My father is Jiajing

Chapter 536: I have a great scholar to argue for me
Creating rules is creating power.

It has been like this since ancient times!
Whether it is Catholicism and Islam, which are based on theocracy, or Confucianism and Legalism, which are based on secular power.

Their development over thousands of years has been to take advantage of the uniqueness of their location and gain more and greater power by creating and interpreting rules time and time again.

Now Zhu Zaigui has almost broken this layer of window paper.

Naturally, none of the people present, such as Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui, etc., were stupid.

They understood what Zhu Zaigui's ultimate meaning was.

What Zhu Zaigui meant was to give up some of the responsibilities that now seemed to belong to him, and then use these abandoned responsibilities to create benefits while also creating new rules and deriving new power.

As long as the right to interpret this rule still belongs to the court, then the power derived from it will naturally belong to the court.

Since power belongs to the imperial court, most of the benefits created by the responsibilities that were previously given up will naturally belong to the imperial court.

In this way, not only can some responsibilities that the court could not afford be solved, but new financial sources can also be created for the court. This is a win-win situation.

Of course, the basis for being able to do this, in addition to innovative thinking, is that social productivity cannot be weak.

Otherwise, if you only have ideas but no basis for implementation, everything will be in vain.

Now, after the Huazhou Land Administration, the policy and financial power released by the imperial court and the Northern Construction Bank has already created a large number of large businesses that can produce cement.

They could provide a steady supply of building materials for the future construction of new hardened cement roads in the Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Zaigui was able to think of giving up some of the responsibilities that once belonged to the court and creating rules for charging for road construction to allow more wealthy and capable people to participate.

He only needs to create regulatory rules on this basis, and use administrative means to bring the profits earned by these people back to the court's financial pool in a fair and open manner.

With such a benefit in mind, who among the six ministries of the cabinet and other officials of the court would be so foolish as to refuse it?

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui almost doesn't need to say anything more. Some smart and far-sighted bureaucrats will use this as a basis to justify Zhu Zaigui's policies and practices, and emphasize the legitimacy and importance of doing so.

In this situation, we can use a classic saying of Nurhaci from the TV series "The Secret History of Taizu": There are always great scholars who can debate the scriptures for me!
Although this sentence sounds rough, it is an indisputable fact.

From this we can see that human nature is something that exists today, whether in ancient times or today.

In fact, they all have something in common.

Nurhaci in the TV series said this when entering the Central Plains, although Zhu Zaigui did not say it explicitly now.

However, based on the current development of the situation and the subsequent presentation of benefits, this sentence will naturally become a vivid portrayal of the subsequent promotion of the construction of toll-paid hardened roads across the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Zaigui picked up the volume of "Yongle Encyclopedia" on the stone table again, and he looked up at Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui and others.

"Do you understand now?"

When Zhu Zaigui asked this question, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui bowed together and said, "Your Majesty, we are ashamed to be inferior to you."

Zhu Zaigui sighed again and put down the "Yongle Encyclopedia" he had just picked up.

Zhu Zaigui said: "Since the Qin Shihuang, whether it was the later Han Dynasty, Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Southern and Northern Dynasties, or the later Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, and even the current dynasty, they have always been doing one thing, that is, constantly strengthening the central authority of the court."

"And the reason for this is to ensure that the imperial court's decrees can be implemented unimpeded throughout the country. However, the world is so vast, and the imperial court is only composed of a few government offices. We can't expect you or me and Your Majesty to sit in the capital and rack our brains to come up with all the policies that will benefit the people of the world. But when they are announced to the lower levels, it is inevitable that the policies will go astray, or they will be secretly disobeyed, or simply turned a blind eye and turn a deaf ear to them."

"Some of them even explained to the court their actions of not following the court's orders, using an attitude that the court did not understand the local situation. And we in the court, seeing their responses, even if we issue an imperial decree and send an imperial censor to investigate the situation, the final result will not be much better."

"So, if we want to change this situation, the court must find a way to learn about the information and problems in various places as quickly as possible. In this way, the court can formulate specific solutions based on the specific problems they mentioned. This will prevent some officials from doing nothing or pretending to obey the will of the court, and using the power granted by the court to do whatever they want and oppress the people."

"Therefore, in order to achieve this effect, the court must develop a faster way of communicating information. Therefore, building hardened roads that can withstand wind and rain is naturally the best choice at the moment. As long as these roads are built, whether the court wants to issue new policies or decrees to the local areas, or the local areas want to send some information to the court, they can be delivered faster and in a shorter time than before."

"And these faster release times and the more information that can be transmitted are also a guarantee for the court's power to be more centralized! Instead of having problems happen and the local areas in chaos, the court still has no idea what is going on."

"In this way, even if the power is centralized, the court will look terribly stupid. Those treacherous officials who are good at inciting people and those corrupt officials who wantonly exploit the people will take advantage of the court's weaknesses and do things that harm the interests of the court and the people of the world."

"So in order for the court to have a faster response capability, these new roads, like blood vessels, must be built in the future no matter how much it costs or how long it takes."

"And with the emergence of other technologies and inventions, there may be more such rules and powers in the future, waiting for us to create. By then, what the court lacks will no longer be silver, but more and more resources and benefits that cannot be bought with silver."

"The direction that the court needs to govern is no longer to let the people work in the fields forever. Instead, it needs to turn to the ideal governance that Confucius hoped for, that is, a world of great harmony and a well-off people."

"However, to achieve this goal, we still have a long way to go, and there will be many difficulties and obstacles to overcome. Here, I hope that the three of you can be fearless and join me on this road."

After hearing what Zhu Zaigui said, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui were all shocked.

They were all extremely shocked in their hearts. They had never expected that Zhu Zaigui before them not only had such profound insights, but also had such admirable ideals and aspirations.

If what Zhu Zaigui said is really possible in the future, with the emergence of various new things in the future, the direction of the court's governance will undergo a qualitative change.

Then, wouldn't the world of great harmony that the ancient sages and saints had been looking forward to be ushered in by their generation?

Who wouldn’t feel excited and yearning when thinking about the fact that they will become the person who draws the curtain of this future world of great harmony?
Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui bowed deeply and solemnly to Zhu Zaigui, and replied in an extremely firm tone: "I am willing to follow Your Majesty and become fellow travelers!" Zhu Zaigui looked at Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui who suddenly became so serious, and couldn't help laughing.

I didn't expect that just a few words of emotion from me would cause such reactions from Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui and others.

It seems that even people with strong determination like Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui would fall for the empty promises.

So sometimes we need to draw more big pictures like this that can inspire people and boost morale.

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Okay, okay, if three gentlemen are willing to go with me, then no matter how long or difficult the road is, I will move forward courageously!"

After saying these words, Zhu Zaigui was finally ready to talk about something serious.

After all, drawing cakes is just drawing cakes. It is not very practical to use it to do things and govern the country.

So, after the pie was drawn, Zhu Zaigui had to say something serious to Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui.

Zhu Zaigui asked, "How is Lord Yan doing recently?"

Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui looked at each other, and then Zhang Juzheng replied: "I heard that Lord Yan has been packing his luggage to return home these days, and he will probably leave in the next few days."

Zhu Zaigui nodded and said, "Okay, when Lord Yan really leaves the capital and returns to his hometown, I will send someone to see him off. By then, I will also settle Yan Shifan's case. This will also allow Lord Yan to return home with peace of mind."

Zhang Juzheng bowed and said, "Your Majesty is kind and benevolent. Elder Yan has no regrets in his life for receiving such courtesy from you."

Zhu Zaigui chuckled and said, "Whether he has any regrets or not, I don't know. But after he's gone, I'll only be busier. When he was alive, although everyone in the court was unhappy with the Yan Party, without the so-called Yan Party, there wouldn't be the peace of the past twenty years."

"Now that Yan Song is gone and Yan Shifan has been arrested, the Yan Party in your eyes should be considered to have fallen, right? So during this period of time, are you and the people around you very excited?"

When Zhu Zaigui asked this question, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Hai Rui and others all looked embarrassed.

During this period, people in the government and the country were indeed very excited. It seemed that since Yan Song had lost power and Yan Shifan had been arrested, they all thought that the day would dawn.

But if you think about it more carefully, when does it take for the sky to be considered bright?

Do they need to arrest all the members of the Yan Party except them and let them fill the vacant positions, so that the whole Ming Dynasty can be inspired and the world can become clear?

It seems that such ideas and theories are not valid.

Therefore, the embarrassment of Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui was obvious to the naked eye.

Zhu Zaigui continued, "In fact, in my eyes, there is no such thing as a strict party or a clean party. In my eyes, there are only two kinds of people. One is a useful person, and the other is a useless person."

"If you are not a useful person, even if you are an old man from Prince Yu's Mansion and a teacher who taught me, I will not use you."

"Therefore, I hope that the three gentlemen can adjust their mindsets, set an example, and not get too close to those who only talk big and think they are the so-called pure stream."

"In my opinion, if there are one or two such people, they are saints, but if there are too many, they are just flies. A bunch of flies buzzing around and think they can govern the world? Isn't this a joke?"

After hearing this, Gao Gong and the other two nodded in agreement.

Because as people who do things, they also hate these "flies" who can only talk big and find fault with everything from the bottom of their hearts.

In their view, these people are of little real help except for blaming the people who do the work for the problems that arise from it.

Now, in front of Zhu Zaigui, when Zhu Zaigui said so bluntly that these people were just flies, Gao Gong and the others actually felt secretly happy.

I feel like I have found a soulmate.

So the three of them also agreed and replied: "Your Majesty is right."

Zhu Zaigui laughed again, "Okay, okay, let's not talk about these people. It's meaningless to talk about them. I heard that Liubiju's business has plummeted recently. Everyone is afraid of getting into trouble by going to Liubiju at this time, right?"

"Didn't they see that there was my seal on this new plaque? How ridiculous! These little tricks of self-preservation are really ridiculous. Am I also an accomplice of Lord Yan?"

Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui quickly replied: "Your Highness is Your Highness. You are not anyone's accomplice! People outside think this way because they don't understand Your Highness's painstaking efforts. They are short-sighted and cannot see the deep meaning of this matter. I hope Your Highness will not take it to heart."

Zhu Zaigui said, "No! I just want to keep it in my heart. There must be an explanation for this matter to purify these irrelevant rumors today. Otherwise, these people will use their few little cleverness to calculate the gains and losses and advantages and disadvantages of this matter, and won't they let the rumors go unchecked?"

"So, I want to respond to this matter in an upright manner, so that those people who are not very smart and like to have wild imaginations will know that there are no such conspiracies and calculations in this world."

Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui bowed again after hearing this, "Your Majesty is wise, we understand."

Zhu Zaigui hummed, then looked at Hai Rui and said, "Mr. Hai, I'll leave this matter to you. Everyone knows that you and Yan Shifan have a grudge against each other. If you handle this matter, I'm sure you can eliminate the rumors to the greatest extent. At the same time, it will also allow the world to see your fair attitude of judging the facts rather than the people. And this is very important to both you and me!"

Hai Rui immediately bowed, "I obey your command! I will definitely clear up the rumors and make it clear to the people!"

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(End of this chapter)