The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 305 The Hundred Schools of Thought Can Also Be Used

Throughout history, those who are pragmatic and adaptable have been considered wise, and he did not feel that he had done anything wrong.

"Your Highness, that's going too far. Everyone in the world knows that we have our reasons for doing this!"

"The Yuan dynasty was tyrannical, and we only wanted to save the country through indirect means and preserve the strength of us scholars. If it weren't for our merit, I'm afraid all scholars in the world would have long since disappeared!"

"From this perspective, we are not only without fault, but have actually made a contribution!"

Zhu Xiong Ying was almost amused by these words; she never expected these people to say such things.

Even the civil officials were very surprised to hear this.

Among the military generals, Lan Yu and Fu Youde, among others, had long since stopped caring about the stares of others and burst into laughter.

"Interesting, truly interesting. This is the first time I've heard of such an idea. In the future, when facing enemies, we might as well just surrender directly, just like our sage Confucius said, 'Preserve your strength!'"

The scholars in the court felt a wave of shame, and some even felt that the sage Confucius they worshipped was not as sacred as they had imagined.

Kong Ximing's face turned red, thinking that he couldn't bring this up again, otherwise what would people in the world think of him?

"After all, this is not the time to talk about this. It is about the integration of land tax and poll tax. Now that His Highness has made a mistake, he should correct it. As the saying goes, 'To err is human, to forgive divine.' We cannot believe that His Highness will do better under the guidance of us scholars!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying stared intently at Kong Xi Ming and spoke.

"Since you all intend to teach scholars across the land, yet they still don't quite understand what the Song Dynasty's system was like, or what its emperors were like, we would appreciate your guidance!"

The four men's eyes lit up when they heard Zhu Xiong Ying's words.

Could it be that Zhu Xiong Ying has already decided to heed their advice and has already started asking him questions?

Cheng Daoan from the Shi Cheng family stepped forward and said with a smile.

"The Song Dynasty was an extremely glorious period in history. In my opinion, it was by no means inferior to the Han and Tang Dynasties, and may even have surpassed them!"

"During the Song Dynasty, there were countless scholar-officials, all of whom were learned and brimming with literary talent. The first few emperors ruled by doing nothing, co-governing the country with the scholar-officials, which led to the strength of the Song Dynasty at that time!"

"Unfortunately, the Song Dynasty later had several incompetent rulers in succession. Coupled with the border issues, they gained more power and stopped taking war seriously, which led to the demise of the Song Dynasty!"

Zhu Ying from the Zhu family also stepped forward and spoke.

"Indeed, the Song Dynasty should have been a model for scholars and a model for governance. It's just a pity that it ended up with so many mutinies, such as the Miao-Liu mutiny during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Unless these military men disobeyed the court's orders, how could so many things have happened!"

"Therefore, Your Highness must strictly control those military men. In addition to providing them with provisions, you should also establish a system of military supervisors, selecting virtuous and respected scholars to supervise and restrain them. In critical moments, you can strip them of their military power, otherwise, you will be able to achieve great peace and order in the world!"

……

The four of them talked at length about things from the Song Dynasty to Zhu Xiong Ying.

The military officers were filled with hatred upon hearing this.

In the eyes of these people, the reason why the Song Dynasty perished was because the military generals held military power and did not obey the court's orders.

Then came a number of incompetent rulers.

If the imperial court wants to become stronger, it should govern by doing nothing, co-rule the country with the scholar-officials, and return power to the scholar-officials of the country.

Furthermore, scholars should be given sufficient preferential treatment. As the saying goes, "the law does not apply to officials and scholars," and there should be different classes of scholars. How could scholars be treated the same as ordinary commoners? Everyone spoke eloquently, and the civil officials in the court were very excited when they heard this. If the court could really implement this approach, it would be a paradise for them scholars. They could do whatever they wanted.

After they finished speaking, Zhu Xiong Ying looked at them and said.

"That's all. I thought you gentlemen were all renowned scholars and would have some insights, but I didn't expect you to speak such vulgar words!"

"The Song Dynasty's most serious problem was the 'three redundancies,' among which there were too many officials, which diverted a large amount of grain and salary!"

"The Song Dynasty restricted the development of the army, and the soldiers and generals did not know each other. There were many generals to limit power, which ultimately led to frequent defeats in foreign wars!"

"Back then, Marshal Yue won one battle after another, and even vowed to strike straight at the enemy's capital. Such a talented man was framed by treacherous officials in the court and died unjustly at Fengbo Pavilion!"

"The Song Dynasty nurtured scholars for hundreds of years, but what was the final result? Apart from those who were willing to risk their lives for the Song Dynasty at Yai Shan, the rest were mostly people who had been writing letters of surrender for generations. And you still expect me to govern the country together with the scholar-officials?"

Hearing this, I felt a little embarrassed and wanted to refute it, but I didn't know where to begin.

Zhu Xiong Ying continued.

"Heaven is not to be deceived, nor are the common people to be oppressed. We are all citizens of the Great Ming Dynasty, so why distinguish between noble families and different classes?"

"Our Great Ming Dynasty governs the world together with the common people, not with the scholars!"

Everyone who heard this was shocked; no one expected Zhu Xiong Ying to make such a statement.

Kong Ximing and the other three were all extremely angry.

"Do you want to become a tyrant like Qin Shi Huang?"

"If you really intend to abandon all the scholars in the world, who will be willing to serve as an official in your Zhu family and help govern the people? Then the Ming Dynasty will surely perish!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying couldn't help but sneer.

"During this invasion of Japan, I have obtained a large amount of gold and silver treasures. I plan to use these treasures to build schools in various places to help ordinary people and poor scholars learn to read and write. The teaching materials have been prepared, and I would like to ask a few great scholars to review them!"

Several books were then handed over, and the officials in the court saw their contents.

One of the Confucian scholars looked extremely grim. The book contained very little about Confucianism; it mostly focused on the making of machinery, understanding of the world, and even arithmetic, geography, and laws and regulations.

If all the scholars in the world learn this stuff, and this is what the imperial examinations will test in the future, then where will they find their place?

The Cheng and Zhu families, in particular, were extremely anxious.

The Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism they advocate, which supposedly preserves heavenly principles and eliminates human desires, is not recorded in this text at all. If that is the case, then wouldn't I be saying that the status of these families has plummeted?

Let alone competing with the Kong and Meng families, it's uncertain whether their family will even exist by then.

The thought of this place filled them with panic.

Kong Ximing said angrily.

"We must never let our arrogance harm the Ming Dynasty. These are just some strange and ingenious tricks, which I can compare with the classics of the sages!"

(End of this chapter)