The difference between Liu Zongzhou and Tianqi lies in two aspects, one is whether the matter of elected officials is from top to bottom or from bottom to top, and in this matter Liu Zongzhou retreats as the end, because the reason for Tianqi is that no one dares to say that he must be correct and perfect, since it is not perfect, there may be deviations. In terms of dealing with deviations and mistakes, it is a safe way to first conduct small-scale experiments and then implement them from the bottom to the top.

Another disagreement between the two is whether to take long-term goals as the criterion or to change the standard of doing things at any time, forming a compromise plan for Gao Panlong in this matter, that is, it is not good for Gao Wuyuan to change the order overnight, and formulate a plan every three years based on three years. There are no differences, and we have to continue to analyze history, that is, a little battle of will, Liu Zongzhou means that you don't say that people are becoming more and more equal and individuals are becoming more and more free, which is the trend of historical development? So why did the Song Dynasty fall?

In history, the Song Dynasty was indeed a very strange dynasty, in the Song Dynasty soldiers had no status, at any time to listen to the civilian officials call the military generals why "thieves with the army", which means that only those who make mistakes will be assigned to the border as soldiers, and the status of soldiers and criminals is similar. In the case of the low status of the military and the surrounding enemies, the court is very tolerant of the people, the ministers can speak harshly and denounce the emperor's mistakes, and the taxes paid by the people have not changed for many years.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow Book was used to restrict people to a certain place, and the system of the Song Dynasty was much more relaxed. Ximen Qing can easily answer Pan Jinlian in the Water Margin, it can be seen that the defense of men and women is not so strict, even Song Huizong, the emperor, can go out of the palace at any time to meet Master Li and be known by the world, and Song Huizong does not mind Master Li picking up other benefactors, which shows that the sense of equality is still very popular. But in such a dynasty where equality and freedom are stronger than other dynasties, it is inevitable that it will eventually perish, which shows that the theory of equality, freedom and power is unreasonable.

Tianqi knew what Liu Zongzhou meant, nodded lightly and said: "The example given by Lord Liu is very good, and I feel that the Song and Ming dynasties are also two dynasties that are very necessary for fate, and the Song and Ming dynasties have similarities like the Han and Tang dynasties. The Song Dynasty was exhausted by the Khitan and Jurchen in the north and the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty was also made miserable by the Mongols and Jurchens in the north. In terms of internal stability, the courtiers of the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty had loyalty to the country that other dynasties did not have, which is also the most gratifying point. ”

Liu Zongzhou said: "Yes, the Song Dynasty was lenient to his subordinates and benevolent to the people, and finally died, it can be seen that in addition to equality and freedom, there must be other things that we don't know that are influencing the development of history. ”

Apocalypse pondered for a while and said, "I think the standard of equality and freedom is still right, but we haven't expanded this thought, so we feel that there is something else that we have not discovered. At the beginning, we said that equality and freedom are only limited to the inside of the country, but the outside is not equal, if there is also the spirit of equality and freedom outside, the Ming can be prosperous. ”

Gao Panlong was also a little strange at this time, he said: "Your Majesty, the spirit of equality and freedom advocated within the Ming Dynasty can be understood, such as canceling the fixed restrictions on military households and merchants, and choosing a career based on what they have learned. In addition, it is necessary to restrict the acquisition of land by wealthy households, allow commoners to study and pass examinations to enter the government, and even implement elected officials to make officials pay attention to the interests of the people, all of which embody the spirit of equality and freedom. But to practice equality and freedom with the outside world, wouldn't it mean to get along with the Mongols and Jurchens on an equal footing and be called brothers? Do you still want to allow the Mongols and Jurchens to ride into the Great Wall? ”

Tianqi nodded and said, "Yes, as long as they are not hostile, of course we can live in peace with them, and we can even allow the Mongols and Jurchens to travel or live in various parts of the Ming Dynasty in their private capacities." Of course, it must be done according to the custom of the Han people, and they must not all agree to graze in the area south of the Yangtze River where grain is produced, because that would be unequal to ourselves and restrict the freedom of other people. The so-called freedom is based on the premise of not hindering the freedom of others, equality is also relative rather than absolute equality, Huo Quzhi wants to treat his subordinates equally, let everyone drink wine, pour it into the spring water, the result is that no one can drink, it can be seen that absolute equality is not beneficial. ”

Gao Panlong couldn't help but open his mouth and couldn't speak when he heard the apocalypse say this, the Ming Dynasty has always treated Mongolia and Jurchen with a condescending attitude, even if he was beaten by others and couldn't find the north, but this condescending psychology still hasn't changed. Now the Apocalypse says that all people, including the Mongols and Jurchens, should be treated equally, which is incredibly different from the concept that has been formed over the centuries.

Liu Zongzhou sighed at this time and said: "The emperor is right, the Song and Ming dynasties were both internally stable but under great external pressure, while the Han and Tang dynasties were both externally stable and had many internal troubles. I think that in the Han Dynasty, there was Zhang Qian's foresight and wisdom in the Western Regions and put it into practice, opening up the Silk Road and equal trade with the countries of the Western Regions, and later the Tang Dynasty was also communicating with the northern grassland tribes, so that the prestige of the Tang Dynasty was far away from thousands of miles, but the Han and Tang dynasties would not show mercy to the Huns and Turks who dared to violate the border. ”

Apocalypse said: "This is a two-handed preparation, everyone has the right to pursue a happy life, but there is no right to seek their own benefit by plundering and killing others, we must first use the army to make them understand this truth." Only when the grassland people know that peace is the way to coexist will they be allowed to trade and exchange in the land of the Ming Dynasty and communicate with each other for common development. The Song Dynasty was relatively good internally, but he didn't do well enough externally, for example, the 'Tanyuan Alliance' between Song and Liao, and the covenant between Song and Western Xia, all of which were to send silk and silver to buy peace, which is the biggest inequality, of course, is the inequality to oneself. ”

Gao Panlong said: "The emperor means that I, the Ming Dynasty, can also live in peace with the Mongols and Jurchens, but I will definitely not buy peace with silver money like the Song Dynasty?" ”

Tianqi said: "Yes, peace is the result of mutual respect and mutual equality, not something that can be bought with money, at first Lord Liu said that from the fall of the Song Dynasty, equality and freedom are not the only criteria for historical development, but now it seems that no other factors have been found." In other words, the increasing equality between people and the freedom of individuals is still an inevitable trend of visible historical development, and it is also the principle that we must follow when we do anything in the future and formulate any plan. ”

Apocalypse's words made Liu Zongzhou and Gao Panlong completely speechless, the officials of the Ming Dynasty have always taken the grassland peoples outside the Great Wall seriously, even if they fight hard, it is nothing in the minds of the Ming officials, at most the Great Wall should be built to prevent those barbarians from rushing in to loot and kill people. When there was really no way, I also thought about inter-market trade, and I only thought about making the grassland peoples live a better life through trade, so as not to harass them when they were desperate and took risks. No matter when and where the officials of the Ming Dynasty did not think of treating the grassland people equally, in the eyes of the Ming officials, those barbarians did not deserve such treatment.

Now the meaning of the Apocalypse is to use strong force as a backing, and then force the Mongols and Jurchens to follow the rules of the Ming Dynasty, as long as they can follow the rules of the Ming Dynasty, then the Mongols and Jurchens can also become the people of the Ming Dynasty. Thinking of this, the two remembered the Karaqin and Duoyan people who returned to Shun last year, both of whom used to live nomadically outside the Great Wall, and then were forced to have no way and finally decided to return to the Ming Dynasty. The ministers of the DPRK and China only thought that it was expedient to subdue the two departments, but who knew that now it seemed that Tianqi wanted to subdue all the Mongols and Jurchens on the grassland, which made Gao Panlong and Liu Zongzhou secretly take a breath of cool air.

Liu Zongzhou thought for a while and said: "Of course, it is the blessing of the Ming Dynasty that the emperor has this ambition, but there are many inappropriate things in this, whether the Mongols and Jurchens will be willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty for the time being, only that if they really return to the Ming Dynasty, will the Ming Dynasty be able to settle such people?" The ancients said, 'If you are not of my race, your heart will be different', and those Mongols and Jurchens are afraid that they will not be used to it when they arrive in the Central Plains, and when the time comes, they may really take the fertile land for growing grain for grazing as the emperor said. ”

Apocalypse nodded and said, "I know the hidden dangers of this, but haven't I gotten to that point yet?" You're going to have a good idea when you get to that point, so let's talk about the elected officials first. Freedom and equality are just slogans at the beginning, and we can't just talk about slogans that are too big and too empty, but talk about something that everyone can understand in connection with reality. ”

Gao Panlong opened his mouth and agreed: "Your Majesty's words are agreed, our discussion today has taken a lot of energy, if you want to let all the ministers in the court speak and discuss, then I don't know how much it will take." Say something practical so that everyone can see it, even if someone agrees or disagrees, you must say some insightful opinions, lest the words and sentences of Zi Yue Shiyun fly all over the court, making people dizzy and finally useless. The emperor said that he wanted to discuss the matter of the elected officials, I wonder if the emperor has any ideas? Does the minister mean that the emperor has already made up his mind? ”

When Tianqi heard this, he shook his head resolutely and said: "At the beginning, I took equality and freedom as the criterion, with this criterion, I have nothing else to say, let the people do it themselves, your duty is to find a way to find experience and shortcomings." When it comes to elected officials, you just need to remember that freedom and equality are the norms, and that the goal is to benefit the court and the people in unison. ”^-^^-^