golden scales

"The humble job asks to meet the crown prince." Feng Yuanhui met Li Mingrui and made a request unceremoniously.

Li Mingrui became more and more disgusted with this litigator.If it wasn't for the fact that he really couldn't figure out how to deal with the clan issues, this litigator would not be able to see himself even if he wanted to!At this moment, he dared to dare to see the crown prince confidently at this moment, what a fool's dream!

"I'm going to see His Highness the Crown Prince with empty teeth, do you think I'm going to be so aggressive." Li Mingrui calmed down and looked at Feng Yuanhui coldly.

"Nowadays, the whole Dali Temple can handle the affairs of the clan and patriarchal clan well. I'm afraid it's hard to find another one besides a lowly position." Feng Yuanhui said confidently.

Li Mingrui really wanted to scold him as a "joke".

There are 70 people in Dali Temple. Isn't there anyone who has ideas about the clan?

What's more, who doesn't have a clan?It's just big and small.

"Mr. Taixu, they are only in their twenties. They know what is family? What is clan? What is clan?" Feng Yuanhui said with a smile as if he was familiar with himself: "Your Excellency has been an official in the court for decades, and how long has it been since he returned to his hometown?" Apart from the letters and children, do you have any impressions of the family contacts? Do you know whether your noble clan fought privately with the neighbors this year in order to divert people from Tianzhong? Did the clan juniors walk around the county with your greeting card?"

Li Mingrui has to admit that staying away from the clan is indeed the problem of the entire bureaucracy.

After entering the city, the power of the clan was weakened a lot.Although many people will go back to their hometown to worship their ancestors during the festivals, if they are just ordinary people, the clan will not care too much. The two are more like visiting relatives and doing their own things.

As for the officials and officials in the city, they are the umbrellas for the clan and the God of Wealth. They only take care that the clan will not be oppressed by power, and donate money and materials to support the public welfare of the clan: such as building ancestral halls, expanding sacrificial fields, No matter how bad it is to set up a religious school, we must send some repairs to the gentlemen invited by the social studies.

The clan only has huge influence over the clansmen who still live in the countryside, almost like the imperial court.And because China has a tradition of shameful litigation, the clan itself has the role of mediating disputes and even adjudicating trials.In many places in the south where transportation is inconvenient, lynching is even used.

Maybe some people think that such a clan would use him?

Generally speaking, it can be said from two aspects: fiction and reality.

There is a prerequisite for the false side, which is to know what a clan is.

The family of ancestors and relatives is called the clan!

Everyone has fears and longings for the afterlife.

Because of this fear and longing, the Chinese ancestors worshiped their ancestors: after death, their own gods were put into the ancestral hall and received incense offerings from their descendants, so that they could completely complete the transformation from human to god, and become the "protector" of future generations. Spirits of the Ancestors".As long as the incense burns unceasingly, the natural gods will not be ignorant.And the descendants are the extension of their own blood, so even though they are dead, they are still alive, and the salary is passed on.If you think about it this way, you will be able to "enjoy life and not hate death" to the maximum extent.

Therefore, ancestor worship is the spiritual sustenance of the Chinese ancestors, and it is the belief of China (Note [-]).

In another time and space, some people believe that China has no faith, so they worship Buddha and ghosts.In fact, it is just picking up Matteo Ricci's tooth wisdom.After Matteo Ricci entered the Ming Dynasty to preach, he proposed that Chinese ancestor worship is not a belief, just to make room for Christ Jesus, but in fact it was not recognized by the mainstream thinking of the Jesuits (Note [-]).If you think about it carefully, Matteo Ricci is obviously more cunning.

On the practical side: the clan is a military decision-making body when it fights privately.

Huaxia's private fight is not a duel between Taixi knights, nor is it a fight in twos and threes.It is a small war with the family as the unit and production tools as weapons.At that time, Qi Jiguang thought that Zhejiang soldiers were useless and wanted to use northern soldiers. Later, he saw the private struggle of Yiwu miners and completely changed his concept.

But it is said that there are many reasons for private fighting, the most common one is fighting for water.

Because the fields have a great need for water, if more holes are opened in the channels through which the water flows, the crops will naturally grow well.But too much water was put in the front, and the fields at the far end of the canal would run out of water.At this time, each village can only agree on the time for releasing water, and try to let the canal water irrigate as much land as possible.

This kind of gentleman's agreement will soon be broken by the "smart people" in the village: they secretly dig ditches at night to irrigate their fields.

So "keeping the water" came into being.

If someone steals and someone guards, conflicts will inevitably occur, and soon there will be a lot of responses and private fights (Note [-]).

The water network in the south is dense, so there is no need to compete for water, but for mineral veins and trees, and even the boundary markers in the fields may be secretly moved.

At this time, it shows the importance of the clan. If the clan is weak, it is bound to be plundered and bullied by the strong clan.In order to avoid this situation, on the one hand, it is necessary to unite the armed forces, and on the other hand, it is necessary to use the power of the clan to support as many scholars as possible, so as to become officials and ensure the strong status of the clan.

Therefore, the clan strife that appears in the novel is extremely rare in reality, because most clans are faced with the situation of "surrounded by powerful enemies", always facing the invasion of different surnames, and do not have the energy to fight among themselves.

This form has continued until 400 years later. After various movements, some villages still support a college student in some places, which can be said to be the same.

"I have been in the countryside all year round, and later I served as a referee in the county, fighting for land and water. I am afraid that there will be hundreds of people." Feng Yuanhui raised his head and said: "If Ting Weigong does not intend to keep His Highness waiting for a long time, I am afraid that I will have to recommend the humble official. .”

"Your Highness can afford to wait," Li Mingrui said quietly, "I can also afford to wait."

……

"Shall we go for a walk together?" Zhu Cihong put down the chopsticks, washed his hands and wiped his face, and asked the silent Crown Princess Duan.

Duan ate very little at night and was already full.Seeing that the crown prince had finished eating, she washed her hands and withdrew from the table.Hearing her husband's invitation, Duan was a little surprised: "Don't you need to be busy with political affairs tonight?"

"En." Zhu Cihong nodded in response.

There were originally arrangements for tonight, but before dinner, Zhu Cihong suddenly canceled all arrangements for tonight and tomorrow, and all matters were postponed.This kind of thing is extremely rare, and it can even be said that there is no precedent in history.When a person who enjoys work suddenly stops, everyone will wonder whether something has happened.

Lu Suyao even had to go to the palace to report to the Empress Zhonggong, so as not to be caught off guard.

The empress was obviously mentally prepared, and neither disturbed her son, nor let go of this suspicious clue—she sent an imperial physician to wait outside Zhongcui Palace, ready to rescue him at any time.

Zhu Cihong was really stumped this time.

If it was in his previous life, he would find an ancient temple in a deep mountain and watch the clouds rise and the clouds rise for two days... Of course, this was only three or five times in his decades of professional career.

The only way he could think of now was to take a walk.

The reason why he invited this newlywed wife, who was so young that there was almost a generation gap, was because of his own loneliness.

Facing the issue of "clan", Zhu Cihong is the loneliest person in the whole world.

All the critical opinions on the clan came after the May Fourth Movement. In this day and age, no matter who you ask, you won’t say that the clan has any problems.

The Duke of Zhou can enjoy such a high status precisely because he sorted out the clan relationship and formulated the rules for mediating clan and clan, clan and clan, clan and clan, and clan and clan—law of etiquette.Since then, Huaxia has officially entered the stage of a patriarchal society, shedding the last vestige of the tribal system.

Since then, except for a certain special historical stage, any child who sees his parents, parents, brothers and sisters must show politeness and respect, which is the most direct representation of patriarchal society.

Under such circumstances, even though Zhu Cihong knew that the clan was a stumbling block to social reform, he was powerless to challenge it alone.Even just fantasizing, there is a kind of absurdity like Don Quixote.

"Master seems to have something on his mind." Duan carefully carried the lantern, walked beside Zhu Cihong with his cloak over his head, and sprayed a puff of white mist as soon as he opened his mouth.

After the winter solstice, it is cold day by day, and few people are willing to hang out outside these days.

"Xiaoqian, does your family worship ancestors?" Zhu Cihong asked suddenly.

Duan was startled for a moment, and blurted out: "As long as it's not a shabby household, is there anyone in the world who doesn't worship their ancestors?"

"Can you remember the names and taboos of several generations of ancestors?" Zhu Cihong asked again.

The Duan family couldn't figure out what the crown prince meant, and thought to himself: This young master thinks that only the Tian family in the world remembers his ancestors?Or do you look down on me from a small family?

"My family started with Emperor Taizu Gao's conquest, and we can catch up to five generations from that generation of ancestors." Duan was a little angry, and his tone hardened.

Zhu Cihong didn't pay attention at first, and after taking two steps, she suddenly realized that this was the Crown Princess saying that she was a generation higher than the ancestors that the Zhu family could catch up with.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang can only catch up with the fourth ancestor, and it will be broken if he goes any further.

"Do you think the clan is of any use to you?" Zhu Cihong asked again.

Duan almost fainted, why are all the weird questions suddenly asked?Is this an exam school?Duan looked down at the cloak that was slightly kicked up by him, and said: "If there is no ancestor, where did I come from?"

"No, I mean after you were born, how has the family affected you?"

——Of course, the impact is huge. If there are no uncles in the clan to help, how can my father be awarded the post of Changle teacher?If they weren't from the same clan, how could those uncles help?

But Duan knew that he shouldn't talk nonsense, otherwise he would be denying his father's talent.

Zhu Cihong took a deep breath and walked forward without waiting for an answer.Duan started to trot in order to keep up. She vaguely felt that the crown prince's question tonight was very meaningful, but she didn't know what the point was.

"Don't say these things, especially don't tell the emperor's father and mother." Zhu Cihong stopped, took care, and said: "You go back first, I have something to do."

Duan hesitated and slowed down, but saw Zhu Cihong walking faster and faster, and finally started to trot.She suddenly felt her nose sour, but she didn't know where the bitterness in her heart came from.

"Your Majesty, let's go back first, and be careful of the cold." The female officer who served her personally came forward to touch Duan Shi, and persuaded softly.

Duan refused slightly, stood still, looked at the direction the crown prince was running, and spit out a cloud of white mist: "Go to Kunning Palace." (To be continued.)