Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 155 Song Lian feels miserable but can’t express it
What Liu Bowen meant was that he would rather see Zhu Wenzheng's Shenji Camp choose to resolve the crisis at the expense of the people.

He also knew that the essence of this violent division of land and property among landlords and bureaucrats was that the Yuan Dynasty was too corrupt and his own scholar-bureaucrats were too unkind, which led to all this.

But as a member of the scholar-official class, he also believed that even if the court was cruel and the scholar-officials were unkind and made it difficult for the people to survive, the rebel army should not choose to sacrifice the scholar-officials as well as the people!

That is to say, in Liu Bowen's view, the common people are the sons of man in ethical relationships. Even if the imperial court or the gentry are at fault, making it impossible for you people to survive, you people cannot commit rebellion and persecute us scholar-bureaucrats!
same.

As a rebel army, the Shenji Battalion, even if it cannot survive due to the encirclement and suppression by Yuan soldiers and the encumbrance of a large number of common people, it should not choose to sacrifice the gentry rather than the common people in order to survive.

This is determined by each other's class positions.

Therefore, Liu Bowen once wrote a poem, "The mantis is so strong that it can lift its axe, and its broken head can reach the stream." He hoped that the Yuan court officials would behead the rebellious people and pile them up in the capital.

In Liu Bowen's view at the time, his view was not wrong.

Because that was the universal value at that time.

Just like the scholar-bureaucrats in the late Ming Dynasty also said, "People who cannot survive should mourn and starve to death. How can they use a mantis' arm as a chariot and raise an army to rebel?"

In other words.

However, although Liu Bowen would not support sacrificing the interests of the landlord class to ensure that people would not die in large numbers in troubled times, he would not be too reactionary towards Song Lian, who was also a landlord.

Because he could clearly see the situation in front of him and knew that the current powerful officials in the Yuan Dynasty were unwilling to transfer benefits to the people and only chose to sacrifice the people, which would only make the rebels stronger and stronger.

Therefore, in the view of Liu Bowen and other scholar-bureaucrats from the landlord class, even if the essence of the matter is caused by the corruption and reaction of the Yuan Dynasty, you people cannot be disrespectful to us scholar-bureaucrats!

Liu Bowen is a bad guy, but he is not stupid.

We are a more distinguished class of scholar-bureaucrats!

After all, Song Lian is not stupid either.

Why sacrifice me, the landlords and bureaucrats?

This is the so-called reactionary side of the landlord class.

Therefore, Liu Bowen also hoped that even if Zhu Wenzheng chose to kill all the refugees who asked for shelter in Shenji Camp to prevent Shenji Camp from being dragged down by the people, he would not choose to liquidate the landlords and bureaucrats. Protect your own Shenji Camp and the people who follow the Shenji Camp.

Therefore, Liu Bowen did not choose to betray Song Lian, but informed Yuan Ting of the whereabouts of Song Lian's family.

Therefore, Liu Bowen, like people like Zeng Guofan, would choose to sacrifice the people when it was necessary to sacrifice the people to protect the interests of the landlords.

However, Song Lian would feel aggrieved by his current situation.

No matter how outstanding the landlord class is, they will not really choose to stand with the people from beginning to end, but will only choose to comfort the people when it is necessary to maintain the stability of the interests of the landlord class.

As a famous landlord class politician in history, Liu Bowen was not a kind person. When he should support the massacre of the people, he also supported the massacre.

On the other hand, because of Zhang Cheng's influence, he was also against the entire landlord class.

Song Lian did not hate Zhang Cheng and Zhu Yuanzhang because Zhang Cheng and Zhu Yuanzhang forced him to write an article to defend the Shenji Camp and ask the Jiangnan scholars to reflect. He even secretly contacted Hu Yuan and wanted to destroy the rebel army.

If you want to rebel, go and kill the people of the same class as you rebels. The lower classes will harm each other!

He knew that his actions were of little significance and that it was impossible to reverse Yuan Ting's situation, which would only get worse.

Because, on the one hand, he originally hoped that Zhu Yuanzhang could completely turn to the side of the landlord class, but due to Zhang Cheng's influence, he failed;

So, this made him feel very frustrated.

He knew that the reason for his frustration was the Confucianism he regarded as the norm, and he did not directly say that the people should be sacrificed.

He now wants to admit that people are selfish and only want for themselves, and the people at the lowest level should not be placed in the most important position. "The people are the most valuable, the country is the second most important, and the king is the most important."

"The people are the foundation of a country, and the foundation is the foundation of a country's peace."

These words from Confucian classics are the fundamental reason why Song Lian was embarrassed by Zhang Cheng.

Because of these Confucian provisions, it is impossible for him to admit that the people should be sacrificed first when a crisis occurs, instead of choosing to sacrifice the landlords and bureaucrats first.

Therefore, this made him feel aggrieved.

I am so aggrieved that I have no theoretical weapons to support my view that the people should be sacrificed.

It stands to reason.

Song Lian could use the common people as his sons and the officials and gentry as his parents. This ethical relationship of superiority and inferiority could convince the rebels to choose to sacrifice the common people first.

And he can also use this as a theoretical basis that the people should be the victims in the crisis instead of letting the landlords and bureaucrats be the victims.

The same point as Liu Bowen raised.

They have always used this theory to convince themselves.

But the classics of Confucius and Mencius, which are the source, do not say this.

You must know that it was in the late Ming Dynasty that the saying "Everyone in the world is not a king and father, and everyone in the world is not a parent" really started to be said.

You should know that it was Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty who first put forward the saying "the ministers have no right to say that the monarch is not good", which means that "there is no monarch in the world who cares about any wrongdoing of his ministers". .

visible.

If Song Lianzhen used the teachings of Confucius and Mencius to support his view that the people should be chosen to sacrifice first in major crises, there would be no basis for it.

Therefore, Song Lian could not use any Confucius and Mencius' remarks to refute Zhang Cheng. Instead, Zhang Cheng could only use Confucius and Mencius' remarks to control him.

This made him unable to help feeling aggrieved.

Therefore, Song Lian wanted to completely burn and eliminate these people-centered Confucian opinions, just like in history, after Zhu Yuanzhang completely fell to the landlord class and successfully became the emperor of the landlords, when he saw some people-centered views in "Mencius" , and also wished that Mencius should be punished in the same way.

But he knew that he couldn't do it and it was impossible to do it.

Therefore, Song Lian could only suffer.

"Mr. Qianxi, are you feeling aggrieved and uncomfortable now?"

Zhang Cheng also took the initiative to ask about Song Lian on this day because he saw Song Lian becoming more and more silent.

When Song Lian heard Zhang Cheng ask him this question, he was suddenly startled. Then he bowed to Zhang Cheng and said with a smile: "Ping Zhang misunderstood. How can I feel wronged and uncomfortable? I only have a clear understanding now!"

"is it?"

Zhang Cheng asked pretending to be surprised.

Song Lian could not admit that he was feeling aggrieved, so he only smiled and said:
"Yes!"

"If it hadn't been for Mr. Zhang's advice, I would only feel sad for my relatives and friends in Jiangnan. I feel that they are so wronged and pitiful."

"Fortunately, after Mr. Zhang analyzed it, I understand that whatever the cause, there will be the effect. Their ending like this is related to the fact that they themselves have forgotten the teachings of the saint!"

(End of this chapter)