Chapter four hundred and ninety-ninth wedding speech
For ordinary people, being able to get a promotion, a raise, and a wife is almost like having Kennedy ride in a convertible... and he would be as happy as heaven.
But our Prime Minister Zhang is obviously not an ordinary person. On the day of Zhang Ximeng’s wedding, his knowledge was sent to the highest altar and became the official orthodoxy.
There are hundreds of emperors and famous ministers throughout the ages.
There are only a handful of people who may have made some ideological achievements and led the trend for thousands of years.
And Zhang Ximeng has climbed to such a high level at such an age, so that’s a hat-trick.
So he didn't have any joy at all, but only trepidation, as if facing an abyss, walking on thin ice, or facing a formidable enemy...
"My lord favors me. I am grateful for God's grace. I remember it from the bottom of my heart and shed tears of gratitude. But I still have a few words to say, and I would like your lord's permission."
With a smile on his face, Lao Zhu suddenly asked: "You're not just refusing, are you?"
"No...no!"
"Okay!" Lao Zhu readily agreed, "No matter what you say, sir, we are all ears."
Zhang Ximeng bowed deeply, then turned around and bowed again to the guests present.
"I originally wanted to find some time to calm down, carefully sort out and summarize, and then elaborate on my views... Since the Lord praised me so highly today, I have to clarify some things."
"Over the years, I have expressed some opinions and written some articles. Some people have praised me, thinking that my ideas can replace Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, or even the Tao of Confucius and Mencius... Then some people may also ask, what did Zhang Ximeng say?
Why does he replace the teachings of Confucius and Mencius? Is he just bragging?"
"This brings us to the first thing I want to talk about. There are four words in the Han Dynasty, which are called seeking truth from facts. What I said is also summarized from reality. For example, equalizing land, treating the common people equally, such as Guangxing
Enlightenment... these ideas have helped us grow and conquer most of our country in the past ten years. The civil and military officials present should more or less feel the power of these ideas. It is no exaggeration to say that these ideas,
It is a real weapon that can be compared with a sword. It is the foundation for us to conquer the world with overwhelming force."
This was not Zhang Ximeng's boast. All the civil and military officials present agreed with it, and even felt that Zhang Ximeng was being polite. Without a complete equalization of land, how could there be hundreds of thousands of invincible Ming troops?
Even if you can get hundreds of thousands of heroes, there will never be millions of civilians behind them who have no regrets.
Anyone can criticize Zhang Ximeng’s ideas, but it is this set of ideas that helped Ming Dynasty reach what it is today. If you have the ability, do you also assist a Holy Lord?
If you don’t have this ability, no matter how much criticism you receive, it’s just a cry of flies.
"I talk about seeking truth from facts, and Zhu Xi also talks about studying things to achieve knowledge. I say we sum up knowledge from reality, and Confucianism also opposes pragmatism. What is the difference between what I say and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism?"
“This leads to the second question, which is the word people-centered that I talk about... From the perspective of people-centered, it includes being close to the people, including going deep among the people, understanding their sufferings, and truly standing with the people.
That is to say, the people we are talking about are the most common and ordinary people, those who are the poorest, the most toilsome, the poor people who are busy all day long and still don’t have enough to eat. This is different from the scholar-bureaucrats who enjoy their success and talk about it.
Completely different.”
"Here, I want to tell you an example. A few days ago, I went to Chenliu's village and talked to the farmers there who irrigated and drained their fields... The imperial court came forward to help them borrow money from businessmen to purchase seeds.
Tools and cattle will be returned after the harvest is harvested. Think about it, what will the people say, and what should we think of it?"
Everyone held their breath and concentrated, especially Xu Da and others, as if they had returned to the time when Zhang Ximeng was giving lectures in the army. This wedding was worth attending, and it was a dream to return to youth.
"The old farmer told me that they would rather exhaust half the people to death than borrow money! Half the people are exhausted to death! They don't even take their own lives seriously! How stubborn and ignorant is this! The court's good intentions and good governance,
The failure to implement it is all due to the ignorance of the people. These idiots are hopeless. So what should we do?"
"Does it mean that the people can follow it but not know it? Although the meaning of this sentence is still debatable. But throughout the ages, there are still many people who advocate making the people stupid. Like the Ming Dynasty, they spared no effort to
Promoting education and making soldiers literate, making poor people literate, and making women literate is unprecedented!"
"Why are these people wrong? We must first understand why people resist borrowing! Because they suffer too much! The donkey rolls around, usury, borrow one to repay ten, one person borrows money, the whole family suffers. I borrowed today
Farm tools and seeds will soon be taken away by others. If you finally have a piece of land of your own, you will be reduced to a sharecropper."
"Guys, think about it, if you were that old farmer, would you still dare to borrow money? If you don't borrow money, half of the people may die and struggle in the mud. There is still hope for the family. But once you borrow the money, it will be all over.
The whole family is going to lose! I want to ask you guys, if you really put yourself in the shoes of an old farmer and think about it, do you still think that the people are ignorant? Do you still think that they are hopeless in resisting the imperial order? What are the people?
Smart or stupid?"
Zhang Ximeng's loud question made many people's expressions change slightly, including Zhu Yuanzhang, who were all shocked. How did the old Zhu family lose in the first place?
My father contracted the plague, and my mother and brother also died one after another. At that time, many families in the village borrowed money to save their lives. As a result, many people died, and they owed unpayable debts, and eventually became slaves... The people were
It’s painful to be cheated, and I’m afraid of being cheated.
The survival wisdom accumulated over thousands of years makes them resist all changes and stubbornly refuse any external force... because they know that 99% of these things are harmful to people.
Perhaps this is the earliest consciousness of leek.
"How should we look at the same thing, how should we interpret it? Should we stand as a scholar-official and scold the people, or should we stand on the perspective of an old farmer and recognize the exploitation and oppression that has occurred for thousands of years? This is what I mean
The second point is to stand with the people."
"Over the years, we have eradicated powerful people, suppressed large households, equally divided the land, and promoted education. We are trying to make everyone rich, well-educated, and knowledgeable... Here in our country, traditional scholars, farmers, industry, and commerce, four
This hierarchy has been broken. Under the emperor, all people are the same. From this point on, we will find that simply focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, and focusing on agriculture, is only beneficial to scholar-bureaucrats. Farmers, businessmen, and all kinds of workers are all
The same people are the force that makes our country prosperous. So in my opinion, some of the discrimination against businessmen that has existed in the past should be completely abandoned, and businessmen and farmers should be put together."
"Of course, when I say this, I also want to remind businessmen that farmers farm and pay taxes. It is a natural and natural law. You do business and pay taxes. It is also a natural law. Anyone who wants to drill holes must learn the royal law of the court!" Zhang Ximeng glanced at the back row.
A group of businessmen on the edge had a slight smile on their faces, "One more thing, I advocated some time ago that Baigong's inventions and creations, and the new things developed, should also participate in the distribution and share the benefits. It is also due to this point that businessmen
You can make profits by buying low and selling high by relying on your intelligence. You can make a fortune by relying on your ingenuity. This is the truth."
Zhang Ximeng once again summarized some recent policy propositions, and then said: "Having said this, it almost leads to the third point I talked about, which is the unity of knowledge and action."
"We stand in the position of the people, seek truth from facts, understand the plight of the people and the problems they face, and then we have to solve them. This is the unity of knowledge and action!"
"The Central Plains has experienced wars and natural disasters. The Yellow River has overflowed, people's livelihood has been ruined, and people have no way to make a living. It is urgent to control the floods in the Yellow River and restore people's livelihood and economy. This is the most urgent matter for the Ming Dynasty at the moment. How should we do this to achieve our goal?
"
"There must be at least three points. First, Jia Shenzheng and other famous water control experts have formulated a complete set of strategies on how to restore cultivated land and control salinity and alkali. They have clear ideas. You can go to the Ministry of Industry to ask for the plan, or you can check it out in newspapers.
.There’s no more fussing around here.”
"Second, our officials and soldiers must really go to the countryside to understand what the people are thinking and make it clear to them that our Ming Dynasty is not the corrupt officials of the past, nor the big and powerful people. We sincerely help the people solve their problems.
We must overcome difficulties and gain the support of the people, so that we can be successful in everything we do next."
"As for the third, it is to mobilize all forces, including merchants. The court hopes that everyone can donate generously to tide over the difficulties together. In the Ming Dynasty, merchants can be respected, get the necessary rules, and protect you to make a fortune. But it also needs
You pay taxes and relieve the court from worries at critical times. All in all, you have to do things as a family. If you do something that is not beneficial to the family, the family laws will not be ambiguous."
After Zhang Ximeng said this, he turned to Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "My lord, what I talked about is the orthodoxy of official learning. What did I say? That's about it... As for the next step, I will work hard to study, study hard, and enrich my knowledge.
, assist the lord and govern the world!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was smiling all over his face and couldn't be more satisfied.
Lao Zhu did not even expect that Zhang Ximeng would attribute the division of history, the equalization of land and the establishment of schools and other matters to Zhang Xue, thereby replacing Confucius, Mencius, Cheng and Zhu.
But in fact, Zhang Ximeng didn't do it at all. He just talked about seeking truth from facts, being close to the people, and integrating knowledge and action...Anything that meets these three items can be attributed to Zhang Xue or official learning.
He said he respected Zhang Ximeng, but Zhang Ximeng did not really turn himself into a sage who spoke the truth.
What he hopes is that more smart people can stand up together and solve problems together.
I would like to ask, is there any better official school than this?
As for selling treasury bonds, it is just a casual purchase. Compared with these, it is really not worth mentioning.
"Sir is worthy of being a master of the world. This lofty speech is as enlightening as drinking a fine wine. Come and get the gold medal we have prepared for you!"
Zhang Ximeng was slightly startled, what is this? It can’t be a death-free gold medal, right?
I don't want that!
While Zhang Ximeng was stunned, a gold medal measuring one foot and eight inches was brought up, with four big characters on it, shining brightly.
Auxiliary Guoyuanshi!
Zhang Ximeng breathed a sigh of relief. Such a piece of gold would cost a lot of money to melt...