Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 162: There is a heart to protect the ceremony, but no courage to protect the ceremony

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Jin Yi to be dealt with as usual. He immediately knelt down in statue, set up a monument of guilt, and ransacked his home and dismembered his body.

Although, Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel army was powerful at the moment, so after capturing Taiping City, the gentry in Taiping City were too afraid to say anything.

But in their hearts, they still respected the old rituals more, and they also hoped that Zhu Yuanzhang would choose to bury Jin Yi, who died for the Yuan Dynasty, with a generous burial.

Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang chose to give Jin Yi a generous burial.

Therefore, shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang buried Jin Yi in a grand ceremony, many Confucian scholars came out of the city to greet him, calling Zhu Yuanzhang their new Ming Dynasty master.

However, in this life, only Tao An and a few other Confucian scholars came out of the city to visit him.

Most Confucian scholars chose to flee Taiping City or choose to live in hiding and not participate in politics.

Because they had a premonition that Zhu Yuanzhang would not respect Confucian scholars too much. After all, even a righteous man like Jin Yi was not treated politely.

Some Confucian scholars were completely desperate after learning that Zhu Yuanzhang treated Jin Yi like this, and chose to die at home.

At the same time, he could no longer oppose the recruitment of troops, and he had to give up the interests of supplying arms to other rebels. In order not to sacrifice the interests of the Yuan Dynasty's powerful officials, he chose to sacrifice the people, that is, to allow the army to massacre and plunder the people to reduce the population. Ease the food crisis in your area that cannot be eliminated by attacking the gentry.

This kind of thing is indeed a difficult change for many traditional Confucian scholars to accept.

But now that he is under the influence of Zhang Cheng, even if he has this idea, he is not willing to lie to himself like this again.

Zhang Cheng's system design for him, from the personnel system, financial system to military system to cultural and educational system, did not emphasize destiny, loyalty, and ethics at the beginning, but emphasized nation, cultural identity, people's power, and responsibility.

So, how could Zhu Yuanzhang look back?

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to define this kind of sacrifice as a morally noble act.

This means that the people in his jurisdiction who have made a living by transporting grain, building ships, building machinery, mining, and weaving for him will be abandoned by him.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked calm as a result.

Even when Zhu Yuanzhang visited Guxikou, the Confucian scholar who called Cheng Si didn't know whether he wanted to take a big gamble or really wanted to risk his life to protect the old rituals. Instead, he chose to block the road and shouted: "Prime Minister, please bury Duke Jin generously. Don’t insult the martyrs again!”

Zhu Yuanzhang now established a political power based on the basic ideological principles of seeking truth from facts, not a political power based on Neo-Confucianism.

A martyred person like Jin Yi should have been regarded as a moral benchmark, but because Huayi, because he was a Han, chose to be loyal to the Meng Yuan, he was regarded as guilty and not only morally noble. Instead, it is despicable.

Therefore, it has become difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to look back even if he wants to.

He already knows that emphasizing only the monarch and his ministers is no longer enough to guarantee the highest power, nor is it enough to ensure the eternal stability of the country. It will only put the royal family, country, and nation in the role of a coward, and in the end, it will be cheap. They are just the majority of landowners who want to collect rent stably.

If he wants to go back and pick up the idea of ​​​​the old rites that the rites of destiny and loyalty to the emperor are greater than the rites of loyalty to China, then he must first pinch his nose and admit that he is a thief, or say that he has no intention of being an enemy of the Yuan Dynasty, but just to form a stronghold. Self-protection helped the Yuan Dynasty quell the rebel rebellion, and even ended the Qing Dynasty and returned the abandoned official land that originally belonged to the Yuan Dynasty officials and nobles and had been distributed to the people to the Yuan Dynasty officials and nobles.

That’s right, they were not martyred, but martyred.

But these children of the common people have formed the middle and lower classes of the rebel army, and his official schools for the middle and lower classes basically receive the new education.

These Confucian scholars believed that what Zhu Yuanzhang did was no longer as simple as subjugating the country, but also destroying the etiquette of the world. Therefore, they were unwilling to accept the reality of basing national differences on etiquette, just like the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the collapse of the imperial system in history. It was not the same as Wang Guowei's suicide that happened later.

What's more.

They may be highly virtuous, upright gentlemen, and have done nothing bad, but they really cannot accept major changes in etiquette, which is the basic morality of society.

He can't look back!
This is just like once a certain material is chosen for the foundation of a building, it is doomed that even if he wants to replace the entire building with another material later, he will have to risk the building collapse.

There are sunk costs here.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the Confucian scholar named Cheng Si in front of him and said solemnly: "Drive him away!" "Yes!"

So, Zhu Yuanzhang's guards dragged Cheng Si down.

"Prime Minister, if you don't bury Duke Jin generously, you won't be able to become emperor!"

"You can't be the emperor like this!"

Cheng Si still shouted when he was dragged down.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything.

Because he simply does not believe that he cannot be the emperor if he does not abide by the old etiquette. The landowners and bureaucrats in the world are really willing to go against the people of the world at all costs for the sake of the old etiquette.

In fact.

Most of the landowners and bureaucrats in the world are indeed unable to maintain the old rituals at all costs.

They want to preserve the current ethical system.

But their purpose in adhering to the ethical system is to protect their own interests.

Therefore, they do not have to sacrifice their own interests for the sake of the etiquette system, as that will only make them observe etiquette in vain.

Most landlords and bureaucrats made the same choice as Li Shanchang, choosing to be patient, choosing to obey, and choosing to let rebellious people like Zhang Cheng and Zhu Yuanzhang experience the pleasure of controlling other people's wealth and even life and death as soon as possible, that is, the pleasure of being a slave owner.

"Mr. Zhang is handsome, handsome, benevolent and kind. He has already made us admire him greatly."

"Yes, after Ming Gong and others cross the river, the gods and warriors will not kill, the people will be peaceful and the people will be punished, and the world will not be settled!"

"We only regret that we could not get Ming Gong and others to rescue us earlier to get rid of the evil smell!"

In Taiping City, Tao An and other Confucian scholars chose to take the initiative to ask for an audience with Zhang Cheng and flattered Zhang Cheng.

After hearing this, Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "In that case, you must know that our rebel army bans foot binding, requires husbands to be cleared, and imposes heavy luxury taxes."

"know."

"It should be so. As Qian Xi said, this is what must be done to correct the etiquette!"

"All the female relatives and maidservants in our clan have given up their footing and are willing to accept the title of husband, and do not dare to be extravagant."

Tao An replied.

Zhang Cheng nodded: "Very good, then you all send a congratulatory letter together. The content is naturally to congratulate our rebel army on their entry into the city. In the congratulatory letter, you must criticize Hu Yuan's harsh government and praise our rebel army's good governance. This not only proves your attitude, but also serves as an excuse." Your words will appease the people in the city, and the congratulatory letter will be published in the "China News".

After Zhang Cheng said this, Tao An and other Confucian scholars all gritted their teeth and said yes.

then.

Although many Confucian scholars know that Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel army is no longer simply changing the world, but changing the world's rituals, the rebel army did not encounter too fierce resistance after occupying Taiping City.

And even if there were particularly stubborn Confucian scholars, most of them would choose to commit suicide instead of calling on the whole nation and the people to fight to the death with the rebels.

The main reason is that their class characteristics determine that they can be particularly capable and cruel in suppressing people internally, but they will always appear weak and incompetent externally.

Just like the Jingkang Incident in history and other externally caused drastic changes, even though the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were as cunning as foxes and the emperor was proficient in power struggles, he was like a clay sculpture when dealing with the outside world and could only be manipulated by others.

(End of this chapter)