Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 404: Rise and fall of a man is a common man, but happiness comes from a noble person!
What happened at the banquet in Fengtian Hall soon spread throughout the court and the country.

The military officers were excited, but the civil officials were dissatisfied.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Liu Sanwu found Xia Zhibai and wanted Xia Zhibai to write a joint letter with him, asking His Majesty not to open this improper door.

Xia Zhibai sat on the chair, listening to Liu Sanwu's eloquent "generous words" in surprise, and said helplessly: "Master Liu, why are you doing this? Your Majesty has long established that the Ming Dynasty should combine civil and military forces. Now that Your Majesty intends to boost military generals, this should be supported."

Liu Sanwu said solemnly, "I don't think so. Throughout history, there is no benefit in worshipping martial arts. It is nothing more than militarism or local separatism, which has always been a great harm to the world, especially in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The world was darker than this. How can the Ming Dynasty not learn from the lessons of history?"

"Master Xia, you are well-read in history, so you should understand this principle."

"Chongwu is not advisable!"

Liu Sanwu was very determined and was not willing to give in at all.

He had a natural aversion and resistance to military generals.

The status of military officers is already higher than usual. If the status of military officers among the people is raised, wouldn't that make those military officers arrogant? At that time, the civil officials would have to keep their tails between their legs. What's worse, if they provoke them, they will inevitably be beaten up. How can this be a good thing for the court?

Xia Zhibai smiled and said soothingly, "Master Liu, you are too kind."

"In my opinion, this is a good thing."

"You can't say you support it, but at least you can't oppose it."

Liu Sanwu blew his beard and glared, his eyes full of displeasure. He stared at Xia Zhibai closely, looked at him suspiciously for a few times, and suddenly said: "Master Xia, did you know all this a long time ago? Otherwise, why would you speak for these generals!"

Xia Zhibai did not deny it and nodded in acknowledgement.

Xia Zhibai handed Liu Sanwu a chair and said slowly, "The teacher is also a man of temperament. He came to me in such a hurry just after hearing some news. If I didn't know something, I would have found it difficult to resist the teacher."

"Master is right."

"I know that the court intends to boost the status of military men. Not only do I know about it, I also suggested it to Your Majesty."

"Why?" Liu Sanwu looked incredulous.

Xia Zhibai, a mere scholar, could not be unaware of the harm that military men could do to the country. Especially the arrogance of Lan Yu, Chang Mao and others could be seen from time to time. Court officials would avoid them when they saw them, and many even called them a scourge in private.

Warriors are so arrogant now, what will happen if their status is higher?

Xia Zhibai said, "Master, please take a seat first. I will explain it to you slowly. This matter cannot be rushed. Once I have explained the reason to you clearly, you will understand the whole story and will not object anymore."

"The status of military commanders is indeed high nowadays."

“But maybe not in the future.”

"The system of the Ming Dynasty, to a certain extent, imitated traces of the previous dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty also borrowed from the shadow of the Song Dynasty. You should be aware of the suppression of military generals in the Song Dynasty. The reason why you hate military generals so much is nothing more than that there are many military generals who are arrogant and domineering now, who do not take civil officials seriously and often use fists and feet to attack, making officials in the court dare not speak out. And most of the reasons are actually just one point."

"The Ming Dynasty has just been founded."

"These generals are the heroes of the Ming Dynasty."

"The status and position are naturally higher than that of ordinary officials."

"When the world is at peace, the status of military officers will gradually return to its original position and will gradually be inferior to that of civil officials. This is actually a general trend. The reason why we need to increase the influence of military officers now is not simply to improve the status of military officers, but to increase the overall sense of identity of the soldiers in the world."

"The rise and fall, everyone is responsible."

"We can't let the people be held responsible when the country is in ruins, and let the nobles enjoy the benefits when the country is in prosperity. This is unfair to the people who work hard and do their duty. They deserve the praise they deserve from the world." "Now we just want to restore the reputation that the soldiers deserve."

"They sacrificed their lives and shed their blood for the world. Shouldn't they be given due respect?"

"Master Liu, public is public, private is private."

"The two must be distinguished!"

Liu Sanwu was silent.

He could hear Xia Zhibai's sincerity.

I could also tell that Xia Zhibai was speaking for those low-level soldiers.

But the status of military men cannot be too high. Throughout history, there have never been good things when military men have a high status.

Liu Sanwu said, "It's not that I don't know right from wrong, but the harm done by the warriors to the world is too great, and it's hard to contain them. If we're not careful, they could endanger the stability of the world. As officials of the court, how can we not be cautious?"

"Besides."

"Didn't the court give those soldiers the rewards they deserved in the past?"

"Why do we need to do this any more?"

Xia Zhibai said in a deep voice: "Because warriors have been stigmatized for too long, if you ask a few people on the street now, they can all point out many problems with warriors, such as being irritable, liking to plunder, being tyrannical, bullying the weak, etc. There are indeed these bad phenomena among warriors, but we can't just condemn them all."

"There are also upright people among the warriors."

"Besides, under the influence of this kind of public opinion, how many good families in the world are willing to send their children to the army? Unless they really can't survive, or the court forcibly recruits them, I'm afraid no one would want to send their children to the army. In this case, won't it just be a vicious cycle?"

"Only those with bad conduct are sent to the military, and bad conduct reinforces people's stereotypes, which then forms a vicious cycle."

"Then can our Ming army still defend our country?"

"If we want to change the bad habits of the soldiers, we must clean up the army, recruit more good families, and change the current atmosphere in the army. As an official of the Ming Dynasty, you should support this matter."

"Now that the imperial court is willing to reverse this evil trend, why not?"

Xia Zhibai looked at Liu Sanwu.

Liu Sanwu was suddenly speechless and could not utter a word.

a long time.

Liu Sanwu finally forced out a sentence: "If a good family boy has such thoughts, why doesn't he focus on studying? Why join the army?"

"Everything in the world is inferior, only reading is superior!"

Xia Zhibai shook his head and said, "Master, isn't this a preconceived notion? Who says that only reading is the best thing in the world? Isn't it only scholars? In the eyes of businessmen, making money is the best thing. In the eyes of farmers, cultivating the land is the best skill. In the eyes of soldiers, expanding the territory is the best merit. Master, you can't put reading so high just because you are a scholar."

“Of course reading is important.”

"But there are many meaningful things in the world besides studying."

“It can’t be too subjective, and it should vary from person to person.”

(End of this chapter)