Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 441 Wang Zaijin's Determination
As a history enthusiast and an old bookworm who had been hanging out on Qidian for more than ten years before traveling through time, Zhu Youdong certainly knew that in order to win the competition among the seven travelers, he needed to be a dictator in politics and to have absolute control in the military. As for the economy, its operation has its own rules and cannot be completely controlled by administrative orders. But relying on the foresight of a traveler, he can also effectively guide it.
The last one: ideology and culture. In theory, in order to maintain the stability of the rule, it is best to achieve a unified state. As it is now, the thoughts of various schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period are all published in the six major newspapers. In the eyes of many experienced and prudent officials, the emperor is courting his own death.
However, from Zhu Youdong's perspective, this process is very dangerous, but it has to be done.
Because, with the beginning of the industrial revolution and the escalation of competition among time travelers, the entire social system of the Ming Dynasty will be severely impacted. In this process, the increasingly rigid Neo-Confucianism cannot bear the responsibility of leading the core values of the whole country.
Therefore, a new set of values must be formed through continuous and extensive national discussions. Otherwise, in the future competition with other time travelers, if there is a problem with the country's ideology and culture, then even if the Ming Dynasty wins in military and economic terms, it may fail in the end - after all, a fortress is most easily breached from the inside.
Therefore, while East Asia was unified and the Western time travelers had not yet reached out, Zhu Youdong quickly took this step.
Of course, to be on the safe side, Zhu Youdong had already put forward a core value before launching a nationwide discussion: equal rights and obligations. With this as a foundation, it would be much better to publish the collections of essays by various philosophers.
Moreover, compared with the time when Qin Shihuang completed the unification, but in fact the whole country was in ideological chaos. Zhu Youdong has another great advantage: Confucianism has been dominant for more than a thousand years. Although over the years, Confucianism itself has also experienced the dispute between ancient and modern texts, the evolution of Wei and Jin metaphysics, and Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism. However, thanks to the "ritual" that has always run through the core of Confucianism. The Han people have formed a relatively unified cultural identity. At this time, when the things of various schools of thought were taken out, there was a brief ideological confusion, but overall, a national collective cognition such as "family and country feelings, collectivism, blood is thicker than water, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trustworthiness..." has been formed. Therefore, compared with Qin Shihuang, Zhu Youdong's job is much easier and safer.
Of course, although Confucianism has made great contributions to the formation of the core of the national spirit over the years, there is no doubt that due to the long period of dominance, Confucianism, especially the current dominant Neo-Confucianism, has become rigid. Therefore, in order to transform the national spirit and add new things to the spiritual core for improvement, it is necessary to strike hard at Confucianism, especially Neo-Confucianism, and at least take a few typical examples to start with.
And at this time, what could be more influential than overthrowing Duke Yansheng?
Originally, according to Zhu Youdong's calculations, with the documents unearthed from the Han Tomb at Yinqueshan and the items of hundreds of schools of thought from the pre-Qin period on display, it would be fine if you, the Kong family, didn't say anything - after all, you have become quite corrupt and degenerate, having degenerated into local tyrants and evil gentry, so it is normal that you cannot make your voice heard in the academic world.
But now I have taken out the three editions of the Analects! The contents of these three editions are very different! What is the Analects? Isn't it the sayings of Confucius? Now the sayings of the saint are inconsistent, and some are even contradictory. This is digging up your Kong family's ancestral graves! Why don't you say anything? You keep silent, so I can't do anything!
Forget it, the situation is so good now, it would be a waste if we don't take advantage of it. If you don't accept my challenge, I will take more ruthless actions.
So, in mid-July of that year, Wang Zaijing, who was stationed in Jinan Prefecture, met a man who made him shiver with cold even in the hottest days of summer - the director of the East Depot, Wei Zhongxian.
"Wang Zhongcheng..."
"Please ask for instructions, Mr. Factory."
"No, my rank is only fifth rank, which is far inferior to your third rank."
"I dare not. The factory master has served the emperor for sixteen years. He has worked so hard. Everyone in the world has seen it."
"Okay, it's up to you." Hearing Wang Zaijin boasting that he was an old minister of the emperor's palace, Old Wei felt very comfortable, so his gloomy face at the beginning also relaxed a lot. He gently raised one hand and said, "Sit down."
After both parties sat down, Wei Zhongxian said, "Let me tell the Zhongcheng something first. Our visit to Jinan must be kept secret. No one else is allowed to know except the Zhongcheng. If the news of our visit gets out, hehe..."
"Yes." Wang Zaijin quickly stood up and said, "Please rest assured, I will keep it a secret."
"Yeah." Old Wei leisurely leaned back and said, "What is the Kong family busy with recently? The six major newspapers are making a big fuss about it, why don't they come out and say a word?"
Phew~ Hearing what Old Wei said, Wang Zaijin breathed a sigh of relief: So they didn't come for me. Damn, I was scared to death. That's right, the court has asked the six major newspapers to do so many things recently, it's time to move on the Kong family.
As the official of Shandong, Wang Zaijin certainly knew how bad the Kong family was. Moreover, this family was different from the local tyrants and evil gentry in other places: the local tyrants in other places would more or less take out real money to bribe local officials. As long as the officials did not go too far, they would give them enough face. They usually kept a low profile. But the Kong family was different, as they were the legal head of the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty. All the local officials in Shandong had to call themselves subordinates when they saw the Duke of Yansheng. Over the past two hundred years, the side branches and illegitimate children of the Kong family were fine, but which of the direct descendants was not arrogant?
It can be said that any official in Shandong instinctively does not want to be involved with the Kong family: that would be purely asking for trouble!
So, the emperor sent the factory manager to deal with the Kong family, and I, Old Wang, fully agree with this!
After thinking these things through, Wang Zaijin quickly recovered: "Master Chang, please allow me to report that because the current Duke Yansheng is already terminally ill, the atmosphere inside the Confucius Mansion, uh, has not been very friendly recently, so..."
The current Duke of Yansheng is Kong Shangxian, who has two sons, but both of them died before Kong Shangxian. What makes Kong Shangxian even more depressed is that his two sons have no offspring.
Therefore, he had no choice but to choose one of his nephews as his heir.
As a result, the men of the "Yin" generation in the Confucius Mansion became more active: Yanshenggong is not a prince of the Ming Dynasty. If the son of a prince cannot inherit the title of prince, he can still become a county prince, but in the line of Yanshenggong, only the eldest son of the current Yanshenggong can inherit the title, and the other sons have no title. Therefore, the competition for the position of Yanshenggong is already quite fierce. Not to mention that the current Yanshenggong has no direct descendants.
This year, Kong Shangxian was already 78 years old. He was old and had suffered the pain of losing his son twice in a row. His body had long been in poor condition. In other words, the fight for the Kong family had reached the most critical moment. In this case, how could the Kong family have the mood and energy to quarrel with others in the newspaper? I'm afraid they don't even have much time to read the newspaper!
"I see." After listening to Wang Zaijin's introduction, Wei Zhongxian nodded, but then sneered: "The title of Duke Yansheng is about to be lost, I don't know what they are fighting for."
"Sure enough!" After hearing Wei Zhongxian's unheard words, Wang Zaijin's body, which had just relaxed, tensed up again: It can't be me, can it? The Kong family won't fall for it, they won't want me to take the initiative to kill them, right?
"Um, Wang Zhongcheng."
"Factory Manager..." Wang Zai Jin was about to cry.
"We are in charge of the East Factory, so sometimes we have to pay attention to the voices of the people. Not to mention, the emperor has clearly required our East Factory and Jinyiwei to accept reports from ordinary people. Look, in recent months, the factory and the guards have received a lot of things related to Shandong. Well, Wang Zhongcheng, come and take a look."
Look? What's there to see? I'm the governor of Shandong, don't I know how many evil things the Kong family has done? Do I need the factory guards to collect black material? I have a pile of it myself.
"What do you think, Wang Zhongcheng? You are the father and mother of Shandong. Do you think you should give an explanation to the people of Shandong?"
Mr. Factory, I don't mind messing with the Kong family. But I don't want to do it myself! No matter what the outcome is, if I mess with the descendants of the saints, I will end up paying the price myself!
Seeing Wang Zaijin's desperate expression, Wei Zhongxian smiled slightly and pulled out something from his other sleeve: "Zhongcheng, take a closer look at this."
Huh? What is this? "A Study of the Bloodline of the Descendants of King Wenxuan"?
"Zhongcheng, do your best. Ever since he became the crown prince, the emperor has shown a trait that we servants like the most. That is, as long as you work hard for the emperor, no matter how big a mess you make, the emperor what the emperor tells you to do, well, the emperor doesn't like to kill people, but we have a strong murderous nature."
"...Yes, Mr. Factory, rest assured, I know how to do it."
