Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 699

Wang Yan walked to the highest seat and sat down in the eyes of everyone, then waved his hand and said with a smile: "The world is not a world of one surname, and this clan is committed to co-governing with all of you. This council system was first established. It’s the first time for Fan and everyone to participate, everyone should take their seats first, let’s try to see if it’s feasible.”

After hearing this, many officials in the hall saluted together, and then looked for their own seats to sit down.

In the past, Wang Yan sat in the middle hall, and many subordinates sat on the sides, but now, except for the Qi Shengqing, many officials sat opposite to Wang Yan.

Although Wang Yan's seat is three steps higher than theirs, this feeling is quite different from sitting on both sides in the past.

This meeting hall was conceived by Wang Yan, Wang Fuzhi, Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongyi and others.

Wang Yan sits opposite to many officials because he wants to quote the monarchs and ministers before the Song Dynasty to sit and discuss Taoism, and Wang Yan's seat is the highest because he considers that the feudal lord needs to be dignified, control the situation, and be able to check and balance with many officials.

After all, it was the first time for everyone to participate, so the movements were a bit slow, and it took a long time for everyone to sit down.

Seeing this, Wang Yan said, "Then let the Minister of Rites explain the rules first."

The ministers of the seven provinces are the Secretary of the Ministry of War, the Secretary of the Ministry of Officials, the Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, the Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, the Secretary of the Ministry of Households, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Supervision.

This kind of division can only be said to be very rough at present. Some departments are large, some are small, some have many things, and some have few things.

At present, Wang Yan, the minister of seven provinces, has not been fully appointed, and there are a few empty seats, waiting to attract other forces to join.

Gu Yanwu was the Secretary of the Ministry of Rites. Hearing Wang Yan's words, he stood up, first turned around and bowed to Wang Yan, then turned back, bowed his hands to many officials, and said in a loud voice: "Your Highness, colleagues, this is the first For a discussion, these few rules have been set for now, and if there are any mistakes in the future, they will be supplemented."

Gu Yanwu looked at more than 20 pairs of eyes on the opposite side, looked at him in unison, paused, cleared his throat, and continued: "At present, there are five rules. The minister of the province raised and made a statement, and during this period, colleagues are not allowed to interrupt. The third is that after the statement is over, the colleagues can ask and express their opinions after the statement is over, and the minister can explain it. The fourth is to explain After the end, if there are few people who oppose it, the motion will be sent to the ministries for implementation. If there are many people who oppose it, the proposing minister will propose it again and discuss it on another day. Fifth, if the minister fails to pass the proposal three times in a row, it will be submitted to It is up to the feudal lord to decide, or to withdraw the minister and appoint another, or the feudal lord to enforce it."

The system has just been set up, and there will definitely be various problems in the middle, so Wang Yan still has to maintain huge power in the council hall, and although Wang Yan restricts the power of the monarch, it does not mean that the power is completely dispersed.

China has been a big government and a big center in all dynasties. It is a huge empire with a territory of tens of thousands of miles. It is necessary to maintain a strong core so that the world will not fall into turmoil and not fall apart. As for how to limit power while avoiding internal disunity, Retaining a strong central government still needs to be explored slowly.

Many officials felt a little novel after listening to it, but most of them could quickly understand the rules.

Most of the officials who followed Wang Yan were disciples of Xinxue.

When Wang Yangming was a child, he was studying, and his husband asked him, "Why do you study?" Wang Yangming replied, "Being a sage."

What a good answer, according to the Buddhist saying, this is the root of wisdom.

But my husband didn’t think so. He felt that the child had a brain problem, so he told him, “Study is for the imperial examination, to become an official, and to be the number one scholar like your father.” Wang Yangming retorted, “Isn’t the imperial examination the most important thing in the world? The most important thing is to study and be a sage.”

Confucianism itself is for cultivating personality, but it has been continuously alienated and turned into a utilitarian thing.

The highest pursuit of a scholar is to achieve the personality of a gentleman and become a Confucian sage, but Neo Confucianism has set various rules for this road. If you want to become a Confucian sage, you have to read their books and test their knowledge. Try, follow their etiquette, whether a gentleman is a gentleman, a sage is not a sage, and these old Confucians have the final say.

But they are not sages, so why let them say what they say? In Wang Yangming's view, these rotten Confucians who have the right to speak are not good things in themselves. Judging from their actions, a large number of them are hypocrites with human faces and animal hearts.

Whether to become a saint should not be decided by these people, but by his own heart. This made Wang Yangming finally realize the Tao, "The way of a saint is self-sufficient in nature, and it is a mistake to seek truth from things."

The greatness of Xinxue lies in the fact that it liberates the mind and seeks holiness from the heart, and everyone has a heart, so everyone is equal on the road to sanctification, breaking the rules and regulations maintained by Neo-Confucianism.

If you don't think how great this kind of breaking through the shackles of thought is, you can compare it with the West at the same time.

In the ideological emancipation movement in the West and the religious reformation that broke the dark ages, Martin Luther proposed that everyone can communicate directly with God by reading the Bible, without the need for the Pope or the Holy See as an intermediary, breaking the Holy See’s belief in faith. Monopoly, and everyone can communicate directly with God, breaking through the confinement.

This is the same principle as Xinxue seeks the sage within and does not rely on the rules set by Lijiao.

The introduction of mind theory to Japan in later generations inspired the new generation of Japanese in the Meiji era. At that time, the famous Japanese general Togo Heihachiro said: "I bow my head to Yangming all my life."

The reason why Xinxue was attacked by the imperial court was also because his thoughts were not in line with the interests of the imperial court. Everyone can seek holiness in his heart, which is terrible for the ruler.

In the meeting hall, although Wang Yan is still taller and still has the right to make decisions, he is gradually lowering his position, making a gesture that everyone discusses state affairs, and has the heart of co-governance, which is in line with the philosophy of mind Thought.

Everyone listened to a few rules and discussed slightly below.

Gu Yanwu, Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, saw that the little official had already set tea and retreated, so he tapped the gavel on the table, and the hall immediately became quiet, and he said with a smile: "For the first meeting, Your Highness, please speak first." .”

Wang Yan immediately stood up and said with a smile: "This is the first discussion in the Yizheng Hall. From now on, many important military affairs will be discussed here. Everyone knows the rules, so let's start."

After Wang Yan finished speaking, he sat down. Seeing this, Gu Yanwu turned his head around, raised his hand, and said to Chen Bangyan: "The military matter is the most urgent, so the Secretary of the Ministry of War will start the statement."

Among the ministers of the seven provinces, Chen Bangyan served as the minister of the Ministry of War. After hearing this, he got up from his seat, took a file, and walked unhurriedly to the high table on the first step.

He first bowed to Wang Yan, then unfolded the file, stood in front of the table, faced more than 20 officials and said: "Your Highness, colleagues, today the headquarters will state some of the situation of the armies, and the I hope to gain the support of my colleagues and Your Highness for the preparations for the war."

Chen Bangyan paused, looked down at the file, and continued: "According to the statistics obtained from the Ministry of War, the troops currently paid by the vassal state include the various departments of the Five Loyalty Army, the Fifth Shence Army, and the Houyong Army and other local town troops. There are 32 troops in Hexinmu's army and naval divisions. Among them, the five loyal troops pay about 300 million taels a year, the local town army pays 280 million taels, and the navy divisions pay 200 taels, totaling 40 million taels As for the preparations for this war, the Ministry of War intends to take this opportunity to improve the three levels of garrison soldiers, garrison soldiers, and sharp soldiers, and make up for the vacancies of the five loyal troops from the town army. Except for the soldiers sent to Guangdong and Guangxi, the remaining The soldiers will be added to the local town army, but the guards of the town army will be supplemented by the elite soldiers of the five loyal armies, and the salary will be improved. The Ministry of War estimates that the military salary will exceed 520 million, and this does not include various armor and weapon manufacturing. and various rewards."

After Chen Bangyan finished speaking, there was already a lot of discussion below.

Good guy, the tax of the entire feudal kingdom is only a little over 600 million taels. After this calculation, all of them will be invested in the Ministry of War. Do the officials need to pay?

Seeing the discussion in the hall, Gu Yanwu knocked on the gavel, and when everyone was quiet, he said: "If you have any opinions, you can stand up and explain, but pay attention to order."

Everyone whispered to each other for a while, and recommended Yan Qiheng, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, to come out. He stood up and bowed, and asked: "According to the plan of the Secretary of the Ministry of War, I have a preliminary estimate that the imperial court's taxes this year must reach 1000 million to maintain operations. I don't know. Whether the Ministry of Household Affairs has the ability to realize the taxation of 1000 million yuan, if not, I think the proposal of the Minister of War should be discussed again."

These few years will be an important year of war, and military affairs will cost a lot of money, and many officials know it, but this level must be within the financially acceptable range.

Yan Qiheng's words expressed the opinions of the majority.

At this time, Chen Bangyan had already retreated to his seat, Gu Yanwu raised his hand and said, "Then please come forward and make a statement."

The Secretary of the Household Department was appointed by Wang Fuzhi. He got up and stood at the front table, said a few polite words, and then said with a smile: "The Ministry of Household Affairs has made statistics. In the second year of Longwu, Guochao's income was less than 500 million yuan. Two, in the third year of Longwu, it reached 800 million, an increase of nearly 1000%. The main taxes of the imperial court came from the Shibo Division, Guangdong, and Huguang. As long as the taxation of the vassal states maintains this growth rate this year, it is possible to reach [-] million. Of course , in addition to the increase in taxes, this year the Ministry of Household Affairs will also adopt strategies to maintain the operation of the vassal state and support the attack on the south of the Yangtze River."

Wang Fuzhi paused, then raised his voice and said: "Now, I will talk about two things first, and then I will discuss with everyone. The first is to make money, and the second is to borrow money..."

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(End of this chapter)