In Jinling City, at the junction of the gathering area of the powerful and the residence of the poor, there is a medium-sized courtyard, which is inconspicuous and ordinary compared to the rich and noble homes on one side. Although it is a medium-sized house, there are gardens and rockery fish ponds, and to some extent, they are not inferior to those rich and noble families.

The plaque with the word "Li Mansion" hanging high on the gate is even more commonplace, without any special features. Two men who looked like family members were guarding both sides of the gate, and when they looked closely, compared to ordinary house slaves, these two people looked very burly, and their eyebrows were filled with anger.

Of course, either he is in the army, or he is a martial artist. Otherwise, it would be difficult to detect the slightest hint of anger.

A certain room in the Li Mansion has an area of more than 100 square meters. The luxurious decoration in the house, compared with the simple layout of the house outside, seems to have a unique cave, which makes people's eyes shine and looks so out of place. The style of the decoration is antique, and it is slightly different from the classical charm, and the huge space makes the room look very bright even if there is no lighting equipment such as oil lamps and candles.

At this moment, Li Zicheng and Xu Xiake were sitting on both sides, in the upper seat. As for Huang Zongxi, Fang Yizhi, Jin Shengxian and other more than a dozen people, either intentionally or unintentionally, as if they were ranked with some qualifications, sitting on the left and right sides in turn, their expressions were very natural and tranquil, and they did not have the sense of restraint of being a guest.

The scholar's book is angry, and the young man's vigor is vigorous, like a halo, shrouded in the surroundings of these people, seeing Li Zicheng nodded secretly, and said in his heart: "It is worthy of the knowledge of the younger generation among the scholars, and they are all heroic and extraordinary, revealing a bright temperament, as if they are like a spring breeze." ”

As soon as everyone sat down, Li Zicheng waved his big hand and greeted him, and then, several maids served tea in turn, and after slowly retreating, Xu Xiake, who played the role of the middleman, stretched out his left and right hands one after another, pointed to the people on the left and right sides, and introduced.

"Childe, this is Chen Zhenhui Chen Gongzi, a native of Yixing, with excellent literary talent, especially good prose, in the younger generation of the Fushe, he can be called a leader, a leader-like existence."

"Chen Zilong Chen Gongzi, a native of Huating, Songjiang, is good at poetry, the style of poetry is changeable, or tragic and desolate, full of national integrity; Or elegant and gorgeous, magnificent. Seven laws of goodness, seven words and songs, seven uniques, recognized poetry palace-level figures. ”

"Wu Weiye Wu Gongzi, a native of Taicang, Jiangsu, is good at seven words and songs, and in terms of poetic attainments, he chases Qian Qianyi, and his calligraphy tends to be mature and has a tendency to be self-contained."

"Fang Yizhi Fang Gongzi, a native of Tongcheng, Henan, has a family history, learns from others, respects and absorbs the strengths of hundreds of schools, and advocates absorbing Western learning for his own use."

"Huang Zongxi Huang Gongzi, a native of Shaoxing Mansion, Zhejiang, specializes in the study of the world, like Fang Gongzi, he is also good at Western learning, proficient in astronomical calendar and arithmetic, and is also very interested in the geography of the world."

......

With Xu Xiake's introduction, Li Zicheng greeted everyone one by one, always with a charming smile on his face, nodding his head, Huang Zongxi and others also returned the salute, holding a folding fan, wrapping his hands, arching his hands, neither humble nor arrogant, advancing and retreating to a certain extent, quite a demeanor of everyone.

In a moment, after some greetings, the dissolute Zhang Ruocai was the first to speak, and said loudly: "Brother Li, since you have come to the mansion, all the people present are people with sloppy minds, and they are definitely not the kind of people who are flies and dogs, and they only know how to drill camps, let alone borrow others to get to power, now you can speak frankly and bluntly about another 'mountain' that is pressing on the people, right?" ”

Li Zicheng smiled slightly, and did not reply immediately, but looked at Xu Xiake, and got the other party's affirmative nod, then he turned his eyes to Zhang Ruocai (Jin Shengsigh), and said slowly: "Since ancient times, whether it is the problem of official governance, or the many ills in the world, or the root cause of the boiling of public resentment and the chaos of the army, it is nothing more than the imperial system. ”

The reactions of the people on both sides below were very calm, at most they frowned slightly, as if they had expected it, they had already guessed that Li Zicheng would say this, and they were not surprised.

Li Zicheng paused, and before he could continue, Zhang Ruocai just wanted to say something, but Huang Zongxi took the lead and said first: "Yes, the world is big, how many people are tens of millions?" Even officials, aside from the generals, there are hundreds of thousands of officials in the world, a huge territory, so many officials, if only one emperor is managed, all the problems will be solved by one person. The results are self-evident, problems will only increase, and corrupt officials will only kill more and more, and they will emerge one after another. ”

Li Zicheng nodded, and said secretly in his heart: "Huang Zongxi is worthy of being one of the three major thinkers in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, with the title of the father of Chinese ideological enlightenment, and he dared to lash out at the imperial power at a young age, but at this time, the criticism of the monarchy system is so strong. ”

"Brother Huang is right, the world is the people of the world, the great rivers and mountains, if you meet a generation of Ming Jun, it is the blessing of the people of the world. However, from ancient times to the present, how many wise emperors have there been. What's more, even the emperor Mingjun of the past and the present has always had limited energy, and he has few things to do, compared to the many major events in the world. Zhang Ruocai couldn't help but add, shouting loudly, and his voice was high-pitched.

Li Zicheng's eyes were astigmatized, not only listening carefully to what the two were saying, but also paying attention to the reactions of others, either nodding slightly, or their eyes flashing, looking like they were vying to speak and wanting to speak, and then followed the conversation and pulled the topic back.

"When a person attains the Tao, the chicken and dog ascend to heaven, and there is no one who can best embody this truth than the emperor's house. Since Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, he has divided his heirs into vassal kings in various places, and let the people of the world support their Zhu family, turning the world of the people of the world into the world of the family and the world of one family. ”

The atmosphere became more and more active, without that kind of scruples, he was completely sitting and discussing, discussing the general trend of the world, the pros and cons of ancient and modern imperial systems, Gu Yanwu, who had just become an adult and was only seventeen years old, also began to speak, followed by Li Zicheng.

"If these feudal kings are virtuous, take care of the people in the fiefdom, know the hardships and sufferings of the Li people, and know how to serve the court, they will be divided into feuds, and it will be fine. However, let's take a look, how many of the dozens of vassal kings are worried about the people? And how many serve the court? is either addicted to pleasure, or for the sake of the people, scraping the people's fat and ointment, accounting for a small half of the imperial court's financial expenditure. ”

At this moment, when talking about the general trend of the world, the pros and cons of the imperial system, and pointing directly to the acute problems of the current dynasty, the atmosphere is somewhat dignified. Even if it is as flamboyant as Zhang Ruocai, it has been restrained a lot, but Li Zicheng smiled, and his tone was so meaningful.

"Gu Gongzi, I don't know what the character of many vassal kings is? What kind of erosion is life? What kind of arrogance and lasciviousness, like a bloodsucking worm, sucking the people's fat and people's ointment? However, I really want to ask, there are so many vassal kings, isn't there one who wants to be a generation of virtuous kings? ”

After a pause, Li Zicheng's smile became even more intense, but the atmosphere in the air was condensed, full of the same atmosphere.

In addition to Xu Xiake, Chen Zhenhui was the oldest present, relatively speaking, she had more experience and looked at things more transparently. As soon as Li Zicheng's words fell, he lowered his head and groaned, and after a while, when others were still reminiscing about the series of rhetorical questions just now, he said in a deep voice: "In the past dynasties, whether it is a virtuous monarch or an inactive emperor, their biggest shortcoming is that they have a suspicious heart, and the most defensive and jealous are their brothers. ”

Although the words are endless, the meaning is endless.

Although Chen Zhenhui's sentence is short, it is like an empowerment and I understand a lot.

Yes, what the ancient emperors feared the most was that someone would seek to seize their status, and the key prevention targets were uncles, nephews, and brothers. Not to mention, Emperor Yongle is not an example of Ming Huanghuang, who rebelled, robbed his nephew of the throne, or killed or placed Zhu Yunwen's heirs under house arrest, and those officials were not spared. At the beginning of his ascension, he destroyed the ten clans

Thinking is like a river that has burst its embankment, breaking through the shackles of traditional concepts, and everyone thinks of more and deeper meanings, and their faces are full of heavy color.

The vassal king, the same ancestor as the emperor, may have a different father and grandfather, but they are all descendants of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and they are the biggest threat to the emperor's throne. Not to mention anything else, in the current dynasty, there were three emperors who were not inherited by their fathers and sons.

If the vassal king is too virtuous and favored by the people of the land, then what does he want to do? Even if he has no heart of rebellion and wants to serve the court, it is purely for the sake of the people of Limin, but will the emperor in the Jinluan Palace think like this? Will they approve of what they have done for the people?

Therefore, the most common ancestor of the emperor, if he wants to keep the throne inheritance, to put it more seriously, if he wants to save his life and protect himself, he can only be arrogant and lascivious, greedy for pleasure, so that the emperor can rest assured and can sleep, without worrying that someone is plotting to seize his throne.

Therefore, the vassal king was born in the family of the emperor, and he either ascended to the world as the emperor as the emperor, or he lived a lifetime of wontons, and he could not have great ambitions.

For a while, the room was quiet again, there was some heaviness in the quiet, and some depression in the heaviness, which made people feel panicked, what else could everyone say?

After a short silence, it seemed that he couldn't stand this oppressive atmosphere, or couldn't accept this reality, Gu Yanwu, who was only seventeen years old, frowned slightly, and asked in a low voice: "Is there no way to change this status quo?" ”

No one responded, but they all shook their heads, showing helplessness, Gu Yanwu was a little unwilling, and couldn't help asking, "Why?" ”

"The reason is very simple, since the time of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, the reason why so many vassal kings have been divided and this system has been inherited is because he does not believe in people with different surnames, and wants his children and grandchildren to guard all parts of the world, and to restrain and monitor each other with officials and generals in various places, so as to achieve the purpose of stabilizing the country and maintaining the Zhu family." Huang Zongxi was not in a good mood, and his speech was more straightforward.

At this time, Chen Zhenhui, who was born in a family of eunuchs and whose father was a senior official of the dynasty, showed a thin and angry look on her face, like a warning, like a reminder, and said in a slightly low voice: "Brother Huang, please pay attention to your words, as a courtier, a citizen, and a scholar, talking about governance, talking about ancient and modern imperial systems, there is nothing wrong with that, these are okay." However, when talking about Taizu's name, how can you call him by his name? This is a great crime to risk the condemnation of the world, and there is a danger of killing the head or even beheading the whole house, which is a big crime! ”

However, Gu Yanwu's reaction was very bland, and he seemed disapproving, and he had the posture of despising all authority. Zhang Ruocai's head was slightly sideways, his chin was slightly raised, showing a forty-five degree angle, and he squinted his eyes and looked at Chen Zhenhui: "Master Chen, as for it?" It's just a private party, a private conversation, and as for this, is it a warning and a threat? Moreover, the name is used to be called, can it only be worshipped? ”

Being despised and squeezed by words, Chen Zhenhui's heart was very uncomfortable, but she also realized that she had overreacted, this was purely a political discussion, and there was nothing else. Although he has some disrespect for Taizu, he can completely ignore it, as if he didn't see it, there is no need to make the atmosphere so stiff.

Thinking of this, Chen Zhenhui felt a trace of remorse in her heart, but Zhang Ruocai did not stop, her words were even more aggressive and very strong.

"Of course, Grand Master Chen, if you don't like this way of discussion, and you are bent on maintaining the emperor who has been dead for more than two hundred years, you can leave, no one has to let you stay. Besides, if there is one less person, is it possible that the rest of the people can't talk about it anymore?! The world is so big, it's nothing without anyone? What is a large plate of garlic? What can you do here? Who do you think it is? An emperor who can control the life and death of people? Or is it the head of the government and the opposition? ”

That trace of remorse was covered up by anger, Chen Zhenhui's chest rose and fell with anger, her face was pale, and at this time, Gu Yanwu said in a timely manner: "Brother Zhang, why do you have to do this? Chen Gongzi was also out of kindness, kindly reminded, and there was no malice. If the content of our conversation spreads, even if there is no evidence, the court will not be able to do anything to us, and it will cause a lot of commotion. ”

Zhang Ruocai snorted coldly at Chen Zhenhui, and did not continue to run, and the latter's expression was not very good.

As the host, as the owner of the Li Mansion, seeing that the atmosphere was a little embarrassing, Li Zicheng also knew that there was no one more suitable to speak at this moment, so he began to change the topic, first coughing dryly.

"Ahem, let's not talk about the vassal king, let's talk about the imperial system. Li Mou is not talented, but he still has some opinions, and after saying it, I hope you will point out and comment on it. ”

Immediately, all eyes returned to Li Zicheng's body again, the latter muttered for a moment, and then said slowly: "Compared to the vassal king, although the king is only one person, his energy is limited, and it is impossible to control all the things in the world. However, if it is a generation of Ming monarchs and holy lords, the people can suffer less, and those corrupt officials will be much more restrained. ”

"However, throughout the ages, the wise Ming Monarch and Holy Lord is a rare thing, and the prosperity does not last long, and most of the time of each dynasty is in a state of black or gray. To put it bluntly, the monarch of later generations is completely enjoying the fruits of the prosperous era governed by Ming Jun. ”

It's raining hard today, there's a power outage, make a two-in-one, and see how it goes?