Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

""Records of Jingyanzhao - Records of the First Jingyan Banquet in the First Year of Chongzhen""

""Hold high the banner of Datong and build a moderately prosperous world""

""The Imperial Master Liu Zongzhou was ordered to remake ritual music and compile "The Book of Rites and Justice""

……

After reading these newspaper articles, Qian Qianyi was ordered by the emperor to stay at home and reflect on his past mistakes. Even though he was prepared, he still couldn't help but feel disappointed and sighed for his situation——

Because he once had the hope of obtaining this status, and was even very close.

It was his proposal to change the judicial examination to the etiquette and law examination. Moreover, he also proposed that "ritual is the foundation of law, and law is the purpose of etiquette" as the purpose of combining etiquette and law.

If he continues on this path, he may become the director of the Etiquette Research Center and recreate ritual music for the emperor.

But it was obvious that the emperor did not trust him very much, and instead gave this task to Liu Zongzhou, who had just arrived in Beijing.

From then on, Liu Zongzhou became the leader of the Ming Dynasty's rituals and music, and his knowledge became the way of governing the country recognized by the emperor and the strategy of governing the country that the entire court must practice.

This feeling of watching others become saints while he was only one step short made Qian Qianyi feel heartbroken and extremely uncomfortable.

So much so that he couldn't muster any energy, and he didn't even want to continue writing the article he was writing.

He even had the idea of ​​resigning and returning to his hometown, continuing to be the leader of his own literary circle and not hanging around in the quagmire of officialdom.

However, considering that his case has not yet been concluded, whether he will be convicted or not is only in the emperor's mind. He did not dare to write his resignation at this time and directly said that he did not want to do it——

If you offend the emperor, it will not be a matter of losing your official position, but you may be imprisoned and ruined.

So he could only continue to work and continue to write supporting articles according to the emperor's request.

However, he was really not in the mood right now. He held the newspaper in his hand and read it over and over.

Reading through it like this really made him see a little bit of the secret, and he noticed the faint disharmony between the emperor and Liu Zongzhou:
"The era of great harmony and the era of well-off society in the Rites and Luck chapter were reinterpreted by His Majesty. 』

"Liu Zongzhou paid more attention to the operation of etiquette, and interpreted the well-off era mentioned by His Majesty as the prosperous era. 』

"Your Majesty accepted this statement in order to let him recreate the ritual music. But there seems to be a difference between the monarch and his ministers. 』

Liu Zongzhou's view is consistent, that is, emphasizing benevolence and righteousness and sparing punishment. He interpreted the concept of a moderately prosperous era as the concrete existence of a prosperous era, because "when prosperity is achieved, the world will be peaceful and punishments will not be used for more than forty years." This is the ideal governance in his mind.

Does the emperor really agree with this? On the surface it seems so, but in Qian Qianyi's view, it's not necessarily the case.

The current emperor seems to attach more importance to law than etiquette and music. He has previously established Ming Law and judicial examinations to recruit relevant talents.

As the person who pushed the emperor to change the judicial examination to etiquette and law examination, Qian Qianyi knew this very well.

He was sure that the emperor did not agree with Liu Zongzhou's provincial punishment. The reason why we agreed at the sutra feast was just to avoid disagreements.

Within this disagreement, there seems to be an opportunity for him:

"It's good to have differences!" 』

"How could Your Majesty use me if there is no disagreement?" 』

Sensing his opportunity, Qian Qianyi read the newspaper more carefully, reading the articles over and over again to see if he could find any points of disagreement. Where is the emperor's true intention hidden? The "Jing Yan Zhao Dui Lu" in the Di newspaper is a documentary. Qian Qianyi has read it several times and knows that the emperor's hidden intention is not in it. It was impossible for the emperor to reveal this at the Sutra banquet where he appointed Liu Zongzhou to remake rituals and music.

"Hold high the banner of Datong and build a moderately prosperous world" written by a commentator in the Beijing News, in Qian Qianyi's view, better reflects the emperor's intention.

However, he did not see any comments about the law in it. Instead, he noticed that there were a few more paragraphs in it compared to "Jing Yan Zhao Dui Lu".

It is mainly based on the "Historical Records·Biography of Guan Yan" which states that "the storehouses are solid and the etiquette is known; the food and clothing are sufficient and the honor and disgrace are known". The article proposes that people should have enough food and clothing and carry out education to improve people's moral realm.

On how to realize a world of great harmony, in addition to greatly improving the moral realm, new basic conditions are proposed: material wealth is greatly enriched and distributed according to need.

In this way, people will not worry about food and clothing, and will not have to hide goods for themselves. They will be able to "end their lives in their old age, be useful when they are strong, grow up when they are young, and support those who are widowed, lonely, and disabled; men will have their share, and women will have their share." "Everyone has a home", everyone can do their best, get their own place, and achieve free and comprehensive development.

These expanded contents are not found in "Jingyanzhao Duilu". After Qian Qianyi saw it, he immediately felt like he had found a treasure and felt that he had seen an opportunity.

Although this opportunity is not the etiquette he valued before, in his opinion, it is more important——

After all, the Etiquette Research Center is now chaired by Liu Zongzhou, and everyone's achievements in etiquette and law must be shared by him.

But Liu Zongzhou could not share the credit for other aspects. Especially in terms of material wealth, Liu Zongzhou, a man who lives in poverty and enjoys Taoism, is far less knowledgeable than others.

Therefore, Qian Qianyi planned to start from this aspect and open up another branch of knowledge.

He believed that even if this knowledge was not as good as Liu Zongzhou's reconstruction of rituals and music, it would still become a prominent school and be promoted by the emperor.

"The Master said: Wealth and honor are what people want. If they don't follow the way to get them, they won't be able to get them."

"Getting rich and noble without justice is like a floating cloud to me."

"A gentleman is known for his righteousness, and a villain is known for his benefit."

"If a country has good moral principles, it would be a shame to be poor and humble; if a country has no good law, it would be a shame to be rich and noble."

After reading Confucius's remarks about material wealth in The Analects, Qian Qianyi felt that although it was very good and he could write an article on justice and benefit, it was still not enough and was far from having enough food and clothing.

So he found "Mencius" and read Mencius' remarks:
"Those who have no permanent property but have perseverance can only do it if they are scholars. If the people have no permanent property, they have no perseverance."

"The way of the people is that those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who do not have perseverance have no perseverance."

"If you have no perseverance and indulge in eccentricities and extravagance, it is all for your own sake. If you fall into a crime and then punish it, you are disrespecting the people..."

Reading this passage, Qian Qianyi felt excited because he felt that he had found the words that impressed the emperor:
"How can Guanzi's words compare to what Mencius said?"

“Mencius’ perseverance and perseverance is the way to govern a country!”

"Have constant wealth and perseverance, rich material wealth, and improved moral realm."

"Only when the two become one can we become people of great harmony and enter a world of great harmony."

"I, Qian Qianyi, am practicing this principle!"

No longer ashamed of his wealth and his inability to live happily in poverty, Qian Qianyi picked up his writing brush and wrote an article seriously: "On Constant Property". (End of chapter)