Chapter 3855: The people are more important than the king
Fang Jun and Li Xiaogong stood on the corridor, looking at the crowds wearing coir raincoats and bamboo hats and holding umbrellas in the large courtyard. They were busy passing by. The lanterns gave off a dim yellow light. The rainwater fell on the roof ridges and gathered along the tiles, and then flowed down the tiles.
Pour into the shallow ditch reserved at the base of the wall, and your vision is a little hazy.
"Grand burial" is an extremely important ceremony. After the body is buried, it will never see the light of day again, so relatives and old friends have to see each other for the last time. Children of the clan, concubines in the harem, princes and princesses, civil and military officials, relatives of the emperor and the country.
It is necessary to attack and support the emperor's remains in Daxing.
Even though a fierce battle was going on outside Chengtian Gate and many people living in the city were unable to come, more than a hundred nobles of various statuses who had previously stayed in the palace came one after another. In the heavy rain, their clothes were soaked and they lined up with depressed expressions.
Stand still...
There was rainwater splashing on his clothes. Fang Jun shook his sleeves and asked: "The 'big coffin' is about to come, but the prince of Jiangxia County has not arrived. I don't know why?"
Li Xiaogong put his hands behind his back and looked deeply: "I don't know either."
Fang Jun rolled up his wet sleeves and looked sideways: "You just came back from Xuanwu Gate. Don't tell me that you haven't seen the Prince of Jiangxia. If he avoids you, I should now
Hurry up and inform His Highness the Prince to escape through the secret passage, otherwise the troops stationed at Xuanwu Gate are likely to rush into the palace in the next moment."
Xuanwumen is the lifeblood of Taiji Palace, so he naturally pays attention to it all the time. Li Xiaogong quietly went to meet with Li Daozong and Li Daozong was delayed in attending the "big funeral". Naturally, he noticed something, and he was inevitably worried...
Li Xiaogong sighed, still staring at the crowd in the courtyard, and said slowly: "Everyone has his own ambitions, how can we force him? Let him go. No matter what, you can't disturb the late emperor's 'big coffin'. We can talk about it after the coffin is sealed."
This is a common thing in this world."
Whether it is the reason not to disturb His Majesty's deceased soul, or the reason to complete the "big burial" as soon as possible to confirm the identity of the new crown prince, the "big burial" cannot be delayed, and it must be carried out smoothly even if the sky falls.
Fang Jun's face was gloomy. He looked at the stream of rainwater pouring down from the eaves and onto the shallow water channel made of bluestone at the base of the wall, splashing a mist. There was a hint of exhaustion, a hint of helplessness, and a hint of anger in his voice: "You guys
People have always been aloof and only focused on their own interests, either for fame or profit, but who of you have ever cared about the life and death of hundreds of millions of people in this land of China? Maybe they are just like ants in your eyes, who can be wiped out with a snap of your fingers, but others
Have you forgotten that you were once one of them? You became famous by chance, and then you worked hard for generations to get where you are today. Do princes, generals, and generals have the right to live in peace? Wait until you don’t put the life and death of them, the common people, at risk.
In their eyes, they only know blind plunder and oppression. One day they will rise up, rush into Chang'an City, burn down the palaces and massacre the royal family. They will also sit on the supreme position of the Nine Five-Year Plan, whether it is the new emperor or the previous emperor.
Even if he is Emperor Gaozu, how is he different from those ants?"
Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. This is a truth that everyone understands, but what they don’t understand is that when everyone is in a high position, they treat the people as slaves who can be squeezed and bullied at will, completely forgetting that dynasties come and go and that imperial power
During the rise and fall, which time was it not destroyed by these ants?
The aristocratic family also comes from Li Shu, but they have accumulated more wealth for several generations than others and are ahead of others.
Without these hundreds of millions of common people, who would support you in becoming emperor?
Who can you be the emperor for?
Li Xiaogong was a little confused. He didn't often hear this kind of argument. Even an official from a humble family like Ma Zhou would regard himself as a superior class once he entered the official career. Being diligent and caring for the people was already the limit, but he never
He will not regard himself as a member of Li Shu, and has taken it as his own duty to protect the interests of Li Shu.
Mencius said this, and perhaps Confucius also said it, but who would remember it?
Fang Jun sighed lightly, not expecting Li Xiaogong to give an answer. In fact, even if it takes another thousand or two thousand years, the term "public servant" will not really be put into practice.
He sighed and said: "In the journey of the great road, the world is the same. This is a truth that the ancients understood, but no one has ever practiced it to prove such a truth. All people are water, and the king is a boat. The water is unpredictable, and the boat capsizes and people perish.
...Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, imperial power has changed from generation to generation, dynasties have risen and fallen one by one, and many splendid civilizations have risen and fallen. We have been struggling in such a vortex, but we have never been willing to seriously think about the truth.
"
"Family in the world" actually doesn't matter. The people don't care who becomes the emperor. They just want someone to live and work in peace and contentment. They hope that "the old friends will not only kiss their relatives, nor will they only have their children, so that the old will have a good life, the strong will be useful, and the young will be useful."
"Be good at something", this is the noble and simple ideal of the Chinese people.
As long as this is achieved, this ethnic group will burst out with unparalleled vitality, and will always run wildly on the road of pioneering and enterprising, leaving all other lazy, greedy, and barbaric ethnic groups behind, until they rule the planet and then move towards the vastness.
The boundless progress of the universe has no end.
However, the reality is that generation after generation of Chinese people rise and fall due to internal strife, and sink under the abuse of foreigners. Countless people continue to try to open up that glimmer of light, but they always sink in the sand and fall into reincarnation.
In the distance, Prince Xu, Prince Huo and other princes filed into the courtyard and bowed their hands to Li Xiaogong from a distance.
Li Xiaogong raised his hand in greeting and asked casually: "Before his death, the late Emperor once told me that you lacked respect for the imperial power, especially when he met you outside Luoyang City and personally ordered you to stay out of the Guanlong Mutiny. However, you
But he turned a deaf ear, disobeyed orders, and desperately assisted the prince to defeat Guan Long and keep the crown prince's position... Can you tell me what you really think?"
"Mencius said, 'The people are the most valuable, the country is second, and the king is the least important.' What does the prince think?"
Li Xiaogong frowned: "This is indeed what Mencius said, but later generations have often misunderstood it and made false assumptions. The 'jun' in this sentence refers to the monarchs of feudal countries all over the world. If they cannot care for the people's livelihood, they should be replaced. But it is not
Refers to the emperor."
In ancient times, the emperor established a feudal world, and all feudal states had monarchs who acted according to the emperor's orders. If they did not respect the orders of the world, they should be replaced.
The Son of Heaven is the son of Haotian. He is appointed by Heaven. How can it be changed?
Fang Jun said with a smile: "But the Zhou Dynasty has long passed away after eight hundred years. The so-called emperors in the mouth of the princes have changed countless times. Dynasties have risen and fallen. Only these nine states are always called China. Only this land
The Li Shu people above are still called the descendants of Yan and Huang. The people are the foundation of the country, and the sages have already had their opinions. It’s just that we are deeply involved in our own interests and refuse to admit it."
Naturally, Li Xiaogong had read books. When he heard Fang Jun first use the words of Mencius and then use the words of "Shangshu" and other masterpieces of pre-Qin scholars, he was quite speechless.
But he already understood Fang Jun's attitude.
He was loyal to the Tang Dynasty, loyal to the world, and also loyal to the hundreds of millions of people. As for whether he was loyal to the emperor, it needed to see whether the emperor was wise and mighty, whether he loved the people like his son, and whether he could make the world live and work in peace and contentment, and the world be peaceful.
Just as His Majesty Li Er said during his lifetime, Fang Jun was a rebellious son with a serious lack of respect for the imperial power, but he was full of compassion for the common people in the world and full of enthusiasm for thousands of miles of mountains and rivers. Could it be that he was really a noble character like the ancient sages?
?
"The reason why you oppose King Jin is because the powerful family fully supports him. After he ascends the throne, the power of the government will be controlled by the powerful family, and you will be idle and far away from the center?"
"I always thought that I was an acquaintance with the county prince for many years. We are very compatible with each other. We have the same views on many things and can cherish each other... But I didn't expect that the county prince would actually regard me as someone who is in love with power. If I really wanted power, why bother in the first place?
Disobeying His Majesty's will and helping the Crown Prince defeat the Guanlong rebels? With Your Majesty's trust in me, as long as I obey my words, I am a high-ranking official with good salary and great power, and I am only a few more years away from the position of Prime Minister.
Others may not know about the calamity of the family, but how can you, the king, not know about it? The world is in turmoil, and wars are raging, but where are the beacons set by ordinary people? You are coercing public opinion, under the guise of praying for the people and rebuilding the world, doing whatever you want.
He recklessly burns, kills, and loots to enrich his own strength. If things fail, he will return to Wubao to change his ways and choose the strong to rely on. If things succeed, he will transform himself into the world and dominate the world, treating all people as ants and squeezing them at will... Don't deny it, you Li
The Tang royal family did the same thing."
Li Xiaogong was speechless.
This is indeed the case. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, dozens of rebel bandits were raging in Kyushu. They all used banners to plead for the people, but the injured and dead were all common people. Dou Jiande was only one step away from conquering the world in Hebei, but by the time he was defeated, he was defeated.
, in the land of Hebei, ten houses and nine are empty, bones are covered in the fields, there are no roosters crowing for thousands of miles, and weeds have almost annihilated the dilapidated city walls.
Even Guanzhong, known as the Land of Abundance, had to go through the Wude and Zhenguan dynasties for more than ten years to recuperate and work hard to govern before it returned to its former prosperity.
This is still the land of Gyeonggi, what about those remote places?
Even today in the "prosperous age of Zhenguan", there is still no enough food to eat, no warm clothes to wear, no medical treatment for diseases, and no care for children. If there is any natural or man-made disaster, it will be the tragic situation of Yi Zi cannibalizing... But those who are high above the temple
Who cares about these dignitaries and wealthy families?
The more natural disasters, the more man-made disasters, and the more people are deprived of raw food, the more good times it is for aristocratic families to grow and develop. They mix the old grains in the warehouses with sand and sell them ten times or twenty times to the villagers who are usually called affectionately.
The elders then bought the property, fields, wives, children of these villagers and elders at very low prices and used them as slaves and maids until there were roads and buildings, tens of thousands of buildings, and servants like clouds...
The glorious gates of aristocratic families are painted with the blood of common people.
But the world has been like this since ancient times, why did it happen to Fang Jun that it became an unforgivable sin for the family?