Chapter 833: The Discrimination of Righteousness and Profit
"Haha, Zihou, if you are in a pinch, you can tell us. Our colleagues will definitely help us if we can. Why do you have to be tainted with the smell of copper, which will make people laugh at you."
Zhu Pingan had just entered the Wuyi Hall. A middle-aged official who had never interacted with him very enthusiastically came up to him, patted Zhu Pingan on the shoulder, chuckled, and said to Zhu Pingan with a smile on his face.
said.
Seemingly enthusiastic and well-intentioned.
Yes, I can only use the word "seemingly".
The acting skills are outstanding and the whole process is not distracted.
By the way, you can't hide the contempt on your face, and the hehe you just made was too mocking...
In this situation, I have something to say, mmp, I don’t know whether to say it or not.
Zhu Ping'an raised his head and glanced at this person, twitched the corners of his mouth, and cursed in his heart, but with a slight smile on his face, "Thank you for your concern, sir. I wonder if you are talking about Zhu Ji's fast food?"
"Well, that's exactly what happened." The middle-aged official nodded.
"I don't think it's a big deal." Zhu Ping'an shrugged nonchalantly, with a calm look on his face, "Three hundred and sixty people will be the number one scholar."
"Nothing? Doesn't Zihou know the difference between justice and benefit?" Hearing this, the middle-aged official couldn't help shaking his head and laughing out loud, as if he had heard a big joke.
Of course Zhu Pingan knows the difference between justice and benefit.
The distinction between righteousness and benefit is a basic argument in Confucianism, which talks about whether people should pursue righteousness or benefit.
Confucius's sentence "A gentleman is compared to righteousness, and a villain is related to profit", which laid the basic argument; Mencius's "I will do things for the sake of righteousness and profit first, and I will never tire of taking it" further elaborated on the theory of righteousness; Xunzi's "For the benefit of things,
Fighting for goods and wealth, only looking for profit, is the courage of Jia and thieves." This completely drove businessmen into the ground.
The above are the mainstream ideologies of Confucianism, which emphasize righteousness and despise business, that is, "the so-called last one is industry and commerce."
"A gentleman is likened to righteousness, and a villain is likened to profit. Therefore, scholars, farmers, and merchants are at the bottom of the pile." The middle-aged official talked eloquently.
"No. In ancient times, there were four kinds of people: scholars, farmers, day laborers, and merchants. If scholars were diligent in their studies, they could get titles and salaries; if farmers were diligent in their fields, they could gather crops; if workers were diligent in their crafts, they could be skilled workers.
Clothing and food; if merchants are diligent in trade, they can accumulate wealth. These four are all the common people's business. Since the birth of the people, no one has been able to change them, regardless of the order of high and low." Zhu Pingan shook his head slightly and proposed.
A perspective that is different from the mainstream ideas of this era.
This is the difference of the times.
Although the status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty was much better, it was still incomparable with modern times. They would never have imagined that a few hundred years later, a businessman would be called "Dad" by the whole people, let alone that a few hundred years later, the powerful Western countries would
corporate politics
"It's ridiculous, how can we not distinguish between high and low. Xunzi said: To seek profit, fight for goods and wealth, and only look at profit, this is the courage of the thieves."
Another official stood up to refute Zhu Ping'an, with an expression on his face that said, "Young man, your thoughts are very dangerous."
"That's right, Zihou. Businessmen value profits but have no righteousness, and are looked down upon by others. "The Book of Rites: Kingship" says: Businessmen and merchants 'do not associate with the officials when they leave the country', which is clear evidence." Immediately afterwards, there were officials who agreed.
These officials have deep-rooted ideas of great literati in their hearts, and their minds are filled with the idea that they are inferior in everything but only good at reading.
Of course, the reason why so many officials stood up to ridicule Zhu Pingan was because they took sides.
Zhu Ping'an was the unveiler of the Taicang case.
The Taicang case involved many people, and many officials were fined money. Dozens of officials from the Yan Party were fined money. Many people from the Li Mo Party were also fined money. Many people present were fined money.
, or some relatives or friends were fined a lot of money for this.
If it weren't for Zhu Ping'an, a loser, I wouldn't have been fined. This is the sentiment of many officials who have been fined.
It can be said that Zhu Pingan almost offended a small part of the officialdom with his own efforts.
Of course, when they heard that Zhu Pingan himself had also been fined a silver fine, many officials let out a sigh of relief. They deserved it and had to suffer it. Later, when they heard that Zhu Pingan was fined and forced to go into business, they felt even more relieved.
Cool.
When he learned that Zhu Ping'an was still in the smelly business of pig sewerage, he couldn't help laughing.
The number one scholar is the best among scholars. Among the thousands of troops, he crossed the single-plank bridge of the imperial examination first. It is like a carp jumping over the dragon's gate, but you jumped over the dragon's gate and then went to toss the pig into the water.
Isn't this a joke?
"No, you can't overgeneralize. A businessman and a scholar have different skills but they have the same mind. Therefore, a good businessman will cultivate wise behavior in the field of wealth. Therefore, although it is beneficial, it will not be tainted."
Zhu Ping'an cupped his hands and replied calmly.
Although businessmen and scholars have different ways of making a living, their hearts are the same. Although people who are good at business are sailing in the sea of business, their moral cultivation is still noble, just like the lotus that emerges from the mud without being stained. Although the businessman wants to
It's profitable, but it can also be noble.
"Confucius said: A gentleman is likened to righteousness, and a villain is likened to profit; Mencius said: For the sake of righteousness, he puts profit first, and never tires of taking it;
Who said that there is no distinction between high and low among the four peoples?"
Another official stood up and joined the ranks of refuting Zhu Pingan, saying bluntly that what Zhu Pingan said was unreasonable and unfounded, and was just personal sophistry.
"What Mr. Yangming said." Zhu Pingan replied.
"Mr. Yangming?" Everyone was startled.
Wang Yangming can be said to be a legend in the Ming Dynasty, with a legendary life, legendary abilities, and an influence no less than that of Zhu Xi.
"Yes. I believe all of you are aware of Mr. Yangming's intellectual purpose of 'Studying things to develop conscience'. The so-called 'Studying things to develop conscience' means that everyone has a conscience in their heart. That is to say, no matter what you do, no matter what you are,
Scholars are still farmers, workers, and merchants, and they all have consciences in their hearts, which can be achieved through studying things. For this reason, Mr. Yangming said, "The streets are full of saints," and he also emphasized that businessmen can also be saints and sages. He said, "Although they do business all day long,
, Don’t harm him as a saint or a virtuous person. Since all scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants can be saints, how can there be distinctions between high and low?"
Zhu Ping'an looked around at the crowd and unhurriedly brought out Wang Yangming's "The Study of Things to Conscience".
Raising the banner to make a tiger skin, the effect is still there.
After Zhu Pingan brought out Wang Yangming's "Questioning Things to Conscience", everyone could not think of how to refute Zhu Pingan in a short period of time.
When they figured out how to refute Zhu Pingan, they found that Zhu Pingan had already left.
All they saw was Zhu Pingan's back. After Zhu Pingan's back disappeared around the corner, everyone couldn't help but jeer in a low voice.
"Hmph, that's a bunch of nonsense and misinterprets Mr. Yangming's original intention."
"that is."
"You advocate the equality of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, but you are just a pig to water. Even businessmen will look down upon you."
"Haha, I think he is stupid because of his studies. When he does business, he just does business. He is going to do pig-draining business. Who knows how to eat such lowly things as pig-draining? Let's see, after he opens Zhuji, there will be times when he will cry.
.”
"Hahaha, I'm afraid it will be closed soon after opening."