In the conference hall, after Zhao Xingde sat down, he felt as if he had collapsed, and his hands and feet were trembling slightly. Even the most casual lieutenant paid attention to him, and Yu Zangyun raised his hand to beckon the scribe and asked, "Which army is this face from?" ”

"That's Captain Zhao De of the Eighth Battalion of the Chengying Army." The scribe replied respectfully, carefully concealing his reverence for the new captain.

"Oh?" Yu Zangyun's face was gloomy and he said, "It's really a cannon." He turned back to the lieutenant beside him and said meaningfully, "This cannon will leave after a few fires." "The captains of the Chengying Army have been fighting outside the territory all year round, and there are very few opportunities to participate in the meetings of the Protectorate Mansion. No matter how talented Zhao De is, he can only fight to kill the enemy at the edge of the Peerless Domain, and he will not make trouble in the Protectorate Mansion in a short period of time.

Before Yu Zangyun could think of how to refute Zhao Xingde, Kang Deming stood up again, arched his hand to the superior monarch and minister, and said in a deep voice: "What Captain Zhao De said is that although it may happen in a few decades, it is not unfounded. As the saying goes, the dwelling of illness is also within the reach of soup ironing; In the blood, where the needle and stone are reached; It is in the stomach and in the place of wine mash; It is in the bone marrow, although it is helpless. Now this apprentice's matter, just like the disease in the gut, the court can also deal with it slowly, without hurting the country, if you ignore Captain Zhao De's warning words, I am only afraid that in the future, there will be great harm to the country! ”

After he finished speaking, he sat down and smiled at Zhao Xingde. Zhao De hurriedly thanked him, and he agreed with him.

Yu Zangyun said in a deep voice: "Captain Kang said lightly, self-defense of the city is the foundation of the imperial court's policy to encourage industry and commerce, if the imperial court intervenes arbitrarily, I am afraid that it will be like the implementation of new laws such as green seedlings, exemption from military service, and equal taxation of Fangtian in the eastern part of the country, although the original intention is good, but in the end it will be blamed." ”

Kang Deming's face changed slightly, and he was about to stand up to refute him, but he heard Yang Ren say: "Captain Yu is reasonable. In the 100 years since the founding of this dynasty, we have adhered to the way of self-defense in order to rule the world. "Kang Deming's face has changed greatly, Yang Reneng is capable of literature and martial arts, he has a very strong influence in the Protectorate Mansion, and he was born in the Kanto region, he has always been at odds with Yu Zangyun, how could he suddenly turn against him today?

Even Yu Zangyun showed a stunned look on his face, and a sneer appeared on his face. And Prime Minister Liu Yi and Emperor Chen Xuan, who were sitting on the top seats, glanced at each other and saw a trace of excitement in each other's eyes.

"The way of self-defense is to believe in righteousness, respect virtue and repay merit, and rule the world by hanging the arch." Yang Ren said in a deep voice, "So that the people can defend themselves, and the world can defend themselves." If the people lose what they have to do, then the propriety will be ruined, and morality will not exist, and the world will not exist. Therefore, the first thing to do is to open peace for all generations, and the most important thing is this way of self-defense. ”

Listening to Yang Ren's retelling of the legacy of the sages, Yu Zangyun and many captains with both civil and military qualifications all said yes. This way of self-defense is Mr. Lu Er's intensive study of the righteousness of the sons of the people, Mr. Lu Er's life of learning and lecturing, in charge of the academy for more than 20 years, his transmission of Guan Xue in the Xia people has a great influence, whether it is a soldier, a merchant or a shade household, are convinced of this way of self-defense. It was after this righteousness and reasoning were understood that the later Mr. Lu Si presided over the Prime Minister's Mansion, which promoted the Zhuguo Mansion to promulgate the "Self-Guarding City Law", and established the principle that neither the imperial court nor the Chamber of Commerce should interfere with the self-compliance contract of merchants.

"I am able to keep to my part, not to disagree, and to serve the country. If a scholar is not punished by the Ming canon, although the Son of Heaven is respected, he cannot add the power of one finger, so the civil and military man is self-defending with his morality. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the policy of self-governance of the Chamber of Commerce has been promulgated 30 years ago, so that merchants can self-discipline with their faithfulness. The people of cultivation and herdsmanship are sheltered by scholars in the neighborhood, the officials of the state and county are the protectors of the people, and the court is protected by the laws of the pillar government. Because the people of the court can defend themselves, the customs are good, the traitors are few, and the court can prosper and eliminate the disadvantages. ”

Zhao Xingde also nodded, and suddenly saw Yang Ren's face sank, and changed his words: "However, now in the realm of workers, the way to defend oneself is far away." Today's workers are isolated in the village, with no relatives to help each other, no scholars to shelter them, they are given food and clothing to others, their wives are not protected, they are humiliated, and they cannot defend themselves. Workers are not allowed to be sheltered by the laws of the court, and are not subject to the teachings of the virtuous people in the township, and the so-called food and clothing are sufficient to know honor and disgrace, on the contrary, they will consume their shameful heart, and they will return to the same beasts as the way of courtesy and righteousness. He paused and said in an accentuated tone, "As Captain Zhao said, those who lose their self-defense will be uneasy and breed dissent. Ladies and gentlemen, such hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their self-control, far from the way of our court, the source of this calamity, although it is still in the gut at this moment, and the Protector Government can sit idly by, will it have to wait until the disease enters the bone marrow and is terminally ill? ”

After Yang Ren finished speaking, he did not sit down, but exchanged a look with Prime Minister Liu Yi, waiting for the doubts of the other captains.

"Then, according to Captain Yang, how to make the workers self-contained?" Yu Zangyun sneered, these workers don't know etiquette, they can't be educated, and they don't have the protection of soldiers.

"This matter is related to the country's plan, and I have thought about it for a long time, and I have also come up with a few methods, which are called 'self-discipline of workers and apprentices', and I only wait for the people of insight in the house to sign and submit them to the Zhuguo Mansion." Yang Ren said in a deep voice, "The first thing is that the apprentice's body is not imprisoned, when the apprentice wants to leave the workshop, the workshop owner shall not stop him, as for the fee for violating the contract, he can be considered again, but the first thing is to ensure that the apprentice can defend himself, not to become a slave because of the contract, and by extension, not to be forced to work, not to be lynched, it is also the proper righteousness." ”

As soon as his words fell, Conyers said in a deep voice: "Okay! "If the Guanzhong workers can be spared from confinement, then the shortage of people in the river workshop will be greatly improved, as for the default fee of the workers, it is not a problem for the river workshop, and even wish that these workers were eager to pay off their debts.

Seeing Kang Deming's joy, Chen Xuan couldn't help frowning, and said secretly, no wonder he has been pressed by Yu Zangyun in the Protectorate Mansion, no wonder King Kang would rather ask Chen Kang to inherit the throne than find Kang's own sons and nephews.

Yang Ren's face sank like water, and he continued: "Second, the people who cultivate and herdsmen have the help of the sergeant's shelter, so they can defend themselves. There were few sergeants in the merchant autonomous area, so the workers should elect the protectors themselves, and together with the relief Cao of the imperial court, they should protect the workers in accordance with the laws of the imperial court. He paused and said, "As Zhao Xiaowei Shicai said, in the industrial and commercial taxes, there is also the blood and sweat of the apprentices, and the imperial court has to pay taxes and impose shade, which is also the due righteousness." ”

Most of the lieutenants nodded yes, and Yu Zangyun said in a deep voice with a cold face: "This protector and the shadow of the relief department, as Captain Yang said, should act in strict accordance with the laws of the imperial court, and should not wantonly interfere with the merchants' self-observance. Yang Ren's proposal has been carried out step by step, and he has already convinced most of the lieutenants in the council hall, and obviously has the support of His Majesty and the Prime Minister, so Yu Zangyun can only retreat to the second best thing and add constraints to this "self-discipline of workers and apprentices".

Seeing that Yu Zangyun didn't oppose it entirely, Yang Ren smiled and said, "Captain Yu is reasonable, this is natural." He continued, "Thirdly, if a man is not in a group, he is no different from an animal. Far away from the villages, these workers have lost their family affection, and have no owner, so they should be allowed to form associations and make covenants, go in and out of friendships, watch and help each other, and support each other in sickness. If necessary, the Protectorate may allocate a small amount of money each year to help with this. Whoever is better than the beast will be able to defend himself. "This system of workers' associations is the most important, and its importance is far greater than the previous two, but Yang Ren put it last.

Because this third article does not conflict with the "self-defense of the city's easy law", the lieutenants did not clearly understand its deep meaning for a while, and did not intend to oppose it, Yu Zangyun reminded instead: "This worker's association, we must beware of its backlash, and we should restrain it with others." ”

Yang Ren said yes, absorbing Yu Zangyun's suggestion, Prime Minister Liu Yi took the opportunity to propose that the Relief Department should restrain the workers' associations, and at the same time, the silver money for the imperial court to fund the workers' associations was also distributed by the Relief Bureau, and the captains were meaningless. So most of them and Yang Ren jointly submitted the "Workers' Self-Discipline Law" to the Zhuguo Mansion. Yu Zangyun and others did not sign a joint name, nor did they oppose it.

This controversy came and went, and it was noon, and the lieutenants had dinner in the Protector's Mansion. Zhao Xingde and Chen Chong sat together and said with a smile: "Brother Chen, what Captain Yang said is to make the people defend themselves and guard the world, I only heard of its name in the past, but I don't know the details, but today I really benefited a lot." Chen Zhong glanced at him in surprise, as early as decades ago, the Bachelor's Mansion compiled the "way of self-defense" described by Mr. Lu Er into the textbook of school children's enlightenment. According to the regulations of the bachelor's house, after the children have learned the "Three Character Sutra", Mr. will talk about self-cultivation next, and then from self-cultivation to the Qi family, from the Qi family to the governance of the world, interspersed with the explanation of "the way of self-defense". Zhao Xingde said that he didn't know, there was only one possibility over there, Chen Zhong glanced left and right, and asked in a low voice: "Captain Zhao is from the Kanto region, right?" ”

"Exactly." Zhao Xingde nodded, not understanding why Chen Zhong asked.

"That's it." Chen Zhong said with a smile, "This way is only common in our dynasty, and the Kanto region denounces it as 'pseudo-learning'. And in the land of Kansai, it is the same as the land where the sky is round, and it is a great truth that women and children know. Zhao Xingde smiled when he heard it: "I see." He pondered for a moment, and then said with a smile: "King Zhou divided the princes to guard the world, so he can be regarded as the originator of the way of self-defense."

"Exactly," Chen Zhong said in a deep voice, "from the princes can defend themselves, to the scholars and doctors, and then to the people of the world can defend themselves, this is the way of evolution. ”

Zhao Xingde doubted: "The Zhou Dynasty divided the princes, and the princes divided the doctors, and later, the strong branches and weak cadres, the power bully, the royal family declined, and the courtiers ruled the country. Isn't the imperial court worried about repeating the mistakes of the past? ”

Chen Chong's eyes lit slightly, and he asked rhetorically: "If there is no separation, when the princes of the Youwang Beacon Fire Opera will cause the dog Rong to invade the Central Plains, the world may fall, right?" Where did it come from after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period for five hundred years. The benefits of one family and one surname are related to the fortune of the world, which is more important? When he said this, his face was calm, as if he was not the prince of Great Xia, but an ordinary border military captain.