Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 106: I dare not forget my country even though I am in a low position (Subscription Request)
In fact, for this last policy essay question, Lu Jin has already given enough hints. As long as you follow his train of thought, you will definitely be right.

Especially since Lu Jin deliberately started from ancient times, he said that at that time there were only clans and tribes, there was no country, but people still lived their lives the same way. If that’s the case, where did the country come from?

If we think about this period of time, what was the first country in Chinese history? Or what was the first dynasty? Of course, it was the Xia Dynasty founded by Qi. Why did he establish the Xia Dynasty? It was because of the legacy of his father Dayu's flood control.

Then the answer is obvious. Water control came first, and then the country came into being. However, a project like water control cannot be accomplished by one family or one clan. Someone must lead the "people" to accomplish it. This is the origin of the country.

Then, water control, country, combined with the current world, Yuan Dynasty, water control, Yellow River migrant workers, Red Turban Army, what can you think of? Just start to criticize!

Being able to sort out this idea and write an article that is readable is already considered qualified, and what Yan Shiguo wrote is more comprehensive than what Lu Jin thought.

He first traced back the time nodes from ancient times, first the clan tribes, then the first tribal alliance. Why did the tribes form an alliance?

It was because Chiyou attacked and a single clan could not stop him. The Yan Emperor Shennong, who was defeated, fled to Ji Di of Youxiong clan, that is, Xuanyuan Huangdi. Yan and Huang joined forces to defeat Chiyou in Zhuolu.

This was the first tribal alliance, formed because there was a common enemy to defend against, but there were no countries at that time.

The second person who united all the clans in the world was Dayu. Dayu wanted to control the floods in the Yellow River. This could not be done by one family or one surname alone. They could only unite into "common people" and then establish a country.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the state has two responsibilities: to resist foreign enemies and to control natural disasters.

Then came the third stage, with the change of dynasties. The Shang Dynasty was just a continuation of the Xia Dynasty. In the Zhou Dynasty, the meaning of the country changed again.

The Zhou emperor granted fiefs to the princes to establish states in various places. The role of those states was to blaze new trails, open up new land and expand living space for their ethnic groups. At this time, the country was "expanding its territory."

After the vassal states became powerful, disputes continued and the world was in urgent need of peace, so Qin unified all the vassal states, named himself the First Emperor, and used great unification to end the disputes in the chaotic times.

The country at this time finally became what we know as the country today. Although dynasties have changed, this country has been passed down to the present day.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the country is a gathering of people, and it has four responsibilities: to resist foreign enemies, to provide disaster relief and comfort the people, to open up living space externally, and to unify and maintain peace internally.

However, the Yuan Dynasty led its people to fight the War of the Two Capitals. Although it had unified the country, it could not maintain internal peace. When natural disasters occurred, it did not provide disaster relief or comfort to the people, and allowed the impact of the disasters to continue to expand. It was not until the natural disasters threatened the powerful people in Dadu that they remembered the country's due responsibilities.

From this point of view, the Yuan court had voluntarily given up the power of the country. It had lost the mandate of heaven and the hearts of the people, and had lost its virtue. It was no longer worthy of ruling the world.

Lu Jin shouted "expel the Tartars and restore China", which meant to resist foreign enemies, restore order and restore China to its original state.

"Chen Gang established disciplines, and saved the people" means taking over the responsibility of disaster relief and comforting the people, and taking over the state power lost by the violent Yuan Dynasty. Lu Jin is a virtuous person, and the world should be ruled by virtuous people!
This article can be said to perfectly meet Lu Jin's expectations, and it is even better, because Yan Shiguo also added the ideas of expanding territory and unifying the country, which laid a theoretical foundation for him to conquer the world, unify the country, and expand territory in the future.

If the full score for composition is 50, I will give him 60 points for this article. I am not afraid that he will be proud!

"Okay, okay, this essay is the best among all the students and should be the first in the case!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shanchang immediately showed an expression of "as expected".

When Feng Guoyong heard Lu Jin say three good words in a row, he immediately asked curiously, "What kind of article could make the Marshal appreciate it so much?"

"I'll show you later. First, get me a red pen."

"it is good."

Feng Guoyong immediately stood up and ground cinnabar ink. Lu Jin licked the cinnabar with a brush and made comments on the paper.

'What is a country? What is the world? There are ruined countries and ruined worlds. Changing surnames and names is called ruined countries; when benevolence and righteousness are filled to the point of beasts eating people and people eating each other, it is called ruined worlds. Therefore, only when you know how to protect the world can you know how to protect your country. To protect the world, even the humblest of men have the responsibility!'

'In today's China, the Yuan Dynasty had a country but lost the rest of the country. The government is corrupt, benevolence and righteousness are not everywhere, corrupt officials and powerful ministers lead beasts to eat people, causing the world to be destroyed and people to eat each other. The cause of the destruction of the world is not only others, but also the people without virtue in the government.'

'Now the Yuan Dynasty is about to end, the country is about to cease to be a country, the upper class cannot keep the world at peace, the lower class cannot comfort the people, the rebel army, bandits, and thieves are everywhere, the war is fierce and the years are famine, and the future is uncertain.'

"I am a commoner from Huaiyou, a common Chinese. Although I am in a low position, I never forget to worry about my country. How can I avoid it because of misfortune or fortune?"

'When a common man gets angry, blood splatters five steps away. Although he is weak, he has many comrades! A spark can start a prairie fire, and a vast expanse of water can capsize a boat!'

'Therefore, we have raised an army of righteousness on the shore of Chaohu Lake, and are willing to raise a three-foot sword to punish the immoral, to attack the unrighteous, to bring peace to the people, and to bring peace to the world!'

Feng Guoyong watched and read at the side, and gradually began to tremble with excitement. These few short lines of words combined many famous chapters and quatrains of ancient and modern sages.

There is Mencius's "beasts eat people", Gu Yanwu's "every man has his share of responsibility for the rise and fall of his country", Lu You's "even though I am in a low position, I never forget to worry about my country", Lin Zexu's "why should we avoid it because of misfortune or fortune", Laozi's "a single spark can start a prairie fire", and Xunzi's "a vast water can capsize a boat".

Li Shanchang didn't take it seriously at first, but after listening to a few words he could no longer sit still and hurriedly stood on the other side of Lu Jin to watch. In just a few short sentences, almost every word was deafening and made his blood boil!
When he read the last sentence "To punish the unvirtuous, to attack the unrighteous, to bring peace to the people, to stabilize the world!", Li Shanchang finally couldn't hold it anymore and bowed deeply to Lu Jin.

"My lord, you are full of lofty ideals, you care about the well-being of the people, you are determined to help the world, you are truly a rare talent, how can you treat me like a common man?"

Lu Jin retorted, "I am not a noble, but am I not an ordinary person?"

Feng Guoyong also wanted to say something, but Lu Jin quickly raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Han Gao was not a noble, so it didn't matter that he founded a dynasty that lasted for hundreds of years. Although I am the direct descendant of Gongshu, I have been here for a thousand years and now I am just an ordinary man. I don't care, so why are you so anxious?"

Feng Guoyong had a complicated expression and saluted quickly, saying, "My lord is a true sage!" "Okay." Lu Jin waved his hand, signaling them to stop, and continued.

"Tomorrow, this volume will be displayed together with these comments. Yan Shiguo will be named the first one."

Li Shanchang also asked, "What position does the lord intend to let him take?"

"Luzhou prefect!"

The prefect of Luzhou is no small official. Lu Jin only has this tiny piece of territory now, and Luzhou is his core base. The prefect of this place is equivalent to the prefect of Jingzhao. How important is his position?

From this we can also see how much Lu Jin likes this article.

At noon the next day, at the beginning of the Si hour, at nine o'clock in the morning, Bao Heng and his men appeared at Chongwenguan on time and posted the notice written on red paper.

Looking at the candidates who gathered around him, Bao Heng said immediately.

"The Marshal has ordered that this list will only include forty people who can be directly granted official positions. Those whose names are on the list, please report to the Marshal's Office later. Those who are not on the list can participate in the martial arts test this afternoon.

"Those who do not wish to take the military examination can also study on their own in Chongwen Academy, or serve as clerks in various ministries. If they have made contributions, they can be selected as reserve officials and be granted official positions when there are vacancies."

After Bao Heng finished speaking, the examinees from Chongwenguan gathered around him. After the forty names were quickly read out, there was a burst of sighs and sounds of joy.

Hu Weiyong scanned row after row of the crowd and finally saw his name ranked more than 30th. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief! He was admitted!

Let’s take a look at the names of the top three: Yan Shiguo, Li Yinbing, and Xu Jichuan. Who are they?

Immediately, someone in the crowd asked, "Who is Yan Shiguo?"

"Yan Shiguo, is Brother Yan here?"

"Stop shouting. He was just invited to the Marshal's Mansion."

"."

"What kind of talent and knowledge does this person have to be ranked first?"

"Aren't there test papers posted? You can go and check them out yourself. I just took a look at Brother Yan's essay, and it's really well written!

"But compared to the Marshal, it's still a little bit behind. The Marshal's instructions are so brilliant and full of passion. He cares about the people. He is truly a benevolent and heroic ruler!"

Upon hearing this, many people gathered around and huddled together to appreciate the article.

Hu Weiyong also leaned over to take a look and found that Yan Shiguo's criminal law question was just mediocre, with only twenty laws listed.

There was nothing remarkable about the theme of encouraging agriculture, it was nothing more than the same old stuff like registering the people, repairing water conservancy projects, letting those who were good at farming teach farming skills, etc.

Defending a city is also a fairly easy task, involving organizing militia groups, arresting spies, storing supplies, clearing the countryside, and calming people's hearts. Anyone with a little knowledge almost understands these things to pay attention to when defending a city.

It was not until the time of writing official documents that Hu Weiyong finally discovered the gap between himself and Yan Shiguo.

Lu Jinrang asked Hu Weiyong to choose one of the following: enemy situation, disaster situation, or people's sentiments and write an official report. Hu Weiyong chose people's sentiments and then made up a report full of flattering content.

Yan Shiguo also selected the public sentiment, and then he really wrote a report.

He came all the way from Wuwei and met many people who were displaced due to war and famine. He also met Mu Ying and his mother who were begging for food. Therefore, in his report on the people's situation, he suggested that the people be registered and resettled as soon as possible.

We should try our best to provide relief to the widowed, widowed, and lonely people. We should set aside a small amount of money to set up a few orphanages. If finances are tight, we can also find things for those people to do within their abilities so that they can support themselves.

Just based on this official document, the gap between the two people suddenly becomes ten blocks away. One only reports good news but not bad news, and flatters others, while the other is truly understanding the people's sentiments and has substance in his words. How can you compare them?
Let's not talk about arithmetic, which was not that difficult. The policy essay questions also gave Hu Weiyong a headache. They were all about "What is a country?" He solved the questions from the perspective of rites and laws. He said that the Yuan court was barbaric and did not understand Chinese rites and had no relationship between the ruler and his subjects, so the world was in chaos. Lu Jin observed rites, so Lu Jin deserved the world.

Yan Shiguo solved the problem from the perspective of "Why did the country come from?" He talked about the four responsibilities of the country, and then said that the Yuan court did not fulfill its responsibilities as a country and therefore lost the mandate of heaven. Lu Jin was virtuous and took over the responsibilities of the country, so Lu Jin deserved to rule the world.

It is really hard to say which of these two articles is better. I can only say that my way of solving the problem did not coincide with the Marshal's intention.

When he looked at Lu Jin's instructions again, he was immediately shocked. In just a few lines, there were quotations from Mencius, Xunzi, Lu You, and many famous sayings that should be Lu Jin's own. It was obvious that the Marshal was really knowledgeable!

He is not like those illiterate warriors like Liu Futong and Xu Shouhui. The Marshal is well-educated. Don't underestimate him, otherwise you will be in trouble!

In fact, anyone with a little bit of common sense could tell whether Lu Jin had the goods from the questions he asked yesterday. However, they had just arrived and were not sure whether those questions were asked by Lu Jin himself or by others.

Hu Weiyong sighed. It was hard to describe his luck. Fortunately, he was accepted. It would be difficult to be a county magistrate among more than 30 people, but it should not be difficult to be a chief clerk.

Just be patient for now. Now is the time to conquer the world. You are only controlling a piece of land along the way. Once you conquer a province, you may be able to become a prefect. If you take over half of the country, you may be able to become a provincial official as well. Once you pacify the world, you may be able to enter the central government directly. You will have a bright future!
Hu Weiyong comforted himself in this way before following the others to report to the Marshal's Mansion.

This is yesterday's, today's is another matter
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(End of this chapter)