My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 415: The True Face of Confucianism?

After secretly noting Zhao Yu's slight anomaly, Liu Rong changed the subject and abruptly moved on to the next topic, temporarily ignoring the issue of public opinion.

——Public opinion will always exist.

In particular, this imperial examination was fundamentally different from the imperial examinations in later dynasties.

The various schools of thought are still there.

This was the most active, complex, and radical period in Chinese thought and academia, but it was not completely crushed by the wheels of history.

Unlike later generations, when Confucianism had long since monopolized the academic world - the Han Dynasty still retained most of the "famous schools" among the various schools of thought.

People in later generations often say that Emperor Wu of Han abolished all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone, which unified the Chinese intellectual world and laid the foundation for Chinese civilization with the moral norms of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trustworthiness advocated by Confucian culture as the foundation of civilization.

Liu Rong, however, has reservations about this.

——After hundreds of years of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the various schools of thought had already become intertwined.

Even though the ideological and philosophical emphases of various schools of thought may differ, the ultimate goals they seek to achieve and the basic moral value system are, in fact, all the same.

The ultimate goal is nothing more than to "make the king as good as Yao and Shun", to make the people rich, the country strong, the world stable, and the country prosperous.

The only difference lies in the specific means to achieve the goal and the power relied upon in the process of achieving the goal.

Huang-Lao School believes that water benefits all things without competing. If you want to make a country prosperous, the government should be like water - lend a hand and make an effort wherever you are needed.
When you are not needed, you should just honestly "rule by doing nothing" and let the people of the world develop on their own.

The Legalists believed that the people were stupid by nature, and instead of trying hard to educate and enlighten them, it would be better to use the law as a constraint and the power of the state to guide the people and work towards a common and long-term goal.

To put it bluntly, you do whatever you are told to do - you farm when you are told to farm, you join the army when you are told to join the army, you build the Great Wall when you are told to build the Great Wall, and you build the straight road when you are told to build the straight road;

Don’t ask why. You won’t understand even if I tell you. Just do it.

Confucianism is an outlier.

In the view of Confucianism, if you want to make a country or a civilization strong, you need to make every individual in this country or civilization strong.

That is: let everyone become a moral gentleman who is both civil and martial, able to read and write, ride horses and shoot arrows, and is as gentle as jade and elegant.

As for how to do it specifically?
——As the saying goes: When the granaries are full, one knows etiquette; when one has enough food and clothing, one knows honor and disgrace.

Therefore, those landlords and powerful people who have "enough food and clothing" must be role models who understand etiquette and know honor and disgrace.

Since they already know etiquette and honor and disgrace, there is no need to waste effort - just let them play the role of example and guide those ignorant lower-class people...

Judging from the results, the ideological philosophies of these three major schools are obviously too idealistic.

——The small government model advocated by Mr. Huang, although it reduces the government's maintenance costs in peacetime, also greatly reduces the government's control over local areas, and even moves towards the direction of "anarchy".

This is also one of the reasons why Huang-Lao school, as the founding and ruling school of the Han Dynasty, is now increasingly declining.

Because with the unification of the country by Qin Shihuang, the Chinese civilization was formally injected with the genes of "unification" and "centralization". Centralization has increasingly become the lofty goal that the Chinese feudal regime yearns for and wants to achieve.

Especially in the current Han Dynasty, after Emperor Taizong Xiaowen's 27 years of "ruling by inaction", during the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, it officially entered a period of rapid development in which "primitive capital accumulation was completed and the territory was expanded in great strides".

In short, it was a shift from resting with the people to centralization of power.

It is no wonder that the Huang-Lao school, which advocates a small government, is contrary to the overall policy of centralization of the Han Dynasty, and therefore gradually faded out of the center of power decision-making.

As for the high-pressure policy of the Legalists, it obviously didn't work.

——Using the lives of the people as the fuel for the country's progress, not allowing people to ask or speak, and only asking the people to be obedient and work hard to death on infrastructure projects?

Most prisons in later generations are not so inhumane!
The pursuit of a better life will always be the most instinctive desire of mankind.

The more this instinctive desire is suppressed, the more intense the final backlash will be.

The death of Qin II and the collapse of the Qin empire overnight are the most straightforward and clear proof of this.

As for the Confucian idea of ​​"gentry governing the country", which places the hope on powerful local tycoons to set an example and even for the rich to lead the poor, that is even more absurd.

——Which landlord is so kind as to teach his tenants how to become landlords?
The selfishness buried deep in human genes will only make them rack their brains to turn the descendants of tenants into tenants who have to work for them forever and be exploited by them.

If they squeeze your marrow out of you and think your marrow is not fragrant enough or not sufficient enough, how can they train you into a competitor and work together towards a better tomorrow?

Therefore, whether it is the Huang-Lao school's "small government governing by inaction", the Legalist school's "central government high-pressure rule", or the Confucian school's "government inaction, gentry governing the country", they are obviously overly idealistic methods that are either inconsistent with human nature or reality.

But their goals are the same: a prosperous country with strong people and a peaceful and prosperous country with people.

Even farmers, doctors, novelists, and Yin-Yang masters, all have the same ultimate goal, but they each have their own opinions and methods.

The paths are different, but the goals are the same. That’s all.

As for moral standards, they are even more highly consistent - they are nothing more than the simplest ones in Chinese civilization: loyalty, filial piety, friendliness, human ethics, and brotherhood.

You said that Confucianism advocates benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. Does that mean Legalism advocates doing evil and committing all kinds of evil?

Confucianism emphasizes "gentle gentlemen". Does that mean Mohism is talking about extremely vicious and cruel bandits?

Apparently neither.

After all, it still comes down to the same old saying: All the philosophers and schools of thought are a piece of plagiarism.

In terms of moral standards, apart from the outlier Yang Zhu who believed in "self-centeredness and not being burdened by material things", what the various schools of thought advocated were basically simple: being peaceful and friendly with others, respecting the elders, and loving the young.

Therefore, in Liu Rong's opinion, Emperor Wu of Han abolished all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone, and said that he "laid the foundation for the moral system of Chinese civilization emphasizing benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness". This is somewhat bullying the later generations who are ignorant and do not understand the value systems of other schools of thought.

On the contrary, unifying the Chinese intellectual world and promoting Confucianism as the only doctrine has real practical significance.

It is also very simple to understand: Before Emperor Wu of Han, each school of thought had its own reasons.

Huang-Lao advocates ruling by inaction, Legalism advocates high-pressure rule, and Confucianism advocates the rule of the gentry;

Mohists advocated anarchy and communism, military strategists advocated conquering the entire world, and agriculturalists advocated that farming would strengthen the country...

There are all kinds of opinions, but each one of them makes some sense, making it difficult for you to tell who is right and who is wrong.

This will lead to the fact that when the central government takes any major action, you, as an ordinary citizen living in this era, will often fall into extreme confusion and entanglement.

For example, one winter, the county government where you live issued an announcement saying that the only major canal in your county was blocked, and that all the young and strong people in the county should be summoned to clear the canal before the spring to avoid affecting the spring plowing next year.

This is not something worth thinking about - it benefits the country and the people, just do it.

But people around you are beginning to express mixed opinions on this matter.

——The old man who governs the village said: This is not how the country is governed, leaving it alone is the best policy;
As for blocked canals, when they are blocked to a certain extent, they will be naturally cleared by the water flow, and there is no need to invest special manpower and material resources to clear them.

In this cold weather, the government actually conscripted young and strong men from poor farmers' families to do unpaid physical labor. They are clearly cruel people!

You want to refute, but you think what the old man said makes sense. Just when you are about to accept the old man's statement and decide to refuse the county government's conscription and curse the "dog officials and cruel people", a distant cousin from the neighbor's house comes to visit and expresses his views on the matter.

According to this young man who came from a legalist background, the county government recruited young and strong men to dredge the canal, which was a reflection of the government's concern for the people and its emphasis on their livelihood.

The government could have obviously just ignored everything, but it still took the trouble to issue an announcement, deciding to lead the people to clear the channels so that they could prepare for the spring plowing season next year.

This is good governance.

Living in a county like this, with such positive officials who care about the people, you should be happy even in your dreams!
You may also think this statement makes some sense.

But some people cannot judge which one is right or wrong between this statement and the one made by the old man at the village entrance.

Before you can make a decision or judgement, the old scholar from the village chief's house speaks again: Oh~
The matter is a good thing;

But how can such a thing be allowed to be done by officials who are accustomed to corruption and bribery?
This is clearly a good thing being handed over to a group of morally corrupt people~
How could there be any good results?
This kind of thing should be done by local role models, that is, representative figures such as gentry.

Then, you feel numb.

Isn’t it just digging a canal?
If you own land at home and think that clearing the canal would be beneficial to your family, why not send the young and strong people in the family to help?
Why are there so many twists and turns?
It has become difficult for you, who originally knew that this was a good thing, to tell whether it is good or bad, or even whether the person who did it should be held responsible for it.

That's still good.

——It’s still good that your county only has three intellectuals from different schools.

It is said that in the next county, there was a Mohist who was born in the Mohist school. When he heard that the canal needed to be dredged, he spontaneously gathered the people to do the work.

The local county government didn't know how to write the report when reporting to the higher authorities - it didn't work to say that the matter was done, but it also didn't seem right to say that it wasn't done. It was all awkward...

What’s even more terrible is that not only ordinary people like you are confused and bewildered, but even the officials in the county government are confused by all these various statements.

The county magistrate thought what Mr. Huang said made sense and that this matter was not something the government should be involved in, so he was reluctant to sign the construction permit.
The county lieutenant felt that what the Legalists said made sense. Whether for the sake of his mission or his career, he had to do this.

The two had a big argument over this matter.

While the two gods were fighting, the "fish in the pond" below were also arguing with each other.

The chief clerk said: The Confucians are right, this is something that the gentry should do;

Li Zhuan said again: The Mohists are capable, so it is right to hand over the work to them, saving time and effort, and you don’t have to do anything…

The situation has been in chaos for several years and the channels have not been cleared yet.

Insufficient irrigation has resulted in the county’s farmland becoming increasingly less fertile, and local officials have been relocated or dismissed one after another.

As the county government changed its leadership, the issue of dredging the canals was caught in a cycle of wrangling and was never implemented.

When Emperor Wu of Han established Confucianism as the only doctrine in the world, everything became much simpler.

——The central government has clearly stipulated: Confucianism is right!
Then no one, whether it is the grassroots people or the local officials, needs to worry about it - just follow what Confucianism says.

The gentry should be responsible when they should be, they should support the government when they should, and keep silent when they should.

When the work was done, the people's farmlands no longer lacked water for irrigation, the gentry earned the fame they wanted, and the local officials got their political achievements without any effort.

Everything is so perfect, and all parties involved in this matter will benefit from it...

But is this really the case?
History tells Liu Rong that this is not the case.

Let’s take the same thing as an example: unblocking channels.

This was the first time that the local gentry took charge of the matter, naturally acting on behalf of the government and acting as an organizer.

But slowly, as officials were promoted one after another due to their political achievements, and local gentry became more and more "respected and respected", the situation became somewhat different.

——The food and wages that were supposed to be distributed to the young and strong were gone;

——The public canal that was originally supposed to be dredged began to become a private canal for the gentry.

Then, the young and strong began to 'pay to work';

In the surrounding area, any wealthy family that needed heavy labor would have to resort to this method of "gentry governing the country."

The project funds allocated by the government were eaten up by the local gentry;

The gentry also ate the 'work fees' handed in by the young and strong.

By the way, the gentry no longer has to spend money on any work in the future, and they can even collect "work fees" from the hard-working young farmers.

It is called: filial piety.

Then, the laborers could not find work;
Local officials are becoming increasingly lazy and accustomed to leaving all matters to the gentry.

As time went on, the government became just spectators, and the gentry became the local rulers.

Hundreds of years later, a government team suddenly thought: Hey, something is wrong?

I should be the one who has the final say in this place, right?

At this time, the squire would stand up and ask in confusion: Who are you?

Official?

Whose official is really in charge?

For hundreds of years, haven't officials been responsible for promotion, while we, the gentry, have been responsible for governing the people - officials get promoted, and the gentry get rich?

My family has done this for generations. Didn’t the officials in your family also do this?

Thus, the rulers of the country were transformed imperceptibly from local governments under the jurisdiction of the central government into local powerful and wealthy families, the so-called "gentry".

Under their "governance", the state's land annexation intensified, and the lower-class people suffered from poverty;

As a last resort, one person finally stood up and shouted, and the people rose up and completely overthrew the "corrupt" dynasty that forced them to lose their livelihood.

As for those 'gentry'?

His face remained calm and he turned to the local officials of the new dynasty and said: Sir, do you want political achievements?
As long as you open your mouth, we, the gentry, will deliver it to you immediately!

You don’t need to spend any money or effort.
As long as you stay in the county government office obediently, we, the gentry, will do everything for you.

what?
You ask me what I want?
hi~
I admire you, am impressed by your grace, and want to do something for you.
The rise and fall of a country is the responsibility of the gentry!

what?
Land annexation, harming the people?
How can it be!

We country gentlemen have been cultivating the land and passing down our family traditions. We have read books written by sages and have always talked about benevolence, righteousness, and morality.
How could I do such a heinous thing...

(End of this chapter)