Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 439 Equality of Rights and Obligations
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. This is the collective editorial of the six major newspapers regarding His Royal Highness Prince Jian's personal arrangement for the returnees from the north to settle down. Please review it."
"Yeah." Nodding, Zhu Youdong took the manuscript handed over by Zhang Shize and began to read it carefully.
The entire manuscript was originally written by Zhu Youdong: In addition to truthfully reporting the plight of the people returning from the north and the actions of King Jian, the core point to be highlighted is that the royal family is supported by the people, so it must shoulder the responsibility of protecting the people. From this, it can be extended that officials enjoy the people's blood and sweat, so they must also work for the welfare of the people - civil officials govern a place and strive for the happiness of the people. Military generals protect a place and ensure the happiness of the people.
As a time traveler, Zhu Youdong certainly knew what effect such an article would have: the people's gratitude would only be temporary, and more importantly, the royal family would become the country's biggest responsible party, and the emperor's burden would become heavier and heavier.
From a human perspective, who doesn't want to have great rights and few obligations? Who has nothing better to do than to emphasize their obligations? But Zhu Youdong knew that in this critical period when the country was about to gradually transform from a medieval empire into a modern nation-state, he had to give up a lot of things. Otherwise, as the economy developed, the entire country would be in chaos if the politics, ideology and culture did not keep up.
Again, in the historical dimension, why did Europe catch up with and surpass Asian countries in the 16th and 17th centuries? On the surface, it seems that it was because of the advancement of science and technology that triggered the first industrial revolution. But before that, people had already prepared for the arrival of the industrial revolution in terms of ideology, culture, and even politics through the Renaissance, the Age of Exploration, and the Reformation. Even so, with the development of the industrial revolution, representative countries such as Britain and France also suffered bloodshed in order to adapt their political systems to the economy. In terms of ideology, there is still a need for another enlightenment movement to make up for the lessons.
And what about the Ming Dynasty now? Although it has a strong foundation and a large size. The time traveler defeated the two time travelers from Siam and Japan after slightly correcting the chaos. However, in this long-term competition, if the Ming Dynasty wants to win, it must carry out an industrial revolution. Once the industrial revolution arises, the current political system of the Ming Dynasty must change-the political system established by Zhu Yuanzhang in the past has changed a lot with more than two hundred years of development. Even so, it still can't keep up with the pace of the times and killed itself in the historical dimension. Nowadays, steam engines have begun to be put into practical use, and society will usher in drastic changes. How can the country's political system not be changed? Waiting for the people in the country to revolt?
So, it must be changed.
But to change the political system, we must first change our minds. If we don’t completely change the common idea among Chinese scholars that the emperor and the literati rule the world together, and the common people are just mud on their trouser legs from boots on rainy days, then the people of the Ming Dynasty will first kill the emperor of the Zhu family without the Ottomans or Spain coming to attack!
But how can we change our thinking?
In terms of history, the core of the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment in the West is humanism, which is to separate human nature from the subordinate status of divinity based on humanity. It attaches importance to reality and emphasizes the realization of worldly values through self-struggle, rather than pinning happiness on illusory gods and the afterlife.
For Chinese people, this point can basically be ignored.
The second result brought to the West by the above three ideological liberation movements is freedom and equality. On this basis, the third result is the spirit of contract.
With these three items in place, the next step forward is the rule of law, which is Western-style democracy.
Zhu Youdong benefited from the fact that Chinese people are essentially non-religious and value this life more than the afterlife. Therefore, he was able to skip the difficult process that took Westerners one or two hundred years to separate human nature from divinity.
Next, what he needs to do is to introduce the spirit of contract and the concept of equality into this country, and on this basis, implement the rule of law as much as possible: that’s enough. Zhu Youdong is still clear-headed about the fact that the Chinese are simply not suitable for Western democracy.
In order to establish the spirit of contract, the first thing to do is to publicize the equivalence of rights and obligations: the more rights you enjoy, the greater the obligations you must fulfill.
This is of course putting a condom on yourself, but as I said, it won’t work without a condom.
Because humans are living things, and it is their nature to seek benefits and avoid harm. It is impossible for the emperor to have unlimited power and no obligations at all. Do you still expect officials to perform their duties conscientiously and wholeheartedly?
Don't you see, when Zhu Yuanzhang was at the peak of his power, he was also the hardest-working person in the entire Ming Dynasty. Zhu Si was extremely fierce, but he had to personally lead the charge in the Jingnan Campaign and the Five Expeditions to Mongolia. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty actually practiced this a long time ago: to enjoy rights, you must first fulfill your obligations. If you really want to be like Zhu Houcong, who held on to power tightly, but thought about cultivating immortals all day long, emptied the national treasury and shamelessly reached out to the Huangce Treasury - then naturally, the country was on the road to national destruction. The emperor was only willing to enjoy power, not to fulfill his obligations. The officials below naturally followed suit: Yan Song, needless to say, was Xu Jie also a corrupt official?
So, how to prepare for the arrival of the industrial age in terms of ideology and culture. Zhu You (Mu Xue)'s case is an opportunity: What are the obligations of the royal family? How to reflect them? In a nutshell, they are worshipped by the people and protect the people.
This is the intuitive embodiment of the equality of rights and obligations, and is also the foundation of the spirit of contract.
Only when the royal family takes the lead in observing rules and clarifying their own obligations, can you expect the officials below to observe their obligations. In this way, the contractual spirit of the entire people can be cultivated. In this way, the rule of law can be implemented, and in this way, the government institutions can be absolutely transformed - and then adapt to the changes and development of the times.
"Shize, this article is well written. I have slightly modified a few places and will publish it as is."
"Yes, I obey your order."
"Well, in addition to this article, we should also bring up the story of Zigong redeeming people and Zilu receiving the cow again, and start a nationwide discussion."
"Yes, I have already prepared a number of articles on this topic, which will ensure that the six major newspapers will continue discussing this for a month."
"In this discussion, we must make two points clear. First, rights and obligations must be equal. Second, we cannot artificially raise moral standards. I have always felt that the biggest problem with Confucianism in China is that since Confucius, the moral standards for people have become increasingly higher, to a level that most people simply cannot reach. This goes against human nature."
At this point, Zhu Youdong couldn't help but think, of these two types of people, are the latter morally inferior to the former? This may not be the case. But it is obvious that for various reasons (such as poor health, elderly parents and young children), most people stick to their posts. But Zhu Youdong believes that both are worthy of recognition and are manifestations of morality . If we only emphasize and promote the former, while ignoring the latter, or even despise and criticize the latter internally, then it is really worth discussing.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. Just like a soldier, the one who is the bravest among the three armies and beheads the enemy leader is of course a good soldier. But if he performs his duties conscientiously and fights bravely, even if he does not gain much, he is also a good soldier."
"Very good, that's what I mean." Having said that, Zhu Youdong waved his hand and asked all the eunuchs and palace maids except Fang Zhenghua to leave. Then he lowered his voice and said, "What I promised you back then can be launched after this great discussion."
"Ah?" Hearing Zhu Youdong's words, Zhang Shize couldn't help but tremble all over: "Your Majesty, I understand. Please rest assured, I will do this well even if I die!"
