Zhu Cixiang's expression also became serious. He had vaguely heard that the version of the Huangming Ancestral Instructions approved by his father might be more binding than the Taizu version of the Huangming Ancestral Instructions.
Because the Taizu version of Huang Ming’s ancestral precepts can be deleted and modified by later emperors.
But from what the father said just now, it seems that he does not intend to let future emperors delete or modify the ancestral precepts of Emperor Ming?
Zhu Cixiang still underestimated Chongzhen's ambition. What Chongzhen wanted to do this time was not only to set rules for the descendants of the Zhu family, but also to bring the first truly meaningful constitution to Chinese civilization.
This constitution can not only control the descendants of the Zhu family, but also all Chinese people.
Even if the Zhu Ming Dynasty falls one day, this constitution will still be valid.
Confucianism has always emphasized that the power of kings is given by heaven, but the sky is so high and illusory. No one can represent heaven, and no one can provide an authoritative explanation. Therefore, in fact, the power of the king is the greatest, and the civil servants can only rely on the theory of heaven or public opinion as the will of heaven.
Provide limited advice.
Many far-sighted officials have long seen that this system has major unavoidable flaws, that is, if an emperor like Zhu Qizhen emerges, it will be in big trouble.
And such tragedies have indeed happened frequently in history.
But seeing a problem is one thing, solving it is another.
Because no Confucian disciple can escape the academic scope of the divine right of kings, no Confucian disciple can make up for this fatal flaw.
What Chongzhen has to do now is to make up for this fatal flaw.
Specifically, it is to concretize the illusory heaven and promulgate a visible and tangible code on behalf of heaven.
With this code, the imperial power can be restrained and tragedies like Tumubao will be prevented from happening as much as possible.
After a pause, Chongzhen continued, "In order to prevent tragedies like Tumubao from happening again, I think it is necessary to promulgate an ancestral precept of the Emperor Ming Dynasty that has the power to restrain the imperial power."
"The ancestral precepts of the Emperor Ming that have the power to restrain the imperial power?"
Lu Zhenfei's eyes immediately lit up, as if they were like the North Star in the night sky.
As a member of the civil servant group, limiting imperial power can be said to be the ultimate dream they have pursued tirelessly throughout their lives. In fact, they have been working in this direction since Sanyang in the Chengzu Dynasty. It is a pity that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty every
Every few generations, a monster-level character will appear, which always makes it difficult for them to achieve full success.
They originally thought that no one would dare to mention this matter in the Chongzhen Dynasty.
After all, the current Holy Emperor is truly the chosen one. His future achievements cannot be said to be greater than that of Emperor Taizu Gao, but it is already foreseeable that he will be on par with Emperor Cheng Zuwen.
When faced with such a great and powerful emperor, who would dare to limit imperial power?
That is to say, only after the current emperor Long Yubintian, the prince or grandson succeeds to the throne, can the restriction of imperial power be raised again.
However, what Lu Zhenfei and the other four pavilion elders did not expect was that Chongzhen himself proposed the idea of limiting imperial power. How could an emperor restrict his own power? A good thing!
Great achievement! This is an unprecedented great achievement!
The ancients said that if one makes meritorious deeds and establishes moral character, he will become immortal.
But Lu Zhenfei’s single great contribution was enough to go down in history.
Hundreds of years later, whenever any scholar mentioned the restrictions on imperial power in the Chongzhen Emperor's Ming Dynasty's ancestral precepts, they would inevitably avoid Lu Zhenfei, the chief minister of the cabinet. This great achievement was accomplished during his tenure.
Looking at Lu Zhenfei and the other three people with bright eyes, Chongzhen also smiled and said nothing.
He knew what Lu Zhenfei and the others were thinking. They simply thought that he was a jerk and actually proposed to limit their power.
But Chongzhen was actually not a straight man at all. He would not be stupid enough to actually formulate a version of the Emperor's ancestral precepts to tie his hands and feet. As a promising leader, any code would only hinder his progress.
Therefore, this version of Emperor Ming's ancestral precepts was not prepared for himself, but was specially prepared for all emperors after him, so that lawless young emperors like Zhu Qizhen, Yingzong of Ming Dynasty, would not appear again, and even if
Another lazy emperor like Wanli appeared, and the Ming government could still be implemented in an orderly manner.
Of course, Chongzhen would never slap himself in the face and say that I am an exception.
Chongzhen will adopt a more advanced method of playing, which is dragging.
How can we be careless about such a classic of great historical significance?
How about discussing it for thirty or forty years, drafting it again and again, and then finalizing it when he is about to die?
Then, as Chongzhen expected, Huang Daozhou objected again, "Your Majesty, I think this matter is inappropriate."
"What's wrong?" Lu Zhenfei refused before Chongzhen could say anything. What do you mean by Huang Daozhou?
Huang Daozhou argued proudly: "The king's power is given by heaven. Except for heaven, no one or organization has the power to limit the king's power. Therefore, even if the emperor is the current emperor, he has no power to take the lead in promulgating such a code that can limit the emperor's power. The veteran thinks this is
Transgression is a blasphemy against the Confucian etiquette and legal system."
"You..." Lu Zhenfei wanted to refute but couldn't.
Because there is nothing wrong with what Huang Daozhou said, Chongzhen really did not have the power to do this.
But the problem is, whether it has power is one thing, and whether it has any benefits is another matter. Even fools know how beneficial it is to restrict imperial power, so why should they stick to ancient etiquette?
At that moment, Lu Zhenfei snorted coldly and said, "Old Huangge, please respect yourself."
At least at this moment, Lu Zhenfei really regrets it. It seems that Huang Daozhou should not be allowed to join the cabinet.
Since Chongzhen handed over the power of approving the red to the cabinet, and since the votes issued by the cabinet can be directly issued to the world, the power of the chief minister of the cabinet has been strengthened like never before.
For example, if the court recommends the election of additional cabinet ministers, the chief minister has a veto power.
Without his selection, Huang Daozhou would not have been able to join the cabinet.
Therefore, Lu Zhenfei's words have a strong warning meaning. Huang Daozhou, don't be so shameless. If I can get you into the cabinet, I will have the ability to kick you out of the cabinet.
However, Lu Zhenfei underestimated the strength of Zodiac Zhou.
"I understand what I mean." Huang Daozhou smiled and continued, "But even if the court election is held again tomorrow and the cabinet is elected, I still have to say that no one or organization has the power to represent Tian.
The promulgation of legal codes to restrict the imperial power is completely contrary to our Confucian etiquette and legal traditions."
While talking, Zodiac Zhou took off his own veil.
The implication is that the official can be inappropriate, but I still have to insist on it.
Lu Zhenfei was furious when he saw this, but there was nothing he could do against Huang Daozhou.
At this time, Zhang Shenyan finally said, "This servant of Mr. Huangge disagrees."
"Oh?" Huang Daozhou's eyes were filled with fighting spirit, "Please give me some advice from Mr. Zhang Ge."
Zhang Shen said, "Mencius said that the people are the most valuable, the country is second, and the king is the least important. This is why since ancient times, our Confucian sages have emphasized the divine right of kings, while also emphasizing that public opinion is the will of God. According to this theory, at least public opinion is fully qualified.
Does Mr. Huangge agree with the promulgation of a code to restrain the imperial power?"
"This..." Huang Dao was speechless on Monday.
How to refute this? You can’t say what Mencius said is wrong, right?
If what Mencius said was wrong, then the entire Confucianism would be shaken.
However, within the framework of Confucianism, Zhang Shenyan’s remarks cannot be refuted at all.
However, Huang Daozhou did not give up easily. After pondering for a moment, he said, "What Zhang Ge said is a misinterpretation of the sage's motto. The public opinion mentioned by Mencius is not really the opinions or opinions of the people. It is just a reference or general statement."
It means that the intention is just to warn the king not to treat the people harshly."
Zhang Shen said, "You are just sophistry."
At that moment, the two of them were at odds and started a debate in front of Chongzhen.
After a while, Lu Zhenfei and Meng Zhaoxiang also joined the battle group.
However, even if it was three against one, he still couldn't refute Zodiac Zhou.
The title of the master of Neo-Confucianism in the late Ming Dynasty is indeed worthy of the title, and Huang Daozhou still has something to offer.
[I won’t go into details here, because some readers have already seen that the author’s understanding of Confucianism is very superficial, which is indeed the case. The author is a science dog and does not even have a partial understanding of Confucianism]
In the end, Chongzhen forcibly interrupted, "There is no need for the elders to argue. Even if they continue to argue for three days and three nights, it will be difficult to come up with a result. It would be better to just publish it on the front pages of Huangming Times and Hanlin Daily."
This issue was raised on the headlines at the same time, allowing scholars and people all over the world to participate in the discussion to see whether there are more supporters or opponents. If the majority of scholars and people support it in the end, it will not be too late to discuss the promulgation of this code."
"I second the proposal." Although Lu Zhenfei wanted to immediately support it on behalf of the people of the world, he still patiently seconded the proposal. Zhang Shenyan and Meng Zhaoxiang soon followed suit.
Zodiac Zhou has no objection to this.
"The old minister also seconded the proposal."
…
The next morning, the two articles were simultaneously published on the front pages of Huangming Times and Hanlin Daily, instantly creating a huge wave of public opinion in eight prefectures and prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River.
The Huang Ming Times article states that the people are the most important, the country is the second most important, and the king is the least important. Therefore, when the king’s moral character fails, the people have the power to restrain or even depose him!
Hanlin Daily article states that the king's power is granted by heaven. The king is the Son of Heaven and is sacred and cannot be blasphemed. Therefore, no person or organization in the world has the power to restrain or depose the king.
In response to these two newspaper articles, a vigorous debate began again.
Moreover, the scale of this debate is larger, even greater than the previous debate on Neo-Confucianism and Psychology.
However, something was somewhat beyond Chongzhen's expectations. This time, it was the minority that supported the restriction of monarchical power, while it was the absolute majority that supported the sanctity of monarchical power. Chongzhen obviously underestimated the number and energy of the royalists.
However, Chongzhen was not in a hurry about this, because the constitution itself required a very long process.
But the paradox is that Western kings passively established the constitution, but Chongzhen actively established the constitution.
[There is still only one update today, sorry, it’s still false]
