I

  Chapter 921 917 [The emperor is also a historian]

  Zhu Minghao praised the new dynasty and the emperor, not only because of his political clarity, but also because Zhao Han was right about his taste in history.

  In the Tang Dynasty, there was a "Shi Tong", which was the first systematic monograph on historical theory in China, but it did not receive due attention in the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties.

   Until the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Shen accidentally read the manuscript and was deeply shocked by this masterpiece. There are many errors and missing pages in the manuscript. Lu Shen finally found the complete Xishu block edition in the thirteenth year of Jiajing, so he simplified and revised it into "Shi Tong Hui Yao".

  The publication of "Shi Tong Hui Yao" means that the study of Ming Dynasty history began to prosper.

  The prosperity of historiography is also accompanied by the prosperity of practical learning, and the relationship between the two is mutual promotion.

  Practice not only includes mathematics and physics, but also includes traditional classics and history subsets. The Practical School advocates applying what you have learned. The study of classics and history should not be excerpts, but to understand the principles in the classics and history. Based on the classics and history as a mirror, we can better govern the country and reform the society.

   Textual research also revealed its glory at this time.

  The great talent Yang Shen pioneered the trend of textual research.

  And Zhu Minghao in the late Ming Dynasty was a master of textual research, and pioneered many methods of governing history. Strictly speaking, Zhu Minghao is the theoretical founder of textual research in the Qing Dynasty!

  First, Zhu Minghao opposes cursive writing and advocates straight writing. History books should do what they want, and they cannot be obscured for anyone, nor can they deliberately smear, especially when dynasties change.

  Second, draw credible materials, use precise words, and don't write ambiguously. When the facts cannot be ascertained, don't make a conclusion early, and leave it to future generations to continue to study.

third…

  Zhao Han's attitude towards "History of the Ming Dynasty" made Zhu Minghao feel like a spring breeze.

  This emperor did not discredit the previous dynasty or Chongzhen, everything was realistic, Zhu Minghao thought it was great!

   Before the end of the Shangsi holiday, Zhu Minghao was recruited into the palace and saw the emperor fishing in the imperial garden.

   "Minister Zhu Minghao, I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

   "Find a place to sit by yourself."

   There is a small horse next to him. Zhu Minghao sat down on his buttocks, and even picked up the fishing rod to hang the bait and throw it out.

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "You don't see outsiders."

  Zhu Minghao immediately said: "The king regards his ministers as brothers and feet, and the ministers regard the emperor as his heart. Brothers, feet, and heart, how can you see outsiders?"

   "You are flattering, I really didn't see it." Zhao Han couldn't help but smile.

  Zhu Minghao is filial and honest, he does not take concubines, he is not greedy for money, he studies ancient and modern history intensively, so he should be a serious old scholar. But on the contrary, he has a wide range of friends, he can't offend anyone, and he even comes to flatter with his mouth. As long as it's not a matter of principle, even if he doesn't like his friends' words and deeds, he never speaks harshly to each other, and only reminds them with side-effects.

   Facing the emperor's jokes, Zhu Minghao said: "I never say anything against my will."

  Zhao Han said: "Old Wu has asked for illness and resigned many times, and I can't persuade him to stay. From now on, you will be in charge of "Datong Monthly."

  Zhu Minghao said: "Your Majesty, I am managing history. My ambition is to revise all ancient and modern history books."

   "Which historical books need to be revised?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhu Minghao said: "The Book of Song and the Book of Sui are both ridiculed in history, and they are correct. Moreover, the two books are not worthy of the name. They are called "Book of Song", but they are mixed with things about Wu, Jin, Shu, and Wei; It is called "Sui Shu", and it is mixed with Liang, Chen, Qi, and Zhou. If you feel that the history writing is incomplete, you can just annotate the history like Pei Songzhi, and you can't add things in it."

   "What else?" Zhao Han asked.

Zhu Minghao replied: "Another example is the "Book of Southern Qi". In the biography of "Good Government", there are two people who do not need to be recorded, one person who should not be recorded, and two people who are not included. There is an appendix "Xiaoyi" which should be changed into "Good Government "One person. The history books of all dynasties, all these, are too numerous to enumerate, and they can all be revised."

  Zhu Minghao also wanted to delete many "likes" from historians in the history books of the past dynasties. Either the praise is unreasonable, or the praise is commonplace. The only function of these praises is to waste paper and ink and waste readers' time.

  Zhao Han put down his fishing rod and said: "I have also read Qing's treatise on history, and I generally agree with it, but there are some things I don't agree with."

  Zhu Minghao's expression became serious, and he also put down his fishing rod, cupped his hands and said, "Please correct me, Your Majesty."

"Qing's administration of history only focuses on politics and ignores other things," Zhao Han said earnestly. "Food economy, literary rhetoric, Buddhism, Taoism, and religion are also extremely important. With these in history books, hundreds of years later, people passed Only by studying history can we know how much the predecessors bought a catty of rice, what style of writing prevailed in a certain dynasty, and what sects the men and women believed in at that time."

Zhu Minghao said: ""Shihuozhi" is naturally important, but literature, Buddhism and Taoism do not need to be included in history books. History books must be refined. If you want to know the style of writing in the previous dynasty, you can just read the articles of the previous dynasty, or have a special research article. And that Buddhism and Taoism are heretics, not the classics of the country, and the "Shi Laozhi" should not be set up in the history books."

Zhao Han said with a smile: "The history of literature is also history, and the history of religion is also history. In the Zhengjia period of the previous Ming Dynasty, why did the first seven sons suddenly appear? Suddenly there was a need for literary improvement? And when literature was improved, why did Yangming appear? Psychology and Neo-Confucianism?"

  Zhu Minghao was thoughtful, and seemed to have grasped the point, but he didn't pierce through a layer of window paper.

  I didn't want to understand anyway, Zhu Minghao cupped his hands and said, "Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

Zhao Han said: "At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the people's livelihood was sluggish and the economy was sluggish. At the same time, the Yuan Dynasty was shameful for a hundred years, and culture and education were sluggish. Faced with this situation, Ming Taizu and Ming Taizong, their top priority is to expel the Tartars and make the world stable. , is to let the common people eat and clothe themselves warmly. Not to mention the external wars, if you want to be stable internally, you must unify the thoughts of the government and the public, so you need stereotyped selection of scholars, so you need to compile "Four Books" and "Five Classics". Even Mencius Some sentences have been deleted, and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism has naturally been distorted and castrated."

   "That's true." Zhu Minghao nodded.

Zhao Han continued: "This kind of ideological confinement was good for stability in the early Ming Dynasty. On this basis, Emperor Hongwu even came up with a whole set of rules. Canonize certain gods, give grades to gods, and reprimand some gods. He is a false god. Even the monks are not allowed to eat meat anymore. There is another set of village drinking rituals in towns and villages across the country, and what the common people should do is stipulated. At that time, people were calm and business was not prosperous. In bartering, traders mostly buy and sell in neighboring counties, and the transportation across provinces depends entirely on the imperial court. Although Emperor Hongwu had strict rules, the people all over the world liked them."

  Zhu Minghao nodded subconsciously.

Zhao Han went on to say: "But in the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties, these rules are out of date, and the distorted Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is no longer useful. You participated in the compilation of "History of Ming Dynasty", you can go to the Shihuo Zhi at that time, Is it the prosperity of industry and commerce? Is it because a large number of farmers left the countryside and went to the cities to make a living? The food crop system exists in name only, and no one mentions the drinking ceremony in the village.”

   "Indeed." Zhu Minghao agreed.

Zhao Han said: "Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is out of date. The essence is that the thought cannot keep up with the development of the country. People of insight want to break through the shackles of thought, so there is a new philosophy and a new philosophy, and there is a literary improvement of the former seven sons. Before the former seven sons improved literature, scholar-officials wrote articles mourning their dead wives, but they could only write about how gentle and virtuous his wife was before he was alive, and did not dare to write about how loving he and his wife were. Can't you open your mind?"

   "Yes." Zhu Minghao nodded repeatedly.

Zhao Han said: "Furthermore, Lord Yangming not only improved his mind, but also re-established the village treaty. The reason why the village treaty was formulated is because Zhu Hongwu's village drinking ceremony can no longer govern the countryside, and the Ming court's rule over the countryside is out of control. .”

   "Of course!" Zhu Minghao felt more and more interesting.

Zhao Han said again: "Let's say that when the food and clothing are scarce, the ordinary people only think about eating and clothing. When food and clothing are no longer a problem, they just want to eat better and wear better clothes. The style of clothes and the taste of food are all important There are more needs. But with a large population and insufficient arable land in the countryside, farmers will flood into the city. The more farmers move into the city, the stronger the citizen class will be. These citizens also have their own needs. Look at the Taizhou of Xinxue Does the school of thought represent the bourgeoisie?"

   "Of course, this really enlightens me!" Zhu Minghao suddenly realized that many problems were suddenly figured out.

  Zhao Han said: "Politics, military affairs, ideology, literature and art, economy, religion, these things are all important parts of history, and they are indispensable."

  Joo Myung-ho asked, "Why is religion important?"

Zhao Han said: "God's will is unpredictable, people's minds are fixed, and people have to believe in something. Emperor Hongwu himself came out of Mingjiao, and he was deeply afraid of religion. He not only banned Mingjiao, but also banned Buddhism and Taoism. He didn't allow monks to eat Meat, monks and priests are subdivided into occupations. Which monks wear what color clothes, some monks manage temples, some monks are responsible for preaching scriptures, and some monks specialize in practicing rituals. Coupled with the degree system, you can go down the mountain to preach scriptures Buddhist monks can’t keep up with the population increase. So what’s the problem?”

   "Fake monks are rampant." Zhu Minghao said.

Zhao Han nodded: "It's like during the Wanli period, the emperor didn't allow the replacement of officials, and half of the counties and counties in the country didn't have chief officials to govern. This place lacks power, and it has its own powerful to occupy it. Similarly, if there are not enough monks and priests who can teach scriptures, then there are False monks and false Taoists fill in. These false monks and Taoists are nothing more than making money. But it’s okay just to make money, because they are afraid that their ambitions will expand. During the Hongzheng period, the people were miserable. The more miserable the people, the more religious believers. The Tao promises various benefits, and the suffering people will believe in it.”

   "White Lotus Sect?" Zhu Minghao exclaimed.

   "Not only the White Lotus Sect, but all kinds of heresies," Zhao Han said, "From the religious situation in a certain period, we can get a glimpse of whether the politics at that time were clear, and speculate whether the people at that time were happy or not."

  Zhu Minghao stood up abruptly, and saluted the emperor again, but this time it was Xing's disciple salute: "Your Majesty studies ancient and modern times, and if you talk about history, you will never be as good as one!"

  Zhao Han said: "Since you want to manage history, then continue to manage it. "Datong Monthly" can also be managed. The specific affairs are handled by the deputy. You are only responsible for reviewing important articles."

   "The minister leads the decree!"

  What Zhu Minghao is thinking now is to hurry home and write a thesis, combine what the emperor just said with his own historical research, and reformulate the future historical research methods.

  (end of this chapter)