Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After the relevant provisions of "those who till the land own the land" were confirmed, the ministers finally felt relieved.

They all knew that the current emperor liked to reform the system, but he still respected the laws and regulations he had established.

This is what the ministers like most, and they are increasingly in favor of re-establishing rituals and music.

Liu Zongzhou, as the person in charge of remaking the rituals and music, endorsed this ritual law and said:
"Among the eight principles of the Book of History, food is the first."

"Guan Zi said: 'When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace.'"

"The tiller has his field, the weaver has his loom, the resident has his house. Only in this way can the world be stable and the people know etiquette and music."

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and praised:

"Mr. Liu is right. When the granaries are full, the country is at peace."

"What is the biggest worry of the Ming Dynasty now? It is the frequent natural disasters and the unrest in the world."

"We must give the people land, houses, looms, and ensure their food, clothing, shelter and transportation so that they can settle down."

"This is the most basic physiological need, and the whole court must do its best for it."

"Don't expect the people to starve to death peacefully. If they can't find food, they will riot."

At this point, he glanced at Yang Sichang and thought of the famous phrase "Don't be content with starving people". Although many people say that Yang Sichang wrote "Xijiang Yue", according to Zhu Youjian's understanding, Yang Sichang should not have said such a thing, and the lyrics he wrote should not be so unrhymed.

At this time, Yang Sichang and other ministers echoed the emperor in unison, showing no intention of refuting at all.

They are all well-read people who are familiar with history, and naturally know what will happen if the people are unable to eat.

All the rebellions and uprisings recorded in history will break out.

By then, it won’t be just one or two people who will die, but a large portion of the world’s people.

Zhu Youjian was so excited that he told his ministers what he knew about Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory:
"When people are in this world, survival is the first priority."

"Everyone has the instinct to survive. This is the survival need, or physiological need."

“Food, water, clothing, shelter, these most basic needs must be met.”

"But it's not enough to just satisfy physiological needs. He may be killed, so he also has safety needs."

"Why did I implement the land limit and let the government give priority to poor farmers to rent land? It is to give the poor a way to survive and to ensure the safety of the gentry."

"Otherwise, once chaos breaks out, who can ensure peace?"

"During the reign of Huang Chao in the Tang Dynasty, the nobles were trampled to death in the streets. This should serve as a warning to the world!"

The ministers had never heard of these words, but everyone understood the reason behind them.

Especially the sentence "The streets are full of the bones of nobles", which really shocked them when they heard it for the first time.

In the Ming Dynasty, when "Song of the Qin Woman" had long been lost, most people did not know where this sentence came from.

Qian Qianyi was well versed in poetry and liked Song Dynasty poetry. He had seen this line of poetry in the notes of a Song Dynasty poet and knew it was written by Wei Zhuang. He said:
"This is an unknown statement. In his later years, Wei Zhuang wrote "Family Precepts" and banned this poem himself."

"May your majesty not say such things again!"

Zhu Youjian sneered and said:

"The fate of the former Tang officials is clearly recorded in history. Why try to cover up the truth?"

"Tang Taizong said: History is a mirror that can help us understand the rise and fall of nations."

"You should learn from this and avoid it, rather than avoid talking about it."

The ministers were silent upon hearing this, knowing that this was the fact.

Zhu Youjian warned them:
"Physiological needs and safety needs are both for the purpose of ensuring the most basic survival."

"You are all well-read people, and as wise men selected through the imperial examination, you must understand this truth."

"We must not ignore the people's survival needs and exacerbate unrest in the world."

These words made the ministers think deeply and touched them deeply.

Although most of them do not think that the Ming Dynasty has reached that point, they still agree with the logic behind it -

It is an obvious truth that if the people are not at peace, the officials and gentry will not be safe.

Liu Zongzhou even said:
"The Analects of Confucius says: I have heard that those who have a country or a family do not worry about scarcity but about inequality, and do not worry about poverty but about insecurity. Because there is no poverty when there is equality, no scarcity when there is harmony, and no instability when there is instability. If it is like this, then if people from afar are not convinced, then we should cultivate culture and virtue to attract them. Once they come, we should make them feel at ease."

"So when governing a country, the priority should be the people's safety and security, which is what Your Majesty said is to meet the survival needs."

"That's why Your Majesty raises taxes on the wealthy and rents land to the poor."

These words, which were quoted from the Analects of Confucius, suddenly made the ministers come to their senses.

It is believed that although the emperor's statement is new, it is still the knowledge of the ancient sages.

When Zhu Youjian saw Liu Zongzhou's words, he made his ministers understand and reduced their resistance. He praised Liu Zongzhou even more and imitated him in quoting the Four Books:
"To cultivate oneself, to regulate the family, to govern the state, and to bring peace to the world, these are the principles of The Great Learning."

"After satisfying physiological and safety needs, one can talk about emotional needs such as family and friendship. One also wants to gain respect from others with one's own morality, achievements, and wealth, and satisfy the need for respect. This is what is called the whole family."

"Finally, it is to govern the country and bring peace to the world, so that one can give full play to one's intelligence and talents, realize one's ideals and beliefs, and satisfy one's needs for self-realization."

"The principles that the ancient sages talked about are these five levels of needs!"

He ordered people to draw a pyramid and write down the five levels of needs in order. Zhu Youjian asked his ministers:

“What needs of the people should be met in a well-off society?”

"Please tell me for now."

The ministers discussed and pondered the emperor's demand theory. Yuan Keli, the co-director of the Privy Council, said:

"Your Majesty said that survival is the first priority, so we must meet the people's physiological and safety needs to prevent the world from falling into chaos."

"We, the ministers, suppress rebellions and relieve disasters for the sake of peace and stability in the world."

Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan said:

"It is not enough to just satisfy people's survival needs. People must also be able to start families, make friends and satisfy their emotional needs."

"Moreover, in a well-off society, people should be given the means to earn money and meet their need for respect."

Minister of Rites Cheng Jiming echoed:

“Satisfying the need for respect does not rely solely on wealth, but also on strengthening education and improving the moral character of the people.”

"And we need to give them ways to join the military, become officers, and make achievements, so as to meet their higher need for respect."

"Your Majesty has opened an imperial examination, ensuring that at least half of the candidates must be white-collar workers for three generations. This is precisely the opportunity for more people to meet their need for respect."

This is his experience of presiding over this year's provincial examination and preparing for next year's metropolitan examination. He expressed his support for the emperor's opening of the special examination and hoped that the special examination would be held next year. Zhu Youjian certainly planned to continue to hold the special examination. After all, he had dismissed many officials and created many new positions in the past two years. Now the Ministry of Personnel has begun to count the missing officials, and the court is also discussing where to implement the reform so as to determine how many Jinshi are needed next year.

He was delighted that Cheng Jiming associated the theory of demand with the fairness of the imperial examination and supported his recruitment of Jinshi candidates whose ancestors were commoners for three generations. This made him happily praise:

"What Cheng Qing said is very true. The reason why I opened the imperial examination is to allow more people to meet their need for respect."

"And we also hope that scholars can achieve self-realization, and after their physical, safety, emotional, and respectful needs are met, they can devote themselves to governing the country and pacifying the world."

“Only in this way can one be said to have gotten rid of vulgar tastes and become a noble person, a pure person, a moral person. Even like the ancient sages, one can become a wise man who is beneficial to the world.”

As he spoke, he couldn't help but look at Liu Zongzhou, and many of the ministers also -

Obviously, everyone in the court now believed that Liu Zongzhou was such a wise man, and some even believed that the emperor used these words to praise Liu Zongzhou.

However, Zhu Youjian did not say it clearly in the end, because Liu Zongzhou was still alive and it was not appropriate to make a final judgment. He said:

“This highest need for self-realization is for everyone to become a saint.”

"There is no need to set any requirements for a moderately prosperous society, but it can serve as a standard for a great society."

"I hope you will work together with me and the people of the world to build the Ming Dynasty into a well-off society."

All the officials bowed down and echoed the emperor. The "Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention" also had one more criterion, which was to prepare for a well-off world.
-
After the discussion at the imperial lecture was published in newspapers such as the Dibao, it soon caused heated discussions in the capital and throughout the country.

Especially the phrase "He who tills the land owns it" made countless landless farmers feel that they saw a chance to survive.

This statement quickly spread widely. Many poor people who were illiterate and did not read newspapers knew that the emperor wanted to realize the policy of "those who till the land own the land", and began to inquire about this matter from the government.

Local governments were extremely anxious for a while, but they had to respond to the farmers according to the court's orders.

The Xing Sinong Temple, which was previously established to transport grain, urged local governments to reorganize official fields and public fields and give priority to distributing them to the landless poor.

They were very enthusiastic about this and even asked the local government to take back all the government land that had evaded taxes and distribute it to the poor who were willing to pay the tithe.

Obviously, they have realized the benefits of a single tax system and intend to implement it on government and public fields.

Only private land that is not official or public land will be taxed according to the previously determined rate of one dou and five liters in the south, one dou in the north, and five liters at the border.

The Ming Dynasty's land tax reform, along with land surveying and the compilation of yellow books, began to be implemented with difficulty in local areas.

The tenant farmers who were allocated land in Suzhou felt even more at ease, knowing that the court's policy would not change and their land would not be taken back.

As long as they paid the tithe tax in full, the government land they rented could be passed on to their descendants.

These are the ideas of the peasants, and many scholars are more concerned with the emperor's elaboration of the theories of ancient sages, especially the theory of five levels of needs.

Liu Zongzhou said to his students privately:
"Although His Majesty is young, he has already grasped the true meaning of the ancient sages."

“The Five-Level Needs Theory is indeed a truth passed down by our ancestors.”

"It's just that this principle is scattered in various books, and no one has summarized it before."

Huang Zongxi was also somewhat convinced at this time, because he was determined to work hard on academic research and knew how difficult it was to come up with a new theory.

The reason why Liu Zongzhou became a world-renowned Confucian scholar is because he proposed the Confucian concept with "being cautious in solitude" as the core and further improved the study of the mind.

The thing that Qian Qianyi and others lack compared to him is that they lack this core.

The current emperor is a few months younger than him, but he extracted this theory from the scriptures. How could he not admire and respect this emperor?

Huang Zongxi thought so in his heart, but he said unconvincedly:
"Although the emperor proposed these five-level theories, he himself did not implement them."

"Given his status, his physiological and safety needs have long been met, not to mention his emotional and respect needs."

"But he did not focus on his self-realization of governing the country and pacifying the world, but indulged in the low taste of love between men and women."

"I think the emperor says one thing and does another. He is far inferior to the teacher!"

Liu Zongzhou was speechless when he heard this, and said to Huang Zongxi:

"The five levels of needs do not mean that once one level is met, the other levels will no longer be needed. The most basic needs are the foundation."

"Like eating, once you're full, do you stop eating? What's the logic behind that?"

"It is a small matter that the emperor is obsessed with women, as long as he does not cause any disturbance in the world."

"Do you want the Emperor to rule the country and bring peace to the world all day long, and do all the work of the Cabinet and the Five Courts, Six Ministries and Nine Temples, just like Emperor Taizu?"

"Like you assisting Prince Lu, do you expect him to do everything personally?"

After hearing this, Huang Zongxi was speechless and had nothing to say.

Only after he entered the officialdom and became a minister of Lu Fan did he understand what the ministers were thinking about.

The ministers might want the current emperor to be obsessed with women, as no one wants the monarch to stare at them all day long.

No wonder even though some imperial censors made remonstrances, the ministers in the court did not say a word. Perhaps they were secretly happy in their hearts, delighted that the emperor had given up power.

After discussing the demand theory proposed by the emperor, Liu Zongzhou said to Huang Zongxi:

"During this imperial lecture, several more articles of etiquette and law were drafted. The etiquette and law of the vassal state you formulate for Lu Fan must also reflect these."

"The grant of 50 acres of land and one acre of residential land outside the country is aimed at the vassal states."

"Lu Fan etiquette and law cannot be violated."

Huang Zongxi heard this and said:
"Teacher, rest assured. My students and colleagues have already decided to grant land according to the previous court policy."

"And there are preferential treatments for the officers, at least first-class officers are given a piece of land."

"I believe that it will attract more scholars to Lufan and reclaim the land of Lufan as soon as possible."

Liu Zongzhou looked at his confident look and shook his head. He warned:

"Your intentions are good, but remember that with rights come responsibilities."

"Soldiers can be granted a piece of land because they have to serve in the army for generations."

"What right do the officials have? Even if they make contributions in this generation, how can the next generation inherit the land?"

"Do you intend to turn the Gongshi into hereditary nobles, or to make their descendants have to make meritorious deeds or pay a thousand taels of silver before they can inherit the land left by the previous generation?"

Huang Zongxi and others did not think about this problem, because they did not think that far.

It is obviously impossible for a Gongshi to become a hereditary noble. The court positioned Gongshi as a civilian noble, the lowest level of scholar honor.

Even the craftsmen's rank is equivalent to the Gongshi. After the Gongshi is established as a hereditary nobility, what will happen to those higher lords?
However, if they were not hereditary nobles, there would indeed be problems with land inheritance. Soldiers could only obtain hereditary land through generations of service, so why should the descendants of public officials receive the same treatment as them?
For a moment, Huang Zongxi frowned and thought hard, not knowing how to solve this problem.

At the same time, he vaguely realized that the preferential treatment he and the officials of Lu Fan showed to scholars seemed unreasonable. (End of this chapter)