In the end, what Zhang Pu was worried about still happened, although Li Zicheng's eloquent talk was decent, but there were already signs, and it was evolving in the direction he guessed, becoming more and more obvious, which made people frightened and nervous.

"Tang Taizu Li Shimin once said, Jun, Zhou; People, water too. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize a boat. ”

At this moment, the people present were either scholars or old scholars, of course, they knew that "people" meant the people, but it was just to avoid the name of the emperor and Li Shimin's word "people" that they replaced the people with people.

Li Zicheng did not stop, he still continued, pretending to be a scholar quoting scriptures and classics, and he looked like he was gushing.

"Mencius said that the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light......"

Li Zicheng suddenly got stuck, seemed to have forgotten his words, and last night's raid on rote memorization, he coughed dryly twice, and then turned to say: "However, whether it was the era of the sages Mencius, or the reign of the Ming Dynasty, when was the status of the common people valued? The small people are nothing more than that. Putting aside the bandits, bullies, and so on, the two mountains that have pressed on the people over the past dynasties have been the royal family and the officials. ”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, the atmosphere of the school palace suddenly became a little tense, and an inexplicable weirdness began to permeate, and these old stubborns led by Zhang Pu were even more psychologically chuckled, and they were full of excitement, and secretly said "Not good", they wanted to stop Li Zicheng.

Fei Yijun and vain about the royal family and royal family, that is a big crime! Even if you are quoting the words of the ancients, if you are manipulated by someone with a heart, the consequences are very serious. Not only was the reckless and arrogant young man in front of him convicted, but even he Zhang Pu would be implicated.

However, it was too late to stop him, and the old man began to walk out of the area and in the courtyard, his mouth still babbling.

"Ten years of hard study, just for a dynasty, famous all over the world, return to the hometown, return to the hometown, glorious lintel. However, how many of these scholars are genuinely academic? And how many people care about the world? Concerned about the people of Lebanon? Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui in the Tang Dynasty, Bao Zheng and Kou Zhun in the Song Dynasty, or Hai Rui in this dynasty, are good officials and clean officials, but there are only a few people, how much can they manage? Looking at the major events in the world, throughout the ages, the most indispensable thing in all dynasties and dynasties is the people who read, and how many people are dedicated to the people? How many people are officials for the world and for the people? ”

"It is undeniable that every dynasty has good officials, clean officials who are dedicated to the people, and yamen who punish corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and there are even high-ranking emperors who monitor these officials. As the saying goes, the emperor is far away, whether it is the criminal department, or the imperial history yamen, or the political envoy, or the governor or governor, these officials can supervise the officials. ”

After a remark, everyone nodded frequently, and Zhang Pu also breathed a sigh of love letter. However, as soon as Li Zicheng's voice changed, he raised his heart and became nervous.

However, the systems and measures of these management officials are all top-down, and most of them are mainly concentrated in Beijing. As I just said, the emperor is far away, and the transportation is so inconvenient, and it is possible to deliver a message in a distant place for a month or two. ”

"The problem is that even if the officials who are selected to do evil and prey on the common people, it will be difficult for the inspection departments of the imperial court to play a role in the short term. Even in the end, corrupt officials and corrupt officials were punished by law, or they were imprisoned, or exiled to a wild place, or beheaded, and beheaded all over the house, and the damage suffered by the people could not be remedied. ”

The last paragraph is like a deafening alarm bell, extremely shocking, making everyone think deeply, silent for a long time, and there is a depressing atmosphere in the air.

Li Zicheng was very satisfied with his performance, and there was a faint sense of self-satisfaction. At this moment, an abrupt voice came.

"Then may I ask Your Excellency, do you have any good way to cut off this evil and treat this ineradicable cancer?"

Li Zicheng did not answer immediately, but followed the prestige, and saw that the person who was questioned was a young man about 20 years old, with deep eye sockets and a thin body.

At a glance, Li Zicheng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he recognized this person, it was the eldest son of Huang Zunsu, one of the seven gentlemen of Donglin, Huang Zongxi, Xu Xiake once told this person in detail, highly respected, not only familiar with the subset of scriptures and history, well versed in ancient and modern history, but also a very thoughtful reader, independent thinking, and proficient in the way of astronomical calendar and numbers, like Xu Xiake, is also a geographer.

Li Zicheng's mind flashed this information, and then blurted out: "It's very simple, that is, to keep power in the cage of the system, not to let officials do evil, and there is no soil to breed and cause trouble to the people." ”

"Keeping power in the cage of the system......"

Not only Huang Zongxi was silently reciting this sentence, but almost everyone present was reciting the words and muttering the meaning of this sentence.

Obviously, for such a new concept and new term, except for Li Zicheng, no one understands the true connotation and meaning of this sentence.

"I'm stupid, I really don't understand the meaning of the phrase 'keep power in a cage', and I hope Brother Ren will talk about it in detail and mention it." Huang Zongxi bowed deeply, his posture was very low, his face was full of puzzlement, and he said the same doubts as everyone.

"Hehe... This sentence is very simple to analyze, the word right, Your Excellency and everyone present know what it means, and the focus is on the word cage. The so-called cage not only represents the top-down court supervision system, but also includes and improves the bottom-up reporting and exposure, and the lower part of the power is vested in the people, so that the officials who are witnessing one side cannot act recklessly. ”

Obviously, although Li Zicheng's statement is more in-depth, it is still very general and cannot be fully understood by everyone, but there is a trace of understanding in his mind, as long as he pierces the layer of window paper, he will understand.

"All the drawbacks and tumors of this official treatment cannot be eradicated for a long time, because all dynasties have adopted stupid methods to treat the symptoms but not the root cause, treating the head with a headache and treating the foot with a sore foot."

"Since the scourge of officials is to the people, then, if we want to eradicate this cancer, we must start from the people. If you add a degree of recognition from the people to the evaluation and promotion criteria of officials. Moreover, this criterion must be a hard condition, and if it is not approved by the overwhelming majority of the people during the administration period, it will not be promoted, or there is a risk of being dismissed. ”

Although Li Zicheng's expression was a little rough and his words were not concise and neat, the meaning was already very obvious, that is, it was up to the people to decide the path of promotion for officials, or whether officials could be promoted and retained.

However, after thinking about this, although everyone agrees with this method, they think it is very good. But there are still some who shake their heads again and again, this method is difficult to implement, and it is impossible to escape the shackles of reality.

No matter which dynasty it is, the appointment and dismissal of officials has always been not only the absolute importance of the household department, but also a symbol of imperial power. Once this method is implemented, then the absolute position of the imperial power will be tantamount to being provoked and weakened.

It is undeniable that keeping power in a cage is indeed a perfect way to cure this cancer of the officials, but it is difficult to implement it, and it is almost impossible to obtain the approval of the imperial power!

Huang Zongxi also thought of this, but he was much more interested, and admired the young man in front of him who was not a few years older than himself. The views of the past and the present can be described as thought-provoking, which opens the imprisonment of his thinking, and at the same time attracts more questions.

"This benevolent brother, the method you are talking about is indeed feasible, and to a large extent, it can indeed cure the ills of the rule of officials. However, how to put it into the specific implementation details? ”

After asking this sentence, Huang Zongxi's eyes were full of hope, faintly excited, looking at Li Zicheng, waiting for the other party's answer.