back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 357 Future Vision
Xu Chongguang was not interested in such imagination.All he cares about is to grab more power in his official career, so as to realize what he thinks society should be like in his heart.What kind of society is that? In "Book of Rites · Li Yun", there is a passage that can summarize Xu Chongguang's ideal: "The journey of the great way, the world is for the public, the selection of the virtuous and the capable, the trustworthiness and the harmony. The old man is not only kissing his relatives, not only his son. Let the old have their end, the strong will be used, and the young will have their strengths. The widowed, widowed, lonely, lonely, and invalids will all be supported. Men will have a share, and women will return. Goods are abandoned on the ground, and there is no need to hide them in Self; strength and evil do not come from the body, and there is no need to do it for oneself. It is because they do not prosper when they conspire against others, and do not engage in thieves and thieves, so they do not shut themselves up outside, which is called Great Harmony.”

In other words, the society that Xu Chongguang wants to realize is the Datong society mentioned in the "Book of Rites: Li Yun", which is also the appearance of the ancient society described by the saints.Unfortunately, this first item alone is impossible. "The world is the public, and the virtuous and capable are selected." Even in later generations, it is impossible to hold a national election. In this era when the illiteracy rate is as high as [-]%, isn't the national election manipulated by a few people?
"Don't kiss your parents alone, don't only kiss your sons and sons", it means that everyone can extend their care for their parents and children to other people, so that the whole society can be as close as one family. "Old will end, strong will be useful, and young will be strong" is to make appropriate arrangements for people of all ages.The implementation of life security for the five types of people who are "reserved, widowed, lonely, lonely, and disabled" fully reflects the care of the whole society.Just imagine, human nature is mostly selfish, how could it be possible to do this!

In addition, Datong society also said that everyone can live and work in peace and contentment, make the best use of goods, and make the best use of people.In this era of underdeveloped transportation, it is destined to be impossible.But Xu Chongguang believed what the ancient sages said, and tried his best to realize the ideal in his heart.Fortunately, he didn't have some literati who didn't eat five grains. After reading Mencius's remarks, they regarded them as classics and wanted to restore the well field system.If the well field system is really restored, it will be no wonder that the landlords of the world don't tear Xu Chongguang from his position as the chief minister of the cabinet!
Xu Chongguang's ideal is beautiful, but the reality is cruel.The standard of this Datong society, even after a thousand years, is a high-level society.This is almost the same as Marx's socialism, but there is only theory, no practical method, so why should we enter Datong society?Marx said that society must eliminate private ownership of the means of production after the productive forces have developed greatly, and establish a society with no class system, no exploitation, no oppression, and realize the self-liberation of human beings. It is also a society of socialized collective production. In society, people do what they can and get what they need.With Dashun's level of productivity, even if it doesn't take detours, it will take at least a thousand years before it can be barely realized. It can be said that Xu Chongguang's ideal is a delusion.

Lu Chengqi was much more pragmatic, and the biggest problem he faced now was the threat of nomads.During the Little Ice Age, the nomadic people lived extremely hard in the winter on the northern grasslands.As a result, the survival rate of children born in winter is less than ten percent.Compared with the icy and snowy grassland, the Central Plains is warm and rich. After the nomads learned about it through the merchants they discussed, in order to survive, they always thought about invading the Central Plains.This is also the reason why nomads and farming peoples are constantly in conflict. One is for survival and the other is for protecting their homeland. In an era when farming peoples are still dominated by the landlord class, the two civilizations are destined not to coexist peacefully.

The destruction of the Song and Ming dynasties was not so much the defeat of a high-level civilization by a low-level civilization, but rather a blow to the farming nation by the nomads in order to survive.However, there are many internal contradictions among the farming nations, and they are fighting each other for their own interests.On the one hand, all the people are united in wanting to invade with all their might, on the other hand, they have their own ulterior motives and refuse to defend the enemy with all their strength, making compromises everywhere.Comparing the two phases, it is clear at a glance which is higher and which is lower.

In order to change the destiny, there is no other way but to conquer the nomads in advance.If you want to conquer a nation whose force is stronger than your own, you need to continuously evolve your own force and eventually overwhelm your opponent.Although Mencius said, "If you enter, you will have no family, and if you leave, you will be invincible to foreign patients, and the country will perish." But this is a matter of life and death. If the nomads are not defeated, the farming people will be invaded. A little wiggle room.

From this point of view, Xu Chongguang's ideal and Lu Chengqi's ideal are incompatible.And the two people's cognition of the world is also far apart, and they are no longer on the same channel. In other words, no matter how far-sighted Xu Chongguang is, he also has his historical limitations.Therefore, with Lu Chengqi on the throne for a day, Xu Chongguang's ideal cannot be realized, even though it was impossible to realize in the first place.

Lu Chengqi talked about his vision of the future with great interest, factories rising from the ground one by one, farmers, workers, and businessmen coexisting peacefully, and jointly building a prosperous Dashun.The soldiers defend their homes and the country, and the officials do practical things for the court and the people...

Xu Chongguang was very disdainful when he heard that this "future" was like a fairy tale to him, thinking that it was just a child's naive fantasy.In his cognition, if craftsmen and merchants gain status, the whole world will be in chaos, so what is there to talk about "living and working in peace and contentment"!
However, Xu Chongguang finally has some political savvy, no matter how outrageous Lu Chengqi's "fantasy" is, he will support it openly and start a new one secretly.The way to be an official is to obey the positive and violate the negative.Human nature is old and mature. Xu Chongguang has been in the officialdom for many years. Although he doesn't often use it, he is not unfamiliar with how to please his boss. At least Lu Chengqi, who is still inexperienced, can't see it.

In this conversation with the little emperor, you can delete the "future" in your mind, just remember the financial plan that the little emperor said.Sometimes Xu Chongguang admired the little emperor for having so many ideas at such a young age.Moreover, these novel ideas have certain feasibility.Take this financial plan as an example, it is very useful for the expenditure of the national treasury.

After explaining his vision for the future for a long time, Lu Chengqi also felt thirsty. After taking a sip of the tea, he continued: "Xu Qing, I have said so much, and it can't be done in a short while. But the financial The plan must be made as soon as possible, and I have to look it over and think over it several times before it can be implemented."

Xu Chongguang felt fortunate that the little emperor had become so pragmatic since.Confucius said, "First act on what you say, and then follow it." In Lu Chengqi's own understanding, it means "seek truth from facts," practice first, and then speak out.

After all, Xu Chongguang was thinking of Dashun. Lu Chengqi had such an attitude, which was in line with the saying of a sage, so he was naturally willing to obey orders.Lu Chengqi asked again if he had any other important matters, and Xu Chongguang said that he had nothing for the time being, so he left the Chui Gong Hall.

(End of this chapter)