After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

"The rise and fall of the nation is the responsibility of every citizen."

This phrase first appeared in Gu Yanwu's "Daily Records of Knowledge: The Beginning".

Its background is the Qing army's entry into the pass, a critical period concerning the life and death of the Han people and the imperial court.

The original sentence is: "Those who protect the country are its rulers, ministers, and those who eat meat (the rich and powerful)."

"To protect the world, even the humblest person has a responsibility."

The phrase "eight characters in one sentence" originated from Liang Qichao.

It means that protecting a country's political system from being overthrown is the duty of emperors, generals, and civil and military officials;

The rise and fall of all people and national cultures are in everyone's interest.

Therefore, every ordinary citizen has an inescapable responsibility.

The phrase “seeking advice from all under heaven” can be used together or viewed separately.

The phrase "seeking advice" doesn't need much explanation; the important thing is the word "all under heaven."

Whose world is this?

Looking to future generations, we can answer without hesitation that the world belongs to the common people.

However, in feudal dynasties, especially in the imperial examinations where the court selected virtuous and capable officials, saying such a thing was truly suicidal.

Even with the principle of "the people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important."

You can just take this with a grain of salt here.

When you're under someone's roof, it's best to lower your proud head appropriately.

Of course, couldn't feudal dynasties connect the country with the common people?

No, after all, in every dynasty that changed hands, the leaders who overthrew the old regime and established a new one through uprisings were all ordinary people.

Which company didn't rise to prominence by relying on the power of the people?

That's why there's the saying, "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world, and he who loses the hearts of the people loses the world."

This is parallel to the saying "water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," both meaning that the person who can make you gain the world can also make you lose it.

However, in feudal dynasties, you could say that the prosperity of the country was related to every ordinary citizen, but you couldn't say it too bluntly.

It's still best to speak from the perspective of pledging loyalty and standing on the shoulders of "righteousness," otherwise you'll have to be careful about losing your head.

Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—although scholars and officials were ranked first, their numbers were certainly far smaller than those of farmers, artisans, and merchants.

It is important for those in power to have the support of intellectuals, but if they only have the support of intellectuals and not the support of ordinary people, they cannot go far.

The purpose of seeking advice from all under heaven is to explain from different perspectives and positions—the common people and clans, the people and officials, the majority and the minority—what each person can do for the court.

That's right, it's for the court, for the emperor, even if that's not what they really think.

Although in my heart I thought: if the emperor is benevolent, I will be loyal to the emperor and love the country; if the emperor is licentious and dissolute, I will rise up in rebellion.

However, Confucianism teaches and guides you, as an ambitious young person, as someone who seeks progress, that the foundation of being a good person is to be loyal to the emperor and to love the country.

After all, Confucianism is the best tool for many rulers to assist in their rule.

This is also the root cause of Confucianism's dominance and its suppression of other schools of thought after the "Hundred Schools of Thought Contend."

Loyalty to the emperor and love for one's country is a fundamental principle. Everyone must start from this principle in order to walk on the right path.

Regardless of whether one aspires to become an official or a minister, one should at least demonstrate a fervent patriotism in one's examination answers.

Regarding loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, Jiang Xiaoqi personally compiled many important knowledge points so that his grandfather and others wouldn't fail to flatter him during the exam.

Furthermore, the history of the rise of the Great Zhou emperors shows that they were emperors who knew how to unite the masses.

Even when starting from humble beginnings, they understood the importance of "stockpiling grain, building high walls, and delaying the proclamation of kingship."

To put it bluntly, it means knowing how to "play it safe," which is why, in the chaotic era of the previous dynasty, when heroes vied for supremacy, Emperor Zhao Yong of the Great Zhou Dynasty was able to emerge victorious.

Jiang Xiaoqi also subtly added the history of the founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the examination guide.

In the examination hall, Landlord Jiang searched for the information he needed from the many examination guides he had read, and then he wrote with great inspiration.

Seeking Advice from All Over the World

"If farmers don't work, there will be a shortage of food; if workers don't work, there will be a shortage of jobs; if merchants don't operate, the three treasures will be exhausted; if hunters don't operate, there will be a shortage of wealth."

When resources are scarce, mountains and marshes are left undeveloped. These four things are the foundation of the people's clothing and food.

Larger fields yield more resources, smaller fields yield less. This benefits the nation above and enriches individual families below.

The difference between rich and poor cannot be taken away or given away, but the skillful have more than enough, while the clumsy lack enough.

Therefore, Taigong Wang was enfeoffed in Yingqiu. The land was saline and the population was small. So Taigong encouraged the women to do handicrafts, which were highly skilled. He also promoted the trade of fish and salt. As a result, people flocked to the area, and people gathered there in droves.

Therefore, Qi, with his official hat, belt, clothes, and shoes, was known throughout the land, and people from the coastal regions would gather their sleeves and go to pay homage to him.

Afterwards, Qi declined, and Guan Zhong reformed it, establishing the Nine Offices of Weights and Measures. As a result, Duke Huan became the hegemon, uniting the feudal lords nine times and bringing order to the world. Guan Zhong also returned to his former position three times, becoming a minister and becoming as wealthy as the rulers of various states.

Therefore, Qi became rich and powerful, and thus achieved power and prestige.

"When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they are well-fed and clothed, they know honor and shame." Etiquette arises from abundance and is abandoned when there is none.

Therefore, a virtuous person, when rich, is inclined to practice good deeds; a petty person, when rich, uses his wealth to justify his abilities.

Where the abyss is deep, fish live; where the mountains are deep, beasts roam; where people are rich, benevolence and righteousness follow.

The wealthy become increasingly powerful when they gain power, but when they lose power, their guests have nowhere to go, and they are therefore unhappy. This is especially true of the barbarians.

The proverb says, "A son of a wealthy family will not die in the marketplace." This is not an empty saying.

Therefore it is said: "The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for profit."

Even kings with a thousand chariots, marquises with ten thousand households, and rulers of a hundred families still worry about poverty; how much more so should ordinary people and commoners!

The current emperor is diligent and conscientious in governing the country, and has established a court based on...

The meaning is roughly:

People from all over the world flock to this place for profit, and then scatter to different places for the same reason. The masses toil and struggle tirelessly for profit.

Even the emperor, who sits high in the hall, is not immune to worldly desires; however, the common people's "interest" is to ensure their survival, while the emperor's "interest" is to successfully govern the country.

We live under the same sky, and we are all people under the same sky. Everyone has something to pursue, even if the things we pursue are very different.

But everyone shares the same desire for "stability." How can we achieve stability?

People have enough to eat, there is no war, no natural disasters, no exorbitant taxes, and they can even have a surplus after a year of hard work. During the New Year, they can eat a meal of white flour dumplings with pure meat filling.

The emperor need not worry about an empty treasury, the presence of powerful enemies, or the inability to pay military salaries. With favorable weather and abundant harvests, there is no need for disaster relief efforts.

After writing the long and detailed text, Landlord Jiang waited for the scroll to dry completely before rolling it up, putting it in a bamboo tube, covering it, and then wrapping it in an oilcloth and hanging it up.

At the same time, Li Haisheng and Xue Xu, looking indifferent, also rolled up the toilet paper and put it into the bamboo tube, hanging the oilcloth package on the wall behind them like the landlord Jiang.

Jiang Wenqing wiped the sweat from his forehead and put down his pen one after the other with Dong Jin. They rolled up the paper, pressed it down with a paperweight, and waited for the ink to dry completely.

Just as the two men put the toilet paper into the bamboo tube to put it into the oilcloth bag, a sudden gust of evil wind blew up.

For a moment, the examination room was filled with howling and screaming.

The two were even more nervous and quickly hung the oilcloth bag on the back wall, and put an extra thick coat on top of it.