Ming Dynasty: He was ordered to give lectures in prison, but Lao Zhu eavesdropped and made people nu

Chapter 476 Adapting to the current system is the best system
"First, you need to know one thing."

"In Chinese history, in addition to the changes in imperial power and dynasties, there was also an ideological struggle throughout history."

Lin Che leaned on the chair, changed into a more comfortable position, and went straight to the point: "They tampered with Confucian classics, competed for the final interpretation of Confucius' thoughts, and laid a hidden clue about the feudal dynasty."

"This is the skin you see from the outside!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he couldn't keep up with Lin Che's thoughts for a while:

"What does this mean, tampering with Confucianism?"

"Is it possible that Mr. Lin still wants to rectify the name of Confucianism?"

"Didn't you still dislike Confucianism before?"

"What kind of drama are you singing today?"

In response to Lao Zhu's series of questions, Lin Che waved her hand lightly. This was the most basic principle.

"A real man may do something or not do something. The interests of the country and the nation always come before me."

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could marvel at Lin Che's righteousness, a magnetic voice sounded again: "Besides, it turns out that I also said that I don't comment on Confucian saints, but many things in Confucianism are not bad. What is really wrong is the demonization of Confucianism."

"That is the current Confucianism, the Confucianism after it has been tampered with."

“As the skin of a dynasty, Confucianism’s actual significance is far greater than you think, so if you want to reform, you must start from the skin.”

"The skin that leaks out is what ordinary people see. In fact, it is just like people. If they are born with a good skin, people's first impression will be good, and vice versa."

"Do you know what I mean?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded thoughtfully, vaguely grasping Lin Che's key point. Since he wanted to change, he would make a big change, from the inside out.

Use a method that is acceptable both internally and externally, and only in this way will the effect be the best.

Sort out complicated thoughts.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but take a deep breath and waited quietly for Lin Che to speak.

"I'll talk whatever you want, and you can listen whatever you want. It doesn't matter if you don't understand. I don't intend to let you do these things anyway."

"In traditional agricultural societies, due to low production efficiency and relatively limited information, there is an upper limit to the territory that a single country can rule."

After a pause, Lin Che continued:
"Therefore, in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, even if the emperor's kingdom and the vassal states had an absolute gap in strength, they could only adopt the enfeoffment model, allowing the emperor to enfeoff the land to other princes, and each vassal state to be independent and self-governing. to reduce management pressure.”

"But the problem is that if you want countries to achieve autonomy, you must retain their military power, administrative power, and land management power. You can retain these rights without avoiding the hidden dangers of separatism among vassal states."

"That is to say, what kind of system should be chosen to solve the shortcomings of enfeoffing princes?"

"Well, this is a problem that the sages of the pre-Qin Dynasty faced together."

"Including the subsequent battles between various schools of thought, they were all aimed at solving this problem. At this point, a key figure was introduced, 'Prime Minister Ji Dan of the Western Zhou Dynasty.'"

"After he discovered the shortcomings of the enfeoffment system, he added a set of ritual and music systems based on this model, and formulated different standards and norms of rituals and music according to the hierarchical order of the emperor, princes, ministers, and subjects."

"To put it bluntly, the purpose is to completely cut off the legitimacy of usurping the throne from the entire social system."

"Later, the rites and music collapsed, and naturally there was no way to restrain the various vassal states."

"Adapting to the current system is the best system."

Hear this. Zhu Yuanzhang had an inexplicable feeling of enlightenment.

But he hesitated for a moment, but still refrained from speaking.

"He said that the emperor is the son of God. No matter how powerful your princes are, you cannot usurp the throne or claim to be the emperor, but we have talked about it before."

Lin Che smiled and said: "Morality can often only regulate those who abide by morality."

"The reason why all countries obey Zhou rites is entirely because of the strong strength of the Zhou Dynasty. So when this strength weakened, it would naturally enter the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period."

"During this period, in order to solve the shortcomings of enfeoffment, Confucianism proposed 'denial of self and restoration of propriety' and pursued stability in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, while Mohism advocated 'love for all, non-aggression' in order to solidify the current pattern."

"Unfortunately, obviously neither of these are in line with the interests of the ruling class. In the end, the emergence of Legalism broke the problem of the upper limit of governance territory in traditional agricultural societies."

"So the Qin Dynasty created the system of prefectures and counties, unified writing, unified currency, unified weights and measures, and established the first great unification in Chinese history."

Reaching out to take the water handed over by Zhu Biao, Lin Che took a sip of tea to moisten her throat:
"In your opinion, the First Emperor is called a great unification, but for those vassal states that have lasted for thousands of years, the Qin Dynasty system is the murderer of the destruction of their countries."

"That's why Xiang Yu inherited the enfeoffment after destroying Qin, trying to reverse the course of history. As a result, it ended hastily in less than four years."

"Liu Bang later believed that the problem with the feudal system lay in the identity of the princes and kings, so he liquidated the kings of the opposite sex and distributed the fiefdoms to his descendants."

"The results of it?"

"There was another rebellion among the Seven Kingdoms, which caused the descendants of the Liu surname to kill each other."

"This is the ideological line struggle from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the early Han Dynasty."

Lin Che raised her chin and looked at the worried Zhu Yuanzhang, and smiled: "At this point, Confucianism really begins to take the stage."

"After Liu Bang conquered the country, he rewarded his subordinates based on twenty-level military titles. The highest was called a marquis, and the lowest was called a duke. This duke could get at least 2,500 square meters of homestead, and another 1,500 square meters. acres of fertile land.”

"The people in these fiefdoms are the first batch of noble families!"

"They annexed a large amount of land and evaded taxes, which led to a serious polarization between rich and poor in the country. The national treasury became increasingly empty. There were invasions from the outside by the Huns and hidden dangers from the princes inside. The entire empire was dominated by external forces."

"The Han Dynasty was still in its early stages, but it was already in danger. The whole court was in danger!"

"That's why Dong Zhongshu proposed the 'land restriction system', with the purpose of curbing the development of noble clans. But whether it is fighting against the noble clans or conquering the Huns, and cleaning up the princes, one thing must be guaranteed first."

Lin Che looked sideways at the shocked prince and said happily: "What's the matter? Tell me, don't just listen."

Hear this.

Zhu Biao stood up immediately as a reflex, not daring to show any slightness, and suddenly said: "Yes, the emperor must have absolute rights."

The words have not yet fallen.

"Snapped!"

There was a crisp sound.

Lin Che clasped her hands together and praised, "That's right."

"In the final analysis, only Legalists who advocate centralization can help the emperor solve practical problems."

(End of this chapter)