Chapter 25 Preparation (II)

"It is impossible to rule the world together!" Zhu Chongjiu also put away the regret and tiredness on his face, and shook his head very seriously, "The world is for the public, not for the private." The king is but the spokesman of the people, and he wants to gather the power of the world to seek the common blessing of the people of the world. As for the scholars, if they want to gain power, they must show some real skills, not just monopolize knowledge! ”

The world is for the public, which is a famous sentence in the Book of Rites. It is also recognized by the scholars in the world since the Zhou Dynasty. So Liu Bowen has no objection to this. However, the words "the king is the spokesman of the people, and he must gather the power of the world to seek the common welfare of the people of the world" is far beyond the scope of his understanding. As for Zhu Chongjiu's sentence "Scholars gain power just by monopolizing knowledge", it was even more unheard of in his past, and it was like thunder in his ears when he suddenly heard it!

"We must seek monopoly and climb it, and look left and right to make profits in the online market." Zhu Chongjiu has been getting along with female scholars day and night in the past few years, and his ancient literary skills have improved by leaps and bounds. Quoting a sentence of "Mencius" in passing, the original meaning of the word monopoly is clarified.

Monopolists, standing on the high level of the market to manipulate trade also. The ancients knew for a long time that in order to obtain the maximum profit, it was necessary to operate exclusively. Since the imperial examination, scholars have relied on the exclusivity of knowledge to control the means of the court. Whether you change the dynasty or change the generation, as long as the country needs to be governed, you must use scholars. As long as the scholars are used, there is a good chance that they will come from local noble families. When a scholar from a local noble family takes control of government affairs, he will take the initiative to seek benefits for his own family, classmates, and classmates. And then join forces with other scholars to open up the eyes of the gentry in the world.

Children from poor families generally can't afford to read. Even if you can barely afford to read, in most cases, you will be like Zhao Junyong because you can't find a recommender and you won't be able to take the local exam, let alone the officialdom.

Therefore, the Chinese scholar class never cared about the change of dynasty or foreign invasion. In any case, no matter who is in power, the power and interests of their class can be guaranteed. But at present, Huaiyang is promoting the concept of equality of birth, and they care very much. Because this concept seriously violates their most fundamental interests, they are condemned and punished, even if Zhu Chongjiu dies one day, they can't wait to dig up the grave and whip the corpse!

"But in the land of the north, there are also those who are far-sighted!" After thinking about it for a long time, Liu Ji muttered a reminder.

"When I return to Yangzhou, I will immediately announce it to the world. By next summer at the latest, the Great Governor's Office will hold another imperial examination in Yangzhou. Anyone who is willing to serve the Governor's Office, regardless of their background, can come to take the exam. Those who can pass three examinations in a row and can pass two can be sent to the local government after entering the university for six months of training. Those who have passed three consecutive courses will enter the university for one year of training, and then fill the positions in the Government, Supervisory and Privy Councils and their subordinate bureaus according to their achievements. Knowing that Liu Bowen could not fully agree with himself due to his background and vision, Zhu Chongjiu smiled and added very carefully.

This is the biggest concession he can make at present, and if the scholars and doctors want to gain power, they have to come to Huaiyang's new imperial examination and compete with the scholars trained by Huaiyang himself. Then it was completely branded as the Huaiyang Governor's Mansion, and governed the place in accordance with the rules of the Governor's Mansion. Instead of relying on the fame, family background and teacher inheritance among peers, it is not allowed to be an official of Huaiyang, while remembering the Mengyuan Dynasty that once enslaved the whole of China but only gave them benefits.

"This?" Hearing Zhu Chongjiu say seriously, Liu Bowen muttered in a low voice again. After another moment, he raised his head and asked with a bit of tentativeness, "The lord is willing to open the imperial examination, let them give it a try, regardless of their origin." I think there will be a lot of people who will respond with pleasure. But the gentry paid taxes and grain just like the common people."

"This is immutable!!" Zhu Chongjiu didn't think about it, and shook his head resolutely, "Unless he is too poor to pay taxes, otherwise, even if the emperor Laozi descends to earth, he has to be the same as the people!" ”

"Including the Kong family?"

"Including the Emperor Lao Tzu! Zhu will pay it himself! Zhu Chongjiu's response was categorical.

"But, but" Liu Bowen hesitated, his brows furrowed, not knowing what to say. According to his conception, the Huai'an army could at least make some more concessions, give some preferential treatment to the descendants of the saints in the eyes of the Confucian family, the Meng family, and the Yan family, and give Buddhism, Taoism, and even several prominent families in the north, or some privileges beyond the ordinary people of the Han army, in exchange for their limited cooperation and reduce their resistance to the common people.

After all, you need someone to take the lead in everything you do. The above-mentioned families and forces with great influence in the local area have all died down, and other gentry and celebrities with slightly worse status cannot afford to toss too much storm. In the future, when the Huai'an army has gained a firm foothold in the north, the Great Governor's Mansion has leveled the other princes, and then slowly retracts the privileges granted at the beginning.

"It's nothing, but it's not a must!" Contrary to his expectations, Zhu Chongjiu changed his usual courage to accept advice on the issue of paying taxes, and did not want to discount at all, "Those who do not pay taxes, how can they have rights?" Why should you take the offerings of the people, and ride on the heads of the people to be a blessing? In Zhu's view, rights and obligations must be reciprocal, unless you are congenitally disabled, or have reached the twilight of life, otherwise, you will enjoy as many rights as you fulfill your obligations! No one can be left out! ”

The battleship under the feet of "this" jumped, and Liu Bowen's body also rose and fell with it. "I'm afraid that the resistance will be very great, and those big families will lose too much at once. After all, for hundreds of years"

"What has been agreed for hundreds of years may not be right!" Zhu Chongjiu shook his head and interrupted loudly. "Otherwise, Da Song would not have been forced to Yashan."

The Song Dynasty raised monks for 300 years, and gave full preferential treatment to monks and Taoist priests. However, when the Mongol army arrived, monks and Taoist priests competed to give the Mongols a detailed work, and the military situation of the Southern Song Dynasty was probed. The scholars and doctors, led by the Kong family, surrendered one after another, and less than one in 10,000 could really stay and live and die with the Great Song Dynasty.

And that's not even the most brutal example. It was difficult to climb the cliff and mountain, and hundreds of scholars and doctors jumped into the sea with the little emperor. In the Ming Dynasty, scholars still did not pay grain and taxes, and even the eunuchs could not take a penny from the mines under the control of scholars. Even if the treasury bottoms out, the tax increase must be added to the farmers, and the scholars will still have nothing to offer. In addition, they also vigorously supported smuggling by sea, and at the same time prevented the imperial court from opening up financial resources from the sea. As a result, as soon as the Manchurian soldiers arrived, the scholars and doctors "had an itchy scalp and the water was too cold", and immediately knelt down to greet the king. It was the thieves and thieves who were forced to rebel by them shed the last drop of blood in their bodies for the sake of this country.

There are so many absurd examples in memory, so on the issue of raising a priest, Zhu Chongjiu has no intention of compromising with anyone at all. Looking at Liu Bowen's eyes, he gritted his teeth and added, "Zhu can ask the Grand Governor's Mansion to take out the confiscated income from Quanzhou, as well as the dividends obtained from future maritime trade, and redeem a part of the land from the family, instead of directly depriving it." Just as they are willing to devote themselves to industry and commerce, Zhu can ask Huaiyang Firm to take out a part of the equity for public sale, or ask Yousi to directly find a part of the workshop that has been built to resell to them. If they are enthusiastic about politics, Zhu just said that I Huaiyang can also let go of the imperial examination, attract more scholars to build a new country together, and even make some adjustments in the examination questions, so that these gentry who only practiced Confucius and Mencius all their lives will not be lost to Sun Shan. But "

Shaking his head, he almost paused, "Scholars, wealthy families and officials at all levels, but don't expect to enjoy any more privileges. As long as Zhu lives for one day, they will be counted on. At least, they don't have to think about paying food taxes! Zhu is not the one who doesn't give them a way to live, but if they still refuse to go if they have so many ways to live, they will have to go against Zhu. Hehe, although they let it go, Zhu wants to see if the 150,000 soldiers of Huaiyang will be a decoration at that time! ”

"Lord?!" The deck under his feet shook violently again, and Liu Bowen's body also leaned forward and backwards.

What he learned was the art of the emperor, and he didn't care whether the means were bloody or not in order to achieve his goals. He just used Chen Youding to kill the Pu family in Quanzhou and the lackeys of the Pu family. He had even prepared a lot of rhetoric before, wanting to persuade Zhu Chongjiu that when he was on the Northern Expedition, he would definitely kill when he should open a killing ring. However, his Liu Bowen's knife never thought of cutting at the entire scholar class.

In his original vision, killing and co-opting were necessary means. Use privileges and high-ranking officials to win over Confucian leaders, gentry leaders, shrewd people among the Han military princes, and some of the upper echelons of the Mengyuan court. At the same time, those stubborn guys who followed the Mengyuan court all the way to the black did not hesitate to kill them. One hand is hard, the other is soft, as long as it is done well, the Huai'an army may not be able to gain a firm foothold in the capital.

But now, the target of Zhu Chongjiu's Northern Expedition is not only the Mengyuan court, not only those stubborn, but the entire north, and even the gentry, officials and officials, and even monks and Taoist priests. There is no doubt that in this way, the difficulty of the success of the Northern Expedition was immediately increased tenfold.

"What Zhu wants to build is a completely different country. Instead of simply changing the dynasty, decades or hundreds of years later, falling into another cycle of chaos! Walking quickly to the window, Zhu Chongjiu jerked it open, letting the sea breeze whistling in outside.

It was already early winter, the sea breeze was cold, and his voice was also without any warmth. "Zhu doesn't like to kill people, although they call them Zhu butchers! But if Huaxia can completely get out of the fateful circle of reincarnation, Zhu is not afraid to raise the butcher's knife again! Even if the gods and Buddhas are in the way, Zhu has to fight his way out of it! Otherwise, Zhu's life, as well as what Zhu has done in the world, will be meaningless! ”

Note 1: In the previous verse, the flood after my death came from Louis XV's mistress, Madame de Pompadour. The original text is that when we die, there will be a great flood. Her extravagance on Louis XV led to a rapid increase in social tensions in France. Shortly after their deaths, the Great Revolution broke out in France.