My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 113 Conservative and Progressive

Facing Huang Ji's repeated provocations, Su Ze did not tolerate them, but just said with a faint smile:
"Isn't it 'Hua Yi'? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince told Su about it a long time ago."

When Huang Ji heard Su Ze directly state the topic of this imperial lecture, his expression changed immediately.

Damn it! It was actually the prince who informed him of the question himself!

Thinking back to the previous imperial lectures, the prince specifically asked Su Ze to speak.

Now the East Palace's speculation about the special relationship between the Crown Prince and Su Ze has been confirmed.

Damn it!

Huang Ji glanced at the jade pendant with dragon and phoenix patterns on Su Ze's waist. It was a personal jade pendant bestowed by the Crown Prince. When he saw the jade belt bestowed by the Crown Prince on Su Ze's waist, he became so jealous that his eyes turned red.

After crushing Huang Ji's arrogance, Su Ze stepped into Minglun Hall.

Huang Ji watched Su Ze walk into Minglun Hall, and angrily threw his sleeves and followed Su Ze into Minglun Hall.

"I'll let you be arrogant for a while!"

Huang Ji muttered to himself. Unlike last time, the topic of the imperial lecture this time was given to all the lecturers. This time, the lecturers of the Eastern Palace had made sufficient preparations to overwhelm Su Ze.

Even with all the collective strength, how could we not defeat Su Ze alone? Huang Ji secretly made up his mind that he must defeat Su Ze this time!
After entering Minglun Hall, Junior Secretary Yin Shidan glanced at Su Ze, then at Crown Prince Zhu Yijun sitting on the dragon bed. After all the lecturers had arrived, Yin Shidan announced the start of the lecture:
"The theme of this imperial lecture is 'Hua Yi'. Each lecturer will speak in turn."

Yin Shidan also changed his strategy. Instead of letting Zhu Yijun choose people to speak himself, it would be better to let everyone take turns speaking, so as to dilute Su Ze's speaking time.

Huang Ji and most of the other lecturers were also delighted. This time, their speeches were all the same, and even if they spoke in turn, they could maintain the coherence of their thoughts. This time, Su Ze would definitely not be able to defeat everyone alone!

Zhu Yijun, who was lying on the dragon bed, thought that taking turns to speak was also very interesting, so he nodded in agreement with Yin Shidan's idea.

Immediately afterwards, the lecturer who was called opened his mouth and began to talk about the "barbarians".

In fact, after the mid-Ming Dynasty, the question of "Hua Yi" almost had a standard answer.

It is so standard that almost every scholar will give the same answer, and it is so standard that this question will not even be used as an examination question in the county examination.

After the Battle of Tumu, the "debate on Chinese and barbarians" among the Ming Dynasty scholars and officials actually had only one theme: "Barbarians are beasts."

Adhere to the great defense against foreign invaders and strictly prevent foreign invasions. This is the standard answer to the debate between Chinese and foreigners in the mid-Ming Dynasty.

As for the two schools of thought that have emerged under this premise, their starting points are also the same.

One is complete defensiveism. The Ming Dynasty could take the initiative to give up the areas where "Hu Feng" was prosperous, and even not to control them. The contraction of the military garrisons and the voluntary abandonment of the Western Regions in the middle of the Ming Dynasty were the products of this trend of thought.

Another slightly more proactive approach was to drive the barbarians off their land, and to mainly utilize those barbarians who had defected to the Central Plains. They used the Han Dynasty's policies to use them to attack other barbarian tribes, and used these foreign races as a barrier to separate barbarism and civilization.

The lecturers spoke in turn, and their discussions basically revolved around this conclusion.

As for the theoretical basis, the proposition of the debate between China and the barbarians is really too old. Both the Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty and the Confucian scholars of the Song Dynasty have quite complete theories on this proposition.

Especially the Neo-Confucianism of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the context of the Southern Song Dynasty, although the country could not defeat the northern barbarians physically, it criticized the barbarians the most verbally.

Those who were selected to serve as lecturers in the Eastern Palace were all from the Hanlin Academy. These lecturers took turns giving lectures, making Zhu Yijun drowsy.

When everyone finished talking one after another and it was finally Su Ze's turn, Zhang Hong, who was sitting beside the dragon bed, gently pushed Zhu Yijun. The fat little Jun immediately became alert and looked at Su Ze eagerly.

The eyes of the other lecturers also fell on Su Ze.

Su Ze cleared his throat and said, "Han Changli said: 'If the princes use barbarian etiquette, they are barbarians; if they advance towards China, they are Chinese.'"

Everyone present was stunned for a moment. Su Ze started by quoting the views of Han Yu from the Tang Dynasty instead of starting from Confucius and Mencius. This cheered up Zhu Yijun on the dragon bed.

"I believe that if one enters China, he is Chinese; if one leaves China, he is a barbarian."

"The difference between Huaxia and barbarians is not about blood, but whether they are legitimate descendants of the Chinese nation."

Su Ze's explosive remarks directly triggered an uproar in Minglun Hall.

The lecturers rebuked him:
"absurd!"

"How can a barbarian, a monkey in human form, be called Chinese?"

Everyone opened fire at Su Ze and the scene became chaotic again.

Zhu Yijun's eyes lit up on the dragon bed. It turned out that Master Su's moves were extraordinary!

Just one sentence made the sleepy imperial lecture lively!
Fight!
Zhu Yijun cheered secretly, but it was a pity that the Junior Secretary Yin Shidan stepped forward to maintain order at the scene.

Yin Shidan said:
"Since you have different opinions, please discuss them clearly before the Crown Prince and speak in turn."

Yin Shidan naturally did not do this to help Su Ze.

In his opinion, the topic of the Debate between China and the Barbarians was already very clear. He gave the topic to the lecturers in advance, and the lecturers also made sufficient preparations.

Since Su Ze has made another explosive statement, this time everyone can attack Su Ze and completely refute him, so that the Crown Prince can see his true face and no longer be deceived by his evil words.

This was Yin Shidan’s purpose.

As expected, after Yin Shidan finished speaking, the lecturers present quickly split into two factions.

Su Ze’s faction, and the other lecturers’ faction.

The other lecturers began to refute Su Ze's point of view, and it was very lively with no one saying anything.

Zhu Yijun's eyes became brighter and brighter as he watched. In fact, at the age of six, he could not understand the profound theories spoken by the lecturers at all. He just saw these lecturers who were usually polite hysterically criticizing Su Ze. It was really too lively!

On the other hand, Su Ze smiled and remained silent in the face of the lecturers' attacks.

After all the lecturers had spoken, Su Ze cleared his throat and said:
"Are you all done? It's Su's turn now."

"Su, I have only one thing to say. Taizu replaced the Yuan Dynasty with the Ming Dynasty, but he also acknowledged the Yuan Dynasty's imperial throne. Our Ming Dynasty also includes rituals to worship the Yuan Emperor. Why is that?"

After Su Ze said this, everyone was stunned.

Su Ze's words hit everyone's sore spot.

Zhu Yuanzhang recognized the Yuan Dynasty!
Zhu Yuanzhang recognized the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty emperors as emperors of the Central Plains, and also worshipped the Yuan Dynasty emperors as emperors of the previous dynasty.

Su Ze continued to add:

"Taizu once said to his subjects, 'Although the Yuan may be a barbarian nation, they will rule China for nearly a hundred years. Your parents and I all depend on them for our upbringing.'"

After these words were spoken, everyone present fell silent.

Zhu Yijun on the dragon bed was so excited that he almost clapped his hands. He whispered to Zhang Hong beside him:
"Did Taizu really say that?"

Although Zhang Hong had studied in the Imperial Household Department, his education level was still limited. He could only say vaguely: "The lecturers are all well-educated scholars. Since they haven't refuted it, what Su Hanlin said must be true."

Zhang Hong added:
"In the Imperial Temple, there is indeed Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty."

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang built the Imperial Temple, which only enshrined outstanding emperors before the Ming Dynasty, a total of only sixteen.

Among these sixteen emperors, there were only five emperors from the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties after the Qin and Han dynasties, namely Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Guangwu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizu of Song and Emperor Shizu of Yuan.

Even the "greatest emperor of all time," Qin Shi Huang, was not allowed in because of his "unworthy merits and virtues." Even Emperor Wen of Sui, who was once included in the temple, was later deposed.

Since Su Ze was telling the truth, Zhu Yijun was even more excited! He watched the debate excitedly.

Su Ze looked at everyone. In fact, it was not that the academic level of these lecturers was poor, but that the academic thoughts in the Ming Dynasty were changing.

In fact, during the period of the Yuan-Ming transition, the ruling group was positive and the atmosphere was relatively open.

Zhu Yuanzhang recognized the legal system of the Yuan Dynasty, but he actually had several ideas.

By recognizing the legal system of the Yuan Dynasty and confirming that the legal system of the Ming Dynasty was passed down from the Yuan Dynasty, it would be possible to inherit the territory of the Yuan Dynasty.

Even if it is an area that cannot be controlled, the right to claim it is still retained, and this reason can be used to declare war at any time.

This was the reason used in several foreign wars in the early Ming Dynasty, including Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di's conquest of the grassland and Annan.

In addition, during the period of communication between the Yuan and Ming dynasties, there were many officials in the Ming court who were also officials in the Yuan Dynasty.

Especially at the local level, there are a large number of former officials from the Yuan Dynasty, and many gentry and landlords were also gentry and landlords in the Yuan Dynasty.

Recognizing the legal system of the Yuan Dynasty is also to unite this group of people and absorb them into the Ming Dynasty system.

After the Battle of Tumu, and the two foreign wars against the Japanese invaders and Altan Khan during the Jiajing period, the ideological atmosphere changed again.

Having lost confidence in military affairs, the Ming Dynasty also began to lose confidence in culture. The spirit of expanding territory in the early Ming Dynasty also dissipated, and no one mentioned expanding territory anymore. The Ming Dynasty began to strictly guard against foreign invaders, and the atmosphere in the ideological world began to become gradually conservative.

Su Ze obviously wants to reverse this trend.

At least we have to make Crown Prince Zhu Yijun change his mind.

The result of strictly implementing the defense against foreign invaders is essentially a kind of "barbarian phobia". This phobia is even so pathological that people are unwilling to occupy even the lands of foreigners, believing that these lands are "dirty things" and occupying them will pollute the purity of China.

In fact, there were several victories in foreign wars in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, but after the victory, the country took the initiative to retreat, which was the result of this "barbarian phobia".

What Su Ze has to do is to return to Zhu Yuanzhang's path, that is, no longer use bloodline to distinguish between barbarians and Chinese, but use culture to distinguish them!
Simply put, if you identify with Chinese civilization, you are a Huaxia person! If you do not identify with Chinese civilization, but are of Han Chinese descent, then you are also a barbarian!

This kind of distinction establishes a broader national identity than the narrow one of bloodline.

At the same time, with this kind of national identity, the Ming Dynasty can also maintain its "claim rights" to more regions, and when it really needs to expand outward, it can also reduce internal resistance.

This is an ideological struggle, and ideological struggles are always faster than real struggles because we cannot wait until real problems are presented before discussing them.

The Longqing period was also a good historical node.

Having just won the war against Japan, national confidence has rebounded.

The border was peaceful, trade was revived, the state administration was stable, and the government was relatively clean and efficient.

The prosperity of industry and commerce brought about a prosperity of thought, and there was room for discussion of various theories, rather than the extreme environment of the late Ming Dynasty.

This is the best time to bring up Su Ze’s “view of China”!
In addition, Su Ze was also inventing the "Chinese nation".

The most important concept of a modern state is the concept of "nation". Even in the era before Su Ze traveled through time, the nation-state was still the mainstream of the country.

But in fact, the concept of nation only appeared in modern times. At least the people of the Ming Dynasty had no concept of nation.

There are still several steps to go in the process of shifting from the concept of Huayi to the concept of nation, forming the concept of the Chinese nation, and then reshaping national identity.

But once the concept of nation is formed, the cohesion of the country will further increase.

A broader national identity means greater territorial claims and a more proactive and flexible foreign policy, which are incomparable to a single narrow nation-state.

This is also the reason why after the late Qing Dynasty, both the Republic of China and the new China did not mention the narrow concept of nation, but emphasized the "Chinese nation".

When Yin Shidan saw that the lecturers were refuted by Su Ze again, he sighed in his heart and wondered how he could have given birth to such a monster like Su Ze.

There are so many lecturers in the Eastern Palace, but none of them can defeat Su Ze alone.

Just as Yin Shidan was about to end the lecture, Huang Ji couldn't help himself and jumped out and said:

"Lecturer Su, aren't you confusing the distinction between barbarians and Chinese? If the northern bandits pretend to surrender and then repeat the Five Barbarians' invasion of China, wouldn't you be a sinner for all eternity?"

Su Ze glanced at Huang Ji and had a better impression of him. Although this man was old-fashioned, he was also a thoughtful person.

Su Ze said frankly:

"The root cause of the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China lies in the fact that during the Jin Dynasty, barbarians were relocated to garrison the border. Furthermore, due to the Eight Princes' Rebellion, the interior of China was left empty, allowing foreign tribes to take advantage of the situation and invade."

"But the national policy implemented by the Jin Dynasty was actually the idea of ​​Jia Yi in the Han Dynasty to use barbarians to defend China."

"But this strategy also has serious drawbacks!"

"Naturalized barbarians guard China, but they are still considered barbarians. Using barbarians to guard the borders will keep the Central Plains peaceful, and the generals and soldiers will be tired. Then the barbarians who serve as a vassal state will become disloyal and turn their swords inward, causing chaos in the world!"

"The Five Barbarians' Invasion of China and the An Lushan Rebellion were all like this!"

At first glance, Jia Yi's theory is naturally good. It uses the migrated Hu people to defend against the Hu people, which is the so-called using the familiar Hu to control the uninitiated Hu. In the Jin Dynasty, it means migrating the foreigners outside the Great Wall to guard the border. In the Tang Dynasty, it means using the Hu Jiedushi to recruit Hu soldiers to guard the border.

Su Ze said:

"That's why Taizu didn't use this strategy!"

Huang Ji was still unconvinced and asked, "What about the tribes that moved inland from the border?"

Su Ze said:

"Of course, we must follow the Zhou Dynasty's method, register them as equals, convert the Hu people into Han people, and after educating them to become Han people, we must also treat them as Han people."

Huang Ji was speechless now. It was obvious that Su Ze's answer was beyond his knowledge.

National assimilation is naturally not a simple slogan. There are many things involved in the actual operation. However, in theory, Su Ze is already impeccable. Seeing that he still cannot refute Su Ze this time, Yin Shidan can only end this imperial lecture.

When Su Ze reached the gate of the East Palace, he was stopped by Zhang Hong again.

(End of this chapter)