Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 110: On the Divine Right of Kings, Lao Zhu's Teachings [Please Subscribe]

Liu Kuan stopped and naturally fell behind Zhu Yuanzhang before saying, "Your Majesty knows the answer very well. Why ask this humble minister?"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, "Who told you we know? We don't know!"

Liu Kuan was slightly stunned.

He suspected that Lao Zhu was lying with his eyes open, and he also suspected that Lao Zhu was really in awe of thunder, lightning, gods and ghosts.

But there shouldn't be much of this kind of awe.

If anyone wants to use concepts such as "gods and ghosts" and "God's will" to make Zhu Yuanzhang do something that is detrimental to his family and the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang will definitely kill him.

Even if a ghost or god really appeared and asked Zhu to hand over the Ming Dynasty to the person destined by heaven, Zhu would first try to chop the ghost or god with a knife.

Thinking of this, Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, you just attended a natural science class. I'm sure you've noticed that the scientific path of later generations is different from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism."

"There are no concepts like 'heavenly connection,' 'heaven's will,' 'gods and ghosts,' 'reincarnation,' or 'fate.'"

"As I said in class, those who follow the path of science only believe in what they have observed and verified."

"Specifically speaking, lightning is considered to be just one of the myriad things in the universe, just like the soil and flowers that can be found everywhere, except that its appearance, characteristics, and even its birth and death are more peculiar."

"Thus, whether lightning strikes a person or an object, it is simply following its principles."

"If a person stands on a high place, under a tree, or holds a conductive object such as metal during a thunderstorm, they are more likely to be struck by lightning. This has nothing to do with a person's character or the emperor's actions."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, then turned to Liu Kuan and asked, "Science doesn't talk about 'the interaction between heaven and man', so what about 'the divine right of kings'? How does science view it?"

Liu Kuan's scalp suddenly felt numb.

Although the answer was simple, he didn't dare to say it.

Seeing Liu Kuan's tangled and nervous look, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "It seems that this question is very difficult for you. So, let's go to Fengxian Hall to discuss it."

"I feel awkward no matter where I say it!"

Liu Kuan complained in his heart, but he followed Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao obediently to Fengxian Hall.

After sending away the other people in the main hall and leaving only three people, Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne.

"You've told me so many things that can't be said and shouldn't be said. Now he's my son-in-law, and we're family. It's okay to talk about the divine right of kings."

Since Old Zhu said so, Liu Kuan had no choice but to believe it.

He gathered his thoughts and said thoughtfully, "Your Majesty, in the view of future scientists, both 'the interaction between heaven and man' and 'the divine right of kings' are tools for the ruler to rule over the people."

"Since Dong Zhongshu proposed the concept of 'the interaction between heaven and man', Confucianism has become a religion. Because it can assist the emperor in maintaining his authority, Confucianism has been a prominent school of thought throughout the dynasties."

"However, Dong Zhongshu's theory of 'interaction between heaven and man' was not derived out of thin air. Instead, it was derived from the theory of disasters and anomalies in early Han Confucianism, the concept of heavenly punishment in pre-Qin Mohism, and some Taoist ideas."

"As for the divine right of kings, it appeared even earlier, dating back to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, or even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors."

"And the use of the 'divine right of kings' theory to support monarchical rule is not unique to China, but exists all over the world."

"Therefore, from a scientific point of view, the divine right of kings is nothing more than a phenomenon that is bound to emerge when society develops to a certain level."

Having said this, Liu Kuan stopped for a moment.

Zhu Biao commented, "The divine right of kings is truly a principle that dates back to the Three Dynasties. The Book of Documents states, 'All my people, obey my words. You, a young man from Tai, dare to act like a rebel. You, Xia, have committed many sins, and Heaven has punished you... I will give you a great reward for your sins, which is Heaven's punishment."

"What he said was actually Shang Tang using the name of the Emperor of Heaven to accuse King Jie of Xia of cruelty and guilt. He said that destroying the treacherous Xia and replacing it with the Shang was in accordance with Heaven's will and would bring about the best of things."

After Zhu Biao finished speaking, he felt a little embarrassed when he saw that no one responded to him.

He looked over and found that Liu Kuan had his head down, thinking about something, and Zhu Yuanzhang was also in deep thought.

Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang touched his chin, stared at Liu Kuan and spoke.

"You just said that 'divine right of kings' and 'harmony between heaven and man' are tools to assist monarchs in governing their country. They've been used throughout the ages, which shows how useful they are."

"But there's no such concept in science. If I'm not mistaken, as science continues to develop, it's very likely to completely deny the idea of ​​divine connection and divine right of kings, right?"

"What do you think? In this situation, should we develop science?"

Liu Kuan originally thought that today's "chat" with Lao Zhu would end here.

But after hearing what Lao Zhu said and the last question, he felt he had to say something more.

"Your Majesty, of course."

Zhu Yuanzhang let out a barely perceptible smile and said, "Oh? What do you mean?"

Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "As I said before, many countries in the world have ideas similar to 'divine right of kings', and their purpose is to assist the monarch in ruling. It is an inevitable result of social development."

"However, as society continues to develop, ideas such as 'the divine right of kings' will become outdated and incompatible with society, thus hindering national development and even the monarch's rule, and even conflicting with the monarch's authority."

"For example, starting with Emperor Wu of Han, there have been those who have blamed natural disasters on the prime minister or even the emperor, especially in the latter part of the dynasty."

"Because Your Majesty has abolished the chancellor and returned the power of the chancellor to the emperor, the theory of the connection between heaven and man is even more of a hindrance to the Ming emperor."

At this point, Liu Kuan paused and said, "Your Majesty, do you know how many edicts of apology were issued by Chongzhen during his seventeen years on the throne?"

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor and had no family background in education, he was gifted and knew how to be an emperor.

He knew very well that prestige was extremely important to the emperor, so even if the emperor made a mistake, he could not admit it. At most, he would turn around and make up for it in other ways.

Issuing a self-criticism edict is to publicly admit mistakes to the world, which greatly damages the emperor's dignity.

Therefore, many emperors would never issue a self-criticism edict in their entire lives, and even if they did, one was enough.

For example, Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang.

From what Liu Kuan had said, it was clear that Chongzhen, the emperor who ultimately led to the fall of the Ming Dynasty, had issued more than one self-criticism edict. Sure enough, Liu Kuan pointed and said, "Counting the blood edict he wrote on his inner garment before hanging himself, he issued a total of six, making him the emperor who issued the most self-criticism edicts in history."

Six Paths?!
Zhu Biao, who was standing by, was shocked when he heard this.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat prepared, he was still surprised. He slammed his hand on the table and said, "Stupid! Truly stupid! Issuing six edicts of apology would destroy my authority. No wonder I became the king who lost my country!"

At this time, Liu Kuan added, "If Your Majesty studies the history books of past dynasties, you will find that when the imperial power is weak, powerful ministers or representatives of other interest groups often exploit natural disasters and man-made disasters to use the theory of heaven and man's interaction to form factions and suppress dissidents, and even suppress the imperial power."

"Outside the Ming Dynasty, such things are even more exaggerated. For example, in Europe, there was the Vatican and the Pope, whose authority was higher than that of monarchs of other countries for hundreds of years."

"Even a hundred years later, only a few great monarchs in Europe could challenge the authority of the Holy See and the Pope. Most kings who wanted to ascend the throne had to obtain the approval of the Holy See and be crowned by the Pope."

Old Zhu and Little Zhu were surprised again when they heard this.

"Pope?" Zhu Yuanzhang glared. "Isn't that like the emergence of a common emperor in Buddhism and Taoism, who looms over the ruler?"

"That's right." Liu Kuan nodded. "In fact, when Western religions first emerged, they were also supported by monarchs as tools of rule, just like Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism."

"However, for a long time in the West, nations were constantly at war, and a unified empire could never emerge. As a result, religious power, leveraging divine authority, expanded and overwhelmed the monarchy."

"In this case, it's not just the tools of rule that are hindering the ruler's rule, it's the tools that are devouring the ruler, turning the world upside down."

"As society develops, productivity increases, and the nation grows stronger, the decadent theory of the divine right of kings will inevitably become a greater hindrance to the nation and will sooner or later be consigned to the dustbin of history."

Liu Kuan stopped again here.

Old Zhu and Little Zhu both fell into deep thought.

After about ten breaths, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "If the idea that the king's power is granted by God will eventually be relegated to the trash heap, how will the emperor then maintain his power?"

"There were no real emperors then, so why would there be any need to maintain royal authority?"

Liu Kuan muttered this in his heart, but did not say it out loud.

He said, "I have heard two sayings about the power of the monarch. One is, 'The monarch is like a boat; the people are like water. Water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it.'"

"The second is 'The Son of Heaven shall be the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses.'"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed with a strange color, and he snorted: "You kid actually dared to say such words in front of me, you are really very brave."

Liu Kuan feigned innocence, "Didn't Your Majesty tell me to say that?"

"I told you to say it, so just keep talking. What's wrong with these two sentences?"

Liu Kuan said: "These two sentences show that the essence of monarchical power lies in 'people's hearts' and in 'military power' - the military."

"Thus, in later generations, many great and powerful nations, although they did not have the theory of divine right of kings, relied on science and technology to make their countries prosperous, their people wealthy, and their armies strong."

"Not only will the country be peaceful and the people happy, but we will also be able to deter other countries and eliminate border threats, and even step onto the world stage and dominate the world!"

"World" is a Buddhist term, and Liu Kuan has mentioned the word "global" before, so both Lao Zhu and Xiao Zhu could understand what he said without any difficulty.

Zhu Biao nodded slightly after hearing this.

He had been appointed as regent and participated in state affairs since the tenth year of Hongwu, and it had been four or five years so he had his own experience.

At this time, he felt that using science and technology to enrich the country and strengthen the military was indeed more practical and more effective than the divine right of kings.

Coming back to his senses, Zhu Biao looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang looked calm and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Seeing Lao Zhu like this, Liu Kuan was a little nervous.

"If this fails to convince Old Zhu, I will just live my life carefree as my son-in-law and not worry about the Ming Dynasty for now... After Old Zhu is gone, it won't be too late to try to develop science."

Thinking this in his mind, Liu Kuan was no longer worried.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke up, "What you said does make some sense... Well, let's stop here for today. We won't keep you in the palace for dinner. Go home quickly."

"Wei Chen retire."

After Liu Kuan left Fengxian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao.

"Biao'er, if you can only choose between upholding the divine right of kings and developing science and technology, what will you choose?"

Zhu Biao thought for a moment and said, "Of course, we should choose to develop science and technology."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and asked, "Why?"

Zhu Biao said, "Even if we only count from the pre-Han Dynasty, every dynasty has relied on divine right of kings and the interaction between heaven and man to maintain their rule. Yet, the reigns of their dynasties ranged from three to four hundred years to a few decades, and yet they all perished."

"Some of them were killed by the people's uprising, some were killed by powerful officials' rebellion, or perhaps a combination of both."

"This shows that the divine right of kings and the interaction between heaven and man are not very important in maintaining rule. At least not as important as making the people prosperous and the army strong."

"From what I've learned these days, science and technology can undoubtedly enrich the people and strengthen the military. So, the choice is clear."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded after hearing this, with a look of satisfaction on his face.

Then he said, "I'm glad to see you have such insight. It's worth all my years of careful instruction. However, there's one very important thing you didn't mention, which shows you haven't taken it to heart."

Zhu Biao immediately bowed and said, "I wonder what it is? I would like to ask your Majesty to enlighten me."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked out of the hall, his eyes narrowed as he spoke, "A strong army is certainly important, but what's more important is to control it in your own hands. Remember that?"

"My son, please remember this!"

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)