My father is Jiajing

Chapter 533: The Political Theory of Grand Narratives

During the period of time he served as regent in the Wenhua Palace, although Zhu Zaigui did not have a very in-depth understanding of state affairs, he discovered a major problem in the Ming Dynasty's politics.

After the reign of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Xuanzong, and after the Battle of Tumu, the politics of the Ming Dynasty gradually began to become conservative.

Whether it was the emperor or the officials, what they had done over the past hundred years was actually to patch the new political model formed after the Battle of Tumu.

Even though there were the various efforts of Emperor Chenghua and Emperor Hongzhi, as well as the hard work of the old Taoist priest in the first twenty years, it seemed that they were all working to revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

They all wanted to become a capable ruler who could revive the Ming Dynasty, but no matter whether it was Emperor Chenghua or Emperor Hongzhi, no matter how hard they tried, even if they worked themselves to death, the final results were minimal. They could only barely maintain the Ming Dynasty, a century-old ship, from capsizing during their time at the helm.

However, this century-old ship did not receive any new life because of their efforts. Therefore, even the extremely wise old Taoist priest Jiajing, who made many measures and policies to eliminate the pros and cons in the first 20 years of his rule, still had little effect.

It was still unable to prevent the aging and decay of the century-old Ming Dynasty, so during the last twenty years of his rule, Emperor Jiajing gradually began to lay low, hoping to escape reality by cultivating immortals.

Anyway, in his opinion, no matter how hard he tries, the result won't be too bad in the short term, although it won't get better either.

Therefore, after having such an understanding and mentality, it would be a bit too much to expect Emperor Jiajing to work as hard and diligently as he did in the previous twenty years.

After all, no matter how smart Emperor Jiajing was, or how powerful his theories on cultivating immortals were, he was just a human being, not an immortal.

As for a person, if after working hard, there is no reward or expected gain, and you still want this person to continue working hard, it is indeed a bit presumptuous.

And this is the mentality after twenty years of hard work.

This shows that the old Taoist priest became obsessed with cultivating immortals in the middle and late stages of his rule, no longer thinking about working hard to reform and become a wise ruler. This was also a helpless choice.

Now Zhu Zaigui began to act as regent in the Wenhua Palace, and he also began to come into contact with first-hand reports from the cabinet, the six ministries, other central government offices, or from the ground.

It was only after reading these first-hand reports and the face-to-face conversations between the central government ministers and provincial governors that Zhu Zaigui suddenly realized.

It turns out that at this moment in the Ming Dynasty politics there was a lack of a political idea called "grand narrative".

So in this situation, whether it is the emperor, court officials, or local officials, when they handle government affairs, they are like a barefoot doctor with low skills.

He only knows how to treat the symptoms, and has no way of expanding his vision and thinking beyond the chess game to look at the problems of the Ming Dynasty as a whole.

Of course, it may not be that they don't want to, but that the long-term stable politics has made them develop a "conservative" mindset.

They thought that they could solve the problems of the Ming Dynasty by copying the experience of their predecessors.

But if the experience of our predecessors really worked, then there would be no changes of dynasties in this world.

Therefore, no matter how beautiful the experiences of our predecessors are described in history books, they are nothing more than specific practices at a specific time and can never become "eternal laws."

Therefore, if people today want to achieve results, they must have a certain degree of pioneering thinking, they cannot stick to the old ways, and of course they cannot be greedy for quick success and advance recklessly.

After all, from historical lessons, those emperors or ministers who once wanted to change the status quo through active reforms, except for a very few who were lucky enough to get the expected results.

The vast majority of those who carried out reforms, no matter if they were emperors high above or famous officials who were highly expected, ended up in extremely tragic situations.

It can be seen that reform is obviously not a good word in the context of ancient politics. Whether it is for the emperor or for the ministers who advocate reform, it may be the beginning of their downfall.

Therefore, since Wang Anshi, in the past few hundred years, apart from Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, there were only two other reform-like new policies.

None of the other emperors or ministers dared to take the step of reform.

The reason for this, apart from their fear of the consequences of failure, Zhu Zaigui believed that the biggest reason was that their reforms lacked the political theory provided by the "grand narrative".

You must know that political theory is not just empty slogans, nor can it be established by a few seemingly correct articles.

The establishment of political theory also requires gradually improving and determining a political ideology based on the actual situation and the expected results to be achieved.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui's purpose of keeping Yan Song, Xu Jie and other cabinet members and the six ministers to chat was to try whether he could reach a consensus with these political elites through such conversations.

This made them subconsciously believe that Zhu Zaigui's proposals and ideas were a correct and promising new political approach.

If they had such ideas and awareness, then Zhu Zaigui would take the opportunity of building new roads in the Ming Dynasty to allow these court officials with decision-making and executive powers to develop new political thinking based on this opportunity.

This new political thinking has never been slowly moving towards a political theory that can be relied upon and thought about.

As long as this political theory is established and becomes a new political thinking recognized by both the government and the public, it will be much easier to use this political thinking to break some of the "ancestral systems" or other customary rules that were previously untouchable.

Otherwise, it would be a joke to want to change the current political order of the Ming Dynasty just by relying on Zhu Zaigui's advanced ideas and seemingly powerful power.

You have to know that even for great emperors like the Qin Emperor, Han Emperor Wu, Tang Emperor Taizong and Song Emperor Taizu, if they wanted to turn their thoughts and opinions into the will of a country or an era, they had to pay a huge price to do so.

Otherwise, if they simply rely on the power in their hands and want countless people to follow them to fulfill their ambitions, it can only be said that they are playing a stand-alone game. Except for them, everyone else is an NPC that can be moved by clicking the mouse or keyboard.

But is this possible?

It's obviously impossible.

Human beings are animals with thoughts and selfish desires. If a superior cannot find the greatest common divisor between himself and his subordinates, and just wants to give them orders and tell them to do whatever they want, this is simply unimaginable.

Therefore, if Zhu Zaigui wants to change the current Ming Dynasty, in addition to the advanced technologies he is currently using, he must also create a new political theory and make this new political theory a consensus among people all over the world.

If the majority of them believe that this is right and is developing in the direction of hope, then no matter what Zhu Zaigui wants to do in the future, as long as he applies this set of political theories, it can almost be said that he will be successful.

After Zhu Zaigui finished speaking, he looked at the people present.

He glanced at Yan Song first.

Although Yan Song is now a retired old man, it is not the time to discuss state affairs, so before he really leaves this hall, he still has a certain say and influence. After Yan Song was looked at by Zhu Zaigui, he immediately understood what Zhu Zaigui meant.

Although he did not have the far-reaching idea that Zhu Zaigui would come up with a new political theory such as "grand narrative", he knew that he was able to land safely now, and all this was also Zhu Zaigui's grace.

So when Zhu Zaigui looked at him, no matter what Zhu Zaigui had just said, he would support him unconditionally.

Otherwise, if Zhu Zaigui was angered, the Yan family might end up following Xia Yan's fate.

After all, there is still no definite information about Yan Shifan's case and crime, so there is naturally a lot of room for maneuver in this matter.

Therefore, whether it is for himself to have a peaceful life for eternity, or for the Yan family to have incense and hope passed on after him.

Yan Song had to show his full support for Zhu Zaigui at this time.

Yan Song moved slightly and was about to stand up, and his action naturally attracted everyone present.

Zhu Zaigui looked at his action, a satisfied smile appeared on his lips, and he stretched out his hand again and said, "Lord Yan, just sit down and talk. There is no need to stand up and back again."

Yan Song sat down again, then bowed to Zhu Zaigui again, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Then Yan Song began to speak: "Your Highness just mentioned the matter of the new road. I think this should be the most important national policy in the future."

"If this road is really as the prince said, it will not only connect the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, but also the grasslands, Hetao, Hami and other places. Then the future martial arts and kingly way of our Ming Dynasty will be extended to all parts of the world along this road."

"The places that the imperial court had to control with a soft policy can now be brought under the governance of the officials. The places that the imperial court had no control over before can also be controlled by the imperial power in the future.

"Those scoundrels who once looked down upon the might of our great Ming army will bow down in devotion and respect our great Ming as the supreme empire when this road is paved to their doorsteps."

"So, I think the new Beijing-Tianjin road is not only the beginning of the prosperous Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, but also the beginning of the Ming Dynasty surpassing the Han and Tang dynasties and transcending the past and the present. I am fortunate to be able to witness the beginning of this prosperous era at the dawn of this era, which is also my supreme honor!"

Yan Song spoke so passionately that people couldn't help but look sideways for a moment, as if Yan Song had become a stranger to them.

You have to know that in their impression, Yan Song had never been in such a state before.

In their impression, Yan Song seemed to have always been in a state between "absent-minded" and "dozing off", although no one dared to believe that Yan Song was "absent-minded" and "dozing off".

But no one would ever think that a Yan Song like him would be so passionate and speak such inspiring and "bottomless" flattering words in front of such high-ranking officials of the court.

After all, Yan Song was once the prime minister of the cabinet and a powerful official who held power in the cabinet for 10 to 20 years.

But now, this powerful official who was about to step down actually showed such an abstract and passionate attitude towards Prince Yu.

For a moment, people were really shocked and couldn't figure out what tricks this old man was planning.

However, this idea also seemed absurd to everyone present.

Because they all knew that no matter how loyal Yan Song appeared to be now, he would not have the chance to return to the center.

Therefore, at this moment, after a brief moment of astonishment, the people present could not help but feel emotion and awe for Zhu Zaigui.

They also didn't expect that such a young Prince Yu, who had just officially taken over as regent for a short time, had already displayed such political means.

To some of the older ministers, this scene was very similar to what happened forty years ago when the young Jiajing captured Yang Ting and Yang Shen, father and son, when he first arrived in the capital.

Yang Tinghe and his son Yang Shen at that time were very different from Yan Song and Yan Shifan, father and son today.

However, in this short period of time, Zhu Zaigui not only arrested Yan Shifan and interrogated him, but also asked Yan Song to come to the Wenhua Hall in person to show his loyalty to him.

From ancient times to the present, which king has ever achieved this?
So at this moment, the officials in the Wenhua Hall also had mixed feelings. On the one hand, they lamented that the next emperor of the Ming Dynasty was also a powerful emperor who was no less powerful than Emperor Jiajing.
At the same time, he sighed that he seemed to be quite lucky, as if he had caught up with a wave of positive and energetic times in the Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Yan Song's words, Xu Jie reacted very quickly.

Xu Jie didn't even have time to think deeply about why Yan Song suddenly became so shameless and expressed his loyalty to Zhu Zaigui in such a flattering manner.

But he understood that at this time, he must not fall behind.

Because he also knew very well that the present and future of the Ming Dynasty began to depend on Zhu Zaigui.

Although the aging Emperor Jiajing still has his mighty power, time is no longer on his side. God knows what the consequences will be if he continues to practice Taoism like this?

Therefore, whether for his present or for his future, Xu Jie must first express his great recognition and loyalty to what Zhu Zaigui is thinking.

Xu Jie followed Yan Song and said, "Every word that Lord Yan said just now is very insightful. The prince ordered Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui to manage the Beijing Special District, and now he wants to take advantage of the situation to build a new road from Beijing to Tianjin, setting a precedent for the prosperity of the world. Lord Yan and I share the same sentiments."

"I also believe that if this road is truly successful as expected, it will not only increase the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty, but also allow the Ming Dynasty to connect with the world through this road, connecting places that have never been connected by ancient and modern dynasties. Then, under the protection of the prince and your majesty, the Ming Dynasty will surely prosper again and become a prosperous era that surpasses the Han and Tang Dynasties!"

As soon as Xu Jie finished speaking, everyone else came back to their senses. Li Chunfang, Gao Gong and others were extremely excited.

First of all, they are much younger than Xu Jie and others. Secondly, they are Prince Yu’s loyal team. Prince Yu’s achievements in the future will also be their achievements.

The prosperous era in the future will not only be Prince Yu’s prosperous era, but also their prosperous era!

Who knows, after several years, these paths will really be realized little by little, and become true little by little, and the world will prosper again.

The Ming Dynasty might also imitate the Qilin Pavilion of the Han Dynasty and the Lingyan Pavilion of the Tang Dynasty and build a new building for these loyal ministers who have contributed to the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, leaving behind a good name that will be passed down through the ages!

After all, for people who have achieved their level of officialdom, there are not many other things that can move them except immortal fame.

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Asking for a monthly ticket~~
(End of this chapter)