bureaucratic system is a fundamental change.

It is not just a matter of adding positions, but also about changing the functions of government agencies from governing people's minds to governing affairs.

Chen Jingke paused for a moment, giving everyone time to think, and then continued:

"For the above reasons, the previous official positions were very simple."

"There are only two or three officials in a county, and the rest are assistant officials."

"Once the court wants to do something, it will find that there are not enough people."

"It's impossible to expect these two or three people to take care of everything. Not only will they have problems with their abilities, but they also lack energy."

"The low efficiency of the Ming Dynasty's reforms is largely due to this reason."

"If we want the reform to proceed smoothly, we must change this mindset and change from simply managing people to managing both people and affairs."

"Even managing things is more important than managing people."

Everyone thought to themselves that it was indeed the case and that they were here just for this.

I just don't know how he is going to make this transition.

Everyone was on high alert, fearing that they would miss any crucial points.

Chen Jingke glanced around and was very satisfied to see that everyone seemed to be listening attentively.

"Why is managing things more important than managing people?"

"First, let's talk about managing people. Managing people is actually managing their hearts."

“The ancients believed that if people’s hearts were well managed, the world would naturally be in order.”

"So, Chinese thought has always placed the greatest emphasis on governing the mind."

"This is actually not wrong. Most conflicts in the world are caused by human nature."

“If people’s hearts are not at peace, the world will never be at peace.”

"But the mistake is that the court has taken governing the mind as the only means."

"Lao Tzu said it very clearly: governing a large country is like cooking a small fish."

"In the Book of Songs, Hui, Fei Feng, Mao Zhuan says: If you are too busy cooking fish, it will break into pieces; if you are too busy governing the people, they will fall apart; if you know how to cook fish, you know how to govern the people."

"The court only needs to make etiquette laws to tell people what is right and what is wrong."

“What is worth promoting and what should be opposed can be used to regulate the behavior of people all over the world.”

"As long as they don't touch this framework, don't harass them too much."

“This is the core of Lao Tzu’s purity and inaction.”

Everyone nodded again. This principle was not new, and all dynasties had interpreted and expanded on this aspect.

Chen Jingke did not elaborate in detail. He said that these were just to establish a main tone, and that the Taoist method of inaction should be adopted to govern the mind.

As long as it does not break the law and does not violate public order and morality, the people can do whatever they want and the court should not interfere.

But very few people in all dynasties could do this.

More often than not, they find all kinds of ways to mess with people, and eventually destroy the country.

"A big reason for this is that they can't tell the difference between managing people and managing things."

"If you try to manage people, you will end up not getting anything done."

"Using the method of managing affairs to manage people, the people are disturbed as a result."

"It can be said that this is the inevitable result of focusing too much on governing the mind and too little on doing things."

At this point, we finally get to the core of the topic: why we need to redo things.

Chen Jingke looked at everyone and said, "Why do we have to redo the work?"

"The ancient sages have said it very clearly: when the granaries are full, people will know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they will know honor and disgrace."

"According to the theory of human survival needs, survival is the most basic need of human beings."

"You can't expect a group of people who can't make a living to obey the so-called laws."

"If you want people to obey the law, you must first let them live."

“When you are penniless, every penny counts.”

“When you have a penny on you, you won’t feel bad if you lose a penny.”

"If the people have enough food to eat, they will not rebel. This is a truth that all rulers have understood since ancient times."

"Coupled with proper restraint, illegal behavior in society will inevitably decrease."

"This is the concrete manifestation of matter determining consciousness in materialism."

This principle is not complicated and is easy to understand.

The audience suddenly became enlightened. All the doubts they had accumulated while reading materialism seemed to have been answered. They also had a deeper understanding of materialism and the idea of ​​universal harmony.

“However, in practice, most people in power have no idea what to do.”

“Or realize what to do, but don’t know how to do it.”

"It's like everyone knows that we need to curb land annexation, so that the people can have land to farm and food to eat, and the country can have long-term stability."

"But how do we curb mergers? There is no good way."

"How can we control all this with just two or three officials in each county?"

"Besides, those who are most keen on annexing land are precisely these officials and the families behind them."

"In the end, the people had no place to live and had to take risks to survive."

"The court still attributed everything to the corruption of human nature."

"Then try to keep the people in line by controlling their minds."

"Isn't this just like looking for fish in a tree?"

"It's both sad and ridiculous."

Everyone felt ashamed of what they said because they had the same idea.

Chen Jingke had no intention of attacking or belittling anyone; he was just stating the facts.

Only by making all this clear can everyone understand why we should do this.

"What is the real purpose of doing things? To increase the total amount of wealth in society."

"More specifically, in order to produce more food, clothing, medicine, utensils, etc. to improve people's lives."

“By satisfying the basic survival needs of the people, we can achieve the goal of healing their minds.”

These words were like a revelation to everyone.

So that's how it is. Governing affairs is to meet everyone's basic survival needs, which ultimately feeds back into governing the mind.

This does not conflict with the ideas advocated by our ancestors.

Rather, it is an expansion and concretization of the thoughts of the ancient sages.

No wonder he proposed the theory of human needs, and no wonder the ultimate ideal world he constructed requires both material and spiritual satisfaction.

Without material satisfaction, spiritual satisfaction does not exist.

Without spiritual satisfaction, material satisfaction is meaningless.

The two are interdependent.

"And it's easier to cure things than to cure the mind."

“The heart is the most complex and changeable thing, and it is also difficult to control.”

"Anyone who plays with people's hearts will eventually be bitten back by them."

"Lao Tzu's idea of ​​governing by doing nothing is simply too great."

"Things are different. They are more concrete and good and bad can be distinguished at a glance."

"So it seems cumbersome to handle things, which increases everyone's workload."

"In fact, it is to make abstract work concrete so that everyone can follow a path, which is a simplification of functions."

“It’s much simpler than curing the mind.”

People always think this is strange.

Is it easier to do things? I'm afraid ninety-nine out of a hundred people would say that it is much more difficult than before.

But just listening to Chen Jingke's explanation, it seemed to make a lot of sense.

They couldn't figure out what went wrong for a moment.

Chen Jingke did not let them worry too much and quickly gave an answer:
“Why do people generally feel that it has become more difficult to be an official after the reform?”

"There are two reasons. One is that if you are not familiar with the task, you will feel at a loss."

"Secondly, to put it bluntly, most people don't have any thoughts about serving the country and the people."

"They become officials just to get ahead. They don't have the idea of ​​benefiting the people during their tenure as officials."

"For such people, it is naturally easier to treat their mind."

"You don't need to worry about anything. As long as the people don't rebel and taxes are collected on time, everything will be fine."

“What a relaxing and relaxing place.”

“But go ask those good officials who truly serve the country and the people whether they are tired.”

Everyone fell into deep thought again.

Is it really easy to achieve peace and prosperity for the country and the people by controlling the mind?
Just look at Fan Zhongyan and you will know.

I want to change the world, but I don't know how to start.

He tried to do it, but suffered successive setbacks and finally died in depression.

Is he relaxed?

Even if Wang Anshi was scolded by many people, did he really want to bring disaster to the country and the people?
I'm afraid not.

He realized that there was something wrong with the world and wanted to make changes.

But he didn't do it the right way, and ended up doing something bad with good intentions.

Is he happy?

Not to mention the previous dynasty, just look at Chen Jingke and you will understand.

He is a gentleman recognized by everyone.

He worked hard for the reform, and no one knew how much effort he put into it.

In the past, everyone envied his talent and was jealous of his status in the royal family.

But few people think about what he has paid for.

I'm afraid no one would think they have it easy.

To put it bluntly, the era of "governing the mind" is most suitable for selfish and corrupt officials, who will feel relaxed and comfortable.

But for those who care about the world, it is a disaster.

The way of handling things is different.

It puts forward specific practices and requires officials to do certain things.

Selfish and corrupt officials naturally feel uncomfortable.

I became an official to enjoy life, why do you make me work like a slave?

This is not the case for those who care about the world.

They saw a way to make the country better.

As long as I do this, things will get better little by little.

Is there anything more gratifying than this?
They will be full of fighting spirit and hope for the future.

Having said this, Chen Jingke changed the subject and said:
"But we can't ignore governing the mind because of this. Governing by inaction means not harassing the people too much, not doing nothing."

"The court must formulate a complete system of etiquette and law and set some benchmarks to regulate people's behavior and guide people to be good."

"Without correct guidance, social morals will become corrupt..."

Just look at the Western countries in the past and you will know.

They only deal with things, not their hearts.

So they were the first to achieve modernization, and also the first to start demonization.

In fact, this question was raised a long time ago.

We should take doing things and being a person seriously, or at least do the same.

It’s just that those people at that time used this theory to criticize China.

I think China is not doing things well and its people are not well educated.

Then a certain Western country is doing so much better.

Anyway, my husband knows what I said.

Putting aside the issue of stance and just looking at the theory itself, it actually makes a lot of sense.

In a modern country, both the mind and affairs must be managed well; if any of them is not done well, problems will arise.

As a time traveler, Chen Jingke naturally had to learn lessons in this regard.

When shifting to managing affairs, one must not abandon the mindset of managing.

At this point, he finally came to the final conclusion:

"To govern affairs, one must be proactive; to govern the mind, one must be passive."

(End of this chapter)