Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1761 Origin
"You agreed to help him film it?" Zhu Xianxi asked about Li Mu in a later phone call. "Don't spoil him too much."

"He paid, so I let him take the photos."

"That's true." Zhu Xianxi was afraid of trouble because Li Mu knew that taking money was useless, so he never gave him any money—but in reality, Zhu Xianxi was quite short of money because his expenses were constantly increasing while his income was only a fixed portion.

There's nothing that can be done about it. The imperial treasury and the national treasury are ultimately different. Even the royal family's funds are not directly deposited into Zhu Xianxi's personal account; they are actually the funds of the royal affairs agencies.

And the most troublesome thing is that he has no way to reasonably increase his own fiscal revenue—because it is absolutely unacceptable to compete with the people for profit.

This point was debatable before the Yongqing Reforms, as the emperor had his own uses for receiving money. However, after the Yongqing Reforms, the imperial examination system was established. The court had completely transcended the old feudal imperial system, and virtuous people with professional knowledge who had succeeded in the imperial examinations would rule the world in place of the emperor.

Although there was no explicit document like the Bill of Rights at that time to constrain the limits of the emperor's power, the emperor had already established the practice of "governing the world with emptiness and stillness" after that.

The reason for this is that the "Yongqing Reform" reinterpreted the concepts of "divine right of kings" and "harmony between heaven and man" that had been established since Dong Zhongshu's time.

The imperial system before Dong Zhongshu believed that Heaven would punish the emperor for his mistakes—but this theory should actually be viewed from the opposite perspective: when Heaven does not punish, the emperor is in a state of "perfect perfection," inviolable and insurmountable. Since Heaven has not said anything, people on earth have no right to say anything.

That's why people like Zhou Yunyi, the Director of the Imperial Observatory during the Jiajing era, were beaten to death at the Meridian Gate. When Heaven truly punishes someone, the emperor's perfect state is shattered, and he becomes a target for criticism. At this point, the emperor could still shift the blame to his faction. But once those like the Yan faction are removed, the emperor's weaknesses are exposed. This is why the emperor was so enraged by Hai Rui's memorial on maintaining order that he vomited blood.

This is actually based on a similar principle to when Shangluo captured the Forest King. Zhou Yunyi was the one who initiated the attack. First, he had to use "Heavenly Warning" to cancel the Emperor's invincibility, making the Emperor a target. Then, once the Emperor's flanks were eliminated, the Emperor, now a target for skills, would have his health bar revealed. At this point, all firepower could be focused on the Emperor, and he would indeed be beaten to a pulp.

This was the imperial system before the Yongqing Reforms. The struggle against the Koreans was more covert, but much larger in scale.

After Yongqing's reform, all of this was reshaped.

The righteous path of the world has been redefined into three value systems: virtue, talent, and merit.
Among them, the emperor held an unparalleled position in terms of "virtue." The divine right of kings was further strengthened, and the emperor, who received his mandate from heaven, was flawless in "virtue" and was a virtuous person.

However, while the Yongqing Reforms acknowledged the emperor's supreme virtue, they did not consider him to be talented or meritorious.

Whether one possesses virtue or not is determined by Heaven; that is the business of the Supreme God of Heaven.

That which is above form is called the Way; that which is below form is called the instrument.

The Great Way of the Supreme God is metaphysical, and cannot be observed or categorized.

Whether one possesses talent or merit can certainly be observed and summarized. Those who pass the exam are talented, and those with achievements are meritorious—both of which can be verified. These are the concrete "tools," matters of the human world.

The essence of the Yongqing Reforms was to separate the instrument from its function, thereby reinterpreting the divine right of kings.

[It seems similar to positivism in some ways, but unlike positivism, it doesn't vehemently reject metaphysics; it simply aligns the two parts on the same level.]

After this, the metaphysical principles of Heaven were to be managed by virtuous people, while the physical pillars of the nation were to be managed by talented and meritorious people.

In other words, the imperial examination system clarified one thing—governing this material world requires knowledge derived from logical analysis. Intuition, introspection, or moral education, however, have no direct impact on the material world. This led to a division between Neo-Confucianism and the study of benevolence, which respectively investigated the physical world ("Qi") and the metaphysical world ("Dao").

This is why Zhu Xianxi cannot make decisions casually. He must first prove his talent and merit before he can do anything beyond "emptiness and stillness".

However, Zhu Xianxi himself has already done quite a bit. Because he does have a relevant research background and has also made his own research achievements in alchemy, this has indeed given him a reason to invest funds in alchemy.

But according to the rules, he shouldn't do anything else—because other, more capable people have already done those things.

Conversely, this also became a channel for the emperor to participate in politics under the current circumstances. The emperor was no longer suitable to exert influence in general administrative work, but he could still offer suggestions within his area of ​​expertise.

This is why Zhu Xianxi was passionate about academics from a young age—seemingly indifferent, but actually quite competitive. If one truly had no political ambitions, one should have done nothing. Attempting to become a scholar was, in fact, a manifestation of wanting to interfere in politics.

Under the imperial examination system, his talent and achievements were no longer innate, but this did not prevent him from further cultivating his knowledge. He could still take the exams and make his own contributions.

However, compared to others, he actually had some disadvantages on this path—while it was not a problem for him to participate in the provincial examinations, he could not participate in the metropolitan and palace examinations because the chief examiners could not take the exams themselves. As the emperor, he had to participate in setting the exam questions; he could not both set the questions and answer them, nor could he admit himself.

This effectively capped his chances of achieving official rank from the very beginning; he could only ever reach the level of a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations). Fortunately, he passed the Juren exam quite early, managing to obtain official rank before ascending the throne. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for him to take the Juren exam again after becoming emperor.

After all, the Crown Prince's movements were somewhat more free; when people saw him taking the exams, they would only think, "The Crown Prince is virtuous and talented." But the Emperor couldn't just wander around; he had to be accompanied by his entourage when he went out, and not doing so was considered immoral. But if the Emperor were to go and disturb the candidates taking the provincial examinations with his entourage, that would be a grave offense.

He's caught between being immoral and being utterly immoral; he can't choose either. If he becomes emperor but still doesn't have any official rank, he won't be able to take the exams, and he'll never be able to advance his academic career.

This is why Zhu Xianxi always wanted Shangluo to obtain an official title before achieving a high position, since it would be troublesome for him to take the exam later.

(End of this chapter)