When Wei Bao left the palace, things did not make any real progress.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse obviously did not want to discuss with Wei Bao about the opening of the treaty port and the reorganization and merger of the Great Ming Naval Division.

After Wei Bao returned to the mansion, after talking to Wu Xuexia and Zhang Meiyuan, he had no interest in discussing, so he locked himself in the study early, planning to be quiet by himself.

Wei Bao actually has not many ways to conspire.

This trip to let the first assistant Gu Bingqian take the lead in playing the book, which was also the proposal of Wei Bao's father-in-law Zhang Weixian, and it was difficult for Wei Bao to think of it in a hurry.

Wei Bao has seen the most vivid Ming Dynasty TV series in modern times is "Ming Dynasty 1566".

There are two main difficulties in understanding this drama from a deep level.

First, it requires a certain basic knowledge of history.

For example, in the first episode of "Ming Dynasty 1566", Zhou Yunyi's proposal that the moon does not snow is "heavenly anger and resentment", which is Dong Zhongshu's theory of heaven and man induction, and the beginning of "Yongzheng Dynasty" is also Kangxi's monologue - "The Yellow River floods are all due to personnel not repairing, personnel not repairing, and the heavens will bring disasters".

Another example is the first episode of "Ming Dynasty 1566", Xiao Ge Lao said that "several big ships have capsized", which is "drifting", and said that the money that Tan did not have was due to loss caused by force majeure, and there was no proof of death.

Second, it is necessary to figure out the thoughts of the characters.

1. Logical jumps in the characters' words.

Because the IQ of the characters in it is very high, their thinking is often very jumpy, and the audience can't think about it all at once.

For example, in "Ming Dynasty 1566", Hai Rui interrogated Zheng Michang——

Hai Rui: Why did you sell Shen Yishi's workshop to the Weaving Bureau?

Zheng Michang: I didn't ask you to ask these questions in the holy decree.

Hai Rui: What do you mean, the emperor told you to do this?

Zheng Michang: No.

Hai Jui: How could there be any such in the Divine Decree?

2. Everyone has something to say.

Or the first episode of "Ming Dynasty 1566", Xu Jie said lightly, "The ticket is intended to be sent by Brother Shifan yesterday", on the surface, he was polite, but he actually stabbed Yan Shifan, and he only gave it to Xu Jie yesterday, what do you want to do?

Xu Gaozhang also stabbed each other when he spoke. For example, after Jiajing burned Hai Rui's testimony in front of Yan Song and Xu Jie, Xu Jie returned to Yuwang's mansion.

Xu Jie deliberately didn't say a word at first, and then Gao Gong forced Xu Jie, and scolded Xu Jie in front of King Yu for not daring to speak out, but King Yu angrily scolded Gao Gong ("Don't say anything"), paying attention to Xu Jie's expression at this time, smiling slightly, looking like a plan. Then he said that the confession was burned and no one had seen it.

Then Zhang Juzheng stabbed Zhao Zhenji again, saying that he was at both ends of the mouse, and he didn't listen to him when he wrote to him in the name of Xu Jie.

In the end, Gao Gong apologized for blaming Xu Jie before, and Xu Jie replied to him with a knife - "I sit in this position, and I deserve this reproach." On the surface, it means that you don't care, but the implication is that I am sitting in this position now, and you haven't sat up and jumped up and down less.

The characters have all kinds of thoughts, and there are all kinds of mysteries in the words. I didn't care about it the first time, but I understood it the second and third times.

3. The audience can only see everyone's words and actions, but they have to figure out his thoughts.

is still the first episode of "Ming Dynasty 1566", Jiajing asked Yan Shifan about marrying Aunt Jiufang's wife, everyone thought that Yan Shifan was going to be unlucky, but Jiajing came to say "A good man marries nine wives".

Why did Jiajing do this? Knock it out and don't beat it too much, reminding him that the handle is always in Jiajing's hand. Because marrying the wife of the ninth aunt is convictable, this is Wei; And then Jiajing came back for him, and it was not good for the opponent to investigate his guilt again, which is grace. This is one of them.

Han Feizi said that the emperor should pay attention to "potential", be unfathomable, and not let others guess what you are going to do next. Of course, Machiavelli said something similar. Jiajing has played this to the point where he can do whatever he wants. This is the second one.

Everyone has a value ranking and a logical system built around the value.

Every sentence can convey a lot of information. Some of this information is within the usual thinking, and some is outside the ordinary thinking, which requires other knowledge and information to support the filling to obtain. Some information is in a conspicuous place, which is for everyone to hear, and some information is in an inconspicuous place, which is said to those who have a heart to understand, and the key words that express sincerity are hidden in an inconspicuous position, which is the second. Talking the opposite, saying the opposite, praising and disparagement, this is the third.

1. "The ticket was sent by Brother Shifan yesterday" The usual focus is on "sent by Yan Shifan", especially when Xu Jie's demeanor looked respectful when he spoke, but in fact, the second meaning that Xu Jie wanted to express was the most neglected time - "yesterday". The vote should be discussed by the cabinet, and it was only given to Xu Jie's yesterday, which obviously made Xu Jie's preparation time insufficient. This is to expose Yan Shifan's careful thinking, and also to explain why Xu Gaozhang did not object yesterday but made a difficult attack at the imperial meeting today (echoing the later sentence "Seeing it does not mean verifying").

2. "I sit in this position, and I deserve this reproach" ostensibly emphasizes "deserve this reproach," but in fact emphasizes "I sit in this position."

"Ming Dynasty 1566" is a historical aerial drama. This drama highly summarizes the political phenomenon of feudal dynasties. A lot can be applied to other dynasties.

The reason why this drama is difficult to understand is that it is highly summarized. A person who does not have a deep understanding of Chinese history may feel like chewing wax if he directly reads the historical works of Fan Wenlan and Huang Renyu. However, when I deeply excavated and understood history, and then looked back at the master's works, I realized that what I had discovered and understood had already been refined and summarized. This is the process of learning from the complex to the simple.

If you want to best understand the interpretation of feudal politics in the Ming Dynasty, I think it is best to watch it with this series of answers:

This answer tells us why Jiajing keeps an eye on money so closely, and why Jiajing is greedy for so much money in the palace, but Jiajing is just acting like it

Why does Dejong love money so much? To put it simply, he is a money obsessed + brain-dead. Just like when people used to discuss the greed of Emperor Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, either he was psychopathic, or he was influenced by his mother who was born in a small merchant family, in short, it was abnormal, and any normal person would be better than him! However, with the advent of the era of the information explosion, there are more and more articles overturning the case for Wanli, and there are more and more legitimate reasons for him to make money.

"Money is not everything, but no money is everything!" Dezong, who has fought a big battle, naturally knows the importance of money. The same is true of Xianzong after him, as long as he wants to fight, everyone will desperately make money. It's just that Xianzong has a certain right to speak, and he can leave his high-sounding reasons in the history books: Now that the feudal towns are divided and the river has fallen, I am bent on restoring the glory of the Tang Dynasty, but unfortunately the financial resources are insufficient, so I have to save money!

This answer tells us why Jiajing needs people like Yan Song, get rid of Yan Song, and the empire will run immediately

Raising troops and fighting wars all cost a lot of money. Han Yu's group of loyal ministers feel sorry for the common people, which is naturally excellent, but can they solve Dezong's financial needs? Neither can offend the big landlords, but also cannot oppress the common people, how can the high wages of the Shence Army be paid? How will you fight the war if you want to cut the feudal domain in the future? Lu Qi and Pei Yanling, these traitors, have a set of knocking out the bones and sucking the marrow of the people, which is definitely not a good thing, but they at least meet the needs of Dezong! More importantly, they are willing to take the blame for Dezong and do this kind of thing that thousands of people spray and scold. Later generations commented on Dezong, and most of them said that he was stupid and stupid, and was confused by traitors, saying that he was not bad or evil. And the evaluation of Lu Qi, Pei Yanling and others, hehe. If you become an emperor, do you like Lu Qi? Or Han Yu?

This answer tells us why the clear and turbid currents are the mountains that Jiajing wants to flatten, and why Jiajing does everything in his power to protect his eunuchs:

I do not deny that the eunuchs in power are corrupt and bribery, and conniving at relatives and friends to prey on the common people, but what about those so-called celebrities and gentlemen? Because they have the right to speak, and we see that their family is rich, we feel that this is the result of honest labor and legal business; Seeing their four generations and three dukes, and two thousand stones, we feel that this is the result of their noble blood and outstanding family education. In fact, in the eyes of the emperor, the "clear stream" and "turbid stream" are just a raccoon dog.

The reason why such an excellent work as the Ming Dynasty is wonderful is that it shows the real game process in the real world.

Contradictions are unified in opposition, from the court to the locality, from Qingliu to Yandang, from Jiajing to Longqing, all of them are full of antagonism and struggle. History is to advance in the course of struggle, to eliminate old contradictions and to produce new ones.

People's thinking needs to be tempered, and there is a way: not afraid of clouds and clouds, and being at the top. It is necessary to think about problems from the high plane of history, and proceed from the idea of historical materialism.

The content of "Ming Dynasty 1566" can be basically divided into two parts: changing rice to mulberry and Hai Rui Shangshu. There is a hidden line in the middle, which is Jiajing. Yan Song hung up, but Jiajing behind Yan Song didn't hang up; Hai Rui was transferred out of Zhejiang, but King Yu behind Hai Rui is still alive and well. The TV series has a sub-name named Jiajing and Hai Rui, who are actually emperors and civil officials. As long as one of the two sides does not fall, the story can be played, and after the rice to mulberry is played, you can also change the mulberry to rice. Whether it is mulberry or rice, in fact, it is just a form of Jiajing's government. As long as Jiajing, the protagonist, does not step down, the play will not be finished.

From this topic alone, the Ming Dynasty involves a topic that is not very popular with our dynasty. Ideally, civil officials are appointed by the emperor, and you should be honest and obedient if you are given food. If you should carry the pot, you will go to the blame, and if you should do it, you can't hang yourself, I let you die, you can't run for your life, this is a harmonious relationship between monarchs and ministers.

So what are the contradictions in ordinary political dramas? Civil officials and civil officials, courtiers and courtiers, the emperor, the dominant party in the relationship between the monarch and the minister, cannot appear in it. In ordinary political dramas, the emperor is a referee rather than an athlete. These emperors only seem to know how to see the victory or defeat of the loyal traitor, and when they are done fighting, they go up, declare that the winner of the game is themselves and the faction that has not fallen, and then everyone is in charge of the country and the people, and the flowers are scattered.

But the real situation is not like this, what is the relationship between monarchs and ministers in the Ming Dynasty? The emperor asked the civil officials to take the blame, it's okay, but you can't pick it up if you want to, my civil officials will pour dirty water on you. The basin can't be deducted from my head alone, if I am unlucky, I will be unlucky with you, and I have truly achieved the fearless spirit of being willing to cut off the emperor and dare to pull the emperor off the horse.

Therefore, Qingliu has not been tough in the face of the Yan Party, and the reason why he has to rely on messing up Zhejiang to rectify the Yan Party is that when they ask the Yan Party for spending a lot of money, the Yan Party will immediately throw out a sentence: We spend a lot of money, and it is all a deficit for the emperor to repair the palace, you have the ability to go to the emperor to make trouble!

Therefore, the real situation is that the emperor is often both a referee and an athlete, and it is Jiajing who takes the initiative to participate in the competition. And those who are passively involved, such as his son Longqing (Yuwang), the situation is simpler. You Zhu Zaiyuan want to watch the excitement from the side, but there is no such thing. Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, no matter which of the three of us is dying, I have to pull you to help me. Otherwise, you will kill me, and you will have blood on your face, and you will have no good fruit to eat.

The civil officials in the Ming Dynasty, whether it is Yan Song, Yan Shifan, Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, even Hu Zongxian, Zhao Zhenji, Hai Rui and other local officials who are not in the center (Zhao Zhenji entered the cabinet in the later period), are not completely obedient masters.

Jiajing, a political master who manipulated the government, once commented that Yan Song was old and the people under him couldn't control it after Zheng Michang and He Maocai came up with the idea of buying land in the name of the Weaving Bureau.

But in the second half of the story, he realized that he was also old, and these people under his hands couldn't control it. Therefore, even if Jiajing was mad in the early stage, he was making trouble in Yuxi Palace alone. But Jiajing in the later period was about to watch Chen Hong fight hundreds of officials outside the palace gate.

The civil official is like this, what should the emperor do? In the history of helping emperors, there are generally two kinds of people, one is to serve their own women (relatives, concubines), and the other is to serve their own men (eunuchs). If Comrade Jiajing wants to ascend to immortality, a woman must not be able to do it (he was almost strangled to death in bed by a woman back then), so he can only let the eunuch help him rectify the civil official. And Longqing didn't want to ascend to immortal (the situation of taking medicine after becoming an emperor is counted), so he used a woman (Princess Li) to help himself. From beginning to end, his political ally was only Princess Li. And Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng are essentially the same as Tan Lun, Hai Rui, and Wang Yongji, all of them are chess pieces rather than alliances, but they are of different importances.

Who are the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty? In terms of loyalty, they are much more reliable than civil officials, they have no home, the palace is their home, and they are nothing when they leave the palace. So whether it is Lu Fang or Chen Hong, although the means are different and the levels are different, their hearts towards Jiajing have not changed, and they are all obedient.

This is also why, Zhou Yunyi, who deceived the sky, will die, and Yang Jinshui, who is making trouble, can live. It's really crazy or false, it doesn't matter if Jiajing knows it or not, but the important thing is whether they are obedient to Jiajing or not.

After the Ming Dynasty unfolded the story at the level of the emperor and civil officials, it explored another issue, loyalty and obedience.

These two things seem to be the same thing, but they don't seem to be the same thing. Is Hai Rui loyal to Jiajing? Jiajing, who was scolded by him, died, but he was so uncomfortable that he vomited even yellow bile, which was even more sad than Longqing, the son of his dead father. Can you say he's unfaithful?

But did Hai Rui listen to Jiajing's words? Changing rice to mulberry, he did not cooperate; Moved to the table, he did not cooperate; When he saw Jiajing, he was so angry that he almost didn't kill Jiajing in the edict. Can you say that he is obedient?

Therefore, Hai Jui is only loyal, not obedient. He only achieved filial piety to Jiajing, the monarch's father, but did not achieve obedience.

This brings us to another, more taboo question: Which is more important, obedience or loyalty?

By answering this question, we can divide the officials in the Ming Dynasty. believes that obedience is more important than loyalty, such as Yan Song and Yan Shifan; believes that loyalty is more important than obedience, such as Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Hai Rui. And the most perfect balance between these two is Hu Zongxian.

Is Hu Zongxian obedient? Obedient. Jiajing wants to change rice to mulberry, change; Jiajing wants to weave silk to make money and weave; Jiajing said that there were Japanese robbers on the sea, and they would fight; Someone said bad things about Jiajing, join him. (This can be summed up in one sentence now: give me pets!) If I were Jiajing, I would take Hu Zongxian as a concubine (manual dog head)

Is Hu Zongxian loyal? Loyalty. Changing rice to mulberry must be changed, but it cannot force the people to rebel; Silk should be weaved, but the embankment should not be destroyed and the fields should not be flooded; The pirates at sea want to fight, but the nonsense of raising robbers to protect themselves cannot be listened to; Whoever speaks ill should be sensitive, but secretly try to protect him as much as possible.

Jiajing once said: The southeast cannot be without Hu Zongxian for a day, and this is the reason. A person who can be both obedient and faithful is a person who can do things without a way back, and such a person must protect him no matter what. Even if Yan Dang and Qingliu don't buy his account, his account can be reimbursed by Jiajing. This is also why Hu Zongxian is not treated with two sides, because he is loyal and obedient at the same time, he stands on the opposite side of the majority of civil officials.

The difference between loyalty and obedience is that in the face of imperial power and reality, whether or not to have one's own ideals and beliefs is the third taboo.

When Yan Song entered the company on the right path, did he have any ideals and beliefs? Absolutely, during Liu Jin's ten years in the DPRK, he resolutely retired and went home. Don't say that he went to recuperate because he was sick, why did a young man in his twenties and thirties have to take care of his illness for ten years? Pneumonia keeps you at home for a month, and you can't stay there! (funny again)

But how did he change? After arguing for so long, how many black gauze hats have fallen to the ground, for the status of a dead man, as for giving up his future?

Yan Song felt that it would not be enough, so he wrote "Ode to the Great Rites", which can be regarded as the end of the Great Rites Discussion, and it can be regarded as the end of his ideals and beliefs.

Do you not forget your original intention? Yes. Whether it is the King of Haiyan, the sea pen holder, or the god of Haimen, they are all manifestations of Hai Rui's admitting death. He is an idealist, he thinks that what it should be, how he should do it, if he doesn't do it, there will be an evil demon king making trouble, and he will ask the magic weapon to receive the magic power of the big demon king.

But is everyone willing to be Hai Jui? Unwilling. It's like everyone hates to go through the back door to find relationships to do things, but when you want to do things, the first reaction is to find relationships and go through the back door. Everyone hopes that the others are Hai Rui, and they hope that all the officials are the same Qingtian masters as Bao Zheng, but they also hope that this Hai Rui will stay away from him when he walks through the back door.

Ideals and beliefs are not important, and the original intention is not so valuable, this is the truth that the Ming Dynasty used a "Public Security Sparse" to tell people now.

Based on these points alone, the Ming Dynasty is not only talking about politics, he is talking about society and the world.

What's more, we are still living in the 39th year of Jiajing, when it does not snow?

Supplement: Recently, because of the epidemic at home, I roughly read through the original book again, and then talk about some of the theoretical connotations behind this book.

I wrote at the beginning of the answer that the core of the ancient political drama was the emperor and the civil officials, or simply put, the emperor and the courtiers. In fact, throughout history, political contradictions have basically been concentrated in this group of relationships. Liu Heping borrowed a fake story of "changing rice to mulberry" to expose the true truth of "governing the country and governing officials". This is also why Hai Rui's image in the play is commendable, because he exposed the truth of "governing the people before governing the officials" and "governing the officials more important than governing the people", and completely ripped off Jiajing's coat of "self-proclaimed Chinese".

This is reflected in the last episode of "The Theory of the Country". Hai Rui's discussion of the country and the mountains focuses on the relationship between the country and the mountain, that is, the relationship between the monarch and the people, and he emphasizes that the boat and the people of the water, and the water can carry the boat and also overturn the boat. Jiajing's discussion of rivers and mountains focuses on the classification of rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, that is, what is the official and how to govern the official.

Another point that can be reflected is Zhao Zhenji's attitude towards Hai Rui. Zhao Zhenji doesn't like this subordinate, and the root of it lies here. In Hai Rui's eyes, the king comes from the people, and there is no king without the people. He is loyal to the king because only the king can protect the country and the people. If the king does not report to the country and the people, then force him to do it. Zhao Zhenji is different, the people naturally want to protect, but only by protecting the king first can the people be protected. If the monarch is gone, and the court is completely finished, who will rely on to protect the people?

To put it simply, it's a chicken-and-egg question. Hai Rui believes that the people are noble and the king is light, and the people are in front of the king; And Zhao Zhenji believes that the king is the end of the people, and the people are behind the king.

If you want to talk about it from a theoretical point of view, it is what Dong Zhongshu said in "Spring and Autumn Dew" that "Qu the people to Shen Jun".

If it is more popular, then it is the "debate between He Shen and Ji Xiaolan" in "Iron Tooth and Bronze Tooth Ji Xiaolan".

Jiajing is an extremely smart and face-saving person, he is proficient in Han Feizi's "Taoism" thought. If there is no official, then he, the emperor, will not be able to govern the people. An emperor who cannot govern the people is not actually an emperor. The old ancestor Zhu Chongba killed 100,000 officials, abolished the prime minister, and was so tired that he died and came back to life, so he still had to open the imperial examination to elect people to be officials? Therefore, Jiajing adheres to the principle of "governing the people and governing the officials first", and only by playing the officials smoothly can it be possible to stabilize the emperor.

After all, the lessons given to him by the Great Rites Discussion, Yang Ting and these lessons from the past are too profound. If you don't treat the official well, your parents won't be able to recognize it.

From a macro point of view, the Jiajing magistrate is a technique of manipulating the balance, first letting the Yan Party fight with Qingliu, and then supporting Chen Hong and Qingliu after the Yan Party falls, and then maintaining the balance. In fact, in terms of specific operation, Jiajing is a way of "guiding according to the situation". He wants officials to see the benefits and know the harms, and the harms to know the benefits. When an official encounters danger, it is necessary to give the official benefits so that he dares to face the danger head-on and does not put himself in danger. When an official sees the benefits, he should use his power to make him understand the harm behind the benefits, so that the officials will not gain an inch.

From this point of view, it is not unreasonable for Sima Qian to write "Historical Records" and list Lao Tzu and Han Fei together.

However, Jiajing's "imperial mental technique" cannot be put on the table, so he still emphasizes the traditional Confucian principle of "the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light." But in fact, it has long become "the monarch is precious, the community is secondary, and the people are light." ”

Jiajing is at ease with this, because since the defeat of Qin Shi Huang, no one has not been like this, but the degree is just shallow.

Hai Rui took a fancy to this and used "Public Security Shu" to uncover this kind of disguise, and also unveiled the disguise of all officials.

Lu Xun of later generations summed up Hai Rui's state of mind in one sentence, that is, since ancient times, right?

But the question is, if not, how is it possible that it has been so since time immemorial?