At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 155 What is etiquette
On September 15, [-], it is advisable to travel.

Zhang Fu, King of Jing'an County, brought a delegation to Annan as an imperial envoy of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Qizhen personally sent the team out of the city gate. After returning to the palace, he immediately summoned Zhu Qiyu and his first assistant Cao Nai to discuss matters in the imperial study.

"It's been more than two months since I returned to Beijing from Mobei, but I don't know if the people in the Central Plains are still used to migrating outside the customs? These days, I have been thinking about them very much in my heart!"

Zhu Qiyu and Cao Nai looked at each other, and at the same time saw the word doubt in each other's eyes.

In Mobei, Monan and other places, reports are sent every day. The local people are busy opening up farmland and building workshops. They are living a beautiful life. These things have been reported to the emperor a long time ago, and now they are brought up again. It is true. People are a little confused.

After all, Cao Nai had experienced many things, so he immediately guessed that the emperor might have some thoughts when he said this.

This piece of land was conquered by the emperor himself, so it must be very important in the emperor's heart.

"Reporting to the emperor, I believe that there is a huge difference in climate between the southern and northern regions of the Central Plains, and most of the officials appointed by the imperial court are young scholars who lack experience in governing the region. It is inevitable that there will be some mistakes. It is better to let the officials take the lead. The new officials will conduct an on-the-spot assessment, listen to their opinions, and discuss the experience of governing the desert together, I wonder what the emperor wants?"

After Cao Nai finished speaking, he admired himself.

Although I don't know why the emperor suddenly mentioned Da Mo, but this answer can be regarded as watertight.

If there is a problem there, as I said, the imperial court lacks experience in governing the desert.

If there is no problem, there is nothing wrong with me saying this.

Zhu Qiyu nodded again and again, and then said: "I think what Cao Xueshi said is very reasonable. The desert is already my territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the court should pay more attention to it."

"You are all right!"

Zhu Qizhen nodded with a smile, and continued: "But I still don't feel relieved, how about this, I will go back to the desert to have a look."

"Ah?" Zhu Qiyu was stunned for a moment, and said hastily, "If the emperor is not at ease, the younger brother will just walk on behalf of the emperor!"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said, "You should stay in the capital. The two times of supervising the country have won my favor, and the affairs of the court are handled in an orderly manner, not to mention Cao Qing's family and other brawny ministers assist me. I can rest assured!"

Seeing this, Cao Nai hurriedly said: "If your majesty is not at ease, let the minister go for a while!"

"Stop arguing!"

Zhu Qizhen showed an impatient look on his face, and said: "You two are not outsiders, let me just say it straight, let me sit in Fengtian Hall to review memorials every day, it is really boring, it is better to go out and have a look. Don't you always It is said that a ruler should have a heart to love the people, and now that I have gone out to observe the feelings of the people, it can be regarded as following the way of a sage, right?"

"This one……"

Cao Nai was speechless for a moment, asking you to love the people, but I never heard that the emperor would not go to court every day, but go out and run around...

The so-called monarchs, ministers, fathers and sons, if you are the emperor, you should do the emperor's business, so what's the matter with running around all the time?
However, judging from what the emperor meant, he had already made up his mind.

Since you can't be persuaded, then follow the rules!
"Since the emperor is going to visit Mobei, I will discuss the itinerary with the Ministry of Rites after returning..."

"Don't, don't!"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hands again and again, and said in a hurry: "If you tell the Ministry of Rites, it will only take a month to prepare. It's cold in Mobei, and it will snow if you wait any longer. I don't want to go out and suffer from the cold!"

Cao Nai understood that the emperor was going to sneak away.

This is not okay, if something happens, wouldn't it be messed up?

"Your majesty, you are the king of a country, not to mention etiquette, from the perspective of safety, if... something goes wrong, what should I do?"

Cao Nai groaned secretly in his heart, if something really happened to you and caused shock in the court, it's not a joke!

"Cao Qing's family don't worry, Mobei is already the territory of Ming Dynasty, so what danger can there be?"

"I don't agree with you, Your Majesty, I think I have to say hello to the Ministry of Rites about this matter, so that I won't be pointed behind my back when I go out in the future!"

Zhu Qizhen said with a smile: "What Cao Qing's family said is very true, but I still have some things to deal with. In a few days, I will specially summon the Ministry of Rites to discuss this matter. How about it?"

He is a little bit wrong now, after all, it is really against the rules for the emperor to run away at every turn.

Cao Nai faintly felt that the emperor's superficial agreement was more like a stopgap measure.

I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, Your Majesty, you have changed!
You were so innocent in the past, especially when you just succeeded to the throne, San Yang and Empress Dowager Zhang were both there. At that time, everyone felt that the emperor was very sensible. Apart from favoring Wang Zhen, he basically didn't make any mistakes.

But now, Wang Zhen has been arrested, and it was the order of the emperor himself.

What is even more surprising is that the emperor seems to have completely changed himself, which is unpredictable.

For example, at this time, even though I said yes, I don't know what kind of crazy idea I'm thinking about!
"In that case, the minister will retire first!"

"Well, let's go!" Zhu Qizhen raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, please stay!"

Cao Nai bowed and retreated, only Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Qiyu brothers were left in the room.

At this moment, Zhu Qiyu was a little nervous. For some reason, every time he was alone with the emperor, he felt inexplicably nervous.

It's as if...the emperor knows what he's thinking and what he's about to do...

Just imagine, if your every move is in the hands of others, how would you feel?
Zhu Qizhen looked at Zhu Qiyu and asked, "Are you worried about my safety?"

"Go back to the emperor, my brother... I'm really worried!"

Zhu Qiyu replied honestly.

Zhu Qizhen asked suddenly: "Are you just worried?"

"This one……"

Zhu Qiyu hesitated for a moment, the feeling came again, what he was thinking in his heart was seen through by the emperor again.

Now that things have happened, he has no choice but to bite the bullet and say what he thinks in his heart.

"If the emperor goes on tour privately, I'm afraid... it's not in accordance with the etiquette..."

Zhu Qizhen smiled and said: "You, anywhere is fine, but I value this word of courtesy too much!"

Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu was very puzzled. Since ancient times, people have attached great importance to etiquette. Even in the Zhou Dynasty, etiquette was once a policy for governing the country. How could it be so disapproving when it came to the emperor's mouth?

"Your majesty, etiquette is the law of the ancestors, the foundation of governing the country, why, why..."

"Why do I never talk about etiquette, do I?"

Zhu Qiyu nodded. It is true that when dealing with any matter, the emperor seldom took the initiative to talk about etiquette. Instead, he paid more attention to the law and evidence.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a scene of contention among a hundred schools of thought, among which the Legalists advocated the rule of law and opposed the rituals of Confucianism.

However, in the Qin and Han Dynasties, hundreds of schools of thought were dismissed, and Confucianism was the only one to be respected. Sage Confucius became the most sage in 5000 years, and all scholars in the world became Confucian students. The books they read and the rituals they followed were all Confucian.

Now looking back at what the emperor has done, there is a hint of legalist demeanor.

Zhu Qizhen seemed to see his doubts, and today, he was ready to teach his little brother a lesson.

"Wynn, you go out first!"

Wynn was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses, quickly put down his teacup, turned around and went out the door.

Zhu Qizhen said with a smile: "Today, there are only you and my brother here, and we should be chatting freely. You can speak freely, even if you say something wrong, it doesn't matter, I promise I won't blame you!"

Zhu Qiyu struggled for a long time, and seemed to be secretly making up his mind.

"Your brother thinks that governing the country with propriety is the words of a sage, and we should follow the way of a sage. If the emperor is the ruler of a country, if he takes the lead in destroying the ritual system, then the world will follow suit, wouldn't the ritual and music collapse Bad, the country will not be the country?"

Zhu Qizhen was not in a hurry to refute him, because at the time people saw that these were indeed the truth.

But, is it true?
Governing the country with etiquette, as the name suggests, is to use the etiquette system to govern the country.

The original words of Confucius are: Dao is based on government, and justice is punished, and the people are free from shame;

It roughly means that if you use government orders to govern the people and use criminal laws to rectify them, the people will avoid crimes and be punished, but they will have no sense of shame; heart, there will be a heart of submission.

This ceremony is the Zhou ceremony.

Zhou Li stipulated a whole set of etiquette norms that must be in line with the status of superiority and inferiority in terms of clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and developed into the basic principles guiding people's behavior. From another perspective, the so-called etiquette is the rules of the society at that time. as laws and regulations.

However, the right to interpret the words of Confucius is always in the hands of scholars.

These people read the books of sages and sages every day, and they have to study hard for more than ten years. They work so hard, why?
Of course, there are some insightful people among them who are determined to cultivate their families and rule the country and the world. However, most people, or most mediocre people, do not have such lofty ambitions. They study only for two words , fame and fortune!

Reading is just a tool for them to pursue fame and fortune. Naturally, they will interpret the words of the sage in different ways.

No matter how you interpret it, you always follow a principle, that is to maximize your own interests.

Just like during the period of the Republic of China, why do so many people miss the Qing Dynasty every day?
Is it just conservative thinking?
Do not!
Because only in the Qing Dynasty, they had power and status, and they could be masters.

What they support is not the Qing Dynasty, but their own interests!
The same is true for contemporary scholars. They respect the imperial power, because their own power and status all come from the imperial power. If the emperor is gone, everything they own will disappear.

At the same time, they try their best to drill camps, enclose land, and earn money, and they will justifiably say that this is what is written in the saint's book, and everything we do is following the saint's way!

In Zhu Qizhen's view, this kind of behavior can be roughly summed up as wanting to be a whore and setting up an archway.

You take all the fame and fortune, and when it's over, others will sing your praises. How can there be such a good thing in the world?

The cake in the whole world is only this big, if you eat one more piece, others will inevitably eat one less piece, you steal their cake, but you still want others to praise you for being selfless and noble, is this possible?
Zhu Qiyu is a typical one now, the kind who is limped by scholars.

In fact, not only him, but many people in this era are like this.

Not everyone is as selfless as Yu Qian, with the world in mind, most of them are like a dog, they will unite and fool you together.

Therefore, except for the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the Jingnan emperor Zhu Di, the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty will be restricted.

In history, Emperor Zhengde said that the Forbidden City had been in disrepair for a long time, and I wanted to live in a new house. The ministers of the court stood up and shouted that it was not the actions of the Ming emperor to waste the people and waste money.

Behind the scenes, the filial money these people gave Liu Jin was enough to build ten Forbidden City.

Emperor Chongzhen said that the country was in trouble, so please donate some money. Everyone said they had no money. Empress Zhou secretly stuffed her father with 5000 taels of silver notes, but the next day, her father donated 3000 taels...

When King Chuang entered the capital, he beat up those princes and ministers, and randomly copied out 7000 million taels of silver!

Therefore, it is impossible for Zhu Qizhen to be at the mercy of those ministers.

At the same time, he also wanted his little brother to realize this.

When I'm not around, I still have to count on my little brother to watch the scene!

"Since it's just chatting, then I'll think of what to say, and if what I say is wrong, don't pay too much attention to it."

Zhu Qiyu hurriedly said: "Brother, please tell me!"

Zhu Qizhen thought for a while, and suddenly asked: "Since everyone respects Zhou rituals, why didn't anyone ask for the recovery of the Zhou Dynasty's well field system?"

"This one……"

Zhu Qiyu was stunned again, yes, why?

Originally, he was ready to argue with his emperor brother, at least to let the emperor see that he cannot back down on the issue of following the etiquette system.

However, upon hearing this sentence, he didn't know how to proceed.

All scholars are reluctant to mention the well field system, because the well field system is public ownership.

If those officials and gentry are allowed to confiscate the land, they are guaranteed to turn over the table and rebel immediately!

Therefore, scholars have memorized the Rites of Zhou fluently, listed it as one of the four books, and regarded it as sacred and inviolable, but never mentioned the well field system in it.

However, there really was one in the Ming Dynasty, the famous Fang Xiaoru.

This person once unequivocally supported the restoration of the well field system, but... no one ignored him.

Zhu Qizhen continued: "Before the sage Kong, the Duke of Zhou was also a sage, and his books were also listed as the Four Books. The rituals of Zhou advocated by the sage Kong are the etiquette laws formulated by the Duke of Zhou. But why, no one is willing to follow the example of the Duke of Zhou now. What about implementing the etiquette and law system of the Zhou Dynasty?"

Zhu Qiyu's face was flushed from holding back, and he said: "I also ask Brother Huang for advice!"

"It's fine to give advice, I really said it just now, it's just you and my brother chatting."

Zhu Qizhen shook his head disapprovingly, and continued: "There is no doubt that the rituals of Zhou can stabilize the world, and I didn't say that the etiquette at that time would not work today, but we need to know what kind of environment it was at that time. , Why did the Duke of Zhou formulate etiquette?"

(End of this chapter)