Chapter 295: Feudal Rites and Teachings Kill People

Zhu Yijun, in front of Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, talked about the massacre order of "killing everyone taller than a wheel," the purpose of which was actually to ask about Zhang Juzheng's attitude toward reconciliation. This was said for Gao Gong to hear. Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong were both pragmatic politicians, and they had their own insights into the Great Ming and Northern Barbarian problems.

During the Longqing era, Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong both supported reconciliation.

A very interesting question: why do barbarians always appear on the frontiers of great empires, and why do they constantly fight with great empires, seemingly forever, repeating the cycle, with constant slaughter?

Actually, it is very simple, because the expansion of the great empire drove them to places unsuitable for survival, leading them to survive only through plunder.

It is not that they voluntarily became barbarians, nor that they voluntarily left places suitable for survival, but that the continuous expansion of the empire drove them to that place. Moreover, barbarians, compared to uncivilized wild people, are actually semi-civilized races. They have their own writing, their own language, their own laws, and their own military construction.

From the massacre order of Genghis Khan Temujin to the cessation of killing in the time of Kublai, it was a transformation from uncivilized to semi-civilized.

Truly wild, completely uncivilized, uncivilized people who even kill children will eventually disappear in the long river of history. They may be eliminated by the harsh natural environment, may be annexed by the empire's civilization, or may be destroyed by the semi-civilized races derived from the empire's civilization. As time passes, these races will even become strange in name, until they disappear completely.

Semi-civilized races are just derivatives of imperial civilization.

Under normal circumstances, semi-civilized races have two endings: completely integrating into the civilized empire, like the Xiongnu; or seizing the host, like Rome falling to the Germanic and Ottoman peoples.

To the north of the Roman Empire was a group of pirate barbarians, and to the north of the Central Plains was a huge grassland.

Zhu Yijun's attitude toward the Mongols had always been this: promote peace through war, and if reconciliation is not possible, then armed expulsion, letting the Northern Barbarians walk their own destined path westward.

Zhu Yijun stayed in the Western Earth City for a period of time, and planned to go to the Northern Great Camp to inspect the troops. Before leaving, Feng Bao whispered a few words to a small eunuch.

Feng Bao stood outside the carriage and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I have asked clearly. Huang Yuezhong's lecture this time is said to be supported by Xu Jie."

"Don't worry about him, go to the Beijing Camp." Zhu Yijun smiled, and after speaking, he closed the carriage window. He still had important things to do. Watching the fun was to be watched, and important things were also to be done.

Was it really Xu Jie who instructed Huang Yuezhong to come to the capital to lecture and say those rebellious words? Maybe, or maybe it was a bucket of shit dumped on Xu Jie by others.

This basket of Xu Jie is a very good basket. Many things can be dumped on him. This is not a future thing, but something happening right now.

Whether the monarch and minister are the same in reality did not cause too many waves, because Huang Yuezhong's theory did not even believe in itself. If he really wanted his theory to be widely recognized, he had to discuss it based on the theory of contradictions and the theory of public and private. Those deceptive words could not be spoken. Whether it is the theory of contradictions or the theory of public and private, they are studies that attach extreme importance to practice.

After the Emperor returned to the capital from the Northern Great Camp, he did not go to the palace, but went to the Royal Academy of Sciences. The telescope at the Meridian Gate had been pulled back to the Imperial Observatory. After the Emperor's grand wedding, the great comet could no longer be observed, and the sales of telescopes in the Imperial Manor were rising steadily. The eunuch of the inner treasury, Cui Min, smiled until his face had wrinkles.

The Imperial Uncle Zhu Zaiyu had submitted a memorial the day before yesterday, asking the Emperor to go to the Academy of Sciences after returning to the capital, as there was an important matter to report.

This observation of the great comet's visit was not just by the Imperial

On the reclining stone in front of the Royal Academy of Sciences, the inscription "Those who act are one, and it is merely a matter of sincerity—Zhu Zhongxing" remained as it was. Zhu Yijun looked at that line of text; the Great Ming Royal Academy of Sciences had truly achieved this, speaking with facts and using mathematical methods to explore the infinite mysteries of all things.

"We, your subjects, pay our respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live." Zhu Zaiyu led the scholars of the Academy of Sciences in paying their respects.

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Rise."

"This Library of Scriptures is built very well. Is that where the Academy's telescope is located?" Zhu Yijun pointed to the top floor of the Academy's library. The highest point had been renovated, and now there was a giant sextant and a telescope there. The telescope was a reflecting astronomical telescope, and the magnification of this one at the Academy had already reached an astonishing 120 times.

The giant sextant's measurements were even more precise; this had been proven in practice by Ulugh Beg, King of the Timurid Empire, during the Xuande and Zhengtong years.

"I ask Your Majesty to move forward." Zhu Zaiyu had a young eunuch lead the way, while he detailed his observations of the Great Comet.

"Your Majesty, under the system of the Nine Heavens, we usually believe that apart from the moon, all celestial spheres are eternal and unchanging. In the first year of Wanli, a guest star appeared. That guest star did not appear between the moon and the ground, but beyond the moon." Zhu Zaiyu spoke about the Great Ming Nine Heavens system's understanding of guest stars as he walked.

"In our observations of the guest star from the first year of Wanli, we discovered that this star did not move relative to the background stars."

"By the comet of October in the fifth year of Wanli, this comet had changed its position relative to the background stars. Based on our tens of thousands of observations over five months, we reached a conclusion: the comet's initial position was above the moon, even above Saturn, and the comet's head was heading toward the sun."

"Explaining it this way is too troublesome. I have made a model; I ask Your Majesty to move forward."

Zhu Zaiyu led the Emperor into the Academy's Library of Scriptures. Zhu Yijun had been here once before, when Zhu Zaiyu proved the existence of atmospheric pressure to solve a practical water-pumping problem. Now, Zhu Yijun arrived at this top floor again and found it had changed—it had become more cluttered, a kind of orderly clutter.

Zhu Zaiyu, the head of the Great Ming Academy of Sciences, lived here. To others, it was chaotic, but to Zhu Zaiyu, it was just right; he knew exactly where everything was.

As the nominal Prince of Zheng and enjoying the actual treatment of a Prince of the Blood, Zhu Zaiyu's Prince De Mansion had 180 musicians alone, plus nearly a hundred various Goryeo, Hailar, Japanese, pearl-diving, and sea-diving women specifically to serve him. The clutter here clearly showed that Zhu Zaiyu did not allow others to tidy up, and clearly, his harem of beauties from all nations was not being fully utilized.

Zhu Zaiyu, full of excitement, brought the Emperor before a giant model and said with great agitation, "At the very beginning, I was trying to create a model where the Earth is the eternal, stationary center, the sun and moon revolve around the Earth in circular motions, and then, apart from the Earth, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn revolve around the sun."

"But the arrival of the Great Comet broke this model, because it could not explain the comet's celestial phenomena. For example, when the comet revolves around the sun, its distance gradually approaches the sun. At the end of last year, its tail began to point toward the sun. We discovered that its orbit is not circular, but elliptical, with positions close to the sun and positions far from the sun."

"If we treat the Earth as a planetary sphere like Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn and place it in the universe, many past doubts are easily resolved."

Zhu Zaiyu displayed his new model: a model with the sun at the center and Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn appeared before Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun marveled at this model, as a model of the comet was also on it. He pointed to the comet's position and said, "Now we cannot observe this comet, but it is still in the sky, moving in a cycle, right?"

"Yes!" Zhu Zaiyu said with great certainty.

Zhu Yijun asked tentatively, "Then when will we be able to see it again? You said it is still moving in the celestial palace."

"Your subject does not know; I have not calculated it. I ask Your Majesty to forgive my sin," Zhu Zaiyu said with slight embarrassment. He truly had not calculated when this comet would be observed again.

"No matter, no matter." Zhu Yijun remained very interested in the model before him, because in this model, the order was not Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, but Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The Earth had become an ordinary star, no longer the center of the universe, and the order was based on distance from the sun. This order was correct.

"Why is it arranged this way?" Zhu Yijun began to communicate with Zhu Zaiyu about the reasons for the order.

Zhu Zaiyu explained with great enthusiasm how he had obtained the approximate diameter of the Earth through triangulation, and then, based on the Earth's diameter, calculated the Earth-Moon distance and the Earth-Sun distance. The moon was the celestial body closest to the Earth, and the sun was very, very far away—so far that a person could walk for a lifetime and never reach it.

The Earth's circumference is about 80,000 li. It takes about 13 minutes and 88 seconds for the moon to rise completely from the horizon (using ancient timekeeping where one day is 100 ke, one ke is 100 fen, and one fen is 100 seconds). Then, based on observations of total lunar eclipses, he calculated the distances between various celestial bodies: the Earth's diameter is 3 times the moon's diameter, the Earth-Moon distance is 29 times the Earth's diameter, the Sun-Earth distance is 【missing value】 times the Earth's diameter, and the sun's diameter is 110 times the Earth's diameter.

A sun the size of a plate was actually 110 times larger than the boundless earth. When Zhu Zaiyu said this, it was already a crime of deceiving the Emperor. If the lowly scholars knew, they would surely impeach Zhu Zaiyu for spreading heretical ideas and demand he be sent back to Henan.

Yet, according to Zhu Zaiyu's measurements, this was the result. He had hoped he had calculated wrong, but after entering the capital, he had been working on this, and finally, he confirmed his data was correct before reporting it to His Majesty.

Zhu Zaiyu reported it anyway; he hoped His Majesty could accept this fact, especially that the plate-sized sun was actually over a hundred times larger than the Earth.

Zhu Yijun could certainly accept it. He also knew that the sun was actually revolving around the galactic center of the Milky Way, and he knew that besides Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Earth, there were Uranus, Neptune, and a demoted Pluto.

"Mathematically, this is indeed the case. There may be other influencing factors we have not yet observed." Zhu Zaiyu still adopted a compromise method. This model perfectly solved many problems mathematically, such as solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, the changing of the four seasons, the shifting of the North Star, and the alignment of the five planets.

Among the common people, the alignment of the five planets is an omen of disaster, and there is even a prophecy that "when the five planets align, the world will change." In fact, the official explanation of the Imperial Observatory is that the alignment of the five planets is actually an auspicious omen; when Great Yu ascended the throne, the five planets aligned.

This astronomical phenomenon of the five planets aligning is just a way to fool people.

An official from the Imperial Observatory had leaked a secret to Zhu Zaiyu: for the five planets to align, the longitude difference of the five major planets does not exceed 30 degrees, or even 45 degrees, which counts as an alignment. An alignment within 30 degrees occurs about every forty years; it is not a prophecy of a change in dynasty, nor is there any divine wrath. If the Emperor needs it, an alignment can be declared even if the longitude difference is greater than 45 degrees—then it happens even more frequently.

According to Zhu Zaiyu's calculations, if one wanted the longitude difference between the five planets to be 0 degrees—a true straight line—it would take 14.4 billion years to see it once.

Zhu Yijun and Zhu Zaiyu studied for a long time at the Royal Academy of Sciences on how to calculate the alignment of three planets. It was actually just finding the least common multiple based on their orbital periods. Because current observation methods were limited, they could only roughly predict the year.

Zhu Yijun was having so much fun that he simply stayed at the temporary palace of the Royal Academy of Sciences.

When Wang Chonggu was building the Royal Academy of Sciences, he also built Zhu Zaiyu's residence. Opposite the Prince De Mansion was the Emperor's temporary palace. If the Emperor did not return to the palace at night, he could stay at the Academy.

Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with the temporary palace; it was actually a miniature version of the Guanghan Palace. It occupied no more than three mu of land, but it had everything. At least for Zhao Mengyou, doing security work there was no problem at all.

Wang Chonggu was very good at self-preservation; in fact, he was just afraid of death.

Night fell, and Zhu Yijun began to light the lamps to read the memorials. Because Empress Wang was accompanying the Emperor, she did not return to the palace either. Originally, it was Consort Li Jing's turn to serve the Emperor tonight, but since the Emperor did not return to the palace, there was no need to go through the trouble.

When Zhu Yijun was reviewing memorials, Empress Wang would not say a single word, nor would she look at the contents of the memorials. "The harem shall not interfere in politics" was the highest political correctness in the Great Ming, which had a great deal to do with the fall of the Hu Yuan.

Emperor Shundi of Yuan reigned for 36 years. The entire Yuan Dynasty lasted 109 years, spanning five generations and eleven emperors. Emperor Shizu of Yuan, Kublai, occupied 35 years, and Emperor Shundi occupied 36 years—that is 71 years. The remaining 38 years were shared by the remaining nine emperors. One can imagine how chaotic the Hu Yuan court had become.

And Emperor Shundi's "Dance of the Sixteen Heavenly Demons" was chaos upon chaos, filthy, unbearable, and unsightly. Every time this dance was performed, these sixteen beauties would wear no clothes, draped only in pearl necklaces, and the audience—not just Emperor Shundi, but also a large number of monks and imperial relatives—would play together.

The Great Ming absorbed this historical lesson, and "the harem shall not interfere in politics" was observed until the fall of the Great Ming.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, only the old witch Cixi in the late Qing completed the act of presiding over the court and listening to politics from behind a curtain. Three years after Cixi died, the Qing finally exhausted its last bit of fortune and headed toward destruction.

Wang Yaozhuo had been instructed by the two Empress Dowagers since she was young, and Empress Dowager Li had led by example, leaving the Qianqing Palace in the third year of Wanli and choosing to return power, letting the young Emperor begin to handle state affairs without further interference. Therefore, even though Wang Yaozhuo was accompanying the Emperor, she would not speak.

Zhu Yijun finished reviewing the last memorial, his expression not looking very good. Clearly, the lowly scholars had angered the Emperor again. This was not surprising, as it happened often; it was part of the game between ministerial power and imperial power, a fate that would accompany Zhu Yijun for his entire life.

"These lowly scholars are so rebellious!" Zhu Yijun leaned back in his chair and said thoughtfully. He could actually understand this phenomenon.

When an individual encounters a viewpoint or fact that contradicts their own beliefs, unless that viewpoint or fact is strong enough to completely destroy the original belief, the individual will ignore or refute the viewpoint or fact, and the original belief will become even stronger.

This rebellious psychology is universal. Zhu Yijun had spent four years and still had not completely shattered the ideological imprint of Zhang Juzheng; this was that situation.

This is a cognitive contradiction and self-protection. When people passively receive information, they protect their own beliefs from interference and infringement by external information, alleviating their own cognitive contradictions and conflicts to maintain their cognitive balance.

Besides rebellion, there is also stubbornness. The mentality of stubbornness is easy to understand. Huang Yuezhong is a living example. He clearly read about the theory of contradictions and clearly knew how to improve his own viewpoint, but as an opposition member, he could not change his stance, so he could only be stubborn and say he hadn't read it.

Finally, there is interest. Personal beliefs and stances represent vested interests. At this time, no viewpoint or data can convince the other party; only when interests are damaged will they doubt their original stance, leading to collapse and reshaping.

There are generally three types of lowly scholars: rebellious, stubborn, and interest-related. But the reality is that as a ruler, Zhu Yijun could not distinguish which type these lowly scholars were. This made dealing with them difficult; it was impossible to deal with them all in one fell swoop, as that would harm the innocent.

Being an Emperor is difficult, but also simple: appoint people on their merits and select talented people to put them in the right places.

For example, Wan Shihe's initial performance was rebellious. As a public official who had climbed to the position of Minister of Rites, his own beliefs and cognition had long permeated his life. That he could make changes was the result of being slapped into reality, one slap at a time.

"Headache." Zhu Yijun exhaled a breath of turbid air, looking at Wang Yaozhuo with a helpless smile, and then this helpless smile gradually became strange.

It was the kind of smile where one wants to laugh out loud but cannot, holding it in until one is almost internally injured—a smile that married men understand.

Because Zhu Yijun discovered a touch of vermilion on the center of Wang Yaozhuo's forehead. This meant her period had arrived, which meant the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun could rest tonight!

Even a donkey on a production team wouldn't be worked like this! Zhu Yijun even understood the realistic meaning of the idiom "grinding an iron pestle into a needle"!

"The two Empress Dowagers left thirty-six beauties, and eighteen are accompanying the Emperor this time." Wang Yaozhuo and Zhu Yijun were childhood sweethearts. Seeing her husband's expression, she knew what he was rejoicing about and said with a smile.

Without the birth of the eldest imperial son, her husband should not think of resting; whether legitimate or illegitimate, there must be one.

"Rest today! Must rest, this is an imperial decree!" Zhu Yijun acted like a rascal. He didn't intend to touch those extra thirty-six beauties; he had to think about his own kidneys. If he were a character like Emperor Shundi of Yuan, ignoring state affairs and not bothering with military horses, he could certainly indulge in the boudoir, playing with imperial relatives and monks—however absurdly he wanted—but he was truly very busy.

Wang Yaozhuo thought for a moment and said, "His Majesty's word is law, then let us rest."

"Are you not afraid that once there is an eldest imperial son, although you and I are only a wall apart, it will be like being separated by a galaxy, making it as difficult as ascending to heaven to see each other?" Zhu Yijun spoke very solemnly about this issue, his expression serious: "You know what I am talking about."

"Your subject knows," Wang Yaozhuo said with great certainty.

Once the Great Ming Emperor has an illegitimate eldest son, the Empress cannot have children; otherwise, should the legitimate heir or the eldest be established? This would be another court storm, another unnecessary source of trouble.

Historically, after the Wanli Emperor's grand wedding, whether he went to the Kunning Palace or summoned the Empress to the Qianqing Palace, he just had the great eunuchs pass a word; there weren't so many rules. But ever since the birth of the Wanli Emperor's eldest son, Zhu Changluo, in the ninth year of Wanli, for the Empress to see the Emperor was a monumental task, a yearning that made one's eyes ache.

The Emperor had to ask the Empress Dowager for a decree, the Empress had to decline, the Empress Dowager would then issue a decree for the Emperor to visit another palace, the Emperor would refuse, the Empress would have to summon all the concubines, and after music and dance, there were all sorts of monumental rules. Afterward, the Emperor had to write a document to reply to the Empress Dowager—even this had to be written as a work report.

These rules were intentionally set to block the Emperor from having a legitimate son after having an illegitimate eldest son. These rules were established to prevent disputes between the legitimate and illegitimate, leading to court strife.

After the Longqing Emperor had his eldest son, Empress Chen only saw the Longqing Emperor again at his funeral.

Entering the palace walls is as deep as the sea; nothing is up to oneself.

Zhu Yijun did not understand at all. Wang Yaozhuo clearly knew what would happen, yet she kept arranging for concubines and beauties to serve him. Now that he had finished handling state affairs, he naturally had to ask clearly.

Wang Yaozhuo was not stupid; wasn't this digging her own grave?

"If two hearts are together, why must they be together day and night?" Wang Yaozhuo's eyes flickered, giving an ambiguous answer.

"If there is no day and night, how can there be longevity?" Zhu Yijun immediately retorted. He was a scholar; he could tell at a glance whether Wang Yaozhuo's words were sincere.

"Sigh." Wang Yaozhuo sat beside Zhu Yijun, her eyes looking toward the windowsill, from the windowsill looking at the small sky outside the palace walls. She thought for a moment and said, "Empress Zhen Mi of Emperor Gao Zu of Wei, Cao Pi, also once urged the Emperor to visit other palaces, saying: 'In the past, the descendants of the Yellow Emperor were numerous because of the many concubines, thus obtaining this prosperity. I wish to seek more virtuous ladies to enrich the succession.'"

"Not urging one's husband to multiply descendants is a failure of the Empress's virtue."

"Nonsense!" Zhu Yijun said with a sneer.

"Ah?" Wang Yaozhuo was shocked and full of doubt. She had clearly learned it this way. If an Empress did not let the Emperor multiply, she was a jealous woman. There had already been such an example in the Great Ming—Empress Zhang of the Xiaozong Emperor. The Wuzong Emperor was an only son, and as a result, the Wuzong Emperor had no heirs, and the Daoist priest was able to enter the hall.

Wang Yaozhuo had always regarded this as a golden rule, but today, when she mentioned it, the Emperor actually called it nonsense. What was the reason?

"What kind of woman's virtue? It's complete hogwash. At that time, it was a world of aristocratic families. Cao Pi taking Zhen Mi in Ye City was also just to win the support of the Zhongshan Zhen clan. Later, after Cao Pi became Emperor, he no longer needed the Zhen clan's support, so in the second year of his reign, he ordered Zhen Mi to die. What kind of woman's virtue is that? It's just far-fetched interpretation." Zhu Yijun read history, and he explained this passage to Wang Yaozhuo.

In a world of aristocratic families, even if the Cao Wei fell, the Zhen clan was still in its prime. Sima Zhao even enfeoffed Zhen Wen as the General Who Assists the State. The world of aristocratic families played by these rules: the state could fall, but the family could not. As for the life and death of the common people, they were nothing but grass.

Zhu Yijun never denied the physical significance of Huang Chao killing the aristocratic families until blood flowed like a river, because Zhu Yijun was doing the same.

"Zhen Mi had previously married Yuan Xi, the second son of Yuan Shao; it was also a political marriage. Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and wiped out Yuan Shao's family, even driving Yuan Xi to the grasslands. Cao Pi and Zhen Mi's marriage was a political one, and whether Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi had children is also a question—there probably were some. Zhen Mi urging Cao Pi to visit other palaces might not have been a helpless act of resistance, having no choice but to avoid him." Zhu Yijun explained this matter very clearly.

Zhen Mi had been married to Yuan Xi for several years; there must have been children. Zhen Mi had the ability to give birth, and Yuan Xi also had the ability to father children. So after Cao Cao broke through Ye City, where did Zhen Mi and Yuan Xi's children go? Naturally, they were killed along with them.

Zhen Mi could not resist, because she was not just herself; she had the entire Zhongshan Zhen clan behind her. But serving the enemy who killed her children every day—was Zhen Mi really willing?

Being a couple halfway through life was one thing, but Cao Pi had wiped out Zhen Mi's husband's family. This marriage halfway through life certainly didn't go smoothly. If it were smooth, why would Cao Pi, shortly after ascending the throne and with the Cao Wei newly established—a time to win people's hearts—be in such a hurry to order Zhen Mi to die?

Disharmony between husband and wife is just disharmony; what woman's virtue?

"So there was this past event inside." Wang Yaozhuo felt a bit dizzy. It turned out things were not as she thought. Zhen Mi saying those words was not entirely because of so-called woman's virtue; the reason behind it didn't even count as a reason.

"Ah! So this is the reason you are desperately squeezing me? Out of woman's virtue, you have to arrange for concubines and beauties to serve me, but you don't want it to be as difficult as ascending to heaven to see each other later, so you have to squeeze me dry? If we have children early, there won't be court disputes over establishing the legitimate heir versus the eldest!" Zhu Yijun suddenly realized. No wonder Wang Yaozhuo was so fierce!

Feudal ethics kill people. Zhu Yijun hadn't even dared to ride horses fast these past few days, living a life of soaking goji berries in a thermos at a young age. In the final analysis, it was still these feudal ethics that were doing harm.

The progress of social development includes not only politics, economy, military, and culture, but also humanistic thought.

Look at these feudal ethics; they have forced the Wang girl into what state.

Zhen Mi and Cao Pi had a son and a daughter, and Yuan Xi also had a son, so Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi both had the ability to reproduce. When Cao Cao broke through Ye City, Zhen Mi had already been married to Yuan Xi for several years, so there must have been children. And Cao Pi, with the Cao Wei newly established, ordered Zhen Mi to die—the relationship between husband and wife certainly wasn't great. Begging, begging, begging, begging for monthly votes, awoo, awoo, awoo, awoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter)