At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 693: New Legalists and the Magic City of Mumbai

The number of high-ranking Legalists who came to the Han Dynasty was extremely large, including Jia Yi, Chao Cuo, Zhang Shizhi, Zhang Ou, Zhi Du and more than a dozen other high-ranking officials with official positions above 2,000 stones. They were extremely eye-catching standing together. After decades of recuperation, the Legalists once again became one of the prominent schools of thought of the time and occupied a large part of the positions in the Han court. The position of Chief Censor had been held by the Legalists for twenty years.

Jia Yi smiled and comforted him: "The court is based on the people. We should naturally serve the people of the Han Dynasty. The people are the masters of the Han Dynasty. How can we be arrogant?"

It is said that Confucianism is the doctrine that is most capable of adapting to rulers, but in fact Legalism is more adaptable than Confucianism. Most Confucian scholars are righteous in words but righteous in deeds, and they still have some shame unless they are forced to face life and death. However, Legalists blatantly believe that they are the emperor's lackeys and take the emperor's will as their criterion. This is why emperors of all dynasties like to use Legalism.

After the Han Dynasty, the emperor wanted to build a harmonious world, so the Legalists formulated a system for the court to achieve this goal. The emperor believed that the world belonged to all people in the world, and that the people of the Han Dynasty were the masters of the world. The Legalists also respected the emperor's call and regarded the people of the Han Dynasty as the masters of the Han Dynasty. From legislation to law enforcement, they stood on the side of the people. It was because of this change that the Legalists' reputation in the Han Dynasty improved. By standing on the side of the people, the Legalists established a solid foundation at the grassroots level in the Han Dynasty, and countless legal officers scattered in the countryside became the foundation of the towering tree of the Legalists.

Chao Cuo advised: "Brother, you are a tyrant, which was true in the pre-Qin period, but since the Han Dynasty lacks benevolence and righteousness, you can only become a cruel official. Such a reputation will hinder you from further developing your talents."

The Legalists of the Han Dynasty were different from those of the Warring States Period. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were a completely new Legalism. The Han Dynasty emphasized benevolence and righteousness, so the Legalists said that law was the lowest morality and morality was the highest law.

In order to maintain the current Legalist high-level officials, they are not afraid to modify the image of the Legalist predecessors and improve their reputation. For example, when the Qin Dynasty collapsed, the Legalists put the blame on the First Emperor, while some others said that there was no experience in governing a unified dynasty in the world at that time.

As for Shang Yang, who holds an important position in the history of Legalism, they also tried to improve his reputation and vigorously promoted the story of Shang Yang's meeting with Duke Xiao of Qin.

It is said that when Shang Yang lobbied King Xiaogong of Qin, he proposed three ways of governing the country, namely the imperial way, the kingly way and the hegemonic way.

The imperial way advocates nature and governs by inaction. He pursues an ideal state where the world is for all, the ruler takes the people of the world into consideration, and governs the country not based on personal desires and interests, but on fairness and justice. According to legend, he is the implementer of the earth. Yao and Shun are considered to be the implementers of the imperial way. They passed on the throne to their descendants who were both virtuous and talented, embodying the authentic selflessness and justice.

But Qin Xiaogong did not like the imperial way.

So the next day Shang Yang met Qin Xiaogong and told him the way of the king.

The Kingly Way advocates governing the country with virtue, winning the world and the hearts of the princes through the virtue and good deeds of the ruler, thus achieving long-term stability of the country. The Kingly Way emphasizes governing the country with virtue, and pays attention to the virtue of the ruler and the inheritance of the family.

But Qin Xiaogong still did not like the kingly way.

So on the third day, Shang Yang met with King Xiaogong of Qin and told him the way of hegemony.

Hegemony is a utilitarian way, advocating the establishment and maintenance of rule through force and power to achieve national prosperity. Hegemony emphasizes strength and efficiency. It completely abandons morality such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trustworthiness, and emphasizes starting from interests in everything.

But after hearing Shang Yang's hegemonic tactics, Duke Xiao of Qin was overjoyed and implemented the hegemonic methods in Qin.

Therefore, the Qin Dynasty eventually became a hegemonic country. The root cause was Qin Xiaogong. Shang Yang was just the person who executed Qin Xiaogong's will and put all the blame for the Legalists on the Qin royal family.

You see, now that our Han Dynasty is governing the country with the imperial way and the kingly way, our Legalists have become the most fair and selfless officials. Therefore, the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty is the fault of all the Qin kings.

This story is not recognized by many people in the academic circles of the Han Dynasty. Shang Yang, a Legalist, went to the Qin State to promote Taoism's policy of inaction and Confucianism's doctrine of benevolence and righteousness. Who was he trying to fool?
However, people are not interested in rigorous academic arguments, but gossip stories are extremely attractive to readers. For example, no one is interested in Newton's draft more than a foot high in order to derive the law of universal gravitation, but the story of Newton being hit by an apple and discovering the law of universal gravitation is widely circulated.

This story was recognized by the people of the Han Dynasty because of its gossip-like nature. When the people of the Han Dynasty talked about the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, they would mention this part and said with regret: "If Qin Xiaogong had listened to Shang Yang's imperial way and kingly way, the Qin Dynasty would not have perished in the second generation."

Everyone was playing the new version of the Legalists, but Zhidu had too strong a flavor of the old version. Jia Yi and the others knew that Zhidu was an official remembered by the emperor and was a member of the Legalists themselves, so they were willing to give him some advice.

Zhidu said calmly: "I wish to kill all the corrupt officials in the world. The name of a cruel official is just right. When the small and small people hear my name, they will lose some courage."

Chao Cuo could only smile bitterly.

Although Zhidu was old, strictly speaking, he was a later generation of the Legalists. When Jia Yi, Chao Cuo and others were famous in Chang'an City, Zhidu was still a legal official with a rank of Baishi.

Zhidu was not an academic legalist, but a Han official who passed the exam in Hedong County. He offended many people because he acted too aggressively, enforced the law impartially, and was upright and incorruptible. He did not get promoted for ten years and had been working as a lawyer in the Han village. Zhidu's fortune came from the report of the Legal Daily. A young reporter interviewed Zhidu, learned about his deeds, and wrote an article "Xiezhi Walking in the Countryside" to introduce in detail Zhidu's deeds as a lawyer in the past 10 years.

This article was read by Xu Aimin, and Zhidu became an outstanding grassroots representative of the Han Dynasty. He was received and commended by the emperor. Over the next ten years, Zhidu's career flourished and he became the governor of Bingzhou with a salary of two thousand stones.

But even though he was in a high position and had great power, Zhidu remained true to his character. Over the past decade or so, he had dealt with more than a hundred Han officials and nobles.

The Han nobles wanted to take revenge on Zhidu, but Zhidu was not interested in beauty. He only had an old wife at home, and was strictly controlled by his family. One of his two sons joined the Mohist School, and the other joined the army in the Yanzhou Governor's Office.

He was not fond of fine food and only ate in the government office every day.

He did not like fine clothes, and wore official uniform or clothes sewn by his wife every day.

He does not talk about personal feelings, never reads personal letters of appeal, and does not accept gifts or personal requests.

Zhidu's daily life was as dull as that of an ascetic monk, even more Mohist than the Mohists. Zhidu's enemies wanted to find his flaws, but they failed to do so after more than ten years. This is what an invincible man is.

Instead, the name of Zhidu Qingtian spread throughout the Han Dynasty. Although the Han Dynasty had been moving towards a harmonious world, it still retained a large number of feudal systems, and there were still huge feudal nobles within the Han Dynasty. Especially during the decades of rapid economic growth in the Han Dynasty, the people of the Han Dynasty benefited, but the power of the powerful landlords in the Han Dynasty expanded faster. It was better in Guanzhong, Chen County, Kuaiji County, Linzi County, Luoyang and other places. These big cities were the focus of the Han Dynasty. If there was any public opinion, it would be quickly understood by the Han Dynasty court, and then they would be greeted by the iron fist of the court and the imperial censor.

However, the Han Dynasty still had a vast number of backward areas. In those places where information was blocked, the nobles and tyrants were most likely to run rampant, despise the government, and not abide by the laws of the country. The people of the Han Dynasty always needed an honest official, and someone like Zhidu was upright and incorruptible, not avoiding the powerful and the royal family. Anyone who broke the law, no matter who he was, would be punished by law. The marquises and the royal family were all trembling when they saw him, but he was the most beloved official by the people of the Han Dynasty.

Opera was extremely prosperous in the Han Dynasty, and Qingtian had always been a popular piece of opera. Soon, a theater editor compiled and performed "Zhi Gong'an" based on Zhidu's deeds, which put various folk stories and crime-solving events together and attributed it to Zhidu.

Such operas were warmly welcomed by the Han people. Every performance was sold out, making the editors and theater owners earn a lot of money. Economic benefits have the greatest driving force on people's subjective initiative.

Since "The Case of Zhi Gong" was so popular, naturally other theaters would start to copy it. You wrote "The Case of Zhi Gong", and I wrote "The Legend of Zhi Gong" or "The Legend of Zhi Qingtian" and so on. It was almost like the 8 o'clock prime time trend, and they would broadcast whatever was popular.

It just so happens that the performances of these copycat operas are quite good. Although not every show is sold out, it is true that the troupes make money from these operas.

The Han Dynasty has always been strong in the field of publicity. The opera and government offices would publicize the typical Han officials every year, commend and publicize their deeds, in order to encourage more people to learn from these examples. Not to mention that all classes of the Han Dynasty were influenced by this. It was a custom handed down from the Warring States Period. The Han people's pursuit of fame was even higher than their interests. The publicity of the Han Dynasty satisfied the pursuit of fame by the advanced people and played a positive role in motivation.

So after the opera order discovered this popular trend, they sent an editor to interview Zhidu and go to the office where Zhidu worked to get the documents related to Zhidu's judgments. After more than a year of editing, "The True Record of Zhigong's Detective Cases" was freshly released and toured throughout the Han Dynasty. This opera claimed to be adapted from the real story of Zhidu and was welcomed by the people everywhere. Zhidu thus became a new political star of the Legalists, and his status quickly rose to the same level as Jia Yi and Chao Cuo.

The Legalists also preferred the Han Dynasty. In the Warring States Period and pre-Qin Dynasty, the Legalists were just the black gloves of the kings, specifically helping the kings to offend the nobles, the powerful, and the local people. Very few of them had a good ending, but in the Han Dynasty court they were given fame and benefits, and this was the first time that the Legalists stood in a positive light.

The demonstrations did not affect the normal convening of the Assembly of Sages.

First is the one-year report of the Han Dynasty court made by Chen Lei, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty.

Chen Lei told all the sages about the Han Dynasty's annual steel production, how many tons of coal were produced, how many tons of fertilizers were produced, and how many tons of oil were produced. This year, electricity data was also added.

Then comes the number of tons of grain produced, the number of pieces of cloth produced, the growth of imports and exports, the growth of finance. After talking about these big things, there are some more detailed things, such as the per capita increase in grain, eggs, milk, meat and vegetables, and then how many roads and railways were built, how many canals were constructed, and so on.

After hearing this, the sages applauded Chen Lei one after another, because this year's data was so impressive that it had already caught up with the founding period of the Han Dynasty.

The representatives of the Han princes who were watching the government from the sidelines were envious, as the Han's fiscal increase in one year was ten times more than their own annual fiscal revenue.

The Indian Prime Minister Dong Zhongshu was a little worried that today's demonstrations would affect the development of India. You know, India has the largest number of laborers in the Han Dynasty, nearly 100,000 people, and the income generated by these laborers is the most important source of foreign exchange for India.

Ever since the Indian King Xu Aijun invited Dong Zhongshu to India, he attached great importance to him. They ate at the same table and slept on the same bed. Within three years of Dong Zhongshu's arrival in India, he was promoted from the Indian King's aide to the Indian King's Prime Minister. He was like a fish in water in India, and naturally he wanted to repay the Indian King's attention.

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So Dong Zhongshu began his reforms in India, and he first started with the administration of officials in India.

Dong Zhongshu was extremely shocked by the corruption of Indian officials. He believed that the corruption in India had reached the point where the country would be destroyed if corruption was not combated. He even worried that a hero like the retired emperor would appear in India and drive the Han forces out of this land.

In order to fight corruption, Dong Zhongshu recruited a large number of Confucian scholars from the Han Dynasty to replace the corrupt elements in India.

The Indians were really amazing. They forced a Confucian like Dong Zhongshu to follow the Legalist way.

After more than a year of attacks, Dong Zhongshu did not dare to say how honest the Indian officials could be, but those incompetent people who only knew how to embezzle and not do their work were cleared out in large numbers. Confucian scholars from the Han Dynasty replaced them, and the officials below also knew how to execute the orders of the Indian court.

He then took action on the land, restricting private ownership of land and restricting the annexation of land by powerful people. He redeemed the land of the powerful nobles and distributed it to the common people of India.

In response to the Indian nobles’ monopoly of cash crops, salt industry, steel and other high-value industries, he vigorously implemented the government-run policy, and took over the cash crop gardens, salt industry, steel and other factories to increase the financial revenue of the Indian court. As for the Indian people, he suppressed the slave system, cracked down on the four-class system in India, cracked down on the religious forces in India, reduced taxes, reduced corvée, let the people rest and recuperate, and reduced the consumption of manpower. "

Under Dong Zhongshu's series of policies, India's fiscal revenue doubled, exceeding 10 billion coins for the first time.

If this happened in the feudal era, Dong Zhongshu's achievements at this time would be comparable to those of Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, but unfortunately, on this timeline, the world had already been pulled into the industrialized era by the Han Dynasty.

These reform measures of India are to temporarily change India's fiscal deficit into surplus, but the changes to India's industries are still very small.

At this time, Tianzhu was still a feudal country dominated by agriculture, and the few industrial areas brought by Xu Aijun were also shaken.

The reason is very simple. Globalization is essentially an economic reshuffle that eliminates the weak and retains the strong. The strong industries in a region will be greatly strengthened. At the same time, the relatively weak industries in a region will encounter the world's most powerful opponents and be defeated.

The Tianzhu area has abundant light and heat. As long as the infrastructure is well built, it is possible to make huge profits whether it is growing grain or cash crops such as sugarcane, spices, tea, cotton, etc.

Therefore, the nobles and powerful people in Tianzhu could easily earn a lot of profits by opening a cash crop plantation. On the other hand, to develop industry, they had to build factories, repair railways, roads and other infrastructure, and at the same time, they had to build industrial zones and complete the infrastructure requirements such as water supply, roads, and electricity. It cost a huge price to build so many infrastructures, and the factories built had to compete with the factories in the Han Dynasty that already had a complete industrial chain.

As for the Kingdom of India, apart from the advantage of low labor costs, its infrastructure, capital, talents and other conditions were far inferior to those of the Han Dynasty, or even the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu at least had the industrial tradition brought by the military officials, and it also had its own tradition of traveling merchants, which had a certain bonus to the development of industry.

India was a hierarchical slave state. Its tradition was to enslave local people to create value. They could do this by setting up cotton plantations and spice plantations.

However, it is a bit beyond their capabilities to open up the national market, establish an industrial system, cultivate industrial talents, and then build a flesh and blood factory to reduce the cost of industrial products in order to compete with the industrial products of the Han Dynasty.

The profit of opening a factory in Tianzhu is far less than that of setting up a cotton plantation. Opening a factory is laborious and does not make money, but setting up a cotton plantation can easily make money. If you are an upper-class person in Tianzhu, how would you choose?

The natural thing is to give up building factories and build a cash crop plantation.

When Dong Zhongshu became the Prime Minister of India, he found that in such a huge country like India, there were only a few scattered small industrial areas, which contained only some small textile factories, food processing factories, machinery repair factories, and some small factories such as cement.

Even such a scattered and dilapidated small industrial area was on the verge of collapse under the impact of the Han Dynasty's industrial products.

What made Dong Zhongshu speechless was that although developing industry was obviously beneficial to the upper class of India, they did not care at all. What they liked to use most were silk, cotton cloth, various high-end clothes and industrial products from the Han Dynasty. Even if there were alternatives in their own country, they were unwilling to use them and denounced them as junk.

With such an attitude of the upper class, it is impossible for India's advanced manufacturing industry to develop.

At that time, Mumbai, the capital of India, seemed extremely magical to Dong Zhongshu. It was a wealthy area where nobles and powerful people lived. Its living environment and infrastructure were no different from those in the Han Dynasty. The most advanced power grid system in the Han Dynasty could be found in Mumbai, as well as advanced tap water networks, skyscraper-like buildings, clean and tidy asphalt roads, and wealthy citizens dressed fashionably.

But outside the wealthy areas, Mumbai is poor and backward, with low and shabby buildings, sewage-filled streets, and poor people who are barely clothed.

In the wider areas, the people of India still lived in houses built of straw and mud. Only a few wealthy people could build brick and tile houses. The industrial products of modern civilization were still luxuries that only a few people could enjoy. Ordinary people still lived in poverty, and everyone regarded working in the Han Dynasty as a way to change their destiny.

The powerful nobles of India were accustomed to everything in this land and even believed that the past few decades were the golden age of India. As they owned more land and wealth and integrated into the globalized system of the Han Dynasty, they were able to enjoy more luxury goods.

But Dong Zhongshu could not accept the current situation of India. Whether it was to repay the Indian king's kindness or to realize his own political ambitions, he wanted to change the current situation of India.

(End of this chapter)