Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian deliberately kept Liu Zongzhou, naturally not just to inquire about the progress of the Congress.

He wanted Liu Zongzhou to endorse the newly formulated "ruler, ministers and people governing the world together" and give an authoritative interpretation.

This is also the reason why Liu Zongzhou became the person in charge of remaking rituals and music.

The emperor and his ministers knew this very well.

After arranging the establishment of a special committee of the National Assembly, Zhu Youjian asked Liu Zongzhou:

"When Duke Jing of Qi asked Confucius about government, Confucius replied: The ruler should be a ruler, the minister should be a minister; the father should be a father, the son should be a son."

"What's the meaning of this statement?"

Liu Zongzhou, author of The Analects of Confucius, was certainly familiar with this and explained:

"Governance has its main principles, namely the ruler, his subjects, and his father and his son!"

"The ruler fulfills his duty as a ruler, the minister fulfills his duty as a minister; the father fulfills his duty as a father, the son fulfills his duty as a son. Then the government will be free of all troubles!"

"Although, if the ruler is benevolent, the ministers will be loyal, and if the father is kind, the sons will be filial. Therefore, it is said: rectify the heart to rectify the court, rectify the court to rectify the officials, rectify the officials to rectify the people, and no one near or far will dare to be different from the righteous, and there will be no evil spirits and treacherous people among them. This is the saying of 'righteousness'."

"'Ruler is ruler, minister is minister, father is father, son is son' implies infinite truth, and the Nine Classics and Threefold Sutras come from this."

Zhu Youjian nodded and praised:

"A ruler should fulfill his duty as a ruler, a minister as a minister; a father should fulfill his duty as a father, a son as a son. This saying makes a lot of sense."

"A monarch must behave like a monarch, and so must a minister."

“Just like cultural workers, they must have culture.”

"The Great Ming Convention on Rites and Laws must reflect this, define the powers and responsibilities of the monarch, his subjects, and his fathers and sons, and ensure the unity of rights and obligations."

Liu Zongzhou agreed with this statement and fully understood it.

Because the chapters that the emperor had previously formulated for the "Great Ming Convention on Rites and Laws" were about the Great Ming court institutions, the rights and obligations of the citizens of the Great Ming, and the charter for the formulation and amendment of laws. Now it is just a reiteration of emphasis.

He said:
“The draft of etiquette and law that I and my colleagues have prepared is based on this.”

"For those in power, while enjoying power, they must also bear responsibility."

“For those in lower positions, they enjoy corresponding rights while fulfilling their obligations.”

“No matter how high or low your status is, you cannot cross the line at will.”

Zhu Youjian was very happy to hear this, because Liu Zongzhou made a theoretical explanation for the unity of power and responsibility, and the unity of rights and obligations.

He praised with great joy:
"Mr. Xu is well-versed in ancient and modern times, and is truly a Confucian master of his generation."

"The monarch and his ministers have unified powers and responsibilities, and that is 'the monarch is the monarch, and the minister is the minister'."

“Can this unity of rights and obligations of the people be called ‘people’?”

"I have expanded 'ruler-ruler, minister-minister' to 'ruler-ruler, minister-minister, people-minister'. Do you agree with this, sir?"

These words suddenly shocked Liu Zongzhou's mind, and he understood why the emperor kept him and discussed the relationship between ruler and subject with him.

Obviously, the emperor's purpose was to add the two words "people" to find a theoretical source for "the monarch, his subjects and the people governing the world together."

At the same time, the powers and responsibilities of the monarch, ministers, and people are determined to prevent anyone from crossing the line.

And this kind of revision of Confucian classics must be endorsed by great scholars, otherwise people in the world will not agree with it.

He thought carefully about the two words "ruler is ruler, ministers are ministers, people are people", and thought that "people are people" could be added.

But in this case, the original source of the theory of "the emperor, his subjects and the people governing the world together" - "the people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important" - would be abandoned by the emperor.

This was something Liu Zongzhou did not want to see, so he said to the emperor:

"Mr. Yang interpreted Sheji as the ministers of Sheji, and believed that 'the people are the most important, the ministers are the second, and the king is the least important.'"

"Although I don't completely agree with it, I think it makes sense."

"I wonder if Your Majesty thinks this explanation is correct?"

Zhu Youjian could hear Liu Zongzhou's intention and knew that if he admitted this, he would be at a disadvantage facing the National Assembly and the court in the future. In the power triangle of monarch, ministers and people, he would be in the lowest position.

This was something he did not want to see, and he also thought that many of his ministers might not want to see this either. He said to Liu Zongzhou:
"Yang Qing's explanation does make sense."

"But there are also some biases, and we should correct them."

"Otherwise, if the people come out and say 'the people are more important than the ministers and the monarch,' and refuse to accept the control of the ministers or even the monarch, what should we do then?"

Liu Zongzhou was speechless because he had said before that "rectifying the heart will rectify the court, rectifying the court will rectify the officials, rectifying the officials will rectify the people", which is the same as the order of monarch, ministers and people. If you agree with what the emperor said, you should agree with "monarch monarch, ministers ministers and people people".

But he was unwilling to do this, and he felt conflicted for a moment.

Zhu Youjian saw that he was lost in thought and continued:
“The relationship between the ruler, the subjects and the people should be explained from two aspects.”

"Have you ever heard of the collective and the individual, sir?"

Liu Zongzhou naturally did not know this new term or concept. Although he understood the meaning of the word, he did not know what the emperor was talking about.

He also knew that the current emperor had many wonderful ideas, which was what he lacked the most.

Therefore, he did not mind cooperating with the emperor in remaking rites and music, instead of being as stubborn as Emperor Jianwen and his ministers who wanted to restore Zhou rites.

After bowing, Liu Zongzhou said to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, please enlighten me!"

"I am all ears to your explanation."

Zhu Youjian carefully considered his words and explained to Liu Zongzhou using the dialectics he had learned:

"From a collective perspective, 'people are the most important, ministers are second, and the king is the least important' is correct."

"Even though I am the emperor, I will respect the decisions of the court ministers. No matter whether it is the court's recommendation, discussion or trial, it will have higher validity."

"When the National Assembly is established in the future, its effectiveness will be even higher, and it will be superior to the decisions of the court ministers in discussing major issues."

This sentence determines the status of Congress, which is the highest authority, higher than the court and the emperor.

Liu Zongzhou, the person in charge of organizing the National Assembly, was very excited about this and immediately bowed and said:

"Your Majesty's insight is truly a blessing to all people."

"I congratulate the whole world!"

Zhu Youjian smiled and asked him to excuse himself, and continued:

"Besides the collective, there are also the individual." "As for the individual, it should be the other way around. It should be 'the king is the most important, the ministers are the second, and the people are the least important.'"

"The monarch is the most honorable, the ministers are second, and the common people are the least honorable."

"This is 'the ruler is the ruler, the ministers are the ministers, the people are the people'."

After going around in circles, this sentence is still being promoted and regarded as the theoretical source of "the emperor, his subjects and the people governing the world together."

Liu Zongzhou frowned, realizing that the emperor was using "the ruler is the ruler, the minister is the minister, and the people are the people" to counter "the people are the most important, the ministers are second, and the ruler is the least important." In this way, the emperor still occupies the supreme position in Confucian theory.

He didn't know for a moment whether he should accept it, and frowned as he thought about it.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian knew that Liu Zongzhou was struggling with his conscience, so he immediately added weight:

"During the Five Dynasties, An Zhongrong, the military governor of Chengde Army of the Later Jin Dynasty, said: The emperor should have the strongest soldiers and horses, and he should be the emperor.

"Do you agree with this statement, sir?"

Liu Zongzhou certainly disagreed. He didn't want to go back to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era, so he said:

"This is disrespectful to the emperor and his father, and is absurd."

"Mencius said: Those who have no father and no ruler are like animals."

"Your Majesty, you cannot say that!"

I strongly oppose the emperor saying such words, and I believe that such words should not come from the emperor's mouth.

Seeing his big reaction, Zhu Youjian immediately apologized verbally, saying that he had spoken out of turn. Then he asked him:
"If the emperor's status is not as noble as his subjects and the people, what will happen?"

"Will there be more people like this who disrespect the emperor and his father?"

"Sir, how do you think we can avoid this?"

Liu Zongzhou now understood the emperor's thoughts, because the emperor was worried that if he agreed that the people were more important than the monarch, more people would not take the monarch seriously.

Although he felt that this was not necessarily the case, he finally agreed when he thought about the status of literati in front of military commanders during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period:

"As an individual, I am indeed the most honorable one, Your Majesty."

"We should abide by the 'rule of rulers, subject to subject, people to people' and not cross the line without permission."

Finally hearing these words, Zhu Youjian clapped his hands and praised Liu Zongzhou:
"You said it well, sir. 'The people are the most important, the ministers are second, and the king is the least important' and 'The king is the king, the ministers are the ministers, and the people are the people' are two sides of the same coin."

“It should be analyzed separately from the collective and individual perspectives.”

"I hope you can write an article and teach this to the world."

"Scholars from all over the world can also submit their articles based on this, and the outstanding ones will be granted the status of Gongshi or even Yuanshi."

I plan to hold an essay contest to make this truth deeply rooted in people’s minds.

As to whether it is the original intention of the sages, there is no discussion of it at all.

Liu Zongzhou obviously understood the emperor's intention, but at this moment, he could only smile bitterly.

Although the interpretation of these two sentences is debatable in academic terms, it is completely unquestionable when it comes to governance.

Otherwise, as the emperor said, some people will be without a king or a father, and the world will fall into chaos.

Therefore, this truth can only be the final conclusion.

As a minister highly valued by the current emperor, he also has the responsibility to write an article to explain the situation to the world.

So he accepted the order, went back and considered it carefully, read many books, and wrote the article the emperor required.

The first reader of this article was naturally Zhu Youjian, who edited and revised it several times with Liu Zongzhou before passing it to the ministers for review.

After the ministers' approval, this article was published as an explanation of the general principles of the "Great Ming Convention on Rites and Laws" in newspapers such as "Dibao" and "Jingbao", so that officials all over the world could study it and scholars all over the world could understand it.

The officials welcomed the article because they knew that the emperor had previously mentioned that "the Son of Heaven and the people rule the world" and did not mention himself at all.

Some people wanted to use the former Song Dynasty's principle of "governing the world with the literati, not with the people" to persuade the emperor. However, due to the failure of the former Song Dynasty's strategy of governing the world with the literati, many people were too embarrassed to raise this point, and they knew it was impossible to convince the emperor.

Therefore, the idea of ​​"the emperor, his subjects and the people jointly rule the world" was very popular among them. They believed that the emperor was a wise ruler who readily accepted good advice.

In particular, the determination of the collective status of the court and the status of the ministers from an individual perspective made the officials feel more satisfied, because this completely established their dominance in the court and their noble status in front of the people.

Officials at all levels began to submit memorials to express their recognition of "the emperor is the emperor, the ministers are the ministers, and the people are the people." Those who had previously criticized the establishment of the National Assembly for the re-establishment of rituals and music also began to agree with this point, believing that the emperor was indeed worthy of praise for determining order and distributing power. The relationship between the emperor, the ministers and the people should indeed be like this.

It can be said that after the proposal of "the monarch, his subjects and the people jointly govern the world", even those who stubbornly adhered to the old system could not oppose the re-establishment of rituals and music. Otherwise, they would be cutting themselves off from the officialdom and opposing all officials.

The scholars welcomed this more than they did. As candidates for official posts, their positions were mostly the same as those of the officials. At the same time, because they also had the identity of the people, they were also happy about the rights and obligations that the people had.

Because this means that even if they cannot become officials, they can still participate in politics as representatives of the people and have a say in national affairs.

If their voices were loud enough and they made resolutions in the name of Congress, even the court ministers would have to obey and the emperor would have to agree.

These people are the most supportive of "rule of the king, subjects and people". They call themselves the spokespersons of the people and think they are likely to become parliamentarians and enjoy all the rights of the people.

They began to clamor for the establishment of parliaments in various places to compete with officials for power. Officials and scholars, who used to speak with the same voice, began to gradually differentiate themselves. Some people still stood on the side of officials, while others gradually became spokespersons for the people, using the collective power of the people to compete with officials.

At the same time, they also responded to the emperor's call and actively contributed to newspapers, hoping to be appreciated and win the opportunity to become a Yuanshi.
In particular, the instructors of many schools and teachers in academies also received notifications from the Ministry of Rites and realized that this article was the authoritative interpretation of the two words of the sages: "The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important" and "The king is the king, the minister is the minister, the father is the father, and the son is the son."

During regular exams, they asked students to write eight-part essays based on this and encouraged them to submit their essays.

Naturally, students submitted their articles one after another and enthusiastically discussed this issue as winter approached.

For a time, newspapers were full of such articles, describing the relationship between the monarch, his subjects, and the people.

There are also many people who sing praises for the emperor, believing that the current emperor is a good emperor who is willing to share power with his subjects.

The rights, responsibilities and obligations of the monarch, his subjects and the people were thus established. And through the explanations of scholars, they gradually became popular.

Many people also began to realize that although they individually had the lowest status among the monarch, his subjects and the people, when they united, they were the most noble.

Congress and Parliament are where their voices are heard and will hold supreme power in the future.

Those who knew that the tax rate and corvée time would be determined by the Congress and the Parliament strongly called for the establishment of a local parliament, hoping that this would prevent officials from deceiving their superiors and subordinates and arbitrarily collecting taxes and corvée.

The establishment of the National Assembly began to be supported by the people and became a consensus throughout the Ming Dynasty. All the people hoped that the National Assembly and the Parliament would be established as soon as possible so that they could enjoy the power they deserved.

The main body of the Congress began to change from scholars to the people.

All citizens know that they can make their voices heard here. (End of this chapter)