Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"absurd!"

"How can the great nation of China learn from barbarians on such a core system?"

"The Ming Dynasty must never adopt the caste system; Confucius advocated education for all, regardless of social status!"

Zhu Youjian severely criticized Niu Jinxing's fallacies, expressing his extreme dislike for the caste system.

Niu Jinxing was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, not understanding why the emperor was so angry.

The emperor's proposed classification of scholars and commoners, as well as his theories on long-lived and short-lived races, are similar to the caste system. So why was he so angry when his own proposal was mentioned?
He dared not contradict the emperor to his face, and could only kneel on the ground and repeatedly confess his crimes.

Seeing the emperor so angry, Song Xianze and Liu Ruoyu, who were standing nearby, were also so frightened that they knelt on the ground.

Seeing that their faces had turned pale, Zhu Youjian suppressed his anger and gestured:

"Get up!"

"This is a discussion between the ruler and his subjects; don't kneel down so readily."

He gestured for the three of them to stand up and not to be so afraid.

Upon hearing this, Niu Jinxing and the other two were still shaken, but they understood that the emperor did not intend to punish them severely. The current emperor had never forcibly punished anyone during a discussion between the emperor and his ministers.

Moreover, their private exchanges in the West Garden were a sign of the emperor's high regard for them.

They don't need to worry about that at all.

After apologizing again, Niu Jinxing asked for advice:

"Your Majesty, I am foolish and humbly request your explanation."

Why were people in the Ming Dynasty allowed to be divided into different classes, but not allowed to have a caste system?

Song Xianze and Liu Ruoyu were also puzzled and wanted to know the reason.

After calming his anger, Zhu Youjian carefully explained to the three people present:
"Citizens of the Ming Dynasty were only divided into scholars and commoners, and were not specifically categorized."

“All citizens of the Great Ming are long-lived beings, while short-lived beings are criminals, lowly people, and barbarians who have willingly fallen into depravity.”

"This is fundamentally different from the caste system and should not be confused with it."

Do you know what the core of the caste system is? Why does it lead to frequent invasions by barbarians in India?

Niu Jinxing had heard of this, and he said:

"Under the caste system, military nobles who conquered India were naturally able to become Kshatriyas."

"The monarch can even attain divine status and become a Brahmin among Brahmins."

"Is Your Majesty worried that if Brahmins and Kshatriyas emerge in the Ming Dynasty, it will be as vulnerable to invasion by barbarians as India has been?"

Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"exactly!"

"India's caste system is inherently flawed."

"Moreover, their class divisions are completely different from those in China."

"The Chinese people believe in the idea that 'are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?' Everyone can become a nobleman, let alone a scholar."

"But India is different. The caste system is completely fixed. People of higher castes do not have any contact with people of lower castes, and they are not even allowed to intermarry."

"If the Ming Dynasty had adopted the caste system, what do you think the consequences would have been? How many Chen Shengs and Wu Guangs would have emerged?"

"When I divided the people into scholars and commoners, I required that scholars be promoted regularly. In the imperial examination, I also required that at least half of the successful candidates in the Jinshi examination had ancestors who had been commoners for three generations."

"Do you think this is without any reason?"

"I'm worried about class solidification and the emergence of people like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang."

"Therefore, the caste system should never be adopted, as it is completely contrary to Chinese tradition."

“Social mobility is essential; otherwise, the world will become stagnant and powerless to resist barbarians, just like the Nine-Rank System of the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties.”

This explanation connects many of the policies that were previously implemented.

Niu Jinxing and the others felt enlightened, understanding the emperor's profound meaning.

Especially since all three of them came from humble backgrounds, they naturally strongly supported the emperor's proposal for upward mobility.

Without this policy, how would they become officials or obtain titles?

Niu Jinxing immediately apologized again, saying:

"I was foolish and almost misled by the barbarian system."

“These days, quite a few people are talking about the caste system, and some even think that Brahmanism can be introduced in the same way that Buddhism was introduced.”

"I humbly request Your Majesty to issue an edict refuting this fallacy."

This was something Zhu Youjian hadn't anticipated. He hadn't expected that even after his critical introduction of the caste system, some people would still want to adopt it.

This made him fully realize the depravity of the reactionary class; some people, for their own selfish interests, would rather submit to barbarians—

The Hongqing hypothesis of later generations embodies this point. It argues that reactionary gentry colluded with the Jurchens, leading to the fall of China to barbarians.

Considering the historical fate of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian knew that there would be no shortage of such reactionary gentry.

They are the biggest enemies of the restoration of ritual and music. When they cannot oppose the restoration of ritual and music, these people will add their own personal opinions to it.

What Zhu Youjian needed to do was suppress them and ensure that the goal of restoring rites and music was to move towards a higher level of civilization.

Thinking about it this way, his emotions became more stable.

Enemies in the open are not scary; what is scary is the enemy hidden in the dark.

As long as the objective is clear, Zhu Youjian is confident in suppressing all enemies:

"I dared to employ Hong Chengchou and Qian Qianyi, let alone other reactionary gentry."

"If they dare to expose themselves, I will crush them openly and fairly."

He said to Niu Jinxing:

"The restoration of rites and music is guided by Confucian classics, which is the most fundamental standard."

"The Ming Dynasty can absorb the beneficial parts of foreign systems, but the core system must be based on Chinese culture."

"Anyone who tries to replace the Chinese ritual system with a barbarian system is willingly degenerating into a barbarian."

"Minister Niu, please report the names and statements of these people. I want to see who wants to use barbarian customs."

He was given the power to report on others and to monitor these people.

Although Zhu Youjian would not punish people for their words, those who harbored such thoughts were mostly driven by selfish motives.

As long as the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Censorate focus their investigations, it's impossible for them not to find a crime.

Zhu Youjian wanted to purge those who held reactionary ideas one by one.

Niu Jinxing was filled with mixed feelings of joy and worry after receiving the appointment.

The good thing is that this power is very large, which shows the emperor's trust in him.

The worry is that if outsiders find out, he will probably be seen as a cruel official.

Whispering behind someone's back would earn him a bad reputation and lead to his ostracization in officialdom. Being recommended by the court to become a high-ranking official was virtually impossible. However, considering his position in the inner court and his pursuit of a noble title, he became indifferent to whether he was recommended for a high-ranking position. After all, his connections in officialdom were already weak, and he had no chance of becoming a high-ranking official anyway.

Niu Jinxing, who prided himself on his talent like Chen Ping, was already plotting how to lure out more people who wanted to adopt foreign customs.
-
Song Xianze, who was standing nearby, saw that Niu Jinxing had gained power after being reprimanded by the emperor.

He began to understand that the emperor wanted obedient and capable people, and said:
"Your Majesty, Brahmanism can be considered a great enemy of Buddhism."

"I believe that Buddhists should be sent to India to spread Chinese Buddhism."

"Only by suppressing Brahmanism and incorporating it into a branch of Buddhism can the role of Buddhism be demonstrated and more Buddhist deities be officially recognized."

"Otherwise, Buddhism wouldn't even be able to stay in its place of origin, so what qualifications does it have to be one of the three religions?"

They believed that the task of suppressing Brahmanism could be entrusted to Buddhism. If Buddhism could accomplish it, all the better; if not, it should be removed from its position among the three religions.

The City God Temple could take its place and gain more believers and temples.

As for Taoism, Song Xianze didn't care about it at all. The City God Bureau could easily incorporate them based on their historical connections.

Zhu Youjian understood Song Xianze's intention to suppress Buddhism, but to deal with other religions, he really had to rely on Buddhism, this foreign sect.

This is also why he incorporated Buddhism into his administration; the Ming Dynasty only had this religion, which was capable of fighting against other religions.

Therefore, compared to Song Xianze's attitude, his attitude was more moderate, and he said:

"Suppressing barbarian religions such as Brahmanism is not just a matter for Buddhism."

“All orthodox theological religions should contribute.”

"However, it is an indisputable fact that the birthplace of Buddhism was occupied by Brahmanism."

"If Buddhism wants to spread throughout the world, it needs to return to its ancestral homeland and prove that its doctrines are superior."

"You let the Court of Imperial Sacrifices..."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and felt that it was not good to let the Court of Imperial Sacrifices interfere too much in religious affairs.

Religious matters are best left to religious communities to discuss and resolve.

What are the imperial court's tentacles in the religious world? Of course, they are the Buddhist Registry, the Taoist Registry, and the newly established City God Bureau.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Youjian said:

"The City God Bureau can join forces with the Buddhist and Taoist Bureaus to convene various religious associations and hold a conference of the Great Ming Righteous God Sect."

"To form an alliance of orthodox religious sects to combat the threat of heretics and cultists."

"The right gods occupy more than 90% of temples and beliefs, which is a requirement put forward by me."

“If any sect fails to complete the task, their priesthood will be revoked.”

"All priests must be approved by the City God. The priests of the local City God temples are responsible for coordinating the local religious sects."

This greatly expanded the power of the City God Bureau, giving them dominance in the religious sphere.

If the City God's Office still cannot control the religious world under these circumstances, Zhu Youjian will suspect that the people he appointed are incompetent fools.

Song Xianze had just taken charge of the City God Bureau and had already secured such great power for it. He was so delighted that he repeatedly expressed his gratitude and bowed to the emperor.

He knew his reputation wasn't great, but that didn't matter. As long as the emperor trusted him, he could control the religious circles of the Ming Dynasty.

What he had to do was to meet the emperor's requirements and get the people of the Ming Dynasty to believe in the righteous religion.

This forced him to suppress his selfish ambition to expand the City God's office, and he became more tolerant of Buddhism. He still needed those monks to strengthen the righteous sects in the future.

He was already thinking about how to unite the righteous sects as required by the emperor, and the righteous alliance that would become famous in the future was beginning to take shape.

Only orthodox religious sects that joined the Orthodox Religious Alliance had the right to spread widely in the Ming Dynasty. Other foreign religions and folk religions had very limited spread in the Ming Dynasty.

This aligned with the Donglin Party's slogan of "no different teachings above, no different customs below," and garnered their strong support.

Orthodox faith became the mainstream belief in the Ming Dynasty, and anything not recognized by the court was rejected and banned.
-
Then, Zhu Youjian instructed Niu Jinxing to publish a newspaper for the common people, to publicize the dangers of class stratification.

To ensure that the movement of people among the gentry is deeply ingrained in people's hearts, every citizen of the Ming Dynasty should have the opportunity to become a public servant.

He instructed Song Xianze to strengthen the review of religious publications, and to investigate and ban any publications that promoted the afterlife or barbarian sects.

They even forbid discussing what happens after death, wanting people to focus on the real world.

Song Xianze had a different view on this. He argued that the City God's office was only responsible for sending the dead to the afterlife; if they didn't promote the afterlife, how could they inspire faith in believers?

He boldly suggested to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, if the City God's Office does not proclaim the afterlife and what it is like there, it will be occupied by other sects."

"I believe that when reforming the pantheon, we should not only pay attention to the Heavenly Court, but also to the Underworld."

"Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu transformed into the City Gods of the two capitals; their true forms should hold higher divine positions."

"Rather than having the people believe in foreign gods, it is better to have them worship the Taizu and Chengzu emperors."

This prompted Zhu Youjian to think, because in his plan, founding emperors like Taizu and Chengzu should have a status in the pantheon equivalent to that of a celestial deity.

The monarchs who maintained the status quo were emperors, one rank lower than the Great Emperor. For example, the Jiajing Emperor bestowed upon him the title of "Supreme Great Luo Heavenly Immortal, Grand Master of the Five Thunders, Mysterious Capital Realm, Longevity Emperor".

Therefore, it is somewhat inappropriate to regard Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu only as the City Gods of the two capitals, as their status in the pantheon is too low.

After pondering it, Zhu Youjian said:
"The Great Emperor of the North Pole is one of the Four Great Emperors, in charge of the celestial and terrestrial order."

"After the founding emperors of each dynasty have accomplished their merits, they will succeed the Ziwei Emperor in heaven."

"The Great Emperor of Ziwei in this dynasty should be Emperor Taizu, but Emperor Chengzu rebuilt the Ming Dynasty and was actually the founding emperor."

"Therefore, Emperor Taizu ceded the position of Ziwei Emperor to Emperor Chengzu and accepted the invitation of the Goddess Houtu to become the Emperor of Fengdu in the underworld."

"The divine roles of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu were based on the propaganda of the Great Emperor, and were equivalent to the Heavenly Venerables of other religions."

"After heroes are deified, they can serve as officials in the Heavenly Court or in the Underworld."

He instructed Song Xianze to compile relevant classics based on this propaganda.

Song Xianze felt no psychological pressure about this; which charlatan hadn't compiled a book of immortals?

Moreover, with the emperor's endorsement, no one in the world dared to deny it.

The current emperor is the supreme god on earth and can appoint the righteous gods of the three realms on behalf of the emperors of heaven and earth. This is written into the rites and laws, and no one can object to it.

People like Niu Jinxing and Liu Ruoyu listened from the sidelines, and although they had questions in their hearts, they dared not say a word or interfere in the matter.

Zhu Youjian had even less psychological burden. Although he doubted the existence of gods because of his reincarnation, after witnessing how Emperor Wanli and Empress Dowager Xiaoding spread the belief in the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva, he had no reverence for the so-called gods.

Even Guanyin Bodhisattva could be replaced by the Nine-Lotus Bodhisattva, and the Jiajing Emperor could honor himself as the Emperor. What's so special about him bestowing the title of Great Emperor upon himself? Who could object to that?

Even if gods truly exist, their faith might not be as strong as one's own. One could ask the people of the Ming Dynasty: would they choose the emperor or the gods?
Therefore, he boldly incorporated the idea that the emperor was the supreme deity into the rites and laws, thus maintaining the emperor's power over priests.

Now, even the founding emperor and the founding emperor have been granted divine titles, elevating the status of the deities worshipped by the City God.

After Emperor Taizu became the Great Emperor of Fengdu and took charge of the underworld, all the city gods and local deities who were appointed became his subjects.

The Ming Dynasty government not only governed the living, but also the dead.

Even going to Heaven or Hell requires the approval of the Underworld.

All righteous religious sects must respect the authority of the City God's Office. (End of Chapter)