Huang Liji felt that the back of his head began to swell again, and as the reform efforts continued to deepen, his heart became more and more uneasy. After all, he is not Chongzhen, and he can't see what the future Daming will be, and he doesn't know where the end of this reform is.

At the beginning, he accepted the proposal of Chongzhen, who had just ascended the throne, and reformed the government, but in the final analysis, it was just for self-preservation. The death of Tianqi made the suppressed Donglin Party and the southern gentry unite, and there was a great opportunity to take advantage of the new emperor's accession to the throne to counterattack the eunuch and non-Donglin officials who were in power in the court.

Cabinet ministers like Huang Liji, who were attached to Wei Zhongxian's ascendancy, were obviously also one of the targets targeted by those Donglin Party members. At this time, gaining the trust of the new emperor and eliminating the fierce party disputes that might break out in the DPRK and China became the primary goal of Huang Liji and other officials.

After they accepted Chongzhen's proposition and set up the banner of reforming the government, they not only replaced the Wei Zhongxian clique that had been the same in the court, but also disintegrated the anti-eunuch clique gathered by the Donglin party, thus surviving the most chaotic period of the transition between the old and new emperors.

Stabilized the situation of the Ming Dynasty and obtained the greatest ruling power since the establishment of the cabinet, for Huang Liji, he felt that the goal of this reform had almost been achieved. After all, in the process of this reform, the gentry in the south and north have lost many interests, and he is also worried that if he continues to reform, he will force these people to be anxious, and then he will really become the second Zhang Jiangling.

However, at this time, if he wants to stop the reform and continue, it is no longer something that he can say as a first assistant. Officials and businessmen who benefited from the reforms have become the dominant force in the north, especially in the region, and have become the main force driving the reforms forward.

Although these people were not enough to resist the power of the southern gentry, in the area of North Zhili, they were able to overwhelm the local gentry, and even many of his relatives became the beneficiaries of the reform. If he wanted to stop, he would undoubtedly risk himself falling into the point of betrayal.

Therefore, Huang Liji can only pin his hopes on Chongzhen, hoping that His Majesty can understand what is the truth of moderation. But today, Chongzhen's almost confessional words finally shattered the little thought in Huang Liji's heart, and his mind was at a loss, and he didn't know how to respond to Chongzhen's words.

However, after all, Huang Liji has been in the sea for a long time, and after a short period of distraction, he quickly calmed down and asked Chongzhen: "The minister is panicked and wants to ask His Majesty for advice, what kind of new Ming does Your Majesty want to establish?" The minister vaguely remembers that the last time the minister asked His Majesty for advice, His Majesty said that the goal of this reform was to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people.

In Yichen's view, the current reform policy implemented by the imperial court, if it wants to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people, only time is needed, rather than further deepening reforms, especially the land of those squires, so as to deepen the willingness of the local gentry to resist the imperial decrees. ”

Zhu Youzhen met Huang Liji's gaze, and although the other party's expression did not change, his gaze refused to give in halfway, obviously he was really anxious.

What kind of new Ming should be established, does this question still need to be considered for Chongzhen. He has done so many things since he ascended the throne, doesn't he just want to bring the Ming into the era of the industrial revolution. And if you want to push the Ming Dynasty into the era of the industrial revolution, you must naturally complete a bourgeois social revolution first.

The object of this revolution was naturally to eliminate the feudal gentry and landlord class of the Ming Dynasty, thus opening the way for the birth of the Ming bourgeoisie and its seizure of political power.

Although Zhu Youzhen knew the purpose and result of this reform, he could not explain it to Huang Liji and Pan so frankly. Because although Huang Liji is now his political ally, the other party has not yet become a representative of a conscious emerging class, and he is still only a member of the Ming gentry class, but a representative of the enlightened gentry.

If this reform had been successful and the emerging bourgeoisie had taken power in the country, then of course an enlightened gentry like Huang Liji would gladly join the emerging bourgeoisie. But at this stage when the power of the gentry is still strong, these enlightened gentry will not risk their lives to confront the entire gentry class.

Therefore, although there were countless words circling around Zhu Youzhen's mouth, when he spoke, he still swallowed these words back.

"What kind of new Ming? That's a good question indeed. But my answer will not change, the goal of the reform is still to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people of the Ming Dynasty, but I have also said that this is a minimum goal. After solving the problem of food and clothing for the people, we still have to continue to move forward, and we must continue to deepen reform.

Why? Because our ultimate goal is to build a world of great harmony that the Master praised. Any old rules and customs that hinder the construction of the Ming Dynasty into the Datong world, we must reform them one by one, as long as the Datong world is not built one day, the reform of the Ming Dynasty will not be regarded as the completion of the task. ”

Huang Liji felt that his right eyelid had been jumping, the Datong world described by the Holy Master was the future world that all readers looked forward to, and every reader was respectful and sincere when he mentioned this great dream.

However, since the emperor regarded the Datong world as the goal pursued by the Ming Dynasty, Huang Liji felt that these four words seemed to be becoming less and less valuable. He had not heard as many words about the world of Datong in the past few decades as he had heard from the emperor's lips in the past three years.

Abalone and sea cucumber are regarded as a delicacies of the mountains and seas, and that is because it is difficult for ordinary people to eat them once in a lifetime, so they seem to be precious. The same is true of the ideal of the reader, precisely because it is difficult to achieve the great harmony of the world, so the occasional mention can always stimulate the reader's upward spirit.

However, if someone talks about this ideal every day, then the audience around him will not only not inspire enthusiasm, but will think that it is a fool. If Zhu Youzhen was not today's great tomorrow, Huang Liji would probably turn around and leave, and would not continue to talk to him.

It was precisely because it was Chongzhen who talked about the world of Datong every day that Huang Liji had to continue the conversation. To be honest, when he was young, he firmly believed in Datong World, the ideal society for scholars, that such an era would come sooner or later.

However, after experiencing so many things in the world and seeing so many people's hearts, Huang Liji has no hope for this ideal society. For him now, the most important thing is to recognize how the real world works and maintain it.

In the process of getting along with Chongzhen in the past three years, Huang Liji still recognized Chongzhen's political ability to take charge of the country. This young man who has not been truly enlightened, although he has not received a serious education, but in governing this crumbling country, he neither seems too pedantic nor too rigid in doing things, and in terms of these two points, he has caught up with the ordinary level of the reign of the Ming Emperors in the past dynasties.

However, Huang Liji's recognition of Chongzhen's political ability does not mean that he is willing to be toyed with by this young genius. Chongzhen said that the purpose of the reform was to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people, and he was skeptical, because Chongzhen's daily actions can be seen that the emperor is still quite concerned about the suffering of the small people.

However, Chongzhen said that the ultimate goal of reform is to build a world of great harmony, and Huang Liji was the first to disbelieve it. First, no one has ever seen the Datong world, so no one dares to say that they can lead the Ming Dynasty to the Datong world, as the cabinet chief assistant who launched various reform policies, Huang Liji also did not think that the reform decrees he launched could make the Ming Dynasty lead to the Datong world.

Second, as a son of heaven who lacks interest in the way of Confucius and Mencius, Chongzhen's interest in a microscope is probably higher than a copy of the Analects, and Huang Liji will probably believe in the belief of other young scholars in the Datong world, but Chongzhen said that the reform carried out at the risk of offending the gentry of the world is to realize the ideal of the Datong world, and he will not believe it by a hair.

Huang Liji thought for a long time, and finally couldn't hold back his anger, and said with a little mockery: "Your Majesty, even the world of Yao Shun has never touched the edge of the Datong world, and as for the prosperous times after the saint, it may not be as good as the world of Yao Shun."

Why does Your Majesty dare to say that he wants to build a world of great harmony? Does Your Majesty think that he can compare with Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty? Besides, how can I reform so that my Ming Dynasty can become a Datong world, is Your Majesty already confident? ”

Regarding Huang Liji's ridicule, Zhu Youzhen didn't take it to heart, he said disapprerovantly: "Why do I want to compare with Emperor Wen of Han and Taizong of Tang, they are completely incomparable with what I pursue."

As for how to build a Datong world, I don't think it's difficult, it's like a fool moving mountains, as long as we keep trying, we will always find a way to the Datong world. If we only talk about how to build a harmonious world, but do not take action, then in the end it is just empty talk.

I think that the so-called Datong world, in the final analysis, is just six words, freedom, equality, fraternity, as long as we can achieve these six words, then even if we can't build a Datong world, at least not far away. ”

Huang Liji wanted to reply with a word of nonsense, but he finally held back. Although the six words summarized by Chongzhen sounded very strange, he thought about it carefully, and these six words really had some similarities with the society depicted in the Datong world. Although these six words are just as ethereal and illusory, they sound more exciting.

He took a deep breath and calmed down before he asked, "Your Majesty is really convinced that as long as you do these six words, you can make Daming become a Datong world?" ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and replied, "No, I'm afraid not." Huang Liji took a deep breath again, and when he was about to speak, Zhu Youzhen continued slowly: "But as long as the people of the whole world believe that as long as we do it: freedom, equality, and fraternity, we can achieve the ideal of a harmonious world, then the people of the world will support our reform, and those who oppose the reform will become the target of public criticism." Sir, isn't this what you always say to me: there is much help for the righteous, but little help for the unjust? Is it? ”

Huang Liji silently swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, obviously this was the Chongzhen he knew.