I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 903 Stones from other mountains can attack jade
Zhu Yijun smiled.

This Shen Qianhe is quite good at talking.

At the beginning, Pan Yinglong chose him to be the secretary, and then strongly recommended him as the chief envoy to go on a diplomatic mission to three overseas countries, and travel to various countries along the way to conduct field investigations. He indeed did not recommend the wrong person.

He has a broad vision and a comprehensive mindset. If someone who is a little pedantic, old-fashioned, or pretentious were to be the chief envoy, the notes he would write back would definitely be "All the people overseas are barbarians, and there is nothing worth learning from them."

That would be a disaster and a waste of a great opportunity.

Judging from the feedback from all sides, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji did a great job, so good that it exceeded their expectations.

Zhu Yijun didn't say anything, just nodded, motioning Shen Wanxiang to continue.

"The political, economic and philosophical theories that I learned in college were verified by what I saw and heard during my overseas missions and travels to various countries. The theories in books were put into practice in reality.

I am very fortunate to be chosen by the Emperor to be an envoy overseas. Otherwise, I would be just like everyone else, ignorant and half-informed. "

Shen Wanxiang paused, "I and others have studied the emperor's Political Economy and New Edition of Political Economy in the public course of political thought, and one thing is very memorable.

The emperor said in the book that politics is nothing more than the art of compromise, and political struggle is not only a struggle for power, but also a struggle for resource possession and resource allocation.

The national conditions of the Western Yi are different from those of the Ming Dynasty.

Their Duizhou, their Christian world is a mess. When it comes to a country or a vassal state, it is also a mess.

When France and England were first established, many tribal leaders, or nobles as they called themselves, elected a leader and came together to establish the two countries.

China has a saying since ancient times that the emperor rules the country together with the scholars and officials."

Having said that, Shen Wanxiang looked up at Zhu Yijun and found that the emperor's expression had not changed and there was nothing unusual.

“This statement is ridiculous, but it also points out a certain political philosophy of the dynasty since ancient times.

In the Western Yi, it is true that the nobles and the king jointly govern the country. The Western Yi have a famous saying: My vassal's vassal is not my vassal.

The original intention was that each lord could only govern his own vassals, but had no right to govern the vassals of his vassals.

The land and vassalages of each lord were passed down from generation to generation, and only the king's approval was needed. Sometimes, as long as his vassal approved, the king's approval was not important.

Therefore, the king's authority was limited to his direct territory, and the lands and vassals of the vassal lords were completely at the disposal of the lords.

However, maintaining and protecting a country requires taxation and conscription. The king not only needs to levy taxes on his own territory, but also on the territories of other lords.

This will then lead to huge contradictions: how much should be levied, or who should levy more and who should levy less?

From the king's perspective, he certainly hopes to levy less on his own territory and more on his vassal lords.

From the perspective of the vassal lord, it is just the opposite.

The two sides played against each other, you advance and I retreat, I advance and you retreat, and this game lasted for hundreds of years, and thus we had the Magna Carta, the Estates General, and the sanctity of private property. "

The more Shen Wanxiang spoke, the more confident he became.

He and Wang Yongji constantly thought about and discussed these results of the European investigation during the long five-year journey, and they had already formed their own thoughts.

Now that he talked about it, he naturally talked endlessly, which made Zhu Yijun look at him with admiration.

“The most important point of the Magna Carta of Britain is that it confirmed the economic equality between the king and the nobles and ensured the economic independence of the nobles.

This also determined the characteristics of the Western Yi political system, that is, the king is only the first of the aristocratic group, rather than being above the aristocratic group.

Let’s talk about the French Estates General.

The participants included representatives from three estates: clergy (first estate), nobility (second estate) and commoners (third estate), hence the name Estates General.

The three levels have one vote each, regardless of the number of representatives. The meeting is held at an irregular time.

Every time France convenes the Estates General, the country is in financial difficulties, and one of its main functions is to approve the king to levy new taxes.
In my opinion, these political and social phenomena in the Western Yi countries just embody the two truths discussed by Your Majesty.

Politics is the art of compromise.

Economics is the foundation of everything, including politics, society and culture.”

Zhu Yijun secretly gave a thumbs up in his heart.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji's insights into what they saw and heard during their overseas missions and travels to various countries are very similar to their own ideas.

But he figured it out on his own. He was a senior civil servant who worked as a keynote politician on the Internet, and he learned it by "learning from many people."

So, Shen and Wang are indeed great talents!
However, there was one thing the two of them didn't say. Maybe they realized it but didn't dare to say it.

That is the Magna Carta and the Estates General, which are not only the art of compromise, but also the checks and balances of power.

In Europe, it could be used to check the power of the king.

In the Ming Dynasty, it could be used to check and balance the power of civil and military officials.

The most powerful group in Europe is the aristocracy, with the king being the first among the aristocrats.

The Ming Dynasty was a landlord system, and the emperor was the biggest landlord.

European aristocrats relied on blood inheritance, while Ming landlords relied on cultural heritage.

It can cut off the lineage, but it cannot cut off the roots.

Both can continue to thrive, secretly controlling the real power of their respective countries until the new era arrives, new productivity rises, and new production relations emerge. The darlings of the new era who control the lifeline of the new economy have impacted the old class and system, and after several rounds of games and integration, they have finally transformed into a new force.
Looking at Chinese history, whether it was the power of eunuchs and relatives of the emperor in the Han Dynasty, the Nine-Rank System in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Guanlong families and Guandong gentry in the late Tang Dynasty, and then to the co-governance of the world by the literati in the late Song Dynasty, it was nothing more than the emperor and the landlords fighting back and forth.

But the imperial power has always been the same imperial power, and the assistants have been changed back and forth from relatives, eunuchs to nobles.

The landlords evolved from aristocratic families to powerful nobles, and then to bureaucrats.

The selection of filial and honest officials, the nine-rank system, and then the imperial examinations were all struggles and compromises between the emperor and the landlords.

In the Ming Dynasty, the struggle between the two evolved into a struggle between imperial power and bureaucracy, and between the central government and local governments.

Zhu Yijun summed up the experiences and lessons of his grandfather and emperors of previous dynasties in their struggles with bureaucrats, and discovered the biggest problem.

That is, once the emperor personally takes action and fights with the bureaucrats, both sides are bound to suffer losses.

Why is my grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, regarded as the number one person in power struggles in the country?
He just likes to be a riddle teller and rarely takes part in the action himself.

Most of the disputes during the Jiajing period were caused by a group of civil officials he supported fighting against another group of civil officials.
He supported Zhang Cong and Xia Yan to defeat Yang Tinghe.

Support Yan Song to defeat Xia Yan.

Using Xu Jie to control Yan Song
The court was in chaos and infighting, but the emperor was sitting on the Diaoyutai.

The result was that the emperor's grandfather's power ranked first among all the ancestors, second only to the second ancestor.

Of course, you can't compare with me. Only Emperor Taizu can challenge my authority.

Why was Hai Rui so upset with his grandfather the Emperor?

It was because of the emperor's great political savvy that he obtained enormous power, and he eliminated many bad policies in the early stage of his administration, so he was fully capable of reviving the Ming Dynasty.

I don't want to slack off in the mid-term, I don't want to work hard for Ming Dynasty anymore, I just want to let go
I can definitely take my grandfather's political strategy a step further.

Supporting one group of bureaucrats to fight against another group of bureaucrats will ultimately lead to failure.

After all, they are a group with almost the same roots. Although there are temporary conflicts, they can be exploited, but they will eventually converge.

By then, their interests will be aligned, and they will definitely stand together and point their spearheads at me.

We must take precautions before it happens.

Starting directly from the productive forces and production relations, we should directly support the new interest groups representing the new productive forces and relations, and confront the old interest groups representing the old productive forces and relations.

Directly split the bureaucratic group and even the scholar group into new and old parts.

Now the new party has completely defeated the old party, and the new productive forces and production relations have won a great victory, but the new party has begun to split, and the contradictions between them are constantly intensifying.
The platforms of the Advisory Bureau and the Court Council were no longer able to resolve the conflicts between them, so a new platform had to be created and new forces had to be introduced, such as the workers and peasants forces that they had been secretly supporting from the very beginning.

They are also the trendsetters of the times and should make their own voices heard.

After Shen Wanxiang finished speaking, Wang Yongji added some more content. More than two hours passed and it was around six o'clock in the evening.

Zhu Yijun kept Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji for dinner, and the three of them chatted while eating separately.

After dinner, Zhu Yijun took a sip of the food-digesting tea and spoke slowly.

"Chizuru, Mingshou, your mission this time will definitely go down in history. In the next period of time, your first task is to compile and complete the 123rd volume of "A Brief History of the Western Countries."

The first volume has been finalized and is awaiting review by the two authors Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji.

The second volume describes the politics, economy and culture of the countries in Duizhou.

The third volume is about Ottoman and Persian.
"The focus is on the second volume, which must be written well and in detail, so that we can learn from others' experience.

The political and economic experiences and lessons of the European countries can serve as a mirror for us to observe the situation, analyze the advantages and disadvantages, and learn from them. We should not only pool our wisdom, but also learn from the strengths of others.

The Magna Carta, the Estates General, and the principles derived from them, such as 'private property and personal freedom cannot be violated at will', 'all power is restricted by law', 'political consultation, minority obeys the majority', etc., Qianhe and Mingshou, you should mention them in detail and open a new window for the scholars of the Ming Dynasty.

Times are changing, productivity and production relations are changing, the economy is constantly developing, and our political mechanisms must also be constantly improved to adapt to the requirements of the times and promote the development of productivity and economy, rather than becoming an obstacle. "

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji understood that the emperor was going to use his own compilation, "A Brief History of the Western Countries", to blow up the big fish pond of the temple.

Especially the second volume, the abridged version has already caused huge controversy. If the complete version is released with the emperor's support, how big a stir will it cause?

But this is exactly what the emperor needs.

The emperor's administration is becoming more and more steady and skillful.

Before any new policy is implemented, there will be public opinion guidance, or preheating.

After the publication of the complete version of the second volume of "A Brief Account of the Western Countries", there will inevitably be a great debate in the Ming Dynasty government and the public.

But as the emperor said, the truth becomes clearer the more it is debated.

The emperor will surely guide the discussion secretly, and the debate will slowly change along his lead, tilting in the direction he expects, and finally making the final decision.

Amid the uproar, the government and the people at large underwent a major ideological baptism, paving the way for a new round of political reforms.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji responded respectfully: "We obey your order."

After saying goodbye to Ziguang Pavilion, Yang Jinshui went straight to Xi'an Gate.

A group of people gathered in the duty room inside the gate. When they saw Yang Jinshui coming over, an eunuch stepped forward, bent over and said with a smile: "Eunuch Yang, you are finally here. Everyone is waiting for you."

(End of this chapter)