Zheng Lang took him to the palace, Lao Cheng almost treated him as a little ancestor, and he was not wronged in the cell, and even because Jiang Xing'er and Si'er often visited, their clothes were often changed and washed, and they were all clean. Seeing that Zheng Lang didn't suffer much grievance, the little emperor breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Zheng Jieyuan, I was wrong. ”

"It's not Your Majesty's fault, it's Your Majesty's mistake, no matter what, King Yan is Your Majesty's only closest elder, the minister is angry, and he can't speak in that tone, besides, His Majesty was in a mood at that time, and the minister shouldn't add to the chaos. It is not too much to be locked up for a few days as a small punishment. ”

"Hey, Zheng Jieyuan, why do you speak differently every time?"

"Your Majesty, the minister is learning the art of Confucianism, not the words of a Legalist. Zhou Shu said that if you want to lose, you will be supplemented, and if you want to take it, you will be with it. Mencius also said that if you are erudite and elaborate, you will say the opposite. Kill the people with the way of life, and do not complain about the killer even though they die. Lao Tzu's way also has merits, will want to be strong, will be weak, will be strong, will want to abolish it, will be solid Xing, will want to take it, will be fixed to give it, the so-called subtle. Although this sentence is suspected of giving people conspiracy power, it is in the same sentence. In fact, these words are used in practice, that is, the cure will be dizzy, the study will want to make an appointment, the people will make labor, and the people will be tired. ”

The general righteousness of Legalism is to legislate and force the people to abide by the system of the state, but Confucianism wants to take the precedent. Zheng Lang said exactly what this paragraph meant, and said: "If you want others to understand you, you must first understand others." The minister has not suffered much in prison these days, and if he thinks from His Majesty's point of view, he will not resent His Majesty. ”

The little emperor Yanjing was embarrassed, and said, "You sit." ”

Zheng Lang sat down calmly.

The little emperor casually pulled out a few stacks of folds, threw them in front of Zheng Lang, and said, "Look at it." ”

Zheng Lang opened it and saw that all of them were all kinds of old ladies before the impeachment, and he only saw three copies, so he didn't look at them again, and said: "Does Your Majesty think that as soon as the Queen Mother died in front, these ministers in the back have changed their temperament, and compared with the ministers, the solar terms are not enough?" ”

"It's not that serious, but I always feel that it's inappropriate."

"They did nothing wrong."

"Why?" The little emperor's eyes widened in surprise again, and he came to say strange things again.

The minister was locked up in the cell, but the two little maids around him often came to visit, heard some rumors, and asked Cheng Fuyin some things lightly on the way. Since Your Majesty must ask, can you allow the minister to dare to go down again? ”

"Say it," the little emperor smiled bitterly, you went to Beijing three times, once to criticize my adoptive mother, the powerful Empress Dowager Liu, and once to scold my imperial uncle, what else is there to be afraid of?

"A monarch and a courtier, Your Majesty is preparing to make a major adjustment to the ministers of the court, right?"

"Can't talk nonsense."

"It's not nonsense, Your Majesty is going to do this."

"Tell me the reason," the little emperor smiled bitterly again, talking to this son, he couldn't deal with it with the mentality of an ordinary person.

"For example, in the early dynasty, if Cai Zhongcheng didn't say that, but said a sentence, the queen mother's edict, who dares to disobey, what will be the consequences?"

The little emperor made him break out in a cold sweat.

"It is very reasonable for Your Majesty to appoint his confidants as important ministers, this is not Your Majesty, it is for the stability of the country."

"Why did Tang Taizong use Wei Zheng?"

"The times are different, Tang Taizong has too many generals under his subordinates, and he only uses one Wei Zheng, which is insignificant."

In fact, the little emperor was about to do this, and he was silent for a long time after listening to it.

"It is precisely for this point that these ministers are afraid that Your Majesty will think that they are the henchmen of the Queen Mother, so they have written to impeach the Queen Mother to show their innocence, so that Your Majesty will not belittle them and keep their glory and wealth."

"Where's the temperament?"

"Your Majesty, how many ministers are there who are really virtuous and capable?"

The little emperor couldn't speak, and he could look at Zheng Lang with his eyes, which meant that you seemed to be one. Zheng Lang shook his head: "Your Majesty, you don't need to look at the minister, whether the minister is talented or not, without proof, can't be counted." In the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, there was only one person who was really virtuous and talented. ”

"Who?"

"Fan Tong's judgment."

"It's a capable minister...... the little emperor suddenly stopped, grandma, what's the matter with me, what kind of minister to talk about with a child, but he is about to recall Fan Zhongyan to the court.

Zheng Lang didn't say much on this issue, Fan Zhongyan was talented, but he skipped the roundabouts, and let Ouyang Xiu spoof them without knowing the seriousness, and finally made the reform unfinished, but left many shortcomings. In fact, it is the heroes in the history books, Lu Yijian, Pang Ji, and others who have done a lot of practical things.

So in the past few days in prison, he has thought about it again, but the more he thinks about it, the more distressed he becomes, right and wrong, black and white, indiscriminate, there is no way to distinguish clearly. also took the initiative to avoid this topic, and said: "The minister is not afraid, the minister is scattered, and he wants to take the provincial examination, but five or six times out of ten it is for the marriage contract with the Cui family, so as not to make a few of his mothers sad, and he is not worried about his career." If there is no desire, it is rigid, therefore, what the minister thinks is right should be praised, and what is wrong should be pointed out. Before her death, the queen mother summoned her ministers to see her, if she knew that the minister was this kind of surname, would she be disappointed under Jiuquan? ”

After speaking, he looked guilty.

The little emperor was speechless, people thought that their adoptive mother was good, so they should know how to repay it, so what? But with a sigh in his heart, no matter what the reason made him desireless, it was true. At least in terms of virtue, most of the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty are not a little worse than the Zheng family.

Zheng Lang continued: "Like a minister, he may have integrity, but his enterprising spirit is always insufficient. But what about these ministers? ”

patted these books and said: "They want to be rich, but where does wealth come from, Your Majesty is not a faint king, so you have to come from political achievements." Chen suddenly thought of the story of the master's two students. The law of the Lu country, the Lu people are concubines in other candidate countries, and those who can redeem them can take out the bounty from the treasury. Zigong ransomed the Lu people in the candidate kingdom many times, but still did not take their gold. The master said, give what is lost, from now on, the Lu people will not redeem people. Really. Why? ”

"I understand what you're trying to say, there are few people like Zigong, Zigong can do this, but others can't. But because Zigong made it, others were unwilling to receive the gold, and the money made Zigong go down, so it was better not to redeem it. ”

"Your Majesty is wise, so Zilu rescues the drowning, and his people worship him with oxen, and Zilu accepts it, and the master said that the Lu people will save the drowning. It is also the reason why Mencius criticized Mohist many times, and where Confucianism can finally be carried forward, its righteousness is upright but not broad, and its words are far-reaching and practical. Zheng Lang suddenly thought of what would be the future generations, what his own children were killed, and he wanted to save other people's children, all kinds, his head was funny, this kind of behavior that was more broad than the Mo family, how many ordinary people could reach such a moral height to learn?

Confucianism can no longer be turned into pseudo-Moism, he thought to himself.

But his strength alone...... Alas, he sighed in his heart and continued: "Therefore, Your Majesty, you cannot ask the minister from the moral height of a saint. That's too difficult, and Your Majesty will have no one to use. ”

"Speak to you, I Yue," Zhao Zhen said.

After Zheng Lang's analysis, the various behaviors of the ministers in the early dynasty who lost their solar terms relieved the pressure on the little emperor. And at this time, Zhao Zhen looked at Zheng Lang, maybe as he said, he was indifferent, but his posture was calm and humble, and he was very happy to see it, and he even used the honorific title of "Jun".

"Your Majesty, don't use it, in the past, Wei Zheng said to Tang Taizong, make the ministers good ministers, don't make the ministers loyal ministers. What is the reason for Taizong, Wei Zheng replied, the so-called good ministers, should be like Ji, Qi, and Gaotao, who have a good name, a king, a prominent name, and descendants who will be passed down from generation to generation, and the blessings are boundless; And the so-called loyal ministers can only be like Long Xiao and Bigan, who are condemned, the king is in great evil, and the family and country are mourned, and they have no name. The same is true for the courtiers, Your Majesty is not an evil king, why can't you use a tactful way to admonish, so that Your Majesty can not only listen, but also maintain the reputation of the country and Your Majesty, and not be hated by Your Majesty. Therefore, the minister said that there was nothing wrong with the minister's fierce intentions that day, and his behavior was wrong, and he should be punished if he stayed in prison for a period of time. ”

Zhao Zhen was already a little guilty, and he was even more ashamed when he heard it, and he couldn't speak.

Zheng Lang patted these twists and turns again, and said: "Zhuge Wuhou said that if you listen to it, you will be clear, and if you believe it, you will be dark. As a gentleman, it is not only important to learn to listen to advice, what advice can be listened to, and what advice you don't need to listen to. The ministers are not qualified to read all of them, so they are all right. But Your Majesty, is the Queen Mother really like this? Take a look at what courtiers the first emperor left to the queen mother, only the prince is virtuous. As for the prince's ministers, they also commented that the people of the time ridiculed it too much, and there were indeed many flattering behaviors. Feng Xianggong's virtue is acceptable, but he pretended to be poor and deceived the queen mother of 5,000 gold and reuse, and he was somewhat lost. Although Cao Xianggong died unjustly, he was arrogant and arrogant in his later years, and he found his own trouble. As for Ding Xianggong, with all due respect, this person doesn't talk about it, and he is a foul minister. ”

Wang Qinruo, Feng Zheng, and Cao Yu can all be forgiven, but Zheng Lang has no good impression of this Ding Wei.

But Zheng Lang didn't know that this sentence came out, and Ding Wei was destined to be sad, the little emperor's heart was always soft, and he wanted to give Ding Wei a chance many times. Zheng Lang suddenly said this, and the little emperor couldn't help shaking his head when he thought of Ding Wei in the future.

Zheng Lang continued: "After the death of the Queen Mother, how many courtiers did Your Majesty remain? It can be said that the Manchu Dynasty is full of talents, and His Majesty can form a set of teams to handle national affairs smoothly. With this alone, is the Queen Mother really unbearable? As for these mistakes, the minister remembered an inappropriate analogy, which was difficult to reconcile, whether it was the former ruling of the Queen Mother, or the ruling of His Majesty in the future, if it was a great chef, he would cook a delicious dish for everyone to taste. So let me ask Your Majesty, can you make a dish that satisfies all the nearly 100 million people of our Great Song Dynasty? ”

The little emperor smiled bitterly again, how could this be.

But when I say this, I am even more relieved about these twists and turns.

Don't take it seriously, let them go, it's a big deal to stay in the middle and not send it.

"The minister said again, look at the general situation and take into account the overall situation, unless he doesn't care about things, he would rather not act, and he doesn't want to leave a handle for people to find. If all the ministers hold this idea, do nothing, and rely on seniority to get to the top, will it work? ”

The little emperor shook his head.

"Once you want to make a difference, you can always find some clues. What does this make a courtier? Therefore, if you can listen to the opinions of officials, you will listen to them, and if you can't listen to them, you will not listen to them. From the local government to the central government, officials will be unscrupulous and act recklessly, losing the good intentions of the ancestors at that time to attach importance to speech officials. That is what the minister calls the degree. ”

"Zheng Jieyuan, it seems difficult to hear you say this."

"That is, how big is the power, how big is the responsibility, Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has died, and all the major policies have been handed over to Your Majesty, Your Majesty, are you ready?"