Chapter 1226 External Confucianism and Internal Law
"I'm not sleepy, slave." Shen Wuhua said in a low voice.
"Forget it, let's chat?" Li Xingchen put down the book, otherwise it would be nothing to let a beautiful woman watch him reading. "I haven't read a book for a long time. I really miss the old days, at least filial piety to Duke Mu. Just pick out any book on the shelf and you can read it for a long time."
Although Li Xingchen has five thousand years of knowledge about the entire China, these are too many and too complicated, and many of them may not be applicable to this era. Therefore, Li Xingchen still needs to be able to connect with this era. At that time, he was in Xuling The books he read in the study of Xiao Mohe and others were actually a very good medium. Even some of the strategies of war and state governance that Li Xingchen learned from them were indeed used in practice.
This is why now, when Li Xingchen feels that he is increasingly unable to grasp the pulse of the times, while trying to make himself walk more, he picked up a book again.
It does make sense to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles.
"My slave has also read the Book of Shang Jun," Shen Wuhua said in a low voice. "Shang Jun was able to single-handedly promote the reform of Western Qin and realize the dream of strengthening Qin. It is indeed worthy of admiration."
The Lord of Shang is Shang Yang, and the "Book of Lords of Shang" is said to have been written by Shang Yang, and it records the theories of Shang Yang's Legalists. Although Li Xingchen in later generations hastily read this book, he found that many places in the book were missing. Being able to see the complete version in this era, Li Xingchen naturally wouldn't mind delving into the works left by this Shang Jun who once changed the entire Warring States pattern and had a profound impact on the process of unification of China.
"Oh?" Li Xingchen raised his eyebrows.
In the early years of the Han Dynasty, Huang and Lao's studies were pursued to recuperate and recuperate. Later, Confucianism came to power, and the court "deposed hundreds of schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone." This completely established the important position of Confucianism in the rule of the court. And it is precisely for this reason that The rest of Huang-Lao's school, Legalism, Mohism, etc. began to fade out of people's sight.
Now as the troubled times continue, the situation where Confucianism dominates the world has naturally been torn apart. The trend of seclusion that appeared in the late Wei and Jin Dynasties actually has the meaning of Taoism's "escaping from the world", not to mention the trend brought about by the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Buddhism, which has an obvious meaning of seeking peace and anti-war, has become popular. The Southern Dynasty is certainly the "Four Hundred and Eighty Temples", and the Northern Dynasty is not bad in this regard. The famous Mogao Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes and other spectacular Buddhist temples in later generations The grottoes were all built during the Northern Dynasties.
It was precisely by taking advantage of this opportunity that various theories naturally reared their heads again. Otherwise, it would not have been so easy for Li Xingchen to find an intact "Book of Shang Jun".
But even so, Li Xinchen was a little surprised that Shen Wuhua, a womanly family, could read "The Book of Shang Jun". Of course, thinking about it again, Li Xinchen only got this ability from the palace library. And Shen Wuhua has been the princess for ten years, so she must have had access to all the books in the palace, and there is nothing surprising after reading them.
"But I think Lord Shang's approach is too tough. No matter whether you are a king or a minister, you can't really strictly control everything in your life by law. In this case, morality will lose its own value of existence. In contrast, there is no airtight wall in the world, and naturally there can be no truly perfect laws and regulations." Shen Wuhua considered and said, "So how can we use Legalist doctrine to establish a complete system that can restrain people's behavior? The legal and disciplinary framework is filled with softer Huang-Lao culture and Confucian culture, so that it can unify the people."
Li Xingchen looked at Shen Wuhua with some surprise. In other words, this is the policy policy of "Confucianism on the outside and law on the inside". The law is used to set the bottom line, and morality and education are used to improve the overall quality of the people so that they will stay away from touching the bottom line. To achieve social harmony, historically, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial court had begun to study and promulgate written laws. Although the country was still governed by Confucianism on the surface, it had actually evolved into a pattern of external Confucianism and internal law. The pattern lasted until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
For people in this era who are groping forward in troubled times, this is actually a fresh idea. You must know that in another time and space, such an idea was finally implemented in the court, and it was After several generations of hard work.
It’s no wonder that Emperor Sui Yang, who always had a high level of ambition, was also very fond of Shen Wuhua. This woman was obviously not just someone who could write some resentful poems.
"Interesting," Li Xingchen laughed, which also made Shen Wuhua breathe a sigh of relief, "then do you think Shang Jun's death was self-inflicted, or is it a pity?"
Shen Wuhua was startled for a moment. Li Xingchen's question was actually very tricky. From her point of view, she had to answer carefully: "I think from the perspective of the Qin State, the death of Lord Shang is indeed a pity, because the monarch and his ministers The death of famous ministers due to conflicts and conflicts between them was also a huge loss for the Qin State at that time. However, King Qin Hui at that time wanted to appease the old nobles in the country and establish his own authority, and Lord Shang had no choice but to do so. People who do not get rid of them, so King Qin Hui must also have his own helplessness and unwillingness to do so. As for Shang Jun himself, dying for the laws he made is not dying for his own beliefs. It should be regarded as a kind of Martyrdom, for him, as a person whose life goal was to spread Legalism and promote reform, he changed a country and died for his own ideals, which is considered a well-deserved death."
"Okay!" Li Xingchen said with a smile, stroking his hands, "That makes sense. He deserves to die!"
Shen Wuhua hurriedly bowed his head: "This slave is just talking nonsense, Your Majesty, please forgive me."
"Everyone has his or her own opinion on different things. Your opinion can also be justified. There is nothing wrong with it," Li Xingchen said with a smile, "Why is there any mistake?"
After a pause, Li Xingchen typed the "Book of Shang Jun": "What's more, in my opinion, Shang Jun had a magnificent life. His death in the end may be a pity, but it is indeed a well-deserved death. What's more, this does not prevent him from continuing to be a good person in the future. He will be praised by future generations and even be famous for generations to come."
Shen Wuhua looked at Li Xinchen in shock. His Majesty is very young, so it is normal for him to think about many novel ideas. However, Shen Wuhua never expected that Li Xinchen would be willing to agree with or even accept his own ideas.
This gave her a vague feeling that she had found a close friend. This feeling was even stronger than when Li Xingchen sang "A river of spring water flows eastward" on the small building.
Ten years in the cold palace undoubtedly took a heavy toll on Shen Wuhua.