After listening to Xia Yunyi and Niu Jinxing's answers, Zhu Youzhen turned his gaze to the houses in the outer city again, and said unhurriedly: "What you said is right, those who kill good people and take meritorious deeds should be punished, after all, the foundation of the country lies in the people."

But is it really as you say, and by disposing of one or two soldiers, or even one or two feudal officials, can this kind of thing be eliminated?

From my point of view, this is just an emergency solution for foot pain and headache. Ordinary people may be able to feel that justice has been upheld, so their anger can be quelled.

However, it is a hypocrisy for those in power in this country to fail to resolve the deep-seated contradictions hidden behind the murder of good people and to take temporary measures to cater to the preferences of certain people in order to maintain their prestige among the people. ”

Xia Yunyi thought for a while, and then asked puzzledly: "What is the deep-seated contradiction that Your Majesty is talking about?" ”

Zhu Youzhen did not answer his question directly, but stretched out his hand and pointed to several places in the outer city and said, "Look at these places, what can you all see?" ”

Xia Yunyi and Niu Jinxing looked at the direction indicated by Chongzhen for a long time, and then the two said uncertainly: "Your Majesty, are you referring to those city walls and fang walls?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the scattered walls that had been demolished in the outer city, nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, what I want you to see is those walls." In the past, I always thought that the purpose of building the wall was to defend against foreign enemies; The second is to guard against bandits.

But then I found out that it was just wishful thinking. Whether it is the Great Wall, the city wall, or the square wall, the biggest purpose of building these walls is to isolate them.

We built the Great Wall to isolate the nomads from China; We built the city to isolate the people of the four wildernesses from the city; We build walls to isolate civilians from the daily lives of the upper classes...

We've built all sorts of walls to divide the people of the country into small groups. They have become accustomed to the fact that only those who are inside the walls are their own people, and those outside the walls are outsiders who have nothing to do with them.

When we release them out of the wall, how can we expect them to treat outsiders outside the wall as if they were their own? Buddhism has a cloud: what you plant will reap the effect.

Because the state made mistakes in the ideological education of the people, it slapped the board on those soldiers who believed in the state's education. Do you think this is solving the problem? Or are we satisfying our own moral purity? ”

Since receiving the news of the killing of good and meritorious deeds in the Shaanxi Rebellion Affairs, Xia Yunyi ran to Chongzhen with full of anger. Niu Jinxing, who happened to be with him, was afraid that something would happen, so he followed him and wanted to stop him.

To be honest, running from Donghua Gate to Zhengyang Gate, this long run has already made half of his anger disappear. And the emperor's explanation almost subsided most of the anger in his chest.

However, what makes me feel most flustered is the values he has cultivated since childhood, which seem to have wavered at this moment. He clearly felt that his anger was a matter of course, and it was unforgivable to kill a soldier who had made a good and meritorious service.

However, after listening to the emperor's words, he felt that it seemed that these soldiers were not the culprits, but that the etiquette outline that he had been exposed to since childhood was the root cause of the problem. This sudden reflection made Xia Yunyi's heart frightened.

After all, Xia Yunyi still wanted to maintain the values he had accepted since childhood, he calmed down and defended himself: "Even if, even if Your Majesty says the truth, it doesn't mean that they can kill good people unscrupulously when they go out of the wall."

Kong said that he became benevolent, and Meng said that he took righteousness. As long as you have read the books of the sages, how can you have a clear conscience..."

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand, interrupted Xia Yunyi's words and said, "Yes, as long as you have read the books of sages, you can make people understand the truth and know what conscience is." But how many people in the Ming Dynasty read the books of sages?

Especially the officers and soldiers of my Ming Dynasty, there are few soldiers who are educated, how can they understand the truth and maintain their conscience? It's nothing more than what the commander ordered, and the soldiers below listened to it.

Today, in my Ming army, in addition to the new army, who among the commanders of other officers and armies has so much time to teach the soldiers to study? So don't take our own knowledge and bring in those soldiers. ”

Xia Yunyi was silent, and Niu Jinxing hurriedly said: "Your Majesty said it so well, no wonder the imperial court has launched compulsory primary school education, so that the common people in the world can know a few words, learn some truths, and think about it can tear down the wall that separates the crowd as His Majesty said." ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and didn't answer, but Xia Yunyi was still a little puzzled, and couldn't help but say angrily: "Then what Your Majesty means, is it that you want us to ignore this matter?" And then wait for this to turn over? ”

Zhu Youzhen turned his head and glanced at Xia Yunyi and Niu Jinxing, Xia Yunyi looked at himself with his head raised and his eyes were clear; Niu Venus stood to the side with his head bowed, although he was bent over, he stood straight.

He smiled and said, "Before coming up to this wall, I thought about whether I wanted to force you to accept my claims.

But after standing at the top of the city and blowing the wind, I suddenly figured it out. If you want to tear down these visible and invisible walls, I can't do it alone. As the saying goes, a good man still needs three helpers, let alone change a huge country. Without the heartfelt demand for change from the youth of the Ming Dynasty, the old customs of this country would be difficult to shake.

The purpose of asking you to establish the Youth Society is also to summon the courage and willingness of our young people to change this society. Now that you have this will, I am going to suppress it, and I will not go back on my word.

The members of the Youth Society will eventually take the position of ruling in the future. As you lead this country, I want you to become, working with me for a common political goal, not just a bunch of subservient subordinates. ”

Hearing Chongzhen reveal his heart to the two of them so openly, Niu Jinxing was already flattered, he pulled Xia Yunyi's sleeve without a trace, and persuaded him quietly and quickly: "Gong Yu, Your Majesty is so honest with us, let's stop here, don't spoil the courtesy of the monarch and ministers." ”

Xia Yunyi bowed his head and was silent, as if he was petrified. Zhu Youzhen waited for a while, and then said to the two: "You might as well think here for a little more time, take a look at the scenery at the head of Zhengyangmen, and I will go back to the palace first." ”

When Chongzhen turned around and walked to the entrance of the steps of the lower city, Xia Yunyi raised his hand and gently broke free of Niu Jinxing's palm, he hurriedly took a few steps forward, bent down at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please stay, the student still has questions, and I want to ask Your Majesty for advice." ”

Zhu Youzhen withdrew his right foot, turned his head to look at Xia Yunyi for a long time, and then said, "Say it." ”

"The students also know that what His Majesty said is right. If we want to fundamentally solve the problem of killing good people and soldiers, we need to tear down those walls. But Your Majesty, why can't we punish those officers and soldiers in a fair manner, and then change those bad things in a righteous manner? Is this also wrong? ”

Zhu Youzhen looked up at the sky, the weather today was very good, and there were no clouds, so when he looked up, the sky was blue. He looked at the sky for a long time before replying, "If we want to clarify this issue, we need to first understand who is our enemy and who is our friend when we want to tear down the invisible wall.

For me, all those who maintain the visible and invisible walls are the enemies who hinder the imperial court from changing society. And those who are willing to obey the orders of the imperial court and carry out the reform policies formulated by the imperial court are my friends.

Gao Yingxiang and Zijin Liang gathered the displaced people in Shaanxi to make a rebellion, but they did not organize the displaced people to produce to save themselves, nor did they put forward a plan on how to help the displaced people survive. What they have is just to move around to fight, plunder the stocks of large households and local people, eat up the food in one place, and then pull more displaced people to move to the next place.

For the people of Shaanxi, these exile army are like locusts, destroying their last hope of survival, and can only be coerced forward by the exile army.

If we do not curb the development of the displaced army as soon as possible, then Shaanxi, which was already barely sustained by successive disasters, will soon become a paradise where the displaced army is wreaking havoc.

Once the whole territory of Shaanxi is eroded, the northwest region of the Ming Dynasty will be completely destroyed. Once the millions of displaced people from Shaanxi break out of the provincial border, the Central Plains, where the garrison is weak, will inevitably be in chaos.

If the hinterland of the Central Plains becomes a battlefield for the official army and the army of displaced people, not only will the only major grain-producing province in the north be destroyed, but even the transportation connecting the north and the south will be threatened.

Shaanxi plus the people in the hinterland of the Central Plains, there are tens of millions of people, if such a huge number of people have become displaced people, how can the food produced by me in a year be enough for these displaced people who are not engaged in production?

Hong Chengchou used a quick knife to cut through the chaos and wiped out this group of exile army, which is the worst choice for my Ming Dynasty. In the process of quelling the rebellion, there were indeed evil deeds that should not have appeared in the officers and soldiers.

But as I have just said, this cannot be blamed entirely on the officials and soldiers, and the imperial court also has a part of the responsibility. If just because of the pressure of public opinion, the meritorious man will be beaten into a bandit who has lost his conscience, then who will serve the imperial court in the future?

I have heard that Europeans once said that a person who can unswervingly accomplish a set political goal under the pressure of public opinion can be called a politician.

A person who can give up his political goals at any time in order to cater to the preferences of public opinion is just a politician without principles.

The biggest difference between a politician and a politician is that the former can propel an era forward, while the latter is nothing more than a clown in front of the masses.

I hope that all members of the Youth Society will become the former. ”

After Zhu Youzhen finished speaking, he nodded to the two of them and went down the steps without looking back. After the eunuchs and guards on the city wall followed the emperor down, Niu Jinxing quietly walked to Xia Yunyi's side and asked.

"Gong Yu, do you still want to continue to insist on your own ideas and organize students to submit letters to the imperial court?"

Xia Yunyi thought for a long time before he made up his mind and said to Niu Jinxing: "I won't participate in the matter of going to the book for the time being. I decided to go to Shaanxi to see what the local situation is like, and I will leave it all to you about the Jingzhong Society..."