"... You will be able to coerce the people and launch a counterattack against the landowning households. At that time, the so-called 'joint rule of the world' that seems to have been accumulating for two hundred years will become a minor problem … This is the only chance you have of winning today …"
At the end of May at Sword Gate Pass, Ning Yi's voice rang out halfway up the mountain under the sunlight. Zuo Xiuquan's eyes were solemn and his emotions were complicated.
The Zuo Family had a special status in the Huaxia military right now. Because of this, Zuo Xiuquan was able to ask some questions that were slightly out of bounds here. Of course, for people at their level, as long as they made their attitudes clear and did not cross the line in private, these discussions could be considered gentlemen's debates. His previous words actually contained a bit of provocation and a desire to take a mile after being given an inch, but what he didn't expect was that this discussion would reach this point. For a moment, he even felt a little regretful.
The Ning Yi before him had actually pointed out a path and thrown out a framework. He didn't know whether to accept it or not. As wise and farsighted as he was, he could faintly see some things that could be extended from this framework. If he considered the current crisis of the Fuzhou court, this direction did indeed provide a certain possibility of breaking out of the situation. However, the problem was that after breaking out of the situation, the future they faced might turn into something even more terrifying and dangerous.
The people's livelihood, civil rights, people's wisdom … this was what he had done in the southwest, and it was only a small part …
He really shouldn't have played petty tricks, shouldn't have asked … shouldn't have listened …
He sighed inwardly and was silent for a moment. Then he smiled and said, "Mister Ning is good at calculating. If Fuzhou really promotes these things, if they fail in the future, it will be Mister Ning's dowry."
"If they fail, it will be like this." Ning Yi's smile was open and frank. "But if they succeed, they might be able to walk a path."
Zuo Xiuquan thought for a moment. "… What you mean by dealing with the emperor's identity and explanation is …"
"The biggest obstacle to promoting human rights and equality is that the status of the emperor is vastly different from that of the ordinary people. The only way to avoid this is to do two things well. First, the interests of the emperor and the people must be unified for a certain period of time. Like today, Jun Wu told everyone to lend him your power, and we'll defeat the Jurchen invaders after we gather our forces. In this way, the emperor will win the people's favor for a certain period of time, and we'll be able to gain legitimacy and sanctity …"
As Ning Yi spoke, the two of them slowly advanced through the mountains. "But this kind of legitimacy and sanctity will not last long, because once the external pressure lessens, the Emperor and the royal family will inevitably become the class that benefits the most, and everyone will slowly realize the unfairness above. Then we can start to try the second thing, which is to let the imperial power retire and maintain its sanctity. Let the bureaucracy become a firewall against the people, and let the emperor not directly participate in the fight for interests …
"How hard can it be to deal with the people?" Ning Yi tilted his head and smiled. "In the foreseeable future, even if human rights are awakened, they won't be able to get a hundred percent fairness. Unless the world is truly unified and everyone has the same responsibility, everyone will get equal benefits. But this is impossible. As long as there is a gap in intelligence and ability, the privileged class will always get the most benefits. As long as the people have enough to eat and drink, they won't mind having a holy emperor in their country."
He paused with a smile. "Of course, unless there is an ideological emancipation that lasts for decades or even hundreds of years, when the ugliness of the emperor is confirmed, there will be another kind of consensus. The existence of an emperor has been inevitable for thousands of years. If today's emperor can hand over his power to a relatively reliable bureaucratic system, and if he does not recklessly weigh the pros and cons, he will gain the respect of everyone. Everyone will not mind supporting and respecting such a royal family. In this way, the process of sanctification of the monarchy can be completed. This game, we can call it, constitutional monarchy. "
Zuo Xiuquan tilted his head. "That is to say, we should first centralize the power and wait until the Jurchen are defeated."
"Or we don't need to use my idea. The little emperor can directly fight his way out. Then, forget what I said." Ning Yi calmly stated, "If we use this method, it should be possible to defeat the scholar-bureaucrats and foreign enemies. But if after the initial enlightenment of the people, the Emperor still wants to stay at the peak of his power to show that he is different from others, sooner or later he will be dragged out and beheaded. Being a false monarch is the only way to protect himself at that time. "
Speaking of this, he smiled. "Create a bureaucracy and watch the fire from the other side. If anything goes wrong in the future, it has nothing to do with the emperor. He is the Son of Heaven and the country belongs to him. But for the sake of the people, he took the initiative to step back. He can't manage the country. Generation after generation, he has to endure humiliation. Tell me, who will blame him?"
"Then the person in power at that time will be …"
"Prime Minister, Prime Minister … Anything is fine. Just change one every few years. He is not the emperor, so he doesn't need to be for a lifetime. First, set the rules, and then step back."
"If there is a power minister who conspires …"
"The basic enlightenment of the people has been opened, which means that the education system has been formed. The difficulties and greatness of the emperor taking the initiative to take the initiative to become the emperor, as well as the necessity of this system, are written into the teaching materials for every child. As long as there is no extreme situation, this system can be sustained for a long time … "
The two of them walked slowly. Zuo Xiuquan asked questions from time to time, and Ning Yi answered them immediately. After a while, Zuo Xiuquan's expression became more and more strange.
If his initial question could only be said to be a little bit of an attempt to get some scattered opinions from Ning Yi, then Ning Yi's answer had truly made him feel complicated and indescribable. At that time, he had thought that Ning Yi's words were just a casual counterattack from the Inner Demon. Who knew that Ning Yi had completely deduced the entire framework in full detail. If one were to say that Ning Yi's words were like a demon's bewitching words at the start, at this moment, it simply felt like he was trying his best to persuade Ning Yi.
Especially when Ning Yi said in the end, "… about some of the ideas and difficulties of establishing a constitutional monarchy, there have been many deductions in the Huaxia army over the past few years. The information is still being recorded. If Mr. Zuo is interested, this time I will ask someone to move it to Chengdu for you."
Zuo Xiuwen hesitated for a while, then finally said, "Mr. Ning, this … Do you really want to let the Wu dynasty walk a path?"
"It's easier said than done. Can it really be done with just a few years of deductions from me and a group of children?"
"But … if Mr. Ning really tells me sincerely, at least … there is a possibility."
Zuo Xiuwen frowned and cupped his hands. In the end, he still couldn't confirm whether Mr. Ning was really so open-minded, but he didn't ask. Ning Yi looked at him and smiled.
"Now, many people in the world know that the goal of the Huaxia army is to destroy Confucianism, to open up the people's wisdom, and for equality and awakening … At the core, the young Emperor of Fuzhou now wants to use the rule of the world to fight against the common rule of the world. This is a change in the underlying thinking." Ning Yi pointed to the side of his head. "You can imagine how difficult it will be, Mr. Zuo. But in the Huaxia army, we have to try to use the thinking of physics to fight against the thinking of metaphysics of the past. We have to use the thinking of reason to fight against the thinking of reason and law. We have to use human rights and equality to fight against the Confucian hierarchy of ruler and subject. How difficult is this? Can you imagine it, Mr. Zuo? "
Ning Yi smiled. His gaze was calm, and his eyes were as vast and cold as the snowy mountains and the sea.
"We have considered many situations and methods in our deductions regarding the opening up of the people's wisdom and the enlightenment of civil rights. Among them, there is an opening without an Emperor, and there is an opening with an Emperor. There is an opening in times of peace, and there is an opening in times of war. These deductions and ideas may not be useful, but Mr. Zuo, as long as you are interested, I will not hide anything. This is because deductions are just empty thoughts. If there is an experiment to open up the people's wisdom in Fuzhou, even if it is done under the model of a monarch, we can still gain the most experience.
"The thinking base of this place and this society is metaphysics. The characteristic of metaphysics is that it is from the whole to the part. It is emotions that are higher than reason. For example, the heaven and earth are mysterious, the yellow and the yellow, the universe is chaotic, and the infinite gives birth to Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang give birth to the four divisions. It sounds very reasonable, and everyone passes it down from generation to generation. They think it is the truth, but where is its starting point? Who observed it? Who can strictly prove it? Everyone is used to accepting some reasons that sound right, but why is it right? In fact, in the past, our thinking did not involve imagination … But the thinking of investigating things has to be reversed, completely reversed. "
"The thinking of investigating things has to be from the part to the whole. We first understand every bit that we can understand at hand. If we assume that it has any rules or principles, we have to make strict deductions. In investigating things, we do not talk about the heaven and earth, the yellow and the yellow, the universe, and the universe. In harmony, we make an iron plate and want to get a flat surface. What is a flat surface? For ordinary people, it is like a table that looks flat. We use a water turbine to press two iron plates and rub them against each other. The two iron plates become more and more slippery in the process of constant friction. In the end, they all converge to the most accurate flat surface. This can be proved through mathematics and geometry. This is the most primitive and accurate flat surface … "
"To move from metaphysics to investigating things, what needs to be changed is the most basic way of thinking — not even a certain way of thinking. It cannot be patted on the head and said, 'Oh, this reason seems right, this sentence looks very philosophical, and you can think that it is right.' Mr. Zuo, this is what the Chinese army has to fight against. Today, the Jin Ren's Great Building Institute is learning investigating things, Fuzhou is learning investigating things, and all over the world, I encourage them to learn investigating things. If they don't learn, I will blow their heads off with artillery shells. In this way, perhaps in a few decades or a hundred years, we will be able to truly understand the thinking of investigating things and materialism. "
When Ning Yi said this, Zuo Xiuquan frowned and said, "But why … is the thinking of investigating things higher than metaphysics?"
Ning Yi shook his head, "It is not higher than metaphysics. From some books passed down from the west, I found that their thinking is from the part to the whole — that is in the far west, perhaps thousands of miles away, the end of the Silk Road. I used this thinking to make all kinds of assumptions, resulting in the hot air balloons, telescopes, cannons, rockets that you see today … Metaphysical thinking can only be used for some big but useless philosophical thinking. Confucianism, from the original idea of educating the world to the present, has chosen to castrate human nature. Confucius said to repay enmity with justice. Nowadays, everyone knows to repay enmity with kindness. Why is it that there won't be any real changes in the way people are governed for another thousand years? "
"There are countless possibilities in the form of thinking from the part to the whole. What you see today is just the beginning. Our innovation in papermaking has at least given hope to educate the people — next, it is time to thoroughly understand this set of thinking. When this set of thinking is more or less understood, and combined with the philosophy and humanities of the metaphysical system, maybe we can really see the day when the world is unified."
He waved his hand.
"It is difficult for me to explain the necessity and urgency of it, but I have seen it, and I want to push it out. I can spread my ideas all over the sky. The idea of equality in the Huaxia army gave birth to Old Ox Head, Jiangnan's He Wen learned to fight the landlord and divide the land, and now he has founded the so-called Fairness Party. Next, whether it is Lin 'an, Liu Guangshi, Dai Mengwei, or Jindi, they will all choose to reform more or less. These attempts at reform will become the nourishment of the whole world. "
"The one who will succeed next may not be our Huaxia army. Old Ox Head may go bankrupt, the Fairness Party may turn into a big fire and burn down, and the Huaxia army may really be too strong and easy to break. One day I die, all kinds of ideas will be extinguished like a light, but I believe that the seeds have been left. If my ideas cannot win, I am very happy to see Fuzhou's Junwu walk the path of a constitutional monarchy, because that will also open the people's wisdom to a certain extent. I wish him success, I hope he succeeds. "
At this point in Ning Yi's speech, Zuo Xiuquan's expression was no longer complicated. He looked solemn and cupped his hands at Ning Yi. Ning Yi held his hands and patted the back of them.
"Of course, there are still many details that can be discussed. First of all, Junwu should stop using tricks like the master-disciple relationship between me and him. Of course, it will be good to spread it among the common people, but among the middle and upper classes, there are some important people who are loyal to the Wu dynasty and are willing to go all out with the young emperor. They may give up supporting him because of this rumor and his tacit acceptance. So, on the surface, he must express his stance and make it clear that he is the legitimate heir of the Wu dynasty. "
"… On the other hand, I can open up the ideas and books of physics to him, but I won't give them the results. He must train his own craftsmen and cultivate qualified materialistic thinking among them. I can also tell you frankly that if he fails, this mess will be mine, and I don't have good intentions. "
"… Of course, I can help them with the training of craftsmen, the establishment of factories, the operation of schools, the enlightenment of education, and some organizational methods at the bottom level. For example, the children you left here. Wenhuai has made great contributions in Tan Zhou recently. If you want, you can borrow them to go to Fuzhou and help with the establishment of some grassroots organizations. Of course, it's up to you whether you trust them and how much you trust them. "
"There are many other things that can be discussed in detail later. Next is the era of turbulence. Get ready to welcome a magnificent revolution."
Ning Yi smiled. "Chengdu welcomes you."
…
The sun shone down from the sky. Zuo Xiuquan stood on the gate tower of the sword tower and looked at the clouds floating in the sky. It was a clear sky in the hot summer, and the air was not stuffy. There would be no rain, but he seemed to hear thunder passing by his ears.
Next was the era of turbulence …
Ning Yi's words were still ringing in his mind.
…
A few days before this, on the south bank of the Yellow River, the Lin 'an envoys who went to the camp of the Jurchen Eastern Army to persuade Zong Fu and Zong Bi were kicked out of the camp by the Jurchen Zhenren.
Later, a fat man with a kind face and a dignified aura crossed the Yellow River in a small boat. He entered the camp and met the two princes of the Jurchen Country.
There were threats and verbal arguments between the two sides, but in the end, the two sides reached a preliminary consensus that after the rest and reorganization in the future, they would fight a head-on battle and take each other's heads.
The armies on both sides of the Yellow River began to operate according to the agreed steps. The mighty Jurchen Eastern Army began to travel north. In the north, Wanyan Chang and Shu Liesu's army bypassed some fixed positions near Liangshan and stopped burning and looting nearby cities and villages.
…
In Fuzhou, Jun Wu, Zhou Pei, and the others received groups of great scholars and dignitaries every day. The two sides tested each other, perfunctorily, or simply pointed out some things. Some people left, and of course, some stayed.
Compared with Jun Wu's determination, Zhou Pei's attitude was more gentle. Because Zhao Ding's granddaughter, Zhao Xiaosong, had saved her life, many great scholars came to the Eldest Princess's residence to ask if there was any way to turn the situation around.
In the past, when she was in Lin 'an, she played a more conservative role. She often advised Jun Wu, who was the Crown Prince at that time, not to be too radical and ruin his relationship with others. But now, she had agreed to the policy of not repairing this broken ship.
"There's no way to go back."
At the end of the conversation, she often sighed like this. After all, she was young. Even though she had experienced many things, she was finally able to accept this path of cutting off all means of retreat and sinking the boat. In the end, some of the old people were willing to entrust their lives to her.
The reform had begun to advance, and ominous prophecies and speculations entered her ears every day. People were predicting their future self-destruction. Sometimes, she would wake up from her dreams. Under the starlight, she would look at the sea in the east.
"… You assist Jun Wu, Xiao Pei … you assist Jun Wu. Pass on the Zhou family's rule, pass on … pass on … ah?"
She remembered Zhou Yong's dying request.
"Father …
"Can we … go there …"
Soon, boxes of things would be delivered from thousands of miles away in the southwest.
…
Not many people expected that in this vast world, a more blazing and complicated flame than the one in the war against the Jin Nation would appear after the fourth expedition of the Jin Nation to the south.
…
In the clouds.
The cause and effect of the matter were implicated from a very small place.
More than ten years ago, the Jurchen people invaded Bianliang, the capital of the Wu dynasty, during their second expedition to the south. They captured hundreds of thousands of Han people and made them slaves in the north.
The life of the Han slaves was extremely difficult, especially the first batch of Han slaves captured during the Shame of Jingping. More than ten years ago, nine out of ten Han people had died in inhuman torture.
There was once a family of officials in Bianliang whose entire family was captured and brought to the north. The men in the family became slaves, and the women became prostitutes. During the few years that they were captured, several members of the family died one after another. In the tenth year of Tianhui, the head of the family was an official of the Ministry of Rites in the Wu dynasty. In order to survive, he reported a piece of news to his superiors.
The news was that his son had given up his studies and entered the military. He was an officer in the Wu Rui Battalion of the Wu dynasty. Later, he followed Ning Yi of the Black Flag Army to kill the emperor and became a core member of the Black Flag Army. His son, Luo Ye, would definitely send people to the Jin Nation to rescue his family.
At that time, the God of War, Lou Shi, had fallen in the northwest. This official, surnamed Luo, hoped that the Jin Nation would spare his family's lives and go to the northwest to persuade them to surrender. Or, in the future, they could be used as bait to catch spies of the Black Flag Army.
A Jin Nation official made a record of this matter, but did not take special care of him.
It was not until the end of the Battle of Little Cang River that the Jin Nation, who had paid a heavy price in the northwest, began to pay attention to the war of intelligence. Hope Yin ordered Wanyan Qingjue and the others to organize forces to pay attention to the southwest, that the record was found once again. But at that time, many people in the Luo family, including the official surnamed Luo, had died. Moreover, because of the lack of information from all over the world, the people in Yunzhong could not determine the authenticity of this information.
Not long after, a chief detective named Mandudaru noticed this information. At this time, the original Luo family only had a half-crazy youngest daughter who was still struggling at death's door.
This year was the fifteenth year of Tianhui. Not long after the middle of May, someone came to report that the crazy woman had disappeared during the recent investigation. At this time, the news of the defeat of Ni Han's army in the southwest of the Wu Dynasty had already spread. Every day, many of the Han slaves in the Jin Di Kingdom died tragically for no reason. Wu Qimai's order that anyone who killed Han slaves would have to pay a fine could not be carried out for the time being. It was not surprising for a crazy woman to die without a sound.
Public security was in chaos, and the resistance and escape of the Han slaves could become fierce at any time. Mandudaru still had many things to do at this time, but his intuition, which had been cultivated for many years, made him pay attention to this matter.
On the 23rd of May, a caravan of merchants drove towards Yanmen Pass.
Lu Mingfang was in the caravan, looking back at the desolate scenery of Youyan.
He was actually a child who grew up in Bianliang and was not yet an adult. When the Female Zhenren attacked, he experienced the chaos of the war. Not long after, he followed his father to Yunzhong to open up the situation, and not long after, his father died. He had been with Youyan for half of his life.
In more than ten years, he had only been to the south three times, twice at Little Cang River and once in the southwest. All he saw were desolate scenes. At present, the Huaxia army had won a great victory and occupied the Chengdu plain. When he went to Chengdu, he could see the rich and prosperous southern cities.
Thinking about it, the memories of the past had almost become distant. What kind of scene did the prosperity of the Han people look like? In his mind, only the scenery of the north was clear.
Lu Mingfang died on the evening of the 24th of May.
Not long after, his broken body was transported back to Yunzhong, and the Female Zhenren began to announce that they had killed the leader of the Black Flag Army in the north.
Tang Minjie saw the almost unrecognizable body in the crowd. He identified it for a long time, his cheeks twitching several times.
It seemed to be the evening of the end of May. He walked into an unknown dark alley and vomited once. In the Yunzhong mansion, the killing of the Han slaves was becoming more and more intense. At this moment, he was the true person in charge of the Black Flag Army in the north.
"Old Lu... how do you keep yourself in check?" He sat in the alley, the voice from not long ago resounding in his mind. "I mean, you know more than me..."
Lu Mingfang sat there and gave an answer. What did he answer? Although he could not remember, perhaps it was because he thought of his comrades, Tang Minjie's mouth still curled up into a smile …
…
When An Xifu led the troops past the Sword Garret and followed the crowd to the direction of Chengdu, the atmosphere in Jin became somber.
Zong Han and Xi Yin led the Western Route Army, which did not have many people, on the way back to the north, constantly planning their future direction. They had already sent letters back to the Jin Kingdom, on one hand to express their attitude, on the other hand to clarify the facts, hoping to complete the future transfer of power in the most appropriate way. They also hoped that the senior elders in the Jin Kingdom would be aware of the threat of the Black Flag Army, and try to reach a consensus in certain aspects.
This was an unprecedented fiasco. But at the same time, Zong Han and Xi Yin's past victories could still explain part of the problem. In the Imperial Palace of Shangjing in May, someone read the letters sent by Zong Han and Xi Yin several times to the extremely weak Emperor Wu Qimai. This Jin Kingdom Emperor was extremely strong-willed. After suffering from a stroke, he clenched his teeth and persevered for two years, waiting for the end of the southern expedition. On the 25th of May, he regained consciousness, which was rare, and left some edicts about the outcome of the southern expedition.
He followed Aguda and fought with Zong Han and Xi Yin for half of his life. At this moment, this dying Emperor still used the last of his strength to respond to the help of his comrades thousands of miles away.
…
The sun was setting.
Not long after, it sank to the ground, about to stir up the fiercest wave —
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