Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Scholars and officials should have a heart that worries about the country, but they should not utter words that worry about the country."

"Where people's hearts are in harmony, there should be no differences or disagreements; where there is harmony, there is public opinion."

"Chen Meigong is right! This is a theory that is beneficial to the Great Harmony."

Upon seeing the transcript of the conversation, Zhu Youjian praised it.

Chen Jiru's words affirmed the importance of unifying public opinion.

And to define the positioning of Datong Institute—

It is the institution that forms a consensus.

If this proposal is implemented, Datong Academy will undoubtedly gain control of public opinion.

The emperor who controls this institution can implement his own ideas and will.

Qian Qianyi, of course, understood all this, and he was very satisfied with Chen Jiru's cooperation, praising him before the emperor:

“Your Majesty, since Chen Meigong is a commoner, his words are more easily accepted by others.”

"When the wise and talented people of the world arrive next year, let them accept His Majesty's theories."

“The new orthodox tradition will surely be established and spread to all parts of the Ming Dynasty by them.”

"I believe that the Record of Sacred Virtues and the Precious Instructions of Your Majesty should be compiled as soon as possible."

"Let those talented people from the common people know how to spread His Majesty's theories."

These are all traditional practices for promoting ideas, and emperors of the Ming Dynasty throughout history have compiled "Precious Instructions".

However, apart from the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty" and "Precious Instructions of the Taizu Emperor" which had some effect, most of the emperors' "Precious Instructions" were shelved after being compiled.

Thinking of the *Precious Instructions* he had heard at lectures and daily sermons, Zhu Youjian said:
“The Precious Teachings should be compiled and also organized.”

“Since the founding emperor, all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have left behind precious teachings.”

"Which of these 'precious teachings' still have practical significance, and which are outdated? We must carefully distinguish between them."

"I intend to simplify the complex, compile useful content, annotate and edit it, and compile it into a set of imperial edicts from past emperors."

"It can be used as one of the teaching materials when teaching the princes in the future."

He instructed Qian Qianyi to lead the officials of the Hanlin Academy to compile the "Precious Instructions of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty", abbreviated as "Imperial Ming Precious Instructions".

Qian Qianyi was thrilled to have another job and asked:

"Your Majesty, the compilation of the Imperial Instructions should have a focus."

"Should we only record the words, or should we also record the causes and consequences?"

"Which content should be included, and which should be discarded?"

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment and said:

"There is no need to compile daily imperial edicts and decrees."

"The main collection should be words related to education, just like the Analects compiled by Confucius' disciples."

“We can follow the example of the Zhenguan Zhengyao and compile all the benevolent deeds and words left behind by the previous emperors.”

"Future emperors should learn the good aspects, but not the bad ones."

"The Ming Dynasty has been established for more than two hundred years. We can't keep using the 'Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era' to teach the princes. We need our own royal teaching materials so that future emperors can learn from the previous emperors."

Upon hearing this, Qian Qianyi began to understand. The emperor wanted to compile a royal textbook to replace the "Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era".

It seems the emperor harbored dissatisfaction with the *Zhenguan Zhengyao*, which may be related to the fact that his ministers had previously pressured him to study it.

The *Zhenguan Zhengyao* (Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era) contains numerous passages on seeking and accepting advice, and this has been regarded as a standard for wise rulers.

"Your Majesty could tolerate it before, but now you have no intention of tolerating it any longer."

"What a pity! What a pity!"

With a sigh in his heart, Qian Qianyi still supported the emperor's willingness to accept advice.

Unfortunately, the current emperor really dislikes receiving advice, and even recently delegated part of the responsibility for accepting advice to the chief minister.

This fully demonstrates the emperor's attitude towards remonstrance; now, he's even abandoning the textbook "Zhenguan Zhengyao" (Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era). If this were in the imperial court, Qian Qianyi, to demonstrate his integrity, would certainly have objected.

But since this was a private conversation, and he had already made up his mind, he naturally wanted to fully support the emperor.

He said:
"The Ming Dynasty has enjoyed a long period of peace, far surpassing the Han and Tang dynasties."

"While past emperors may have made mistakes, none of them were morally corrupt."

"By combining the virtues of past emperors, we will surely be able to compile better teaching materials."

This attitude pleased Zhu Youjian greatly, and he gave him specific instructions:
"The purpose of compiling teaching materials is to explain the education that emperors of past dynasties gave to the Ming Dynasty, and the standard should be whether it conforms to the concept of Great Harmony."

"When the Great Way prevails, the world belongs to all."

"The first volume of this book should be 'The World Under Heaven,' which will compile the remarks of myself and previous emperors on fairness, justice, public ownership, the public, citizens, and public servants."

"The most important thing is to teach future emperors to take the world as their responsibility, and this is the moral order I have established for them."

This idea is quite profound.

If all emperors after the Ming Dynasty adhered to the principle of "public ownership of the world," it would be a blessing for everyone in the world.

Qian Qianyi strongly supported this, saying:

"I believe that the opinions of the emperor, his subjects and the people in governing the world should also be included."

"Only when the ruler, his subjects, and the people jointly govern the world can it be a public world, and no one can be autocratic."

"And we must refute the heretical doctrine of abdication, so as not to misinterpret the concept of 'public ownership of the world' as abdication."

Then he said to the emperor:
"I have been studying the abdication system these days and have discovered that the rulers Yao, Shun, and Yu were all descendants of the Yellow Emperor."

"The ancient abdication system was more about selecting the virtuous among the descendants of the Yellow Emperor, rather than completely disregarding lineage."

“Establishing a virtuous successor could easily lead to chaos, so after experiencing succession methods such as brother succeeding brother, it changed to the Zhou Dynasty’s system of establishing the eldest son as heir.”

"I believe we should get to the root of the problem and explain the true nature of the abdication system."

This is his conclusion based on the emperor's periodization of history and his research on the abdication system.

According to historical records such as the Records of the Grand Historian, Emperor Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Emperor Zhi, Yao, Shun, and Yu were all descendants of the Yellow Emperor.

These people actually belong to the same family and are not unrelated by blood.

Therefore, in Qian Qianyi's view, these people's abdication was more like a favorable transfer within the family, similar to how Taibo and Zhongyong left to allow King Wen to succeed them.

Qian Qianyi believed that such abdication could be encouraged. If an incompetent emperor were to emerge in the future, this method could be used to force him to relinquish the throne.

Of course, this is still a long way off and needs to be discussed carefully in the context of inheritance law.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with his explanation of the abdication system.

The concept of "the world belongs to all" being interpreted as a system of abdication is a very ancient one.

The Confucian ideal of abdication is deeply ingrained in its very being.

The Western Han Dynasty went to extremes in governing the country with Confucianism. Wang Mang, who was promoted by Confucian scholars, usurped the Han throne based on the theory of abdication.

Zhu Youjian absolutely refused to accept this, believing it would only lead to chaos.

Qian Qianyi interpreted the abdication as a succession within the family, which better suited his intentions.

Therefore, he pointed out:
“Selecting the virtuous and capable is a requirement for a harmonious world, and the idea is very good.”

"If a wise and virtuous ruler can be chosen, it will be a good thing for all the people."

"Unfortunately, it's not so easy to distinguish between the virtuous and the unvirtuous."

"Throughout history, the selection and appointment of virtuous and capable individuals has always inevitably led to chaos."

"Sir, you can also look at other countries, such as the electors of the Holy Roman Empire, which is also a case of the failure of the meritocracy."

"I believe that the selection of virtuous and capable individuals must be approached with caution. We should begin by electing representatives of the people and officials. Only when we have fully matured and met the requirements for selecting virtuous and capable individuals in a time of great harmony can we then use them to select a ruler."

"Moreover, we must proceed in stages. We should start by selecting from my descendants, and once they are fully mature, we can expand to the descendants of the founding emperor, and finally to all people in the world."

"This is the true meaning of the abdication system, explained in conjunction with the selection of the virtuous and capable." (End of Chapter)