Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 405 Zhu Biao's Transformation

"Brother, you?" Zhu Su looked at his elder brother Zhu Biao in surprise.

"You are guessing, you and Xiongying in 'history' were also given by civil officials..."

"Fifth Brother. You once told me that as a prince, you should put 'the interests of the country as the first priority'." Zhu Biao did not answer directly, but poured himself a cup of tea.

"Brother, the more I think about this sentence, the more interesting it becomes."

"Before, I was taught by the gentlemen that I only knew that to be a benevolent king, I need to respect Confucianism and follow the rules. If I want to be benevolent, filial, and righteous, then the world will naturally rule."

"But later Dad asked me to watch him govern the country, and I found that the methods he used were quite cruel and inconsistent with the scriptures taught by the masters. Dad is the founder of the country, so it is not unknown. It's completely different from what the master said, and I often don't think about it, big brother."

Zhu Su nodded and continued to listen to Zhu Biao's story.Old Zhu was busy conquering the world in the past years, and his own cultural level was not high, so he spent a lot of effort to invite many world-famous Confucianism to teach Zhu Biao.But how can those great Confucians govern the country?What they will do is just empty-handed bragging about "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom" and "teaching people with virtue".

As an emperor, Lao Zhu was decisive and ruled the world.The Confucian "benevolent monarch" standard that Zhu Biao was indoctrinated was naturally far from that of a hero like Lao Zhu.

Zhu Biao drank the tea soup with his neck up, and then said: "This matter has troubled me for several years. I asked my master, but my master kept silent, and only said that I should be a benevolent king in the future; I asked my father, and my father couldn't explain it. He only told me to be an emperor. It’s not just benevolence and righteousness. But how to balance it, I still don’t understand. It wasn’t until you told Brother Wei that the national interest should be the first priority, that Brother Wei found a criterion.”

"There is nothing wrong with being a benevolent king. If you are a benevolent king, the world will return to you, and the people will naturally live in peace. But there is nothing wrong with being cruel like your father. Being a king is not just about benevolence and righteousness. Sometimes you should use some thunder As long as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for the country, even if the monarch is arbitrary, it is not impossible."

"Good!" Zhu Biao said these words, and Zhu Su stood up involuntarily.He adjusted the sleeves of his robe a little, and bowed straight to Zhu Biao: "His Royal Highness has realized something, my brother congratulates His Royal Highness, and congratulates Daming!"

Zhu Su couldn't help being unmoved.Zhu Biao is the future of Ming Dynasty, and his change of mind can bring about earth-shaking changes to the Ming court and even the entire history of China.Although Zhu Biao in history was considered a qualified successor, his ruling philosophy actually conflicted with Lao Zhu.

According to historical records, Zhu Biao "every time he wanted to implement a policy of leniency and ease for the people, but in the end it was difficult to follow the way because he did not agree with the emperor."It can be seen that Zhu Biao was deeply influenced by Confucianism, especially Neo Confucianism.

But now, Zhu Biao has a complete understanding, and has a criterion that is not based on the moral standards of Confucianism, but based on the interests of the country.A successor who puts the interests of the country first and can abandon the standards of benevolent and righteous monarchs in books is undoubtedly excellent news for him, Zhu Su, and even for the future of Ming Dynasty.

At least, Zhu Su didn't have to worry that he would be opposed by the eldest brother because he encouraged Lao Zhu to expand his territory because it didn't conform to the traditional Confucian concept.

"Why are you so famous all of a sudden?" Zhu Biao pulled Zhu Su to sit down. "Brother can figure out the joints, but I still rely on you to solve the confusion. If not, even if he succeeds in the future, he may just be another Jianwen and Chongzhen." He shook his head and smiled wryly.

Emperor Jianwen listened to the ministers and made "returning to the past", and finally made Jingnan's big basket; Chongzhen was fooled into a lame by the Donglin Party, and made the so-called "Zongzheng Yingchao" but it was the last one for Daming Grave soil.With these two painful lessons, as well as Lao Zhu's distrust of civil servants from beginning to end, Zhu Biao had to reflect on his previous over-admiration of these moral gentlemen.

"It's farther away." Zhu Biao smiled embarrassedly. "Now let's talk about those civil servants. The emperor should put the interests of the country first, and I will not know about this matter. So I began to think about it. Since the emperor should use this as the criterion, what should the literati's criterion be? "

"As Heng Qu said in four sentences, do you establish your heart for the world, establish your life for the people, inherit your knowledge for the past, and create peace for all generations?"

"Oh." Zhu Su snorted. "If this is the case, then after more than 200 years when the Qing Dynasty enters the customs, there will be no so-called cold water and itchy scalp."

"Not bad." Zhu Biao nodded. "Although the four sentences of Hengqu sound refreshing, but for my brother, most literati can't do it."

"These four sentences are just to cover up those people's faults and make them look good. It is not the real criterion in the hearts of literati."

Hengqu's four sentences are famous all over the world. If you randomly pull a Confucian student from the street and ask him why he studies Confucianism, [-]% of the answers will be these four sentences.

Now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually said that these four sentences are just something that most literati use to cover up their shame.If these words are heard by others, I am afraid that the elder brother Zhu Biao will lose the hearts of the scholars in the world in an instant.

However, Zhu Su, who was the only one present at this time, nodded his head and couldn't agree more.

"Brother looked at the history, summed up the actions of the officials in the current dynasty, and discussed with my father about the future of my Ming Dynasty. Finally, I think that the criterion hidden by the literati under the fig leaf is actually: 'The world will be governed by the arch'." Zhu Biao continue.

"That is to say, the emperor hangs his bow, and the civil servants rule the country. This is their real goal."

"Therefore, Huaixi was powerful, and they huddled together to deal with Huaixi; the vassal king was powerful, and they urged the king to deal with the vassal king; the emperor favored martial arts, and they made accidents and set up a new lord; the inner eunuch was monopolized, and they deceived the new lord and cut him off..."

"Its ultimate goal, that is, the principle of its actions, has always been to achieve the so-called 'government and rule of the world'. This is the righteousness in the hearts of civil officials. Even if they use some shady methods for it, they are justified."

"Fifth brother thought it was a brother's words, don't you?" Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Su with burning eyes.

"Brother's advice." Zhu Su cupped his hands.In fact, he felt that Zhu Biao was too polite. To put it bluntly, what civil servants want is "power."They are not satisfied with "representing the emperor's herdsmen", but want to take away the power from the emperor all the time. The emperor does nothing, "hangs down" with his hands tied, and hands over the world to the civil officials. This emperor is naturally a benevolent emperor. .

On the contrary, it is "inhumane" and "tyrant", which is more disgusting to civil servants than a faint king.

What they want is an obedient emperor, no matter how bad it is, a foolish one will do.The most uncomfortable thing is that Lao Zhu is so difficult to fool and has a strong desire for power. He is still the founding king.

Let them wait until after the Tumu Fortress Change, the Zhu family's heritage for several generations was completely wiped out by that prodigal son, and only then did they find the dawn of "the world will be ruled by the arch".

"How did the elder brother think of this festival?" Zhu Su asked curiously.

"Speaking of it, it can be regarded as caring and chaos. In fact, it is because of Xiongying." Zhu Biao shook his head and smiled.

"Since Xiongying was born, I have been a brother all the time, and I am no longer worried about the 'early death' you mentioned."

"I was just thinking about my congenital deficiencies. But suddenly one day, my brother suddenly blessed my soul."

"Thinking about the 'early death' of heroes in history, would it be the same reason as Wu Zong and Xi Zong?"

(End of this chapter)